Monthly Archives: January 2014
Where is Occupy Wall Street on Extended Unemployment?
My ire was stirred a week or so ago by an article in Huff Post about the end of long-term unemployment benefits. For those of you joining late, the Congress left town in December for the Holiday recess without renewing extended unemployment benefits, which expired on December 28. The article itself was pretty straightforward. They interviewed a […]
Stopping the Empire–the Citizens United Version
Last Saturday, I took part in the Occu-evolve protest day on Citizens United. And because it was Occupy, and because they like hearing from Jerry the balding tubby radical, I rewrote HOW TO STOP THE EMPIRE WHILE KEEPING YOUR DAY JOB. This is a really solid video, shot by my friend Owen Long, a gifted […]
Huzzah! Unemployment fell to 6.7% (NOT)
Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we find that the US added a paltry 74,000 jobs in December (I’m assuming that’s seasonally adjusted and doesn’t include people hired for holiday retail). And yet despite that, the Unemployment rate fell to 6.7%. Huzzah!Praise be to Obama! Praise be to the fiscally responsible Republicans who refused to […]
Joblessness doesn’t pay
On the 28th of December, long term unemployment benefits expired. The Republican majority in Congress allowed this to happen even though a majority of Americans thought they should be continued. Depending on who you believe, this is the first time the US government has cut extended benefits with the long-term unemployment rate this high. Per the National […]
Amnesty for Edward Snowden?
Note: I had begun this post back in mid-December. It has regained relevance with the recent NY Times and Guardian editorials calling for amnesty for Snowden. The Guardian might be acting out of altruism, but I wonder about the motives at the Times. Is this a big sea-change at the Grey Lady? Or are they sending some kind of message […]
The Brooklyn Culture Jam 