I keep hearing the republican spin machine ask me this question. This incredibly stupid question, which is like asking a two year old who hasn't received cookies upon asking if they need new parents.
The election isn't about are we better off. It's about are we digging out of the worst economic crisis since the great depression. The answer to that on all economic metrics is yes, but slowly. This is largely due to the fact that we are also in a global economic slowdown.
The biggest question we should be asking ourselves is not necessarily who will lead us out quicker, but what policies got us into this hole in the first place? The answer to that is pretty clear. An unwillingness to regulate our markets and financial industry, combined with an unwillingness to properly fund government through revenue from corporations (first) and the wealthy (2nd).
If you think a full turn to the right, passing Bush jr, Sr, and Reagan on conservative economic policy is what we need, by all means vote for Romney and Ryan. Personally, I think this would be insanity, under it's definition as "repeating the same actions with the expectation of a different result"
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Sunday, August 12, 2012
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Decamp Bus Service
My nomination for worst business serving nj commuters:
Decamp Bus Lines
Incredibly rude people driving buses, at the ticket counter and at their customer service and dispatch number.
Drivers never have change, get downright rude towards you if you don't have exact change.
Buses habitually late.
NJ Transit, please, please take over the routes from these incompetent ass clowns.
Thank you.
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Decamp Bus Lines
Incredibly rude people driving buses, at the ticket counter and at their customer service and dispatch number.
Drivers never have change, get downright rude towards you if you don't have exact change.
Buses habitually late.
NJ Transit, please, please take over the routes from these incompetent ass clowns.
Thank you.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
One of my favorite Steve Jobs observations
And one of the many things that's understood so poorly in so many PowerPoint fueled meetings in business...
"Many companies get the disease of thinking that a really great idea is 90 percent of the work. And if you just tell all these other people here’s this great idea then of course they can go off and make it happen. And the problem with that is that there’s just a tremendous amount of craftsmanship in between a great idea and a great product. Designing a product is keeping five thousand things in your brain and fitting them all together in new and different ways to get what you want. And every day you discover something new that is a new problem or a new opportunity to fit these things together a little differently."
-Steve Jobs
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"Many companies get the disease of thinking that a really great idea is 90 percent of the work. And if you just tell all these other people here’s this great idea then of course they can go off and make it happen. And the problem with that is that there’s just a tremendous amount of craftsmanship in between a great idea and a great product. Designing a product is keeping five thousand things in your brain and fitting them all together in new and different ways to get what you want. And every day you discover something new that is a new problem or a new opportunity to fit these things together a little differently."
-Steve Jobs
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Sunday, October 9, 2011
I loved this guys comment on gawker... #OWS
So I had to repost - this is a perfect answer to all the people in my generation (older) doing what older people usually do - sneer at the idealism of youth. I'd love to meet this kid and talk to him.
--------------------------
Gen X doesn't know how to lead? See, all this talk of "unwashed hippies" and "stupid kids" has got me thinking a lot about your generation's track record: running up the federal deficit, deregulating the financial sector, opening the door for money in politics, waging countless long and costly wars, destroying the environment, all while pushing important domestic concerns like education and poverty to the wayside...I could go on. And I think it's important to point out that your generation has been unable or unwilling to advance any viable solutions for these problems, possibly because it's my generation that is now bearing and will bear the brunt of the damage. Yes, you have failed us, and in bigger ways than you think. So please, shut up about how a bunch of 20-somethings lack leadership skills. Why are you holding them to a greater account than the actual leaders who should presumably be older, wiser and more experienced?
I also think you're just being incredibly short sighted in writing off the protesters' operations. For one thing, Max is right that there is a lot of theory behind this. For another, the protesters frankly aren't as leaderless as the mainstream media has suggested. Do you really think these people's assemblies can happen without some designated leaders and rules, however relaxed those designations might be? Have you heard anything about the Internet committee? The winterization committee? Yes, they are leaderless in a sense. They are also organized and determined.
I'm a Gen Y'er who's been stopping by the occupation in fits and spurts. (Because yes, I have a job...for now.) I haven't felt this hopeful about my future in a long time.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Labor Day
Just a quick thought on labor day...for a long time, I've scoffed at the idea of a third party in this country, mainly because I couldn't shake the prior attempts made in presidential elections and the media circus around them.
But it's clear to me (and apparently to what's left of organized labor in this country) that there's no party that supports the goals and the needs of the American worker.
In case you're wondering who the america worker is...it's most of us. Labor is where our middle and working classes come from. It's the classes who have seen the social safety net eroded, the cost of educating their children rise, all while a historic transfer of wealth to the wealthy accelerated in their lifetime.
For historical perspective, this trend began with Reagan and has continued unabated regardless of which party holds office. We need a labor party. And it can happen. Using all the remaining unions to throw their weight towards a new party might create enough of a groundswell to actually create a new voice that represents a majority of Americans.
What we have now is an oligopoly that creates the illusion of choice, while the reality of corporate interests over people continues unabated. Social issues and debates are window dressing used to distract us from where the money goes, and it is increasingly not to the american worker.
In the next few months, there will be massive trade agreements put forth to congress while this jobs proposal comes out for debate. It is highly unlikely that much real good for the American worker will be in the jobs bill...what is likely is that what will be in the trade agreements will be a further blow to the interests of american labor.
How can you be for a party when no party is for you?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
But it's clear to me (and apparently to what's left of organized labor in this country) that there's no party that supports the goals and the needs of the American worker.
In case you're wondering who the america worker is...it's most of us. Labor is where our middle and working classes come from. It's the classes who have seen the social safety net eroded, the cost of educating their children rise, all while a historic transfer of wealth to the wealthy accelerated in their lifetime.
For historical perspective, this trend began with Reagan and has continued unabated regardless of which party holds office. We need a labor party. And it can happen. Using all the remaining unions to throw their weight towards a new party might create enough of a groundswell to actually create a new voice that represents a majority of Americans.
What we have now is an oligopoly that creates the illusion of choice, while the reality of corporate interests over people continues unabated. Social issues and debates are window dressing used to distract us from where the money goes, and it is increasingly not to the american worker.
In the next few months, there will be massive trade agreements put forth to congress while this jobs proposal comes out for debate. It is highly unlikely that much real good for the American worker will be in the jobs bill...what is likely is that what will be in the trade agreements will be a further blow to the interests of american labor.
How can you be for a party when no party is for you?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Disney & Science
For all the pontificating about science and human progress, you won't see Disney take a stand on any of the issues where ignorance confronts science today.
The closest we get to an origin of tthe universe is the big bang. Evolution is never mentioned or discussed directly. Climate change as a result of energy use- "it's controversial" . I wonder what walt would say in today's environment of willful ignorance and blatant disregard for science...would he stay out of the fray or would he take a stand?
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The closest we get to an origin of tthe universe is the big bang. Evolution is never mentioned or discussed directly. Climate change as a result of energy use- "it's controversial" . I wonder what walt would say in today's environment of willful ignorance and blatant disregard for science...would he stay out of the fray or would he take a stand?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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