Author: rba

If the Lord can see His way clear to bless the Republican Party the way it’s been carrying...

[Invisible News Open Thread]

Things that shouldn’t get lost department:  Meet our new nominee for the position of assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration:

Mrs. Sauerbrey, 68, was a big wheel in the Maryland General Assembly who lost consecutive races for governor in 1994 and 1998, then went on to become a television host. She was Maryland state chair for Mr. Bush’s 2000 campaign; her reward was to be named U.S. representative to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, where she was mainly interested in pressing an antiabortion agenda.

How any of that qualifies her to take charge of a key government agency that often finds itself in the thick of dire international calamities is a mystery. [WaPo, 31 Oct ’05].

The  Progressive Government Institute has news and background.  Here’s who they are, and what they do.  [Very handy place].  

And if you haven’t seen it yet,  check out the UN Dispatch:

UN Dispatch is a blog intended to promote thoughtful discussion about the UN, and to provide an outlet for important news and views on the UN. It is administered by Peter Daou, author of the Daou Report, and will feature frequent posts from knowledgeable guest contributors. UN Dispatch is sponsored by the United Nations Foundation, though the views expressed herein do not represent the official views of the United Nations Foundation, or the UN. Links from UN Dispatch to other blogs and websites should not be construed as an endorsement of the content on those sites.

Here’s the link for subscriptions to the UN Wire, daily news delivered to your inbox.

[This note is meant for all those who subscribe to the belief that a simple raise in the “minimum wage” will somehow ease the pain of those in poverty.  Disabuse yourself of that notion.]

Announced today is John Edwards’ tour to promote an agenda, one part of which is to relieve, and possibly end poverty in our country.  A laudable goal.  That stated, why is it necessary to reinvent the wheel in the attempt?

If you feel the need for research, articles, ongoing statistical analysis, and law, you might try the Policy Almanac listings.  Online, no charge, no think-tank.

If you feel the need for historical and social perspective, I recommend a cursory review of the outstanding work of  Frances Perkins:

In 1933, President Roosevelt appointed Perkins as his Secretary of Labor, making her the first woman in the United States to hold a Cabinet position. She served longer than any other Secretary of Labor, from March 1933 to July 1945.

As secretary, she played a key role in writing New Deal legislation. She immediately proposed federal aid to the states for direct unemployment relief, an extensive program of public works, an approach to the establishment by federal law of minimum wages and maximum hours; unemployment and old-age insurance, abolition of child labor, and the creation of a federal employment service.

When the Fair Labor Standards Act passed in 1938, Perkins had managed to persuade Congress to eliminate “labor conditions detrimental to the maintenance of the minimum standards of living necessary for health, efficiency and well-being of workers.” The law also established a minimum wage.

||  Ms. Perkins is sorely missed.  ||

[Cross-posted @ ePM. If there is another diary on this let me know in comments and I’ll dissappear this one.]

TomDispatch has announced a new project, and requested submissions for Casualties of the Bush Administration:

“The Fallen Legion
Casualties of the Bush Administration
[edit]
Nick Turse has created the beginnings of a “wall” to quite a different legion of the fallen; in this case, the governmental casualties of Bush administration follies, those men and women who were honorable or steadfast enough in their government duties that they found themselves with little alternative but to resign in protest, quit, or simply be pushed off the cliff by cronies of this administration. [emphasis mine]”

The “wall” they are attempting to create may eventually stretch a very long way, given that Executive Branch appointments number close to 7000.  [See the Forward [.pdf] to the Plum Book].

I think patterns will emerge from the raw data. [cont’d below]

[VERY Short] If you don’t like the channel you’re watching, turn it off.  If you...