Evans Liberal Politics, Op-Ed, July 8, 2010, by Paul Evans

A Note About the Time by Evans Liberal Politics owner Paul Evans: My friends Shannon and Wes are always going on about something or other being “annoying” so I thought I deserved my own rant about what’s annoying to me. What bugs me is: my server at GoDaddy is over in Phoenix, Arizona…. well that is three time zones away from me here in Wooster, OH. (This is the physical location where Evans Liberal Politics is hosted on a dedicated, special kind of computer called a “server.”) So every day, about 11:30 p.m. I start to get the itchies about getting some new content up on Evans Liberal Politics for the next day’s news. People who have never run a news and politics website have never felt this particular kind of pressure (although anybody who ever worked for a business certainly understands all about deadlines, right)?

I mean, ever single stinkin’ day I have to get new news content, and not just one post either. That is, I’ve got to find it, make sure I can republish it, format it with the proper web programming using my WordPress site creation program, and get the next day’s news out. It’s a never ending battle, and I’ve been doing this since my first blog post on Evans Liberal Politics on November 23, 2008.

You ever have to do something like that seven days a week, no matter what, whatever else your day’s schedule holds in store for you??? (I’m just saying, we news and politics website owners are kind of a rare breed. Sleep?? What the hell is that? — it’s a 24 hour a day news cycle.)

I mean, it’s hard to go to sleep for me knowing there’s no content up for the next day’s news…. Could be I’m kind of “dedicated” to this site and to bringing my (pitifully small) number of readers the next day’s news. Not sure exactly why. Just how I am now. NOT terribly rational, considering how “much” money I am making from this site. (Insert maniacal laugh here.)

“Today,” (whatever today means), we have an article by my favorite progressive economics writer, Bob Swern, for you. (Thanks, Bob, for your ongoing permission to republish your content.) Yes, OK, the article is from July 6th. Two days ago… but not really, because although it came out at 7:39 a.m. on the sixth, and at this moment it is 1:24 a.m. here in Wooster, Ohio, (and definitely therefore it is the 8th of June)…. Well, according to my damn server, which is what Google picks up on, it’s still the 7th of July there, (in Phoenix) and this article will be published as belonging to the 7th of July. I’m just sayin’. Bugs the crap outta me…. But at least that makes it so that, in a sense, I’m only giving you day old news, right?? Besides, this is more of a political story than it is a news story. Yeah, it has some small amount of time sensitive information in it, but basically the article is a (timeless) rant against corporate greed. OK? Well it damn well better be OK. ((Pretty please?)) I’m just saying, time starts to lose it’s meaning after a while when you run a news and politics website, but the darned three hour differential with my server can be a little “annoying.” It’s always now when you run a news website. Well, anyway, that’s my rant for the week.

Hey! It’s official. Apparently (and without notification to that effect), I’ve been banned from posting diaries at Daily Kos. At least that lifts me into a sphere of a certain degree of notoriety, right?

Now you know partly how I think. Guess I took the brain labeled “Abe E. Normal”. (Anyone here too young for that reference?)

You know what? Here’s an appeal to those of you who enjoy reading Evans Liberal Politics, even a little. Could you please share our site with your friends and contacts? It would be really, really appreciated.

Send check or money order to: Paul E. Evans, 5396 Overton Road, Wooster, OH  44691. Give generously. ((“Overton” which used to be a thriving grain transhipment point at the beginning of the 20th century, yet remains unincorporated and lacks a single store. Shares it’s name with the principle slum of Soweto, South Africa. Right.))

Some would say after reading this “he must be cracking up.” Sorry to disappoint all the true believers. And the Republican Party is the party of the ordinary, little guy in the U.S. Right.

p.s. I changed the publication time for this article to 12:01 a.m. on July 8th. Because it only made sense. It’s 3:20 a.m. here now. Does anybody really know what time it is?

See What the hell is the Obama White House doing?, Daily Kos, (well I used to like them) July 7, 2010, by iceberg slim, excerpt quoted verbatim:

Yes, what the hell are they doing?

This stance on cutting deficits will wipe us out, totally in November.

Why?

This country wants the government to SPEND MONEY FOR JOB CREATION, but the Obama White House is on the side of Republicans for cuts.

This is totally, f**king, STUPID amidst 9.5% unemployment and close to 20% underemployment. I mean f**king stupid.

Well, well, well. It’s getting noticed: See Serious People Notice Banks Are Gouging Consumers and Tanking the Economy, Ian Welsh, July 5, 2007, by Ian Welsh:

Quote from The Choices That Pay Us Back, The New York Times Business Day, July 4, 2010, by Robert H. Frank:

…rates on 10-year Treasury bonds are only about 3 percent, many consumers still carry tens of thousands of dollars of credit card debt at 20 percent or more. This burden has been a continuing drag on spending. The federal government could reduce it by borrowing at 3 percent and lending to consumers at 8 percent under a one-time debt-restructuring plan.

With their debt service payments cut by more than half, consumers could increase spending immediately. And the five-percentage-point spread on money lent under the program would help cover its administrative costs, and maybe even relieve short-run government budget pressure.

Comment by Evans Liberal Politics owner Paul Evans: This of course, makes exquisite, eminent sense. And it ain’t gonna happen. Congress, and, sadly, the White House, are owned by the investment banks. Even if they ARE no longer donating to Democrats:

More than 600 regular donors from the New York area — whose four- and five-figure checks added up to $10 million for the DSCC and DCCC in 2006 and 2008 — have so far abandoned their effort to retain the Democratic majorities.

Take Jamie Dimon, the head of J.P. Morgan Chase, who is known for his close relationship with President Obama.

In 2006 and 2008, he donated $65,000 to the Democratic committees. This election cycle, he has not contributed at all to the DSCC or DCCC. At the end of March, however, he gave $2,000 to the campaign of Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), who is seeking to claim Obama’s former Senate seat.

See Help If You Can Find It, MichaelMoore.com, July 7, 2010, by Glenn Miller / Fort Myers News-Press: Naples has southwest Florida’s only BP help center. It’s hidden in a strip mall with only a small, white, hand-lettered sign in front to distinguish it from the rest of the glorious scenery. It shares a building with Victoria’s Nail & Spa, Mangrove Outfitters and others. BP. Bad Petroleum.

See Why do Montana’s Republicans hate firefighters?, Daily Kos (it’s still a decent website), July 7, 2010, by Joan McCarter (a friend of mine over at Kossack City).

In the news: Ron Paul ponders politics, 2012 run, CNN Politics, July 8, 2010, by Mark Preston.

Counterterrorism news: US to access Europeans’ bank data in new deal, BBC News, July 8, 2010, by BBC News, excerpt quoted verbatim:

Euro MPs have approved a new deal to allow US anti-terror investigators to access Europeans’ bank data.

The vote followed tough negotiations with US authorities after a previous agreement was blocked by the European Parliament in February.

EU negotiators say the new deal gives EU officials authority to monitor the US investigators’ actions.

The deal gives the US access to bulk data from Swift, a firm that handles millions of bank transactions daily.

Washington says the Swift deal is crucial to fighting terrorism, as part of the US Terrorist Financing Tracking Programme (TFTP) set up after the September 2001 attacks on the US.

Top US officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, lobbied the EU over the data transfer deal.

Privacy concerns

The agreement was passed with 484 MEPs in favour and 109 against. There were 12 abstentions.

In February Euro MPs rejected an earlier draft agreement, saying the privacy safeguards were inadequate.

The fact that the US was secretly accessing Swift bank data did not come to light until 2006.

Under the new deal, the EU police agency Europol will assess whether specific data requests are necessary for the fight against terrorism before the data is sent to the US, the European Commission says.

You should read: Why is the Chamber of Commerce so popular?, Open Salon, Orbital Matters, July 7, 2010, by Saturn Smith. While all the while pandering to huge corporate interests, and also (I might add) trying to torpedo the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act, the Chamber is one of the principle agents of small businessmen’s hostility to things Democratic.

You Really owe it to yourself: Alas, ignored like all the rest. But if you’re smart you’ll read the Wikipedia article on Ken Wilber. That’s Ken Wilber the Buddhist philosopher who has mainly figured out the way the universe works. “His work formulates what he calls Integral Theory.” Ignore it at your peril.

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