Poor Career Choices

As a native Californian, I am appalled that my career counselor at high school did not inform me of the lucrative careers and pensions available working for the State or local government.

Bruce Malkenhorst, a city of Vernon retiree with a $499,675 annual pension.

The San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District chief, Craig Bowen, retired last December at age 51 with an annual salary of about $221,000 a year. His annual pension is $284,000.

The Moraga Orinda Fire District chief, Peter Nowicki, turned a $185,000 annual salary into a $241,000 yearly pension at age 50. Then Nowicki went back to work for the district on a five-month contract at $176,000 a year, collected on top of his pension.

In retrospect, I should have worked either in finance or the fire department.

Yahoo Headline

Oklahoma City police investigate Jessica Alba link to vandalism

I so want to click the link and learn more.

But I must resist.

Maybe a simple google image search for Jessica Alba would be a compromise?

Testing Astrology

Normally I do not read my horoscope, but today at McD's I read the Taiwan News and I stopped at the horoscope section to see the day's fate.

To paraphrase the horoscope, it says I am going to be really enthusiastic today.

Huh? I woke up in a mood from lack of sleep, weird dreams, business stress, moving stress, and (possibly the kicker) sleeping on a tile floor for a week anything but enthusiastic. Then I had to drive around and go to see my new Taiwan living quarters which make a Turkish prison look like a Martha Stewart creation. 

Now, all this was before Noon. So, maybe the rest of the day can act as a pseudo-scientific test (random sample of 1) for Astrology. Just as fire fights fire, pseudoscience can fight pseudoscience. 

So, far I have taken a long nap (again on the tile floor)  and canceled a business trip. I am about to go download some files in the bathroom (phrase copyright IJ) and then waste some more time before going to a KTV tonight for a friend's birthday.

I see little chance for extreme enthusiasm to break out, but since beer will drunk at the KTV, there is still hope for Astrology.

Yahoo Headlines

People choose news that fits their pre-existing views, study finds

I pretty much already knew that, though.

Errata

1. When should I sell off my stocks? The bear market rally has to end pretty soon.

2. Michelle Obama & Sarkozy's Franco-Italo Wife-Mistress

You know the First Lady could kick the shit out of that smug Eurotrash bitch.

Maybe smack her with a designed in the USA Coach handbag. They hold up better than Gucci.

USA! USA! USA!

Update: 

Okay,I assume these sorts of photos are just cherry picked from 1,000s taken, to show people in either a good, bad, or humorous light.

But looking at this again, I really get a vibe that says "BALEFUL." Barack and brood better be getting their homework done, making their beds, and taking out the trash, too. I know I would.

CT-Fucking-PAT 2

The form I filled out this time asked different questions.

Like if your employees were drug tested.

They also asked a lot about computer security procedures. 

Must be worried about cyber attacks being launched by stoner employees who don't have photo ID badges.

Update on Ethnic Quotas

Apparently not all Asians get the best deals form affirmative action...if you're Chinese, Taiwanese, or Korean it does not help much and might actually harm your chances for UC Berkely.

So, my kid is now a "gender-role challenged Pacific Islander"

gender-role challenged = tom boy

Pacific Islander = Taiwanese

but it sounds pretty oppressed, right?

Karl asked if people from Spain are considered Hispanic. 

According to the State of New York, they are not considered Hispanic for Affirmative Action purposes.

Other says yes. Others say Hispanic also includes Portgual, which would be inconvenient for Judge Sotomayor as Cardozo then gets "first Hispanic" laurels.

I probably should have used the word Latino instead to describe people who have some percentage of evil honky conquistador genes and some percentage of good, nuturing, peace-loving Aztec genes.

Then again, I suppose a Hispanic from Spain could have a genetic background as follows:

20% Indigneous Iberian

20% Ibero-Celtic

20% Carthago-Phonecian

20% Roman

20% Moor

Now, at least some part of that mix is white oppressorish, so I am just saying that they are as conflicated as our 1/8 Cherokee friend.

p.s. Some of those ethnicities are kind of made up based on Rome Total War.

p.s.s. I remember Laura Gomez, my shift manager at Taco Bell. She was a very, very hot blue-eyed blonde haired Hispanic, and she could have my "affirmative action" anytime she wanted.

CT-fucking-PAT

Yes, yes, yes we goddam lock up the factory at night.

Some old dude named Mr. Chen is fucking in charge of that shit.

Yes, he also changes the batteries in the burglar alarms at regular intervals.

I guess. Because I am not really going to spend 5 hours on this little list of check boxes.

Breathe deeply. Breathe deeply. Breathe deeply.

95% of CTPAT is common sense stuff that any owner of a factory will do on their own because they don't want their inventory or equipment stolen. Maybe its just the cynic in me, but I suspect the natural avarice of capitalists is a stronger incentive than any concern for stopping terrorism. (Though, if you paid a bad man enough, they'd probably give you a key to that CPAT approved gate anyways.)

5% of CTPAT might be useful to teach companies to watch the empty container and how the container could be used for smuggling contraband, not just nukes.

Actuarially speaking, the amount of time spent waiting in lines, or filling out CTPAT forms might very well outweigh the lifetimes lost by actual terrorist acts.

Question

Do you think it would be easier to turn around a car company like GM or to take over the healthcare system and lower costs?

Errata

1. Applying lessons from the finance system's trouble to other areas...

Too big to fail, in retail, would that be Wal-Mart?

2. Skeptical on Green Jobs

We're being promised green jobs making windmills* or solar power equipment, but I bet those jobs end up in China and instead the only jobs in the USA will be the warehouse forklift guys and the installers. Anecdotal evidence is that the Chinese already make solar panels, and sell most of them to Germany where they are heavily subsidized.

It is especially wrong-headed to have a cap & trade or carbon tax that is based only on domestic production - you essentially give yet another cost advantage to China and friends - instead of on consumption and have it apply to imports as well as domestic products. 

I anticipate a WTO challenge to this, but since Value Added Taxes are already applied to imports and rebated for exports, I see no reason a carbon tax could not be done similarly. 

This also elminates the free-rider problem where you could end up with all carbon emissions simply being transferred from the USA to China and India - not exactly the goal of these policies I think.

*Just read some Danish company (Vestas?) is investing billions in windmill factories in Colorado, so maybe there will be jobs. I'm curious how well they do versus the Indian companies that also make windmilss - maybe the quality issue will make them competitive.