Advice Worth Millions

Why do I not believe that executives are worth the insanely large salaries they currently receive and people like Phil Gramm say they deserve? The New York Times has a story today about Ford's decision to move its production towards small cars. In the story, Ford's CEO, Alan Mulally, is described as a bold risk-taker and innovator. Large investor Kirk Kerkorian has bought of Ford shares because he believes in Mulally.

What kind of business wizardry makes this CEO so valuable?

“Everybody says cut and cut some more, but how are we going to sustain this company?” Mr. Mulally said in one meeting in his office on the 12th floor of Ford headquarters, according to people in attendance. “What does a sustainable Ford look like, gentlemen?”

...“Why are we in business?” he repeatedly asked the group. “We are in business to create value. And we can’t create value if we go out of business.”

If only every CEO had such insight! And this isn't all of his wisdom:

“Let’s see, the global share of large vehicles is 15 percent,” he said at one such meeting, according to people in attendance. “And you’re telling me you want to invest more in them?”

He often exhorts his employees to “take a point of view of the future,” and then devise a plan supporting it.

Genius!

This is not meant to be a slam at Mr. Mulally. Those statements sound like perfectly good sense. What should frighten us is that these ideas were apparently novel to the rest of the management team.

If the common sense statements of Mulally constitute the pinnacle of business leadership, then we must conclude two things. One is that people who see this as some great talent maybe shouldn't be allowed to have shoelaces. The other is that if general commonsense is the bar for exorbitant pay, then the very idea of business itself is in serious trouble.

A Lesson on Highbrow BS

The following is an excerpt from a funny piece in this month's Harper's Magazine. The essay is by George Saunders, and was originally published in the Guardian.

Whereas a boring realist writer might write, "Lillian sat at the black table," an experimental writer says, "Lillian sat at the flat plane of ebony, the night-shaded planar surface, the nonwhite spatial expanse on which one can put things, such as ashtrays, if one smokes." See how that is more innovative, because not just anyone could have written it, just the nerdy kids in school or your friends' smart-ass son who rolls his eyes when you say what bands you like?

And to be superexperimental, one could have Lillian, at the black table, turn into a chimp. To show that bourgeois life is a sham. But when she is a chimp, she is still Lillian. That is the deep part. Her husband, Brian, likes her better as a chimp and always makes her banana milkshakes. Until one day a milkshake develops vocal cords and begs Brian to spare him because he is terrified of chimps. In retaliation, Lillian has an affair with an orangutan, who is either from the zoo or from another experimental story. See how edgy that is? You will never look at your wife, a milkshake, or a chimp in the same way again. Whenever you see these things, you will be like: I am a capitalist oppressor.

Mr. Brightside

Not a lot of positives you can take from a 19-4 loss. Actually, this probably serves as the defintion of a low point.

On the other hand, the Royals put Tony Pena Jr. in to pitch the 9th because things had gotten out of hand. He pitched a 1-2-3 inning throwing 8 of 12 pitches for strikes and striking out Ivan Rodriguez. This hardly qualifies Pena to be the next Cy Young, but if he could ever be converted to a pitching spot we would never have to watch him bat again (except in interleague games).

Exceeding Expectations

Over the weekend, I saw The Dark Knight. Not many things are as good as advertised, and fewer still are better than advertised. The Dark Knight was one of them.

The Audacity of Continuing to Use the Word Audacity in Stories About Barack Obama

Charles Krauthammer does it today (or perhaps his headline writer did) in the Washington Post. Whatever the case, it headlines one of the more ridiculous stories written about a candidate so far this season. Here is the beginning:

Barack Obama wants to speak at the Brandenburg Gate. He figures it would be a nice backdrop. The supporting cast -- a cheering audience and a few fainting frauleins -- would be a picturesque way to bolster his foreign policy credentials.

What Obama does not seem to understand is that the Brandenburg Gate is something you earn. President Ronald Reagan earned the right to speak there because his relentless pressure had brought the Soviet empire to its knees and he was demanding its final "tear down this wall" liquidation. When President John F. Kennedy visited the Brandenburg Gate on the day of his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, he was representing a country that was prepared to go to the brink of nuclear war to defend West Berlin.

Who is Obama representing? And what exactly has he done in his lifetime to merit appropriating the Brandenburg Gate as a campaign prop? What was his role in the fight against communism, the liberation of Eastern Europe, the creation of what George Bush the elder -- who presided over the fall of the Berlin Wall but modestly declined to go there for a victory lap -- called "a Europe whole and free"?

So, Krauthammer is telling us that the problem with Barack Obama is not that he doesn't have skills or experience for the job. No, Obama's problem is that he is so full of himself that he would pick a venerated location to give a speech. Does this yet qualify as grasping for straws?

80's Movie Quote of the Week

It's not a comedy. But given the fact that I am extremely excited about the impending release of the new Batman movie, I thought it might be worth revisting the 1989 version. The Joker has some timeless advice.

The Joker: Never rub another man's rhubarb.

It's Not About What You Say

John McCain is speaking in KC today at a town hall meeting. These meetings should be democracy at its finest. Instead, they usually make you wonder about whether democracy is built on a solid foundation. A nice example was outlined today (in a pretty rough retelling):

Some Guy in Crowd: Obama wants to fix healthcare by getting the government more involved. I think the government needs to be less involved. How can you help get the government less involved so the free market can give us cheaper healthcare?

Crowd roars with approval.

McCain: I agree with you. Here is what we need to do...blah, blah, blah... and we need federal and state governments to work together to create pools for those who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford coverage.

Crowd roars with approval.

Three important question arise:
1. How many people were actually listening?
2. Of those that were listening, how many understood what was going on?
3. What does all of this mean for democracy?

Joe Buck Had a Bad Margarita in Cabo

Is that the explanation for his committed indifference to the Mexecutioner throughout last night's All-Star game broadcast? Buck had three opportunities earlier in the evening to mention Joakim Soria along with the other great closers on the AL roster. He skipped every chance.

When Soria improbably entered the game in the 11th inning, Buck could have redeemed himself a bit by talking about the surprising dominance of the Royals closer this season. In the 1 and 2/3 innings Soria pitched, however, Buck said nothing. He barely even mentioned that it was Soria on the mound.

So, I think he must have some aversion to Mexico. Perhaps it was a bad time at a resort. Maybe the Aztecs are his least favorite ancient civilization. Maybe Buck is a Minuteman afraid that Soria is here illegally to steal the job of some American closer.

Or maybe it is the fact that Buck is an old Cardinals guy. A Cardinals guy would classically be a jerk about a Royals player. But would he, as an announcer, stoop so low? He's a Cardinals guy, so probably.

20%

That is what I think the odds of Joakim "Buenos Noches" "Mexecutioner" Soria playing in tonight's All-Star game are. I hope he makes it in, but I won't be holding my breath. If he does play, I am saying he pitches the 6th or 7th.

The Nuge

Ted Nugent is a moron. The Star's Back to Rockville blog posts a recent interview with him in anticipation of his appearance in KC.

Rock stars suck. I have never been a rock star. I happen to be a very hard working bow-hunter American who puts his heart and soul into creating moving R&B music with the world’s greatest musicians that care only about the music. Without question my music is tighter, more powerful, sexier and intense today than it or any music has ever been.

He goes on to make some enlightened claims about U.S. foreign policy and comment on his general political philosophy. All of it is just fantastic.

One of the commenters points out that he was a draft dodger. I would be curious if this is true. Anybody know? It almost makes him too perfect a caricature if it's true. He might be too perfect a caricature anyway.

There is a God

And he loves us very much. Here is the proof:

Billy Packer's streak of Final Fours is over after 34 years, The Miami Herald reported Monday. Packer, a color commentator, will be replaced in CBS' coverage by studio analyst Clark Kellogg, network representative Leslie Anne Wade confirmed to the newspaper.

College basketball fans are hereby liberated from the tyranny of one of the most curmudgeonly, obnoxious, and provincial commentators of all time. And there was much rejoicing.

Capitalism Takes Its Lumps

E.J. Dionne has a nice column in the Washington Post talking about how many of our economic cliches are becoming increasingly outdated.

You know the talking points: Regulation is the problem and deregulation is the solution. The distribution of income and wealth doesn't matter. Providing incentives for the investors of capital to "grow the pie" is the only policy that counts. Free trade produces well-distributed economic growth, and any dissent from this orthodoxy is "protectionism."

Dionne goes on to talk about how many conservatives (and Barney Frank) are starting to openly question much of what was once considered orthodoxy. The problem is that the people he refers to are Ben Bernanke and a guy from a think tank. It's great that these guys are taking the problem seriously, but they aren't members of Congress or presidential candidates.

So how long before those who are members of Congress or presidential candidates follow suit and acknowledge that government may actually have a role to play assuring the widespread financial security of our nation? I wouldn't hold my breath waiting.

Agreement

George Will finally writes a column I agree with (though he does manage to put in at least a few lines that make me cringe). He says we should celebrate beer.

Suffice it to say that the good news is really good: Beer is a health food.

... So let there be no more loose talk -- especially not now, with summer arriving -- about beer not being essential. Benjamin Franklin was, as usual, on to something when he said, "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." Or, less judgmentally, and for secular people who favor a wall of separation between church and tavern, beer is evidence that nature wants us to be.

Here's to you George.

80's Movie Quote of the Week

Commentary on friendship from the Weird Al classic, UHF.

Bob: How could you do this to me? I knew this was gonna happen.
George: You're right, Bob. I'm sorry. What can I say? I-I'm a miserable worthless hunk of slime. Here, I want you to take this crowbar and... just bash my head right in! Go ahead. Really. Please! Just BASH it right in!
Bob: George, you know I can't do that. You still owe me 5 bucks.

A Nice Start

Michael Beasley had his first opportunity to show the Bulls they made a mistake in not drafting the most talented player in the draft, and he didn't disappoint. Beasley had 28 points and 9 rebounds in the Heat's first summer league game against those same Bulls. While #1 pick Derrick Rose nervously played his way to 10 points, 4 assists, and 5 turnovers, Beasley took it to a second and a third year NBA player.

Apparently, the only complaint on the court was that Beasley was singing while he was playing. I like to think he was singing Charlie's America Song from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia:

I'm gonna rise up/ I'm gonna kick a little ass/ I'm gonna kick some ass in the U.S.A./ I'm gonna climb a mountain/ I'm gonna sew a flag/ I'm gonna fly on an eagle/ I'm gonna kick some butt/ I'm gonna drive big trucks/ I'm gonna rule this world/ I'm gonna kick some ass/ I'm gonna rise up/ Gonna kick a little ass/ Rock on flyin' eagle!

Feeling Sorry for McCain

I'd feel sorry for anybody who has to deal with this:

McCain has not yet signaled the changes he plans to make in the GOP platform, but many conservatives say they fear wholesale revisions could emerge as candidate McCain seeks to put his stamp on a document that currently reflects the policies and principles of President Bush.

Really? I mean, the Bush era has been an unqualified success and all, but there aren't a few things that could use a slight alteration? Do these people have any interest at all in having a Republican president?

Saying It Without Words

I saw Wall-E yesterday, and I would highly recommend it. It has a timely message, great animation, and a cute story. But what really makes it fantastic is the fact that the overwhelming majority of the movie takes place without words.

The ability of Wall-E's creators to make you empathize with and care about a robot who utters only a handful of words is an affirmation of the existence of art. We get so caught it up in the words we say to each other that we miss a pretty large part of what gives us humanity. Kudos to Pixar for putting it in plain sight.

(As a side note, I think the short before the film maybe Pixar's best yet. At the very least, it is right up there with the birds on a wire before Monster's Inc.)

I am a Real American

Hulk Hogan said it, and I lived it. I know it because I got all the questions right on this citizenship test. Immigrants apparently have to take the real test without multiple choices, so if you know any immigrants you can direct all U.S. questions to them. Happy 4th everybody!

Another Blow to Basketball in KC

The Sonics are moving to Oklahoma City. Actually, the team formerly known as the Sonics will be moving to Oklahoma City since the team is giving up rights to the name and colors. What a shocking result to a process that started with some guys who live in Oklahoma City buying a team in Seattle. Never could have seen that one coming.

Anyway, this is all bad news for Kansas City. A team that was adamant about moving is not coming here. And now, the city of Seattle is already working to replace its erstwhile team with a new one (that will be called the Sonics). So now, there aren't any teams with an imminent move, and there is at least one city (two if you believe the NBA would dare go to Vegas) ahead of KC on the pecking order.

On the plus side, if you want to see an NBA game you will soon be able to get to one in less than 6 hours. What a consolation.

How Full of it is David Brooks?

Quite a bit, I think. He has a column for NYT suggesting that Democrats versus Republicans is really just one elite challenging another, so working-class programs will never get enacted.

Professionals, like lawyers and media types, tend to vote and give Democratic.

...Amazingly, Democrats have cultivated this donor base while trending populist on trade by forsaking much of the Clinton Third Way approach and by vowing to raise taxes on capital gains and the wealthy. If Obama’s tax plans go through, those affluent donors could wind up giving over 50 percent of their income to the federal government.

They’ve managed to clear these policy hurdles partly by looking out for tort lawyers and other special groups. But mostly they have taken advantage of the rivalry between the two American elites.

...If the Democrats are elected, this highly educated class will have much more say over policy than during the campaign. Undecided voters sway campaigns, but in government, elites generally run things. Once the Republicans are vanquished, I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for that capital gains tax hike or serious measures to expand unionization.

Completely impossible, I suppose, that the Democratic professionals Brooks talks about could actually believe in any of the programs he says won't be enacted. It's funny really , because Brooks is taking a page right of the ultra-leftist handbook - the whole society is controlled by a bunch of plutocrats, and thus it really doesn't matter who is in power. I guess right about now that might be his best argument for keeping Republicans.

80's Movie Quote of the Week

It's 4th of July, and that means one thing to Americans - movie openings. In honor of that tradition, we go back to the first July 4th opening of the 80's, Airplane!

Captain Oveur: You ever been in a cockpit before?
Joey: No sir, I've never been up in a plane before.
Captain Oveur: You ever seen a grown man naked?

... Captain Oveur: Joey, have you ever been to a Turkish prison?

...Captain Oveur: Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?

It's Different When We Do It

Kevin Drum has a post linking to a New York Times story that shows many of the interrogation techniques used at Guantanamo Bay were taken directly from a chart titled "Communist Coercive Methods for Eliciting Individual Compliance."

What the trainers did not say, and may not have known, was that their chart had been copied verbatim from a 1957 Air Force study of Chinese Communist techniques used during the Korean War to obtain confessions, many of them false, from American prisoners.

The recycled chart is the latest and most vivid evidence of the way Communist interrogation methods that the United States long described as torture became the basis for interrogations both by the military at the base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Just when you think our image around the world couldn't get worse...

The Bizzaro World Media

Dan Froomkin has a piece in the Washington Post about how Bush's bubble endures, even as his tenure winds down. Froomkin focuses on Bush's uncanny ability to look ever upward at the blue sky and call it orange.

But I care more about the part of the story that features the sycophants always in the room to cover the proceedings. Bush we are about to send packing. They unfortunately, will still be around. Here is Froomkin quoting what some had to say about the meeting with Bush:

Kudlow concludes: "I would say as someone who has been privileged to attend these gatherings in the past, not only did the president show the inner strength he always has, but when he does reflect on the tumultuous events of his tenure, he is completely at peace with himself and his decisions."

Jonah Goldberg writes in his Los Angeles Times opinion column: "The session, maddeningly and often foolishly punctuated by long, off-the-record musings and soliloquies, mostly dealt with foreign policy. . . .

"Dressed in a pale blue suit with a crisp blue tie, the president seemed to be in high spirits as he discussed developments in North Korea and other diplomatic initiatives, crushing my hopes for a poignant 'Bush in winter' column."

Would President Obama get similar favorable treatment? Of course not, which raises the equally disturbing question of how people so willingly blind to Bush's inadequacies will behave when someone they are predisposed to dislike enters office.

I fear an Obama victory will mean four years of unhinged, unfounded diatribes unlike any we have seen before. That will be welcome respite from this ridiculousness.

Anger, Sadness, Fear. Any are Proper Responses to This.

The Washington Post has a story up on confusion about Obama in Ohio.

On the television in his living room, Peterman has watched enough news and campaign advertisements to hear the truth: Sen. Barack Obama, born in Hawaii, is a Christian family man with a track record of public service. But on the Internet, in his grocery store, at his neighbor's house, at his son's auto shop, Peterman has also absorbed another version of the Democratic candidate's background, one that is entirely false: Barack Obama, born in Africa, is a possibly gay Muslim racist who refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

...Does he choose to trust a TV commercial in which Obama talks about his "love of country"? Or his neighbor of 40 years, Don LeMaster, a Navy veteran who heard from a friend in Toledo that Obama refuses to wear an American-flag pin?

Does he trust a local newspaper article that details Obama's Christian faith? Or his friend Leroy Pollard, a devoted family man so convinced Obama is a radical Muslim that he threatened to stop talking to his daughter when he heard she might vote for him?

"I'll admit that I probably don't follow all of the election news like maybe I should," Peterman said. "I haven't read his books or studied up more than a little bit. But it's hard to ignore what you hear when everybody you know is saying it. These are good people, smart people, so can they really all be wrong?"

Apparently they can, Mr. Peterman. The range of emotions I have to this story is pretty wide. Bewilderment is pretty strong at one end while rage stakes out the other end. This is perhaps the dark side of the democratization of information brought on by the Internet. It seems to me that schools need to start teaching responsible information consumerism, and that the media needs to work even harder at watch-dogging the purveyors of bullshit.

It's Always Sunny

A couple of my buddies independently recommended a new show to me. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is one of those shows that was apparently buried on basic cable for a couple of years. It is now out o DVD, and it is hilarious. It will also be returning for it's fourth season in the fall. One of the show promos is below. A word of warning, it is not for the easily offended.

Cardinals Guest Post

Posted by ESL:

I’ve been complaining as of late to my good pal, Jim, about the St. Louis Cardinals. I understand this audience probably isn’t overly interested in STL stuff, but I figured since I would be complaining about my team AND the Royals are on a roll as of late (10 out of their last 11), AND the I-70 Series resumes tonight in KC, now was as good a time as any to have a guest post about the Redbirds.

The Cardinals are pissing away what could be a magical season. They came into this season with no expectations, questions at every position but 1B, Catcher, and 3B, numerous injured pitchers (Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder, and Adam Wainwright at the top of the list), and yet have gotten so much effort and energy out of their young guys that they find themselves 10 games over .500 and leading the Wild Card race in the National League as they go into their weekend series with the Royals.

So what have I been complaining about to Jim? The Cardinals have lost 17 games this season in which they were either tied or led the game in the 7th inning. 17!!!!! With a record of 45-35, almost half of our losses have been given away late by either a fading starter or an inept bullpen (which just happened to be the one thing that was supposed to be a strength coming into the season). To put this in perspective, the Cardinals awful 2007 version blew 9 games all year. True, we had fewer opportunities to blow games last year because we were often down 5 runs by the 4th inning, but this stat is just staggering.

I know that many Royals fans have little sympathy, and rightly so. So, don’t take this post as me whining about my 10 time world champion Cardinals ONLY being 10 games over .500 while the Royals are still 7 games under (Editors note: this sentence is evidence that people from St. Louis are always looking for an opening to crap on you, even when they are being nice and posting on your blog. Remember that). Take it as something to give you hope if you do happen to trail late in any of the games this weekend. Remember that the Royals were responsible for numbers 13 and 14 of those 17 late losses:

13. June 17- The Cardinals are in a 1-1 tie with Kansas City, but lose it in the 8th as Ron Villone gives up a home run. Royals win 2-1.

14. June 18 - The very next night, the Cardinals lead 2-1 with 5 outs to go. Kyle McClellan gives up 2 home runs to the Royals. The Cardinals lose 3-2.

While I hate our bullpen, I will go ahead and reject Jim’s proposed trade: Soria for Pujols.

Go Cards!

Draft Night

Last night was the NBA Draft, which is inexplicably one of my favorite sports nights of the year. I guess I love a night in which every player is good, and every franchise has a little hope. Those hopes are usually quickly dashed, of course.

ESPN put up a list of the best picks at each draft position earlier this week, and the greatest 8th pick since the inception of the lottery in 1985 is Ron Harper. Ron Harper was a fine player, but if you are picking #8, you wouldn't like to think that he is your ceiling. By the way, last night's #8 pick was Joe Alexander. This is someone who looks great on highlights and played great in the postseason, yet until March rolled around he averaged only 14 points per game. I give Ron Harper 3-1 odds of holding onto his title.

Anyway, last night's draft was filled with a lot of speculation about a group of guys that mostly won't make it. But that is for another time. Right now, optimism rules. A few thoughts:

The Bulls made Derrick Rose the shortest #1 picks since Allen Iverson. Actually, Rose and Iverson are the only two guys under 6-5 to be taken first since 1980 (and maybe long before that). So far that draft strategy is 1 for 1. I'm interested to see if it goes 2 for 2.

I'm still not sure why Miami was so reticent to take Michael Beasley. Yes, the three guys I have heard him most compared to are Derrick Coleman, Glenn Robinson,and Roy Tarpley. I am a bit too young to remember Tarpley, but Beasley is much more athletic than Coleman or Robinson. I think that will make a big difference, and Beasley will be fine.

Interesting that Beasley and Mario Chalmers will be playing together in Miami. Maybe a few K-State and KU fans could take a bus down to Florida and double the Heat's attendance for a game.

Darrell Arthur played the role of the forgotten man in the green room. He was finally picked by Portland at 27th, and then traded twice. A rather inauspicious beginning.

I thought for sure the Clippers would be the Clippers and take Brook Lopez at #7. They didn't. They took Eric Gordon, who could be a pretty good scorer (except that he will be playing for the Clippers).

The Nets got Lopez, and thus ensured continued mediocrity. Centers not taken #1 have a fairly shaky history, and that is being generous. Actually, the Nets acted crazy all night. They traded their second best player, for a bench guy and a power forward. Then they drafted a center and a power forward in the 1st round. This is for a team that drafted a power forward in the first round each of the last two years as well. Enjoy Brooklyn.

The Celtics are on a hot streak. Danny Ainge got two athleticwings in J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker. If Walker stays healthy, I think he willbe one of the better players from this draft. Giddens may be a lunatic, but he isn't crazier than Kevin Garnett. I suspect KG will scare him into line.

The Blazers are on the verge of becoming my favorite team. They have made like 250 deals in the last two drafts. Every time I see Ric Bucher, I just expect to hear something about the Blazers. And every time it seems to make sense.

80's Movie Quote of the Week

The Muppets Take Manhattan doles out some sound marketing advice.

Bill the Frog: How about this? Ocean Breeze Soap: It's just like taking an ocean cruise, only there's no boat and you don't actually go anywhere.

Frosty Delight

It's summer time, and that means it's time for summer foods. It is time for pots of green beans, fresh tomatoes, strawberry shortcake, corn on the cob, and on and on. Summertime truly features the best of seasonal foods.

But there are also summer drinks. Lemonade is, of course, one of the most popular. Mexican beers also seem to taste particularly good in the summer. The New York Times has a taste test up of another of my favorite summer drinks - root beer. A jug of cold root beer at the fair was a summer highlight my entire childhood (even if it warmed up and lost all appeal halfway through). The times rates 25 root beers and an old favorite, IBC, comes in at #2. I've never tried the #1, Sprecher, but I would like to.

The article itself mentions that many people love root beer, but many also loathe it. Perhaps it is the list of ingredients that produce such strong reactions:

Originally, root beers were more like herbal teas, bitter infusions of roots, vines, herbs and spices, including sarsaparilla, sassafras and licorice. Nowadays, the basic components include anise, wintergreen and vanilla, with the addition, perhaps, of flavors like ginger, cloves and mint. At times, the tasting felt almost like analyzing a medicine cabinet, and indeed, one of the components of the IBC aroma was described by a taster as liniment, no doubt from wintergreen.

Well, count me as a root beer lover. I'm going out for lunch, and a frosty mug sounds pretty tasty right now.

The Most Destructive of All Destroyers

I have been reading an anthology of works by George Bernard Shaw and enjoying it thoroughly. The man was an egotist and an elitist. He was also very funny and quite insightful.

It always strikes me when reading any old work that deals with the larger issues of life that it is true that the more things change, the more they stay the same. In Shaw's play, Man and Superman, a dream sequence featuring a conversation in hell between Don Juan, a statue, a woman, and the devil features a short speech by the devil that sounds like it could have been written this morning.

THE DEVIL. And is Man any the less destroying himself for all this boasted brain of his? Have you walked up and down upon the earth lately? I have; and I have examined Man’s wonderful inventions. And I tell you that in the arts of life man invents nothing; but in the arts of death he outdoes Nature herself, and produces by chemistry and machinery all the slaughter of plague, pestilence, and famine. The peasant I tempt to-day eats and drinks what was eaten and drunk by the peasants of ten thousand years ago; and the house he lives in has not altered as much in a thousand centuries as the fashion of a lady’s bonnet in a score of weeks. But when he goes out to slay, he carries a marvel of mechanism that lets loose at the touch of his finger all the hidden molecular energies, and leaves the javelin, the arrow, the blowpipe of his fathers far behind. In the arts of peace Man is a bungler. I have seen his cotton factories and the like, with machinery that a greedy dog could have invented if it had wanted money instead of food. I know his clumsy typewriters and bungling locomotives and tedious bicycles: they are toys compared to the Maxim gun, the submarine torpedo boat. There is nothing in Man’s industrial machinery but his greed and sloth: his heart is in his weapons. This marvellous force of Life of which you boast is a force of Death: Man measures his strength by his destructiveness. What is his religion? An excuse for hating me. What is his law? An excuse for hanging you. What is his morality? Gentility! An excuse for consuming without producing. What is his art? An excuse for gloating over pictures of slaughter. What are his politics? Either the worship of a despot because a despot can kill, or parliamentary cockfighting. I spent an evening lately in a certain celebrated legislature, and heard the pot lecturing the kettle for its blackness, and ministers answering questions. When I left I chalked up on the door the old nursery saying “Ask no questions and you will be told no lies.” I bought a sixpenny family magazine, and found it full of pictures of young men shooting and stabbing one another. I saw a man die: he was a London bricklayer’s laborer with seven children. He left seventeen pounds club money; and his wife spent it all on his funeral and went into the workhouse with the children next day. She would not have spent sevenpence on her children’s schooling: the law had to force her to let them be taught gratuitously; but on death she spent all she had. Their imagination glows, their energies rise up at the idea of death, these people: they love it; and the more horrible it is the more they enjoy it. Hell is a place far above their comprehension: they derive their notion of it from two of the greatest fools that ever lived, an Italian and an Englishman. The Italian described it as a place of mud, frost, filth, fire, and venomous serpents: all torture. This ass, when he was not lying about me, was maundering about some woman whom he saw once in the street. The Englishman described me as being expelled from Heaven by cannons and gunpowder; and to this day every Briton believes that the whole of his silly story is in the Bible. What else he says I do not know; for it is all in a long poem which neither I nor anyone else ever succeeded in wading through. It is the same in everything. The highest form of literature is the tragedy, a play in which everybody is murdered at the end. In the old chronicles you read of earthquakes and pestilences, and are told that these shewed the power and majesty of God and the littleness of Man. Nowadays the chronicles describe battles. In a battle two bodies of men shoot at one another with bullets and explosive shells until one body runs away, when the others chase the fugitives on horseback and cut them to pieces as they fly. And this, the chronicle concludes, shews the greatness and majesty of empires, and the littleness of the vanquished. Over such battles the people run about the streets yelling with delight, and egg their Government on to spend hundreds of millions of money in the slaughter, whilst the strongest Ministers dare not spend an extra penny in the pound against the poverty and pestilence through which they themselves daily walk. I could give you a thousand instances; but they all come to the same thing: the power that governs the earth is not the power of Life but of Death; and the inner need that has nerved Life to the effort of organising itself into the human being is not the need for higher life but for a more efficient engine of destruction. The plague, the famine, the earthquake, the tempest were too spasmodic in their action; the tiger and crocodile were too easily satiated and not cruel enough: something more constantly, more ruthlessly, more ingeniously destructive was needed; and that something was Man, the inventor of the rack, the stake, the gallows, the electric chair; of sword and gun and poison gas: above all, of justice, duty, patriotism, and all the other isms by which even those who are clever enough to be humanely disposed are persuaded to become the most destructive of all the destroyers.

Quelle Surprise

It seems the city has lost a rather important covention.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. told city officials Tuesday it was canceling an informal pledge to hold its national managers meetings in Kansas City through 2012. It was the latest in a string of major convention losses for the city, and rekindled debate about public help for a new 1,000-room convention hotel downtown.

Well if you can't trust Wal-Mart, who can you trust?

I need something to help me shake this ongoing bout of sarcasm. Anyone know any great news?

Shocking Part 2

A brief list of the the kinds of statements that could get you kicked out of the candidate pool during the salad days of illegal hiring.

‘environmental justice’ and ‘social justice.’

‘have more of an impact on the judicial system.’

“to serve as part of the team charged with enforcing the world’s most comprehensive environmental laws, and with defending the crucial work of our environmental and resource management agencies.”

“It is precisely this ability to have my principles guide my work that inspires me to be a government lawyer.”

“be able to consider both the needs of my client and also what is best for my
country.”

...her statement that working for the Department would stimulate her conscience as well as her brain and allow her to work on cases that she cared about.

Clearly, these people have way too much interest in actually doing government work to have any place in this government.

Shocking

I'm not sure that I ever use that word in any context that resembles sincerity. I am also pretty sure that the cynicism with which it is usually soaked is usually directed at the Bush administration and allegations about its tenure. I broke it out again today in regards to a new report by the Justice Department. It seems there may have been some illegal hiring practices in effect these last few years.

The blistering report, prepared by the Justice Department’s inspector general, is the first in what will be a series of investigations growing out of last year’s scandal over the firings of nine United States attorneys. It appeared to confirm for the first time in an official examination many of the allegations from critics who charged that the Justice Department had become overly politicized during the Bush administration.

... Applications that contained what were seen as “leftist commentary” or “buzz words” like environmental and social justice were often grounds for rejecting applicants, according to e-mails reviewed by the inspector general’s office. Membership in liberal organizations like the American Constitution Society, Greenpeace, or the Poverty and Race Research Action Council were also seen as negative marks.

Affiliation with the Federalist Society, a prominent conservative group, was viewed positively.

This post could have been alternatively titled "Why Not to Elect People Who Don't Believe in Government, Part 716," but today just seemed to call for a little sarcasm. I won't get a better opportunity than this.

Royals

It is nice to see the Royals on a little hot streak. One would prefer that it was against teams they will be facing for the rest of the year, and not National League teams they have beaten up on with some recent regularity. Still, any hot streak is a welcome one for this franchise.

One of the more interesting developments has been the play of career minor leaguer Mike Aviles. This is someone who has none of the "tools" that baseball scouts look for, yet has done nothing so far except hit. He has been outstanding really. It is a small sample size, but it is hard to imagine anyone longing for the return of Tony Pena Jr. Aviles seems to be one of those players who just doesn't look like the type of guy who should do what he does, yet continues to do it anyway.

Juxtapose that with Alex Gordon. Gordon is the first round draft pick who has almost all the aformentioned tools, yet continues to struggle. He strikes out far too often for someone who hits as few homeruns as he hits, and his average has dipped below .270.

The difference between the two players was well illustrated in Sunday's come from behind win against San Francisco. With no outs and the bases loaded, Gordon came to the plate. This is the supposed future of the franchise, and yet I don't think anyone believed he was going to come through. He didn't. He hit a shallow fly ball to center, not even deep enough to score a run. A batter later, Aviles came to the plate with the bases still loaded and now two outs. When Aviles shot a double into left filed it was exciting, but I realized I wasn't surprised. The excitement was in the fact that I thought he would come through and he did. I never feel that way about Gordon.

As I said, it is still early. The odds are probably still with Gordon having a better career than Aviles. But right now it is no contest who is more valuable to the Royals. I hope that is a lesson to the organization. I also hope that if there are other guys in the minors who have been playing great but just don't look right, that we consider bringin them up to see what they can do.

Catch Up

Last week was one of the busiest weeks I can remember. And now I find myself well, behind my goal of an average of a post a day. Can I catch up in June? Can I think of anything of value to say, or will it all be filler? If this post is any indication, it will probably be the latter.

Quick Finals Thoughts

Moment of the night: Kevin Garnett almost passing out during the postgame interview and I believe saying "I'm gonna die," before a trainer or someone came over to help hold him. He was on the verge of passing out through the whole celebration.

I don't think I have ever, in all the sports championships I have ever watched, seen a group as excited as the Celtics were last night. That was great to see.

The Lakers folded. The C's played good, but they couldn't so that without the Lakers rolling over. That is a lack of leadership.

Paul Pierce didn't equal his numbers from earlier in the series, but he played every bit as well last night.

In KC, the NBA finals drew a 9.3 which equalled the national average. The NHL Finals drew less than a 2 while the national average was 3.2. Sports talk radio callers can bash the NBA all they want, but even in this town, pro basketball is way more popular.

Hey Where Did All of You Come From?

Acording to a study from the Cookingham institute, there are 70,000 more people in KC than we previously thought. Predictably, some a-hole commenter sees that as an unqualified negative the he can fully attribute to "porous borders."

I hope the number is accurate because I would love to see the city qualify for the federal dollars it would earn for all those extra people.

80's Movie Quote of the Week

It doesn't get much better than Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. In See No Evil, Hear No Evil deaf Wilder is explaining to the blind and driving Pryor what just went wrong.

Dave: We're in a warehouse, and you just hit a cow. I think we better back up.

Shoot Out

Fortunately, everyone was ok at the Health Department.

A gun inside a woman’s purse accidentally discharged inside the lobby of the Kansas City Health Department office this morning, grazing another woman in the thigh.

The shooting occurred about 9:25 a.m. on the first floor of the building at 2400 Troost Avenue.

Police said the victim was conducting business at a window along the counter when a second woman approached the window next to her. As the second woman set her purse on the counter, a gun inside the purse fired.

Surely someone taught her never to point her purse at anyone.

Working It

It's all we do in this country apparently. An article on Slate today and a piece on The Daily Show last night (see below)comment on the fact that Americans are planning to take less vacations than ever before. It's not just because of gas prices.

Comparatively speaking, Americans are winning the time-clock Olympics. The typical U.S. worker puts in 1,804 hours at work each year, 135 hours more than the typical British worker, 240 hours (or six full-time weeks) more than the average French worker, and 370 hours (or nine full-time weeks) more than the typical German. The Conference Board's magazine points out that the trend toward increased work demands "has begun to reverse the two-century-old industrial paradigm of equating progress with increased leisure." None of this is good for our family relations. Middle-class couples in the United States, taking both spouses together, are working 520 hours (13 full-time weeks) more a year than such couples worked in the 1980s. Little wonder that the Families and Work Institute found in 2004 that 67 percent of working parents say they don't have enough time with their children, and 62 percent say they don't have enough time with their spouses.

There is a pretty easy tangent to veer off onto here regarding family values versus capitalism, but I hit that one pretty hard a couple of days ago. Instead, I'd prefer that we simply acknowledge that the point of "the economy" has always been to make life better. Is it at all possible to argue that is the case today?

Good News

So on NPR this morning I heard that the East has a heatwave, the Midwest has floods, California has a drought, California is running out of ground water, oil is expected to rise again, stocks will probably keep dropping, the dollar is getting weak enough that the Fed may start raising interest rates, and bird flu is back.

On the plus side, I am growing my own tomatoes so I may not have to go without this summer despite the salmonella outbreak.

Putting Blame Where it Belongs

David Brooks wrote a column for the New York Times acknowledging the fact that those who blame our societal woes on cultural issues need to recognize that our attitudes toward consumption and spending are a pretty significant cultural issue. This is no small concession from the point of view from which Brooks normally starts.

I was greatly dismayed, however, to see the list of culprits to whom Brooks assigns blame. In order, they are:

State Governments
Payday Lenders
Credit Card Companies
Congress and the White House
Wall Street

Brooks does not say that he apportions blame in direct correlation to placement on the list, but placement means something right? So in case you were wondering how our mass consumption culture became a potential source of our destruction, look first at your state government.

Yes, it is the state lottery that has put us on this course. Admittedly, the stat that families with incomes under $13,000 spend 9% of income on lottery tickets is staggering. But how can the state government, that generally most impotent of governmental institutions, possibly be put forward as the worst offender in “the deterioration of financial mores?” It would appear it is because Brooks believes that the government is the “guardian of order,” but it refuses to behave that way.

Never mind the fact that state lottery systems generally pay for government functions that could be funded through regular taxation were not for political actors so completely adverse to responsible taxation. Those actors, incidentally, would often be those with whom Brooks most closely aligns himself. The “beast” that many are so eager to starve seems to have found another way to feed itself, and now Brooks is left to complain that it is abetting our financial and moral ruin. Convenient.

Following the state come two parties who are certainly easily to blame, but are also aided by the aforementioned political actors. Deregulation of the credit card industry in the last decade has made possible many of the practices Brooks describes in the article.

The government then makes another appearance on the list. I have no problem with its inclusion, but once again the lead players go unnamed.

At the bottom of the list comes Wall Street. As a stand-in for corporate culture in America, Wall Street should be leading this list. I’ll get to that in a second. Brooks isn’t even referring to that culture, however. He is actually referring to the entity that is Wall Street, and the big bonuses paid to hedge fund managers. A problem? Yes. The problem? You’ve got to be kidding.

The order of this list as constructed is dreadful. The fact that state government leads the list and Wall Street finishes it are proof that Brooks has been unable to get beyond his preconceptions while legitimately (I think) trying to point out the problem. But the real downfall of this exercise is with the missing member of the culprit list. Suspect number one on any list of this kind has to be the cult of unregulated capitalism in this country.

Capitalism is the engine that has made this country the power that it has become. But much of the progress toward power was made in an era where government was seen as a legitimate check on the equally great power of monied interests. Over the last 30 years, that attitude has been replaced with one that sees government as the enemy of progress and oversight as the unnecessary evil that hinders our economic livelihood.

As this new attitude has taken hold, the government has moved aside in favor of a corporate culture that forgoes long term thinking in favor of short term profit. Without government stepping back into the mix, the problem has very little chance of being solved.

Brooks practically admits as much in his last few paragraphs. The most legitimate initiator of almost all of Brooks’ proposed solutions is the government. He mentions foundations and churches, and they could play an important role. None of these things happen, however, without government action. If he is serious about this issue, Brooks needs to think about that before he decides who to back in the fall.

The Progression of Depression

Interesting article in the New York Times today about how gas prices affect people differently in different parts of the country. It featured a set of maps to help lay out the picture. I was elated to see the map about gas prices.



Yeah, we have the cheapest gas in America here in the Sho-me State. But why then did the map that shows how much income people spend on gas look not as great?



The final map tells the story. If you have cheap gas, but it still takes a significant portion of your income, a pretty safe bet is that your income must not be too hot. And so it is.

80's Movie Quote of the Week

I've been really busy lately. It brings to mind a quote from the vastly underrated Weekend at Bernie's.

Richard Parker: Now you see, Larry? All of this could be yours if you set your goals and work hard.
Larry Wilson: My old man worked hard. All they did was give him more work.

I Don't Know Anything

Two headlines I would have bet rather large sums I wouldn't read today appeared on ESPN's Daily Dime Page.

Is Allen the New Kobe Stopper?

Rivers Wins Coaching Battle

I fell pretty confident neither of those headlines will be repeated, but I never thought I would see them the first time.

Finals

Tonight marks the start of the 1987 NBA Finals. It should be exciting to see whether Larry Bird and company can contend with Magic Johnson and his "Showtime" brethren.

I suspect there are a lot of people out there who wish it was the 1987 NBA Finals instead of the 2008 NBA Finals, but I've got to tell you that I have been watching some the old series on ESPN Classic. Today's brand of basketball is much, much better. When we imagine the old days, everyone makes free throws, no one trash talks, and every pass is on the money. That is some serious BS. There is some sloppy play in those old games. And the play is so much less physical.

The main thing I have learned from watching the old games is that Shaq would have averaged about 60 points per game in the early 80's and Lebron James would look like a He-man action figure out on the court. I would like to watch all the NBA Finals in a row on ESPN Classic, so we can tell the point somewhere in the late 80's to early 90's when players became more athletic by a factor of about 100. I'm sure it all revolves around Michael Jordan.

Anyway, tonight's finals should be great. I am not sure who I am rooting for yet, which is remarkable given my lifetime hatred of the Lakers. For reasons not completely understood by me, I am ok with this Laker team. The Celtics are fine too, and I really like KG. On the other hand, I am really tired of Boston winning every sports title that means anything.

Who will win? I have no idea. What I can say is that I see the matchups this way.

Point Guard
Derek Fisher vs. Rajon Rondo
Rondo is more active and aggressive but Fisher is wily and clutch.
Advantage: Wash

Shooting Guard
Kobe Bryant vs. Ray Allen
This is not even close to being a contest.
Advantage: Lakers

Small Forward
Vladamir Radmanovic vs. Paul Pierce
Possibly even less of a contest.
Advantage: Celtics

Power Forward
Lamar Odom vs. Kevin Garnett
This is a better matchup that you might think. Odom has the length and quickness to bother Garnett, while his offensive game will keep KG from roaming too far.
Advantage: Celtics

Center
Pau Gasol vs. Kendrick Perkins
Pau Gasol has been the key to the Lakers offensive success in the last half of the season. Perkins should be able to bother him with his strength, but Gasol should get a breather when the C's have the ball.
Advantage: Lakers

Bench
The Lakers have a bunch of young guys. The Celtics have a nice mix of young and old guys. The bench experience gives the C's a bit of an advantage.
Advantage: Celtics

Coaching
Doc Rivers vs. Phil Jackson
If you are a Celtics fan this is the one that makes you nervous. Rivers has made some questionable moves during the playoffs. Phil Jackson has almost enough rings to make him look like a professional wrestling manager.
Advantage: Lakers

So there you have it. The ultimate cop out. I have the two teams tied after judging the criteria. Hopefully, I am right and this becomes a 7 game series for the ages. Perhaps it will even make us stop wishing it was 1987 all over again.

Joe Po Understands Me

Amazingly, Joe Posnanski has a blog and I knew nothing about it. I found it by chance on a political blog from across the country. Weird. Anyway, it's great stuff. A particularly fine post is one about Posnanski's feelings about Derek Jeter. The thesis is essentially that Joe likes Jeter, but constantly feels unable to appreciate him because of the unreasonable accolades thrown his way. Read the post to fully appreciate the concept.

I already fully appreciate it because it is exactly they way I feel about The Beatles. Are they a great band? Absolutely. Are they the greatest band ever? Possibly. Maybe even probably. Are they a 10 while their most formidable competition for the title is a 6? Or are they 100% without a doubt the world's best band by all available criteria and anyone who doesn't agree is the musical equivalent of Miss South Carolina? No way.

So like Joe, I often find myself in an argument where the result is someone badgering me about why I don't like The Beatles. I explain that I do like The Beatles, but there are at least other bands in the discussion when you talk about the greatest bands of all time. No one ever understands this position.

I'll have to keep explaining myself over and over, and it sounds like Joe will too.

My Hood (Literally)

This is somewhat disconcerting considering it is roughly 3 blocks from my house.

At about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, May 24, a 19-year-old Kansas City Art Institute student left his job at the Loose Mansion to walk home to his apartment. He was walking south on Warwick from Armour Boulevard. Just south of 39th Street, a black male came down from the front steps of a house and approached the 19-year-old victim. The man complained of society keeping him down and then asked the victim if he wanted to buy drugs. The victim said, “no,” and kept walking. When the victim got to 40th and McGee streets, he felt a blast to his head. The victim said he never saw a gun. He was shot eight times in his head and legs. He lost his left eye in the attack but survived.

The art kids walk the streets in my neighborhood all the time. I hope this one recovers as soon as possible, and they find the jackass responsible.

I Knew it but I Still Didn't Want to Read it

The Star lately has been all about depressing me about my town. Today, the litany continues with a story about how we'll never see an NBA team. Of course, that is not a difficult assumption to make. Still, I would prefer to continue to turn a blind eye to the facts and hope. This makes it harder:

“With this city having major-league baseball and the NFL and the three colleges, and soccer. … there are a lot of choices. I don’t know if this market is big enough. Portland, San Antonio, Memphis, Utah, Sacramento don’t have all the major-league sports we have. There may be too much to do here.”

So we're stuck with like 10 days or so with big time college baskteball in the city proper. Past that we can watch the Roos and high school games. Woo-ha.

Not In These Parts

People are changing their traveling behavior.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) announced today that Americans took 2.6 billion trips on public transportation in the first three months of 2008. This is almost 85 million more trips than last year for the same time period.

“There’s no doubt that the high gas prices are motivating people to change their travel behavior,” said APTA president William W. Millar. “More and more people have decided that taking public transportation is the quickest way to beat the high gas prices.”

Last year 10.3 billion trips were taken on U.S. public transportation – the highest number of trips taken in fifty years. In the first quarter of 2008, public transportation continued to climb and rose by 3.3 percent. In contrast, the Federal Highway Administration has reported that the vehicle miles traveled on our nation’s roads declined by 2.3 percent in the first quarter.

Light rail (modern streetcars, trolleys, and heritage trolleys) had the highest percentage of ridership increase among all modes, with a double digit 10.3 percent increase for the first quarter. Light rail systems showed double digit increases in the following areas: Baltimore (16.8%); Minneapolis (16.4%); St. Louis (15.6%); and San Francisco (12.2%). New Orleans’ light rail system is recovering from Hurricane Katrina with a 476% increase in ridership.

I suppose it goes without saying that there was no increase in light rail ridership in the KC metro area. My hope is that our elected officials are serious enough to make sure there can be in the future.

80's Movie Quote of the Week

Since we just referenced Back to the Future, here is a quote from Back to the Future II. It also happens to be a quote I can identify with.

Doc: The time-traveling is just too dangerous. Better that I devote myself to study the other great mystery of the universe: women!

Halfway Back to the Future

The Lakers won the Western Conference Finals last night meaning we are 50% of the way towards endless Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird highlights. The Celtics could complete the formula tonight, but they will have to win in Detroit to do it.

If it helps a few more people watch the NBA than normally would, I am all for it.

Semi-relatedly, Kobe Bryant is really good at basketball.

Lamentations

In the wake of Scott McClellan's book coming out, conservatives are lamenting the fact that liberals who previously thought McClellan was a dolt are now willing to accept his accusations wholesale.

In turn, I wanted to lament the fact that these laments are so common. It takes place on both sides, of course. Almost everyone is predisposed towards giving more credibility to those supporting their opinions. And the other side, never misses an opportunity to point out the hypocrisy.

It then occurred to me, however, that my lament about these laments was itself a tired complaint. And I lamented.

Shocking

Another former Bush Administration official has left office and written a book. This time it is former Press Secretary Scott McClellan, and he has some things to say.

In addition, Mr. McClellan writes, the decision to invade Iraq was a “serious strategic blunder,” and yet, in his view, it was not the biggest mistake the Bush White House made. That, he says, was “a decision to turn away from candor and honesty when those qualities were most needed.”

From the article it seems that he has harsh words for almost all involved. Of course, this is a man whose reputation has been rather sullied by his time in the White House. On the other hand, since he is roughly the 519th person to deal with the administration and then criticize it along the same terms, I suppose we could take this with more than a grain of salt.

It's Friday and This is Funny

From the Star's Crime Scene Blog:

Motivational speaker got drunk, naked, tried to fight buddy, fired gun inside home, police say

If you believe it, you can achieve it. Snip:

According to court documents, after a night of binge drinking at local businesses with friend Todd Paulson, Simon took off all his clothes and began fighting with the man, a friend from prison. Simon later struck Paulsen in the face with a statue of John Wayne. It is unknown what the argument was about.

What was the argument about? I think a very plausible explanation is that Paulson told Simon he was no Duke. Simon tried to prove it by getting naked and comparing himself to a replica. Unfortunately, Paulson was not convinced so Simon presumably called him "Pilgrim" and then beat the crap out of him.

It's possible right?

Education and Income

Kevin Drum has a great post about the phenomenon of college educations being worth more, but less people taking advantage of them. I usually like when numbers help tell a story, and in this one there are these figures:

Right. And maybe that's the problem. When I say that the premium for getting a college degree used to be 30% and now it's 90%, what do I mean? One possibility is something like this:

1973: high school grad makes $42K, college grad makes $55K.

2006: high school grad makes $42K, college grad makes $80K.

This probably would motivate more kids to get college degrees. But that's not what actually happened. Here's what actually happened for male workers (all figures adjusted for inflation):

1973: high school grad makes $42K, college grad makes $55K.

2006: high school grad makes $31K, college grad makes $61K.

The skill premium hasn't gone up because a college degree is way more lucrative than in the past. In fact, it's only slightly more lucrative over the long term and completely stagnant among recent grads. Rather, the skill premium has gone up because the value of a high school degree has cratered.

This is pretty striking stuff. High school grads earn about 1/4 of what they did in 1973. College grads have made very modest gains. I suspect if you factored in the rising cost of college educations, the gains by the college educated look even weaker.

The question for every public candidate should be, "What will you do to help ensure a growing economy does, in fact, improve the lives of everyone?" If they don't (at the very least) take the question seriously, they don't deserve to be in a race.

Get Your Culture Now

The cost of travel continues to rise astronomically. Now an airline is adding to traveler woes with new baggage costs.

American Airlines, the nation’s largest air carrier, said Wednesday that it would begin charging $15 for many passengers to check their first bag, eliminating a free service that passengers in the United States have come to expect during the modern jet era.

All of this makes me wonder if the next generation will have all the opportunities the last few generations have had to see the world. Being able to get anywhere most anytime is something we have taken for granted. It may not always be the case.

80's Movie Quote of the Week

Got a little off track last week, but with the opening of the new Indian Jones movie tomorrow it seems an appropriate time to go back to the beginning. From Raiders of the Lost Ark:

Indiana: Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?
Sallah: Asps. Very dangerous. You go first.

Timing

I write about the Royals offensive outburst and what happens? The boys in blue were no-hit last night against the Red Sox. Now that is offensive.

Outburst!

The Royals have won 5 of 6 and have scored 27 runs in their last 4 games. Much of this is due to the appearance of Jose Guillen's offense. Guillen is batting .500 over his last 10 games after batting under .200 for the first month of the season.

Amazing what a difference scoring a few runs does to the ability to win games. The pitchers must be delirious with joy.

Sexier Without the Methodology

The Washington Post has a headline and description on the front page that read as follows:

Where Does Your School Rank?
Challenge Index More than 1300 high schools are included in the latest list of the nation's best.

I assumed that figuring out the best high schools in the country must be a pretty difficult task, but the clear implication is that someone must think they know how. Imagine my surprise then when in the methodology I read:

The rating is not a measurement of the overall quality of the school but illuminates one factor that many educators consider important.

Methodology is always causing problems for journalists and headline writers. Fortunately, the general public are such dutiful readers that I'm sure misleading headlines rarely cause misinterpretations of reality.

On a side note, congrats to Hogan Prep and Park Hill. They are the two Kansas City schools making the list. Before you form an opinion about their inclusion or the absence of your school, however, please read the methodology.

Peak Oil

In what I hope to be the first of many, friend of the blog ESL has a guest post about a topic I find very interesting. It's also very pertinent to those of us who have nearly soiled ourselves at the site of the the number registering at the end of a fill-up.

From ESL:





You don’t have to be a genius to understand how supply and demand is causing the cost of oil to set new record highs almost daily. On Friday, Saudi Arabia told President Bush that it would not increase the production of oil from its current levels. Saudi oil minister, Ali al-Naimi, said the kingdom decided on May 10 to raise production by 300,000 barrels, at the request of customers, and that increase was sufficient. Al-Naimi said, "Supply and demand are in balance today".

Whether supply and demand are in ‘balance’ or not, it got me to thinking about the production side of the oil business. Could all of our woes be solved by increased production? That question led me to the discovery of Peak Oil.

Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum production is reached, after which the rate of production enters its terminal decline. The chart below estimates that we are approaching, or just past, the Peak Oil point for the world.

You will notice that it looks very much like a bell curve. Here’s the problem with looking at this just as a bell curve though. If peak theoretically happened in 2000, then on a bell curve, we’d have as much oil in 1980 as we would in 2020. However, the population of the world will have almost doubled from 1980 to 2020 and more countries have become industrialized. India alone is expected to triple its demand for oil from 2005 to 2020.

So wouldn’t you think that in the interest of our nation’s future and security we’d be hearing a little bit more from our politicians and leaders about what their long term plans are to get this country off of its petroleum addiction? This problem isn’t going away and, as we have seen, is affecting many other economic sectors. We need to be demanding a lot better answers than just gas-tax holidays.

Radiohead Show

I saw Radiohead in St. Louis on Wednesday evening. Absolutely fantastic. I have seen a lot of great shows lately actually. So do me (and yourself) a favor, and pick a favorite band and go see them live. A great concert is one of the best activities on the planet. Everyone should get to have that kind of fun.

The Radiohead setlist was awesome. It was:
“All I Need” “Jigsaw Falling Into Place” “Airbag” “15 Step” “Nude” “Kid A” “Weird Fishes”/ “Arpeggi” “The Gloaming” “You & Whose Army?” “Idioteque” “Faust Arp” “Videotape” “Everything in Its Right Place” “Reckoner” “Optimistic” “Bangers ‘N Mash” “Bodysnatchers”
Encore
“Exit Music (for a Film)” “Myxomatosis” “My Iron Lung” “There There” “Fake Plastic Trees”
Second encore
“Pyramid Song” “House of Cards”/”No Surprises” “Paranoid Android”

There were a lot of great moments during the show. During “You & Whose Army?”, there was a ginat screen closeup of Yorke's mug, alternately looking challengingly into the camera and behind him as though someone was sneaking up behind.

Another great moment was captured by a good dude named Rusty. This is some kind of dance.

Concession

This fall, Republicans are going to try to defeat Dennis Moore and win the 3rd Congressional District of Kansas for the first time since 1998. The candidate they are putting forward in their attempt is Kansas State Senator Nick Jordan.

I'm afraid they have already given up on Jordan, however. The Buzz Blog tells me President Bush is coming to a fundraiser for Jordan later this month. Who in the Kansas Republican party despises Jordan so greatly? Isn't calling in President Bush to a district that has elected a Democrat 5 times in a row the political equivalent of concrete shoes?

Procrastination

Slate is running a series on procrastination. In a story about slacking helping the economy, Daniel Gross writes:

It may even be a good investment: Recent research suggests that procrastination is on the rise—30 years ago, just 5 percent of Americans were self-described "chronic procrastinators"; today that number is up to 26 percent.

The question arises of whether more of us really are procrastinating or more of us just think we are procrastinating. It has been well-documented that the pace of our lives has been quickening for some time. So isn't it possible that procrastinating today means waiting for an hour to do something, whereas 20 years ago it might have meant waiting days?

I certainly don't have any evidence to suggest either, but I am going with the second explanation. I'd rather we didn't come to any conclusions that say we need to increase the breakneck pace we have come to set for ourselves already.

Spying

File this one under a picture being worth a thousand words. The chart above compares the number of warrants issued to spy on Americans for security reasons with the number of terrorism related prosecutions. A cynic might say that it almost seems like all the extra spying is kind of for its own sake. From Kevin Drum.

Hopefully I Can Continue to Drive When Gas is $7 a Gallon

Big story in the New York Times today about a big increase in mass transit riders all across the country.

Transit systems in metropolitan areas like Minneapolis, Seattle, Dallas-Fort Worth and San Francisco reported similar jumps. In cities like Houston, Nashville, Salt Lake City, and Charlotte, N.C., commuters in growing numbers are taking advantage of new bus and train lines built or expanded in the last few years. The American Public Transportation Association reports that localities with fewer than 100,000 people have also experienced large increases in bus ridership.

This paragraph is notable for some of the cities listed in it. We're not talking about New York, L.A., or D.C. here. These are cities with a lot in common with Kansas City. Of course, what they don't have in common with KC is that they have growing transit systems.

Meanwhile, we seem on the verge of doing absolutley nothing. Some would argue that is fine because nobody in this town is going to use public transportation anyway. The head of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority is quoted in the NYT story, and he talks about the same assumption in his city.

“Nobody believed that people would actually give up their cars to ride public transportation,” said Joseph J. Giulietti, executive director of the authority. “But in the last year, and last several months in particular, we have seen exactly that.”

I'm still hoping that high gas prices will keep the pressure on local leaders to make public transportation happen no matter the obstacles. We might end up being the last ones to the party, but that would be better than never showing up.

80's Movie Quote of the Week

You can learn a lot from some 80's movies. From the Bobcat Goldthwait classic Hot to Trot you can learn about the hazards of drinking too much.

Fred: I woke up, I'm bucknaked and everyone one is looking at me. I'll tell you, that's the last time I drink tequila.

Stimulus

So my check will be arriving soon apparently. What should I do with my money? Blow it? Save it? Donate it? Pay debt with it? Burn it in protest?

What will you do with yours?

The Beat Goes On

And on and on perhaps. Obama can't land the definitive blow, but Clinton is finished by all accounts. Yet, as expected, we will be subjected to several more weeks of two people who basically agree with one another doing John McCain's work for him by beating each other's brains in.

Obama needs to really concentrate at this point on staying positive. If he essentially can't lose, there is no reason to sully the reputation by needlessly getting down in the mud.

In God We Trust (Our Profits)

Last year, I posted about the topic of my distaste for Christian rock music because of its general standing as a weak imitation of the regular product. At the time I said:

Perhaps the problem is that so many churches deem all other rock music to be evil, and consequently these young bands haven't heard enough good music from which to build. Or maybe the bands just can't shake the guilty thoughts that their own music might be riding the line, and they may be playing their way to hell.

Today, Slate featured a book summary of Daniel Radosh's Rapture Ready. The book is about the parallel universe that evangelicals have set up to mirror the real world. The article is very interesting, but on the subject of music there is a particularly fascinating point about Christian music. Not only is the music crappy, but it could lead to a crisis of faith for its consumers.

For faith, the results can be dangerous. A young Christian can get the idea that her religion is a tinny, desperate thing that can't compete with the secular culture. A Christian friend who'd grown up totally sheltered once wrote to me that the first time he heard a Top 40 station he was horrified, and not because of the racy lyrics: "Suddenly, my lifelong suspicions became crystal clear," he wrote. "Christian subculture was nothing but a commercialized rip-off of the mainstream, done with wretched quality and an apocryphal insistence on the sanitization of reality."

My first reaction to that is the horrific thought that it was a Top 40 station that created this revelation. That is a pretty serious indictment of Christian music in itself. But I also think the point is important. It's sort of the equivalent of corporations trying to do counter-culture or 50 year olds trying to talk slang with teenagers. It always ends up seeming empty.

The more important point may be that this really is just an extension of the marketization of everything. Do it for Jesus, or at least a few Franklins.

If Only

ESPN.com has a column in which the author talks about baseball's failure dynasties. Not surprisingly, your Kansas City Royals are one of them. The methodology is a little sketchy, but by any stretch they qualify. Within the column he lists five bad moves the organization made (presumably what he feels are the five worst I would think).

I would have to argue with his first two which involve trading Johnny Damon and Jermaine Dye. Yes, those were bad moves. On the other hand, we all know about the economics of baseball and what that means for a team like KC. Perhaps, the author meant that the terribleness was just in what they got back. It doesn't really read that way though.

Two other bad moves are clearly impossible to argue. The Colt Griffin/Roscoe Crosby draft and the hiring of Tony Muser may not be the worst things this team has done, but they are pretty bad.

It's the final move that is most intriguing, however.

4. Passing on a chance to move to the National League.

My friend the Evil St. Louisan loves to remind me of the fact that the Royals had the opportunity to move to the National League Central, and decided against it. That is the same National League Central that allowed the 83-79 Cardinals to be in first place and go on to win the World Series. The last time the Royals finished 83-79 in the American League Central, they finished third (7 games out of first).

It's not hard to dream of how things would have been different had the Royals switched leagues. A light hitting team isn't as much of a problem, and some of the Royals pitchers have showed as much pop as the rest of their lineup anyway. There would be an extended rivalry with the Cardinals as the teams competed in the same division. And if the team made it to a point where they were in contention, they would only have to deal with one of the teams with a payroll of over $120 million instead of four.

If you wish in one hand...

Be Careful What You Wish For

As a resident of the Missouri side of the metro, I don't pay too much attention to Kansas politics. However, I was very surprised to see that the Kansas House could not override the veto of Governor Sebelius to build a coal powerplant in western Kansas.

Perhaps the problem was with House Speaker Melvin Neufeld's exhortation of his fellow members.

Before the vote, Neufeld told House Republicans that it would probably be “the most important vote you’ll cast for the future of this state.”

It sounds like a few of them listened.

80's Movie Quote of the Week

Movies in the 80's didn't get much better than Police Academy.

Lieutenant Thaddeus Harris: Remember Mahoney, nobody screws with me.
Carey Mahoney: Well, maybe you'll meet the right girl and all of that will change.