Of plague and such

The extensive staff of this blog searches day and night for items of possible interest that would cater to a reader's every whim. That's just how we rock em.

The latest example of this is this item about an anthropologist who studies medieval skeletons to learn more about the Black Death. Interestingly, people seemed to live longer after the plague was over, possibly because it weeded out the weak and possibly because living standards went up in a less crowded world.

That really was an example of supply and demand in action. After the 14th century pandemic, so many people had died that demand for labor exceeded supply and wages for survivors went up. I'm guessing there was plenty of unoccupied housing to be had as well.

While El Cabrero is all about improving conditions for workers, I think I'd prefer it to happen without such drastic measures in 21st century.

ANOTHER WHACK to supply side economics is delivered by Jared Bernstein here.

WONKY BUT IMPORTANT. Economist Dean Baker looks at the minimum wage as an anti-inequality measure here.

TALKING COAL. Here's a thoughtful article from the State Journal about the downturn in coal employment and what might be done about it.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Two urgent items and then some

This blog was established to draw attention to the burning social issues of our day. I'm not sure what happened to that plan.

However, I would like to say thank you to everyone who has sent in good wishes for our Great Pyrenees Arpad, who, as reported here, broke his leg last week.

I am pleased to report that Arpad, perhaps more accurately referred to these days as Tripod, is doing much better. Last night he walked the perimeter of the Farm and barked at any and all nocturnal malefactors. Today he's gone farther and faster than ever on his walks and seems to be doing better all around.

The Pod abides.

Secondly, I received an email from the Spousal Unit. After reading this post about, among other things, Patrick Swayze's mullet in the movie Roadhouse, she wrote that his haircut was in fact not a mullet and sent the following link with mullet pictures to prove her point. After perusing the site, I still say Patrick was wearing one.

What do you think, Gentle Reader? When is a mullet a mullet?

This issue may not soon be resolved, but it does occur to me that Arpad might look good in a mullet. I know he may not like the cut, but then again he isn't very mobile these days. He should have thought of that before he broke his leg.

I THINK I'M JEALOUS. The Gazette ran this great story yesterday about a retired WV state trooper hiking the Appalachian Trail. He's almost done. That has always been a dream of mine, although the odds of it happening are pretty remote.

REWRITING THE GOSPELS.  What would Supply Side Jesus do?

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Channeling Shelby

The droop.

I think I'm going to be out of control for the next few weeks. I just started listening to an unabridged recording of Shelby Foote's epic Civil War trilogy. If only it was read by the man himself, I'd be in paradise.

People who have known me for a while know that I have worshiped and have been known to attempt to channel Shelby ever since I saw Ken Burns' series on the Civil War. At any moment, I can go off on vast tangents of attempting to impersonate Shelby by relating the adventures of the fictitious Mississippi 7th during that historic conflict. Sometimes, this experience seems to be involuntary.

In my version, the men of the 7th commenced their involvement in the war with a heroic if ill advised cavalry charge on Fort Sumter, which lay more than a mile across the water of Charleston Harbor from Confederate batteries that fired on it. It was a moment of unparalleled gallantry, as Shelby might say. It goes downhill from there, but I'll try to stop now. While I can.

At times, I've even picked up various volumes by Shelby in public places and read aloud sentences chosen at random. He has the most amazing turn of a phrase, which can only be improved by hearing it in the voice of the author. One such gem that appears in the first volume refers to "the phallic droop of the Florida peninsula."

How come I can never come up with a phrase like that?

SUPPLY SIDE SNAKE OIL refuted here, for the millionth time.

SHARED SACRIFICE? Don't count on it.

MORE ON THAT here. Looks like a cave in is in progress.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

CONNED

Caption: Seamus McGoogle does not like to be conned.

El Cabrero is winding up New Year's week by highlighting some important books about current events published last year. Today's pick is The Big Con: The True Story of How Washington Got Hoodwinked and Hijacked by Crackpot Economics. The title is kind of self-explanatory. The author is Jonathan Chait, one of El Cabrero's favorite writers at The New Republic.

The book is one of several with the how-did-we-get-in-this-mess theme. Here are the first two paragraphs by way of a teaser:

I have this problem. Whenever I try to explain what's happening in American politics--I mean what's really happening--I wind up sounding a bit like an unhinged conspiracy theorist. But honestly, I'm not. My politics are actually quite moderate. (Most real lefties, inf fact, think I'm a Washington establishment sellout.) So please give me a chance to explain myself when I tell you the following: American politics has been hijacked by a tiny coterie of right-wing economic extremists, some of them ideological zealots, others merely greedy, a few of them possible insane. (Stay with me.)

The scope of their triumph is breathtaking. Over the course of the last three decades, they have moved from the right-wing fringe to the commanding heights of the national agenda. Notions that would have been laughed at a generation ago--that cutting taxes for the very rich is the best response to any and every economic circumstance, or that it is perfectly appropriate to turn the most rapacious and self-interested elements of the business lobby into essentially an arm of the federal government--are no so pervasive they barely attract any notice.

Chait does a good job of tracing the rise of supply side economics from the fringes to center stage and suggests that the main thing that has changed about US politics over the last few years is that the right wing has moved from a moderately conservative position (think Eisenhower) to an extreme position. That's the key to our current so-called polarization. He does a good job of lambasting the media for not noticing this and attempting to portray moderates as people who split the difference between yesterday's consensus and the far right.

It's worth a look. Here's a link to the NY Times review.

SPEAKING OF THE WHOLE BUSINESS LOBBY THING, the lobbyist-written Medicare Part D prescription drug plan is about to stick it to seniors this this year.

MORE ON MINE SAFETY is here.

THE HEALTH GAP. According to new research,

the relative advantage in child mortality rates and health associated with social and economic advantage was about the same at the end of the 20th century as it was at the beginning of the 20th century. People with more money, more education and higher status jobs experience consistently better health and lower child mortality rates.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

FIGHTING MONSTERS AND GAZING INTO ABYSSES

Caption: Don't look into this one very long.

El Cabrero has been hanging out with Nietzsche again. This time, it's his 1886 work, Beyond Good and Evil.

It's been a while since I've cracked that one open and this time around it kinda seems all over the place. If I was forced to say what it was about at gunpoint, I'd have to say it had something to do with morality, knowledge and psychology.

The great thing about reading Nietzsche, however disturbed and disturbing he was, is that he has some awesome one liners. I'll be serving up a few on this week's Goat Rope.

One of my all time favorites from that book has been widely quoted but should be known more widely still. Here goes:

He who fights monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into the abyss the abyss also gazes into you.

That one (especially the first part) should be posted pretty much everywhere to remind us of the danger of becoming like what we hate. It happens over and over in so many different ways.

In the post 9/11 U.S., some defenders of "freedom" led the country into a prolonged flirtation with authoritarianism. Many an anti-war activist develops a stridency and militarism of spirit. Many social movements that began with a desire for justice have committed horrible injustices. Opponents of bigotry can become intolerant, just as opponents of despotism can become despotic.

I'm not sure what the antidote is other than awareness of that danger.

CRACKPOT ECONOMICS. Here's a good review of Jonathan Chait's The Big Con by Tom White that appeared in the Sunday Gazette-Mail

JOBS AND DEPRESSION. Some jobs carry greater risks of depression for workers than others, according to this AP article.

Here's some excerpts:

People who tend to the elderly, change diapers and serve up food and drinks have the highest rates of depression among U.S. workers.

Overall, 7 percent of full-time workers battled depression in the past year, according to a government report available Saturday.

Women were more likely than men to have had a major bout of depression, and younger workers had higher rates of depression than their older colleagues.

Specifically around 11 percent of personal care workers "which includes child care and helping the elderly and severely disabled with their daily needs" had bouts of depression lasting two weeks or longer. Next came at 10.3 percent came people who prepare and serve food. Social workers and health care workers tied for third at 9.6 percent.

Interestingly, engineers, architects and surveyors had the least depression, with a rate of 4.3 percent. Have you taken your trigonometry pill today?

I notice they didn't bother to survey goatherds...

NEW WV PEACE RESOURCE. The West Virginia Peace News Net just launched on the web and is worth checking out with lots of news, information and links. On the masthead is a quote by Gandhi:

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?

ABORTION is a controversial issue which has often been cynically exploited for political gain. According to the AP, a new international study found that

Women are just as likely to get an abortion in countries where it is outlawed as they are in countries where it is legal, according to research published Friday.

It's another reminder that there's a big difference between making something illegal and making it go away.

IRAQ. Here's an interesting article from the NY Times about current debates and soul searching on the Iraq war among U.S. officers. And I couldn't pass up this article on the effect of the war on the native cat population--a group occupying the land where cats first domesticated people.

Y'all be careful out there today.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

WEEKEND SPECIAL: DENNY DIMWIT ON SUPPLY SIDE ECONOMICS

Note to first time readers: Generally, this blog covers fairly serious human issues during the week. Weekends, however, are reserved for the commentaries of various animals in and around Goat Rope Farm.

This weekend, we are pleased to once again welcome bantam rooster and noted free market economist Dr. Denton "Denny" Dimwit. Dr. Dimwit is director of Goat Rope Farm Public Policy Foundation, a senior fellow at several libertarian and conservative think tanks, and an economic advisor to the Bush administration.

It is our hope that features such as this will reduce the tragic polarization of our times, promote a climate of deep listening and profound mutual respect, and encourage a greater appreciation of both the humanities and the animalities.

THE DIMWIT DISPATCH

Crudawackabamalamadingdong!

Can this blog get any stupider? I didn't think so.

I noticed some really stupid things in here this week against supply side economics. Let me tell you--supply side economics is AWESOME.

I can prove it statisticoempiricalomathematicologically.

Look at that picture. The little dark guy in the background is me. Pretty handsome, huh? Thanks for noticing.

And see what's standing in front of me? That BIG hen? Yowza! That's what I'm talking about.

I represent demand. Oh yeah...And she represents supply. Out the wazoo...

That's the beauty of the market.

And that's the truth. You bet your cloaca.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED