Category Archives: economic collapse

Obama to workers: Can’t find those shoes!

Posted on February 28, 2011 by oddmanout215

If Americans workers are being denied their rights to organize and collectively bargain when I’m in the White House, I’ll put on a comfortable pair of shoes myself; I’ll walk on that picket line with you as president of the … Continue reading →

Posted in economic collapse, Great Recession, mainstream media, Obama, Philadelphia, Politics, unemployment, world-wide economy | Tagged collective bargaining, comfortable shoes, Lawrence Summers, LOVE Park, Obama, Philadelphia, Scott Walker, Tim Geithner, union workers, Wisconsin | Leave a comment

Money for (next to) nothing on WXPN

Posted on February 27, 2011 by oddmanout215

But there’s nothing, really nothing, to turn off. — Bob Dylan, “Visions of Johanna,” 1966 I turned on the car radio this morning and noticed the DJ on WXPN was yakking for a long time between songs. “Oh no, a … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, economic collapse, Great Recession, mainstream media, Philadelphia, pop music, unemployment | Tagged "alt" rock, American Routes, Beck, Cee-lo Green, Death Cab for Cutie, Fleet Foxes, funding drive, Philadelphia, radio, Tinicum, WXPN | 1 Comment

Media guy blames media for Wisconsin turmoil

Posted on February 26, 2011 by oddmanout215

Wisconsin says a lot about our political discourse, none of it good… Complex issues are reduced to sound bites. Talking points of the extreme left and right dominate. Americans obediently fall into line, either for “free enterprise” or the “working … Continue reading →

Posted in David Brooks, economic collapse, Great Recession, mainstream media, New York Times, Philadelphia, taxes, unemployment, Wall Street | Tagged collective bargaining, David Brooks, Elysian Fields, labor unions, Michael Smerconish. Philadelphia Inquirer, pension funds, right-wing commentators, unemployment, Wisconsin | Leave a comment

Blow them up good, then corporatize

Posted on February 25, 2011 by oddmanout215

Here’s a thought: maybe Madison, Wisconsin, isn’t Cairo after all. Maybe it’s Baghdad – specifically, Baghdad in 2003, when the Bush administration put Iraq under the rule of officials chosen for loyalty and political reliability rather than experience and competence. … Continue reading →

Posted in economic collapse, Great Recession, Iraq war, mainstream media, New York Times, NJ, Philadelphia, Politics, unemployment | Tagged Baghdad, Bill Keller, budget crisis, Cairo, Gov. Scott Walker, Krugman, Madison, Naomi Klein, Obama, Paul Bremer, Rortybomb, The Shock Doctrine, Wisconsin | Leave a comment

The NYT’s ‘no shit’ style of news analysis

Posted on February 24, 2011 by oddmanout215

There are deeply divided opinions and shifting allegiances over whether unions are helping or hurting people who have been caught in the recent economic squeeze. And workers themselves, being pitted against one another, are finding it hard to feel sympathy … Continue reading →

Posted in economic collapse, Great Recession, mainstream media, New York Times, Politics, unemployment | Tagged A. G. Sulzberger, budget crisis, Gov. Scott Walker, Koch Industries, Monica Davey, New York Times, pubic-sector unions, Wisconsin | 2 Comments

Why Madison, Wis., looks like Egypt-land

Posted on February 21, 2011 by oddmanout215

Credit where it’s due: Not all mainstream reporters are treating what’s happening in Wisconsin as a budget-related spat over cuts in benefits. In today’s Philadelphia Daily News, Will Bunch considers the global context of the story and ponders the likelihood … Continue reading →

Posted in economic collapse, Egypt, globalization, Great Recession, mainstream media, Philadelphia, Politics, unemployment, world-wide economy | Tagged Budget Repair Bill, Cairo, Gov. Scott Walker, Koch Industries, LOVE Park, Madison, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Daily News, Will Bunch, Wisconsin | Leave a comment

Wis. workers try to slip pharoah’s yoke

Posted on February 21, 2011 by oddmanout215

I dig a ditch, I shape a stone/Another battlement for his throne/Another day on earth is flown/We’re all working for the pharaoh. — Richard Thompson, “Pharoah” The nicest thing you can say about the mainstream media’s skimpy coverage of the … Continue reading →

Posted in economic collapse, Egypt, Great Recession, mainstream media, New York Times, NJ, Obama, Politics, taxes, unemployment, Wall Street | Tagged Egypt, Gov. Scott Walker, labor unions, Madison, pharoah, protests, Reagan, Richard Thompson, state workers, Wisconsin | Leave a comment

Egypt, Iraq and neocon doubletalk

Posted on February 4, 2011 by oddmanout215

The post-2003 democratic wave was brief and somewhat shallow, and it indirectly benefited Hamas and Hezbollah as well as the Kurds and Shiites of Iraq and the Lebanese democracy movement. But the regime-change school in America can claim a degree … Continue reading →

Posted in economic collapse, finance reform bill, Goldman Sachs, Great Recession, mainstream media, Politics, Wall Street, world-wide economy | Tagged Christopher Hitchens, Facebook, Hezbollah, Lloyd Blankfein, Middle East, Mubarak, neocons, regime change | 1 Comment

Working at the Inky/DN will be a hard habit to break

Posted on January 30, 2011 by oddmanout215

Tighten your fingers around a teaspoon, feel its metal pulse, its mistrustful warning. How it hurts to refuse a spoon, to say no to a door, to deny everything that habit has licked to a suitable smoothness. — Julio Cortazar, … Continue reading →

Posted in economic collapse, globalization, mainstream media, Philadelphia, unemployment, world-wide economy | Tagged Cronopios and Famas, Daily News, Greg Osberg, Grim Reaper, Ingmar Bergman, Inquirer, Julio Cortazar, Philadelphia magazine, Philly, Steve Volk, The Seventh Seal, Woody Allen | Leave a comment

The Great Oz explains the state of the union

Posted on January 26, 2011 by oddmanout215

Practicing civility means never having to say you’re sorry. It mostly involves learning to speak in a civil manner, never using words that might cause anger or tears or indigestion. This takes time and effort and — the hard-to-learn part … Continue reading →

Posted in Congress, economic collapse, Great Recession, health care, mainstream media, Obama, Politics, unemployment, world-wide economy | Tagged Afghanistan, benefits, civility, Great Oz, Obama, recession, State of the Union | 2 Comments