A Calliope

Why do businesses hire?

2010-12-29T19:43:00.003-05:00

For most people we interact in the economy in similar ways. We work, earn a wage or salary, we consume, save, invest, etc... A big part of this is the availability of a job and what it pays. In the midst of the worse recession in my lifetime, everyone has heard a lot of soundbites on employment, tax policy, and job creation. It seems that way too few folks know much about our economy and how it works.
I will comment here on one now and more later. Most aspects are fairly simple, given our relatively free and free moving system.
Why does a business hire?
Businesses hire when workers or employees are the restraining resource while increasing output. If you can just work harder, longer, smarter or turn the machine up or buy a better one to get more output then lacking workers is not the constraint; don't hire. People are however frequently the constraint.
Now this scenario all assumes the business needs the added output. Today, that is the rub. Today, businesses need customers more than anything.
Now take that fact back to the discussions in the news. How can we (the government) get more demand out there? In these times the most efficient way is to put money in the hands of those that would spend it immediately, these are the poorest and the unemployed among us. Simple.

Here's your Chinese government in action

2010-04-27T10:18:00.001-04:00

JURIST - Paper Chase

Scary Americans

2009-09-24T21:13:00.003-04:00

This summer we've seen the news coverage of folks protesting our government as too big, too involved (bailouts) and scary (health care lies). But aren't these the same folks supporting the Patriot Act and its re-enactment. The scariest law I've seen in my life. It's so much the domestic surveillance , the detention, the torture and more as much the reality that the my fellow Americans were willing to support it, let alone accept it. And after all that, congratulations, we've arrested a suspected terrorist in Colorado.

No Public Option - No Health Care Reform

2009-08-18T17:50:00.003-04:00

The public option, government guaranteed health care, is the essential element of US health care reform. Without this element, without this guarantee, there is no essential reform. We are still subject to all of the greed, fear, and tragedy that the current system purveys. Like so many issues, this also boils down to whether we are all in this together or not.
There is no single element so threatening to ones basis needs (economic) as losing health care.
Yet, there is nothing of health care value that the insurance companies provide, profit is their sole motive.

Glimpses of Fear

2008-12-04T09:34:00.004-05:00

As economic news keeps affronting my daily thought like waves against a tired sea wall, each wave comes then goes, some water soaks into the wall and to what consequence who knows?
One brief experience of this, with it's typical mix of conscious and not so conscious aspects, recently was an image of myself physically washing away from some mooring. It reminded me of our ever present condition of being existentially alone and fear of the same. One we never escape the other is fear. Thankfully fear has it's own frailty.

Blog Spontaneous

2008-02-16T20:23:00.003-05:00

I've blogged pretty infrequently. I was an early reader in the phenomenon. I saw this writing medium as a perfect way to tap the spontaneous creative thoughts that dwell in that ground between fleeting and life defining. It could give expression to these thoughts that had some development, but maybe not too much. They had a strong root in the creative, but still had some cognitive pull.
A blog could have some real substance, but not require the polish of literature. Folks could read and connect. The writing still is writing, with a responsibility to the reader, especially with such a broad potential audience. And there I've been stuck, mostly. Having done this little intro let's see what follows.

What Light

2007-07-26T19:12:00.000-04:00

Songwriting, acoustic guitar, folk rock alive and well 50 years and going. Enjoy from Spring '07 Wilco reminicent of the Dead.

One (Mary J Blige w U2)

2007-06-02T11:57:00.001-04:00

Classic U2 redone with MJB's "powerful" voice and equal conviction to the original. Again, headphones preferred.
There's another blog in this about the African American story as THE story of living American. But, I will offer only a short comment on this great song. Note the credibility of the Irish U2 and the Black American R&B rooted Mary J Blige. Then how the art in the song, the music and lyric gets us to something authentic. And that is what we need.

Computer troubles - bye Apple (for now)

2007-03-12T22:26:00.000-04:00

My ibook gave it up two weeks ago in Florida. It took all of 15 seconds. I haven't had it professionally diagnosed (or autopsied). And despite having spend hundreds on memory and Tiger (OS 10.4) in the past couple of months, I felt that it was time to move on.
Prior to the upgrades I had one complaint with my 15" G4 unit, it was loud. I was unaware that the constantly running fan was abnormal. So after some research and contemplation I went into the machine and unplugged the fan. At the same time I also installed a temperature gauging program to get data on whether I should ever plug it back in. I ran like this for a couple of months and the temp was reasonable and the quiet was very nice. This allowed for the upgrades to make sense.
Maybe it was the operating system that ran hotter, or maybe the operating temperature just slow cooked it. There it is.
On to the replacement. Apple only offers a 13" moniter laptop under $2000. Despite the overall satisfaction with Mac's, the Macbook screen was too tiny for my middle aged eyes. After some research and contemplation I bought a PC. Tipping the balance was the challenge of facing the fear and learning anew. A 15.4" HP in it's final viewing at the local big box retailer sealed the deal. I must admit that my daughter's having a Dell and still being "cool" helped get me there.
On a Sunday morning, I was one of the first into the Best Buy and by 11:35 I had powered up the unit, one just like the one I am working on now. I had plenty of warnings to be patient with the start-up as Vista and the rest would be loading. They said 25 minutes, 45 minutes, maybe I heard longer. So after three hours it was time to call the manufacturer. HP in this case was represented by a call center "technician" in Bangalore. After an hour in the queue and 20 minutes of trials, he had me initiate a hard drive reformat to the factory settings then gave me a case number and said farewell. The unit froze up again after a half hour, which put me back in an hour queue for help.
The next technican was even more difficult to understand and less skilled and suggested that I should have my laptop serviced. This was after owning it for only 6 hours.
To make a long story short, 10 minutes before closing, Best Buy handed me a new unit, 30 minutes later it was fired up and working at home. Well, almost working.
Seems like it had some intermittant problem communicating with the Apple Airport Extreme router.
This problem went on for the next 5 days, and I foolishly engaged HP's call center yet again to help out. That was completely a waste of effort and hope. I used my own problemsolving to end up with a new router installed on Saturday afternoon.
Six days of frustration and I feel a little proud of overcoming the challenges. Still, it's wierd knowing that a Mac out of the box would have been up and connected in 3 minutes. I'm good for now, but....I still haven't recovered my music from the G3 Ipod into the HP! I want my MUSIC!

Take On Me

2006-11-26T21:39:00.001-05:00

This is such a classic music video and one of my favorites. Is it saying something of escaping the human condition or a luscious fantasy or our need to take risks to be alive? Maybe it's that we wander back and forth from rationality all day long?
The last is my favorite. But isn't that what pop music is all about?
Please watch with headphones on and then comment.

Still here

2006-10-31T18:55:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a few months and I've been pretty quiet on the blog front. It's been a case of the mind and stage in life. I've also been feeling out the prudence of candor on the web. In fact I have a draft called "Going Incognito" dealing with this issue.
So more to follow. I think my impulse to post this is a sign of a pending change.
Take care.

The dog that lives with us

2006-04-01T17:55:00.000-05:00

Laddie, a yellow lab elder gentleman, has been living with us for the past month. He is a temporary resident. In two weeks he will return to be with his longstanding family in the countryside in northern Michigan when they return from Costa Rica.
Laddie is the first dog to live with us. We have always had a cat or two, but never a dog.
For two or three years I have been entertaining the idea of adding a dog to the family, although I knew there would be resistance to the idea. To gain the advantage I acted as though the decision was a done deal. The proposal was so extreme and the supposition that it was a foregone conclusion so absurd that there was little serious argument. Unwavering, I acted calm and confident in my decision, but did not press a timeline. Instead I allowed each reservation to be expressed and then contemplated over time. I never had to push, but never relented from my "decision". The questions kept coming, but without urgency. How do we match our schedule with the dog's needs? How will the morning routine go? How long will he be alone? What about, the senior feline, Siggy's potential objections? The hair, the tracks, barking, chewing and the poop? And later, what size, age and breed? Consistently the brief discussion ended with open questions and the ever present, "well, we're not ready yet anyways". And we all crept closer to being comfortable with the idea.
Laddie was the latest step and he's giving us some real life experience. And I must say it's been overwhelmingly positive. Bonds have been formed and fears have been allayed.
We will miss Laddie, but he did his species proud. Stay tuned.

When you have your health

2006-03-30T22:31:00.000-05:00

The expression goes, "when you have your health, you have everything". Of course it's a generalization, but it's amazing how much a physical or psychological ailment can dominate one's daily experience. I'm sure that's the point.
Lessening this affect seems to be one of those benefits of maturity or lessons learned. Numerous writers (blogs I read) have recently had abrupt entries detailing their state of being imprisoned by temporary maladies.
Except for the run-of-the-mill stuff, health issues are also a pretty private matter. Why don't we share such important matters? Maybe they are a sign of weakness in the cultural evolution? Think injured animal in a pack. Possibly they are just too dark, we all doomed to suffering, death and decay and it's simply too painful to freely admit or allow into our everyday conversation.
I am not overly inclined to conceal these matters. To the contrary I tend to seek more truth, clarity and perhaps therefore understanding. Help!?
Today, loved ones are on medications for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, blood diseases, thyroid shortfalls, and probably a dozen other chronic problems I am not aware of. Closer to home, a little one started Adderall today for ADHD and I called for an appointment to explore a ominous throat problem. Onward.

Merry or Happy

2005-12-22T20:12:00.000-05:00

OK, I too was surprised and annoyed by "newsworthy" flap over the expression of "Happy Holiday" as somehow anti-Christmas, anti-Christian. Well, if demonstrating tolerance / appreciation of our diversity of beliefs and showing respect for our fellow good people is somehow anti-Christian, count me in.
This strikes me as just another example, albeit small, of a pervasion of evil. Yes, evil, as in the form of intolerance (there must be a biblical equivalent for this term), with the smell of fear and threat of hatred. If goodness is most closely embodied in love, how does this demonstrate love?

Enough. It's a beautiful winter night here, I just returned from a brief but solid visit with my son and I am looking forward to most of the human contact of the coming days. I hope you do as well.

The big world and the small world - which is which?

2005-11-15T23:03:00.000-05:00

I have spent the past month exploring a community of bloggers (all seemingly anonymous to each other). The commonality in this group of married folk is their mismatched libidos vis-a-vis their spouses', simplified as high (HL) and low (LL). These writers are all on the high side.

They are all seemingly very kind and loving people, they are also universally deeply struggling. Their humiliation and sometimes despair is nearly constant, but so is their proclaimed love and hope. They are both men and women and dishonesty or infidelity is almost unheard of. Their links, beyond to each other, take you to sexually compatible (and active) writers and these can take you well beyond. This world is very intimate and surprisingly genuine and near to my take on the human condition. These writers are important to me. Figuratively and sometimes literally on the other side of the world are the bloggers I have originally read and continue to enjoy. They freely traverse the planet like I travel this corner of my state. They think in ever expanding paradigms of positive potential social implications of the web, technology and blogging. They obviously also network, although not at all anonymously. They too are a most genuine group also wrestling with some fundemental human questions. These people touch me and are important to me as well.

Helping

2005-09-04T08:44:00.000-04:00

In this age of identity theft and the pervasive scam there seems to be a belief that trying to help a stranger is not only foolish, but perhaps dangerous. It seems the more down to earth the help we offer, the bigger the fool we are. Write a check to a fake charity, give to an administratively greedy organization or a beggar, stop the car to help a stranded motorist or worse a hitchhiker, for that matter have any face-to-face interaction. Why is this? Are we overwhelmed by the vastness of the world's problems? Or is it that we are numbed by the never answered needs all around us every day?...Think poverty and violence in America.
Certainly, enduring personal struggle fosters empathy and compassion for others of similar or worse condition. Or are we convinced that no one will help us? No doubt there is some truth in all of these fears, but we should not be too comfortable with our inaction. And certainly the greater wrong is to embrace a philosophy which promotes inaction or worse blames the downtrodden.

Addie moves in

2005-08-18T18:59:00.000-04:00

I haven't lived with my daughter Addie for 18 years. I've tried to stay in touch as best as I could given my own turmoil and the turbulence in this river of life. She has mostly lived 260 miles away for the past 16 years and I've seen her once or twice a month with some extended "visits" at some holidays. This past 5 years it's slowed down as she has become more independent. I suppose it is a testimony to our "success" at fostering a relationship that yesterday she moved in for a 10 month stint...wow!!
I'm really glad she found this puzzle piece and fit it together with her second year in college and exploration of southeast Michigan and herself in her 20th year. First on our agenda: getting to know each other alot better. Second and simultaneously, cooperation in a household and fatherly wisdom.

Sorry, It's NOT ISLAM

2005-08-04T19:00:00.000-04:00

Sorry, it's not Islam. Moslems probably practice Jesus' teachings better than any Christian sect I've encountered. Fellow Americans, I am sorry, but you can't escape the SOCIAL JUSTICE reality in the minds of your local Democrats. I'm sorry, but we ARE ONE WORLD and IRAQIS and VIETNAMESE and JAPANESE and MEXICANS and even AFRICAN AMERICANS are of all human and equal in value and equally precious.

Car Trouble

2005-08-01T19:42:00.000-04:00

Once again the painful dilemma of car trouble. I remember the evil three "C"'s from my environmentalist past: cows, cars and chainsaws. I still agree with these and they all tie into carbon dioxide, but my here and now is about the pain of dealing with car repair. That would be my wife's car with 60,000 miles and still a year of payments upcoming. Thanks to the merciful loss of painful memories, the real car crisis days are a faint recollection, regular breakdowns, repairs, replacement parts, the "beater". I have not been an "end user" of the automobile since my 20's. Recalling some of those experiences even helps now, putting this now fairly rare dilemma into perspective - whether to repair or replace and what to do with the shock over the price. The problem is a broken timing chain and damaged cylinder head. My estimate is $800 and everyone does well, the real price is $2700!! The car must be fixed, it has a ton of post-repair value. I may be able to do it myself after about 3 days of work ( I would be really inefficient and with no warranty). A favorable trade-in deal will just leave us with more car debt. Finally, there is the balance betweeen the value of reliability and safety we can afford and rightfully low and basic place the hunk of steel has in the big picture.
I've always advocated everyone have a doctor and a lawyer in the family. I guess I would add auto mechanic to the list.

The slow wheel turning

2005-06-24T21:47:00.000-04:00

I have the middle class American fortune of a steady good paying job. In fact it is probably too steady for my own good. I've had the same employer for more than 20 years. No doubt this has helped dull my creative edge. I can only imagine the turmoil, disruption and sometimes pain of frequent career moves.

These days I see my big company's stability start to shake and I also anticipate a "retirement" scenario. I'm less ambitious and more paced now. And I also marvel at the big world as peeked at through this moniter. It is a big slow turning wheel that brings me to more wonder and anticipation. This feels like one of the big beginnings and I am glad.