BarrieBergman

The M Word

I went to a lesbian wedding many years ago, when I lived in Chapel Hill.  It was still early in same-sex marriages, so I considered myself very avant-garde.  The ceremony took place in a cow pasture, which many people consider appropriate for a wedding for various positive and negative reasons.  When one goes to a celebration in a cow pasture, one must step lightly, if you know what I mean.

I never liked weddings, but this one was interesting.  One of the brides was really beautiful, which appealed to me a lot.  At one point in the ceremony we all held hands, and everyone said something positive about the couple.  I didn’t like that part, although I’m sure I was cleverer than most of the other participants.

The wine and food at the reception were good, so all in all it was a nice affair.  When I got home, my shoes were clean, so the day was a success.

Unfortunately, the marriage didn’t last any longer than most straight relationships, but thing happen that way.  I’ve lost touch with the two women, so I don’t know how they’ve done in other relationships, but I hope they’re happy.

The point of all this is I just don’t understand all of the furor over same-sex marriage.  If two people want to commit to each other for better or worse and take the risks matrimony entails, it seems to me we all should be in favor.  If people have the guts to say, “I do,” I can’t see how it hurts anybody to let them.

My friend Steve Bennett sent me an addendum to my rant on the budget crisis that needs to be shared.  Enjoy . . .

I read your blog and thought I would reassure you that your airplane rides are safe. The FAA issue is not about “normal” air travel; it’s about government subsidies for flights to remote airports. This might sound like an interesting idea until you learn that some of these airports are within 90 miles of a larger one, and the per-ticket subsidies average $1000 and can range up to $3000 each. The most offensive example is the airport in Pennsylvania used by Rep. John Murtha before he died. Federal subsidies to the FAA allowed US Air to have daily flights of 737’s to the airport. The average daily passenger total was 1-3, and many days the planes would simply fly empty to PA and back to DC because they were required to provide the service, with us picking up the tab. Unrelated to the current budget fight but along the same mentality was Speaker Pelosi’s insistence on a G-5 for all her weekend trips back to SF; nothing less acceptable.
 
Another fun example is the stimulus money dedicated to providing broadband service to remote areas. I just read an analysis of the hookups finished in Kansas, Nebraska, Dakotas, etc. In a stunning example of government efficiency, the total amount of money spent to wire the houses in some cases averaged more per house than the houses’ market value ($60,000+ per house).
 
I don’t consider myself anywhere nearly as conservative as a Tea-Party type, but examples of this kind of idiocy (or the article I sent you about how lifeguards in Orange County average $140,000/year) are out there literally by the thousands. Throw in some daily scolding and demonizing from our Lecturer-in-Chief about greedy people like me not being willing to pay my fair share (the top 10% earners pay 66% of the income tax) and I’m about ready to head to Boston Harbor myself.
 

From Mars to St. Barths

I’ve got to stop reading the newspaper.  There’s too much stupidity in the world, and I may have to move to Mars.  I’m sure Martians are more intelligent than the inhabitants of Earth.  I’ll bet no one there is the equivalent of Sarah Palin.

Last week I wrote about Tenure, but I neglected to mention Seniority.   In Los Angeles recently, a teacher was decorated and praised for excellent performance.  He was so good at teaching kids to read, that he started speaking to groups of teachers to help them better instruct their students.

He was laid off last week, while the teacher in the next classroom was retained.  The neighboring teacher was cited for poor performance on a standardized test, but was kept on because he had seniority.  Can we possibly be this dumb?  Is this kind of insanity the reason our educational system is behind other countries?  Am I on some sort of hallucinogen?

I believe in making seniority part of the evaluative process, but performance must come first.  Maybe these union inspired rules are the reason people are so pissed off at teachers’ unions (see: Wisconsin).  If we don’t do a better job of educating our kids, this country is going to hell in a hand basket, and my great-grandchildren will have to live in St. Barths.  On second thought . . .

Won’t Work for Tenure

Tenure.  What a strange word.  I guess it comes from somewhere.  Wherever it comes from, it’s a ridiculous concept.  Yeah, I know, it protects academicians and their freedom to teach whatever ideas they accept as their truth, but it also disincentivizes said educators.

In business, the concept of tenure doesn’t exist.  The closest we came to it was in the good old days with IBM, when they never fired anybody, just stuck them in a room with no windows and no phone.  This policy damn near ruined the company, because they had a bunch of pissed off employees sitting around doing nothing and getting paid.

I wish some company would hire me and give me tenure.  I would promise to be nice, only speak well of the organization, and never do anything negative or positive.  I’m serious, do nothing!  I wouldn’t even come to work.  They could just send my paycheck to my house, so I wouldn’t get in the way.

Tenure in our educational system is a cancer.  It guarantees poor performance and a bunch of people who don’t give a crap about outcome.  Disincentivized employees are not productive.  They don’t produce.  Do away with tenure, except for me.

Wall Street Flu

I invest in the stock Market.  It’s like going to Vegas without the hookers and the fun.  I put my money in the market because I think it’s prudent, logical, and I believe in the American Way and Superman.

Sometimes Wall Street disappoints and mystifies me.  They act illogically, stupidly, and not all that smart.  Sometimes they piss me off.

Last week Hewlett Packard caught their CEO with his hand in the cookie jar.  He was falsifying expenses to take care of a woman he was having an affair with.  The company did the absolute right thing.  They fired the guy.  Let’s hear it for an ethical and honest board of directors.

The stock market rewarded this ethical behavior by dropping the stock price by 17% in two days.  The market liked the profits the old CEO brought in, even though he was a crook.  On the Street they don’t care about ethics or the long term welfare of an organization.  They just care about next quarter’s earnings per share.

When the financial boys, many of whom have never worked for a company that does anything, react this way, it makes me want to puke.  Pass me the Pepto-Bismol, Martha.

Citizens of Bell Rebel

 The town of Bell is located southeast of Los Angeles, and it is the scene of a major citizen uprising.   

Investigative reporting by the LA Times exposed 3 city officials who have been depleting the funds of a community.  Administrative Officer (City Manager) Robert Rizzo earns just short of $800,000 annually with 12 percent annual raises, while Police Chief Randy Adams earns $457,000, and Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia $376,000.  If that isn’t enough, 4 out of 5 council members are taking home close to $100,000 a year for part time work, while the 5th council member takes home $8,000.  To put this in perspective, Rizzo earns twice the amount of President Obama, and Adams earns one and a half times the amount of the Los Angeles Police Chief.

This is what can happen when a recipe of greed, power, and ego are mixed together.   The citizens of Bell are outraged, and so they should be.  While 38,000 Bell citizens are struggling to put food on their tables, they have become aware that their city officials have been starving their community.

I’m outraged too.  Where is the ethical barometer?  Where is the oversight plan?  How can we let this happen? 

For more information:
http://tinyurl.com/2bx2mb2
http://tinyurl.com/28eqcz2