Archive for » June, 2010 «
Throughout Africa, rape has become a major threat to all women. The communities of South Africa have been quite vocal on the subject and now their prayers have been answered. The latest invention by a South African doctor may be the answer they have been looking for. South African doctor, Dr. Sonnet Ehlers had a horrific experience some 40 years ago when a patient came in that had been raped and left within and inch of her life. She explained the woman as a “living corpse”. From then on, she’s been trying to save other people’ from such an experience.
According to CNN, Dr. Ehlers came up with a female condom based on the remark that the woman made when she was treating her. She said, “If only I had teeth down there.” That incident happened 40 years ago and now Rape-aXe is here. Wow! What a name. But, the problem with this is the locking down on the man’s penis that would deter a woman from buying the condom. If she knows that he’s trapped in her once he gets in, she would not want to be bound to this violent person like that. It would make matters worse.
Maybe this contraption would work for someone hanging out at the World Cup (where she’s been distributing it) or another event that has a lot of security around. But realistically, where is the police when things like this happen? I’d have to give her an E for effort, but a thumbs down.
As we mark the one year anniversary of the death of The King Of Pop, the mystery life of the Jackson kids is being revealed. Michael’s kids spend hours listening to their dad’s music, and they have no friends. They don’t go to school now, but they will be attending a private college in the fall. Prince is into movies and Paris loves music. All the children including Blanket (no one knows who his mother is) spend time with Debbie Rowe, the biological mother of Prince and Paris. Katherine Jackson revealed plans about her new book Never Can Say Goodbye. The book is being sold online at jacksonsecretvault.com. Katherine said she did the book out of love for her son, who was misunderstood. Katherine says she did not do it for money. Meanwhile, the lawyer for the Jackson estate are angry with Katherine. They accused the matriarch of the family of getting involved in business deals with shady characters. The shady and questionable characters are friends of Joe Jackson. Joe Jackson has not been able to make any money from his son’s death (he was left out of the will), so now he’s planning to file a wrongful deathsuit against Dr. Conrad Murray. Murray was Jackson’s personal physician at the time of his death. It was Murray who administered the propofol that led to Jackson’s heart failure. Papa Joe is claiming that Murray was in a strip club drinking hours before Michael’s death.
At one time in his career, he was known as the best defensive player in NFL history, but now a grand jury has indicted him on a rape charge. One time NFL Great Lawrence Taylor says he’s innocent of charges of rape and sexual abuse. The indictment follows his early May arrest after being found with a 16-year old girl. The girl was paid $300 to have sex with Taylor. Taylor was charge with patronizing a prostitute and endangering the welfare of a child. Taylor arraignment is July 13th. What a fall from grace it has been for Taylor. He rebounded from his scandalous drug past after appearing on Dancing With The Stars. Now, he faces jail time.
After a bitter two year court battle, a divorce is near for Dwayne Wade and his wife Siovaughn. After the Miami Heat star took up with Actress Gabrielle Union, his wife fought him bitterly in court. She made wild accusations, went through nine lawyers and now Dwayne has temporary custody of their kids because of her courtroom antics. Wade has the kids age 3 and 8. Once the divorce becomes final this week, they will head back to court to split custody and assets. The Wades split up right after the birth of their youngest child.
Will there be a boxing match next year between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield? Don’t be surprised at 44-year old Tyson and 48-year old Holyfield because they both need the money. They are broke.
Manute Bol, the tallest player in the NBA, died over the weekend. Bol played in the NBA from 1986-94. He played in Philly with The Sixers. Bol was one of the best shot blockers in the NBA. He was known for his charity work, and the millions he gave to his native country of Sudan. Bol was 47 when he died from a skin infection and kidney failure.
Not knowing the future, we look to the past. What is this thing called the Great Recession and what can we expect from a recovery? Unfortunately, as much as economists and others try to find comparisons, they’re ultimately unsatisfying. As Mark Twain would put it, history doesn’t repeat itself but it rhymes. Let’s look at a few.
Recent history: The 2001 downturn shared a burst bubble, in that case the dot-com, as well as corporate criminality with the likes of Enron. But it was short-lived and saw nowhere near the damage of the Great Recession. It did see a “jobless” recovery, however — an ominous portent. Only 1 million net new jobs would be created in the expansion that followed. And the big money moved out of dot-coms and into real estate, beginning the mania that would help being on our current calamity.
The S&L downturn: Like the Great Recession, this 1991 event grew out of a financial collapse and one where regulators were forced to look the other way by politicians and ideology. It was also the first sign of the increasing financialization of the economy that had begun in the 1980s. But it’s small potatoes compared with today’s mess and was contained to a small portion of the economy. It was followed by the most robust rebound of the post-World War II era. Today’s globalization and China’s entry as a major economic competitor were years away.
The 1980-82 recessions. These are often compared in severity with the Great Recession, but the differences are important. They began with high interest rates and high inflation and ended with the worst post-World War II downturn to date as Paul Volcker’s Federal Reserve vanquished inflation. It was a Fed-induced recession, rather than the result of a financial or housing bubble. The American industrial base was largely intact and the middle class still strong. The U.S. trade balance was healthy. None of this is the case in the Great Recession. Most significantly, our latest downturn saw far faster job losses and has yet to even begin to see the rebound in employment chalked up after the end of the ’82 recession.
The Great Depression. This is the most similar modern event we have to the Great Recession. A decade of wild speculation, laissez-faire policies and rising income inequality ended in the near collapse of the world economic system. Still, the contrasts are critical. America was much poorer then, more rural, with a small federal government. The financial system was more decentralized. Policymakers were confounded by the crash and tried to fight it by tightening credit and focusing on balancing the budget. This helped turn a severe recession into a depression.
Two other interesting differences: In 1929, when the crash hit, America was the world’s largest creditor nation. Through the Depression, it had a large, state-of-the-art productive base and skilled workers waiting for a rebound. That began in the mid-1930s — until FDR, an instinctive budget hawk who didn’t like John Maynard Keynes (who returned the sentiment) cut back the New Deal in 1937, causing a severe recession. Full recovery came with the ramp-up to World War II. Even so, the stock market didn’t recover its old highs until the 1950s and Depression survivors were always suspicious of it.
Finally, in the Depression, this mysterious thing called “the market,” meaning the collection of powerful bankers, investors and the shadow banking industry, didn’t hold the fate of nations hostage. That era’s version of this group had been swept away by the crash. Not so this time.
One common denominator is unemployment. Both the Great Depression and Great Recession mowed down jobs at levels not seen in other downturns of the past century. Depression joblessness was much worse, perhaps 25 percent in 1932. Contrary to the dreams of revisionists, the rate did improve through the New Deal. But it never fully recovered until the early 1940s.
Again, we’re a more affluent nation now and have a tattered but real social safety net. But it looks as if we face years of unemployment for millions of Americans. And that fact in the Depression led to political instability, particularly before 1932. Fascism, socialism and communism were all considered more viable than failed capitalism. To the real left’s eternal dismay, Franklin Roosevelt saved capitalism, even as he battled the “economic royalists.”
thank you Jon
Hasn’t Detroit suffered enough? I mean, this guy must be feeling like the new OJ Simpson right about now because his legal troubles just refuse to go away. The saddest part of his scenario is that most of his troubles are largely due to his own stupidity and lack of humility about all that he has done. And now in addition to the five years he’s already serving, he’s been brought up on 19 counts of fraud and tax evasion.
Orrin Hatch (Utah-R.)
Utah is crazy about the idea their senator, Orrin Hatch, has come up with to begin drug testing the unemployed. Well, that is not an idea that Barbara Mikulski of Maryland thinks is anything more than “petty and punitive.” But, this isn’t the first time this idea has been introduced and it is a way, according to Hatch, to keep the money that is supposed to help families out of the hands of drug dealers.
The legislation would help the deficit of states as well as the federal government’s. The monies that Hatch claims to be protecting are not only coming from the unemployed, he wants those that are receiving any type of state assistance to have to submit to a drug test. The idea of drug testing seems a bit intrusive, exploitive and essentially, sinister, but, you have to admit, there is some remnant of logic in it.
But, what if unemployment has driven the person to drugs, and more than likely, marijuana. That could happen right? According to the Huffington Post, in Michigan, 10 years ago, three welfare offices implemented mandatory testing and out of 258, only 21 tested positive for illicit substances. And everyone tested positive for maryjane except three. Is this going to turn into another debate over the type of drug and how much money you wil receive? The laws are still sending those who choose to sale crack to jail a far longer time than those who sale cocaine. Will this become like that? If you get caught with alcohol blood levels higher than allowed, you’re ok. But if it’s marijuana in your system you’re cut off.
Hatch is willing to be tested himself. Although he paused when thinking about it. He said he doesn’t know anyone in Congress that is on welfare, but “that depends on one’s definition of welfare.” And the definition IS that their check is cashed because we approve them to work for us and we pay them. Welfare, right?