Random Thoughts on Various Subjects

1. DEBT FORGIVENESS FOR AMERICA'S POOR

This meme is circling amongst the leftard nation. Basically, leftards want the debts of America's poor forgiven. Let bygones be bygones. And who are these poor? That would be the recent college grads that can't repay their student loan debts.

Poor people don't get into such heavy debt. This is because so few people are willing to lend to them. The few who do charge outrageous interest rates because the likelihood of them being repaid is slim. Student loan debt now stands at $1 trillion.

What is the likelihood of this happening? When you consider that the federal government is the primary lender and that the demographic likely to benefit from such a move will be an entire generation of voters, it seems likely indeed. And who gets stuck with the bill? The American taxpayer, of course.

Such a move would create massive moral hazard and inflate the student loan bubble to outrageous proportions. But it is going to happen. The Occupation Movement is made up largely of these student loan debtors. The Democrats would love to tap into that movement for electoral success. Plus, the Republicans are likely to oppose the debt forgiveness putting a political black mark on them for the forseeable future. The only question that remains is whether Uncle O decides to ram this through Congress, or he does it by executive order.

2. MANAGEMENT GNAT STRAINING

There is a verse in the Bible that I always liked. It is Matthew 23:24 when Jesus uses the expression of straining out a gnat while swallowing a camel. I always liked the illustration because I have witnessed this countless numbers of times while working for various companies. Rome can be burning to the ground, and the guy in charge is obsessed with getting his fiddle in tune. Yes, it gets that ridiculous.

I remember about ten years ago when my hub manager came out on the dock to strain some gnats in my work area. I would have found this tolerable if we were running a tip-top operation, but there were massive problems where I worked. We are talking about the Titanic just after hitting the iceberg. Yet, there was my hub manager coming out to rearrange the deck chairs. I called him a fool, and I told him he was going to lose his job. The following week he was fired. I never forgot that.

The case for such gnat straining is based on the Broken Windows Theory. This theory was proffered as an explanation for the dramatic decline in crime in New York City from a peak in 1984 when Bernie Goetz decided to make some punks' day on a subway train by putting some lead in their deserving asses. Personally, I like to think that incident had something to do with the drop in crime. But there are other theories offered ranging from having cops return to walking a beat to abortion to what have you. The favorite pet theory among law enforcement is the Broken Windows Theory. If you go after small crime, then big crimes will decline as a result. There is evidence that this works, but it is disputed. New York did experience a drop in crime with the implementation of zero tolerance law enforcement, but the same thing happened in the rest of the country where no such zero tolerance policies were implemented. The idea that cleaning graffitti off subway trains will eliminate murder is a bit of a stretch. I think people are confusing correlation with causation here.

My own theory for the decline in crime rates is pretty basic though unproven. I think crime declines as a result of economic prosperity. The reduction in crime in the USA over the last 30 years corresponds almost perfectly with the rise in GDP and productivity in the United States. The fact that broken windows get repaired is part of the economic prosperity. As people's economic hopes are dashed once more, you should see an uptick in the crime rate. This is the camel. The gnat would be cops focusing on jaywalking while major larceny is going on.

This Broken Windows Theory always captures the mind of management types who want to use sociology in the workplace. The reason this is popular is because management is supposed to be about making profit. Yet, they seem quite adept at blowing money, alienating customers, increasing employee turnover, and the like. Being clueless fucktards, they focus on the most trivial of details instead of running a business as a business. For me, one of the trivial details from a decade ago stood out. While our hub was going to shit, we had an assistant hub manager who went around insisting that we have the correct color load charts for our sort. All of the load charts were the same, but they insisted on white for the day sorts and blue for the night sorts. We would xerox blue charts onto white paper to comply with this silly rule. This was happening at a time when the hub was in danger of losing million dollar contracts because days worth of work wasn't getting done. While this work was going undone, we spent our time on colored pieces of paper. I'm sure our customers appreciated that attention to detail.

Management needs to get rid of the sociology and go with the economics. Businesses are about making money. I know. This is some crazy shit. But when a business makes money, you are always going to see an improvement in these small details. Workers will have greater morale. They will value the job more. The company will have the profits needed for more capital investment. You will attract better and more disciplined employees wanting to make money. This is what I call a virtuous cycle. This is how a business can start from an idea and a humble beginning in a garage to becoming a Fortune 500 company. This would be Apple who cared less about what their employees wore to work but obsessed about the details of their products. They were all about the camel. Other businesses only care about the gnats. When management is focused on gnats, it a sure sign that either that manager or that business is in fucking trouble.

3. OCCUPATION EVICTION

It has become clear to various municipal authorities that the Occupation Movement is less of a protest as it is just a bunch of unemployed bums squatting on public and private property. The riot gear has come out, and the hippies are getting the boot. Meanwhile, we have stories of assault, rape, drug abuse, vandalism, TB, and RINGWORM! Is ringworm free speech?

There is a big difference between the Tea Party events and the current Occupation. Tea Partiers had jobs. They went home at the end of the day. Occupiers clearly aren't burdened with full time employment. Are cops justified in evicting these bums? That is a hard question to answer. I think there is a better way. If you want Occupiers to leave, start charging rent.

4. STOLEN FROM ANOTHER BLOG

"As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using individual security cards. Pictures will be taken next Wednesday, and employees will receive their cards in two weeks."
(Microsoft Corp. in Redmond WA )

"What I need is an exact list of specific unknown problems we might encounter."
(Lykes Lines Shipping)

"E-mail is not to be used to pass on information or data. It should be used only for company business."
(Accounting manager, Electric Boat Company)

"This project is so important we can't let things that are more important interfere with it."
(Advertising/Marketing manager, United Parcel Service)

"Doing it right is no excuse for not meeting the schedule."
(Plant Manager, Delco Corporation)

"No one will believe you solved this problem in one day! We've been working on it for months. Now go act busy for a few weeks and I'll let you know when it's time to tell them."
(R&D supervisor, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing/3M Corp.)

Quote from the Boss: "Teamwork is a lot of people doing what I say."
(Marketing executive, Citrix Corporation)

My sister passed away and her funeral was scheduled for Monday. When I told my Boss, he said she died on purpose so that I would have to miss work on the busiest day of the year. He then asked if we could change her burial to Friday. He said, "That would be better for me."
(Shipping executive, FTD Florists)

"We know that communication is a problem, but the company is not going to discuss it with the employees."
(Switching supervisor, AT&T Long Lines Division)

5. RON PAUL SURGE

I have been so wrong on what I thought would happen in the GOP presidential race that I think it might be wise to keep my mouth shut. Readers may remember when I predicted that Michele Bachmann was the one to watch. Now, I see Ron Paul as the man to watch.

I think the race will come down to Romney and Paul. It will be the Establishment candidate against the Anti-establishment candidate. Romney is the GOP's version of Bill Clinton. The guy is a slick fucking liar. Never before will the GOP have such a stark contrast to choose from. What they really want is a pro-war Ron Paul, and they aren't getting it. So, they are opting for the Mormon piece of shit. It would not surprise me that Romney will be so desperate that he will convert to being a Southern Baptist. The religion thing is the only thing Mitt hasn't sold out on. Ron Paul will never sell out.

I am convinced that Ron Paul will run third party. This will give Obama another term, but I am fine with this. Romney is no different from Obama. Romney vs. Obama is like the Big Mac vs. the Big Mac without pickles.

6. FROZEN PLANET

Discovery Channel is refusing to air the global warming episode of Frozen Planet in the USA because it doesn't want to upset the half of the population that thinks it is a load of shit. I disagree with this move. It isn't because I believe in global warming. I just believe in airing differing viewpoints even if I may differ on them.

I see things like global warming as being formed and shaped in the marketplace of ideas. I like how points are debated and confirmed and refuted in a peer review process. What I don't like is when people attempt to control what viewpoints get presented. Censorship whether government or private is always a bad idea. This is intellectual incest. Of course, both sides of this issue are guilty of this censorship.

7. DEMI AND ASHTON

Demi files the papers. I am really enjoying this slice of celebrity misery. This will be Demi's third failed marriage. Why do they bother?

Posted in: