Category Archives: The Great Unraveling

Out Of Service: Milwaukee Budget Cuts Hit Bus Lines: keep the residents from working, please!

Link to: Out Of Service: Milwaukee Budget Cuts Hit Bus Lines — And Keep Residents From Jobs.

Milwaukee bus heading west on Wisconsin Avenue

Interesting piece on cutbacks/fail of public transit in Milwaukee. This, on top of the failure of the new governor to see the future and accept federal money for a high speed rail link through the great state of Wisconsin.

When you cut back public transport – and assuming you’d still like the population to be working, to be paying those taxes you don’t have to if you’re a corporation or a rich person – what you’re really saying is that you’d like to require everyone to own a car.

That, or to live within walking or crawling distance of their employment, or to only work at companies fortunate enough to be on the bus lines that remain. And this is from the party of individual rights and freedoms? It seems contradictory to me. Taking away transit options actually makes people less free. So you’re against requiring folks to buy health insurance, but you’re all for making them own cars?

This, to me, is just another tactic from the right, following their usual playbook of “you’re on your own, buddy, get yourself a bike, take a cab, but don’t you ever rely on your nanny county government to provide a bus for you” (which, by the way, you help pay for with your taxes and your fares).

I never needed to own a car in Milwaukee when I lived there. The bus went everywhere. Not anymore.

(By the way, I used to work at that large building in the background when I was in college, when it was still First Wisconsin National Bank [long gone].)

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What MediCal Budget Cuts Mean To One Man

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF1_3HfIBks[/youtube]

*****UPDATE OCTOBER 7, 2011: I’m sorry to report that Jim died on October 1, 2011 of respiratory failure. Please see this link for a complete obit and memorial service information. *****

This is what state budget cuts can mean on a personal level. This video, made by actor/writer/producer Jim Troesh, tells what will happen to him and other people with similar disabilities should funding be cut from the California state budget for home health caregivers.

I know Jim from an L.A. industry networking group I belong to. When someone takes the time to make something like this, it immediately translates the generic, the mundane, the numbers – into something deeply human and immediate.

I dare you to watch this and remain unaffected. If so moved, you can contact politicians at the links below to express your wishes.
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The below links are for the best way to contact Brown, Feinstein and Boxer via e-mail.
http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactUs.EmailMe
http://boxer.senate.gov/en/contact/policycomments.cfm
For Brown – http://gov.ca.gov/m_contact.php
Fill out and mark that you need help and that you want a reply, that way the office will get back to you. When they do respond, send them the link to the video – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF1_3HfIBks

Recession and workers: One person’s lessons from an economic downturn

link to: Recession and workers: One person’s lessons from an economic downturn

derelict business, location, Texas panhandle

Postcards from the Recession: I really loved this opinion piece from Ann Brenoff, which appeared in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times. She talks about how her life has changed since a layoff, what it’s meant money-wise to her and her family, and also about how priorities have changed.

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I’ll have more on that in future post – something like the “Two Facebooks” I’ve detected – but for now urge you to take a couple of minutes to read Ann’s piece – so that even if you are lucky enough to have a job and it does go away sometime, know there is a life – and a very satisfying one – after.

A Tour Of Abandoned Detroit Neighborhoods

I’m reading Richard Florida’s “The Great Reset,” which is his take on how economic upheavals (like the one we’re going through) lead to a huge change in how capitalism works – what and how things are consumed, where and how people live, etc. Hence, a “re-set.”

He spent a good deal of time discussing Detroit, a great city which rose out of a Long Depression in the 19th century, and the perils that can and do befall localities too heavily dependent on one industry. He directed readers to YouTube to see videos of Detroit’s Urban Decay.

This is one of the videos I found. There are more – some compilations of hauntingly beautiful stills of abandoned theaters, train stations and factories; others, like this one, a drive-by compilation of desolation set to music.

I’ve read about this decay for years but have never been to Detroit. I’ve also never seen video like this. If nothing else, it was the enormity of the area and what must have been the human toll there – neighborhoods shattered, families uprooted and displaced, nature finally taking over everything once the rest is gone (urban prairie – complete with raccoons, pheasant and a real-life beaver). Continue reading →

Madison in my Heart

Union Terrace, my favorite Madison spot. Lake Mendota in BG

I’ve been thinking about Madison a lot in the last few days. If you live under a rock or something, this is the reason why.

The photo on my left is the Union Terrace, where I’ve spent many hours. I probably would have done better on my studies at UW had I not spent so much time there, but the memories are delicious.

When I visit Wisconsin in the summertime, I always make a trip to the University to look around and hang out and have some Glory Days:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vQpW9XRiyM[/youtube]

Pointless, but fun, memories of youth. This Madison Memorial Union, however, was also the place where I learned a great deal about unions themselves. As I recall, the Union employees had/have a very strong union, and there were always fliers and whatnot lying around which explained their positions on things and their current negotiations. In fact, as I recall, the concept of “union” permeated the place.

As such, it was one of the primo places for college students to work, as there was decent pay and benefits, even if you were part-time. I remember still, how rare this was. I know I applied for various service-type jobs there but never got hired. Continue reading →

This is what globalization can “do” for you: California’s visual effects firms fading as foreign competition mounts

Hollywood visual effects: California’s visual effects firms fading as foreign competition mounts – latimes.com.

Link above to the disturbing trend among entertainment professional jobs that are racing to the bottom internationally. Here, it’s the computer whizzes that make the digital effects modern movies rely on to make any kind of money the conglomerates must have.

I was sad to see this, but not surprised, as I’ve seen it with professional writing already. With the advent of internet outsourcing, why pay someone in West L.A. $500 for a press release or something similar when you can find someone who will think it’s a bonanza to do it for $50 somewhere in India?

The situation with computer programmers and effects geniuses might even be more dire, as English facility is probably not as important a requirement as it is with, say, English writing.
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And I’m sure it’s the tip of the iceberg. What else can entertainment companies offshore for less, so that they’re more profitable at home? Legal services? Set Design? Production accounting?

Plan A would be regulations to keep these jobs in the United States, but I don’t see that happening, do you? The Corporations which control profits certainly won’t allow that to happen. Plan B would be for the cost of living and doing business to rise around the world so that it’s equal to the U.S., or lower it so that it’s equal to the cheaper costs in the rest of the world.

And I have no idea how that would ever happen, either. Thoughts?

“Living standards improve, despite tough economy” – Oh, Really?

Living standards improve, despite tough economy – USATODAY.com.

USA Today has finally abandoned even the pretension of journalistic credibility with this “article” in today’s paper.
I glanced at the headline while in Starbux earlier, and, eager to find out about my increasing fortunes, looked it up online.

What planet are these people on? Where to begin?

“The average annual income was $24,079 per person in 1980 in inflation-adjusted dollars, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis data. Last year, it was $40,454 per person.”

Ummm yeah, but I assume these averages take in everybody’s income, then divide it out by population. So it’s a big fat lie to say the average person makes $40,454! Income in the U.S. has been flowing to the top brackets since 1980, so the rich are much richer but the middle and working classes have been stagnant.

“Not only has income grown, what’s less obvious is how much better a lifestyle can be bought for the same amount of money whether it’s $25,000 or $100,000.”

They go on to say how much less computer memory costs in 2011 vs. 1980 (reminder: personal computers weren’t generally available until 1984 or so, before that it was industry mainframes mainly) and to say that we own more cars and take more flights.

Let’s talk to those commuters in places like L.A. and Dallas who spend hours more in traffic jams than would have been thinkable in 1980. Let’s talk to anyone who has to go to an airport and get felt up by a TSA goon, then sit in a cramped, tiny seat and get basically dehydrated and starved before we wax jubilant about the improved standards of air travel. Continue reading →

Alfred W. McCoy: The Decline and Fall of the American Empire: Four Scenarios for the End of the American Century by 2025

LINK TO: Alfred W. McCoy: The Decline and Fall of the American Empire: Four Scenarios for the End of the American Century by 2025.

McCoy’s piece is well worth reading. It’s depressing, quite frankly, and was unsure about reposting it here, after all, it is the holiday season, and we’re supposed to be cheery and rosy-cheeked and happy and gay and all that.

Basically, in the piece, McCoy gives a few scenarios about how the end game of American dominion might/will come to an end, and quicker than we thought. Not that this is news, but still it’s like a slap in the face.

I remember my first encounter with the concepts of Peak Oil in the 90s, and walking around shell-shocked for a few days. But after that, I consciously thought about my own fuel use, and how I could reduce it if not eliminate it. A decade later, I have a very fuel-efficient car (OK, it’s not a hybrid, that’s the next car if indeed there is a next car) which I try to use only judiciously (I work from a home office). I’ve learned to love walking, biking and public transport.

Just a small illustration of change that can come internally, then builds like a wave when more and more people get the message. I’m still hopeful that Americans can somehow avoid the most horrifying of these scenarios – but it just so often seems like we’re walking off that cliff, eyes wide open, for some reason refusing to see what’s apparent to the rest of the world.

Oh, Happy Tuesday! And It’s Pearl Harbor Day – Remembering you.

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t r u t h o u t | Stop Them From Eating My Town

Link to: t r u t h o u t | Stop Them From Eating My Town.

big box

Don’t eat my town! This post from Thom Hartmann is great at really laying out, for the person who’s not an economist (c’est moi), the local economies involved in small town businesses and local banks and the symbiotic relationship between them and local consumers.
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Also great at pointing out the history of the corporate big box takeover in this country, starting with Reagan’s refusal to enforce the Sherman Antitrust Act in the 1980s, which is what led us to where we are today, with small city downtowns devastated and looming multinational chains out by the freeway – all of which hire local citizens at low wages and lower benefits – and then keep none of the money they make in the community.

Not just a screed, his post also offers remedies, from enforcing laws to ending corporate welfare, plugging tax loopholes and encouraging American entrepreneurship. This is a great read. It made me want to patronize what main street shops we still have in the town where I live (actually, there are plenty) as well as shop second hand both in person and on the internet.

How to Get Along in Tough Times – Howard Zinn

Link to Facebook posting: On Getting Along [in Tough Times] By Howard Zinn.

Howard Zinn

I really liked this posting. Calmed me down quite a bit, got to remember to take that long view, and also the view that many things are happening with people that I don’t ever hear about. Things that are positive moves in a progressive direction.

For me personally, seeing how many people voted in the recent election for Democrats, or against the Tea Party candidates from hell, even in those elections we lost are also hopeful signs. Since it’s a winner take all, even if a Republican won a seat somewhere in Texas or Illinois, it doesn’t mean that millions of progressive-thinking people didn’t vote against that person.
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I love his reminder that power depends on the obedience of others, and those others have often (in all places and all times) decided to disobey, and that when they do, the power crumbles.

I know from my own efforts over the decades now with the Gay and Lesbian movement that there are many steps forward, and many steps back. Still, the trajectory is clear, and we are lightyears beyond where we were in the days of Anita Bryant. Ah, the 70s!

It will be the same with the current crop of conservatives in this country. They are dying out – slowly – and I’m sure this scares the Jesus right out of them! By mid century, the demographics in this country will be totally different and it will no longer be such a safe place for rich white old straight men.