Bits of Nostalgia and Nature, Some World News, and a Really Big Wombat

This entry is part [part not set] of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Full day at the office followed by a full evening of more work on a freelance project I had hoped would be much further ahead than it is now.

This whole “burning out” thing happens much more quickly than it did 20 years ago.

What’s up with that?

Oh, yeah… human… aging… right.

Can’t run on fumes anywhere near as well as I used to. Especially now that everything I do is so much more complex than, well, anything I used to do.

So, because of all that, you get the big wombat picture.

Because that’s exactly what I needed to see first thing in the morning as I sat down at my desk.

A big, smiling, virgin wombat.

Just. Because.

Yeah, there’s also important news in the feed (like what’s going on in France right now… and the EU as a whole). And some other nostalgic stuff (it being back to school time and all).

Here, take a look for yourself at the feed…

 

Weather, Ice Bucket Muppets, Free Range Kids, More From Furguson, and Some Movies

This entry is part [part not set] of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge continues to spread (and pull in tons of money and awareness). Now we’re up to Muppets like Cookie Monster and Kermit the Frog participating.

I continue to be amused. (And, in some cases, impressed.)

There’s still lots of problems in Furguson… and there are so many media-types there to get a piece of the action that they’re becoming a bit of a problem themselves. Pro tip, news-hounds: if there are more of you than there are protesters, you should probably dial it back a bit and decide amongst yourselves who’s going to go cover another part of the story.

Then there’s a new survey out that says a whole lot of people don’t think any kids under 12 should ever be out and about unaccompanied. That’s just ridiculous. Most of the people who think that have obviously forgotten that they likely survived a whole lot of unaccompanied time growing up. (Especially if they’re my age or older.) These are likely the same parents that complain like crazy about being run ragged trying to get their kids to all the meticulously planned (and structured) activities they’ve pushed them into. Send ’em out to climb a tree, dammit. Falling teaches you about physics… and risk management. Coddling them until they’re in their teens gives you “adults” who can’t deal with the real world.

And, as you scroll through the feed, you’ll also see a few trailers for movies that look new and different and interesting. Probably not blockbuster theater “success” stories like Guardians of the Galaxy… but likely infinitely better writing and acting than all the movies everyone will hear about.

Here’s the feed…

Self-Image, Coffee is for Closers, An Economic Last Stand, Whiskey Lies, and Other Things

This entry is part [part not set] of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

The big non-shock in the feed today is that every level of Comcast is all about sales.

This hot on the heels of an 8+ minute recording of someone trying to cancel their cable service.

All that sales, of course, came at the cost of actual customer service–something cable companies are notoriously bad at to begin with.

Now current and former employees and customers are more or less coming out of the woodwork with their own horror stories from both sides of the phone. It’s utterly terrifying and completely expected.

If we think that Comcast is the only big business doing something like this, we’re wearing blinders. Profit above all else seems to be the modus operandi of the economic powerhouses. I guess it’s served them well enough. It was certainly glorified in the Gordon Gecko era of the 80s, when it certainly seemed good for everyone.

But now the disparity between the top and bottom has grown to historic proportions and the middle class has been squeezed right on out of the equation. All those years of being told it’s good for the rich to keep getting richer–and the general population swallowing that lie (often sweetend with the pie-in-the-sky dream of hitting it big themselves, somehow… the lottery is not a business plan)–is starting to fall apart as the super rich are now on their way to making their own rules.

And that quest for eternal profit continues at the cost of everyone who’s helped supply it.

While Comcast is trying to sell to people who just want to be left alone (or, alternately, annoy and confuse them enough that they give up trying to leave), the workers and customers of Market Basket are fighting for the company to keep on with the business practices that have made it a favorite in the regions that it severs.

Market Basket has actually provided solid service, it seems. Both to its employees (who have been known to willingly and happily stick around for decades) and to its customers. But now in-fighting among the family members that own and operate the corporation is threatening to tear it all apart.

It would seem that the issue at hand is the amount of profit to be made. While the business appears to be profitable to continue comfortably–despite the fact that it pays out profit sharing and other bonuses to it’s employees who are already compensated at an above-average rate and it maintains cheaper prices than it’s competition–one faction of the family seems more interested in a quick jump in profits for themselves.

According to what I’ve seen, they’re interested in getting out of the business altogether by selling it off to one of the huge conglomerates. (None of whom are particularly well known for how they treat their employees and who Market Basket is currently beating in most price categories, too.) Through some semi-questionable maneuvering, they’ve managed to oust the CEO who’s been behind the last few decades of sustained business and good-will.

This, of course, has employees and customers livid. Neither group wants to lose the benefits they have–benefits that don’t seem to be hurting the sustainability of Market Basket’s business model.

They’re doing what few can sensibly do against questionable corporate action–they’re standing up to it.

They can do it because the corporation in question is comparatively small and there are many other options for the goods they provide.

There is serious ability to vote with your dollars.

This is not the case with Comcast, which already controls nearly a third of the country’s cable and Internet service and is poised to merge with Time-Warner Cable, the second biggest cable and Internet provider.

It would take millions of people to stand up to just one of those companies. Tens of millions to really make a difference. And the only other real options in most areas for solid Internet service (let alone television service) are generally rated just as bad and engage in the same practices (former phone companies like Verizon and AT&T).

That’s not a market that a small population can have an impact on. Not without destroying their own lives in the process.

And so, unless there’s government intervention of some sort (this would be the importance of the FCC supporting Net Neutrality, among other reforms and safeguards), the people are just stuck with whatever the not-quite-monopolies feel like handing out.

So that’s kind of the state of things and it annoys the hell out of me.

Mostly because I have no real solution that can be implemented.

Anyway, all that and more in the feed below…

Discrimination, Diversity, Voices and Images From Beyond, Living Above Venus, and the Impeccable Bad Piper

This entry is part [part not set] of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

This came through the feed late today:

“Without a robust religious exemption,” they wrote, “this expansion of hiring rights will come at an unreasonable cost to the common good, national unity and religious freedom.”

That’s the justification, in part, for a group of businesses (who claim to be religious) for asking that they be exempt from non-discrimination rules when it comes to those totally wrong, creepy, and detrimental GLBT “people.”

To me, that says “In order to be united, we must exclude this entire group of people. In order to be free, we must oppress these others who don’t fit our beliefs.”

This is a result, direct or in, of the Hobby Lobby decision from the Supreme Court yesterday. The one that people (who are happy with it) have been swearing up and down that it won’t lead to anything worse than some (skeevy whores) not getting their pass to free sex (“birth control”).

Well, there ya go. Not more than 48 hours later and this request has been made.

It makes me sick. It makes me disappointed in any genuine faith-based organization that would condone, let alone support, this kind of exclusion in this day and age. (And, yes, I am regularly disappointed in a number of faith-based organizations.)

The biggest problem with the Supreme Court decision is that it was based on other exemptions already on the books. I take issue with those, too.

There’s a difference between secular society and spiritual life. One is shared among people who don’t always agree on things. In order to be part of that secular world–especially as an incorporated business–you have to play by the same rules as everyone else. Exceptions to the rule of law should be few and far between and supported by a distinct need.

Thinking gay people are icky does not make eliminating them from your presence a need.

Opposing birth control is just fine. Don’t make use of it in your life. But how other people feel about that is out of your hands. Especially if you’re “just” in a titled position in a free-standing entity like a national chain of businesses. A secular entity. You want to be a faith-based organization? Fine, change your structure and all your other behavior to be one. Then you get to play by those rules and be as picky as you want.

This whole thing is an nasty mess waiting to explode.

And I don’t have a good, coherent solution to make it any better. Mainly because the existing laws are a mess. Partially because the way we’ve done business for more than a century is a bit of a mess.

Anyway… here’s the rest of the feed…

Working the Pole, Cat vs Lizards, Star Trek Rumors, Disturbing Statistics, New Games, and a Spike-covered Bear Hunting Suit

This entry is part [part not set] of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Ridiculously busy day, again. And my time at home after has been largely spent watching videos that have come out of E3… so many awesome looking games that I’ll likely never play (and, if I did, likely would get quickly frustrated with).

I remember when computer games first became “a thing.” Right back around when home computers started becoming “a thing.” One of the first “big deal” games I just had to have was the 7th Guest… a puzzle game with the impressive inclusion of live video. Had to upgrade the computer–CD ROM drive and RAM–in order to play it. I’ve still never finished that game (and I just bought it again, for less than 1/10 the cost, a few months ago).

Around that same time, Nintendo and Sega were duking it out for the real home gaming market. I know my NES got a whole lot of use through the mid-80s and 90s. I may still be able to make it through the first two or three worlds of Super Mario Brothers with my eyes closed. I never had an Atari, so the NES was the first big deal thing (other than the VCR) that hooked into the TV and kept me entertained.

Things have changed a lot in the intervening decades. Now, games are announced more than a year in advance, cost more than they ever have, and often come out for multiple platforms. Heck, we have multiple platforms–and all ones that put the old clunky and pixel-jagged stuff I grew up with to shame. Nintendo is still holding on, but it’s certainly been eclipsed by Microsoft’s X-Box and Sony’s PlayStation.

Totally amazing, technology, really.

But, I never stuck with the console game stuff. My SuperNintendo was mostly unused. I didn’t get a first generation X-Box until the 360 came out… and, even then, it mostly gathered dust. Now I just keep buying games on Steam for my computer (when they’re on sale) and kind of playing them sometimes.

I never really got into the first person shooters when they were first big–with DOOM back in my college days. World building and turn-based world conquering were more my style. I’ve logged more hours on the titles in the Civilization series than is probably healthy.

So, yeah, I’m impressed by the stuff I’m seeing from E3. But I know most of it really isn’t for me.

I’m sure that won’t hurt their sales figures any.