Vaulted Light

Vaulted Light, a photo by Get The Flick on Flickr.

Never -- ever -- leave home without your tripod. I could kick myself...

Communicating for Safety 2012

Monday, January 30, is the opening of Communicating for Safety in downtown Atlanta. I’ll get to hear these stories firsthand. You could too.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Don Brown
January 27, 2012

Remember the UK?

Do you remember that we (Get the Flick readers) are supposed to be watching the economic policy of austerity in the United Kingdom? To see how it’s working out because the Republicans want us to do the same thing?

No Interest, No Return

”Austerity -- paying down debt by cutting government spending -- does not work. It hasn’t worked in Greece, it hasn’t worked in Ireland, nor Spain, nor the United Kingdom. Remember, we’re watching the United Kingdom.”

Krugman remembers. Well...he should. He’s the one that had the idea after all.

The Greater Depression

”...the ongoing slump in Britain is now longer and deeper than the slump in the 1930s (the figure shows...”

Yes, you’ll have to go there to see the figure. After all, that’s their livelihood. I’m just a retired guy goofing around.

Yes, it is raining. Why do you ask?

Don Brown
January 26, 2011

Amend 2012

Since I retired and started delving into how to make things better in our country, I’ve come across this one issue over and over again in numerous places -- corporate “personhood”. Due to a fluke in a previous Supreme Court case, corporations have been slowly winning more rights as “persons”.

With the recent ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission I believe we have gone too far. To put it in a sound bite, I’ll believe corporations are people when Texas executes one. By the way, in case you haven’t thought of it, a State can “execute” a corporation. The State can revoke a corporation’s charter. Not that any State today would. But it could. No, that’s not the kind of thoughts the Republicans want you to have when they say “State’s rights”.

Anyway, if Robert Reich says it’s time to deal with this issue, then it’s time to deal with the issue. And he says so.






Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to upend a hundred years of corporate law. But I believe it is time -- past time actually -- to rein in corporate power.

Don Brown
January 24, 2012

Rainy Day Irony

Maybe I should put a weather gadget on my blog with the forecast for my area. That way you can see when it was likely to rain -- in other words, when it’s likely I’ll write.





I watched Fareed Zakaria this morning. A very informative show as always. The one I’m going to write about (at least to start with) is the one I find the most ironic.

Zakaria: Post-Communist lessons for the new Middle East

”As Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya transition from dictatorship to democracy, you'd think they'd look to America as a model for their new governments. But they don't. America is still too controversial in the Arab world.”

”Where is this new city on a hill?

Take a look at the man landing at the airport in Tunis, Tunisia: It's Lech Walesa. He's the man whose actions 30 years ago in the Gdansk shipyard in Poland helped cause Communism to crumble across Eastern Europe. Walesa was in Tunisia to pass on the lessons he had learned.”

For those too young to remember -- or so old they forgot -- Lech Walesa was the leader of a union named Solidarity. A labor union supported by none other than Ronald Reagan. And the Pope. From Wikipedia:

”US President Ronald Reagan imposed economic sanctions on Poland, which eventually would force the Polish government into liberalizing its policies. Meanwhile the CIA together with the Catholic Church and various Western trade unions such as the AFL-CIO provided funds, equipment and advice to the Solidarity underground. The political alliance of Reagan and the Pope would prove important to the future of Solidarity.”

Yes, this was during the same period in which Ronald Reagan fired the PATCO controllers. Yes, trade unions (anti-capitalist, socialist thugs that they are) helped cause the collapse of Soviet Communism. The world didn’t make any more sense back then than it does now. It is not nice and neat. Never has been. Never will be.

If you’ll read (or watch) the article, you’ll see another important economic lesson that Krugman harps on constantly. Poland’s ability to devalue its currency has helped keep it competitive. They have not suffered a recession like the rest of the world. So, naturally, they want to get on the euro. You can make this stuff up.

”The irony is Warsaw continues to see its destiny as being tied to the common currency. More than half its exports go to the EU - a majority of it to Germany, its main trading partner. Poles reason that being part of the same currency would encourage foreign direct investment in Poland. ”

Irony is not a recent invention. But it never goes out of style.

Don Brown
January 23, 2012

How to Lose Your Economy

Over the weekend, I read one of the best “big picture” articles I’ve read in a while. It is somewhat lengthy, so I’ll try to keep my comments brief (good luck with that) so that you’ll have some time to read it. From the New York Times (of course):

How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work

”Not long ago, Apple boasted that its products were made in America. Today, few are. Almost all of the 70 million iPhones, 30 million iPads and 59 million other products Apple sold last year were manufactured overseas.

Why can’t that work come home? Mr. Obama asked.”

Disclaimer: I have Apple products running out my ears. Within reach right this moment is an iPad, iPhone and Mac Book.

Suffice it to say, I never read a good answer to the President’s question. I heard a lot of excuses. But the following really got my attention.

”Apple has become one of the best-known, most admired and most imitated companies on earth, in part through an unrelenting mastery of global operations. Last year, it earned over $400,000 in profit per employee, more than Goldman Sachs, Exxon Mobil or Google.”

$400,000 per employee? I had no idea any company did so well. That single line turned on a few light bulbs for me. I hope it does for you too.

”“Companies once felt an obligation to support American workers, even when it wasn’t the best financial choice,” said Betsey Stevenson, the chief economist at the Labor Department until last September. “That’s disappeared. Profits and efficiency have trumped generosity.”

Companies and other economists say that notion is naïve. Though Americans are among the most educated workers in the world, the nation has stopped training enough people in the mid-level skills that factories need, executives say.”

This is the major thrust I got from the article. America had the capability to manufacture anything. But we don’t anymore because it’s cheaper overseas. So, it becomes sort of a reverse chicken-or-egg problem. Which left first? Our ability to manufacture or our skills to do so? In other words, we laid off all the “people in the mid-level skills” when we moved our manufacturing overseas and now companies complain that we don’t have “people in the mid-level skills”. Personally, I find the argument ridiculous. And easily solvable if you can settle for a little less than $400,000 profit per employee. Which leads me to...

”A few years after Mr. Saragoza started his job (back in the 90s), his bosses explained how the California plant stacked up against overseas factories: the cost, excluding the materials, of building a $1,500 computer in Elk Grove was $22 a machine. In Singapore, it was $6. In Taiwan, $4.85. Wages weren’t the major reason for the disparities. Rather it was costs like inventory and how long it took workers to finish a task.

“We were told we would have to do 12-hour days, and come in on Saturdays,” Mr. Saragoza said. “I had a family. I wanted to see my kids play soccer.””

Ah ha. I see. You can keep your job if you are willing to give up your lifestyle (so the executives can better theirs).

”In the last decade, technological leaps in solar and wind energy, semiconductor fabrication and display technologies have created thousands of jobs. But while many of those industries started in America, much of the employment has occurred abroad. Companies have closed major facilities in the United States to reopen in China. By way of explanation, executives say they are competing with Apple for shareholders. If they cannot rival Apple’s growth and profit margins, they won’t survive.”

Once again, it is the same old race to the bottom of the barrel. But it is a fool’s race. If we cannot maintain the the standard of living here in the United States then Apple (et al.) will have no market. That’s the thing about being the world’s richest nation -- it makes us the world’s biggest market and finances the world’s biggest military that keeps those sea lanes between China and America open (amongst other things).

It’s the same question I’ve raised before about what makes a company an “American” company. I love Apple products. But I don’t love any company enough to allow it to ruin our county. You can’t come here, take advantage of our just and fair legal system, our stable political system, protected by our military and enjoy access to the world’s largest market only to ship all our jobs overseas.

Corporations want to enjoy eating ice cream without paying for the labor that makes it. They want to own the farm and own the cow but they don’t want to pay the guy that milks the cow or churns the cream. They want serfs. And if you aren’t willing to live like a serf then they’ll ship the milk off to somebody across the sea that is (for a time). And they still expect you to pay the taxes that maintain the transportation system for them.

Not only is it morally wrong, it is unsustainable (to use their own buzz word). Without jobs we won’t stay the world’s largest economy and we won’t pay taxes, without which we can no longer sustain the world’s largest military which provides the security for the world’s largest economy and all that free trade. The leg bone is connected to the ankle bone.

The solution is what has always worked. Despite what the Republicans would have you believe, it is commitment and intervention of the government that makes it all go. Our government intervened after Sputnik was launched (by another government) and we got serious about cranking out engineers. We can do it again. That’s how China is doing it.

”When an Apple team visited, the Chinese plant’s owners were already constructing a new wing. “This is in case you give us the contract,” the manager said, according to a former Apple executive. The Chinese government had agreed to underwrite costs for numerous industries, and those subsidies had trickled down to the glass-cutting factory. It had a warehouse filled with glass samples available to Apple, free of charge. The owners made engineers available at almost no cost.”

(Emphasis added)

It isn’t their overwhelming culture of capitalism that is threatening our economy. It’s China’s government using capitalism to further their national goals. It really isn’t that hard to figure out. Well, unless you’re a modern-day Republican that staked your career on the idea that government can’t do anything right.

Don Brown
January 23, 2012

Betting on Leroy

Now it’s a party. I read a really good article on Leroy’s win in the South Carolina Republican primary. From the Associated Press via the Boston Globe:

Extraordinary Gingrich comeback also vindication

”The former House speaker came from behind to overtake Mitt Romney on Saturday in a state that for decades has chosen the eventual Republican nominee. On the way there, Gingrich triumphed over months of campaign turmoil and at least two political near-death experiences as well as millions of dollars of attack advertisements and potentially damning personal allegations.”

It’s a long article, but on page two they reminded me that Newt was almost dead -- politically.

”Then came Sheldon Adelson to the rescue.

The billionaire casino magnate and longtime Gingrich backer ponied up at least $5 million for an outside group -- made up of former Gingrich aides -- to help put his buddy back in the game. ”

Just in case you might be interested in the guy that is trying to pick the next President of the United States.

”Sheldon Gary Adelson (born August 6, 1933) is an American casino and hotel magnate. ... He is currently the 8th wealthiest American and 16th wealthiest person in the world, with a net worth of $23.3 billion.”

If I was you I would read the whole entry on Wikipedia. Then I’d ask myself a question. “Do I want to live in this guy’s version of America?” Some of you will say, “Yes”.

Don Brown
January 22, 2012

Come On South Carolina!

Get out there and vote for Leroy all you sandlappers. Make all my dreams come true. This will be the biggest mistake you’ve made since firing on Fort Sumter. And I can’t think of a better place for a mistake to be made.

If you think I’m excited about Newt’s recent surge in the polls you ought to see Rachel Maddow. She loves politics -- the nitty-gritty of it all. And she is absolutely giddy about the whole Newt/Romney thing. I think you should watch the whole show. But that’s up to you.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Don Brown
January 21, 2012

On Unemployment and Pensions

I hope that we are at some kind of turning point in our society. I think we are. I perceive that people are thinking harder about what we all want out of life -- and our government. Consumerism and a work ethic without reward seem to be losing their luster.

But first things first. Buffet Fan and The Angry Bureaucrat were both kind enough to do some calculations on the unemployment numbers for me. I appreciate it. 8% isn’t great but it’s better than 8.5%.

And speaking of unemployment...just because I haven’t been able to work it in anywhere else...

I surprised an Episcopal priest the another day when I asked about the prayer for unemployed. “A prayer for the unemployed?” Yep. After growing up Baptist, I have a real appreciation for written prayers. Short, to the point and no more struggling to find the right words. In case you ever need a well-written prayer for public use, now you know where to find one.

For the Unemployed

”Heavenly Father, we remember before you those who suffer
want and anxiety from lack of work. Guide the people of this
land so to use our public and private wealth that all may find
suitable and fulfilling employment, and receive just payment
for their labor; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

(Just another tidbit before I move on. The Book of Common Prayer is where you find that bit about ashes to ashes, dust to dust that you hear in the movies all the time. Hollywood knows good writing when it hears it.)

Did you notice the line about “so to use our public and private wealth that all may find suitable and fulfilling employment”? Public and private wealth. We could think about that for a while. Think oil fields in our territorial waters. Think trees in our national forests. Let your mind wander over that public wealth for a moment or two. Some private companies get very, very rich (not to mention powerful) by exploiting our public wealth.

I like the part about “suitable and fulfilling employment” too. That part sounds easy for the folks on the right side of the curve. It’s not so easy for the those on the left side.



Are they not also deserving of “suitable and fulfilling employment”? And how about a pension?

You thought I’d forgotten about that part didn’t you? I think the general public needs an education about pensions. A pension isn’t some gift a corporation bestows on you. It is part of a worker’s “ just payment for their labor”. Even I, a Federal retiree, was required to pay money into my retirement. The government -- just like other employers -- factors the cost of administering those funds as part of your compensation.

What would you do if somebody snatched your paycheck out of your hands? Chase them down and beat them? Shoot them? Call the cops? Why do we consider entities that steal pensions any different than common thieves? “Wall Street” (et al.) stole a lot of pensions. Billions if not trillions of dollars worth. The rating agencies helped them by rating junk as triple-A investments. Retirement funds are not pools of money you take to Vegas and gamble. They are supposed to be put into the safest of investments. It was all a con and the thieves got rich.

Take a look at your retirement fund and notice the big hole blown in it by the Great Recession. Then remember the unemployed. You probably saw a recovery in your retirement fund. They didn’t. You might want to say a prayer for them.

Don Brown
January 21, 2011