Tuesday, December 30, 2003

Luxury Box Economy   In the third quarter of 2003, as everyone knows, real G.D.P. rose at an annual rate of 8.2 percent. But wage and salary income, adjusted for inflation, rose at an annual rate of only 0.8 percent. More recent data don't change the picture: in the six months that ended in November, income from wages rose only 0.65 percent after inflation.   Why aren't workers sharing in the so-called boom? Start with jobs. 5:13:42 PM

The sad truth   The [jobless] rate hits 9.7% when the underemployed and those who have quit looking are added.   Read it and weep… or just have your sneaking suspicions confirmed 5:13:17 PM

Why are there no Mad Cows in the US?   Because here they are called “downer” cows or “down cattle”…   …as in the following sentence:   The Agriculture Department estimates that 130,000 down cattle are sent to meatpacking plants each year.   And despite the imposition of a few long overdue reforms there is still there is no ban on feeding cows to one another – the one SURE way to halt BSE (mad cow disease).   Don’t get me wrong, I love beef—just not the beef industry…   …or their “friends” like Bush: a whore bought and paid for through campaign contributions. 5:12:48 PM