Economy On Life Support, "1984," And Scandinavia - Our current economy (as pointed out by my friend Jeffe) is built on the twin buttresses of Perpetual War and Everyone Owning A Home. Bush is going to be the first president since Hoover to preside over a net loss in jobs. That in and of itself is an alarming bit of news. It got me to thinking, what is our reward for dismantling the most robust and expansive economy bequeathed by Clinton? I mean, if Bush had suddenly decided to properly fund every public school so that our students were the best in the world, well, that would be worth a crushing deficit. If some Administration official with a heart had pushed through a plan for every American to receive health care, that too would be worth a recession.

In other words, the runaway capital gains of the 90s and the Internet/Dot Com Boom were heady times for venture capitalists. Those times had to come to an end, and how much sweeter it would be now if we had at that precise moment in history decided to reinvest that money into America. Instead, ongoing greed and corruption (Enron, Tyco, Global Crossing, WorldCom, etc) have bankrupted the economy. A few years ago we had a balanced budget and a surplus. Now we have the largest run up in debt in history. Our gains have been squandered. As I drove to work, listening to the news that another 3,700 families would suddenly be dumped out of work, it struck me that they will have nothing to show for it. While CEOs' salaries have increased 14% a year, the number of lost jobs increases at a greater pace. Think of the self-control and the sacrifices Americans made during WWII to fund the "war effort." Rationing and conservation were the orders of the day. Now, in 2003, our rampant consumerism and insatiable greed have produced a crisis where the only way to feed the need is to create a state of war, under any pretext.

I looked around at the other shmoes on the road and wondered, would any of them would give up their SUV or their luxury vice of choice to make the world a better place. Making the world better is not such a difficult task. For the millions living in abject poverty, a few simple changes in Federal law that would allow them health care, access to higher education, job training, better policing, and so forth, would make a tremendous difference. And it wouldn't affect the SUV driver next to me to a great degree. Just set different priorities.

The people of Scandinavia are taxed more than Americans, sometimes up to 51% of their earnings in taxes. That number is shocking until you consider that the average Scandinavian also gets health care, education, generous assistance when they are out of work, subsidized retirement/convalescent care, and pro-active job training --- all for their tax money. Because their "social net" is so robust, it has eliminated an underclass. There are no slums, no downtrodden poor wandering the cities looking for crimes to commit. There is almost no crime. Think about that. When a murder or rape happens it is front page news. Here, it's just part of the body count. Scandinavians have paid for their clean, safe, equitable society by choosing to set the right priorities. Here in California, fear of taxes has created a massive debt. This debt is killing off hospitals, schools, libraries, parks and thousands of other state services. We appear to be afraid to pay for "someone else" to receive something they "did not earn." Cry about paying higher taxes than the poor people down the road and lobby and legislate for "tax relief:" all this does is further exacerbate the problem. It widens the gap between the haves and the have-nots. It causes poverty, crimes, and all of the ills that conservatives are against.

For me, I wrote my check to the federal government on Tuesday (I filed late, but with an extension). It was a big check. I would feel so much better about writing that check if I didn't feel that every Republican out there is staying up nights figuring out ways to avoid paying the taxes the owe, and then figuring out schemes to slash taxes across the board. These same Republicans who approve of spending $4 Billion per month to occupy Iraq. How about some of that money, here, at home, where we need it? I would gladly write a tax check every year if I knew that our government finally got their heads on straight and decided to provide free health care, to strengthen our public education system, to provide higher education at reduced or no cost, to retrain the tens of thousands of workers who got shafted by CEOs and their unchecked greed. Any of these things would make me happy. Try being poor and needing to see a doctor, where you have to choose between food and getting your child medicine. What kind of world are we creating?

I've been re-reading "1984" by George Orwell. I recommend reading it, you'll find many details in there that were possibly meant to be sensational that are nothing more than yesterday's news. We are becoming the society of Oceania and Airstrip One. How awful will it be if 20 years from now we look back on these times as "the good old days?"

The Drug Czar Refuted --- Go here (NORML) to read a point by point refutation of the "open letter to prosecutors" written by Bush's Drug Czar. One of many interesting points is that since 1992 (Clinton) approximately 6 million Americans have been arrested for pot "crimes," with 5,400,000 of those arrests being for simple possession.

Jack Grisham of T.S.O.L. To Run For Governor! --- Jack has thrown his name into the ring for the upcoming California recall election. Read about it here. Jack is funny as hell and can surf better than you. Vote for him. Davis will probably win the majority of votes, so check "no" on the recall, and then mark "Jack Grisham" in the column for who you'd prefer.

Here's a snippet from "Abolish Government" :

People are so blind they just can't see
Send your son to bootcamp
Send him off to war
If he comes back he'll be dead and nothing more
Struggle for a land, for a country, for a freedom
All you mindless people looking for someone to lead them

Mia Zapata's Killer Found! --- Mia Zapata was murdered in 1993 in Seattle and no suspects were ever found. Until recently, that is. The new DNA database yielded a match when a man was arrested in Florida. Seattle Police then sent in their DNA evidence and the two were positively connected. The man was also in the Seattle area in 1993, so it looks like Mia will finally get some justice. Mia was the singer for The Gits, you can buy their stuff from C/Z Records. Read about the case, here. This arrest happened back in January but we didn't hear about it until today.

Bush's Top 40 Lies --- A great compendium of horseshit has been prepared at City Pages, here, by Steve Perry, listing a greatest hits of the distortions, mistruths, obfuscations, evasions, and good ol' lies coming out of Bush regarding war and terrorism. (Originally saw this article in The Village Voice.) This is in honor of today's White House Press Conference Bush stumbled through. Can Bush not read a script? He is so painfully inept at speaking! What's funny is that Bush has gotten a lot better at it. Think back to how dead he used to be up there on the mic! That guy has no flow, and can't bust freestyle to save his life. Stick to the script, Georgie, it's why they wrote it for you.

Attacks On US Soldiers Increasing --- A report on NPR this morning stated that every day in Iraq about one dozen attacks on US soldiers take place. Another official said that number might be as high as 100 per day. So much for peace. The Iraq Occupation is costing us $4 Billion per month. Hey Cheney: are you and your fucking buddies rich enough yet? Got enough oil? Can we go home now?

Manchester United vs. Club America --- Manchester United performed to 60,000 fans at the LA Coliseum last Sunday, hosting Mexico City's Club America. The fans were split around 60-65% for Man U which kept the rioting to a minimum. After a decidedly lacklustre start, United began taking the hapless Mexican team apart. When half-time arrived it was a lifesaver for CA. The pace of the game had been kept slow but United weren't to be held back any longer. Ruud Van Nistelrooy found the back of the net inside of 5 minutes into the second half, and Diego Forlan followed with another goal a few minutes later. CA were completely outgunned. CA did find their way into the box a few times but had only one scare for United's keeper. The CA fans were bellowing disapproval when a goal scored on a free-kick was disallowed, but on replay, it is more than obvious a CA player shoulder charged Rio Ferdinand in the wall. This kept Rio from jumping up and the ball curled inches over his head. He could've stopped it. The play was whistled dead before the ball struck the net, a piece of fine referee work. The final score was 3-1, another goal coming from Forlan and a lone assault from the beleagured CA team.

A note about Mexican football: personally I hate the style of play evident in Mexican soccer. You will never see as much shirt-pulling, hand-grabbing, diving, tripping, and blatant fouling as when you see a Mexican game. Add to it the unwillingness of Mexican players to pass the ball. The European game is a machine that wears down teams made up of a collection of ball-hogs. Four times in this match a Club America player showed unbelievably poor sportsmanship. They would foul a United player and then refuse to shake hands afterward. This was a friendly match, meaning it was exhibition: nothing was at stake. These are highly paid professionals, too, and seeing CA players act like schoolboys in the park on a Sunday afternoon was at once deplorable and laughable. Not to say there aren't some amazing Mexican players, because there are, obviously. Blanco had a great match, and so did Mendoza, the lone goal scorer for CA. But CA needs to take a lesson in sportsmanship, you fucking babies.