Random Notes on Current Events

In today's NY Times there's an Op/Ed piece by Bob Herbert about the real current job situation in the U.S. that I thought should be duly noted. Basically, Herbert says that while Bush and his cronies are slapping each other with high-fives over the creation of 274,000 jobs in April, the real story here is much less cheery. To quote Herbert: "Whatever the politicians and the business-booster types may be saying, the simple truth is that there are not nearly enough jobs available for the many millions of out-of-work or underworked men and women who need them. The wages of those who are employed are not even keeping up with inflation."

He mentions that benefits are being cut for workers across the board (see the recent United pension woes), the distribution of income is heavily favoring the already wealthy instead of the typical worker, our younger generations of workers in general have a lower standard of living than their parents' generations, and the profits are being concentrated into a smaller and smaller segment of the population, which Herbert says, "(is) leaving an entire generation of essentially powerless workers largely at the mercy of employers."

I am irked that the TV news and many newspaper headlines simply conveyed the message that 274,000 jobs were supposedly created in April, up from super low expectations, when the real story is more along the lines that the unemployment levels are still very high with lots of very capable people either unemployed or underemployed. The Bush Administration has nothing to jump up and down about.

Here's another recent newspaper article that caught my attention yesterday. The Wall Street Journal (my roommate gets a free subscription from his father for no apparent reason since he's a painter) had a front page article about artists who have gone from creating fake severed body parts for movies and television to making them for U.S. soldiers who have lost limbs during recent fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Here's a key paragraph from the article:

"For years there was limited demand for high-end prostheses, which cost thousands of dollars and are too expensive for most patients. But the Iraq war (war not being capitalized) has generated a large number of amputees for the first time since the Vietnam War (war being capitalized). New body armor, which covers only vital organs, has meant that more soldiers are surviving attacks but losing limbs than in previous conflicts. The Pentagon has promised to spare no expense for war amputees."

I guess it is in the Pentagon's best interest to hire top artists to help hide the many amputated limbs of our unfortunate soldiers (or fortunate to be alive soldiers). The less the public has to think about the true horrors of our actions in Iraq, the better for the powers that be. Still, you can't help but be happy for the soldiers who absolutely do deserve the very best in care. As one Marine corporal at Walter Reed medical hospital says of the new foot that is being painted for him, "It's going to look great in a flip-flop."

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