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Not to bring up politics, however it is important to understand the effect that media can have on an entire nation. The “Spin”–which exists for both Right and Left politics–exists and has an overwhelming effect on all those who listen, read, or see. It is important for all people, all over the world, to question everything, research everything, and understand the true message that is sent to them. Although there are millions of examples, I am inclined to point to Michael Graham’s reference of Gregg Easterbrook’s Wall Street Journal article, “Life Is Good, So Why Do We Feel So Bad?“.

Campaigning in Pennsylvania in April, Hillary Clinton said “We need to go back to the prosperity of the 1990s,” a comment that drew loud, enthusiastic applause. Converted to today’s dollars, per-capita income in the Keystone State is 23% higher than in 1990. People may think Pennsylvania was more prosperous in the past, but the state is better off today. The same can be said for most (needless to say, not all) parts of the country and most demographics. Most are, right now, the best-off they have ever been.

The AVERAGE unemployment rate from January 1990 through December 1999 was 5.7625, the AVERAGE unemployment rate from January 2000 through May 2008 is 5.042. The media should have a foot note to Hillary’s speech with these figures. Facts.

How about inflation? In 1990 inflation was at 5.39%, 1995 it hovered around 2.81%, 2000 started at 3.38% before falling to 1.59% in 2002 where in 2007 it ended the year with an average of 2.85%. Facts.

Healthcare? The CDC reported in 2007 that the nation’s childhood cancer deather rate–kids and adolescents–decreased by 1.7% per year from 1990 (2,457 deaths) to 2004 (2,223 deaths).

The Iraq war? Many used to use the argument “We lost.” Today, the same people use the argument “It’s not worth it, anyway” simply because statistics show that the war in Iraq is working.

A recent CBS News/New York Times poll showed “Americans’ views on the economy and the general state of the country have hit an all-time low,” with 81% saying the nation is on the “wrong track” – the worst-ever number for this barometer. Some 78% told pollsters the U.S. is worse off today than five years ago, the highest percentage to say this since the CBS News/New York Times survey began tracking the question in 1986. Watch any news channel, listen to any political debate, read any pundit. The consensus is we’re headed to hell in a handbasket.

Some of the current gloom-and-doom may be explained by the human propensity to romanticize the past. Just what past would we return to, anyway? The 1950s, when there was systemic prejudice against African-Americans, women and gays? The 1960s, when inflation-adjusted per capita income was far lower than today? The 1970s, when high inflation rates wiped out paychecks and high interest rates made home buying difficult? The 1980s, when investors and people with pension funds were rooting for the Dow Jones to break 2000?

Of course a long, bloody and costly war being fought for no clear purpose depresses the national mood – as it should. The rest of the negativity is hard to fathom. Economic growth is slow, but even if a recession has begun, occasional cycles of slow or no growth are the price we pay for the much longer cycles of boom. Since 1992, the percentage of Americans who tell pollsters of the Pew Research Center they “can afford what they want” has risen steadily – from 39% in 1992 to 52% today, the highest ever. So why do we think the economy is failing?

All in all, these examples show that advertising and media are effective in persuading the viewer that refuses to look at all angles. Why does the media report only the negative stories, negative facts, and the negative spin of any issue? Do humans simply get more pleasure worrying and have something to “try to make better” rather than seeing that progress has been made in just about all areas of life–if you look at the whole picture?

A prime example are the “You May Already Be A Winner” sweepstakes. The average person sees them and throws them away knowing that there is some catch or scam involved. But a recent discussion at VeeDeePee comments on there being over 100 “versions” of these packages created, and over 750 million pieces are sent each year with dramatic results. Are people naive or just plain hopeful?

Life is about ups and downs, look at averages and medians, not snapshots fed by the media. Do yourself a favor and do some research before beliving what you see in the news or advertisements.

David Owen wrote this article for the New Yorker.

It is long, but worth sharing:

Several years ago, Walter Luhrman, a metallurgist in southern Ohio, discovered a copper deposit of tantalizing richness. North America’s largest copper mine—a vast open-pit complex in Arizona—usually has to process a ton of ore in order to produce ten pounds of pure copper; Luhrman’s mine, by contrast, yielded the same ten pounds from just thirty or forty pounds of ore. Luhrman operated profitably until mid-December, 2006, when the federal government shut him down.

The copper deposit that Luhrman worked wasn’t in the ground; it was in the storage vaults of Federal Reserve banks, and, indirectly, in the piggy banks, coffee cans, automobile ashtrays, and living-room upholstery of ordinary Americans. A penny minted before 1982 is ninety-five per cent copper—which, at recent prices, is approximately two and a half cents’ worth. Luhrman, who had previously owned a company that refined gold and silver, devised a method of rapidly separating pre-1982 pennies from more recent ones, which are ninety-seven and a half per cent zinc, a less valuable commodity. His new company, Jackson Metals, bought truckloads of pennies from the Federal Reserve, turned the copper ones into ingots, and returned the zinc ones to circulation in cities where pennies were scarce. “Doing that prevented the U.S. Mint from having to make more pennies,” Luhrman told me recently. “Isn’t that neat?” The Mint didn’t think so; it issued a rule prohibiting the melting or exportation of one-cent and five-cent coins. (Nickels, despite their silvery appearance, are seventy-five per cent copper.) Luhrman laid off most of his employees and implemented his corporate Plan B: buying half-dollars from banks and melting the silver ones (denominations greater than five cents aren’t covered by the Mint’s rule); mining Canadian five-cent coins (which were a hundred per cent nickel most years from 1946 to 1981); and lobbying Congress.

Read the full article >>

When Benjamin Franklin first stepped in as the United States Postmaster General in 1775 he had visions to propagate communicate from one person to another.

The Post Office’s postal rate in 1885 was 2¢ per ounce. Business was booming, as there were no other ways for individuals, or businesses to effectively disseminate a tangible message to an individual. Today, with options like e-mail, we have a new class of people that have a means for us to reach out to them in a manner that we can control, down to the minute, when they receive the information and statistics on if the message was opened, forwarded, deleted, or if it lead to a desired action. But e-mail isn’t for everyone.

A company that I do work for has a customer base of roughly 15,000 active customers. Only about 10% of these customers have e-mail (or check it regularly)—yes, the demographics, like most companies, are older than 30 years old. Post cards and regular mailings were common in addition to e-mail marketing but, in 2001, postage was now 34¢ per piece, in addition to printing and finishing. The cost to communicate has increased. The cost of doing business in America has always increased over time this should be the same for efficiency. After spending several thousands of dollars on an event promotion mailing, the company scratched its head when only 10% of expected customers attended. The reason was that customers never received their postcard and did not know about the event. Come to find out, the box of postcards was sitting under a Post Office desk. Oops. To add insult to injury, this is the second time this has happened to the same company from the same Post Office Distribution Center. Increased postage, decreased efficiency.

The Post Office is slitting it’s own wrists. Now, I cannot blame the Post Office for increasing its postage rate, as there are many costs that are incurred for the organization. But as postage continues to increase while we lose our trust in the system, so decreases the desire to use the system. Have we, as a society, come to expect too much from being nursed by the government? At which point will we be no longer justify thousand-dollar mistakes? Should we at all? Over time the portion of active e-mail users will increase, most likely proportionately, along with the price of postage.

Side note: After several months of jumping through loops and providing documentation, the post office refunded the cost of postage for the “lost mailing.” And the company was able to rebound for the dismal event showing.

The past month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate was at 4.9%. There are several sites out there that play matchmaker for the unemployed, like the popular Monster.com who boasts hundreds of thousands of jobs, but recently a new site has come into the playing field; the Maserati of job finders, The Ladders. The site is intended only for upper-management positions that start at a base salary of $100k+. What if you make less? Then you will be bounced to sites like monster.com.

In addition to being a employee finder, it also provides some interesting reports on high-level jobs in most major cities (see Boston below). While the site may have some problems weeding out people that think they deserve $100k, rather than those who actually do, the theory is great for those who do fit into that salary range.

If only The Ladders built-in a “head-hunter” prize, like NotchUp.com who gives you money every time one of your friend interviews–a percentage of their worth.

It’s nearly Christmas. My favorite time of the year and although our world of Political Correctness tries to “protect” people’s feelings from getting hurt; I just want to say Merry Christmas. You can see that Norad Santa is already on his way.