WWJD (What Will Jack (Bauer) Do)?

During the presidential campaign, many people worried that a president Obama wouldn’t be able to create new jobs. But I don’t think anyone ever envisioned that in one of his first acts in office he’d actually give the ax to an entire industry. That’s exactly what happened when he announced more than a week ago, “without exception or equivocation” the United States will no longer torture.

If he’s true to his word, what will the Jack Bauers of America do?

Well Jack, no need to worry yet – America’s transgressions over the past eight years have ensured that markets remain robust elsewhere, and America has been powerless to do or say anything about it. So, though the US has been removed from the list of sponsors of torture, there are several other countries around the world that remain steadfast, and still might benefit from your special services. And, who knows, in some of these countries you might even encounter open American accounts. After all, we’ve been outsourcing torture in the form of extraordinary rendition to some of these places* for years. So much for Bush trying to keep good American jobs from going overseas. But now you will truly have to go offshore to keep up your practice. Here’s a brief, non-exhaustive list of the locales: …more

A-18 is a new blog spotlighting stories from the back of the newspaper.

The beginning of January brought harsh news for the unskilled oil rig workers known as roustabouts (not to be confused with the traveling circus worker of the same name): it’s listed as one of the top 10 worst jobs by Careercast.com. The article concludes, “if you’re considering a career change (in the turbulent economy), the following are your worst possible options.”

But an article on page A-14 of Sunday’s (1/25) New York Times (close enough?) might give the maligned manual laborers reason to be happy. Can anyone say: furlough in Rio?

That’s what roustabouts and roughnecks (one rank above roustabouts) can look forward to when Brazil launches an offshore drilling project with a newly pledged $174-billion investment.

That means new job opportunities during a down economy, and the possibility of shore-leave on the Copacabana.

The drilling project is expected to yield up to 12-billion-barrels of oil – with one field predicted to have eight-billion-barrels alone, making it the “world’s biggest new field since a 12-billion-barrel find in Kazakhstan in 2000.”

This is good news for the oil industry, but not great news for bio-fuels and the environment. Brazil has been an ethanol star for the past decade – but more oil means lower prices per barrel. And with prices already 60%-less-per-barrel than they were last summer, ethanol is now the more expensive option. Couple that with the global economic crisis, and bio-fuel investments dry up and the industry stalls. This is already happening in Brazil, according to a Boston Globe article from November.

Kudos to Brazil and resurgent roustabouts. But by plundering the earth for more oil, we are delaying the inevitable day when we’ll have to do something other than just dig.

Last Letter in the Alphabet – Zimbabwe

Can we fault Sarah Palin for knowing little about Africa? (alright – it turns out she actually does know it’s a continent) But if she’s fuzzy on its whereabouts (after all, it’s not visible from her front porch), or if she can’t name an actual country inside the continent, she could always blame her favorite whipping boy – the media. We know she has an affinity for clichés (spouting or embodying them) – and the one that says Africa gets short shrift in the American news media is well worn. But we can still bemoan this fact just the same. …more