Merry Christmas

Is it wrong that the University of Notre Dame Football team is playing their post-season bowl game on Christmas Eve?

Picture This...

hockey, directed by Tex Avery

Change

This is another "idea" sent to President-elect Obama's change.gov web site.

I'd like to see the administration create more jobs. The country needs them. But it matters what type of job is created. An out of work computer programmer may not want to (or possibly cannot) take a job as a construction worker that was created for the sake of creating jobs. It matters where the jobs are created. One reason the economy is in a recession is because a lot of IT (information technology) jobs have been "offshored" - companies cut costs by replacing domestic employees with contracted, lower wage workers in other countries (typically India in this industry, but not to single them out, there are other countries too). By moving jobs offshore, these companies are moving money out of our economy (for a U.S.-based company, a U.S.-based employee will spend money in the U.S. economy, while an India-based worker will not, so money is taken out of our economy), and that doesn't help. What I'd like to see the new administration do is to get those jobs back in THIS country. It will give great help to the flow of our economy.

Circle of Money

Without playing the game of "chicken and egg", the economy works like blood flowing in your body. It's recursive. Each part needs to do its job in order for the whole to continue functioning at the size that it does.

It works like this (again, without trying to establish who's the chicken and who's the egg in the example, or which actually comes first):

1. People pay a company for their services (say a phone company or a cable company)
2. That company, in turn, takes that money and distributes it to several of the following groups (this isn't intended to be a complete list, but rather to illustrate the point):
   • other companies, direct or indirect, for infrastructure and equipment
   • CEOs (this isn't meant to be a weighted list either)
   • Congressmen
   • Employees (through direct salary, rewards, benefits, and bonuses)
3. Either directly, or through another company, each of those items brings money to people. People are consumers.
4. People save some of their income, and spend other portions, mostly on goods and services
5. Some of the money spent may go back to this company from which it came, but all the money spent goes to either other individuals or other companies, each in their own places in the larger chain. Even taxes are a form of this, with the Government(s) acting as the companies, spending the tax money on salaries, goods and services, and infrastructure.

The money keeps flowing, like the blood flowing throughout your body, and it always needs to be pumped.

Now what happens to this large circle of money when companies are paying employees (directly, or indirectly through "outsourcing" agreements) in other countries? Aside from probable loss of jobs on the domestic front, it interrupts the circle of money flowing in our economy.

Take a look. The changes are in red.

1. People pay a company for their services
2. That company, in turn, takes that money and distributes it to several of the following groups:
   • other domestic companies, direct or indirect, for infrastructure and equipment
   • CEOs
   • Congressmen
   • Domestic Employees (through direct salary, rewards, benefits, and bonuses)
   • Offshore (foreign) "resources" (either direct wages or through a contract to another company, who pays the wages)

Some of this money is staying in our economy, but now, some of the money has effectively left our economy. The circle of money is getting smaller.

Banks are just like you and me

Is there some sort of irony in the fact that major banks are looking for loans? It's gotta be there. Somewhere?

Health Care

We need to fix the health care system in this country. Health coverage costs entirely too much money - too much to the employers who provide the insurance coverage, and too much to the consumers who need to use it. And paperwork takes up way too much time. msnbc.com had a story that many physicians are either planning on leaving their practice or are cutting back their time spend seeing patients because of the amount of paperwork involved when dealing with the health insurance agencies.

Something here needs to be fixed. Maybe the health insurance agencies should be audited for the amount of data they feel they need to collect per the cost of that data. They like collecting data, but try to get money from them to cover the costs of tests or office visits that they are responsible for paying. It's like pulling teeth.

Let's wipe out what's there, pay everyone off, and start from scratch building it the right way.

Employee Rights

Employees should have their own Bill of Rights. This will lead to people having for confidence and security at work. What do I mean?

• Employees should have the right to make choices in health coverage. My company only offers one health care package, and it sucks. My only choices in the matter are how many people to cover (more people, it does cost more, as expected), and do I want to pre-pay each month to see the annual out-of-pocket maximum lowered. Those are both good things to choose from, but they don't count. I should have a choice between two different health care providers who need to compete for mine and my company's dollars to give me coverage. It would make it more affordable to me to get sick.
• Employees should have the right to protest cuts in company-match monitary benefits, such as stock purchases or 401K.
• Employees should have the right to challenge and refuse decisions made by the employer for a job re-alignment or a job function change.
• Employees shouldn't be threatened with loss of job for not doing something. Employers can make employees do just about anything because there are no laws preventing things from happening.
• Employees shouldn't feel obligated to stay in a job that's sucking the life out of them because they'd have to give up a 5th week of vacation, or they're only a year or two away from retiring with lifetime benefits or pension. There should be a way for workers to change jobs without having to lose cumulative benefits that they've earned.

Unions

I support trade unions. They have the ability to fight for things that non-union employees can't. When a company wants to cut back on health insurance, raises, and other benefits of working, who are they going to hit first? Unions, or Non-Union? The union can fight to keep what is being taken away from me.

The unions have the ability to fight those changes, while the non-unions just have to sit there and take their licks. Everyone should be allowed to unionize to fight (negative) changes. Why? Because the government should be looking out for the people, not the corporations.

Recession?

Is the public today getting the "depression mentality" that people growing up in the 1930s had? That generation has been tight on money because the Great Depression scared the hell out of them. If that happens with this slowdown, it could be a LONG time before things are really fixed, and the damage may already be done.

Update December 2: On December 1, 2008, it was announced that we are officially in a Recession, and have been for 12 months. Go figure.

Un-American activities

We have a problem in this country with more people than jobs. It's hurting the economy. A fortune cookie once told me "Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime." I think the same is true about this piece of the economy. Give a man some money (a stimulus package to the tax payers), and he spends for one day. Give the man a job, and he spends for a lifetime. WE NEED MORE JOBS IN THIS COUNTRY.

What happened to the jobs that we used to have? Corporate America sold them to other countries. Look at all the job functions and industries where jobs once held in America were sent to China, the Philippines, India, etc. Customer service, information technology, Manufacturing, and more. All of these jobs were either "outsourced" to other companies and/or "offshored", creating more people than work on the domestic front. So then the company can cut the jobs. And when you eliminate many positions, it hurts the economy. Corporate mergers too. "We do this. You do this too. We both don't need to do this, so we'll cut your job out." How is that good for anyone?

We need a government that looks out for the people who live and work in this country. Not one that looks out for the interests of the greedy corporate executives who only want to line their own pockets, even if their entire product line is dying a slow death and they had to lay off tens of thousands of workers. HOW UN-AMERICAN IS THAT?

If we want to succeed, we need to succeed together and work together. That means making these companies bring the jobs back to this country, while finding a way not to be bleeding money. When it comes to money, can you trust corporate executives? Maybe not. They will need to be monitored. We don't need a repeat of the U.S. Auto maker CEOs flying to Washington D.C. in separate private planes to beg for money.

Coprorate Greed

Here's an idea. Let's audit corporations. This has nothing to do with taxes, the same reason a regular person would be audited. Start with the "Big 3 Auto Makers". Let's all find out how they're really doing with money. Big corporations hold lots of domestic jobs. They could hold more. We don't want them to hold less. It's vital for the success of the economy. Let's make sure they're not cheating us.

Got another idea. They've tried it sports. Revenue Sharing. Have corporations share their revenue with the government and people. It needs to be thought out a little bit more.

Remember, the NHL took an entire year off to work out a labor dispute. Maybe that's what this country needs to fix the economy.

Celebrities

Does anyone really care about who or what celebrities do? I don't.

Mayor Adam West

In the world of television, there are different levels of creativity. Animated series can be a lot more creative, and really have to be, because there needs to be full character design and voices created. This can lead to some really good stuff. That said, the animated TV series Family Guy has gone above and beyond with their creativity on the character of "Mayor Adam West".

They've taken a real person, a semi-celebrity (sorry, but he's not exactly a big name these days outside of Family Guy, even though he was TV's "Batman" in the 1960s), and made him into a character in their world. OK. It's easy (and lazy?) to port a real person into a fictional, even animated, world. Adam West even provides the voice (no cheap imitations). But they took it a few steps beyond what's easy.

He's not a major character, but he seems to pop up at just the right moment to provide another joke. Why so funny? They made him NUTS, and they made him the mayor of the town. Brilliant.

Change

This is a piece that I submitted today to Barack Obama's transition website, change.gov, looking for people's vision for where America can be.

This campaign means change. My hope is that it means a change from the rule that Corporate America has on the citizens of this country. I hope to see a bill of rights for employees and a bill of rights for consumers that protects everyone from corporate greed.

All employees, especially those of large corporations like myself, should have the right to protest when wage increases, health benefits, and other rewards for working are cut. Employees should have the right to refuse a job re-assignment or relocation, permanent or temporary, without fear of being punished or fired by their employer. Employees should be able to leave their jobs without feeling obligated to stay in a bad environment just because there is a small pot of lifetime health benefits and/or a pension at the end of the rainbow. My work environment has become almost toxic because we have no rights to object to or protest the actions the company is taking to protect itself at the expense of our mental and physical health. These are all problems that myself, my colleagues, and family face right now.

Consumers should have the right to comparable choices for EVERY product. Right now, I have to choose between having certain programming and features and a more affordable, higher quality bundle of TV/phone/internet service. Consumers should have the right NOT to be on the losing end when content and service providers can't agree on the best way for each of them to make money. Consumers, as employees, should be given choices (by their employer) in different health care providers without having to compromise service or quality for price. Consumers should have the right to shop around for comparable services and not face local monopolies (such as a single regional phone carrier or a single cable company who don't offer competitive products). We can choose between banks, supermarkets, pharmacies, and gas stations.

Since every citizen is both an employee and a consumer, my vision for change is that every citizen has these basic rights, and with these basic rights, the country will function as a better place.

The donkeys have control of the zoo!!!!

The winner, and new President Elect of the United States... Barack Obama

it's almost time

The crowd outside 30 Rock is ready to erupt.

numbers before the 11pm states are called

CBS: 206-141 for Obama
NBC: 207-138 for Obama (update - 10:43pm - NBC gives 4 votes to McCain)
ABC: 207-141 for Obama
FOX: 207-138 for Obama (WWOR and WNYW)
CNN: 207-135 for Obama
Pollster.com: 207-142 for Obama

election telethon

the ABC studio behind Diane Sawyer looks like a telethon pledge drive setting

numbers

Comedy Central: 207-89 for Obama
ABC: 207-135 for Obama
NBC: 207-135 for Obama
WWOR: 207-129 for Obama
CNN: 207-95 for Obama
FOX: 207-135 for Obama
CBS: 206-135 for Obama

A lot of focus on the breakdown in Indiana tonight.

live studio audience

Comedy Central seems to have a lot of 'blue' supporters in their live audience for Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert.

9:30pm numbers

NBC: 200-85 for Obama
ABC: 200-90 for Obama
CBS: 199-124 for Obama
FOX: 200-90 for Obama
CNN: 194-69 for Obama

CBS gives Obama the White House

Bob Schieffer on CBS said with Ohio, Obama can't lose now.

Update: 9:43pm - without saying so, CNN just gave the election to Obama based on a fantasy game. Then urged people who can and haven't yet to vote.

Update: 9:51pm - FOX's Geraldine Ferraro just called the election for Obama, also based on Ohio.

Update: 9:54pm - ABC's Charles Gibson just said that they will NOT project a winner without a projection of 270 electoral votes (unlike CBS, FOX, and CNN).

numbers - 9pm

After watching Brit Hume read the bad data he's given on FOX NEWS...

FOX: 163-81 for Obama
CNN: 174-49 for Obama
ABC: 174-76 for Obama
NBC: 175-70 for Obama
CBS: 174-100 for Obama

This feels like the day when the NCAA Basketball tournament brackets are announced. CNN's map looks a lot like 2004 for the blue half.

a nice night in New York City

yes, it is a nice evening in NYC. rare for November. But why are there people standing outside 30 Rock watching the NBC coverage. I think I saw the same thing for ABC in Times Square WHY??? why do people want to be out there? Celebration in the streets when the winner is announced? purging frustration with the incumbent party by their losing the election?

Joe Biden

Well, Joe Biden has a job for next year in the Senate. He won his Senate seat in Deleware just in case he doesn't get the VP (also President of the Senate).

numbers

at 8:20pm ET. some of these are so small on the screen that it's hard to see the numbers.

ABC: 102-34 for Obama
NBC: 103-34 for Obama
CBS: 81-39 for Obama
FOX: 82-39 for Obama
CNN: 77-34 for Obama
Pollster.com: somewhere between 8-3 for McCain to 101-39 for Obama
MSG: Rangers-Islanders tied at 0-0 in the 2nd

Update: WWOR in NYC has 82-39 Obama at 8:30pm ET

big scorecard

One of the blogs I follow for non-election stuff pointed me to Pollster.com to see how each network is calling each state. I think there's an idea for a video game here somewhere.

how do they project the results?

CNN just projected two results from South Carolina. Both had one candidate leading and the other projected to win. Did anyone learn from the 2000 election about calling it too early?

Great. It looks like Wolf Blitzer on CNN is just picking states out of a hat and calling them.

8:35pm - NBC just gave 2 states to McCain. 0% reporting in each. Maybe he came up 'heads'.

numbers

We're not off to a good start.

CBS: 21-3 for McCain
NBC: no numbers on their screen
ABC: 8-3 for McCain
CNN: 8-3 for McCain
FOX: 21-3 for McCain

the maps

I love looking at those detailed state/county maps to show how they all voted. Even more so from 2004 (although the result was bad). You can look at these rural "red" states, and without any labels, pick out where the cities are because they're in blue. It's amazing what that concentration of people can do in the electoral college numbers.

Virtual People

CNN just had an analyst on appearing in the studio in NYC via hologram from Chicago. That goes a few steps beyond the virtual map thing.

Election ratings

I am kind of curious about the TV ratings breakdown starting with the 6:30pm ET network newscasts. How each network channel does. How it breaks down by timezone (the west coast won't rate nearly as high when the curtain goes up around 7pm ET, but they should fair better after 11pm ET/8pm PT if the race hasn't been called because like most sporting events, east coast viewers would be asleep when the game ends). How local channels fair covering this in a 1 hour newscast at 10pm ET.

Virtual Maps

I wonder if Tim Russert would have liked working with the new virtual maps. He was a whiteboard guy who just completely got it. Some of them look too fake.

Oh good. NBC showed Ann Curry on the green set without the graphics.

NBC is also going old-style with real-life "buckets" pulling blue & red bars up the front of the NBC building at 30 Rock. Picture one of those thermometers that measures a fund raiser trying to reach its goal. NBC has 2 real-life versions to go along with their paint-by-number map on the ice.

Political Paint-by-Numbers

well, here we go! it's time to play "Political Paint-by-Numbers" as the media starts their educated guesswork on the results of polling.

This is kinda cool. The ice rink outside 30 Rock (for NBC NEWS) actually is set up for paint-by-numbers. It looks like there is someone with a big paint hose to mark the states red or blue.

OK. it's not actually paint. That would be more fun, especially if they couldn't stay within the lines. There are blue and red covers to place over each state to "paint" it for a candidate.

the traitor

Joe Lieberman campaigning with John McCain. He was on the Democratic ticket as VP 8 years ago. Today, he's on stage with the Republican Presidential candidate.

Voter Intimidation

The Black Panthers were guarding a polling place in Philadelphia. I'm watching one harass a FOX NEWS reporter now reporting on their harassment earlier. Black Panthers? Are you kidding me? And they said he's a legit "Poll Watcher".

Maybe the country is still a bit polarized.

I did see a police officer outside my polling place, but it was quiet and there were no problems.

I have no problems seeing the Black Panthers. I didn't realize they were still around. The point here is that people should play by a certain set of rules, especially when they're on the job (volunteer or paid) or going about their normal business. It falls into the category of the media influencing voters during the day with opinion instead of fact or showing results before polls close.

Election Day memories - 2000

The night of the infamous 2000 general election, I was at Nassau Coliseum watching a hockey game. Maybe 10,000 people there. The results of the election were being posted like out of town scores in the arena. They had the Bush-Gore race and Hillary Clinton's senate race among others. Nobody cared about the hockey game. At the concession stands, the TVs were tuned to the news. Who knew it was just the beginning of a very long night.

lawsuits

ah, the lawsuit game. According to FOX NEWS, it's New Hampshire this time. There's a simple set of rules that people need to follow in order to have order at the polling place, make sure that people allowed to vote can, and those not allowed don't. This is not that hard. If you can't follow the rules, you shouldn't be allowed at a polling place.

Let's have a clean, fair fight.

voting problems

I'm trying to figure out why rain and power can have an affect on voting. Voters in Virginia standing out in the rain touched and dripped on paper ballots causing problems with those votes. In California, power problems stopped voting. Can't we figure out a foolproof way to vote where voters touch as little as possible? The Simpsons even poked fun of it in their Halloween episode this year.

Before today (I registered in a new town recently and voted here for the first time), I've either voted with a fairly simple machine, or by an absentee ballot. The voting machine showed me the questions and had a small lever or tab-like piece to use to mark my vote. I was behind a curtain in the booth, and the curtain was controlled by a big lever-type device to open and close. I mark my choices (I never did a write-in), and pull the big lever to both open the curtain and mark my vote. Simple. I don't know how the votes are counted doing that, but I don't remember any power supplies or pieces of paper I had to deal with. The only way it could go wrong is if someone stuck bubble gum on one of the voting tabs.

CNN.com posted a picture of someone in a booth that is similar to what I describe with the tabs.

Today, I voted in a device similar to what Homer Simpson used in this week's episode.

I voted!

I voted. It was easy. Go Vote!

voting

why do we care if/when/where the candidates vote? it becomes news when Barack Obama or Sarah Palin vote. shouldn't it be news if they do NOT vote?

here we go again

CNN reports some problems in south Florida with ballots rejected because of the second page of the ballot. Seriously? page 2? discounting votes for being incomplete? c'mon. Web ballots in Virginia causing delays and problems. Problems in New York and New Jersey.

Lots of voters

TV says there are lots of voters out there today. Reports of long lines, and lots of encouragement for people to vote, and have every vote counted before the results are decided/guessed/announced. I'll see for myself at lunch time how it all works.

Tim Russert

On this election day, we pause to remember the late Tim Russert and his famous electoral map whiteboard from the 2000 election night coverage.

Election Day

Tomorrow, the big battle finally comes to a head. Donkeys vs. Elephants

Vote early. Vote often.

It's Election Day. Time to vote for a new President (finally). Before the champagne is uncorked, just remember NOT to celebrate before ALL the votes are counted.

Remember the headlines from when elections were called too soon:

• Dewey defeats Truman (1948)
• Gore defeats Bush (2000)
• Bush defeats Gore (2000)

Time

Note the times in the image. Just a bit freaky.

Time

Don't you find it the least bit ironic that the weekend Marty McFly traveled through time was the same weekend we changed the clocks back that year?

Jobs

I've heard that it's easier to find a job when you're working than when you're not. I don't buy that. When you're working, and it's so bad that you really want need to get out, is it really easier to find another job? Unless you have the freedom at work to surf around to job search websites, it doesn't happen there. And unless you drive like 2 hours to get home (enough time to burn off all your steam), you really don't want to think about your job situation when you're trying to relax. How is this easier to find a job?

I say, it's a lot easier to find a job when you're NOT working. You have all the time in the world to get it done.

Welcome

I have a blog. Film at 11.