By Mark | January 27, 2005
First, it was Armstrong Williams. Now, it’s Maggie Gallagher. One wonders where it will end, and just how many columnists have been taking money from the Bush administration to energetically champion their policies. Here’s a clip from today’s Washington Post:
In 2002, syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher repeatedly defended President Bush’s push for a $300 million initiative encouraging marriage as a way of strengthening families.
“The Bush marriage initiative would emphasize the importance of marriage to poor couples” and “educate teens on the value of delaying childbearing until marriage,” she wrote in National Review Online, for example, adding that this could “carry big payoffs down the road for taxpayers and children.”
But Gallagher failed to mention that she had a $21,500 contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to help promote the president’s proposal.
While we’re on the subject of skirting ethical boundaries and using deceptive means to sway public opinion, you might want to check out this post at Metafilter, where someone has identified over half a dozen identical defenses of Ashlee Simpson which sprung up in on-line music forums after the “singer” got booed off the stage by 70,000 people during the halftime show at a football game… The lesson? You don’t have to buy people, when you can create them.
By Mark | January 26, 2005
It makes me all giddy to think about it, but if you buy this fantastic “belly bar,” both Paris Hilton and I will make some money. We’ll be like business partners!
Thank you for making this happen, Amazon.
And, if you don’t believe me that it’s the best damned product from the Paris Hilton Collection (It really is – I haven’t taken my out since Christmas), just check out this Amazon testimonial:
I’m sorry, you’ve got to be a sick, anti-American lunatic to think you’d ever, EVER! find a better belly bar, no matter how deeply you searched.
You heard her – if you don’t like this “belly bar,” you’re un-American. You’re American Taliban. So, get out your credit card and prove it to us that you love freedom…
While we’re on the subject of undeserved, inherited wealth, if you get a chance, check out this piece entitled “Is Unlimited Inheritance Un-American?” (I personally think it is, but I think you probably knew that.)
By Mark | January 26, 2005
OK, I now not only have a location for the first meeting of the Ypsi-Arbor Progressive Book Club, but I have a date and a time. We will be meeting at 7:00 PM on the evening of Thursday, February 10, at the downtown branch of the Ypsi District Library. (The library closes at 9:00, so it won’t run any longer than two hours.)
If you didn’t see my earlier post on the subject, the first book we’ll be discussing will be Thomas Frank’s “What’s the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America.”
If you’re planning to attend, let me know. I don’t think we’ll exceed the 15-person capacity of the room, but I want to keep track just in case. (So far I know of about 8 — 10 people who are planning to attend.)
By Mark | January 25, 2005
For some reason, it didn’t really bother me when that guy sent in the image of my face on a butt plug. This image that I just received, however, freaks me out. Maybe it’s the idea of being consumed and digested (as opposed to just being shoved into someone’s rectum), or maybe it’s just the thought of being bitten in half. What ever it is, when I find out who sent it, I’ll be requesting a restraining order… And, I’ll be paying attention where I step for a while, as I don’t want to hear those fateful words, “Hey, you got your Maynard in my chocolate and peanut butter!”
I’m thinking that maybe it’s time for me to let this tiny branch of the internet just dry up and fall off.
By Mark | January 25, 2005
I have a love-hate relationship with Costco. On one hand, I hate that Costco, and the other “big box,” deep discount retailers like Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club, routinely run locally owned retail establishments out of business. But, on the other hand, I love that Costco’s been able to compete against Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club without necessarily stooping to their level. Whereas the companies of the Walton empire are consistently demonstrating that shareholder value is more important than the safety, security and well-being of their employees (and their families), the leadership at Costco, it seems, has taken pains to head in the other direction, even though doing so isn’t rewarded on Wall Street.
Costco and Sam’s Club, while serving essentially the same function, have defined themselves as the polar opposites of one another in almost every way. Whereas you commonly hear stories about Wal-Mart hiring illegal aliens to clean their stores (and locking them in the stores after hours, in violation of numerous fire and safety codes), you don’t hear those same stories about Costco. When you hear about the management of Sam’s Club routinely telling new employees how to augment their sub-living-wage paychecks with food stamps, you don’t hear about that going on at Costco. Costco pays their people relatively well (and provides benefits), and, as a result, they keep their employees…. OK, with all that said, I’d like to share a note from a reader named Dave in Seattle.
Here is a link to an article that I started to send you last week. It is about Costco and Dick’s Burgers, two local companies that have many traditionally low wage service industry jobs. Both companies offer higher wages than the industry standard and Costco even offers health insurance. The owner of Costco pays himself around $350k a year with no bonuses. What I find interesting about this is that the ratio of the highest paid employee to the lowest is more in line with other countries. I remember seeing a chart recently that compared this ration from country to country. I think that most were in the 12:1 ratio and as you got into the European countries it climbs up to between 20:1 and 45:1, but when you get into the US it skyrockets to something like 450:1 ! And that is the average! Anyways, it is nice to know that some companies are respectful of their employees and that not all CEO’s are self centered mavericks.
If you’re interested reading more about the growing concentration of wealth in the United States, check out Inequality.org.
