Random Thoughts - 1/30

Taco Bell’s got a “new” breakfast menu out and by “new” they mean re-introduced from some time in the past. From a look of the menu, other than a couple new items there’s a lot in there similar to what once was. Apparently this new menu was five years in the making. Yikes. Nexus, with the best fried chicken in Albuquerque has been in existence for almost a year, doubt they were planning six years ago.

Is there some kind of definable neurosis for the apparent anxiety many drivers exhibit as they approach a freeway exit? Is it that if they don’t immediately enter the exit lane once it’s there they think they’ll miss it or something? This neurosis seems to disable the ability of some drivers to either look behind them or use their mirrors. A couple of examples in Albuquerque include the 1-25 southbound Comanche exit and the I-40 eastbound Carlisle exit. There’s plenty of road for successful merges yet some paranoid drivers ignore whatever’s coming from the freeway entrance lane to make the exit prematurely.

What to do about a co-worker with strange habits? The person in the office next to mine likes bananas, which isn’t all that strange. However, whenever he finishes one he strolls into my office to share some inanity in a few words and then discard the expired skin into my trash bin. It’s really weird. When I consume anything in my office I don’t even dump it in my own trash but walk to the kitchen area to get rid of it. I’m left wondering what would constitute proper retribution.

Every time that I pass a cyclist on any road I analyze whether or not I would ride it. There was some consternation in the city recently because of a short section of a shoulder-less single lane road populated by industrial vehicles and with no lamp coverage being closed to cyclists. This road happens to run parallel to a dedicated bicycle trail. A trail I personally take nearly every morning as part of my morning commute during warmer months. Some cyclists don’t like trails and the law does open up the road to cyclists the same as motor vehicles. Riding on a demonstrably unsafe road because of dissatisfaction with a perfectly ride-able trail, for whatever reason, just isn’t wise.

Again, with the Licenses?

It’s simply impossible to ever know what is in someone’s mind and for that reason it’s lamentable that our society seems to have embraced the impossible, good intentions. This embrace of the unknowable no matter the results is often paired with some who go past assuming to flat out stating the ill intentions of those that dare disagree with their positions.

This morning’s Albuquerque Journal published an opinion piece by a local resident stating that providing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants would increase safety on our road ways and unequivocally stated that those who oppose the act do so for reasons of prejudice. While it is a laudable goal to increase the safety of our roadways there is simply no way to prove that providing credentials to those in our state in contradiction to the law will do such a thing. And, it is not prejudicial to deny the rights of a citizen to a non-citizen. There are majorities of New Mexicans whom oppose the practice for any number of reasons and the federal government has passed yet to be enforced laws that render New Mexico licenses useless as a valid form of ID for federal purposes as a result of the practice.

Arguing on the side of unprovable good intentions while making judgmental statements that slander any opposing views is a definitive sign of a poor argument and the last resort of the desperate attempting to defend an illegal act. Today, a committee in the state legislature voted down a proposal along party lines to curb providing licenses to illegal immigrants. The lesson that New Mexicans can take from this, if it is indeed the desire of the populace to end this policy, is to elect legislators who will act on the will of the people and established law.

A Goalie's Blown Up Statement

Recent gossip has it that the goalie from the Boston Bruins hockey team, the one that refused to join his teammates at the White House because of his issues with the federal government, may be on his way out of a job. There have been several examples of players/staff of championship teams not visiting the White House, some state their reasons. The goalie’s was simply put and he stated that his stance wasn’t political, by which he seemingly meant that his specific objections were not aligned with a specific political party, because his reasons for not attending could be considered aligned with his own political beliefs. Opinions on his statement were all over the place, some in support and others not so much. One commentator made the point that the goalie stating his right as a free citizen to not attend was dipping into scary libertarian ideals aligned with Ron Paul. That’s a lot to read into two words. This person is a free citizen and doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to. Some opined that the event at the White House is apolitical and because it’s tradition the player was somehow betraying his teammates by not going. This is silly, EVERYTHING involving the White House is political in every way and hanging out with teammates may be nice but in the end the only time in which it really matters is within real, actual team activities like you know games, practices and meetings. It seems that one’s opinion on the issue depends on their level of personal interest in the statement and reflects more on the commenter’s beliefs than this goalie’s. It’s too bad if this incident, which really doesn’t matter, leads to the player losing his current job but as the most valuable player from last season’s Stanley cup series he’s likely to find another soon enough.

Dispatch from an Alternate Universe

That was quite a stump speech by that candidate, what’s his name, last night. I feel sorry for the incumbent, it can’t be easy to be them with this dude coming at him, full of righteous indignation about all those evils and what not. And, in front of such a fancy audience in a fancy venue to boot, makes him look kinda Presidential. All this not playing by the same rules and stuff, someone should really do something about that, it’s good that there’s someone able to tell us that some people don’t follow the rules, I’m sure he could do something about that, instead of allowing lawlessness to prevail under the current administration. How horrible is it that there are so many people barely getting by nowadays, being robbed by fat cats, I can’t believe that no one has ever done anything ever for anyone in that situation. We really should consider this guy, I didn’t catch the resume or anything but I think he must be the CEO of Ford, General Motors and Chrysler based on what he said, I didn’t even realize that they all merged. Someone with that kind of success really understands the evils of bailouts for failing companies, able to build the fast growing, largest and most innovative companies in the world. Oh, and alternative energy, how brilliant! Why aren’t those companies building these solutions and why isn’t the government investing in such things? Surely if that were done then we’d be literally swimming in alternative methods of powering things and stuff. And on the economy, this country, being really young must determine an economic system of some kind like he said, you know, one that will last and be fair and stuff. Wait, what?

State of the Same Old...

In his state of the union address last night the President stated:

"We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by. Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. What's at stake are not Democratic values or Republican values, but American values. We have to reclaim them."

The President then went on to outline democrat style government expansion proposals by which these American values could then supposedly be reclaimed. The two biggest questions to my mind are, if everyone doesn’t play by the same set of rules, whom exactly is to blame, who is it that makes these ‘rules’? And, if there is a growing disparity in the outcomes of Americans, defined as ‘really well’ or as ‘barely get by’, why haven’t increases in government spending over the last three years done anything about it?

And it’s not just the last three years. For more than one hundred years the government has fiddled with regulations, the rules, and has introduced many programs supposedly designed to decrease disparities in economic outcome and yet the President, hardly for the first time, decries ‘rules’ and disparities and suggests what exactly? That we need more government ‘rules’ and government programs that, by not succeeding in stated aims, have failed time and again over many years.

If an observation were made without knowing the players of our country’s economic system, and the increase in government programs and rules as the input were to equal increased problems, not less, what would a reasonable conclusion be?

Weird from Baseball

Fausto Carmona has pitched in Major League Baseball since 2006. In 2012 comes the stupefying news that:

… Carmona made a tearful apology Friday as he was released following his arrest for allegedly using a false identity to play baseball in the U.S. … the athlete's real name is Roberto Hernandez Heredia and … he is 31, three years older than he had claimed. …

What in the world? Imagine the story leading to this. Imagine all of the questions that will be left on the table following that story. That any person could live for an extended length of time under an assumed identity is difficult to comprehend. That a once Cy Young award candidate playing for the Cleveland Indians could live under an assumed identity for nearly half a decade, the second half of the first decade of the 21^st century, is absolutely astonishing. There have been more than a few instances of players in several major United States sports leagues found to have falsified their age, which I don’t even consider to be much to do as MLB isn’t little league and if with age comes decreased capabilities it’ll show and that point comes at different times for everybody. I have never ever heard of an athlete in a major sport who falsified their identity, and yet ‘Carmona’ is:

… the second Dominican player arrested in recent months for using a false identity. …

Very strange. Hopefully these gentleman have non-immoral reasons for their shenanigans, I bet that whatever the story turns out to be, it would make a great movie.

A Farewell to the Broncos' Season

Following a drubbing inspiring an averted gaze, the Denver Broncos 2011 season ended. Broncos’ fans should consider the season a success after the team not just made it to the playoffs but also won a game there. Losing 45-10 in a divisional playoff game does sting but fans of a team that experienced Super Bowl losses of 19, 32 and 45(!) points before that extraordinary afternoon of the 25^th of January, 1998 don’t abandon following one bad game. On to next season!

Following the season, Broncos’ Executive Vice President of Football Operations John Elway had a press conference and named Tim Tebow starting quarterback for next season’s training camp. This news caused consternation in the division of the sporting press who seem to believe that Elway doesn’t want Tebow to be the Broncos’ quarterback, faulting the announcement for lacking support. It’s not clear exactly what Elway would have to do to demonstrate enough commitment to satisfy that crowd. Perhaps he could show up in a number 15 jersey and breathlessly declare allegiance to Tebow in poetry. Of course that wouldn’t change anything and so long as a simplistic cadre of journalists insist on finding a villain, Elway will continue in that role, in effect taking heat off the soon to be third year, 24 year old Tebow. And, since Elway has nothing to prove he’ll be just fine.

There are only three games left in the NFL season. It’s too soon. Go Broncos.

In Praise of Humdrum

I’m not necessarily decided with regard to the winnowing Republican presidential field but it’s getting close and hopefully, by the time the primary makes its way to New Mexico there will be at least a couple candidates that aren’t Ron Paul to choose from including Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. I don’t necessarily mind Newt Gingrich but I’m just not inclined to vote for him over the others mentioned. Part of my inclination has to do with a quality that no one would accuse Gingrich of and is offered as a fault of Romney and Santorum; they’re boring. What a dumb and misguided criticism!

That’s right; I believe that it is imperative of our country to elect a boring President. President Obama was elected in part because of his ability to stir emotions based on his speaking style. And what good has the ability to deliver cheap words in copious volume served the current President and our country? My take from the President’s re-election campaign focus on an imaginary averted depression, political opponents and his predecessor to explain economic conditions illustrates that those cheap words haven’t done much.

It does no good for the country that the President can cause fainting and inspire groupies because fan boys have a terrible track record of thinking objectively because of their devotion. I prefer a President that forces voters to consider their actual records and the substance behind their words because that substance is a much better indicator of leadership than the ability to bring the shallow to tears with meaningless drivel. As a matter of fact, I prefer a President I don’t like for some reasons, so long as those reasons don’t matter or make it into legislation.

Caricature as Economics

How economically illiterate has discourse in this country become that the premise of dismantling a company leads to enrichment is commonly accepted? That ostensively Republican candidates for President have taken to accusing another candidate of purposefully doing so while democrats go further by painting that candidate as gleeful in doing so with little retort is simply mind blowing. Many entities have attempted to explain many things over the last several days to include what Bain capital is, what they do and what the record of the firm was in regard to that type of business when Mitt Romney was there; alas it seems to be in vain as myth and delusion persist.

How greedy and envious has populist sentiment become that many willingly believe that there is actually companies that exist to take over other companies for the express purpose of closing them to destroy jobs and that there is tremendous profit to be had in that business? What explanation is there that can explain the notion that there is any money to be made in purposefully firing people?

Certainly there are people who have lost jobs as the result of a leveraged buyout or merger where the new owner made a business decision to eliminate some portion of the existing business and to them there is actual suffering because it is personal to them. This doesn’t mean that they lost their jobs as the result of a heartless corporate raider able to somehow profit by eliminating jobs. In a free market with consumers making decisions there is no guarantee that a job will last forever and companies do not exist for the purposes of providing jobs. A bought out firm may have been in a near bankrupt state before the buyout. A company may have a technology sought after by the new owner and excess capacity for manufacturing or capabilities redundant to that new owner leading to cuts. It’s not right, it’s not wrong and it’s neither fair nor unfair, it is what is in a free market capitalist economy that is more successful than any other kind of economic arrangement ever tried on a large scale encompassing millions of people in the history of the world.

The simplistic characterizations of the free market system only serve politics while dumbing down understanding of the real world. Yes, there are criminals in the world of finance. They are caught and punished for attempting to circumvent the free market. Gordon Gecko is a fictional character.