SO IS THIS THE HOPE, OR THE CHANGE? Announced U.S. Job Cuts Rose 20% From Year Ago. “Planned firings increased 20 percent to 50,702 last month from February 2010, the first year-over-year gain since May 2009, according to a report today from Chicago-based Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.”
Archive for 2011
March 3, 2011
ROISSY RESPONDS TO ME, and to Kay Hymowitz.
March 2, 2011
SEN. DANIEL AKAKA (D-HI) won’t run for reelection.
WISCONSIN: Taking Down The Protest Signs.
PJTV: My interview with Donald Rumsfeld. It was supposed to be a two-parter, but the producers left it in one piece after all: “It just seemed to flow naturally.” We talk about his new book, Known and Unknown: A Memoir, now a #1 bestseller, about why the Bush Administration changed its stance on pushing democracy in 2005, civil-military relations, and how the United States should be responding to events in Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, etc.
CHANGE: Ohio Senate Passes Bill Limiting Collective Bargaining. “The legislation will now go to the Assembly, where Republicans have a 59 – 40 majority.”
WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: The Tea Party and American Foreign Policy.
LOOKING AT THE CRAZINESS OF THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS PROCESS. The piece is about Andrew Ferguson’s new book, Crazy U: One Dad’s Crash Course in Getting His Kid Into College.
AT AMAZON, 50% or more off in Sports & Outdoors.
TRACY QUAN: Stop scapegoating sex workers: Harry Reid’s bid to close bordellos is a petty public-relations move. They told me if I voted Republican, we’d see petty men in Congress trying to impose their bluenose morals by force of law. And they were right!
FARHAD MANJOO: The tedious, annoying complaints of public radio listeners. Since I listen to NPR pretty regularly, I know what he means — but I actually find ’em kind of amusing. And, actually, I think Farhad does too:
Every time one of their narrow-minded, classist letters makes it on the air, I contemplate burning my tote bag in protest. The problem, for me, isn’t just that some people don’t like some things NPR covers. It’s that these reflexively snobby pseudo-intellectuals see NPR as their own—a refuge from the mad world outside, a “safe,” high-minded palace that should never be sullied by anything more outré than James Taylor (whom, of course, they love). . . . If these snoots love public radio as much as I do, then one of us must be missing the boat about what public radio is supposed to be about. Is it me, or them?
It’s them.
Plus, NPR appeals to the “silent majority.” Read the whole thing. And chuckle.
CONN CARROLL: You know, collective bargaining isn’t actually a right.
A ROUNDUP OF audio-editing software. I still use Adobe Audition 1.5, a barely-changed version of Cool Edit Pro. (They Adobe-ized it and ruined it in version 2.0). And — don’t laugh — Acid. But really, I don’t do much audio work these days, having shifted into video where others do the editing.
HMM: Stop Saving So Much for Retirement. “You get the concept of living it up in your 60s. But how does not saving leave you with more income than saving? A lot of is due to the aforementioned benefits of delayed retirement: The age-70 retirees have to stretch their nest egg over eight fewer years of life, and they collect a bigger Social Security benefit. But a lot of it also comes from earnings on savings they already had.” My advice: Save. Hard times are likely down the road. But hey, I could be wrong, and that would be great.
UPDATE: A Wall Street reader emails:
The irony of current retirement planning is that everything coming out of Washington is geared toward punishing savers.
Bernanke drove short-term interest rates to zero by lowering the fed funds target, and then he cut longer-term interest rates by buying most of the treasury bonds issued over the last few months.
Obama tried to increase taxes on dividends and capital gains, and will presumably try again…making stock ownership problematic.
No need to review Washington’s policy blunders in the housing market, which accounted for an enormous chunk of many folks’ net worth.
A conspiracy minded person would marvel at all these things converging just as the baby boomers start to retire.
Well, good thing I’m not one of those, then.
MAKING EDIBLE OBJECTS with a 3D printer.
AT AMAZON, markdowns on patio furniture.
CONGRESSIONAL BOSSES FROM HELL: Sheila Jackson Lee. “Capitol Hill is famous for its demanding, insensitive bosses. Yet even by the harsh standards of Congress, Sheila Jackson Lee stands out. She may be the worst boss in Washington.” I think some disgruntled staffer should engage in some video recording before the next election, that’s what I think.
UPDATE: Reader Hervé Wiener writes: “Burn ’em. An Army Of DVDs!” Heh.
DAVID HARSANYI: Debt, the Economy & Government ‘Investments.’
JUST TAPED A TWO-PART INTERVIEW WITH DONALD RUMSFELD for PJTV, and he informed me that his new book, Known And Unknown: A Memoir, has reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
PINK SLIPPED: Susannah Breslin has a new blog at Forbes on being unemployed. A lot of interesting lessons already, including the panty-selling option, and a gender difference in how people respond to news you’ve been laid off.
HOW TO START an online business.
AN INSIDER TRADING SCANDAL AT THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION? “Today Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) sent letters to the Director of Enforcement for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan to share records CREW obtained through its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against Education. These documents show high-level Education officials colluded with Wall Street short-sellers, improperly leaking the contents of highly controversial gainful employment regulations in advance of their publication.”
I’ve figured all along that the assault on for-profit education is mostly political — and maybe even an effort to keep the squeeze on the Washington Post via its Kaplan subsidiary so it won’t be too hard on the Administration — but I had no idea that there was money-grubbing involved too.