Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
January 5, 2013
from Dissent magazine:
Unemployment Numbers: The Long View
By Colin Gordon - January 4, 2013
The December U.S. jobs report offered little to cheer about. The country counted 155,000 new non-farm jobs in the last month of 2012, a rate of growth that echoed the average monthly job gain for the last year (about 153,000). Much of the early coverage was tinged with a sense of relief. The fiscal cliff noise did not deter hiring. The post-Sandy devastation in New York and New Jersey did not drag down the national numbers. The economy was finally showing “steady” growth.
But one step back from the monthly scoreboard-watching, the picture is not nearly as reassuring.
Measured against the trajectory of all other postwar recessions (see graphic below), the current downturn is deeper and longer—by an impressive margin—than any that preceded it. Before 1980, the job market never took longer than two years to return to its pre-recession levels. The recession of 1981 and 1990 pushed this out into the thirty month range. It took four years to struggle back to the surface after the 2001 recession. The current recession is over five years old and counting. If we continue to add jobs at the 2012 monthly rate, we will be underwater for about twenty-six more months.
.......(snip).......
Finally, the raw jobs numbers are silent as to the quality of the jobs being added. We continue to lose public sector jobs, and while private sector wages inched up in December, that increase still lagged behind the inflation rate. “Recovery” job growth is concentrated in sectors marked by low wages and meager job-based benefits. The job numbers may be “steady,” but the recession is still very much with us. The jobs deficit is substantial. And the goods jobs deficit is even worse. ................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/unemployment-numbers-the-long-view
Unemployment Numbers: The Long View
from Dissent magazine:
Unemployment Numbers: The Long View
By Colin Gordon - January 4, 2013
The December U.S. jobs report offered little to cheer about. The country counted 155,000 new non-farm jobs in the last month of 2012, a rate of growth that echoed the average monthly job gain for the last year (about 153,000). Much of the early coverage was tinged with a sense of relief. The fiscal cliff noise did not deter hiring. The post-Sandy devastation in New York and New Jersey did not drag down the national numbers. The economy was finally showing “steady” growth.
But one step back from the monthly scoreboard-watching, the picture is not nearly as reassuring.
Measured against the trajectory of all other postwar recessions (see graphic below), the current downturn is deeper and longer—by an impressive margin—than any that preceded it. Before 1980, the job market never took longer than two years to return to its pre-recession levels. The recession of 1981 and 1990 pushed this out into the thirty month range. It took four years to struggle back to the surface after the 2001 recession. The current recession is over five years old and counting. If we continue to add jobs at the 2012 monthly rate, we will be underwater for about twenty-six more months.
.......(snip).......
Finally, the raw jobs numbers are silent as to the quality of the jobs being added. We continue to lose public sector jobs, and while private sector wages inched up in December, that increase still lagged behind the inflation rate. “Recovery” job growth is concentrated in sectors marked by low wages and meager job-based benefits. The job numbers may be “steady,” but the recession is still very much with us. The jobs deficit is substantial. And the goods jobs deficit is even worse. ................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/unemployment-numbers-the-long-view
January 5, 2013
http://vimeo.com/56742221
Bill Moyers Essay: The Gun Lobby’s Firepower
January 4, 2013
Even as sadness turns to outrage over the Newtown tragedy, and powerful coalitions of leaders and celebrities speak out, those who produce, push, and promote guns continue unfazed and unabated. In this broadcast essay, Bill reports on how the NRA and gun merchants continue to strong-arm Congress and state legislatures into keeping any and all discussion of sensible gun control off the table.
http://billmoyers.com/segment/bill-moyers-essay-the-gun-lobbys-firepower/
Bill Moyers Essay: The Gun Lobby’s Firepower
http://vimeo.com/56742221
Bill Moyers Essay: The Gun Lobby’s Firepower
January 4, 2013
Even as sadness turns to outrage over the Newtown tragedy, and powerful coalitions of leaders and celebrities speak out, those who produce, push, and promote guns continue unfazed and unabated. In this broadcast essay, Bill reports on how the NRA and gun merchants continue to strong-arm Congress and state legislatures into keeping any and all discussion of sensible gun control off the table.
http://billmoyers.com/segment/bill-moyers-essay-the-gun-lobbys-firepower/
January 5, 2013
AlterNet / By Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky: The Gravest Threat to World Peace
Americans are kept in the dark about consequences of a possible nuclear-armed Mideast, and the US's potential role.
January 4, 2013 |
Reporting on the final U.S. presidential campaign debate, on foreign policy, The Wall Street Journal observed that "the only country mentioned more (than Israel) was Iran, which is seen by most nations in the Middle East as the gravest security threat to the region."
The two candidates agreed that a nuclear Iran is the gravest threat to the region, if not the world, as Romney explicitly maintained, reiterating a conventional view.
On Israel, the candidates vied in declaring their devotion to it, but Israeli officials were nevertheless unsatisfied. They had "hoped for more 'aggressive' language from Mr. Romney," according to the reporters. It was not enough that Romney demanded that Iran not be permitted to "reach a point of nuclear capability."
Arabs were dissatisfied too, because Arab fears about Iran were "debated through the lens of Israeli security instead of the region's," while Arab concerns were largely ignored – again the conventional treatment. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/world/noam-chomsky-gravest-threat-world-peace
Noam Chomsky on The Gravest Threat to World Peace
AlterNet / By Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky: The Gravest Threat to World Peace
Americans are kept in the dark about consequences of a possible nuclear-armed Mideast, and the US's potential role.
January 4, 2013 |
Reporting on the final U.S. presidential campaign debate, on foreign policy, The Wall Street Journal observed that "the only country mentioned more (than Israel) was Iran, which is seen by most nations in the Middle East as the gravest security threat to the region."
The two candidates agreed that a nuclear Iran is the gravest threat to the region, if not the world, as Romney explicitly maintained, reiterating a conventional view.
On Israel, the candidates vied in declaring their devotion to it, but Israeli officials were nevertheless unsatisfied. They had "hoped for more 'aggressive' language from Mr. Romney," according to the reporters. It was not enough that Romney demanded that Iran not be permitted to "reach a point of nuclear capability."
Arabs were dissatisfied too, because Arab fears about Iran were "debated through the lens of Israeli security instead of the region's," while Arab concerns were largely ignored – again the conventional treatment. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/world/noam-chomsky-gravest-threat-world-peace
January 5, 2013
from Grist:
Climate change may ruin Lake Tahoe’s beautiful blueness
By Philip Bump
Lake Tahoe is pretty. The water is clear; the mountains surrounding it are beautiful. For half a century, the environmental group Keep Tahoe Blue has fought to preserve the region’s environmental sanctity, primarily by putting bumper stickers on Volvos, as far as I can tell.
Turns out that those Volvos are doing more harm than good. From the Santa Cruz Sentinel:
Without that mixture, oxygen doesn’t penetrate the lake, changing its chemistry. So long clarity. So long blue. ......................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://grist.org/news/climate-change-may-ruin-lake-tahoes-beautiful-blueness/
Climate change may ruin Lake Tahoe’s beautiful blueness
from Grist:
Climate change may ruin Lake Tahoe’s beautiful blueness
By Philip Bump
Lake Tahoe is pretty. The water is clear; the mountains surrounding it are beautiful. For half a century, the environmental group Keep Tahoe Blue has fought to preserve the region’s environmental sanctity, primarily by putting bumper stickers on Volvos, as far as I can tell.
Turns out that those Volvos are doing more harm than good. From the Santa Cruz Sentinel:
Climate change could profoundly affect the Tahoe area, scientists say, taking the snow out of the mountains and the blue out of the water. …
New climate models show that in a worst-case scenario average temperatures in the Tahoe area could rise as much as 9 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century. That’s equivalent to moving Lake Tahoe from its current elevation of 6,200 feet above sea level to 3,700 feet, climate scientists report in a special January issue of the journal Climatic Change. That’s as high as the peak of Contra Costa County’s Mount Diablo, which gets only an inch of snow a year. …
It’s not just the mountains that would look different in a warmer climate, according to Climatic Change. The worst-case scenarios also predict a devastating ecological collapse of the lake and loss of its signature clarity and blue color.
Many lakes undergo a process every year, or every few years, that keeps the lake water well-mixed. As water temperature changes through the seasons, it creates circulation in the lake. The warm water on top of the lake in summer cools off in the fall and sinks, mixing with cold deep water. In a warmer climate, the surface water won’t cool off enough to mix with deeper water.
Without that mixture, oxygen doesn’t penetrate the lake, changing its chemistry. So long clarity. So long blue. ......................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://grist.org/news/climate-change-may-ruin-lake-tahoes-beautiful-blueness/
January 5, 2013
from truthdig:
The Natural Gas Bubble
Posted on Jan 4, 2013
By Thomas Hedges
The natural gas industry is waging an aggressive public relations campaign to bolster investor confidence, despite evidence showing that shale gas is an unreliable resource and that the production process releases large amounts of methane into the atmosphere. Although hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) is in the media’s hot seat, the prospect of a drilling bubble coupled with the underreported problem of methane leakage may be the most destructive qualities of natural gas in the United States.
From commissioning false field reports to flooding television with commercials, natural gas companies are convincing Americans that gas will save the U.S. market; it will not.
The public relations push is an effort to revive a campaign that started in 2006 and was subsequently killed when the economic crisis hit two years later. Natural gas companies tripled the number of existing wells in those two years, hoping that a glut would attract a large consumer base before raising the prices back up again. Financial companies pumped billions of dollars into the industry, only to see it crumble.
As time passes, data on natural gas production, which goes back only a few years, indicate that shale gas is an unreliable energy source. Reserves are declining up to 70 percent per year. Where corporate reports show that decline leveling off through the use of theoretical models, figures point to an unrelenting decline that predicts the reserves will dry up in a few years. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_natural_gas_bubble_20130104/
The Natural Gas Bubble
from truthdig:
The Natural Gas Bubble
Posted on Jan 4, 2013
By Thomas Hedges
The natural gas industry is waging an aggressive public relations campaign to bolster investor confidence, despite evidence showing that shale gas is an unreliable resource and that the production process releases large amounts of methane into the atmosphere. Although hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) is in the media’s hot seat, the prospect of a drilling bubble coupled with the underreported problem of methane leakage may be the most destructive qualities of natural gas in the United States.
From commissioning false field reports to flooding television with commercials, natural gas companies are convincing Americans that gas will save the U.S. market; it will not.
The public relations push is an effort to revive a campaign that started in 2006 and was subsequently killed when the economic crisis hit two years later. Natural gas companies tripled the number of existing wells in those two years, hoping that a glut would attract a large consumer base before raising the prices back up again. Financial companies pumped billions of dollars into the industry, only to see it crumble.
As time passes, data on natural gas production, which goes back only a few years, indicate that shale gas is an unreliable energy source. Reserves are declining up to 70 percent per year. Where corporate reports show that decline leveling off through the use of theoretical models, figures point to an unrelenting decline that predicts the reserves will dry up in a few years. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_natural_gas_bubble_20130104/
January 5, 2013
The Bible and Torah have long been used at swearing-in ceremonies for members of Congress and have been joined by the Quran in more recent years, but this week marked the first time the Bhagavad Gita was used.
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu to join either chamber of Congress, used the sacred text from her faith in a ceremonial swearing-in conducted by Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio).
"I chose to take the oath of office with my personal copy of the Bhagavad-Gita because its teachings have inspired me to strive to be a servant-leader, dedicating my life in the service of others and to my country," said Gabbard, who served in the Iraq War, after the swearing-in. "My Gita has been a tremendous source of inner peace and strength through many tough challenges in life, including being in the midst of death and turmoil while serving our country in the Middle East."
While no religious ceremony is legally required for those elected to Congress and the Senate, many choose to take oaths of office over Christian and Jewish texts, and Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, a Muslim, took his oath over a Quran. But Gabbard's choice of text is symbolic of growing religious diversity of Congress. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/04/tulsi-gabbard-hindu-bhagavad-gita-swearing-in_n_2410078.html
Tulsi Gabbard, First Hindu In Congress, Uses Bhagavad Gita At Swearing-In
The Bible and Torah have long been used at swearing-in ceremonies for members of Congress and have been joined by the Quran in more recent years, but this week marked the first time the Bhagavad Gita was used.
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu to join either chamber of Congress, used the sacred text from her faith in a ceremonial swearing-in conducted by Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio).
"I chose to take the oath of office with my personal copy of the Bhagavad-Gita because its teachings have inspired me to strive to be a servant-leader, dedicating my life in the service of others and to my country," said Gabbard, who served in the Iraq War, after the swearing-in. "My Gita has been a tremendous source of inner peace and strength through many tough challenges in life, including being in the midst of death and turmoil while serving our country in the Middle East."
While no religious ceremony is legally required for those elected to Congress and the Senate, many choose to take oaths of office over Christian and Jewish texts, and Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, a Muslim, took his oath over a Quran. But Gabbard's choice of text is symbolic of growing religious diversity of Congress. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/04/tulsi-gabbard-hindu-bhagavad-gita-swearing-in_n_2410078.html
January 5, 2013
Martina !!!!
Martina Navratilova.....lefty tweeter
I was on the espn tennis home page, checking out some stories in advance of the upcoming Australian Open. They run various and sundry tweets from ESPN's tennis columnists, players and other people associated with the sport. Surprisingly, they displayed Martina's tweets, none of which had anything to do with tennis:
http://espn.go.com/tennis/
6h
Martina Navratilova ✔ @Martina
Grover Norquist On Fiscal Cliff Deal: 'I'm Happy'-well, ain't that a peach! It's what we live 4- to make Grover happy! http://huff.to/134cDf1
Show Summary
6h
Martina Navratilova ✔ @Martina
HERE WE GO AGAIN: Legislators Introduce Abortion Bills- you guys lost the election- stop taking it out on women! http://huff.to/Xs0akR
Show Summary
6h
Martina Navratilova ✔ @Martina
WATCH: Ann Coulter LOSES It- is Coulter becoming unhinged or was she ever "hinged"? http://huff.to/ZZYQHE
Martina !!!!
January 5, 2013
WASHINGTON -- The White House did not inform a key Senate backer of whistleblower protections ahead of time that President Barack Obama would issue a signing statement circumventing those provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013, according to the senator's office.
The protections for federal government contractors had been pushed by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) during the drafting of the NDAA over the last several months. After Obama signed the bill into law on Wednesday, he issued a signing statement objecting to those sections without having alerted McCaskill, her office told The Huffington Post.
The signing statement is yet another chapter in the president's ongoing clash with whistleblower advocates. Obama, who has come under fire for his administration's aggressive prosecution of leak cases, issued the statement despite the fact that the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence had already removed from the bill protections for contractors working in the intelligence community.
The whistleblower language backed by McCaskill and Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) was designed to extend protections to 12 million employees of federal contractors if they disclosed information they reasonably believed would expose illegality, gross waste or gross mismanagement within the federal procurement system. The nonprofit Government Accountability Project, which lobbied for the measures, said they would apply to Defense Department contractors, subcontractors and grant recipients permanently and to all civilian federal agency contractors under a four-year pilot program. .............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/04/obama-whistleblower-protections-claire-mccaskill_n_2403248.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009
White House Objects To Whistleblower Protections In NDAA, Surprising Key Backer
WASHINGTON -- The White House did not inform a key Senate backer of whistleblower protections ahead of time that President Barack Obama would issue a signing statement circumventing those provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013, according to the senator's office.
The protections for federal government contractors had been pushed by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) during the drafting of the NDAA over the last several months. After Obama signed the bill into law on Wednesday, he issued a signing statement objecting to those sections without having alerted McCaskill, her office told The Huffington Post.
The signing statement is yet another chapter in the president's ongoing clash with whistleblower advocates. Obama, who has come under fire for his administration's aggressive prosecution of leak cases, issued the statement despite the fact that the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence had already removed from the bill protections for contractors working in the intelligence community.
The whistleblower language backed by McCaskill and Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) was designed to extend protections to 12 million employees of federal contractors if they disclosed information they reasonably believed would expose illegality, gross waste or gross mismanagement within the federal procurement system. The nonprofit Government Accountability Project, which lobbied for the measures, said they would apply to Defense Department contractors, subcontractors and grant recipients permanently and to all civilian federal agency contractors under a four-year pilot program. .............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/04/obama-whistleblower-protections-claire-mccaskill_n_2403248.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009
January 5, 2013
AlterNet / By Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky: The Gravest Threat to World Peace
Americans are kept in the dark about consequences of a possible nuclear-armed Mideast, and the US's potential role.
January 4, 2013 |
Reporting on the final U.S. presidential campaign debate, on foreign policy, The Wall Street Journal observed that "the only country mentioned more (than Israel) was Iran, which is seen by most nations in the Middle East as the gravest security threat to the region."
The two candidates agreed that a nuclear Iran is the gravest threat to the region, if not the world, as Romney explicitly maintained, reiterating a conventional view.
On Israel, the candidates vied in declaring their devotion to it, but Israeli officials were nevertheless unsatisfied. They had "hoped for more 'aggressive' language from Mr. Romney," according to the reporters. It was not enough that Romney demanded that Iran not be permitted to "reach a point of nuclear capability."
Arabs were dissatisfied too, because Arab fears about Iran were "debated through the lens of Israeli security instead of the region's," while Arab concerns were largely ignored – again the conventional treatment. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/world/noam-chomsky-gravest-threat-world-peace
Noam Chomsky on The Gravest Threat to World Peace
AlterNet / By Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky: The Gravest Threat to World Peace
Americans are kept in the dark about consequences of a possible nuclear-armed Mideast, and the US's potential role.
January 4, 2013 |
Reporting on the final U.S. presidential campaign debate, on foreign policy, The Wall Street Journal observed that "the only country mentioned more (than Israel) was Iran, which is seen by most nations in the Middle East as the gravest security threat to the region."
The two candidates agreed that a nuclear Iran is the gravest threat to the region, if not the world, as Romney explicitly maintained, reiterating a conventional view.
On Israel, the candidates vied in declaring their devotion to it, but Israeli officials were nevertheless unsatisfied. They had "hoped for more 'aggressive' language from Mr. Romney," according to the reporters. It was not enough that Romney demanded that Iran not be permitted to "reach a point of nuclear capability."
Arabs were dissatisfied too, because Arab fears about Iran were "debated through the lens of Israeli security instead of the region's," while Arab concerns were largely ignored – again the conventional treatment. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/world/noam-chomsky-gravest-threat-world-peace
January 4, 2013
OtherWords / By Donald Kaul
How a Bit of Satire Earned Me Round-the-Clock Abuse and Threats of Violence from Gun-Nuts
I may now be closer to believing the NRA is an organization of terrorists.
January 4, 2013 |
I think I hit a nerve.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a thoughtful, well-reasoned column suggesting ways to cut down on gun violence in our ever more violent society. It proposed, among other things:
* Repealing the Second Amendment and with it the right to buy assault weapons at will.
* Declaring the National Rifle Association a terrorist organization and making membership illegal.
* Confiscating all assault, semi-automatic, and other military-style weapons designed to kill large numbers of people very quickly.
As I said, thoughtful, well reasoned.
I also proposed, satirically and more in sorrow than in anger, tying House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to the back of a pickup truck and dragging them around until they agreed to exert some control over guns.
Well, you would have thought I’d suggesting selling Sarah Palin to the Taliban. The Internet exploded in outrage and emails by the hundreds — hundreds! — came flooding in. My phone started ringing incessantly too. .............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/how-bit-satire-earned-me-round-clock-abuse-and-threats-violence-gun-nuts
Donald Kaul: How a Bit of Satire Earned Me Round-the-Clock Abuse & Threats of Violence from Gun Nuts
OtherWords / By Donald Kaul
How a Bit of Satire Earned Me Round-the-Clock Abuse and Threats of Violence from Gun-Nuts
I may now be closer to believing the NRA is an organization of terrorists.
January 4, 2013 |
I think I hit a nerve.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a thoughtful, well-reasoned column suggesting ways to cut down on gun violence in our ever more violent society. It proposed, among other things:
* Repealing the Second Amendment and with it the right to buy assault weapons at will.
* Declaring the National Rifle Association a terrorist organization and making membership illegal.
* Confiscating all assault, semi-automatic, and other military-style weapons designed to kill large numbers of people very quickly.
As I said, thoughtful, well reasoned.
I also proposed, satirically and more in sorrow than in anger, tying House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to the back of a pickup truck and dragging them around until they agreed to exert some control over guns.
Well, you would have thought I’d suggesting selling Sarah Palin to the Taliban. The Internet exploded in outrage and emails by the hundreds — hundreds! — came flooding in. My phone started ringing incessantly too. .............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/how-bit-satire-earned-me-round-clock-abuse-and-threats-violence-gun-nuts
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit, MI
Member since: Fri Oct 29, 2004, 12:18 AM
Number of posts: 77,067
