Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

Vacation

“When it comes to guaranteed paid vacation, U.S. workers don’t seem to get a break. While the French get 30 days of paid leave and most other Europeans receive at least 20, the country with the world’s biggest economy does not guarantee workers a single day, researchers said on Wednesday.” – Reuters

Emphasis mine.

Oh yes lets please compare the WORLD’s BIGGEST ECONOMY with one of the least productive “first world” nations.

Think that 35 hour work week, 30 day paid vacation, and union guaranteed job security (regardless of performance) might have a little to do with the lack of productivity per capita?

“The United States is the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation days and paid holidays,” said economist John Schmitt.

The only advanced and the biggest economy. All in one red, white, and blue package. The cold, cruel, and undeniably efficient U.S. of A.

Funny how that works.

Mike and the Dog

Looks like they’re replacing Imus with Mike and the Mad Dog, my favorite afternoon radio crew. I’ve got mixed feelings about this…while they’re certainly the most logical choice, WFAN has effectively killed their lucrative afternoon drive time slot. I can’t imagine who they’ll name to replace them that will be half as good.

M&MM is a very different type of show than Imus was, so It’ll be interesting to see what happens when Imus’ listeners tune in expecting his brand of sarcastic political and societal commentary and instead get a great big wall of sports.

Imus mostly ridiculed sports.

Revulsed?

“…all of us have been deeply upset and revulsed by the statements that were made on our air” – CBS CEO Leslie Moonves – via CNN

Ok. You were revulsed. So why did it take you more than a week to fire Imus?

Could this be the reason?

Perhaps what revulsed you most was the impact to your bottom line.

Imus Canned

CBS Pulls plug on Imus… CNN.com
CBS fires Don Imus… USA Today
CBS Drops Imus Radio Show Over Racial Remark… NY Times

And the circle of stupidity is complete. I’ve listened to Imus on and off since the late 80′s. WFAN in New York is one of my favorite stations, and the guy’s been a staple there for as long as I can remember. Over the last 5-6 years, his “shtick” has gotten monochromatic and a bit slanted for my tastes, but one always had to respect his staying power.

Now he’s gone, struck down by moment’s thoughtlessness.

It doesn’t matter that Imus is demonstrably non-racist. The fact that he is personally responsible for more tangible and immediate good for minorities than the muck-raking Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson ever will holds no value. Lets see them direct some of that effort against the rap artists who popularize these phrases. I won’t hold my breath.

I started the week delighted at the irony of the left eating one of it’s own. I end the week disgusted.

At what price, Political Correctness?

“One major publisher vetoed a photo of a barefoot child in an African village,” Golden writes, “on the grounds that the lack of footwear reinforced the stereotype of poverty on that continent.” Grinding poverty is in fact a daily reality for hundreds of millions of Africans. But when reality conflicts with political correctness, reality gets the boot.

Sacrificing truth on the altar of diversity

Also, here’s a link to a story about the Wisconsin-Madison incident. “We probably tried too hard, and we did the wrong thing.”

You think?

UPDATE – Don’t get me started on the Katie Couric debacle. She makes my skin crawl…

Luckless

Tom Stone photographs the homeless of San Francisco, and shares the results on Flickr. His work is enlightening, touching, and at times, horrifying.

Getting you all ready…

Maybe it’s the cynic in me, but when I see Geena Davis in this, I immediately think of Hollywood doing all they can to get us mentally prepared (and accepting) for – THIS.

Scares me big time, frankly.

And while I’m on the topic of scary things, what is it with all the hotties being voted off of Survivor? The stumpy legged fish-monger keeps dodging the bullet, while the babes are eliminated one by one.

Oh and Gary Hogeboom? Totally believable lie about his NFL career, as he wasn’t really what most people would consider a serviceable quarterback.