chuck kottke

Untrue! The new deal got us out of the depression, but did not go far enough. I'll link to Robert Reich: (one moment please)Robert Reich's Blog And again, the regulations to protect investors (which were gradually wiped out); Glass-Steagall et al. to provide a firewall between Banks and Wall Street. The regulations on products to ensure product safety; Anti-trust laws enacted to bust up monopolies and trusts (long overdue in 1910 & today with media consolidation); Regulations preventing businesses from selling below cost for the purpose of elminating competition (minimum mark-up laws); Regulations ensuring that businesses must provide adequate fire-protection and fire escapes (after disasters like the Triangle Shirt factory fire). Regulations to limit the powers of corporations (good regulations, lost due to powerful wealthy individuals influencing the courts and the legislatures) Need I say more? I have no objections to wealth that is honestly gained; but when a few wealthy indiviudals begin to control everything, and there are no checks on their behavior, I begin to think we are loosing the middle class and the checks and balances that maintain our Republic. Those in government need to be checked as well, but the check is to have them accountable to broad bases of support, not narrow minorities of the wealthy elites. George Soros will even tell you that! Who is Goldman Snacks, and why do they give so many snacks to everyone running for congress??:P They got the snacks the big-shots want alright - and that's the problem in a nut-shell!;)

:rolleyes::laugh3:

:flutterby:Happy :flutterby:Birthday:flutterby::) Carla!!!:sunny::sunny::hat: YAY!!!

On-the-spot manufacturing, using parts read-to-assemble! Plus, there's always open-faced sandwiches. (kinda defies the term, although still the Sandwich Islands' namesake is the origin..) I just fold it.:P

Definitely not! I drink strait from the cow's teat!:P:P (no extra packaging, and maximum freshness..):laugh3:

Green Car Thread? Let's think green. Now, we all like a clean environment, and sustainable modes of transportation, so here's some nifty information on biopolymers, useful in cars as interior components, body parts, and even structural members are made more and more frequently from plastic:Bioplastic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Biopolymer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia What’s Stopping Bioplastic? | Boldly Go! Even more than horsepower, is the horsepower to weight ratio, traction on wet or slippery surfaces, and crash safety factors. Personally, I'll take the horse to the horsepower - more smiles per mile!:)

Now, when do we get our free muffins??:p:p:p

I disagree - the New Deal was helpful in getting us out of the Depression, but perhaps wasn't enough of a stimulus - we could have used more government inputs, not less. It is only after a disaster, when government has to step in and right the ship of state that markets again stabilize and begin to function. The period of prosperity that follows often entails a loosening of controls, and some corruption begins to set in again, whereupon the unregulated engine of commerce begins to run out of control and do damage. While it is prosperous, it's the framework of government that got us back on track. Government must regulate the markets and it has worked - hence, the Glass-Steagall act (which was unfortunately repealed in the 80's under pressure from Wall Street) helped insulate banking from the whims of the market. And without government, public works would have never happened - enterprises too large with too great a turn-around time, and with enormous risks would not be undertaken (Hoover Dam, the Channel Tunnel, etc.). Only after government paves the way, does business follow suit - yes, often improved over the government venture, if checks and balances are in place. We cannot control the movement of celestial bodies, but we can set forth rules in society of accepted fair practice between individuals and groups. So, yes, government has for a long time had a role to play in being the oversight on behalf of the people, where long-term planning and broad concerns are of issue. Hence, after the Chicago fire, brick buildings and strict fire codes reduced the numbers of fires and the extent of damage from a given fire. Markets alone have no broad concerns in society. The same could be said of the triange shirt factory fire in NYC - oversight is essential to ensure the public safety. Today, we see sweat-shops turning out clothing, using people as virtual slaves who are trapped in these despirate situations; it is the role of honest government to right the wrongs in society, where any one individual cannot. And it is up to us to keep that govenment honest. To accept gross disparities is anathema to human progress - progress has been made, and will continue to be made, if we continue to be dilligent in our efforts for greater equity in the world. Accepting an injustice is to buy into certain institutionalized inequities, and we must not become too complacent, for it is through our diligent efforts at correcting wrongs that we make progress as a people.

Welcome wanderer Mike!

Happy Birthday Guy - keep the bass strong, and the BMW tuned as well!;)

Mammoths were, well - mammoth!:laugh3: You'll have to take this all with a small grain of salt (it tastes better that way).:P Never mind, and enjoy you're stay at the bedlam cafe.:escaping:

Precision machining of grilled-cheese by Briggins!:rolleyes::laugh3: Here in the tundra, we just use the whole slice, or tear off a hunk. Bread makes a good sponge for gravy, and a fine platform for other edibles.;)

Greetings to the jukebox from Ireland!;) Keep the blarney stone clean:laugh3:, and welcome to the board!

Welcome to the wild, wooly mammoth site for Coldplay, Mike!:P

Yes, the "civilization" of that period was brutal in many ways. Small pox blankets were given by settlers to the native tribes-people here and elsewhere, and once decimated, the tribes were by war and disease forced to concede their lands to a large extent. What was lacking was an extension of human rights to all humans, regardless of ethnicity, sex, income level, etc. - the promises & philosophies in the Constitution had yet to be fulfilled. So, on the one hand, these higher ideals were put forth, but on the other hand, "civilization" at that that time hadn't fully come to terms with those higher ideals. In time, as we progressed, our government became the embodiment of those rights. As the purveyor of higher ideals and arbiter of fair-play, it is ultimately our government, and to make it better through our actions is our true "manifest destiny". To assume that our government cannot understand & correctly regulate markets is a leap without justification. True, government regulation can become out-dated or stifling of innovation, if it's not improved and corrected from time-to-time, but it is in my estimation necessary for some government oversight to provide the proper framework for markets to operate fairly in society. Those who do the oversight must be well versed in how markets function, they must be ethical, they must be willing to listen to all sides of an argument, and they must ultimately be responsive to the the best interests of the citizens, and respectful of individual liberties. To the logical extension of this in the modern world, it's important to factor in global issues such as fair trade, human rights, labor standards, and environmental factors. If these issues cannot be resolved in an international consensus, then it is up to the individual nations to take up the task of ensuring justice and equity in market matters. And to ensure honest government is to remove the undue influences of a moneyed minority upon those elected to represent us in government. Corrections happen, and we're long overdue for one!;)

Ouch! One cactus thorn, and I'm hunting for the tweezers - I can't imagine landing on a prickly pear plant!:stunned: Glad you recovered fully!! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm trying to better understand human nature.. The start often echoes on, and only the owner of that imagination can modify the basic set of behaviors..

how the west was won. If history is any lesson, we are better off having honest government than having no government; the cemeteries here are full of individuals who tried to settle their disputes individually in a lawless land; half died of silicosis from the quarries, and the other half from gunshot wounds. And the men with the top hats ran off with the loot. I'll take civilization any day!;)

Free Markets are the law of the jungle. Upton Sinclair can tell you more than I can about that jungle, but suffice to say, the need for markets is essential, and so is the essential need for checks on market behaviors. The idea that markets will "self-regulate" defies the true nature of market players - to form associations, to merge, to allow for one to dominate a sector or sectors of the economy. Those more civic-minded businesses that care about their employees operate to the disadvantage of those who high-stick and trip their opponents; without an honest referee, the 'lord vaders' come to dominate, and then usurp the power of the referee, becoming lord and master over the slave workers and minions who carry out their orders. Governments only prop up corporations because we have allowed corporations to dominate governments. It is our duty and obligation as free citizens to create a fair process of selection and equitable contest for office so that those who represent us (be they presidents, congressmen, members of parliament, state representatives, or board members) work for the betterment of we, the people, and society as a whole. It is a gradual process, but not a new one - the corporate barrons of the late 19th and early 20th century did just the same, mixing corporate control of government with economic enslavement of the workers, and led to the rise of unions, even to the rise of communism in america. And in the end, it must be a goverment of, by, and for We, The People that reinstates the rightful position of citizen as "prinicipal shareholder" in that government. For the referee is the only way to keep the game fair, and the only way to keep the referee fair is to provide fair rules, and demand that the referee sticks to those rules. The referee will only stick to those rules if we ensure the referee's pay is coming from everyone in equal share; and so those in office must be given access to present their story and their credentials before the people in as equal-handed and unbiased a manner as is humanly possible to obtain. Now when 1% of the people own 23% of the wealth of a nation, and the workers continue to slide off the deep end financially, in part from a lack of checks on those so-called "free market" behaviors, I begin to see the strong need for major reform; markets without regulation are like engines without governors - they may oscillate wildly in speed, and can easily blow themselves to pieces from lack of proper regulation.

Clocks:P

The Magnificent Seven.[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iteRKvRKFA]YouTube - Magnificent Seven Theme[/ame] :cowboy:

When 1% owns 23% of the nation's wealth, and the working classes struggle to make ends meet, it's time to reign in the excess wealth. Now what we do need is real campaign finance reform to get real representation, and to level the economic playing field so there isn't such an unfair dichotomy between the super rich and the 99% of the rest of us. I'm not in favor of the largess going to the corrupt politicians, but neither am I in favor of the current mode of class warfare, where the have's have it all, and the workers get the shaft.

Glad you could join our merry band of robbers, hunting Sherwood Forest for the King to Ransom!:elf::artist::sunny:

Bill Moyer's Journal:)

It could be more about the times when it was written as well.. The mystery composer is a true unknown, but the music speaks louder than words; it was also a time when the tales of William Tell were reaching more popularity in Europe, and so there was this sense of action, of poignant purpose suddenly thrust onto the scene, and those were the images come to light in Chris's mind.

That, or maybe the economy is truly in recovery-mode, in spite of all the shell games afoot..:P