Did Obama not get it?

Posted on December 30, 2011 by oddmanout215

Why wasn’t job creation the president’s No. 1 priority when he took office? Why didn’t he make a serious, steady effort to get the real economy back on track? Did he really think the bailed-out banks — the banks that caused the crash — would lend the sort of money needed for massive re-employment projects?

You may have noticed that the same renowned economists are still urging the common-sense remedies that were ignored by Obama when he had the clout to implement real change. Here’s Joseph Stiglitz, in the recent Vanity Fair:

… What we need to do… is embark on a massive investment program-as we did, virtually by accident, 80 years ago-that will increase our productivity for years to come, and will also increase employment now. This public investment, and the resultant restoration in G.D.P., increases the returns to private investment. Public investments could be directed at improving the quality of life and real productivity-unlike the private-sector investments in financial innovations, which turned out to be more akin to financial weapons of mass destruction.

Can we actually bring ourselves to do this, in the absence of mobilization for global war? Maybe not. The good news (in a sense) is that the United States has under-invested in infrastructure, technology, and education for decades, so the return on additional investment is high, while the cost of capital is at an unprecedented low. If we borrow today to finance high-return investments, our debt-to-G.D.P. ratio-the usual measure of debt sustainability-will be markedly improved. If we simultaneously increased taxes-for instance, on the top 1 percent of all households, measured by income-our debt sustainability would be improved even more…

And here’s Paul Krugman today, reminding us of what he wrote three years ago:

… In Washington, in particular, the failure of the Obama stimulus package to produce an employment boom is generally seen as having proved that government spending can’t create jobs. But those of us who did the math realized, right from the beginning, that the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (more than a third of which, by the way, took the relatively ineffective form of tax cuts) was much too small given the depth of the slump. And we also predicted the resulting political backlash…

Why didn’t Obama — and Congressional Democrats — realize there would be a backlash in the midterm elections if they failed to take a strong, determined stand against Republicans who, from the beginning, were dead-set on hurting recovery efforts? Why did Obama shun the Congressional Dems who urged him early on to change Washington’s cozy relationship with the so-called financial industry? (See Ron Suskind’s Confidence Men, Chapter 10.)

Yes, I know, dumb questions. Obama and the horrible Republicans who have a shot at the presidency, and most of the people in Congress, are products of a corrupt system that won’t change until laws are passed that prohibit the flow of big money to candidates who automatically become the property of the people who provided the money.

Posted in campaign finance reform, Congress, economic collapse, finance reform bill, Goldman Sachs, Great Recession, mid-term elections, Obama, Politics, The New Depression, unemployment, Wall Street | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

New reason to ‘unlike’ Facebook

Posted on December 29, 2011 by oddmanout215

Any corporation running a venue that prompts you to “like” something is looking to violate your privacy, probably in order to make money but possibly for more sinister reasons. Only the truly naive will be shocked by Facebook’s latest transgression:

Facebook users could become unwitting corporate ambassadors under plans by the company to allow the site’s main news feed to carry sponsorship messages carrying their mugshots.

Beginning in the New Year, so-called ‘sponsored stories’ appear in the main news feed that Facebook users’ friends see. At present, if you click to ‘like’ a product, it does not always appear in the main feed. The new update will show friends your profile picture and the product you have ‘endorsed’ in much larger form in the main news feed – a move that the site admits is designed to bring in advertising revenue.

Facebook say the scheme is a vital revenue booster, which will help it claw back some of the $1 billion a year it spends on developing the site. The site claims that because the stories are labelled ‘Sponsored’, they will be less intrusive.

If a user decides to ‘like’ a product, the endorsement will also remain on their new, open ‘timeline’ profile, enabling companies to pay Facebook to feature their adverts more visibly.

But the announcement will infuriate users who feel that the social network is taking too much ownership over its 800 million members’ personal information.

Facebook users in the U.S. have now launched a legal action against the company to contest the commercial use of the ‘Like’ button.

Footnote: I “like” the phrase “claw back some of the $1 billion a year it spends on developing the site.” Poor Facebook! Poor little Zuckerberg!

Posted in mainstream media, Politics | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Japan’s job-killing robots

Posted on December 29, 2011 by oddmanout215

You thought Godzilla was scary? Wait until Nextage emerges fully grown from Japan:

Japanese firm Kawada Industries is on the leading edge of a growing industry that threatens to become a major disruptive force in the coming years: automated labor.

At a recent robot expo, Kawada showed off Nextage, a human-shaped robotic laborer the company says is intended to “work alongside” people. In actuality, the robot could end up replacing people whose job it is to carry out menial tasks on assembly lines. And at just 1,500 watts of power consumption while it is working — less than some hair dryers — the device or one like it could one day become a compelling alternative to sweat shop labor.

That much seems to be true for Chinese electronics manufacturer Foxconn, notorious for paying workers a pittance and demanding long hours. The company said earlier this year that it would build a robot manufacturing facility, and that it hoped to replace most of its workforce with automation in the next three years.

Posted in unemployment, world-wide economy | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Politicians and celebrity suckers

Posted on December 28, 2011 by oddmanout215

Matt Damon would have preferred 'a one-term president with some balls'

Daniel Craig, star of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, recently sounded off about politicians, especially the ones who pretend to be hip and progressive in order to win the favor of liberal-minded celebrities:

“Tony Blair started it much more than anybody’s ever done. ‘Go and have tea at 10 Downing Street,'” he said of the former British Prime Minister. “It becomes ‘Mephisto,'” Craig continued, alluding to the famous book about an actor who ingratiates himself to Nazis in hope of winning a prized part.

“You immediately are aligning yourself with a political party. Politicians are shitheads,” Craig asserted. “That’s how they become politicians, even the good ones. We’re actors, we’re artists, we’re very nice to each other. They’ll turn around and stab you in the fucking back.”

Craig’s remarks were from a story picked up by Huffington Post. Something similar to his assessment of Blair — referred to by non-fans as “Bush’s poodle” because of Blair’s unwavering support of Bush’s disastrous war in Iraq — was voiced years ago by Noel Gallagher, the former guitarist and songwriter for Oasis:

“The fact that [Blair had] been in a band, owned an electric guitar and has probably had a spliff was Prime Minister really meant something, after years of John Major and Margaret Thatcher. He just might be one of us,” [Gallagher] told one interviewer (via the Daily Mail). “In hindsight, it turned out he was just a politician like all the rest. I was brought up as a Labour voter and it was euphoric when they got into power. I didn’t realize it wasn’t New Labour at all – it was the Tories dressed in red.”

The Tories dressed in red. I wonder if there’s a catchy phrase that’s been used by some American activist star to describe the Democratic Party since the reality of Obama’s broken promises sank in. I’m thinking of all the celebrities — U2, Denzel Washington, Sheryl Crow, Beyonce, on and on — who performed or gave speeches at a pre-inaugural concert for Obama, in 2009.

I wonder how many of these stars, if asked, would echo Matt Damon’s recent remarks:

“I’ve talked to a lot of people who worked for Obama at the grassroots level. One of them said to me, ‘Never again. I will never be fooled again by a politician,'” Damon tells [Elle] magazine. “You know, a one-term president with some balls who actually got stuff done would have been, in the long run of the country, much better.”

Posted in arts, economic collapse, Great Recession, liar, mainstream media, movies, Obama, Politics, pop music, The New Depression, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

‘Balanced’ reporting? That’ll be the day

Posted on December 27, 2011 by oddmanout215

Mitt Romney recently told Time magazine that “25 million people are out of work because of Barack Obama. And so I’ll compare my experience in the private sector where, net-net, we created over 100,000 jobs.”

Both statements are flat-out lies, but Time won’t tell you that, nor will any other corporate media outlet, as Paul Krugman pointed out in his op-ed last Friday:

Over all, Mr. Obama’s positions on economic policy resemble those that moderate Republicans used to espouse. Yet Mr. Romney portrays the president as the second coming of Fidel Castro and seems confident that he will pay no price for making stuff up.

Welcome to post-truth politics…

But won’t there be some blowback? Won’t Mr. Romney pay a price for running a campaign based entirely on falsehoods? He obviously thinks not, and I’m afraid he may be right.

Oh, Mr. Romney will probably be called on some falsehoods. But, if past experience is any guide, most of the news media will feel as though their reporting must be “balanced,” which means that every time they point out that a Republican lied they have to match it with a comparable accusation against a Democrat — even if what the Democrat said was actually true or, at worst, a minor misstatement.

Obama is far from an FDR — don’t get me started — but the main reason 25 million or so people are out of work is because the economy imploded during the Bush administration, and because Republicans in Congress are doing everything they can to block passage of jobs programs because the 2012 elections are close.

Romney is lying about Obama not creating any jobs, just as he lies about Obama cutting the defense budget.

I mention these facts not because they’re news, but rather because I continue to find it odd that Krugman, alone among mainstream columnists, has repeatedly argued that the notion of balanced reporting — also called “unbiased” or “objective” reporting — is total bunk, a fabrication of the corporate machine that dictates what Americans are supposed to believe.

Krugman uses facts to skewer the myth of balanced reporting every chance he gets, but do you think NYT‘s reporters and editors — or Time, or Politico, and so on — will ever come up with a story headlined “Romney campaign based on falsehoods”? That’ll be the day.

Clarification: This is not to say the NYT decision makers support Romney. The point is that the mainstream media adhere to a narrow set of rules that is, to some extent, supportive of all candidates who embrace the status quo.

Posted in Congress, economic collapse, Great Recession, liar, mainstream media, Mitt Romney, Obama, Politics, The New Depression, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

‘Australia’ (Happy Boxing Day)

Posted on December 26, 2011 by oddmanout215

We’ll surf like they do in the USA
We’ll fly down to Sydney for a holiday
On sunny Christmas Day…

I’m standing in line yesterday at a drugstore, one of those chain stores that turn wall-to-wall red a month before Christmas. Big red bows, rolls of red wrapping paper, rows of red greeting cards, employees in red aprons.

What is it about red? It’s overwhelming, like Christmas. You can’t fight it, especially when it glares at you while bad music is assaulting your ears — Chicago singing Tell me you will stay/Make me smile, with a horn section that sounds like a high school band.

The man directly in front of me in line — he’s thirty-ish, short but stocky, looks like a brawler, maybe a druggie — is asking customers if there’s a trading-card store nearby, he’s carrying some collectible baseball cards he needs to sell.

He reaches into a paper bag and pulls out rookie cards of Mike Schmidt, Derek Jeter and other stars, and shows them to everyone in sight. “Those should be worth something,” I say to him, not at all sure they’re worth anything. The cards are laminated but they look a bit beat up. Someone tells the man about a card store in South Philly but reminds him this is Christmas Day.

When it’s the man’s turn at the checkout counter, he pulls two rolls of Kodak film from his coat pocket and asks the cashier for a refund. She says no way, the film obviously is very old and the stickers on the film boxes indicate they were bought at some other store.

The man leaves the store with his cards and his film, and I wonder where he’ll go, he’s probably flat broke. Some of the other people in line look like they aren’t in such good shape, either.

In other eras there were dream destinations for young people with no money or job prospects. Where do they go now for job opportunities? California? Florida? Hoho.

I think of the old Kinks song in which the desperately poor in post-WWII Britain dream of emigrating to Australia.

In FDR’s time, young or middle-aged Americans who were hard-up could join the Work Projects Administration. In the Bush-Obama era, they can join the ranks of the permanently unemployed.

Posted in arts, economic collapse, Great Recession, humor, Obama, Philadelphia, Politics, pop music, The New Depression, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

‘There ain’t no Sanity Clause!’

Posted on December 26, 2011 by oddmanout215

Chico tells Groucho he won’t be fooled in A Night at the Opera:

Posted in arts, humor, movies, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Happy Third Day After the Solstice

Posted on December 25, 2011 by oddmanout215

Bernini’s St. Theresa in Ecstasy is in the Cornaro Chapel (Santa Maria Vittoria). Which means nothing to me, but the act of writing down the address for future reference seems constructive, especially with all the thinking I’m doing about Rome, a city I must see now that I’ve read Ingrid Rowland’s review of Robert Hughes’ new book.

I couldn’t get the book review out of my head as I jogged past Squalor and Ruin streets in South Philly on this perfect Third Day After the Solstice. A mile farther on, at Washington and Passyunk, I spotted what looked like a leftover Halloween scarecrow sitting in a deck chair outside a row house. It was a middle-aged woman wrapped in bright red and wearing sunglasses, facing the low but unobstructed sunlight beaming from the south.

I slowed to make sure she was alive and noticed she was a ringer for Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. She took off her glasses, gave me an ecstatic look, and said, “I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. Odd Man.”

Just kidding, she didn’t say anything, not even after I wished her a Happy Solstice.

Posted in arts, history, humor, Philadelphia | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Joe Conason, meet Karl Rove

Posted on December 24, 2011 by oddmanout215

A resolution for 2012: Don’t read opinion pieces by knee-jerk Obama supporters who profess to be liberals. Their stuff is as propagandistic as the garbage that streams from the right in support of Newt and Mitt and the dimmer Republican presidential wannabes.

No more Joe Conason, for example, whose recent rabid attack on libertarian eccentric Ron Paul was off-target and manifestly unfair:

The latest evidence of simmering racial resentment on the American political fringe showed up Monday in a Facebook post by a California man who urged the assassination of the president and his two daughters in obscene, racist language. Aside from the Secret Service, there was little reason for most of us to pay attention to this sick boob—except that he was identified as a local political leader of the tea party and an avid supporter of Rep. Ron Paul, the Texas Republican who now seems likely to place first in the Iowa presidential caucuses.

To those who have followed Paul’s long career as a failed presidential candidate—these campaigns have become a family business—the appearance of yet another racist nut job in his orbit is scarcely news. The newsletters that earned millions of dollars for him from gullible subscribers over the decades were often soiled with vile invectives against blacks and other minorities…

Very classy stuff, worthy of Karl Rove. Some ugly-minded wing-nut who calls himself a Paul supporter urges a heinous crime, and Conason immediately smears Paul with the guilt-by-association argument. As further evidence that Paul and the nut are on the same page, Conason mentions racist language in newsletters from which Paul made money. Case closed.

The trouble with guys such as Conason is they can’t imagine a world where the good guys often aren’t very good and the bad guys sometimes have a few redeeming features. Paul appears to be more competent and honest than the other Republicans, and he makes more sense than Obama on many issues.

Clarification: I would never vote for Ron Paul and disagree with much of what he purports to believe in, although I love watching the other Republican candidates squirm at Paul’s lucid putdowns of the Federal Reserve and American imperialism. (Obama would squirm, too, if he had to debate Paul on these issues.)

The politicians whose ideas appeal to me, and to many other disillusioned Dems, include people like Dennis Kucinich and Bernie Sanders, both of whom are as independent as Paul but don’t share his right-wing views on issues such as abortion. But I’m sure Conason would only smirk at those two, because neither would have anything to do with the corrupt Democratic machine that elected the faux-Democrat Obama.

Posted in mainstream media, Mitt Romney, Obama, Politics, Wall Street, world-wide economy | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

‘Blue Christmas’

Posted on December 24, 2011 by oddmanout215

Elvis Presley had been knocked sideways by the British Invasion, by new styles in America, and by a long series of crappy music and movie-starring choices, but his 1968 Comeback Special silenced critics and breathed new life into his career.

On videos from the show, Elvis looks eerily handsome and strikes a perfect balance between bravado and self-parody. You can see the intelligence in his eyes and his smile. It’s as if he knows he’s at the top of his game, and at the same time realizes the game is bullshit, no one stays on top of anything, not for long.

Footnote: I love the moment in “Blue Christmas” when Elvis or Scotty Moore bends an E string and someone off-camera yells “Play It Dirty” and a woman in the small studio audience screams. This is one of the rare Christmas songs that doesn’t make me feel blue.

Posted in arts, pop music | Tagged , | 1 Comment