Showing posts with label e. Show all posts
Showing posts with label e. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
The Salmonella Problem
Did you know over 200 million eggs have been recalled? See more at our posting via this link: http://thelostcookbook.blogspot.com/2010/08/over-200-million-eggs-have-been.html
Monday, July 26, 2010
A Plan for the Global Economic Recovery
The US Role in Haiti Food Riots Image licensed under Creative Commons by barrybar
Updated Again Wednesday, September 1, 2010: ***
Updated Friday, July 30, 2010: With the economic report just received from the BBC today **, this blog posting seems worthy of a second review and a follow-up. Check this site later for more updates if possible.
We have been gone for a little while and we hadn't posted anything! ~
Sorry if you have missed us, but we haven't heard much from you either. Apart from having one of our 'tweets' read on the MSNBC Countdown Twitter Report of Friday, May 14, 2010 - we just haven't accomplished much. We're not even certain if they still do the Twitter Report - anyway we have deleted our twitter account - it was @georgek1029. Apologies if you were one of the 1500 or so that were following us.
Anyway! Our Senior Editor had a bit of a vision the other night - he usually does when we conspire to hit him over the head with a blunt instrument. It was like he could see this big fresh new book coming out. He could even see the title and the cover; "A Plan for the Global Economic Recovery". He could even see some very odd diagrams outlining steps and phases (not phrases) meant to outline just that.
The sad thing, we suppose, is that there appears to be no book nor plan with that title. Sure, a lot of excellent books* have been recently written and published about the Global Economic Crisis of 2007 - 2010. But nothing about a plan or a coordinated series of steps towards the Recovery. (What's also "refreshing" to hear is that the Wikipedia has laid the blame on the US Financial Markets for the liquidity crisis which created the global collapse of the markets - scandalous but guilty!).
Notably, the Obama-Dodd Finanical Reform Act 2010 should/will address some of those shortcomings. But, will it guide the overall economy back to the boisterous health that some many of us need and want? Yes, we're talking about you too, dedanna1029. We know, we know, there are some problems with the bill ~ isn't that right Lawrence?
Thankfully, the 111th Congress of the US has finally agreed to extend long-term UE benefits - again. Which seemed to be their bugbear - at least for most of the GOP - with whom some of us still have problems! Sorry to say! It's been said before, you don't turn off the fire hydrant when the house is burning down! Of course, you may as well turn off the hydrant when the house has burnt down...sorry to say...
But that's not enough ~ we need real prosperity and soon. It's probably one of the real true solutions to the current problems of unemployment. Yes, plural, problems. UE is not a problem in and of itself. We need to become educated as to how it is a problem, how it got to be that way and to get us poor and medium-income folks back to making money again! Forget rich! People are too busy just scraping by to survive. People don't want to be rich, they just need enough funds to pay the rent, utilities, finance the car, get medical treatment, pay their union dues, give gifts, buy postage...oh, and don't forget the grocery bill.
That is a BIG problem. We haven't seen food riots here in the USA. But, we have seen food security issues. Our senior editor's sick elderly father recently experienced a food security issue - this is not a nice issue for our sick and elderly to have to deal with. Even worse is the thought of having to go to their local market - and encountering a food riot in the process. Shades of Glenn Beck - we must be starting to sound like that mad *******. (Our google account provisions forbid us from expressing certain opinions here - and they are correct about that! We must agree!). By the way, you have got to see the latest "joke" Glenn Beck account on twitter at http://twitter.com/Glenn_Beck.
Hmmm, we seem to have wandered a bit from our original point. Our senior editor has had some further "revelations" about "A Plan for the Global Economic Recovery". These are some of his bullet points;
1) All systems are inequitable.
2) All economies are based on a "bubble market".
3) The inherent inequities of (1) help contribute to that bubble market of (2).
4) The crash of (2) and the time to the next crash is inversely proportional to the inequities of (1).
To further highlight the "inequities of the system", see the LiveScience article "World Markets Mostly Controlled by Select Companies". And the BookTV Program "Color Blind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politicis and the Retreat from Racial Inequity". Both of these should shock you to your senses.
Well, that's about it for now. Our "mad" senior editor is developing his new economic theories (Re; the book ~ unless somebody else is writing it) at the time being. We will get back to you with further information.
Until then, these links may be of interest:
bit.ly link to this post: http://bit.ly/9hAgR7
**Updated Friday, July 30, 2010: US Annualized Economic Growth Rate Slows to 2.4% (BBC NEWS)
Acts of the 111th United States Congress (Wikipedia)
Public Laws for the 111th Congress (Library of Congress)
Types of Riots (Wikipedia)
Food Security (Wikipedia)
Further Reading ; External Links on Food Security (Wikipedia References ; Links)
Let's Talk (Blog by dedanna1029)
*A Colossal Failure of Common Sense by Lawrence G. McDonald
World Stocks Controlled by Select Companies (from LiveScience)
Color Blind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat of Racial Inequity (with author Tim Wise).
***(Updated Wednesday, September 1, 2010) 2010 Hiring Outlook from Industry Market Trends
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Two (and More) Contemporary American Heroines
Image licensed under Creative Commons by Leo Reynolds
Bit.ly link to this post: http://bit.ly/4wORW7
This post is mainly about two contemporary American heroines. We recently "discovered" Carmen Reinhart and Barbara Berg giving talks about their very serious work on C-Span's great weekend service: BookTV http://www.booktv.org/.
We encountered Professor Reinhart who co-authored (with Co-Author Kenneth S. Rogoff) speaking on the book: This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly. This is not a book review, as we have not read the book - yet. It is on our list. We are very grateful to Ms. Reinhart for a very enlightening talk about the book and its subject.
For the first time, we feel that we can begin to understand the true nature and cause(s) of the current economic crisis. Seems boom-and-bust cycles are just "natural" in any human-based economy. When times are good, even good people turn greedy and corrupt. This fuels risk - except this time was different because of the overt risks that were taken. Warnings were sounded but largely ignored by our Fed and Mr. Greenspan. The authors found that financial risks are always associated with financial crises. Hence, we have our current crisis.
Will we come out of this one soon - or at all? Not so fast... Ms. Reinhart could not answer that one, but made it clear that more work and management are required to beat down this financial dragon. Unfortunately, we do not see Messrs. Geithner nor Summers as the twin St. George's to defeat this monster. Nor do we have much faith in St. Ben. St. Barry himself will probably have to pick up Excalibur and chop off the head of the problem.
What head, where, has to be lobbed off? The toxic assets, of course. These need to be taken off the accounting books in order to get back to a "normal" state of lending and business. But, corporations are usually chagrined and horrified to write these things off and throw them in the landfill and call these things a loss.
It might all be part of the economic pendulum. Until recently, it has swung in the direction of deregulation. Soon, it may have to swing back the direction of regulation. 10% of us (the unemployed, which is probably really closer to 25%...) think this pendulum needs to get moving again, probably toward the big red "R". Which we know a lot of people are going to have problems with. The people in power. Come on, you know who you are. We don't want to hurt you. But, when you see food riots occurring here on Main Street, don't say we didn't tell you so... Just stay out of the way...
Which leads us to Dr. Berg and her great talk about her book: Sexism in America: Alive, Well, and Ruining Our Future. The connection between the two books should become clear to you later. Don't worry about that now. Again, this is not a book review as we have not yet read the book - yet. Its on our list. (We just hope our local library has the book, they usually don't - its actually a fairly bad library...).
We were shocked and stunned into silence (like much of her audience) by Dr. Berg's very intense talk and research. Dr. Berg - in a very short time, by the way - provided several shocking examples of the fact that sexism is alive - and growing - right here on Main Street. We're going to try to provide some of these from memory. We apologize in advance for any errors - we offer this humbly in earnest.
500 female US troops are raped every year by their comrades. 800 female current troops (did that include veterans? Sorry, we are not sure) are currently homeless and suffering from PTSD. Women are still losing their jobs due to pregnancy even though it is strictly illegal.
There is also a quite staggering difference in how women are treated medically. Dr. Berg cited the case of a friend of hers who was quite clearly suffering from disease. Her doctor repeatedly kept telling her that there was nothing wrong with her. Eventually, she did suffer a heart attack and collapsed on the floor. Fortunately, her husband was late and discovered her while exiting the bathroom. What was the doctor's problem? The doctor was observing for male symptoms. Yes, things are shockingly different for the female in our society.
The most stunning thing revealed? Oh, something like 14 million American families are receiving food assistance. And, most of these are headed by women. The biggest problem for these women is how to deal with the food budget and the other economic choices for their limited funds. Remember we said something about food riots?
And, we believe that the problem is growing. Since the Reagan Administration, women's issues have been massively defunded. The obvious effects were discussed (above) by Dr. Berg. With the war in Afghanistan not stopping, we believe more troops (men and women) are in danger of the issues cited above as well as others. More American families are going to go hungry.
We think we can predict the closure of some of your local grocery stores. Not due to lack of business - but by angry, hunger-crazed mobs if this thing is allowed to spiral - silently - out of control. This is all related to something called food security. Now - that's a real problem.
Somewhere along the line, somebody had to mention the 2012 Meme. Perhaps there really is going to be some catastrophe. Perhaps both talks by Dr. Reinhart and Dr. Berg point to that.
How to help? Keep supporting programs like WIC and Food Stamps. Make that donation to your place of worship or the Salvation Army. The Goodfellows also do a good job in our town. For the holidays, our local Salvation Army was offering frozen turkeys and frozen chicken - along with other food assistance. And write off those toxic assets.
FOM: BookTV http://www.booktv.org/
This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly Carmen Reinhart
Professor Carmen M. Reinhart’s Website
Carmen Reinhart Wikipedia Link
Amazon's Carmen M. Reinhart Page
Co-Author Kenneth S. Rogoff
Amazon Link to the Book
Google Preview of the Book
Sexism in America: Alive, Well, and Ruining Our Future Barbara Berg
Barbara J. Berg Website
Amazon Link to Dr. Berg’s Book
Google Preview of the Book
2012 Meme
Honorable Mention also to:
After Words: Nomi Prins, author of "It Takes a Pillage" interviewed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (For some reason, we found the Honorable Sanders microphone problems very annoying...)
After Words: Jane Goodall, author of "Hope for Animals and Their World" interviewed by John Nielsen (Not yet viewed - of course, Jane Goodall is a heroine to many...)
Hoodwinked: An Economic Hit Man Reveals Why the World Financial Markets Imploded - and What We Need to Do to Remake Them John Perkins (Not yet viewed)
Bit.ly link to this post: http://bit.ly/4wORW7
This post is mainly about two contemporary American heroines. We recently "discovered" Carmen Reinhart and Barbara Berg giving talks about their very serious work on C-Span's great weekend service: BookTV http://www.booktv.org/.
We encountered Professor Reinhart who co-authored (with Co-Author Kenneth S. Rogoff) speaking on the book: This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly. This is not a book review, as we have not read the book - yet. It is on our list. We are very grateful to Ms. Reinhart for a very enlightening talk about the book and its subject.
For the first time, we feel that we can begin to understand the true nature and cause(s) of the current economic crisis. Seems boom-and-bust cycles are just "natural" in any human-based economy. When times are good, even good people turn greedy and corrupt. This fuels risk - except this time was different because of the overt risks that were taken. Warnings were sounded but largely ignored by our Fed and Mr. Greenspan. The authors found that financial risks are always associated with financial crises. Hence, we have our current crisis.
Will we come out of this one soon - or at all? Not so fast... Ms. Reinhart could not answer that one, but made it clear that more work and management are required to beat down this financial dragon. Unfortunately, we do not see Messrs. Geithner nor Summers as the twin St. George's to defeat this monster. Nor do we have much faith in St. Ben. St. Barry himself will probably have to pick up Excalibur and chop off the head of the problem.
What head, where, has to be lobbed off? The toxic assets, of course. These need to be taken off the accounting books in order to get back to a "normal" state of lending and business. But, corporations are usually chagrined and horrified to write these things off and throw them in the landfill and call these things a loss.
It might all be part of the economic pendulum. Until recently, it has swung in the direction of deregulation. Soon, it may have to swing back the direction of regulation. 10% of us (the unemployed, which is probably really closer to 25%...) think this pendulum needs to get moving again, probably toward the big red "R". Which we know a lot of people are going to have problems with. The people in power. Come on, you know who you are. We don't want to hurt you. But, when you see food riots occurring here on Main Street, don't say we didn't tell you so... Just stay out of the way...
Which leads us to Dr. Berg and her great talk about her book: Sexism in America: Alive, Well, and Ruining Our Future. The connection between the two books should become clear to you later. Don't worry about that now. Again, this is not a book review as we have not yet read the book - yet. Its on our list. (We just hope our local library has the book, they usually don't - its actually a fairly bad library...).
We were shocked and stunned into silence (like much of her audience) by Dr. Berg's very intense talk and research. Dr. Berg - in a very short time, by the way - provided several shocking examples of the fact that sexism is alive - and growing - right here on Main Street. We're going to try to provide some of these from memory. We apologize in advance for any errors - we offer this humbly in earnest.
500 female US troops are raped every year by their comrades. 800 female current troops (did that include veterans? Sorry, we are not sure) are currently homeless and suffering from PTSD. Women are still losing their jobs due to pregnancy even though it is strictly illegal.
There is also a quite staggering difference in how women are treated medically. Dr. Berg cited the case of a friend of hers who was quite clearly suffering from disease. Her doctor repeatedly kept telling her that there was nothing wrong with her. Eventually, she did suffer a heart attack and collapsed on the floor. Fortunately, her husband was late and discovered her while exiting the bathroom. What was the doctor's problem? The doctor was observing for male symptoms. Yes, things are shockingly different for the female in our society.
The most stunning thing revealed? Oh, something like 14 million American families are receiving food assistance. And, most of these are headed by women. The biggest problem for these women is how to deal with the food budget and the other economic choices for their limited funds. Remember we said something about food riots?
And, we believe that the problem is growing. Since the Reagan Administration, women's issues have been massively defunded. The obvious effects were discussed (above) by Dr. Berg. With the war in Afghanistan not stopping, we believe more troops (men and women) are in danger of the issues cited above as well as others. More American families are going to go hungry.
We think we can predict the closure of some of your local grocery stores. Not due to lack of business - but by angry, hunger-crazed mobs if this thing is allowed to spiral - silently - out of control. This is all related to something called food security. Now - that's a real problem.
Somewhere along the line, somebody had to mention the 2012 Meme. Perhaps there really is going to be some catastrophe. Perhaps both talks by Dr. Reinhart and Dr. Berg point to that.
How to help? Keep supporting programs like WIC and Food Stamps. Make that donation to your place of worship or the Salvation Army. The Goodfellows also do a good job in our town. For the holidays, our local Salvation Army was offering frozen turkeys and frozen chicken - along with other food assistance. And write off those toxic assets.
FOM: BookTV http://www.booktv.org/
This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly Carmen Reinhart
Professor Carmen M. Reinhart’s Website
Carmen Reinhart Wikipedia Link
Amazon's Carmen M. Reinhart Page
Co-Author Kenneth S. Rogoff
Amazon Link to the Book
Google Preview of the Book
Sexism in America: Alive, Well, and Ruining Our Future Barbara Berg
Barbara J. Berg Website
Amazon Link to Dr. Berg’s Book
Google Preview of the Book
2012 Meme
Honorable Mention also to:
After Words: Nomi Prins, author of "It Takes a Pillage" interviewed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (For some reason, we found the Honorable Sanders microphone problems very annoying...)
After Words: Jane Goodall, author of "Hope for Animals and Their World" interviewed by John Nielsen (Not yet viewed - of course, Jane Goodall is a heroine to many...)
Hoodwinked: An Economic Hit Man Reveals Why the World Financial Markets Imploded - and What We Need to Do to Remake Them John Perkins (Not yet viewed)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
