Politics – Page 49 – The Wrongologist

California Caught in Moral Dilemma

Many have heard about California’s overcrowded prisons. In fact, conditions in California’s overcrowded prisons are so bad that they violate the 8th Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment, so ruled the US Supreme Court in 2011. That led to an order to expand California’s parole programs. But the state resisted the order, using two arguments: First, that they won’t have enough minimum security inmates left to perform inmate jobs. Second, that cheap prison labor is essential to the state’s budget.

The arguments center on a state program that uses inmates to fight wildfires. California is one of several states that employ prison labor to fight wildfires, and it has the largest firefighter program. According to Buzzfeed, prison inmates are paid less than $2 per day, and California will save $1 billion by using prison labor rather than hiring firefighters. Only certain classes of nonviolent inmates charged with lower level offenses are eligible for the inmate firefighter program. They must then meet physical and other criteria.

In exchange, inmates get the opportunity for early release, by earning twice as many credits toward early release as non-firefighting inmates otherwise earn, known as 2-for-1 credits. In February, the federal court overseeing California’s prison litigation ordered the state to expand this 2-for-1 program to some other rehabilitation programs so that other inmates who exhibit good behavior and perform certain work successfully would also be eligible for even earlier release.

Think Progress reported that California’s actions to slow-roll the court’s orders raises questions about whether using prison labor at the expense of private labor, creates incentives to keep inmates in prison, particularly when the courts have already said that many of them don’t need to be there. This doesn’t pass the smell test. Is the purpose of imprisonment to punish and/or rehabilitate, or is it to make money for the state? Is it ethical to do both? Is it ethical to keep prisoners incarcerated longer than the courts require because we can make money on their backs?

To make California’s argument even more repulsive, they apparently need more prisoners to make more money. Yet they can’t be bothered to build facilities sufficient to take care of those already in the system.

Does anyone seriously think it is cheaper to pay an imprisoned firefighter than to pay a private firefighter? That makes economic sense only when the state looks just at the $2 per day that the inmate is paid, compared to the cost of a full-time (union member) firefighter. They should be comparing it to keeping the inmate in prison for the minimum sentence of his/her term, since many of these prisoners would paroled under the Court’s order. California says that the annual cost of keeping someone in a state prison is $49,000. BTW, the typical pay for a beginning California temp firefighter for the wildfire season is $15,240. And, if the money were moved from pot A to pot B, those inmate seasonal firefighters could be hired upon release. That would create more competition for those seasonal firefighting jobs.

Prison labor has been with us since the beginning. It built our farm-to-market roads in the early days of the automobile. It stamped our license plates. Today, it picks up some of our litter and fights some of our fires and harvests some of our crops. Prison labor, whether in firefighter garb, orange jumpsuits, or chains, will remain.

It is our ethics as a people that seems to be going away for a long stay in a concrete room.

Monday Wake Up Call – November 17, 2014

Today’s Monday Wake Up is for the Democratic Party. Trevor LaFauci at The People’s View compared Democrats to a bad first date:

They’re like a bad first date: They know what they want to say, they know they have a lot going for them but when it comes time to talk about themselves they do it meekly and awkwardly, so much so that the other person just assumes this person doesn’t have a lot going for them.

What’s worse is the Democrats try hard not to suck at funds-raising. The Wrongologist’s in-box is crammed with pleas by Democrats for more money, even after the Tuesday That Shall Not Be Named disaster.

As Seth Godin says:

I Need You. Three magic words. They light up our brain, they grab our attention, and they initiate action. But they’re being corrupted by the ease of reach and the desire by some organizations to grow at all costs… Political fundraisers have turned this from an art to a science to an endless whine.

A loyal reader of the Wrongologist, David Price, replied to an email plea for more money from Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Chair of the Democratic National Committee, saying that more money wasn’t the answer for Democrats:

Running away from the progressive agenda may have seemed like smart politics, but it turned out to (1) make once attractive candidates look like phonies, (2) make our party seem apologetic for its accomplishments and ashamed of its ambitions, (3) demoralize those progressives who have traditionally identified the Democratic Party as the most effective vehicle for their hopes and (4) arguably have been bad politics after all, even in the shortest-run, most pragmatic, down-and-dirty sense.

How Do You Honor The Troops?

Veteran’s Day came into being on June 1, 1954 as a date to honor all who served in the US Military. Memorial Day is a day for remembering those who died while serving in the Military. We celebrate Veteran’s Day on the date of the WWI armistice, the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 that ended the fighting. That was exactly 96 years ago today.

Veteran’s Day brings the reflexive, “thank you for your service” from everyone in America. The two things the average person could do to honor the service of veterans are to vote, and to make sure that Vets get the health care they need when they come home. Sadly, we do neither:

People: If you say that veterans died to protect our freedoms, you dishonor them when you don’t vote!

The Census Bureau reports that in 2013, 3.6 million veterans had a service-connected disability, with 957,504 having a rating of 70% or higher. Severity of disability is scaled from 0 to 100%, and eligibility for compensation depends on the rating. Let’s also remember that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is at epidemic levels among Vets, as is suicide. According to a study by the Department of Veterans Affairs, 22 Vets a day commit suicide. You all know we continue to do a terrible job taking care of returning veterans, and you should be finding out why, and pushing your congressperson to finally fix it!

Veterans rapidly are becoming a two-age group cohort. The Census Bureau report shows that most Vets are getting older, with 47% over the age of 65. Tom Dispatch reports that today’s military is made up largely of Millennials. In fact, with nearly 43% of the active duty force age 25 or younger, and roughly 66% of it 30 or under, it’s one of the most Millennial-centric organizations around.

How the “entitled” generation will perform as our protectors is still up in the air. An NIH study determined that people in their 20s have Narcissistic Personality Disorder at a rate three times that of people 65 or older and a recent survey by Reason and pollster Rupe found that 18-24 year olds are indeed in favor of participation trophies while older Americans overwhelmingly favor winners-only prizes.

Millennials may yet surprise even a cantankerous coot like the Wrongologist. Time will tell.

Here are two terrific, but very under-appreciated tunes for Veteran’s Day. We start with “1968” by Dave Alvin.

Sample lyric:
And tonight in this barroom he’s easin’ his pain
He’s thinkin’ of someone, but he won’t say the name
Folks say he’s a hero, but he’ll tell you he ain’t
He left a hero in the jungle, back in 1968.

Here is another almost unknown song “I’m Writing in the Margins” from the album of the same name by John Gorka about a soldier in Afghanistan:

Sample lyric:
I am writing in the margins
Notes to me and you
Cause the pages are all filled
With new orders coming through

There are not a lot of rich boys
Wearing DCUs and sand
But I’ll think about that later
When I make it home again

(DCUs are Desert Camouflage Uniforms)

There is a great story told about a T-Shirt worn long after the war by a Vietnam Vet. On it was the outline of a map of Vietnam, superimposed with:

Participant, Southeast Asia War Games, 1961-1975: Second Place.

Huge thanks to the guys/gals who follow orders, who do really hard and dangerous things and who too often pay a high price for doing so.

Sources:

Friday Music Break – November 7, 2014

“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, they deserve to get it good and hard.” –H. L. Mencken

What has changed in our recent elections is that most American people live lives of barely suppressed ill-feeling. Americans have become hoarders of grudges, with voters believing that current politics bring only a sense of outrage, a feeling of being pushed aside, and made to feel small, or diminished.

They see those in power not as helpers and protectors of our people and our traditions, but as predators, out for whatever they can get. Our politicians see their own ideas for change as blessed, and the ideas of their opponents as damned.

Elections should attempt to bring out the best, not the worse in ordinary people. But in 21st century elections, this superordinate goal exceeds the people’s grasp.

Our political process has devolved. We have a deterioration of our public conscience, a smothering of community spirit when it comes to the vital issues of public life. Great ends are to be achieved by tawdry, underhanded or inadequate means.

We now try to reach political heaven mostly using the methods of hell.

Songs for today’s music break

We start with a song tribute to a guy that doesn’t let democracy mess with his plans. Its “Go Hard Like Vladimir Putin” by A.M.G. You had to expect there would be a Putin rap, and it comes straight outta Moscow by two black guys who emigrated from Africa. K. King, is from Zimbabwe via London, while Beni Maniaci is from Kenya. Both moved to Russia in the early 2000s to study medicine in Volgograd. It isn’t clear if they are still in medicine after this became a huge hit in Russia, but they say they are booked solid through December:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDIlQ3_lsKE

Difficult to imagine someone saying “Go Hard Like Barack Obama” or, “Go Hard Like Mitch McConnell”.

Next, a song that hopes democracy will solve the world’s problems. It is Jackson Browne who has a new album and a new song both entitled “Standing In The Breach“:

Sample lyrics:

You don’t know why,
But you still try for the world you wish to see.
You don’t know how, it will happen now after all that’s come undone.
But you know the change that the world needs now, is there in everyone.

Regarding our democracy, the Wrongologist simply doesn’t get it: Those most at risk of disenfranchisement, more regressive taxation, greater risk of losing their jobs, safety net and reproductive freedom, can’t be bothered to go to the polls.

Meanwhile, working class whites vote against the ACA—the best thing US government has done for working class people since Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid.

What a country.

What Should We Do with Extra Firefighters?

A little known fact is that over the past 40 years, the number of fires in the US have dropped dramatically. Consider this chart from Vox, based on data from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA):

The number of fires responded to by municipal fire departments in 2013, about 1.2 million, is roughly a third of the 3.3 million responses in 1977. Note that these numbers don’t include wildfires, which aren’t dealt with by local fire departments and as Vox reports, keep getting worse.

And since the US population has increased by 44% during that same period, this is a pretty remarkable trend. It seems that most of the improvement can be attributed to things we would expect: stricter fire codes, fireproof building materials, cars that catch on fire less often, and installation of protective devices like smoke alarms.

Yet, during the same period, the number of firefighters has increased:

Paid firefighters have increased by roughly 48%, from about 230k in 1986 to about 340k in 2012, in line with the population growth. The number of volunteer firefighters has remained the same. We now have more firefighters fighting fewer fires. So, what are all these firefighters doing?

Firefighters now respond to many more medical calls per year than actual fires. In fact, the chart below shows that fires and false alarms held steady or declined, while medical calls grew from 5 million to about 22 million by 2012. There is also a slightly better chance that the fire engine is responding to a false alarm than to a fire:

The decline in fires has put firefighters in a curious position. What should they be doing to justify their (in most cases) growing budgets? Vox quotes Libertarian economist Alex Tabarrock of George Mason University:

Firefighters face what I’ve called the ‘March of Dimes’ problem. After polio was cured, the March of Dimes looked around and said ‘what do we do now?’ Firefighters have been facing the same problem.

Now, there is little in city life that is more reassuring than walking past the neighborhood fire house. It reminds us that there are people in our employ who are ready to strap on equipment and head into danger to help out one of our neighbors. But it wasn’t always that way:

The Wrongologist may be one of the last persons who remembers when homeowners paid a fee to a for-profit fire department to protect your property. That was in Brooklyn, NY in the early 1950’s. The fire company placed a medallion on the homes of their “clients”, and didn’t protect any homes without medallions. There was no public FD service in that neighborhood until the late 1950’s.

The Boston Globe reports that the Boston FD accounts for 7.5% of the city’s total budget, while NYC spends $1.72 billion on its FD. It is difficult to tell people that fewer firefighters will keep them just as safe, and the political fall-out for any mayor who tries to dramatically reduce firefighter head count would almost certainly be gruesome. Talk about poking the bear.

But what is the highest and best use for idle firefighters? Could cities work to slowly transfer firefighters to EMT, Park Rangers, Inspection Services or other city jobs? What about the pay differences? There are always efficiencies to be gained in public jobs. It seems sensible to start reducing staffing levels and adjust the number of fire stations, given the occurrence of fires.

Efficiencies might be found by using better processes, such as integrating the dispatch services operated by EMT and Fire, or by using different tools. For example, if cities want to use firefighters as extra paramedics, maybe sending smaller trucks or motorcycles equipped with oxygen for cardiac situations, might be workable. The motorcycle would likely get on site sooner, and the crackerbox EMT truck could follow behind for transportation of a patient to hospital. There would always be some extra portly people who can’t be carried down 5 flights of stairs by 2-3 people, so they would have to wait for reinforcements. But there should be no need to dispatch a fire truck just to be sure more lifting power is available if needed.

Natalie Simpson, a SUNY Buffalo professor who studies the history of emergency response, says that because of the nature of the demands we put on fire departments, we can’t really shrink their ranks, and there are problems with putting them in different vehicles too:

If you say, ‘there’s very few fires, so we don’t need as many firefighters or fire engines,’ a fire is still eventually going to break out…And without the same response resources, you’re going to have the same number of very few fires, but some of them are going to become catastrophic.

Her view is that we need to have a surge capability to respond in any given area to make sure that the few fires that do occur can be put out quickly. We can model those issues as we ALWAYS do in the private sector, to determine optimal staffing and equipment for the required level of response.

No one should be saying that firefighters aren’t heroes, or that they didn’t show amazing teamwork and bravery when on the scene of a fire. But all that bravery should not by itself, justify inefficient numbers. Every dollar we can save is a dollar that can be better used elsewhere.

Vote Today, if Only for Yourself

Today is Election Day, and it seems even the Main Stream Media circus has limited interest.

And if you look to the left, we finally have a proven case of voter fraud. Its certain that this little Havanese didn’t vote using its own ID.

Whatever the results, progressive ideas and politics will continue to decline because today’s Democrats have moved to the right from where they were 40 years ago.

Based on the content of the 2014 mid-terms, Democrats are seeking to “conserve” society as a 20th century education, an 18th century government, a neoliberal economic ideology, and contradictory policies in foreign affairs.

There is no energy in the mid-terms behind real reform, even well-protected Senators and Congresspersons are only willing to preserve watered-down versions of marriage rights for all, Social Security/Medicare, some semblance of a non-military expense category in the federal budget. And no one is for healthcare for all or addressing climate change. The Republicans mainly want to preserve wealth, protect large business and continue to go through the motions of appeasing their social conservative base and the gun lobby.

The tactics of both parties more or less “work”, if by that we mean to build long, lucrative political careers. There is no sense that any policy means much to America’s politicians who mostly speak in platitudes and rarely say what they mean.

They’ve fooled us for decades and “the people” seemingly never tire of the BS. The Republicans have a closing argument that the Rude Pundit paraphrases thusly:

The Republican National Committee is up with an ad that throws every scary thing in the world at you. “ISIS gaining ground. Terrorists committing mass murder. Ebola inside the US, Americans alarmed about national security,” says the ominous voice ominously. “What’s President Obama doing? Making plans to bring terrorists from Guantanamo to our country. Ignoring the Constitution, the Congress, and the American people. November 4th, Obama’s policies are on the ballot. Vote to keep terrorists off U.S. soil. Vote Republican.

The Democrats have no closing argument. The great tragedy of the Democrats is that they still believe politics is about competing sermons.

That is a nice fantasy, but that isn’t how politics works today. Any attempt by Democrats to engage in a policy struggle with Republicans that fails to understand how powerful people on the right use a multitude of sophisticated techniques that would make Machiavelli faint, is doomed to failure, and the proof of this is right in front of us today.

We live in the mess these people are making. We have to vote, organize, and persuade others to vote if we are to make safe, secure lives for ourselves and for our families.

Here is Tuesday linkage:

Election officials in 27 states have launched a program that threatens a huge purge of voters from the rolls. The Interstate Crosscheck program has generated a list of 7 million names that state officials say represent people who are not only registered, but have actually voted in two or more states in the same election. You be the judge.

On the campaign trail, an Ohio Republican Supreme Court Judge says: (emphasis by the Wrongologist)

Whatever the governor does, whatever your state representative, your state senator does, whatever they do, we are the ones that will decide whether it is constitutional; we decide whether it’s lawful. We decide what it means, and we decide how to implement it in a given case. So, forget all those other votes if you don’t keep the Ohio Supreme Court conservative.

The Small Business Majority, an organization of 30,000 small business owners, released the results of a September 2014 Internet survey of 900 small business owners that showed that 78% of their group believe we should change our current election system to one that allows for multiparty representation, a system that could lead to election of parties other than the Republicans and Democrats.

More lucky duckies living with their moms for free: A Pew Research analysis shows that the number of Americans living in multi-generational households has doubled since 1980. The figure spiked during the 2007-2009 recession and has moved even higher since then.

Signs of the times department: Washington’s Hirshhorn Museum has disbanded its docent program and replaced the largely retired staff with interns.

A follow-up to last week’s link about F-35, is this disturbing article that says the F-35 is a second-rate warplane. Consider the source, but the article quotes some recognized warplane experts.

Inequality Watch: Oxfam reports that the number of billionaires has doubled since the financial crisis. In fact, they say that the top 85 most wealthy saw their collective wealth increase by $668 million every day last year. That’s almost half a million dollars every minute.

Bradblog reports that the problems with Diebold voting machines have not gone away, at least not in Maryland, Texas, Illinois, and Tennessee.

The WaPo reports that US-backed Syria rebels have been routed by fighters linked to al-Qaeda. Half measures don’t work. Either we decide to go all-in with Assad, or let’s go home. His is the only force in the area capable of crushing ISIS. At the same time, we should remove the PKK and any other Kurdish forces from the terror list and supply them with the best weaponry. That is, if we really want to win.

Sunday Cartoon Blogging – November 2, 2014

When people decide not to vote because the parties are not different from each other, candidates with strong ideological commitments win. That elected person then tries to move the country in the direction of an ideology supported by a minority of voters.

For the past 20 years, that direction has been a death warrant for the American middle class. If you think that the middle class is really what made America “exceptional,” then those political leaders elected to implement and sustain a corporatist agenda have worked to destroy the American Dream, while they hypocritically endorsed and exploited it in order to get elected.

The US is in the middle of a course of corporate political imperialism that has savaged average Americans, while it enriched plutocrats. Wealth has been consolidated, the means-of-production have been concentrated in the hands of a few corporations, and big business has effectively purchased our governments, both state and federal. Mostly because not enough of us take the time to bone up on the issues, or to vote in the off-year elections.

Two things need to change: First, more people need to vote. Second, we must throw off our corporate political masters. As long as we have a situation where corporations have all of the rights, but none of the liabilities of the people, they always have a competitive advantage over the public.

For both your Halloween hangover and your pre-election headache:

Jeb Bush floats idea of continuing the family dynasty:

Ebola Volunteers are heroes and potential disease vectors. Some politicians can’t hold both thoughts:

Other epidemics caused by not voting:

Texas has apparently “solved” the voter fraud problem:

Texas GOP "encouraged" by reports of students & disabled citizens being denied right to vote http://t.co/lqlsbgOyJ1 pic.twitter.com/1acKK1r9Wh

— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) October 31, 2014

Friday Music Break – October 31, 2014

Boo, it’s Halloween. Are you going as Beetlejuice, or do you have a cool Halloween costume? Do you have Gluten-free treats for the kids? Amazing snacks that look like eyeballs and intestines? Pumpkin carved with teeth that look like the Manhattan skyline? Well, two out of four is batting .500, which the SF Giants’ RF Hunter Pence got close to with .444. If you’re scoring at home, we’re happy for you!

Madeline Albright one-ups Conan:

Today, Halloween-themed music:

Here is the 1978 hit about everyday monsters in the city. “Werewolves of London”, by the late Warren Zevon has lyrics that make werewolves seem like an everyday phenomenon: “Little old lady got mutilated late last night, werewolves of London again.” Join the pack:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhSc8qVMjKM

Second, “Monster Mash” by the late Bobby Pickett. Here is a young Dick Clark on American Bandstand in 1962 introducing Bobby Pickett, who performs his throw-back Halloween classic, in which he succeeds in sounding like Boris Karloff:

Next, “Thriller” by the late Michael Jackson. This is a 13+ minute video about a nightmare with zombies, directed by Jon Landis. The song/dance routine that most of you have seen on TV starts at 9:41. If you start then, you will miss Vincent Price’s “rap” at 6:35 and the entire premise of the production. Michael says “I’m not like other guys,” at the start of the video. That was in 1982, and may have been the truest thing he ever said. This gets the Wrongologist’s vote as best Halloween video:

Finally, on the last day of October, “When October Goes” from Barry Manilow. I KNOW, who thinks Barry is relevant? Well, he is today:

The lyrics are from a poem by Johnny Mercer. Mercer’s wife found them following his death. She gave the poem to Barry, who later said it took him just 15 minutes to write the tune. It is from Barry’s great jazz album of the 1980s, 2:00AM – Paradise Cafe.

October 30, 2014

What’s Wrong Today:

This year, Republicans did not put up a challenger in 37 House races, while Democrats did not field candidates in 32 districts, according to the Cook Political Report. Another 8 House districts will see no contest between the main parties, because of the “top two” primary system used in California and Washington state. These 77 single-party House races are a high number by recent standards. In 2012, there were 45 of them.

In today’s Democratic Party, challengers seldom see a primary attack from their left, while Republican incumbents often fear attacks from the right. The Economist quotes Rep. Mike Capuano (D-MA) who is running unopposed: (brackets by the Wrongologist)

In politics, Republicans are like dogs, working as a pack [while] Democrats are the cats.

Few races for the House are closely fought. Roughly 80% of the 435 members have little or fear on election day. Given the very high costs of getting elected, there are fewer opposition candidates in historically safe House districts.

Turning to the Senate, in July 2014, 42 Senators (41 GOP and 1 Dem) succeeded in killing Bill S2569, which would have repealed the corporate tax break for shipping American jobs overseas (you need 60 votes to overturn a Filibuster). And on Nov 4th, Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) and all the other Senators (running in this cycle) who voted against the Bill will be re-elected.

DC insiders think that this is a feature, not a bug. Would voters tolerate a Congress with hundreds of uncontested seats?

Thursday linkage:

If they show you a chart, apparently, you will believe whatever they are saying.

Independents favor Republicans by 20 points: Republicans have discovered that a sufficiently united party can obstruct everything and anything, but largely escape blame for the resulting gridlock.

The most politically engaged states: This study shows the most engaged states had a more highly educated population, higher per capita economic output and fairer tax systems. Massachusetts and Colorado were #1 & #2. West Virginia was #50.

The US is developing better relations with Iran: If permanent, the shift could drastically alter the balance of power in the region. If the nuclear issue is resolved, this could be Obama’s greatest legacy. But, it risks alienating key US allies, like Israel, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

Dubai police to use Google Glass with facial recognition to ID bad guys: Well, last year Dubai announced it would supply its police with $400,000 Lamborghini’s for use at major tourist sites. Cool cars and stupid glasses.

Some of Bach’s masterpieces were composed by his wife: A documentary film, “Written by Mrs. Bach” makes a case that Anna Magdalena Bach actually composed some of works attributed to her husband, Johann Sebastian Bach. And she had to cook and clean.

Home ownership rate in the US fell to the lowest rate in more than 19 years: Entry-level buyers have been held back by stringent mortgage standards and slow wage growth. The share of first-time buyers was 29% in September for the third straight month, compared with about 40% historically.

Who is watching the World Series? Apparently, fewer of us than ever: The last time the World Series averaged more than 20 million viewers was in 2004 when the Boston Red Sox defeated the St. Louis Cardinals to take their first title since 1918.

Your Thursday Music Break:

Wednesday Linkage

What’s Wrong Today:

We have the methods, materials, and expertise to handle any of our major problems, be it with economic growth, war/peace, income inequality, social malaise or, outbreaks of serious infectious disease. Our problem is that in all of these areas, we have chosen not to use our abilities to solve any problems that involve use of the commons because the Congress won’t agree that the commons can be used for these things, except in an academic sense.

In America, when push comes to shove, it is you and the people you feel are part of your clan or tribe that count–never mind that we live on a finite planet with finite resources and carrying capacity–that is irrelevant to the vast majority of us.

Now, along comes Ebola, and, collectively, we have chosen to ignore the problem, to slow roll vaccines that could treat it, because, capitalism.

Are we going to realize that simply following our own self-interest may not be in our self-interest? That maybe the culture of narcissism may not be all it’s cracked up to be? The Ebola diversion from real election issues will not stop, however. If it does, the media will simply find a new shiny object.

Could our leadership class be motivated enough to actually be responsible, and not just to APPEAR to be responsible?

Here is some Wednesday linkage:

Music playlists for Euro soccer teams: a few surprising choices for 20 & 30-something profession athletes.

Tokyo has way fewer homeless than NYC. Why? The Japanese Constitution guarantees its citizens “the right to maintain the minimum standards of wholesome and cultured living.” That document was drawn up by Gen. MacArthur during our occupation after WW II. So, because of the US, the Japanese have a stronger safety net for their citizens than we do in our own country. Ironic, or what?

Palestinian women are protecting the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound from Israelis who want to take it over: There are attempts on most days by Israelis to enter this mosque and lay claim to it. Older Palestinian women work to keep control of it. This will not end well.

Reuters reports that the US Army is quarantining soldiers who provided Ebola support in West Africa for 21 days: Despite the fact that current Defense Department policy allows troops with no known exposure to the virus to return to work and interact with their families after coming home, as long as they have their temperature checked twice daily for 21 days.

Baby Boomers are seeing a tsunami of products aimed at “helping” with problems of aging: Check out Depends in designer colors and the cane made from bull penis. Corporations are bringing sexy back to the 60-somethings.

Health Watch:

Corporate Wellness programs are ineffective: The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey found that 36% of firms with more than 200 workers, and 18% of firms overall, have wellness programs. The Upshot says they rarely work. Quelle surprise!

States that have expanded Medicaid as part of health reform expect their share of Medicaid spending to grow more slowly than states that have not expanded, a new KFF report finds.

Hospitals are now taking their cues from the airlines and the auto industry. Now your healthcare price comes unbundled, with additional fees and options. At least auto salesmen negotiate with you while you are conscious and not impacted by meds and pain.

Your Business Trip:

Legal marijuana is a growth industry, with annual revenues forecasted to be $35 billion by 2020.

Business Insider says maximizing shareholder value is bad. OMG, what would Mitt say? James Montier, a behavioral finance writer, believes that companies should be required to focus on running their businesses, producing quality goods and services, treating customers and workers fairly, and creating shareholder value as a by-product, not as an objective.

Blinded by Science:

Genome study shows humans bred with Neanderthals. And not just on Saturday night in college!

The new Afghanistan President gets violent reception from the Taliban. According to an AP tally, there have been at least 10 incidents in Kabul (including inside the Green Zone) since Ghani Ahmadzai’s inauguration on Sept. 29th, killing 27 people.

Your music moment:

The Rolling Stones were filmed by Martin Scorsese at NY’s Beacon Theater in 2006. The entire documentary was released in 2008. The film’s title, “Shine a Light” is from a Stones song by the same name. Here are a few minutes behind the scenes with Scorsese, the Stones and Bill Clinton:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO9fXphmuGk

The Wrongologist

Geopolitics, Power and Political Economy

Category: Politics