Disclaimer – The content of this article is extremely sensitive, and will likely offend. If you don’t have a strong stomach and won’t be able to finish, don’t start. There is a point to everything I write but sometimes you won’t get it until you get to the end.
In recent days, Senator McCain released some advertising accusing Senator Obama of promoting sex education to kindergartners. As a father of a soon-to-be kindergartner, I found myself skeptical of this ad, and did a little (and I mean very little) research. It turns out that Senator Obama was promoting education to young children to teach them about stranger danger, a program I can support, again as the father of a soon-to-be. However, this brings me to my point. This is again a mechanism to protect against sexual predators. Some great stuff, but these approaches never strike at the fundamental problem. Educating our kids doesn’t really address the defect which places them in danger in the first place.
In many of our states, we have capital punishment. Execution for certain crimes because their nature is so heinous, and we believe that these criminals lack the requisite ability for rehabilitation. This is a policy I have always supported, in defense of a society free from the animal among us. Serial killers. Traitors. Rapists who kill while in the act. Typically, these are serious crimes and often have an additional factor which places them into a category of more egregious acts. Shocking, if you will. In turn, we find these cases at the bar of the court, with a little kicker available to the judiciary as an option for punishment.
However, the breadth of the availability of this punishment is actually extremely limited. For example, no one has been put to death for jaywalking in a long time. Further, burglary (stealing from an occupied premises), or robbery (stealing from another person), while dangerous are not of this same nature. For good reason – These crimes in and of themselves are not of the same tier of crimes. Yet there is an entire category of crimes which do meet the “shocking” threshold, but which we fail to apply the same standard of punishment. I submit if we did, there would be a dramatic decline in the statistics.
Sex crimes (those criminal acts involving some form of crime involving genitals or sexual pleasure) seem to meet this threshold. The crimes often –
· Require no escalation to become shocking. Rape, molestation, and other sex crimes begin at egregious and climb rapidly to driving me to want to go on a man hunt when I hear of one occurring. Anyone with a daughter (I don’t have one personally) would likely join me with pitchforks, torches and ire.
· Involve a victim who will never recover. Many victims are never able to feel safe again,
and because the violator is often a member of the opposite sex, it forever impacts the victims ability to readily maintain a healthy relationship.
· Involve a criminal who is untrainable or “unrehabilitatable,” Many of these predators are predisposed towards these unhealthy attractions, and I believe from some reading a long time ago that there are indicators that they can never be “cured” by modern standards. (read more for my tirade against Megan’s Law.)
Therefore, I would implement a plan for my state (capital punishment is state legislated), which expanded the options for this punishment, but before I wrote this into law, I would begin with overhauling the legislation around sex crimes in general. For example, the 18 year old who has intercourse with his 15 year old girlfriend is not “raping” his date. Yet in many states this is how the law is written if the father of the 15 year old presses charges. We need to fix these issues.
However, the line is less blurry for me, for many other cases. For example, if you are 60 and the victim is anything less than 18, have a seat in my chair. Digital penetration (using the finger) of a minor is just as bad as rape in the eyes of the victim. Both are permanently scarring and both result in a devastated future. Many rape victims have reported that they would rather have been killed in the process of the crime. I suspect that the 12 year old victim of a neighbor is in the same boat.
All of these crimes are heinous and need to be dealt with. However, there needs to naturally be a level of indisputable proof. While I believe that these crimes are heinous, I also know that sometimes people lie. I know that some cases of rape are not true. I know that sometimes people make things up. Under the normal burden of proof, the judge or jury must have no reasonable doubt. Let’s call this 90% of more certain that the crime was committed by the defendant in the manner described. For this purpose, I will even require that the burden of proof is 95% or higher. For example, the defendant saw the assailant, picked him out of a lineup, DNA confirmed he was the guy and she is still covered in bruises. Oh and they never met before the attack. Or little Timmy goes to school and tells a story about his Uncle Bob who touches him in a bad way. Then mom confirms the Bob was alone with Timmy for four hours on the day of the assault, and that Timmy was bleeding from the same bad place. And Bob has no reasonable explanation. Please Bob, lay here on the table, while I get your injection ready.
And here is where I will really offend, I am sure. If you are in a position of power over a minor, (priest, coach, teacher, parent or step-parent) and you commit one of these acts or if we can demonstrate multiple cases of the crime before you were caught (serial rapists, repeated pedophiles), I have a special place in hell for you. The punishment is not as simple as the other death penalty cases. We will impanel a second jury just to determine a punishment for you. Not a jury of your peers today, but a jury of your peers in hell, so I am thinking we recruit 4 members of a motorcycle gang, four members of the Crips, and four others with an extreme sense of honor. I am thinking Marines, or Navy SEALS. They get to pick a punishment for you, before the execution. I have a list which I have in my head already, but I will let them get creative.
The reason I am so passionate about this issue is simple. I believe in the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights, and law’s like Megan’s Law simply crap right in the middle of it. The 8th Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment (so I might have to reconsider my point immediately above), and Megan’s Law, which requires registration and effectively branding of convicted sex criminals seems to run contrary to the purpose of the 8th Amendment. What we are essentially saying with registration is that we are not sure you are “cured” when we release the offender back on society, so in order to better protect our citizenry, we are going to put you on a list – forever – so that your neighbors can keep a watch on you.
The cruel and unusual part arises when we realize that our system is ill-equipped to handled these deviants with treatment and “repair”, but that our system is overcrowded, and these people have served their judicially appointed term. This is a term set by a judge who is somewhat motivated to keep the sentence shorter in the interests of not further over-crowding jail cells, or the state’s Supreme Court comes in and opens the doors to release the general prison population back onto society. So, we release criminals back onto society as keeping them in prison is doing nothing to rehabilitate them, and placing the society in general back into harm’s way. Cruel and unusual punishment arises when we release these people back into society with a “normal” stamp on them, and then brand them and others on a list. (The list, by the way, fails to clearly discern between the 18 year old boy with a 15 year old girlfriend, and the priest who rapes 12 teenagers.)
Again, this is not an attack on poor Megan Kanka and her family. My heart really goes out for that family. I am simply trying to solve the problem with a longer term, more effective solution.
So once my state has this wonderful legislation, it will have two immediate impacts. (You can do a study to prove this as I am sure it will bear out my conclusion – I am just saving time). First, it will greatly reduce the number of these crimes. Rape, a crime which is as much about power as it is about ejaculation, loses the allure of the power exchange when the criminal knows that the punishment results in his loss of power, and the victim has the full weight of the states power’s behind her. When the punishment is this permanent for a crime which involves a great deal of forethought, the executioner’s chair will be an image included in the mind of the offender before the offense.
Second, many of these potential offenders will leave the state. Sorry for all of you other states, but I really care most about where my soon-to-be kindergartner lives. In many states, where capital punishment is not an option, I suspect it will be back on the books within 18 months of enacting my plan. Why? Because those few states who fail to follow suit will have nothing but those who wish to try to continue this bad behavior. Tragic for your, but not to worry – Your good citizens will be moving out soon, and then we can just put up a big wall around you Vermont. (I don’t actually know if Vermont is a non-capital punishment, but there state is just so pretty, it seemed a waste not to take them down a peg or two.)
Now, if you are pedophile reading this, I have two pieces of advice. First, you can still go visit Thailand and other southeast Asian nations where pedophilia is still available for a price. Just note, if my Immigration Tsar finds out that you have 3 or more visits to Thailand, and you don’t work for a high-tech company, or are actually of Thai descent, have got some explaining to do.
My second piece of advice. If you see me coming, run. I have less to fear in prison than you do.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Remedial Math
When I was a kid, word problems in math class were all the rage. We spent our days tracking trains meeting in the middle, based on velocity and distance. We tried to identify how much older a girl was than her brother based on data around her parents reproductive cycle. So, let’s shift forward thirty years to 2007, and we can see how an MBA awarded mortgage broker can screw up remedial math so badly that they need to move back to third grade in Mrs. Schnorr’s arithmetic class.
Sarah is a recent college graduate who has immaculate credit. She is now a school teacher in Northern New Jersey – Let’s say Hoboken. Sarah makes $52,000 per year gross. She wants to buy a condo in Red Bank, a nearby trendy community. The condo costs $350,000. How many mortgage brokers will it take to approve her for this 100% mortgage with a 7 year adjustable, interest-only loan with a balloon at the end? 2007 answer? 1 broker. Any one broker. 2008 answer? Good luck Sarah, get back in the apartment, if you can find one.
The above exaggerated story is only a story. I made it up on a plane. However, I bet there is a real Sarah, and I bet she was foreclosed on this year. The reality is that when my wife and I bought our current home, we found a place in Cary, North Carolina. Based on what our mortgage broker told us, we could take a loan for up to $500k or more. This payment would have been in the range of $3,500-4,000 per month. This was after I told him we have almost $700 per month in student loan debt. He also knew I would be unemployed and that my wife was starting a new sales job in a new market and she was predominantly commission based. I mean seriously, if there was a couple with a higher risk profile, they would be legally dead. So we took the initiative and set our upper limit based on what we have paid previously, and sent our house target price accordingly.
But those brokers were out there for the past decade, and when bad things happen to good people, like unemployment, illness or life in general, these loans are defaulted on, and Sarah is out on the street in the heat. But on the news, on Monday morning. we are told we are in an economic crisis (and congress is shutting down until after 11/4. People are losing their homes, because they are over-extended in a market of shifting interest rates. And honestly, while I feel for them, I know that they can re-bound with a life lesson. I really do feel bad for them, but I too have made bad investments. Like losing about 10k in the dot-com collapse. I felt like an ass, but I had no one to blame but me. However, as an American, as a taxpayer, and as a voter, I do have someone I can blame on behalf of all of us.
Underwriters for these loans, investors in these loans and those who gamed the markets or allowed them to be gamed are responsible. And today, we announced a $700 billion bailout to shift the momentum of the markets and pull us out of this mess. Nice idea. I can solve a lot of problems with that kind of money. Really, that is a heck of a party. (Like the size of our total investment in the war in Iraq, or the amount of money we send overseas every year for foreign oil.) But I will play along. Let’s assume that it will take $700 billion dollars. I want some strings attached. For example –
Employee Salaries - If you are an employee of one of these companies, you are capped at 200,000 per year from now until your company pays off the bail out. This isn’t a gift, as I doubt you all have paid $700 billion in taxes collectively since the industrial revolution.
Put these measures in place and you can have my $2,000 (my share of the bill). However you can’t have it all this year, or they get my house too. Just add it to the other 11.3 trillion dollars in debt we have. By the way, on a personal note, I wonder how you spend 11.3 trillion dollars. Ever. I would like to try to spend 11.3 million someday.
My favorite quote of this entire debacle summarizes it sweetly. If you bail out these companies every time, you remove the downside to capitalism, so there must be controls on these bail outs. My wife and I own a shoe store for kids. We plunked down our savings on red, and right now the ball is still spinning, bouncing through black, green and red. Every day, we see the risks and the potential rewards. However, if the company succeeds, it is our profits, and if it fails, I have no expectation that Uncle Sam will get me a check for my investment. This is the beauty of America, and if tomorrow Bill Gates fell flat on his hindquarters, I doubt he would be there for a hand out. Richard Branson. Donald Trump. None of these entrepreneurs would do this. They would knock the dust off, and go figure out a different manner in which to generate wealth.
So, at the end of the day, this is my plan, which no one will read. However, again the therapy of writing this has made me less likely to move to England today (more on my pending move overseas later). I now resign myself to the regularly scheduled programming of Continental Airlines flight from Portland to Newark. Yes I am writing this in the air at around 0130 EST, but it was either this or watch an Ashton Kutcher movie about marriage in Vegas. I would rather get out of the plane right now.
Sarah is a recent college graduate who has immaculate credit. She is now a school teacher in Northern New Jersey – Let’s say Hoboken. Sarah makes $52,000 per year gross. She wants to buy a condo in Red Bank, a nearby trendy community. The condo costs $350,000. How many mortgage brokers will it take to approve her for this 100% mortgage with a 7 year adjustable, interest-only loan with a balloon at the end? 2007 answer? 1 broker. Any one broker. 2008 answer? Good luck Sarah, get back in the apartment, if you can find one.
The above exaggerated story is only a story. I made it up on a plane. However, I bet there is a real Sarah, and I bet she was foreclosed on this year. The reality is that when my wife and I bought our current home, we found a place in Cary, North Carolina. Based on what our mortgage broker told us, we could take a loan for up to $500k or more. This payment would have been in the range of $3,500-4,000 per month. This was after I told him we have almost $700 per month in student loan debt. He also knew I would be unemployed and that my wife was starting a new sales job in a new market and she was predominantly commission based. I mean seriously, if there was a couple with a higher risk profile, they would be legally dead. So we took the initiative and set our upper limit based on what we have paid previously, and sent our house target price accordingly.
But those brokers were out there for the past decade, and when bad things happen to good people, like unemployment, illness or life in general, these loans are defaulted on, and Sarah is out on the street in the heat. But on the news, on Monday morning. we are told we are in an economic crisis (and congress is shutting down until after 11/4. People are losing their homes, because they are over-extended in a market of shifting interest rates. And honestly, while I feel for them, I know that they can re-bound with a life lesson. I really do feel bad for them, but I too have made bad investments. Like losing about 10k in the dot-com collapse. I felt like an ass, but I had no one to blame but me. However, as an American, as a taxpayer, and as a voter, I do have someone I can blame on behalf of all of us.
Underwriters for these loans, investors in these loans and those who gamed the markets or allowed them to be gamed are responsible. And today, we announced a $700 billion bailout to shift the momentum of the markets and pull us out of this mess. Nice idea. I can solve a lot of problems with that kind of money. Really, that is a heck of a party. (Like the size of our total investment in the war in Iraq, or the amount of money we send overseas every year for foreign oil.) But I will play along. Let’s assume that it will take $700 billion dollars. I want some strings attached. For example –
Employee Salaries - If you are an employee of one of these companies, you are capped at 200,000 per year from now until your company pays off the bail out. This isn’t a gift, as I doubt you all have paid $700 billion in taxes collectively since the industrial revolution.
Leadership - If you are currently among those in charge of anything related to this fiasco, like you have a title with president, director, head, board member or the like, then guess what. You owe us. First you owe us collectively an apology. The market didn’t do this to you; you did this to the market. You get no pity, no sympathy. Second, your parachute? Your retirement? Sorry, you lose until you fix this. You collect the $200,000 per year maximum, no more than the President of these United States that you are ruining, and you work until the problem is fixed. As voted upon by the American people. Or you go to jail (I am seeking a sharp prosecutor to find the correct charge, but there is something here). This is the equivalent of gross misconduct by a military officer or economic treason.
Repayment - You're paying this back in a profit-sharing system. The US Government now gets 50% of all profits until you pay this back at 4% interest. Sorry, this is the downside of a capitalism that pays you for failure. . . Again, if my wife and I want a loan, we pay you interest, and at 4% you are doing better than we would. And right now, your collective credit rating is worse than ours. We haven't asked for a bailout - ever.
Oversight – I don’t want Congress watching this. Frankly, they didn’t see this coming and I doubt they would know how to balance a balance sheet, let alone figure out how to manage these guys. I want a panel of 5 smart economists/accountants watching who belong to a third-party watch dog group. They are paid out of this $700 billion and are incented financially to report red flags.
Put these measures in place and you can have my $2,000 (my share of the bill). However you can’t have it all this year, or they get my house too. Just add it to the other 11.3 trillion dollars in debt we have. By the way, on a personal note, I wonder how you spend 11.3 trillion dollars. Ever. I would like to try to spend 11.3 million someday.
My favorite quote of this entire debacle summarizes it sweetly. If you bail out these companies every time, you remove the downside to capitalism, so there must be controls on these bail outs. My wife and I own a shoe store for kids. We plunked down our savings on red, and right now the ball is still spinning, bouncing through black, green and red. Every day, we see the risks and the potential rewards. However, if the company succeeds, it is our profits, and if it fails, I have no expectation that Uncle Sam will get me a check for my investment. This is the beauty of America, and if tomorrow Bill Gates fell flat on his hindquarters, I doubt he would be there for a hand out. Richard Branson. Donald Trump. None of these entrepreneurs would do this. They would knock the dust off, and go figure out a different manner in which to generate wealth.
So, at the end of the day, this is my plan, which no one will read. However, again the therapy of writing this has made me less likely to move to England today (more on my pending move overseas later). I now resign myself to the regularly scheduled programming of Continental Airlines flight from Portland to Newark. Yes I am writing this in the air at around 0130 EST, but it was either this or watch an Ashton Kutcher movie about marriage in Vegas. I would rather get out of the plane right now.
Monday, September 22, 2008
And now a word from our socialist sponsors. . .
So, over the past several years, I have watched as I pay more in taxes, and get less of a return on my investment. I pay things like the Alternative Minimum Tax, and yet I haven’t taken a vacation in four years. My student loan debt far outweighs (like 100-fold) the amount I can save at any one time. Now, I am not seeking sympathy, but I am setting the stage for the root of my frustration and the subject of my entry this week. So now, learned reader, I invite you to hate me for my “wealth” as I am about to rant on the non-working members of our society who are not of my elite, wealthy means.
I noted socialism in my subject for a reason – for those who won’t get the connection as you read. My frustration is at the lack of working among many in our society. From those sit at home milking unemployment, to people who claim they need welfare as a way to sustain their family – this is targeted to you. Get to work.
However, I understand some of the challenges you might face, so I am here to eliminate road blocks and help you on your way. My plan is simple – it only has a few moving parts, but I will type slowly so that the dimwitted can keep up – government administrators.
First, if you are on any public service, there is an immediate test, effective the day you apply for the services. We test aptitude and skills (physical and mental). The bottom line is that everyone can do something. When I served in the army, much of my personal gear was put together by something called the [Something] Lighthouse for the Blind. If a blind man or woman can sew a canteen holder together, an able bodied person can do something as well. This test will identify a temporary career field for you, from child care to bed-pan cleaner. You should be motivated to score well on this test, because if you don’t, you get the jobs routinely seen on Mike Rowe’s Dirty Jobs. You can catch it on Discovery, I think, and you won’t ever want to score low after one episode.
This first step (testing and evaluation) is critical, as it removes the road blocks. If a parent can’t work because they can’t find affordable child care, then guess what – The state will provide it with other parents who scored fairly high in these skill areas. We can likely staff all aspects of the day care with people who are currently on public programs. Wait, you claim the care is substandard? No problem – Work harder to find a better job, and pull yourself out. Otherwise, state day care is what you get. (However, with the right safeguards, State child care will be on par with many private programs very quickly.) Road block removed.
Second step – Enable the search for jobs. So we have a tested workforce, who we train for all of the work that no one else wants to do. Apply these test results against the larger employment opportunity set and start scheduling interviews – In five hours a week – and we will even pay you for your time. For example, take Bill. Bill is on welfare. I don’t know why, he just is. He takes the test and he is qualified for quite a bit. High school diploma, no criminal record, can lift heavy stuff, and wants to go to college. He has two boys who the state will care for during his shift at the hospital. We put him to work at the hospital re-stocking supplies for the ER. He works for 35 hours a week, paid by the Federal Government (and not hospital coffers) as a contribution to the hospital and the hopes of reducing health care. Bill has 5 hours during the course of the week, where he has to find a job – but we will help him here. We search the database and find that Bill is well suited for a position at the prison as a guard, a full time job at the hospital managing inventory or something else. Bill interviews and does well on all three interviews. He has to take one. But let’s assume that Bill is socially inept – it could happen. Bill fails all three interviews. Each interviewer has to provide Bill feedback and the US Government can help with career training. Why? Because Bill is providing a service to his nation by working for the hospital instead of just living on the dole.
So, we train Bill and in four months he gets tired of looking for new work. Sorry Bill, you have six months. Six months, or we down grade you. Down grading is horrible, because the lower tier of jobs – those reserved for our lowest scorers – are really low. Scooping muck from police department horse stables. Or cleaning out sewer drains. Or cleaning public toilets – which really need cleaning. This program is really an Out or Down program, meaning get off of the services b y finding an opportunity or get pushed down the ladder so someone else can have clean clothes at the end of the day.
Third – Monthly drug testing. Pretty simple step – Certified drug testing, for all people collecting public dollars. Smoke weed once? Warning. Second offense? Off the program entirely for a year. Best of luck, but we don’t need to pay people who break the law. Prisoners don’t get paid well, why should you? However, I will throw an exception – If you announce up front that you are an addict – We send you to 30 days of treatment plus an extra 5 hours per week for NA/AA meetings. And then you work. By the way, if you fall off the wagon with this sort of help, then you are out of luck. And off the program.
Fourth – Enforcement. This is fairly simple, and can be a real cost savings. Many of the companies who can benefit from this program by getting free or low cost labor will be motivated to help us enforce this. They get free labor and all they have to do is attest that Bill is showing up for work. And be subject to inspections. In addition, we track it mostly digitally. For example, another person, let’s call him Dave, goes on unemployment for the first six months. Fine, so he gets a short-term state-sponsored vacation. At the end of six months, when he reapplies for benefits for another 12, he joins the program. If you couldn’t find a job in six months of trying, then maybe you need an incentive, and mucking sludge can help you find that desire.
So, where Mr. Wealthy elitist do you find the money to pay for this, people might ask me. I don’t know but I have a hunch. My hunch tells me that if you take people off of welfare faster, you reduce costs. If you make welfare less attractive, then you reduce costs. If you make unemployment a short term help instead of a long-term vacation, then you reduce costs. And if you enforce this overall, costs drop as well.
I write this inspired by a friend from Bulgaria. He and I were talking (at work, no less) and he was laughing because a guy I let go was going to be able to collect unemployment. I didn’t understand his laughter, and so I dug deeper. His simple reply was – “I will never be unemployed”. I knew exactly what he meant. If it came to it, he would be at McDonalds earning $8.00 an hour before he would ask the government for help. His pride was too strong to accept handouts so long as he was able-bodied.
But wait learned author – What about those who are disabled – Again, I go back to the test. I know there are people who simply are so physically and mentally crippled that they cannot go to work. However, my baseline for who can and cannot go back to work is set fairly high. There are soldiers returning from Iraq, missing a leg – who return to command six months later. There are elderly people with deep arthritis but a deeper work ethic who sew flags for their sons and daughters. And don’t forget the blind people who made my canteen cover. If you are in crippling pain, then I understand. But the State doctors judge this, not the local quack.
So this is my simple plan – Inspired by many of the Philadelphia Project’s residents who own Lexus and BMWs and have big screen TVs visible through their cracked windows. Enough is enough – it is time for change and it starts with America getting back to work – Whatever that job is to make this country great. While I have never been truly poor, I have never been afraid of hard work. I earned my “status” in the wealthy class, so I only ask of those what I expect from myself. No excuses and hard work. . .
I noted socialism in my subject for a reason – for those who won’t get the connection as you read. My frustration is at the lack of working among many in our society. From those sit at home milking unemployment, to people who claim they need welfare as a way to sustain their family – this is targeted to you. Get to work.
However, I understand some of the challenges you might face, so I am here to eliminate road blocks and help you on your way. My plan is simple – it only has a few moving parts, but I will type slowly so that the dimwitted can keep up – government administrators.
First, if you are on any public service, there is an immediate test, effective the day you apply for the services. We test aptitude and skills (physical and mental). The bottom line is that everyone can do something. When I served in the army, much of my personal gear was put together by something called the [Something] Lighthouse for the Blind. If a blind man or woman can sew a canteen holder together, an able bodied person can do something as well. This test will identify a temporary career field for you, from child care to bed-pan cleaner. You should be motivated to score well on this test, because if you don’t, you get the jobs routinely seen on Mike Rowe’s Dirty Jobs. You can catch it on Discovery, I think, and you won’t ever want to score low after one episode.
This first step (testing and evaluation) is critical, as it removes the road blocks. If a parent can’t work because they can’t find affordable child care, then guess what – The state will provide it with other parents who scored fairly high in these skill areas. We can likely staff all aspects of the day care with people who are currently on public programs. Wait, you claim the care is substandard? No problem – Work harder to find a better job, and pull yourself out. Otherwise, state day care is what you get. (However, with the right safeguards, State child care will be on par with many private programs very quickly.) Road block removed.
Second step – Enable the search for jobs. So we have a tested workforce, who we train for all of the work that no one else wants to do. Apply these test results against the larger employment opportunity set and start scheduling interviews – In five hours a week – and we will even pay you for your time. For example, take Bill. Bill is on welfare. I don’t know why, he just is. He takes the test and he is qualified for quite a bit. High school diploma, no criminal record, can lift heavy stuff, and wants to go to college. He has two boys who the state will care for during his shift at the hospital. We put him to work at the hospital re-stocking supplies for the ER. He works for 35 hours a week, paid by the Federal Government (and not hospital coffers) as a contribution to the hospital and the hopes of reducing health care. Bill has 5 hours during the course of the week, where he has to find a job – but we will help him here. We search the database and find that Bill is well suited for a position at the prison as a guard, a full time job at the hospital managing inventory or something else. Bill interviews and does well on all three interviews. He has to take one. But let’s assume that Bill is socially inept – it could happen. Bill fails all three interviews. Each interviewer has to provide Bill feedback and the US Government can help with career training. Why? Because Bill is providing a service to his nation by working for the hospital instead of just living on the dole.
So, we train Bill and in four months he gets tired of looking for new work. Sorry Bill, you have six months. Six months, or we down grade you. Down grading is horrible, because the lower tier of jobs – those reserved for our lowest scorers – are really low. Scooping muck from police department horse stables. Or cleaning out sewer drains. Or cleaning public toilets – which really need cleaning. This program is really an Out or Down program, meaning get off of the services b y finding an opportunity or get pushed down the ladder so someone else can have clean clothes at the end of the day.
Third – Monthly drug testing. Pretty simple step – Certified drug testing, for all people collecting public dollars. Smoke weed once? Warning. Second offense? Off the program entirely for a year. Best of luck, but we don’t need to pay people who break the law. Prisoners don’t get paid well, why should you? However, I will throw an exception – If you announce up front that you are an addict – We send you to 30 days of treatment plus an extra 5 hours per week for NA/AA meetings. And then you work. By the way, if you fall off the wagon with this sort of help, then you are out of luck. And off the program.
Fourth – Enforcement. This is fairly simple, and can be a real cost savings. Many of the companies who can benefit from this program by getting free or low cost labor will be motivated to help us enforce this. They get free labor and all they have to do is attest that Bill is showing up for work. And be subject to inspections. In addition, we track it mostly digitally. For example, another person, let’s call him Dave, goes on unemployment for the first six months. Fine, so he gets a short-term state-sponsored vacation. At the end of six months, when he reapplies for benefits for another 12, he joins the program. If you couldn’t find a job in six months of trying, then maybe you need an incentive, and mucking sludge can help you find that desire.
So, where Mr. Wealthy elitist do you find the money to pay for this, people might ask me. I don’t know but I have a hunch. My hunch tells me that if you take people off of welfare faster, you reduce costs. If you make welfare less attractive, then you reduce costs. If you make unemployment a short term help instead of a long-term vacation, then you reduce costs. And if you enforce this overall, costs drop as well.
I write this inspired by a friend from Bulgaria. He and I were talking (at work, no less) and he was laughing because a guy I let go was going to be able to collect unemployment. I didn’t understand his laughter, and so I dug deeper. His simple reply was – “I will never be unemployed”. I knew exactly what he meant. If it came to it, he would be at McDonalds earning $8.00 an hour before he would ask the government for help. His pride was too strong to accept handouts so long as he was able-bodied.
But wait learned author – What about those who are disabled – Again, I go back to the test. I know there are people who simply are so physically and mentally crippled that they cannot go to work. However, my baseline for who can and cannot go back to work is set fairly high. There are soldiers returning from Iraq, missing a leg – who return to command six months later. There are elderly people with deep arthritis but a deeper work ethic who sew flags for their sons and daughters. And don’t forget the blind people who made my canteen cover. If you are in crippling pain, then I understand. But the State doctors judge this, not the local quack.
So this is my simple plan – Inspired by many of the Philadelphia Project’s residents who own Lexus and BMWs and have big screen TVs visible through their cracked windows. Enough is enough – it is time for change and it starts with America getting back to work – Whatever that job is to make this country great. While I have never been truly poor, I have never been afraid of hard work. I earned my “status” in the wealthy class, so I only ask of those what I expect from myself. No excuses and hard work. . .
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
I am Jason's overwhelming shame at pop culture
A brief rant which my fan base of 1 (who I probably will alienate with this post). America's Got Talent is on in the background while I am trying to get some work done. A young girl of 5 or 6 is on stage, singing her heart out. She is adorable. She is key chain cute as a friend used to say (as in small enough and cute enough to fit on a key chain). She is still signing, and I am nauseous with how sweet and cute she is. And then she finishes, unsure and cautious about how she interacts with the judges. And the first judge is some foreign puppet who in short tells her that while he thinks she is cute she is not ready for the big time of Vegas. Ugh. The crowd boos. The 6 year old stands like a deer in the headlights and at that moment you can almost see her insides crumble. How does a six year old interpret someone of authority (with an accent no less) saying something she doesn't understand, and then be boo-ed. The synapses in her brain barely are capable of learning lyrics and now she has to figure all of this out.
Someday, her parents will ask themselves, "why is our daughter bulemic?" or "what are all those cuts on her arms", or better yet, "how does she get up so high and spin down that brass pole?" I hope to be there with a copy of this video tape, because at that moment tonight, I watched the hopes of a six year old collapse after being aimed far too high for any six year old.
We have created a culture for parents to live through their children at early ages. Thanks Tiger Woods. We have created a culture where public humiliation in the hopes of fame are accepted, and applauded by audiences everywhere. Thanks Chuck Berris, and the Gong Show. We have created a culture where 12 year old girls have a more fictitious body image than ever before, and we can thank Paris Hilton.
Someday, her parents will ask themselves, "why is our daughter bulemic?" or "what are all those cuts on her arms", or better yet, "how does she get up so high and spin down that brass pole?" I hope to be there with a copy of this video tape, because at that moment tonight, I watched the hopes of a six year old collapse after being aimed far too high for any six year old.
We have created a culture for parents to live through their children at early ages. Thanks Tiger Woods. We have created a culture where public humiliation in the hopes of fame are accepted, and applauded by audiences everywhere. Thanks Chuck Berris, and the Gong Show. We have created a culture where 12 year old girls have a more fictitious body image than ever before, and we can thank Paris Hilton.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Opening Salvo
So, first I want to make it perfectly clear, that I am no physicist. If you are here because you think I have anything to do with electrons, go somewhere else. I don't really understand how a cell holds itself together. I barely passed high school science and I faked my way through Physics. If ever elected to office in the United States, I promise to have a great science advisor, who will make most if not all of my decisions.
I named this Harnessed Electrons, as I lovingly refer to kids with ADD (attention deficit disorder, not a mathematical problem) as unharnessed electrons. As a guy who was once a kid whose favorite past time was screwing off in class, I know these kids well. This is my attempt at harnessing some of my own ideas, and putting them in writing. Some day, my son Fletcher will find these ramblings and realize what a total kook his father was.
Second, if you find yourself reading this blog, you have my empathy. I am sure that over the years this will evolve into a periodic car wreck where the reader cannot look away no matter how many more interesting things they have to do. I asked a friend of mine, "what do people who rip movies and post them on bit torrent get out of doing this. There is no financial gain, a great deal of risk and at the end of the day no tangible benefit." His response? "What do people who blog get out of it? Mostly, they just get some limited recognition and people get free movies." I still don't get it. So now I blog. And I wait for a reader, and then look out.
Last, is my disclaimer - A long time ago I was a lawyer. And this makes me worry about everything I write. I have no doubt that in the coming years, I will offend some people. I am curious to see exactly how many. However, I hereby post this disclaimer to the web, to have effect from now until 21 years after my death - The works contained herein are not intended to be based in fact and are actually only the opinions of the author. All similarities to persons living or dead are purely coincidental. The author in no way has any actual animosity for any group - religious, racial, social, or political, but rather only finds humor in most of these organizations and the nonsense which comes from when we self-segregate (more on this later). Any statements which indicate any animosity should be construed as group neutral, as the author actually has an equal level of animosity for all groups. And trust me I have animosity. . .
So this concludes my opening remarks. You should really be excited and tantalized now at the prospect of what prose shall now spatter across the web like blood at a murder scene (Did I mention my wife and I really like Dexter?). So, stand by. No seriously, it might be a while. Remember? I have ADD. Hey look, something shiny. . . I think I want to go ride my bike. . .
I named this Harnessed Electrons, as I lovingly refer to kids with ADD (attention deficit disorder, not a mathematical problem) as unharnessed electrons. As a guy who was once a kid whose favorite past time was screwing off in class, I know these kids well. This is my attempt at harnessing some of my own ideas, and putting them in writing. Some day, my son Fletcher will find these ramblings and realize what a total kook his father was.
Second, if you find yourself reading this blog, you have my empathy. I am sure that over the years this will evolve into a periodic car wreck where the reader cannot look away no matter how many more interesting things they have to do. I asked a friend of mine, "what do people who rip movies and post them on bit torrent get out of doing this. There is no financial gain, a great deal of risk and at the end of the day no tangible benefit." His response? "What do people who blog get out of it? Mostly, they just get some limited recognition and people get free movies." I still don't get it. So now I blog. And I wait for a reader, and then look out.
Last, is my disclaimer - A long time ago I was a lawyer. And this makes me worry about everything I write. I have no doubt that in the coming years, I will offend some people. I am curious to see exactly how many. However, I hereby post this disclaimer to the web, to have effect from now until 21 years after my death - The works contained herein are not intended to be based in fact and are actually only the opinions of the author. All similarities to persons living or dead are purely coincidental. The author in no way has any actual animosity for any group - religious, racial, social, or political, but rather only finds humor in most of these organizations and the nonsense which comes from when we self-segregate (more on this later). Any statements which indicate any animosity should be construed as group neutral, as the author actually has an equal level of animosity for all groups. And trust me I have animosity. . .
So this concludes my opening remarks. You should really be excited and tantalized now at the prospect of what prose shall now spatter across the web like blood at a murder scene (Did I mention my wife and I really like Dexter?). So, stand by. No seriously, it might be a while. Remember? I have ADD. Hey look, something shiny. . . I think I want to go ride my bike. . .
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