And at various points I wish I was as well.
We're back to a more normal work load at work (which means people are and will be upset that I won't be able to work on their non-billing projects in a speedy fashion). It also means I'm back up over 450 unread blog posts. My lurker-fu powers grow.
Probably not going to get all my research for this weekend done in time. I've been trying to find good references online to review for some of the topics, and it just ain't working so well. Oh google, why do you taunt me so?
Had to say "No" several times in committee meeting tonight. Had an argument over a $100 PO for t-shirts. T-shirts! $100! WTF! (not that the t-shirts are $100s, they're $10 per printed shirt, but that I had to argue about $100) But then came discussions of bigger numbers and projects. When I had to say, "probably not this or next year" I had to remind the person that we just argued about $100 for frickin' t-shirts (and the other money pinching we had to do earlier with a "must have" system). How other municipalities allow themselves to go into the red I just don't understand (I understand how they can, I just don't know how they let themselves get there).
Didn't have time for lunch today (fortunately a vendor brought bagels, felt like a heel taking two), and didn't eat dinner until 9:45pm. Why did I want to do this?
And not getting any writing done. Had a few panic moments this past week about submissions (not having enough, wondering where they are in process, wanting to get a story into WotF contest this year, wondering if the submissions are moldering because of inattention, etc).
At the Doctor's appointment yesterday I was up 1 lb. I blame the "Fall Fest Luncheon" at work on Friday, high calorie low value food which I try to avoid. And Saturday at Mom's ("feed 'em until the pop" is a family motto). Plus didn't evacuate (if you know what I mean) well because of the bad food. That didn't happen until today (thank you very much, stupid intestines).
I plan to take the laptop with me to ConClave and blog about my experience there. So far nobody has volunteered the money for an iTouch, so it's lugging the laptop around (actually, I love my 7-year old laptop).
So, how have you all been?
(::waves at Camille, who I see by the comment emails visited me today::)
Oh, and because I'm thinking about it, the show House? Yeah, doesn't work so well for me. Why? Because as a smart doctor he doesn't know how to use a cane. As someone who has had to walk with one (my broken leg), you do not use the cane on the same side as your bum leg (unless you want more pain and problems). You use it on the opposite side to take the weight off the bum leg. So my suspension of disbelief goes right out the window. I'm very surprised that nobody has pointed this out to the producers and actor.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
The spice must flow
WaMu struck out. In the warm up pen swings Wachovia. Who is going to be left to fund the Sunday Morning Talking Head shows?
Profit is a monthly, quarterly, and yearly benchmark on the progress of a business. The day to day operations, though, survive on cash flow, the regular breathing in and exhalation of cash a business has. Some businesses must balance their books everyday (banks for instance). Some days you're up, some you're down, but in the end you need to be balanced. If you're down you need to borrow money; corporate paper and over night loans. If you're up you can provide those pieces of paper to help balance those who are down. Tomorrow the business that was down maybe up, and vice versa, and the loans go the other way.
The spice must flow.
In the current climate people have been concerned that they wouldn't get paid back on those quick loans. Interest rates go up, what used to be ten minutes of calls to secure debt now takes hours to line up the cash to balance the books. What had people panicky, particularly Hank Paulson, was two weeks ago, corporate paper and over night loans not only became hard to find, they stopped.
The spice did not flow.
Think of it like having a heart attack. Most don't knock you to the ground, most are small, and they build up scar tissue until the big one hits. This was a mild heart attack within the economic system. So you know what that wild eyed look was now, the thought of "will this pass, or should I go to the hospital?" It's always better to go to the hospital. Correcting the problems now can prevent having to have open heart surgery.
There are over a hundred reasons why this happened, but most are focusing on the holdings of "mortgage backed securities." I won't belabor what those are (really, how could you not know by now). However, they aren't the problem, they're the symptom. One way to prevent a heart attack is to thin the blood, and that's what this bail-out package is going to attempt to do. The other real reasons for this problem include businesses unable to fairly asses the value of these pieces of paper (a product of being to smart for your own good) so they can't fairly judge if a company is credit worthy (ie. we'll get our money back), businesses feeling that maybe they should increase their cash positions beyond what is required by law (thanks to deregulation these are very low) so they'll keep more of the upday's flow, lack of oversight to see that the spice is flowing evenly, and a pervasive attitude that "greed is good" (wasn't that so 80s?).
The spice must flow.
Most news organizations played Nancy Pelosi's comments from yesterday. Actually it was Barney Frank that made the case. To sum up what he said, nobody wants to do this, we all agree those on Wall Street need to eat their own dog food, but if there is no action taken this crisis will spread and affect all the tax-payers and middle-class people. Regular businesses will fail from lack of credit, or at the very least be unable to expand (which can lead to failure). Consumers will have to pay much heavier interest rates for loans (remember when home loans were typically above 15%?). We'll all pay the price one way or another. Consumer spending is two-thirds of GNP. If consumers can't spend (ie. run up their credit cards), GNP will crash.
The spice must flow.
As I said way back last year (I think it was last year) to correct this problem and to save the average person, those who were greedy must also be saved. It's not the ideal course of action, but it shows how upside down our economy is. And really, anything that would help Joe Average will trickle up (that's the way the economy really flows, not in a trickle down fashion).
I haven't read the bill, but I am heartened by some of what I hear. Executive pay controlled, golden parachutes nullified (a little late, but what the hell), stock positions in the companies, and the promise of investigations (the FBI is already looking into Fannie, Freddie, and many of the banks) and re-regulation.
All this means that the party isn't so much over, but now that the indigestion has backed up and the partiers had the scare of of a heart attack, we've turned down the music and will more closely watch our intake, maybe stay away from the rumaki . This bail-out plan (I'm sure they'll have a good name for it by tomorrow) is only the taking of a few aspirin, maybe a hit of pepto. It's a start.
The spice must flow.
Edit First try at the bail-out plan fails. Finger pointing ensues. Stock drops over 700 before rebounding to around 500 down (as I type).
The spice may not flow.
Profit is a monthly, quarterly, and yearly benchmark on the progress of a business. The day to day operations, though, survive on cash flow, the regular breathing in and exhalation of cash a business has. Some businesses must balance their books everyday (banks for instance). Some days you're up, some you're down, but in the end you need to be balanced. If you're down you need to borrow money; corporate paper and over night loans. If you're up you can provide those pieces of paper to help balance those who are down. Tomorrow the business that was down maybe up, and vice versa, and the loans go the other way.
The spice must flow.
In the current climate people have been concerned that they wouldn't get paid back on those quick loans. Interest rates go up, what used to be ten minutes of calls to secure debt now takes hours to line up the cash to balance the books. What had people panicky, particularly Hank Paulson, was two weeks ago, corporate paper and over night loans not only became hard to find, they stopped.
The spice did not flow.
Think of it like having a heart attack. Most don't knock you to the ground, most are small, and they build up scar tissue until the big one hits. This was a mild heart attack within the economic system. So you know what that wild eyed look was now, the thought of "will this pass, or should I go to the hospital?" It's always better to go to the hospital. Correcting the problems now can prevent having to have open heart surgery.
There are over a hundred reasons why this happened, but most are focusing on the holdings of "mortgage backed securities." I won't belabor what those are (really, how could you not know by now). However, they aren't the problem, they're the symptom. One way to prevent a heart attack is to thin the blood, and that's what this bail-out package is going to attempt to do. The other real reasons for this problem include businesses unable to fairly asses the value of these pieces of paper (a product of being to smart for your own good) so they can't fairly judge if a company is credit worthy (ie. we'll get our money back), businesses feeling that maybe they should increase their cash positions beyond what is required by law (thanks to deregulation these are very low) so they'll keep more of the upday's flow, lack of oversight to see that the spice is flowing evenly, and a pervasive attitude that "greed is good" (wasn't that so 80s?).
The spice must flow.
Most news organizations played Nancy Pelosi's comments from yesterday. Actually it was Barney Frank that made the case. To sum up what he said, nobody wants to do this, we all agree those on Wall Street need to eat their own dog food, but if there is no action taken this crisis will spread and affect all the tax-payers and middle-class people. Regular businesses will fail from lack of credit, or at the very least be unable to expand (which can lead to failure). Consumers will have to pay much heavier interest rates for loans (remember when home loans were typically above 15%?). We'll all pay the price one way or another. Consumer spending is two-thirds of GNP. If consumers can't spend (ie. run up their credit cards), GNP will crash.
The spice must flow.
As I said way back last year (I think it was last year) to correct this problem and to save the average person, those who were greedy must also be saved. It's not the ideal course of action, but it shows how upside down our economy is. And really, anything that would help Joe Average will trickle up (that's the way the economy really flows, not in a trickle down fashion).
I haven't read the bill, but I am heartened by some of what I hear. Executive pay controlled, golden parachutes nullified (a little late, but what the hell), stock positions in the companies, and the promise of investigations (the FBI is already looking into Fannie, Freddie, and many of the banks) and re-regulation.
All this means that the party isn't so much over, but now that the indigestion has backed up and the partiers had the scare of of a heart attack, we've turned down the music and will more closely watch our intake, maybe stay away from the rumaki . This bail-out plan (I'm sure they'll have a good name for it by tomorrow) is only the taking of a few aspirin, maybe a hit of pepto. It's a start.
The spice must flow.
Edit First try at the bail-out plan fails. Finger pointing ensues. Stock drops over 700 before rebounding to around 500 down (as I type).
The spice may not flow.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
ConClave Schedule
For those of you going to ConClave 33 in Romulus/Detroit next weekend, you'll get a chance to watch me face plant fly strong in my first outing as a panelist. And, apropos of the tradition, my schedule:
Friday:
8pm-9pm Apollo
Fantasy of Mythology with Steven Climer, Ida Briggs, and Dave Klecha. Where we will wax rhapsodic about about more than the Hero's Journey and Celtic influences (hopefully).
Saturday:
10am-11am Atlantis
Writer's Workshop: Open Writer Q&A with M. Keaton, Merrie Haskell, Dave Klecha, Jim Hines, and Ferrel "Rick" Moore. I believe I'm the junior member here, so I'll probably be taking as many notes as I try to regurgitate all the advice I'd ever received. First rule of Write Club, all members must write.
3pm-4pm Atlantis
Authors Who Edit with Christie Halle Devlin, and Ferrel "Rick" Moore. Joining a professional writer's group has been the best thing for my writing. Oh sure, I get good advice from the others, but the most I've learned is from editing others and hearing others critique their works.
4pm-5pm Br8
Gee, I wish I thought of that. Where do writers get their ideas? with Tiffany Aaron, Merrie Haskell, and Daniel J. Hogan. How many ways can you say, "I have no friggin' clue" in an entertaining way? I guess I'll find out. :)
Sunday:
10am-1pm Br7
What?! You don't pick your own cover art? with Michelle Sagara, Tiffany Aaron, Jim Hines, M. Keaton, Daniel J. Hogan, and William Jones. Well, here's where I bring my non-writing talents to bear. First issue, you've sold your book, it isn't solely yours anymore.
3pm-4pm Br7
Dialogue: How to Make Your Characters Talk Like You Do with Tiffany Aaron, Michelle Sagara, Michael LaFlamme, Michael Poe, and Gary Braunbeck. I'm told I give good dialog. Here we'll see how much I can dazzle with fast footwork or baffle them with the other things.
So, there you have it. Come on by and say hello if you're in town. See if I collapse in a ball of quivering jelly by Saturday Night's bar crawl.
Friday:
8pm-9pm Apollo
Fantasy of Mythology with Steven Climer, Ida Briggs, and Dave Klecha. Where we will wax rhapsodic about about more than the Hero's Journey and Celtic influences (hopefully).
Saturday:
10am-11am Atlantis
Writer's Workshop: Open Writer Q&A with M. Keaton, Merrie Haskell, Dave Klecha, Jim Hines, and Ferrel "Rick" Moore. I believe I'm the junior member here, so I'll probably be taking as many notes as I try to regurgitate all the advice I'd ever received. First rule of Write Club, all members must write.
3pm-4pm Atlantis
Authors Who Edit with Christie Halle Devlin, and Ferrel "Rick" Moore. Joining a professional writer's group has been the best thing for my writing. Oh sure, I get good advice from the others, but the most I've learned is from editing others and hearing others critique their works.
4pm-5pm Br8
Gee, I wish I thought of that. Where do writers get their ideas? with Tiffany Aaron, Merrie Haskell, and Daniel J. Hogan. How many ways can you say, "I have no friggin' clue" in an entertaining way? I guess I'll find out. :)
Sunday:
10am-1pm Br7
What?! You don't pick your own cover art? with Michelle Sagara, Tiffany Aaron, Jim Hines, M. Keaton, Daniel J. Hogan, and William Jones. Well, here's where I bring my non-writing talents to bear. First issue, you've sold your book, it isn't solely yours anymore.
3pm-4pm Br7
Dialogue: How to Make Your Characters Talk Like You Do with Tiffany Aaron, Michelle Sagara, Michael LaFlamme, Michael Poe, and Gary Braunbeck. I'm told I give good dialog. Here we'll see how much I can dazzle with fast footwork or baffle them with the other things.
So, there you have it. Come on by and say hello if you're in town. See if I collapse in a ball of quivering jelly by Saturday Night's bar crawl.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Belated Holiday Greetings from the Heart(land)
Some of the many jobs I do are calendars for various organizations. As such, I am a geek for the rather obscure holiday celebrations; National Karaoke Week anybody? (fourth week of April) That's why with much chagrin I must inform you that last Wednesday was National Punctuation Day (tip o' the hat to fathers' day celebrant Dan). So now I know why there's all the commas and interrobangs hanging around. I did notice an uptick in the use of exclamation marks banging all over a number of ad submissions lately.
"Business speak." Really, business people, you all need to learn English and not put four dots for ellipsis and not only is one exclamation point too many, four are right out for business communications and ads).
Anyway, I hope you all had a good one, and I, for one, had been running out of periods and do use comma splicing, and truncated semi-colons (full colons are just messy). Now I have enough periods to stop these out-of-control run-on sentences that have been plaguing my writing with their continuous digressions and sub-clauses which interfere with the proper flow of sentence structure and only serve to distract the reader while being a general nuisance to all and sundry (are we all blue in the face by now?).
And now I present my shout out to Dan. Saturday bang, bang, bang, bang. (Trust me, he's laughing right now).
"Business speak." Really, business people, you all need to learn English and not put four dots for ellipsis and not only is one exclamation point too many, four are right out for business communications and ads).
Anyway, I hope you all had a good one, and I, for one, had been running out of periods and do use comma splicing, and truncated semi-colons (full colons are just messy). Now I have enough periods to stop these out-of-control run-on sentences that have been plaguing my writing with their continuous digressions and sub-clauses which interfere with the proper flow of sentence structure and only serve to distract the reader while being a general nuisance to all and sundry (are we all blue in the face by now?).
And now I present my shout out to Dan. Saturday bang, bang, bang, bang. (Trust me, he's laughing right now).
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept: Ambition should be made of sterner stuff
So, John McCain arrives in Washington just in time to stiffen the Republican backbone and scuttle the deal. Actually, the House and Senate Republican's have finally found a backbone after bootlicking the President and VP for the past 7 years, gee, wonder if that <20% approval rating has anything to do with it, nah, Republicans never abandon the weak and wounded by the side of the road. It must have been the salty taste that turned them off. Great. Now there's a counter plan that includes, wait for it, less regulation and tax-cuts.
I'm sorry, wasn't this a joke on The Colbert Report Wednesday night? Life imitates art. Well, conservatives have been the best thing for stand-up and situation comedy since someone decided that pre-sliced yeast and flour might be a neat thing.
Less regulation and tax-cuts. I'm sorry, aren't we already reaping the whirl-wind? Hello, brain dead party to the right. Your needle is stuck, you keep playing the same track and not moving forward. Instead you're grooving down and destroying not only the vinyl by the needle and player as well.
If I was more cynical I would say that the conservatives, facing a distinct possibility of having their minority position in government erode even further this year are intentionally keeping everybody in Washington instead of campaigning in an attempt to hold ground.
Oh, and John Boehner, yeah, time to smoke more and faster dude, your lungs having filled up with cancer yet. 'tard.
I'm sorry, wasn't this a joke on The Colbert Report Wednesday night? Life imitates art. Well, conservatives have been the best thing for stand-up and situation comedy since someone decided that pre-sliced yeast and flour might be a neat thing.
Less regulation and tax-cuts. I'm sorry, aren't we already reaping the whirl-wind? Hello, brain dead party to the right. Your needle is stuck, you keep playing the same track and not moving forward. Instead you're grooving down and destroying not only the vinyl by the needle and player as well.
If I was more cynical I would say that the conservatives, facing a distinct possibility of having their minority position in government erode even further this year are intentionally keeping everybody in Washington instead of campaigning in an attempt to hold ground.
Oh, and John Boehner, yeah, time to smoke more and faster dude, your lungs having filled up with cancer yet. 'tard.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Conversations at work
"So, why are the Chinese building their own space station instead of going in on the international space station?"
"The Chinese realize they're in a Cold War with us and so are demonstrating their technical superiority."
"How much trade do with do with them a year?"
"Somewhere in the range of a gazillion dollars."
"That seems stupid of us."
"Well, the good thing is that Vietnam is rising as an even cheaper source of low and high-tech labor. Some factories are moving form China to Vietnam right now."
"Soon we'll all be working for the Vietnamese."
"Wait, wasn't that the Domino Theory?"
I'll leave it up to you to decide which part I played in this conversation.
"The Chinese realize they're in a Cold War with us and so are demonstrating their technical superiority."
"How much trade do with do with them a year?"
"Somewhere in the range of a gazillion dollars."
"That seems stupid of us."
"Well, the good thing is that Vietnam is rising as an even cheaper source of low and high-tech labor. Some factories are moving form China to Vietnam right now."
"Soon we'll all be working for the Vietnamese."
"Wait, wasn't that the Domino Theory?"
I'll leave it up to you to decide which part I played in this conversation.
Hush, hush, I heard someone calling my name
Deep breaths, deep breaths. Must. Not. Post. Political. Stuff.
Okay, so some writing things.
Listened to Pseudopod 106: Jihad Over Innsmouth yesterday. One, cool story. Two, man it set the neurons aglow (I have to recheck if the Innsmouth Dagon worshipers/Deep Ones are spawn or Elder God creations, I think they're Elder God creations, which then makes the Cthulhu ties silly, but I might be wrong). Although I had that moment of panic thinking, "Oh sure, this all fits into your current Cthulhu Worldview and stories, yes it would be cool, but do you want to be that guy who writes those stories." And then I think, "Well, you know, it hasn't hurt Charlie Stross one bit now has it?" Oh yes, me precious, there will be more Cthulhu and the squamous Project C-Thru. The Ichor must flow. (insert maniacal laughter here)
Looked over my schedule (or the last one I have) for ConClave and I think I'll be in good form. I need to do some research on Myths and Fantasy, and some general writing tips, but I think I'll be in good shape. Might be on an Asprin panel, which I'll be out of my league, but I can add how reading the Sanctuary shared-world novels and the Myth Inc. books formed my sense of humor and writing style (and not in that order). Not to mention my RPG personalities (ie. swords are for using, they aren't decorations). It's been a long time since I've read either (and I know there's some newer Myth Inc. books I haven't read) so I'll be real weak there (most of my books have been lent out and lost).
Also, the organizers of ConClave send word that the room block closes out this week and they're a little short (or were three days ago), so if you're going, reserve your room today or tomorrow so the Con doesn't have to cover the difference (if room blocks aren't filled, depending on the Con Contract they either have to pay the difference in room rates, or they have to rent the remaining rooms, either way, not a good thing for most Cons that run on shoe-string budgets).
Okay, so some writing things.
Listened to Pseudopod 106: Jihad Over Innsmouth yesterday. One, cool story. Two, man it set the neurons aglow (I have to recheck if the Innsmouth Dagon worshipers/Deep Ones are spawn or Elder God creations, I think they're Elder God creations, which then makes the Cthulhu ties silly, but I might be wrong). Although I had that moment of panic thinking, "Oh sure, this all fits into your current Cthulhu Worldview and stories, yes it would be cool, but do you want to be that guy who writes those stories." And then I think, "Well, you know, it hasn't hurt Charlie Stross one bit now has it?" Oh yes, me precious, there will be more Cthulhu and the squamous Project C-Thru. The Ichor must flow. (insert maniacal laughter here)
Looked over my schedule (or the last one I have) for ConClave and I think I'll be in good form. I need to do some research on Myths and Fantasy, and some general writing tips, but I think I'll be in good shape. Might be on an Asprin panel, which I'll be out of my league, but I can add how reading the Sanctuary shared-world novels and the Myth Inc. books formed my sense of humor and writing style (and not in that order). Not to mention my RPG personalities (ie. swords are for using, they aren't decorations). It's been a long time since I've read either (and I know there's some newer Myth Inc. books I haven't read) so I'll be real weak there (most of my books have been lent out and lost).
Also, the organizers of ConClave send word that the room block closes out this week and they're a little short (or were three days ago), so if you're going, reserve your room today or tomorrow so the Con doesn't have to cover the difference (if room blocks aren't filled, depending on the Con Contract they either have to pay the difference in room rates, or they have to rent the remaining rooms, either way, not a good thing for most Cons that run on shoe-string budgets).
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Paging Mr. Obama, random thoughts on the President's speech
Um, nothing on the deregulation and lowered capitalization rules the Republican put in place five years ago. No, that couldn't have been any problem. It's all those "outdated" rule put in place so long ago. Not anything with the rules they updated.
And it was interesting on how many of the changes now discussed because of the outrage of the populace are now a part of their plans (such as limited compensation).
And the major thing? Wow, they are really scared Obama is going to shine strong in this debate on Friday. Obama is called out twice in one day. "Please Mr. Obama, abandon your debate preparation and spend time showing up in Washington," is what I'm hearing. First by McCain's gambit (see previous post) and now by the President wanting to have a "meeting" with McCain, Obama, and the other Senate and House Leaders to talk about this.
Um. Didn't that happen on Monday? Wasn't there a meeting on Monday? Or am I on drugs again.
What's the purpose of this meeting?To shake the concentration and game plan of the Obama Campaign and waste his time in a cynical attempt to skew the debate results or force him to be a noticeable no-show. To talk about the problem we've all be talking about for the past week.
And it was interesting on how many of the changes now discussed because of the outrage of the populace are now a part of their plans (such as limited compensation).
And the major thing? Wow, they are really scared Obama is going to shine strong in this debate on Friday. Obama is called out twice in one day. "Please Mr. Obama, abandon your debate preparation and spend time showing up in Washington," is what I'm hearing. First by McCain's gambit (see previous post) and now by the President wanting to have a "meeting" with McCain, Obama, and the other Senate and House Leaders to talk about this.
Um. Didn't that happen on Monday? Wasn't there a meeting on Monday? Or am I on drugs again.
What's the purpose of this meeting?
We were on a break
So, McCain pulls a unilateral after the (Obama) campaign suggested a mutual statement and so goes off the Straight-Talk Express to roll up his sleeves and get back to the Senate. Three days late. And while Obama had already cancelled his appearances to prepare for the debate (on foreign policy). Which the McCain campaign also wanted to postpone.
And this is leadership? It has nothing to do with the McCain campaign finances having already topped out (by accepting matching funds), and spent out (media blitzes). Nothing to do with realizing that he may have to prepare for the debate (let us see how much time he spends working in the Senate, or sequestered in his office). Nothing at all to do with trying to gain the higher ground on an election issue he's seen as weak. Nothing to do with trying to take notice away from having employed (and floated the balloon of a possible Treasury Secretary) Phil Gramm whose policies more and more people are beginning to blame for this debacle.
No, it would have nothing to do with those things at all.
So now it forces Obama to react (or at least tries to force him to react), which makes him look weaker, or mean.
And this is leadership? It has nothing to do with the McCain campaign finances having already topped out (by accepting matching funds), and spent out (media blitzes). Nothing to do with realizing that he may have to prepare for the debate (let us see how much time he spends working in the Senate, or sequestered in his office). Nothing at all to do with trying to gain the higher ground on an election issue he's seen as weak. Nothing to do with trying to take notice away from having employed (and floated the balloon of a possible Treasury Secretary) Phil Gramm whose policies more and more people are beginning to blame for this debacle.
No, it would have nothing to do with those things at all.
So now it forces Obama to react (or at least tries to force him to react), which makes him look weaker, or mean.
Story Bone
Here's one bone and some miscellaneous factoids that may help some of you. First, the bone.
"Silence filled our relationship (life) the way water fills the lungs (of the downed)."
And the random factoids for today.
"Fireball, fireball, fireball." - radio code for detection of hostile missile launch.
"Mark India" - intercept
Remember the Lake Erie, the Aegis Destroyer that launched the missile that "killed" the wayward spy satellite last summer. Yeah, that system was an anti-missile launch platform. NPR story. (on the story, note that this test was of a initial stage "kill", or "launch kill", which is an easier target than midrange or reentry target)
"Silence filled our relationship (life) the way water fills the lungs (of the downed)."
And the random factoids for today.
"Fireball, fireball, fireball." - radio code for detection of hostile missile launch.
"Mark India" - intercept
Remember the Lake Erie, the Aegis Destroyer that launched the missile that "killed" the wayward spy satellite last summer. Yeah, that system was an anti-missile launch platform. NPR story. (on the story, note that this test was of a initial stage "kill", or "launch kill", which is an easier target than midrange or reentry target)
Your love is like bad medicine
I've really been trying to not comment on the bail-out, um give away, um, um, economic stimulus plan for investment bankers. For various reasons, not the least of which is I know of at least two readers here that will be pissed with me by the end of this post.
Let's just say that there are several changes I would want to make to the legislation. Beyond tossing Section 8, which IIRC is the clause that removes any oversight and/or prosecution for the Federal Reserve. When voting out that clause, Paulson needs to be on the floor of the House or Senate to have the members point at him and laugh in unison. Seriously, did you really expect that one to get through? It's an insult to my intelligence.
First off, want the money? Fine. Your top 15 executives can not be compensated more than $400,000 a year (note, that's compensation which includes bonuses, true market value of corporate benefits such as jets, house, etc, it also includes stock options, gifts, and the $5 the chairman spots you to get a coffee) for the next 8 years. Failure to comply is a class one felony with no less than 4 years in minimum security for the executive, the CEO, and the Chairman (if they are different people), forfeiture of any licenses and professional memberships (such as NYSE privileges and seats), and a fine equal to two years of compensation (for all involved).
Oh, all "golden parachute" clauses in your company are null and void, permanently, for any sitting executive above "manager." Failure to comply (see above).
No bonuses for four years (see restrictions on 15 top executives which is more restrictive). The Board will be reconstituted following some rules allowing for independence and control (here I would have to read more of the various shareholder initiatives that have been lately floated).
If your CEO, CFO, or chairman has resigned in the past year (with a "golden parachute") your firm is disqualified from this program. Also, if your nominal headquarters (or headquarters of record) is off shore you are likewise disqualified. Period. No taxes, no money.
Would this be hard? Yes. Tough. Deal with it. The argument about "losing the high caliber people we need to turn this around" is crap. These are the same people who got us into this. Their "qualifications" in my mind are highly suspect. You say you can't live in NYC with such a small amount of money? Tough. Your high pay is what ran the cost of living so high. Welcome to the top 8% of the economy (instead of 1%).
The bad part about my plan? Much of the NYC economy is based around the year-end bonuses of a few people. Those bonuses do trickle down to even the doorman who makes sure your door is open for you and closed to me. That these people (doormen, maids, maintenance workers, etc) will be hurt more by the lack of bonus pay is regrettable. However, in the effort to "keep good people in the correct positions" their pay may be adjusted up to where it should have been instead of keeping them in economic serfdom. Good for the goose, good for the gander.
Also, given the immense debacle of money sent to Iraq (Remember pallets of bills which took out room for munitions on C-130 flights? Remember "and bring a duffle bag" being said to people that the month before didn't even have a passport and now they were to "rebuild Iraq"? Remember the billions of dollars unaccountable?) I am very suspicious of this plan, overall, because of the "no oversight or prosecution" clause.
Oh, and have I made the argument for avoiding "moral hazard"? Think my proscriptions for pay and prosecution are tough? If I was worried about the "moral hazard," which was the argument against "adjusting" individual mortgages, I would simply say, "Let 'em crash."
I say, buy the "illiquid assets" at bargain basement prices (I don't like reverse auctions, but here I would approve, hey, Wall Street has already adjusted to these papers to being worth zero, that's why we're having this problem, go it? Also, of the $700+ Billion only so much will be spent every quarter, so there's only so much money to buy those assets which will give incentives to bid down the price) rewrite those mortgages that are untenable (which, frankly, irks the shit out of me being someone who bought half-as-much house as people thought I should, and I would have liked, because I was living within my means, and will hopefully pay off 10-15 years early, but I don't see a way around it that wouldn't hurt the average home-owner more), and then resell the papers back into the market at as high a price as possible.
Oh, and if this doesn't work and we need to do something else, I recommend not just getting "warrants" for stock from the companies we bail-out, I say they come under an umbrella government management company that we as tax-payers would own the majority of stock (say 60% of all stock - numeric and preference - such as A, B, and C). Fire the CEO, CFO, remove the board, after voting in an abdication of "golden parachutes" as the majority holder, and then sell off their assets or manage them to the point of selling them back into the private market.
And at the end of all, if there can be no agreement to harsh (and yes, they should be harsh) terms. Well, let them fail.
Finally, there's talk of the Lehman execs getting bonus pay. Let's just say that the term "class action lawsuit" was made for a purpose. If I held stock in the company, I'd be warming up the lawyers. Your bonus will be mine.
Let's just say that there are several changes I would want to make to the legislation. Beyond tossing Section 8, which IIRC is the clause that removes any oversight and/or prosecution for the Federal Reserve. When voting out that clause, Paulson needs to be on the floor of the House or Senate to have the members point at him and laugh in unison. Seriously, did you really expect that one to get through? It's an insult to my intelligence.
First off, want the money? Fine. Your top 15 executives can not be compensated more than $400,000 a year (note, that's compensation which includes bonuses, true market value of corporate benefits such as jets, house, etc, it also includes stock options, gifts, and the $5 the chairman spots you to get a coffee) for the next 8 years. Failure to comply is a class one felony with no less than 4 years in minimum security for the executive, the CEO, and the Chairman (if they are different people), forfeiture of any licenses and professional memberships (such as NYSE privileges and seats), and a fine equal to two years of compensation (for all involved).
Oh, all "golden parachute" clauses in your company are null and void, permanently, for any sitting executive above "manager." Failure to comply (see above).
No bonuses for four years (see restrictions on 15 top executives which is more restrictive). The Board will be reconstituted following some rules allowing for independence and control (here I would have to read more of the various shareholder initiatives that have been lately floated).
If your CEO, CFO, or chairman has resigned in the past year (with a "golden parachute") your firm is disqualified from this program. Also, if your nominal headquarters (or headquarters of record) is off shore you are likewise disqualified. Period. No taxes, no money.
Would this be hard? Yes. Tough. Deal with it. The argument about "losing the high caliber people we need to turn this around" is crap. These are the same people who got us into this. Their "qualifications" in my mind are highly suspect. You say you can't live in NYC with such a small amount of money? Tough. Your high pay is what ran the cost of living so high. Welcome to the top 8% of the economy (instead of 1%).
The bad part about my plan? Much of the NYC economy is based around the year-end bonuses of a few people. Those bonuses do trickle down to even the doorman who makes sure your door is open for you and closed to me. That these people (doormen, maids, maintenance workers, etc) will be hurt more by the lack of bonus pay is regrettable. However, in the effort to "keep good people in the correct positions" their pay may be adjusted up to where it should have been instead of keeping them in economic serfdom. Good for the goose, good for the gander.
Also, given the immense debacle of money sent to Iraq (Remember pallets of bills which took out room for munitions on C-130 flights? Remember "and bring a duffle bag" being said to people that the month before didn't even have a passport and now they were to "rebuild Iraq"? Remember the billions of dollars unaccountable?) I am very suspicious of this plan, overall, because of the "no oversight or prosecution" clause.
Oh, and have I made the argument for avoiding "moral hazard"? Think my proscriptions for pay and prosecution are tough? If I was worried about the "moral hazard," which was the argument against "adjusting" individual mortgages, I would simply say, "Let 'em crash."
I say, buy the "illiquid assets" at bargain basement prices (I don't like reverse auctions, but here I would approve, hey, Wall Street has already adjusted to these papers to being worth zero, that's why we're having this problem, go it? Also, of the $700+ Billion only so much will be spent every quarter, so there's only so much money to buy those assets which will give incentives to bid down the price) rewrite those mortgages that are untenable (which, frankly, irks the shit out of me being someone who bought half-as-much house as people thought I should, and I would have liked, because I was living within my means, and will hopefully pay off 10-15 years early, but I don't see a way around it that wouldn't hurt the average home-owner more), and then resell the papers back into the market at as high a price as possible.
Oh, and if this doesn't work and we need to do something else, I recommend not just getting "warrants" for stock from the companies we bail-out, I say they come under an umbrella government management company that we as tax-payers would own the majority of stock (say 60% of all stock - numeric and preference - such as A, B, and C). Fire the CEO, CFO, remove the board, after voting in an abdication of "golden parachutes" as the majority holder, and then sell off their assets or manage them to the point of selling them back into the private market.
And at the end of all, if there can be no agreement to harsh (and yes, they should be harsh) terms. Well, let them fail.
Finally, there's talk of the Lehman execs getting bonus pay. Let's just say that the term "class action lawsuit" was made for a purpose. If I held stock in the company, I'd be warming up the lawyers. Your bonus will be mine.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
A conning we will go, a conning we will go, high ho the merry oh...
One of the major pieces of advice I give to new writers, writer wannabees, and the ravening masses of fans that want "MORE!" is to go to conventions. Yes, the cost can be prohibitive (and if you far from the domed cities of industrial progress, even more so because of travel and lodging). I understand that very well, this being a year of living as a very poor bear. But you really want to make the effort.
Going to cons gets you to rub elbows with like mindedgeeks people. For those of us from the hinter lands this is the same as finding your community, although standing at the registration desk after having put on your attendee badge and shouting, "My people" is not the way to win over friends. Just saying. Going to cons, for the writer, is more like going to a business function (although do not, Do Not, DO NOT! go with only this goal in mind) where you can meet the rising, shining brightly, and flamed-out stars in the genre. While you may need to practice your sharp elbow technique to get close to the likes of Neil Gaiman, working your way through the throngs of groupies the way sharks work their way through a bait ball, most writers are no so fortunate as to be plagued with such maddening crowds.
Heck, the first time I met John Scalzi (or John Scalvi for you very savvy people out there) I simply walked up to him as he held court (there was an opening at the end of the circle, no blood shedding was required), waited for a break in the conversation and him to acknowledge I was there and then said, "Hi, I'm Steve, I comment on your blog." Well, actually John was making a comment about how he could put anything on his blog and get responses and how entertaining and frightening it was. He could, say, make a post that only said, "My big toe hurts" and get forty-five comments in the space of an hour to prove this point to a radio interviewer. I raised my hand and said, "I think I was post number three on that one."
Now, and here is a big hint at behavior at cons, which is why I broke it out into a separate paragraph, in that circle were (IIRC) Karl Schroeder, Jeff Beeler, Catherine Schaffer, Jim C. Hines, and three other people (including a late arrive Tobias and Emily Buckell). I was way, way out of my weight class. The only writers I knew there were John and Tobias (Tobias I had met before, John I only knew from his blog and reading one book). I met a whole cadre of other writers whom I'll probably miss one or two so I'll just say it was a bunch of them, and I value talking with them all the time (at last year's Confusion I spent a great deal of time drinking and talking with them, Mer Haskell is one of those). I quickly realized I had not done my proper homework and was flubbing the pop quiz I had just invited on myself. At another year's version of Confusion I found myself sitting at a table with David Kletcha, Paul Melko, Jim Frenkel and Patrick Nielsen Hayden. John Scalzi came and sat for a few minutes. To say I felt like a feather-weight that suddenly found himself in the summo ring would be an understatement. But, in both circumstances, I did my best. I learned from them (Karl Schroeder is especially a very cool person to shoot the breeze with, just ask him about his day job, if you aren't impressed, you didn't hear him correctly). In all those circumstance be yourself (very hard when your personality starts whimpering like a scared puppy), be engaging, be humorous, and ask them about what they know. Do not only talk about writing (it'll come up, don't worry, and if it's organic you'll learn a whole lot more). Never, ever, pretend to be something you're not.
Also, while running into the heavy weights is fun (and listening to them is even better), one thing about cons is finding people. Just. Like. You. You have a Star Trek uniform, want to wear it, but you know your coworkers would laugh? They won't at a genre convention (although you may get critical analysis, such as wearing the wrong insignia on a particular uniform style). Heck, at last year's "Costume Ball" there was one person who wasn't wearing much more than electrical tape (and not a lot of that) and flashing lights. Wearing a trek uniform is tame. Seriously, it's a time to get your geek on.
So, if you can swing it, go. If you need more advice, here's some excellent tips called Erin's Tea and No Tea Guide to Convention Etiquette (via Jay Lake's link salad). She has excellent advice. Read and do thou likewise.
And the last piece of advice (at least for now, there are other tips like budgeting) about going to cons? Have fun. Seriously. If you're not enjoying yourself at a con you're doing it wrong. Also, expect to be exhausted at the end of it.
And yes, I am thinking about these things because I'm starting to freak out that I'll be on my first convention panel in two weeks time.
Going to cons gets you to rub elbows with like minded
Heck, the first time I met John Scalzi (or John Scalvi for you very savvy people out there) I simply walked up to him as he held court (there was an opening at the end of the circle, no blood shedding was required), waited for a break in the conversation and him to acknowledge I was there and then said, "Hi, I'm Steve, I comment on your blog." Well, actually John was making a comment about how he could put anything on his blog and get responses and how entertaining and frightening it was. He could, say, make a post that only said, "My big toe hurts" and get forty-five comments in the space of an hour to prove this point to a radio interviewer. I raised my hand and said, "I think I was post number three on that one."
Now, and here is a big hint at behavior at cons, which is why I broke it out into a separate paragraph, in that circle were (IIRC) Karl Schroeder, Jeff Beeler, Catherine Schaffer, Jim C. Hines, and three other people (including a late arrive Tobias and Emily Buckell). I was way, way out of my weight class. The only writers I knew there were John and Tobias (Tobias I had met before, John I only knew from his blog and reading one book). I met a whole cadre of other writers whom I'll probably miss one or two so I'll just say it was a bunch of them, and I value talking with them all the time (at last year's Confusion I spent a great deal of time drinking and talking with them, Mer Haskell is one of those). I quickly realized I had not done my proper homework and was flubbing the pop quiz I had just invited on myself. At another year's version of Confusion I found myself sitting at a table with David Kletcha, Paul Melko, Jim Frenkel and Patrick Nielsen Hayden. John Scalzi came and sat for a few minutes. To say I felt like a feather-weight that suddenly found himself in the summo ring would be an understatement. But, in both circumstances, I did my best. I learned from them (Karl Schroeder is especially a very cool person to shoot the breeze with, just ask him about his day job, if you aren't impressed, you didn't hear him correctly). In all those circumstance be yourself (very hard when your personality starts whimpering like a scared puppy), be engaging, be humorous, and ask them about what they know. Do not only talk about writing (it'll come up, don't worry, and if it's organic you'll learn a whole lot more). Never, ever, pretend to be something you're not.
Also, while running into the heavy weights is fun (and listening to them is even better), one thing about cons is finding people. Just. Like. You. You have a Star Trek uniform, want to wear it, but you know your coworkers would laugh? They won't at a genre convention (although you may get critical analysis, such as wearing the wrong insignia on a particular uniform style). Heck, at last year's "Costume Ball" there was one person who wasn't wearing much more than electrical tape (and not a lot of that) and flashing lights. Wearing a trek uniform is tame. Seriously, it's a time to get your geek on.
So, if you can swing it, go. If you need more advice, here's some excellent tips called Erin's Tea and No Tea Guide to Convention Etiquette (via Jay Lake's link salad). She has excellent advice. Read and do thou likewise.
And the last piece of advice (at least for now, there are other tips like budgeting) about going to cons? Have fun. Seriously. If you're not enjoying yourself at a con you're doing it wrong. Also, expect to be exhausted at the end of it.
And yes, I am thinking about these things because I'm starting to freak out that I'll be on my first convention panel in two weeks time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)