|
Gma_Joyce
|
read my profile
sign my guestbook
Name: Joyce
Gender: Female
Interests: Genealogy, my grandchildren, music and writing letters to the editors expressing my liberal political and social views but not necessarily in that order
Expertise: Helping others do genealogical research online
Occupation: Teacher & Christian Ed. Dir. (
Message: message me
Member Since:
7/7/2004
|
|
|  Just when you think you've heard it all....here's a snippet from the transcript of Jack Clark's "Blast the Right" podcast about the effects great inequality has on a society......
"Brian Griffiths is a Goldman, Sachs international advisor. He was recently discussing Wall Street salaries and bonuses. You've probably heard that the financial industry is all set to award itself a record $140 billion in total compensation this year. Goldman, Sachs all by its lonesome will pass out $23 billion in bonuses."
"Griffiths said in defense of such numbers: 'We have to tolerate the inequality as a way to achieve greater prosperity and opportunity for all...' "
If you are still confused about trickle down economics, I recommend you check out this site and podcast at http://www.therationalradical.com/2009/11/158-we-have-to-tolerate-inequality-to.html; however, if you don't have time to listen to or read the entire transcript of his podcast, here's the part I found most interesting: A book, already out in the United Kingdom, will be publihed next month here in the United States. It's called "The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger." http://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Level-Equality-Societies-Stronger/dp/1608190366
The authors, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, have a website, http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/. What they have found, is that economic inequality within a society is the single most powerful determinant of whether that society will have more or less of a host of social ills. No one can summarize their research better than they in their own words. From their website:
Great inequality is the scourge of modern societies. We provide the evidence on each of eleven different health and social problems: physical health, mental health, drug abuse, education, imprisonment, obesity, social mobility, trust and community life, violence, teenage births, and child well-being. For all eleven of these health and social problems, outcomes are very substantially worse in more unequal societies. We have checked the relationships wherever possible in two independent test beds: internationally among the rich countries, and then again among the 50 states of the USA. In almost every case we find the same tendency for outcomes to be much worse in more unequal societies. As the book's publisher put it, in reference to the United States in particular: Almost every modern social problem—ill-health, violence, lack of community life, teen pregnancy, mental illness—is more likely to occur in a less-equal society. This is why America, by most measures the richest country on earth, has per capita shorter average lifespan, more cases of mental illness, more obesity, and more of its citizens in prison than any other developed nation.
| | |
|  Recently my daughter, Valerie (aka "murisopsis") posted a poem which triggered a memory of my own little poem on the same subject which I had written in my journal way back in 1981!
A lot of things change over several decades, but those Hoosier cornfields will stay the same forever I hope. So here's my little poem....and by the way, Val had never seen mine or been influenced by it since I never shared my journal with her. In 1981 she had graduated from college and was working and living three hours away. But as the sayings go: "Great minds think [or is it work?] alike" and "Like mother like daughter." Very groanable, so you have my permission to groan. November Soldiers The November cornstalks stand Like rows of tattered old soldiers Their faded battle ribbons waving in the breeze And too tired to stand at attention much longer. | | |
|  This photo almost says it.....but the caption needs a little editing since I think Lieberman is drunk with his new found power...It worked for Olympia for awhile.
ABOUT HOW JOE LIEBERMAN IS USING THE SENATE HEALTH CARE REFORM BILL IN ORDER TO WIELD POWER AND INFLUENCE (and will he ever show his upper teeth?) | | |
|  I'd be willing to bet nobody but me remembers "Tailspin Tommy!" In the late 1930's movie serials around fifteen minutes long were a regular part of the movie fare .... an addition to the regular feature length film. I suppose they were a carry-over of the old time "cliff hangers" designed to keep you coming back for the next weekly episode. They served their purpose well indeed.
Back in 1939 and 1940 I had a crush on "Tailspin Tommy," a young virile and very handsome and dashing pilot who stole my heart while keeping me on the edge of my seat. He wore a leather helmet with goggles and a very long white scarf which billowed out in back of him while he flew in the open cockpit bi-wing airplane. He also wore jodphurs with knee high leather boots.
I loved Tailspin Tommy a lot more than Johnny Mack Brown, the cowboy star who was often in the featured film. How I worried about Tailspin Tommy's inability to pull out of that nosedive each week! It didn't dawn on me at eight years of age that he might just be a rather poor excuse of a pilot....to go into that spinning nosedive weekly.
The last few minutes of the film always showed the earth spinning around and around as Tommy fought to bring up the nose of his plane by pulling back with all his might on that stubborn, seemingly stuck small half-wheel or joystick...whatever it is called. The weekly film would end with all of us gasping seeing the plane just inches away from the ground.....and then the words "To be continued" would flash across the screen. Of course he always managed to pull out of the dive but it took an entire week to do it! His bi-wing plane never showed any sign of damage but we all were kept on pins and needles for the week between episodes.
Every once in awhile I'd ask people my age if they remembered this serial; and to my dismay, nobody ever did. However, with the coming of Google, I find there now are DVD's of Tailspin Tommy episodes for sale on the internet. I wonder if he is still trying to pull out of that nosedive after all these years....or did he finally crash? For $5.95 I could maybe find out.
| | |
| Here we are....my three daughters plus my older granddaughter and I all starring in a Halloween video  (link below) which was created by mad scientist math teacher youngest daughter. Eldest daughter is the vampire, middle daughter the werewolf, granddaughter the mummy and Gma Joyce the witch. There is such a lot of technological fun available for us amateur geeks nowadays! One can use this site to make their own Halloween "Monster Mash" video. Happy Halloween! http://www.monstermashup.com/edd07d | | |
|
