Is this Really Necessary?

I may have already gone off on a tangent about this during the life of this blog, but I'm far too lazy to go back and find out.  So, if I have and you remember it, go ahead and skip reading this.
T and I were out running around this afternoon looking for dresser knobs (exciting, I know), I was flipping radio stations when I heard the beginning strains of Forever Young.  I love this song.  I've listened to it forever.
and so here is the  point of my rant.  I hate remixes and remakes.  The Alphaville song I thought I stumbled upon was a remix AND a remake.  I have no idea who did it or why, but I was not amused.  Not only had it been made into some sort of a dance tune, there was some sort of rapping in the middle of it.
I don't know why songs need to be remade.  I know people have songs they grew up listening to and think that just because they are an "artist" they can remake the song, make it their own and call it an homage or a tribute or whatever.  But how many remakes are actually better than the original?? In my books, one.
Ok, now I don't know every remake made and maybe a song I love is actually a remake I don't know about, but for right now I claim only one remake as being better.  Maybe it's because I don't care for the original artist...I don't know, I'm not a huge fan of the remake artist either, and why I like the song in general is beyond me, but I do.  It's Suspicious Minds by Dwight Yokam.  I know, SHOCK!  Everyone knows I hate country music, but for some reason beyond me I enjoy this song by him.  I don't like the Elvis original, but let Dwight put his twist on it and voila!
Some of the worst remakes I've heard:

• Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts...ugh it makes me vomit a little in my mouth every time I hear it.  Tom Cochran's original is a million bazillion gajillion times better.  Don't fight me on this, it just is.
• American Woman by Lenny Kravitz...just listen to the Guess Who
• Come on Eileen by Save Ferris.  Why on earth would anyone need to remake this??
• Sweet Dreams by Marilyn Manson.  Really, you think you can top the Eurythmics?? I think not.
• American Pie by Madonna.
• I'm a Believer by Smash Mouth
• Big Yellow Taxi by Counting Crows

Plus a plethora of more, but those are just some that make me hurry and turn the channel!  I know I have left some good ones off my list and there are some remakes I like, not as much as the original though and like I said I probably love some songs not even knowing they are remakes.  I do love the New Order remake of Blue Monday, but it was a remake of their own song....so does that even count?

So what remakes do you hate/love?

Waiting Room

Today was my monthly Doctor's appointment.  I know, you all wanted to know that, you're welcome.

Anyway.  I thought about a few things while I was there and thought I would share them with you.  You're welcome again.

1. What is it about that paper sheet?  Why does it give so much security?  Do you not realize what it going to happen next?  You would think given what is about to happen, that sitting there without the see-through paper sheet wouldn't make a huge difference...but for whatever reason, it does.
2. Who is more uncomfortable, the patient on the "table" or the nurse that just gets to stand by and witness the exam?  Should a conversation be started or does that make it even more awkward?  It's a wee bit more awkward when it's not your Doctor's regular nurse, but really...you know they've got to love that part of the job...exam witnesser!
3. Why does anyone really care if Kate Gosselin is on another reality TV show? (People was the only magazine in the room).
4. The weigh-in is probably the worst part of the exam.  Seriously.
5. Getting a shot in the butt is the most awkward thing.  Even more than being the exam witnesser.  It's awesome having your pants pulled down around your butt, half leaning over a table.
6. Looking forward to bi-weekly exams now...they're coming.  That means the end is nearing.
7. I don't care what Mark says, Mr. Roboto is truly an awesome song and I will love it until the day I die.

Ticket MASTER

This past weekend we took the wee one to see Yo Gabba Gabba Live. The show itself is a post on it's own, but until then...here is today's rant.

Ticket prices for this event ranged from quite reasonable to I don't think so. We decided to go with the reasonable $17 tickets since she won't remember this show, she isn't even 2, and I didn't want to pay $99 to see YGG.

Anyway, so for a live show, it was $51 for three tickets. Not bad in my books, especially for a once a year type outing.

Thanks to Ticketmaster however...your final price is never the ticket price.

Here's a breakdown (why they send you a receipt with the actual breakdown is beyond me, since it makes me never want to purchase a ticket from them again):

- total face value $51

- facility charge $6

- subtotal $57

- "convenience" charge $18.75 (I added the quotation marks)

- convenience charge tax $1.47

- order processing $6.08

- total charge $83.30

Yes, there were almost as many fees as the total ticket charge. And why is it a convenience charge? It's not convenient to me. Perhaps if they only charged it for online purchases, but seeing as they charge you even if you buy your tickets at the actual box office, it's definitely not a convenience! OK, I get that it's only a convenience charge for Ticketmaster, so why not call it something else then, like "I can charge as high of, and as many, fees as I want because this is the only place you can buy these tickets" fees. Sounds a little more truthful to me, and people would still buy the tickets, because they are right - they are the only place I can buy tickets.

Thankfully they had some American Express deal in place, so I was able to use our rewards points to pay for half (which basically paid for the fees) of the price, so it wasn't too much out of the wallet.

It was all worth it, but when I got the receipt in the mail it just made me laugh and shake my head a little. Oh well. I am sure next time YGG rolls through town we will do it all again, convenience fees or not!

Say It Ain't So

While all of the news seems to be focused on the Saints winning the Super Bowl (good for you Saints!)...this is what caught my eye.

Howard Stern Confirms 'Idol' Talks

Howard Stern told his satellite radio listeners on Monday that he is considering leaving Sirius -- and radio altogether -- to become a judge on "American Idol."

Stern confirmed a report that Fox is interested in hiring the Sirius shock jock to replace Simon Cowell on the reality show.

(full article at www.msn.com)

If this happens...I will stop watching Idol. I know, I know, who cares it's American Idol? But it's a fun show and they do have some talented people sometimes, even if it is frustrating when people remain on the show longer than they should because they are cute or have a sad backstory. Regardless, I like Idol and I hate Howard Stern. Granted, I have never met the man, so I hate the Howard Stern I have been presented with (maybe he is a lovely man in person, but I am okay with never meeting him). Do they really think he would be the best choice to replace Simon? You will never replace Simon of course, but couldn't they at least try to find someone a little more appealing to the public? Some one with a little bit of experience in the music business, whether it be they are a singer/musician or they sign acts, write songs, etc.? Sure Ellen Degeneres isn't in the biz, but she does love music and she has said she will be more of a people's voice than a music critic. But when you take the one person who has signed huge acts, written hit songs, and has major credit in the business and replace him with Stern?? That makes no sense other than they want someone with an acerbic tongue.

Anyway...just my thoughts for a Monday morning.

On a positive note, I am excited for the start of the Olympics this Friday!! T and I have our sweatshirts all ready to break out and wear and root for the home team!! Even though she kind of has two home teams...I won't let her know that until she's older! Until then Go Canada!!

Who Are You?

What is the deal with all of the anonymous comments lately? They're not even from random people commenting on my rants, raves or ramblings. They're from crazy, unknown people trying to direct people to scary, cyber sites where who knows wait awaits them, or some other devious scheme.

Never mind the excitement it brings to see that someone has left a comment only to have the bubble burst to see it's just a cyber crazy. Oh well, I guess it's just part of this blogging world, isn't it? Even our blogs get junk mail. So now on top of the thousands of credit card applications, airline reward program applications, insurance companies trying to get me to switch...I now have blog junk mail. I'm thinking I'm going to strike it rich due to my vast Nigerian connections.

The Girl Effect

It's probably a bad thing when you get sick of seeing your own blogs, isn't it? It must mean others get even more sick of previous posts! I need to step up and get this blog rolling again.

It's not for lack of trying, I would really love to share my many opinions with all of you, but I think the main topics of interest currently on the news are either ridiculously bloated in the coverage they are receiving, not worthy of being one of the top stories or not even being talked about because the world here doesn't seem to care for one reason or another.

When celebrity family problems became the night's breaking news is news to me, but surely there are other stories out there that should be shared. Isn't that what TMZ, Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood and all those types shows, are for? Someone has to keep Mario Lopez employed.

Has anyone heard of the GirlEffect.org? I am not a usual Oprah watcher, but one day I decided to watch. I saw the video and listened to the issues they were talking about and was astounded.

From women dying in child birth, to women being raped and left for dead, treated as social outcasts, children sold into sex slavery to young girls being offered to men with AIDS due to their belief that sleeping with a virgin will cure the disease.

Do we really care if Tiger Woods had sex with other women? Isn't that a personal family matter?Why aren't these other issues, worlds away from us, being brought into view? Because they aren't salacious, they make us feel bad, guilty, sad...for the things we could be doing to help. It's amazing to think that in this world there are children who can not go to school because of their gender, families without enough money having to sell their children, communities that still hold such archaic beliefs about women, rape, AIDS....

I know this is far from uplifting, but its just been something on my mind lately. I haven't experienced discrimination in one form or another (that I am aware of) but this really hit home for me, it made me really see what's out there and it has left me truly perplexed.

Sorry for the downer of a topic but sometimes that's just what needs to be said. Check out this link and the video above, it's interesting and educational.

The Neverending Abyss

I'm at a loss for blogs. Nothing seems worthwhile to blog about. Or if it does, I've already blogged about it and no one wants to read me go off on my soapbox again (seriously, why does the fashion world insist on either size zeros or relegating "normal" sized women to plus size modeling?? Why not just have a lovely mixture of models of all sizes? It would be so much easier and so much more realistic.) Ok, I am done with that rant.

Other than my above mini rant....I am really at a loss. I could continue with odes to family members when I am having a mental block, but I'm not sure any of my family want their mugs up on my blog and the embarrassing stories that accompany them...oh the day the dog ran over my sister will forever live on in my mind, complete with a running laugh track. Still makes me laugh every time.

Perhaps my brain has finally given up on me now that it gets zero to no exercise anymore. Well, if you can call TV exercise, then it does get some. Someone in my family recently asked me what I wanted for Christmas, specifically if there were any books I wanted, and I sat there blankly, trying to think and all that went through my head was "books...books...books..." followed by a very loud silence. I don't even know the last book I read. Well, I do, but I think it's the only book I've read all year and it took me much longer than it should have for me to finish it, and I didn't care for it that much in the end.

Maybe I need to have some political debates with Mark, if only to get my brain going again. But who wants to read about my political thoughts?? If any of my readers are like Mark, than no one wants to hear/read/see them. Thank goodness for Entertainment Weekly and W...I can at least blog about celebrity crap and the absurd prices of designer clothing (oh if only I could afford them).

Oh well, at least the last post has been pushed down from immediate viewing.

Wanted

As I sit here wiping my seemingly, never-ending runny nose, I have discovered what it is in life that I want. It's really quite simple actually, and I have wanted this for years...about 8 years to be exact. I don't remember when I first discovered this want, but I know it was probably some time around September 2001, maybe October, but not much after that.

Sadly, there are many reasons I will never have one of these for my very own, but if you don't mind, may I dream about it for just a second?

How nice it would be to have one of these when I come home, when I have an errand to be run, or when I have chores to be done. It would be so lovely to not worry about simple things, mundane things, messy things or day to day things. To have all of the little things taken care of, the extra things done without asking, the wheel oiled that makes the days go by.

I don't know how much I would have to pay, but I am thinking it wouldn't be a very high price tag, actually I could probably get one at a pretty good deal. Sure, there would be some work on my part, but nothing that would cause me to pause and debate my choice. Days would be filled with the things I wanted to do, hobbies, fun, work (if I wanted), trips...all things anyone would love to fill their days with right?

As I sit here, I am even more determined that this want should be mine. I can't think of one downfall to the addition of this to my life. Oh yes, I guess there is one downfall; I would have to move to Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Vermont or Iowa...and I hate unpacking.

*Just in case the subtlety has gone over your head...I'd like a wife, but I can only get one in 4 states right now.

**And just in case...this post is totally facetious. Although it would be awesome to have a wife.

Paradox or Pessimism?

Ever notice that the people telling us that we don't need a lot of money for style, we don't have to be a size 2 to be happy, we are beautiful no matter what...are always rich, skinny and gorgeous?

When do we see a middle income person showing us decorating or fashion tips, a size 12 person telling us about the secrets to a happy life or an average looking person showing us beauty tips? Do you think that Miley Cyrus shops at WalMart now that she has a clothing line there? Did Isaac Mizrahi shop at Target while he designed for them? He did come to target headquarters (and I met him), but I never saw him buying things in the store. When Oprah shows us her favourite things (that none of us can afford) is she just rubbing it in our faces?

Just things to ponder this Wednesday morning.

Tuesday's Pet Peeve

Today on Good Morning America, they had an interview with a woman, who became a model after losing 70 pounds, leaving her weight at roughly 90 pounds. She had been told that if she lost 70 pounds, she could be a super model. This all while she was on high school, totally healthy and on the cheer leading squad. After years modelling and still being told she wasn't thin enough, she gave up trying and went back to her healthy size 12 self and is now a very successful plus sized model.

OK, Since when is a size 12 plus size?? When a size 0 became the seemingly acceptable size for models? When I was just out of high school, I paid my dues to the retail world for many years. During some of those years, I worked for a store that carried "regular" sizes (2-16) but I also worked some shifts for the "plus" size (14-26) store of the same chain. I'm not sure who started calling a size 12 a plus size, but I would like to meet that person and give them a good, swift kick.

While I was going to University, I was driving home, listening to the radio and heard a commercial for a modelling opportunity for plus sizes, size 10-14. SIZE 10???? What? Seriously people, someone has got to stop with this arbitrary labelling of plus sizes. Why can't we just go with being healthy and not numbers? You might be a size 2, but have 30% body fat - it doesn't automatically mean you are the picture perfect image of health. Just as someone may be a size 12 (gasp!), but be in perfect health.

At one of the malls I worked at, I worked across from a store that catered to young teens, and we would see them dress their mannequins sometimes, as they struggled to get outfits on, or done up. We would often tell them just to put a bigger size on the mannequin and clip it if they needed to, so it looked like it fit properly. We were shocked when they told us that they were using the biggest size they had. If the clothes you sell, don't even fit the mannequins in your store, how do you expect them to fit people??

Perhaps if we stopped obsessing with celebrities and cellulite, young girls could grow up feeling good about themselves no matter what size the label on their pants say.

And that's today's rant. Thank you.

Irk and Bernie

Bernie Madoff. I am sure we're all familiar with him and what he did. And yes, it sucks for those who lost their money to him, big time - especially for those who invested a LOT of money with him. Now he is in prison. For 150 years. Yes, 150 years. Think of all that time he'll have to think about the wrongs he's committed and the lives he ruined, or destroyed. He'll be able to read, relax, work, make friends, play basketball, knit, paint...anything he wants, it' not like he'll have a shortage of time.

Oh wait. He will have a shortage of time because he's going to DIE in prison, unless he has some sort of longevity secret he has been keeping to himself. Maybe he'll be the first person in modern time to live to be over 200 years old!! Right now, as he sits in his cell he maniacally laughs under his breath at how he has out smarted the system again! "Fools all of you!! I will be out long after everyone has forgotten about me and I will do it all again! 150 years and death will not stop me!!"

Here's my issue. Madoff gets 150 years for stealing people's money, yet sentences for murder, rape, and child abuse are handed out for less than 10 percent of Bernie's sentence. Plea deals are made, convicts are let out for good behaviour...you can't tell me you would rather have a convicted murderer roaming your streets over a guy who stole money from people? Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced to 15 life sentences (roughly 936 years) and David Burkowitz was sentenced to 365 years. Those I can understand given the number of people they killed and the ways in which they were killed. You don't want those guys roaming around your street. But Bernie Madoff, really? Would Mothers run, screaming, to gather their children from the park if Bernie was coming? Would baseball games be called because Bernie was in the stands? Highly doubtful. Give the guy his sentence, he broke the law. Make an example out of him to try to keep would be thieves at bay (not likely), but let's be realistic here, there has got to be some sort of balance on the scales of justice; 150 years for stealing money and 12 years for murder....seems a little unbalanced to me.

Monday's Musings

Does anyone watch Entertainment Tonight? Or any of the celeb trash shows?

If you do watch these shows, do you admit it to people? I used to watch ET back in the day, maybe 15 years ago (ugh), but the only time I see it now is when I am changing the channel to catch my daily Wheel of Fortune fix.

I think John Tesh had the good sense to jump ship, yet somehow the show just keeps rolling ahead. Is it really any better than the tabloid magazines, Perez Hilton or TMZ? From the glimpse I got of last Friday's show, and the blatant exploitation of Michael Jackson's death, I would vote no. When did we get so obsessed with celebrity that obviously made up claims, assumptions and accusations overshadow the real news stories of the world. I admit, I like me some celebrity gossip, but when it strays over the line into inappropriateness or bad taste, I shut it down. When David Carridine died, I couldn't believe the "stories" these shows put together on the situation. Does the public really need to know the sordid details. These people have families, let them grieve without public scrutiny and prying eyes.

Obviously people are watching and reading otherwise, ET, Access Hollywood and all of the others would fade away nicely. I confess that I used to read Perez Hilton's website, but I gave it up because it seemed to be one of the best examples of hypocrisy I could give. Now, after his altercation in Toronto with wil.i.am...I guarantee you I will never type his website address again.

Anyway, just my rant for today. Nothing mind busting or important, just my two cents.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Oh Mondays, I have such a love-hate relationship with you. This Monday the hate is definitely winning, with no chance of the love pulling off a win in the 9th. Sorry for the baseball lingo...trying to gear up for the road trip of a lifetime (insert sarcasm anywhere in the last part of that sentence, sorry Mark! I still love you).
So here's the rundown of the score so far:

• Bad - 11 month old not wanting to sleep very early this morning and later this morning
• Bad - 11 month old crying at every thing today
• Good - wanted to binge on every item of chocolate in sight at Target but resisted
• Bad? Good? - spending more time at Target now than when I was employed there (bad for the bank account good for my sanity)
• Good - had some french toast this morning
• Bad - ate it while a certain someone wailed because she wasn't getting her watermelon fast enough
• Ugly - ate Kraft Dinner for lunch...shudder
• Bad - have to take car in for oil change tomorrow...how will I entertain the kid for 30-40 minutes???
• Bad - realized that TAR is over for another season, how I will miss you Browsie
• Bad - I have to pack again tomorrow
• Good - T has yet to yank the clip out of her hair, I think that is a record!
• Bad - today reminded me that summer is coming and I hate the heat
• Ugly - apparently ants have decided to take over my kitchen sink and will not go away. I don't have a clue where they are coming from and they seem to just keep coming back
• Ugly - we have hard water (which we knew) but now our new dishwasher has decided to leave this white, crappy, powdery, residue all over our dishes (that it never left before) and it will not go away either!! So now I have to find citric acid to try to remedy this mineral deposit problem - or buy a water softener ($$!)
  
• Bad - I'm pretty sure I'll be able to add a few more bads to the list before 5PM

Readers Choice

I realize I've been in a blogging funk. I had high hopes for myself and my quest into blogosphere celebridom, but alas, I do not think this will be the year it happens.

Even as I sit here typing, I really don't have anything to blog about. Well, that's not true, it's more that I don't feel like blogging about:

• the current Miss California/Perez Hilton flap
• my utter disdain for drivers how refuse to use their turn signals, but ranting about it isn't going to change anything.
• my frustration with paypal and those who try to steal my money? Oh wait, I already did? Okay, we don't need to go there again.
• my thoughts as to why I can't seem to jump on the Adam Lambert train?
• the disappointment I had with the new John Grisham book
• why the Today show feels like it has to use 2.5 of it's 4 hour run to air commercials.
• why this child of mine doesn't seem to ever want to nap longer than 30 minutes even though she's been up for 7 hours
• the non excuses I have for not going to the gym last week

So, any one want to hear me spout off on any one of these pressing topics? Or do you have something you want me to ramble on, share my expertise on or just pretend to be an expert on?? Let me know, I'll whip you up a great blog that the blogosphere will be ever so envious with and will bring me that pseudo fame I am so craving!!

Nightmare on Elm Street

The worst thing almost happened to me this weekend...almost.

Saturday, Mark got the mail and discovered a coupon for a free bag with purchase from DSW (woohoo!)...so I said to myself, "Sweet, I have not 1, but 2 coupons for DSW and some birthday money - this is a no brainer!" So I go to the coupon drawer - no coupons to be seen. That's okay, I put them in the dresser in the bedroom. Nope, no coupons. Oh wait, they are in the door of the car. No, still no coupons. Oh wait, it's the other car. No. Horror of horror!!! How do I lose a $5 off AND a 20% off coupon?? I began to come to terms with the lost coupons and the fabulous pair of shoes that I would not be calling my own. Sunday morning came, and as I was making a mad dash out the door on my way to church I was struck with a thought!! No, nothing to do with Easter, I thought, my brown purse!!! So I unbelievingly opened the purse fully expecting to be disappointed, when what did I see? The coupons!!! Oh happy day! I hadn't lost the coupons, I just forgot where I put them. There is nothing as senseless as wasted DSW coupons, and I am not one to be wasteful. So hopefully sometime this month I will head out on the just over 1 mile drive to my local DSW and do my best to try to stimulate this economy! We all need to do our part, right?

False Idols

Sorry Mark...your blog needed to be pushed down a few!! :o)

Not that I have anything important to say - we just needed a change of scenery.

So. Idol. What's up?
I've kind of been on the Gokey train since the beginning. I won't say he is the world's best singer, but he is darn good and I like him. After last night though, I am thinking about de-boarding said train. It's no secret I am not a fan of country music, I don't hide it. It's no bigger secret that I don't like Rascal Flatts. It's no mammoth sized secret that I detest that song he sung last night. I will admit that as soon as I hard him say he was going to sing it, I cringed; however I am a benefit of the doubt kind of person, so I stuck around...for about 15 seconds of the song, just until the vomit started to creep into my throat and then I hit fast forward (thank you DVR). I'm sorry, I don't care how good of a singer you are (and sorry RF fans - which would be the entire group of my in-laws) that song is just wrong. I've hated it since the first time I heard it...which wound up being about 30546732098520547092580249824671851 times with radio overkill. Danny won't go home tonight, and I still like him, but Danny, no more RF, okay?
Megan - go home. That's all that needs to be said.
Adam - we like you, just dial it down a notch. A tad theatrical for Idol. I do think he might pull off an awesome Queen song though. I think he might be able to reach some of the notes that Freddie could hit. Think about it. Just don't do Bohemian Rhapsody. Also, I would have gone with some Vanilla Ice, Ice Ice Baby last night instead of That Funky Music.
Scott - sorry bud I think you're next on the go home path, right behind Megan.
Kris - Understatedly (is that a word?) good. I'm going to see some more life in you though.
Alison - you rock! Last week's Papa Was a Rolling Stone was awesome. This week, not as good. You better not go home. If you do, we might see the judges pull out the save card.
Lil - always good. I want to see her do an upbeat, newer tune. No Mary J Blige though because when she does, she will draw the inevitable critique of trying to imitate her and not make it Lil's. Even though the judges told her to sing Mary.
Matt - come on Matt! Last week was great. I didn't think this week was as bad as the judges thought, but it wasn't as good as last week. Matt needs to pimp it out. Maybe some Prince. That would be cool.
Anoop. Oh Anoop. I really, really like you. You've got to stop having awesome weeks followed by crappy weeks. Maybe sing some Boyz To Men or try some Maroon 5. I'd like to hear that.
Actually I'd like to hear Matt sing some Adam Levine too. Maybe Lil could do some justice to a Prince song as well. Prince night would be awesome.
On a more pressing note...why are there even judges? Their jobs are moot. Since it's the peoples vote, their opinions are solely blowing hot air. Paula's might be laced with Helium. They all say the same thing over and over dawg. There's no artistry, but you look really pretty tonight, even if it was reminiscent of a hotel lounge singer.
If you're going to have judges why not use them?? Let the people vote in the bottom 3, let them sing for survival and let the judges have the final say. If not, just put some cute kitties in those judges chairs and give them a ball of string to bat around. Makes about as much sense, right?
And what in the world is up with Paula's outfits? It looks like she's raided the 1987 closet of prom dress rejects. Generously, she decided to share her findings with Alison last night. Alison, don't go back into that closet.
Anyway, that's just my opinion.

Who is John Galt?

I will try to be concise in this post, but it will probably be a long, bloviating post that will bore 95% of the people who read it. I have been a terrible blogger recently and I will chalk it up to being busy with work and mostly to being too fed up with the world to put any thoughts to paper (or should I say keystrokes).

Our daughter was born nearly ten months ago and although it is hard to fathom, she is already over $36,000 in debt. This is not due to her closets full of clothes, but the actions of our elected leaders in running up large deficits. I am typically ok with national debt, but our situation is quickly getting out of hand. The current budget will put Little Miss T in debt approximately $60,000 (her share of the national debt) by the time she is ten years old. The fact that our lawmakers such as Dodd, Waters and Frank can browbeat leaders of free enterprise in congressional hearings while leveraging my and your balance sheet is the worst hypocrisy imaginable. I wish that we had an elected official who would stand up for what's right the way that Daniel Hannan an elected official in England recently did.

He may be John Galt. (I wish we had leaders who could speak this eloquently, and without even using a teleprompter.) My favorite line which is very applicable to our situation in the States is, "You have run out of our money."

My second nominee for a modern John Galt is Jake DeSantis, a former AIG employee. Jake wrote and excoriating resignation letter to his boss explaining exactly why he was leaving and it was published in the NY Times. The "populist" rhetoric and bile that has been thrown on Wall Street lately is sickening and I think it's high time we head to our windows, open it and yell, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore". It is unimaginable that our public leaders expressed an interest in publicizing employees names who received bonuses so that they could be openly scorned and possibly assaulted. Even more disgusting was the vote to punitively use the tax code to punish hard working citizens with a tax of 90%. Why not tax people who's homes were foreclosed with a 90% tax, or any real estate agents, mortgage brokers, residential lenders, house flippers or people who have defaulted on credit card or any other debt; they are just as guilty and more so than the current employees of investment banks and AIG for our current economic difficulties. I think it was embarrassing to ask these employees to give back their hard-earned bonuses and it was un-American for the employees to comply and give them back. What this country needs is more greed, ownership and capitalism rather than fear, blame and social planning. We are walking down a dangerous path that many have trod before us and I fear that the time may come for the producers of this country to shrug.

Wednesday Rants

Here is my daily rant. I don't usually blog my rants otherwise they'd take over this blog...but here's what's on my mind today.

I am sure some people would call me a feminist. I wouldn't agree with them, completely. Feminists wouldn't call me a feminist, but I do feel strongly about equality.
Here's where my rant comes in. I guess March is Women's History Month, never knew. My first thought is why is their a month for women's history month? Why not have it all year mixed in with all the other history? Like Black History month, I think history should be history...teach it all year round, have a section on it in school, don't single it out otherwise we'll run out of months. It should be a regular part of school's curriculum.
OK, I am going off my train of thought here.
There were some quiz questions on one of the morning shows about women and their history (first woman to be a Democratic presidential candidate, etc.), one of the questions was "For every dollar a man earns, how much does a woman earn?" The answer was less, my brain has gone blank...I think it was like 70 odd cents per dollar a man earns. To me there should be no pay difference for men and women who do the same job and have the same job experience. Obviously there will be differences if a man is a doctor and a woman is a teacher...that happens, but if they are both teachers, teaching in the same school, with the same experience, they should be paid the same. One other point the show brought up was that less than 7% of the Fortune 500 earners were women. Sure that seems low, but in the workforce what is the percent of working men vs. working women? If only 3 out of 10 workers are women then of course there will be more men earning the bigger pay checks. Did they stop to think that women are more likely to work part time or to leave the workforce if they have children? I get frustrated when columnists, journalists, celebs, whoever start talking about how there needs to be more women in politics, more blacks in CEO level jobs, more Asians in movies, more Canadians in the MLB...whatever. Here's my thing with it all - if people aren't applying for these jobs how can we hire them? Maybe a woman doesn't want to run for office, do we pick an unqualified woman just to have better diversity? What if a Black man doesn't want to be the head of a company... if people do not enter these fields they can't be hired! It's not brain surgery folks. If an employer had two resumes in front of them and one was a man and one a woman and the woman had a better record, more experience, etc., I would think she would be hired (maybe that's the feminist, commie liberal in me, right Mark?), not because they need a woman to look diverse but because she is the best candidate. I don't know what the big fuss is...even if you don't agree with Obama, he is a Black man and the US President. Do you really think he was elected just because he is Black and the US had yet to have a Black president? I sure hope not because that would be stupid and dangerous. May be I am a little too believing in people, and give too many people the benefit of the doubt, but in this day and age I just don't think people base their hiring decisions on race, gender....it's about experience and qualifications. I'm just tired of this "we need more Asians in DC, we need more Women in science, we need..." Well if you need them, start making the rounds at schools and get these kids interested. I guarantee you that if Women, Blacks, Asians, Koreans, Brazilians...whoever, get involved more, you will see more minorities in all of these arenas.
In the end, it comes down to this, you can't hire those who aren't applying. And if you do the same job you should definitely get the same pay.
And those are my two cents. Hopefully it made some sense because it did in my head!