Sunday, December 25, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Everything I Need To Know I Learned In Little League
Everything I need to know I learned in Little League
Try the link above if you prefer to watch the video on YouTube.
Try the link above if you prefer to watch the video on YouTube.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Paychecks, Morality, Art and Government
America now has a Pay Czar. It seems that some rather large financial institutions have a man who now tells them how much they can pay some of their executives because they failed at some task or another. I am going to have to disagree with this concept.
Where do we draw the line on this concept? The Pittsburgh Pirates have not made it into the playoffs in 17 years but every member of their team is guaranteed a League Minimum Salary. Four members of their team earn more than two million dollars a year. Between their 26 players they spend over $25 million a year. That is a heck of a lot of cash to represent America’s 56th largest city so poorly.
There are a number of actors who I have enjoyed the work of only to be disappointed in some effort or another of theirs. I have enjoyed quite a few Brad Pitt movies. I enjoyed the movie Troy. In the movie Troy Brad Stunk up the screen the entire time. Tyler Durden may have been iconic and changed the way a generation of men viewed their place in the world but given what could be arguably better material, certainly material that has withstood a long test of time, Mr. Pitt delivered a performance that made me wish I was watching a 3rd grade Easter play. Is the Fed ready to cut his salary?
What is my government willing to do about moments of erectile dysfunction on porn sets? The poorly waxed alley I tried to bowl on last month? How about that craptastic burger I got from Wendy’s last week? Why do so many people in our country fail so spectacularly and evade the Sauron-like eye of our Pay Czar but somehow the folks doing an amazingly difficult job where they cannot control the circumstances of the market face retribution?
What we have on Wall Street is not a pay problem. We don’t have an incompetence problem either. What we have is a morality problem. Don’t we all know that you “Cannot legislate morality?” Do we? I have to disagree there. Legislation is a broad agreement on morality. Killing and stealing are widely, nearly universally, agreed to be immoral and we legislate that.
My biggest problem with art school was that the entire purpose of the institution was to create self-employed small business people and we were never prepared to run a small business. I have since become a strong component of most, if not all, majors being bound to have some kind of business training. Why can we not institute the same principles towards those who study business? How about a few classes on morality for America’s business people in training? A solid foundation in philosophy coupled with an agreement between employer and employee about the appropriateness of their financial decision would go much further in solving our current crisis than any pay strictures our government can provide.
Where do we draw the line on this concept? The Pittsburgh Pirates have not made it into the playoffs in 17 years but every member of their team is guaranteed a League Minimum Salary. Four members of their team earn more than two million dollars a year. Between their 26 players they spend over $25 million a year. That is a heck of a lot of cash to represent America’s 56th largest city so poorly.
There are a number of actors who I have enjoyed the work of only to be disappointed in some effort or another of theirs. I have enjoyed quite a few Brad Pitt movies. I enjoyed the movie Troy. In the movie Troy Brad Stunk up the screen the entire time. Tyler Durden may have been iconic and changed the way a generation of men viewed their place in the world but given what could be arguably better material, certainly material that has withstood a long test of time, Mr. Pitt delivered a performance that made me wish I was watching a 3rd grade Easter play. Is the Fed ready to cut his salary?
What is my government willing to do about moments of erectile dysfunction on porn sets? The poorly waxed alley I tried to bowl on last month? How about that craptastic burger I got from Wendy’s last week? Why do so many people in our country fail so spectacularly and evade the Sauron-like eye of our Pay Czar but somehow the folks doing an amazingly difficult job where they cannot control the circumstances of the market face retribution?
What we have on Wall Street is not a pay problem. We don’t have an incompetence problem either. What we have is a morality problem. Don’t we all know that you “Cannot legislate morality?” Do we? I have to disagree there. Legislation is a broad agreement on morality. Killing and stealing are widely, nearly universally, agreed to be immoral and we legislate that.
My biggest problem with art school was that the entire purpose of the institution was to create self-employed small business people and we were never prepared to run a small business. I have since become a strong component of most, if not all, majors being bound to have some kind of business training. Why can we not institute the same principles towards those who study business? How about a few classes on morality for America’s business people in training? A solid foundation in philosophy coupled with an agreement between employer and employee about the appropriateness of their financial decision would go much further in solving our current crisis than any pay strictures our government can provide.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Things I Am Sure Of: (First in a series)
Things I am sure of:
#1 Any gift, and I mean any gift, can be wrapped poorly.
#2 Scales at the DMV would reduce our obesity problem. It is hard to lie on your taxes and there are penalties for it. Lie when they ask your weight and there are no consequences. Make folks climb on a scale to get their license and we would have fewer drivers or fewer fat people. Either one is good.
#1 Any gift, and I mean any gift, can be wrapped poorly.
#2 Scales at the DMV would reduce our obesity problem. It is hard to lie on your taxes and there are penalties for it. Lie when they ask your weight and there are no consequences. Make folks climb on a scale to get their license and we would have fewer drivers or fewer fat people. Either one is good.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Taxes and Services
A recent Letter to the Editor:
“You get what you pay for.” It is an accepted fact of life. You do not get a penthouse for $300 a month nor can you expect a top of the line luxury sedan on the cheap. We accept this in every facet of our lives except one- Government. Why is that?
I am hearing quite the uproar about the possibility of a new prepared food tax, Tea Party protesters have marched on Washington and April 15th is the grumpiest day of the year. When are the taxpayers of America going to start acting like adults? Every tax is met with a groan and complaint but demand for services from the government continue to swell. If we want fewer taxes we have to decide what we are going to quit asking for. Shall the FDA quit researching whether drugs are safe? Are you going to explain to the policemen who guard your family that you didn’t want t pay the tax to keep their cars running, much less for a Kevlar vest? Which of us is going to demand fire service while explaining we don’t want to pay for the truck and the good people risking their lives deserve to be paid less than the fellow who mows your lawn?
As long as Americans continue to assault and berate our elected officials by demanding services while insisting taxes be lowered we will never have the best and brightest in leadership positions of government and we will never get the best out of those officials we have.
“You get what you pay for.” It is an accepted fact of life. You do not get a penthouse for $300 a month nor can you expect a top of the line luxury sedan on the cheap. We accept this in every facet of our lives except one- Government. Why is that?
I am hearing quite the uproar about the possibility of a new prepared food tax, Tea Party protesters have marched on Washington and April 15th is the grumpiest day of the year. When are the taxpayers of America going to start acting like adults? Every tax is met with a groan and complaint but demand for services from the government continue to swell. If we want fewer taxes we have to decide what we are going to quit asking for. Shall the FDA quit researching whether drugs are safe? Are you going to explain to the policemen who guard your family that you didn’t want t pay the tax to keep their cars running, much less for a Kevlar vest? Which of us is going to demand fire service while explaining we don’t want to pay for the truck and the good people risking their lives deserve to be paid less than the fellow who mows your lawn?
As long as Americans continue to assault and berate our elected officials by demanding services while insisting taxes be lowered we will never have the best and brightest in leadership positions of government and we will never get the best out of those officials we have.
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