The Breakdown: The Ripple Effects of Unemployment | Marketplace from American Public Media

Times are still hard, even months after this article.

I am kind of working again, making nowhere near what I used to. I imagine many, many others are considering themselves lucky to be in the same boat.

I know the news sounds better – and I truly hope it is – but we’ve got a long way to go. And getting back to where we started isn’t going to make me cheer either. Let us find a way to do better. All of us.

The Big Three’s dramatic U-turn – CBS News

A case in point to my last post, American carmakers seem to be getting back on their feet. Part of it is finally learning the lessons they should have learned during the 1970s and 1980s. Another part of it is workers settling for half the old pay and yet another of just overall doing things better.

I totally understand taking what you can get to keep a job, but this has been going on for years. At some point – and let’s not remember Henry Ford was smart enough to realize this – you have to pay people enough to actually buy the stuff they are making.

And seriously, shouldn’t this country be *at least* as smart as Henry Ford?

How Do Ethnic Media Say “Illegal Immigrant”? – New America Media

Mostly, it is a matter of phrasing in English. Racists love to point out how illegal things are when they are against it. Of course these are often the same folks who celebrate Southern treason and lament the loss of slavery. Don’t believe me? Ask them about the 14th Amendment.

In our various other ethnic cultures, the may not be what you would expect.

What if ‘Citizens United’ Actually United the Citizens? | The Nation

Unfortunately, probably just wishful thinking that people power will overturn corporate money and influence any time soon.

Conservatives will soon listen to their corporate masters and ignore that individual freedoms are being bought and sold by their party’s agenda. Progressive voices, including my Senator Al Franken, will worry more about Hollywood’s bleating about being ripped off (at $8.50 a movie ticket I would argue it goes both ways, pals) than about freedom of expression and freedom from censorship.

Face it folks, the internet was created with “evil” government money, propagated by “socialist” high education systems, and is now being co-opted as yet another way to make a buck.

Shameful.