Showing posts with label online blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label online blog. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Monday, May 14, 2012
America: What we are, what we've become
I've written a little bit about this before, what we are, as America lately, what with the imbalances of our government and country.
Here are a few more tidbits on what we are and who we Americans have become, this time from the website Common Dreams:
For starters, according to the article (link at bottom, as usual): "We're near the bottom of the developed world in children's health and safety."
That was a stunner to me. Didn't we always think "We're number one!"? What happened to being "the richest country in the world"? What happened to having the highest standard of living in the world? Isn't that who we are? Don't we want to take care of our children's health and safety?
Or do we, instead, want to make absolutely sure that our health care corporations stay in a "free market" so they can do--and charge--whatever they please?
What and where are our priorities?
Second: "We've betrayed the young people who were advised to stay in school.
Over 40% of recent college graduates are living with their parents, dealing with government loans that average $27,200. The unemployment rate for young people is about 50%. More than 350,000 Americans with advanced degrees applied for food stamps in 2010."
Once more, what are our priorities?
For our children, for the next generation, for them, let alone for the nation, don't we value education? Isn't it more important that we keep top-notch education affordable, rather than letting corporations of all kinds--schools, book manufacturers, banks, etc.--make tons of money off them. And us?
Third: "The main source of middle-class wealth has been largely wiped out," as most of us so well know.
"American homeowners owe almost as much as the students, with $700 billion of debt over and above the value of their homes."
Here again, it seems we value and want to reward corporations--and the wealthy--before we protect the "common man", the working person, the middle- and lower-classes.
Does that make any sense? Does that seem like smart, productive priorities to you?
Fourth: "We give prison sentences for smoking marijuana, but not for billion-dollar fraud."
They write more--a bit more--about this at the original article but it's nearly that there isn't even any need for it. How much more gross inequality and unfairness can you get than that?
Finally, "You can have health care, if you pay for it."
Three statistics on American health care:
--More than 50 million of us have no health care at all because our system, being "free market Capitalism", leaves it up to us to get insurance and those people don't have it and can't afford it;
--We pay more, as a nation and as individuals, than any other people and nation in the world;
--We are ranked, again, nationally, 37th in the world, at best, in mortality rate. We are more likely to die younger here in the US than in 36 other nations.
Here again, we put our corporations and business and so, the wealthy, ahead--far ahead--of the common good for the nation. This is a health care system that patently isn't working. At least it's not working for the majority of the nation. Strange, dysfunctional priorities.
Their conclusion (at least part of it):
"Privatization simply hasn't worked for health care, mortgage banking, higher education, or prison management. There is little incentive for profit-motivated firms to invest in disadvantaged or underemployed Americans."
My conclusion:
Given all this and then that, on top of this, we spend more--$711 billion dollars per year--on "defense" than any other nation in the world, it seems more indications of strange, unnecessary, unsustainable and very nearly crazy priorities.
What it boils down to is that I don't think we--the American people--know or realize what kind of country we are, who we are, who and what we've become. Further, I don't think most people know what got us here or how we get out of it.
To me, the one most important thing we need to do is get the big money of corporation and wealthy out of our political system and government. We need true, stringent, tough, accountable campaign finance reform so our legislators and their legislation and so, our laws and government can no longer be bought. Until we do that, until we get this big, ugly money out of our system, nothing will change. Everything will remain the same. It will be government for the wealthy and corporations instead of for the average worker and schmoe on the street, so to speak. It will remain government for the top 1%. I think we all know this.
We need to get the money out of the system.
The fact is, we're not on a good path. We need to change that. And it will--has to--come from us, the people, in order to change.
Link to original post: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/14-0
Here are a few more tidbits on what we are and who we Americans have become, this time from the website Common Dreams:
For starters, according to the article (link at bottom, as usual): "We're near the bottom of the developed world in children's health and safety."
That was a stunner to me. Didn't we always think "We're number one!"? What happened to being "the richest country in the world"? What happened to having the highest standard of living in the world? Isn't that who we are? Don't we want to take care of our children's health and safety?
Or do we, instead, want to make absolutely sure that our health care corporations stay in a "free market" so they can do--and charge--whatever they please?
What and where are our priorities?
Second: "We've betrayed the young people who were advised to stay in school.
Over 40% of recent college graduates are living with their parents, dealing with government loans that average $27,200. The unemployment rate for young people is about 50%. More than 350,000 Americans with advanced degrees applied for food stamps in 2010."
Once more, what are our priorities?
For our children, for the next generation, for them, let alone for the nation, don't we value education? Isn't it more important that we keep top-notch education affordable, rather than letting corporations of all kinds--schools, book manufacturers, banks, etc.--make tons of money off them. And us?
Third: "The main source of middle-class wealth has been largely wiped out," as most of us so well know.
"American homeowners owe almost as much as the students, with $700 billion of debt over and above the value of their homes."
Here again, it seems we value and want to reward corporations--and the wealthy--before we protect the "common man", the working person, the middle- and lower-classes.
Does that make any sense? Does that seem like smart, productive priorities to you?
Fourth: "We give prison sentences for smoking marijuana, but not for billion-dollar fraud."
They write more--a bit more--about this at the original article but it's nearly that there isn't even any need for it. How much more gross inequality and unfairness can you get than that?
Finally, "You can have health care, if you pay for it."
Three statistics on American health care:
--More than 50 million of us have no health care at all because our system, being "free market Capitalism", leaves it up to us to get insurance and those people don't have it and can't afford it;
--We pay more, as a nation and as individuals, than any other people and nation in the world;
--We are ranked, again, nationally, 37th in the world, at best, in mortality rate. We are more likely to die younger here in the US than in 36 other nations.
Here again, we put our corporations and business and so, the wealthy, ahead--far ahead--of the common good for the nation. This is a health care system that patently isn't working. At least it's not working for the majority of the nation. Strange, dysfunctional priorities.
Their conclusion (at least part of it):
"Privatization simply hasn't worked for health care, mortgage banking, higher education, or prison management. There is little incentive for profit-motivated firms to invest in disadvantaged or underemployed Americans."
My conclusion:
Given all this and then that, on top of this, we spend more--$711 billion dollars per year--on "defense" than any other nation in the world, it seems more indications of strange, unnecessary, unsustainable and very nearly crazy priorities.
What it boils down to is that I don't think we--the American people--know or realize what kind of country we are, who we are, who and what we've become. Further, I don't think most people know what got us here or how we get out of it.
To me, the one most important thing we need to do is get the big money of corporation and wealthy out of our political system and government. We need true, stringent, tough, accountable campaign finance reform so our legislators and their legislation and so, our laws and government can no longer be bought. Until we do that, until we get this big, ugly money out of our system, nothing will change. Everything will remain the same. It will be government for the wealthy and corporations instead of for the average worker and schmoe on the street, so to speak. It will remain government for the top 1%. I think we all know this.
We need to get the money out of the system.
The fact is, we're not on a good path. We need to change that. And it will--has to--come from us, the people, in order to change.
Link to original post: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/14-0
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Don't forget, tonight!
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Arthur Bryant's big, national honor
Monday, February 27, 2012
Raphael Hotel's Jazz Club Touted in WSJ online
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Quote of the day (of a lifetime?)
"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can." --John Wesley, Christian evangelist, Anglican priest and founder of the Methodist Church. (With thanks to the South Kansas City Observer for the reminder).
Monday, February 13, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Omaha? One of the "richest cities where no one wants to move"?
Yes it is, ladies and gentlemen, unbelievably enough, at least to me, anyway. There is an article out now titled "The Richest Cities Where No One Wants to Move" and our own Nebraska neighbor to the North is number 10. Don't get me wrong, I totally get the "where no one wants to move", part but "one of the richest cities"? Who knew? It was done by Trulia’s Metro Movers Report and posted on the 24/7 Wall Street site. Here's what they have to say about the town: "The Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan region is relatively stable and economically healthy. It is surprising then that relatively few people want to move to the area compared to the number of people looking to leave. For every person — from outside the region — inquiring about real estate within the region, there are two people within the region searching for homes elsewhere. With home prices in the area falling only 2.8% since their peak, home buyers have little incentive to search in the Omaha region. However, Fiserv-Case Shiller projects home prices to rise 1.5% between third quarter of 2011 and the third quarter of 2012, which is in the top third of increases among major metro regions. Wanting to move to Omaha, Nebraska is nearly as bad as, oh, I don't know, wanting to move to Topeka, Kansas. Link: http://247wallst.com/2012/02/03/the-american-cities-where-no-one-wants-to-move/2/
Thursday, December 29, 2011
I'm so old...
I remember all ten (from an online article): 10 Brand Names Gone, But Not Forgotten They are (were): Woolworth's (first named F.W. Woolworth's), Amiga (computers), Merry Go Round/Chess King (clothing stores), Diners Club Card (a credit card), Tab (sugar-free soft drink), Rustler Steakhouse (I remember it but never ate there. Maybe that's why they failed), McCall's magazine (Mom took this one, at one time as I remember), General Cinema Corporation (a movie theater chain), Pan Am (the jet airline) and Chiclets (chewing gum).
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Okay they're up and it looks smart--and good
KC Free Press is up.
And it looks good.
You know what it looks like?
An online newspaper.
An online newspaper that works.
Anyone paying attention at the Star?
You know what it is, right?
A "newspaper" for the next generation.
Addendum:
And note: no racism or sexism.
How refreshing.
And it looks good.
You know what it looks like?
An online newspaper.
An online newspaper that works.
Anyone paying attention at the Star?
You know what it is, right?
A "newspaper" for the next generation.
Addendum:
And note: no racism or sexism.
How refreshing.
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