The official unemployment rate of the U.S. economy remains at 9.7%, and the underemployment rate increased to 16.9%. These numbers represent a real tragedy for many Americans.
While the White House tries to celebrate the creation of 162,000 new jobs last month, at least 48,000 of these new jobs are government jobs, specifically temporary census workers, who are doing unproductive work and are being paid with taxes collected from the rest of the private economy.
Unemployment
Employment also increased in temporary help services and healthcare, but continued to decline in financial activities and in information, which is interesting given the recent comments by President Obama that the government takeover of the student loan program tucked into the health care bill “took $68 billion from banks and financial institutions.”(Obama’s April 1 remarks) That’s a lot of jobs, Mr. President.
Seems like there is more concrete evidence that, rather than creating jobs, the President’s policies are costing the economy jobs.
Now come on Perkins. You know that these things happen down there in the underclass.
But this is more than the usual knocking-about of wives and kids that goes on Sir.
But it doesn’t do to over-sentimentalize things, Perkins.
I’m sorry, Sir, but do you actually know the details?
Details? Good God, man! I’m far too preoccupied with the broad sweep of politics to worry about details!
But it seems this tyrannical father actually starved several of his kids to death …
Goodness me, and there were we thinking New Labour had abolished poverty.
And there were apparently three other kids locked up in perpetuity; one of them subjected to horrendous torture ….
Locked up? What had they done?
They apparently answered back, Sir?
Answered back?
Yes, Sir …. and there’s more ….
There usually is with you Perkins.
Those who weren’t starved to death or locked up were subjected to a life of deprivation, misinformation and misery, Sir.
You mean they were British voters? (just a joke, Perkins …)
It’s not a laughing matter Sir. They had no access to proper food or health provision.
Sounds pretty normal for the mob to me, Perkins …
And then they were brainwashed; they could only see and hear what their father wanted them to see … they have no idea what is going on in the outside world, Sir ….
But the mob have always lived like that, Perkins – they do read “The Daily Mail” after all …
But you haven’t heard the worst, Sir!
Oh dear …
Last week two of the kids ran away. They managed to climb across the fence into the grounds of a major company on a neighbouring industrial estate. But a guardcaught them and took them back to the tyrannical father, even though they were crying, emaciated and showed signs of malnutrition and harsh punishment ….
Goodness Perkins …. this does sound bad.
I’ve been investigating, Sir, and it seems that it is this has happened before and it is company’s policy to hand the kids back instead of trying to help them.
Well, one can’t interfere in private family matters, Perkins …. come on, let’s have a cup of tea and get on with the preparations for the election …
But I found out more, Sir …
Oh Dear, Perkins …. all right, tell me the worst!
Well Sir, it was all very well concealed, but I discovered that this large company that handed back the cruelly-treated children is the government’s largest supplier of cheap, rubbishy goods ……
Perkins! For goodness sake! They are NOT cheap and rubbishy … cheap perhaps …
So you KNOW about this company, Sir?
Of course Perkins …. as you said, they are our main supplier.
But they connive with child abuse, Sir …
Look Perkins, if we were to have a crisis of conscience over every single case of abuse we’d hardly be able to import anything, except from Canada, Switzerland, Germany and Sweden, and have you seen their prices?
But it’s not moral, Sir …
We try to avoid using this word in politics, Perkins. We would be on a sticky wicket on thin ice if we didn’t ….
But back in 1994 Robin Cook said that the new Labour Government would have an ethical policy on abuse …
Perkins, let me explain the difference between heady, overblown, post-election rhetoric and the real world of pragmatism … besides, Robin Cook died …..
So our pragmatism outweighs our morality?
Well, doing it the other way would only mean shooting ourselves in the wallet, Perkins ….
But it’s very sad, Sir!
Indeed, Perkins, but not for us, and that’s the main thing after all …. come on – put the kettle on ….
[For Gulagova family read North Korea; for large trading company read China, Ed.]
On the 22nd March, Learning from Dogs had the pleasure of a Post from our first Guest Author, Elliot Engstrom. We were then doubly delighted to have Per Kurowski join us as our second Guest Author with his introductory Post.
Now we have the additional honour of welcoming Patrice Ayme to the growing ranks of Guest Author to Learning from Dogs.
Patrice, like Elliot and Per, also is a prolific blogger. He describes himself as:
I was born in Europe, raised in Africa, and lived in America. So doing, I learned to compare different cultures, even during my early childhood, and to appreciate superiority of many of their traits, even the most surprising. I consider myself Senegalese, and proudly so.I studied, and know, several languages, not just Latin, and several cultures, deeply, by living through and inside them for years. I have done formal studies in mathematics and physics at three leading Universities receiving the highest degrees, and putting me in a good position to learn to differentiate between hard knowledge and wishful thinking, differently from many a common philosopher. I am a specialist of non commutative geometry, arguably the most abstract field of knowledge in existence (even hard core logic, model theory, is used in my approach).
Here is Patrice’s first Guest Post for Learning from Dogs.
——————————
GREEK TROJAN HORSE TO CONQUER BETTER EUROPEAN UNION
Abstract:
The European currency, the euro, is, foremost, a solution to a problem. War. All other problems, and the euro solves many, pale in significance relative to this one.
Many talk about “problems” with the euro, and, oozing with glee all over, perceive weakness. They are right, there is weakness, but it is not European weakness. Just the opposite.
What those skeptics are seeing with their uncomprehending neurology is the further construction of the European imperium, according to its core principle: fix what needs to be fixed, but with complete consensus of the parties concerned, which means do it just so. It appears messy, because it’s democratic, and before the people (demos) can use its kratos (power), it needs to think right, which means it has to argue thoroughly. It looks like squabbling, but it is thinking aloud. Europe is not built for some parties to gain advantage anymore (as it was with Napoleon, or Hitler), but to solve problems and gain opportunities for all.
The euro is, for the first time, used as a weapon against Europe’s enemies. Hence all the squealing. Far from weakening Franco-German resolve, the recourse to the IMF adds another layer of authority to the European Communities. When the IMF, speaking in the name of Franco-German taxpayers, tell restive exploiters in Greece that they have to pay more taxes (only 6 plutocrats declare more than one million euro income in Greece, and more than 500 professions can retire at 50 years of age, whereas Germany just brought up the retirement age to 67!), they will have to submit under orders (imperare, to use the Roman notion)
Crazy, outdated concept – adjusting clocks twice a year!
The whole concept of adjusting the clocks with the seasons, “Daylight Saving” as the Americans call it, seems increasingly ludicrous the more that one thinks about it. In the UK, it is called British Summer Time and is abbreviated to BST; I call it British Silly Time.
The expensive consequences for computer systems, airlines, railways and many other systems and organisations having to mess about with times and schedules are completely unnecessary. And I have lost count of the number of times I have heard of people missing calls or online meetings due to misinterpretations of time zones and distortions in the name of “daylight saving”.
One would have thought that people who spend the most time involved with nature would find it the most ludicrous and that among those would be farmers. However, it seems that this is not the case as there is a discussion about introducing permanent BST or even “double BST” on the UK National Farmers Union (NFU) website.
The news article is titled “Should we change the clocks?”. My answer is a simple “no”. In case the answer is unclear, I mean “no”! That is “do not change the clocks”! That is “leave the clocks alone”! That is “stop messing with the clocks”! In the UK that means “leave the clocks on GMT, the correct time”!
Does no one else understand this? Well, thankfully, many people do. For example, the whole of the aviation industry uses Zulu time (UTC) worldwide. Let’s be clear what that means. When pilots get a weather reports from any airport in the world (whether it is Heathrow or Los Angeles airport), the times are in Zulu time which is UTC/GMT. Yes everyone uses UTC.
The really funny part is that the NFU news article even states “analysts have claimed an extra hour’s daylight could be worth £3.5 billion a year to the economy”. This is the ultimate fallacy.
Let us be clear about something, in case you had not noticed: THERE IS NO EXTRA DAYLIGHT!! Where, on earth, did farmers get the idea that there is?!
A personal story about a wonderful flying experience.
This is a tale about my cousin Richard. He has never been a pilot but has always been fascinated in flying. He was reminiscing the other day about an event in a lifetime, flying in a military jet. But this was no ordinary jet, this was the iconic Hawker Hunter.
These are Richard’s words.
It all started early in 2003. Lynne and I decided to take her son Henry and his friend to Tangmere Air Museum.
We were looking around, and were particularly taken by the bright red Hawker Hunter (WB188), in which Neville Duke had broken the world speed record on 7th September 1953, between Littlehampton and Worthing piers.
The curator of the museum was listening to us, and said – ‘Sad, isn’t it, we were hoping to have a 50th anniversary re-run of the flight. We have the aeroplane and the pilot, but nobody will sponsor us the fuel‘.
In the way that Lynne does, she just said ‘That’s alright, Richard will sponsor you the fuel!’
Well, that was all very well, but how much would it cost?
Anyway, to cut a long story short, a cheque for £1,600 ($2,400) was sent to the Hunter Flying Club at Exeter, which was followed by a telephone call from them. Basically, they said they were going to use a 2 seat Hunter, and as I had paid for the fuel, would I like the left hand seat!!!
On the morning of 7th September, I drove to Exeter Airport, and was introduced to the ground crew, and to the pilot Jonathan Whaley, who has his own multi-coloured Hunter ‘Miss Demeanor’, which I am sure you will have seen on the air display circuits.
WV322 looked stunning with newly painted top, tail and fuel tanks in gleaming red to remind us of WB188, which was painted bright red so that it could be easily seen by the timekeepers.
Settling into the LH seat!
After an hours tuition on the use of the ejector seat, the time came to be shoe-horned into the cockpit, and we taxied out. Special permission had been given for us to take-off towards the East, even though the pattern for the day was to the West. This was to save as much fuel as possible, as we had a long way to go!
A very smooth take-off, and a cruise at approx 3000 feet along the south coast to Chichester, followed by a sudden turn to the left and a dive into Goodwood, where the Revival Meeting was taking place. After nearly taking the roof off the Grandstand, a climbing turn and a low pass over Tangmere (where Neville Duke was watching), and on towards Selsea Bill.
Hunter and me!
A sharp left turn, and we were on our way past Littlehampton, and on towards Worthing Pier, where family and friends were waiting.
Well! We passed Worthing Pier at about 400 knots and at 400 feet, immediately going up into a Derry turn and pulling 4G!
It was unbelievable. I remember seeing the sea a few feet above my head, followed by the pebbles on the beach, at which point I thought ‘He’s never going to get round to the end of the pier – he’s going straight across the town!’
Of course, I was wrong, and we made a slower run back past the pier, and Jonathan gave a nice little ‘Wing Waggle’ for the people watching.
Back to Selsea Bill, and Jonathan said to me that he had heard that Neville Duke had actually done three Victory rolls across Tangmere to celebrate. ‘O.K., we’ll do the same‘
Three very sharp rolls later, and he realised he had ‘rolled’ over the wrong greenhouses!. (Tangmere these days is covered in greenhouses). So, three more very tight rolls – this time in the correct place – before a fast run back into Goodwood before a sharp climb and three more rolls – wow! Nine rolls in a matter of seconds!
A turn towards the Solent, and we formated with a Russion Yak, with rear cockpit open, and a photographer giving Jonathan instructions so that he could get a good variety of shots.
YAK - photo platform!
Then, with limited fuel, it was time to go. Imagine how I felt when Jonathan handed me the controls! All my birthdays had come at once!
As we approached Exeter, the weather was closing in. We just had time for Jonathan to play his favourite game – Up over a big cumulus cloud, down the other side, banking hard through a small gap between the clouds.
At this point, I confess that the negative ‘G’ had the cold sweat appearing on my forehead. Then it was back into Exeter and a smooth landing, braking hard before the end of the runway.
‘That’s fine‘ said Jonathan, ‘We’ve still got 7 minutes fuel left‘. Sensing my concern, he added, ‘Don’t worry – You can go a long way in 7 minutes in one of these!!‘
Taxiing back to our stand, followed by being told to keep still while the ‘seat’ was disarmed, and a shaky me made my way down the ladder onto the ground, where I was offered a cup of tea – it was wonderful. The grin on my face stretched from ear to ear.
The total flight was 70 minutes, and it is 70 minutes of my life that I will never forget
Rather than dilute Richard’s account here, I will add another article with some general background information on the Hunter in the next few days.
There are many famous names in aviation but I would wager that Elinor Smith, despite being one of the greats in the history of flying, is not a name that falls off the lips of thousands. It ought to.
Last Friday, just a week ago, Elinor Smith died at the amazing age of 98.
Elinor Smith
There are many accounts of her life accessible online. Here’s an extract from an obituary published by the Wall Street Journal.
Ms. Smith, who died Friday at age 98, was one of the last survivors of aviation’s early barnstorming days. She flew with such legends as Amelia Earhart and James Doolittle. She recalled Charles Lindbergh seeing her off from Roosevelt Field in 1928 on her most notorious exploit, flying under four of New York City’s East River bridges.
and also from the WSJ:
Over the next few years, Ms. Smith would set numerous records, spurred on by a handful of other aviatrices, including Ms. Earhart, Bobbi Trout, and Pancho Barnes. All were trumpeted by the media. Ms. Smith’s “Flying Flapper” moniker was matched by “The Flying Cashier” and “The Flying Salesgirl.” Each strove to break free of the pack.
“That’s how you got jobs, by setting records,” said Dorothy Cochrane, a curator at the National Air and Space Museum. “Women had to take what they could get since careers in the military were closed to them.”
Ms. Smith set several endurance records, and once flew so high in an attempt to set the altitude record that she blacked out above 30,000 feet.
There is also a comprehensive account of her life on WikiPedia.
Plus a few days ago, someone posted a brief clip on YouTube.
Born August 17, 1911 in New York City. In 1917, at the age of six, Smith took her first flight in a Farman pusher biplane and from then on she was hooked on aviation.Growing up in Freeport, Long Island during the heyday of the golden age of flight, Elinor Smith had access to some of the best flying fields in the country and some of the most famous flyers.
At the age of fifteen, Smith flew her first solo flight and one year later in 1928 she received her pilot’s license to become the world’s youngest licensed pilot.
One of her earliest and most famous stunts in 1928 was flying under all four East River suspension bridges—a feat never accomplished by another pilot.
In 1928, Smith set a light plane altitude record of 11,889 feet, the first of many records she was to set during her career. In 1929, alone she set four world records.
The following year Smith set the women’s solo endurance record after spending thirteen hours, sixteen minutes flying an open cockpit Brunner Winkle Bird on a frigid January night over Roosevelt Field.
Smith toured the U.S. air show circuit in 1929, piloting a Bellanca Pacemaker for a group of parachutists promoting the Irvin Parachute Company.
Flying with co-pilot Bobbie Trout, she set the first Women’s Refueling Record of 42 _ hours over Los Angeles.
Smith was the first woman test pilot for both Fairchild Aviation Corporation and Bellanca Corporation.
Set Woman’s World Speed Record of 190.8 miles per hour in 1929 in a Curtiss Falcon over a closed course, Motor Parkway, Long Island.
In 1930, Elinor Smith received one of the greatest honors in her life when she was voted the best woman pilot in the United States.
From 1930 to 1935, Smith she worked as a radio commentator on aviation events for NBC.
After retiring from flying, Elinor Smith worked to preserve the history of Long Island aviation. She was a founding member of the Long Island Early Fliers and promoted the creation of an aviation museum on Long Island.
In 1960, she piloted a T-33 jet trainer at Mitchel Field.
This isn’t just about America, it’s affecting us all!
Yesterday, Learning from Dogspublished in full a Stratfor report about China. The thrust of the report was:
U.S.-Chinese relations have become tenser in recent months, with the United States threatening to impose tariffs unless China agrees to revalue its currency and, ideally, allow it to become convertible like the yen or euro. China now follows Japan and Germany as one of the three major economies after the United States. Unlike the other two, it controls its currency’s value, allowing it to decrease the price of its exports and giving it an advantage not only over other exporters to the United States but also over domestic American manufacturers. The same is true in other regions that receive Chinese exports, such as Europe.
What Washington considered tolerable in a small developing economy is intolerable in one of the top five economies. The demand that Beijing raise the value of the yuan, however, poses dramatic challenges for the Chinese, as the ability to control their currency helps drive their exports. The issue is why China insists on controlling its currency, something embedded in the nature of the Chinese economy. A collision with the United States now seems inevitable. It is therefore important to understand the forces driving China, and it is time for STRATFOR to review its analysis of China.
(My italics)
So the state of US incomes is crucial, not only to Chinese exports to America but for global trade in general.
Karl Denninger
We have often congratulated Karl Denninger of Market Ticker for his commitment in analysing and reporting on the American economic scene and a recent piece on US Incomes was typical of his excellent reporting. I am taking the liberty of publishing his Post in full because, frankly, this information is of importance to us all, wherever we live.
Personal income increased $1.2 billion, or less than 0.1 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI) increased $1.6 billion, or less than 0.1 percent, in February, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $34.7 billion, or 0.3 percent.
Oh boy, now the $1.3 trillion in additional deficit spending is no longer contributing to personal income! That’s not so positive – indeed, it’s not positive at all.
Private wage and salary disbursements increased $2.0 billion in February, compared with an increase of $16.6 billion in January. Goods-producing industries’ payrolls decreased $3.5 billion, in contrast to an increase of $5.2 billion; manufacturing payrolls decreased $1.4 billion, in contrast to an increase of $5.0 billion. Services-producing industries’ payrolls increased $5.5 billion, compared with an increase of $11.4 billion.
Proprietors’ income decreased $6.1 billion in February, the same decrease as in January. Farm proprietors’ income decreased $7.1 billion, the same decrease as in January. Nonfarm proprietors’ income increased $1.0 billion, the same increase as in January.
Very little change in proprietor’s income ex farming, but farmer income is down significantly.
Rental income of persons increased $2.2 billion in February, compared with an increase of $1.9 billion in January. Personal income receipts on assets (personal interest income plus personal dividend income) decreased $16.5 billion, the same decrease as in January.
Rents up a bit, but dividends are down huge, continuing a trend. This is not positive at all, and implies that assets are being sold to continue lifestyle choices. This leads to a question that has begun to gnaw at me: Have we begun to cross into where boomers start pulling funds out of asset classes to live on?
Personal current transfer receipts increased $16.6 billion in February, compared with an increase of $29.8 billion in January. The January change reflected the Making Work Pay Credit provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which boosted January receipts by $19.8 billion. The Act provides for a refundable tax credit of up to $400 for working individuals and up to $800 for married taxpayers. When an individual’s tax credit exceeds the taxes owed, the refundable tax credit payment is classified as “other” government social benefits to persons.
Government to the rescue! $45 billion worth in the last two months, to be specific. That’s a direct $270 billion in handouts, or 2% of GDP – and that’s only the direct handouts! So subtract that off GDP and….. (oh, and don’t forget the rest of the $1.3 trillion too.)
Nothing to see here folks, as in “no evidence of sustainability in the recovery.” We have a government that continues to “prime the pump” but there’s no water at the bottom of the well to generate self-sustaining economic growth.
Elliot was ‘exposed’ to the Learning from Dogs readership on the 22nd March as our first Guest author. He wrote about the US Government and Poverty.
Elliot has one important distinction with respect to the other authors of this Blog; he is the right side of 30 years old!
He is going to use this perspective to reflect on schooling, something that most of us ‘aged’ peeps take for granted, assuming we can remember our school days! 😉
It promises to be a fascinating reflection.
———————————–
Setting the scene
I’ve had a plethora of experiences over the past 17 years of my life. I’ve made and lost friends, had romantic
Elliot Engstrom
relationships, read, traveled all around the world, lived in France, and done countless other things that I consider myself immeasurably blessed to have experienced.
Despite the fluidity of where these different experiences have taken me, my entire life since the age of four has had one characteristic in common – I have been a school student.
In the spirit of “Learning from Dogs,” I thought it might be interesting to reflect a bit upon the core dynamic between education (not learning, which is a far broader topic) and schooling.
I often ask myself just how effective the modern US schooling system is as a tool of education, and whether or not its costs outweigh its benefits. I hope to have at least a rough answer to this question in the final post of this series.
In the following three posts, I will examine three topics:
– In what ways does the modern schooling system function as a positive tool for education?
– What costs involved in modern schooling hinder its ability as an educative tool, and even make it a negative influence on students?
– Considering the analyses put forth in the first two posts, do the costs or benefits or this system outweigh the other? On the whole, are school and education complements or antagonists?
This series is going to be exciting for me because, to be quite frank, I have no idea what my final answer is going to be. I guess I’ll just have to stay tuned to see where my brain takes me – and so for you!
For those living outside the UK (well so far as our IP address is concerned) watching BBC television via the Web has always been a bit of a challenge. Presumably because of the way that the BBC is funded, a Licence Fee (aka tax!) on those UK householders that wish to watch public broadcasted television, it is deemed ‘unfair’ if those outside the UK, who do not pay this Fee, have unfettered access to the Beeb’s programming. Thus if one attempts to access the BBC online from outside the UK you are met with the following message:
Currently BBC iPlayer TV programmes are available to play in the UK only, but all BBC iPlayer Radio programmes are available to you. Why?
However, the BBC have made a wonderful exception with regard to a series of programmes under the title of The Virtual Revolution. All about 20 years of the World Wide Web.
Most of, if not all, the key players of this last 20 years have been interviewed and the uncut footage of these interviews is here. Fascinating viewing.
And if you fancy making your own documentary using this material, under a unique BBC permissive licence, then here’s where to start.
Well, it is a Chinese saying, “May you live in interesting times”!
A couple of weeks ago on Learning from Dogs, there was an article reminding readers that the web has been around for 20 years and Sir ‘Tim’ Berners-Lee is still hard at it in terms of Internet innovations. And to support this, today accompanying this Post is one on what the BBC is doing to commemorate the event.
The Internet has completely reformed the way that ordinary people get access to information. Stratfor is a great example.
From their web site:
STRATFOR’s global team of intelligence professionals provides an audience of decision-makers and sophisticated news consumers in the U.S. and around the world with unique insights into political, economic, and military developments. The company uses human intelligence and other sources combined with powerful analysis based on geopolitics to produce penetrating explanations of world events. This independent, non-ideological content enables users not only to better understand international events, but also to reduce risks and identify opportunities in every region of the globe.
One can subscribe to a range of free reports and it came to pass that a Stratfor report on China came into my in-box.
Stratfor generously allow free distribution of this report and because the relationship between China and the USA has so many global implications, the report is published in full, as follows:
Learning from Dogs 