Category Archives: mainstream media

Poverty gets more expensive every day


Yesterday at the shack we woke to bone-chilling wind and a blanket of ice. Swamp Rabbit was huddled in a corner with a bottle from the case of Wild Turkey I stole to help him get through his post-holiday funk. … Continue reading

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The ill logic of the lower classes


It’s the Eighth Day After the Solstice, and I’m back at the shack after checking up on my old house, which stopped feeling homey after a tree fell on it last year. Some of my old neighbors are doing OK, … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, down and out, economic collapse, fiction, globalization, humor, life in the big city, mainstream media, unemployment, Wall Street | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Karl Marx gets a makeover


Just for a laugh, I read aloud from a Guardian UK article in which David Simon expressed qualified approval of some Marxist ideas. Sure enough, my friend Swamp Rabbit called me a commie before I was halfway through the piece. … Continue reading

Posted in down and out, economic collapse, globalization, history, mainstream media, The New Depression, unemployment, world-wide economy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The curious case of the two Barack Obamas


My friend Swamp Rabbit laughed all week at the speech in which the president, in typically stirring style, called for better treatment of low-wage workers: Barack Obama warned that a “relentless, decades-long trend” of growing inequality and social immobility posed … Continue reading

Posted in campaign finance reform, globalization, mainstream media, Obama, The New Depression, unemployment, world-wide economy | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Schumer’s in a bubble with the banksters


From New Republic’s interview with New York Sen. Charles Schumer, who, in a weasel-y way, links Sen. Elizabeth Warren with “left-wing blogs”: CS: …You’ve got to look at the effect on average folks. The vast majority of the people employed … Continue reading

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Turkey Day with Lucretius and Eric Cantor


Last week I bought enough Wild Turkey to get Swamp Rabbit through the week, which left me just enough money to buy a real turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. But there’s no oven in my shack to bake a turkey, so … Continue reading

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Kos pretends to know Elizabeth Warren’s mind


Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas has spoken: Trust me with this. Elizabeth Warren isn’t running. She wasn’t an eager Senate candidate. It took lots of cajoling and begging to get her to make that race. And if you’re hesitant to … Continue reading

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If at first you don’t secede…


I handed Swamp Rabbit a bucket of epoxy and put him to work fixing a new crack in the shack that’s deep enough to let in plenty of water if there’s a downpour. While he worked I talked politics, I … Continue reading

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Christie takes care of business — at kids’ expense


Maybe you missed reports of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie bullying a public school teacher at a campaign rally a few days before he cruised to victory on Election Day. The teacher, Melissa Tomlinson, asked Christie why he has referred … Continue reading

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‘I’m Waiting for the Man’


I’m waiting for my man/Twenty-six dollars in my hand… — Velvet Underground “Twenty-six dollars!” Swamp Rabbit yelled. “That’ll git ya one Oxy from the ice cream man on Staten Island. Maybe two mixed drinks at Death & Co.” He was … Continue reading

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