Monday's Song from Hell - February 27th

Don't even try to deny that you both hate and love this song.

Graph of the Day - December 24th

(Source: MaddowBlog via Robert Frank chart by way of Ezra Klein)

Vocabulary Review: "Median" does not mean average...it means exactly in the middle. If there were a total of 3 workers, it's worker in the #2 spot. If the are 101 workers, then it's worker #51. A median worker has an income smack dab in the middle of all workers. The same goes for median rent.

For Baby Boomers to insinuate that current (young) workers have it so much better off and that they are merely squandering their income on unnecessary toys is insulting and counterproductive to any discussion of economic reality. Not only do Baby Boomers as a group speak from a chronologically privileges position (older workers hold a disproportionate percentage of jobs above the median due to number of years on the job, tenure, experience, etc), they also reference their past with false equivalency.

And a note about the "standard of living" argument. This is not 1950. You can't get ahead through social networking by asking everyone you meet for a card and storing it in your Rolodex. A smart phone is a near necessity if you want to get above that median during your life. Most decent jobs now require applications complete with PDF downloads, uploads, customized cover letters, and more information about your past than one person can possibly remember. Let's not forget that just the cost of attending college has grown at a far faster pace than inflation or wages.

Graph of the Day - December 6th

(Source: CNNMoney)

Mancession? He-covery?
(Update: I hadn't heard the term "he-covery" but a little Googling finds a good early source in the NYT.)

During the peak of the Great Recession many economists and labor experts commented on the gendered nature of job losses. Some coined it the "mancession" because men were losing jobs much faster, so fast that at one point the number of working men and women in the American economy was equal. The graph above illustrates that well. There is more behind it though. Newsweek pointed out in July 2009 that it didn't mean it was all roses and daffodils for working women.

The basic gist: women on average hold more part time jobs and are paid less and the Recession hit hardest on "male" jobs, full time jobs, and higher paying jobs.

So men are recovering faster in the job market? I am sure with more research I would understand it better, but I am more interested in the "what it means" rather than the "why." The new jobs created in the "he-covery" tend to be lower paid than the jobs that were lost. If it is the case that men are taking these jobs then as whole we should see the income of men lowered. Does this mean the gap between average pay for men and women will shrink, but not because women have increased towards parity? Just a thought.

Arkansas Republicans start 'em young....

Arkansas College Republicans probably think they were being cute and clever by taking a picture of Governor Beebe out of context and using it to score cheap social media points.

TalkBusiness.net called it "Vile Attacks and Lies by Some Arkansas Republicans" and I couldn't agree more.

@ArkCr @GovBeebeMedia thinks Obamacare is best for Arkansas. Is that him or the booze talking? twitpic.com/7o23s4 #crnc #arleg

@ArkCR @GovBeebeMedia expects Arkansans to follow his lead, yet he is so drunk he cant even stand! #arleg twitpic.com/7o23s4 #crnc

@ArkCR: While thousands of Arkansans can’t find work, @GovBeebeMedia gets hammered drunk. PICTURE: http://t.co/JnAm58kf #arleg

These College Republicans could have still used this picture to go after Gov. Beebe. "Gov. Beebe pours the wine and entertains the upper class while thousands of Arkansans can't even afford Bud Light." Or "Gov. Beebe has champagne taste on Arkansas' beer budget."

Perhaps Young Democrats of Arkansas should seize on the poor taste of their Arkansas counterparts. "Governor Beebe: Servant of the People." "Governor Beebe: Serving up good times."

As for his effort in serving a white wine, it leaves something to be desired:

Monday's Song from Hell - November 14th

Not because it is an annoying song that you can't stop humming. Because music can sometimes cement itself in the minds of people and become a common expression of their values or opinions. That's why this song might become hell for those who stand in the way of the 99% of Americans who are not being served by our political, economic, and financial systems.

Now Makana's new song "We Are The Many" can be criticized as being from hell because of the very simple rhyming pattern of the verses (AAAA), but at least the end of the chorus makes clear the whole point of the Occupy Wall Street and 99% movement.

Lyrics below the video thanks to Honolulu Civil Beat.

We Are The Many Lyrics & Music by Makana Makana Music LLC © 2011

Ye come here, gather ’round the stage
The time has come for us to voice our rage
Against the ones who’ve trapped us in a cage
To steal from us the value of our wage

From underneath the vestiture of law
The lobbyists at Washington do gnaw
At liberty, the bureaucrats guffaw
And until they are purged, we won’t withdraw

We’ll occupy the streets
We’ll occupy the courts
We’ll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

Our nation was built upon the right
Of every person to improve their plight
But laws of this Republic they rewrite
And now a few own everything in sight

They own it free of liability
They own, but they are not like you and me
Their influence dictates legality
And until they are stopped we are not free

We’ll occupy the streets
We’ll occupy the courts
We’ll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

You enforce your monopolies with guns
While sacrificing our daughters and sons
But certain things belong to everyone
Your thievery has left the people none

So take heed of our notice to redress
We have little to lose, we must confess
Your empty words do leave us unimpressed
A growing number join us in protest

We occupy the streets
We occupy the courts
We occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

You can’t divide us into sides
And from our gaze, you cannot hide
Denial serves to amplify
And our allegiance you can’t buy

Our government is not for sale
The banks do not deserve a bail
We will not reward those who fail
We will not move till we prevail

We’ll occupy the streets
We’ll occupy the courts
We’ll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

We are the many
You are the few

Song from Hell, for a Saturday

This came about from a conversation with my good friend Gayathiri. She finally got to spend some actual time with one of my acquaintances, Jason. She said that he was really nice. I totally agreed. Jason is honestly a positive person. He is an excellent people person when it's his job to listen and work with others. He has impressed several of the volunteers with whom he is working at our local Center. He is actually a joy to be around. A different acquaintance I know dislikes him, but we figured out why: that guy is a person who is just ugly, inside and out, who dislikes Jason because he is a cute, positive, and competent person.

So describing to Gayathiri, I said, "ya, he is just sunshine and lollipops all the time." UGH...that is all it took! Know I am stuck with it in my head...and now you are.

Monday's Song from Hell - April 25th

The back story on how this was pulled off in the Oregon legislature. I wish more legislative bodies treated each other with the respect required to build the kind of trust it must take to do something like this. That legislature is probably able to come to compromises