President Obama New Normal, More Drone Strikes

President Obama's new normal: the drone strikes continue | Amy Goodman | Comment is free | theguardian.com: "On Thursday, 12 December, 17 people were killed, mostly civilians. The London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism has consistently tracked US drone attacks, recently releasing a report on the six months following President Barack Obama's major address on drone warfare before the National Defense University (NDU) last May. In that speech, Obama promised that "before any strike is taken, there must be near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured – the highest standard we can set." The BIJ summarized: Six months after President Obama laid out US rules for using armed drones, a Bureau analysis shows that covert drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan have killed more people than in the six months before the speech. In a nation that abhors the all-too-routine mass killing in our communities, why does our government consistently kill so many innocents abroad?"

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New Normal Too Big to Fail Will Get Even Bigger (and Richer thanks to Feds)

A new forecast predicts that the next four years --

Big changes expected in banking - South Florida Business Journal: "...According to a report by IBISWorld Inc., the economy will continue to recover and that will make growth much less volatile. Commercial banks will continue to benefit from government support, albeit with some strict new regulations. Too-big-to-fail banks will grow deposits at a faster rate than smaller savings institutions, according to the study...."

-- the more things change, the more they remain the same.

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New Normal American Economy, Officially Inside-Out

America's Economy Is Officially Inside-Out - Umair Haque - Harvard Business Review: "This is the first generation of Americans in modern history expected to enjoy lower living standards than their forebears. It is the first generation in modern history whose life expectancy is dwindling. It is the first generation of modern Americans whose educational attainment is declining. It is the first generation of modern Americans who face less opportunity than their parents. Shorter, nastier, dumber, harder, bleaker. That’s the future for not only Americans, but for many in the world’s richest countries. Let me be clear why this is so remarkable. It’s not that the great wheel of prosperity is merely decelerating. It is that it actually seems to be turning backwards. The great wheel of progress already ground to a halt—several decades ago, if measured in terms of average incomes. And the real danger now? That it may be beginning to spin—in reverse...."

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Obama Incompetence, the New Normal

Congressional complacency feeds this new normal -- Obama incompetence and the crisis quota | Palladium-Item | pal-item.com: "After Obama’s semi-demi-apology for millions of canceled insurance policies — an intended and predictable consequence of his crusade to liberate Americans from their childish choices of “substandard” policies sold by “bad apple” insurers — Scalise said: Obama is like someone who burns down your house. Then shows up with an empty water bucket. Then lectures you about how defective the house was. What is now inexplicably called Obama’s “fix” for the chaos he has created is surreal. He gives you permission to reoccupy your house — if you can get someone to rebuild it — but for only another year."

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New Normal, Few New Florida Jobs Offer a Living Wage

Few new Florida jobs offer a living wage, study shows - South Florida Business Journal: "A new report by Seattle-based Alliance for a Just Society found that 64 percent of all job openings in Florida do not pay a living wage, the Tampa Tribune said. The study defined a living wage as $16.84 per hour. Furthermore, the group found that for every job posted offering a living wage, there are 13 job seekers. "It was stunning to see the great number of low wage jobs in the Florida economy," said Ben Henry, a co-author of the report. Nationwide, the numbers are also moving in the wrong direction. The study said there were 4 million less jobs with wages above $15 per hour in 2012 than there were in 2009, the Tribune said."

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New Normal, Elite Overproduction, Society Frays

Blame Rich, Overeducated Elites as Our Society Frays - Bloomberg: "Past waves of political instability, such as the civil wars of the late Roman Republic, the French Wars of Religion and the American Civil War, had many interlinking causes and circumstances unique to their age. But a common thread in the eras we studied was elite overproduction. The other two important elements were stagnating and declining living standards of the general population and increasing indebtedness of the state. Elite overproduction generally leads to more intra-elite competition that gradually undermines the spirit of cooperation, which is followed by ideological polarization and fragmentation of the political class. This happens because the more contenders there are, the more of them end up on the losing side. A large class of disgruntled elite-wannabes, often well-educated and highly capable, has been denied access to elite positions. Consider the Antebellum U.S...."

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