Corporate Profits at All-Time High; Wages at All-Time Low: Can We Call it Class War Yet?

Corporate Profits at All-Time High; Wages at All-Time Low: Can We Call it Class War Yet?: "The middle class is being hollowed out; increasingly, there are the super-super-rich, and there are the rest of us.

This week, David Segal at the New York Times broke the news to America that not only was Apple -- the computer and gadget manufacturer formerly seen as a symbol of good old American ingenuity -- making its profits on the backs of abused factory workers in China, but also on poorly paid store employees here in the US.

Apple store workers, he wrote, make up a large majority of Apple's US workforce—30,000 out of 43,000 employees in this country—and they make about $25,000 a year, or about $12 an hour..."

Condescending Wonka

Occupy America

Feds Arrest Rich Lady - Paid Servant 85 Cents An Hour

State budget cuts hit small-town Ohio

State budget cuts hit small-town Ohio: "Residents in Uniopolis wanted a balanced budget, and voted in Republican Gov. John Kasich to get the job done. But now the village is facing disincorporation because it can't stay afloat.

Reporting from Uniopolis, Ohio—
Residents here were all for balancing Ohio's budget. They didn't expect that to mean their town would cease to exist.

This small village of low-slung houses and squeaky swing sets in western Ohio's farm country has already laid off its part-time police officer and decided not to replace its maintenance worker, who recently retired. To save cash, Mayor William Rolston will propose Monday that the town turn off the street lights, and that Uniopolis disincorporate after more than a century in existence...."

Rich Libertarian Bankers Whine That They're Not Rich Enough

Wall Street bonuses drop 14 percent, so bankers cry about losing Apsen vacation homes

Dear God

This graphic has been going around a lot on Facebook since the Chardon, OH high school shooting. Honestly, I'm getting pretty tired of seeing it. God is allowed in schools for the people that believe in him and I'm pretty sure that there's bible versus that say that He's always with you. I just don't feel like looking them up right now. And if that is the case, it makes me wonder why Christians would say this. Do they have so little faith in their God that they don't believe that he's always with them where ever they go? It's not like there's a line on the floor of all school entrances that say "Leave your God here." Plus, we have free will which is why this stuff is 'allowed' to happen.

I'm just getting really tired of hearing about how God should be in schools and needs to be there. But if people want God in their children's schools so badly, they need to send their kid to a private school. We have freedom of religion and separation of church and state for a reason. The only people you normally hear about in the news throwing a fuckin hissy fit over this shit, is Christians. I never hear of Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Buddhists or any other religion having problems with it. And I'm sure that's because they don't what a religion that's not their own being pressed on their children. They also might be more tolerant of others beliefs than some Christians tend to be.

Ayn Rand Worshippers Should Face Facts: Blue States Are the Providers, Red States Are the Parasites

Ayn Rand Worshippers Should Face Facts: Blue States Are the Providers, Red States Are the Parasites: "There's only one way to demonstrate who America's producers and parasites really are. It's time to go Galt.

Last week, the New York Times published a widely discussed article updating an argument that progressive bloggers noticed a very long time ago. It's now well-understood that blue states generally export money to the federal government; and red states generally import it...."

Why Is It So Easy For Some People To Believe This?

George Carlin on Money

Money Equals Speech?

American Households Not as Reckless as You Think

American Households Not as Reckless as You Think: "Everybody knows that household debt in America has increased dramatically over the past few decades. But why? One possibility is that we've all been borrowing recklessly and living wildly beyond our means. But there are other possibilities too. Your debt-to-income ratio will go up if (a) your debt increases or (b) your income declines, and that can happen in several ways...."

Pull the Trigger

Big Time Banker Leaves 1% Tip for Waitress & "Tip" She Should "GET A REAL JOB" [UPDATED]

Big Time Banker Leaves 1% Tip for Waitress & "Tip" She Should "GET A REAL JOB" [UPDATED]: "In the food service industry, bad tippers sometimes live on in infamy. Entire books have been written about the plight of the waitstaff working stiff who gets left pennies that don't come near the standard 15-20%. One diner at a Newport Beach restaurant, however, used a recent $133.54 tab to express his disdain for his server's line of work by leaving a 1% tip and a note: "GET A REAL JOB."

What an asshole. :|

Why I'm hunger striking at UVA

Why I'm hunger striking at UVA: "I am a third year studying Political and Social Thought, and a student-athlete at the University of Virginia. Last Friday, 12 University students began a hunger strike to protest the economic and social injustices perpetrated by the UVa administration against the vast majority of the University’s service-sector employees. I joined two days later; since then, 5 more students have joined the hunger strike, which is now closing in on in its 7th day. Although the University of Virginia - Thomas Jefferson’s brainchild and the only US university designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site - has the prestige and high moral traditions of other top institutions, levels of inequality exist here today that are reminiscent of Jefferson’s days as a slave-master and plantation owner - with one anonymous employee even referring to the University’s Grounds as “the plantation”.

Our University seeks to distinguish itself as a caring community and prides itself on traditions of honor and student self-governance. However, in our “caring community,” hundreds of contract employees may make as little as $7.25/hour while six out of the top ten highest paid state employees in Virginia hold administrative positions at the University. Many employees, mostly women and African Americans, do not receive enough pay for their basic necessities to exist in Charlottesville, where the cost of living is nearly 10% higher than the national average. This extreme inequality has disturbed and disillusioned students for decades, many of whom have tried to grapple with issues of race, class, and poverty in and out of the classroom. We have taken every conventional route towards this goal, garnered wide student, faculty and community support - yet our pleas have been consistently ignored and workers are still paid unjust wages...."

Is Congress Going to Double the Interest on Your Student Loan?

Is Congress Going to Double the Interest on Your Student Loan?: "Millions of young people may have a much harder time paying for an education.

Unless Congress acts soon, millions of college students could see the interest rate on their federal student loans double this summer—adding $5,000 to the cost of an education for students who pay off their loans in 10 years, and around $11,000 over 20 years.

Yet Republicans are claiming that keeping those rates low costs too much and isn't the federal government's job. Rep. Virginia Foxx, chair of the Higher Education Subcommittee, even argued that it's unnecessary for any student to borrow money to go to college in the first place....."

For my story of how bad things got while I was in college, click here. It explains why this is such a bad idea. Things aren't as bad as they were, but things still aren't great. I can only hope that once I start my new job in my field, things will finally turn around.

What Will Be the Impact of Rising Gas Prices?

Wall Street Frat Mocks Occupy Wall Street

Auction 2012: Greedy Bastards and Student Debt

Auction 2012: Greedy Bastards and Student Debt: "Imagine a product so irresistible that most Americans thought they couldn't live without it. Every President talked of its importance, and it was perceived of as the key to you or your child's future. There was a limited supply, and prices kept going up. The best business to be in would be lending to people so they can buy it.

I'm talking about higher education, and student loans..."