Rosie the Riveter has died

Wash Post:

Geraldine Doyle, 86, who as a 17-year-old factory worker became the inspiration for a popular World War II recruitment poster that evoked female power and independence under the slogan "We Can Do It!," died Dec. 26 at a hospice in Lansing, Mich.

Her daughter, Stephanie Gregg, said the cause of death was complications from severe arthritis.

For millions of Americans throughout the decades since World War II, the stunning brunette in the red and white polka-dot bandanna was Rosie the Riveter.

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The graying of gay leaders, and the community at large

We're getting older. But in the gay community, that's a relatively new phenomenon. There weren't millions of openly gay people before now in American history. But all of those who came out in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s are getting older now. It's something that really has never happened before - having a large number of openly gay seniors. Read the rest of this post...

Alter says WH infighting thwarted focus on jobs, and Bill Clinton is miffed at WH

Huff Post:

Some revelations about the Obama administration detailed in the new epilogue to the upcoming paperback release of Jonathan Alter's bestseller, "The Promise," probably won't please too many folks at the White House. Alter claims that a dysfunctional relationship between top White House aides hurt the administration's policy on job creation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was almost dropped from financial reform legislation and was only reinstated after complaints by Elizabeth Warren, and Bill Clinton continually grumbles about being disrespected by the administration.

The Obama administration's perceived failure to take laser-like aim at the unemployment crisis was partly due to the dysfunctional relationship between White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, top economic adviser Larry Summers and senior adviser David Axelrod, specifically the intransigence of Summers, according to Alter

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The Pope is now making excuses for pedophilia

You see, it's the 1970s' fault.

“In the 1970s, paedophilia was theorised as something fully in conformity with man and even with children,” the Pope said.

Asking how abuse exploded within the Church, the Pontiff called on senior clerics “to repair as much as possible the injustices that occurred” and to help victims heal through a better presentation of the Christian message.

“We cannot remain silent about the context of these times in which these events have come to light,” he said, citing the growth of child pornography “that seems in some way to be considered more and more normal by society” he said.

You mean a context in which the Pope himself, let alone the senior management of the Vatican, aided and abetted ongoing pedophilia, and thus encouraged the problem to continue and grow?

Rea piece of work. Read the rest of this post...

Corporate America lowers the unemployment rate ... in Asia

It's becoming more and more obvious, the disconnect; as Robert Reich points out below, unemployment stays high as corporate profits soar. Not that the disconnect wasn't always present ("always" means post-Reagan, the outer limit of anyone's memory these days). But it's getting harder to hide, and they're not taking much pains to keep it under wraps.

This Countdown segment does a nice job of making the disconnect plain. Corporate America has created 1.4 million jobs abroad — enough to reduce American unemployment nearly 1% if created here. Can't get much more obvious.



A good job by Sam Seder, filling in. No wonder Mr. and Ms. Corporate Master feel unloved; guilty conscience.

A second look at those Apple iPhone numbers (Apple, the corp that loves the anti-corporate rebel in you):

$179 – Retail price
$131 – Labor cost

$120 – Foreign labor
$  11 – U.S. labor (design jobs, which are moving abroad as well)

Need we say that the so-called "U.S." Chamber of Commerce is a big supporter of laws that reward outsourcing? Nope; that's been said.

As Ian Welsh noted, tax cuts for the rich, of necessity, create jobs abroad:

If you can build a factory overseas which produces the same goods for less, meaning more profit for you, why would you build it in the US?

Until that question is adequately answered, by which I mean “until it’s worth investing in the US”, most of the discretionary money of the rich will either go into useless speculative activities like the housing and credit bubbles, which don’t create real growth in the US, or they will go overseas.

The problem in a nutshell. I don't think the answer is a Democrat–CEO Summit, unless the question is, Can I have some campaign contributions please?

GP Read the rest of this post...

Robert Reich on the 2011 economy

It depends where you sit.

What will happen to the US economy in 2011? If you’re referring to profits of big corporations and Wall Street, next year is likely to be a good one. But if you’re referring to average American workers, far from good.

The two American economies — the Big Money economy and the Average Working Family economy — will continue to diverge. Corporate profits will continue to rise, as will the stock market. But typical wages will go nowhere, joblessness will remain high, the ranks of the long-term unemployed will continue to rise, the housing recovery will remain stalled, and consumer confidence will sag.

The big disconnect between corporate profits and jobs is likely to continue because America’s big businesses are depending less and less on U.S. sales and U.S. workers. Their big profits are coming from two sources: (1) growing sales in China, India, and other fast-growing countries, and (2) slimmed-down US payrolls.

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TSA protester banned from flight

A simple mistake, for sure. What is the matter with the US these days when criticism of bad policy gets you in such trouble? If we were watching similar events in China or Iran or Venezuela, people would be up in arms about the government overreach.

Banovac was back at the Will Rogers Airport Tuesday and once again, security says she can't board her flight back home to Phoenix.

Last month security denied her access because they said they found traces of nitrate somewhere on her body.

Now, it's something near her bottom that is raising a red flag.

"The stated reason was there was... They were unable to clear an unusual contour of my buttocks area," said Banovac.

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Obama seeks corporate tax cuts in 2011

While business will still think he's a socialist, the rest of us wonder when he's going to stop being such a hard-core corporatist and think about the middle class. Corporate profits are booming so why is it so hard to start giving a damn about the decades old decline of the middle class? Wouldn't it be great to have a Democrat in office who actually gave a damn about someone outside of the corporate world?

All signs point to President Barack Obama pursuing far-reaching changes to the corporate income tax, seeking to lower one of the highest statutory corporate-tax rates in the world by eliminating deductions, credits and loopholes.

If he proceeds, the administration will insist that any changes raise as much revenue as the existing, 35% corporate tax. That's to constrain those who want to lighten the business-tax burden and those who want to get more money from business. But the constraint means that for every company that saves a dollar, another will pay a dollar more.

The White House says no decisions have been made and that the president has yet to have a session with his economic team devoted to corporate taxes. But Treasury tax technicians are sifting through options, CEOs are buzzing and the president has voiced his druthers: "We would be very interested," he said in October, "in finding ways to lower the corporate-tax rate so that companies that are operating overseas can so do effectively and aren't put at a competitive disadvantage." In a recent interview with National Public Radio, Mr. Obama talked about "a conversation over the next year" aimed at "simplifying the system, hopefully lowering rates, broadening the base."

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Bank of America screws up, again

They're not throwing out the ashes of a deceased husband this time, but they were trying to foreclose on a couple on Christmas Eve. Even worse, the couple never missed a payment! Disgraceful, but that's Bank of America.

“In one of the more bizarre foreclosure cases, Bank of America is threatening to throw a West Hartford family out of their home even though the couple never missed a mortgage payment.

The largest bank in the United States earlier this month notified Shock Baitch and his wife Lisa (Friedman) Baitch that foreclosure action will start today – Christmas eve – unless the couple agrees to put their home up for a forced sale.

Why? Because another unit of Bank of America erroneously reported to credit agencies that the family was seeking a loan modification, ruining their credit rating and as the result putting their mortgage into default.

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Thursday morning open thread

I'm back in DC. The dog is over her 90 minutes of trauma being stuffed in a bag on a plane (actually, the trauma seems to be from flight itself, she likes the bag). And I have an exciting weekend ahead of me, what with putting together my new Costco TV stand and all (my TV has been sitting on the floor the past two years - it was finally time to leave college).

And here is a penguin dancing to Auld Lang Syne.

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BP facing class action lawsuit over safety record

BP lying? Who ever could believe such a claim?

The class-action lawsuit examined in Texas late on Tuesday is expected to be joined by hundreds or thousands of investors who lost money when BP shares plunged in April. Judge Keith Ellison named New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and Ohio's newly-elected Attorney General Mike DeWine as lead plaintiffs. The two politicians have responsibility for their respective states' public-employee pension funds, which are among the largest holders of BP's US-listed stock.

Of the claims consolidated into the new lawsuit, the Ohio and New York claims are amongst the widest-ranging, alleging that BP was lying to investors as far back as 2005. The suit will therefore examine all of the company's safety-related statements, including its public communication about other accidents that have tarnished its reputation in the US.

BP has for years maintained a corporate culture where adherence to safety protocols and environmental laws were ignored in favour of profits, the suit claims, leading to a fatal explosion at its Texas City oil refinery in 2005 and two oil spills in Alaska in 2006. The company then lied about improvements it had made after those accidents, the suit adds.

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China slashes rare earth element exports

It's probably not such a bad idea considering the environmental issues related to mining. If businesses are in a panic over the move, maybe they should have thought more about this in the past. (What exactly do they teach in business schools these days?) The real downside is that the same businesses will likely search the world for the REEs and find governments willing and able to destroy their environment to mine them. It's not unlike the Canada Oil Sands project where the government has warmed up to the idea of damaging the environment in search of oil. Now imagine the same in a poor country where they care even less about the environment.

China has struck fear into Western governments and electronics giants by slashing exports of a highly sought-after array of metals which are crucial for electronics products ranging from iPads and X-ray systems, to low-energy lightbulbs and hybrid cars.

In a sign of its growing industrial and political clout, China has cut its export quotas for rare earth elements (REEs) by 35 per cent for the first six months of 2011, threatening to extend a global shortage of the minerals and intensifying a scramble to find alternative sources.

Mines in China supply 97 per cent of the world's rare earths, 17 obscure metals which possess various qualities, such as conductivity and magnetism, that make them an essential component in many modern applications such as smartphones, computers and lasers.

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