Where have all the jobs gone?

This is quite the tricky subject. Employment is a lagging indicator of the health of the economy. Most all other economic indicators return to normal before the employment statistics do. It’s pretty simple, employers do not invest in hiring until they are sure that their investment will pay off.

Further, it has been my experience, that some employers find that they can make do with smaller staffs, even after the economy recovers.

So, more than two full years after the Great Recession began, millions of American workers are still actively looking for work. Many more, especially older workers, have simply given up. Charitable organizations  around the country have seen their resources go beyond the breaking point.

In the past month, Senate Republicans have blocked efforts to extend unemployment benefits once again. Personally, that is the ultimate act of hypocrisy. And this is why……………

On one hand, there are those on the Right that say “there are jobs out there” and extending unemployment benefits is a deincentification for the unemployed to look for work. Yet, those same people on the Right also blame President Obama for not creating jobs!

Which is it?

Are there jobs out there? Very few, and most are quite low paying jobs. Did President Obama do enough to create jobs? Probably not. This Great Recession is unprecedented, far deeper than most could have imagined. The answers to all the questions do not come easily.

You know that times are bad when illegal immigrants are going back to Mexico to find work. Maybe NAFTA is finally working.

While there are some signs, however weak, that the economy is improving, there are also signs of a “double-dip” recession. Nationwide, housing prices have increased for the first time in forever, but the Consumer Confidence index has dropped dramatically.

I would like to think that I am intelligent enough to know some answers, but realistically, there are no answers.

Time will heal this wound, but time has a way of taking it’s sweet time.

Your take?

William Stephenson Clark

The party of , “I don’t know?”

The Rachel Maddow show last night ran clips from  Boehner interview.  In it, Boehner was asked about the gulf oil spill, and the moratorium on deep water drilling.  He stated he was against it, then stated we should stop deep water drilling until we find out what happened. He also stated there was no reason for the moratorium to include shallow water drilling. The moratorium doesn’t include shallow water drilling. So what we’re left with is the leader of the republicans in the house who is for the moratorium, but against it at the same time, and the leader of the house Republicans failing to understand what the moratorium encompasses. This is the leader of the House Republicans, folks. Brilliant! The show.

And how about Kagan?  Did she take both Sessions and Coburn to task or what? Her answer to Sessions, when he tried to get a rise out of her over the Christmas bomber with, “Where were you on Christmas day”, was classic: “Like most Jews, I was probably in a Chinese Restaurant.”  A brilliant woman for sure.

Wednesday, 6/30/10, Public Square

What am I going to write about?

“I read the news today oh boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well I just had to laugh”

“A Day in the Life” – Lennon/McCartney – from “Sgt. Peppers” – 1967

There is so much going on in the world today that it is hard to pick a topic.

The passing of Senator Byrd and the posthumous right wing attacks on him? (Expected.) The situation with North Korea and demands, after sixty years that we withdraw our troops. (Where have you been for the last six decades?) Panetta’s comments about Iran. (Let’s start another war!) McChrystal? (No, he doesn’t have “freedom of speech.”) Jobs? (No kidding, it’s bad, but “we messed up, so vote for us!” doesn’t seem like a real good idea.) Kagan? (Dang, just confirm her and STFU!) Congress? (Yeah, they suck, but they are all we have.) Biden calls someone a smartass? (Damn, who wudda thunk it?) World Cup Soccer? (Beat that one to death already.)

My allergies? (Pfffffft! Ah-choo!) Cookie? (Doing better, groomed her myself so she is a bit cooler, too.) Weird pets? (The tubes aren’t big enough to tell all the stories about my weird pets!)

The weather? (Like that is a story?) Kansas? (It’s red and kinda flat.)

The SCOTUS gun decision yesterday? (Nope, saw that one coming a mile away.) Brownback, Tiahrt, Moran, Hartman, et al? (We have the loons by the bushel and peck.) Wichita? (Shoot, we are doing just okay despite ourselves.)

So, what should I write about today?

There is definitely a great surplus of topics that are on my mind and the minds of many others today.  Our warp-speed communication systems put everything on the table before we can even recognize that there is a table to put it on.  Dang, if you are bored, you can watch a live stream of the oil gushing on the floor of the Gulf. There is even a link available to watch the entire Isner – Mahut Wimbledon match on video – all eleven hours and five minutes of it.

The world, as we know it all to well, is a crazy place. What’s on your mind today?

William Stephenson Clark

Tuesday, 6/29/10, Public Square

Holy Crap! We Lost the Match!

The United States World Cup team lost 2-1 to Ghana on Saturday, eliminating the US from the World Cup tournament.

So, who is “we?”

The United States is a nearly unique collection of people, diverse, a melting pot of many ethnic groups, influenced by many cultures.

In our midst, we have a broad (as if that description is sufficient) range of political and social views. Our geography varies from “purple mountain’s majesty” to “oceans, white with foam.”

(Black with oil doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.)

If you think about it, we Americans are a fairly weird bunch. We have produced greatness, like the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., yet we still have people that think that the State of New Mexico is a foreign country.

Our country is divided sharply by Red and Blue, and the incessant volleys of fire between the two camps constantly rises to a deafening roar.

So, who is “we?”

On December 7, 1941, the American people rose as one, defiant and united, dedicated to defeating Imperial Japan, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. On September 11, 2001, we rose once again, dedicated to defeating an unseen enemy that had attacked us without provocation.

Absent those eras, we are not much of a united citizenry. The truth is, we are much more likely to unite over a sporting event than we are over any other issue. The flags waved after the “Miracle on Ice” and even after the victory of the “Dream Team.”

So, who is “we?”

I ponder our future. Will we, as a people, rise up once again to address the issues that face our society or has the partisan divide and social issues divided us to the breaking point?

We are a great people. America has been a shining example of the good in a society in many regards.

We are also burdened with shame for some of our past actions, the genocide of Native Americans, slavery and segregation, the bigotry of anti-gay  attitudes and the marginalizing of women.

So, who is “we?”

William Stephenson Clark

Monday, 6/28/10, Public Square

Sunday, 6/27/10, Public Square

Saturday, 6/26/10, Public Square

Are these the worst of times?

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

“A Tale of Two Cities” – the opening line – Charles Dickens – 1859

Two wars. A fired commanding General. An economy that is stubbornly refusing to recover fast enough. A massive oil spill that threatens our Gulf. Illegal immigration. No progress on Gay Rights to speak of. Conflicts in the Middle East. Tin-pot dictators run amok. Global financial crisis. Congress in perpetual gridlock. Fred Phelps and the Phelp Tone-Deaf’s. Drug wars in Jamaica and Mexico. Global freakin’ warming. Sandra and Jesse back on speaking terms.

Are these the worst of times?

Hell, no!

Absolutely not. Yes, the world has more than it’s fair share of problems right about now, but these are far from the worst of times. It is human nature to look at today and be dissatisfied. It is also human nature to look at yesterday with a certain fondness for times that “were better.”

I wrote a column published yesterday with that very topic.

No, despite the troubles of the world, we have a bright future. We may not get there soon, but it is there. Collectively, we need to move beyond pessimism and consider the optimistic signs that point the way to a “best of times” scenario.

The wars that we are engaged in will end. We will recover from the global financial  crisis. The oil gushing in the Gulf will be stopped and we will find away to clean up the mess. The tin-pot dictators will die off and be replaced by slightly more sane alternatives. The slow progress of Gay Rights will accelerate as the more bigoted generation dies off. The illegal immigration problem will continue, but better solutions will come to the fore. Fred will die. Eventually, a saner approach to drugs will be adopted. And Jesse will screw up again and America’s Sweetheart will be back on the market.

Progress has been made, abet slowly. A historic, but flawed, Health Care bill has been passed. Medical science has moved to the point now that living to one hundred will be commonplace. The world will grow tired of perpetual conflicts in the Middle East and the white-hot hatred will cool. The world will change for the better.

The best of times – maybe not in our lifetimes – but they are coming.

William Stephenson Clark

Friday, 6/25/10, Public Square

ANYTHING, as long as Obama fails

If America fails too.  So what?  GOP goal is to make sure Obama fails!

In a 57-41 vote, Senate Republicans successfully killed a “tax-extenders bill” that includes tax cuts, aid to states, an extension of unemployment relief, and a delay in a cut to Medicare payments to doctors. Republicans, joined by Democrat Ben Nelson and Independent Joe Lieberman, complained that the spending is not offset with other spending cuts or tax hikes; Democrats, in order to satisfy them, offset all the spending except for the unemployment relief, but it still wasn’t enough.

When we used to listen to the radio.

“Hey hey mama said the way you move,
Gon’ make you sweat, gon’ make you groove. “

Led Zeppelin – “Black Dog” – Page/Plant/Jones – 1971

It was late spring of 1971 and I had just finished up my first year of college. My parents had sold my ’65 Pontiac Catalina coupe when I left, so now I needed a car. A friend of a friend had an old ’63 Volkswagen Beetle that wasn’t running. I handed over $150 in cash and paid the man to tow her home.

After a few days, I had her cleaned up and running pretty well. She was red with white interior and a sliding canvas sunroof. Most of my friends, probably twelve or fifteen in total, also had Vee-Dubs. We would all gather ’round when someone needed work done, pitching in to help.

We would all mount our tires “backwards” so they looked wider and we took off the narrow “running boards.” I painted my rims red to match the body color. Most of our cars had rusty bumpers, so we trimmed them off, too. I put a “hot rod” freeflow muffler on mine and it sounded all so cool.

We had an eclectic group of Vee-Dubs. They ranged from ’59 to ’70, a couple of convertibles, a Squareback and colors from grey primer to black to red to yellow. One guy filled all the body seams on his with Bondo and painted her green – with spray cans.

Down at the corner, there was a huge old oak tree in front of the bank parking lot. That’s where we would all hang out after work. By then, most of the guys had shoulder length hair and the girls wore skin-tight hip-hugger bell bottoms. Someone always had a bottle of Southern Comfort and inevitably there would be a few “cigarettes” passed around.

And then we would go crusin’. Sometimes it was to one of the local Metro Parks for swimming and other activities. Sometimes it was just down to the pool hall. If we had the cash, it would be off to the Grande or East Town for a concert.

Regardless of where we went, it was always in a line – ten, twelve, fifteen – Vee-Dubs in a row, windows down, hair streaming and the radios on, all tuned to WRIF-FM and blasting out the latest rock ‘n’ roll. We were a rolling, stoned band of gypsies and WRIF played the soundtrack of our youth.

What was the soundtrack of your youth?

William Stephenson Clark

Thursday, 6/24/10, Public Square

“And he kicks the ball!!!!!!!!”

Okay, that’s not quite as good as “Brady back to pass, finds Moss in the end zone, touchdown!”

Dang, it’s not even as good as “Lidstrom, takes a pass from Datsyuk. He shoots, he scores!!!!!”

Sometimes, this is even better – “Couch needs to pick up this spare for the victory….”

Americans just haven’t warmed up to the rest of the world’s favorite spectator sport. There is a great possibility that 95 out of a 100 of us couldn’t even tell you how many players are on a side (eleven including  the goalkeeper) or how long a match is (two 45 minute halves.)

And what’s with the name? In the US, it is called “soccer” but most of the rest of the world calls it “football.” To complicate matters, the Australians call it football, but their national team is the “Socceroos.”

Aside from David Beckham, who’s married to Foot Spice or some such, most Americans couldn’t even name a single soccer player. Who do these guys play for:

Landon Donovan

Ronaldo Lima

Cristiano Ronaldo

Zinedine Zidane

Lucas Podolski

Ndamukong Suh

(Answers at the end of the column.)

So, have any of you watched any World Cup action yet, or have the vuvuzela horns kept you away?  For those of you that don’t know, the World Cup is the single largest sporting event in the world and the championship of soccer, featuring 32 national teams and is currently being held in South Africa.

Nelson Mandela was scheduled to attend, but did not after the death of his great-granddaughter in a car crash the night before the opening ceremonies. She was two days past her thirteenth birthday.

Apparently, soccer is just too boring for Americans. Truthfully, that is just too bad, also, since it is a beautiful game played by elite athletes.

Maybe, one day America will join the rest of the world in appreciation of “football.”

But, probably not.

William Stephenson Clark

(Donovan – USA, Lima – Brazil, Ronaldo – Portugal, Zidane – France,  Podolski – Germany.)

(Suh is the first round draft choice of the Detroit Lions, out of Nebraska. He is 6’4″ and 307# and is considered to be one of the best ever defensive ends coming out of college. His father, Michael Suh, played soccer for Cameroon before immigrating to the US.)