Atlantic has a great roundup of May Day pix. Unfortunately, especially in Oakland and Seattle (the pix are international, not just US), a fair amount of them show apparently/likely senseless vandalism.
First, a reetail store, or strip mall (both vandalized) aren't the same as big, bad bankster Wells Fargo (a location of it also vandalized).
Frankly, when I see that, I say we're seeing the same vandals for vandalism's sake that have plagued globalization events since the late 1900s G7 in ... Seattle! That's when this whole (to riff on that city) anarcho-grunge movement got started.
Not all "Occupiers" are of such a mindset; nonetheless, it's prevalent enough that non-vandal leaders of OWS (and, yes, as I've blogged before, it has leaders) should denounce such "tactics." Secularists, after all, call on the more liberal-minded religious folks to denounce the more strident stances of fundamentalists. So, why shouldn't the more left-liberal of us politically call on a movement that has energy and potential to officially, or semi-officially, denounce senseless vandalism?
And, actions deliberately designed to provoke police? Equally stupid and senseless. If you're arrested as "collateral damage" that's one thing; to be arrested for being arrested is another.
I'm not claiming I do know what WILL work, just that this doesn't. And, if a "winter of gestation" after the semi-coordinated "pause" on Occupy's side/semi-coordinated "shutdown" on cities' side hasn't provoked more creativity, what will?
Well, in Greece, voters thumbed their noses at both top political parties just after May Day. As I've said before, political involvement here, including third-party involvement, is part of what I see Occupiers need to do. On the far right, Tea Partiers don't get that they're stooges of the GOP and the big business interests that started class warfare. On the left, Occupiers need to learn that Obama won't help them and neither will political apathy.
In other words, check out the Green Party!
May 08, 2012
Local advertisers next to flee newspapers?
Classified advertisers started leaving years ago, in some cases to Craigslist, in others, to the likes of Monster and CareerBuilder.
Next were the national retailers. Some, years ago, notably Walmart, opted for direct mail only rather than inserts. For page-based, or ROP advertising, company websites became first a supplement to, then more and more a replacement for, the newspaper. Social media accelerated that trend.
And now, even with an economic recovery of some sort, national advertisers are in no hurry to come back. And why should they? Between house websites, social media and Google searches, they have a presence, and will focus more on beating competitors on visibility, branding, etc., there.
That's not just retailers, but individual brands, etc. Especially for service companies, it's a no-brainer.
However, it appears that Pat’s Diner, the
local Ford dealer (not just Ford the company), and others are also looking to
move on elsewhere.
Not a surprise, overall, from personal knowledge though the amount of decline is, as it looks like local businesses are going to slash newspaper advertising in years ahead.
So, expect this trend to continue. Even
accelerate.
Next? As recovery stays slow, look for more state governments to change laws about public notice legal advertising in newspapers.
Next were the national retailers. Some, years ago, notably Walmart, opted for direct mail only rather than inserts. For page-based, or ROP advertising, company websites became first a supplement to, then more and more a replacement for, the newspaper. Social media accelerated that trend.
And now, even with an economic recovery of some sort, national advertisers are in no hurry to come back. And why should they? Between house websites, social media and Google searches, they have a presence, and will focus more on beating competitors on visibility, branding, etc., there.
That's not just retailers, but individual brands, etc. Especially for service companies, it's a no-brainer.
But, through all of this, allowing for the economic
downturn, local advertising had seemed steady.
Not a surprise, overall, from personal knowledge though the amount of decline is, as it looks like local businesses are going to slash newspaper advertising in years ahead.
And, this will affect smaller papers than your major metros,
or even mid-sized ones. In fact, it will affect the “community” five-day and
six-day dailies, and even non-dailies, perhaps, even more than seven-day
dailies.
In this case, it’s a mix of things.
In some cases, small business owners have developed basic
website design skills themselves. That’s helped by WordPress remaking itself to
be more than just a blogging site.
In other cases, it’s social media, as with bigger companies.
In a number of cases, companies aren’t even doing a website, just a Facebook
page, or “presence.”
If a small-town, or small-county, Chamber of Commerce has a
website, and one with links to member businesses, that’s about all that’s
needed to get visibility on the Internet.
Add to that another part of WordPress. It, and Blogger, are
letting people start online “newspapers” in small communities to compete with
the traditional ones. Sell ad space, or even sell linking, and the newspaper,
even as a hobby, is making a few bucks.
Next? As recovery stays slow, look for more state governments to change laws about public notice legal advertising in newspapers.
#GaryJohnson ... the real Libertarian, #RonPaul and 2012
The *real* Libertarian, the former New Mexico governor not Ron Paul, has gotten the Libertarian Party presidential nod.
First, per a link inside this Daily Beast overview of what he could do in the race, I love how the WSJ disses his "outside the mainstream" views on gay marriage and legal marijuana, when they're both majoritarian (were I not voting Green, he'd likely be ahead of Dear Leader as my second choice).
Second, it's true that he walks the libertarian walk in a way Ron Paul doesn't. Above all, having been an executive, he had no problem pulling the veto trigger. Paul, of course, has brought bacon a-plenty home to his Congressional district, then offered the same excuse as Ayn Rand did with Social Security.
How "pure" is he? He vetoed a bill passed by the N.M. legislature that, in its initial form, had been pushed by his own wife. Still vetoed it; said it had been changed too much.
Third, he is a social libertarian to a degree far beyond Paul. He doesn't "favor" gay marriage because he doesn't favor the state regulating marriage at all.
That said, he's no Jill Stein. He still stand well behind her in my affections. He's got "issues" as well as issues.
He was strongly pro-voucher for public schools, built multiple private prisons (including one in Hobbs when I lived there), is big on privatization in general, and, while not anti-environmental, isn't strong on it; Wiki lists his full political positions (which, unlike most politicians, don't change).
First, per a link inside this Daily Beast overview of what he could do in the race, I love how the WSJ disses his "outside the mainstream" views on gay marriage and legal marijuana, when they're both majoritarian (were I not voting Green, he'd likely be ahead of Dear Leader as my second choice).
Second, it's true that he walks the libertarian walk in a way Ron Paul doesn't. Above all, having been an executive, he had no problem pulling the veto trigger. Paul, of course, has brought bacon a-plenty home to his Congressional district, then offered the same excuse as Ayn Rand did with Social Security.
How "pure" is he? He vetoed a bill passed by the N.M. legislature that, in its initial form, had been pushed by his own wife. Still vetoed it; said it had been changed too much.
Third, he is a social libertarian to a degree far beyond Paul. He doesn't "favor" gay marriage because he doesn't favor the state regulating marriage at all.
That said, he's no Jill Stein. He still stand well behind her in my affections. He's got "issues" as well as issues.
He was strongly pro-voucher for public schools, built multiple private prisons (including one in Hobbs when I lived there), is big on privatization in general, and, while not anti-environmental, isn't strong on it; Wiki lists his full political positions (which, unlike most politicians, don't change).
May 07, 2012
What's wrong with Texas Democrats? (Updated)
It would be easy to point at state level offices, like uncontested Supreme Court races, or a bland list of U.S. Senate candidates, despite Dems having a few decent names at the Texas Senate level. (Or, to look at the new U.S. House District in the Metroplex and know that, if a Hispanic is to be "the" candidate, the wrong Garcia, Domingo rather than Elba, is running.
But, where the rubber really hits the road is Burnet County.
Yes, pretty conservative. Yes, fairly rural. But, not that far from Austin. And, surely at least a few of the rich retirees on the Highland Lakes would consider voting for a Democrat, seeing the nutty resolutions the Burnet County GOP passed in convention.
But, there are no Democrats running. (Meanwhile, that's not stopping a party "rally"; see below.)
By that, I do not mean that Democrats have no contested local-level primary contests.
I mean that NO DEMOCRATS are running, period, for two county commission seats, sheriff, county attorney, district attorney or district judge. None.
In Burnet County, in all local races, the GOP primary is the general election. (There's no Green or Libertarian candidates listed.)
When you can't get one person to run in more than half a dozen different races, you've got a problem.
Update, May 7: Meanwhile, area Democrats are planning a rally in Marble Falls' Johnson Park May 19.
Really? A rally for what? Or, more accurately, a rally for WHOM?
You have no local candidates.
And, you're holding a rally? What are you rallying for?
But, where the rubber really hits the road is Burnet County.
Yes, pretty conservative. Yes, fairly rural. But, not that far from Austin. And, surely at least a few of the rich retirees on the Highland Lakes would consider voting for a Democrat, seeing the nutty resolutions the Burnet County GOP passed in convention.
But, there are no Democrats running. (Meanwhile, that's not stopping a party "rally"; see below.)
By that, I do not mean that Democrats have no contested local-level primary contests.
I mean that NO DEMOCRATS are running, period, for two county commission seats, sheriff, county attorney, district attorney or district judge. None.
In Burnet County, in all local races, the GOP primary is the general election. (There's no Green or Libertarian candidates listed.)
When you can't get one person to run in more than half a dozen different races, you've got a problem.
Update, May 7: Meanwhile, area Democrats are planning a rally in Marble Falls' Johnson Park May 19.
Really? A rally for what? Or, more accurately, a rally for WHOM?
You have no local candidates.
And, you're holding a rally? What are you rallying for?
May 06, 2012
#Pujols ends drought!
Albert Pujols has finally gotten the monkey off his back. Or the rally squirrel of last year's St. Louis Cardinals, since he hadn't hit a regular-season home run from before it gaining post-season notoriety.
But, HR 446 is now in the record books.
But, HR 446 is now in the record books.
#Israel has a housing bubble
You may be thinking.... what?
"I've not heard a word about such a thing, or about the Israeli economy in general being in trouble."
You haven't, because
A. The bubble hasn't burst yet, and
B. The mainstream business and political media isn't thinking outside the box enough.
All those houses being built in the occupied West Bank/Palestine? THAT is your Israeli housing bubble.
I think a lot of Israeli politicians know that, and, like Social Security used to be in the U.S., it's the "third rail" of Israeli politics. Even more liberal-party politicians there don't want to touch it at all.
Now, people may not be taking out home equity loans against their new settler homes. But, there's already plenty of largely artificial economic stimulus there.
You have:
A. The housing construction itself;
B. The settler village infrastructure construction, of neighborhood water, sewer, electricity and roads;
C. Municipal/village police, civilian government employees, etc.;
D. The Israeli Army.
Per the overall size of Israel, that's actually probably a pretty damned big bubble.
And, nobody inside the Beltway in the U.S. mentions it, either. Why not? They're probably afraid Israel would ask for even more foreign aid money if the bubble even contracted, let alone burst. And, it's an election year.
"I've not heard a word about such a thing, or about the Israeli economy in general being in trouble."
You haven't, because
A. The bubble hasn't burst yet, and
B. The mainstream business and political media isn't thinking outside the box enough.
All those houses being built in the occupied West Bank/Palestine? THAT is your Israeli housing bubble.
I think a lot of Israeli politicians know that, and, like Social Security used to be in the U.S., it's the "third rail" of Israeli politics. Even more liberal-party politicians there don't want to touch it at all.
Now, people may not be taking out home equity loans against their new settler homes. But, there's already plenty of largely artificial economic stimulus there.
You have:
A. The housing construction itself;
B. The settler village infrastructure construction, of neighborhood water, sewer, electricity and roads;
C. Municipal/village police, civilian government employees, etc.;
D. The Israeli Army.
Per the overall size of Israel, that's actually probably a pretty damned big bubble.
And, nobody inside the Beltway in the U.S. mentions it, either. Why not? They're probably afraid Israel would ask for even more foreign aid money if the bubble even contracted, let alone burst. And, it's an election year.
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