New post up on my other blog:
It’s snowing tonight in the South.
At least it is here in North Carolina where I live now…
I know that doesn’t mean much to many people who live in places where snow is a common occurrence, but it is getting to be more and more rare here in the South. It’s called Global Warming, believe it or not…
Anyway….
Snow always makes me think of Snow Days past. Snow in the South always leads to irrational behavior. Even for the South….
Filed under Scott's Commentary
I keep having a recurring thought….
I may be alone here, but stick with me and we’ll see….
I first heard “Les Miserables” on an actual record album when it opened on Broadway in 1987. It would be several more years before I actually saw it on stage. I was in my 20’s and facing something I never thought I would face a that time in my life….
Death. Young people I knew were suddenly dying….
AIDS was at it’s most deadly peak and I was starting to see people disappear. They did that then. They disappeared to die quietly in small towns and big cities while the rest of us were stunned and not sure how to go on with this new normal….
Most of America was still trying to work through this while so many young men just …..disappeared.
I think that’s why the song that stood out for me from “Les Miserables” then was “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables”. We didn’t realize it was a revolution then, but it was….
A quiet, deadly one….
We weren’t all brave and selfless, but we couldn’t miss the empty chairs at empty tables…
It was quite a different context, but it seemed to resonate with me– and I think quite a few others.
And it changed our world….
I think that may have been what made “Les Miz” relevant to our generation….
I think this subtle, subliminal, un-intentional subplot meant more to a lot of us than we realized then and may have added a gravitas for us that the rest of the show may not have otherwise reached….
With this one song, the show became part of the time and place for so many of us…it made it real and in the moment for just that moment.
Like I said, you may not be with me on this, but I think more Gay men may have had this reaction- whether or not they were aware of it- than they realized….
I know I did…
I loved how Eddie Redmayne performed this song in the movie- even if I had issues with the movie as a whole- but his very real version is not on YouTube yet. But Michael Ball’s excellent concert version is…
Filed under Gay, Movies, Uncategorized
This article, in New York Magazine, is the best explanation I’ve seen yet for why the Republican’s can’t really offer serious ideas for spending cuts: There really aren’t many options.
As usual, the GOP has based their case on illusions, untruths and sound bite cliches….
I’m a firm believer that the government actually needs to spend more on infrastructure and social programs. The cuts should come from closing down George Bush’s wars of choice, unnecessary defense spending- that even the Pentagon says is unnecessary- and better management.
And, yes, raise the taxes on the rich and close loop holes that the rich and corporations use to avoid paying their fair share. End subsidies to big oil and corporate agribusiness.
The big opportunities are on the revenue side and with ending corporate welfare…..
From NY Magazine:
Republicans think government spending is huge, but they can’t really identify ways they want to solve that problem, because government spending is not really huge. That is to say, on top of an ideological gulf between the two parties, we have an epistemological gulf. The Republican understanding of government spending is based on hazy, abstract notions that don’t match reality and can’t be translated into a workable program.
Let’s unpack this a bit. We all know Republicans want to spend less money. So the construction of the debate appears, on the surface, to be a pretty simple continuum based on policy preferences. Republicans like Mitch McConnell say government spending is “out of control” and would, at least ideally, like to bring it into line with revenue entirely through spending cuts. Democrats like Obama endorse a “balanced” solution with revenue and taxes. Right-thinking centrists, like the CEO community and their publicists like Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei, think we should cut deeply into entitlement spending while also raising tax revenue. (VandeHei, in a video accompanying his execrable story, asserts, “There’s money to be cut everywhere.”)
There really isn’t money to be cut everywhere. The United States spends way less money on social services than do other advanced countries, and even that low figure is inflated by our sky-high health-care prices. The retirement benefits to programs like Social Security are quite meager. Public infrastructure is grossly underfunded.
via Why Republicans Can’t Propose Spending Cuts — Daily Intelligencer.
I’ll freely admit I have not been in a Walmart in more than a dozen years.
I can’t go there for many reasons-all related to political, economic, social justice and esthetic concerns.
I just wish people would realize that someone is paying the price for all the cheap junk they sell at that place.
Our communities pay the price as we lose local businesses Walmart runs out of business. We, as a society, pay the price by focusing on quantity and not quality. But most importantly, workers pay the price- at Walmart stores and most severely at the factories that supply them.
These working conditions would not be allowed in the U.S. for good reason. We, hopefully, learned our lesson early in the 20th Century with the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Fire….
Someday, hopefully, Walmart will be held accountable and have to pay for this themselves….
From ThinkProgress.com:
More than 100 workers died in a garment factory fire on November 24 in Bangladesh. The Dhaka plant, which was making products for Walmart and Sears, had no emergency exits or emergency evacuation procedures.
But in a meeting last year, Walmart officials decided against agreeing to pay suppliers more so that they could upgrade their manufacturing facilities and pay for the costs of safety improvements. “Specifically to the issue of any corrections on electrical and fire safety, we are talking about 4,500 factories, and in most cases very extensive and costly modifications would need to be undertaken to some factories,” Walmart officials said in documents obtained by Bloomberg News. “It is not financially feasible for the brands to make such investments.”
More than 300 Bangladeshi garment factory workers have died since 2006. Walmart reported a 9 percent increase in third-quarter net income, earning $3.63 billion.
Filed under Politics, Uncategorized
I don’t know why I continue to be amazed at stories like this…..
Corporate America is really big on “accountability” and “results driven performance.”
At the worker’s and Middle Management level….
Personally, I think these “bonuses” and Golden Parachutes for failed upper Management ought to be taxed at round the 99% rate if the Company is in Bankruptcy. If the Company shows a profit, then regular tax rates should apply. That would drive true accountability and performance based rewards at all levels….
I know, impossible to enforce, but I can dream of wage equality, can’t I?
As I said earlier, it’s really hard to fail making junk food for Americans…..
From AmericaBlog.com:
You remember Hostess. Home of the Twinkie. Gone bankrupt and closing down after the previous CEO tripled his salary, knowing full well they were on their way to the poor house.
Well here we go again, Lucy.
While it’s worth noting that current Hostess acting CEO Gregory Rayburn, to his credit, is not accepting a bonus, you have to ask yourself why anyone would be getting a bonus in the first place, with the company in bankruptcy.
Well. It seems that at the same time the company went into bankruptcy, and now is cutting employees’ pay by 8%, just in time for Christmas, the management team finagled itself a whopping $1.8m bonus. ”The money is intended as an incentive for 19 top-level managers to remain with the Twinkies and Ding Dongs maker to oversee its liquidation,” the LA Times reports. Right, because you wouldn’t want to lose any of the winners that oversaw a company going into bankruptcy.
via Hostess employees get 8% pay cut, management gets $1.8m bonuses.
Filed under Politics, Uncategorized
Run, Hillary, Run!
This would be so very wonderful…..
And I’m glad to see she is finally get the respect and appreciation she deserves….
From the HuffingtonPost.com:
A decision by Hillary Clinton to run for president in 2016 would be welcomed by most Americans, according to a Washington Post/ABC poll released Wednesday.
As she prepares to step down as secretary of state, Clinton has a lifetime high favorability rating of 66 percent, according to the Post/ABC poll, with less than a third of respondents holding unfavorable views. Two-thirds of Americans approve of her job performance in the Obama administration.
That goodwill translates into broad support for Clinton to make a second run at the presidency in four years, with 57 percent supporting her candidacy.
The demographics of her support provide a sense of what could be a key constituency for a Clinton campaign: women, especially those who are younger or middle-aged. Two-thirds of women, including 75 percent of those under age 50, say they would like to see her run. Among men, her candidacy is supported by a narrower 49 percent
via Hillary Clinton Hits Record Favorability, Poll Shows Wide Support For 2016 Candidacy.
This is a real example of what is totally wrong with the Corporate Culture and Corporate accountability in America….
These guys destroyed a profitable, iconic American Company.
Even though it makes nasty, bad-for-you treats full of preservatives and strange chemical things…
But that’s what America seems to want. It’s really hard to fail at this….
And they failed. And are going bankrupt. Bad management is the only excuse…
And they are getting bonuses for this? Talk about Bain Capital as a business model….
I guarantee the hourly workers aren’t getting any bonuses for making the product; only those whose “leadership” destroyed the company….
From the L. A Times:
Hostess Brands Inc., in the midst of winding down its business, won approval Thursday from a federal bankruptcy judge to give as much as $1.75 million in bonuses to its executives.
The money is intended as an incentive for 19 top-level managers to remain with the Twinkies and Ding Dongs maker to oversee its liquidation.
The payouts will be granted only if managers “achieve a set of specific tasks and goals within a specified time frame that are designed to speed and lower the cost of the wind-down,” Hostess spokesman Lance Ignon said.
The maximum bonus amount, Ignon said, represents 0.07% of Hostess’ revenue and 0.17% of the value of its assets and is below the average for bonuses in comparable bankruptcy cases. Hostess Chief Executive Greg Rayburn would be not be eligible for a bonus, Ignon said.
via Hostess wins OK to give execs up to $1.75 million in bonuses – latimes.com.
Filed under Food, Politics, Uncategorized
Good…
I never went to Denny’s or Applebees to begin with, but used to order Papa John’s on occasion. But not since their CEO made his idiotic statements after the election.
I’m now boycotting Papa John’s. I’ve long boycotted Domino’s due to their political actions and I hate Pizza Hut.
Another reason to buy local pizzas!
Local pizzas are better anyway. We have several local, wood-fired pizza options. At least one, uses only locally grown ingredients.
I should always been buying all our pizzas from them to begin with…
If only they delivered…..
Well, we all must make some sacrifices….
From AmericaBlog.com:
Though it has many faults, one great aspect of the free market – the actual free market and not what we have on Wall Street – is that customers have choices. Since the Obama re-election victory in November, a few CEOs and business executives couldn’t accept that they lost, and chose instead to bash President Obama and Obamacare.
It was especially strange to hear one CEO, Papa John’s’ John Schnatter, complain about the supposedly high costs of Obamacare forcing him to limit his workers’ hours, while he somehow found the money to build a moat around his mansion and a personal golf course. He’s also the same CEO who is facing a $250 million class action lawsuit for sending text messages to customers.
Then there was the local Denny’s franchiseewho came up with the bright idea to tack on a 5% surcharge to every check to supposedly pay for Obamacare.
Or Applebee’s NY franchisee who claimed Obamacare may force him to institute a hiring freeze.
via Papa John’s, Denny’s, Applebees brands hurt by Obamacare criticism.
These Republicans in the Senate are getting to be as bad as the ones in the House.
What an embarrassment….
These are among the most idiotic responses I’ve ever read….
From TalkingPointsMemo:
The Senate Tuesday fell short of the two-thirds vote required to ratify a United Nations treaty aimed at securing rights for disabled people around the world, when the vast majority of Republican senators voted against the treaty. The final vote was 61-38 vote. All the nay votes were Republican.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities essentially makes the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act a non-binding international standard. It requires no change to U.S. law.
Originally signed by then-President George W. Bush in 2006 and re-signed by President Barack Obama in 2009 shortly after he took office, the treaty has been championed by former Sen. Bob Dole (R-KS), the one-time GOP presidential nominee who suffered a disability while serving in the Army in World War II. Dole was on the Senate floor Tuesday ahead of the ratification vote, in a wheelchair, accompanied by his wife, former Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC).
via Senate Republicans Shoot Down Treaty For Disabled Rights | TPMDC.
Filed under Politics
Lost in the 21st Century 
My Southern Gothic Life: Chapter 68: Losing Lou on 42nd Street
New post up on my other blog, My Southern Gothic Life…
I promise I will have something new here soon. I’m still deciding how to focus this blog going forward…
Here is an excerpt from the other blog and a link to the full entry:
via Chapter 68: Losing Lou on 42nd Street | My Southern Gothic Life.
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