Four for the road

El Cabrero is feeling a bit overwhelmed lately. I thought things were supposed to slow down for the holidays...

Anyway, here are some items worth a look:

LOW WAGE NATION. Here's a look at how we got there.

TALKING BUT NOT WALKING. Here's E.J.Dionne on some real family values.

INEQUALITY. It matters.

WEIRD BUT COOL. Water jets seem to be spurting from one of the moons of Jupiter.

So like...

Street protest outside WV Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito's office yesterday.

...what was the point of the whole shutdown thing again? Did the shutdown wrecking crew get what they wanted out of this?

Talk about sound and fury signifying nothing. What a waste and what an irresponsible abuse of power.

Watching this sorry spectacle, I was reminded of a saying of Napoleon's: "Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."

(Of course, El Cabrero loves everyone and has no enemies. But the point remains...)

WHO PAYS? Here's another look at the social cost of low wages.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO AMERICAN POLITICS? Here are some ideas.

MORE SPITE AT WORK. This item looks at the millions left out by the refusal of some states to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Parthian shots

As we head into another hot weekend, here are a few items that caught my eye...

OH GOOD. At the rate we're going, US wage levels will soon be competitive with those of China.

DEALING WITH THE WRONG CRISIS. Paul Krugman, America's Cassandra, nails it again.

DECLINING UNION MEMBERSHIPS, INCREASING INEQUALITY. Here's an academic paper about the connection between the two.

Stay cool.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED