Operation TIPS

I know that many of you prefer to live as if you awaken each day in a world made anew--why on earth would we worry about giving the FBI broad and sweeping new powers?--but I'm going to go way out on a limb here and say flat out: there are things to be learned from the lessons of history. And an official government system by which citizens are encouraged to spy on their neighbors should really set the alarm bells ringing.

What does your new world look like today? Perhaps if we all set our alarms to "lessons of history" the world might become a better place.   10:41:41 PM      comment   

Accountability What?

Remember when George W. Bush was celebrated as the first president with an MBA, the CEO of the entire country? Remember all those oozing news accounts of the early days of the presidency, which noted how the White House was being run like a tight corporate ship for the first time ever? Makes you a little nervous now, doesn't it? Because even the Executive in Chief himself doesn't appear to know too much about his own past business dealings. When asked by reporters why certain crucial SEC forms concerning his sale of $850,000 worth of Harken stock back in 1990 were filed 34 weeks late, he shrugged: "I still haven't figured it out completely." Why, he just doesn't know.

Out with the lot of them, I say. CEOs should make no more than 10% more than their average employee, and people with an income more than 10% above that of the average American should not be eligible folr public office -- including and especially the office of President of the United States. I predict those measures would reshape American society for the better, across the board.

Meanwhile, a new meme seems to be spreading, namely: Politicians are juggling the Federal budget books just like corporate America does. First I saw it in Ted Rall's strip, now it's made its way to this AP story. And as everyone's honest aesthetic advisor Martha Stewart says, "That's a good thing."   4:14:36 PM      comment   

Mac: Plays Nice With Others

I came to realize something: I'd been with Microsoft for so long, who are complacent and hoard their customers, that I'd forgotten what it's like to use an operating system built by people who want it to cooperate with the rest of the world. It's good.

It's kind of ironic that Apple, the company that "builds the whole widget," might be more interoperable than any other system. I'm sure it's not, and Apple could really do a lot more to make its technologies interact nicely with others, but still, I think Torkington has a good point. I hope Apple continues to work hard to keep its technologies open and make sure they work with others.   8:42:51 AM      comment   

Not A Whore

8:26:36 AM      comment   

categories: meta-blogging

Bill/Steve

8:00:29 AM      comment   

categories: books, mac-related, politics

Earth to McCain

I believe I still believe that the best way to ensure the solvency of the Social Security system, to honor the solemn promise that in exchange for the payroll taxes they have rendered all their working lives, all Americans will receive a minimally adequate retirement income, is to allow them to invest a portion of their payroll taxes in the financial markets. In fact, I can see no other viable way to ensure that those entering the workforce today will receive the benefits promised to them upon their retirement. Markets fluctuate. We are in a down cycle today. But it won't last forever. And investments in the stock market have over time always yielded higher returns than any other responsible investment. Allowing Americans to invest responsibly a small part of their payroll taxes will not only save Social Security, but will provide them with greater retirement income than those who now or will soon depend on Social Security checks.

Wow. That sounds like a really good idear. Perhaps McCain should look at some of the effects of those "market fluctuations" on people who were planning to retire on stock market investments:

The oldest retirees, those over 70, tend to have pensions and so rely less on the stock market, economists say. Those approaching retirement are far more likely to have 401(k) plans, which became the primary retirement option offered by companies over the last two decades. As the stock market swelled in the 1990's, so did those plans, and many people looked at the big gains and thought they could retire early.

"Many retirees became complacent," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com, a consulting firm in Pennsylvania. "There was so much money being made, they didn't do the normal shifting most people do. Many of them were putting more in the market, thinking this was a quick way to fund their retirement. They got caught."

According to Labor Department numbers quoted by AARP, the nation's largest lobbying group for retirees, the number of people over the age of 55 in the work force rose by 8.4 percent, or 1.6 million people, between June 2001 and June 2002, compared with far smaller gains in previous years. Every other age group declined in that period.

"What do you do if you find yourself at retirement age without enough to retire on?" asked John Rother, AARP's policy director. "You keep working."

If we listen to McCain and his Repub friends and invest Social Security funds in the stock market, we'll be effectively giving corporate America billions of dollars to play around with. That's just an awesome idea! I wish millions of Social Security dollars had been tied up in Enron stock, or Worldcom. The world would really be a better place right now, don't you think?  7:59:44 AM      comment   

Wanna Play?

THE TIME MACHINE This is a handy application for the Palm Pilot that can help keep you on the righteous path. Simply enter your plans for overstating revenue, doing off-book transactions, or telling all your friends to dump your stock. This program will help you automatically calculate how much time you can expect to serve.

Made by the finest Silicon Valley and legal minds, the algorithm deftly accounts for any legal breaks you may receive for past political contributions. And it doubles as a phone!

Version 2.0 will offer virtual landscapes of a white-collar prison so you can see where you can expect to spend the next 18 months. It will also include a daily organizer, games and e-book function that comes with two complimentary titles, "Seven Highly Effective Habits of People Who Aren't in Lockdown" and "Who Moved My Cellmate's Cheese?"

This gave me an idea: Is there a recent video game that lets people pretend to be a corrupt CEO? I mean, we've got the infamous Grand Theft Auto that lets players pretend to be a car thief and have all the fun running people over and beating them to death that they can never have in real life. Now we need something like "Grand Theft Life Savings" that lets us pretend to be creating shell corporations, hiding cash in off-shore tax havens, and otherwise amassing huge sums personal wealth while making our employees and stockholders think we're doing our jobs. To win the game, you'll have to escape with your loot while your failed corporation tumbles into dust. You'll get extra points for bankrupting widows and orphans (because their life savings was in mutual funds which were heavily invested in your company's stock since you paid the analysts to give it a huge buy rating for the few weeks leading up to your company's collapse). The sequel to the game will be "Grand Theft America" where you buy the U.S. Presidency and proceed to run the country into the ground in the same way you ran your corporation into the ground. What fun! (See Ted Rall's brilliant comparisonof current corporate scandals and Shrub's recent tax cuts.)   7:58:25 AM      comment