Trini, Travis, and my little dove, Paloma!!
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
I'm NOT taking the bus!!!
Hey All,
In a few days I’ll be taking off to water-logged New Hampshire to visit my Grand Daughter, Daughter-in-Law, and Son!! Paloma, Trini, & Travis. It will be my first visit with Paloma who will be fourteen weeks ancient when I arrive.
I plan to take her fishing, if she’s up to it.
Then I’m off to New York City on Sunday – to be put up by my good friend, a singer/song-writer himself, my former student (he learned me everything I know), and a worthy member of the audacious and courageous body of souls who can “make it there” in NYC, Mr. Ron Hester!! ( http://www.ronhester.com/ )
Monday night I’m the “Special Guest” at the Halloween “Ukulele Cabaret” (http://www.ukulelecabaret.com/) sponsored by my pals, Jason & Ted, of Sonic Uke (http://www.sonicuke.com/), and which – this month – will be held at “Barbes” in Brooklyn (http://www.barbesbrooklyn.com/) – 9:00 p.m.
Tuesday night at 9:00 I’ll be appearing on my pals’ TV Show, “Midnight Ukulele Disco” (they present many archived uke performances for your enjoyment– a lot of them mine – at http://www.ukuleledisco.com/ ).
You can tune in on your computer by simply calling up www.ukuleledico.com/live (check it out a little ahead of time in case you need to download some free software to make it work – e-mail me if you need help [ukulele_man@yahoo.com] )
Well, if you aren’t close to NYC, I’ll see you on TV Tuesday!!!
If you ARE in the NYC area, I’ll see you Monday at Barbes too!!(http://www.barbesbrooklyn.com/
376 9th St. (corner of 6th Ave.) Park Slope, Brooklyn 718.965.9177) 9:00 P.M. – here’s a map:
http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?addr=376+Ninth+Street&csz=Brooklyn%2C+NY&country=us&new=1&name=&qty=
- Uke Man
In a few days I’ll be taking off to water-logged New Hampshire to visit my Grand Daughter, Daughter-in-Law, and Son!! Paloma, Trini, & Travis. It will be my first visit with Paloma who will be fourteen weeks ancient when I arrive.
I plan to take her fishing, if she’s up to it.
Then I’m off to New York City on Sunday – to be put up by my good friend, a singer/song-writer himself, my former student (he learned me everything I know), and a worthy member of the audacious and courageous body of souls who can “make it there” in NYC, Mr. Ron Hester!! ( http://www.ronhester.com/ )
Monday night I’m the “Special Guest” at the Halloween “Ukulele Cabaret” (http://www.ukulelecabaret.com/) sponsored by my pals, Jason & Ted, of Sonic Uke (http://www.sonicuke.com/), and which – this month – will be held at “Barbes” in Brooklyn (http://www.barbesbrooklyn.com/) – 9:00 p.m.
Tuesday night at 9:00 I’ll be appearing on my pals’ TV Show, “Midnight Ukulele Disco” (they present many archived uke performances for your enjoyment– a lot of them mine – at http://www.ukuleledisco.com/ ).
You can tune in on your computer by simply calling up www.ukuleledico.com/live (check it out a little ahead of time in case you need to download some free software to make it work – e-mail me if you need help [ukulele_man@yahoo.com] )
Well, if you aren’t close to NYC, I’ll see you on TV Tuesday!!!
If you ARE in the NYC area, I’ll see you Monday at Barbes too!!(http://www.barbesbrooklyn.com/
376 9th St. (corner of 6th Ave.) Park Slope, Brooklyn 718.965.9177) 9:00 P.M. – here’s a map:
http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?addr=376+Ninth+Street&csz=Brooklyn%2C+NY&country=us&new=1&name=&qty=
- Uke Man
Monday, October 24, 2005
Democracy in Traction !!
Hey Folks!
Did you know that you can go to jail for not telling the truth to an agent of the Federal Government? Even when you are not under oath! And there’s a big fine too!! This is one of the possible faux pas that Kkkarl Rove may be charges with.
Apparently, though, there is no penalty for lying to CITIZENS of the federal government.
Have you heard the ads for and against Issues 2, 3, 4, and 5? They go something like this:
“The Politicians are trying to screw you! So, VOTE NO!!!! on Issues 2, 3, 4, & 5 !!!”
And
“The Politicians are trying to screw you! So, VOTE YES!!!! on Issues 2, 3, 4, & 5 !!!”
Someone has to be lying!!!! But they won’t be going to jail, and they won’t be paying any fines. Bullshitting the people is just their way of defending the constitution.
Take to the streets Nov. 2nd !! Resist !! Drive them out!!
- Uke Man
Did you know that you can go to jail for not telling the truth to an agent of the Federal Government? Even when you are not under oath! And there’s a big fine too!! This is one of the possible faux pas that Kkkarl Rove may be charges with.
Apparently, though, there is no penalty for lying to CITIZENS of the federal government.
Have you heard the ads for and against Issues 2, 3, 4, and 5? They go something like this:
“The Politicians are trying to screw you! So, VOTE NO!!!! on Issues 2, 3, 4, & 5 !!!”
And
“The Politicians are trying to screw you! So, VOTE YES!!!! on Issues 2, 3, 4, & 5 !!!”
Someone has to be lying!!!! But they won’t be going to jail, and they won’t be paying any fines. Bullshitting the people is just their way of defending the constitution.
Take to the streets Nov. 2nd !! Resist !! Drive them out!!
- Uke Man
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Cardinal Crescezio Sepe says, "No! We are NOT wild and sexy guys!! No! For sure! What is this ...'sex'?"
Yeah, these guys know about sex! - Uh-huh, yep . . .
Well, the Bishops have reaffirmed celibacy for priests (and some other things too)! See excerpts far below.
Yep.
“Hey you guys in black, No hanky-panky!! Just say "no!" No sex with women! No sex with men! No sex with girls! No sex with boys! No sex with animals! No sex alone! NO SEX!!!”
The bishops call this hormonal denial the "inestimable gift of ecclesiastical celibacy." Gift to whom?
Oh yeah, I can tell you that if I had ONLY been blessed with a lifetime free of orgasms, THAT would have been better than my first bike, my first car, my trip to Europe, a free steak dinner, and my band playing in Manhattan – all rolled up together!! Yes sir!! What a gift!!
It’s just stupid, political inertia. Celibacy wasn’t demanded by any authority for almost 400 years after Jesus’ life, and today it is supported on the dubious and unsubstantiated claim that Jesus never had sex of any kind (hence all the hierarchy’s noise about “The DaVinci Code”). They also drag my old buddy, Paul of Tarsus, into the justification – but fail to mention that some scholars believe Paul to have been a self-hating homosexual.
Now this whole nonsense isn’t considered infallible by the church, but enough withered old theologians and deranged sex-o-phobiacs feel they would lose face if they did something sensible, that they feel compelled – as they say – to show “massive unanimity” in their massive idiocy. Otherwise their idiocy will be found out.
Galileo was persecuted because, using his eyes, he saw that the moons of Jupiter orbited that planet. The official policy of the Church at the time was that THAT was impossible (based firmly on the knowledge banks of withered old theologians and infallible popes [who themselves had been elevated by DEMOCRATIC means {god didn’t get a vote} from the ranks of the withered old theologians themselves – those wise men “lucky” enough to wear red beanies and, therefore, be allowed to vote] ).
So Galileo was denounced and denigrated – not just during his lifetime, mind you; but for five hundred years!! Only recently did the snail-minded / we-don’t-want-to-lose-face crowd admit their mistake!!
I guess Galileo can go to heaven – Now!!!
If there are any descendents of the telescope guy out there, get a lawyer! I think you’ve got a pretty good case for false-arrest and defamation!!! Don’t believe that stuff about the Church being broke because of paying out big bucks on pedophile cases! They can always mortgage St. Peter’s Basilica. Have you SEEN that place?
Moreover, if they think men can go indefinitely without sex and stay sane, and if they believe that divorced men and women can move in with each other and live indefinitely in "loyal and trustworthy friendship" without “consummating it,” and if they think each bishop can cherry-pick which politicians to beat up on at the communion rail (based on "concrete local situations"), they NEED to be brought to their senses!!!!
- Uke Man
Some excerpts from Yahoo news:
Bishops Reaffirm Celibacy for Priests
By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer
While acknowledging the acute shortage of priests in the Roman Catholic Church, bishops from around the world reaffirmed the church's stance on celibacy for priests Saturday in a set of 50 recommendations they agreed to submit to Pope Benedict XVI.
The proposals, meant for the pope to consider in a future document on the Eucharist, also dealt with whether Communion should be denied to Catholic politicians who support laws that contradict church teaching, such as the right to abortion, as well as the plight of Catholics who divorce and remarry without getting an annulment.
The estimated 250 bishops who gathered for the three-week Synod of Bishops voted behind closed doors on the recommendations, which disappointed some church reform groups by hewing closely to church teaching.
. . . the final recommendation reaffirmed the "inestimable gift of ecclesiastical celibacy" and said the idea of ordaining "viri probati" [married men] was a "path not to follow," according to the list of the propositions released by the Vatican.
The proposition also called for Catholics to pray for new priests.
"They opened the issue, talked solutions, then ran as fast as they could in the other directions," said Sister Christine Schenk, of the reform groups FutureChurch and Call to Action.
Among their other recommendations, the bishops said Catholic politicians should realize their "grave social responsibility" and not support laws that contrast with church teaching.
But no blanket recommendation was made on whether the politicians should be denied Communion, with a final proposal saying local bishops "should exercise the virtues of firmness and prudence taking into account concrete local situations."
The issue gained attention during the 2004 presidential campaign when St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke said he would deny the Eucharist to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, a Catholic who supports abortion rights.
Another major issue of the synod was how to deal with Catholics who divorce and remarry without getting an annulment. Church teaching says such Catholics cannot receive Communion because their situation "objectively contrasts with God's law."
The bishops reaffirmed church policy but called for these people to make "every possible effort" to have their previous marriages annulled. If the marriages cannot be declared invalid, the couple should celebrate their new marriage as a "loyal and trustworthy friendship" — meaning they shouldn't consummate it.
Yep.
“Hey you guys in black, No hanky-panky!! Just say "no!" No sex with women! No sex with men! No sex with girls! No sex with boys! No sex with animals! No sex alone! NO SEX!!!”
The bishops call this hormonal denial the "inestimable gift of ecclesiastical celibacy." Gift to whom?
Oh yeah, I can tell you that if I had ONLY been blessed with a lifetime free of orgasms, THAT would have been better than my first bike, my first car, my trip to Europe, a free steak dinner, and my band playing in Manhattan – all rolled up together!! Yes sir!! What a gift!!
It’s just stupid, political inertia. Celibacy wasn’t demanded by any authority for almost 400 years after Jesus’ life, and today it is supported on the dubious and unsubstantiated claim that Jesus never had sex of any kind (hence all the hierarchy’s noise about “The DaVinci Code”). They also drag my old buddy, Paul of Tarsus, into the justification – but fail to mention that some scholars believe Paul to have been a self-hating homosexual.
Now this whole nonsense isn’t considered infallible by the church, but enough withered old theologians and deranged sex-o-phobiacs feel they would lose face if they did something sensible, that they feel compelled – as they say – to show “massive unanimity” in their massive idiocy. Otherwise their idiocy will be found out.
Galileo was persecuted because, using his eyes, he saw that the moons of Jupiter orbited that planet. The official policy of the Church at the time was that THAT was impossible (based firmly on the knowledge banks of withered old theologians and infallible popes [who themselves had been elevated by DEMOCRATIC means {god didn’t get a vote} from the ranks of the withered old theologians themselves – those wise men “lucky” enough to wear red beanies and, therefore, be allowed to vote] ).
So Galileo was denounced and denigrated – not just during his lifetime, mind you; but for five hundred years!! Only recently did the snail-minded / we-don’t-want-to-lose-face crowd admit their mistake!!
I guess Galileo can go to heaven – Now!!!
If there are any descendents of the telescope guy out there, get a lawyer! I think you’ve got a pretty good case for false-arrest and defamation!!! Don’t believe that stuff about the Church being broke because of paying out big bucks on pedophile cases! They can always mortgage St. Peter’s Basilica. Have you SEEN that place?
Moreover, if they think men can go indefinitely without sex and stay sane, and if they believe that divorced men and women can move in with each other and live indefinitely in "loyal and trustworthy friendship" without “consummating it,” and if they think each bishop can cherry-pick which politicians to beat up on at the communion rail (based on "concrete local situations"), they NEED to be brought to their senses!!!!
- Uke Man
Some excerpts from Yahoo news:
Bishops Reaffirm Celibacy for Priests
By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer
While acknowledging the acute shortage of priests in the Roman Catholic Church, bishops from around the world reaffirmed the church's stance on celibacy for priests Saturday in a set of 50 recommendations they agreed to submit to Pope Benedict XVI.
The proposals, meant for the pope to consider in a future document on the Eucharist, also dealt with whether Communion should be denied to Catholic politicians who support laws that contradict church teaching, such as the right to abortion, as well as the plight of Catholics who divorce and remarry without getting an annulment.
The estimated 250 bishops who gathered for the three-week Synod of Bishops voted behind closed doors on the recommendations, which disappointed some church reform groups by hewing closely to church teaching.
. . . the final recommendation reaffirmed the "inestimable gift of ecclesiastical celibacy" and said the idea of ordaining "viri probati" [married men] was a "path not to follow," according to the list of the propositions released by the Vatican.
The proposition also called for Catholics to pray for new priests.
"They opened the issue, talked solutions, then ran as fast as they could in the other directions," said Sister Christine Schenk, of the reform groups FutureChurch and Call to Action.
Among their other recommendations, the bishops said Catholic politicians should realize their "grave social responsibility" and not support laws that contrast with church teaching.
But no blanket recommendation was made on whether the politicians should be denied Communion, with a final proposal saying local bishops "should exercise the virtues of firmness and prudence taking into account concrete local situations."
The issue gained attention during the 2004 presidential campaign when St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke said he would deny the Eucharist to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, a Catholic who supports abortion rights.
Another major issue of the synod was how to deal with Catholics who divorce and remarry without getting an annulment. Church teaching says such Catholics cannot receive Communion because their situation "objectively contrasts with God's law."
The bishops reaffirmed church policy but called for these people to make "every possible effort" to have their previous marriages annulled. If the marriages cannot be declared invalid, the couple should celebrate their new marriage as a "loyal and trustworthy friendship" — meaning they shouldn't consummate it.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
"George, you know, has always been a moron, but getting to live a while in the White House is working out very well for him!"
Death Watch at the White House !!!!
(Thanks to George B. of NION !)
Capitol Hill Blue: Death Watch at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7560.shtml
By DOUG THOMPSON Oct 21, 2005, 08:12
For all practical purposes, governing the nation has stopped at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as aides deal with an increasingly despondent President, mounting scandals and defecting dissidents from the Ship of State.
White House insiders say George W. Bush’s mood swings have increased to the point where meetings with the President must be cancelled, schedules shifted and plans changed to keep a bitter, distracted leader from the public eye.
“He’s like a zombie some days, walking around in a trance,” says one aide who, for obvious reasons, asks not to be identified. “Other times he launches into angry outbursts, cussing out anybody who gets near him.”
Aides say gallows humor has descended on the White House, where the West Wing is now referred to as “death row” and Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, along with Vice Presidential Chief of Staff Scooter Libby, are known as “dead men walking,” a reference to the last walk death row inmates take to the execution chamber.
With indictments expected against Libby or Rove or both any day now from the Valerie Plame scandal, the White House mood has a “Final Days” aura (“Final Days” was the title of Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward’s book about the last days of the Nixon administration). Although no one expects President Bush to be impeached or resign, Internet blogs buzzed this week with talk of a possible resignation by Vice President Dick Cheney.
“That’s bullshit,” says one longtime Republican consultant. “They’ll have to carry Dick Cheney out of here on a stretcher.” But Rove and Libby will be gone if they are indicted and some wonder if the President, whose ability to govern is already limited by despair and detraction, can function without Rove, often referred to as “Bush’s brain.”
“Rove’s role is diminished already,” says one White House aide. “He still meets with The President daily but all this has taken its toll. He looks terrible.”
So does White House Chief of Staff Andy Card, who has served longer in the job than anyone in modern times. Card works 16 and 17-hour days and, in the words of one Republican member of Congress, looks “completely burned out.”
But holding the White House together behind what has been one of the better Presidential propaganda machines is proving next to impossible as the American public and even members of Bush’s own party desert him over the war in Iraq, the nomination of White House counsel Harriett Miers to the Supreme Court, the Hurricane Katrina debacle, rising gas prices and the Valerie Plame scandal.
“The façade is gone and we are now seeing the Bush White House in all its incompetent glory,” says retired political science professor George Harleigh. “They’ve ignored reality for too long.”
With Congress distracted by growing scandals swirling around former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Washington has become a daily killing field for anyone involved in the GOP leadership.
This week, Former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s right-hand man unloaded on the Bush Administration during a speech to the New American Foundation, saying American foreign policy had been hijacked by “a Cheney-Rumsfeld cabal” that has destroyed this country’s credibility with its allies.
“I’m not sure the State Department even exists anymore,” Col. Larry Wilkerson, Powell’s chief of staff, told the audience of journalists and scholars. “It, like so many others things, have been destroyed by George W. Bush’s ‘cowboyism.’”
Wilkerson dismisses the Administration’s attempts to improve America’s image abroad.
“You can’t sell shit,” he said.
Wilkerson isn’t the only high-profile Republican operative bailing on Bush. Bruce Bartlett, who served as a Senior Policy Advisor in Bush’s father’s administration, is about to release a book: Imposter: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Destroyed the Reagan Legacy. Bartlett lost his job at the National Center for Policy Analysis, a conservative Texas think tank, when word of his book project leaked out.
Republicans, the last to finally acknowledge the lies and duplicity of the Bush White House, no longer trust the Administration. When current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice testified before Congress this week and claimed “significant progress” in Iraq, Republican Senator Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island fired back: “Well, we all wish that were true, but we can't kid ourselves, either.”
But Wilkerson, a veteran with 31 years in the Marines and a former director of the Marine War College, sums up what, sadly, will be the legacy of George W. Bush:
“If there is a nuclear terrorist attack or a major pandemic you are going to see the ineptitude of this government in a way that'll take you back to the Declaration of Independence.”
© Copyright 2005 by Capitol Hill Blue
Who is Doug Thompson? See: http://www.capitolhillblue.com/dtbio.asp
Capitol Hill Blue: Death Watch at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7560.shtml
By DOUG THOMPSON Oct 21, 2005, 08:12
For all practical purposes, governing the nation has stopped at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as aides deal with an increasingly despondent President, mounting scandals and defecting dissidents from the Ship of State.
White House insiders say George W. Bush’s mood swings have increased to the point where meetings with the President must be cancelled, schedules shifted and plans changed to keep a bitter, distracted leader from the public eye.
“He’s like a zombie some days, walking around in a trance,” says one aide who, for obvious reasons, asks not to be identified. “Other times he launches into angry outbursts, cussing out anybody who gets near him.”
Aides say gallows humor has descended on the White House, where the West Wing is now referred to as “death row” and Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, along with Vice Presidential Chief of Staff Scooter Libby, are known as “dead men walking,” a reference to the last walk death row inmates take to the execution chamber.
With indictments expected against Libby or Rove or both any day now from the Valerie Plame scandal, the White House mood has a “Final Days” aura (“Final Days” was the title of Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward’s book about the last days of the Nixon administration). Although no one expects President Bush to be impeached or resign, Internet blogs buzzed this week with talk of a possible resignation by Vice President Dick Cheney.
“That’s bullshit,” says one longtime Republican consultant. “They’ll have to carry Dick Cheney out of here on a stretcher.” But Rove and Libby will be gone if they are indicted and some wonder if the President, whose ability to govern is already limited by despair and detraction, can function without Rove, often referred to as “Bush’s brain.”
“Rove’s role is diminished already,” says one White House aide. “He still meets with The President daily but all this has taken its toll. He looks terrible.”
So does White House Chief of Staff Andy Card, who has served longer in the job than anyone in modern times. Card works 16 and 17-hour days and, in the words of one Republican member of Congress, looks “completely burned out.”
But holding the White House together behind what has been one of the better Presidential propaganda machines is proving next to impossible as the American public and even members of Bush’s own party desert him over the war in Iraq, the nomination of White House counsel Harriett Miers to the Supreme Court, the Hurricane Katrina debacle, rising gas prices and the Valerie Plame scandal.
“The façade is gone and we are now seeing the Bush White House in all its incompetent glory,” says retired political science professor George Harleigh. “They’ve ignored reality for too long.”
With Congress distracted by growing scandals swirling around former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Washington has become a daily killing field for anyone involved in the GOP leadership.
This week, Former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s right-hand man unloaded on the Bush Administration during a speech to the New American Foundation, saying American foreign policy had been hijacked by “a Cheney-Rumsfeld cabal” that has destroyed this country’s credibility with its allies.
“I’m not sure the State Department even exists anymore,” Col. Larry Wilkerson, Powell’s chief of staff, told the audience of journalists and scholars. “It, like so many others things, have been destroyed by George W. Bush’s ‘cowboyism.’”
Wilkerson dismisses the Administration’s attempts to improve America’s image abroad.
“You can’t sell shit,” he said.
Wilkerson isn’t the only high-profile Republican operative bailing on Bush. Bruce Bartlett, who served as a Senior Policy Advisor in Bush’s father’s administration, is about to release a book: Imposter: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Destroyed the Reagan Legacy. Bartlett lost his job at the National Center for Policy Analysis, a conservative Texas think tank, when word of his book project leaked out.
Republicans, the last to finally acknowledge the lies and duplicity of the Bush White House, no longer trust the Administration. When current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice testified before Congress this week and claimed “significant progress” in Iraq, Republican Senator Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island fired back: “Well, we all wish that were true, but we can't kid ourselves, either.”
But Wilkerson, a veteran with 31 years in the Marines and a former director of the Marine War College, sums up what, sadly, will be the legacy of George W. Bush:
“If there is a nuclear terrorist attack or a major pandemic you are going to see the ineptitude of this government in a way that'll take you back to the Declaration of Independence.”
© Copyright 2005 by Capitol Hill Blue
Who is Doug Thompson? See: http://www.capitolhillblue.com/dtbio.asp
nothing IS real !!!
Let me take you down,
‘cause I’m going to . . .
W. C. Fields!
nothing IS real
and nothing IS
to get hung about!
Godfrey Daniel forever!
. . .
Living IS easy with eyes closed
Understanding all you’re told.
It’s really hard to be SOMEONE
But it all works out
. . . or maybe
We just mold.
Let me take you down,
‘cause I’m going to . . .
W. C. Fields!
nothing IS real
and nothing IS
to get hung about!
Godfrey Daniel forever!
No one, I think, is in our tree.
They all sell high
and they buy low.
That is, we can’t (you know) join in,
But that’s all right.
That is, I think we’ve all been had.
Let me take you down,
‘cause I’m going to . . .
W. C. Fields!
nothing IS real
and nothing IS
to get hung about!
Godfrey Daniel forever!
Always, no sometimes, think it’s me,
But you know I know that it’s a dream.
I think I know I know I know
But that’s all wrong.
I hope that you will disagree!
Let me take you down,
‘cause I’m going to . . .
W. C. Fields!
nothing IS real
and nothing IS
to get hung about!
Godfrey Daniel forever!
Godfrey Daniel
. . . FOREVER!
Da da da da da da da!
- Uke Man
‘cause I’m going to . . .
W. C. Fields!
nothing IS real
and nothing IS
to get hung about!
Godfrey Daniel forever!
. . .
Living IS easy with eyes closed
Understanding all you’re told.
It’s really hard to be SOMEONE
But it all works out
. . . or maybe
We just mold.
Let me take you down,
‘cause I’m going to . . .
W. C. Fields!
nothing IS real
and nothing IS
to get hung about!
Godfrey Daniel forever!
No one, I think, is in our tree.
They all sell high
and they buy low.
That is, we can’t (you know) join in,
But that’s all right.
That is, I think we’ve all been had.
Let me take you down,
‘cause I’m going to . . .
W. C. Fields!
nothing IS real
and nothing IS
to get hung about!
Godfrey Daniel forever!
Always, no sometimes, think it’s me,
But you know I know that it’s a dream.
I think I know I know I know
But that’s all wrong.
I hope that you will disagree!
Let me take you down,
‘cause I’m going to . . .
W. C. Fields!
nothing IS real
and nothing IS
to get hung about!
Godfrey Daniel forever!
Godfrey Daniel
. . . FOREVER!
Da da da da da da da!
- Uke Man
Friday, October 21, 2005
How 'Bout a Little Fire, Scarecrows!!??!!??
To quote the Wicked Witch of the West, “What a wicked, wicked world!” And, yes, it’s melting!!
God put Dubya in office; faith said he’d save us; now we’re melting!! What does that say about God, faith, and us? What a joke!!!
Things that are being done, proposed, and said today are more outrageous than anything I’ve experienced in sixty years of life on this planet.
The Republicans are putting it out and the Democrats stand there, eyes glazed and sucking their thumbs. They are at a loss as to how they can CONVINCINGLY pretend to support the people while selling them down the river; so, they stand there grinning stupidly like sun-struck trolls.
Usually they feign impotence while pretending feebly to “soften” the blow; but the evil now being aimed at us is so awful that the notion of “softening” is too lame to even suggest it. Hence, the D’s just mark time and put THEIR faith in scandal, in calling the kettle “black” – thus sidestepping the people’s real issues.
What a wicked world!!
Take to the streets Nov. 2nd - before a house falls on all of us!
- Uke Man
God put Dubya in office; faith said he’d save us; now we’re melting!! What does that say about God, faith, and us? What a joke!!!
Things that are being done, proposed, and said today are more outrageous than anything I’ve experienced in sixty years of life on this planet.
The Republicans are putting it out and the Democrats stand there, eyes glazed and sucking their thumbs. They are at a loss as to how they can CONVINCINGLY pretend to support the people while selling them down the river; so, they stand there grinning stupidly like sun-struck trolls.
Usually they feign impotence while pretending feebly to “soften” the blow; but the evil now being aimed at us is so awful that the notion of “softening” is too lame to even suggest it. Hence, the D’s just mark time and put THEIR faith in scandal, in calling the kettle “black” – thus sidestepping the people’s real issues.
What a wicked world!!
Take to the streets Nov. 2nd - before a house falls on all of us!
- Uke Man
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Pumpkin Show Saturday
Hey Folks!!
Don't Forget!!!
We’ll be playing Pumpkin Show Saturday afternoon - plenty of time on both sides of the show for pumpkin goodies, displays, rides, corn-dogs, elephant ears, grilled tenderloins, etc., etc., etc. !!!!
2:00 – 3:00 p.m. - Main Street Stage
(just across the tracks from the giant grain silos)
Check out the video from last year’s visit to “Shifty’s” during Pumpkin Show:
http://www.ukuleledisco.com/shifty
- Uke Man
Don't Forget!!!
We’ll be playing Pumpkin Show Saturday afternoon - plenty of time on both sides of the show for pumpkin goodies, displays, rides, corn-dogs, elephant ears, grilled tenderloins, etc., etc., etc. !!!!
2:00 – 3:00 p.m. - Main Street Stage
(just across the tracks from the giant grain silos)
Check out the video from last year’s visit to “Shifty’s” during Pumpkin Show:
http://www.ukuleledisco.com/shifty
- Uke Man
Yeah, Sweatshops! That's the ticket
Dear Mr. Kristof,
OK, let's see.
If Africans are to get ahead, they need sweatshops. Yeah, that's the ticket.
The more sweatshops in struggling countries, the more businesses will move their operations from here to undeveloped countries to make more money for their owners by paying sweatshop wages to the inhabitants, which - in turn - will continue to lower the standard of living for workers here, until we get to the point where someone at the Times can suggest sweatshops with no paid vacations as the salvation of our own impoverished inhabitants.
It's just business, I guess. Yep, business - as you point out - won't go someplace where they can't have total control over the lives of their workers. I mean, that's why they are leaving this country, and if Africans won't make abuse of their people by foreign corporations as easy and complete as it is in "wiser" undeveloped countries - well, they are just hurting themselves.
Race you to the bottom!!
- Uke Man
Africa adds to its misery with inane labor laws
Thursday, October 20, 2005
NICHOLAS D . KRISTOF
In Niger and other African countries like it, children end up being killed not only by malaria and measles, but also by an insistence on the six-week paid vacation.
This land of mud huts and malnourished babies is the very leastdeveloped country on the planet, but local regulations stipulate that companies must give all employees six weeks and two days of paid vacation a year. Not surprisingly, there are almost no employers in Niger.
So if we in the West want to help children in countries like Niger, we should send vaccines and mosquito nets, but we also must push these countries to open themselves up for business. Right now, many African countries are, in effect, killing their own citizens by making it staggeringly difficult for entrepreneurs to open shop.
The World Bank has published a fascinating ranking of how easy it is to do business in 155 countries of the world. New Zealand ranks first, followed by Singapore and the United States. No African country is in the top 20.
But of the 20 countries in the world where it is most difficult to do business, 17 are African, according to the study, "Doing Business in 2006." Niger ranks 150 th, followed by Sudan, Chad, Central African Republic, Burkina Faso and, the very worst place to try to do business, Congo.
Take a simple construction project: building a warehouse for books. In Niger, obtaining the necessary licenses would involve 27 procedures over half a year. And in either Nigeria or Zimbabwe, the licenses would take nearly a year and a half to obtain.
In Niger, for example, when people get money, perhaps sent to them from a relative abroad, they often use it to buy a motorcycle or a stereo system, because it is so onerous to invest in a legal business. Or to avoid hassles, they open an unlicensed business, perhaps a bed-andbreakfast, instead of a hotel.
The minimum wage is set at $35 a month in Niger, higher than the local market level. Employees are allowed to work no more than nine hours a day, weekend work is basically prohibited and women are not allowed to work evenings at all. Layoffs are usually not allowed.
Perhaps those rules, typically inherited from European countries during colonial days, sound as if they protect workers. But the upshot is that companies don’t come to Niger and don’t hire anyone they don’t want on the payroll forever. So almost all people toil in the informal labor sector where there are no protections whatsoever.
In a village 600 miles east of the capital, Niamey, for example, I met a woman named Aisha whose 2-yearold daughter had just died of malaria, partly because she couldn’t afford to take the child to the doctor. Aisha is five months pregnant, although she is so malnourished you can barely tell she’s pregnant at all.
Her husband has traveled to a nearby country to look for work, and so she survives by scrounging the countryside for firewood and then hiking three hours each way to the town of Zinder to sell bundles of wood on the street. It’s hard work, seven days a week, and it earns her the equivalent of 40 to 50 cents for a very long day.
Aisha and the other villagers would be far better off if Nike started a sweatshop here paying the peasants 10 cents an hour to make shoes. But Nike wouldn’t do that, because there would be howls of outrage from American campuses at the exploitative wages and because Niger’s labor laws are so uninviting.
Another casualty of overregulation in poor countries is trade. Farmers in sub-Saharan Africa use less than one-twentieth as much fertilizer as those in the West, partly because import duties and red tape can make fertilizer eight times as expensive here as in Europe.
In Zinder, Niger, Tchiaka Issoufou, the owner of a small shop, explained that he made regular trips to Nigeria by truck to buy radios and electronic gear to fill his store. The customs officials make him pay a tax of several thousand dollars per truckload, arbitrarily applied — plus he has to pay off the police at roadblocks and avoid the bandits with machine guns who steal vehicles.
So let’s give more aid to indigent countries. Let’s forgive some of their debts. But let’s also get them to rip up their red tape, and to help their people by welcoming businesses — including sweatshops — and by taking away those six weeks of paid vacation.
Nicholas D. Kristof writes for The New York Times.
nicholas@nytimes.com
OK, let's see.
If Africans are to get ahead, they need sweatshops. Yeah, that's the ticket.
The more sweatshops in struggling countries, the more businesses will move their operations from here to undeveloped countries to make more money for their owners by paying sweatshop wages to the inhabitants, which - in turn - will continue to lower the standard of living for workers here, until we get to the point where someone at the Times can suggest sweatshops with no paid vacations as the salvation of our own impoverished inhabitants.
It's just business, I guess. Yep, business - as you point out - won't go someplace where they can't have total control over the lives of their workers. I mean, that's why they are leaving this country, and if Africans won't make abuse of their people by foreign corporations as easy and complete as it is in "wiser" undeveloped countries - well, they are just hurting themselves.
Race you to the bottom!!
- Uke Man
Africa adds to its misery with inane labor laws
Thursday, October 20, 2005
NICHOLAS D . KRISTOF
In Niger and other African countries like it, children end up being killed not only by malaria and measles, but also by an insistence on the six-week paid vacation.
This land of mud huts and malnourished babies is the very leastdeveloped country on the planet, but local regulations stipulate that companies must give all employees six weeks and two days of paid vacation a year. Not surprisingly, there are almost no employers in Niger.
So if we in the West want to help children in countries like Niger, we should send vaccines and mosquito nets, but we also must push these countries to open themselves up for business. Right now, many African countries are, in effect, killing their own citizens by making it staggeringly difficult for entrepreneurs to open shop.
The World Bank has published a fascinating ranking of how easy it is to do business in 155 countries of the world. New Zealand ranks first, followed by Singapore and the United States. No African country is in the top 20.
But of the 20 countries in the world where it is most difficult to do business, 17 are African, according to the study, "Doing Business in 2006." Niger ranks 150 th, followed by Sudan, Chad, Central African Republic, Burkina Faso and, the very worst place to try to do business, Congo.
Take a simple construction project: building a warehouse for books. In Niger, obtaining the necessary licenses would involve 27 procedures over half a year. And in either Nigeria or Zimbabwe, the licenses would take nearly a year and a half to obtain.
In Niger, for example, when people get money, perhaps sent to them from a relative abroad, they often use it to buy a motorcycle or a stereo system, because it is so onerous to invest in a legal business. Or to avoid hassles, they open an unlicensed business, perhaps a bed-andbreakfast, instead of a hotel.
The minimum wage is set at $35 a month in Niger, higher than the local market level. Employees are allowed to work no more than nine hours a day, weekend work is basically prohibited and women are not allowed to work evenings at all. Layoffs are usually not allowed.
Perhaps those rules, typically inherited from European countries during colonial days, sound as if they protect workers. But the upshot is that companies don’t come to Niger and don’t hire anyone they don’t want on the payroll forever. So almost all people toil in the informal labor sector where there are no protections whatsoever.
In a village 600 miles east of the capital, Niamey, for example, I met a woman named Aisha whose 2-yearold daughter had just died of malaria, partly because she couldn’t afford to take the child to the doctor. Aisha is five months pregnant, although she is so malnourished you can barely tell she’s pregnant at all.
Her husband has traveled to a nearby country to look for work, and so she survives by scrounging the countryside for firewood and then hiking three hours each way to the town of Zinder to sell bundles of wood on the street. It’s hard work, seven days a week, and it earns her the equivalent of 40 to 50 cents for a very long day.
Aisha and the other villagers would be far better off if Nike started a sweatshop here paying the peasants 10 cents an hour to make shoes. But Nike wouldn’t do that, because there would be howls of outrage from American campuses at the exploitative wages and because Niger’s labor laws are so uninviting.
Another casualty of overregulation in poor countries is trade. Farmers in sub-Saharan Africa use less than one-twentieth as much fertilizer as those in the West, partly because import duties and red tape can make fertilizer eight times as expensive here as in Europe.
In Zinder, Niger, Tchiaka Issoufou, the owner of a small shop, explained that he made regular trips to Nigeria by truck to buy radios and electronic gear to fill his store. The customs officials make him pay a tax of several thousand dollars per truckload, arbitrarily applied — plus he has to pay off the police at roadblocks and avoid the bandits with machine guns who steal vehicles.
So let’s give more aid to indigent countries. Let’s forgive some of their debts. But let’s also get them to rip up their red tape, and to help their people by welcoming businesses — including sweatshops — and by taking away those six weeks of paid vacation.
Nicholas D. Kristof writes for The New York Times.
nicholas@nytimes.com
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
As I said, “Where are the Democrats?”
In bed with the Republicans!!
Wake up, People!! There is NO EXCUSE for ANYBODY to support this crap!! It should be PERFECTLY CLEAR who is being served by our so-called “REPRESENTATIVES” - Democrats as well as Republicans!
It sure as hell isn’t US!!!
R's & D's concentrate on getting elected, but if they get elected and act like this, what good is that for the people?
The World Can’t Wait!! Drive these liars – R’s & D’s out!!
* * * * *
From “People for the American Way”
As we wrote to you three weeks ago, the Bush administration and its congressional allies moved quickly to take advantage of hurricane Katrina to enact a national voucher program under the guise of providing educational relief for displaced children. Now, shockingly, some Democrats and moderate Republicans are rumored to be considering caving in on a "compromise" that uses an elaborate bureaucracy to hide the fact that it funnels public dollars into private schools.
If voucher advocates were truly interested in educating displaced children, they could have supported the bipartisan education relief bill introduced in Congress in early September. Instead, they chose to fight that legislation in order to advance an old objective of the right wing -- to divert public funds into private schools.
Under the proposed scheme, the federal Department of Education would channel our tax dollars through a series of state and local agencies before transferring these funds to private schools through a vehicle they're calling student "accounts." Vouchers by another name remain the same: bad for our children's public education.
This plan has no meaningful provision to hold private schools accountable for their use of public money. Not only is there no way to require that these schools maintain educational standards, there is also nothing to prevent them from using our tax dollars to engage in discriminatory hiring practices. Such a plan threatens religious liberty by allowing for federal funding of religious education. And it would require taxpayers to pick up the tab for wealthy families who can afford private school tuition and choose not to send their children to public schools.
In bed with the Republicans!!
Wake up, People!! There is NO EXCUSE for ANYBODY to support this crap!! It should be PERFECTLY CLEAR who is being served by our so-called “REPRESENTATIVES” - Democrats as well as Republicans!
It sure as hell isn’t US!!!
R's & D's concentrate on getting elected, but if they get elected and act like this, what good is that for the people?
The World Can’t Wait!! Drive these liars – R’s & D’s out!!
* * * * *
From “People for the American Way”
As we wrote to you three weeks ago, the Bush administration and its congressional allies moved quickly to take advantage of hurricane Katrina to enact a national voucher program under the guise of providing educational relief for displaced children. Now, shockingly, some Democrats and moderate Republicans are rumored to be considering caving in on a "compromise" that uses an elaborate bureaucracy to hide the fact that it funnels public dollars into private schools.
If voucher advocates were truly interested in educating displaced children, they could have supported the bipartisan education relief bill introduced in Congress in early September. Instead, they chose to fight that legislation in order to advance an old objective of the right wing -- to divert public funds into private schools.
Under the proposed scheme, the federal Department of Education would channel our tax dollars through a series of state and local agencies before transferring these funds to private schools through a vehicle they're calling student "accounts." Vouchers by another name remain the same: bad for our children's public education.
This plan has no meaningful provision to hold private schools accountable for their use of public money. Not only is there no way to require that these schools maintain educational standards, there is also nothing to prevent them from using our tax dollars to engage in discriminatory hiring practices. Such a plan threatens religious liberty by allowing for federal funding of religious education. And it would require taxpayers to pick up the tab for wealthy families who can afford private school tuition and choose not to send their children to public schools.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
We're Playin' at the Pumpkin Show!!!
Hey Folks!! We’re playin’ at
the PUMPKIN SHOW!!! (did I just say that?????)
Saturday, October 22
2:00 to 3:00 P.M. - On the Main (street) Stage
Get the whole Pumpkin Show lowdown at:
http://www.pumpkinshow.com/
My New York friend, Jason Tagg of Sonic Uke (www.sonicuke.com) & Midnight Ukulele Disco (www.ukuleledisco.com) fame had hoped to be here but is overwhelmed with a full schedule.
To see a bit of fun Jason and I had on last year’s Pumpkin Show Ferris Wheel, click:
http://www.ukuleledisco.com/ferris?PHPSESSID=6f5ac6b17d30ea6b021aae0b647d082e
See You Saturday!!
- Uke Man
the PUMPKIN SHOW!!! (did I just say that?????)
Saturday, October 22
2:00 to 3:00 P.M. - On the Main (street) Stage
Get the whole Pumpkin Show lowdown at:
http://www.pumpkinshow.com/
My New York friend, Jason Tagg of Sonic Uke (www.sonicuke.com) & Midnight Ukulele Disco (www.ukuleledisco.com) fame had hoped to be here but is overwhelmed with a full schedule.
To see a bit of fun Jason and I had on last year’s Pumpkin Show Ferris Wheel, click:
http://www.ukuleledisco.com/ferris?PHPSESSID=6f5ac6b17d30ea6b021aae0b647d082e
See You Saturday!!
- Uke Man
Monday, October 17, 2005
"When I Write a Song"
When I write a song
I make a baby.
Blind coitus
Plants a seed
And nothing can stop gestation.
This and that
And this and that
Go on for months,
But baby grows, and stretches,
Grows, and kicks
Then sucks her stubby thumb
Awhile.
In time, squash-faced and squalling,
And beautiful to me,
She’s here
Not completely formed
But in time,
And dressed in tuneful clothes,
What a joy – she is.
So sweet
With her wide eyes
And chubby cheeks
Want to see her picture?
I make a baby.
Blind coitus
Plants a seed
And nothing can stop gestation.
This and that
And this and that
Go on for months,
But baby grows, and stretches,
Grows, and kicks
Then sucks her stubby thumb
Awhile.
In time, squash-faced and squalling,
And beautiful to me,
She’s here
Not completely formed
But in time,
And dressed in tuneful clothes,
What a joy – she is.
So sweet
With her wide eyes
And chubby cheeks
Want to see her picture?
Where are the Democrats? In bed with the Republicans!
Hey Folks!
This is nothing new!! Been going on for years!
The present ("two party") system is designed to maintain those at the top, and WE exist to support that maintenance!!
Whenever our ruling betters have seen a way to better themselves by squeezing their beloved, shirt-tail, American relatives (us), they've jumped at the chance; AND the Democrats have sucked their thumbs or even cheered!!
Nov. 2 - Denounce the R's & D's - they are ALL part of the "Bush Regime" when it comes to how the people are exploited!!
- Uke Man
October 17, 2005
Op-Ed Columnist
The Big Squeeze
By PAUL KRUGMAN
In 1999 Delphi, the parts division of General Motors, was spun off as an independent company. Now Delphi has filed for bankruptcy. Its chief executive, Robert S. Miller, wants the company's workers to accept drastic wage cuts, from an average hourly wage rate of about $27 to as little as $10 an hour.
There are a lot of questions about how Delphi and the auto industry in general reached this point. Why were large severance packages given to Delphi executives even as the company demanded wage cuts? Why, when General Motors was profitable, did it pay big dividends but fail to put in enough money to secure its workers' pensions?
But Delphi's bankruptcy is a much bigger deal than your ordinary case of corporate failure and bad, self-dealing management. If Delphi slashes wages and defaults on its pension obligations, the rest of the auto industry may well be tempted - or forced - to do the same. And that will mark the end of the era in which ordinary working Americans could be part of the middle class.
There was a time when the American economy offered lots of good jobs - jobs that didn't make workers rich but did give them middle-class incomes. The best of these good jobs were at America's great manufacturing companies, especially in the auto industry.
But it has been a generation since most American workers could count on sharing in the nation's economic growth. America is a much richer country than it was 30 years ago, but since the early 1970's the hourly wage of the typical worker has barely kept up with inflation.
The contrast between rising national wealth and stagnant wages has become even more extreme lately. In 2004, which was touted both by the Bush administration and by Wall Street as a year in which the economy boomed, the median real income of full-time, year-round male workers fell more than 2 percent.
Now the last vestiges of the era of plentiful good jobs are rapidly disappearing. Almost everywhere you look, corporations are squeezing wages and benefits, saying that they have no choice in the face of global competition. And with the Delphi bankruptcy, the big squeeze has reached the auto industry itself.
So what are we going to do about it?
During the 1990's optimists argued that better education and worker training could restore the economy's ability to create good jobs. Mr. Miller of Delphi picked up that argument as part of his public relations campaign for wage cuts: "The world pays knowledge workers far more than it pays manual, industrial workers," he said. "And that's what's sweeping over here."
But that's a very 1999 sort of answer. During the technology bubble, it was easy to believe that "knowledge workers" were guaranteed good jobs. But when the bubble burst, they turned out to be as vulnerable to downsizing and layoffs as assembly-line workers. And many of the high-paid jobs that vanished when the technology bubble burst have never come back, partly because they have been outsourced to India and other rising economies.
Today, some of us like to stress the depressing effect of the dysfunctional American health care system on wages. A large part of the problem facing the auto industry and other employers that still provide good jobs is the cost of providing health insurance, both to their current employees and to retired workers.
If we had a Canadian-style system - which is enthusiastically supported by the Canadian subsidiaries of U.S. auto companies - the big squeeze might be averted, at least for a while. One more reason to be angry with auto executives is that they never threw their support behind national health care in this country, even though such a system is clearly in their companies' interest.
What if neither education nor health care reform is enough to end the wage squeeze? That's the possibility that makes free-trade liberals like me very nervous, because at that point protectionism enters the picture. When corporate executives say that they have to cut wages to meet foreign competition, workers have every right to ask why we don't cut the foreign competition instead.
I hope we don't have to go there. But denial is not an option. America's working middle class has been eroding for a generation, and it may be about to wash away completely. Something must be done.
This is nothing new!! Been going on for years!
The present ("two party") system is designed to maintain those at the top, and WE exist to support that maintenance!!
Whenever our ruling betters have seen a way to better themselves by squeezing their beloved, shirt-tail, American relatives (us), they've jumped at the chance; AND the Democrats have sucked their thumbs or even cheered!!
Nov. 2 - Denounce the R's & D's - they are ALL part of the "Bush Regime" when it comes to how the people are exploited!!
- Uke Man
October 17, 2005
Op-Ed Columnist
The Big Squeeze
By PAUL KRUGMAN
In 1999 Delphi, the parts division of General Motors, was spun off as an independent company. Now Delphi has filed for bankruptcy. Its chief executive, Robert S. Miller, wants the company's workers to accept drastic wage cuts, from an average hourly wage rate of about $27 to as little as $10 an hour.
There are a lot of questions about how Delphi and the auto industry in general reached this point. Why were large severance packages given to Delphi executives even as the company demanded wage cuts? Why, when General Motors was profitable, did it pay big dividends but fail to put in enough money to secure its workers' pensions?
But Delphi's bankruptcy is a much bigger deal than your ordinary case of corporate failure and bad, self-dealing management. If Delphi slashes wages and defaults on its pension obligations, the rest of the auto industry may well be tempted - or forced - to do the same. And that will mark the end of the era in which ordinary working Americans could be part of the middle class.
There was a time when the American economy offered lots of good jobs - jobs that didn't make workers rich but did give them middle-class incomes. The best of these good jobs were at America's great manufacturing companies, especially in the auto industry.
But it has been a generation since most American workers could count on sharing in the nation's economic growth. America is a much richer country than it was 30 years ago, but since the early 1970's the hourly wage of the typical worker has barely kept up with inflation.
The contrast between rising national wealth and stagnant wages has become even more extreme lately. In 2004, which was touted both by the Bush administration and by Wall Street as a year in which the economy boomed, the median real income of full-time, year-round male workers fell more than 2 percent.
Now the last vestiges of the era of plentiful good jobs are rapidly disappearing. Almost everywhere you look, corporations are squeezing wages and benefits, saying that they have no choice in the face of global competition. And with the Delphi bankruptcy, the big squeeze has reached the auto industry itself.
So what are we going to do about it?
During the 1990's optimists argued that better education and worker training could restore the economy's ability to create good jobs. Mr. Miller of Delphi picked up that argument as part of his public relations campaign for wage cuts: "The world pays knowledge workers far more than it pays manual, industrial workers," he said. "And that's what's sweeping over here."
But that's a very 1999 sort of answer. During the technology bubble, it was easy to believe that "knowledge workers" were guaranteed good jobs. But when the bubble burst, they turned out to be as vulnerable to downsizing and layoffs as assembly-line workers. And many of the high-paid jobs that vanished when the technology bubble burst have never come back, partly because they have been outsourced to India and other rising economies.
Today, some of us like to stress the depressing effect of the dysfunctional American health care system on wages. A large part of the problem facing the auto industry and other employers that still provide good jobs is the cost of providing health insurance, both to their current employees and to retired workers.
If we had a Canadian-style system - which is enthusiastically supported by the Canadian subsidiaries of U.S. auto companies - the big squeeze might be averted, at least for a while. One more reason to be angry with auto executives is that they never threw their support behind national health care in this country, even though such a system is clearly in their companies' interest.
What if neither education nor health care reform is enough to end the wage squeeze? That's the possibility that makes free-trade liberals like me very nervous, because at that point protectionism enters the picture. When corporate executives say that they have to cut wages to meet foreign competition, workers have every right to ask why we don't cut the foreign competition instead.
I hope we don't have to go there. But denial is not an option. America's working middle class has been eroding for a generation, and it may be about to wash away completely. Something must be done.
