Jim Manis on Most Anything

Jim Manis can formulate an opinion about a good many things, including those about which he has little knowledge. (And some dude named "Lazlo.") Visit The MagicFactory.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

U. S. Postal Service Considers Branch Closings:

It's not secret that the Postal Service is a failure as a business, which is why it's called a service. In an attempt to stem the tide of red ink, branch closures are being considered.

Curious about which ones might be on the chopping block? Here's a list of the potential closures.

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$14 Trillion in Debt: How could this happen? What does it mean?

Zachary Goldfarb puts the situation in clear terms in today's Washington Post. The real problem is greed and stupidity.

The country has enough wealth to make this debt ludicrously small. To start with, the biggest portion of that money is simply owed to ourselves. Trillions are locked up in the mountains of cash private companies posses, including trillions the rich hide or invest overseas in order to avoid paying taxes.

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Monday, July 25, 2011

Right-Wing Terrorists:

After the murders in Norway, it's worth considering that here in the U.S. we are more likely to suffer from right-wing terrorists than from the left or Muslims. A recent New York Times' article points out that "(t)he Hutaree, an extremist Christian militia in Michigan accused last year of plotting to kill police officers and planting bombs at their funerals, had an arsenal of weapons larger than all the Muslim plotters charged in the United States since the Sept. 11 attacks combined."

The Norway murderer evidently fueled his hatred with right-wing American blogs.

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Saturday, July 23, 2011

What Recession?

With unemployment steadily around 9 percent and the number of underemployed around 20 percent, American workers know we're in a deep recession with no end in sight. Government seems oblivious with its focus on debt reduction and elected officials only concerned about being re-elected in in 2012.

So how's business?

The corporate sector, as it turns out, is flush with cash, so much so that it's wildly speculating in all sorts of technology ventures. If you've got a flashy idea about social networking, you can "go public" and get millions.

In addition to the oceans of cash, corporate earnings, overall, are beating expectations, increasing the amount of cash available. But don't bother looking for a job. They're not hiring, just investing.

The dragon finds a horde of gold and sits on it. (See The Washington Post story.)

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Thursday, July 21, 2011

Best Op-Ed of the Year Candidate:

Nicholas Kristof explains the genius of the Tea Party caucus in today's New York Times.

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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Now Here's Something You Don't See Everyday:

"Goldman Sachs Reports Disappointing Profit of $1.05 Billion"

That's a headline from this afternoon's edition of The New York Times. It seems that while Goldman Sachs has doubled its profits from last year the analysts were expecting much more. Well, so was I, gosh darn it! I mean, what can we expect from this economy anyhow? I'll bet there isn't an out of work or underemployed American in the country who doesn't feel for this venerable company. We should just rush to give 'em a new tax break, don't you think?

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Sunday, July 17, 2011

Analysis of a Candidate:

Professor Lawrence Jacobs, a political scientist at the University of Minnesota describes Michele Bachmann: "That's her recipe: find the issue, then use it politically to mobilize previously marginalized or disconnected groups. For those of us who followed her from the beginning, it's like reading a romance novel with a formula" (qtd. Sheryl Gay Stolberg, The New York Times).

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A Crack in the Empire?

Leave it to the Britts to make a scandal out of a scandal sheet. Rupert Murdoch's media empire, built on porn and the juicy tidbits about the lives of the high and mighty that we regular human beings love to discover about our superiors, has been scrambling to hold down the fort as his kingdom has come under attack.

His media chiefs have been caught bribing cops and politicians, tapping into the phones of a former prime minister and the royal family, and even snooping on a dead child. And now they're resigning and being arrested.

King Rupert issued a statement recently, apologizing for the bad behavior, in, of course, one of his newspapers: "[W]e are determined to live up to the expectations of our readers, colleagues and partners."

Well, Rupert, old boy, you were already doing that.

(See The Washington Post story.)

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Sunday, July 10, 2011

Let's Keep That Animal Fat, Corn Syrup, and Salt Flowing!

The government wants the food processing industry to voluntarily come clean on all the ingredients added into the food we feed our children, but the U. S. Chamber of Commerce and the food industry's many highly paid lobbyists are dead set against it. Fessing up, they claim, will kill jobs and stop the economic recovery. (See The Washington Post story.)

It turns out that childhood obesity and early death from many illnesses that grow from it are a patriotic duty.

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Let's Keep Thant Animal Fat, Corn Syrup, and Salt Flowing!

The government wants the food processing industry to voluntarily come clean on all the ingredients added into the food we feed our children, but the U. S. Chamber of Commerce and the food industry's many highly paid lobbyists are dead set against it.

Saturday, July 09, 2011

The More Things Change, the More They Remain the Same:

James Bond has a license to kill. Of course, he's white. David Dow chronicles the continued racist and arbitrary nature of the death penalty in the U. S. in today's New York Times. It's been 35 years since this country briefly experimented with a ban on the barbarism of the death penalty, which has historically been used to terrorize minorities. Nothing has changed, especially in Texas where hatred and bullying apparently reign supreme.

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Friday, July 08, 2011

G. O. P.: Of, By, and For Billionaires

Nicholas Kristof explains who Republicans represent, and it's not the voters, and it's certainly not the American work force. This is about the massive tax breaks the super rich receive and the fact that the Republicans in congress refuse to discuss any modifications in the tax breaks, even though these tax breaks do absolutely nothing to help create jobs or help the small business person.

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