The Window Manager
(Someone who has a fairly high level job with nothing to do - except look out the window).
Iran Says U.S. Aid Won't Help Relations
I think there have been others like it??
June 6, 1944 - France Says Aid Won't Help Relations
September, 1949 - Germany Says Aid Won't Help Relations
October 31, 1956 - Egypt Says Aid Won't Help Relations
May, 1995 - Mexico Says Aid Won't Help Relations
I could Google up a bunch more if I had the time, including every single country in Africa.
There has been a lot of discussion on the internet about job outsourcing from the U.S. to foreign countries. As I have commented before, I believe companies should be free to allocate resources as they see fit, although I think a lot of the outsourcing mania is one of those business trends that is being overdone in the short term, but will balance itself out in the long term.
However, while I believe companies should do whatever they want in terms of hiring, I personally believe that companies should try to keep jobs in the U.S., if possible. If companies look at the long-term costs, logistics, legal, and other issues, I think they will find that a lot of outsourcing really doesn't make sense.
So the bottom line is that while I personally would avoid offshoring jobs if I were running a company, I think that companies have the right to do so if they want and am not going to hold it against them (similarly, I don't own any guns and wouldn't keep any in my house, but support the platform of the NRA - it's a freedom thing).
So what do I do with THIS job opportunity? (this is one of several bullets describing responsibilities):
Support roll-out of the (foreign country) (job function) team. Provide guidance to the team, including prioritization, and compile justification to grow the (foreign country) (job function) center to meet growing demand.
So the position basically requires this person to be the U.S. advocate of this overseas center. The other aspects of the job fit me extremely well, and it looks like this company would make the position worth my while.
Do I move forward with the opportunity and use it as a way to learn this aspect of business? Do I get into the job and advocate NOT growing the overseas division, more or less acting on my personal conscious? But I would do that only if my analysis showed that outsourcing DIDN'T make sense. If I found out that growing the overseas center IS the right business decision, I would advocate growing it.
At this point I plan to move forward and talk to this company about the opportunity, with the plan - if I end up taking the job - to do an even-handed analysis of the outsourcing issues before "advocating" it, rather than follow the company's predetermined decision to grow it. I figure that someone willing to go in and do an honest analysis is better than someone going in and toeing the company line.
Our company gets two holidays around Christmas, and since Christmas fell on a Thursday, Friday was a holiday and Christmas Eve was a work day.
Now a lot of people would simply sneak away early on Christmas eve - it's not like there is a lot of work to do, customers and vendors are all gone, the phones are silent, and a lot of people have parties and celebrations to go to. Knowing what was coming, I took a vacation day for Christmas Eve, and it was a good thing I did. Here is the ACTUAL TEXT OF THE MEMO that was sent out at my company on Christmas Eve (I have obviously added a few fictional touches).
As a continuation of the post-title below, I should note that the "bad guy" in the movie was a CEO of a Big Business. And that got me to thinking: How come bad guys in the movies are nearly always CEOs? Or neo-nazis?
The reason is that these are about the only people Hollywood can make into bad guys without pissing someone off. Even portraying the bad guys as Muslim terrorists is avoided in Hollywood. When True Lies came out, there were all sorts of protests that the movie had Muslims acting as terrorists (since, you know, that NEVER happens). So when the movie Sum of All Fears came out, the movie changed the antagonists from Muslim terrorists (that were in the book) to (white male) neo-nazi terrorists. (White South Africans were fair game during apartheid (Lethal Weapon 2 for example), but Hollywood lost them as bad guys after the fall of that regime).
Another reason is that Hollywood, which tilts decidedly left, HATES business and CEOs anyway, and why not portray the people you hate in a bad light? If you're interested, a whole 50 page dissertation by Larry E. Ribstein at the University of Illinois College of Law looks at this trend from a more scholastic and legal point of view, which is referenced at his blog.
In is what probably my last December movie review, I will comment briefly on Paycheck, the new Ben Affleck movie which opened at number four this weekend and looks like will sink fast in the theaters.
The movie starts interestingly enough - Affleck is a "reverse engineer" who has the ultimate Non Disclosure Agreement: his memory is wiped every time he finishes a job. Most of his jobs are a few weeks, but he is hired for a job that will last for three years. After he is done and his memory is wiped, the adventure begins.
It's an interesting plot, but some of the details require suspending reality. That in itself is not a problem - that's the point of a lot of movies - but this movie is ruined by "Hollywoodization". I was sucked in for the first 30 minutes but by the time The Big Chase Scene (TM) ensued, the movie had become formulistic. (Why do they always have to have a chase scene? Hasn't everything that CAN be done in a chase been done?)
Two out of Five Stars, or in other words: Rental.
I noticed that Instapundit linked to this story on bloggers being "self important" on December 27, while I commented on the same link on December 23. Of course, his traffic is a little bit higher than mine, so will get more attention.
Indeed.
During my numerous trips to Japan, one of the things that always amused me (among many others) were seeing major American stars shilling for products, something they would never do in the U.S. (this is the topic of the movie Lost in Translation, which unfortunately I haven't seen yet). I remember seeing Jody Foster's mug all over subway stations, Harrison Ford in beer commercials, and other major stars. In fact, I think I saw more American actors in commercials than Japanese actors (interestingly enough, I HAVE watched Monday Night Football in Japan, and no, they don't translate it into Japanese).
These commercials are produced with the stipulation that they cannot be shown outside Japan, but thanks to the power of the internet, you get see them here.
I think the democrats allowed Dean's lead and mystique get too big before going on the offensive, so this is probably too little, too late: Kerry Unloads on Dean
So the Double Secret Management Christmas Party was last night. Yes, it was held in a nice country club. Yes, wine and beer flowed liberally (unlike the bowling party where it was B(uy)YOB). Yes, we all had nice filet mignon. The problem was keeping conversation going with people you have absolutely nothing in common with, except work.
The Wall Street Journal today talks about the pitfalls of holiday parties and saying the right thing (it requires a subscription, so I won't link to it here), but their advice is to keep it easy on the alcohol, don't stick your foot in your mouth, and especially don't get carried away and start groping that girl from accounting or you might find yourself unemployed by New Year's.
I would add that there are certain items you don't talk to the boss about - religion and politics. Even if he has a picture of the President in his office (mine does), you never know what land mines you might step on, so it is best to leave politics at the door, even if you think you might agree with him. Ditto on religion.
So that means learning the art of small talk, or talking about things without really talking about anything. Safe topics always include sports (golf in this case), recently released movies, vacations you have been on. Kids are usually safe, unless his happens to be in jail (this actually happened to me about a decade ago. I asked a manager about his kids, and one was in prison), so stick to YOUR kids and see what else is volunteered. Inevitably the topic usually turns to work since that is usually about the only thing everyone in the room has in common, which it did last night.
I had to keep Mrs. Director from checking her watch every ten minutes, but we made it through the evening keeping up three hours of small talk. In all I think the people who WEREN'T invited to the party got the better deal.
Is it me or is the blogosphere seriously slowing down as we approach Christmas? I have a couple more hours to kill here at "work" before I am off the rest of the week and NO ONE is posting! How am I supposed to kill the next couple of hours?
Admittedly, my own posting will be slow starting tomorrow. I WILL post on the Double Secret Holiday Party which is tonight, but then it will be slow until business resumes next Monday.
As a side note, I found a laugh out-loud satirical site called Blame Bush. It's not what you think. Go take a look (if you are okay with bad language).
"Daddy, is that the Star of Bethlehem?", my daughter asked, pointing into the Christmas night sky.
"No, sweety, that is an F-16 tactical fighter, capable of supersonic flight and armed with AIM-7 Sparrow and AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air radar missiles."
"Why is it up there on Christmas?"
"They're protecting us, sweety."
A couple of weeks ago I received an email from an outfit that wanted to "sign me up" as an "as needed" paid consultant. I would fill out a form giving them the segments, companies and products I was an expert in, and when they had a client that needed to pick my brain, I would be contacted to set up a phone consultation. After the call, I would fill out on-line forms to get paid based on the time I spent on the phone, and sometimes for any prep work. (They contacted me via Monster, which has my resume, but not my name, so they knew my specialties, but not who I was).
I was a bit skeptical, figuring this was some sort of scam, sham, or spam, but I decided to fill out their form and see what happened. Worst case they would have my name and email, and lots of Nigerians already have that.
Turns out they're legit. The company is Gerson Lehrman Group and their virtual consulting practice is called The Councils of Advisors (which I will shorten to COA). COA uses the power of the web to create a pool of talent in various segments: tech, healthcare, energy and other segments. When a client needs information on a segment, COA acts as marriage broker, linking the two parties together. The "consultant" tells COA what their hourly rate is, and I assume COA bills the consultant out at "rate+$100" or something along those lines.
This is a clever business plan that creates a win-win-win situation for everyone. The "consultant" is typically doing some other full-time job, so this is a way to pull in a few hundred bucks on the side by allowing someone to pick his brain on stuff he already knows. The client gets the information he is looking for, so he's happy. And COA creates a low overhead consulting company since they don't have a full time "staff", but people who just manage the consultants. They have been around since 1999, so I assume they are doing well after being in business for four years.
Obviously there are a few caveats and ethical considerations for people doing the consulting: don't give out any information about your current employer (if employed), don't release any information that is covered by non-disclosure agreement (NDA), and other common sense measures.
I have already been contacted for two consultations. The first one I had to turn down since the segment was outside my areas of specialty, but the second one is right up my alley. COA gave the client my name and email, and he contacted me to set up a consultation next week. I hit HIS web site, and it is a mutual fund company, so everything seems kosher at that end as well.
I'll update here on how the whole billing/payment process goes.
From Editor and Publisher: Blah, blah, Blogs: Probably the most hyped online development in 2003 (along with growth in site registration), but will these self-important online journals actually change the way newspapers do journalism on the Web?
We aren't self-important, we are just changing the way information is distributed and translated, thus changing the entire face of media, creating an entirely new paradigm of information, ushering in a new millennium of dialog and community...(add more self-important descriptions here).
Hat Tip: Lost Remote
Got a friend or Significant Other that is just IMPOSSIBLE to shop for? How about getting him/her a decommissioned aircraft carrier?
I was in the middle of a nasty email to an HR manager when the quake hit Orange County (story for another blog entry some time). It was a gentle rolling - I ALMOST thought movers were dragging furniture on the floor above me, but it lasted too long for that. I kept typing and finished my email by the time the rolling stopped.
I am on the third story of a four story building and that may be the only reason I felt it. Mrs. Director, who has this week off, didn't feel a thing at home just a few miles away.
I figured it was some small trimmer from the desert, so was quite shocked to find out that two people were actually killed because of it.
Window Manager is in two round-ups this fine Monday morning:
Carnival of the Capitalists - My article on Marcomm made this week's summary of business and economic posts over at Bejus Pundit.
Bear Flag Roundup - Bear Flag member Boi did a summary of what all the BFL members have been writing about lately. He used a bowl game theme to group everyone, and I don't know if my article on management double standards being with LSU is a compliment or not...
Mrs. Director gave me a kitchen pass Friday night to see The Return of the King and I really don't have much to add to the 100s of other bloggers who have already commented. You know the drill: Wow. Go See It. Etc.
One thing I would say is that going in I figured Gandalf would steal the show like he did in The Two Towers. However, I must say I was really moved by the performance of Bernard Hill as Theoden. He likely doesn't have a chance, and a lot of people are talking about Eowen as a contender, but I will be satisfied if just the movie itself and the director get the nod from the Academy.
It's the Friday before Christmas and it's time for my company's annual holiday party. For last year's party we had an evening event at a comedy club. Everyone brought their significant others. Dinner was served. Awards were handed out. Drinks were served. Everyone watched the show and had a good time.
Now 2003 was in no way a terrible year for our company; we pretty much held our ground. And all indicators are that 4Q will come in pretty good and that 2004 will be a VERY good year.
Around late October, however, word spread that the Imperial President didn't want to have as large a party budget this year since things were "tight". And sometimes you need to cut back on things to beef up the bottom line, even if it's only a little.
So a few weeks ago we all got email invitations for a work-day event (no spouses) where we are going....bowling. Yes, you are reading that right. The office is heading to a nearby bowling alley for a little holiday party (essentially giving us half a day off). Teams have been arranged by function, so there is a sales & marketing team, an accounting team, etc. Sounds like fun!
Now, there is nothing wrong with bowling. I shoot an occasional frame now and then, but it is just a bit of a change from last year. Makes me wonder what raises will be like in February, but sometimes sacrifice is needed for the good of the Company.
THEN I got an invitation for another, separate event: There is a DOUBLE SECRET HOLIDAY PARTY next week for the President and senior staff next week. This function will take place at a local country club, spouses are invited, and dinner will be served. It wasn't stated, but certainly implied, not to say anything about it to the hoi polloi residing in the cube farm.
Is there a lesson here? Well, it certainly sucks not to be in management. There might be another, but I can't figure out what it is...
I got the following email today from a fellow marketing manager whose company is about to get funded:
What are some of the strategies you use to raise the awareness of your company and the product or service you sell? Currently I own outbound product marketing. I've been doing the monthly PR and getting our editorial calendar for 04 lined up and also tradeshow/conference track. But, what else can I really do to get some good lead generation and excitement about our company?
This area would fall under the area of Market Communications, which is not my particular specialty, but I worked with one of the best in the industry - I'll call her Cal Blonde (she would appreciate this appellation and unfortunately does not blog).
Cal Blonde and I worked together with Rorschach at a start-up that blew through $15MM in two rounds. We had INCREDIBLE visibility and awareness - over 100 articles were published on our company within our first 18 months of existence. Our competitors couldn't announce a product without us being quoted in the article. So how did our Marcomm Manager do this?
1. Have an Easily Understood Vision - One of Cal Blonde's strengths was that she was NOT an engineer, but worked at an engineering company. So when the geeks like the engineers and marketing people ran up and told her about the electron noise level of our particular widget, she would give us a blank stare and say "So what!"
Low electron noise level is not a vision. How many wanuzits or klampters you have on your gizmo is not a vision. You need a vision that is easily understood and gives benefit to the layman.
Part of this, of course, is spin. The layman doesn't care or understand the difference between 802.11a vs. 802.11g and which one has the fastest bit rates. What he cares about is FAST, WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY ALLOWING YOU TO DOWNLOAD MOVIES TO YOUR LAPTOP WHILE ON YOUR PATIO! You get the picture.
1a. Be First - Oh yes, you need to be out there first with your vision. If you just copy someone else's vision, you are a "me too" and will always be in the shadow of the leader. That was another reason we were quoted in press articles on our competitors: we were the leader. So if a competitor announced something, we would be asked what we thought, and we just did a big Yaaawwwn. Been there. Done that. Ended up killing that project since the parts sucked. Nothing else will infuriate your competitors as much.
But here's the main point: by being first with a unique vision, you set the tone of your industry and the benchmarks others will be measured against.
And if you're not first? You will have problems creating buzz. Figure out what you ARE first in, and see if you can spin that into a compelling vision that is easy to sell.
By the way, this is why so many companies announce "vapor ware". The need to be first with an announcement is more important than it actually being ready. Remember: perception is reality so if you announce first, and ship second, it is the perception that you led with the announcement that will be remembered.
2. Make it Easy for Your Trade Press - I am talking specifically about the technical trade press, and let me tell you something: technical reporters are NOT technical. Part of it is just the sheer scope of "technology", which covers too many markets for one person to understand well.
We were very careful to spoon feed the press people on our market, our products and our technology. We kept it simple and at high level what the benefits of our product were (see Vision above). Once they had that down, they would just copy what we gave them for the details on klampters and wanuzits.
3. Be a Source of Info for the Press - in other words, network with the important press people in your area. If there is a particular reporter that covers your space, identify him/her and keep them up to date on what is going on in your market, even if you are not involved in the story. What you want to become is a primary source to this person for your particular market so they start calling you up for quotes when your competitors announce something, or find out something you didn't know.
4. Ditto #3 for Analysts - If you have any analysts that cover your particular product space, make sure to befriend them and become a source of info. Analysts can have amazing influence on deciding who is "hot" for a particular product. (For those of you outside of tech, there are investment banks and research companies that follow technology trends).
The whole idea of these little pointers is to keep having your company name come up in the press and analyst reports. When it does, you WILL get hits to your web site asking for info, and I don't think I have to tell you what to do there. It's a long, drawn out process, but if you have an easily understood vision that creates excitement, it really isn't that difficult.
Then, of course, there is the standard Marcomm stuff you should keep up and do - advertising (if appropriate), tradeshows, etc. Here is a standard slide I throw up on this which you might find helpful as well and is self explanatory.
I first stumbled across "virtual keyboard" technology over a year ago while researching emerging markets. This is one of those technologies that I just think "cool" when I see it. It consists of displaying a keyboard through a laser beam. As you type, sensors pick up your movement and input the corresponding data into your device - cellphone, PDA, laptop, etc.
A couple of "Selector" quizzes have been making the blogging rounds: one for Presidential candidate, one for philosopher. What I can't understand is why the two for me don't exactly match (i.e. my top presidential candidate would not have the same philosopher rankings as me).
No surprise for president. The first 4 (including my "theoretical") would be how I would rank them. After that it is down hill and probably not statistically significant.
1. Your ideal theoretical candidate. (100%)
2. Bush, President George W. - Republican (87%)
3. Libertarian Candidate (50%)
4. Lieberman, Senator Joe, CT - Democrat (42%)
5. Kerry, Senator John, MA - Democrat (38%)
6. Gephardt, Rep. Dick, MO - Democrat (36%)
7. Phillips, Howard - Constitution (35%) WHO is this?!?!
8. Edwards, Senator John, NC - Democrat (35%)
9. Kucinich, Rep. Dennis, OH - Democrat (25%)
10. Sharpton, Reverend Al - Democrat (12%)
11. Dean, Gov. Howard, VT - Democrat (12%)
12. Moseley-Braun, Former Senator Carol, IL - Democrat (9%)
13. Clark, Retired General Wesley K., AR - Democrat (4%)
I was a little surprised about the philosophy rankings, but I had a tough time with some of the questions. I tend to separate philosophy from religion, which is probably why Kant went up so high, and why I wouldn't match Bush's picks.
1. Kant (100%)
2. Jean-Paul Sartre (99%)
3. Ayn Rand (96%)
4. John Stuart Mill (93%)
5. Epicureans (83%)
6. Jeremy Bentham (80%)
7. Prescriptivism (76%)
8. Nietzsche (73%)
9. Aquinas (66%)
10. Aristotle (66%)
11. David Hume (62%)
12. Spinoza (60%)
13. Ockham (60%)
14. Plato (57%)
15. St. Augustine (57%)
16. Stoics (56%)
17. Cynics (41%)
18. Thomas Hobbes (41%)
No surprise Hobbes is on the bottom.
One thing that is interesting is how this list has changed over the course of my life. It would be a different list 10 years ago, so I assume there would be some additional changes in a few more years. Somthing about age and wisdom, I think.
It must be Christmas season if fruitcake articles and jokes start making the rounds. A pretty good fruitcake write-up is over at Early Passions with links to jokes, their history, you name it.
From the Wall Street Journal today on the compensation package for Motorola's new CEO:
Mr. Zander, already worth about $100 million, will be well rewarded at Motorola, according to two people familiar with his compensation package: a $1.5 million base salary, a target annual bonus of about $2 million, and a hiring bonus of just under $2 million to be paid in cash and restricted-stock units. In his first year he also will receive more than two million stock options and about 350,000 restricted-stock units.
Look, pay me 10% of what you were going to give him and throw in a nice company car and you can have the WINDOW MANAGER running your company.
What are you laughing at?
I have posted several times about unsoliticited job leads. One of the first ones, back in early November, is just now moving forward.
As a recap, I called the Senior VP (SVP) of a competitor/customer ("coopetitor") about a potential business deal. He wasn't interested, but asked me for my resume. He called back two weeks later and said someone should be calling me.
That was mid-November.
By early December I had really given up on the lead, and conversations with Mrs. Director indicated she was not willing to relocate to this particular location, so it looked like I would have to drop it anyway. Since they never called, and I couldn't move, I left it at that.
On Monday, I finally received a call from the hiring manager and we had a quick chat. It took only five minutes to figure out I am an excellent fit for this particular position. I talked myself up, sounded excited about the position, and told the manager I had to talk to my wife about relocating before moving forward (note: I already knew she didn't want to move, but wanted to string him out for negotiation). I told him I would call back on Tuesday.
I waited until the end of the day Tuesday and called him, sounding upset. The wife didn't want to move, and although I sounded perfect for job, it wasn't going to happen unless they let me work from where I am in SoCal...
"Do you want me to look into that?", he asked.
"Is it possible?" I replied. "The job also requires a bit of travel, so it's not like I would be in the office all the time anyway."
"We have a sales office in your area, so it may be possible. Let me check it out and get back to you."
So I am waiting to hear back from him. This is by no means a slam dunk, and he could always come back and say "it isn't going to happen", but I have him at least looking at the possibility, which is a move in the right direction.
I also have a phone interview with another company on Monday. They are in SoCal, but would give me a LONG commute. The strategy is to get both of these opportunities moving forward so I have two bidders by late January, although that may be a bit optimistic.
But good news indeed: Jackson to Film "Hobbit" , prequel to Lord of the Rings.
The article states that the current Gandalf (Ian McKellen) would be used, but it does not mention if the "Bilbo" in the Fellowship (first movie) would be the same. Ian Holm is already 72, and if the movie is not made for a couple of years, he may be too old, or not last the part. My guess is they get another, younger Bilbo to play the part.
Since Jackson is making another remake of King Kong, I assume we won't see this for a few years.
While I criticized a singer for making a political statement while an invitee to a Vatican concert, I don't have any problem criticizing the Catholic church in an appropriate setting, like here.
Apparently one of the Cardinals feels pity and compassion for Saddam after seeing his medical exam on television. Maybe the Cardinal is okay with the slaughter of 100s of 1000s of people as long as they are Muslim, or he would be expressing compassion for their fate, not the executioner. In addition, I think he has bigger problems with rapists in his own organization and needs to feel some compassion about their victims before feeling pity for a deposed mass murderer.
Remember, Cardinal, compassion starts at home, and you have your own victims you need to be worrying about.
Update: Apparently I am not the only person pissed off by his statement - lots of Catholics and non-Catholics alike are blogging away at this.
Another Update (5 days later): The Vatican is now saying that the Cardinal was expressing his personal views and not the Church's
Consumer Group Seeks Nutrition labels on Alcohol
Yeah, I am really concerned whether I am getting my RDA of vitamin D and E when I am pouring myself a martini.
Okay, in all seriousness they are asking for alcohol content, which is already included as "proof" on nearly all liquor (although not on all products, like beer), and calories, which are on some beers (lite versions), but not liquor.
This is one of those deals that will make the people pushing it feel better, but won't have any effect on, well, anything. I don't think people are going to change their drinking habits if there is suddenly ANOTHER label with calories to go with the general warning that is already required on alcohol.
My wife gave me two afternoon passes from the Jr. Director to see movies this weekend. Saturday: Master and Commander. Sunday: Last Samurai
M&C - I am not familiar with the books the movie is based on, although I have read a similar series about a soldier (rather than a sailor) named Sharpe who has all sorts of adventures during the Napoleonic wars. Since I enjoy these little historical novels, I was excited about seeing M&C.
The movie has some interesting history, great battle sequences, and I thought Crowe did a good job, but the pacing of the movie was a bit slow. Some professional viewers stated that this is simply the pace of a sailboat during the early 1800s, which the director was trying to convey, but it didn't work for me. And I could predict which guys would end up dead after the main battle. I give it 3.5 out of five stars.
Samurai - This movie had more plot material that bugged me, but I actually enjoyed it more since it had a better pace and much better fight sequences (I am sooooo American - I picked the movie with more action over the one that would give me more time to think).
Again, many professional reviewers have remarked on the Dances with Wolves aspect of the movie, and there is a not-so-thin layer of PC involved in the plot (killing of Indians = bad, Custer was a megalomaniac, people are happier in a simple agrarian society over a industrialized one, etc.).
The REAL thing that bugged me is that the "honorable" society that the Japanese "traditionalists" in the movie were trying to protect was a feudalistic society where the laborers at the bottom were no better than serfs. The reason the Samurai would resist change is that they were at the top of this feudal food chain, controlling all land, goods, and the people that farmed the land. By industrializing the army, it made a peasant equal to a samurai in arms, so the samarai rebellian had nothing to do with "honor". (A real good look at Japanese feudal society is seen in the book Shogun, by James Clavell, which is an outstanding read).
Anyway, if you put these little historical niceties aside, the movie was pretty good and I would give it four out of five stars.
So both were "good" movies, but I would call neither "great". Of course the movie I *REALLY* want to see is LOTR, which is going to blow both of these other guys out of the water.
A couple of months ago, I decided to send Senator Feinstein a letter via her website about a resolution on the Ukrainian Genocide that was up in the Senate. I thought it a waste of time, but thought I would see what I got in response.
I got my response today, and it appears they didn't even read my letter. Here is what I got in response via email:
Feinstein Aide (as Senator Feinstein): Thank-you for writing to me about the current state of United States foreign policy. I appreciate your letter and welcome the opportunity to respond.
Director Mitch: My note was about the Senate resolution condemning the Soviet Union for the 1933-34 Ukrainian Genocide. So this isn't exactly "current".
FA: Please know that as the United States Senate continues its work in the 108th Congress, I will closely monitor the Bush Administration's foreign policy agenda. The views of my constituents are important to me and I will keep your letter in mind when the Senate debates foreign policy.
DM: Hey, #$%, I don't want 100 senators butting their noses in on foreign policy. That the President's job and it's going great.
FA: For your information, I am including a copy of a recent speech I made on U.S. foreign policy.
DM: Gee, thanks, just what I wanted, some anti-Bush screed from November made by a senator who has no clue about foreign policy.
So this speech is called: Unilateralism and Preemption: A Flawed Doctrine
You can guess what it says without me telling you. Rather pathetic. I wrote a nasty email back saying that they had not even read my email, that I SUPPORT unilateralism and preemption since anything else would make the U.S. weaker and increase the chances of my family being blown up.
Pathetic.
When you are invited to someone's house, you don't insult the host. It's just simple courtesy and respect. And if I were invited to some flaming Dean supporter's house for a social function, I would not go around telling him and his other guests that he is some sort of wacko as soon as I walked in the door. If I had a problem with his views, I could always turn down the invitation.
This is why I think this person is a total scumbag for denouncing the Catholic church during a concert where she was singing. If she doesn't like the Catholic church, that's fine, she should have turned down the invitation. But to accept the invitation and then to shout out that her hosts have "moral corruption, exploitation and abuse" is simply wrong. It shoes real lack of character and class, and she actually points the finger at herself for willing to exploit her invitation (whether paid or not, which the article doesn't say and is irrelevant).
In fact, she acted like what many people consider to be a stereotypical American - loud and boisterous of her own views while totally ignorant of the aspects of common decency. Whether you agree with her is irrelevant - she was invited to sing at a Christmas concert. If she has political/social commentary, there are appropriate venues for that.
I hope any future employers take this into consideration when thinking about hiring her.
I have Bush's conference playing in one ear while I am doing email this morning. While focusing on Saddam's capture, there have been other questions ranging from withholding military contracts from countries that didn't participate in the coalition (as I predicted, Bush is holding firm on that) to Dean's assertion that Bush had foreknowledge of the 9-11 attacks (he said it was absurd).
I can't say how he is coming off on the tube, but over the air he is doing quite an impressive job.
I am not a Sunday morning talking-head watcher, so it wasn't until I got in my car to do my Sunday Starbucks run that I heard about Saddam's capture.
The first thing that went through my head: Bush just captured the election!. Think about it: the dem attacks on Bush were centered around the economy and foreign policy. The economy plank has been knocked out as more and more information is being released about the improving economy, leaving foreign policy. One question the dems kept bringing up: where is Saddam?
Now perhaps I was just being overly optimistic when I heard the news, but I do believe that now that Saddam is captured that stability will come back to Iraq that much faster. It gives the dems one less sound bite, making capture of the presidency that much harder.
And, as expected, various supporters of Dean are accusing Bush of some vast conspiracy, that Bush knew where Saddam was all along, etc. It just shows you how out of touch the angry left is and why they simply have no business being in power.
As much as I loath to link to CNN, my enthusiasm for the topic is winning over: Rings Favored to Win Oscar.
I have always thought that the Academy was going to wait until the last movie - the apex of the series - to award the Oscars for both picture and director. Every time I watch the first two I am just amazed at the breadth and scope of the project. And when I watch the "behind the scenes" extras that come with the DVDs, I am just overwhelmed with the amount of sheer work involved in putting this series together. The vision, drive and determination needed to bring this story to the screen is just amazing, and I think these movies will go down as one of the greatest achievements in cinema. I certainly hope that Peter Jackson takes home the statue for Directing as well as Best Picture this February, and it looks like plenty of people are willing to put money on it.
Less than a week until the opening...
This caught my eye this morning: Microsoft to Remove Swastikas from Fonts
Now, I understand why MS did this. This symbol - while thousands of years old and used in Buddhism and even by Native Americans (note PC term) before the Europeans (PC term "white slave traders") arrived - just means one thing to millions of people, and that of course is fascist Germany. For example, I remember watching the Nagano Olympics and having the network (ABC?) having to explain to viewers after they received hundreds of complaints that the swastikas on the Buddhist temples were religious in nature and predated Hitler by hundreds of years (I suppose these callers wanted the temples torn down or something).
This is why from a business perspective, it was the right move by MS. The symbol itself has no meaning until it is used in some context, but companies have to assume the lowest common denominator in consumer intelligence and sensitivity, and, to be honest, I really can't think of a business reason why that particular symbol would be needed in a font package. Yeah I suppose the occasional Buddhist monk writing his monthly newsletter might want to use it for a "good" purpose, but MS has enough issues with its image and not offending millions of ignorant people is always a good business decision.
I am a fairly regular buyer of goods from the internet, so I thought I would have no problem with on-line shopping this Christmas. Unfortunately, I had two bad experiences: on one I decided to use a "non-brand" retailer, the other I found "seeing and feeling" really are necessary for some purchases.
Consumer Electronics - I have bought all sorts of electronics on-line, and I thought this year's family present of a portable DVD player would be a no-brainer. However, I found a site that carried the model I wanted for nearly $50 less than Amazon, even with shipping. Knowing that I was taking a risk, I decided to go for it (even if one of my best friends works at Amazon).
Well, I got the product, opened it up, and it was obvious it wasn't new. The product was somebody else's return, a floor model, I don't know what - just not new. The good news is that the customer service at this site was actually pretty good. They stated they only sell new products, apologized and offered an exchange or refund. Fearing the worst, I just asked for a refund, so I shipped the product back and got a full refund (verified today). I then re-ordered it from Amazon today (Jim's laughing now). So instead of saving $50 from ordering the first time from Amazon, I ended up spending an extra $15 in return shipping (I still saved on sales tax).
Lesson: Stick to on-line retailers you know and trust, even if you spend a little more.
Jewelry - Again, I knew it would be a risky proposition, but I decided to give jewelry a try this year. As a high-priced item and living in a high sales-tax state, I figured buying on-line would save a bundle in taxes (yeah, I would report it later) and compensate me for the risk.
I bought the product from Blue Nile, which is considered the best on-line retailer for jewelry. I received the product quickly, and it was as described on the site....but it just didn't "wow" me. If I spend that much on a present for my wife, I expect it to knock my socks off, and there were just a few little things that I didn't like.
Like above, Blue Nile was VERY good with its return policy and I sent it back today (another $15 out of pocket). They offered to help me with another selection, but I decided with two weeks left until Christmas that I would buy locally, which I did this afternoon. I ended up spending a little more than I did at Blue Nile, and of course paid sales tax, but I know what I picked wowed me, so I know it will wow my wife.
Lesson: There are just some things you have to see and touch before buying.
Since I am pretty much out of money, I am done with shopping, so I have done my little part to help the economy this Christmas season.
At least for the segments I watch. Two headlines that caught my eye today:
IDC Raises PC Forecast for 2003 & 2004
JP Morgan Raises Semiconductor Capital Spending Forecast in 2003, 2004
A few more articles I found today continue the general theme of a broad based recovery in the tech sector. In my particular product category, we are warning our customers to book early for 2004 orders since we are anticipating lengthening lead times and even shortages as we frantically increase capacity (meaning we are ramping capital investment and hiring). I have a meeting on Friday with a company we have never done business with who wants to lock in a long-term supply contract, and my old customers who used to try to renegotiate their pricing down every month are now playing nice and not talking about price - just about getting supply.
These little data points really make me believe that the economy will not be an issue in next year's election. There can be differences of opinion on other matters, but a "poor economy" won't be a legitimate sound bite.
So Rorschach sends me a link to the Shizzolator. This site takes a web page, and puts it into - how shall we say - urban street lingo. The first paragraph from the post two days ago came out like this:
Mista." Director 'n I had a conversation last night 'bout da 2008 election, know what I'm sayin'? Assuming Big Baby Bush gets elected in 2004 (gravy bet), tha dude will be ineligible fo' another term." After tha dude's second term, Cheney will retire." Ditto Rumsfeld." Powell ain't going run, 'n might not even be in a second Big Baby Bush administration n' __it.
So go try it on your web page, if you da chance. Note that if you aren't into profanity, you should probably avoid.
One of the things I find interesting is that while my personal, political and BFL links to the right are all right of center, the religious background of my fellow bloggers range from strict atheist to fundamentalist, with everything in between. I just find it interesting that people with such diverse religious convictions would gravitate to such similar political beliefs, even while we might not agree on every single issue (and for the record, I would consider myself "somewhat" religious).
At any rate, no matter what you believe, we all end up dead, so that got me thinking about blogger epitaphs. After all, as Plan your Epitaph points out, a forgettable gravestone is a fate worse than death.
So does anyone have any inputs on bloggers and their epitaphs? Like:
Instapundit: Indeed...
Denbeste: I am not sure what it would say, but it would be LONG
If anyone has any others, feel free to comment. I am just not clever enough to come up with some for Volokh and some of the other major sites.
Mrs. Director and I had a conversation last night about the 2008 election. Assuming Bush gets elected in 2004 (good bet), he will be ineligible for another term. After his second term, Cheney will retire. Ditto Rumsfeld. Powell isn't going to run, and might not even be in a second Bush administration.
Everyone assumes that Hillary will run in '08. Who will the Republicans put up against her? Senators have notoriously had a very hard time getting elected for the last 40+ years, meaning VPs and governors have the inside track. But the most visible Republican governor, Ahnold, is ineligible.
Daily Pundit noted that Condi Rice will probably be on the 2008 ticket as VP. While I like and respect her, I am not sure she has the charisma to run as a nominee in a national election.
I don't follow politics THAT closely, but as someone who is fairly involved, it is a little disheartening that I can't think of a single national Republican figure who is presidential material in four years. Of course 12 months ago I had never heard of Howard Dean, nor had anyone heard of Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter (who many believe was a miserable failure) 18 months before their first terms, so perhaps one of the large number of Republican Governors I have never heard of will come to prominence some time in 2006 or so.
Does anybody have any ideas?
This assumes that Bush wins. If Bush were to lose, I would predict he would run again in 2008. And there IS one example of a President who had split terms...anyone remember who it was?
My article on Headhunters made this weeks' Carnival, a collection of business and economic related posts. This week's host is A Penny For..., who, like all Carnival hosts, did a great job of grouping and summarizing (he even gave a little recommendation for my post! Thanks!)
Update: There is also a Bear Flag League Roundup over at Miller's Time. This takes a lot of effort, so if you are curious, go check it out.
In Friday's quiz, "I believe in America" is the opening line to The Godfather. While not uttered by one of the Mafia members (it is said by a mortician looking for a favor from the Don), it could have been spoken by anyone in the Corlione family, for The Godfather is a movie about an American success story: Poor boy comes to America. He works hard and starts a business as a young man, which expands and prospers. One of his sons takes over the business when he gets injured, but is ill suited to run it and gets "fired" after a shrewd move by the competition. Another son picks up the reins and is more successful, but gets into some problems with the same competitors, which he resolves with a "hostile takeover".
Like all good American success stories, the movie dispenses some good advice for getting ahead in the rough and tough business world:
Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer - Good political advice for all walks of life. If you are trying to get ahead for a promotion, you can bet you aren't the only one with that goal. Part of politicking means dealing with and working with people who you don't like or are even trying to undermine you. The best strategy to deal with these people is to not let them know you are their enemy.
It's not personal, it's business - A hard lesson to learn, but business sometimes means making decisions and choices that go contrary to friendships and relationships. This can mean reprimanding someone in a meeting on Monday after you had dinner with his family on Sunday or kicking off the board a friend who is incompetent. This is the reason why you hear "it's lonely at the top" - making hard business decisions sometimes means making decisions that go against friendships. And if you think this is harsh, I can point to countless businesses that failed since the people in charge were unwilling to make the hard choices due to friendships or perceived personal commitments.
I'll make him an offer he can't refuse - While taking a gun to someone's head during negotiations is frowned on in corporate America, effective negotiating is still essential for getting ahead. If you can't negotiate well, you will have trouble getting ahead, so learn how to do it.
There are other lessons as well, which is why Forbes put both Godfather movies in the top 10 business movies of all time.
Light blogging today - I am actually busy at work! So instead of writing something original, I thought I would do a short trivia test:
What movie has the opening line: "I believe in America"
If you don't know, the answer may surprise you.
Beware Headhunters
In response to my postings about getting job leads, I received an email from a reader wondering "how to get contacted by headhunters". For those of you not familiar with the term, headhunter refers to independent contractors that recruit people for companies. The term does not apply to internal "corporate recruiters" that work inside a company's HR department.
There are two types of headhunters: contingency and contract:
Contingency guys get paid only if/when some company hires you and are generally not under contract by an employer. These guys work on volume, sending anyone's resume they have to any employers that will accept them, figuring if they just get just a small percentage of hits, they will make money. They are the spammers of the HR world and are to be avoided. If they get your resume into an HR department, and you LATER go interview there based on something else, the headhunter still has a "claim" on you for up to a year after they sent in your resume. This claim means the HR department will have to pay the headhunter for hiring you, even if they were not involved. This is referred to having a "price on your head" and could actually HURT your chances of getting a job. This is why you see Principles Only or No Recruiters in some job ads.
Contract headhunters are just that - they are under contract for a particular company for a particular job. They get paid based on their time put it, plus a bonus based on the starting salary once they place a person. Since they want repeat business, they are usually very careful about who they put in front of an employer, so they usually take time to actually do a full interview with you before they even submit your resume with the client. Even if they don't place you, once you talk to these guys you are put into their database, so you may hear from them later about a completely different position. Contract recruiters usually specialize in an industry, geographic location, position (programming, marketing) or "level" (VP and up only , "C" level- CEO, CFO, CTO - only, etc.). Generally speaking, you should cultivate relationships with these guys, but still be careful. I had VERY bad experiences with them during the tech downturn when they felt they could treat unemployed people with contempt (and many of them still do).
Most job advisors will tell you to avoid headhunters and just target the companies you want to work for and do a concerted effort to get into them. Headhunters, however, are useful for finding companies you DIDN'T know about, which is actually how I landed my first job in California (it was a contract recruiter).
Here are some pointers to keep in mind when dealing with headhunters:
1. Don't Publicly Post Your Resume on the Internet - Do not lose control over who has access to your resume. My own resume is on Monster, but listed "anonymously". This means that there is no name or contact number. If anyone finds it interesting, they have to come to me via monster, and still don't know who I am unless I respond. If your entire resume and contact information is out there, then a contingency recruiter can pull it off the site, add it to his database, and spam it out to the world.
2. Always take calls from headhunters - be polite and ask right off if they are contingency or contract (or simply ask if they are calling about a specific job). If it is a contingency, get rid of them, but if a contract, find out more about the position.
3. If you are not interested in a position from a contract headhunter, send them to someone who might be interested - in other words, be helpful. They will remember that and call you back if they have something that is a better fit.
4. Remember that a headhunter does not represent your interests - they are working for the employer. While they may get a bonus based on your starting salary, this is not always the case.
5. If you are in a position to do so, spend money like a drunken sailor on headhunters - Okay, here's the REAL inside scoop on headhunters at the upper levels: If you are in the higher echelon, spend money like there is no tomorrow to contract headhunters to work for your company. I guarantee they will take care of you if you decide to leave or lose your job at that company. (While I have not had direct experience here, I have had several upper echelon people give me this exact advice and have seen it in practice).
The person who sent me the question also wanted to know how to get on a headhunter's list. One way is to get published in some way - as an author or as a quote - in your industry's trade journal since these guys scour the trades for people's name (I have been both quoted and published in my industry rag). In addition, you CAN call some of the contract headhunters that specialize in your area/region and make sure you get into their database. Otherwise, it is really a waiting game to see what comes in.
A good book that covers a lot of this in detail is Rights of Passage at $100,000. I read this a while back before it was updated for the internet and it covers a lot of ground of working with headhunters (its average review is 5 stars).
First, several people have commented about the post below - as well as a post from last week - where I superimpose unflattering images with democratic front-runner Dean. Please note that these posts are just satire and a way for me to blow off political anger. But I find these sort of postings fair game in light of what I have to put up with from the left, the effigies that are burned at the anti-war rallies, etc. I think if the left could get into a reasonable debate without name calling, comparing Bush to Hitler, etc., that my own responses would be as reasonable, but that simply isn't going to happen.
Anyway, the post below generated some good discussion. Specifically, BFL leader Calblog commented "I am pretty sure that anyone who tried to use 9/11 images in a political commercial would be pilloried."
I agree, but I don't think this means they can't be used. I just think it means they have to be used carefully and only in certain cases.
The only side that can legitimately use the images will be the republicans - it is the event that shapes current U.S. international policy, which the dems are relentlessly attacking. If the dems are going to pretend it didn't happen - or that it doesn't matter - I think it is a legitimate argument to bring it back to the public consciousness.
Their use will bring immediate attacks from the dems - even if the voiceover is like my commercial idea below and just uses democratic words to go with the images, all sort of debate, discussion from the talking head shows, etc., which will bring more free airings of the commercial.
It may need only a single airing to have it plastered over the airwaves for free, like the Apple "1984" commercial or "Daisy". For those who are not familiar with the latter, "Daisy" had a little girl picking flowers and counting, the counting becoming a count-down to a nuclear explosion. This anti-Goldwater commercial ran only once before being pulled, had tons of condemnation, and is thought to have been EXTREMELY effective.
...would simply superimpose footage from 9-11-01 over a certain portion of Dean's interview from Hardball the other night. Total spot would take 15 seconds, be cheap to produce and cheap to run due to its length. Whatdoya think?
My favorite (okay, only) Canadian cross-link Recursive Progress has a post about a recent study up there that forecasts the end of the Canadian military services by the end of the decade unless they put in a giant infusion of cash. He suggests that losing their military would lead to a loss of sovereignty (is a country that can't defend itself a country?) and that joining the U.S. would be one of the few solutions.
I have always been intrigued about having Canada join the U.S. Every time I have been there I have forgotten I was in a foreign country until I had to use cash for some reason (to be fair, I have only been to Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Calgary and have never been anywhere in Quebec). Every once in a while I will see some editorial from one of several organizations that promote the integration of the two countries and think "you know, we should add a few more stars to the flag during my lifetime!".
The link above lists all sorts of pros and cons, but here are the ones that come to mind (and nearly all of these are covered on the above site):
Balance of the Senate - While the House could also come into play, the Senate is the most closely divided and it is likely that (assuming the same basic Canadian "states" as there are now), there would be a large influx of Democratic Senators, shifting power significantly - and perhaps permanently - to the Democrats. This is probably the issue that would kill the deal today.
Healthcare - This is probably a hot rail for both sides. While I think during my lifetime the U.S. will slowly migrate towards the Canadian system, I don't think it will ever get all the way there. There would have to be some sort of "state" health plan for ex-Canadians (the site above also says that capital punishment, gun control and other social issues would also have to be left to the new "states", which is the case now in the U.S.).
Quebec - They can go independent for all I care, but I don't think they really have any reason to worry about losing their ethnic identity if they joined U.S. One only needs to travel to various major cities where there are vital and growing ethnic areas where all the public street signs, store signs and language on the street is Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, etc. And every ballot I have ever received in the U.S. has come in no fewer than five languages.
Social Infrastructure/Spending - One analysis I saw years ago showed that while a few new Canadian states would suck up more money than they bring in in taxes (Newfoundland and Nova Scotia), the other states would make up for them (Ottawa, British Columbia, etc.) since they bring in more taxes than they cost.
Change in Tax Structure, Currency - This would be a biggy. We don't have a VAT and a much lower income taxes here. In addition there would be a currency change, so there would have to be some sort of long-term economic plan to bring everyone on par.
Immigration Policy - Another big change. A lot of Canadians are proud of their lax immigration laws that let in terrorists from all over the world (sorry, had to get that dig in) and going to the U.S. standard would be somewhat stricter (if you ask my lawn guy, he would tell you it is no problem getting into the U.S. - at least illegally).
Identity - This I think will be more an emotional issue than a practical one. I am originally from Texas and if you want to talk about people who identify (almost) more with their state than their country, Texas is it. Remember that Texas was its own country for a while after winning its independence from Mexico, so it would probably give the closest comparison to what we would expect from our new ex-Canadian fellow-citizens.
Overall, however, I think integration is a pipe-dream unless something really nasty happened to push it together - like some sort of major world war (we are in one now - it just isn't "major" yet).
I am soooo jealous of people who have already screened the Return of the King. I got my Director's cut edition of The Two Towers last week and screened it over the weekend. When it was over Mrs. Director (who didn't see it in the theaters) turned to me and said what I was thinking: "I want to see the last one NOW!"
(As a side note, Mrs. Director didn't read the novels and I should note that Mr. Jackson did a good job of up-playing the roles of both Eowyn and Arwen in the movie to appeal to women. The Mrs. is quite intrigued with both characters and is really into the implied love triangle that was developed in TTT).
The movie is coming in at 3 hrs, 15 min, so I imagine the Director's Cut of this - next Christmas - will be between 3.5 and 4 hours.
Hat Tip for the review to Instapundit (no, I am not going to relink to him - you know where to find him).
Some link management:
- I need to apologize to Irish Lass - her link was being sent to Interocitor
- Jockularocracy has been added to the Bear Flag League and is a good read.
- I try to keep cross links with anyone who links to me. Apparently there are some people who list the BFL, but aren't members, like eTalkinghead. Also, Insults Unpunished is cross-linked.
- A new cross-link to a blogger I find particularly interesting is Forgotten Fronts. He has rather humorous interviews with famous dead people and some good political insight. I also found interesting his observations of U.S. soldiers while he was in Guantanamo Bay Naval Station before immigrating (escaping) to the U.S. from Cuba.
A lot of bloggers have been tearing up the really poor showing of Dean on Hardball last night. Just imagine what the headlines would be at the NYT if a republican had done this:
Mentioned the (extinct) Soviet Union Five or Six Times - He did this the day after he blasted Bush for "lacking foreign policy insight". Remember how the press tore up Bush for not knowing the heads of state for Chechnya, Taiwan, India and Pakistan? Not knowing that there isn't country called the "Soviet Union" is a LOT "stupider", Howie (and I bet the press ignores this).
Promised to Meddle in the Press - Yeah, Howie, the First Amendment doesn't apply to you. Imagine the outrage if Bush promised to break up the NYT.
Showed Ignorance of Basic Business Economics - A rather inane point he made during his "destroy big media" outburst was "There are only two or three radio stations left in the state of Vermont where you can get local news anymore."
Howie, your tiny little state has a population of 613,090 (2001 number). Take out the 17,000 people below five (and let's just double that number for kids up to 10) - and you get about 580,000 pre-teens through adults who might listen to the radio. Let's assume half the population listens to the radio some time during the day (I'm being generous). Assuming two stations, that is a radio station for every 145,000 listeners (three stations would bring it down to 96,500). This is assuming an even split, of course.
So Howie, radio stations make money off "advertising" (except PBS which rapes the U.S. taxpayer). This is a hard concept, so pay attention: "Advertising" revenue (and thus profit) depends on the number of listeners. If there aren't enough listeners, a radio station is not economical. (Plus, I imagine that the Vermont station playing taxpayer-funded NPR 24/7 to the yokels who elected you probably gets 90% of the audience and drives the others out of business anyway).
So, Howie, the sad fact is that your piss-ant state can't support more than 2-3 local radio stations, so quit presenting the fact as some vast media conspiracy. The radio stations in the area have to cater to the other states near-by to get enough critical mass for advertisers, and this means less local news.
Update: Jockularocracy did more research than I did and found that there are lots of stations, but only a few with local news (like I said the other stations have to reach outside of Vermont to get a large enough audience so will downplay local news).
Did you know bamboo blooms only once every 60 years?
I learned this from a Holiday Card from a colleague in Asia (and checked it on Google, with most sites saying "25 to 100 years"). Unfortunately, my friend left the greeting in his native language, so I tried using Babblefish to translate it. Here is the picture of the bamboo flower, along with Babblefish's translation:
Since Russia also isn't signing the Kyoto treaty, I think that the uber-left can stop calling Bush "unilateral" (yeah, right).
I haven't done one of these in a while and in honor of the world opening of The Return of the King in New Zealand, this seemed appropriate.
As I posted Wednesday, I seem to be getting a lot of unsolicited job leads lately, making me doubt this whole "jobless recovery" meme that the dems are pushing.
Although it is only Monday, I already received my unsolicited job lead for the week. This one is in Pennsylvania, so I won't be replying to it (SoCal to Pennsylvania? I don't think so). The one from last Wednesday is in SoCal, so I wouldn't have to move, although my commute would go from 10 minutes to an hour. I am taking the call, but am not going to pursue it unless it pays enough for a really nice new car for me to relax in for that hour commute.
I should note that all these leads are with tech companies, which are suddenly white hot in terms of revenue growth. 2003 saw a 13.9% growth in semiconductor revenue (although from a down 2002) and 2004 is forecasted at an additional 17% growth. This demand is being driven by growing demand for the key products that use semiconductors: PCs, cellphones and consumer electronics, so companies in this segment should all be expanding hiring in the coming months (even if they are putting call centers in India).
This may be old news, but it apparently didn't make anything I read, so I just found out.
I was reviewing my Tivo "Season Pass" listings this weekend (yeah, I had a busy four-day weekend) and noticed that my pass for "Lucky" was still programmed, but nothing had recorded since last spring. A little internet searching today revealed that the show was cancelled in August, after only one season.
From the WSJ:
Manufacturing activity surged in November, logging its strongest growth in nearly 20 years, according to a closely watched survey of purchasing managers. Sector hiring grew for the first time since September 2000. Construction spending climbed in October.
I will be doing my monthly economic wrap-up and 2004 forecast in a couple of weeks. I don't think I will have to do any mental heavy lifting to predict that the economy is coming back fine.
I do admit when I'm wrong, and I am philosophically pleased, if politically surprised, that Bush is going to suspend steel tariffs. I had predicted a few weeks ago that he would keep them in place through the election.
It seems that indications of a trade war, which would hurt the economy, plus the fact that the economy is recovering anyway, plus the fact that the unions wouldn't endorse Bush anyway (they are already getting in line behind Dean) were the factors that pushed the decision to repeal.
