Daily Topics - Wednesday December 18th, 2013
By shawnt56
Catch The Thom Hartmann Program LIVE 3-6pm ET M-F!!
Hour One: What the Fed's taper plan means for the economy - Dr. Stephanie Kelton, University of Missouri-Kansas City
Hour Two: Why conservatives insist Santa is white - Kevin Jackson, The Black Sphere / Plus, What you need to know about Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - Michael Schaffer, The New Republic
Hour Three: Has marriage become a luxury? Koa Beck, Salon
Comments
#2
Pension plans are under attack in part because of outsourcing. A recent article here in Texas points out that the state pension plans are in trouble because 1) underfunding 2) poor return 3) fewer current employees paying into the system. So, as government (or any company) reduces its (US) workforce either through outsourcing or contracting, it robs the pension system. Of course they don't tell us this.
Another way to steal from pension plans is to sell off parts of a company. When a division is sold off, the pension for those employees are supposed to follow the division, but they can play lots of games with this and essentially convert the pension money into profit for the company.
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
Images of Thom
Mueller's favorite place to pray (written about in "Prophet's Way"), and the roof of the room where the Last Supper is reputed to have happened.
From Cracking the Code:
"No one communicates more thoughtfully or effectively on the radio airwaves than Thom Hartmann. He gets inside the arguments and helps people to think them through—to understand how to respond when they’re talking about public issues with coworkers, neighbors, and friends. This book explores some of the key perspectives behind his approach, teaching us not just how to find the facts, but to talk about what they mean in a way that people will hear."
From Cracking the Code:
"In Cracking the Code, Thom Hartmann, America’s most popular, informed, and articulate progressive talk show host and political analyst, tells us what makes humans vulnerable to unscrupulous propagandists and what we can do about it. It is essential reading for all Americans who are fed up with right-wing extremists manipulating our minds and politics to promote agendas contrary to our core values and interests."
From Unequal Protection, 2nd Edition:
"Hartmann combines a remarkable piece of historical research with a brilliant literary style to tell the grand story of corporate corruption and its consequences for society with the force and readability of a great novel."
This was a reply to the comment about Jesus having short curly hair according to Time magazine. This is actually a common theme put forth by protestants who quote Saul/Paul and common Jewish texts of the time period. However, Jesus was a Nazareen. This group of Jews practiced wearing their hair long and their beards uncut as was a common practice by many Jews at that time and actually a strict requirement according to the Jewish texts. The practice of cutting their hair and beards was only done in larger cities to appease the Romans and as we all know not many Jews were very fond of appeasing the Romans at that period of history. The common theme of claiming Jesus had shorter hair these days seems to be a shot more at the "dirty hippies" of America and the lower class that the right wing "Christians" are trying so hard to ignore altogether when it comes to real Christianity.