Workforce training and Employment

We have some abysmal numbers of unemployed people in some sectors of the economy no matter what the statistics say. Unemployment in the 20-24 year old component of our population is at 9% nationally [see http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat03.htm] even where it's lower on average. For minorities the rates are much higher. Overall the Washington Area unemployment when including surrounding areas is 3.8% while for the District proper it 6.3% [http://www.bls.gov/news.release/metro.t01.htm]. Not having an income or productive employment is bad for people's psychological, civic and spiritual health. I've been volunteering with my friends at GABIDDC and other organizations to do something about this. Two of FD Roosevelt's envisioned rights in his "Second Bill of Rights" were:

	Decent Employment
	And:
	An Adequate wage and decent living (living wage) from that employment

There can be no fair and equitable society (equity = a fair society) unless people can use their creativity, be employed at something useful and get compensated for their labors. But these are positive rights; they require institutions, programs, resources and efforts to become reality. My friend Mike Jackson is devoting Herculean efforts to getting workforce training and development programs stood up and supported in the District of Columbia and around the Country. I've been doing what I can to support his efforts.

The Shoulder's that Raised us

The Shoulders That Raised us

We live on the shoulders of those who raised us up.

How can we turn around and hold other people down?

Today the sun will set, but tomorrow another one will rise,

We pass by as other eyes open and "I" live on.

 

Here a whisper lingers, and "I" hear an whispering song.

I swear I hear the voice of a dear departed love echoing on.

I have to stop and admire the singing in the trees.

the doves making their cries, leaves rustling high above.

 

And though my heart can only bear,

so much rising and departing,

still those voices echo an eternity in this moment.

and I see a vision of a single finger,

saying "shush my darling sleep."

"I am at ease and all your fears can keep."

Christopher Hartly Holte

This from August 14 2011

ISDS as an agency of Neo-colonialism

Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) Tribunals are now starting to bite what used to be known as the first world, in the rear. Recently the threat of an Investor Suit in the World Trade court instigated Congress to rescind point of origin labeling laws. And another lawsuit was filed even more recently seeking damages for a ruling that the Keystone XL pipeline was too great a risk to the US water supply to be built. [see Washington Post: "TransCanada is suing the U.S. over Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline. The U.S. might lose."]

Imminence

We live in this limited world,

where we can only march one way,

where each day that passes is lost.

And we can only progress at it's cost.

 

This is a world of bricks and stones,

Wood and rot,

Where every step forward is bought

with pain and loss.

 

But imminent in this world is a kind of transcendence:

a chance to participate in creation.

A choice between irrationality and reason;

Between tearing down and destruction or creating joy;

 

Those bricks and stones can build a prison,

Or raise a palace of the imagination.

In honor of Spinoza, Christopher H. Holte

We are not diminished

We are not diminished

Your love's beauty shines radiant like a sun.

She has shed a husk and is free to cavort and roam

Close to home,

yet far from this sad place under the loam.

 

In waves of imagination and the memory of loved ones.

There is a star that shines that should bear her name.

In this world, the world beyond we cannot know.

But If anything is transcendent, it is that loving glow.

Responding to a friend's loss, Christopher H. Holte 3/2/2016

The Hoodoo about Varieties of Voodoo

Varieties of Voodoo by Paul Krugman February 19 2016, he writes;

"America’s two big political parties are very different from each other, and one difference involves the willingness to indulge economic fantasies." [Krugman Voodoo]

No We Democrats indulge in self flagellation and let the Cons use their not so "innocent frauds" to bully us around. We also have a habit of eating our own -- and letting the Cons, Con us. So we do their work for them.

As James K. Galbraith notes in his own rebuke:

"For the record, in case you're curious, I'm not tied to Professor Friedman in any way. But the powerful – such as Paul and yourselves – should be careful where you step." [Galbraith]

And it looks like a lot of folks have stepped in it.

Murray Rothbard March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995

A Founder of the Modern Right Wing

In April of 2014 I wrote a blog entry on the Mt. Pelarin Society, but the figure who intrigued me at the moment was Murray Rothbard, who was tied to both Milton Friedman and Ludwig Von Mises, and who was a disciple of Ludwig Von Mises. Reading his various hagiographies I encountered narratives all over the place, but mostly they provided an image of a man who was incredibly influential with the right wing of this country.

Murray Rothbard from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Rothbard