Does that coin have another side? American teenagers don’t know much about history (no word on “the French they took“). On the other hand, the adults who made the report might not know much about methodology.
Speaking of French, Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose [Origin and Translation]. Look familiar? Try to guess the date on the comic before scrolling down.
I haven’t forgotten Burma, I just don’t know what to do about it. I am not the only one either. Do I take my tourist dollars to Myanmar Burma to support the locals, or do I stay away to avoid supporting the illegal government there?
Just maybe the most profitable companies in the history of the world don’t need a tax break. Let’s see if the repeal of tax breaks for oil producers passed in the House of Representatives survives the Senate and a threatened Presidential veto. I wouldn’t count on it.
Don’t be stupid, eating cows too sick to stand up is a good thing and you’re just paranoid. At least that’s what the USDA is saying to The Humane Society. As for me? I’ll continue to stay away from American beef until such time as common sense prevails — and maybe beyond that.
Tim’s at it again. A provocative item Tim Iocono wrote for the Market Oracle.
I wonder what that’s doing to the economy. More than 1 out of every 100 American adults is in prison. Imagine the taxes we are paying to keep prisons running. Think about the fact that the unemployment rate would be 1% higher if we counted these people. No great shock that these numbers are even worse among minorities: “One in 36 Hispanic adults is behind bars, based on Justice Department figures for 2006. One in 15 black adults is, too, as is one in nine black men between the ages of 20 and 34.” What the heck? Do we have more crime than ever before? Are sentences too long? Are we handing out prison sentences for offenses that don’t warrant it? And with all those people behind bars, we are still not free of violent crime.
Does this surprise anyone? Really? It turns out the RIAA hasn’t exactly been turning settlement money over to the artists like they were supposed to.
“Insurance company profits” and marketing budgets still don’t provide any health care. The GAO says that private Medicare plans costs seniors more than the Real Thing. Needless to say, President Bush and insurance companies both dispute this finding.
Quote of the Day: “It’s very easy to outrun a lava flow.” Some stuff you can’t make up.
BACON! Lots of delicious pork for big, profitable, corporate farmers in the latest version of the Farm Bill. What a shame this is likely to get us in trouble with the EU and the WTO.
Follow-up: Don’t panic, but if you have more than $100,000 total deposits in any single bank, it’s time to, um, diversify. The FDIC admits they expect 100-200 bank failures over the next 12-24 months. It is not mattress-and-piggy-bank time, but keep in mind that if a bank fails, the most a depositor can get from the FDIC is $100,000.
Even the UN thinks the Feds are messing up when it comes to rebuilding New Orleans. The Department of Housing and Urban Development issued a strongly worded reply beginning with “Nuh-uh!” and calling the UN “misinformed”.
This land is your land, this land is my land. This freeway, not so much. Unbossed.com has a great item on privatization of highways, and this is only part one!
Stock it to me. Economic roundup for the day includes brutal Wall Street sell-off, record prices for oil, gas prices straining budgets, flat spending in an inflationary environment, consumer confidence at the lowest level since the Original Bush Administration.
No big shock. Vermont is thinking maybe it’s 19 year olds could use a good stiff drink more than it really needs highway funds.
Oh, and many thanks to Carrie of Carrie’s Nation for putting me into her list of 10 of My Favorite Things.
Wouldst the shortest of females care to comment on the only guy who doesn’t seem to be a part of the club: Ron Paul?
(What is it about him that makes you smile?)
At the risk of invoking the wrath of the Paulian legions, I spent over a decade in Texas. Members of my husband’s family have had reasons to do business with him. He is fundamentally a States Rights Libertarian. For every opinion he has that sounds sensible, there’s another that is nonsensical, contradictory, impractical, isolationist, or sometimes outright goofy. I can’t look at those RON PAUL EVOLUTION signs around town without wanting to add a letter D in a strategic location. He cracks me up.
If his actual goal is to bring a slate of different ideas to the forefront, he is succeeding, and perhaps even doing a valuable thing. If anybody really hopes he becomes president, he’s dangerous.