I would like you, my fellow readers, to stop for a minute and think about a few things, in light of Super Tuesday coming up and, especially if you haven't voted yet or in a long time, the following:
~What are important things you hold onto?
~What do you believe in for yourself, your fellow man/woman, and for society at large? (If you haven't thought about that, it might be a good time to do so).
~ Who else, in the current candidate pools for office (President, Congress, Senate, down to your local council) most reflect your answers to the above?
I ask these questions, that you should answer yourselves for one very good reason. Tonight, in Arizona and Michigan, there are four men asking to be their party's nominee for President. One of whom scares the poop right out me, and that would be Rick Santorum.
My beliefs aside, please think about this. Should our current President be unseated, one of these four men will take his spot in the White House, and we will have four, possibly eight, years of this person.
Those who read this blog pretty much know where I would like the election to head, and generally all elections anywhere.
But think about it, what do you want your world to look like and do any of the choices match? If not, anyone close enough? Or how about something novel, get involved yourself, like I do on my local Planning Board.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
Should Greece Leave the Euro?
The Economist Magazine has posed the question, or very real possibility depending on how you read into it, of Greece leaving the Euro. Should it happen?
If Greece leaves, it will gain its sovereignty back and be able to control its own destiny, but its currency won't be worth much because of the debt it leaves to themselves and creditor countries. On the other hand, if Greece stays, and is able to pick itself back up, it just might be good for the world economy.
Either way the Greek people will probably lose. You don't austere yourselves back to ancient Rome (actually, not fair, the economy was good then) and hope to come out back on top later on as if nothing happened. You're living in a fantasy world if you believe that's the case.
The Greeks have already given into such heinous demands placed on them by the whole of Europe that, in the end, not much will matter. Exports can rise but the price of goods will probably not match the needs of the economy altogether.
The Economist argues they should leave the eurozone, but will it really matter in the end?
If Greece leaves, it will gain its sovereignty back and be able to control its own destiny, but its currency won't be worth much because of the debt it leaves to themselves and creditor countries. On the other hand, if Greece stays, and is able to pick itself back up, it just might be good for the world economy.
Either way the Greek people will probably lose. You don't austere yourselves back to ancient Rome (actually, not fair, the economy was good then) and hope to come out back on top later on as if nothing happened. You're living in a fantasy world if you believe that's the case.
The Greeks have already given into such heinous demands placed on them by the whole of Europe that, in the end, not much will matter. Exports can rise but the price of goods will probably not match the needs of the economy altogether.
The Economist argues they should leave the eurozone, but will it really matter in the end?
The Role of Labour
Over the weekend I've been catching up with news on the Labour wire and been seeing the same old story; employers engaging in hostile workplace practices, then blaming it on the workers, cry that they have no money and once their workers strike to demand better conditions the employer magically comes up with the cash t pay for SCABS and private investigators to spy on their employees.
Same is true in education. Right now, in Connecticut, there is a move in education reform headed up by Governor Malloy to trend towards Charter Schools in order punish not some, but all teachers, on the public's payroll and instill a system headed up by his cronies and their friends in the vetting process.
Why does this matter? Because it very easily happen to you. Let me explain.
In our first example, I'm going to cite the Lincoln County Humane Society in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Workers there know that budgets are generally tight when it comes to helping our animal friends, yet as a publicy funded organization, they are asking for the employer to reconsider a 15% wage cut! Think about what you make then what would happen if your paycheck was cut by 15%, that's the amount of FICA out of a paycheck in the USA for some people.
As part of the bargaining process, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 1287 is arguing the idea that the Human Society can't afford Health Benefits, among other things, and that the Union makes to many demands on them while they always operate in a deficit.
Yet, according to sources, there is a credible rumour that the employer is going to bus in SCABS and hiring a Private Investigator to spy on the picket lines. This costs a considerable amount of money, money a organization in dire straights can't afford. Volunteers and Staff continually cross the picket line in pure disrespect for their fellow workers at the same time.
Back here in the USA, Governor Malloy is, among other things, attacking those who educate our children by subjecting them to political harassment.
As reported by fellow blogger Jonathan Pelto, Connecticut's teachers and their bargaining unit are unfairly being depicted as the sole reason the education system is unfair and inequitable. Nevermind the fact that cuts to school budgets continually get made, teachers and support staff have been asked to give up parts of their contract to "take one for the team" (which they did, and so did the Universities as well) and teachers are actually considering doing away with their tenure system, a system designed to retain teachers for their careers.
The last part most people have agreed, in general, needs to change, but when your class sizes are 30-40 students at any given time, what else does the public want from you except your soul?
This attack on our Labour force, those who did not cause the crisis we are in, will be a top topic of mine over the life of this blog. Trains will not run on time and jobs will not be good paying and healthy unless more of the working class rises up by some means to protest the unjust actions of our leaders.
If you would like information on where to send donations to help the humane society workers and/or other labour conflicts I post about please let me know in the comments section.
Same is true in education. Right now, in Connecticut, there is a move in education reform headed up by Governor Malloy to trend towards Charter Schools in order punish not some, but all teachers, on the public's payroll and instill a system headed up by his cronies and their friends in the vetting process.
Why does this matter? Because it very easily happen to you. Let me explain.
In our first example, I'm going to cite the Lincoln County Humane Society in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Workers there know that budgets are generally tight when it comes to helping our animal friends, yet as a publicy funded organization, they are asking for the employer to reconsider a 15% wage cut! Think about what you make then what would happen if your paycheck was cut by 15%, that's the amount of FICA out of a paycheck in the USA for some people.
As part of the bargaining process, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 1287 is arguing the idea that the Human Society can't afford Health Benefits, among other things, and that the Union makes to many demands on them while they always operate in a deficit.
Yet, according to sources, there is a credible rumour that the employer is going to bus in SCABS and hiring a Private Investigator to spy on the picket lines. This costs a considerable amount of money, money a organization in dire straights can't afford. Volunteers and Staff continually cross the picket line in pure disrespect for their fellow workers at the same time.
Back here in the USA, Governor Malloy is, among other things, attacking those who educate our children by subjecting them to political harassment.
As reported by fellow blogger Jonathan Pelto, Connecticut's teachers and their bargaining unit are unfairly being depicted as the sole reason the education system is unfair and inequitable. Nevermind the fact that cuts to school budgets continually get made, teachers and support staff have been asked to give up parts of their contract to "take one for the team" (which they did, and so did the Universities as well) and teachers are actually considering doing away with their tenure system, a system designed to retain teachers for their careers.
The last part most people have agreed, in general, needs to change, but when your class sizes are 30-40 students at any given time, what else does the public want from you except your soul?
This attack on our Labour force, those who did not cause the crisis we are in, will be a top topic of mine over the life of this blog. Trains will not run on time and jobs will not be good paying and healthy unless more of the working class rises up by some means to protest the unjust actions of our leaders.
If you would like information on where to send donations to help the humane society workers and/or other labour conflicts I post about please let me know in the comments section.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Happiness Indicators and the Economy
Several Think Tanks, including the CATO Institute, have over the past few years began to explore "Happiness," what exactly it is, what makes people happy, what it does for our health and how it affects the world economy.
The Economist Magazine has come out with a more recent snapshot of Happiness in the world and, most specifically, how it reflects the world economy. Their realization is that despite the current economic doom and gloom, people are generally much happier individuals in the poorest nations of the world and happiness takes a fall onward.
The Economist gives a few explanations on how to read their findings, such as what makes people happy in one part of the world does not necessarily ring true elsewhere (being a self-reported survey method of research) and that those who live in "developing nations" do not generally share the same level of pessimism those of us rich folks have when the DOW plunges 2 points.
The article does not go into much more detail than to report the findings and allow you to think things over for yourself. My initial reaction was that no matter how a person decides to look at happiness and what it means to them, happiness is happiness and that's a good thing. If someone is in a good mood over a period of time they are generally more likely to spend, participate more in the economy and local communities and encourage others to do the same.
Look around your community, what would you find are indicators of happiness, in fact what makes you happy? I would love to know, leave your comments below and I'll compile them and tell you all at a later date how your responses rack up to those elites with the PhDs and their findings.
The Economist Magazine has come out with a more recent snapshot of Happiness in the world and, most specifically, how it reflects the world economy. Their realization is that despite the current economic doom and gloom, people are generally much happier individuals in the poorest nations of the world and happiness takes a fall onward.
The Economist gives a few explanations on how to read their findings, such as what makes people happy in one part of the world does not necessarily ring true elsewhere (being a self-reported survey method of research) and that those who live in "developing nations" do not generally share the same level of pessimism those of us rich folks have when the DOW plunges 2 points.
The article does not go into much more detail than to report the findings and allow you to think things over for yourself. My initial reaction was that no matter how a person decides to look at happiness and what it means to them, happiness is happiness and that's a good thing. If someone is in a good mood over a period of time they are generally more likely to spend, participate more in the economy and local communities and encourage others to do the same.
Look around your community, what would you find are indicators of happiness, in fact what makes you happy? I would love to know, leave your comments below and I'll compile them and tell you all at a later date how your responses rack up to those elites with the PhDs and their findings.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Are Most Markets Saturated?
I was going to take the rest of the day to sit back, read the news, catch up on a few things, and clear my head before posting again, but then I came across this article from MSNBC.com about start-up airlines. Yes, I had the same thought, "they do exist?!?!" One could almost wonder if they saw an alien or something.
http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/23/10469971-startup-airlines-face-uphill-battle-to-get-off-ground
My thought on this is that as much as airlines are fantastic, as other transportation modes, of most importance for our concerns should be placed on public transit and less emphasis on private modes of transport.
On the private end of this Robert Mann of R.W. Mann & Co. brings up this point and he said it better than I could:
http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/23/10469971-startup-airlines-face-uphill-battle-to-get-off-ground
My thought on this is that as much as airlines are fantastic, as other transportation modes, of most importance for our concerns should be placed on public transit and less emphasis on private modes of transport.
On the private end of this Robert Mann of R.W. Mann & Co. brings up this point and he said it better than I could:
The market periodically sees new entrants who truly believe they have a
better mousetrap, but the ability to differentiate yourself against the incumbent
airlines is very difficult.
With so many players in the field, is it still possible to start up and airline and survive? There are routes in this country, and elsewhere, to remote locations that would prove hard or even inaccessible at best to get to especially in an emergency. State and Federal agencies know this and already use private aircraft to get to these types of areas. Then again, if places such as those are so remote why would anyone else consider a market demand for those types of airlines?
Then again, places such as Worcester Airport, a small regional airport in Massachusetts, could use the potential traffic that could result from such ventures. Currently, one small airline runs out of there to Orlando, FL quite often and is a cheaper alternative to flying out of Bradley International in Connecticut or Logan in Boston. There are routes available most airlines don't fly to and there seems to be interest in locales with small airports people would like to fly to without the need to charter a jet.
But my argument for public transit still reigns true for me. The economic and environmental cost of private transportation is profound and evidence exists to suggest that public transit, and public services in general are cheaper in the long run and being run publicly, the chance of waste and environmental harm are more closely observed and regulated to make sure that the chances of those things happening is lessened by a considerable extent.
Combs is starting, with the first provider being Comcast, "Revolt TV", essentially a response to the demise I think of as the original MTV and in another part inspiration from people such as Oprah who have started their own channels as well.
Is this another experiment in degrading popular culture? I'm not entirely sure. Combs is quite successful in his own right in music and in the clothing industries; exploring new options is nothing new for him.
His political views as well are possibly another driver for his need to start his own channel. Combs has been on the offensive when it comes to voting drives and getting out the vote (recall his "Vote or Die" campaign).
Will his venture expand? We'll have to see
Getting Started, at least here anyway
This looks, and sounds, totally redundant, yet it seems everyone these days is writing a blog or four for the simple task of making themselves heard, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
I've started this blog with the following intentions and goals in mind:
1) Envision and write about an ideal world I think most of us want
2) Enable others who want to share their blog posts or ideas on a platform such as this
Am I looking to create a movement? Not really, I already belong to the Labor Movement and the Student Movement but if this results in something, such as destroying the "Tea Party", then that might bring me some happiness :-)
Give me a little time, I'll be posting a few more things here today and throughout the life of this blog. If anyone wishes to participate let me know, you are more than welcome.
I've started this blog with the following intentions and goals in mind:
1) Envision and write about an ideal world I think most of us want
2) Enable others who want to share their blog posts or ideas on a platform such as this
Am I looking to create a movement? Not really, I already belong to the Labor Movement and the Student Movement but if this results in something, such as destroying the "Tea Party", then that might bring me some happiness :-)
Give me a little time, I'll be posting a few more things here today and throughout the life of this blog. If anyone wishes to participate let me know, you are more than welcome.
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