New "Favorites" Link
Slings and Arrows, a fellow right-of-center SoCal blogger has been added. I found his site about a week ago and have been commenting on his posts and he recently linked to my discussion below about the chekers' strike. Thanks!

He actually beat me to the punch on his latest posting, which is news on the improving economy. My posting was going to have some fictional (or probably not-so-fictional) conversation from DNC headquarters with something like this:

McAuliffe : Damn! The economy is improving! What are we going to run on now?!

Lackey: We still have the unilateral Iraq issue...

(from offstage): Boss, UN resolution on Iraq was unanimously approved!"

McAuliffe : Damn! Okay, what about that Plame issue?

Lackey: The story totally lost momentum after questions arose of whether she was actually under cover and other gaps in our attack story.

McAuliffe : Afghanistan?

Lackey: Non-starter

McAuliffe : Is there any way we can pin the Cubs loss on Bush? Maybe that guy who blocked that catch was a Republican...go check into that.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 2:01 PM (Permalink)
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Male vs. Female Orgasm
No pics and work-friendly.


posted by Director_Mitch @ 10:47 AM (Permalink)
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Who Allowed This Guy to Run a Ship?
Ten killed. 65 injured, including three amputations.

Authorities were looking into whether a pilot's blood pressure medication caused him to slump at the controls

Whether or not this turns out to be the cause, the guy is taking meds that may make him unconscious, but he's still allowed to pilot a ship. If this guy were placed on medical leave or a desk job before this accident happened, a lawsuit would have been filed by his union or the ACLU in about 30 seconds in an effort to allow the "handicapped" or "disabled" to have equal access to jobs.

The FAA has strict rules for airline pilots, including relatively low age restrictions, that are immune from discrimination suits. Why don't all modes of public transportation have the same rules?


posted by Director_Mitch @ 9:53 AM (Permalink)
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Bush, Koizumi Sing Favorites at Karioke Bar


posted by Director_Mitch @ 8:54 AM (Permalink)
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The Other Strike
As everyone nationwide now knows, there's another strike going on in SoCal with the check-out people (who I call, non-disparagingly, "checkers").

I was a bit surprised when I came to California to find these people unionized. Back from the Wild West where I came from, this was an hourly, low-wage job that was done by a lot of part-timers, students and people at the bottom of the labor pool. You gotta start somewhere. And the local checker was always a fun person to flirt with (As frozen pizzas, pretzels and the like go by the conveyor belt "You know, I'm actually a really good cook.")

Here, it's a "career" with the average wage around $18/hour. This is a pretty high level of pay to scan bar codes (pretty damn simple) and make change (I'll give that there is some intelligence required here). I mean, who wants to go through life as this being the apex of achievement? (apparently quite a few). And now in many stores there are "self check-out" aisles where consumers can do it themselves (so I can attest to scanning being simple, although a computer shoots out your change). This is not listed as a factor in the strike, but it's got to be at the back of some of the union-leader's minds.

The issue of the strike is that the stores want the checkers to start paying $5-$10 a week towards their health insurance. This is an attempt to get ready for the eminent entry of Walmart grocery stores, which are going to eat these guys lunch if SoCal shopping patterns follow the rest of the country.

Grocery store margins are on the order of 3% - so for that $100 of groceries you buy the store nets a whopping $3 of profit to pay for rent, insurance, checkers, what have you. Walmart coming into the area with non-union checkers making, let's say $9/hour, are going to have a significant price advantage while keeping the same margin.

Never mind paying healthcare. These people are likely to see stores shut down and permanently lose their jobs (would you rather make $18/hour and pay $40/month for insurance or lose your job, then having to go work at Walmart for $9/hour with no insurance). In typical union fashion they are bargaining away their members long-term interests in order to get a short-term benefit. (Unions are more effective in government where there is no competition to the employer and layoffs and downsizing are unheard of).

Mrs. Director crossed the picket line last night to shop (she was smart enough not to let me go since I would probably end up in a shouting match with a striker or two). She said the picketers were polite and handed out some literature (in English AND Spanish) boohooing their case. There were replacement workers inside working who did have problems with the more intricate complexities of the job ("This customer's club card isn't valid!"), but everyone got checked out okay. Curiously, the self-checkout lanes were closed.

My prediction is that the stores will win this one and the strikers will be back at work in a few weeks. The economy is recovering, but jobs are still lagging, so there is a large pool of replacement workers out there willing to pick up the slack of the strikers. Consumers by and large really don't seem to care crossing the picket line, and it's not like people who are union sympathizers are going to drive 20 miles to a non-striked store.

My question which hasn't been answered: some of the sackers (also on strike) were "mentally handicapped" individuals. Assuming they have a tenuous grasp of the matter, if at all, what do their care providers tell them when they try to go to work in the morning?

posted by Director_Mitch @ 10:44 AM (Permalink)
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Labor Screwing the Poor in Los Angeles
Los Angeles mass transit workers are on strike today, currently shutting down busses and potentially the trains.

So who uses the bus to get to and from work each day? It isn't the banker or the lawyer - they're stuck in traffic in their Lexi. It's the poor - the working poor - who depend on mass transit to get to and from work. Here's the key point in the article:

In a city dominated by cars, roughly 500,000 people rely on MTA buses and trains, Los Angeles officials said. Most of the passengers are the working poor whose income averages around $15,000 a year, making cars difficult to afford.


So half a million poor people who can't afford cars are now unable to get to work and earn a living. Good job, unions.


posted by Director_Mitch @ 8:30 AM (Permalink)
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How Can You Vote without Belushi Being Eligible?
Comedy Central is running a survey of Greatest SNL Episodes of all time. The problem: they start the voting in 1980, after some of the greatest moments have already passed. I mean we are talking about the "Samurai" skits, the "Land Shark", "Coneheads", the list goes on.

Since CC is running the "winners" my guess is that they only have the rights starting in 1980 (I believe they sell the "classic" SNL as a DVD set), which means I won't bother to vote or watch.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 10:58 AM (Permalink)
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Monday Personality Test
Well, due to the popularity of my Meyers Briggs Posting, which was one-upped by Jim, who posted another legitimate test, plus a Nethack test, which I really enjoyed (it was SPOT ON - I am a leprechaun - I like to make as much money as possible, with as little effort as possible, and then go back to bed - wow, that's eerily true).

So I thought I would add, as a Monday feature, a personality test, of which there are plenty on the web. Today's is: Which character from the Princess Bride are you?



Which Princess Bride Character are You?


So all those girls I dated who called me a pompous ass were on to something...




posted by Director_Mitch @ 9:08 AM (Permalink)
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