Teen Girls Stand by Their Man… Chris Brown

In a recent pole of high school female students on the alleged beating of pop singer Rihanna, 46% of the girls said she had it coming. Wow. One was quoted as saying that “she probably ran into a door and was too embarrassed so blamed it on Chris.” Right.

Here’s my favorite: “She probably made him mad for him to react like that. You know, like, bring it on?” Oh my gosh. Where is our youth going, and what is it coming to? Nowhere it seems.

So, who’s to blame? Parents, media, or the young impressionable pupils of America? It’s probably a combination of the three. But, for some reason, I’m highly disappointed in these girls’ lack-luster ability of discernment.

You may read the article to further indulge in these tweens’ strike for Chris Breezy: article.

by M. Adam Carroll

Unions Are Obsolete

I managed a plant for a large corporation a little while back. Our employees “in the back” (as the suits and ties in the office called our hardworking men and women) were grown men and women doing monotonous jobs 40+ hours a week to feed hungry mouths. Most of them were adults of Hispanic descent with a limited understanding of the English language. One of their favorite tasks during the day was learning a new word or two in English. They couldn’t afford a linguistics class, so they did what they could with what they had.

I say all this to put the proceeding into context. We began our shift at 5am sharp, ever day. Rain, snow, or sun, we were there with squinty eyes. And, who was there to greet us once a month? The local union representative with flyers, loud noises, running up to our car doors. But of course, according to the law, we are not allowed to ask them to leave…

The funniest thing about their handing out of literature to us? It was a slander against our own company. That the big wigs didn’t care for the hourly worker. That never made much sense to me: how does putting down your current employer encurouage the person to A) continue working there, and B) if you’ve conviced an employee that his/her job currently sucks, what makes you think they’ll stay to pay you money out of their check to get “better wages”? I never connected the dots.

Needless to say, no one ever bit during the year that I worked there. As I mentioned earlier, most of my employees could not read English and didn’t have the highest level of education. But still, they were able to ascertain which would be a better option: a company that pays them with benefits with annual raises, or an angry union telling you to pay them to get what you already have. What I’m trying to say is this: UNIONS ARE NOW OBSOLETE. And they are the fastest dying business in the US. Why do you think they’re so angry?

According to the NY Times, Two of the nation’s “fastest-growing” labor unions — the Service Employees International Union and the California Nurses Association, have now joined forces. They were bitter enemies, with constant law suits, showing up at each other conferences yelling, barricading doors… the list goes on. “We have buried the hatchet,” said Rose Ann DeMoro, president of the California Nurses Association. Sorry, I can’t use an erudite language here: LOSERS.

Maybe they “burried the hatched” because the California association will soon become the largest nurses’ union in American history, with 150,000 members, when it merges with United American Nurses and the Massachusetts Nurses Union. More people, more fees, more money.

They have a goal of creating a single, nationwide union for registered nurses (socialists anyone). “We have a moment to seize,” said a rep. “We have to show hospitals that health care reform is the right thing to do.” I’ll leave you with this: Should you really have to convince us all of your great union product?

by M. Adam Carroll

India Continues to Starve Even After Economic Surge

I seriously struggled to find an articles of interest the last few days. We all know March Madness is full-blown. No need to echo the news there. Obama is doing his best and finding both support and opposition from both political parties. Got it. And when I saw an article titled “Treatment for Peanut Allergies Shows Promise”, I almost lost all hope. Is there nothing happening right now that hasn’t been recycled in the news or that smells of mimetic regurgitation?

Then I clicked on the international section of my online newspaper sources. Sometimes it is healthy and refreshing to read and observe beyond our own borders. I was struck by a piece on India and its hunger problem.

Countries like India and China have experienced an economic boom in recent years, thanks to their more open approach on national and international business. China has come out on top, it seems, not only by increasing their national GDP, but by increasing the standard of living for their nation as a whole. They have reduced their child malnutrition to 7.2%. Wow, that’s great for a third world country!

India, on the other hand, boasts a child malnutrition number of 42.5%. Imagine almost half of our nation’s kids dying due to the simple fact that their parents cannot provide for them, or that their mother’s own body cannot produce milk to feed their children. This is a bleak, bleak state of affairs… Seeing pictures of children that look more like an animal (and I say this with no humor intended) is devastating.

I guess I really don’t have a conclusion for you today, other than the suggestion to go read the article yourself. To try to make some sense of these numbers, their reasons, and if this much suffering can actually poke into our own reality. I know I’ve said this before, but I think that, despite our current state of affairs, it could ALWAYS be a lot worse.

Click here for the article in the NY Times.

Madoff Goes to Jail for Ponzi Scheme

This guy goes way beyond our Moron of the Week and enters into the realm of Jerk of the Year. Bernard Madoff, former chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange, performed the greatest (and by “great” I don’t mean cool) in the history of scams. He swindled, or “bilked” as some keep writing, people out of almost $65 billion. Let that sink in for a second.

He founded the Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in 1960, and was its chairman until his arrest on December 11, 2008. That’s a tough lie to carry with you for all those years.

One victim said, “I would love for him to have nothing. In jail, he’ll have food, clothing and shelter, and there will be people who are affected who are going to be out on the street.” Interesting and valid point.

How was he caught? Not through the S.E.C., but by telling his sons, who subsequently turned him in. Madoff had this to say: “There is no innocent explanation. [I] paid investors with money that wasn’t there” and expected to go to jail. With that, agents arrested Madoff, according to an FBI complaint that provided a timeline.

I think the most alarming point of this story, is not necessarily that the systems in place did not detect this humongous scheme (although it is pretty sad it took a layman to poof it out), but that a human being with such amount of power abused it. He hurt people, destroyed their lives, and actually contributed to the state of our economy.

Another victim stated that “I feel bad for this man who lost all sense of reality.” Ethics go a long way in the business world. And it seems a vacant room right now.

by M. Adam Carroll

Music You Should Know: Bon Iver and Beirut

Good Thursday to you, constant reader. I hope all is well in the cyber world of quick information, news, and reasons to get away from your desk job.

Today’s discussion is music. So, more of a presentation. Every now and then I like to throw artists your way that I think you should know, check out, and add to your list of tunes.

Today, we’re going for different yet sonorous. First up we have a man that goes by the name of Bon Iver (aka Justin Vernon). Early on he was part of a couple bands here and there in the cold mid-north section of the US, he escaped to a winter cabin in Wisconsin, and recorded For Emma, For Ever Ago. It has garnered critical acclaim both here and in the UK. A few weeks ago, he released an EP titled Blood Bank. He vacillates between a raspy and falsetto vocal, using folk strings.

The tunes: For Emma, Skinny Love, Blood Bank, Stacks, Flume

On the other end of the spectrum, we have Beirut (not the pong game we all used to enjoy). 23 year old Zachary Francis dropped out of high school at 16, traveled the world, and came back with it in his songs. His sound is unmatched right now. Nothing really sounds like him: 1920’s sounding recordings, European rhythms, and epic like lyrics.

Tunes: Elephant Gun, Nantes, A Sunday Smile.

Alright folks. I hope you enjoy the tunes and this wonderful day. We’ll see you tomorrow for the Moron of the Week.

by M. Adam Carroll