Kash of Angry Bear Is Upset
Employment is almost exactly the same as it was four years ago, even though there are an extra twelve million Americans sixteen and over:
Angry Bear: The most disappointing part about the US economy's poor job creation right now is that we may well be pretty much at the peak of economic growth for this business cycle; most economists forecast growth in the US to slow gradually from 2004's pace over the next two years... and those economists who think hard about the US's necessary current account adjustment (are you surprised that I was able work that subject into this post?) suspect that the economy may slow more than just gradually sometime over the next year or two. If this is the best job creation that the US economy can do when growth is relatively strong, what will the labor market look like as the US economy slows?
Your life is belong to us the road to surfdom
When it comes to your own life, however, it's best if the government--or some third party--steps in:
[T]he real lesson of the Schiavo case is not that we all need living wills; it is that our dignity does not reside in our will alone, and that it is foolish to believe that the competent person I am now can establish, in advance, how I should be cared for if I become incapacitated and incompetent. The real lesson is that we are not mere creatures of the will: We still possess dignity and rights even when our capacity to make free choices is gone; and we do not possess the right to demand that others treat us as less worthy of care than we really are ... [T]he autonomy regime, even at its best, is deeply inadequate. It is based on a failure to recognize that the human condition involves both giving and needing care, and not always being morally free to decide our own fate.
At least this has the benefit of stating clearly what is only implicit in most ranting about the Schiavo case: the logical conclusion of the much vaunted "culture of life" is that you are, under certain circumstances, expected to cede control of your body, your life, to people not of your own choosing. We are "not always... morally free to decide our own fate."
Your life is belong to us the road to surfdom
When it comes to your own life, however, it's best if the government--or some third party--steps in:
[T]he real lesson of the Schiavo case is not that we all need living wills; it is that our dignity does not reside in our will alone, and that it is foolish to believe that the competent person I am now can establish, in advance, how I should be cared for if I become incapacitated and incompetent. The real lesson is that we are not mere creatures of the will: We still possess dignity and rights even when our capacity to make free choices is gone; and we do not possess the right to demand that others treat us as less worthy of care than we really are ... [T]he autonomy regime, even at its best, is deeply inadequate. It is based on a failure to recognize that the human condition involves both giving and needing care, and not always being morally free to decide our own fate.
At least this has the benefit of stating clearly what is only implicit in most ranting about the Schiavo case: the logical conclusion of the much vaunted "culture of life" is that you are, under certain circumstances, expected to cede control of your body, your life, to people not of your own choosing. We are "not always... morally free to decide our own fate."
Let freedom ring, eh?
And what about that tax cut?
How do all the people who called me and others murderers etc for supporting the courts' decisions in the Schiavo case feel about all this?
(The original quote is picked up from Andrew Sullivan, who is appropriately appalled. And Digby has more.)
War News for April 05 Today in Iraq
"There are some who, uh, feel like that, you know, the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is: Bring 'em on. We got the force necessary to deal with the security situation. “ - George W. Bush, July 2, 2003.
Bring ‘em on: Two civilians killed and 13 wounded in bomb attack on café in Talafar. One US soldier killed, one wounded by gunfire in Talafar.
Let freedom ring, eh?
And what about that tax cut?
How do all the people who called me and others murderers etc for supporting the courts' decisions in the Schiavo case feel about all this?
(The original quote is picked up from Andrew Sullivan, who is appropriately appalled. And Digby has more.)
