While we hope you enjoyed a good weekend, we know there was a lot going on over the last couple of days. Maybe you caught the wonderful moment immediately before the Husker football game at Penn State, led by Husker Coach Ron Brown - or the embarrassingly awful GOP presidential debate on CBS. Maybe you were drowning in preparations for Thanksgiving and the upcoming holiday season.
The stories that may have floated out of your attention zone over the weekend include the resignation of Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the announcement of his replacement, and the installation of an interim government in Greece. We were watching events in both countries, as were many around the globe. In our modern world of highly connected economies, what happens in Japan or Europe, Brazil or China, can have an equal effect here in the United States.
For all the bluster of political candidates telling you America is uniquely different, when it comes to the reality of how the real world market works, the U.S. is just another refugee bobbing on a mostly uncharted ocean of economic uncertainty. Admittedly, our financial raft is better than what most countries have - some don't even have a piece of metaphorical flotsam to hang onto. Still, at this point looking to our traditional economic and political partners in Europe to save us from our own economic woes is pointless. Even now, countries like Italy are doubling down on the failed strategy of economic austerity.
As one of our favorite economists, Nobel-prize winner Paul Krugman pointed out Friday, the European experiment in painful austerity isn't as effective as hoped - and doesn't confirm the American conservative worldview. In fact, as the revival of Iceland's economy is clearly pointing out, the American people - especially those supporting the Occupy movement - have been right all along.
In case you missed it, the story going on in Iceland really began in the early 2000s, when Iceland followed the lead of countries like the U.S., loosened its regulation of banks, and allowed investment and deposit banks to mingle with each other and other banks around the world. In 2008, when the market implosion of Wall Street spread like a virus around the world, the three major private banks in Iceland all collapsed under the weight of the bets they'd made (a large portion of which was in the U.S. real estate market), and had to be nationalized.
As Dr. Krugman also recently pointed out, nearly everyone projected that Iceland was going to go into economic Armageddon if they didn't follow the lead of everyone else - save the banks, screw the working people, and make the public pay the price.
Iceland, however, did exactly the opposite.
Over the weekend, Iceland announced that they were finally going to begin paying out a small portion of foreign depositor claims, after their highest court upheld a law that protects the common people and the public welfare. Further, Iceland's Economy Minister said that all legitimate depositors, whether in Iceland or from other nations, will be repaid their full amounts of deposit. Investment bankers, however - like the Wall Street gamblers and their corporate cronies - will have to deal with the pile of bad bets they made all by themselves.
In other words, Iceland bailed out Main Street, and told the greedy gamblers on their version of Wall Street to enjoy their trip to the depths of the financial Davey Jones' locker.
So far, even in the midst of a global recession, Iceland's method of salvation is the only one that seems to be doing more than just keeping their nation treading financial water.
We think it's high time the U.S. tried a similar strategy.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
Friday Funday: A Reason To Say "Merci"
For nearly a century now, since the end of the first "war to end all wars", World War I, Americans and Europeans have celebrated Veterans Day - previously called "Armistice Day" - on the eleventh day of the eleventh month each year, pausing for a moment of remembrance at the eleventh hour.
Every year since we began publishing The Daily Felltoon, we try to remind you of this occasion. We try to reflect on the fact that this isn't a day to mourn over those who were lost, but to celebrate and thank those veterans who've done so much for us.
From soldiers and sailors, to simple housewives who helped colonize the new world, too often, those of us living in the U.S. and Europe forget the sacrifices those who came before have made for us to get where we are today.
That's at least part of the reason that on this Veteran's Day, we're also celebrating the accomplishment of our editor Amy, and her husband, Eric, on the completion of their latest cartoon vignette, "Daughters of The King", part of the ongoing graphic novel, "Snow By Night" (free, and available for viewing at snowbynight.com).
The story behind their vignette is a true one, about the real-life "Filles du Roi" - a French-Candaian organization similar to the to the Daughters of the American Revolution. The story is well-told, and we highly recommend you read it for yourself.
It's also a story that never could have been told if it wasn't for all the cartoonists that have come before, like our own Paul Fell - someone we don't thank enough for all the incredible things he's done for us - or Hal Foster who created the serial comic Prince Valiant, or the creator of the often enduring Family Circus cartoons, Bil Keane, who died this past week at the age of 89.
Keane was a veteran himself, having served in World War II, and he knew the value of a simple "thank you" to those who've long deserved it, but rarely receive it and never ask for it.
In that light, and in light of the fact that many veterans simply go about their daily lives like anyone else, and don't make a big deal of their service - including our own webmaster - we ask that today, and this weekend, you simply say thanks to someone that you're fairly sure doesn't always receive it.
Thank your favorite cashier at the grocery store, the one who always seems to be there when you are, and who remembers details about your life - and cares enough to ask you about your life. Thank the janitor at your workplace who keeps things nice - far nicer than they probably should be, considering the animals you work with. Thank your neighbor too, for simply not being the kind of person who paints their house bright Pepto-Bismol pink.
Yes, we absolutely want you to thank anyone you see who quite obviously served their country and helped keep the peace or win the war.
Millions of others, however, who we may never really notice, also deserve our thanks for all the wonderful gifts those of us in the United States and the European countries enjoy today.
To them, we say, "Merci", "Danke", "Grazie" - or simply, "Thank you."
Every year since we began publishing The Daily Felltoon, we try to remind you of this occasion. We try to reflect on the fact that this isn't a day to mourn over those who were lost, but to celebrate and thank those veterans who've done so much for us.
From soldiers and sailors, to simple housewives who helped colonize the new world, too often, those of us living in the U.S. and Europe forget the sacrifices those who came before have made for us to get where we are today.
That's at least part of the reason that on this Veteran's Day, we're also celebrating the accomplishment of our editor Amy, and her husband, Eric, on the completion of their latest cartoon vignette, "Daughters of The King", part of the ongoing graphic novel, "Snow By Night" (free, and available for viewing at snowbynight.com).
The story behind their vignette is a true one, about the real-life "Filles du Roi" - a French-Candaian organization similar to the to the Daughters of the American Revolution. The story is well-told, and we highly recommend you read it for yourself.
It's also a story that never could have been told if it wasn't for all the cartoonists that have come before, like our own Paul Fell - someone we don't thank enough for all the incredible things he's done for us - or Hal Foster who created the serial comic Prince Valiant, or the creator of the often enduring Family Circus cartoons, Bil Keane, who died this past week at the age of 89.
Keane was a veteran himself, having served in World War II, and he knew the value of a simple "thank you" to those who've long deserved it, but rarely receive it and never ask for it.
In that light, and in light of the fact that many veterans simply go about their daily lives like anyone else, and don't make a big deal of their service - including our own webmaster - we ask that today, and this weekend, you simply say thanks to someone that you're fairly sure doesn't always receive it.
Thank your favorite cashier at the grocery store, the one who always seems to be there when you are, and who remembers details about your life - and cares enough to ask you about your life. Thank the janitor at your workplace who keeps things nice - far nicer than they probably should be, considering the animals you work with. Thank your neighbor too, for simply not being the kind of person who paints their house bright Pepto-Bismol pink.
Yes, we absolutely want you to thank anyone you see who quite obviously served their country and helped keep the peace or win the war.
Millions of others, however, who we may never really notice, also deserve our thanks for all the wonderful gifts those of us in the United States and the European countries enjoy today.
To them, we say, "Merci", "Danke", "Grazie" - or simply, "Thank you."
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Growing Pains
In light of the success of progressive ideas and candidates in Tuesday's elections - and the utter embarrassment that seems to be the current 2012 Republican presidential field - we decided we'd look at a subject we'd noted a couple of weeks ago, but hadn't fully addressed - the announcement of the world's seven-billionth person.
According to the United Nations Population Fund report released recently, the world's seven billionth human inhabitant is likely somewhere on the planet right now. While we didn't get to this point overnight, the last three billion people were all born within the lifespan of the youngest two members of our staff - about thirty-five years or so.
There's no legitimate way to determine who the planet's seven billionth individual is, or where he or she was born. The mere existence of that many people on our little island in space brings to light a few very important questions, that - frankly - humans should have had answered long ago.
Everyone needs adequate food, water, and shelter - and far too many of them don't have anything close to that. Those people, in one way or another, will also need energy; to power their cars or motorbikes, their lights, and all the other modern conveniences that much of the world either wants or already has.
After the announcement Wednesday by the International Energy Agency, now more than ever we're concerned about how we're going to obtain and distribute the resources we all want and need.
The agency's report made it clear: "On planned [energy] policies, rising fossil energy use will lead to irreversible and potentially catastrophic climate change... we are on an even more dangerous track to an increase of 6°C [11°F]…. Delaying action is a false economy: for every $1 of investment in cleaner technology that is avoided in the power sector before 2020, an additional $4.30 would need to be spent after 2020 to compensate for the increased emissions.”
In short, we humans need to get our collective butts in gear - or we'll bake our planet into a place where humans can no longer survive. We could get to the point of no return within the next five years.
Already, because the energy sources humans have been using over the last two centuries have been so wasteful and filthy, we've increased the type and severity of weather worldwide. The winter monster storm that is literally half the size of the lower 48 states, that's now slamming Alaska isn't just a rare event. It's an event climate scientists have rarely seen the likes of before.
Sadly, one of the biggest issues being ignored with some of the discussions about the Keystone pipeline has to do not with leaking oil, or how many jobs a pipeline project like Keystone would actually generate. It's the fact that the type of oil energy that would be pumping through the pipeline would be some of the highest polluting materials in the world - at a time when the world can least afford it.
Meanwhile, the executives of companies in the solar power business are having some of the fastest growth of any industry in the U.S. Their industry is experiencing growth that's ten times faster than the national economy as a whole over the last 12 months, in the middle of the worst economy since the Great Depression. Another study, released in February 2011, pointed out that the world as a whole doubled its output of solar energy last year - and future forecasts look, well... bright.
As Tuesday's elections proved, with landslide wins for progressive policies in traditionally conservative places like Mississippi, even those people who've been traditionally against change seem to be understanding: we can't just continue doing things the way we always have.
We can find solutions together, that will help divide our resources in a more just manner, and still give people plenty of opportunities to make money in a capitalist way. But not if we just keep pushing the same old, hairy, ugly model of politics and business we've been using for far too long.
According to the United Nations Population Fund report released recently, the world's seven billionth human inhabitant is likely somewhere on the planet right now. While we didn't get to this point overnight, the last three billion people were all born within the lifespan of the youngest two members of our staff - about thirty-five years or so.
There's no legitimate way to determine who the planet's seven billionth individual is, or where he or she was born. The mere existence of that many people on our little island in space brings to light a few very important questions, that - frankly - humans should have had answered long ago.
Everyone needs adequate food, water, and shelter - and far too many of them don't have anything close to that. Those people, in one way or another, will also need energy; to power their cars or motorbikes, their lights, and all the other modern conveniences that much of the world either wants or already has.
After the announcement Wednesday by the International Energy Agency, now more than ever we're concerned about how we're going to obtain and distribute the resources we all want and need.
The agency's report made it clear: "On planned [energy] policies, rising fossil energy use will lead to irreversible and potentially catastrophic climate change... we are on an even more dangerous track to an increase of 6°C [11°F]…. Delaying action is a false economy: for every $1 of investment in cleaner technology that is avoided in the power sector before 2020, an additional $4.30 would need to be spent after 2020 to compensate for the increased emissions.”
In short, we humans need to get our collective butts in gear - or we'll bake our planet into a place where humans can no longer survive. We could get to the point of no return within the next five years.
Already, because the energy sources humans have been using over the last two centuries have been so wasteful and filthy, we've increased the type and severity of weather worldwide. The winter monster storm that is literally half the size of the lower 48 states, that's now slamming Alaska isn't just a rare event. It's an event climate scientists have rarely seen the likes of before.
Sadly, one of the biggest issues being ignored with some of the discussions about the Keystone pipeline has to do not with leaking oil, or how many jobs a pipeline project like Keystone would actually generate. It's the fact that the type of oil energy that would be pumping through the pipeline would be some of the highest polluting materials in the world - at a time when the world can least afford it.
Meanwhile, the executives of companies in the solar power business are having some of the fastest growth of any industry in the U.S. Their industry is experiencing growth that's ten times faster than the national economy as a whole over the last 12 months, in the middle of the worst economy since the Great Depression. Another study, released in February 2011, pointed out that the world as a whole doubled its output of solar energy last year - and future forecasts look, well... bright.
As Tuesday's elections proved, with landslide wins for progressive policies in traditionally conservative places like Mississippi, even those people who've been traditionally against change seem to be understanding: we can't just continue doing things the way we always have.
We can find solutions together, that will help divide our resources in a more just manner, and still give people plenty of opportunities to make money in a capitalist way. But not if we just keep pushing the same old, hairy, ugly model of politics and business we've been using for far too long.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)