Category tax policy for the 99%
The beer-hall putsch, revisited
Not everybody remembers the early history of the Nazis. Hitler’s party had failed to achieve some of his goals. He and his Stormtroopers had gotten busted in September 1921 for attacking a meeting of the Bavaria Union, for which Hitler had gone to prison for a month. In short, he was on the radar of […]
The six year cycle (a retrospective)
It’s a mandala, I tell you. The road goes on forever and the party never ends (sorta). I began writing this blog a little over six years ago. I’ve been looking at old stories on this blog, and there’s something like 650. Some of those were reblogged from other sources (Hello Kevin Hester) but I […]
Happy 2018, DOODS!
We made it through 2017. It was a farkin’ disaster for the most part, but we did it. Trump was every bit the train wreck of a president I thought he’d be, and we’re leaning into economic territory we haven’t been in since 2007–lots of debt that’s unsustainable, that will never be repaid, and trillions […]
The potential ‘Friday Night massacre’.
Drifting into political territory here rather than discussing the unfolding Sixth Mass Extinction. I’ll get back to that in a moment. You will be concerned. Concern is growing that President Trump will fire special prosecutor Bob Mueller in the coming week, after Congress has adjourned for the winter break. The target date being mentioned […]
New York, overbuilt and gentrified
Let’s start with the latest from my Brooklyn Nabe. This is the sole grocery/supermarket within easy walking distance of my apartment. You’ll notice it is boarded up. I had mixed feelings about the place–they were open late and 365 days a year, but the cleanliness was always an issue, and their produce and dairy were […]
The economy Trump inherits
“For a three-year stretch from 1983 to 1985 during the heart of the Reagan boom, growth in the U.S. economy averaged over 5.5% per year. These two periods were unusually strong, but they show what the U.S. economy can do with the right policies. By contrast, growth in the U.S. from 2007 through 2013 averaged 1% per year. Growth in the first half of 2014 was worse, averaging just 0.95%.”
Off the 2016 employment cliff
This has been a tremendously hard few months for me. I don’t want to overshare, but unemployment has been at the center of many, many conversations, with family and friends having hit the bricks this year. Friends with ten, fifteen or twenty years of service are being thrown under the bus.The job I’ve had […]
Reliving the Weimar Republic
I wrote many months ago about the Weimar Republic and how and why it collapsed into fascism once conditions got bad enough. Remember? Bad stuff happening now that Trump has unleashed all his ugly hate in his choices for the people to staff his new administration. Not surprising. I’m amazed that it took everyone so […]
Waiting for next Wednesday
I hate to say this, but unless The Donald falls down and breaks a hip (he IS 70), he will win the presidency next Tuesday. The accumulated drip-drip-drip of bad news for Clinton has reached a point where she cannot pull enough independent voters to win. The re-opened FBI investigation (which seems to dove-tail with […]
The Brooklyn Culture Jam 