Weekly Document Dump...
If I'm not updating regularly, the least I can do is put some stuff up and a few comments from time to time, right?
First - last night in New Hampshire...
Sigh.
We're seeing an election/selection process driven not by ideas, but by media notions of who is electable, and who isn't. Think of it as American Idol on steroids - and you're not a judge. By the time the primaries get to the less exalted states, there may not be much of any real choice as to who's going to be on the top of the heap.
But we're already seeing the knives come out - from the lower ranked Republican candidates. Guys, can I make a suggestion? STOP WRITING DEM TALKING POINTS FOR THEM! You're doing their work - and believe me, the people who will be voting will not forget what you're doing. Cutting each other's throats may give you a temporary gain, but we all lose in the end.
On the good side - California's looking at high speed rail and going... "On second thought, no thanks." I mean, just because the projected costs have tripled before construction has even started, and ridership is iffy, and delay until a full system is in place has increased by a decade, and every little podunk town on the line is wanting a stop (which will really slow things down...) and it looks like a really horrible money sink when the state is already in financial trouble - is that any reason NOT to do it?
(Shrug.) Of course it is.
We'll see if it sticks. Lot of people got a lot of money riding on this being built - and they've got a lot of clout.
This should be a no-brainer - "Seriously, if You Pick The Wrong Major Then Prepare To Be Unemployed." Look - there's only so large a market for liberal arts majors. And arts majors. And architecture majors. Call the number that market can absorb per year "X". And if you're number is X+3000, you'd better hope that barista job you had in your sophomore year is still open.
Oh, and film majors? 12.9% unemployment. Try engineering instead. Yeah, I know, it won't satisfy your soul so much... but your satisfied belly will be happy.
"Unwinding the Welfare State, or "Everybody Gets Rich"" - an interesting take on what's going on socioeconomically in the US.
I noticed a fellow at the recent Occupy Wall Street protests carrying a sign reading: “They eat filet mignon. I eat the dollar menu.” This of course says a great deal, and not at all what he meant for it to say. Here is an American man in apparently good health complaining that, while he can have a modest meal for 8 minutes and 30 seconds of work at the minimum wage in New York, (including the sales tax)—and have somebody else cook it for him, at that—he’d really rather have filet mignon, thanks very much.It's an interesting read.
It is worth taking an economic eye to one’s literature. My own childhood hero, the Count of Monte Cristo, dazzles his guests by serving fish from two distant parts of the world—a millionaire’s whim, he calls it. Alexandre Dumas simply could not have imagined a Wal-Mart big box store, which, on average, is 185,000 square feet of retail space, offering well more than 200,000 products gathered from around the world for shoppers who enjoy, without even thinking about it, riches that the Count could not have imagined: air conditioning while they shop, refrigeration to keep their food fresh, etc. Which is to say, we are not a nation of paupers. From energy used to calories consumed to travel enjoyed to the size of our houses to the variety of our diets and distractions, we are rich, rich, rich, besotted with wealth, drowning in affluence, up to our fat little earlobes in the good life. So why do we feel so poor?Because there's a certain class who are dependent on unthinking emotion to maintain their lifestyle, and work hard at projecting the idea that we're all just one step away from destruction without the benevolent guidance of the government?
Just a thought.
Well, that clears out the queue for this dump. Hope you and yours are doing well - see you next time!
J.
