My sister actually said to me, that she doesn't hire smokers. She outlined her strategy of offering a five minute break between interviews, giving the interviewee the space to smoke.
If they took it, they were out.
This is, of course, the beginning of lifestyle discrimination. The obese know about it already. And the moral superiority that goes with healthy choices will make fewer people want to abide by them.
My former supervisor at Booz Allen smoked a lot. She also worked at home a few days a week, which is unusual for a supervisor. None of us were allowed to work at home, though. She never actually said that, it was just that every time I did, I was reprimanded, even when I asked for and received permission beforehand.
Now Econo-Girl, to tell the truth, is a bit of a pain to work with. Damn good at what she does, but a pain nonetheless. She sings and dances in her cubicle when in a good mood. She has a minor obsession with Martha Stewart and quotes her a lot. You get the idea. It can get trying for the people around me.
So is my former supervisor a good example of a smoker? No. But with all the swill being passed around about how bad smokers are, it would be easy to meld the two impressions into one. Thus is the power of the media.
Econo-Girl heard a doctor say that eighty percent of all disease is from lifestyle choices. That seems extreme. But it feeds into the "unhealthy is unholy" mean running around these days.
So how is all this stigmatization helping anyone? It isn't.
It just makes everyone feel bad, like airbrushing photos in women's magazines. Not real, but we wanted you to feel bad anyway.
2.07.2006
The Next Bubble
Is there another asset bubble in store for us after stocks and real estate? What would it be?
Gold is a good bet. It has a history of being used to hedge value in times of uncertainty.
Tulip bulbs have a brief but florid history as an asset bubble in the Netherlands about the year 1600. People are still talking about that one, as you can imagine. Can you think of what it would be like to have people as nutso about tulip bulbs as they were about dot coms? As an enthusiastic gardener, it sounds fun.
Maybe it is illegal drugs? No, I think it would have to be something legal.
Newsprint? Just a joke.
No, Econo-Girl's bet is on gold.
Gold is a good bet. It has a history of being used to hedge value in times of uncertainty.
Tulip bulbs have a brief but florid history as an asset bubble in the Netherlands about the year 1600. People are still talking about that one, as you can imagine. Can you think of what it would be like to have people as nutso about tulip bulbs as they were about dot coms? As an enthusiastic gardener, it sounds fun.
Maybe it is illegal drugs? No, I think it would have to be something legal.
Newsprint? Just a joke.
No, Econo-Girl's bet is on gold.
We Gave Away the Puppy
Econo-Girl is sad. We gave away our little Boxer puppy because we couldn't give her the attention she needed. The recipient is a local cop who took a real liking to her and has a half acre of fenced land for her to run in. The house is much quieter now and the other dogs are pouting.
2.01.2006
"America Is Addicted to Oil"
When Econo-Girl heard that this morning while getting her daily bagel, she burst out laughing. "He said that?" I asked the cashier, who apparantly does not listen to the radio piped in to her deli. And, yes, the President did say that in his address last night.
Econo-Girl's loyal readers know that she believes the importance of oil is directly related to the imprtance of short, ugly men wearing bathrobes on t.v. Weaning the U.S. off of the crude would be great. We'd be more self-sufficient, always a good thing. We wouldn't need to listen to ranting radicals, nor hesitate to stop them from building an A-bomb.
On the whole, President Bush is an idiot. This is not new information. He also has latent fascist tendencies (see Domestic Surveillance). Raise your hand if you remember the Administration wanting to cancel elections after September 11 attacks.
However, on this one, he has it right. Just like President Carter did thirty years ago.
Econo-Girl's loyal readers know that she believes the importance of oil is directly related to the imprtance of short, ugly men wearing bathrobes on t.v. Weaning the U.S. off of the crude would be great. We'd be more self-sufficient, always a good thing. We wouldn't need to listen to ranting radicals, nor hesitate to stop them from building an A-bomb.
On the whole, President Bush is an idiot. This is not new information. He also has latent fascist tendencies (see Domestic Surveillance). Raise your hand if you remember the Administration wanting to cancel elections after September 11 attacks.
However, on this one, he has it right. Just like President Carter did thirty years ago.
1.31.2006
Oh, no! Don't take my money!
Econo-Girl, as of yesterday, has developed a new theory of statecraft. She has realized that there are such things as Adolescent Nations. These are the ones that don't want their allowances cut. I am thinking of the Palistinian Authority right now, but there must be others.
After the loudmouth Hamas leader in exile shot off at the mouth about how Israel doesn't need to exist and that they won't put down their arms, what does he do the next day? Pull his head out of the sand, that's what. You mean in this entire episode of running for office, they never thought through the results of winning? What a clever strategy would be? Everyone has been waiting for Hamas to make its move. It has. It has exposed itself as a bunch of finanical teenagers who rebel against their dependency and then beg to go to the mall. Oh, and can you give them money to go to the movies?
During all this ranting for a separate state, what were they thinking?
This issue calls up other questions in Econo-Girl's mind such as 'what constitutes a fully-formed state?' To what extent does a nation need to be self-supporting and self-feeding? And to the extent that a country acts like a sponging relative, that is the extent to which they lose the right of self-determination.
Cuba would be an exception to this idea. But then Castro played the States against the Soviet Union well and made a lot of money off of it.
But does this mean that the District of Columbia should be a state of the union? Are we really self-sufficient enough? We can't feed ourselves. There is only one industry. And if the seat of government moved, there wouldn't even be that. The neighboring states don't want us because of how we'll upset their politics. So we remain a happy, leftist blip on the map of the US. It's kind of fun, really.
After the loudmouth Hamas leader in exile shot off at the mouth about how Israel doesn't need to exist and that they won't put down their arms, what does he do the next day? Pull his head out of the sand, that's what. You mean in this entire episode of running for office, they never thought through the results of winning? What a clever strategy would be? Everyone has been waiting for Hamas to make its move. It has. It has exposed itself as a bunch of finanical teenagers who rebel against their dependency and then beg to go to the mall. Oh, and can you give them money to go to the movies?
During all this ranting for a separate state, what were they thinking?
This issue calls up other questions in Econo-Girl's mind such as 'what constitutes a fully-formed state?' To what extent does a nation need to be self-supporting and self-feeding? And to the extent that a country acts like a sponging relative, that is the extent to which they lose the right of self-determination.
Cuba would be an exception to this idea. But then Castro played the States against the Soviet Union well and made a lot of money off of it.
But does this mean that the District of Columbia should be a state of the union? Are we really self-sufficient enough? We can't feed ourselves. There is only one industry. And if the seat of government moved, there wouldn't even be that. The neighboring states don't want us because of how we'll upset their politics. So we remain a happy, leftist blip on the map of the US. It's kind of fun, really.
1.28.2006
My Vet's Vette
What Econo-Girl and Liesure Lad were probably paying for is the 24 hour pet hospital with full staff. And it's good to know that it is there, but the local guy is cheaper. Fewer hours, though.
This debate stirs up the issue of executive compensation for Econo-Girl. You have to ask, are these CEO's worth it? And why are they worth it a lot more these days than in the past? Since "trickle down economics" has been disproven, is there any way to share the income from a corporation more equitably?
Econo-Girl has worked in the corporate world for a long time. The CEOs are NOT WORTH what they are paid relative to the workers. I know that makes me sound like a communist. I am unafraid.
This debate stirs up the issue of executive compensation for Econo-Girl. You have to ask, are these CEO's worth it? And why are they worth it a lot more these days than in the past? Since "trickle down economics" has been disproven, is there any way to share the income from a corporation more equitably?
Econo-Girl has worked in the corporate world for a long time. The CEOs are NOT WORTH what they are paid relative to the workers. I know that makes me sound like a communist. I am unafraid.
1.24.2006
Dog's Leg Is Broken - The Dog Walker's Handbook
Sorry for the short post before. Just got word that our puppy broke her leg. Had to take her to the Animal Hospital. I won't even tell you how much that is costing.
The vet says that you can tell if there's a fracture to a dog's leg if the dog is trying not to put weight on the leg. At least you should take the dog into the vet at that point. And if the dog is walking normally, there is no fracture. Just a handy rule of thumb.
Click on The Dog Walker's Handbook ($5) for more details.
Econo-Girl feels free to write this since our dogwalker never reads my blog.
He has lost that puppy for at least four times in the last two months. This is while walking it. So he takes the dogs to the same fenced area with the gap in the fence every day, and keeps going back even though the puppy, Molly, runs away about once a week lately.
So this time Molly runs into the street and gets hit by a car that naturally doesn't even bother to stop.
I ask you: what kind of dipshit takes a dog to the same place it always runs away from? Leisure Lad thinks that the guy is cheap and an old friend and means well. He says we should just insist that the puppy always be tethered, and since we never told DogWalker Dipshit to do that we don't have room to complain about him.
Fire his ass, I say. It just isn't acceptable to be that dumb. He is a smart guy, and a good poet. But damn it, I can't keep risking my dogs like this. Econo-Girl is upset.
It is 2 a.m. and there is paperwork to fill out for the job. Can you believe it? They hired me and I still have to fill out an application! Ah well. It's a job at least.
The vet says that you can tell if there's a fracture to a dog's leg if the dog is trying not to put weight on the leg. At least you should take the dog into the vet at that point. And if the dog is walking normally, there is no fracture. Just a handy rule of thumb.
Click on The Dog Walker's Handbook ($5) for more details.
Econo-Girl feels free to write this since our dogwalker never reads my blog.
He has lost that puppy for at least four times in the last two months. This is while walking it. So he takes the dogs to the same fenced area with the gap in the fence every day, and keeps going back even though the puppy, Molly, runs away about once a week lately.
So this time Molly runs into the street and gets hit by a car that naturally doesn't even bother to stop.
I ask you: what kind of dipshit takes a dog to the same place it always runs away from? Leisure Lad thinks that the guy is cheap and an old friend and means well. He says we should just insist that the puppy always be tethered, and since we never told DogWalker Dipshit to do that we don't have room to complain about him.
Fire his ass, I say. It just isn't acceptable to be that dumb. He is a smart guy, and a good poet. But damn it, I can't keep risking my dogs like this. Econo-Girl is upset.
It is 2 a.m. and there is paperwork to fill out for the job. Can you believe it? They hired me and I still have to fill out an application! Ah well. It's a job at least.
1.23.2006
Woe Be To Econo-Girl
Econo-Girl has picked up the habit of recording what the household has spent every day. What an eye-opener. Exact figures won't be revealed. Let's just say, adjustments need to be made.
Milton, Milton
Milton Friedman was on the Charlie Rose show a few weeks ago. For the younger readers, he was a forbear of Alan Greenspan's. And when he left, all the lamentations you are hearing now about Greenspan you could hear back then about Milton. Gee, those Wall Street types are twittering hand-wringers.
And what did Milton say? That people will still send their cash to the US because there is no other risk free place to put it. So the deficit and spending the fleeting 'value' of your house won't matter! Those foreigners will be happy to lend us the money. Don't you feel better now?
Econo-Girl remains a bit dubious. How is it that living in debt as a nation doesn't matter? Milton Friedman said also that people are wealthier and better off now than they were thirty years ago because of deregulation. So there is nothing to worry about. Everything is fine.
On a side note, Econo-Girl's new novel is moving along quite nicely.
And what did Milton say? That people will still send their cash to the US because there is no other risk free place to put it. So the deficit and spending the fleeting 'value' of your house won't matter! Those foreigners will be happy to lend us the money. Don't you feel better now?
Econo-Girl remains a bit dubious. How is it that living in debt as a nation doesn't matter? Milton Friedman said also that people are wealthier and better off now than they were thirty years ago because of deregulation. So there is nothing to worry about. Everything is fine.
On a side note, Econo-Girl's new novel is moving along quite nicely.
1.19.2006
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