"Today the tyrant rules not by club or fist, but, disguised as a market researcher, he shepherds his flocks in the ways of utility and comfort."
Marshall Mcluhan
For a long time it was wood and coal that provided the energy that was needed to keep one warm, light the world when dark, run the machines and move people from point A to point B.
I was given a LINK to a talk by Dmitry Orlov the other day. It was quite long, over an hour, so I just book marked it for viewing at another time. Well I finally got around to watching it and it was well worth the time I spent. I do not say this lightly because I am more of a doer than a watcher, rarely taking time to watch movies or even television these days. I highly recommend it, it is worth the time. Here is the LINK.
We as humans don't do Big very well and it seems that current and past research bares this out. This article presents a few of the reasons why this is true.
The progressive establishment keeps wondering why they keep loosing elections. I find this incredibly strange. Ever since the late 1960s it has been populated by the better educated, higher payed professionals and semi-professionals. And ever since this influx, the Democratic party has continuously lost elections. There is a reason for this.
What used to be the Democratic base - the working stiffs.
And if people are not shopping at Wal-Mart (and I know many are not shopping a KMart and Target here), then the economy is doing worse than Washington is saying by a long shot.
And according to a Wisconsin police union president, whether the police agree or disagree with their governor's politics, they would "absolutely" carry out any order given to them ... even if that order included using force against their fellow Americans gathered in peaceful protest.
I have heard over and over on various blogs etc. people on the left - very intelligent people - ask in one way or another "Why don't these people (meaning generally those on the right and some in the middle) Get It ? How can they be so ignorant ? So naive ? Don't they see what is happening to this country ?
This post will undoubtedly piss off a lot of people here. So be it. I hope people do get pissed off but I also hope they direct their anger toward those who are making life miserable.
I was turned on to this particular analysis from another blog and thought it deserved wider exposure. One explanation of why congress and the president seem to be ignoring a large part of America. Matt Yglesias and Kevin Drum seem to think it
Gallup says the unemployment rate is 10.0%. However, that is a "without seasonal adjustment". On the same basis, the BLS has the January unemployment rate at 9.8%.
The "official" unemployment rate from the BLS is 9.0%, seasonally adjusted.
Wisconsin Democrats on Thursday fled the statehouse in an effort to prevent legislators from reaching a quorum and passing a bill put forth by Gov. Scott Walker (R), which would cripple the collective bargaining rights of public unions.
Ever feel like no one notices all the effort you put into your job?
Well, hopefully they at least notice you're alive and breathing. If not, you could find yourself in the same situation as Rebecca Wells, a 51-year-old woman who died in her cubicle Friday in Los Angeles County.
Though she died on Friday, she was unnoticed at her desk in the Department of Internal Services until Saturday. The county coroner is yet to determine the cause of death.
Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, has resigned from his post, handing over power to the armed forces.
Omar Suleiman, the vice-president, announced in a televised address that the president was "waiving" his office, and had handed over authority to the Supreme Council of the armed forces.
Suleiman's short statement was received with a roar of approval and by celebratory chanting and flag-waving from a crowd of hundreds of thousands in Cairo's Tahrir Square, as well by pro-democracy campaigners who attended protests across the country on Friday.
It looks like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce --- the Rightwing lobbying firm now allowed to accept hundreds of thousands, if not millions, in secret funding from corporations likely subsidized with your tax dollars --- has been caught in the act of creating a $2 million disinformation campaign to attack progressive organizations such as VelvetRevolution.us and its StopTheChamber.com initiative.