July 21, 2007


IMPEACH BUSH


IMPEACH CHENEY

THINGS ARE CRUMBLING EVERYWHERE

I try to be an optimist. I really do. But it's getting very difficult. Everywhere you look now you see rot and decay. Our government is a snakepit of corruption, cronyism, and incompetence. This is at a time when we need government to be at its best. We're mired in a war in Iraq that will be a disaster whether we stay or whether we go. The global climate is changing despite denials from the crowd that supports our corrupt government. Even our infrastructure, things like roads, bridges, water systems, and sewer systems is decrepit. This article by David B. Caruso is at www.guardian.co.uk:

The steam conduit that exploded beneath a Manhattan street at the height of rush hour Wednesday, just a block from Grand Central Terminal, was laid when Calvin Coolidge was president, and was part of a system that began providing energy to city buildings in 1882.

Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the explosion, but some experts said the age of the city's infrastructure was a possible factor. Pipes don't last forever.

``This may be a warning sign for this very old network of pipe that we have,'' said Anil Agrawal, a professor of civil engineering at the City College of New York. ``We should not be looking at this incident as an isolated one.''

From Boston to Los Angeles, a number of American cities are entering a middle age of sorts, and the infrastructure propping them up is showing signs of strain.

FRESNO BEE OUTSOURCES JOBS

The Fresno Bee is sending jobs to India. Globalization comes home for seven workers, who will lose their jobs. Again I have to ask why global capitalism is such a good thing. The consequences are outsourced jobs and a lower standard of living for American workers. It's ultimately a form of cannibalizing our economy. When the majority of us don't have money to buy goods and services because we don't make any money, what then? This article is at www.fresnobee.com:

The Fresno Bee will outsource some advertising production work to India, the newspaper said Tuesday.

Seven of 31 workers in The Bee's advertising design department will lose their jobs, said Ken Hatfield, The Bee's vice president of communications and public affairs.

Workers who cannot be placed in other jobs will be offered severance pay, extended health insurance and outplacement help.

"This is a difficult decision for the newspaper to make, but The Fresno Bee needs to operate more efficiently," Hatfield said.

Beginning in September, Indian workers for San Jose-based Express KCS will take over the work of affected employees.

Ray Steele, publisher and president of The Fresno Bee, said in a statement that the move is meant to "serve our advertising customers more effectively, efficiently and economically while focusing on our core business: producing relevant and compelling news and advertising information in our newspaper and on our Web sites."