Monday, July 1, 2013
A Message To Print Media...Get With The Times Already!
I just wanted to drop you a line, print media. I just wanted to tell you to get with the times already! And coming from slow-to-change Old Man Savastano, that is sayin’ a lot!
As my loyal readers will tell you, print media, I have this long-running (since 1998) obsession with posting articles for others to read, originally in my e-newsletters, later on blogs, and now on social media. Marketing and business articles across the board go on my personal and business sites and pages, and funny stuff and political ranting go solely on my personal sites and pages (as to only offend my closest friends).
So, guess what is really annoying to me, print media? While 98% of what I read and deem to be post-worthy comes to me by electronic means, every once in a while, I actually pick up a piece of, you guessed it, print media. And believe it or not, quite often I find an article that I really like and would like to post.
But, when I pick up my electronic device and set out to find the article in your antiquated and dying medium, guess what I have a really hard time finding, or never find at all? That’s right! The article in your printed piece of media that I wanted to share with hundreds, if not, by Facebook’s friends of friends or LinkedIn’s connections of connections calculations, thousands of people.
I get that it costs money to produce your printed piece that is riddled with advertising, but at the same time, in today’s age of digital sharing, not posting the same articles that are in your printed piece to your website as well so that people who find them interesting can share them seems crazy to me. We all know that you should be transitioning as much as you can to digital right now, print media.
At a time when my hundreds of magazines per month has dwindled down to just a few print stragglers, at a time when I have decided to never again renew another print magazine subscription, and at a time when the last thing in the world I would ever tell someone to do is to buy a copy of a magazine so they could read an article that I liked as opposed to just posting it and giving them the ability read it instantaneously, it is time for you, print media, to get with the times, otherwise, next time, I will remember that I cannot find the articles that are in your print version also in a digital version online, and immediately, without bothering to look at it, put your piece of print media right where it belongs…in the recycle bin.
Monday, June 10, 2013
What Abercrombie & Fitch Should Be Teaching Us About America
There’s been a bit of a fabricated buzz in the news about Abercrombie & Fitch that has been going on for a while, and I thought I’d chime in, because, hey, if there is anything I am an expert on it is hip (is that word cool again? – Sorry, still cannot bring myself to use the word “sick” because frankly, I am too old to use that word) fashion for teens, young adults, college kids, older people trying to look younger, etc.
First off, let me say that the biggest and only role Abercrombie has played in my life is the raised eyebrow I gave to how close and friendly the dudes in their ads and those huge pictures at the entrance to their stores always seemed and how hard I laughed when Saturday Night Live finally made fun of them for those ads and pictures. I have never stepped foot in one of their stores (frankly, they are too loud and smelly), would never invest in the company (unless it was in a fund, of course), and honestly would never want to do work for them, but I am here today to do something that you might not have thought I would do…defend them…defend their right as Americans and an American business to sell whatever they want, market to whoever they want, not sell whatever they want, not market to whoever they want, and to be as biased and condescending as they want to be.
Get to 315 pounds and then go out and try to find clothes, worse yet, clothes at a reasonable, non-full-retail price. It is not easy in the least bit! Now that I am back down to about 260, it’s still not that easy, but trust me, it’s getting easier as I get smaller. But, where does it say that I have a right to find what I want in my size, and it is up to society, the government, activists, and whiners to force businesses out there to manufacture and sell the clothes that I want in my size? I believe it does not say that anywhere, nor should it.
We have a wonderful free-market system that allows you, the consumer, to buy what you want, and the businesses that you buy from to sell what they want as long as it meets certain safety standards, and I personally think that is a great system. If Abercrombie doesn’t sell clothes in my size, then hey, they don’t get my money. If Abercrombie wants to come out and say they don’t want fat or unattractive skinny people in their stores, then they have a right to say it, just as you have a right as a fatty or unattractive skinny person, or any person for that matter, to not spend money in their stores if you don’t like what they are saying. You also have a right, like I am exercising here, to open your mouth and get the word out about what you think of it so others can get on board and be aware of how a company like Abercrombie actually thinks and the values that the company represents.
Does Abercrombie have a right to sell only sizes “God, you look like a skeleton, please eat something” on up through “Holy crap, you’re a size 10 and the size of a house so you should never eat again”? Yes, they do. Does Abercrombie have a right to say that they only want certain types of people in their stores? Here in America, I honestly think they do, and should have that right. Do they have a right to sell shirts that say, “Blondes are adored, brunettes are ignored” or “Do I make you look fat?” They sure do, and they should. Do I have a right as fat and someone who prefers brunettes to never shop there, and ask other people to never shop there? I sure do, just like I still have a right to tell everyone in the world to never buy anything from Jennifer Convertibles because they hosed me on some tables I bought one time.
Do I have a right to loop Abercrombie in together with a guy that is selling t-shirts that say, “Hitler is Great!”? I sure do. If you’re concerned enough that you want to stand outside an Abercrombie store and hand people walking in a copy of a news story or transcript from the CEO’s interview in which he said, “A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely,” should you be able to do so? Absolutely, you should be able to – just remember to bring a filter mask for that horrible cologne-y smell and some earplugs if you don’t like club music! Does their CEO have a right to say what he said in that interview and steer the business in that direction? Here in America, he does, and he should.
Now, I know where you are going, loyal reader…You are about to quote Helen Lovejoy and say, “Think of the children! Won't somebody please think of the children?!” I think this Abercrombie story and the company’s stance is, in fact, a great lesson for your children. It is a lesson in the rights of individual liberties, diversity, economics, morality and the free market system.
We should be using this story to teach children that when you grow up, life is not necessarily going to be fair. Not everyone wins, not everyone gets a trophy, and not everyone gets to wear #1 on their jersey – only one guy on the team gets that number. It is a lesson that some people are skinny, some people are fat, some people are tall, some people are short, some people are considered to be gorgeous and some people are considered to be far-from-gorgeous, but that all of these judgments can either affect their lives, or not affect their lives.
It is a great lesson that some people are kind and considerate to everyone, and other people are frankly, just self-centered asses. It is a lesson in being responsible for your own life and not forcing people to live your way, or feeling that you have to be responsible for and control the lives of others. It is a lesson in the fact that we as consumers have the power to use our dollars as we see fit, and we as Americans have the right to free speech, no matter how hate-filled or stupid, or benevolent and intelligent the things we might say turn out to be. But most of all, it is a lesson in the ideas that America was founded upon, and the rights that we as Americans are assured by the greatest combination of liberty, democracy and capitalism that the world has ever seen.
So, shop at Abercrombie if you’re small enough to fit into their clothes and don’t mind their philosophy and values. You won’t get any flak from me for doing so. Hey, more power to you. But, when you’re wearing one of their shirts and the uglies, the fatties, the non-trendies, the un-cool moms, the un-cool dads, the old-folks, and the like, are snickering at you, don’t get mad at them. They have just as much of a right to protest against Abercrombie as you do to shop there.
First off, let me say that the biggest and only role Abercrombie has played in my life is the raised eyebrow I gave to how close and friendly the dudes in their ads and those huge pictures at the entrance to their stores always seemed and how hard I laughed when Saturday Night Live finally made fun of them for those ads and pictures. I have never stepped foot in one of their stores (frankly, they are too loud and smelly), would never invest in the company (unless it was in a fund, of course), and honestly would never want to do work for them, but I am here today to do something that you might not have thought I would do…defend them…defend their right as Americans and an American business to sell whatever they want, market to whoever they want, not sell whatever they want, not market to whoever they want, and to be as biased and condescending as they want to be.
Get to 315 pounds and then go out and try to find clothes, worse yet, clothes at a reasonable, non-full-retail price. It is not easy in the least bit! Now that I am back down to about 260, it’s still not that easy, but trust me, it’s getting easier as I get smaller. But, where does it say that I have a right to find what I want in my size, and it is up to society, the government, activists, and whiners to force businesses out there to manufacture and sell the clothes that I want in my size? I believe it does not say that anywhere, nor should it.
We have a wonderful free-market system that allows you, the consumer, to buy what you want, and the businesses that you buy from to sell what they want as long as it meets certain safety standards, and I personally think that is a great system. If Abercrombie doesn’t sell clothes in my size, then hey, they don’t get my money. If Abercrombie wants to come out and say they don’t want fat or unattractive skinny people in their stores, then they have a right to say it, just as you have a right as a fatty or unattractive skinny person, or any person for that matter, to not spend money in their stores if you don’t like what they are saying. You also have a right, like I am exercising here, to open your mouth and get the word out about what you think of it so others can get on board and be aware of how a company like Abercrombie actually thinks and the values that the company represents.
Does Abercrombie have a right to sell only sizes “God, you look like a skeleton, please eat something” on up through “Holy crap, you’re a size 10 and the size of a house so you should never eat again”? Yes, they do. Does Abercrombie have a right to say that they only want certain types of people in their stores? Here in America, I honestly think they do, and should have that right. Do they have a right to sell shirts that say, “Blondes are adored, brunettes are ignored” or “Do I make you look fat?” They sure do, and they should. Do I have a right as fat and someone who prefers brunettes to never shop there, and ask other people to never shop there? I sure do, just like I still have a right to tell everyone in the world to never buy anything from Jennifer Convertibles because they hosed me on some tables I bought one time.
Do I have a right to loop Abercrombie in together with a guy that is selling t-shirts that say, “Hitler is Great!”? I sure do. If you’re concerned enough that you want to stand outside an Abercrombie store and hand people walking in a copy of a news story or transcript from the CEO’s interview in which he said, “A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely,” should you be able to do so? Absolutely, you should be able to – just remember to bring a filter mask for that horrible cologne-y smell and some earplugs if you don’t like club music! Does their CEO have a right to say what he said in that interview and steer the business in that direction? Here in America, he does, and he should.
Now, I know where you are going, loyal reader…You are about to quote Helen Lovejoy and say, “Think of the children! Won't somebody please think of the children?!” I think this Abercrombie story and the company’s stance is, in fact, a great lesson for your children. It is a lesson in the rights of individual liberties, diversity, economics, morality and the free market system.
We should be using this story to teach children that when you grow up, life is not necessarily going to be fair. Not everyone wins, not everyone gets a trophy, and not everyone gets to wear #1 on their jersey – only one guy on the team gets that number. It is a lesson that some people are skinny, some people are fat, some people are tall, some people are short, some people are considered to be gorgeous and some people are considered to be far-from-gorgeous, but that all of these judgments can either affect their lives, or not affect their lives.
It is a great lesson that some people are kind and considerate to everyone, and other people are frankly, just self-centered asses. It is a lesson in being responsible for your own life and not forcing people to live your way, or feeling that you have to be responsible for and control the lives of others. It is a lesson in the fact that we as consumers have the power to use our dollars as we see fit, and we as Americans have the right to free speech, no matter how hate-filled or stupid, or benevolent and intelligent the things we might say turn out to be. But most of all, it is a lesson in the ideas that America was founded upon, and the rights that we as Americans are assured by the greatest combination of liberty, democracy and capitalism that the world has ever seen.
So, shop at Abercrombie if you’re small enough to fit into their clothes and don’t mind their philosophy and values. You won’t get any flak from me for doing so. Hey, more power to you. But, when you’re wearing one of their shirts and the uglies, the fatties, the non-trendies, the un-cool moms, the un-cool dads, the old-folks, and the like, are snickering at you, don’t get mad at them. They have just as much of a right to protest against Abercrombie as you do to shop there.
Friday, June 7, 2013
A Perfect Waste Of A Damned Good Shark
I know that most of you, especially the ones who live in Southern California, may have already heard about the recent harvesting of an 11-foot shortfin mako shark that weighed 1,300 pounds from the ocean off Huntington Beach by a group of fishermen from Texas, but I wanted to use this occasion to once again get up on that proverbial soapbox that this wonderful invention called the Internet has given us. Thank you, Al Gore.
As some of you may know, I spent a period of time as an amateur marine biologist, taking courses, working at aquariums, and heading out on research vessels from time to time. Some of you may also recall the story I love to tell about the time I got to see a 17-foot great white shark that was caught by some fishermen off San Pedro while I was working at the Cabrillo Aquarium, where I helped care for a number of much smaller and less sinister sharks. To this day, I still donate money to some of our Southern California aquariums and oceanic causes I believe in.
That being said, quite honestly, when I read this story, it really bothered me. Let me explain. While you won’t catch me passing up on the wonderful meat products that nature has to offer us humans on very many occasions, it’s not like we’re running out of cows, chickens and pigs any time soon, but things like whales and sharks are a different story. While some populations are rebounding, others are still in decline and under threat of extinction, so killing them just for fun might not be a great idea. Wow, now I sound like the Greenpeace people.
Don’t get me wrong, I at times think about, perhaps even struggle with, the fact that my chicken sandwich, cheeseburger, and the bacon I put on them or eat as a side dish, used to be a living, breathing creature, but I handle it. It is much easier when you never have to go out and meet the animal that you’re eating or actually see it in any way, shape, or form that is close to being alive because of grocery stores and restaurants, and living the life of readily-available food here in the grand ol’ US of A, isn’t it?
But where I do start to draw my own personal line is when it comes to hunting, fishing and things of those sorts. Now, before you take away my Conservative card, again, let me explain. Mountain men up in Alaska hunting so they can eat? While I wish we’d figure out a way to get them some pre-packaged food so they didn’t have to kill their next meal, all right, I can live with that. Killing a wolverine because it’s hungry and trying to get at the food you’re storing for the winter? I have a harder time with that. It’s not the wolverine’s fault you have to live in the mountains in the middle of nowhere. Native people killing some whales every year for food and tradition? I kind of have a problem with that in this day and age, but OK, I can live with that. Killing a big bear, elk, whale, shark or other animal for the quote-un-quote fun, sport, or thrill of it? Yeah, I have a problem with that. Hunting just to hunt, killing just to kill? Yeah, that, I believe crosses the line, especially when it is an animal whose numbers in the wild are just not what they used to be.
Japan killing whales? Completely pointless, and a waste. People out in the woods or on the ocean just out killing? Completely pointless, and a waste. These people killing this shark while out here on vacation? Completely pointless, and a waste. Though these fishermen did donate the dead shark to since, I just do not believe there is much science could learn today about this shark they don't already know, or could have learned by capturing then releasing it.
It all boils down to one thing. Some people just enjoy killing things. Some people step on spiders. Some people pick them up with a napkin and put them outside. Some people will go their entire life without killing a bear, elk, whale or shark, and some will not. It is the nature of the human problem. Some people will go their entire life without killing another person, and some will not. There’s billions of humans. But each one of us is an individual, right? Spend some time with an animal, any animal, and tell me they are not an individual with their own traits and behaviors.
I’ll let you stew on that for a bit. Either way, this particular shark is now dead and on its way to be hacked up for science so that some humans on vacation could have a thrill and have a story to tell, and I personally think that is just sad, completely unnecessary, and a perfect waste of a damned good shark that quite frankly, the world and its inhabitants needed more alive and swimming in the ocean than dead on a lab table.
As some of you may know, I spent a period of time as an amateur marine biologist, taking courses, working at aquariums, and heading out on research vessels from time to time. Some of you may also recall the story I love to tell about the time I got to see a 17-foot great white shark that was caught by some fishermen off San Pedro while I was working at the Cabrillo Aquarium, where I helped care for a number of much smaller and less sinister sharks. To this day, I still donate money to some of our Southern California aquariums and oceanic causes I believe in.
That being said, quite honestly, when I read this story, it really bothered me. Let me explain. While you won’t catch me passing up on the wonderful meat products that nature has to offer us humans on very many occasions, it’s not like we’re running out of cows, chickens and pigs any time soon, but things like whales and sharks are a different story. While some populations are rebounding, others are still in decline and under threat of extinction, so killing them just for fun might not be a great idea. Wow, now I sound like the Greenpeace people.
Don’t get me wrong, I at times think about, perhaps even struggle with, the fact that my chicken sandwich, cheeseburger, and the bacon I put on them or eat as a side dish, used to be a living, breathing creature, but I handle it. It is much easier when you never have to go out and meet the animal that you’re eating or actually see it in any way, shape, or form that is close to being alive because of grocery stores and restaurants, and living the life of readily-available food here in the grand ol’ US of A, isn’t it?
But where I do start to draw my own personal line is when it comes to hunting, fishing and things of those sorts. Now, before you take away my Conservative card, again, let me explain. Mountain men up in Alaska hunting so they can eat? While I wish we’d figure out a way to get them some pre-packaged food so they didn’t have to kill their next meal, all right, I can live with that. Killing a wolverine because it’s hungry and trying to get at the food you’re storing for the winter? I have a harder time with that. It’s not the wolverine’s fault you have to live in the mountains in the middle of nowhere. Native people killing some whales every year for food and tradition? I kind of have a problem with that in this day and age, but OK, I can live with that. Killing a big bear, elk, whale, shark or other animal for the quote-un-quote fun, sport, or thrill of it? Yeah, I have a problem with that. Hunting just to hunt, killing just to kill? Yeah, that, I believe crosses the line, especially when it is an animal whose numbers in the wild are just not what they used to be.
Japan killing whales? Completely pointless, and a waste. People out in the woods or on the ocean just out killing? Completely pointless, and a waste. These people killing this shark while out here on vacation? Completely pointless, and a waste. Though these fishermen did donate the dead shark to since, I just do not believe there is much science could learn today about this shark they don't already know, or could have learned by capturing then releasing it.
It all boils down to one thing. Some people just enjoy killing things. Some people step on spiders. Some people pick them up with a napkin and put them outside. Some people will go their entire life without killing a bear, elk, whale or shark, and some will not. It is the nature of the human problem. Some people will go their entire life without killing another person, and some will not. There’s billions of humans. But each one of us is an individual, right? Spend some time with an animal, any animal, and tell me they are not an individual with their own traits and behaviors.
I’ll let you stew on that for a bit. Either way, this particular shark is now dead and on its way to be hacked up for science so that some humans on vacation could have a thrill and have a story to tell, and I personally think that is just sad, completely unnecessary, and a perfect waste of a damned good shark that quite frankly, the world and its inhabitants needed more alive and swimming in the ocean than dead on a lab table.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Leave Me Alone, Greenpeace...
On any given day, you may find me walking across the street from work at the Irvine Spectrum, just out for a stroll, then all of the sudden, there they are…the Greenpeace guys and gals…carefully positioned at a precise bottleneck in the walkway as to maximize their ability to bother passers-by.
“Do you like the ocean?” they ask. “Nope,” I say, shaking my head as I pass by. “You look like you care about the environment,” they say. “Nope,” I say, smiling, but walking fast. “You look like an activist,” another tries. “Yeah, but I am sure you don’t like the causes I support,” I retort, still briskly walking, and of course, always smiling.
My biggest issue here is not necessarily Greenpeace, per se, but, much more the fact that people are at the Spectrum do to one thing…enjoy themselves. Whether it’s a walk, a movie, a meal, or just spending time with people they care about, bottom line, they are there to enjoy themselves. I believe the last thing they want to do is be bothered by money-hungry activists.
My secondary issue is that the root of their presence is to not get an actual heat-of-the-moment donation, but to get you to hand over your precious account information and make a recurring donation. From what I have heard, if you try to offer them $20, they won’t actually take it. No cash, please. What they want is your personal financial information so that you can make a recurring gift, each and every month.
Now, you won’t catch me out on a Sea Shepard boat, though you will catch me rooting for the whales if I am watching Whale Wars. You won’t catch me down at the beach picking up trash any longer, though I am annoyed when I see people littering while we’re down there. You also won’t ever catch me giving money to Greenpeace because every day when I am on my walk and I get to where they are stopping people, even if just for a few seconds, I am quite literally forced to avoid them.
I know there are probably things Greenpeace does that I might not necessarily agree with, and I am sure there are things they do that I would probably support, but I also believe that each of us has a right to donate as we see fit and not be pressured into donating money we do not want to, even by the most well-meaning organizations.
When I see Greenpeace folks at the Spectrum, trying to corral people that are just there to spend a few moments away from whatever stresses they may have in their lives, quite frankly, it bothers me. And once you have bothered me, the last thing you are going to get is my money.
“Do you like the ocean?” they ask. “Nope,” I say, shaking my head as I pass by. “You look like you care about the environment,” they say. “Nope,” I say, smiling, but walking fast. “You look like an activist,” another tries. “Yeah, but I am sure you don’t like the causes I support,” I retort, still briskly walking, and of course, always smiling.
My biggest issue here is not necessarily Greenpeace, per se, but, much more the fact that people are at the Spectrum do to one thing…enjoy themselves. Whether it’s a walk, a movie, a meal, or just spending time with people they care about, bottom line, they are there to enjoy themselves. I believe the last thing they want to do is be bothered by money-hungry activists.
My secondary issue is that the root of their presence is to not get an actual heat-of-the-moment donation, but to get you to hand over your precious account information and make a recurring donation. From what I have heard, if you try to offer them $20, they won’t actually take it. No cash, please. What they want is your personal financial information so that you can make a recurring gift, each and every month.
Now, you won’t catch me out on a Sea Shepard boat, though you will catch me rooting for the whales if I am watching Whale Wars. You won’t catch me down at the beach picking up trash any longer, though I am annoyed when I see people littering while we’re down there. You also won’t ever catch me giving money to Greenpeace because every day when I am on my walk and I get to where they are stopping people, even if just for a few seconds, I am quite literally forced to avoid them.
I know there are probably things Greenpeace does that I might not necessarily agree with, and I am sure there are things they do that I would probably support, but I also believe that each of us has a right to donate as we see fit and not be pressured into donating money we do not want to, even by the most well-meaning organizations.
When I see Greenpeace folks at the Spectrum, trying to corral people that are just there to spend a few moments away from whatever stresses they may have in their lives, quite frankly, it bothers me. And once you have bothered me, the last thing you are going to get is my money.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
How A Small Change Makes A Big Difference
So, loyal reader, what do you know about me? I work across the street from the Irvine Spectrum, I like to eat on the cheap but never bring my own lunch to work, and I do not like change. These three things recently came together in a perfect storm that got me thinking about how in business, sometimes what we consider to be a small change for the business can make a big difference to our customers. Let me explain:
Once or twice a week now for the past five years, I have patronized a local-to-the-office Rubio’s for their Street Taco Plate. I grew so fond of the meal that it even worked its way into our dinner rotation and some of the employees at the local-to-the-office and local-to-the-home Rubio's locations have come to know my order by heart: Street Taco Plate - All chicken tacos, only meat, with the customary cup of beans and side of chips for $6.43.
Today, however, on my foray out for lunch on cheap at the Irvine Spectrum, I was met with change…a slight menu change and price increase. I still got my same Street Taco Plate, but today, not only did it cost me $7.10 instead of $6.43, it came with a cup of rice instead of my side of chips. Credit goes to the wonderful employee at Rubio’s for informing me of the change before I finalized my order, but caught off-guard, I went ahead with my Street Taco Plate order. Naturally, I was offered the side of chips for an additional cost, but that would have been an even bigger price increase, wouldn't it? You know Old Man Savastano isn't going to go for that.
Trying to remain optimistic about the change while I ate, I sadly soon found myself coming to the realization that the cup of beans was just not the same when eating it with a spoon instead of the side of chips, and while good, that little cup of rice amounted to about five bites. I felt just as full at the end of the meal, yet somehow found something was lacking…and that is not a feeling I should have after I’ve just had an addition 67 cents taken from me by a retail establishment I frequent so often. Let the good times roll that I can be so concerned about such a slight change and my 67 cents, but nonetheless, the conclusion I reached was that between the price increase and rice instead of chips, I was highly disappointed with the change to my Street Taco Plate.
Even though it is a small change and a small price increase, I can tell you that without a doubt, while I will surely still patronize Rubio’s, I will modify my order by looking for something comparable at a slightly lower price (maybe ditch the rice and beans and just get more tacos?), or perhaps not be as apt to go there as often in the near future. I was set in my little routine – Go to Rubio’s and order the same thing – Now, Rubio’s has jarred me from my lull, making me change my order, and charging me more for what I was already getting, thus opening up the window for me to really change the routine and go somewhere else instead.
I am sure there is a whole team of people at Rubio’s somewhere who did a whole bunch of research about this change and price increase (at least I hope there is and this wasn’t done on a whim), and I am sure most people won’t bat an eye at it, but keep in mind that sometimes, just sometimes, a small change is enough to make a big difference with your customers. Ask Bank of America about their $5 a month Debit Card fee, or Verizon about their $5 Paying-Your-Bill fee, and they will tell you that a small change can make a big difference.
Once or twice a week now for the past five years, I have patronized a local-to-the-office Rubio’s for their Street Taco Plate. I grew so fond of the meal that it even worked its way into our dinner rotation and some of the employees at the local-to-the-office and local-to-the-home Rubio's locations have come to know my order by heart: Street Taco Plate - All chicken tacos, only meat, with the customary cup of beans and side of chips for $6.43.
Today, however, on my foray out for lunch on cheap at the Irvine Spectrum, I was met with change…a slight menu change and price increase. I still got my same Street Taco Plate, but today, not only did it cost me $7.10 instead of $6.43, it came with a cup of rice instead of my side of chips. Credit goes to the wonderful employee at Rubio’s for informing me of the change before I finalized my order, but caught off-guard, I went ahead with my Street Taco Plate order. Naturally, I was offered the side of chips for an additional cost, but that would have been an even bigger price increase, wouldn't it? You know Old Man Savastano isn't going to go for that.
Trying to remain optimistic about the change while I ate, I sadly soon found myself coming to the realization that the cup of beans was just not the same when eating it with a spoon instead of the side of chips, and while good, that little cup of rice amounted to about five bites. I felt just as full at the end of the meal, yet somehow found something was lacking…and that is not a feeling I should have after I’ve just had an addition 67 cents taken from me by a retail establishment I frequent so often. Let the good times roll that I can be so concerned about such a slight change and my 67 cents, but nonetheless, the conclusion I reached was that between the price increase and rice instead of chips, I was highly disappointed with the change to my Street Taco Plate.
Even though it is a small change and a small price increase, I can tell you that without a doubt, while I will surely still patronize Rubio’s, I will modify my order by looking for something comparable at a slightly lower price (maybe ditch the rice and beans and just get more tacos?), or perhaps not be as apt to go there as often in the near future. I was set in my little routine – Go to Rubio’s and order the same thing – Now, Rubio’s has jarred me from my lull, making me change my order, and charging me more for what I was already getting, thus opening up the window for me to really change the routine and go somewhere else instead.
I am sure there is a whole team of people at Rubio’s somewhere who did a whole bunch of research about this change and price increase (at least I hope there is and this wasn’t done on a whim), and I am sure most people won’t bat an eye at it, but keep in mind that sometimes, just sometimes, a small change is enough to make a big difference with your customers. Ask Bank of America about their $5 a month Debit Card fee, or Verizon about their $5 Paying-Your-Bill fee, and they will tell you that a small change can make a big difference.
Monday, December 12, 2011
With More Workers Planning To Never Retire, It Is Time To Reform Social Security
You’re going to have to keep working, America! At least longer than you had planned, anyway. A recent survey found that one in five Americans now say they plan to never retire.
While some of that 20% is surely the people like me who just don’t plan to stop working at any point as long as they can help it, I am sure there is a good percentage that are not going to be working straight to the grave by choice.
With a growing number of Americans facing this same choice, or fate, maybe it is time for us to take a good, long, hard look at our socialist retirement system.
By the time I am at retirement age, there will be huge segments of the population that will not be able to survive on the gub’ment checks alone, and will be forced to keep working. What’s wrong with that? Well, the way the socialist retirement system is currently set up, the more you earn in a year that you receive benefits, the less of the social security money you paid into the socialist system you get to keep. You can even earn so much in a year that you get absolutely no social security money at all.
I hope to be in a spot where I have this problem one day, but I am also going to be really pissed off that all of the money I paid into social security over the course of my life will not be making its way back to me, which was the fundamental promise of the program.
Regardless of where I may end up in the year 2041 (the year the socialists want me to retire, at least for now, anyway), I really think now is the time to reconsider all of this socialist retirement program craziness.
Perhaps there was a time in this country where we needed to ensure that people retired by penalizing them for earning money once they reached social security age, but I think the landscape of America, her economy, the world’s economy, and life here on planet Earth have all changed so much that we need to rethink this antiquated nonsense about incentivizing people to stop working when they get to a certain age.
I am paying money into Social Security right now, but if I choose to keep working, especially if I am in a spot where I continue to earn more and more with each passing year as long as I am of sound enough mind and body, I will be earning the most in my lifetime, right at the time that I am supposed to start getting back all of the money that I will have paid into Social Security for 52 ½ years.
The more I earn, the less I get back, so how much is that going to suck? I get it – once I’m destitute or disabled, and what not, it will be money off of which I can live, but let’s say for instance, I keep working, keep earning money, keep living life like I am planning to do right up until my number is up (it does happen, people)… I may be in a spot where I don’t ever get a dime of MY social security money back. And despite what the government and all of those liberal politicians out there want us to believe, it is MY money, not theirs. That means I will have been one huge benefactor to the U.S. government and its socialist Social Security retirement program.
I get that most of you are going to retire – some of you may even take the hit financially to retire early – and more power to you – but me, the crazy nut-job who wants to keep working ponders….shouldn’t I have a choice? Shouldn’t I have some other option rather than giving all of this money to the socialists in Washington, DC. Especially when you consider the very real possibility that I may get only 85 cents on the dollar back if I actually do stop working, and possibly, no cents on the dollar back if I actually do keep working? Don’t penalize me for working, America! In what world does that make sense?
While some of that 20% is surely the people like me who just don’t plan to stop working at any point as long as they can help it, I am sure there is a good percentage that are not going to be working straight to the grave by choice.
With a growing number of Americans facing this same choice, or fate, maybe it is time for us to take a good, long, hard look at our socialist retirement system.
By the time I am at retirement age, there will be huge segments of the population that will not be able to survive on the gub’ment checks alone, and will be forced to keep working. What’s wrong with that? Well, the way the socialist retirement system is currently set up, the more you earn in a year that you receive benefits, the less of the social security money you paid into the socialist system you get to keep. You can even earn so much in a year that you get absolutely no social security money at all.
I hope to be in a spot where I have this problem one day, but I am also going to be really pissed off that all of the money I paid into social security over the course of my life will not be making its way back to me, which was the fundamental promise of the program.
Regardless of where I may end up in the year 2041 (the year the socialists want me to retire, at least for now, anyway), I really think now is the time to reconsider all of this socialist retirement program craziness.
Perhaps there was a time in this country where we needed to ensure that people retired by penalizing them for earning money once they reached social security age, but I think the landscape of America, her economy, the world’s economy, and life here on planet Earth have all changed so much that we need to rethink this antiquated nonsense about incentivizing people to stop working when they get to a certain age.
I am paying money into Social Security right now, but if I choose to keep working, especially if I am in a spot where I continue to earn more and more with each passing year as long as I am of sound enough mind and body, I will be earning the most in my lifetime, right at the time that I am supposed to start getting back all of the money that I will have paid into Social Security for 52 ½ years.
The more I earn, the less I get back, so how much is that going to suck? I get it – once I’m destitute or disabled, and what not, it will be money off of which I can live, but let’s say for instance, I keep working, keep earning money, keep living life like I am planning to do right up until my number is up (it does happen, people)… I may be in a spot where I don’t ever get a dime of MY social security money back. And despite what the government and all of those liberal politicians out there want us to believe, it is MY money, not theirs. That means I will have been one huge benefactor to the U.S. government and its socialist Social Security retirement program.
I get that most of you are going to retire – some of you may even take the hit financially to retire early – and more power to you – but me, the crazy nut-job who wants to keep working ponders….shouldn’t I have a choice? Shouldn’t I have some other option rather than giving all of this money to the socialists in Washington, DC. Especially when you consider the very real possibility that I may get only 85 cents on the dollar back if I actually do stop working, and possibly, no cents on the dollar back if I actually do keep working? Don’t penalize me for working, America! In what world does that make sense?
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Happy Two Days Before Black Friday!
You know when I don’t work? Nights and weekends. Well, actually I do, but I’m not required to go into the office at that time. You know why, America? Because I found a job that doesn’t require me to go into work on nights and weekends. You know why I found a job like that? Because I used to have jobs that required me to go in on nights and weekends, and I didn’t like that so much.
Yet, as Black Friday grows near, I am seeing news reports and reading articles about a lot of the folks who work in retail during the holiday season complaining about having to work long hours, nights and weekends, and in particular, during the later hours of Thanksgiving Day, and frankly, I am puzzled.
I’m not trying to be heartless here, but the plight of these folks takes me back to my thoughts on the debate about working part-time at Wal-Mart with no health insurance. At any point when you were applying for the job did they tell you that you were going to have health insurance, then all of the sudden, take it away? No, they did not. I am sure they told you all along that your part-time job at Wal-Mart did not come with health insurance. So, why, then, are you sitting there with a part-time job at Wal-Mart, surprised that you do not have health insurance?
You work in retail. That is the job you have. For whatever reason, that is a fact of your life. And in case you are wondering, I spent the first three years of my working life in retail, full-time while going to high school, and even had to join a union for my first job, so that’s where I get off talking about working in retail.
The store at which you work is open on Black Friday. You can’t, at this point, sit there and be surprised that the store wants you to work crazy hours on Black Friday. Are you going to honestly tell me that you didn’t see that coming?
You work in retail, yet somehow do not understand what Black Friday is, and never took notice that the starting gates open earlier and earlier each year? You are still somehow surprised? Really? The 5:00 AM sale that became the 4:00 AM sale that became the 3:00AM sale? You didn’t see where that was going?
Ask all the folks who are not in retail about a job that requires them to work crazy hours once or twice a year, and trust me, you probably won’t get a lot of sympathy from them. Just to clarify what I am getting at, most of us non-retail employees, especially those on salary instead of hourly, end up having to work crazy hours more than once or twice a year.
Ask us about overtime pay and our 15 minutes breaks throughout the day too, so we can laugh at you. Do I even need to bring up the whole you work in retail and are lucky to be one of the 85% of people who do that actually still have a job in this economy?
And don’t get me wrong, I get it’s a holiday. I missed many a holiday, birthday, etc., when I was working retail, but I also understood that it was part of the job I had at the time. Again, you can’t take a job working retail and be surprised when you are working nights, weekends and holidays.
And while I’m on the soapbox, I have a little message for the consumers who are complaining on behalf of these retail workers. Really? So, year after year, you buy into the whole Black Friday concept, allowing these retailers to bait you into the store in deplorable, dangerous, and in some cases, deadly conditions, allow them to bait you into stampeding over each other to save some money on let’s face it, crap you don’t need to survive anyway, yet you draw the line at the store making employees miss part of Thanksgiving Day so they can work that night? If there was no one willing to show up to shop at 10:00 PM on Thanksgiving, the stores wouldn’t be opening at that time, so consumers are in no position to complain about when the stores are opening.
Again, America, we cannot sit here and be surprised that this year some of our largest retailers are opening as early as 10:00 PM on Thanksgiving night, expecting their employees to work, and expecting consumers to come in, risking life and limb, to save some money on all the stuff that they simply cannot live without. Like you didn’t see that one coming, America.
Yet, as Black Friday grows near, I am seeing news reports and reading articles about a lot of the folks who work in retail during the holiday season complaining about having to work long hours, nights and weekends, and in particular, during the later hours of Thanksgiving Day, and frankly, I am puzzled.
I’m not trying to be heartless here, but the plight of these folks takes me back to my thoughts on the debate about working part-time at Wal-Mart with no health insurance. At any point when you were applying for the job did they tell you that you were going to have health insurance, then all of the sudden, take it away? No, they did not. I am sure they told you all along that your part-time job at Wal-Mart did not come with health insurance. So, why, then, are you sitting there with a part-time job at Wal-Mart, surprised that you do not have health insurance?
You work in retail. That is the job you have. For whatever reason, that is a fact of your life. And in case you are wondering, I spent the first three years of my working life in retail, full-time while going to high school, and even had to join a union for my first job, so that’s where I get off talking about working in retail.
The store at which you work is open on Black Friday. You can’t, at this point, sit there and be surprised that the store wants you to work crazy hours on Black Friday. Are you going to honestly tell me that you didn’t see that coming?
You work in retail, yet somehow do not understand what Black Friday is, and never took notice that the starting gates open earlier and earlier each year? You are still somehow surprised? Really? The 5:00 AM sale that became the 4:00 AM sale that became the 3:00AM sale? You didn’t see where that was going?
Ask all the folks who are not in retail about a job that requires them to work crazy hours once or twice a year, and trust me, you probably won’t get a lot of sympathy from them. Just to clarify what I am getting at, most of us non-retail employees, especially those on salary instead of hourly, end up having to work crazy hours more than once or twice a year.
Ask us about overtime pay and our 15 minutes breaks throughout the day too, so we can laugh at you. Do I even need to bring up the whole you work in retail and are lucky to be one of the 85% of people who do that actually still have a job in this economy?
And don’t get me wrong, I get it’s a holiday. I missed many a holiday, birthday, etc., when I was working retail, but I also understood that it was part of the job I had at the time. Again, you can’t take a job working retail and be surprised when you are working nights, weekends and holidays.
And while I’m on the soapbox, I have a little message for the consumers who are complaining on behalf of these retail workers. Really? So, year after year, you buy into the whole Black Friday concept, allowing these retailers to bait you into the store in deplorable, dangerous, and in some cases, deadly conditions, allow them to bait you into stampeding over each other to save some money on let’s face it, crap you don’t need to survive anyway, yet you draw the line at the store making employees miss part of Thanksgiving Day so they can work that night? If there was no one willing to show up to shop at 10:00 PM on Thanksgiving, the stores wouldn’t be opening at that time, so consumers are in no position to complain about when the stores are opening.
Again, America, we cannot sit here and be surprised that this year some of our largest retailers are opening as early as 10:00 PM on Thanksgiving night, expecting their employees to work, and expecting consumers to come in, risking life and limb, to save some money on all the stuff that they simply cannot live without. Like you didn’t see that one coming, America.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
How Dell Changed A Brand Loyalist's Mind...
Customer loyalty boils down to personal experience. No matter what a business’s size, who is on its executive team, its market cap, etc., etc., consumers become loyal to a brand and company based on their own personal experience.
I recently read an article about Michael Dell that starts off with his story. Dell founded his computer upgrade firm in his dorm at U of Texas when he was 19. At 27, in 1992, he became the youngest CEO ever on the Fortune 500. The company started with personal computer upgrades, moved to selling personal systems, moved to customizing those systems, then into selling personal systems over the net at the same time as expanding into servers. Now, in 2011 with $26.6 billion in market cap, Dell Computer is getting ready to expand into the Cloud and software markets.
That’s a great story, and I’m not knocking Michael Dell for his success, but the fact remains that before I could even finish reading the article on Michael Dell, I found myself typing my own article on an HP Compaq laptop that I had to buy when my fifth and final Dell laptop took a crap on me during its manufacturer warranty period.
So, regardless of Dell’s success, and regardless of Michael Dell’s fantastic, successful story, I am a customer who purchased five Dell laptops from 2001 to 2011, yet I am also a customer who went out in 2011 and bought an HP Compaq instead. Why?
Well, because I finally had it, that’s why. I truly believe that my Dell Inspiron 8200 that I bought in 2001 would still be going today had I not spilled a bottle of water in it. I only wish I could say the same about the subsequent four Dells I purchased.
Each time, the screen failed on me, once at three years, once at two years, once at a year and a half, and now, this last time, after nine months. So, in a decade, a decade that saw immense growth and expansion for Dell, my personal experience has been the opposite – the other direction – my laptops have been lasting a shorter and shorter period of time – a reduction, not an expansion, in my own personal experience with Dell.
Top that off with two other things I have a problem with, and I have made my case for why, while being one of the strongest brand loyalists I know, I have changed my laptop brand after 10 years.
Thing #1 – Customer Service. When I first started calling Dell customer service back in 2001, it was a pleasant, easy experience. “Yes, sir, no problem, sir, right away, sir, we’ll get that fixed for you immediately, sir. That power cord failed under warranty, we’ll send you one out at no cost immediately and I apologize for the inconvenience, sir.”
Ten years later, while the customer service people did their best, I could also tell their hands were tied by new policies that probably didn’t exist ten years ago. “Well, while your laptop is in warranty and covered, I can only send someone out to look at it if you pay for an additional year’s warranty, or pay for the service call. Other than that, you are going to have to send it in to us, but the good news is that it will only take 10 days!” Ten days? In today’s business world, I am without a laptop for 10 days? Thanks, Dell.
Thing #2 – Dell’s Philosophy. This philosophy changed, and I think that is the reason for the dip in quality and Thing #1 above. Every Dell laptop has the Dell logo on the lid. My first and second Dell both had the logo positioned in a manner that when the laptop was closed and in my lap, the logo was right-side up for me, but was upside down to the person walking by or standing in front of me (the person who had not purchased a Dell laptop yet). My third, fourth and fifth Dell laptops were the opposite – the logo was right-side up when opened and being seen by the non-Dell-owner-passer-by and upside down to me, the idiot who had purchased the laptop when it was sitting closed in my lap. What does that tell me? Somewhere along the way, Dell became much less interested in servicing the customer who had already purchased their product and much more interested in selling the next laptop to the person who had not purchased one yet.
As I said…Personal experience. Ten years ago, I was so excited to buy that first big $2000 laptop from Dell that was just as fast and robust as a desktop. The day before I spilled water in it, I would have told you to buy nothing but Dells. Yet, two years later, after Dell #2 crapped out on me, I was a little bit less vocal with my praise for Dell. By Dell #3 and #4, I had stopped talking about the brand. And now, as Dell #5, freshly back from the repair shop and its 10 day vacation sits collecting dust as my back-up machine, and I sit typing on this HP Compaq, I am singing a very different tune. Guess what I am going to say now if someone asks me if they should buy a Dell?
I recently read an article about Michael Dell that starts off with his story. Dell founded his computer upgrade firm in his dorm at U of Texas when he was 19. At 27, in 1992, he became the youngest CEO ever on the Fortune 500. The company started with personal computer upgrades, moved to selling personal systems, moved to customizing those systems, then into selling personal systems over the net at the same time as expanding into servers. Now, in 2011 with $26.6 billion in market cap, Dell Computer is getting ready to expand into the Cloud and software markets.
That’s a great story, and I’m not knocking Michael Dell for his success, but the fact remains that before I could even finish reading the article on Michael Dell, I found myself typing my own article on an HP Compaq laptop that I had to buy when my fifth and final Dell laptop took a crap on me during its manufacturer warranty period.
So, regardless of Dell’s success, and regardless of Michael Dell’s fantastic, successful story, I am a customer who purchased five Dell laptops from 2001 to 2011, yet I am also a customer who went out in 2011 and bought an HP Compaq instead. Why?
Well, because I finally had it, that’s why. I truly believe that my Dell Inspiron 8200 that I bought in 2001 would still be going today had I not spilled a bottle of water in it. I only wish I could say the same about the subsequent four Dells I purchased.
Each time, the screen failed on me, once at three years, once at two years, once at a year and a half, and now, this last time, after nine months. So, in a decade, a decade that saw immense growth and expansion for Dell, my personal experience has been the opposite – the other direction – my laptops have been lasting a shorter and shorter period of time – a reduction, not an expansion, in my own personal experience with Dell.
Top that off with two other things I have a problem with, and I have made my case for why, while being one of the strongest brand loyalists I know, I have changed my laptop brand after 10 years.
Thing #1 – Customer Service. When I first started calling Dell customer service back in 2001, it was a pleasant, easy experience. “Yes, sir, no problem, sir, right away, sir, we’ll get that fixed for you immediately, sir. That power cord failed under warranty, we’ll send you one out at no cost immediately and I apologize for the inconvenience, sir.”
Ten years later, while the customer service people did their best, I could also tell their hands were tied by new policies that probably didn’t exist ten years ago. “Well, while your laptop is in warranty and covered, I can only send someone out to look at it if you pay for an additional year’s warranty, or pay for the service call. Other than that, you are going to have to send it in to us, but the good news is that it will only take 10 days!” Ten days? In today’s business world, I am without a laptop for 10 days? Thanks, Dell.
Thing #2 – Dell’s Philosophy. This philosophy changed, and I think that is the reason for the dip in quality and Thing #1 above. Every Dell laptop has the Dell logo on the lid. My first and second Dell both had the logo positioned in a manner that when the laptop was closed and in my lap, the logo was right-side up for me, but was upside down to the person walking by or standing in front of me (the person who had not purchased a Dell laptop yet). My third, fourth and fifth Dell laptops were the opposite – the logo was right-side up when opened and being seen by the non-Dell-owner-passer-by and upside down to me, the idiot who had purchased the laptop when it was sitting closed in my lap. What does that tell me? Somewhere along the way, Dell became much less interested in servicing the customer who had already purchased their product and much more interested in selling the next laptop to the person who had not purchased one yet.
As I said…Personal experience. Ten years ago, I was so excited to buy that first big $2000 laptop from Dell that was just as fast and robust as a desktop. The day before I spilled water in it, I would have told you to buy nothing but Dells. Yet, two years later, after Dell #2 crapped out on me, I was a little bit less vocal with my praise for Dell. By Dell #3 and #4, I had stopped talking about the brand. And now, as Dell #5, freshly back from the repair shop and its 10 day vacation sits collecting dust as my back-up machine, and I sit typing on this HP Compaq, I am singing a very different tune. Guess what I am going to say now if someone asks me if they should buy a Dell?
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Upon Constantly Working's 11th Anniversary
Today, Constantly Working quietly celebrates its 11th anniversary. It was 11 years ago today that I made the decision that in the coming three months, I was either going to start a business or leave my job at the time for a new job.
As fate would have it, I ended up going down the road of starting a business with a business partner and would be relying on that business as my sole source of income in just seven short months. Then, in just another 5 years and 9 months, I would determine that it was time to go back to working for someone else. That was not an easy decision to make, and quite frankly, I put it off for about two years longer than I should have. Today, I can say, however, without any doubt, it was the right decision to make.
Constantly Working, after a name change, a couple of address changes, and a pretty significant officer change that I can only equate to something along the lines of an extremely amicable divorce, still exists, and while it’s a very tiny amount, is set to turn a profit for 2011, the first time in eight years. While I am only serving two customers in my spare time at night and on weekends, this small, profitable year has been very therapeutic. I own a very (very, very) small business with my wife that has an 11 year history, somehow (miraculously – no thanks to a good volume of personal funding by me) has a perfect, albeit small, credit history, and as long as I can make a solid $900 a year, will be profitable.
Needless to say, my actual income earner, my job, remains my complete and total focus for about 50 to 55 hours a week, and Teresa continues to put in more hours at her job than I do, but as I sit today, our bills getting paid, the business being a pretty sizable debtee, as opposed to the pretty sizable debtor it was 4 ½ years ago, I am looking to the future with great promise. Naturally, we, like all of you, worry about the state of the U.S. economy, politics, and how long it will take to see economic prosperity again, but when I look back at how things could have gone for us over the past eight years, I think we are still sitting pretty, regardless.
While I could probably fill an entire book with the lessons I have learned on this 11 year journey (and maybe I will someday), there are a few quick points that I can make.
First, never tie yourself financially on a personal level to your business or to anyone that you go into business with. I imagine you can see the reasons why. Secondly, while you may have always done everything yourself in the past, when you start a business, you cannot continue to do everything yourself. You need to rely on experts and you need to rely on expert staff to help you build and grow. My job has definitely helped to drive home that message. You cannot start a business with the intent of it being your sole source of income and then try to do everything (sales, marketing, accounting, management, delivery) with just two people. And most importantly, whatever the cost, no matter what, handle yourself in a manner by which at any given point you could sit down across the table from any given person and be able to know that you did the right thing.
So, as I look to the future, I am honestly quite happy. Happy to be constantly working, earning a good living, and happy that this very, very, very small business is once again a positive source of joy in my life as opposed to the burden it was when it was what put food on the table; happy to have such a wonderful wife, wonderful family, and wonderful friends; happy to know that today, in every capacity, my deals are square, my cards are on the table, and my deck of cards is cut every time; happy to have my two wonderful customers that have, without knowing it, renewed my faith in this small, little business; and above all, happy to report to you that tomorrow’s dawn will be even brighter than was today’s.
As fate would have it, I ended up going down the road of starting a business with a business partner and would be relying on that business as my sole source of income in just seven short months. Then, in just another 5 years and 9 months, I would determine that it was time to go back to working for someone else. That was not an easy decision to make, and quite frankly, I put it off for about two years longer than I should have. Today, I can say, however, without any doubt, it was the right decision to make.
Constantly Working, after a name change, a couple of address changes, and a pretty significant officer change that I can only equate to something along the lines of an extremely amicable divorce, still exists, and while it’s a very tiny amount, is set to turn a profit for 2011, the first time in eight years. While I am only serving two customers in my spare time at night and on weekends, this small, profitable year has been very therapeutic. I own a very (very, very) small business with my wife that has an 11 year history, somehow (miraculously – no thanks to a good volume of personal funding by me) has a perfect, albeit small, credit history, and as long as I can make a solid $900 a year, will be profitable.
Needless to say, my actual income earner, my job, remains my complete and total focus for about 50 to 55 hours a week, and Teresa continues to put in more hours at her job than I do, but as I sit today, our bills getting paid, the business being a pretty sizable debtee, as opposed to the pretty sizable debtor it was 4 ½ years ago, I am looking to the future with great promise. Naturally, we, like all of you, worry about the state of the U.S. economy, politics, and how long it will take to see economic prosperity again, but when I look back at how things could have gone for us over the past eight years, I think we are still sitting pretty, regardless.
While I could probably fill an entire book with the lessons I have learned on this 11 year journey (and maybe I will someday), there are a few quick points that I can make.
First, never tie yourself financially on a personal level to your business or to anyone that you go into business with. I imagine you can see the reasons why. Secondly, while you may have always done everything yourself in the past, when you start a business, you cannot continue to do everything yourself. You need to rely on experts and you need to rely on expert staff to help you build and grow. My job has definitely helped to drive home that message. You cannot start a business with the intent of it being your sole source of income and then try to do everything (sales, marketing, accounting, management, delivery) with just two people. And most importantly, whatever the cost, no matter what, handle yourself in a manner by which at any given point you could sit down across the table from any given person and be able to know that you did the right thing.
So, as I look to the future, I am honestly quite happy. Happy to be constantly working, earning a good living, and happy that this very, very, very small business is once again a positive source of joy in my life as opposed to the burden it was when it was what put food on the table; happy to have such a wonderful wife, wonderful family, and wonderful friends; happy to know that today, in every capacity, my deals are square, my cards are on the table, and my deck of cards is cut every time; happy to have my two wonderful customers that have, without knowing it, renewed my faith in this small, little business; and above all, happy to report to you that tomorrow’s dawn will be even brighter than was today’s.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Why I Won't Be Crossing Picket Lines This Time Around During The Grocery Workers' Strike
Here we go again with the grocery workers’ strike, Southern California.
Grocery workers are set to strike against the very places that are crazy enough to hire union workers: Albertson’s, Ralph’s and Vons. Remember how it was last time? Stater Brothers was packed, the smaller independent stores saw a great uptick in business that they are still enjoying today, and people crossing picket lines to buy food for their families with their hard-earned money, or people who were out of work who were crossing picket lines to earn some money, were being accosted by the people who just weeks earlier were thanking them for shopping at that very store and telling them to have a nice day.
This time around, with higher unemployment rates and company revenues down across the board, it could get even nastier and last even longer. The stores are offering compromises, but of course, the unions exclaim that none of the compromises are good enough for their members. The members have voted to strike and it seems like it is only a matter of time until they do.
I, too, once worked for one of these union shops and was a member of this very union. Granted, it was over two decades ago, and the most I could take working there was six months, but my very first job was working at the Lucky’s at Seacliff Village in Huntington Beach as a box boy, making minimum wage, working full-time at a part-time job without any benefits, bagging groceries, lifting boxes, sweeping and mopping floors, and shoveling broken glass to empty the recycling machines.
I had just turned 15 and needed money for a car, car insurance, not eating at home, taking girls out on dates, of course, and to put some money away to pay for college. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but when they hired me, they told me that I was going to need to join the union, but explained to me that this was a good thing. But, I didn’t think it was much of a good thing when my first paycheck of $137 was in my hand and $84 of it went to pay my initial union dues.
With that initial chunk of my money in the hands of the union bosses and with two trips to Buena Park to vote in mandatory union votes under my belt, working a very laborious job at minimum wage with no benefits, within six months, I was ready to move on. I left that union job at Lucky’s and I never looked back.
I took note when Lucky’s was bought by Albertson’s and I took note every time the grocery workers were rattling their swords at the evil bastards that employed them, but it really wasn’t until the last strike which lasted 141 days over 2003 and 2004 that I really paid close attention to what was going on.
Really, that was the first strike I had any personal involvement in, if you will. I wasn’t on the picket line, and in fact, at the time, was out on my own at an independent shop I partially owned, but I did come in contact with those picket lines and I did hear about some of the nasty stuff that was going on when people were crossing them. It is this legacy of intimidation and scare tactics laid on shoppers by the union and some of its members that I remember most about their last strike.
The six months I spent working at Lucky’s remains my one and only union job to date. So, in 2003 when the last strike began, other than having to see my grandfather who paid into a union most of his adult life have to fight that very same union for his pension money because he wanted to keep working in retirement, and the basic working knowledge of unions that I learned from unionized teachers that weren’t really all that stellar, I still had a pretty clean slate when it came to unions. Over the coming 141 days, however, that would greatly change.
I moved to Aliso Viejo in 2002, and that is when I started shopping at Ralph's. When the strike began just over a year later, we started doing more of our shopping at Wal-Mart and starting buying what we could not get there at Stater Brothers. There were a couple of times early on in the strike that I crossed the picket line to shop at Ralph's to get something in particular that I wanted that only Ralph’s had, and one time, I even drove to Ralph’s without thinking and just said screw it and went inside because I didn’t want to drive somewhere else. I also had a friend who cleaned up, making a lot of money working long hours at a Ralph's during that strike who I went to see at the store a couple of times. I even considered earning a little extra money there myself, though I never went through with it. Admittedly, though, I still felt comfortable enough crossing the picket line in those early days of the strike. Some of the people on the lines glared at you a little bit, but others were very polite.
But, as the strike lingered on and people burned through their savings instead of working, coming to the realization that the strike was going to be a lot longer than they figured when they voted for it, those picket lines started to get a little nasty.
Then, once it was reported that a woman was actually accosted at the Ralph’s I shopped at as she was walking into the store with her children, I learned my lesson - cross that picket line at your own physical risk.
But, I guess that was the point they were trying to make, wasn’t it? That lesson was solidified by a conversation I overheard while I was in line at the bank when a member of the union was asking everyone in line what they thought of the strike, and then verbally attacking anyone who did not support it.
I tried to avoid him asking me, but he finally made his way to my spot in the line. Needless to say, he and I had a little verbal exchange at the bank that I will never forget. Someone at the union should have taught him a better way to earn support for his cause.
So, looking back, while that chunk of the very first paycheck I earned put a sour taste in my mouth for the modern union, I still was very much on the fence with unions up until things started to get a little nasty with that 2003 to 2004 strike. Needless to say, at the time I set out to learn more, to form a much better-informed opinion of unions, and in the past seven years, I have concluded that while the initial intention of the union was good, and that the early unions brought us into reasonable working hours and reasonable working conditions, and took children off of assembly lines and got them into schools, I struggle to see how at the end of the day today, they are actually doing near the good that they used to. Couple that with all the classic union corruption, strong-arming and mob ties from the 1960s and 1970s that supposedly are 100% gone now, and you do not have a very rosy picture of the modern union at all.
In fact, when you look at the plight of non-union workers in America today, many of them are much better off than their union counterparts, even though their union counterparts have a union looking out for their best interest. Look at the unionized auto workers in America, for example, and how their union benefited most of them out of a job.
By the way, I did my own personal reflecting and found myself wondering how in the hell was it that I was in a union, paying union dues, yet was making minimum wage and getting no benefits? You’ll excuse me if I don’t look back fondly at all the union was doing for me at the time.
And now, as we stare down another grocery workers strike, I can’t help but have a bitter taste in my mouth from the last one. This time around, the complaint is that workers are going to have to start paying more of their healthcare costs. Oh, you mean like everyone else in America? I had to do that for a year at my current job when the economy started to turn and I didn’t take to the streets, accosting customers as they entered the building. In fact, I paid it without question, put my head down, got to work, and with the help of everyone at the company working hard together through the economic crisis, a year later, the company turned around and starting paying 100% of my health insurance premium again because it was doing so well. We supported the company and came out the other side better for it instead of attacking the company, blaming it for things that were outside of its control.
I got a job at the grocery store and I didn’t really like it, so I went out and got another job, then another job, then another job, and moved on with my life. I didn’t stay at a job I didn’t like then blame the store owner because I stayed there. By the way, grocery workers in the very worst increase percentage are being asked to pay $92 per month for family insurance; $36 per month for themselves. I had to pay $33.11 a month and I work longer hours and I am salary so I don’t get overtime or holiday pay. To top it off, I negotiate all of my benefits and perks one on one directly with the company myself because I’m not part of a union.
Everyone out there is having to make concessions, and everyone out there is having to work a little longer and a little harder. Why should that not be the case for EVERYONE? What did that last strike accomplish? To tell you the truth, I don’t even remember, but I do know that it did one thing. It completely and totally swayed my opinion in one direction when it came to unions. I am not saying that these grocery store workers don’t work hard and that they don’t deserve the same American dream that the rest of us do, I am just saying that when it comes to supporting them and their disdain for their store during the strike, then immediately transitioning back to supporting their store once the strike is over is a real struggle for me.
Why is it such a struggle? Let’s just say that I think that striking workers should be out taking some business and economic classes because obviously, they do not have a basic working knowledge of how today’s businesses work, even though they work for a business and pay union dues to another business. Striking workers need to better understand where their employer, the people crossing picket lines, and yes, even their union, all stand. I’m not saying that to be mean. I am saying that they need to become better informed on how businesses work and understand that their union is a profitable business and they are a customer that is forced to shop there, even when there are better deals in the marketplace.
Again, let’s look at what happened last time. We stopped shopping at the Ralph’s where the mother walking into the store with her children was accosted. We started shopping at the next furthest Ralph’s from home, but all the stuff we were buying at Wal-Mart and other stores during the strike, we never went back to buying again at any Ralph’s, and this has actually saved us quite a bit of money. We spend far less at Ralph’s today than we did before the last strike, quite frankly, because we were forced by union members to go out and find alternatives during the last strike, and find alternatives, we did.
So, when Ralph’s doesn’t have money to pay for all of these workers’ health insurance seven years later, how do these workers not see that the effects they created with their last strike play a large part in the financial condition of their employer today? How can they not see that this looming strike over somewhere between $36 and $93 per month is going to have any even more adverse effect on their employer this time around? All of the evidence points to the fact that shoppers in Southern California did not simply go right back to their same buying habits post-strike back in 2004, but in fact, are buying less and less at the union shops because the bad taste the last strike left in their mouth.
During the strike, we discovered Henry’s and it’s higher-quality and less-expensive produce. That taught us that we needed to do more than just shop at Ralph’s…we needed to shop around. The grocery workers’ strike and the insight it gave us last time around led us to finding Henry's, and in turn, over the years, Fresh N' Easy and Growers Direct. We have now found everything we bought at Ralph's before the last strike at other stores, and at a cheaper price. I guess I should thank the union in a way, because without the last strike, we would have just continued paying more for less quality at Ralph’s. And one last point before I wrap up…While we were buying less, we were still going to Ralph’s about once a week, but since March when the union first started sabre rattling, we are going to Ralph’s much less in preparation for not going there at all. In fact, I think I may have made my last regularly-scheduled shopping trip to Ralph’s at this point.
So, in conclusion, this time I will not be crossing the picket line – not one single time. This will not be in support of the strike, but will be because the last strike opened my eyes to the options I had at local non-union shops. This time around, I no longer need to cross the picket line. This time, I won’t simply cut back on what we buy at Ralph’s, we’ll simply just stop going there from here on out. No strike in 2004? I’d still be shopping at Ralph’s. No strike in 2011? I’d still be shopping at Ralph’s. Now? I’m done shopping at Ralph’s. Regardless of how this strike turns out, if enough people reach the same conclusion that I did, union members, how do you think that is going to affect the store’s ability to pay for your health insurance?
Grocery workers are set to strike against the very places that are crazy enough to hire union workers: Albertson’s, Ralph’s and Vons. Remember how it was last time? Stater Brothers was packed, the smaller independent stores saw a great uptick in business that they are still enjoying today, and people crossing picket lines to buy food for their families with their hard-earned money, or people who were out of work who were crossing picket lines to earn some money, were being accosted by the people who just weeks earlier were thanking them for shopping at that very store and telling them to have a nice day.
This time around, with higher unemployment rates and company revenues down across the board, it could get even nastier and last even longer. The stores are offering compromises, but of course, the unions exclaim that none of the compromises are good enough for their members. The members have voted to strike and it seems like it is only a matter of time until they do.
I, too, once worked for one of these union shops and was a member of this very union. Granted, it was over two decades ago, and the most I could take working there was six months, but my very first job was working at the Lucky’s at Seacliff Village in Huntington Beach as a box boy, making minimum wage, working full-time at a part-time job without any benefits, bagging groceries, lifting boxes, sweeping and mopping floors, and shoveling broken glass to empty the recycling machines.
I had just turned 15 and needed money for a car, car insurance, not eating at home, taking girls out on dates, of course, and to put some money away to pay for college. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but when they hired me, they told me that I was going to need to join the union, but explained to me that this was a good thing. But, I didn’t think it was much of a good thing when my first paycheck of $137 was in my hand and $84 of it went to pay my initial union dues.
With that initial chunk of my money in the hands of the union bosses and with two trips to Buena Park to vote in mandatory union votes under my belt, working a very laborious job at minimum wage with no benefits, within six months, I was ready to move on. I left that union job at Lucky’s and I never looked back.
I took note when Lucky’s was bought by Albertson’s and I took note every time the grocery workers were rattling their swords at the evil bastards that employed them, but it really wasn’t until the last strike which lasted 141 days over 2003 and 2004 that I really paid close attention to what was going on.
Really, that was the first strike I had any personal involvement in, if you will. I wasn’t on the picket line, and in fact, at the time, was out on my own at an independent shop I partially owned, but I did come in contact with those picket lines and I did hear about some of the nasty stuff that was going on when people were crossing them. It is this legacy of intimidation and scare tactics laid on shoppers by the union and some of its members that I remember most about their last strike.
The six months I spent working at Lucky’s remains my one and only union job to date. So, in 2003 when the last strike began, other than having to see my grandfather who paid into a union most of his adult life have to fight that very same union for his pension money because he wanted to keep working in retirement, and the basic working knowledge of unions that I learned from unionized teachers that weren’t really all that stellar, I still had a pretty clean slate when it came to unions. Over the coming 141 days, however, that would greatly change.
I moved to Aliso Viejo in 2002, and that is when I started shopping at Ralph's. When the strike began just over a year later, we started doing more of our shopping at Wal-Mart and starting buying what we could not get there at Stater Brothers. There were a couple of times early on in the strike that I crossed the picket line to shop at Ralph's to get something in particular that I wanted that only Ralph’s had, and one time, I even drove to Ralph’s without thinking and just said screw it and went inside because I didn’t want to drive somewhere else. I also had a friend who cleaned up, making a lot of money working long hours at a Ralph's during that strike who I went to see at the store a couple of times. I even considered earning a little extra money there myself, though I never went through with it. Admittedly, though, I still felt comfortable enough crossing the picket line in those early days of the strike. Some of the people on the lines glared at you a little bit, but others were very polite.
But, as the strike lingered on and people burned through their savings instead of working, coming to the realization that the strike was going to be a lot longer than they figured when they voted for it, those picket lines started to get a little nasty.
Then, once it was reported that a woman was actually accosted at the Ralph’s I shopped at as she was walking into the store with her children, I learned my lesson - cross that picket line at your own physical risk.
But, I guess that was the point they were trying to make, wasn’t it? That lesson was solidified by a conversation I overheard while I was in line at the bank when a member of the union was asking everyone in line what they thought of the strike, and then verbally attacking anyone who did not support it.
I tried to avoid him asking me, but he finally made his way to my spot in the line. Needless to say, he and I had a little verbal exchange at the bank that I will never forget. Someone at the union should have taught him a better way to earn support for his cause.
So, looking back, while that chunk of the very first paycheck I earned put a sour taste in my mouth for the modern union, I still was very much on the fence with unions up until things started to get a little nasty with that 2003 to 2004 strike. Needless to say, at the time I set out to learn more, to form a much better-informed opinion of unions, and in the past seven years, I have concluded that while the initial intention of the union was good, and that the early unions brought us into reasonable working hours and reasonable working conditions, and took children off of assembly lines and got them into schools, I struggle to see how at the end of the day today, they are actually doing near the good that they used to. Couple that with all the classic union corruption, strong-arming and mob ties from the 1960s and 1970s that supposedly are 100% gone now, and you do not have a very rosy picture of the modern union at all.
In fact, when you look at the plight of non-union workers in America today, many of them are much better off than their union counterparts, even though their union counterparts have a union looking out for their best interest. Look at the unionized auto workers in America, for example, and how their union benefited most of them out of a job.
By the way, I did my own personal reflecting and found myself wondering how in the hell was it that I was in a union, paying union dues, yet was making minimum wage and getting no benefits? You’ll excuse me if I don’t look back fondly at all the union was doing for me at the time.
And now, as we stare down another grocery workers strike, I can’t help but have a bitter taste in my mouth from the last one. This time around, the complaint is that workers are going to have to start paying more of their healthcare costs. Oh, you mean like everyone else in America? I had to do that for a year at my current job when the economy started to turn and I didn’t take to the streets, accosting customers as they entered the building. In fact, I paid it without question, put my head down, got to work, and with the help of everyone at the company working hard together through the economic crisis, a year later, the company turned around and starting paying 100% of my health insurance premium again because it was doing so well. We supported the company and came out the other side better for it instead of attacking the company, blaming it for things that were outside of its control.
I got a job at the grocery store and I didn’t really like it, so I went out and got another job, then another job, then another job, and moved on with my life. I didn’t stay at a job I didn’t like then blame the store owner because I stayed there. By the way, grocery workers in the very worst increase percentage are being asked to pay $92 per month for family insurance; $36 per month for themselves. I had to pay $33.11 a month and I work longer hours and I am salary so I don’t get overtime or holiday pay. To top it off, I negotiate all of my benefits and perks one on one directly with the company myself because I’m not part of a union.
Everyone out there is having to make concessions, and everyone out there is having to work a little longer and a little harder. Why should that not be the case for EVERYONE? What did that last strike accomplish? To tell you the truth, I don’t even remember, but I do know that it did one thing. It completely and totally swayed my opinion in one direction when it came to unions. I am not saying that these grocery store workers don’t work hard and that they don’t deserve the same American dream that the rest of us do, I am just saying that when it comes to supporting them and their disdain for their store during the strike, then immediately transitioning back to supporting their store once the strike is over is a real struggle for me.
Why is it such a struggle? Let’s just say that I think that striking workers should be out taking some business and economic classes because obviously, they do not have a basic working knowledge of how today’s businesses work, even though they work for a business and pay union dues to another business. Striking workers need to better understand where their employer, the people crossing picket lines, and yes, even their union, all stand. I’m not saying that to be mean. I am saying that they need to become better informed on how businesses work and understand that their union is a profitable business and they are a customer that is forced to shop there, even when there are better deals in the marketplace.
Again, let’s look at what happened last time. We stopped shopping at the Ralph’s where the mother walking into the store with her children was accosted. We started shopping at the next furthest Ralph’s from home, but all the stuff we were buying at Wal-Mart and other stores during the strike, we never went back to buying again at any Ralph’s, and this has actually saved us quite a bit of money. We spend far less at Ralph’s today than we did before the last strike, quite frankly, because we were forced by union members to go out and find alternatives during the last strike, and find alternatives, we did.
So, when Ralph’s doesn’t have money to pay for all of these workers’ health insurance seven years later, how do these workers not see that the effects they created with their last strike play a large part in the financial condition of their employer today? How can they not see that this looming strike over somewhere between $36 and $93 per month is going to have any even more adverse effect on their employer this time around? All of the evidence points to the fact that shoppers in Southern California did not simply go right back to their same buying habits post-strike back in 2004, but in fact, are buying less and less at the union shops because the bad taste the last strike left in their mouth.
During the strike, we discovered Henry’s and it’s higher-quality and less-expensive produce. That taught us that we needed to do more than just shop at Ralph’s…we needed to shop around. The grocery workers’ strike and the insight it gave us last time around led us to finding Henry's, and in turn, over the years, Fresh N' Easy and Growers Direct. We have now found everything we bought at Ralph's before the last strike at other stores, and at a cheaper price. I guess I should thank the union in a way, because without the last strike, we would have just continued paying more for less quality at Ralph’s. And one last point before I wrap up…While we were buying less, we were still going to Ralph’s about once a week, but since March when the union first started sabre rattling, we are going to Ralph’s much less in preparation for not going there at all. In fact, I think I may have made my last regularly-scheduled shopping trip to Ralph’s at this point.
So, in conclusion, this time I will not be crossing the picket line – not one single time. This will not be in support of the strike, but will be because the last strike opened my eyes to the options I had at local non-union shops. This time around, I no longer need to cross the picket line. This time, I won’t simply cut back on what we buy at Ralph’s, we’ll simply just stop going there from here on out. No strike in 2004? I’d still be shopping at Ralph’s. No strike in 2011? I’d still be shopping at Ralph’s. Now? I’m done shopping at Ralph’s. Regardless of how this strike turns out, if enough people reach the same conclusion that I did, union members, how do you think that is going to affect the store’s ability to pay for your health insurance?
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
To Blog Or Not To Blog?...That Is The Social Media Question...
On May 15, 2011, this missive celebrated its 10-year anniversary. Think about that for a second. A decade. Pre-9/11, back when I was in my 20s, back when I was leaving the TV manufacturing business to get into marketing, back when my wife and I were about to celebrate three whole years together, back when my brother was still in high school, oh, and back when I was still living at home with my parents - no mortgage, no association dues, no city dues, no utilities - whatever did I do with my money back then?
So much has changed since the day I decided that the company I had just co-founded needed a newsletter, which over time would morph from a PDF attachment to an HTML email, then ultimately into this blog site. It had many names over the years: the WS Financial Business Update, WS Financial Update, Quietly Working Update, The Patriotism Page, and finally, just The Update. Today, it's just called my blog.
But here I sit now, looking back over the past three weeks and I am seeing something interesting. My last actual blog post was 16 days go, yet in that time I have shared 15 articles and posts on social media.
Now, we all know that a lot of folks are saying that social media is the wave of the future, but to a number of us, especially those who work in technology, social media has already been around for quite some time. So naturally, you can see, as I reflect on the past decade and all of the methods I used for reaching out to folks in my network, how I might contemplate the future of this blog vs. quick and easy links and posts on my social media pages.
There are defintely advantages to the blog. Try to find something you posted on Facebook two years ago. Try to easily search or sort your tweets, especially the ones for which you have forgotten the hashtag you used. Quickly and easily find what you posted on your birthday, or on Fourth of July five, six, seven years ago. The historian and archivist in me shudders at the volume of data that is being lost to the world with these quick and easy posting of links to social media.
Yet, it takes me a lot longer to write the blog posts than it does to simply shell out links to the articles that I have read, though it might take you as the reader longer to read the long articles and less time to read the short articles. We all know that the linked articles are going to have a lot less rhetoric and ramblin' (unless they're Fox News articles) than crazy Old Man Savastano's posts, but at the same time, just a link with even a quick few words from the poster still do not do that person's own opinions justice. And, from what I have heard, my rhetoric and ramblin' tend to make some of you laugh, tend to ruffle some of your feathers, but either way, spark much more of a conversation than a simple link to someone else's article ever does.
Needless to say, a definite decision on the blog vs. social media is not going to happen today. It's Sunday as I write this, and our daily agenda has afforded me the time to write and prepare a post for the next business day, which obviously, the past three weekends' agendas did not allow. So, I guess for now, I'll continue to use social media to point you to the blog and I'll write blog articles when I have the time and simply shell out links when I don't. I guess I'll have to keep an eye out for further signs that it is time to hang up the blog, but for now, it's just not time yet.
So much has changed since the day I decided that the company I had just co-founded needed a newsletter, which over time would morph from a PDF attachment to an HTML email, then ultimately into this blog site. It had many names over the years: the WS Financial Business Update, WS Financial Update, Quietly Working Update, The Patriotism Page, and finally, just The Update. Today, it's just called my blog.
But here I sit now, looking back over the past three weeks and I am seeing something interesting. My last actual blog post was 16 days go, yet in that time I have shared 15 articles and posts on social media.
Now, we all know that a lot of folks are saying that social media is the wave of the future, but to a number of us, especially those who work in technology, social media has already been around for quite some time. So naturally, you can see, as I reflect on the past decade and all of the methods I used for reaching out to folks in my network, how I might contemplate the future of this blog vs. quick and easy links and posts on my social media pages.
There are defintely advantages to the blog. Try to find something you posted on Facebook two years ago. Try to easily search or sort your tweets, especially the ones for which you have forgotten the hashtag you used. Quickly and easily find what you posted on your birthday, or on Fourth of July five, six, seven years ago. The historian and archivist in me shudders at the volume of data that is being lost to the world with these quick and easy posting of links to social media.
Yet, it takes me a lot longer to write the blog posts than it does to simply shell out links to the articles that I have read, though it might take you as the reader longer to read the long articles and less time to read the short articles. We all know that the linked articles are going to have a lot less rhetoric and ramblin' (unless they're Fox News articles) than crazy Old Man Savastano's posts, but at the same time, just a link with even a quick few words from the poster still do not do that person's own opinions justice. And, from what I have heard, my rhetoric and ramblin' tend to make some of you laugh, tend to ruffle some of your feathers, but either way, spark much more of a conversation than a simple link to someone else's article ever does.
Needless to say, a definite decision on the blog vs. social media is not going to happen today. It's Sunday as I write this, and our daily agenda has afforded me the time to write and prepare a post for the next business day, which obviously, the past three weekends' agendas did not allow. So, I guess for now, I'll continue to use social media to point you to the blog and I'll write blog articles when I have the time and simply shell out links when I don't. I guess I'll have to keep an eye out for further signs that it is time to hang up the blog, but for now, it's just not time yet.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Dismantling A Nuclear Power Plant
As you read this, what was once the world's largest nuclear power plant in Zion, Illinois (just outside of Chicago), is being dismantled. The plant, which was opened in 1973 by Exelon Corp., was moth-balled in 1998 when it became unprofitable, and has been sitting, collecting dust (and making more radioactive dust) for the past 12 years. Exelon was paying about $10 million a year just to maintain the plant, but did not want to handle demolition itself.
Now, in a first-of-its-kind deal, Excelon has transferred custody of the plant to a private dismantling company. It actually took an act of the federal government to make this happen. A demoltion company called EnergySolutions stands to get nearly $1 billion in business by taking on the project which is being funded by money Excelon set aside from utility fees for just this type of plant demoliton they knew would be needed one day.
EnergySolutions has developed a four-step plan to dismantle the Zion nuclear power plant that will most likely set the standard nationwide as America's earliest nuclear power plants start to age and must be dismantled.
First, the spent fuel rods that are housed at the plant are placed into steel canisters which are lowered into a concrete sleeve. This concrete sleeve can withstand temperatures close to 1500 degrees, tornado winds, and direct impacts of objects up to the size of a car, traveling 125 miles per hour. The sleeves, of which there will be 61 at Zion, each weighing 157 tons because of the concrete's thickness, are placed within a three-foot thick slab of more concrete, the size of a football field. The sleeves are permanently housed at the site of the nuclear plant. Vegetation growth will be encouraged to hide the concrete casks and slab. Armed guards will keep people away. The casks and armed guards will theoretically be in place as long as there is still civilization around to coordinate it all.
The next step is to dismantle the actual concrete containment domes that sat over the plant's reactors and the reactors themselves, down to the small components, until nothing is left. All of the dismantled material will then be transported to a radioactive disposal facility in Clive, Utah. Each reactor and dome will produce about 4 million cubic feet of material, roughly enough to fill 800 rail cars.
Once in Clive, Utah, the 4 million cubic feet of material will be pulverized into fist-sized chunks and buried in above ground graves which, like the sleeves and slabs back at the power plant, will be monitored and secured for as long as society exists.
While the materials are on their way to Utah, crews then begin dismantling all of the remaining structures - office buildings, etc. - and once all of that material is hauled away, crews will plant large expanses of grass, hopefully making it look like the nuclear plant was never there.
Now, in a first-of-its-kind deal, Excelon has transferred custody of the plant to a private dismantling company. It actually took an act of the federal government to make this happen. A demoltion company called EnergySolutions stands to get nearly $1 billion in business by taking on the project which is being funded by money Excelon set aside from utility fees for just this type of plant demoliton they knew would be needed one day.
EnergySolutions has developed a four-step plan to dismantle the Zion nuclear power plant that will most likely set the standard nationwide as America's earliest nuclear power plants start to age and must be dismantled.
First, the spent fuel rods that are housed at the plant are placed into steel canisters which are lowered into a concrete sleeve. This concrete sleeve can withstand temperatures close to 1500 degrees, tornado winds, and direct impacts of objects up to the size of a car, traveling 125 miles per hour. The sleeves, of which there will be 61 at Zion, each weighing 157 tons because of the concrete's thickness, are placed within a three-foot thick slab of more concrete, the size of a football field. The sleeves are permanently housed at the site of the nuclear plant. Vegetation growth will be encouraged to hide the concrete casks and slab. Armed guards will keep people away. The casks and armed guards will theoretically be in place as long as there is still civilization around to coordinate it all.
The next step is to dismantle the actual concrete containment domes that sat over the plant's reactors and the reactors themselves, down to the small components, until nothing is left. All of the dismantled material will then be transported to a radioactive disposal facility in Clive, Utah. Each reactor and dome will produce about 4 million cubic feet of material, roughly enough to fill 800 rail cars.
Once in Clive, Utah, the 4 million cubic feet of material will be pulverized into fist-sized chunks and buried in above ground graves which, like the sleeves and slabs back at the power plant, will be monitored and secured for as long as society exists.
While the materials are on their way to Utah, crews then begin dismantling all of the remaining structures - office buildings, etc. - and once all of that material is hauled away, crews will plant large expanses of grass, hopefully making it look like the nuclear plant was never there.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
U.S. Supreme Court Orders Taxifornia Taxpayers To Continue To Help Pay For College For Illegal Immigrants
Apparently, the U.S. Supreme Court, Taxifornia Supreme Court, Illegal Immigrant rights groups, Dream Act supporters, a bunch of bleeding-heart liberals, and the three to four million illegal immigrants living in Taxifornia are all in agreement that the Taxifornia taxpayer has a money tree in their backyard, should pay for anything and everything that society asks for, no matter how ridiculous, and that once again, the 41% of us who receive no government aid need to continue to foot the bill for the other 59% to continue to live a standard of life that frankly, they do not earn themselves like the rest of us.
According to the Boston Harold, “The U.S. Supreme Court decision Monday to uphold California’s policy of granting reduced, in-state tuition to college students who are illegal immigrants is likely to bolster similar proposals across the nation as well as a California measure to provide financial aid for the undocumented.”
This means that the Taxifornia taxpayer will need to foot the bill for a tuition discount for 41,000 students that rings up at annual costs of $23,000 at a UC school, $11,000 at a Cal State school, and $4,400 at community colleges. Correct me if I am wrong, but was not the in-state tuition discount set up so that the children of people who had lived and worked in Taxifornia – paid Taxifornia income tax, and worse yet, federal income tax, could get a break when sending their kids to college? Why then, would that discount, at the taxpayer’s expense, be extended to the non-income-tax-paying non-citizen?
Not that I was ever in agreement with the taxpayer footing tuition bills (Yes, I’m one of those nut-jobs that believes you should pay for college yourself), but this really continues to be a step too far for a state government that spends way too much money and relies too heavily on the hard work of some people, while completely turning a blind eye to law-breaking and lack of hard work from others.
You want to go to college? You want to send your kids to college? Then start saving. Start putting money away. You and your parents shouldn’t get to not plan ahead, then on high school graduation day, stick your hand out and expect us to foot the bill.
So, if this wasn’t bad enough, the Boston Harold continues with their story: “Undocumented students and their advocates said they will use the court’s action to push for passage of the California Dream Act, state legislation that would allow illegal immigrants to receive campus-based aid and the state’s Cal Grants for their bills at UC, Cal State and community colleges. It could cost about $32.2 million annually, according to an analysis by the Assembly Appropriations Committee. The measure, proposed by Democratic Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, recently passed the state Assembly and is being considered in the state Senate. The Legislature approved a similar measure but former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it last year as he had with previous versions. Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, ‘supports the principles of the Dream Act and would closely consider any legislation that reaches his desk,’ his spokesman Evan Westrup said Monday."
So, not only is Taxifornia asking the idiot taxpayer to help foot tuition bills for illegal immigrants, but it may soon be asking them to foot the bill for state-funded financial aid as well.
No accountability, no personal responsibility, and no respect for the law of the land for some, and accountability, personal responsibility, and a heavy load of taxes for others. Freedom to do what you want, when you want, all with no consequences for some, and jail time if you don’t pay your taxes for others.
According to the Boston Harold, “The U.S. Supreme Court decision Monday to uphold California’s policy of granting reduced, in-state tuition to college students who are illegal immigrants is likely to bolster similar proposals across the nation as well as a California measure to provide financial aid for the undocumented.”
This means that the Taxifornia taxpayer will need to foot the bill for a tuition discount for 41,000 students that rings up at annual costs of $23,000 at a UC school, $11,000 at a Cal State school, and $4,400 at community colleges. Correct me if I am wrong, but was not the in-state tuition discount set up so that the children of people who had lived and worked in Taxifornia – paid Taxifornia income tax, and worse yet, federal income tax, could get a break when sending their kids to college? Why then, would that discount, at the taxpayer’s expense, be extended to the non-income-tax-paying non-citizen?
Not that I was ever in agreement with the taxpayer footing tuition bills (Yes, I’m one of those nut-jobs that believes you should pay for college yourself), but this really continues to be a step too far for a state government that spends way too much money and relies too heavily on the hard work of some people, while completely turning a blind eye to law-breaking and lack of hard work from others.
You want to go to college? You want to send your kids to college? Then start saving. Start putting money away. You and your parents shouldn’t get to not plan ahead, then on high school graduation day, stick your hand out and expect us to foot the bill.
So, if this wasn’t bad enough, the Boston Harold continues with their story: “Undocumented students and their advocates said they will use the court’s action to push for passage of the California Dream Act, state legislation that would allow illegal immigrants to receive campus-based aid and the state’s Cal Grants for their bills at UC, Cal State and community colleges. It could cost about $32.2 million annually, according to an analysis by the Assembly Appropriations Committee. The measure, proposed by Democratic Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, recently passed the state Assembly and is being considered in the state Senate. The Legislature approved a similar measure but former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it last year as he had with previous versions. Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, ‘supports the principles of the Dream Act and would closely consider any legislation that reaches his desk,’ his spokesman Evan Westrup said Monday."
So, not only is Taxifornia asking the idiot taxpayer to help foot tuition bills for illegal immigrants, but it may soon be asking them to foot the bill for state-funded financial aid as well.
No accountability, no personal responsibility, and no respect for the law of the land for some, and accountability, personal responsibility, and a heavy load of taxes for others. Freedom to do what you want, when you want, all with no consequences for some, and jail time if you don’t pay your taxes for others.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Yet Another Tax...The "Crash" Tax
According to California AAA CEO Thomas McKernan, "more than 50 California cities have imposed a new fee for police, fire, and other emergency services that respond to traffic crashes." In some cities, the taxes are only imposed on those who are at fault, but in some cases, even drivers who were not at fault are forced to pay a crash tax, even though they were minding their own business being a model driver and in possession of state-mandated car insurance, and paid up on their vehicle license fees.
Time and time again, this ridiculous state and these ridiculous local governments never cease to amaze me. We pay sales tax - we pay property tax - we pay business tax - we pay income tax - we pay gas tax - we pay car tax - we pay phone tax - Do I need to continue? So, now, greedy government officials are telling us that even with all of these taxes, there is no money to pay police, fire and paramedics to show up at the scene of a car accident?
To top it off, there are even more sinister forces at work with these crash taxes...the slimeballs at the collection agencies. That's right, I said slimeballs. While I have never been on the collectee end of the collection agency equation, I did at one time hire one to collect some money that was owed to me. What a mistake that was! They took my fee money, collected my money from my customer, then turned around and spent it without giving me a dime. Like I said, slimeballs.
So, where was I? Oh yeah, the slimeballs at the collection agencies. While local government officials might not be the dullest tools in the shed, they are not necessarily the masterminds of this tax. Collection agencies who are preying on cities strapped for cash are encouraging city governments to pass these ridiculous taxes so that the collection of them can be turned over to...you guessed it...their collection agencies...of course, with the agency getting a cut of the taxes they collect. A private company encouraging government to tax you, then getting to keep part of the money they collect for said government? That sure doesn't sound right, does it?
You will have to keep an eye out for a bill next time you are involved in a traffic accident here in the fine state of Taxifornia. With all of that being said, there may, however, be a slight glimmer of hope. Some of the folks that make up the Taxifornia State Taxislature are introducing a bill that would ban these crash taxes. Imagine that...the revenue-hungry Taxifornia State Taxislature even thinks these crash taxes are wrong! I guess we'll have to see what happens.
Time and time again, this ridiculous state and these ridiculous local governments never cease to amaze me. We pay sales tax - we pay property tax - we pay business tax - we pay income tax - we pay gas tax - we pay car tax - we pay phone tax - Do I need to continue? So, now, greedy government officials are telling us that even with all of these taxes, there is no money to pay police, fire and paramedics to show up at the scene of a car accident?
To top it off, there are even more sinister forces at work with these crash taxes...the slimeballs at the collection agencies. That's right, I said slimeballs. While I have never been on the collectee end of the collection agency equation, I did at one time hire one to collect some money that was owed to me. What a mistake that was! They took my fee money, collected my money from my customer, then turned around and spent it without giving me a dime. Like I said, slimeballs.
So, where was I? Oh yeah, the slimeballs at the collection agencies. While local government officials might not be the dullest tools in the shed, they are not necessarily the masterminds of this tax. Collection agencies who are preying on cities strapped for cash are encouraging city governments to pass these ridiculous taxes so that the collection of them can be turned over to...you guessed it...their collection agencies...of course, with the agency getting a cut of the taxes they collect. A private company encouraging government to tax you, then getting to keep part of the money they collect for said government? That sure doesn't sound right, does it?
You will have to keep an eye out for a bill next time you are involved in a traffic accident here in the fine state of Taxifornia. With all of that being said, there may, however, be a slight glimmer of hope. Some of the folks that make up the Taxifornia State Taxislature are introducing a bill that would ban these crash taxes. Imagine that...the revenue-hungry Taxifornia State Taxislature even thinks these crash taxes are wrong! I guess we'll have to see what happens.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Maybe It's Time To Start Learning Chinese
Well, folks, that's it. According to the International Monetary Fund, the era of America will end in just five years when the economy of China becomes the most dominant player on the world stage. American politicians will tell us that we are still #1, economists will tell us where we went wrong, even though we already know what the problem is, and the percentage of Americans who pay no taxes won't care as long as they still get what society owes them.
We can already see cracks forming in the once respected U.S. dollar and U.S. treasuries markets, but when we slide to #2 behind China, the world economy and the world's international security system will have a very different landscape than what we all have known through our lifetime.
According to the IMF, whoever wins the Presidential election in 2012 will be the last U.S. President to preside over the largest economy in the world. How are most Americans handling the news? The way that we always do. Instead of buckling down, making real changes, and addressing the problem, most of us will put our heads in the sand and tell ourselves that it won't make a difference in our lives, and the so-called experts are going to fuel that view by saying that the IMF figures are inaccurate and that we have at least a decade until this is going to happen.
According to a MarketWatch article, "Under PPP, the Chinese economy will expand from $11.2 trillion this year to $19 trillion in 2016. Meanwhile the U.S. economy will rise from $15.2 trillion to $18.8 trillion. That would take America’s share of the world output down to 17.7%, the lowest in modern times. China’s would reach 18%, and is rising."
While this is just a prediction, all signs point to the fact that the U.S. economy will no longer be #1 within our lifetime. America took over as top economic power in the world in the 1890s and unless you're pushing 120 years old right now, you have lived in a time when our nation was the #1 power on the world stage. Imagine what the world will be like when this is not the case. While we may have our ills, we have led the world with the very best of intentions. Do you think that China will do the same?
也許是時候開始å¸ä¸æ–‡
We can already see cracks forming in the once respected U.S. dollar and U.S. treasuries markets, but when we slide to #2 behind China, the world economy and the world's international security system will have a very different landscape than what we all have known through our lifetime.
According to the IMF, whoever wins the Presidential election in 2012 will be the last U.S. President to preside over the largest economy in the world. How are most Americans handling the news? The way that we always do. Instead of buckling down, making real changes, and addressing the problem, most of us will put our heads in the sand and tell ourselves that it won't make a difference in our lives, and the so-called experts are going to fuel that view by saying that the IMF figures are inaccurate and that we have at least a decade until this is going to happen.
According to a MarketWatch article, "Under PPP, the Chinese economy will expand from $11.2 trillion this year to $19 trillion in 2016. Meanwhile the U.S. economy will rise from $15.2 trillion to $18.8 trillion. That would take America’s share of the world output down to 17.7%, the lowest in modern times. China’s would reach 18%, and is rising."
While this is just a prediction, all signs point to the fact that the U.S. economy will no longer be #1 within our lifetime. America took over as top economic power in the world in the 1890s and unless you're pushing 120 years old right now, you have lived in a time when our nation was the #1 power on the world stage. Imagine what the world will be like when this is not the case. While we may have our ills, we have led the world with the very best of intentions. Do you think that China will do the same?
也許是時候開始å¸ä¸æ–‡
Monday, April 18, 2011
"Viva La Revolucion, Raul!"
To quote Fidel Castro when he made an unofficial appearance on The Simpsons, "It's full of what?!"
Communists, Fidel. Cuba's government is filled with communists. And that is why the nation is failing. It is why the Soviet Union failed and why all the communist block countries failed. China? Without China's capitalism, it would be failing also. But maybe, just maybe, Cuba's government will not be filled with communists much longer.
We all know there was no way Fidel could have gone back on his word and dismantled the Cuba's communist regime himself, but now that 79-year-old little brother Raul is the "President", things may be looking up for Cuba.
In an unprecedented step towards joining the modern world, Raul proposed term limits for "the current president of the Council of State and his ministers". That would mean no more 52 year-long, family-based ruling, and according to Raul, would be replaced by no more than two consecutive 5-year terms in office for everyone, including himself.
Raul is also proposing, based on suggestions he has received from the Cuban people, the eventual elimination of rationing, the decentralization of the economy, and reliance upon supply and demand to set prices in some areas. The reforms stop short of people actually being able to own property, but this is a big step in the right direction.
Raul states that a lack of young Cubans interested in politics and carrying on the regime is also a prime reason behind the proposed changes. Most of the original Cuban communist revolutionaries are already deceased and none of the oppressed following generations of Cubans are wanting to step in to replace them. Raul says he will fix this through reform and a "systematic rejuvenation" of the Cuban government.
These reforms still need to be made law by the government, but political experts believe Raul will move quickly to ensure his reforms are put in place. Let's hope so.
Communists, Fidel. Cuba's government is filled with communists. And that is why the nation is failing. It is why the Soviet Union failed and why all the communist block countries failed. China? Without China's capitalism, it would be failing also. But maybe, just maybe, Cuba's government will not be filled with communists much longer.
We all know there was no way Fidel could have gone back on his word and dismantled the Cuba's communist regime himself, but now that 79-year-old little brother Raul is the "President", things may be looking up for Cuba.
In an unprecedented step towards joining the modern world, Raul proposed term limits for "the current president of the Council of State and his ministers". That would mean no more 52 year-long, family-based ruling, and according to Raul, would be replaced by no more than two consecutive 5-year terms in office for everyone, including himself.
Raul is also proposing, based on suggestions he has received from the Cuban people, the eventual elimination of rationing, the decentralization of the economy, and reliance upon supply and demand to set prices in some areas. The reforms stop short of people actually being able to own property, but this is a big step in the right direction.
Raul states that a lack of young Cubans interested in politics and carrying on the regime is also a prime reason behind the proposed changes. Most of the original Cuban communist revolutionaries are already deceased and none of the oppressed following generations of Cubans are wanting to step in to replace them. Raul says he will fix this through reform and a "systematic rejuvenation" of the Cuban government.
These reforms still need to be made law by the government, but political experts believe Raul will move quickly to ensure his reforms are put in place. Let's hope so.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Keep An Eye On Washington This Week...They're Talking About Your Money
This week, House Republicans are planning to introduce $4 trillion in federal spending cuts that would go into effect over the next decade. How nice to see a proposal that entails 10 years worth of cuts instead of ten years worth of increased spending. Republicans are getting the message. Let's hope the Democrats are not too far behind.
I saw a clip last night of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in which he was blaming the craziness of Republican proposed spending cuts on the Tea Party. What Harry Reid and his fellow Spendo-crats are failing to realize is that this is not just the sentiment of the Tea Party, but is the sentiment of the American Taxpayer who thinks it is time for our government to start spending less.
Our sitting President officially launched is re-election campaign for 2012 today. What you won't see in any of his campaign ads is that his budget numbers are so inaccurate that the politically-independent Congressional Budget Office say the President's deficit projections are over $2 trillion lower than they should be when looking at the next decade. Clearly, the Master & Commander is going to hit the campaign trail painting a more rosy picture of our future than actually exists.
The Republican spending cut proposal also comes with strict spending caps in select areas. With the government looking to once again change the law to allow even more deficit spending by raising the legally-allowed debt ceiling to rise once again, it is time for the American taxpayer to take a stand. "We are going to put out a plan that gets our debt on a downward trajectory and gets us to a point of giving our next generation a debt-free nation," said Republican House Representative and Budget Committee Chairman from Wisconsin Paul Ryan.
With the current budget extension bill expiring this week, Republicans and Democrats need to come together quickly to prevent a government shutdown. There is going to be all sorts of wrangling back and forth on what should be cut and what should be left alone. Each side believes that certain spending should be immune from cuts and certain spending is ready for the chopping block. Finding a consensus on what will be cut and what will be protected will not be an easy process.
Be sure to keep an eye on Washington this week. They are going to spend quite a bit of time talking about your money, how they are going to spend it, and how much more debt they are looking to put on your shoulders.
I saw a clip last night of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in which he was blaming the craziness of Republican proposed spending cuts on the Tea Party. What Harry Reid and his fellow Spendo-crats are failing to realize is that this is not just the sentiment of the Tea Party, but is the sentiment of the American Taxpayer who thinks it is time for our government to start spending less.
Our sitting President officially launched is re-election campaign for 2012 today. What you won't see in any of his campaign ads is that his budget numbers are so inaccurate that the politically-independent Congressional Budget Office say the President's deficit projections are over $2 trillion lower than they should be when looking at the next decade. Clearly, the Master & Commander is going to hit the campaign trail painting a more rosy picture of our future than actually exists.
The Republican spending cut proposal also comes with strict spending caps in select areas. With the government looking to once again change the law to allow even more deficit spending by raising the legally-allowed debt ceiling to rise once again, it is time for the American taxpayer to take a stand. "We are going to put out a plan that gets our debt on a downward trajectory and gets us to a point of giving our next generation a debt-free nation," said Republican House Representative and Budget Committee Chairman from Wisconsin Paul Ryan.
With the current budget extension bill expiring this week, Republicans and Democrats need to come together quickly to prevent a government shutdown. There is going to be all sorts of wrangling back and forth on what should be cut and what should be left alone. Each side believes that certain spending should be immune from cuts and certain spending is ready for the chopping block. Finding a consensus on what will be cut and what will be protected will not be an easy process.
Be sure to keep an eye on Washington this week. They are going to spend quite a bit of time talking about your money, how they are going to spend it, and how much more debt they are looking to put on your shoulders.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
There's Our Weakling-In-Chief. We Thought You'd Left Us...
...and there it is! There is the weak on foreign policy, inexperienced, apologizing President that I have come to know in the past two years. The U.S. has officially handed over air operations of the action in Libya to NATO. This comes at the exact moment that the tide of the battle is beginning to turn against the rebels and Qaddafi's forces are gaining back some of the ground that they lost. So, at one of the most critical points of the battle, we, the largest, most well-equipped military force in the history of this planet, turn over command to NATO.
Am I the only one that is tired of the weakness that this country is displaying on the world stage? Where is the pride, dedication and duty that made this country what it once was - a beacon of hope - a shining city on a hill - the democracy that the rest of the world longed to be?
We have become a nation of half-assery. We want Qaddafi out. We want to help the rebels overpower him and create a democracy. But, we're not willing to put in the work. We're not willing to make the sacrifice. We want to have our cake and we want to eat it, too.
Anyone remember what we did to the Kurds after the first Gulf War? We asked for their help, they gave it, and then we hung them out to dry. Complete half-assery and it cost thousands of people their lives.
The people of Libya asked for our help, we have kind of given them some help, but now, are we going to hang them out to dry just like we did with Kurds? We have taken the fate of the people of Libya out of the hands of the U.S. military and put it in the hands of NATO and the UN. Let's not mince words here. I'd be shitting my pants if that was who was in control of my fate. Funny, though, because that is somewhat how I feel when I remember my fate and the fate of our country is in the hands of the Fence-Sitter In Chief.
If you want to remove Gaddafi, then you should start by saying so, then going out and doing it. If our forces are involved in a military action, our military commanders should be commanding it. If you say that you feel we should arm the rebels, then you need to stop screwing around and go do it. Enough with this half-assery already! It is time to get in the damned game, Mr. President. Stop being such a freakin' wimp. Maybe we could convince you that the people of Libya need taxpayer-funded health care and that would get your ass up out of your seat and on a mission, no matter what the cost or consequences.
Am I the only one that is tired of the weakness that this country is displaying on the world stage? Where is the pride, dedication and duty that made this country what it once was - a beacon of hope - a shining city on a hill - the democracy that the rest of the world longed to be?
We have become a nation of half-assery. We want Qaddafi out. We want to help the rebels overpower him and create a democracy. But, we're not willing to put in the work. We're not willing to make the sacrifice. We want to have our cake and we want to eat it, too.
Anyone remember what we did to the Kurds after the first Gulf War? We asked for their help, they gave it, and then we hung them out to dry. Complete half-assery and it cost thousands of people their lives.
The people of Libya asked for our help, we have kind of given them some help, but now, are we going to hang them out to dry just like we did with Kurds? We have taken the fate of the people of Libya out of the hands of the U.S. military and put it in the hands of NATO and the UN. Let's not mince words here. I'd be shitting my pants if that was who was in control of my fate. Funny, though, because that is somewhat how I feel when I remember my fate and the fate of our country is in the hands of the Fence-Sitter In Chief.
If you want to remove Gaddafi, then you should start by saying so, then going out and doing it. If our forces are involved in a military action, our military commanders should be commanding it. If you say that you feel we should arm the rebels, then you need to stop screwing around and go do it. Enough with this half-assery already! It is time to get in the damned game, Mr. President. Stop being such a freakin' wimp. Maybe we could convince you that the people of Libya need taxpayer-funded health care and that would get your ass up out of your seat and on a mission, no matter what the cost or consequences.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Obama Deserves A Little Praise, But Let's Not Get Carried Away Here...
Polls show 47% of Americans agree with America's action in Libya. I, however, would like to have seen a number of things done differently. I would like to have seen the President and the world community act just a little sooner, though in the end, I do not think this is going to have made a significant difference, but a life saved by earlier action is just that.
I also did not agree with the fact that we were not publicly calling for the ouster of Qaddafi from the start, but were simply saying that we were in the action to save civilian lives. This created some confusion and served to inspire Qaddafi and his loyalists early on in the engagement, most likely leading to additional fighting that may have been avoided.
This morning it is being reported that both the U.S. and U.K. have said officially that we are willing to accept the exile of Qaddafi from Libya without him standing trial for his terrorist activities and his brutal rule of the Libyan people over the past 40 years. I must admit that I find myself disappointed at this news. While ending the conflict earlier is a great thing, we also should be mindful of letting someone who has committed such atrocities simply retire and grow old somewhere; something his victims never got the chance to experience.
And while the Fence-Sitter-in-Chief is actually garnering some decent numbers on Libya, there is still a lot for him not to be smiling about. Oil prices are on the rise because of speculation in the market driven by Middle East "turmoil", the U.S. housing marketing is still in the shitter (sorry, there isn't a nicer way of putting it), and while we may be seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, the economy as a whole is still in really bad shape.
The country is in debt way ABOVE our eyeballs and we are continuing to borrow more and more. The dollar gets weaker and weaker, buys us less and less and the cost of everything is going up. Don't get me wrong, good job on standing up for Libya and way to show some strength and some pride, and maybe even a slight belief that America should be leading the world towards democracy and freedom, but after two years in office, I still feel that we have seen some pretty lackluster results for the most part.
I also did not agree with the fact that we were not publicly calling for the ouster of Qaddafi from the start, but were simply saying that we were in the action to save civilian lives. This created some confusion and served to inspire Qaddafi and his loyalists early on in the engagement, most likely leading to additional fighting that may have been avoided.
This morning it is being reported that both the U.S. and U.K. have said officially that we are willing to accept the exile of Qaddafi from Libya without him standing trial for his terrorist activities and his brutal rule of the Libyan people over the past 40 years. I must admit that I find myself disappointed at this news. While ending the conflict earlier is a great thing, we also should be mindful of letting someone who has committed such atrocities simply retire and grow old somewhere; something his victims never got the chance to experience.
And while the Fence-Sitter-in-Chief is actually garnering some decent numbers on Libya, there is still a lot for him not to be smiling about. Oil prices are on the rise because of speculation in the market driven by Middle East "turmoil", the U.S. housing marketing is still in the shitter (sorry, there isn't a nicer way of putting it), and while we may be seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, the economy as a whole is still in really bad shape.
The country is in debt way ABOVE our eyeballs and we are continuing to borrow more and more. The dollar gets weaker and weaker, buys us less and less and the cost of everything is going up. Don't get me wrong, good job on standing up for Libya and way to show some strength and some pride, and maybe even a slight belief that America should be leading the world towards democracy and freedom, but after two years in office, I still feel that we have seen some pretty lackluster results for the most part.
Friday, March 11, 2011
3-11-11
I recorded the following for posterity during the 3-11-11 Japan earthquake and tsunami:
11:24 PM (3/10/2011) - News footage coming from Japan is completely astounding. Footage shows an airport terminal that looks like an island with the entire surrounding area underwater - little compact cars floating like debris on a lake. Refineries and industrial plants are engulfed in flames. Japan says 7.9, but we are saying 8.9. This one looks really bad.
12:19 AM - The footage of those initial surging waves overtaking the land is really hard to watch, but I don't think anything like it has ever been captured on video before. The Japanese government has issued a statement that they are mobilizing, but are basically asking people to do what they can until help arrives. Proof positive that no matter how advanced we are as a society, when disasters strike, you will be own your own for the first three days.
12:21 AM - Tsunami warning sirens are sounding in Hawaii. If there is a tsunami heading west, it is expected to hit there 3:00 AM Hawaii time.
12:33 AM - A tsunami watch for the West Coast of the United States has been issued. Landfall would be about 7:00 AM for us.
12:50 AM - An update to the U.S. West Coast watch has been issued: 7:20 AM Crescent City, CA and 8:00 AM San Francisco. Japan is saying that at least one coastal town has been completely destroyed. Hawaii's tsunami warning was just updated to an evacuation order for low-lying coastal areas.
12:58 AM - Some news sources are reporting SoCal in the clear, while some sources are saying it is too early to tell.
1:11 AM - A new tsunami watch info has been issued - Santa Monica would be hit at 8:49 AM and La Jolla at 9:00 AM. Some sources are reporting the California watch has been upgraded to a warning. The Orange County Sheriff will be closing beaches and not opening piers in the morning.
1:18 AM - Amazing to watch this unfold. Evacuation orders have been issued for the Philippines and Guam and a warning has been issued for everywhere along the U.S. West Coast north of Point Concepcion.
2:15 AM - I am going to get a few hours sleep. Setting alarm for 5:00 AM when tsunami is expected to hit western-most part of Hawaii
5:07 AM - The tsunami is reaching Hawaii, but waves seem much smaller than expected.
6:18 AM - Looks like more realistic numbers are starting to come out of Japan. Apparently, they've evacuated the area around one of the nuclear plants. Rescuers are starting to find hundreds of bodies in the coastal areas. Looks like the early waves in Hawaii were not as high as expected, though some areas are still expected to be hit harder. Some reports are warning of significant damage being possible in Northern and Central California. We are just under an advisory down here in Southern California for now.
7:14 AM - No serious damage in Hawaii, though there will be some large post-surge clean-ups. Water is six inches to a foot deep along some coastal areas, blocks in from the beach. Some Hawaiian areas did have water come in 12 feet higher than normal and move 100 feet inland. Officials in Hawaii warn that second and third waves may be higher. 2 to 3 foot swells are possible on U.S. West Coast. Warnings still in effect - even in Southern Pacific. West Coast coastal communities still under advisory.
8:35AM - Small tsunami waves have begun to hit the Oregon coast. They are much smaller than originally expected. Reports from Japan continue with more and more bad news and loss of life. A dam break in Fukushima has washed away homes and there is an entire train with an unknown number of people missing. A ship that had somewhere between 80 - 100 people is also missing. People in Japan are still being urged to stay away from the coast and evacuate coastal communities. All U.S. Navy personnel are accounted for. U.S. military is mobilizing to help. Seven U.S. ships are being re-routed to assist with rescue and humanitarian support.
10:05 AM - We are passed the initial warning and advisory times for landfall of the tsunami now and there really isn't much damage on the west coast of the U.S. to report, though a number of boats along the coast have broken free of moorings, some being pulled out to sea, some being bounced around harbors or dashed against break waters. Witnesses along the coast are saying that large areas of ocean floor are being exposed before the swells come in. Wave swells are expected to land through afternoon and evening.
12:25 PM - Reports about boats and boat docks all long the California coast being drug out to sea or scuttled after the water first rushes out then rushes back in are prevalent. There is one confirmed report of a person in California being swept out to sea. A number of nuclear power plants in Japan are being forced to shut down. Death tolls are still being listed in the hundreds, but some estimates of as many as 88,000 missing people are starting to circulate.
1:30 PM - Orange County Sheriff is beginning to re-open beaches and piers. Advisories remain in place.
2:34 PM - Reports are coming out of Japan that radiation around the nuclear plant that had a coolant failure is 1,000 times higher then normal and evacuations are being expanded. Japan's early warning system supposedly did work and despite the loss of life may have ended up saving lives. Officials in Hawaii stand by their decision to evacuation, also claiming that the evacuation most likely saved lives as well. No damage reports from Southern California. Santa Cruz and Crescent City harbors suffered significant damage, though, and one 25 year-old photographer in Crescent City was killed when he was swept out to sea while taking pictures of surging waves by the mouth of the Klamath River. Four people in Oregon who were also taking pictures of waves had to be rescued. Officials across the Pacific continue to warn that more destructive waves could still follow.
3:00 PM - News coverage remains heavily focused on the tsunami, but some sources are starting to report other news as well. All new covered has been solely focused on the quake and tsunami for the past 18 hours.
7:33 PM - Rescuers are starting to reach areas hit by tsunami in Northern Japan. States of emergency are in effects at the nuclear reactor in Fukushima, about 150 miles away from central Tokyo. Some people are choosing to leave Tokyo out of fear of nuclear fallout. The Japanese government is trying to reassure people that workers will be able to prevent meltdowns. Some rail services are being restored, but most airports are still closed. Japanese travelers are stranded abroad.
7:59 PM - Death toll has been set to about 1,000 now. People in submerged areas are awaiting rescue on rooftops. Hundreds are still missing. These numbers still seem so low compared to the footage that we have seen. People are still trapped in debris from the earthquake that occurred almost 24 hours ago. Large areas of Japan are still without electricity.
11:50 PM - Rescue efforts in Japan continue. Reports are coming in that as many as 9,500 people are missing from a single coastal town hit by the tsunami. Nuclear power plants in Fukushima sound like they are in real trouble. There is not enough power to cool the cores at two plants. Japanese officials seem to be trying to downplay the danger, but both plants are only about 150 miles from the center of Tokyo. Financial markets are expected to take heavy losses on Monday. Trading in Japan will resume on Monday. Japan is the second largest purchaser of U.S. debt. There is speculation if Japan will be able to continue to fund the U.S. in this manner. There is speculation that rebuilding might create growth, but that could be far into the future.
11:24 PM (3/10/2011) - News footage coming from Japan is completely astounding. Footage shows an airport terminal that looks like an island with the entire surrounding area underwater - little compact cars floating like debris on a lake. Refineries and industrial plants are engulfed in flames. Japan says 7.9, but we are saying 8.9. This one looks really bad.
12:19 AM - The footage of those initial surging waves overtaking the land is really hard to watch, but I don't think anything like it has ever been captured on video before. The Japanese government has issued a statement that they are mobilizing, but are basically asking people to do what they can until help arrives. Proof positive that no matter how advanced we are as a society, when disasters strike, you will be own your own for the first three days.
12:21 AM - Tsunami warning sirens are sounding in Hawaii. If there is a tsunami heading west, it is expected to hit there 3:00 AM Hawaii time.
12:33 AM - A tsunami watch for the West Coast of the United States has been issued. Landfall would be about 7:00 AM for us.
12:50 AM - An update to the U.S. West Coast watch has been issued: 7:20 AM Crescent City, CA and 8:00 AM San Francisco. Japan is saying that at least one coastal town has been completely destroyed. Hawaii's tsunami warning was just updated to an evacuation order for low-lying coastal areas.
12:58 AM - Some news sources are reporting SoCal in the clear, while some sources are saying it is too early to tell.
1:11 AM - A new tsunami watch info has been issued - Santa Monica would be hit at 8:49 AM and La Jolla at 9:00 AM. Some sources are reporting the California watch has been upgraded to a warning. The Orange County Sheriff will be closing beaches and not opening piers in the morning.
1:18 AM - Amazing to watch this unfold. Evacuation orders have been issued for the Philippines and Guam and a warning has been issued for everywhere along the U.S. West Coast north of Point Concepcion.
2:15 AM - I am going to get a few hours sleep. Setting alarm for 5:00 AM when tsunami is expected to hit western-most part of Hawaii
5:07 AM - The tsunami is reaching Hawaii, but waves seem much smaller than expected.
6:18 AM - Looks like more realistic numbers are starting to come out of Japan. Apparently, they've evacuated the area around one of the nuclear plants. Rescuers are starting to find hundreds of bodies in the coastal areas. Looks like the early waves in Hawaii were not as high as expected, though some areas are still expected to be hit harder. Some reports are warning of significant damage being possible in Northern and Central California. We are just under an advisory down here in Southern California for now.
7:14 AM - No serious damage in Hawaii, though there will be some large post-surge clean-ups. Water is six inches to a foot deep along some coastal areas, blocks in from the beach. Some Hawaiian areas did have water come in 12 feet higher than normal and move 100 feet inland. Officials in Hawaii warn that second and third waves may be higher. 2 to 3 foot swells are possible on U.S. West Coast. Warnings still in effect - even in Southern Pacific. West Coast coastal communities still under advisory.
8:35AM - Small tsunami waves have begun to hit the Oregon coast. They are much smaller than originally expected. Reports from Japan continue with more and more bad news and loss of life. A dam break in Fukushima has washed away homes and there is an entire train with an unknown number of people missing. A ship that had somewhere between 80 - 100 people is also missing. People in Japan are still being urged to stay away from the coast and evacuate coastal communities. All U.S. Navy personnel are accounted for. U.S. military is mobilizing to help. Seven U.S. ships are being re-routed to assist with rescue and humanitarian support.
10:05 AM - We are passed the initial warning and advisory times for landfall of the tsunami now and there really isn't much damage on the west coast of the U.S. to report, though a number of boats along the coast have broken free of moorings, some being pulled out to sea, some being bounced around harbors or dashed against break waters. Witnesses along the coast are saying that large areas of ocean floor are being exposed before the swells come in. Wave swells are expected to land through afternoon and evening.
12:25 PM - Reports about boats and boat docks all long the California coast being drug out to sea or scuttled after the water first rushes out then rushes back in are prevalent. There is one confirmed report of a person in California being swept out to sea. A number of nuclear power plants in Japan are being forced to shut down. Death tolls are still being listed in the hundreds, but some estimates of as many as 88,000 missing people are starting to circulate.
1:30 PM - Orange County Sheriff is beginning to re-open beaches and piers. Advisories remain in place.
2:34 PM - Reports are coming out of Japan that radiation around the nuclear plant that had a coolant failure is 1,000 times higher then normal and evacuations are being expanded. Japan's early warning system supposedly did work and despite the loss of life may have ended up saving lives. Officials in Hawaii stand by their decision to evacuation, also claiming that the evacuation most likely saved lives as well. No damage reports from Southern California. Santa Cruz and Crescent City harbors suffered significant damage, though, and one 25 year-old photographer in Crescent City was killed when he was swept out to sea while taking pictures of surging waves by the mouth of the Klamath River. Four people in Oregon who were also taking pictures of waves had to be rescued. Officials across the Pacific continue to warn that more destructive waves could still follow.
3:00 PM - News coverage remains heavily focused on the tsunami, but some sources are starting to report other news as well. All new covered has been solely focused on the quake and tsunami for the past 18 hours.
7:33 PM - Rescuers are starting to reach areas hit by tsunami in Northern Japan. States of emergency are in effects at the nuclear reactor in Fukushima, about 150 miles away from central Tokyo. Some people are choosing to leave Tokyo out of fear of nuclear fallout. The Japanese government is trying to reassure people that workers will be able to prevent meltdowns. Some rail services are being restored, but most airports are still closed. Japanese travelers are stranded abroad.
7:59 PM - Death toll has been set to about 1,000 now. People in submerged areas are awaiting rescue on rooftops. Hundreds are still missing. These numbers still seem so low compared to the footage that we have seen. People are still trapped in debris from the earthquake that occurred almost 24 hours ago. Large areas of Japan are still without electricity.
11:50 PM - Rescue efforts in Japan continue. Reports are coming in that as many as 9,500 people are missing from a single coastal town hit by the tsunami. Nuclear power plants in Fukushima sound like they are in real trouble. There is not enough power to cool the cores at two plants. Japanese officials seem to be trying to downplay the danger, but both plants are only about 150 miles from the center of Tokyo. Financial markets are expected to take heavy losses on Monday. Trading in Japan will resume on Monday. Japan is the second largest purchaser of U.S. debt. There is speculation if Japan will be able to continue to fund the U.S. in this manner. There is speculation that rebuilding might create growth, but that could be far into the future.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Motorists Unfairly Targeted As Cash Cow For Government
My readers know that I am a huge fan of traffic cops and traffic tickets and how, acting as the state's prostitutes, these officers work the streets, making money for "daddy". Turns out, even the CEO of the Automobile Club of Southern California agrees with me. While he doesn't use the same colorful terms that I tend to use, Thomas V. McKernan does agree that motorist are enduring treatment that is "inappropriate and unfair".
"Everyone agrees that state and local governments need sufficient resources to provide California's citizens with vital services, such as education, public libraries, law enforcement, and emergency services," McKernan writes, "but more often these days, state lawmakers and local officials turn to motorists to generate funds to plug budget holes and underwrite spending on a variety of projects - which, frankly, is inappropriate and unfair."
McKernan goes on to state that while it is reasonably fair for drivers to pay taxes and fees that go to roads, the CHP, the DMV, and other driver-related services, it is not right that drivers are forced to pay for services unrelated to driving.
Cars are an easy thing to target as a quick way to generate some revenue here in Taxifornia because there are so many of them. A $5 increase in fees gets the greedy politicians $150 million.
"What's more," McKernan says, "state and local governments have discovered less obvious ways to obtain money by raising fees. A good example is traffic tickets, which now consist not only of a simple fine but also of multiple added penalties that can quadruple a violation's cost." Your $100 car pool violation comes with NINE added fees and penalties that can bring its total cost to $440. Ironically, one of these fees is to help pay for the construction of courthouses, despite the fact that very few people actually go anywhere near a courthouse when they pay their traffic tickets.
You already pay taxes to pay for fire and police services, but some cities will also charge you a "crash" fee when you use those services at the time of an auto accident. The money from your "crash" fee usually goes into a general fund, not directly to police and fire budgets. Some cities, like Laguna Woods and their famous cameras at El Toro and Moulton, and at Leisure World Gate 12, fine you the same $430 for turning right without making a complete stop as they would if you just flat out sped through a red light. This generates large amounts of money for these cities.
In Taxifornia, we now pay 1.15% of the value of our car as a "vehicle license fee".
In summary, McKernan says, "Government must come up with real solutions to budget issues, fairly allocate appropriate taxes and fees among the population, and not focus on a single group, such as motorists, which are perceived to be an easy target."
"Everyone agrees that state and local governments need sufficient resources to provide California's citizens with vital services, such as education, public libraries, law enforcement, and emergency services," McKernan writes, "but more often these days, state lawmakers and local officials turn to motorists to generate funds to plug budget holes and underwrite spending on a variety of projects - which, frankly, is inappropriate and unfair."
McKernan goes on to state that while it is reasonably fair for drivers to pay taxes and fees that go to roads, the CHP, the DMV, and other driver-related services, it is not right that drivers are forced to pay for services unrelated to driving.
Cars are an easy thing to target as a quick way to generate some revenue here in Taxifornia because there are so many of them. A $5 increase in fees gets the greedy politicians $150 million.
"What's more," McKernan says, "state and local governments have discovered less obvious ways to obtain money by raising fees. A good example is traffic tickets, which now consist not only of a simple fine but also of multiple added penalties that can quadruple a violation's cost." Your $100 car pool violation comes with NINE added fees and penalties that can bring its total cost to $440. Ironically, one of these fees is to help pay for the construction of courthouses, despite the fact that very few people actually go anywhere near a courthouse when they pay their traffic tickets.
You already pay taxes to pay for fire and police services, but some cities will also charge you a "crash" fee when you use those services at the time of an auto accident. The money from your "crash" fee usually goes into a general fund, not directly to police and fire budgets. Some cities, like Laguna Woods and their famous cameras at El Toro and Moulton, and at Leisure World Gate 12, fine you the same $430 for turning right without making a complete stop as they would if you just flat out sped through a red light. This generates large amounts of money for these cities.
In Taxifornia, we now pay 1.15% of the value of our car as a "vehicle license fee".
In summary, McKernan says, "Government must come up with real solutions to budget issues, fairly allocate appropriate taxes and fees among the population, and not focus on a single group, such as motorists, which are perceived to be an easy target."
Monday, February 28, 2011
Buzz Is Hermain Cain Stands A Real Chance In 2012
"There's nothing behind the voice or the message. The administration is in free fall. The country is in a state of anxiety and the administration doesn't have a handle on it all."
This is a recent quote from Herman Cain, a former chairman and deputy chairman of the Kansas City Federal Reserve and the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza.
When Herman Cain walks into a tea party event, he is greated with excitement, and you can even hear people say, "It's him, it's him." Cain has a radio show in Atlanta, does quite a bit of public speaking, is the author of "They Think You're Stupid" and is the first of many potential 2012 presidential candidates to form an official exploratory committee.
Cain has started his possible campaign by attending a number of small gatherings around the nation, last year speaking at 40 Tea Party rallies, and recently attended the Tea Party Summit in Phoenix.
Cain is looking to focus on national security, a fair tax, domestic energy, and repealing and replacing what he calls "health care deform".
When asked about being a long-shot candidate for 2012, Cain says, "Bill Clinton, another long-shot candidate. People would be nuts to think that a long-shot candidate didn't have a chance to win. He also points out that our current president was a long-shot candidate as well. "He was able to knock off the Clinton machine, that's what I call it, because people got excited about a fresh face and a fresh voice."
Cain's rise to political fame actually came in 1993, when during the Clinton health care reform push, he confronted the then-president at a town hall meeting in Kansas City. Cain tried to explain to President Clinton that his proposed mandate that all employers be forced to provide health insurance for all workers would actually cost some people their jobs. President Clinton tried to explain to Cain that government subsidies would help small businesses to meet the health care mandate and not have to lay workers off due to health care cost increases. Cain responded by saying, "Quite honestly, your calculation is in accurate. In the competitive marketplace it simply doesn't work that way."
Cain supports replacing our current federal income tax system with a federal sales tax. He also believes replacing federal income tax with federal sales tax will help stimulate the economy.
Cain credits Sarah Palin for the success of the Tea Party movement and its impact on the 2010 midterm elections, and says that he sees the influence of the Tea Party growing as we move into the 2012 elections.
Many sources agree that Herman Cain is a candidate to learn more about today so you will know who people are talking about when it comes time to vote in November 2012.
This is a recent quote from Herman Cain, a former chairman and deputy chairman of the Kansas City Federal Reserve and the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza.
When Herman Cain walks into a tea party event, he is greated with excitement, and you can even hear people say, "It's him, it's him." Cain has a radio show in Atlanta, does quite a bit of public speaking, is the author of "They Think You're Stupid" and is the first of many potential 2012 presidential candidates to form an official exploratory committee.
Cain has started his possible campaign by attending a number of small gatherings around the nation, last year speaking at 40 Tea Party rallies, and recently attended the Tea Party Summit in Phoenix.
Cain is looking to focus on national security, a fair tax, domestic energy, and repealing and replacing what he calls "health care deform".
When asked about being a long-shot candidate for 2012, Cain says, "Bill Clinton, another long-shot candidate. People would be nuts to think that a long-shot candidate didn't have a chance to win. He also points out that our current president was a long-shot candidate as well. "He was able to knock off the Clinton machine, that's what I call it, because people got excited about a fresh face and a fresh voice."
Cain's rise to political fame actually came in 1993, when during the Clinton health care reform push, he confronted the then-president at a town hall meeting in Kansas City. Cain tried to explain to President Clinton that his proposed mandate that all employers be forced to provide health insurance for all workers would actually cost some people their jobs. President Clinton tried to explain to Cain that government subsidies would help small businesses to meet the health care mandate and not have to lay workers off due to health care cost increases. Cain responded by saying, "Quite honestly, your calculation is in accurate. In the competitive marketplace it simply doesn't work that way."
Cain supports replacing our current federal income tax system with a federal sales tax. He also believes replacing federal income tax with federal sales tax will help stimulate the economy.
Cain credits Sarah Palin for the success of the Tea Party movement and its impact on the 2010 midterm elections, and says that he sees the influence of the Tea Party growing as we move into the 2012 elections.
Many sources agree that Herman Cain is a candidate to learn more about today so you will know who people are talking about when it comes time to vote in November 2012.
Friday, February 25, 2011
When Did We Stop Laughing?
We all deal with very serious issues day in and day out. If we can't take a step back and laugh every once in a while, then all we have is that seriousness, day in and day out. When did we reach a point in this country where we have to take everything so literally and stopped letting things be funny every now and then?
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