Here’s a nifty little chart showing what job losses in the current recession are like, compared to the recessions of 1990 and 2001 (click the picture for a bigger version):
In other news, Todd Palin (husband of, well, you know who) has now been found to be in contempt of Alaska State Senate for ignoring a subpoena in the investigation of his wife the Governor’s abuse of power. This means, well, it means absolutely nothing, since the AK Senate also voted not to inflict any penalties on the Toddster. No word on whether this shame will hurt corporate sponsorship of his snow machine racing enterprise (my guess, probably not; it isn’t like he got caught smoking dope or anything).
Oh, and KP, my advice to you re: the right-wing boss’s e-mails (for what it’s worth, which aint much)? Ignore them. No good can come of talking politics with family or acquaintances, let alone the people who pay you. You’ll never convince the ditto heads that they’re misguided, no matter how many facts and how much common sense you throw at them.
As long as he doesn’t mention it at work, just hit the old delete button – that’s what it’s there for. If he asks you if you got them, just say yes. And if he asks what you think, chuckle a bit as you say, “oh, that stuff’s been going around the Internet for years,” subtly implying that they’re right up there with the guy from Nigeria and those “this really happened to a guy a friend of my next door neighbor’s cousin knows” e-mails you get (without actually coming out and saying it).
It’s supposed to be up in the 40’s here today, which will feel mighty nice. Have a good Saturday.
Our irreplaceable Mayor Bloomie is talking about laying off 15,000 teachers. The last time they laid off teachers they also gave incentive deals to older teachers to entice them to retire early. Many, who saw what was coming, did so. Classes were huge, 40 +, and violence soared. Schools were dangerous and learning took a back seat to everything else.
Crime was everywhere. Muggings were so common it was a rarity to know someone who had not been a victim. Where the car was parked, going to the store, riding the train were all activities that required planning and vigilance to avoid victimhood. It was a way of life but it wasn’t much fun.
That was a recession. My folks lived through The Great Depression, both graduating from college in the middle of that disaster and eventually finding work thanks to FDR’s stimulus that included the WPA. (Yes, Michael Steele, a government created job.) But, no one who lived through those times ever recovered completely. They scrimped and saved all their lives and NEVER threw food away.
Before my mother went to work for WPA, she was a salesgirl at a department store which only hired college graduates for those positions. She used to tell me stories about wealthy people who, as their countrymen starved, were buying jeweled collars for their dogs. So, I guess the rich folks never knew what the common folks were experiencing. Guess which party the rich folks belonged to.
That probably explains John McLame extolling the efficacy of tax cuts. Too bad he didn’t suspend his membership in the Senate, instead.
A new Gallup Poll has found that Mississippi is the most religious state while Vermont is the least. Overall, the New England states are the least religious with Catholics moving away from church affiliation.
There are some other interesting results, too.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/06/AR2009020603213_2.html?sid=ST2009020603241&s_pos=
Kp, I agree with pj. Ignore the questions. Just say it is personal to you.
A friend called me the other night in tears because at her place of business a repug ‘friend’ overheard her actually saying something nice about another repug friend being kind to animals which she thought an anomaly. The ‘friend’ yelled at her for a long time and eventually stormed out of the place and cancelled an appointment they had the next morning. Mind you, this ‘friend’ is fairly uninformed and has been spewing repug talking points at my pal unchallenged for a decade. She has hated Dems ever since Jimmy Carter returned the Canal to Panama and ‘abandoned’ her native country. It sounded just like a Liberal confessional. “Was I mean?” “What can I do?” “Am I a bad person?”
I think my friend has kept her politics to herself through the years but she got swept up by the O’Bama a year ago and became a very active volunteer. My advice was to forget this person unless she came back and apologized.
I remember that I used to have lots of civil political debates/arguments with people even through the Reagan years but the other side was overcome by the mindless goosestep politics spawned by the likes Atwater and Limpaw and DeLay and Rove that does not lend itself to theory, philosophy and communication, just mindless regurgitation and intransigence. Until that rabble gets further marginalized and fades into irrelevance, there will be no time for a return to political civility that might lend itself to ‘bipartisanship’. That is just a false goal and tactic being used to manipulate the inherent goodness of the Progressives and the phony mawkishness of their sheep to try to cling to their power that is hopefully rapidly eroding.
The “Oh Todd” reference reminds me of the Lisa and Todd skit from SNL.
I think Todd ought to give the AK Senate a huge “nougie”.
Strep infections and not the flu virus itself may have killed most people during the 1918 influenza pandemic, which suggests some of the most dire predictions about a new pandemic may be exaggerated, U.S. researchers said.
The findings suggest that amassing antibiotics to fight bacterial infections may be at least as important as stockpiling antiviral drugs to battle flu, they said.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29038301
James Whitmore dies at 87; veteran award-winning actor brought American icons to life
By Dennis McLellan
February 7, 2009
James Whitmore, the veteran Tony- and Emmy-winning actor who brought American icons Will Rogers, Harry Truman and Theodore Roosevelt to life in one-man shows, died Friday. He was 87.
Whitmore died of lung cancer at his home in Malibu, said his son, Steve. He was diagnosed with the disease a week before Thanksgiving.
🙁 :gate:
A-Roid
Sources tell SI Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003
ex post facto/testo
testo — testoroido indeed
Who DIDN’T take the roids?
****
To go along with pj’s theme:
Margaret Carlson is clear as a bell in the Clock Ticks.
and
the NYT’s editorial stating the real unemployment number is 14%.
****
KP, I agree with pj on this one. Hit the ignore/delete button and disengage. The right is on the fringe and shrieking like a hyena and I, too, am getting it big time from my boss.
****
Web, she looked like she’d been in a tanning bed. We’re used to seeing women airbrushed perfect.
****
anastasi – love your point about corporate welfare.
Who DIDN’T take the roids?
Cheating is part of sports and life. So is self-righteousness and hypocrisy.
Okay, I have a bit of a dilemma. My employer, who I met socially on a dating site, is trying to engage me in politics via email. Now, he’s pretty adamant about no politics at work. Fine, I have no desire to engage anyone at work in politics. I prefer email and blogs. But he sent me this letter to the editor right wing talking points thingy twice, now. I was going to ignore it but it’s obvious he wants to engage. It seems obvious now that he is not an Obama supporter and might be fairly right wing despite calling himself a hippy and being into healthy and environmental issues. We’re growing wheat grass for god’s sake! Do I engage him? Or ignore him? The nice thing about email is you can step away from your emotions before writing. I have a 30 day review coming up next week too.
Comment by Kristapea — February 6, 2009 @ 8:54 pm
Definitely ignore him at least until you have received your review. The job has to be first priority.
My experience has been that I can only discuss politics at work with certain people who I know well and agree with most of the time. A few years ago I happened to mention something derisive about Bush (hard to imagine me doing that, I know) to someone who was from Texas, which was dumb mistake #1. Dumb mistake #2 was following it up with a wisecrack about him being appointed rather than elected. Needless to say, we did not discuss politics after that.
The good part is that we remained friends and just chose to talk about other subjects. She transferred to Virginia a couple of years ago but stopped by to visit yesterday, and we had a nice chat without mentioning either Obama or Boehner. (Insert your own Boehner joke here.)
Krista, my theory is that this guy wants you and is trying to get you aroused by discussing politics. Why else would he break his OWN rule about no politics in the workplace? Since he met you on a dating site, he knows you are available and assumes (correctly or incorrectly) that you would be receptive if he chose to escalate the relationship above its current professional status.
The best thing you can do is continue to keep him at bay until he loses interest or finds someone else to engage with. A Laura Ingraham blowup doll would be helpful too, if you can find one. 😀
What got cut from the stimulus bill.
Thanks, Sue. You read my mind. I’ll be looking for the list of tax cuts that got cut. I hope the House finds some strength coming back.
Thanks for the advice, everyone. It’s too bad we have to avoid discussing things like this. Has it always been like that? Or is it just the raging partisanship that the rethugs have been fueling for the last 30 years that has brought us to this point? Here’s the thing he sent me twice. There’s so much wrong with it I don’t even know where to start. And then I think of all the years this shit has been blaring over the teevee and how ingrained it is in peoples’ minds…. :smack: He’s got a lot of progressive views as far as environment, energy and health, he’s into wheat grass, sushi and organic food for gods’ sake!
Ooh, KP, it must hurt to work for someone who has such thoughts in his head.
But, in answer to your question, yes it has always been this way. Just think of Joe McCarthy who saw communists everywhere. Then imagine spouting some liberal talk. Your neighbors would turn you in to protect “democracy.”
Ignore.
Delete it.Retain a copy of it.Tell him you have a political spam filter if necessary.
Like most liberal zealots, the Obama worshippers constantly
speak of Fox and Limbaugh, when the vast bulk of television stations and
newspapers are drastically liberal and anti-conservative.
In THIS country? With NBC owned by a company that handles defense contracts, with ABC “broadcast journalists” injecting Sean Hannity talking points into a Democratic candidates’ debate, with Captain Anal Cyst on over 600 radio stations, with Rupert Murdoch eliminating objective journalism at the Wall Street Journal, with all the Sunday morning pundit shows kicking off the Obama administration’s first term by featuring right-wing drones over 2 to 1 over Dems?
Puh-leeze.
Not to mention that I doubt that thing was even written by a Brit. Unless Tony Blankley counts as one.
Grampy McCain, Jon Kyl, Sheriff Joe and this moron. Krista, I have no idea how you can stand it. I would go nuts.
But at least you have us. :love:
He’s actually a pretty cool guy. Politics don’t get talked about. I find it surprising that he feels that way. He knew my political leanings from my profile and my bumper stickers, I made it very clear to weed out the rethugs. Though a few got through. But because one has an Obama sticker I guess that makes me a zealot. 🙄 Even though I supported Kucinich and Edwards before Obama.
If he knows you’re a lefty, maybe he just likes to argue. Maybe he’s nuts!
That’s possible, Sue. He may want a good debate. My first boyfriend LOVES to argue, he’ll argue the color of the sky. 🙄
some pretty good advice up ^ there.
This just galls me. Madoff should be put in jail and this man should live in Madoff’s mansion during and after the trial.