In What Century Will the Cruise Line Industry Recover?
Sure, it’s galling that huge sums of the Paycheck Protection Program are going to huge publicly traded companies rather than small businesses, but this post focuses on another matter. (more…)
Tagged with: Paycheck Protection Program
Did Trump Create This Madness, or Did Our Madness Propel Him to Power?
It’s unclear where reader Hayley Nuttall hails from, but she writes about the tragedy described in the meme here: This is your new reality America. This is what Trump has created. He encouraged the protesters. Convinced people this is a Democratic hoax. Promoted disregard for truth, science, facts, the media and authority. (more…)
Tagged with: decay of the educational system
Meme On Trump Supporters: Cute, But Incorrect
This may be cute, but not all Trump supporters are morons. Strangely enough, there are some highly intelligent racists; no one thinks Stephen Miller or Steve Bannon are idiots; they’re despicable people, but they’re not idiots. (more…)
Tagged with: lack of concern for the environment
Why Regulate Capitalism?
The picture of this little boy really is impactful, but in truth, I actually don’t need a photograph; I simply think of:
• Endless wars to support and grow the military-industrial complex
• 22 million American children living in poverty
• Rollbacks in banking regulations making us vulnerable to economic recessions or depressions, the brunt of which will not be borne by the perpetrators, but by you and me
• Law-makers responsible only to large donors
• Socialism for the rich / Bailouts for huge corporations
• Disintegration of organized labor
• 40% of Americans can’t afford an unexpected expense of more than $400
• Looting the U.S. Treasury to create huge tax cuts for billionaires
• U.S. president profiting from his office with complete impunity
• Rolling back environmental standards to make business operations more profitable
• Suing states to force them to repeal renewable energy portfolio standards
• Reducing funding and cutting programs for public schooling
• Minimum wages that require people to work two or three jobs
• Planned cuts for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid
• For-profit prisons and detention centers providing inhumane conditions
• Tax loopholes for the rich
(Mis)Understanding the Coronavirus
This would be funnier if it weren’t so tragic. (more…)
Tagged with: coronavirus
Reopening the U.S. Economy
It seems that the political right and left find reasons to fight about everything. Strategies to address the coronavirus are just one more example, where the right puts a higher value on the impact to the economy, and thus advocates reopening America’s businesses sooner than those on the left of the political spectrum. Having said that, I wonder if, in this particular case, we’re not closer to one another than we think.
In a conversation with my conservative mother last night, she asked what I would do if I were a state governor and therefore had the task of making these decisions. Here’s what I told her. (more…)
Tagged with: coronavirus
Surprise: The Rich Are Benefiting at the Expense of Everyone Else
Watching money meant for small businesses go to the rich is a horribly painful process, but the creator of the meme here has managed to sew some humor into it.
Here’s a recent article in Forbes: Crony Capitalism: Why The Best-Connected Businesses Got Much Of The SBA Coronavirus Cash.
For America to rebuild its honor, roll back levels of corruption to pre-Trump days, and re-establish some level of respectability on the world stage it is going to require a lot of time and hard work.
Time To Close the Circus
As suggested here, great numbers of Republicans are jumping ship in their voting this year. They’ve seen enough.
There is no shame in making an observation and then changing your mind based on what you just saw. (more…)
Tagged with: Trump lying criminal
Understanding the Coronavirus Mortality Rate
Foolishly, I got involved with a whole bunch of people who believe passionately that the economy should be reopened immediately, and consider the restrictions to be some mixture of slavery, false imprisonment, and violations of their constitutional rights to assemble. They come from all walks of life: musicians, salespeople, etc. Several of them say that the death rate from the virus is a small fraction of 1%, the same as the annual flu. (more…)
Tagged with: mortality rate
Reviewing U.S. Response to the Pandemic
Especially given the daily vagaries of this administration, we often wonder how world history is going to regard these times. With respect to the COVID-19 virus, I get that the author of the meme here has nailed it.
Tagged with: pandemic
