For more than a decade, NewWork News has surveyed the world's news having to do with life and work in the revolutionary new world economy. Over all these years, we have not made a significant effort to distinguish between straight reporting and editorial comment.

Written by Gary Johnson, NewWork News each day is more like a newspaper or magazine column than a newspaper's front page. However, nearly every item is linked to at least one original story from somebody else's "front page" so as to enable our readers easily to examine the original story without deliberate interpretation or commentary.

Some NewWork News items are highly analytical. Several of these have been gathered together for presentation below. All have been written by Gary Johnson.

Governor Palin attends Republican "boot camp" (Tuesday, 9/30/08)
Sarah Palin is preparing vigorously for Thursday's debate with Senator Joseph Biden amid concern, even among some Republicans, that she may be seriously over her head. Some people are even asking that she bail out and quit the ticket.

Has she become a liability for the McCain campaign? Has her apparent discombobulation during the interview conducted by CBS News anchor Katie Couric finished off John McCain's chance of becoming president?

There seems to be little doubt that she is bright, competent, and likable, however poorly prepared she may be to become leader of the free world in the event of a 72-year-old President's death or disability.

Yesterday's vote in the House of Representatives and the reasons for it help explain why Governor Palin may still be a potent national political force and should not be underestimated. Large numbers of people may vote for her simply because they like her or because she's a parent like they are. Her preparation for national office, or lack of it, won't matter to many voters. Also, despite his expertise, Senator Biden can be prone to "foot in mouth disease" himself.

Of course, becoming an object of ridicule on the comedy shows may not help, but many of the shows' viewers probably wouldn't vote for a Republican ticket anyway, no matter who is on it. There seems to be much "preaching to the choir" going on.

Still, the comedy shows can change history if given enough time. For instance, a strong case can be made for the notion that George W. Bush was not adequately prepared to become President of the United States either. On the other hand, he's a Yale graduate and has a postgraduate degree from Harvard. Both institutions probably are bigger than any single family, including one that contains presidents, and, as a consequence, probably won't be subject to too much familial influence. Overall, Mr. Bush clearly is not as dumb as he is made out to be in the popular culture.

A problem with the comedy shows, despite the fact that they probably play an important role now in holding the First Amendment in place, is that they're always the same length and need about the same number of jokes every time they're on the air. The shows that are political in orientation will need politicians to ridicule, whether or not those people have been doing anything ridiculous.

Also, the programs deal largely in caricatures and stereotypes. Research shows that people tend to remember messages longer than their sources, so the image that many people have of George Bush may be greatly influenced by things that aren't even held out by their creators as true. Whether the object of ridicule is George W. Bush or Sarah Palin or somebody else, before long at least some Americans may remember their saying or doing things that they never said or did at all.

Even if Governor Palin's debate with Senator Biden does not turn out to be a fiasco for the Governor, she and her family members may wish that had never gotten into all of this. The Governor of Alaska may be able to walk to work, and this is a far cry from the glaring spotlight that she finds herself in now. Her children certainly haven't asked for all of this, and it should be no surprise that we have heard no more about her pregnant teenage daughter and her boyfriend or their plans.

And what about Senator McCain? Will some voters resent the fact that he helped Governor Palin put herself and her family in this situation? One credible scenario is that Senator McCain felt after the Democratic National Convention that he was heading toward certain defeat and chose Governor Palin as his running mate as a "hail Mary" pass that could reenergize his campaign, at least for a while, until he could think of something else he might do.

Defeat in the House! (Monday, 9/29/08)
Congressional and Administration leaders worked feverishly to produce a plan which they expected would quiet the deep financial crisis, restore confidence, and free up lending, but a vote in the House of Representatives this afternoon defeated the measure, despite widespread expectations that it would pass.

As a consequence, Wall Street suffered a profound plummet, with the Dow Jones industrial average declining 777 points in a single day, the largest one-day point decline in the Dow's history.

National polls showed that a majority of Americans favored the "estate tax," until language expert Dr. Frank Luntz convinced Republicans to begin calling it the "death tax." National polls now show that a majority of Americans oppose the "death tax."

Language is important, and this issue brings to mind the old psycholinguistic mantra, "Words don't have meanings; instead, people have meanings for words." Along these lines, the news media insist on calling the defeated plan a "bailout," a term for which many Americans have their own meanings. Problem is, it's NOT a "bailout" as most economists understand that term.

So, the bill was defeated in the House this afternoon because those Members who face tough or uncertain elections in about a month seem to have been guided by the thousands of constituent messages opposing the bill. Many of these messages apparently were from citizens who misunderstood it, as well--all with the consistent help of the news media, of course.

Was Plato right? The great ancient Greek philosopher was not a popular sovereignty enthusiast. He called it "mob rule." In fact, until fairly recent history, "democracy" was a "dirty word," certainly not one spoken in a hushed and reverential tone on national holidays.

Until the American revolution in the late 18th century, there were no democracies in the world. However, even that great proponent of democracy, Thomas Jefferson, warned that it could not work except in a society with an informed population. Recent national polls showing that a sixth or so of American adults can't find the United States on a world map aren't encouraging along those lines.

American institutions show their relationship to the circumstances of the late 18th century. Even when an accused person is said to be "judged by a jury of his peers," the term "peers" refers to the fact that American democracy broke with the centuries-old European tradition in which an aristocracy had all of the political power, in large part because of its essentially exclusive access to important resources, including education.

It appears that even many of the founders had their secret doubts about the viability of American democracy, while nearly all of the leaders outside the United States expected the "democratic experiment" to fail. Even Jefferson thought that it was risky, given that effectiveness depends on high-quality contact with reality to support appropriate actions. To that time in most societies, a privileged aristocracy had all of the education. Now it is everybody else's turn, but education is still important. Public policy must be driven by people who understand the issues and KNOW things, or the entire society can "go down in flames."

At the time of the nation's beginnings, it was still possible for a single individual to possess most genuine knowledge available at the time. Now, of course, it's very hard to become well-informed and keep up even within a narrow specialty. What do most Americans know of the intricacies of Wall Street? What CAN they know, even when they're asked to make life-determining decisions in these areas?

We've spent years on several relevant issues, and our preoccupations will be reflected in our upcoming NewWorld Trends project. Among many other things, we must first be concerned with what philosophers for centuries have referred to as "epistemology." WHAT we know depends entirely on HOW we know it, as Stanford's Professor Philip Zimbardo has pointed out repeatedly.

Today's events have brought some of our work to mind, and much of it relates to two critically important issues about which some humans have learned a great deal during recent years: 1) WHAT DOES IT TAKE to be right about something?, and 2) WHAT DOES IT TAKE to be sure about nearly anything?

Deal or no deal (Friday, 9/26/08)
For a while yesterday, it appeared that agreement had been reached on major "bailout" legislation intended to clear the way for financial institutions to begin loaning money again. Then, talks broke down, and all bets were off. Now, talks have started up again.

President Bush is trying to save the $700 billion plan, but there is little public support.

Part of the problem is that President Bush has lost most of his credibility with the American people, so that, even during an emergency, few will listen to him now. This can be a major problem. People are SUPPOSED to listen to what their president has to say when he is speaking from his governance role, rather than a campaign role.

Private citizens should be prepared to do whatever their president asks them to do and tell him/her whatever s/he wants to know, whoever that president is, and whether or not s/he is a member of the citizen's political party. It's not about the individual who happens to occupy the presidency at a particular time, but about the American Constitution.

The President has brought people together, but not in the way he seems to have expected (Friday, 9/26/08)
Of course, most Democrats seem to feel some sort of obligation to hate President Bush. However, if you'd also like to see smoke come out of the ears of major Republicans, just convince them that what they have to say really is off the record.

Moreover, the Bush White House is getting vigorous opposition to its financial rescue plan from Republicans in Congress as well as many labor unions. Christian Wiessner tells about union protests in New York very near the New York Stock Exchange.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Paleontology Portal (Wednesday, 9/24/08)
As so many have said, 50 years can be an eternity in politics. The same can be said about economic life. However, a thousand years is only an instant on the geologic or galactic time scales. In fact, the entire history of what we like to call "Civilization" is only a tiny part of the time that modern humans have spent on Earth. The history of life on Earth goes back much farther. To help us keep things in perspective, here's the Paleontology Portal, which is supported by several major organizations, including the National Science Foundation.

Anti-globalization march in Sweden (Monday, 9/22/08)
At least ten thousand people have marched in opposition to globalization in Malmoe, Sweden.

So, is globalization a good thing, or not? Let's settle this issue once and for all.

People who oppose globalization are saying that there aren't sufficient labor or environmental safeguards, and that the world's poor are getting poorer.

On the other hand, proponents are saying that more of the world's poor have been lifted out of poverty in recent years than through all of human history.

On the other hand...

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Secrets of Soil (Sunday, 9/21/08)
Despite what many people sometimes say, soil is NOT "dirt." In fact, soil is a critically important resource upon which civilization always has depended and continues to depend. It must be nurtured. Here's the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History's Dig It! The Secrets of Soil.

The Administration and the Congress negotiate--gasp!--a $700 billion deal (Saturday, 9/20/08)
Ironically, President George W. Bush still calls himself a conservative Republican, but his spread-democracy-at--all-costs approach to foreign policy probably most resembles the approaches of Democratic Presidents Woodrow Wilson and John Kennedy.

Also, from now on, he may be remembered for the biggest governmental intervention in the U. S. economy since Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. Moreover, there is every indication that Mr. Bush will leave behind a decidedly unbalanced budget and a much greater national debt than when he came into office, all of which is very inconsistent with traditional conservative ideology. What on Earth is going on?

At any rate, it is expected that American taxpayers will be the "proud" (?) owners of zillions of bad mortgages from now on, which, collectively, they will be buying at bargain basement rates with the hope of selling them later for a big collective profit. However, where is the money going to come from NOW.

The Bush administration's $700 billion plan will cost about as much as TWO wars in Iraq. To say that this is a big, big, big deal is a gross understatement, but nearly every leader in Washington and most economists seem to believe that it is necessary in order to prevent a complete meltdown of the financial system and the Great Depression, the Sequel.

What could make most of us refer to the Great Depression as the "good old days?" (Friday, 9/19/08)
The current financial crisis left to its own devices with no effort on the part of the Feds to fix it, that's what.

Federal government leaders are trying to set partisan politics aside only a few weeks in advance of a presidential election in order to work together and provide a solution, but with a truly impressive tab.

However, it's possible that it won't be as bad in the long-run as it looks now. The government plans to buy up all those bad mortgages at fire-sale prices and hold them until a later time when they might be able to sell them for big bucks, producing major profits for the taxpayer. In the meantime, where's all that money going to come from?

At any rate, the Plan intends to bolster liquidity, and this writer from BusinessWeek had some thoughts about that before the fix was announced.

Another government bailout (Wednesday, 9/17/08)
It's not a routine just-another-bailout, though. Jeannine Aversa, Ieva Augstums, and Stephen Bernard write that the $85 billion of taxpayer money that the Federal Reserve is using to prop up AIG represents the largest government intervention in the private sector ever for the federal agency. The failure of AIG would affect the entire American economy, so the big insurance company could not be allowed to fail. Haven't we heard that before, and what's next?

Google goes to sea (Tuesday, 9/16/08)
Quick--pop quiz: According to a new study, which computers will have a larger carbon footprint than air travel by 2020? Betcha can't guess.

Answer: the computers that run the Internet.

Green, the Internet isn't, at least, not yet. In fact, the London Times is reporting that Google, which was founded in a Silicon Valley garage only about ten years ago, is intending to set up its supercomputers at sea so that it can produce electricity to run them by capturing energy from the natural motion of the sea. Feeling like a stranger in your own world yet?

Another pop quiz: Where does Google's name come from? Answer: A googol is a concept well known to mathematicians, such as the two graduate students that founded the company. A "googol" is 1 followed by 100 zeros. However, if asked, most non-mathematicians will spell it "google." Also, unlike the original, the "misspelling" allows the word to be copyrighted and claimed as private property.

Meltdown on Wall Street! (Monday, 9/15/08)
Bear Sterns was the first to fail and disappear six months ago. But, from now on, 158-year-old Lehman Brothers will be found only in the history books too. Merrill Lynch will continue as a brand name, but it will no longer be independent. It was bought today by Bank of America. Here's more about the day's biggest story from Joe Bel Bruno, Christopher Rugaber, and Martin Crutsinger in Washington.

The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s eventually will influence nearly everybody in the U. S., as well as people across much of the world.

Some examples of the fallout are that the Federal Reserve may be forced to cut interest rates, as Jeannine Aversa reports. Investors have been spooked too, as illustrated by the the 500 point drop in the Dow today, and Wall Street employment is likely to be hit hard.

One major economist even suggests that there is reason for commercial bank depositors to worry about their money, despite all the cheery things said by government officials. The problem isn't that there is anything wrong with the law, but that the FDIC might simply run out of money. What will it take to head that off? It will require that Congress replenish the till, and there is little doubt that this will happen to head off what otherwise could be unimaginable disaster.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Harvard Project on the Soviet Social System Online (Monday, 9/15/08)
Someone has said that Americans are like barnyard geese, believing that the world is created anew each morning. It may help explain why we seem to learn so little from history, even when it has so much to teach us.

Part of the problem is the brevity of the human life span. For instance, our newest crop of legal adults was born in 1990 when George Bush, Sr. was nearing the end of his U. S. presidency, and when many other Americans bought their last pair of shoes. They were infants when the Cold War ended and the old Soviet Union came crashing down. They certainly can be forgiven for not remembering the Cold War, and they can almost be forgiven for assuming that the Soviet Union is ancient history.

However, in the broad span of geologic or galactic time, the entire history of the United States has been only an instant, and we will do well not to forget about the Soviet Union. Here's the Harvard Project on the Soviet Social System Online.

On 9/11 anniversary, Americans apparently felt less threatened (Friday, 9/12/08)
Yesterday was the seventh anniversary of the biggest attack on American soil since the Civil War. Yet, Matthew Stannard of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that only two percent of American adults surveyed identified terrorism as the top problem in the U. S.

The biggest issue for voters appears to be the economy, but public understanding of the scope of the most complex economic problems since the Great Depression of the 1930s seems limited. Moreover, neither presidential candidate appears to be particularly well-versed on economic issues.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Rural Economy and Land Use Programme (Saturday, 9/6/08)
Even though most of the British population now lives in large cities, England was a rural country for centuries. Echoes of that previous long period can be found in the British public's penchant for gardening and its fascination with the countryside. Despite its being a very small country with a large population, the Brits have managed to continuing being an important producer of agricultural products and to maintain a very attractive rural environment.

Nonetheless, there have been major changes of the British landscape during recent years. Here is the Rural Economy and Land Use Programme site from the University of Newcastle.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Hispanics and Health Care in the United States (Wednesday, 9/3/08)
Remember the "old days" when people talked a lot about "black" vs. "white" in America? You don't have to be all that old to remember those days, in fact. For a long time, it was part of the American mythology that there were only two kinds of people in the United States--black people and white people.

It was a distortion, even then, of course, particularly considering that so many black Americans have white ancestors and so many white Americans have black ancestors. What does it take to be either "black" or "white?"

Also, of course, there are several ethnic minorities in the United States now; in fact, the U. S. is becoming a nation of minorities. According to demographers, Caucasians of European ancestry will no longer make up a majority of Americans. In fact, before long, there won't be a majority. For the first time, the United States will be a nation of minorities, and "white" Americans will be among them.

After many years as the largest minority in American society, African Americans have relinquished that status to Hispanics, and health care is a special issue for them. Here is a new report from the Pew organization: Hispanics and Health Care in the United States: Access, Information, and Knowledge..

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