Jim Manis on Most Anything

Jim Manis can formulate an opinion about a good many things, including those about which he has little knowledge. (And some dude named "Lazlo.") Visit The MagicFactory.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Indentured Servants:

America has long prided itself on offering the best college education in the world. (Dirty secret time: the folks who made this claim meant grad school.) If the public school system was a shambles, at least your kid could make up for it in college.

Only colleges don't have "students," they have "clients."

Maybe you think college is all about the students, but the truth is that it's all about the bucks.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Is Texas School Board Stupid or Just Nasty?

By a 9-5 vote the Texas state school board passed a series of sweeping changes to their public school system that will institute right-wing political changes to the curriculum. Among other changes, the right-wingers want Jefferson Davis, a convicted traitor to his country, elevated to a status equal to Abraham Lincoln, at least in terms of students' knowledge of each man's inaugural addresses.

The right-wingers hope that this will serve to brainwash Texas children, while liberals are fearful that it might. But one must wonder if both of these historical figures are carefully examined side by side won't intelligent folks come to the same conclusion that history already has. Lincoln was elevated to the status of a demigod, while nobody even remembers what happened to Jefferson Davis.

And here's the dirty little secret: a number of the conservative members of the school board who voted for the changes will be leaving the school board by the end of the year—before the changes can be enacted. Will saner heads join the board and reverse these nonsensical changes before thy can take effect?

(Read The Washington Post story.)

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Monday, May 24, 2010

Who Owns the Republican/Tea Party?

Paul Krugman is at his best today, explaining how corporate America is busy buying the Republican/Tea Party. Don't fear. Wall Street and Big Business wants nothing to do with the Paul family, even if Baby Doc did criticize President Obama for criticizing BP by calling the president un-American. As far as Baby Doc is concerned, anyone whose skin color is a shade lighter than his is un-American.

Wall Street and corporate America (including those wonderful oil companies) have always donated more money to the Republicans than to the Democrats, but the current buyout of elephants is reaching record levels

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Friday, May 21, 2010

Lost Analysis:

With any luck, the island will sink into the sea Sunday night. Let's all hope Kate has a life raft.

(See Mike Hale's take on how we've been lost for the past six years and the state of televised narrative, in today's New York Times.)

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Sunday, May 16, 2010

Curious about Why the Hit TV Show, Lost, Is Nutso?

Lorne Manly's interview with the creators of Lost appears in today's New York Times. The show has some good characters, but the plot keeps getting in the way. This is its final season. Because I have a daughter who works in the industry, I'll just say they lost me in the second season, but because I have another daughter who is captivated by the show and wants to watch it with me, I've been watching it during its final season. And there's always the chance that Kate might go swimming again in her underwear.

Note: The interview seems to reveal that the creators of the show wanted to be both entertainers and philosophers. Even Plato couldn't pull that off, and Shakespeare knew better than to try. If you're not entertained by the intellect being engaged, it ain't gonna happen for you.

Anybody for Dr. Who?

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American Insanity:

Think the Tea Party is the only sign of how crazy American's are? Try this:

In the wake of The Great Recession and the collapse of the housing market that was a major factor in causing it, we now have a major housing building boom. While millions of homes sit empty, including tracts of new housing developments, the housing industry is building new houses at a faster rate than any time in history.

Nobody, it seems, wants to buy a second-hand home, even one that's never been lived in. In some areas of the country, you can buy a home that's only been lived in for a short period of time by one owner for less than $10,000, but nobody wants to move into a house that's being sold as a result of bankruptcy. (See The New York Times' story.)

Oh, yeah, then there's that gun thing. People in Georgia want to carry concealed weapons into bars and airports and onto playgrounds at grade schools.

Back to the housing issue: Builders are forecasting a new housing boom, but no one is explaining what will happen to all of the empty houses. The country has a surplus in the millions. Population growth around the world, not just in the U. S., is slowing. If not for immigration—both legal and illegal—over the past thirty years, the population growth in the U.S. would have stagnated. Without population growth, the economy collapses. Again. See where we're going with this?

Now back to the Tea Party …

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Saturday, May 15, 2010

Change Is A Comin':

The nasty little secret about plastic money is that every time you make a purchase the bank who issued you your card makes money—even if you pay your full bill promptly at the end of the month.

Retailers pay a percentage of your purchase to the credit card companies, who in turn share this money with the banks. In addition retailers pay fees just to be able to process the cards.

Retailers benefit in a number of ways because you use a credit or debit card. First and foremost is that you are likely to purchase more if you use the card, in part because you are more susceptible to impulse buying. And as you know at least with credit cards, if not debit cards, you have a line of credit. In addition—and this is very important—the credit card companies/banks guarantee the retailer payment. That is, the retailer doesn't have to worry about your check bouncing. In the good old days (pre-plastic) that was a constant problem.

And let's not forget that if a retailer stops accepting plastic, he's likely to lose customers to a competitor who does.

Retailers have been complaining about the high fees they are charged for a long time now, but there hasn't been anything they could do about it if they wanted to remain competitive and stay in business. Yesterday, the Senate passed a bill to help them out. Amazingly, 17 Republican senators voted in favor of the bill. As a general rule, Republicans are nothing more than bankers' lap dogs. (See The New York Times' story.)

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Friday, May 14, 2010

Obama Scolds Guilty Companies!

Check out the picture in The New York Times: The prez is pointing that index finger. Thank God! I, for one, am sick of politicians using their thumbs to make a point, like slacker hitchhikers.

Naturally, the three companies involved in the Gulf catastrophe are all trying to shift blame from themselves. It's expensive cleaning up a mess like this, and your reputation suffers significantly. They were telling us that they should be allowed to drill anywhere because such things could never happen again. Right!

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Saturday, May 08, 2010

Quote of the Day:

“If the administration would announce tomorrow that all birth control would be free for every woman in America, I think the health care plan would gain 30 points in popularity overnight.”—Gail Collins quoting Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood. There is no mention of birth control in the recent health bill.

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Thursday, May 06, 2010

Congress Wants Terrorists To Buy More Guns!

The U. S. congress is up in arms over the notion that terrorist suspects might be prohibited from buying guns and explosives. Some one in congress had the audacity to suggest that perhaps persons listed on the terrorist watch list should not be allowed to purchase guns, ammo, and explosives. Ouch!

Isn't it enough that we prohibit these folks from boarding planes? Why on earth would we want to stop them from buying guns and bullets and bomb making material? Just think of how that would utterly destroy an American's right to bear arms!

Everyone should have the right to buy guns and ammo and bomb making materials. In fact everyone ought to be required to do so. Our basements and attics and the trunks of our cars should be loaded with these items. Our five-year-olds should be openly carrying on the school bus. Teachers should have at least three concealed weapons in the classroom. And every congressman should be issued a bazooka when entering the halls of congress. Clearly, our founding fathers intended such behavior, expected it, demanded it.

NEXT: An in depth discussion on the proper way to discuss with your children how to sleep with their guns; focus will be on the acceptable missionary position.

(See Gail Collins' op-ed: "Congress, Up in Arms.")

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Saturday, May 01, 2010

Goldman Sachs: Less Trustworthy Than a Used Car Salesman

Last night Charlie Rose interviewed Lloyd Blankfein, CEO and Chairman of Goldman Sachs. At one point Rose asked Blankfein if Goldman Sachs had any obligation to inform customers if the products they were selling them were worthless or of significantly lower value than they were paying for them.

Blankfein replied, "No."

Rose appeared dumbfounded, but he continued to press in his lawyer trained manner, but he did miss the easy question, the one I was screaming at the TV:

"So, if you were selling cars off a used car lot, and a customer came in and pointed out a Chevy and said I really want that car and I don't want to hassle. I'll pay book value in cash right here and now, and you, Lloyd Blankfein, knew the car was a lemon, had serious problems that would require major investments to put into proper working order, and you were already willing to accept less than half the price for the car, in fact had intended all along to haul it to the junk yard and sell it for scrap, that you would go ahead and sell this poor, unsuspected customer the car for the price he was offering?"

Now that's the question he should have asked Goldman Sachs' CEO. If you buy something through this company, you'd better thoroughly investigate what your purchasing. And while you're at it, look around and see if you can invest through a different marketer. These people will sell you the air in a plastic bag, and charge you extra for the bag.

NOTE: I own a Chevy, and I'm very happy with it.

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