The repo man is bigger, badder than Irene

Posted on August 31, 2011 by oddmanout215

Some people are arguing over whether politicians and the media hyped the hurricane. Was the coverage of Irene too intense, were the predictions too doom-ridden?

But these are the wrong questions. It’s a given that politicians will ask people to stay off the beach and then try to take credit for saving lives, and that the mainstream media — especially TV crews — will milk a disaster story for all its worth. News is much easier to gather when it’s in your face, and what could be more in-your-face than a hurricane?

The potential for disaster really was there. Everybody knew Irene would be a bitch, but no one knew for sure if she’d be a full-fledged monster. Try telling the people of Vermont that Irene wasn’t a monster.

A better question is why don’t politicians and the media put the same amount of energy into covering the economic disaster that’s still in progress?

From Guardian UK:

… Put simply, millions more homes will have been lost to bank repossessions than have been damaged by Irene. The storm caused some flooding, but much greater degradation has been inflicted on the US coastline by last year’s BP oil spill. A few days without electricity is challenging, but the blow to clean energy prospects posed by the state department’s recent approval of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline from the tar sands of Alberta to the Texas coast is more worrying.

A real state of preparedness for natural catastrophes anywhere is only possible for a general population protected by fair access to decent housing, good universal healthcare and robust environmental regulations. Preparing for the worst means addressing both what causes or aggravates natural disasters – like climate change and poverty – and how the damage they inflict can be minimised by a strong social infrastructure. Like Britain, the US is headed further in the opposite direction. Piling up sandbags and stocking up on masking tape will not then save anyone from disasters to follow …

The question answers itself. Elected officials of both major parties would rather remain silent, or close to it, than acknowledge the extent of the problem and risk offending their corporate masters in order to try to solve it.

And the media? Forget it. Foreclosures aren’t happening at 100 mph, ripping roofs off houses and uprooting trees. Lives are being torn apart all over the country, but the victims don’t make much noise — they are often in denial about the extent of their troubles — and the banksters who kick them to the curb never do so in person.

Posted in Congress, economic collapse, enviromentalism, Great Recession, Gulf, mainstream media, Politics, The New Depression, Wall Street | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

No relief in sight from Eric Cantor disaster

Posted on August 30, 2011 by oddmanout215

I refer to the less-than-esteemed U.S. Rep from Virginia. The dapper super-nerd with the smug grin who badgered Barack Obama during debt ceiling negotiations. The Tea Party lap dog whose strategy for rising in the GOP ranks is to recite “more spending cuts” often and loud enough to drown out all calls for relief to the poor and distressed.

In case you missed it, Cantor has insisted that no more federal funds will be allocated for disaster relief unless the expenditures are “offset by spending cuts elsewhere.”

… Cantor took the position following the tornadoes that devastated Joplin, Missouri and elsewhere in the spring and summer, and after last week’s earthquake, the epicenter for which was in his district, but [Hurricane Irene’s] level of destruction is far beyond that of those disasters. Still, Cantor told Fox News that while “we’re going to find the money,” “we’re just going to need to make sure that there are savings elsewhere to do so.”

Cantor referred a bill the Republican-controlled House passed that approves $1 billion in disaster relief, which was financed by a $1.5 billion cut from loan program to encourage the production of fuel-efficient vehicles. But the need in the wake of the hurricane will likely greatly surpass $1 billion, and that spending package was supposed to be used for tornado recovery efforts, for which several hundred million dollars has already been outlayed.

In other words, Cantor is leading the latest Tea Party attempt to shrink government to the size of an antebellum plantation. He’s in the vanguard of the hacks who are eager to cut research & development, education, infrastructure repairs, aid to the poor, you name it, rather than impose higher taxes on the obscenely wealthy people who bankroll political careers in return for special favors.

Reading about this poor excuse for a human, I couldn’t help recalling and looking up an excellent piece about Clarence Darrow in the May 23 New Yorker. You can only access part of the piece online if you don’t have a subscription, but here are some pertinent lines:

… [Darrow] liked to say that creeds were dope: “No one can find life tolerable without dope. The Catholics are right, the Christian Scientists are right, the Methodists are right, the drunkards are right.” He thought his own dope was pessimism. It wasn’t. His dope was compassion. He despaired for humanity mainly because he didn’t meet many of his kind of addict. The problem is, you can’t teach sympathy; like imagination, either you have it or you don’t …

Footnote: Yes, Irene was hyped by TV idiots to the point where it seemed skyscrapers might topple, but the hurricane did do a lot of very expensive damage, mostly outside the big cities, that only the federal government can fix.

Posted in Congress, economic collapse, Great Recession, Politics, taxes, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The ‘meeks’ shall inherit the dirt

Posted on August 29, 2011 by oddmanout215

Philly in summer was a blast furnace until we lucked into a rainy August capped by a visit from Hurricane Irene, the queen of hype. No such luck for Texas, which continues to suffer through its worst drought on record despite Gov. Rick Perry’s Three Days of Prayer for Rain way back in April.

The point of Perry’s rain dance had nothing to do with precipitation and everything to do with demonstrating he’s a God-fearing Christian, like the good old boys and girls who elected him. Now he’s running for president and knows his faux-Christian fervor must continue to match that of Michele Bachmann’s if he is to shore up the holy-roller vote so crucial to success for anyone hoping to be the GOP’s nominee.

Which brings me to today’s Philadelphia Inquirer, in which Leonard Boasberg reminded readers that all of the GOP candidates recently said no to a budget deal that would be one part tax increases and 10 parts spending cuts. Boasberg cited various Biblical passages that extol the charitable and warn against greed, his point being that the candidates are shameless hypocrites.

But we already knew that. What Boasberg chose to ignore is that the GOP’s Christian base is perfectly comfortable with candidates who are silent on the plight of the poor but extremely vocal in opposing taxes on the owner class, which funds their candidacies.

As the base sees it, the rich deserve their wealth, they worked hard for it, and the poor who can’t work their way into a higher income bracket should accept their poverty as God’s will.

The bottom-line message is know your place. Pray for rain but don’t expect any, not unless you can afford to fly away from drought-ravaged areas. And remember that Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

Remember too that “meek” doesn’t denote weakness, but rather submission to the will of God, and that “inherit the earth” is meant in a spiritual sense — i.e., the earth is a merely a pit stop on the way to the Kingdom of God, and the meeks are heirs to that kingdom, so they shouldn’t get their backs up if their time on earth is miserable.

History has shown that this con game only works until those pesky meeks realize that, rather than inheriting the earth, they are having their faces rubbed in the dirt. Unfortunately, it looks like the meeks in this country, Republicans and Democrats, might take a lot longer to catch on to the game than their grandparents and great-grandparents did.

Posted in economic collapse, Great Recession, health care, livable cities, Politics, taxes, The New Depression, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

It’s the end of the world…! Well, not quite

Posted on August 28, 2011 by oddmanout215

Disaster stories are crowd pleasers, partly because oblivion can seem an appealing alternative to everyday problems that have no solution. At the very least, such stories disrupt the monotony of our insulated, digitized environments and force us to imagine other scenarios. What if a hurricane rips off our roofs and we have to hang out at homeless shelters and sing folk songs by candlelight?

Nobody really wants a disaster — we all remember Katrina’s aftermath — but the idea of one can be diverting if you’re jobless or behind on mortgage payments or bored stiff by a thankless job in a dreary office park, interacting every day with people who seem as false to you as you must seem to them.

This is what disaster journalism is for, a relief from the everyday. Even better are disaster movies, which are escapist but also help acclimate us to the desert of the real — i.e., to the fact that we live in a “cultural void where the real and the unreal are merged so completely that distinctions between them disappear.”

The best disaster movies challenge our acceptance of the void and even rattle us, but in a highly entertaining way. The Matrix is a great, obvious example, but my favorite is Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, in which it becomes clear that our complacency stems from the illusion that we can control nature.

In one of my favorite scenes, an elderly woman ornithologist, very pedantic, informs the other patrons at a bar that mankind is doomed if the birds really have turned against us. As she drones on, a drunk — with an Irish brogue, of course — repeatedly punctuates her remarks by exclaiming, “It’s the end of the world.”

Footnote: Hurricane Irene wasn’t a complete dud in the Philly area. My basement is a mess. A river runs through it. There are no trout in there yet, but I’ve spotted other creatures and some ancient Christmas ornaments. I’m rattled.

Posted in arts, humor, livable cities, movies, Philadelphia | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Quake-damaged phallic landmark needs TLC

Posted on August 27, 2011 by oddmanout215

Soon after the recent earthquake, a talking head joked that the Washington Monument had been damaged, but no one was sure yet if it was leaning left or right. Turns out there really are cracks in this symbol of American might and Masonic mysticism:

Shortly after the rare 5.8 earthquake in Virginia rattled Washington D.C. Tuesday, a Park Service spokesman said there was “absolutely no damage” to the Washington Monument. A more thorough assessment discovered a crack in the landmark. Not long after, additional damage was found, including three or four “significant” cracks. The monument has been closed indefinitely for further inspection and repairs, which will take at least a few weeks, according to The Washington Times. Robert Vogel, superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial, said in a statement: “The Washington Monument is one of America’s most important landmarks, and we will do whatever it takes to ensure that it is restored completely and correctly.”

The monument was not the only structure affected. The National Cathedral sustained damage worth an estimated millions in repairs.

I can’t wait to see what our latest disaster, Hurricane Irene, has in store.

Posted in humor, livable cities | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

We’ll all be rain dogs soon

Posted on August 27, 2011 by oddmanout215

For those in the path of Irene: “Rain Dogs” from Tom Waits’ Rain Dogs (1985)

According to reports, Philadelphia will get more rain this weekend than any other major city in the region. Bad news for those of us in South Philly, where a little extra rain turns basements into pools full of rusty old toys.

The essentials for weathering a monster hurricane: a three-day supply of water and non-perishable food; a good manual can opener; candles; flashlight with batteries; battery-powered radio/CD player; booze, or high-quality drugs, or herbal tea; first-aid kit and high-quality meds; cell phone with charger; good books; a trustworthy companion, if possible; extra batteries; extra booze.

Clarification: The rain dogs in Waits’ song are people who live on the streets, so I’m using the term loosely. We will not be rain dogs, most of us, providing there isn’t too much property damage this weekend.

Footnote: Anyone else wondering where those 300,000 people being evacuated from flood-prone areas of NYC will go, and how they will get there?

Posted in food, livable cities, Philadelphia, pop music | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Gaddafi to Cheney: Work your magic for me

Posted on August 26, 2011 by oddmanout215

If Gaddafi Duck had dressed like Dick Cheney...

Dear Dick,

My Michael Jacksonian compound was breached, my beautiful Bedouin tent burned to the ground, my Galliano-yellow and iguana-green uniforms desecrated. Worst of all, precious photos of Leezza were stolen and defiled by marauding desert rats who are not fit to kiss my Nubian queen’s exquisitely flat feet.

Escape was a perilous undertaking, but Allah was with me, along with my palace guard of Amazons and my huge stash of pharmaceuticals. And yet the prospect of exile galls me, as does the blatant application of what American infidel dogs would call the double standard.

It is well known, my fellow statesman, that only autocrats from small, weak countries — tinpot dictators, to use the vulgar American phrase — end up being charged with crimes against humanity. That dictators in small countries allied to the U.S. are exempt from prosecution, as are dictators in small countries with a nuclear deterrent.

We are men of the world, you and I, so let me get to the heart of the matter: I am here in the desert scratching sand fleas while you, a war criminal and admitted advocate of torture, are engaged in publicity efforts regarding your new book, in which you boast of your crimes. Could you not find a way to work your magic for a fellow autocrat/ multimillionaire/war criminal?

An insolent American reporter recently wrote:

Less than three years ago, Dick Cheney was presiding over policies that left hundreds of thousands of innocent people dead from a war of aggression, constructed a worldwide torture regime, and spied on thousands of Americans without the warrants required by law, all of which resulted in his leaving office as one of the most reviled political figures in decades.

And yet you are being treated as a dignified elder statesman by most reporters and by the hypocrites in the Obama administration. What is your secret? How may I undo the damage done by hostile media and the hundreds of Western power brokers who want to soil their soft little hands in my oil fields?

I fear that only you, the scum of the earth — and I say this as an admirer — can help me at this point. Any and all suggestions will be deeply appreciated and rewarded with appropriately Halliburtonian sums.

Your friend and ex-ally,
Muammar

Posted in Great Recession, Iraq war, mainstream media, Obama, Politics, The New Depression | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Straight talk on SS? Sanders stands alone

Posted on August 26, 2011 by oddmanout215

Bernie Sanders, the independent U.S. Senator from Vermont, makes passionate statements in support of working people then backs them up with legislation such as a bill that would strengthen Social Security without cutting benefits.

From Sanders’ website:

To keep Social Security strong for another 75 years, Sanders’ legislation would apply the same payroll tax already paid by more than nine out of 10 Americans to those with incomes over $250,000 a year. […] Under Sanders’ legislation, Social Security benefits would be untouched. The system would be fully funded by making the wealthiest Americans pay the same payroll tax already assessed on those with incomes up to $106,800 a year.

This is Sanders’ way of signally strong opposition to possible attempts to cut SS benefits by the ridiculously named congressional “super committee.”

Footnote: Sanders recently noted that President Obama, on the campaign trail in 2008, endorsed raising the cap on the payroll tax so that the rich would pay more into the SS system. But we all know by now there’s a big difference between what Obama says and what he does.

Posted in Congress, economic collapse, Obama, Politics, The New Depression | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The men don’t know, but the little girls…

Posted on August 26, 2011 by oddmanout215

For you nocturnal types: “Back Door Man” from The Doors (1967)

In his own way, for a very different audience, Jim Morrison swaggered almost as convincingly as Howlin’ Wolf. The Doors actually gave credit where it was due on the record, to songwriters Willie Dixon and the mighty Wolf, aka Chester Burnett. (Too often in those days, rock and roll bands simply stole the great blues songs.)

You’ve gotta love the music appreciation notes in Wikipedia:

The promiscuous “back-door man” is a standard theme found in many blues, including those by Charley Patton, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Blind Willie McTell and Sara Martin. “Every sensible woman got a back-door man,” Martin wrote in “Strange Loving Blues” (1925).

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Trumka to Obama: We are not the Tea Party

Posted on August 25, 2011 by oddmanout215

Richard Trumka is a hulking fellow who often wears a big smile, maybe in order to not look threatening. He wasn’t smiling much today when he blasted Barack Obama for failing to do anything in the way of jobs creation and other programs that ought to be high-priority for a Democratic president:

“This is a moment that working people and quite frankly history will judge President Obama on his presidency; will he commit all his energy and focus on bold solutions on the job crisis or will he continue to work with the Tea Party to offer cuts to middle class programs like Social Security all the while pretending the deficit is where our economic problems really lie,” Trumka said, Talking Points Memo’s Brian Beutler reported.

Trumka sits on the president’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, which “was created to provide non-partisan advice to the president on continuing to strengthen the nation’s economy and ensure the competitiveness of the United States,” according to its website.

Trumpka told reporters that he had all but given up hope of the panel achieving any results. “I don’t know whether the commission’s making a difference or not…it’s a legitimate question whether that commission has done anything worthwhile,” he said.

He threatened to withdraw the AFL-CIO’s attendance at the upcoming Democratic convention if the party didn’t shape up and offer solutions. “If they don’t have a jobs program I think we’d better use our money doing other things,” he said.

It’s about time, as they say. Whoever they are.

Posted in economic collapse, globalization, Great Recession, Obama, Politics, The New Depression, unemployment | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment