The Half Baked Lunatic

Here’s a funny story from when we lived in Europe a few years ago ... Our kids went to a Montessori School in Waterloo, Belgium (famous for the battle of Waterloo, where Napoleon was defeated) and one sunny spring day the school had their annual fund raiser – an “International Day” where all the families brought foods from different countries, and visitors paid a few Euros per plate to sample all the delectables. They had song and dance performances from all over the globe, and a big auction of some of the students’ artwork and other donated items.  And of course, as expected at any good Belgian event, they served copious amounts of beer to the parents, teachers, and visitors. Good, strong, Belgian beer. Well, after the day was done they had about four cases of beer left over – which the teachers piled in a very neat stack in one corner of the third grade classroom. This stack of beer was there in the class for a little over a month until their next school event came around, when it was finally consumed. No one at the school, nor any of the parents, really thought much about the fact that they were storing beer in the classroom – it wasn’t a big deal to anyone. Can you just imagine the uproar that would occur if someone found four cases of beer in a third grade classroom in the USA?  It would be headline news! The community would be up in arms, and the mayor would act all pompous and promise an investigation.  Committees would be set up to find out how this happened and to make sure it didn’t happen again. They would burn effigies of Adolf Coors in the street. And just to prove that some positive steps were being taken, someone would have to be fired – probably the principal. For what?  Why are we so afraid of third graders seeing beer?  The answer is simple – we don’t want them to drink it, which just might happen if it was within reach.  Ok.  Never mind the fact that most kids, by the time they get to kindergarten, really d... [More]

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I’ve been mailing out a lot of packages lately, and the staff at my local post office just seem to drive me crazy.  Here’s a typical interaction: “How would you like this to be mailed, sir?” “Whatever is cheapest – there’s no hurry.” “Well, we can send it Parcel Post for $4.90 which will get it there in 3 to five business days, priority mail for $10.35 which is two to three days, or $25.15 for overnight express mail.” “Whatever is cheapest – there’s no hurry. Parcel Post is fine.” “Ok, would you like to add delivery confirmation or insurance?” “Does that make it any cheaper?” I asked, hoping she’d get the hint. “No sir, it does not.  Delivery confirmation is only 80 cents and insurance will vary depending on the value.  The rates are ...” “No thank you, just standard parcel post is fine.” “Ok, is there anything liquid, perishable, flammable, or potentially hazardous inside?” “No.” “Are you sure, because if there’s liquid in here then it has to be packed in a different package. We can sell you a different box for only $4.95 but you will need to supply your own tape.  However, we can provide tape for you if you upgrade to Priority Mail. The total for a new box plus Priority Mail shipping would be $15.30” “No thank you, just standard parcel post is fine.” “Your total is $4.90. Would you like to purchase any stamps or shipping supplies?” “No thank you.” I think I’ve had this exact same conversation at least five times in the past two weeks. I feel like I’m in a fast food joint getting pressured to buy French Fries with my burger. Don’t get me wrong – I think the Post Office is a fairly well run operation.  Postage is cheap, delivery is usually pretty quick, and quite reliable. If I was the CE... [More]

Like everyone else, I’m completely outraged by the whole AIG bonus issue. Bonuses should reward exceptional performance and positive results.  Where’s the accountability? This has been hashed to death in the press, so I’m not going to go into all the reasons why it’s just rotten to the core. But let’s back up a little bit and see how this fits in with the bigger picture of executive compensation.  This has been an issue for many years, well before the economic downturn. It’s a big thorn in the side of many shareholders of large companies. Executive compensation needs to be tied not only to performance, but also to their own personal risk.  For example – a hired CEO brought in to run an established company has a lot less “skin in the game” than a founder who built the company from scratch, putting his or her own net worth on the line as collateral while the company was in it’s critical growth phase. It really irks me when a CEO is able to name his/her own price, with compensation that is EXCEEDINGLY excessive and not tied to any personal risk ... and sometimes not even to performance. Ok, admittedly, it does take a certain skill set to be a CEO of a large company.  I’m not denying that. And everyone LOVES to hate the rich.  But remember, the people that have the skills that it takes to run a large company are also the people that are able to build libraries and hospitals and museums and charitable foundations. Putting these projects together is not easy, and we all benefit from them. Frankly, these are things that our society needs, as well as well run companies. So I am very much in admiration of people that have the skills, the education, the experience, and the fortitude to be a CEO.  But still – the issue at stake 1) isn’t just CEO’s, it’s the compensation for all levels of upper management, 2) there needs to be actual results to justify... [More]

It sure is interesting living in Washington D.C. I’m not talking about the inauguration yesterday, which was spectacular by the way – but in general, you just can’t get away from politics here. The latest issue that’s getting my goat is this idiotic push to make Washington DC the 51st state.  The DC license plates proudly proclaim “Taxation without Representation” and there are posters all over the city pushing for DC statehood. The underlying issue is the fact that DC has no representation in congress.  Some residents feel that our voice isn’t heard because of this, so we shouldn’t be subject to federal income taxes. HOGWASH, I say! I got to vote in the presidential election. We get MORE than our fair share of government funding, with free museums, monuments that are managed by National Park rangers, and we benefit from just about every federally sponsored program you can imagine. And since there is no “state” government here, all the D.C. laws that are above the “city” level go through congress for approval. I don’t feel under-represented in the slightest. Quite the contrary, in fact. There was a reason why the founding fathers wisely decided to make the District of Columbia a “neutral” area.  As the nation’s capital, we have a responsibility to treat ALL the states equally. It works quite well, thank you very much.  And just think of the cost and extra overhead that it would add.  The city bureaucracy is outlandish as it is. Can you imagine adding yet ANOTHER layer of useless politics on top of that? And changing the nation’s flag and all the textbooks – just to appease a few people that want to have SOMETHING to complain about?  Frankly, it’s such a bad idea I can’t even imagine what these people are thinking. District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty (who I have met, by the way – pleasant chap)... [More]

  All my life, I've seen these crazy news reports about people suing someone else, often times getting huge sums of money, for something that was partially - or mostly - their own fault.  We all cringe when we hear these stories, but it's a real issue that goes deep into our pockets. Our whole society has a warped mentality that someone else should be responsible for ... your own bad decisions, your health problems, your physical handicap, your depression, your failed investments, your smoking/drug habit, or the fact that your kid can't swim yet she snuck down and found an open door and decided to try a few laps in the hotel pool at midnight (yes, the hotel had to pay). That "someone else" usually is your employer, your government, your doctor, your neighbor, or the store that sold you the gun which your wife used to shoot your brother (yes, the store owner had to pay). The cost to society for all this overhead is astonishing.  It's disgusting. I'm not talking just about the money that people win in ludicrous lawsuits, it's the cost of writing all the laws that try to keep it from happening again, enforcing all the new laws, court costs, costs to run our overcrowded jails, increased insurance premiums for everyone, higher taxes, and higher prices for just about everything we buy. It also limits the freedoms of everyone else.  How many times have you been told: "you can't do that here, last year we were sued by someone who did that and they hurt themselves." Here's the latest outrage: There was an article in yesterday's news outlining a new law in Canada (which, the article stated, is being considered in the U.S. as well) that says a that a disabled person who is not able to fly alone can get a free ticket for an assistant. Presumably, this applies even if the "disability" is obesity, caused by the... [More]

  GM has been in trouble a long time, no doubt about it. It's easy to blame management for their slow change to smaller cars, corporate inefficiency, etc.  But face it: it's the unions that are mostly to blame for GM's downfall.  Or, if you prefer, it's managements fault that they didn't have a backbone - and they let the unions walk all over them. I have many issues with the whole philosophy of unions. Yes, there have been times when they've been helpful - when working conditions were abysmal, unsafe, the pay was equivalent to slave labor, and there weren't any other options for workers. But for the most part those times are long past. Let's look at unions from a couple of different angles. I have absolutely no compassion for any company that mistreats employees, but I don't consider providing only a basic health plan as "mistreating" anyone.  Many of the benefits issues that unions get all bothered over are rediculous. If you want better benefits, get a different job!  If you want better pay, go to school and learn some math and become an engineer. If you aren't happy, you can walk out and quit ... but PLEASE don't stop someone else from coming in to do your job if you don't want it. That brings us to negotiation tactics.  Just the fact that any union would consider a strike as a negotiating tactic is an indication of how misguided they are. It's just plain wrong, and it should be illegal.  Really, it's just as terrible for the workers as it is for the company.  The only ones that benefit from a strike are the competitors. As much as the unions have always encouraged everyone to "Buy American", it was the labor problems in the 70's that really opened the door to the Japanese auto manufacturers. Consumers want the best product at the best pric... [More]

  Back in 2004, I was invited to be a guest speaker at the Seattle chapter of The Ethical Culture Society, a non-religeous group that lives their lives by a strict code of ethics rather than religious principals.  Although I was never official members of the society, my family attended quite a few meetings that year, and I actually gave two different talks - the following is the first one I did on February first, 2004.  I'll post the second one tomorrow. * * * * * The Words and Intentions of a Politically Correct society David H. Workman   When I was growing up, we had two cardinal rules in our house that were mandated by my mother.  The first was no gossiping.  We were not allowed to say anything negative about someone behind their back.  If there was something we didn’t like about someone, we spoke to them about it personally, and in private. The second wasn’t as much of a rule as a philosophy.  It was my mother’s goal to see the elimination of all prejudices worldwide.  I was raised with the fundamental principle that it doesn’t matter what someone’s social or financial status is, or what their education, race, heritage, sexual orientation, or gender is – every person on this planet deserves to be treated with courtesy and respect at the very least. My mother was very serious about both of these issues, and I have tried to live my life following these principals.  My mother was also a bit of an activist.  My family moved from New Jersey to Spokane, Washington in the late 60’s and my mother had befriended a mixed race couple that lived across the state line from Spokane in a small town called Rathdrum, Idaho – just north of Coeur d’Alene.  Rathdrum had a small pocket of neo-Nazi’s who had been causing problems in the town for a number of years.  My mother was invited to... [More]

  My posting yesterday on global population made me think of one of the best social commentaries to hit the theaters since Muffin Man.  Idiocracy is a scathing remark on one of the worst trends of modern times: educated and intelligent people are having less kids and uneducated and lower intelligent people are having more. The movie projects this out 500 years to a society that is .... well, akin to 500 generations of Homer Simpson inbreeding with his second cousin. Nothing is sacred in this movie - they take on pop culture, pollution, corporate marketing, government incompetancy, and the religious right (which is primarily responsible for humanities lowered IQ in the first place.)  I love it!  

  I am a very staunch "pro-life" advocate, but the biggest threat to life on this planet is the over population of the human species. I just can't buy the argument that humans have some innate right to survival at the expense of all other species.  Yes, our growth rate is slowing, but it's not enough. There's an old example used to illustrate where humans are on our population trajectory.  You've probably heard this before, but to review: you have a jar with two microbes, and the net growth rate of the microbes is such that the total number of microbes doubles every minute (factoring in both birth and death rates), and the jar is just big enough so that it will fill to the brim with microbes in one day.  So you put the two microbes in the jar at midnight, and the jar is full at midnight the next day. The crux of the example is that at one minute before midnight, the jar is half full.  Two minutes before midnight the jar is a quarter full, and three minutes before midnight the jar is only an eighth full. Ok, it's not a perfect explanation - humans can not completely "fill up" the world and there are numerous other factors not taken into account.  But most scientific interpretations of this scenario put our current "population time" at 11:55.  Five minutes till midnight. Here is a graph that shows our historic worldwide population growth: Humans were supposedly advised to "go forth and multiply". Some 2,000 years ago that was fair advice - but now we're killing the planet.  We need to stop. Many projections say that the global population will level out at around 10 billion people, as we won't have enough food for any more.  That's just great - we keep popping out babies until everyone is starving and in abject poverty.  Swell. The truth is, even if we managed to completely HALT the growth rate and maintain the current global population, we would continue to cause the... [More]