There is nothing wrong with the Economy

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While politicians in Washington are wringing their hands, lamenting the loss of jobs, the lack of hiring, and the generally anaemic economy, and just the whiff of a job fair draws thousands of job seekers, there are companies, in fact, several companies, that cannot find an employee to fill their open job postings.  In fact there are so few people to fill the job requirements that those companies are looking outside the borders of the United States for qualified individuals.

If you think I am making this up, you are not paying attention.

There is nothing wrong with the economy.  It is working quite well.  What is wrong is a two-fold failure of education and basic principles.  The failure of basic principles is pretty straight forward.  Most of the jobs that are available are those that are not located near where the work force is because those companies have set up in places that are economically beneficial for them, but lack the basic necessities, like a trained labour force, necessary to make them run.  This is the case with Siemens for example, who has plenty of work for labourer who have a modicum of intelligence.  As covered on 60 Minutes recently, Siemens cannot hire enough people who are capable of passing their tests.  What sort of tests.  Basic hand-eye coordination and entry level math necessary to operate their systems.  Wrench turners of the 21st Century essentially.  But it is not enough just to be able to turn a wrench.  You have to know a little math to turn the wrench.  Basic stuff, not applied calculus.  Yet Siemens cannot find employees that can do it.  And if you have been in a retail store lately, you will not be surprised by this statement.

Which brings me to the second problem, education.  The United States no longer educates the best and the brightest.  In fact, it is getting worse.  School districts cannot even send home paperwork that passes the logic test, begging the question of just what are they teaching our children.  But it is more than education at the elementary level.  It is also at the University level.  Current graduates do not seem to have the basic understandings needed to even compete in the business world, much less be successful.  They are unable to form complete sentences, their communication skills are lacking any depth of thought, and their attention to detail is lacking.  And it is a wonder why they are losing out to candidates whose first language is not even English?!

The economy is working just fine.  Oh there are areas where companies can improve things.   Increase vacations to keep people from burning out and actually costing more for health care is a good one.  Recognize that they are people and not just cogs in the machine and therefore replaceable.  Encourage useful training and interactions with peers for the sake of improving the business.  Forget about the quarter-over-quarter return model and actually focus on building a quality product, knowing that the business cycles will go up and they will go down, but a quality product is always in demand.

But in large part the changes that need to be made are more systemic.  And in that regard, the Nation is well and truly broken.

…Or the Terrorists Win

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On the cover of McPaper this morning, the headline screamed ...Or the Terrorists Win.  Now I am not 100% sure what exactly the article was about, I only caught the flashy title.  But on seeing this, I only had one thought...

The terrorists have already won.

Let me say that again.  The terrorists have already won.  Plain and simple.  In the blink of an eye, Americans have given up rights and privileges in the name of security, driven themselves almost to bankruptcy in the name of security, and cower under the blankets, all on the off chance they too become victims of terrorism.

This is not the first time I have covered this, but certainly, on the eve of the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, it is a good time to look at what those attacks have wrought.  Contrary to popular thought, September 11, 2001 was not the first act of terrorism on American soil.  Contrary to popular thought, it was not the first act of terrorism in the world.  Only the latest (at the time) and certainly not the last.  But instead of looking to how other countries have coped (or not) with terrorism, the United States, because that is the way they roll, went their own route.  They bombed uninvolved countries, threw money at cities for security and introduced legislation stripping away the rights guaranteed under the Constitution, turning it from the law of the land into little more than a set of guidelines you might want to follow if they are not too inconvenient.

Welcome to 2011.  The foreign press have been doing a number of articles about how the United States has changed and what sort of progress has been made since 2001.  What is funny is that it is the foreign press doing these investigations because it is not something the domestic press would ever do.  To question the progress made is seen as unpatriotic as asking why the government wants us to take off our shoes when we go through security at the airport even though drug smugglers seem to have no issues using airplanes to move their product, even in these high security days.  One of the most amazing facts, besides the almost completely ineffective airport security, is the amount of money thrown at cities and counties and states for the purchase of things that will help deter, defer or prepare for a terrorist attack.  Most of the money has been wasted, for lack of a better term.  Equipment sits unused in warehouses because the people are not trained on how to use it, foodstuff are rotting, forgotten on shelves, rather than rotated properly, and the average population is no more ready for a terrorist attack in 2011 than they were in 2001 as illustrated by something as simple as a heavy rain, the result of the remnants of a hurricane.  If we are not prepared for what Mother Nature throws at us, how can we say we are prepared for a terrorist action?

And then there are the deaths.  Sure, it makes news when a large number of people die.  Just look at the news that is made when there is a car crash.  Oh, wait.  That is not news.  And that is the point.  More people die in traffic accidents in the United States every month than have died in terrorist actions in the world over the last generation.  Heck, more people die of heart disease and smoking in a year than have died in all the terrorist actions ever.  And yet we are more worried about preventing a terrorist action than we are about wrapping our cars around a telephone pole, smoking, or gun related deaths.  One wonders just how skewed the priorities are.

The United States has spent billions of dollars fighting terrorism, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Meanwhile the infrastructure is crumbling, the Government is on the verge of bankruptcy, and the population is getting older, which will further strain already stressed services.  You cannot kill an ...ism.  You cannot defeat terrorism.  You can only be vigilant.  But vigilance must be balanced by rational risk assessments.  Hopefully, as we cross the 10 year mark, some rational risk assessment will be imposed, but I am not hopeful...not by a long shot.

Katerina’s Greek Cuisine – Manassas

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I am not what you could describe as an adventurous eater.  In fact, for most of my formative years, I considered lettuce to be a food stuff to be avoided.  Garlic?  Ha!  Would not touch the stuff.  Now part of that is the environment I grew up in and certainly at school I was not exposed to things that generally are considered flavourful.  But thanks to a friend, I was introduced to Greek food (specifically gyros) before I learned about a taco (no, I am not kidding).  Since then I have forced myself to try new and different foods.  I am still not hot on things like eggplant and you can keep your broccoli, even if it is covered in soy sauce.  But I still like a good gyro, and I am generally willing to dive into most Greek foods.

So, this weekend, as part of our no chicken fingers pledge while the Elf is at camp, we went to dinner at a new Greek restaurant in Manassas called Katerina's Greek Cuisine.  Now we like to patronize our local restaurants. Most are family run, tasty and offer a good deal and Katerina's is certainly a fit in all three.  The portions were healthy and we left after three courses for under $50.  Of course, that was without wine (they are still waiting their ABC permit) and as you know we both like wine.  I am hoping they have a good selection of Greek wine when they finally get their license.

It was a wonderful dinner.  We started with Saganaki, which is Kaseri cheese flambéed at the table, and it was very tasty - you squeeze some lemon juice on it which really makes wonderful.  I had a gyro platter with lamb (it is the only time I will eat lamb) and found out that pork is the traditional Greek way of making a gyro and the chef graciously gave me a small sample of it.  It is very different if you are used to the lamb version.  The pork was light and floral rather than the spicy lamb I am used to and I will certainly give a try next time around.  My wife had a selection of spreads, and other than the hummus, I cannot tell you what they were, other than very tasty as well.  One of the ones we had was lots of feta, garlic, some sun roasted tomatoes and a couple of other things tossed it - it was very tasty and our favourite of the bunch.  We wanted the rice pudding for dessert, but they were out, so we had the Galaktoboureko –  a creamy baked custard and filo dough drenched in lemon & orange infused syrup. I highly recommend it!

I give it five stars.  The food is good, the atmosphere is friendly and you want to go early, because it only has a handful of tables and when we left at 6:30, it was already full.

Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam.

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I have a number of email accounts.  Some for work, some for play, some for junk and some for testing.  Of all of these accounts, I only pay for two.  One from my ISP and one from 1 & 1, which is where this blog is hosted, along with another site I maintain.  This morning I got an interesting email, supposedly from 1&1 (it isn't) and I though I would highlight this to those of you are less savvy about tech.  This is a hoax - do not get burned.

The email reads:

THIS MESSAGE IS FROM OUR TECHNICAL SUPPORT TEAM This message is sent automatically by the computer. If you are receiving this message it means that your email address has been queued for deactivation; this was as a result of a continuous error script (code:505)receiving from this email address. Click here and fill out the required field to resolve this problem

Note: Failure to reset your email by ignoring this message or inputting wrong information will result to instant deactivation of this email address

I have removed the link.  The one I got is supposedly from the tk TLD, and Wikipedia says, based on research from McAfee, that the  .tk domains were twice as likely as the global average to be used for "unwanted behaviors."  

So, like most email, if you are not expecting it, do not click on it.  If you think it is legitimate, then contact the provider directly, using another method.  In most cases however, despite the dire warning, you can hit delete without concern.  Which is what I am going to do, now that I have documented it for you.

Technical Note: The 505 error means the Web server (running the Web site) does not support, or refuses to support, the HTTP protocol version specified by the client (e.g. your Web browser or our CheckUpDown robot) in the HTTP request data stream sent to the server.

The U.S. Needs to Pay Attention

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Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is set to announce a new cabinet in a concessionary move as he seeks support for new austerity measures. (BBC)

There are two events in the world right now that the citizens of the United States should pay very close attention to.  First, Europe, currently in the manifestation of the riots in Greece.

Second, Canada, where the idea of what is essential seems skewed.

Let us start in Greece, where, along with Portugal, Spain and Ireland, is on the verge of not only bankruptcy, but defaulting on its loans.  When you or I default, those holding the paper get something back.  Car, house, first born child.  But when a country defaults, it is not like the movers come in and scoop up the Parthenon.  It is worse.  For starters, everything the Greek government does, such as paying for...oh, wait, it has no money, it cannot pay for things, like roads, or salaries, or pensions.  Then there are those left holding the bag.  I can assure you that includes you and me in this case.  Banks will take significant losses, similar to those of the housing crash in late 2007, early 2008.  Stocks and bonds could become worthless, the Euro, the US dollar and the Yen will be impacted, causing prices to go up, most likely, and that could start the cycle of another recession - or re-entrench us in the one that we are still, for all practical purposes, in.

But why should the U.S. pay attention?  For a couple of reasons.  First, like Greece, there are a number of very large, very financially shaky pension funds that need to be addressed.  The most recent one is a result of the cancelling of the  Space Shuttle program.  The US government, in the form of NASA is on the hook to fund that fund.  But it is not the only one.   Second, the United States is currently taking in much less money, in the form of taxes, than it need to just keep its head above water and pay back the interest on the debt, much less start paying down the principle.  Finally, there is an increasingly large, disassociated middle class that is looking for an excuse to create havoc or take back the country as the Tea Party people would have us believe.

Sadly, there are even fewer solutions.  Raising income taxes is not going to be well received when most people are having trouble making ends meet, and raising corporate taxes, while a viable solution, is also not seen a something that is politically smart.  Couple this with an increasingly elderly population, who cannot afford their medical costs, a new population of elderly that have no pensions, or means and a society that has very little in terms of long term savings, and you are looking at a very grim situation.

And then there are those who hold the paper.  Countries like China and Saudi Arabia.  What sort of terms do you think they might be willing to negotiate to keep from foreclosing?  I can assure you they will not be favourable to the United States.

Meanwhile, north of the border there are two interesting strikes going on.  One, CUPW (the Canadian Union of Postal Workers) have been staging rolling strikes over...pension benefits (I detect a theme).  So Canada Post, in an effort to mitigate the situation and take control has locked them out.  Yes, that is correct.  They have locked out the postal workers.  Currently no mail is being delivered in Canada.  But as strange as that sounds, it is not as strange as Air Canada's situation.  The employees at Air Canada went on strike (over ... you guessed it...pensions) and in less than twelve hours later had been ordered back to work by the Federal Government.  And yet the post offices remain closed.

Unions are getting a very bad name, both in the United States and in the formerly union friendly Great White North because most people, not in the union, see them as little more than squabbling children, fighting for an entitlement that most of the citizenry does not have.  And that is why the United States needs to be paying particular attention.  The unions in the US still have some weight, but they also have huge pension funds - and not all of them are healthy.  And you can be sure some of them are carrying not only US debt, but European debt as well.  If Greece falls, we could be plunged into a very long, very deep depression.

It is really time for the politicians on both sides of the border to stop playing politics and start making the hard choices.  There are several programs and projects that can be cut, either to reduce spending or to redirect funds to other, more critical needs.  But this is not the time to be cutting safety net programs.  The writing is on the wall, these programs will be needed sooner, rather than later.  If the number of unrepresented unemployed is any indication, there are far more Americans out of work, than are being reported.  And that is a very, very, scary statistic.  Just look at what idle hands are doing in the Middle East.

A Key Influencer?

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I am all for self-promotion.  After all, if you don't promote yourself, no one will.  But along those lines, there are certain terms and phrases that generally you need to have given to you.  If I were to say I was famous, most of you would laugh at me.  I am not famous by any measure of success.  I might be known, or well known, within certain spheres for this or that, but I am not famous.

Which brings me to this morning's email.  I was pinged by someone who wanted to follow my defunct twitter feed.  It still amazes me how many people want to follow my twitter feed, considering I haven't posted anything is quite some time, and officially closed the site more than a year ago.  So imagine my surprise when this individual's bio included the words "a key influencer."

A what?  Key influencer of what?  Could you maybe influence my budget?  No?  How about getting me more people to help with the sesquicentennial?   Could you influence the vendors I deal with to cut me a break on costs?  Yes, I didn't think so.  So tell me again how you can be a "key influencer?"  You might just as well call yourself God for all the influence you have.

Many will argue that social media is the way of the future.  I am not sure that this is the case.  To me social media is another way of saying mass marketing disguised as personal recommendations for a product.  After all, those have always been the best marketing tools, but to describe yourself as a key influencer, when 1) I have never heard of you (35,000 twitter fans is not a market base) and 2) You cannot influence those things that are important to me, is a little grandiose and well, self aggrandizing. I might just as well say I am famous.  It garners the same reaction.

Tell me they are not gouging

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Unless you live and work in the same building, or are independently wealthy, you cannot help but notice that the price of gas has gone up significantly in the last couple of weeks, even more so than during the unrest in Middle East, or even during the initial invasions of Iraq in 2003.

The experts are saying it is an issue of demand.  Drivers are demanding more gas.  And yet other experts, pointing to increased use of fuel efficient vehicles and radical changes in driving patterns in general say it is speculators driving up the price.  But who is speculating and what are they speculating on?

Recent reports have the price of oil dropping through $90 a barrel, normally the main driver of high gas prices.  In fact, oil has not exceeded $100 a barrel since the unrest in Libya began.  Other commodity items are similarly declining.  So who is speculating?

It will not come as a surprise that the oil companies themselves are already out in front of this with advertisements that portray them as the good guys, investing in new technologies, communities, and mom and apple pie. Yet it will not come as a surprise when they announce yet new record profits at the end of the quarter, driven by gas prices over $4 a gallon.  And yet no one can prove they are gouging, or price fixing, despite every station having the same price, and moving in lockstep when the new truck load arrives.

Clearly the United States needs to find a solution to the problem.  But the average American does not have the ability to cut back much more because of the poor design and zoning decisions that have been made over the last 100 years.  Most people cannot afford to live where they work, nor are they in control of the traffic that they have to wrestle with on a daily basis.  So until I see some real change, I cannot think that the oil companies are doing anything but gouging.  And I will not easily change my mind on this.

April 26, 102 Pages

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ScriptFrenzy WinnerApril has come and gone (almost) and like last year, I threw myself into Script Frenzy!  This is the second year I have done this and I must be crazy.

The goal is to write 100 pages of original scripted material, such as a screen play, stage play, graphic novels in 30 days.  If you think you would like to write the next great Insert your country here Novel, then you need to wait for November, when NaNoWriMo kicks in.  I have done that too.  Last year was not quite as successful as the year before, but stuff got in the way.

This time, though, I promised myself that I would get it done before the deadline.  And I almost did not make it.  Disasters at work distracted me.  Not really having an idea for the script derailed the first couple of days of writing and then having something crop up just as it looked like there were a few extra days in the month actually reduced my writing time by about 10 days to a little over 20.  Now last year, in less than fifteen days, I pumped out 106 pages without breaking a sweat and probably could have done another thirty.  This time I struggled to get to 102 and I am not finished with the story.  What does it always work out that way?

I am going to chalk it up to the creative process and leave well enough alone.  I will probably come back and finish it - if I can find the time, but for now, it is enough to know that I made 100 pages, with a fairly coherent script, and even if the plot wobbles a bit, I am happy with what I have accomplished.

Now I can start preparing for November!

Easter Sunday, 20 years later

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One of the many things that surprised me about the United States was its Jekyll and Hyde persona about religion.  Specifically Christmas and Easter.  These are the two most holy days on the Christian liturgical calendar, and yet only Christmas is actually looked at as a secular holiday, meaning that it is a "Holiday" as described by the Department of Labour regulations.

And yet, as a new resident, I found that Easter Sunday gets more respect and acknowledgment than even Independence Day, because on Easter Sunday, everything, and I do mean everything, was closed.  Malls that would not close for a snow storm are closed on Easter Sunday.  Restaurants that are open until all hours of the day and night, were closed on Easter Sunday.  Which I found strange in a nation that has a formal separation of Church and State, and further has no official religion.  What could be more official than the closing of retail to indicate that the United States has an official, if not documented, religion.

Over the last 20 years, I have kvetched about this, especailly as survey after survey shows that few people follow any particular religion and of those that do, the Christians are rapidly becoming the minority.  In fact, if it was not for the influx of so many illegal aliens, Christians would be in the minority.  Yet Easter, Good Friday and Sunday are still holidays even though neither day is officially a recognized holiday.

I am happy to report that things are changing.  Whether it is because people recognize that being closed on what are one of only two real shopping days in the week, or if it is because it is just silly to be closed on a non-holiday, I find that more and more stores are open for business today, and only one regional mall is closed at all.  In fact, it is pretty much a normal Sunday as usual.  Even the amount of Easter finery is absent, so perhaps Easter is finally being relegated to its proper place.  A holy day on the liturgical calendar for those that feel they need religion in their lives.

The last step is to get rid of the holiday lexicon that is wrapped around things like your holiday weather forecast next. It is a weekend people, that's all.  OK, so it is a weekend when I get a little extra sugar.  Now were did I put that chocolate bunny.

Happy Spring!

Well, I suppose it is time.

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For those that have just found me, welcome.  For those who followed me first through RadioUserland and then to Blogger, welcome to the new home.  First, some ground rules so we all understand each other.  This is my place for:

Thoughts, rants and musings on all things of interest, odd, unusual or just plan curious.  Prepare to be challenged, insulted and intrigued.  Remember that "[n]o one has a right not to be criticized or offended." -- Jonathan Rauch as quoted in The Language Police (pg. 161).  Oh, and watch out for the alligator.

If you are easily insulted, feel that the right to free speech should be impinged or feel that being offended offends you, I would suggest you stop reading now.

In general, I believe that religion should be ridiculed, government does some pretty dumb things, and human nature is there for us to mock.  I find labels to be repugnant, but I will still categorize things for my own convenience.

So grab a beverage, strap in, and let's see where this will take us.

For those that would like to look at what has come before, you can find my thoughts on Blogger.