California Prices Themselves Out of More Jobs
Kraft is closing one of its Nabisco plants near Los Angeles, laying off 235 people (link requires registration). This is one of two plant closings they recently announced as they try to "consolidate operations" after a dismal quarter.

Kraft states that jobs will be moved "elsewhere in the U.S.", meaning they will consolidate production in lower cost states with sane worker's comp and tax laws (no, they can't make Oreos in India since they would be stale the time they hit the U.S., although I suppose they could do it in Mexico or Canada).

This story caught my eye after seeing several giant Intel plants in Phoenix this week, each of which must employ several thousand workers. These plants aren't new, but Intel is a California company and I couldn't help thinking that each of those billion dollar plants represented jobs that were purposely put outside of California. So "offshoring" to lower cost areas isn't exactly new.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 11:50 AM (Permalink)
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Shocking...
French Lawyer to Defend Saddam. I guess Johnny Cockrin was already booked.

If you liked the OJ trial, you are going to love Saddam's. Personally I think the U.S. should treat Saddam as a prisoner of war, but perhaps the decision is better left to the Iraqi people. I just hope they have someone with better sense than Judge Ito running this thing.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 8:23 AM (Permalink)
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Gambling in Phoenix: No Dice
So I am in Phoenix for a customer meeting and my customer, having already been entertained to a heavy lunch a few hours earlier, demurred on dinner, leaving me to an evening alone. The city is currently packed due to the NCAA championships and spring training, so restaurants and bars are filled to overflowing. While I waited for the crowds to thin, I decided to kill some time by swinging by one of the Indian casinos in the area. I wasn't interested in gambling so much as just checking the place out.

In a nutshell: take the worst casino you have ever been to in Nevada, make it a little worse, and take out the craps tables.

The thing that really blew me away: Bingo. I took a picture, but unfortunately the camera phone defaulted to the smallest resolution, but what you are seeing here is a giant room with over 500 people (literally) with an average age of 68 playing bingo:




The rest of the place was nearly all slots, although they did have a few blackjack and poker tables. Maybe I have become a little snobbish after all my visits to Vegas, but definitely not a stop for the jet set.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 9:09 PM (Permalink)
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Let Me Give You Some Advice...
On TV shows and movies we often see characters who hear voices in their heads on advice they once received, or even flashbacks of characters getting advice (Kung Fu, of course, being the master of flashback advice). So, I wondered, if I were TV character, what voices/flashbacks would I have?

The line between legal and illegal isn't fixed, and can come out and grab you : I often hear the voice of my business ethics prof Dr. Windsor when I read about all the shenanigans at Enron, Worldcomm, Parmalat, etc. and did a post on his advice before. Although appropriate, Dr. Windsor never referred to me as "Young Grasshopper".

Never ask a man how much he makes or how many women he's made love to: I think Dad was trying to tell me that there are just some things that should always remain private.

Automatically put aside money from each paycheck into savings so you never see it in your account: Mom's a CPA. Enough said.

Don't go outside with a wet head!: My grandmother, rest her soul, was chock full of wisdom on how to avoid getting sick, what to do when you got sick, what to do when you were no longer sick and how to avoid getting sick again. She lived to 86.

Don't put your #$*% where you wouldn't put your tongue - Dr. Bessem was a gynecologist and my friend's father, and he would sometimes come into the gameroom where we were hanging out, scotch in hand, and dispense all sorts of interesting advice that was probably more appropriate to a hormone-raging 17 year old than grandma's advice.

Interested People are Interesting People - I spent 6 years at summer camp as camper and counselor and we always had a "thought of the day". Most were trite truisms we have all heard before. Sunday was always a Bible verse. But a few stuck in my head that were valuable as I grew up and entered the business world, like this one. This is similar to "People's favorite subject is themselves", and whether on a date or doing sales, this is good advice.

I have a bunch more, but a blogger friend of mine told me to always keep my posts short to keep them interesting.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 10:24 PM (Permalink)
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From the Who Cares Department
Elvis Presley's Roots Traced to Scottish Village

The guy's been dead for a few decades now (Ed: or IS he?) and even if he were alive, does anyone really care? (Ed: There's a whole fan base that will now go to this village he never went to because some ancestor is supposedly from there).

posted by Director_Mitch @ 8:52 PM (Permalink)
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Telling Headlines from the Middle East
Some recent headlines catching my eye that are pretty telling of the "bizzaro world" that Arabs and Europeans live in:

Hamas Vows Revenge - A group that kills as many Israelis as it cans through terrorism promises to kill as many Israelis as it can through terrorism? Make any sense to you? They already do as much as they can to kill innocent civilians, so there is no reason for the Israeli government NOT to go and systematically kill each and every member they can.

European Leaders Condemn Yassin Killing - A bus load of Israelis gets blown up and European leaders yawn. 201 Spaniards get blown up and they blame the U.S. A homicidal maniac gets killed and Europe goes apoplectic.

Hamas Warns It Will Retaliate Against U.S. - I guess these guys haven't kept up with the news, but the U.S. goes after and eliminate terrorists, terrorist groups and countries that harbor them. I think they are hoping for a Kerry win in November, in which case this strategy would make sense.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 1:27 PM (Permalink)
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Sopranos Episode 3: Season Finds Its Pace
Great episode tonight: Complex plot developments. High drama. Random acts of violence. This is the Sopranos I know and love. Most of tonight's episode concentrated on the Johnny Sack power struggle and Junior, although I liked the subplot of the battle between La Manna and Paulie and the poor lawn men caught in the middle. It looks like the La Manna/Paulie thing is going to heat up even more next week.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 9:46 PM (Permalink)
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BFL "Mini" Lunch
Friday's Bear Flag League lunch was a small, if very fun event. There were only three of us: Calblog (Justene), Daily Prescott (Patrick) and your's truly. It was simply too hard for a lot of people to make a lunch event during a work day and a lot of "maybes" became "nos", so Justene announced that all future events will be on the weekend (like the last one, which had a much larger turn out).

The smallness of the group didn't detract from the conversation as the three of us chatted away for nearly two hours. We would have sat there longer if it weren't for a personal errand that Justene had and a business meeting I had (Patrick had the day off). Since it was only the three of us, I decided not to take pics.

Special thanks for Justene for picking up the tab! I hope to make the weekend event next month and meet more of my fellow BFL bloggers.

Also, here are some pics from the lovely Pasadena court house:







posted by Director_Mitch @ 10:22 AM (Permalink)
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Cigar Review: Ashton Classic Esquire
Enjoyed an Ashton after a home-cooked steak on my coal-fired grill (pissing off both environmentalists and animal rights activists at the same time). I had a Ashton Classic Esquire, one of two I received as stocking stuffers this last Christmas. The cigar had a rich, smooth, pleasant taste, but it did have a bit of an after-taste which detracted from the experience, knocking some points off its rating. It also had an uneven burn, which I find annoying, but isn't always the fault of the producer since it could be caused by improper storage (I have a proper humidor which I check regularly, but I wouldn't call myself a storage expert).

Overall, a very good cigar: four out of five stars, or keeping with my 100 point scoring system I used when I started these reviews, 83 out of 100. Ashton markets themself as Pleasure Beyond Expectation, and I think they produce a very good cigar, but not the top of the line.



posted by Director_Mitch @ 10:06 AM (Permalink)
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