Sydney, True-to-Form, Gets the New Year Off to a Roaring Fine Start

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/10544410/Sydney-celebrates-arrival-of-2014-with-spectacular-fireworks.html

A Happy One to All!

Later,

This Surprises Who, Exactly?

Steve Benen, MSNBC, reports the Sunday talks’ guest lists dominated by Republicans.

Later,

Could You Be Al Qaeda’s Bookkeeper?

Okay, I usually am preoccupied with other issues, but this one caught my eye. The Associated Press delves into Al Qaeda expense reports.

Later,

This Might Help Explain Why Opposition to the ACA Has Been So Ferocious

Because, dumb original website aside, it delivers on its promise to save consumers money.

It works. Like Medicare works. Like Social Security works. Like lots of other public programs work. Sometimes, when “the market” refuses to work (or is not allowed to work) for ordinary people, government is, indeed, the solution.

Later,

Bernstein Notes: GDP is Up; Corporate Profits are Up; Markets are Up; Median Family Income is Down

Just have to keep saying this until things turn around: millions of Americans are still trapped in a recession. And this is happening as productivity continues to improve.

So-called natural market forces are not at work here, friends.

Later,

Happy Birthday to a Great, Great Artist, Maggie Smith

And thank you.

Later,

Buying Scholarly Cover

Okay, it’s not exactly breaking news that corporate interests put their money behind academics and academic institutions (universities, think tanks, etc.) who produce research that supports the corporate agenda, or even put money into institutions and then demand certain things be taught or certain work pursued, but today’s NYT has a piece bylined David Kocieniewski, that takes a close look at the practice of paying for performance, so to speak . . . .

Later,

Yes, There is Sometimes Cause for Optimism in the World

Thanks, in this case, to Amy Davidson, in the The New Yorker, for providing it, in the form of five uplifting stories from a pretty wretched year.

Later,

The Myth of The Market

A lot of folks, mostly those who’ve made it, financially, like to repeat the mantra of The Market,” the invisible hand, the just (if not fair; they make that distinction) and unquestionable decider of our fates. It’s all crap, of course. The Market is nothing more than shorthand for one human activity – buying and selling goods and services. Then there’s The Free Market, a glorious meritocracy in which everyone can do whatever the heck he or she would like to do, and those with pluck and brains who work hard will benefit the most. A myth. Never existed, and never will. Why? Because as a group of people gain wealth and power, they tend to use both to reinforce one another, and if it means screwing others, even millions of others, well, the fact they have become rich and powerful is itself evidence of their superiority, at least in their own minds.

However, there’s a fair bit of real evidence, such as research from the Economic Policy Institute, that proves that pluck, brains, skill, and hard work get tens of millions of Americans exactly nowhere, or even somewhere below where they used to be.

Later,

Late Night Listening with Angela Lansbury and the cast of Mame

Just a reminder that there’s a place for – and a need for – “a little Christmas” now and again throughout the year:

Later,