When in doubt, you can always talk about the weather in polite Minnesota conversation. Days like today, when we are expected to have a foot of snow and Olympic Ice Dancing on the roads, it’s a topic you can count on. It’s not controversial but it provides a nearly endless supply of entertainment much like driving a flaming bus through a wall of televisions, at least in the sense that it’s likely to be lethal.
Home » 2010 (Page 29)
Yearly Archives: 2010
Great Recession? Great Denial
What is the best way to describe our economic situation? If you look at the popular press, the term that is gaining truck lately is “Great Recession”, a term that refers to the worst recession since the Great Depression of 1929-1937. But isn’t a really bad Recession just one way of defining a “Depression”? Well, maybe, but that would involve using that dreaded “D word”. That kind of cowardice, the inability to call the situation what it is, lies at the heart of why we aren’t capable of dealing with it properly – which is why it continues to get worse.
Patently Absurd
The economy continues to lumber along, perhaps turning a corner without actually creating much in the way of new jobs. We never know just where we stand until it’s in our rearview mirror.. One thing that has perked up lately is talk about innovation as a way out of the mess we’re in. Obama is pitching $30B for small business lending on the grounds that this is where innovation, and thus jobs, are created. So far, so good. But the spirit of innovation in the USofA needs a lot more than that if it is going to be the engine of new growth and new jobs.
George Washington Carver
“Anything will give up its secrets if you love it enough.”
In February, it is customary to put up images of Dr. George Washington Carver in our schools as part of Black History Month. Most people see his earnest and humble stare coming from the cheerful posters and think, “Oh, the peanut guy.” But he was much more than that, perhaps even the greatest scientist who ever lived. Black or white.
State of the Union: Serious
Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union Address on Tuesday night. That might seem like a long time ago when it comes to standard news cycles, but I decided that someone has to take their time when responding to think it through a bit. If you’re already tired of this analysis, I’ll understand.
Barataria - The work of Erik Hare 