culture, politics, commentary, criticism

Thursday, August 03, 2006
Fifth anniversary of the vacationer-in-chief's inability to prevent 9-11. The "Bin Laden Determined to Strike" Presidential Daily Briefing was delivered in Crawford in August 2001.

It's August again. So where's he now? On his
fake ranch.
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Monday, July 31, 2006
A tale of one city. Not too clever, those Wall Street Journal opinion writers. They neatly ignore relevant facts, as we've seen time and again. Now they're lambasting the city of
Chicago because its new pro-living-wage legislation doesn't fit into its antiquated wordview:
Last week the [Chicago] City Council voted 35-14 to impose a hyper-minimum wage on "big-box" retail stores with more than $1 billion of sales. The new law will require the likes of Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, and Home Depot to pay every worker -- regardless of experience, education or skill -- a minimum wage of $13 an hour by 2010 ($10 in salary and $3 in health benefits). At least another dozen cities, including Washington, D.C., are considering copy-cat laws.
What's wrong with that? Nothing at all, when you consider that manufacturing growth in Chicago is growing, in contrast to everywhere except China, and also to the fact that Chicago is on its way to become America's greenest city.

No less a global journalistic authority than The Economist recently called Chicago a success story: "a city buzzing with life, humming with prosperity, sparkling with new buildings, new sculptures, new parks, and generally exuding vitality."

"The only issue is how many jobs Chicago will lose," opines the Journal. Chicago will lose some of the shit jobs like Wal-Mart greeter, no doubt, but higher-end jobs will fill the void. That's the point. Chicago's quality of life is rising, so that makes it more in demand and therefore it is a more expensive place to live and work (and staff) than your typical Wal-Mart red state exurban hellhole.

The economic evidence speaks for itself. Old-school business editorialists, take note — you are the dying dinosaurs.
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Greatest Hits · Alternatives to First Command Financial Planning · First Command, last resort, Part 3 · Part 2 · Part 1 · Stealing $50K from a widow: Wells Real Estate · Leo Wells, REITs and divine wealth · Sex-crazed Red State teenagers · What I hate: a manifesto · Spawn of Darleen Druyun · All-American high school sex party · Why is Ken Lay smiling? · Poppy's Enron birthday party · The Saudi money laundry and the president's uncle · The sentence of Enron's John Forney · The holiness of Neil Bush's marriage · The Silence of Cheney: a poem · South Park Christians · Capitalist against Bush: Warren Buffett · Fastow childen vs. Enron children · Give your prescription money to your old boss · Neil Bush, hard-working matchmaker · Republicans against fetuses and pregnant women · Emboldened Ken Lay · Faith-based jails · Please die for me so I can skip your funeral · A brief illustrated history of the Republican Party · Nancy Victory · Soldiers become accountants · Beware the Merrill Lynch mob · Darleen Druyun's $5.7 billion surprise · First responder funding · Hoovering the country · First Command fifty percent load · Ken Lay and the Atkins diet · Halliburton WMD · Leave no CEO behind · August in Crawford · Elaine Pagels · Profitable slave labor at Halliburton · Tom Hanks + Mujahideen · Sharon & Neilsie Bush · One weekend a month, or eternity · Is the US pumping Iraqi oil to Kuwait? · Cheney's war · Seth Glickenhaus: Capitalist against Bush · Martha's blow job · Mark Belnick: Tyco Catholic nut · Cheney's deferred Halliburton compensation · Jeb sucks sugar cane · Poindexter & LifeLog · American Family Association panic · Riley Bechtel and the crony economy · The Book of Sharon (Bush) · The Art of Enron · Plunder convention · Waiting in Kuwait: Jay Garner · What's an Army private worth? · Barbara Bodine, Queen of Baghdad · Sneaky bastards at Halliburton · Golf course and barbecue military strategy · Enron at large · Recent astroturf · Cracker Chic 2 · No business like war business · Big Brother · Martha Stewart vs. Thomas White · Roger Kimball, disappointed Republican poetry fan · Cheney, Lay, Afghanistan · Terry Lynn Barton, crimes of burning · Feasting at the Cheney trough · Who would Jesus indict? · Return of the Carlyle Group · Duct tape is for little people · GOP and bad medicine · Sears Tower vs Mt Rushmore · Scared Christians · Crooked playing field · John O'Neill: The man who knew · Back to the top






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