Saturday, December 12, 2020

Best Metal Music Of 2020

Anaal Nathrakh - Endarkenment
Midnight - Rebirth By Blasphemy
Enslaved - Utgard
Sepultura - Quadra
King Diamond - The Institute
Protest The Hero - Palimpsest
Warbringer - Weapons of Tomorrow
Lamb of God - Lamb of God
Umbra Vitae – Shadow of LifeCirith Ungol – Forever BlackLucifer – Lucifer III
Sylosis – Cycle Of Suffering 
Plague - Portraits of Mind
VoidCeremony - Entropic Reflections Continuum: Dimensional Unravel
August Burns Red - Guardians
Spirit Adrift - Enlightened In Eternity
Carcass - Despicable
Pallbearer - Forgotten Days
Uada - Djinn
Harakiri for the Sky - I, Pallbearer
Necrot - Mortal
Antichrist Demoncore - Satan Is King
Satan's Fall - Final Day
Testament - Titans of Creation

Buzzwords Are Not Public Policy or We've Heard Enough From So-Called Business Experts

More cliched economic jargon from error-prone businessmen. 

Biden Needs Some Business Experts

The article moans, "The new administration does not have a lot of chops when it comes to job creation. That’s largely in the domain of the private sector. Biden and his crew are loaded with experience in managing the government, but are extremely shallow in knowing what to do to help the private sector become vibrant again. Remember, all tax revenues come directly or indirectly from dynamism in the private sector. Most companies deserve to be revered for providing jobs and tax revenues, but that is not the mindset of the progressives in the Democratic Party. Their proclivity is regulation. Common sense regulation is a necessity in any economy, but more important is turning entrepreneurs loose to reinvent the economy. They are the job creators, not the government."

There is so much wrong here, it's hard to know where to begin. There are so many regurgitated conservative falsehoods in this right-wing word salad, it really does make the mind spin. For someone who can occasionally make reasonable sounding arguments, John Torinus, more often, just parrots typical Republican talking-points

Biden has been working for the citizens his entire adult life. He's plenty familiar with job creation. Republicans are the party that has left this country in recession after recession over the past few decades. And, it has been the Democrats who enacted targeted policies to help pull the country out. Biden was Vice President during the Obama Administration, in case Mr. Torinus has forgotten that fact. 

What did Obama and Biden do? There has not been a consistent job market expansion on record, dating back to 1939, that lasted longer than the expansion during their administration. Job growth was faster than population growth—a key measure of a healthy job market expansion. The typical weekly pay of U.S. workers has been increasing since early 2013 and re The ACA made it possible for more than 20 million individuals to afford health insurance and decreased the share of Americans without health insurance to an all-time low.ached its highest level on record, dating back to 1979, at the end of 2016. They inherited a deficit that claimed 9.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in fiscal year 2009. By FY 2016, the deficit had fallen to less than one-third of that, at 3.2 percent of GDP.

Seems like they know something about job creation, reinventing the economy and helping the private sector be vibrant.

And this "dynamism in the private sector" and "turning entrepreneurs loose" are, as Joe Biden would say, a bunch of malarkey. This country has been cutting taxes and deregulating the past 40 years. If the private sector entrepreneurs are so damn dynamic, why does the economy keep falling back into recession when we allow Republicans control of the government?

It's long overdue for the private sector knows it all, government needs to get out of the way-gang to go away. The public sector employs over 20 millions people. The public sector accounts for nearly half of the entire economy. This idea, pushed by Republicans for decades, that government is inept and wasteful is wrong. If anything, the private sector is the wasteful and inefficient actor. Not to mention the fact that the private sector is also selfish and greedy.

Private retirement account fees are drastically higher than public pension fees or Social Security fees. Much of the medical advancements we see are due to university research and the National Institutes of Health. Study after study has shown that public infrastrucutre projects are cheaper when done by unionized public workers, rather than being bid out to private corporations.
 
So, please, Republicans, conservatives, dynamic private sector know-it-alls, please step aside and let the adults in the Democratic party save the country from your destructive and misguided ramblings once again.

Weekend Reading

Robin Vos' plan puts politics ahead of healthMilton Friedman was wrong on the corporationTrump Won State, GOP Legislators Declare

Skills To Pay The Bills

More proof there is no skills gap or skills shortage

6 of the top 10 most in demand jobs in Wisconsin through 2026 require a high school diploma, or job-specific training, at most.


Friday, December 4, 2020

Weekend Reading

How Ronald Reagan’s Racism Helped Pave the Way for Donald Trump’sIn Case You Missed It, Reagan Was A ScumbagHome Prices Are In a Bubble. Full Stop.Milwaukee paid $40M+ in police brutality casesAfter NY Gov. Cuomo Accuses SC of Partisanship, Cardinal Dolan Hails Decision to Block COVID Church RestrictionsThe Wisconsin Legislature is a gerrymandered swamp run by self-serving RepublicansRepublican Senator Faces Insider-Trading Accusations Ahead of Georgia RunoffMichael Flynn calls for Trump to suspend the constitution and declare martial law to re-run electionIowa Is What Happens When Government Does Nothing