In a report today carried by the AP wire service, it was announced that the U.S. Department of Labor figures are in, and appears that for the last month the rate of unemployment is unchanged, with less jobs lost than anticipated.
I wonder where the USDL is getting its figures?
It would appear that the only barometer they would have for such a report is the number of Americans now collecting unemployment.
And since unemployment benefits have stopped for most since this recession began, it truthfully could be that the number of new Americans applying for unemployment has stabilized, but those that are still not working or have had to take jobs beneath their former salaries or in lower paying work has increased.
Also not included in this report is the number of offsetting jobs that have been created which are those most "created" by this Administration as with the last.
Taxpayer paid government jobs.
Although it is the average middle class Americans that are now paying a heftier burden in order to provide those taxpayer paid jobs to begin with, which is placing more and more of them on the unemployment lines, or in the bankruptcy courts.
Even with as difficult as it is today after the revisions in the bankruptcy code of several years ago, at the behest of the financial sector and those Wall Street bankers, bankruptcies throughout the nation are up.
And those figures were left out of the USDL's report.
The number of new small businesses, or those that have been in business for literally decades now bankrupt and those losses also were not included, since unemployment is not available to those that are self-employed.
Foreclosures are up once again for last month, which means that the American economy is not rallying, and is in fact continuing to sink into a full out depression, at this point, throughout a good many states in the country.
Especially the West and Southwest, due to the questionable loans which were sold to many during the boom, many of which were not even based on the U.S. currency, but the LIBOR or London Interest Bearing Origination Rates.
The home buying market has not significantly improved but is continuing to worsen in those states and many others, since of course the terms of most of those loans have not changed, and the Obama Administration has concentrated most of all on encouraging Americans to refinance instead.
Under the terms of those same loans that were sold which created this tsunmai.
It was announced also that Congress has passed a measure giving companies that hire new workers a tax incentive in the form of a payroll tax deduction.
I have been unable to find much further information on this particular legislation, however, I wonder what kind of payroll tax deduction would be afforded, since the only sums which employers contribute over and above that which they deduct from employee payroll checks for federal income taxes withheld would be Social Security matching sums.
Does this mean Congress, in its infinite wisdom, is now not requiring these large global corporations to match Social Security payments, and thus reducing then those benefits for those employees at retirement?
Or are these credits for all the assundry state required taxes paid, such as unemployment, workmen's comp and the like?
It doesn't appear that it isn't that American companies are not hiring, they are just not hiring Americans but prefer foreign cheaper untaxed labor, I believe that has been the prevailing public opinion.
Simply rewinding and placing the tax back on foreign labor rather than the domestic variety would be the best job stimulus for Americans yet.
The spins off the Hill continue, obviously.
http://enews.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20100305/848a9193-efa3-43e7-8edc-2d33097dfeb5
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The Global Corporate Olympics Are Finally Over
I hope most Americans felt like I did after Sunday night.
Relieved.
At last the Global Corporate Olympics were over, and no more news blurbs about the latest drama coming out of British Columbia, or lame joke about some of the events.
Each evening I couldn't wait for the McDonald's Medal Count, where McDonald's was mentioned at least three times: (1) before the scoreboard appeared, (2) above the tally count, and (3) after.
And those commercials for the "sponsors" of the Olympics, or the numerous Visa commercials ("the only card accepted at the Olympics") were utterly inane.
As was the commercial from the British Columbian Tourism Board featuring Kim Cattrell, Michael J. Fox, and some lesser BC born celebrities. That commercial ran five or six times every single prime time evening.
Not to mention that the closing ceremonies in and of themselves, as the opening ceremonies were also, mostly a "feature" for the host countries in order to highlight their country's unique and special complement, but with all those global corporate commercials interspersed throughout.
The closing ceremonies in part appeared to be one big commercial for the next location in Russia, and the high tech commercial which previewed all those live acts was a little surreal to me and did not have much to do with athletism at all.
Seemed more like an ad for The Matrix.
And I have never seen so many Red Bull patches in my entire life as were on those skiers, or the number of times Red Bull was mentioned by those skiing announcers as picking up the tab for most of their competition fees.
Give me the good old days of the Olympics.
Where Peggy Fleming's mother sewed her skating costumes, and not costumes such as those Russian ice dancers had that consisted of rope so that now we need gimmicks in order to satisfy the masses (and the commercially motivated judging panel - I mean there wasn't a stocky athletically built skater ala Janet Lynn or Dorothy Hamill in the final bunch really, with the exception of maybe Rachel Flatt and who unfortunately fell flat with those judges in that last program).
And, of course, there were the tragedies as this venue now is known for.
This time the death of the Georgian luger, and host country's female ice skater's mother suddenly - which was milked by those commentators for all it was worth, even conducting interviews with those bereaved yet without even the opportunity to fully grieve their untimely personal losses of friend and family member.
But the show must go on....and on....and on.
I just would like to know what those luge track engineers and the Vancouver Olympic Committee and IOC were thinking with such an obvious hazard to those athletes with those pillars on that luge track designed as they were and unpadded to boot so near a deadly curve in the track - ratings, maybe?
Higher ad revenues for the next one, since that's part of the Olympics too. Highlighting the risks those athletes take for that little round gold piece hanging on a ribbon as the best in the world, and all those before them that get injured on the quest.
For that one day.
I mean how many times was that American downhill skier winner's past injuries and the "will she or won't she ski" drama due to a bruised shin mentioned?
And then the drama of the fall and broken thumb due to the then poor weather conditions (but to delay would really mess up the travel schedules of all those corporate advertisers and their families or employees which held most of the tickets, far outnumbering even those of the family members of the actual competitors, and most likely out of the reach of most of your average Canadians or Americans living nearby).
It's too bad Wayne Gretsky didn't make the Canadian cut for the new and upcoming "Senior" division.
I figure that's only a few years down the road, since health care will be so unaffordable for most of the boomers under any government or private insurance the way things are going with the economy here continuing to decline, that a Senior Olympics could be concocted then to wipe out a few of us old-timers.
Better on an ice rink or ski slope with the wind rushing by, than in one of our globally owned hospitals at this point, especially if you hang on far longer than your health care benefits provide, or the hospital's share of the pork, or taxpayer funded government grant.
Better still in holding down costs for some of those products now throughout the world when a great deal of those profits and taxes are going into the costs for some of these countries simply making their bids for the Games, and constructing all those new stadiums needed and required by the IOC, next time how about just a simple coin toss for the location of the existing locations, and banning the publicly paid travelogues and limiting the number of corporate advertisers free commercial time to one per sponsored event?
That way it could be more commercial, and more lucrative, and help rebuild that global economy all those economists keep talking about at least in this country, rather than the free falling U.S. economy, and the fact is that it is the international viewers, mainly the Americans, that are paying for those costs of those athletics in their purchases of those global corporation's products, and not those corporations per se at all.
"Sponsors and advertisers for the American Bobsled, Skating, Skiing, (Fill in the blank) Team" seems a whole lot more "truth in advertising" than honking their global corporate horns as "supporters of the Olympics."
Just where did they get those dollars to donate or "sponsor" those athletes anyway, or pay for those high priced Olympic ad slots except from the viewing public? Who also pay those salaries for that "commercially" focused IOC, in a roundabout way, and their front and center seats.
Or maybe instead the newest label, "Scouts" for our next Olympic pitchman?
I mean with all those never-ending commecials, back to back and repeated over and over again, that two week study in excess literally wiped me out, if not the snowboarders, along with the previous one just two short years ago.
This message brought to you by the U.S. "Bring Back the Amateur Commercially Limited Olympics" Committee.
I really wish the American economy would pick up, and those bankers realize just why the U.S. home market isn't improving, and I could afford TiVo, that new American invention.
Relieved.
At last the Global Corporate Olympics were over, and no more news blurbs about the latest drama coming out of British Columbia, or lame joke about some of the events.
Each evening I couldn't wait for the McDonald's Medal Count, where McDonald's was mentioned at least three times: (1) before the scoreboard appeared, (2) above the tally count, and (3) after.
And those commercials for the "sponsors" of the Olympics, or the numerous Visa commercials ("the only card accepted at the Olympics") were utterly inane.
As was the commercial from the British Columbian Tourism Board featuring Kim Cattrell, Michael J. Fox, and some lesser BC born celebrities. That commercial ran five or six times every single prime time evening.
Not to mention that the closing ceremonies in and of themselves, as the opening ceremonies were also, mostly a "feature" for the host countries in order to highlight their country's unique and special complement, but with all those global corporate commercials interspersed throughout.
The closing ceremonies in part appeared to be one big commercial for the next location in Russia, and the high tech commercial which previewed all those live acts was a little surreal to me and did not have much to do with athletism at all.
Seemed more like an ad for The Matrix.
And I have never seen so many Red Bull patches in my entire life as were on those skiers, or the number of times Red Bull was mentioned by those skiing announcers as picking up the tab for most of their competition fees.
Give me the good old days of the Olympics.
Where Peggy Fleming's mother sewed her skating costumes, and not costumes such as those Russian ice dancers had that consisted of rope so that now we need gimmicks in order to satisfy the masses (and the commercially motivated judging panel - I mean there wasn't a stocky athletically built skater ala Janet Lynn or Dorothy Hamill in the final bunch really, with the exception of maybe Rachel Flatt and who unfortunately fell flat with those judges in that last program).
And, of course, there were the tragedies as this venue now is known for.
This time the death of the Georgian luger, and host country's female ice skater's mother suddenly - which was milked by those commentators for all it was worth, even conducting interviews with those bereaved yet without even the opportunity to fully grieve their untimely personal losses of friend and family member.
But the show must go on....and on....and on.
I just would like to know what those luge track engineers and the Vancouver Olympic Committee and IOC were thinking with such an obvious hazard to those athletes with those pillars on that luge track designed as they were and unpadded to boot so near a deadly curve in the track - ratings, maybe?
Higher ad revenues for the next one, since that's part of the Olympics too. Highlighting the risks those athletes take for that little round gold piece hanging on a ribbon as the best in the world, and all those before them that get injured on the quest.
For that one day.
I mean how many times was that American downhill skier winner's past injuries and the "will she or won't she ski" drama due to a bruised shin mentioned?
And then the drama of the fall and broken thumb due to the then poor weather conditions (but to delay would really mess up the travel schedules of all those corporate advertisers and their families or employees which held most of the tickets, far outnumbering even those of the family members of the actual competitors, and most likely out of the reach of most of your average Canadians or Americans living nearby).
It's too bad Wayne Gretsky didn't make the Canadian cut for the new and upcoming "Senior" division.
I figure that's only a few years down the road, since health care will be so unaffordable for most of the boomers under any government or private insurance the way things are going with the economy here continuing to decline, that a Senior Olympics could be concocted then to wipe out a few of us old-timers.
Better on an ice rink or ski slope with the wind rushing by, than in one of our globally owned hospitals at this point, especially if you hang on far longer than your health care benefits provide, or the hospital's share of the pork, or taxpayer funded government grant.
Better still in holding down costs for some of those products now throughout the world when a great deal of those profits and taxes are going into the costs for some of these countries simply making their bids for the Games, and constructing all those new stadiums needed and required by the IOC, next time how about just a simple coin toss for the location of the existing locations, and banning the publicly paid travelogues and limiting the number of corporate advertisers free commercial time to one per sponsored event?
That way it could be more commercial, and more lucrative, and help rebuild that global economy all those economists keep talking about at least in this country, rather than the free falling U.S. economy, and the fact is that it is the international viewers, mainly the Americans, that are paying for those costs of those athletics in their purchases of those global corporation's products, and not those corporations per se at all.
"Sponsors and advertisers for the American Bobsled, Skating, Skiing, (Fill in the blank) Team" seems a whole lot more "truth in advertising" than honking their global corporate horns as "supporters of the Olympics."
Just where did they get those dollars to donate or "sponsor" those athletes anyway, or pay for those high priced Olympic ad slots except from the viewing public? Who also pay those salaries for that "commercially" focused IOC, in a roundabout way, and their front and center seats.
Or maybe instead the newest label, "Scouts" for our next Olympic pitchman?
I mean with all those never-ending commecials, back to back and repeated over and over again, that two week study in excess literally wiped me out, if not the snowboarders, along with the previous one just two short years ago.
This message brought to you by the U.S. "Bring Back the Amateur Commercially Limited Olympics" Committee.
I really wish the American economy would pick up, and those bankers realize just why the U.S. home market isn't improving, and I could afford TiVo, that new American invention.
Monday, March 1, 2010
SeaWorld Shamus Gone Wild: 2007 Cal/OSHA Report Quashed?
In doing further research due to mainstream media reports regarding last week's death of an experienced trainer at SeaWorld Orlando, I came across an investigative report published by the local news media in San Diego from 2007 with respect to an incident which occurred at the San Diego SeaWorld Park and then was subsequently investigated by Cal/OSHA.
Strangely enough, during the investigation of the 2007 incident, another incident came to light from 1987 involving a whale I am more than familiar with, Orky, that was aggressively pursuing a female trainer at a show me and my family attended back in 1983-84 before Marineland of the Pacific was purchased by SeaWorld and then closed, and Orky then subsequently transferred to SeaWorld San Diego.
During the 1987 incident, Orky apparently did get a male trainer against the ropes, as it were, which resulted in some broken bones and lacerations to the trainer's internal organs after being thrashed around.
Apparently, even after this 2007 incident, there was little change instituted with respect to true protection of those trainers such as mandating provision of life saving equipment (such as guns or harpoons) be available during training sessions or shows in order to protect the human population from such reoccurrences back then, other than those "noise buckets" most that have attended those shows have either seen, or if as in my family's experience, saw them actually used in order to distract or redirect the whale's attention.
But does appear they can be singleminded in their quests for either attention, or communicating their displeasure, if so inclined.
In fact, it appears from this article, that the OSHA review was quite cursory, and conducted by the state, rather than federal, OSHA authorities although this park is now not simply a national commercial conglomerate and venture, owned now by a global investment company out of New York to boot, but also a global park and industry.
The argument, of course, the park used was that they were "visited" by the U.S. Department of Agriculture two or three times a year, and had had no previous violations during this investigation.
And that Cal/OSHA "wasn't qualifed" to conducted the investigations, it appears, so the files in that matter were successfully supressed by the legal team for SeaWorld, who indicated that the USDA had oversight.
My reaction to that, though, is that it is my understanding that the USDA's primary concerns in visiting the park would be the food safety as a public venue, and just what type of inspection would they conduct with respect to these whales and their interactions with the trainers, other than check them for any viruses or communicable diseases that might contaminate any food sources consumed by the public?
Whereas OSHA is supposed to be charged with protecting the job site and working conditions of the trainers and staff, and would be the most definitely the appropriate state and federal authorities to so do with jobsite safety issues.
Apparently, Cal/OSHA is merely conducting "reactive" visits to these parks and not pro-active ones, since it apparently closed its file on SeaWorld after it's investigation of this 2007 incident after losing that round after the 2007 incident in a California court was either suppressed or ignored, and I would assume since OSHA is an agency that is over thirty to forty years old, the incident with Orky from 1987 which involved a male trainer who was slammed around by the whale that was the same one that was involved in the incident in 1983-84 that we viewed agressively challenging and chasing a female trainer, who then subsequently went after a male trainer that attempted to intervene and assist the "pursued" female trainer was simply viewed as the "risks" of the job by higher level management and most likely not reported at all.
Where has the federal OSHA authorities been due to the fact that this is fundamentally a national (and global) chain?
No one was hurt, luckily, in that 2003-2004 incident.
Let's hope the investigation into this latest tragedy involving another male orca that was captured in the wild, one that is linked now to three separate deaths in two different parks, results in some measure of protection for those trainers.
Perhaps in giving some credence to those suggestions some of those trainers made to the Cal/OSHA authorities as contained in this article which also apparently were ignored by corporate in order to reduce the risks which have now resulted in a violent death in Orlando.
In any event, just maybe if there had been harpoons and guns available to those trainers as a real distraction, or fewer shows and less stimulation of them since this "new and improved" show "Believe" I understand involves quite a bit of high tech gadgetry and stunts from all reports - Ms. Brancheau just might still be alive.
I mean there are actually about three to four of these shows per day, and now even huge screen TV's and loud, loud speakers with high tech "new age" type music accompanying the story line, and that would get on my nerves if I had to listen to it daily, much less three or four times per day.
But not to have adequate protectionary measures in force, or "shoot to kill" orders for some of these incidences that have subsequently resulted in human injury and now even multiple deaths begs the question, just whose life is more important?
I mean, there are no shortages of whales in captivity actually, as there are and have been numerous calves born each and every year due to the increase in the captive whale populations and their breeding programs throughout the world due to SeaWorld's past success as a commercial/educational venture in their efforts to domesticate and study them under their prior ownership, in large part.
And with tickets at over $250-300 for the average family for a visit to their parks, it would seem their profit margins have soared since the early days, and at this point, would seem to me that orcas like Tilly (and Orky before) are more of a liability than asset, what with all those vet bills and other expenses that are piling up as more and more of these incidents have occurred.
But I found really no published reports at this point tracking just how many injuries, major or minor, these trainers have been subjected to since it appears OSHA is not a frequent visitor pro-actively, nor logging or following up comprehensively on some of these reports at this now global billion dollar theme park enterprise.
Or apparently only superficially acting on them, or being quashed into submission due to corporate special interests at the state level that apparently have been sealing records, and using the California court system, at least, in order to silence and intimidate the critics, both from the public and even some in the field of animal science.
Or, perhaps in the case of some of those affected trainers, potentially the unemployment line?
http://www.10news.com/news/13343165/detail.html
Strangely enough, during the investigation of the 2007 incident, another incident came to light from 1987 involving a whale I am more than familiar with, Orky, that was aggressively pursuing a female trainer at a show me and my family attended back in 1983-84 before Marineland of the Pacific was purchased by SeaWorld and then closed, and Orky then subsequently transferred to SeaWorld San Diego.
During the 1987 incident, Orky apparently did get a male trainer against the ropes, as it were, which resulted in some broken bones and lacerations to the trainer's internal organs after being thrashed around.
Apparently, even after this 2007 incident, there was little change instituted with respect to true protection of those trainers such as mandating provision of life saving equipment (such as guns or harpoons) be available during training sessions or shows in order to protect the human population from such reoccurrences back then, other than those "noise buckets" most that have attended those shows have either seen, or if as in my family's experience, saw them actually used in order to distract or redirect the whale's attention.
But does appear they can be singleminded in their quests for either attention, or communicating their displeasure, if so inclined.
In fact, it appears from this article, that the OSHA review was quite cursory, and conducted by the state, rather than federal, OSHA authorities although this park is now not simply a national commercial conglomerate and venture, owned now by a global investment company out of New York to boot, but also a global park and industry.
The argument, of course, the park used was that they were "visited" by the U.S. Department of Agriculture two or three times a year, and had had no previous violations during this investigation.
And that Cal/OSHA "wasn't qualifed" to conducted the investigations, it appears, so the files in that matter were successfully supressed by the legal team for SeaWorld, who indicated that the USDA had oversight.
My reaction to that, though, is that it is my understanding that the USDA's primary concerns in visiting the park would be the food safety as a public venue, and just what type of inspection would they conduct with respect to these whales and their interactions with the trainers, other than check them for any viruses or communicable diseases that might contaminate any food sources consumed by the public?
Whereas OSHA is supposed to be charged with protecting the job site and working conditions of the trainers and staff, and would be the most definitely the appropriate state and federal authorities to so do with jobsite safety issues.
Apparently, Cal/OSHA is merely conducting "reactive" visits to these parks and not pro-active ones, since it apparently closed its file on SeaWorld after it's investigation of this 2007 incident after losing that round after the 2007 incident in a California court was either suppressed or ignored, and I would assume since OSHA is an agency that is over thirty to forty years old, the incident with Orky from 1987 which involved a male trainer who was slammed around by the whale that was the same one that was involved in the incident in 1983-84 that we viewed agressively challenging and chasing a female trainer, who then subsequently went after a male trainer that attempted to intervene and assist the "pursued" female trainer was simply viewed as the "risks" of the job by higher level management and most likely not reported at all.
Where has the federal OSHA authorities been due to the fact that this is fundamentally a national (and global) chain?
No one was hurt, luckily, in that 2003-2004 incident.
Let's hope the investigation into this latest tragedy involving another male orca that was captured in the wild, one that is linked now to three separate deaths in two different parks, results in some measure of protection for those trainers.
Perhaps in giving some credence to those suggestions some of those trainers made to the Cal/OSHA authorities as contained in this article which also apparently were ignored by corporate in order to reduce the risks which have now resulted in a violent death in Orlando.
In any event, just maybe if there had been harpoons and guns available to those trainers as a real distraction, or fewer shows and less stimulation of them since this "new and improved" show "Believe" I understand involves quite a bit of high tech gadgetry and stunts from all reports - Ms. Brancheau just might still be alive.
I mean there are actually about three to four of these shows per day, and now even huge screen TV's and loud, loud speakers with high tech "new age" type music accompanying the story line, and that would get on my nerves if I had to listen to it daily, much less three or four times per day.
But not to have adequate protectionary measures in force, or "shoot to kill" orders for some of these incidences that have subsequently resulted in human injury and now even multiple deaths begs the question, just whose life is more important?
I mean, there are no shortages of whales in captivity actually, as there are and have been numerous calves born each and every year due to the increase in the captive whale populations and their breeding programs throughout the world due to SeaWorld's past success as a commercial/educational venture in their efforts to domesticate and study them under their prior ownership, in large part.
And with tickets at over $250-300 for the average family for a visit to their parks, it would seem their profit margins have soared since the early days, and at this point, would seem to me that orcas like Tilly (and Orky before) are more of a liability than asset, what with all those vet bills and other expenses that are piling up as more and more of these incidents have occurred.
But I found really no published reports at this point tracking just how many injuries, major or minor, these trainers have been subjected to since it appears OSHA is not a frequent visitor pro-actively, nor logging or following up comprehensively on some of these reports at this now global billion dollar theme park enterprise.
Or apparently only superficially acting on them, or being quashed into submission due to corporate special interests at the state level that apparently have been sealing records, and using the California court system, at least, in order to silence and intimidate the critics, both from the public and even some in the field of animal science.
Or, perhaps in the case of some of those affected trainers, potentially the unemployment line?
http://www.10news.com/news/13343165/detail.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
