03.26.08
Bear Stearns fiasco teaches us once again poor people and employees need to learn how to play bridge
Do you smell that? It’s the wacky business world’s way letting us know its spring. Another day another business executive walks away with a cool 232 million while his employees work on their fancy “will break dance for food” cardboard signs under the overpass. It happens so often that I think people have become immune to the harsh realities, but the disparity of rich and poor rears its ugly head once more. Show of hands who all remembers Enron, MCI, and Tyco just to name a few?
Today I read in the newspaper that James Cayne CEO of Bear Stearns has hired personal security to escort him around his former office. Apparently employees were furious that Mr Cayne was going to bridge tournaments during the week the firm was crumbling. While I don’t advocate the use of violence, I’m actually kind of shocked that more CEOs who run their respective businesses into the ground don’t require the services of special kung fu ninja type body guards. I’m just saying… Anyways I don’t want to turn all “leftist” socialist on you while you read this perfectly good conservative blog, but it struck me while we throw the book at drug dealers and general miscreants, who is a larger threat to society? The guy with a bag of weed, or the guy who steals corporate funds while he devastatingly wipes out pensions, careers, lives, families, and communities (my apologies to female drug dealers and corporate thieves). Just because you went to college or play bridge with “important” people that doesn’t negate your contribution to destroying society.
I generally believe in the idea of the free market and all that nonsense I learned in economics, but these lovely ideas only seem to work on paper. The real monkey wrench that smashes these theories always seems to be corporate greed. As much as I hate government interference in industry and life in general, I do believe that some oversight is needed at the (bare minimum) to protect pensions. Maybe some oversight is needed to hold board members accountable for their actions. We have seen this time and again were somebody in a suit makes a bone headed move, the whole board rubber stamps it, it fails DOA, and to cover it up before they go on vacation they fire 1/3 of their staff. Maybe I’m naive but somehow that just seems wrong to me. OR, (and I’m just talking off the top of my head here) how about you keep the parachute bonus of 200 million and divide it between the workers and royally kick the CEO, President, and board members in the ass before you fire and shame them then take their salary and/or maybe even send them to jail. Too rough? Sounds just about right to me. Lets be serious if you screw up the count at McDonalds, Ronald isn’t as forgiving.
I remember watching CNBC last year when the Fed infused Wallstreet with liquidity *cough* I mean bailed them out *cough* after weeks of rich millionaires on TV crying about they need help. Then I watched in horror as these same hypocrites felt that people hurt by the subprime crisis didn’t deserve any help, and that my friends pretty much sums this whole thing up in a tight little package. Which brings us to today, the Feds once again stepped in and saved the day guaranteeing Bear Stearns for 30 billion dollars (so they could be bought out by J.P. Morgan at 2 dollars a share instead of 160 a week ago), all the while there are poor people still living in FEMA trailers in New Orleans. Sorry to be a downer but it’s true, and while the rush to save one, and the hesitation to save another in the same breath is shocking, it is to be expected because everybody knows poor people don’t know how to play bridge.
03.24.08
News you can’t use, what happened to the Mainstream media
I guess the best thing to do is ask the question… what happened to journalist? Deep inside this paradox lies the trillion dollar Iraq war, Lacy Peterson question. What happened to journalistic integrity? And i guess a even bigger question is when did these institutions of “facts” become institutions of “opinion”? I guess what I am asking is, when did we replace these guys
With these guys?
I, like a small minority of free thinkers (I guess you can call it that) have long since unplugged from the matrix if you will. No not because of some vast grand conspiracy, no not at all, I got out while the getting was good, because I simply couldn’t take it anymore. It’s hard to notice the drivel passed around as news until you take a step back and watch all the news channels at once. The current state of the mainstream media could be equated down to a group of people in a crowded room yelling FIRE!!! After the panic these same people walk around and interview people about how they feel about being scared and/or confused.
My favourite thing about the news is how news anchors and reporters protray themselves as being shocked at the reactions of people they have spent a whole week stirring up. Actually I have another analogy try this on for size, today’s mainstream media is like a child with a large magnifying glass focusing the suns ray onto an ant hill. If done effectively it could provide light to the busy ants working below but instead it is used to burn a few ants in hopes of starting a frenzy. Too harsh you say… possibly, or maybe it’s not harsh enough. I think the most discouraging thing about watching 24 hour news media outlets is the narrative. It is hard to grasp at first, but when you flip through all the news shows at the same time, you begin to see news isn’t simply reported as just the facts, news has become mere sound bites and ideas tossed through your TV screen. The “narrative leads” is another way of looking at it. As you change channels it is fairly easy to see the catch phrase of the day. How is it that four 24 hour news channels with its hundreds of reporters, news anchors, and editors all decided on one phrase for the whole day. The odds of that are astounding… or not, the cynic in me thinks that somebody is copying off of somebody else’s work. And as such, are no longer “reporting” but “repeating”. Whatever happened to the crack team of investigators, whatever happened having different ideas, and interpretations of events?
Never has it become more obvious then this last week’s shit storm called the “Rev Wright controversy”. While I don’t agree with some of his views it took me 2 minutes of top notch investigating to discover that his most controversial of statements weren’t actually his words, but a quotation from a US ambassador. It was like celestial choirs were singing and the sky opened up and I believe my quote at the time was “wtf”. The sad realization sank in, news isn’t reported it is created. I refuse to believe that there is a team of monkeys wearing hats with the words press on it doing research for all 500 newspapers, magazines, and television shows. Somebody somewhere must have been said to someone hey buddy go research Obama’s crazy pastor, and this smart investigative fellow/lady must have, after doing the long strenuous 2 minutes of leg work I did, discovered this gaffe and told their supervising editors. Surely somewhere between all these thousands of people thrust with the most important task of reporting the news would have a said maybe we should provide some context or maybe even investigate the other candidates? No? Yeah I know but then THAT would have been news.
After the slight air of frustration had subsided I thought about doing a special comment like Keith Olbermann one of the few people in the media who is even bothering to do any research (or their job). I was and still am stuck by an article written by one of the creators of the TV show The Wire. He spoke about the newspaper in the show and one of the most shocking things about its portrayal. He goes on to say that the newspaper had missed or overlooked every important story of the day. My biggest fear isn’t so much that today’s media has missed, or done a poor job reporting every important news story of the day, no my biggest fear is that it was done on purpose for ratings.
03.19.08
The Republican attack machine and other boogymen that go bump in the night
Gag me I really mean it gag me with a fork, a spoon, maybe one of those spork things from Ikea. When I watch Democrats cry out for their mommy’s every election because of this magic force of illogic I just want to scream.
I first heard of this super team minus the spandex trunks back in 2000 when current President Bush was running for office. His friends and supporters smeared a young John McCain and it worked. I watched this all from the comfort of my couch on CNN and marveled not at the attacks because frankly they are the most bullsh#t juvenile school yard nonsense since 3rd grade P.E. …no no I marveled at the crying that went on and the lack of action it took to stop it. While I love America lets face it out of 100, 45% of a general election are true blue supporters, another 45% vote for your opponent. And the magic 10% shouldn’t be allowed to wear shoe laces.
I’ll admit I’m a little bit of a political junkie, I can’t get enough of the stuff, and as such have been following this presidential election very closely. While I’m not a Democrat I do find that lately the issues I care about more closely align with the Democrats for the time being. In the current race for the nominee I have been watching Hillary Clinton continue with this argument to vote for her because she is the most vetted and is best suited to handle the Republican Attack Machine (oohhh so scary). You know the great Magic Boogymen. Ohh but that’s not the kicker, if you go on political blogs you can see Hillary and Barack supports recoil into a ball in the corner when people bring this topic up. WHAT THE F#@K!?!? Seriously if you are scared your opponents are going to give you a mythical metaphorical wedgy get the F#@K out of politics. Run to the hills, run for you lives, save the children. Leave the running of the country to people with a pair of cabbages.
As much as I admire Hillary (the person) I can’t support, or even vote for her. Her lack of preparedness, lack of organization, lack of strategy, lack of what ever else you can lack concerns me greatly. First of all stop perpetuating the myth, there is no Republican attack machine it’s all made up. A couple of rich people got together and made a 527 group and put false ads on TV making up sh#t. There was no magic, no boogyman, the Democrats just didn’t have a strategy to effectively repel these lies. And thus let bullsh#t linger in the minds of voters too long. People like to believe this story about John Kerry lost because he was “swift boated”, and other fancy terms, but in reality John Kerry lost because he didn’t connect with voters on a very basic say what you need to say in 3 words or less strategy. In 1950 John Kerry would have been the talk of the town, but in 2004 he looked like a Barney Rubble.
I think the first order of business for Democrat supporters is to grow a pair. You pansies, yeah I said it stop crying and do something. If you are worrying the Republicans aren’t treating you fair and you just lay there taking the beating you deserve to lose. Second and this is vital ORGANIZE like I said earlier 10% of the voting masses drool on their Red Lobster bibs and its not for the fresh catch of the day. You will not reach these voters sipping a crapa latte looking at focus groups. The Republicans win because their people roll up their sleeves on the ground. Knocking on doors, passing out fliers, illegally blocking voters from voting, and good old fashion cheating. You don’t need boogymen to win an election you just need a plan.
Singer Kelly Rowland upgrades her single latte
I’m what you call a typical guy, I’m fascinated by breasts just as much as the next guy. I’ve noticed the connection women have with them have transcended the “these dispense milk” stage to fashion accessories. For years, decades, centuries, maybe even an eternity men and women have been dissatisfied with their bodies. More so today when jerkoff bloggers make fun of people’s bodies by posting odd pictures for people to laugh at and make comments on…
…crap…
I had a point somewhere… Ohh yeah Destiny’s Child backup singer (sorry Kelly but seriously) Kelly Rowland recently invested in some prime up north real estate. During a interview with People Magazine she stated that she finally felt complete after some long soul searching. I usually focus my soul searching on life and the plight of the penguins but boobs (that’s cool too).
One of the most interesting things about this need for body improvement is the fact that these little imperfections / quirks (if you will) are sometimes the things other people love the most about a person. That’s the funny thing about beauty, everybody’s opinion on the subject matter is different. For every person “the people” deem gorgeous, there is one person repulsed by them. Well maybe repulsed is a bit strong, but you get my drift. I don’t think I have a stance on the issue of beauty. Well maybe I do, secretly I dislike the pain most women go through to look good, but when you do look good (and even sometimes better) damnit it makes me conflicted.
While I can’t compete with women on pain, I’m talking Brazilian wax in the neither regions, eyebrow plucking, breast implants, walking in 4 inch heels for 4 hours, and the all around general pain of wearing a dress in a blizzard… Speaking truthfully here none of these things actually make anybody look “better” but we believe they do and there lies the rub. Even I can even admit that I’m vain, I wear contacts so I don’t have to wear my glasses in public so I guess it goes both ways. So in parting I would just like to say to Kelly Rowland I’m not saying you should have got fake boobs, but I understand.
03.14.08
Politricks and the… ohhh forget it I couldn’t come up with anything snappy just read the blog
Like most of the country I’ve been glued to CNN’s coverage of the 2008 presidential election. My political views have always been moderate to some degree, but it’s kind of hard not to get caught up in this whole democrat primary race. Anybody who knows me well expects the cynical side of me to jump up and defend or bash Sen. Obama or Sen. Clinton. And while it’s easy to do I’m more drawn to the two differences between how both of them have run their respective campaigns.
If you have half a pulse and have drunk Googled recently I’m sure you would have run into the trillion debates on the internet for or against either candidate. The insta-pundits have weighed the options, put forth the facts, and broken down the stats. If I had to chose one solely on how they RAN things so far I would have to go with Barack Obama. But this isn’t a love fest, there are things that he is doing, or has done that pisses me off. Hillary on the other hand will go down in history as the (18-1*) 2007 New England Patriots of politics .
How on Gods green lovely earth do you squander all that money, your HUGE I’m talking substantial lead in super delegates, and public support?!?!!? I remember listening to talk radio back in 2004 and they were hyping her up like she was the Babe Ruth of politics. It’s like watching an Olympic athlete run a 100 yard dash and trip on their shoe lace inches from the finish line, it is the wailing of the arms and rolling on the ground that I can’t get over. Everything was graceful until she realized she was f$#king losing to somebody named Obama. Make no mistake she will lose, and when she does I think she pretty much owes everybody an explanation starting with feminist and the lobbyist and just work her way down the line till she finally gets to little kittens.
This race has gotten ugly, no pun intended (well maybe a little pun) I know the news is loving this, “Sen. Obama is lucky to be here because of his race”. That is one of those statements that when it came out of Mrs. Ferraro mouth (multiple times) and went into my ear all I could think of is, are you out of your cotton picking mind?!?! Not only does it not make sense, but the irony is so delicious, but I’m not even going to go there. I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop the whole primary. You know what I’m talking about, Wolf Blitzer opening his eyes wide and saying “OH MY GOD a black guy has black people voting for him… and and and wait, I’ve gone over the numbers again and this can’t be right, women are voting for Hillary… and it gets more spooky republicans are voting for McCain… my head is going to explode news at 11”.
While anybody with eyeballs and their very own CNN analyst can tell you Sen. Obama has benefited greatly from black voters. Just as Sen. Clinton has benefited from women, and Sen. McCain has benefited from Moses and half of the Old Testament voters. I understand all the hoopla, but the amount of time spent trying to explain this phenomenon has made me wonder why I pay my cable bill.
