Duran Duran: A View To A Kill

There's nothing like a little blast from the past to lift deflated spirits. Despite being a hard-rocker at heart, the werewolf is an unapologetic fan of almost all things 80's. His Achilles heel is the pop music of that era. Duran Duran qualifies as one of his favorite distinctly 80's legacies. It's good to see that Duran Duran has aged relatively well and still performs their music with gusto and heart, while remaining true to their 80's roots.

This song holds an especially important place in the werewolf's black heart. Not only is it a guilty pleasure from the 80's, but it is also one of the better theme songs from a Bond film. The werewolf was raised on Bond films and loosely bases his life on emulating some things Bond. While the namesake Bond film leaves something to be desired and is one of the weaker installments in the venerable film franchise, there is no doubt that this song rates as one the best Bond themes. If you listen closely, you'll notice this song has a mean base line.

This song is definitely on the werewolf's karaoke list when he liberates himself from exile. Beware. He's got some mean moves planned to compensate for his lack of talent.

When Human Rights activists enable Human Rights violators.

Amnesty International is taking some much deserved heat in the British press. Richard Kerbaj of the Times of London, penned this rather damning piece raising some important questions about the double standards and lack of ethical consistency within the organization. It's both welcome and overdue.

Back in his more activist days, the werewolf would frequently spar with self-identified "human rights activists" and liberal champions on his college campus. The theme he noticed from his youthful encounters and from this article(and many others) is the near universal assumption of innocence of those detained by the United States in places like Gitmo, and the universal application of malicious motives to entities like the United States. It's akin to blaming the wealthy white woman who was rapped raped by a poor black urban hoodlum because she doesn't conform to a nation of victim-hood by virtue of being white and wealthy and that being poor and black excused the behavior of the perpetrator. There is a severe lack of perspective and scale. Being a level-headed and staunch believer in human dignity and freedom, their rather overt biases has always baffled the werewolf because, while imperfect, the west, even at its worst, is light-years ahead of Afghanistan and the Taliban on anything relating to human dignity.  The werewolf is glad to see that stories like this are beginning to take a toll on organizations like Amnesty International. He would love to see a non-partisan global Human Rights organization that focuses on epicenters of real political blight like Iran, Zimbabwe, China, Burma, and Equatorial Guinea. Dare to dream.

Sisyphean task: Shoveling the Snow

Exile has relegated the werewolf to life in the suburbs of New York City.  Last week during Snowmageddon I, the area dodged a bullet and was spared any snowfall. While DC was getting shelled with 24 inches of snow, New York City and its environs were kicking back and enjoying some lattes.  However, Snowmageddon II came back with a vengeance this time around with New York in the cross-hairs. So far, about 11 inches have fallen. (Much less than DC mind you, but then again this area isn't nearly as dysfunctional when snow falls) Earlier today, when there was a lull in the snowfall and about 7 inches had accumulated, the werewolf went to work shoveling the rather expansive driveway and walkway. He then retired inside, only to notice that by mid-afternoon, another three or four inches had fallen and this snow was the of the heavy icier variety. It looked as if his earlier efforts had been in vain. Dutifully, the driveway and walkway have been cleared again and rather impressive snow walls have formed. As dusk dawns, the werewolf has read that a few more inches are to be expected. It all feels so Sisyphean. However, the theory goes that by shoveling the snow in dedicated shifts, effort and labor will be reduced because the weight and density of packed snow will not be allowed to accumulate. So far, it's just a theory as the effort expanded will be hard to measure against effort saved.

That being said, few things are as tranquil and beautiful as the muted silence of an environment shrouded with several inches of fresh snowfall. Here's to living in a winter wonderland.

A scorching legacy of 2008: Media Bias!

During the 2008 election, the media displayed a vacuum of interest regarding the sleazy habits and duplicitous lifestyle John Edwards was living. Despite all of the blunt indications that Edwards was a total fraud. Recall the bogus story about McCain affair that the New York Times didn't hesitate to splash across its front page, yet ended up costing the gray lady serious coin via a defamation settlement and was thoroughly debunked. The contrast in treatment is so shocking it induces a state of speechlessness. Byron York has some thoughts on the issue here. He states:

"An explosive scandal had been kept out of the press for months at a time when the man at the center was an important player in national politics. Why? 

Young thought it was because the Edwards camp so tightly controlled information that journalists weren't able to find sources to corroborate the Enquirer's reporting. While that may have been part of it, the fact was, many editors and reporters just didn't want to tell the story. 

Maybe they admired Edwards' cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth. Maybe they saw no good in exposing Edwards' sordid acts. Maybe they looked down on the National Enquirer. Or maybe they were just biased. "In the case of John Edwards," said Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz, "even though it was clearly out there -- everybody in America knew about this well before CNN and the New York Times and the Washington Post got into this game -- there was still a great reluctance." 

Of course, in the end the story came out anyway -- but only after the sheer weight of Edwards' corruption made the facts impossible to ignore, even for sympathetic journalists."

Nothing new is being stated here. There are a multitude of problems that these revelations generate. From a business and ethics perspective the old print media really needs to step up their game in this age of the blogosphere and quick information dissemination to the masses. How can an organization maintain credibility when tales of shameless selective reporting and bias become so transparent? Here's a bold proposition, the New York Times and other print media should assign reporters of the opposite political party to cover candidates during elections. Perhaps this would create an incentive to focus on facts first and downplay the need to cover for a candidate because of sympathy for the causes they champion. Not ever going to happen, but using a metric to maintain an adversarial element could be a healthy incentive. This only goes so far though because we saw how reporters willingly grabbed at strings to try and discredit McCain. Is a further erosion of old media and more segmentation the answer or is it unreasonable to expect a media outlet to strive for semi-objective and straight-forward political coverage? Perhaps the fact that this laundry is being aired at all is a victory unto itself.

Recall U.S. Interests In Auto Industry

Sometimes stating the obvious is tough and readily apparent evidence is thin. Over at Forbes, George Pieler and Jens Laurson take the aforementioned circumstances and author a solid article addressing the issue as it relates to the concerns over government ownership of large swaths of the US auto industry. They also speak well to Toyota's raft of problems independent of U.S. government's conflict of interest. Can a regulator who owns the competition truly be objective? Who gets screwed by this lack of objectivity?

"In a way, this is business as usual and reflected in the drop of Toyota's share prices. What is not business as usual is that Toyota's competitors include not just other car companies but also the U.S. government, due to its effective ownership of GM. Whether foul play is involved, it's a bad idea for government to run a car company and regulate all competing car companies at the same time. The conflict of interest is obvious, but the government--certainly not at La Hood's initiative--didn't recuse itself. Did he suggest that "Toyota thinks they know how to fix the problem" to cast doubt on its actual ability? What would otherwise be an innocuous statement arouses suspicions under such circumstances.

The charge of bias can't be proved or dismissed. The accusation of pro-GM mercantilism will always be raised when its competitors are targeted. Genuine protectionism in favor of GM and Chrysler (as well as Ford) would be very bad for American consumers and American autoworkers employed by Toyota. But even the credible appearance of it is bad enough. If the public has to second-guess every one of La Hood's pro-safety actions and pronouncements on the ground he may be tilting the table for GM, it's not only Toyota or U.S.-Japan relations that suffer. The credibility of U.S. policies on automotive safety will be harmed most, which means that for public safety reasons alone the U.S. should discharge its ownership positions in GM and Chrysler as soon as possible and let them swim free." 

There is another conflict of interest that the werewolf believes is getting short shrift. The relationship that unions have with domestic vs. foreign automakers. Although not universal, the vast majority of foreign automakers who have established manufacturing operations in the United States have located their plants in "right to work" states. The automakers include Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz and some of the states domiciling these operations include Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Texas, South Carolina, and Tennessee. 

Despite the recent contraction in credit, lower sales volumes, and poor macro-economic conditions a spectrum of reports suggest that these plants are more efficient, breed happier workers, and have a generally less adversarial relationship with management.  Given that the current administration is beholden to the labor unions that contributed handsomely to their election coffers and that the unions hold profound contempt for the foreign operations of competitors being sourced domestically under non-union negotiated labor contracts, and that since the government owns the companies that employ large segments of union membership that there is an inherent conflict of interest at work? The answer seems painfully obvious to the werewolf, but then again he doesn't want to be accused of chasing mice in his mind. Still the implications of such decisions impact stakeholders from consumers, workers, lenders, suppliers, and tax-payers that it would behoove us all if more attention was paid to the issue.

Christopher Hitchens: Why Women Still Aren't Funny

This five minute clip speaks for itself. The werewolf has a female friend from high school trying to make it on the LA stand-up comic circuit. She's struggling.

The Who: I Can`t Explain

The Who were one of the many classic rock cornerstones of the werewolf's youth. "Behind Blue Eyes" has one of the most awesome transitions from heartbroken ballad to face peeling hard rock ever. Their contributions to rock 'n' roll are epic and people with a decent taste in music owe them a debt of gratitude. Like all bands that are talented enough to have a career spanning many decades, The Who's sound evolved from classic British invasion rock (I Can't Explain), to hard hitting head banging (Who are you), to more mellow rhythmic rock (Eminence Front). A storied and impressive career if there ever was one. They are right up there with the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith. Let's take a step back to realize that the video featured in this post was from 1965. LBJ had only been president for two years!

While the werewolf was glad to note that some of them are still kicking, their presence at the super bowl confirmed his suspicion that some rock acts are best relegated to retirement. Watching Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend was akin to the USSR thinking it could pass off it's gerontocracy of Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko in the early 1980's as legit leadership. I mean this these guy's looked like they just got a day pass from their Florida retirement community. Daltrey's strained voice is a husk of its former self and he permeated an acknowledged guilt of sucking. Poor Townshend looked like he shat his pants at one point. It was a little pathetic to watch these rock gods play one encore too many. That being said, the werewolf raises a paw to salute one of the best rock bands to grace this lifetime. You guys have earned your retirement. Enjoy it!

Barone - Unions Bleed Taxpayers

Michael Barone pens another superb piece on the economic hurdles imposed by unions on taxpayers, consumers, and business. Some very alarming trends are emerging. The article points out that private-sector union ranks are collapsing (a good thing), yet more than a third of public-sector employees are now unionized ( a scary factoid). Unions are no longer stewards of decent wages, improved workplace conditions, and agents of disenfranchised stakeholders. They are the new entitled fat-cats that have been very effective at eroding America's competitive advantage in key industrial and manufacturing sectors. From a sustainability and corporate responsibility perspective their needs to be an honest assessment of the costs they incur on all of us. Here are some well articulated highlights on impact of unions on the auto industry from Barone's article.

"Private-sector unionism is adversarial. Economic studies show that such unions do extract premium wages and benefits from employers. But that puts employers at a competitive disadvantage. Back in the 1950s, the Big Three auto companies dominated the industry and were at the top of the Fortune 500. Last year, General Motors and Chrysler went bankrupt and are now owned by the government and the UAW. Ford only barely escaped.

Adversarial unionism tends to produce rigid work rules that retard adaptation and innovation. We have had a three-decade experiment pitting UAW work rules against the flexible management of Japanese- and European-owned non-union auto firms.

The results are in. Yes, clueless management at the Detroit firms for years ignored problems with product quality and made bonehead investment mistakes. But adversarial unionism made it much, much harder for Detroit to produce high-quality vehicles than it was for non-unionized companies." 


With that kind of well documented legacy, do we really want to straddle our already obese and incompetent governmental infrastructure with a new bracket of unsustainable obligations? 

Best movie of the last decade - Thank you for Smoking - Trailer

Witty. Clever. Honest. Refreshing. Thank you for Smoking is the werewolf's favorite film of the last decade. It is also one of the few examples of a cinematic translation usurping the book from which it is based on nearly all fronts. That is a distinction that is hard to come by. If you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favor and buy it. It's a keeper.

North Korea: A Nation of Racist Dwarfs - Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens has authored another brilliant piece, "A Nation of Racist Dwarfs," over at Slate. North Korea is arguably the most perverted and tragic modern manifestation of humanity on the face of this fair planet. Hitchens, in a way only his dry and acerbic wit can capture, pens a solid piece on ethnic nationalism and racism in the Korean peninsula.   Here are some excerpts: 

"Here are the two most shattering facts about North Korea. First, when viewed by satellite photography at night, it is an area of unrelieved darkness. Barely a scintilla of light is visible even in the capital city. (See this famous photograph.) Second, a North Korean is on average six inches shorter than a South Korean. You may care to imagine how much surplus value has been wrung out of such a slave, and for how long, in order to feed and sustain the militarized crime family that completely owns both the country and its people.

But this is what proves Myers right. Unlike previous racist dictatorships, the North Korean one has actually succeeded in producing a sort of new species. Starving and stunted dwarves, living in the dark, kept in perpetual ignorance and fear, brainwashed into the hatred of others, regimented and coerced and inculcated with a death cult: This horror show is in our future, and is so ghastly that our own darling leaders dare not face it and can only peep through their fingers at what is coming."

NAVY "Corpse Man" twice. Really?

The werewolf is constantly informed by his liberal minded colleagues that President Obama has a masterful command of the English language. Really? How does a Harvard educated lawyer screw up corpsman twice? For those of you in the dark, corpsman is pronounced "core man." It's standard English. What's next the United States Marine Corpse?

The issue here is standards. Liberals lambasted Bush's Texas twang, occasional stutters, lack of flow, and mispronunciation of foreign leaders names. All fair. It looks like our current president's has a different affliction. A slavish devotion to the teleprompter(he doesn't look at the camera once), plus a detachment from the phonetic tradition of the English language, especially as it relates to the military. Not good for a commander-in-chief guiding a country in two wars. Not to nit pick, but at what point does the media narrative start to reflect how the president conducts himself? Smooth and slick, yet oddly detached, divorced from the pronunciation of common words, aloof, and slavishly devoted to the script on his teleprompter. His flaws are different than those of his predecessor, perhaps not as significant, perhaps more-so, yet a trend has emerged, how come the media is the last to notice?

Retard police? How retarded!

A loyal reader recently informed the werewolf that according to the Special Olympics' online retard police, this blog was safe because it had not used the word retard in print form. (Why does fucktard get a pass?) That just changed, thank goodness. The werewolf wouldn't be able to sleep in good conscience knowing that some sort of self-appointed steward of political correctness approved of him. Since when did the Special Olympics appoint themselves guardians of the word retard? Who the hell do they think they are jumping into the world authorizing what can and can't be used in the vernacular? How retarded!

The werewolf is a big fan of the Special Olympics and hopes that every human life will be given a chance to shine in some capacity. He values the service the Special Olympics provide to segments of the world population. He will continue to support them while they host forums that allow people to shine and excel while displaying acute physical prowess. However, he will not abide them expanding their charter into the realm of linguistic thugs.

According to dictionary.com:

re⋅tard

 /rɪˈtɑrd, for 1–3, 5; ˈritɑrd for 4/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [ri-tahrd, for 1–3, 5; ree-tahrd for 4] Show IPA

–verb (used with object)

1.	to make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.); hinder or impede.

–verb (used without object)

2.	to be delayed.

–noun

3.	a slowing down, diminution, or hindrance, as in a machine.

4.	Slang: Disparaging. a. a mentally retarded person. b. a person who is stupid, obtuse, or ineffective in some way: a hopeless social retard.

5.	Automotive, Machinery. an adjustment made in the setting of the distributor of an internal-combustion engine so that the spark for ignition in each cylinder is generated later in the cycle.

---

Origin:
1480–90; < L retardāre to delay, protract, equiv. to re- re- + tardāre to loiter, be slow, deriv. of tardus slow; see tardy

Related forms:

re⋅tard⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. obstruct, check.

Antonyms:
1. accelerate.
There are many legit uses for retard in the daily vernacular.

The werewolf's hunt for employment has been retarded by weak macro-economic conditions.

President Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel, acted like a retard when he called uncooperative democrats Democrats "retarded."

Liberals prefer aborting babies who may be retarded.

Like all things, language is delicate, important, and should be carefully deployed at times. Using language well is an art form that escapes larger segments of the population as each generation passes. Each word has implications to being used and that should be noted. However, policing and trying to erase some words, especially flexible words like retard is a shame. It's almost as outrageous as the retarded people who think the word NIGGARDLY is racist.

Toyota Totaled?

Despite the tragic implications for a few very dead individuals, watching the national drama unfold around Toyota's deadly brake pedal flaw has been fascinating. The National Post has an interesting op-ed by  Terence Corcoran covering the details of what is happening to Toyota from a skeptic's perspective. He downplays Toyota's culpability, and focuses on the domestic reaction from both a governmental and business perspective. There is no questioning that the Obama administration and certain congressional democrats have behaved like buffoons, that Detroit is giddy with joy, and that Toyota itself has tripped pretty severely on the public relations front. Given the multiple forces at work, this business drama has the makings of great business school case study.

First things first, Toyota screwed the pooch. One of the hallmarks of Toyota's brand image was quality. That association is a core component of what distinguishes Toyota from it's American rivals in the minds of consumers. Every large scale auto-manufacturer will have a recall at some-point or a design flaw, especially if they are volume players. Managing these moments is what determines a company's brand image in the minds of consumers. Remember the famous Tylenol Recall of 1982 that did wonders for Johnson & Johnson. Getting ahead of the issue, preempting any fears from consumers by letting them know that they are a priority, and exceeding crisis management expectations are essential from a brand image preservation perspective. The werewolf is dismayed that Toyota didn't have some massive contingency drawn-up just in case a disaster like this occurred.  It's risk management 101 for a company like Toyota.  Toyota's management clearly seemed a little slow to respond, was skeptical of consumer fears, and allowed the issue to explode into a North American market drama that the werewolf thinks has adversely  impacted their brand for the short and potentially medium term. Given Toyota's discipline as a company, their weak response and poor brand management is the most shocking element of this tale at work.

Granted, Toyota has long been the arch-rival of GM and Ford ever since their arrival on these shores four decades ago started eroding Detroit's dominance in it's home market. Toyota built better cars leveraging more operational efficiencies, their cars lasted longer and developed a perception of quality, and they avoided detrimental union obligations. Most importantly Toyota offered the consumers what they wanted instead of boring automotive bureaucratic abominations pushed by Detroit. Detroit's resentment of Toyota is not unlike the blood-feud between the Hatfield's and McCoy's. In today's day and age, conflicts of interest abound. The US Government has a large ownership stake in both Chrysler and GM, those dastardly unions heavily financed and supported the current occupant of the White House, plus this administration has displayed a tendency to be protectionist and anti-free trade. It doesn't take a genius to see the potential problems at play working against Toyota from a governmental standpoint. However, these problems aren't insurmountable, they just need to be noted and Toyota needs to integrate them into their communications strategy as they launch a recovery.As much as Detroit seems to be enjoying this meltdown at Toyota, they seem to be missing the message the credibility isn't going to be sourced in a nasty web of conflicts of interest and lame rhetoric. Good management and valuing consumers will do that just fine.

Brand image and commitment to that image are what lead to credibility. Credibility fuels consumer purchasing and loyalty. At the moment, credibility seems to be wanting in all sectors of this drama. What do you all think?

Funny Friday: The Legend of Ari Gold

Although getting a little long in the tooth as it approaches its seventh season, HBO's Entourage still qualifies as some of the best television produced in recent memory. Beyond strong writing, the show owes some of its endurance and stature in pop culture to the character of Hollywood super agent, Ari Gold, played masterfully by Jeremy Piven. Here's a glimpse of Ari at his finest.

Social Security: Ticking time bomb

For the first time in 25 years, social security is paying out more than it receives in taxes.

"Don't look now. But even as the bank bailout is winding down, another huge bailout is starting, this time for the Social Security system.

A report from the Congressional Budget Office shows that for the first time in 25 years, Social Security is taking in less in taxes than it is spending on benefits."

Somehow the werewolf doubts this intergalactic Ponzi-scheme will survive to the point when he is ready to retire. People were rightly outraged by the likes of Bernie Madoff who ran a similar operation. Why does the government get a pass?

Barone: How Climate-Change Fanatics Corrupted Science.

Michael Barone has a great piece about the self-inflicted and fanatical wounds that gradually eroded the credibility of the climate change movement from within. The article itself is well-researched and meticulously cited, here are some brief excerpts: 

"Recently, there have been even more shocking revelations. The IPCC has claimed that warming will cause the Himalayan glaciers to disappear by 2035. It turns out that that claim was based solely on a pamphlet published by the World Wildlife Federation, based on no science at all. The head of the IPCC was informed that a 1996 report said those glaciers could melt significantly by 2350, not 2035, but he let the claim stand.

As Christopher Booker writes in the Telegraph of London, "A Canadian analyst has identified more than 20 passages in the IPCC's report which cite similarly non-peer-reviews WWF or Greenpeace reports as their authority." Similarly, the Times of London reports that a claim that warming could endanger "up to 40 percent" of the Amazon rainforest came from an anti-smoking activist and had no scientific basis whatever."

Does anyone else catch the irony in that last line?

Anyhow, the moral of the story is that transparency, accountability, and honesty are crucial to successfully pushing an effective issues campaign in this day and age. Information is readily available and easy to access. As the article suggests, the big question will be,  how did large swaths of society, especially governments and corporations become so enthralled with an idea driven by junk science at best and manipulative deceivers on a blind crusade at worst ? The werewolf thinks for governments it was about control and for corporations it was a short term play to try and find revenue opportunities. Not particularly flattering for either. Still, thank goodness for the vigilance of those who questioned the herd mentality on this issue.

"Luv Gov"Mark Sanford dropped 'faithful' from vows from marriage: Preempted honesty in a painful form?

Just when we thought we had collectively forgotten about South Carolina's infamous "luv gov," Andy Barr, from the Politico pens the bizarrely revealing article "Mark Sanford dropped 'faithful' from vows."

The article explicitly states "South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford refused to include a promise to be faithful in his wedding vows, according to his wife, Jenny." Several things snap to werewolf's brain upon reading this weird revelation. Firstly, this is not to blame Jenny Sanford, but it looks like Mark sent a very direct signal to her from an early point that he did not take fidelity seriously. She allowed it to be omitted from the contractual vows that are the foundation of marriage. In a weird twists of fate, was she a victim of her own naivety, and he just an actor operating within the perceived construct of their marriage contract? However, Mark clearly felt guilty about his actions and he tried to hide them, in many ways suggesting he wasn't comfortable enough with that omitted clause to be forthright and honest with his spouse. The werewolf thinks very poorly of Governor on account of his behavior, but can't help but acknowledge that the boundaries of weirdness in this instance make this case of a "cheating politician" somewhat exceptional. 

Cheating politicians are sadly an accepted norm in society and nothing new. 

Giuliani and Gingrich: The same old guys that ditch their wives for their misstresses. Boring and standard.

Clinton: Classic horn dog, who's too cowardly to properly confess when caught, has a taste for fat chicks, and has a wife who puts up with his shit to advance her career politically.

McGreevy: Cheating politicians are gay. Really sucks to be his wife. A national first.

Spitzer: Cheating politicians like sleazy Jersey-shore-esque hookers. Confirmed what everybody knew. 

Edwards: Co-opts wife's fatal cancer to advance phony image of crusading populist douche-bag, all while he is really just another narcissistic tool extraordinaire, who happens to have taken his dalliances to new level of irresponsibility and creepiness. Sadly, the media covered for him and he was exposed by the National Enquirer. He may be the most shameless and disgusting of the bunch.

Sanford: Never promises to be faithful to spouse in first place, spouse accepts that term; lies to everyone about jet-setting to Argentina to see his Latin babe; calls his mistress his soul mate on national television, seems to accept his fate. Weirdly, there is an honesty to this guy's actions. The behavior is disciple, consequences deserved, the pain very real, but the dude did not violate the vow, since it was omitted on the front.   

Why is it only the Anglo-sphere rocks? Muse: Starlight (live)

Here is a great live recording of very innovative rock song from Muse, a British band that has proven to be a reliable staple on the modern rock scene. If the werewolf were to ever direct a science fiction film, this song would be either in the opening or closing credits.

Has anyone noticed that all awesome rock bands are from the Anglo-sphere? Seriously. The werewolf caveated one decent French rock band in this post, but need he remind the world that the French have a troubled history with rock 'n' roll as exemplified here.

The werewolf only ranks as an amateur audiophile and rock 'n' roll aficionado. For the life of him, when he thinks of world class rock acts, the USA, the UK, and Australia jump to mind, while Ireland and Canada get token, but established, representation. Have the Latins done themselves in with Norteno, salsa, and mariachi, while the continental Europeans are acid addled fashion victims hooked on horrid techno? How about the Japanese? Their whole economy rests on stealing western ideas and technologies and improving them. How did they miss the rock boat? It's a random rant, but the werewolf really can't think of any legendary non-Anglo-realm rock bands that are worth their salt beyond a few one-hit wonders. Has he missed something?

Corporate free speech is not un-American!

Opinion | Corporate free speech is not un-American | Seattle Times Newspaper

The op-ed piece in hyperlink above, written by Bill Maurer, highlights some very important points about the importance of the recent Citizens United vs. FEC. Here are some highlights from the piece:

"Corporations are each different. Some will see this decision as an opportunity to support pro-free-market politicians. Some will use it use it to support liberal politicians. And some will ignore politics completely and simply try to provide goods and services the public wants. This is because a corporation, like every association — a marriage, a neighborhood association or a nonprofit organization — is made up of people. It is the people who are now free to speak and to choose the form they believe is the most effective for disseminating their message.
 

This is America. We do not ban books. We do not make it a crime to speak because the speech may be too influential. With this decision, Americans will get more information, hear more debate, and learn more about their elections. With all due respect to Sen. Schumer, what could be more American than that?"

There is this weird assumption that in this day and age of diversified interests along with multiple information sources with easy platforms of access, that corporations always have nefarious aims and objectives and that the use of corporate money pollutes politics. Hogwash.

Corporations have budget limitations and fiduciary responsibility to their ownership to work at turning a profit. Even the wealthiest corporations can't write blank checks (although very large ones on occasion can be issued) It's a very honorable an open set of objectives to be chasing  bottom-line in the black. Plus, it is explicit by the very nature of the capitalist beast. More so, than can be said about the motives of certain individuals. As high-lighted in the article, the public has long been suspicious of various corporate marketing initiatives that have failed despite having millions of dollars pumped into them. Money might be able to purchase airtime, but it doesn't guarantee results.

The werewolf wonders if corporations should be treated more like an individual on some levels, but will flush that out in a different post. However, he has also thought that if the government and anti-free speech activists really wanted to curb corporate speech in good faith, why don't they push for an elimination of corporate taxes? A reduction in stakeholder status can certainly be linked to a reduction in assumed rights. Food for thought.

British Bureaucratic Idiocy: Quantifying Bravery

Tim Ripley of The Time of London has a scathing piece "Quota rules rob troops of medals" on how out-of-control government bureaucracies become slaves to quantifying the unquantifiable to the detriment of the people they are attempting to serve. In essence, White Hall has decided that a quota must be in place to recognize bravery on the battlefield in the case of British troops deployed in the very active combat theater of Afghanistan. Bravery, or courage under fire, is like laughter or love, it is something that can't be quantified based off of a rigid quota system and capped for allocation. Sure, rigorous standards must be established to meet a threshold to be recognized for bravery, but the werewolf thinks of few things as sinister as valuing courage through a rigid quota system. That sends a very perverse signal throughout the ranks and it is likely very demoralizing.

It also got the werewolf thinking that if governments instinctively want to set quotas for courage and bravery, imagine how treacherous they are when it comes to allocating the scarce resources of a health care system. Another reason for the United States to avoid a nationalized health care system like herpes from a crack-house hooker. Once you get it, it sticks with you forever, and you never treat or value life with the same dignity.