The Universe...

There are several things in the Universe that I am very curious about and will probably never find all the answers to these and many other questions.

For example, how did my second grade teacher Mrs. Singleton always know what the students were up to even when her back was turned? But more recently I would love to be able to figure out why do people always seem to interrupt you when your favorite song is playing on your iPod. How do they always know? Is there some type of signal that goes off that says hey that person is enjoying their favorite music lets go interrupt them for absolutely no reason at all. I just want to scream, when I am working away at my desk and someone walks up, calls, or sends an instant message asking, “Are you busy?”. I always want to reply with, “I was until you interrupted me.” A good example is just the other day, no kidding I got an instant message from someone asking, “can u IM - i need a favor” No joke, I cut and pasted that directly from the IM window. Here is another real life example, yesterday I received an email from a co-worker and then entire emails consisted of, “SSIA.”. That was all that was in the email not even a signature. Yes, this has a meaning, it stands for “Subject Says It All”. I was suppose to realize that the real freaking message was actually in the subject line which was also just as cryptic. I was starting to think that I was going to need a dolphin to translate the damn message using clicks and squeaks. Which brings me to another question I really want to know the answer too. What the hell happened to writing in complete sentences or using punctuation? I blame all this on cell phones, people are now trying to communicate without even using actual words.

Another mystery to me is why do people think that they can actually talk or text on their cell phone and consciously pay attention to things around them. Four times in the past 24 hours I have had people almost walk into me in the hallway at work because they are talking or sending a text message on their phone or I suppose I should be politically correct “mobile device”. Why is it as human beings nowadays that we have some type of genetic reason to have to be connected to the Internet 24/7/365.

Other questions that I ask myself on a daily basis is why do people continue to insist that “fast food” needs to be more healthy. Does anyone really believe that the members of our society that rely on “fast food” on a regular basis for their daily sustenance stop to think about how many calories, carbohydrates or what the fat content of their food is. Another major question that I will probably never find the answer to is why does a person visit a “fast food” restaurant get the double burger with cheese, large fries and a small diet drink, really? After the double burger with cheese and the fries why not just clog the remaining artery and have the regular soda. As long as I am on the soda rant it’s also entertaining that people will eat at a “fast food” restaurant and get a small drink (with unlimited refills) <insert shaking of the head here>. Don't get me wrong I love a good double cheese burger with fries and a soda but the secret is moderation. People that know me would be able to tell you that I am no pillar of fitness myself but I  am trying and I don't need calorie counts on the menu or government regulations telling a restaurant what they can and cannot serve.

One of my favorite things I see every day that I wish I could find an answer for is why don't we teach people to merge while driving anymore. I see way to many people that just have no clue when they are entering traffic. Does it occur to anyone these days that the on ramp to a freeway is also known as an “acceleration lane”? The concept is really simple, use the on ramp to gain speed matching the traffic you are entering then signal and merge into existing traffic. On the other side of the fence why does nobody that’s in traffic understand what to do when someone trying to properly merge? You don't speed up and deny the person merging the ability to enter traffic. You either slow down and make room for them or if it’s safe, move over one lane away from them. Related to all of this is when two lanes merge together if more people would think if it as a zipper everything would work out great. Every other car merges in to the other lane. One car from the left merges right, one car from the right merges left. It’s a really simple concept and everyone gets to where they are going. It seems there is always one dork that just doesn't want to go along with the program and screws the entire process up. Then people being the sheep they are they all start jockeying for a better position and before you know it, nobody is moving forward at all..

Somewhat related to merging is why don't more people realize that in just about all of western civilization we do everything on the right. We drive on the right, we enter doorways on the right, we walk on the right side of a hallway, etc. Far too often either entering a building or walking in a hallway I have to do that little dance with the moron that doesn't understand where they should be when walking. I am not even going to get started on the whole left hand people having to live in a right handed world subject.

One quandary that I am sure will never be answered is why do people not leave a message when they get an answering machine or voice mail? It drives me absolutely crazy when a person says, “I tried to get a hold of your earlier but I got your voice mail.” My first reply is always, “Why didn't you leave a message?” These people always look back at me like I just showed them a naked picture of their grandmother. They never have an answer for not leaving a message. Occasionally they will say something like, “I never know what to say” or “I hate talking to those things.” I just don't get it, if it was important enough to call why not leave a message? Not to mention most phones now at least show that a person called even if they don't leave a message. When people call me and don't leave a message I just don't call them back. I figure if their time was not valuable enough to leave a message then my time more valuable than having to call them back to ask why they called.

Thanks for listening...

Rewards...

Again I have to take the time to point out how far off the mark the State of California has gone. There is phrase that many of us have heard over time, I am not sure who first spoke the words, “Everything we need to know in life we learn in kindergarten.” Some of the first lessons we learn in life is that we need to respect both other persons and their property. We also learn that we must share and cooperate with others. We also learn that there are rules in life, both moral and public rules such as laws. We learn that when those in authority direct us that we should pay attention, such as when a teacher requires our attention or a police officer gives lawful order to obey.

California is very proud of the fact that it has successfully signed into law the first bill of a two part package (http://www.kcra.com/news/28661566/detail.html). Assembly Bill 130 (AB130) (http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/asm/ab_0101-0150/ab_130_bill_20110718_enrolled.html) is part of the “Dream Act” that will open financial aid to college students that entered the United States illegally. According to the text of AB130 that under existing law as long as a person that entered the United States illegally attends a California high school for at least 3 years and graduates or obtains the “equivalent thereof” and they register or attend an accredited institution not earlier than the fall semester of 2001-02 academic year along with filing the proper affidavit they will be exempt from paying non-resident tuition at a California Community or State University. AB130 will provide the enhancement to the law allowing these same students that have entered the United States illegally to be eligible to receive, “a scholarship derived from non-state funds received, for the purpose of scholarships, by the segment at which he or she is a student” after January 1,2012.

The second bill which has not been signed into law at this time is Assembly Bill 131(AB131) (http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/asm/ab_0101-0150/ab_131_bill_20110527_amended_asm_v95.html). AB131 the more difficult portion of the package to sneak by everyone because it will allow persons that entered the United States illegally access both state funded financial aid and scholarships. Keep in mind these bills allows a person that has admittedly committed a crime access to financial aid in the form of a scholarship. For those that might not realize the difference financial aid generally must be paid back to the supplier of the funds and a scholarship on the other hand never has to be paid back and is considered my many people to be “free” money. I will not even get started on my rant that nothing in life is “free”.

This is not an issue of color, race or religion. This is an issue of the law and the concept that a country is defined by its border, language and culture. Both AB130 and AB131 have absolutely no mention at all of a person’s color, race, religion, or culture. Both of these bills only refer to a person that has abused the system and entered the United States illegally along with meeting a particular criteria. It is completely understood that many of these illegal students are the children of adults that chose not to follow the legal process for entering the United States. I am not saying that these children should be persecuted for the poor decisions and actions of their parents. What I would suggest is that the children be given the opportunity to enter the legal process of becoming a citizen of the United States with no penalties providing that they were a minor child when their parents committed the crime of entering the United States illegally. After these students have successfully and legally become United States citizens then they would have all the same educational rights and benefits of a natural citizen and there would be no need for additional legislation.

I know many people will read this and think that I am not being “tolerant” or embracing the divine concept of “multiculturalism”. Our great nation was created when people from one place decided that they needed a new start for whatever reason. Many might disagree but for the most part this was the result of white European settlers moving to a new land. Some left Europe for religious reasons others left to distance themselves from the persecution of oppressive governments. Hoping that I can leave out the history lesson that covers the American Revolutionary war and fast forward through the 17th and 18th centuries it was during the 19th and 20th centuries that immigration exploded in the United States (http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/immigration/timeline.html). While there have always been individuals that have had the desire to live in the United States it seems that only recently that we have decided to reward those that enter our country illegally. I cannot think of any other crime you can commit in the United States and gain benefits from not only committing the crime but when you actually admit that you have committed the crime. While we are at it why don't we just tell the kids they only have to stay out of the cookie jar unless they can reach it.

I often wonder how people would feel if it was acceptable for a person to enter your home and take whatever they like and it was not a crime as long as they don't get caught entering the house. Imagine this scenario, you are home enjoying your favorite book in your living room. Without you seeing them someone enters through the back door and is taking your wallet from the counter in your kitchen. You walk in and see them, call the police, and when the police arrive they ask you if you saw them enter into your house. You respond to the police officer that your were reading a book in the living room and did not see or hear anything. The police officer then explains to you that since you didn't see the person enter your home they now have the right to freely take your money. I would be willing to bet that this hypothetical scenario would make a lot of people angry. However, what is the difference between this scenario and AB130 & AB131?

With the exception of the Native American Indians it is 100% accurate that the United States was created by people from all around the world immigrating to our country. However, in the past it was fairly uniformly understood that along with following the legal process of immigrating to the United States that each person was expected to assimilate into the culture that had been developed within the United States. This legal process did not and still does not expect each cultural group to leave their traditions and customs at the door or on Ellis Island for that matter. In fact, in the past the many groups that immigrated to the United States kept their culture and customs alive and well by leading with the identification that they were American's first and always a member of whatever culture they brought with them second.

I personally had the pleasure of growing up in a military family and we moved across the United States several times throughout my life. I have lived in many communities all across this great nation. The most interesting experience of my life took place when I was approximately nine years old. My family was moved to the New England, Northeast coast. Exactly half of my family was 100% Irish (mothers side) and the other half (fathers side) was 100% French. Living in the New England area I was introduced to many different cultures that for the most part at this point in history coexisted with each other perfectly. The Irish had their portions of the community, the French had their area, and the Italians another. It actually made dining out very simple whatever cuisine your stomach desired you knew exactly where to go. Some people might refer to this type of situation as segregation but nothing could be further from the truth. Segregation refers to boundaries that cannot or should not be crosses. These areas had no arbitrary boundaries that should or could not be crossed they simply had areas of each community where their home culture and customs were alive and well. Within these areas they could successfully teach their children about their heritage and share their culture with outsiders.

Just in case something had changed that I was not aware of I did double check and we do have a process for anyone that would like to ask to immigrate to the United States (http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis). It seems very wrong that we have a process for foreign people to enter our country legally and yet we reward those that choose not to follow the rules. How are we as a nation emphasizing that we have a defined set of rules, regulations, and laws when we selectively choose which of these should be enforced? What message are we sending as a nation to the good people around the world that have knowledge, talent and experiences that our nation could benefit from when we force them to follow a lengthy process and procedure and others get benefits from breaking the rules?

I really wonder how this will play out in the future. Will employers in the future be barred from hiring criminals? I suppose this might help explain why San Francisco, CA is moving towards a system that would eliminate using a person’s criminal history as a reason to reject them as a tenant or employee (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43873369/ns/business-personal_finance/).

Just for clarity let me summarize the current situation in California. The state has a current budget deficit of around $25 billion dollars and we are enacting a new entitlement program to basically reward  people that have blatantly broken both federal and state immigration laws. It should be noted that at the same time AB130 was signed into law by the Governor of California, Jerry Brown he vetoed Assembly Bill 96 (AB96) (http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/asm/ab_0051-0100/ab_96_bill_20110714_enrolled.html). AB96 would have provided funding to help cover adult day care programs for California's elderly (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/27/california-adult-care-centers-vetoed-funds_n_911088.html). Governor Brown wrote in his veto message for AB96 that the bill was similar to other existing programs. Wow, that never stopped California in the past we have program after program that are all nearly identical what made this one special? Maybe criminals now hold a higher position in California society than our elderly.

Thanks for listening...

The madness...

I believe that there are a lot of people out there that just have no idea what the average worker faces on a daily basis. Many workers face a very unhappy workplace with management that just doesn't seem to be in touch with reality. Many others go into their offices with the complete understanding that as long as they keep their mouth shut and their heads down they have little to worry about. And then there is another segment of the working population that always seems to be able to manipulate the “system” to their advantage and/or us it against others. Either way many American workers are frustrated, overworked, in some cases under paid and certainly underappreciated being abused.

 

Last month (June, 2011) in the United States a whopping 18,000 jobs were added to the payrolls and the unemployment rate actually rose from 9.1% to 9.2% (http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/june-2011-jobs-report/). Keep in mind that the unemployment statistic from the US Department of Labor do not account for people that have just given up looking for a job or have exhausted their benefits, basically the real unemployment number is higher (http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm). With that said, not even a month later just over 30% of those jobs “added” to the economy have been removed with the announcement that Cisco Systems will be cutting 6,500 positions (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-18/cisco-plans-to-cut-about-6-500-jobs-take-pretax-charge-up-to-1-3-billion.html). The best and funniest part of this is that Cisco announces that they are eliminating the positions to, “help trim $1 billion in annual costs and step up profit growth”. “Step up profit growth” this is great, so now we increase profit by eliminating employees? I suppose if the government can “increase revenues” by raising taxes why can't corporations “step up profit” by eliminating employees, makes perfect sense (insert sarcasm here).

 

I have to take a moment here to ask, “How does a government have revenue?” What does the government produce? What does the government sell? How do you produce nothing and sell nothing but have revenue? What will it take for people to understand that the government has no money. The “revenue” that the government enjoys raising and spending is YOUR money. The only “revenue” that the government has is what it collects in taxes and “fees”. This money is suppose to be used to pay the expenses created while the government is serving its citizens. While at the same time the government is being regulated by its citizens. This might be a good time to remind everyone of a famous quote from the past. President Lincoln once made the statement,”...and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people.” Most of us understand that this means the government is not an entity that exists on its own.

 

On Tuesday 7/19/2011 Goldman Sachs reported its disappointing earnings. It was extremely unfortunate that they were only able to report a earnings of $1.05 billion dollars even after all their hard work to reduce costs (http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/goldman-sachs-reports-profit-of-1-05-billion/). Along with their earnings report Goldman Sachs is now planning to cut staff and reduce non-compensation expenses by $1 billion dollars over the next 11 months. In fact, Goldman Sachs says it will be cutting nearly 1000 jobs (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-19/goldman-sachs-plans-job-cuts-as-debt-trading-misses-estimates.html). Between Cisco and Goldman Sachs the total number of jobs lost will be approaching nearly half of the total jobs added in June 2011.

 

In addition to Cisco and Goldman Sachs now Borders has announced that they will not just be cutting employees they are closing all 399 of their remaining stores and liquidating  all their current assets (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303661904576454353768550280.html). This will be a loss of 10,700 positions. I have to call this a failure to adapt to a changing market place. With the increasing availability of online media and books the “old fashion” paper books for the most part are doomed. So with this addition to our little list that brings the grand total to 17,300 jobs lost and its only July 19th. For those that don't want to do the quick math that would leave June 2011 with a net loss of 200 jobs. Yes, some of these jobs will be lost over a specific time period and the result of normal attrition and the elimination of open positions.  But as long as corporate America is able to “step up profit growth” I suppose it’s not a problem for our economy to have a net loss of 200 in a 30 day period (insert more sarcasm here).

 

Now in addition to the layoff announcements by Cisco, Goldman Sachs, and Borders there is more to add to the pile. Lockheed Martin has just joined in the crowd and has offered “buyouts” to 6500 employees (http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/shedding-jobs-lockheed-martin-launches-another-buyout-program/2011/07/19/gIQAVQVMOI_story.html). These employees will be joining the unemployment lines this fall so Christmas looks great so far. This announcement comes just weeks after Lockheed decided to lay off 1500 other employees. Let’s face it a buyout is just a friendly way of asking who wants to walk the plank rather than being thrown overboard. The list will continue to grow but have no fear the government has everything under control (yes, insert sarcasm again).

 

These are the scenarios that your everyday American employee must deal with. Nobody really knows when they will get that call that they have become a casualty of a layoff, reduction in force, downsizing efforts, restructuring, or redistribution of labor. No matter what catchy phrase a corporation uses these employees and their families are impacted.

 

Now I understand that companies have no reason to keep employees on the payroll that they do not need. In addition each company has a fiduciary responsibility to its investors and share holders to remain as profitable as possible. However it also seems that companies in the past have been able to employ people for an entire career. I was raised with the concept that you work hard in school, get a good education, take an interest in an industry or trade and start at the bottom. As you work hard, prove that you have talent and you are reliable you are rewarded by moving forward and upward within the company. This process benefits both the employee and the company. The employee earns respect, benefits, and increased salary. The company creates an increased level of “tribal” knowledge that allows them to leverage the past against the future. The end result if everything is done correctly is that the company profits, employees enjoy a good work atmosphere and the consumer gets a good product at a reasonable cost. These principles no longer appear to be valid within corporations any longer. It now appears that the methodology employed by corporations in today's market to “step up profit growth” is that employees are an expendable and renewable resource. Reliable, talented and creative employees appear to no longer have any value.

 

The employment market now works like an accordion that expands and contracts with the changing tide of the global markets. Rather than a company work to make itself more profitable or efficient they simply layoff employees. In most cases what many people outside of these situations rarely realize is that the work load does not change just the number of people performing the tasks. Middle and upper management always seem so impressed with themselves how profits or revenues increase right after a mass layoff and then complain when the work begins to back up. Then more bodies are thrown at the issue usually in the form of contract labor and things get better for a while.

 

The solution to the madness might just be found in the fact that we have become such a reactive society. With our global markets, 24 hour news cycles, and easy access to different markets and data it seems that too many people and business' are quick to react rather than spend the time to analyze the situation and make informed decisions. If business became more proactive and looked forward and invested in the future they might not find themselves in the situation of playing the accordion so often. Until then the madness will continue and more and more workers will find themselves working jobs that may or may not exist from day to day.

 

Thanks for listening.

Connecting the dots...

It’s not a giant secret among people that know me that I really dislike the state of the State of California. Fairly frequently people ask me why I don’t like California. The following items are a perfect example of what is wrong with the state. Am I really the only person that sees the connection between the dots in the stories below?

College costs throughout the country have been soaring, but that’s another article all in itself. Maybe next time I write something I will explain why the United States. Most people dismiss the high cost of tuition by saying people just have to be more determined, they should give up a latte or two per week, work a second job, or not waste their money on material items.  Other people just don’t care because they don’t have children or their children have finished school. Many other people just explain away the high cost of a college education in America with the following statement, “It’s just the cost of doing business. College educated people earn higher incomes, they’ll be able to afford the education costs.”

 

This week the trustees for the California State University system voted to approve a 12% increase in student tuition fees (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/07/cal-state-trustees-committee-approves-12-tuition-hike.html) . Then they turned around and voted to give the new President of San Diego State University a $100K salary increase (http://www.10news.com/news/28498537/detail.html) .  Another news story now reports that the cost of a California State University education has doubled, just to be completely clear that’s 100% more than the same education would cost a student way back in the year 2007 (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/13/MNA51K9JOE.DTL). So in only a short four year period the cost of a California State University education has doubled. Have the salaries available to a graduate of these institutions gone up that much? I would be willing to bet money that they have not. In fact, the State of California has one of the highest unemployment rates in the entire nation. 

The story gets even better my friends. A recent article from the Los Angeles Times reported that at most California Universities and College the very well paid professors are not even doing the teaching. The actual teaching for the students paying these increased tuition costs is being contracted out to part time teaching staff using student assistants (http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/15/opinion/la-oe-riley-teaching-20110615). Is it really that hard to connect the dots that they raise tuition costs then spend more money? When was the last time you decided in your personal budget at home to save money by spending more?

 

This entire mess is a perfect example of the reasons I am completely exhausted with the State of California. The multiple systems within California seem to be stuck in this process of spending more money than they have just because its “California” and then continue to raise fees, taxes, prices, etc. to cover the excess. When will the residents of California wake up and start to push back? When will the residents of California start to demand a change? It might be possible that many Californians have woken up, however they have had the fight beaten out of them. But have found a solution, they leave California. Here is a link to a great article that explains the on going trend in California (http://www.newgeography.com/content/001925-if-california-is-doing-so-great-why-are-so-many-leaving). The article details that more people have left California every year since 1990 than entered the state. It could be possible that at this point that the people who could have changed California for the better have decided to concede the battle and move elsewhere.

 

I suppose the situation in California really just validates one of my favorite quotes of all time. Margret Thatcher who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom once stated, ”The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money to spend.”

 

Thanks for listening.