The Headlines

The Headlines

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I just feel like doing some writing today so I thought I’d would chime in on some current events:

I don’t like complaining about stuff unless I can offer a solution, so I’ll try and offer some lame solution to anything that merits one.

The Oil Spill

I feel like this has taken a backseat to a lot of stuff and it probably shouldn’t. Those people in New Orleans get crapped on more times than anyone I’ve ever seen. I bet after this is all cleaned up, people will still be clamoring for more drilling… really? What’s it going to take to stop? An oil spill covering Wall Street?

I bet if all the executives for Goldman-Sachs (who now occupy many of the spots in the US Treasury) lost their homes to flooding or they couldn’t work because a ball of crude oil exploded in their office they’d have a different attitude. God forbid they lose that million dollar pay check right? But it’s alright for a fisherman to lose his home. Pretty messed up way to run things.

Solution: To the top 1% – Stop being jerks, how much money do you really need? “Throw more money at it” is not a solution to anything.

The Economy

What a miserable time to be starting out in the workforce. I feel fortunate that I have a stable job and we didn’t have any layoffs when the economy (especially in California) seemed to be dictating it. I think that’s pretty rare in a company now-a-days. To my knowledge, we didn’t lose any benefits either.

The homeless population in Los Angeles has noticeably increased in the last 2 years I’ve been here. I can’t even walk 2 miles to the movie theater without passing 5-10 homeless people. The state is of no help, they’re laying people off in record numbers and raising taxes. We have the highest population of movie stars and musicians in the country here, so how about you tax guys like Will Farrell (no idea if he actually lives in LA) more and leave the little guy alone? The taxation structure in this country is so out of whack and protected by big-business, I’m not sure if it’ll ever get back to a stable point; especially not under the current structure.

Solution: I didn’t realize this until recently, but apparently in the 50s the tax rate on the wealthy was upwards of 90%. And that money was used to build roads, better schools, and better lives for a lot of people. Everyone was happy until corporate America took over and drastically reduced the tax rate on themselves to where it currently is (not sure what the number is). So the economy started into a gradual free-fall to where we are today: The rich have and want more money than they could ever need and the poor are poorer than they have ever been. The top 1% in this country have more money than the bottom 95% combined. The gap between the rich and poor will continue to grow until something big changes. Maybe raise that tax rate again? I dunno.

Baseball in 2010

I love it, the pitchers are back. I’m just hoping that everything is on the level and they’re not using some designer drug to gain an edge. The good hitters are still hitting and the good pitchers are insane. I’ve never really seen anything like it, I bet this is what it was like before they lowered the mound.

Also, I think Bud Selig should do something positive for the game or step down. Honestly, the guy is basically spineless.

Solution: Stop molding the playoff around the Fox TV schedule, if they want to televise the games they should adhere to the schedule, not the other way around.

Stop making the all-star game mean something, these players may only work March to October but they still deserve a few days off. How do we reward the best of the best? We make them work really hard over their vacation. I’d be pissed if I was reward for my work by having to come in on my day off and it wasn’t laid-back/relaxing.

Baseball needs a salary cap, screw the union, let them go on strike. Salaries are out of control. Make the cost of everyone go down. Heck, put a cap on the cost of a soda and a novelty bat. It’s ridiculous what’s happening out there… and once again: how much money do these people really need? I think a cap of $100MIL a year for a team is more than reasonable. And it’ll only effect 8 teams (including my Red Sox).

Lebron James

This is exactly what the country has turned in to. Everyone taking their person goals as #1 and reaching them at all costs. That being said, Cleveland is miserable so I can’t fault him for leaving, I would have done the same thing, no one wants to live in the same place their whole lives. I think Miami was a lame, cop-out choice, but whatever.

If I was Lebron, I think I would have went to Orlando, a good team but not a guaranteed championship, I mean… you have to complete a little, right? There has to be some challenge or you get bored really fast.

It’s unfortunate that Cleveland is a borderline slum at this point, and without Lebron they’ll probably dip to the levels of Detroit. But we learn at a very young age: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

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