The US unemployment rate published last month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is 8.1%, and represents 12.5 million Americans. That’s pretty high. If you’re like me and you’re looking for good news, that figure is down from over 10% at its height in early 2010. So we’ve got that going for us. But if [...]
FOR SALE TO HIGHEST BIDDER
Here’s a link for you: OpenSecrets-Oil and Gas Contributions It’s a report on election campaign contributions and lobbying efforts by the oil & gas industries. In 2011 Exxon was the biggest contributor in that industry, followed closely by Koch Industries. Aside from direct contributions, the industry spent $148 million on lobbying efforts in 2011. So adding [...]
A Place Like Ours
The Prosperous Valley Long ago in a secluded valley a group of people settled. The valley contained an abundance of water and good land for farming. The valley’s depths were cool and wet for crops that enjoyed that climate, and in its upper reaches it was warm and drier, suitable for other crops. Its ground [...]
Interview: Deputy Attorney General and Novelist Rick Acker
Today I’m pleased to feature this interview with Rick Acker, a Deputy Attorney General with the California Department of Justice—and a talented novelist. Visit Rick’s author page on Amazon by clicking here or to learn more about him, visit his website: http://www.rickacker.com/ or his blog. Rick’s latest book is When the Devil Whistles, which is [...]
Capitalism is an Omnivore
How to Think about Capitalism If you don’t lock your food in bear canisters in the backcountry of the Sierras, chances are you’ll wake in the middle of the night to the grunting, scratching sounds of an ursus americanus sifting through your foodstuffs. If you ignore the rangers’ warnings and make the mistake [...]
Robin Hood and the Tax Code
Let me tell you about a very conflicted young man named Theo Hillman. Theo is conflicted for a lot of reasons, but one of his biggest issues is reconciling his upbringing in a life of privilege to the suffering of those at the other extreme of the socio-economic spectrum. Theo’s solution to his guilt [...]
Beginnings and Endings
In the corner of our courtyard is a plant called a hydrangea. I know that’s what it’s called because I googled it. This hydrangea blooms in pink balled-up clumps of blossoms the size of cantaloupes cut in half, and this time of year it’s just starting to bloom so as I type at my desk [...]
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