SIXPENCE & PRIDE

Sing a song of sixpence a pocket full of rye,
Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened the birds began to sing,
Oh wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king?
The king was in his counting house counting out his money,
The queen was in the parlour eating bread and honey
The maid was in the garden hanging out the clothes,
When down came a blackbird and pecked off her nose

                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvfdueZecVk

To get a sense of how the CEO of a company you regularly do business with pays his or her employees compared to themselves, we've broken it down for you below:

CVS Caremark (CVS)
Thomas M. Ryan: $30.4 million (2009 Compensation)
Starting Cashier: $8/hour, $20,800/year
One CEO = 1,461 entry-level employees

AT&T (T)
Randall Stephenson: $29.2 million (2009 Compensation)
Starting Sales Associate: $10/hour, $26,000/year
One CEO = 1,123 entry-level employees

The Walt Disney Co. (DIS)
Robert Iger: $29 million (2009 Compensation)
Disneyland Hotel Housekeeper: $10/hour, $26,000/year
One CEO = 1,115 entry-level employees

McDonald's (MCD)
James A. Skinner: $17.6 million (2009 Compensation)
Starting Cashier: $7.25/hour, $18,850/year
One CEO = 933 entry-level employees

Target (TGT)
Gregg W. Steinhafel: $16.1 million (2009 Compensation)
Starting Cashier: $8.50/hour, $22,100/year
One CEO = 728 entry-level employees

Cablevision (CVC)
Founder and Chairman Charles F. Dolan: $15 million (2009 Compensation)
James L. Dolan: $17 million (2009 Compensation)
Customer Service Representative: $13/hour, $33,800/year
One CEO = 505 entry-level employees

Starbucks (SBUX)
Founder Howard Schultz: $9.9 million (2009 Compensation)
Entry-level Barista: $9/hour, $23,400/year
One CEO = 423 entry-level employees

Wal-Mart Stores (WMT)
Michael T. Duke: $8.5 million (2009 Compensation)
Starting Sales Associate: $9.75/hour, $25,350/year
One CEO = 335 entry-level employees

See full article from dailyfinance.com

Which side are you on boys?
Which side are you on?

Which side are you on,boys?
Which side are you on?

They say in Harlan County
There are no neutrals there
You'll either be a union man
Or a thug for J. H. Claire

Which side are you on boys?
Which side are you on?
Tell me, which side are you on boys?
Which side are you on?

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9Qlkx-qwaM

European Union lawmakers have voted overwhelmingly to cap bankers' short-term cash bonuses from next year, a move that European leaders hope other parts of the world will follow.

Members of the European Parliament voted 625-28 in favor of the new rules which will become final when they are approved by EU finance ministers as expected next week.

From 2011, bankers will only be able to get part of their yearly bonuses in cash upfront. The other 70 percent will be held back and paid out if the company performs well.

The caps come after a European outcry over payments to executives of banks that received huge state bailouts during the financial crisis. Some say bonuses encouraged bankers to take massive risks at the expense of the long-term future of their businesses.

Michel Barnier, the EU's financial services commissioner, said the new rules sent a strong message that "there will be no return to business as usual."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/07/eu-caps-bank-bonuses-comp_n_637600.html

So long sad times
Go long bad times
We are rid of you at last

Howdy gay times
Cloudy gray times
You are now a thing of the past

Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again

Altogether shout it now
There's no one
Who can doubt it now
So let's tell the world about it now
Happy days are here again

Your cares and troubles are gone
There'll be no more from now on
From now on ...

Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So, Let's sing a song of cheer again

Happy times
Happy nights
Happy days
Are here again!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA8OmK3qslw

Why won't Congress reauthorize unemployment benefits for people who've been out of work for longer than six months?...

It's not an opinion openly shared by most members of Congress, but a handful of senators and representatives from both parties have said this year that they suspect extended unemployment benefits actually discourage people from looking for work.

It started in March with Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), who said unemployment insurance "doesn't create new jobs. In fact, if anything, continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work."

In May, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) said extended benefits undermine the economic recovery because they "basically keep an economy that encourages people to, rather than go out and look for work, to stay on unemployment." And Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.), after pushing party leaders to trim a domestic aid bill, said that in light of four months of job growth, "At some point you have to take a step back and look at the relative value of unemployment benefits versus people looking for jobs."

Altmire said business owners in his district (he declined to say which ones) complained of hiring trouble because potential workers would rather stay on the dole. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said the same thing when she neatly juxtaposed suspicion of the unemployed and deficit worries in a June comment off the Senate floor. Deficit hawks want the extended benefits, which until 36 days ago gave the unemployed an unprecedented 99 weeks of checks in some states, to be "paid for" instead of passed as emergency spending and adding the cost to the deficit.

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But that was then. Today, American workers face the worst job market since the Great Depression, with five job seekers for every job opening, with the average spell of unemployment now at 35 weeks. Yet the Senate went home for the holiday weekend without extending benefits. How was that possible?

The answer is that we're facing a coalition of the heartless, the clueless and the confused

It is difficult to get a man to understand something," said Upton Sinclair, "when his salary" -- or, in this case, his hope of retaking Congress -- "depends upon his not understanding it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/05/opinion/05krugman.html?_r=1

SO LETS ALL GET UP AND SING IT TOGETHER!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0FIq3drQs4