Dakota Today

*** CBS Face the Nation expands to 1 hour...someplaces

Near the end of last year, CBS announced the Bob Schieffer Face the Nation Sabbath gasbag program would be expanded from 30 minutes to 1 hour after the first of this year.  Well, the first of this year turned out to be Sunday April 1, 2012.

In the spirit of April Fool's Day, KELO carried only the first 30 minutes, so they could broadcast a full hour of men wearing dresses and very strange headgear propagandizing for dominion by an ancient  principality in Italy.

I am not a real fan of Bob Schieffer, but now and then he has somebody on who says something that makes a little sense even if Schieffer specializes in pompous generalities with mostly useless mythology and history..  Unfortunately in most of SD, ABC affiliate and CBS affiliates run most of their morning talk shows simultaneously.

CBS has been promoting the weekly morning "news" show as having more important news now that Charlie Rose sleeps through the morning there.  In advance, they have been hyping the really important upcoming "news"....an interview of Ophray Winfrey.   And just to make the morning celebrity trash shows more complete for a week, ABC will have on Katie Couric dispensing sweet, syrupy inanity.stirred to froth by Sarah Palin. (unless this is actually an April Fool's Day joke of course).

Almost enough to get me to waste money montly on cable or satelllite TV.

Last night, Bill Moyers and company was suggesting we get the records from local TV stations on who pays for what political ads and then getting the information to ProPublica and other sites.  Anybody in Sioux Falls have time to be a weekly pest at the local media outlets?

*** Stay tuned as the world turns and the climate heats up--- Doug Wiken

 

 

*** Economic and health issues define Contraception and Government

The point has been made several times today, Sunday Feb 12, 2012) in national news and discussion programs that insurance with contraception paid  costs insurance companies less than insuring without it. Childbirth and childbirth-related health issues are much more expensive than contraception. What also is not being discussed by the mostly male opponents to contraception is that some medical conditions are greatly helped with birth control pills without regard to the contraceptive effects. Below is a forum comment that neatly put together the idea that this is primarily an economic, social, and health issue rather than a basic religious and first amendment issue. I am quoting it here with permission , but was requested to not use the original writer’s name.

I think this fuss about health insurance, contraception, and the RC Church is as much an economic issue as anything else. If there are to be major loopholes in federal regulation of employer/employee relations, why not in regulation of everything else?

If the groundskeeper at a Catholic (or other church) cemetery cannot use proscribed fertilizers and herbicides, doesn’t that intrude on the church’s interpretation of the “faithful stewardship” doctrine? Can a priest on his way to perform last rites on a dying parishioner be ticketed for speeding?

Why should church buildings, including hospitals, schools, and even parking garages be subject to building codes? Either these exceptions to the rules apply only to organized churches, or to everyone, including lay employers with strong “religious” scruples against paying legal wages, etc.

In the first case, we have established churches–religious bodies enjoying legally established rights not enjoyed by others. In the second, no effective economic regulation at all.

Consider that, in interpreting the Selective Service Act, the Supreme Court extended the definition of “conscientious objection to war” to include beliefs arising from any system of thought which played the same role in the life of a non-religious person as religion plays in the life of a believer. An exemption from the healthcare law based on the doctrines of a church might thereby be extended, based on that precedent, not just to other employers, but to other employers who did not even claim church membership or a faith commitment.

As the First Amendment has been introduced into this debate over economic regulation, I will address that: First, I don’t believe the authors of that amendment intended to protect churches. The laws they outlawed were of two types: 1) taxing people to support the Anglican Church and 2) penalizing people (e.g., in re: office holding) for not being Christians or Protestant Christians. The great majority of Americans who then attended religious services (probably a minority of the whole) attended churches which were controlled by their lay members, not a clerical heirarchy. The distinction between the religious freedom of the members and the organizational autonomy of the church was not one that often required attention, but it is clearly the former that the First Amendment was written to protect.

Whatever constitutional rights are allowed to churches, they must be confined to their explicitly religious activities, not to their activity in the secular realm of commerce, employment, etc. In this case, granting churches exemptions from law attacks the equality of persons in the marketplace, which is as much essential to economic freedom as the First Amendment is to religious freedom.

BTW, what if a church objects to infant male circumcision on religious grounds? Does it have to buy health insurance for its employees that pays for that?

There are a number of ideas in that which could be the basis for much discussion and may relate well to GOP threats to legislate Catholic religion back into health care.

*** Stay tuned...for bad health news..Pretty Kitty, Pretty Poison --- Doug Wiken

*** Boomerang, OWS,Cal Thomas

On a Tavis Smiley rerun today, Nov 29, 2011, Michael Lewis who wrote book Boomerang, when asked by Smiley what he thought of the Occupy Wall Street activity said, "Justice is on their side."   He also noted that attempts to discredit the demonstrators are an indicator of the fear the right-wing money groups have of the OWS potential to alter the status quo in ways which might benefit the unrich.

This may partially indicate why Cal Thomas, George Will, and other right-wing blatherers are spinning absurd attacks on the OWS groups.  I will dig out some of that craziness tomorrow.

[[Note: A Village Voice Blog checks the right-wing blogs and their comments on OWS]]

Meanwhile, here is a suggestion to the OWS groups.  As the snow falls, shovel snow for citizens on condition they put an OWS supporter sign in their yards or bumper stickers on their cars.

*** Stay tuned, listen for the right-wing mighty Wurlitzer blasting away always off key-- Doug Wiken

 

*** Boehner Bullshit Economic Mythology

I watched John Boehner this Sunday morning on ABC repeating the same tired fraudulent excuses for GOP obstructionism.  The economics of John Boehner may involve his rich contributors, but his expressed economic and partisan beliefs  have nothing in common with the study of economics or real world data.

John Boehner is a prime example of why the current GOP controllers in Washington, DC are making the party irrelevant in the real world.  When a rather conservative publication like TIME magazine drags out data showing that the GOP bullshit blather about controlling regulation and limiting government is the key to economic growth is nonsense, I would hope people in the United States who are not unbelievably high up in the 1% that isn't like the 99% rest of us will decide they have had enough GOP nonsense.

I have not been thrilled by Obama, but it seems he has presented hard facts and made what seemed to me to be unnecessary concessions to GOP partisan nonsense, but has been essentiall slapped in the face again and again in a way that strongly suggests the GOP is ONLY interested in obstructing the economy to eliminate Obama.

Take a look at the image below.  It is a butchered version of a TIME magazine graph that could not have been more confusing if they had tried.  I cut and pasted a circular graph and made it a simple bar graph.  Some of the text ended up upside down.  The implications of the data should be obvious anyway.

Click on image for a larger readable version. The data seems to show a nearly negative correlation between the ease of doing business and the economic growth of a country.  I would guess some of the differences are due to the stage of the economics involved, but it shows that the GOP fight on behalf of the very rich and tax-advantaged is a bit of class warfare that is being fought on the basis of irrelevant mythology and not facts or historiical reality.

NOTE of October 7, 2011: Cory Heidelberger at Madville Times has found the links to the data mentioned here and has used a spreadsheet to better analyze the information. Take a look.  The data is interesting even if not woven into political warfare form.

Madville Times "Business-Friendly Countries Rank Lower for Economic Growth "

*** Stay tuned even if data that does not fit your economic mythology makes you even more convinced of the logic of you irrelevant mythology --- Doug Wiken

*** Paul Krugman reminds us of partisan exploitation of 9-11...and "the trifecta"

Economist and self-confessed "liberal" Paul Krugman makes more sense on more issues in a few weeks than many columnists do in a lifetime.  He had some notes on 9-11.

The Years of Shame by Paul Krugman

And after the shitstorm this generated in the feeble brains of the mythology-addicted right wing and gasp..Donald Rumsfeld canceled his NY Times subscription,

Krugman follows up with More on 9-11

And another columnists follows up with some documentation to support Krugman's columns.

Greg Sargent of the Post on "Was Krugman right?"

Both of them missed remembering George Bush's notorious line

Bush's Trifecta statement at Physics Forums

And as usual, I think Labor Day should be moved to September 11 to make it a memorial to the people who went to work, some who returned to work, and too many who never could.  The 0-11 tragedy need not be used forever as a political stick to beat down opponents and justify undemocratic intrusions into privacy and political rights in the name of fighting faceless terrorism.

** Stay tuned, the weather might get nicer in coming weeks--- Doug Wiken

 

** Revisit the family and government budget foolish analogy

First, a bit of review of the Sabbath Gasbag circuit.  Florida Sen. Rubio was presenting the usual GOP mythology with an attempt to redefine terms so that nonsense fit a bit better.  The mythology is baseless, but they keep asserting smoke and mirrors as facts anyway.  Rubio essentially said (with a straight face even) that it is impossible to get extra revenue from tax increases.  All business wants is fairer tax and less regulation.  I don't know how he wants large corporations to get fairer taxes when some are not paying one red cent per year into the US Treasury.  Never mind any facts of any kind significant, insignificant, relevant or whatever.  Just keep hammering the brainless talking points and economic mythology over and over.

But, while listening to his crap and also some of the dribble on ABC from a freshmen GOP TeaParty loon type, I thought it made sense to revisit the foolish analogy of the US Government and the average household budget, etc which was a big GOP talking point recently.

It is a peculiarly irrelevant and stupid analogy, but let us play along with it for a more recent relevance perhaps.

Assume your family finds that unless you can raise just an extra $500 in the next two weeks, your credit rating will be destroyed, you will thus lose your job, your car, and your only vehicle.no matter what you do after the two weeks are up.

Do you and your family immediately decide that the way to handle this is to reduce your revenue? Not very likely.  The immediate problem is to add an additional $500 to your current income. Mama goes to work part time.  Daddy doesn't buy gas or license for the boat. Junior mows a lot of lawns.  Sis babysits for neighbors every afternnon and several evenings too.  In even less than two weeks your immediate problem is solved by contributions by everybody. What you did not do was all argue until the night before the $500 was due.

Now, you learn your government is on the edge of economic calamity and catastrophe with the debt limit as a ticking time bomb what will destroy millions of jobs and corporations as well.  Our government "Mamas and Daddies", "Juniors" and "Sissies"" are all in a family cat fight. Hissing, spitting, running under the bed, out of the house.  Daddy stomps off and buys gas for his boat. Mama refuses to work because she remembers a drunken promise she made to he uncle Grover that she would never work outside the house so he would buy her a wedding dress and a trip to the Swiss Alps.  Junior wants new designer jeans.  Sis wants to steal the food from Grandmothers stuffed freezer.

Enough of that, I bet you have figured out what is the point already.  In the case of our government, the obvious way to raise revenue is to increase taxes.  There is little if any evidence indicating that modest tax increases cause unemployment, and almost zero evidence that cutting taxes on the very rich at the expense of the middle class adds any jobs.  Never mind reality, the GOP nutwingers scream NO, NO, NO !!!  Music to Grover Norquist's ears and the corporate CEOs and boards of directors with obscene pay.

All that caterwauling from the GOP all aimed at protecting the very rich from marginal tax increases even as average South Dakota families probably pay more sales tax on groceries in a year than some corporations and investors paid federal tax in a year or even several years.

If you are not very, very rich and blessed with the luxuries of the very rich, why are you sitting on your hands paying attention to the great flood of GOP irrelevancy?  This blissful unawareness and ire is a bit like watching somebody with a match and a can of gasoline next to your house and going in to watch Entertainment Tonight or similar dribble on your TV.

Let the crazy irresponsible loons of the GOP know you are not amused by their fun and games.  Let the passive media know you wnat them to ask tough questions of all-- Republican or Democrat. Let them know you are not fooled by their irrelevant assertions masked as facts related to the growth of jobs and to rescue of government as we know it and as it benefits you and your family.  Democrats and Obama have presented at least some adult facts grounded in reality and experience.

It is time for the sensible middle class to raise HELL right now and then get the crazed, irresponsible adolescent wingnut Republicans out of office as soon as possible.

** Stay tuned even if you know argument by analogy is usually fatally flawed -- Doug Wiken

**Sabbath Gasbags...Buy the Numbers ..CEO Pay

A bit of news turned up this morning (Sunday April 3, 2011) regarding pay and bonuses of the top US exectutives.  The story may have been based on this story  USA Today Exec Pay   . Anyway, CBS indicated the average was around $12,000,000 per executive and noted that by contrast top baseball players only got around a piddling $3,000,000 per year.

Some quick arithmetic suggests that we 300 million or so US unrich citizens each kick in around $6.30 per person just to keep these executives comfortable and able to ship money out of the US to avoid income taxes and also pay only a pittance of that total as the flat social security tax.  Republican mythology suggests these executives just would not be working this hard without these huge paychecks and tax exemptions.  Meanwhile same GOP mythology suggests that raising the minimum wage a few cents will destory the inititive of the unrich and certainly they should all be paying sales tax on food and clothing so they can make a "fair" contribution to the government money well..

Interesting to to compare the $6.30 per person for supporting the lifestyles of the obscenely rich parasites versus the $4 per person on public broadcasting.    

Well enough on that for now.  George Will, the font of mostly useless information clothed in big words noted today that basing the military action in Libya on humanitarian values "Will whet the appetite of humanitarian imperialists."  That is an interesting twist to be sure and we might hope that it had satirical intent, but Will always communicates the typical GOP total lack of any sense of humor whatsoever.

So, don't ever confuse the evil corporate imperialists with the evil humanitarian imperialists (and be sure to eat your brussels sprouts and remember to brush your teeth).

*** Stay tuned..maybe I will get around to relating the comments of an 88 year old former premier of Singapore with the egregious ignorance of the SD legislature this year --- Doug Wiken