Almost here...

Yesterday it snowed, but it was the kind of snow that doesn't stick. This afternoon, it started snowing again. And it hasn't stopped yet. It's really piling up outside. And for the third night in a row, I have no heat. Arrggghhh. Needless to say, work has been one of the levels of hell for two days now. And I have to be there at 6:45am tomorrow (Sunday). It's going to be a long walk and a long day. Monday, on Halloween, I have to work until 9pm. Ggggrrrr. I'd been thinking of doing it up a bit. I was going to cover the two glass doors with garbage bags, with either eyes, or a pumpkin face, cut out. With the lights on, it would look great. I had even spent a little bit of money on treats, just in case anybody came up the stairs. Ah, well. So it goes.

   

Just sayin'

There was an interesting tidbit in the news yesterday. Here's the opening lines:

-------------------

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The National Security Agency, a secretive arm of the U.S. military, has begun providing Wall Street banks with intelligence on foreign hackers, a sign of growing U.S. fears of financial sabotage.


The assistance from the agency that conducts electronic spying overseas is part of an effort by American banks and other financial firms to get help from the U.S. military and private defense contractors to fend off cyber attacks, according to interviews with U.S. officials, security experts and defense industry executives.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has also warned banks of particular threats amid concerns that hackers could potentially exploit security vulnerabilities to wreak havoc across global markets and cause economic mayhem.
 
-------------------


So, basically, the military is working with the banks. Kind of makes one wonder what else they're up to. Or, what they're really afraid of. Or, what they are getting ready for...

Just more scary thoughts as Halloween approaches.



Betty Grable



A little favour to ask...

(Sigh). Yesterday I got "spoken to" at work again. A customer had asked when the minimum to not have to sign a debit or credit card had gone up to $65.00. I answered and added a comment that I considered it sad that the bank card companies felt that $65.00 was too little to worry about. I thought nothing more of it until I was taken aside just before the end of my shift. My boss wanted to ask a 'favour' of me. (Translated, it means don't do it again, and it's not really a request.) Along with that comment, it was mentioned that the bank card companies are our clients and should be treated with respect; and that tough times were being had by everyone - not just me. That last part was interesting. I hadn't referred to my financial condition. Well, I had earlier when I met with the store's personnel officer - I wanted to cancel my health insurance as it will put about $250.00 a month in my pocket (includes going off meds). I was told that I can't get out of my policy or stop paying my premiums until  the start of the new year. I did say that that wasn't quite what I wanted to hear. (I do nothing to cancel the policy - the company is switching carriers again, all I have to do is not sign up.) I can only assume that the personnel person repeated the story to my boss. This is the same personnel person with whom I had the the discussion about my minimum hours and my part time level. If she mentioned my involvement with her "manager's meeting reminder", that sure would explain why I suddenly got three night time shifts, one until 9pm. I got another till 9pm this week. I have to stop thinking like this. After all, they "don't retaliate". Oh, I was also warned not to discuss politics at all. Free speech is great - for those who can afford it.

  

Cast of the new Tim Burton movie "Dark Shadows", starring Johnny Depp (center) as Barnabas Collins.



Is that card upside down, or...?

 

 

Old Terror in New Buildings

Okay, there is something bothering me. Mixed in with the speculations and general discussions of the situation out at Melrose Terrace is a statement made about a year ago by the Chair of the Selectboard to the effect that Brattleboro has too much Public Housing. He's against it. Several years ago, an older woman of my acquaintance won election to the Selectboard. She sure shook 'em up a bit. At any rate, yesterday morning we were having a discussion about Melrose Terrace. When I mentioned the Selectman's position, she surprised me by stating most firmly that Brattleboro did indeed have too much subsidized housing.  I think my jaw actually bounced on my chest (considering that she herself had benefited from so many health and housing programs). The discussion was interrupted and discontinued at that point (after all, I was at work).  What I want to know is, why do people see subsidized housing as a negative thing? The very words, rolled over on the tongue, drip with pejorative. Why is there such a negative view of subsidized housing? No one ever says there are too many people of means. There aren't too many mansions. There aren't too many non-profits, after all, where else would the children of the people of means find work?

No one ever asks why we need so much subsidized housing. And in that answer, no one ever says the rents are too high or that the average paycheck is too low. What this town has is landlords who want too much money. I don't doubt that quite a few are trust-fund babies who inherited Aunt Norma's little manse, and found that they wouldn't have to work as long as they got a high rent for the apartments they'll carve out of it. Their good fortune doesn't allow for the thought that they are charging too much for the rent. That's one of the primary reasons there is subsidized housing - every day folks here can't afford what is being charged. Too much subsidized housing a problem? Try paying a fair wage.Too much subsidized housing still a problem? Find and recruit employers who can offer enough good jobs to replace those lost over the past several years. Stop blaming the people who need subsidized housing and blame yourselves. The Selectboard let all those jobs get away. Accept the blame already. What did You do to change things? You threw how many parties for politicians versus how many for 'charity'? Better watch that or you'll end up spending so much that you'll have to raise the rents. Get over your elitist dreams and accept some blame.

  

You, Mr. Non-Profit, you want us to pay how much for a garbage bag to appease your self interests and your failure to properly fund such services as street cleaning, trash and recycling collection? If many of you had done your jobs successfully, more people would be able to pay taxes for services. Okay, you can stop me any time now...

   

Catching up 23rd of October 2011

Well now, every now and then you (the plural 'all of you' kind of 'you', but really meaning me, but it would seem too egotistical if I were to write that) find stuff. Things so wonderful that they need to be shared. I certainly hope you don't take this as a reflection of my trying to earn praise or please my daddy. No, this is just sharing because I damn well want to.

So, while Austanspace is off fomenting mushroom uprisings (I hear they are in a rage over their suite...), I was thinking that I had a bunch of garphics and what nots to to put up that I hadn't gotten to yet, and so, ladies and gentlemans without further adooo, ...

It's all my own fault.

It's been, what, 11 days since I last posted? I've been off on vacation to Hell. I couldn't afford it, of course, but I had to go somewhere nice long enough to recharge and remember that there -is- something better than my current situation in life. As potential Presidential Candidate Herman Cain has been saying....

Ah, ha. See there? All my problems are my own fault. No matter how anarchistic, progressive, or liberal one is, if ya grew up in a Republican family in the age of Eisenhower, this is your eternal truth. The problem is I, me, my, mine. The world is my oyster and I'm allergic. I'll have to stop surfing the web and go out there and get me a better job, yahoo. I ain't lookin' fer no bailout that'll make you poor rich bastard son-of-a-bitches pay the kind of taxes I do, no sirree, Bob. Heck, I make enough to eat meat every now and again. I'm not 'plannin'.

Oh, by the way, my mania for collecting pics of old WPA posters and art has been turning up a few real goodies. The "W.P.A." stood for "Works Progress Administration". It was one of Roosevelt's policies during the depression to get people back into jobs. The government paid for the unemployed to work building roads, damns, and etc. - and artists to make public art. This one was called "The Lord Provides":

 and this little gem seems topical, if a bit faded. Of course, government doesn't pay for education much anymore. Building houses, fixing roads, educating people into trying for a better position in life - these ideas may have paved a way for the great economic boom of the 50's and 60's but they're old hat now.

Which reminds me, have I posted this one yet?

Ah, yes, move on, move on.

Ya gotta have money to live here.

Living here has become more and more problematic as the poor and the non-rich old have been targeted to be pushed out.

Which reminds me, I got a postcard from Laura over at Austanspace while I was away. She's still up in Maine where a friend has taken her in until her home is approved for human habitation. You wouldn't believe the shenanigans going on over these Melrose apartments where she live(s)(d). The town seems intent on obstructing the tenants return, especially after the affordable housing folk spent a ton of money to fix them up after the hurricane (kill two birds with one stone, anyone)? It looks like what they really want is to get rid of  subsidized housing. Those folks don't have the money to support the antiques dealers, art dealers, and jewelers in town. I wonder how they'll get rid of the trailer parks (i.e. affordable housing for the folks who used to have the good jobs that closed or moved away)?

O my gosh, lookit the time. I gotta get off to goin' workin' - winter's coming and around here it does get a mite cold. The Baptist Church sold off its signed Tiffany window to get their certificate of occupancy for having their overflow shelter where the homeless can sleep overnight when it's below freezin'. I'm not sure if I'll be there or not. If I cancell my health insurance, I'll have enough to pay my bills so maybe I'll be able to stay in my studio apratment.

The thing I keep wond'rin' about is what are they going to do with those of us who can't pay our bills? (Which in the United States of America seems to be the biggest sin you can commit. Just look around, bankers almost never go to jail.) We certainly can't stay here, it seems. Nor can the elderly, nor can the disabled. Us folks just don't fit into the image the powers that be want for Brattleboro. Where are they gonna put those of us whom they tell to keep moving on, to just go away?

 

  

And the world goes 'round...

Whoa! did'ja see the headline and story in the New York Times?

Recession Officially Over, U.S. Incomes Kept Falling
By ROBERT PEAR

Published: October 9, 2011
--------------------------------------------------------------
Well, of course incomes kept - wait. Recession. Over? Wha?
I went on to read the first lines....
 
WASHINGTON — In a grim sign of the enduring nature of the economic slump, household income declined more in the two years after the recession ended than it did during the recession itself, new... scan down...  Between June 2009, when the recession officially ended, and June 2011, inflation-adjusted median household income fell 6.7 percent, to $49,909, according to a study...
 
STOP. The "Recession ended in 2009"?... "the average inflation-adjusted" STOP. We're admitting that there's inflation now?    "inflation-adjusted median household income fell 6.7 percent, to $49,909, according to a study." STOP. The average income is DOWN to $49,909.00? Who are these people and how do I identify them? So am I, suffering from the inability to acquire enough venture capitol to pay my most modest and basic bills, am I paying for this curse of not being "average"? (I think I'll flip my hair and mutter, "Oh, Dear, i am getting so confused...")
 

First off, did anyone remember that the recession had ended back in 2009? I had to go look that one up. Sure enough, there it was - the National Bureau of Economic Research had declared the Recession over in 2009. There was a bit of an explosion of commentary about it back then. The National Bureau of Economic Research is the outfit which calls the beginnings and ends of recessions.
 

Soooo, back to our day and its story. Here's a little interesting factoid referring to the study cited in the Times: "Gordon W. Green Jr., who wrote the report with John F. Coder, called the decline 'a significant reduction in the American standard of living'." Who, ummm, are they anyway? Well, it turns out that those two used to work for the U. S. Census Bureau. For 25 years.  They should know. Shouldn't they? So. Who funded their new report? (surf-surf-surf-did-did-dig-ta da!) Why, it was funded by our friends over at the National Bureau of Economic Research. The Bureau, as it turns out, doesn't really mean to imply a Federal connection. They are a private, non-profit economic think tank. They note that they have 16 Nobel Laureates for Economics on their staff. Oh, and they specialize in Behavioral Economics. I looked that one up, too. Here's a couple of that division's  most recent reports: Increasing Efficiency in the Indian Electric Power Industry. Race and Ethnicity in the Classroom. Decision making and Capital Allocation within Firms. And my two favorites: Leverage across Firms, Banks, and Countries, and the ever popular Deregulation and Consolidation Add Efficiency in U.S. Nuclear Power. Gee, there's a lot of parameters to economic research, huh?

 
And, just because I'm an irritable, grumpy bastard, I looked for the National Bureau of Economic Research's funding. Here's what's known: not much. All their money comes from foundations. The Rockefeller Foundation is a long time supporter.
 
Ah, the Rock. Why, they have money all over the place. Not long ago, it came out that the Rock was funding a World Health Organization project "Research on the Development of Methods of Fertility Regulation", which included research into both “injectable Immunocontraceptives” and implantable ones. Uh, huh. And guess what? The Rock has been funding work on anti-fertility since back in the mid 1930's! And those modest guys didn't even make public mention of that until their annual report noted it in 1969! The Rock also funds Agricultural development (GMOs), which fits neatly into their support of population control and eugenics programs in universities.
 
Before I forget,one of  the National Bureau of Economic Research's major funders seems to be the Scaife Foundations. That's a group deal - 4 different family foundations all controlled by reclusive billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife. They fund the American Legislative Exchange Council which, after the 2010 midterms, boasted that 3 of 4 former state legislators elected to the Senate were Council Members. And 27 of the 42 new House members were too! ALEC works behind closed doors to encourage legislation to benefit  Corporate bottom lines. They are even so nice as to introduce and pass bills handed to them by the Corporations. Those bills do so much to undermine environmental regulations, deny climate change, undercut health care reform, defund unions, define redistricting goals,  extend prison sentences for the private prison industry, and so on and so forth. ALEC was instrumental in the "New Right" movement of the mid 1980's, when Donald Rumsfeld was ALECs chair of the business policy board. And they've been up to all kinds of things since then. For instance, they're tied in to the Heritage Foundation. And they've been working hard to change banking regulations in all 50 states. I think that the executive director of ALEC is still Kathleen Teague Rothschild. Oh, yeah, I should probably note that both Coca-cola and Koch Industries serve on the ALEC governing board.
 
 
That's a glimpse at who funded the study.
 
Aha moment: the release of this study's information publishes the week the Senate starts debate on the Jobs bill.

 
Other points in the study as mentioned in the NY Times article:
 
Two main forces appear to have held down pay: the number of people outside the labor force — neither working nor looking for work — has risen; and the hourly pay of employed people has failed to keep pace with inflation, as the prices of oil products and many foods have jumped. The average time a person who lost a job remains unemployed: 40.5 weeks. One reason pay has stagnated is that many people who lost their jobs in the recession — and remained out of work for months — have taken pay cuts in order to be hired again (an average 17% less).  For example, income, after adjustment for inflation, declined fairly substantially for households headed by people under age 62, but it rose 4.7 percent for those headed by people 65 to 74, many of whom are not in the labor force. The change was negligible for those 62 to 64.
 
Singles took a worse real income hit than families. Men living alone showed a bigger decline than women living alone.
 
A few other things not in the study which should be noted for those debating a jobs bill:
 

Income inequality is grinding down the middle class, increasing the ranks of the poor, and threatening to create a permanent underclass of able, willing but jobless people, a generation of lost opportunity. And even before the recession, the share of income held by the top 1% was 23.5% - at the time, the highest inequality measured since 1928. That inequality  has led to lower levels of educational attainment, poorer health and less public investment. It also skews political power, because policy almost invariably reflects the views of upper-income Americans versus those of lower-income Americans. The financial sector, with regulators and elected officials in collusion, inflated and profited from a credit bubble that burst, costing millions of Americans their jobs, incomes, savings and home equity. First they got bailed out, and then they got bonuses. And no one except Bernie Madoff has gone to jail or been forced to repay that money.

And bigwigs wonder why people are protesting?

And claim the the occupying "mob" has no message?

Not paying attention now, are we?

I doubt that many of them even know that they are privileged.

As the 82 year old whose pension and investments vanished forcing him back to work put it:

"Off with their heads!"

As things fall apart

Jesus H. Keyriced. October 9th? WTF? One of the more horrible times of the year is almost upon us, "The Holidays". Halloween is only days away, and Ron Paul and Michelle Whats-her-name are no longer media darlings and thus aren't around to scare the crap out of nice little democrat children everywhere. And the old folks. And the populace at large. House majority leader Eric Cantor is still spewing words that added up sure sound like hate to me - hatred of the principles of this country and its everyday people trying to keep to a moral code while getting ready to starve. Only he doesn't know it. He's not old enough to know what having rights is like. He doesn't remember when the people were sold the dream that all they really wanted was a nice big house with a mortgage, a big fancy car, and don't forget the 2.3 replacement child workers. Forget hope. And he has too much money to know what standing in a supermarket checkout line is like. He's never had to decide between rent or food + every thing else. Plus, tied as he is to the extreme religious right, he's never had the freedom of not worshipping. He's never really had free choice. Except maybe when he ran the family business while working in "real estate development". And we know what he chose. (oh, oh, I know, I know - a wife who is director of a bank!)

And thus the wolly bully spaketh to the crowd on the 7th of October in the fourth year of the great smiting:

“I am increasingly concerned about the growing mobs occupying Wall Street and other cities across our country... Believe it or not, some in this town have actually condoned the pitting of Americans against Americans...”

WHAT?

Did anybody ever teach that guy the word "hypocrisy"? Oh, wait, he's too young to have had a real education, isn't he?

Hmmm. Just when did anyone decide that people like him or the Fundabrainless crowd was running the country? Well, from what I can see, they did. Self proclaimed. With God on their side. Who believes , and/or agrees with all their nonsense? No global warming, or warming your houses in winter either. The evolutionary theory is wrong. No rights to your own body. No rights to equal pay, and yes, that means you women who should really be home birthing babies (in the cold).

So. The thing is this: he is leading a minority bullying their way into the playground. The people who didn't want to be bullied have fled Paris, as long as they could afford to. Those who tried to stand up to them were knocked down, spat upon, called vile names, and in general had their reputations besmirched to the point that they no longer comprise a threat to the bullies. No one will follow that lead - it's not just that others have seen what will happen (haven't they Senator Wellstone?) and backed off, it's that the bullies have destroyed the capacity for anyone to lead. The bullies use the media they own to throw mud pies at anything nice, or good. Earth's excrement covers just about everything these days - except for the gated communities and the occasional off in the woods hunting lodges with unfortunate names. Just two days ago, the not really the majority bully Eric Cantor tried to kick start the redefinition of the "occupy wallstreet" participants as a "mob". Oh, I have chills running up and down my spine now. Mobs get angry and take things into their own hands. Cantor is really telling the police and national guard to be ready to step in. He (and his Wall Street backers) fear the mob. As an 82 year old man I know who had to un-retire after his pension fund was snatched put it, "Off with their heads!." Yes, the mob has potential. Squirm you little bastard, Cantor. Flail around awhile, his disciples. What he doesn't know is that when push comes to shove, the crowd gets him. He won't be accepted at the hidden ranches. (Look at his last name.) And his really scared friends on Wall Street won't take him in - they're too used to hiring him and ordering him around than to elevate him to their level. See Mr. C? This is the world you and your friends made, and welcome to it.  It's the one the rest of us have had to live in for far too long now.

Hell, even little Brattleboro had an "Occupy the Common" on Friday. Starting at 12pm. Going to 3. Perfectly timed to avoid real working people, with enough time to go home before the tourists arrive and the lower to middle middle class workers get out. These wonderful women turn out, wearing their memory of hippy garb, wearing their green dresses, with green undies, with little green children, in their happy, green with envy little lives. It's just so hard being better than everyone else. Who do they think they are, anyway? The upper middle class? Oh. Wait. They are. Off with their heads!


Hugs and Holy Kisses,
the Rt. Rev. Crankypants. Esquire



p.s. Happy birthday, John
       There are still some of us...




                                  
                                              
                                           
                                    

Sunday Rituals

It started around 1968. And for many years thereafter, my Sunday rites consisted of purchasing the paper(s), getting comfy, lots of coffee, Ella on the component sound system, and reading the NY Times and whatever paper had the best funnies. In my New York days, that was the Daily News.

During my years in Boston, it was the Boston Globe. And here? Well, the practice fell away. I always seemed to be working on Sundays, and I just can't bring myself to part with something like $10.00 for the Times. Now, when I get a Sunday off, I read news and etc. on the Internet. It's not the same. Considering the Internet's popularity, I have to wonder why the Entertainment reporting is so bad. There's hardly a look at what's coming up in the next week, month, or season. There is no real  news at all from the worlds of Philharmonias, live Theatres, concerts, opera houses, danse, cabaret, photography, museum shows & etc.  Even the advertising is too narrowed to be of any interest. I want to see fashions, what is being worn in Paris, Madrid, Rome, London, Buenos Aires. I want to know what the new electronic toys are. I want photos or headlines and well written articles that draw me into stories I would otherwise pass by. I miss turning on the tv in time to catch Charles Kuralt's On the Road segments. I want to read material written by authors who happen to know something of what they write.

This morning's gleanings include a story about an outfit making commericals for dogs: included are high pitched whistles and other sounds which would get a dog's attention. It worked for Pavlov. If your best beast came running to watch a commerical, might that get you to buy that product? It worked for Pavlov. This new feature is brought to you by those fine folks at Nestles Purina. Ah, yes the friendly Swiss company that brought us milk chocolate candies, canned milk, and Infant Formula has grown a bit. Here's a few of the company's current better known holdings (they have over 6,000 brands) : Nescafe, Perrier, Nesquik, Carnation, Haagen Dazs, Skinny Cow, Cheerios, Gerber, Power Bar, Buitoni, etc. Nestle also holds significant shares of General Mills, and Coca-Cola.

This reminds me, another story in the news detailed a study of how global warming will affect coca production. An average 2 degree change will end the crop in West Africa, which supplies half of the world's coca beans. Chocolate would became a mouth tingle of the wealthy. I was getting extremely concerned until I read that the soonest this would be a real problem is 2050. Whew! That was close.

Just now I'm having one of those warm glowing moments when nostalgia suddenly beats one over the head. Charles Kuralt! God I loved those "On the Road" segments. They were often stories. Stories about us. The Oregon Trail, or maybe it'd be snow geese. He'd let the camera focus on the geese, we'd hear only the sounds of nature. His stories of people who succeeded, or failed miserably, were told without agenda. Small town festivals. Making sugar cane into molasses. He celebrated America. Its people, its deeds. Its a kind of view we don't get anymore.

That reminds me, tonight on 60 minutes, Andy Rooney takes exit from a long career. And, on PBS the new (3 part?) documentary by Ken Burns begins. Its focus : the Depression.  Hopefully he's gotten tired of using that civil war soundtrack and uses song of the period. We'll see.