Monday, December 23, 2013

Hypocrisy or good business

Right now, on the A&E Network, there is a marathon going on.  A marathon of the reality show Duck Dynasty.  Since the network put the patriarch of the family featured on this show on indefinite suspension, shouldn't they have pulled this and the other marathon showings of the program scheduled over the next week or so?  Some say it is hypocritical of the network to suspend the star of a show and then run that show as much as possible to capitalize in its great ratings.

It is not hypocrisy.  It merely proves what has been said all along.  Both of these decisions were made with an eye on the bottom line and nowhere else.  There's gold in that dynasty and A&E is going to mine all of it that it can, while it can.  Maybe they will bring Phil Robertson back, after some public acts of contrition.  Maybe they'll decide not to bring him back, because they don't feel it is a good move for them.  It is worth noting that a number of gay employees of the network who work on that show complained to management, so it isn't just about sponsors and viewers.

Once again, this is not a freedom of speech issue.  I can't walk around my office saying #*$S *@! to customers.  Oh, I can, but I won't be employed much after doing it for the first time.  My employer has the absolute right, particularly in California, to fire me for what I say.  On or off the job.  Just ask Justine Sacco.  Her "tweet heard around the world" got her fired.  Quickly.

On a related note, I tweeted that Sarah Palin's claim that Phil Robertson's freedom of speech was violated was further proof of her clueness about such issues.  Someone tweeted back that I was wrong.  Both Palin, that tweeter and others just don't get the actual meaning of the First Amendment.  Too bad for them.

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Are you tired of the arguments about how businesses owe their workers a "living wage" and better benefits?  I am.  I'm going to offer another perspective.  Businesses should pay better salaries and benefits when it is in their enlightened self-interest to do so.  In many cases, it is exactly that. 

Let's go over to Target.  I know it's busy right now, but we can walk around since we aren't going to buy anything and have our bank accounts drained by thieves.  Look at the people working here.  Most of them are young, or people further along in life forced to take whatever work was available.  There's Sandra at register 11.  She's working here at one of the two part-time jobs she holds in order to pay her tuition at college.  Bobby working the snack bar dropped out of high school because his girlfriend got pregnant and someone had to support them. 

Will they be at Target in five years?  Ten years?  Probably not.  Depending on which source you want to believe, Target's annual employee turnover rate is somewhere between 25% and 50%.  It isn't surprising that the rate is so high.  It is even higher in the fast food industry. 

Now let's stop at one of L.A.'s great burger places, The Apple Pan.  It's been in the same location since 1947.  The L.A. Times did a story on it in 2007 when it turned 60.  At that time, lunchtime sandwich cook Charles Collins had been working there for 50 years.  I haven't been there in a long time, but I'd wager that if Mr. Collins is still working, he's still at The Apple Pan.  While there is more to learn about working at The Apple Pan then there is at McDonald's, the basic skill sets to be hired at either place are pretty much the same.  A basic understanding of math, a good work ethic and a willingness to learn.

Is anyone at your local McDonald's in their fifth decade of employment?  No.  Maybe they shouldn't be.  Maybe they should.  How much money do you save in training over and over; in lost business because as people learn on the job they make mistakes.  I'll own up to having stopped at a McDonald's within the last few weeks.  I ordered Chicken McNuggets.  Chicken McNuggets showed up on the drive-thru menu screen.  My receipt said Chicken McNuggets.  I also paid for a large order of fries and a diet coke with no ice.  I got a McRib sandwich, small fries and a medium diet coke with ice.  They couldn't have screwed up my order more without some serious effort and planning.

Now let's look at Sam's Club (owned/operated by Walmart) and Costco.  Both are membership warehouse stores.  They are direct competitors and Costco is outperforming Sam's Club.  Why?  Maybe it has something to do with employee tenure and satisfaction.  The average wage of one of the 67,000 Costco employees is $17 per hour.  For Sam's Club employees it is somewhere between $9.50 and $10.75.  82% of the employees at Costco have health benefits.  Less than 50% of Sam's Club employees get health benefits.  91% of those Costco employees have a retirement plan with the company contributing over $1,300 per year per employee.  For Sam's Club the same numbers are 64% and $747 per year per employee.

Costco's bottom line is better because it isn't cutting costs in an effort to improve the bottom line.  It is investing in a happy employee population and reaping the rewards.  Enlightened self-interest.

I'll dismount this particular soapbox after one more thought.  The growing inequality in income (yes, wealth is unequal as well, but this is actually more important) is part of the reason that retailers are underperforming this year.  Having all of these businesses paying the bare minimum to operate means those employees aren't out doing a lot of holiday shopping.  They can't afford to.  If they could, businesses would do better.

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Random Ponderings:

Prosecuting Nigella Lawson for using cocaine because she admitted it while testifying at a trial would be wrong.

I wonder how much ribbing Army First Lieutenant Rachel Washburn is going to take from the members of her unit after they learn she used to be a cheerleader for the Philadelphia Eagles.  The team honored her on Sunday at their home finale.

Sad to hear that Anna Paquin's scene in the next X-Men film got left on the cutting room floor.  Or should we say left in the deleted scenes section of the disc?

Did Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis really take in a college wrestling match?  Yeah, they did.

People who live in states where there is no state income tax are losing one of their best tax breaks (if they itemized their deductions).  The sales tax deduction, an optional alternative to the state income tax deduction will disappear at the end of this year.

I haven't been to the horse races at Hollywood Park in a long time, but I'm still sad to see it closing.  I guess their casino will remain open.

It's interesting how even three hours after seeing a Spike Jonze movie, I'm still processing it mentally.  His films are always like that for me.

Anyone who was critical of Kate Middleton for losing her pregnancy weight too fast needs to get a life.

Cracker Barrel going back on their decision to pull Duck Dynasty merchandise from their stores in the wake of pressure from their customer base is just more proof everything is about the bottom line.

Wow, the Robert Reich documentary "Inequality for All" was on 13 screens this weekend across the nation and did only $700 in box office ($54 per screen).

Read an interesting article about the attack on Nancy Kerrigan's knee and how four men went to jail over it; and where they are now.  Can't believe 20 years have passed since it happened.

The 54 year old woman who tried to evade police after store employees saw her shoplifting should have just given herself up.  Now she's on the hook for crashing her car into a police cruiser.

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December 22nd in History:

69 – Emperor Vitellius is captured and murdered at the Gemonian stairs in Rome.
880 – Luoyang, eastern capital of the Tang Dynasty, is captured by rebel leader Huang Chao during the reign of Emperor Xizong.
1135 – Stephen of Blois becomes King of England
1622 – Bucaramanga is founded.
1769 – Sino-Burmese War (1765–1769) ends with an uneasy truce.
1790 – The Turkish fortress of Izmail is stormed and captured by Alexander Suvorov and his Russian armies.
1807 – The Embargo Act, forbidding trade with all foreign countries, is passed by the U.S. Congress, at the urging of President Thomas Jefferson.
1808 – Ludwig van Beethoven conducts and performs in concert at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, with the premiere of his Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto (performed by Beethoven himself) and Choral Fantasy (with Beethoven at the piano).
1851 – India's first freight train is operated in Roorkee, India.
1864 – Savannah, Georgia falls to General William Tecumseh Sherman, concluding his "March to the Sea".
1885 – Itō Hirobumi, a samurai, became the first Prime Minister of Japan.
1890 – Cornwallis Valley Railway begins operation between Kentville and Kingsport, Nova Scotia.
1891 – Asteroid 323 Brucia becomes the first asteroid discovered using photography.
1894 – The Dreyfus affair begins in France, when Alfred Dreyfus is wrongly convicted of treason.
1920 – The GOELRO economic development plan is adopted by the 8th Congress of Soviets of the Russian SFSR.
1937 – The Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic in New York, New York.
1939 – Indian Muslims observe a "Day of Deliverance" to celebrate the resignations of members of the Indian National Congress over their not having been consulted over the decision to enter World War II with the United Kingdom.
1940 – World War II: Himarë is captured by the Greek army.
1942 – World War II: Adolf Hitler signs the order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon.
1944 – World War II: Battle of the Bulge – German troops demand the surrender of United States troops at Bastogne, Belgium, prompting the famous one word reply by General Anthony McAuliffe: "Nuts!"
1944 – World War II: The Vietnam People's Army is formed to resist Japanese occupation of Indochina, now Vietnam.
1947 – The Constituent Assembly of Italy approves the Constitution of Italy.
1951 – The Selangor Labour Party is founded in Selangor, Malaya.
1956 – Colo, the first gorilla to be bred in captivity, is born at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio.
1963 – The cruise ship Lakonia burns 180 miles (290 km) north of Madeira, Portugal with the loss of 128 lives.
1964 – The first test flight of the SR-71 (Blackbird) took place at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California.
1965 – In the United Kingdom, a 70 mph speed limit is applied to all rural roads including motorways for the first time. Previously, there had been no speed limit.
1974 – Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli vote to become the independent nation of Comoros. Mayotte remains under French administration.
1974 – The house of former British Prime Minister Edward Heath is attacked by members of the Provisional IRA.
1978 – The pivotal Third Plenum of the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is held in Beijing, with Deng Xiaoping reversing Mao-era policies to pursue a program for Chinese economic reform.
1984 – Bernhard Goetz shoots four African American would-be muggers on an express train in Manhattan section of New York, New York.
1987 – In Zimbabwe, the political parties ZANU and ZAPU reach an agreement that ends the violence in the Matabeleland region known as the Gukurahundi.
1988 – Chico Mendes, a Brazilian rubber tapper, unionist and environmental activist, is assassinated.
1989 – Communist President of Romania Nicolae Ceaușescu is overthrown by Ion Iliescu after days of bloody confrontations. The deposed dictator and his wife flee Bucharest with a helicopter as protesters erupt in cheers.
1989 – Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.
1990 – Final independence of Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia after termination of trusteeship.
1990 – The Parliament of Croatia adopts the current Constitution of Croatia.
1991 – Armed opposition groups launch a military coup against President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia.
1992 – The Archives of Terror are discovered.
1997 – Acteal massacre: Attendees at a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic activists for indigenous causes in the small village of Acteal in the Mexican state of Chiapas are massacred by paramilitary forces.
1997 – Hussein Farrah Aidid relinquishes the disputed title of President of Somalia by signing the Cairo Declaration, in Cairo, Egypt. It is the first major step towards reconciliation in Somalia since 1991.
1999 – Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509, a Boeing 747-200F crashes shortly after take-off from London Stansted Airport due to pilot error. All 4 crew members are killed.
2001 – Burhanuddin Rabbani, political leader of the Northern Alliance, hands over power in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by President Hamid Karzai.
2001 – Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63.
2008 – An ash dike ruptured at a solid waste containment area in Roane County, Tennessee, releasing 1.1 billion US gallons (4,200,000 m3) of coal fly ash slurry.
2010 – The repeal of the Don't ask, don't tell policy, the 17-year-old policy banning homosexuals serving openly in the United States military, is signed into law by President Barack Obama.

Famous Folk Born on December 22nd:

Emperor Antoku of Japan
Kuroda Yoshitaka
James Oglethorpe
Frank B. Kellogg
Giacomo Puccini
Marcus Hurley
Peggy Ashcroft
Patricia Hayes
Lady Bird Johnson
Barbara Billingsley
Gene Rayburn
Ruth Roman
Hector Elizondo
Charlotte Lamb
Matty Alou
James Gurley
Paul Wolfowitz
Barry Jenkins
Steve Garvey
Lynne Thigpen
Maurice and Robin Gibb
Susan Powter
Ralph Fiennes
Lauralee Bell
Dina Meyer
Vanessa Paradis
Jordin Sparks

Movie quotes today come from "Exit to Eden", in honor of Hector Elizondo's birthday:

Fred Lavery: An alternative lifestyle. DO you know what that is? That's just a phrase deviants use to cover up their sex lives.

#2

Tommy Miller: How can I fulfill your (sexual) fantasy?
Sheila Kingston: Go paint my house!

#3

Sheila Kingston: How do you decide you wanna be a dominatrix? What, do you wake up one day and go, "Hey, I feel like being bossy"?

#4

Sheila Kingston: You took off your clothes in his office? I could never do that, you know. Even at home, I take off my clothes in the bathroom and then I jump into bed real quick... which is kinda weird because I live alone.