A new set of random ponderings

 Seems like it was 30 or more years ago when I wrote here on a nearly daily basis. As I write this, it has been more than two months since my last published blogs. I cannot promise to go back to nearly daily entries, but I will strive to write more frequently.

I worked an 8-hour day yesterday at a nonstop, breakneck pace. I am utterly exhausted. I will probably go back to bed. 

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In case you missed this news item, Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert was unceremoniously ejected from a performance of a musical. You can read all about it here. She and her campaign manager both denied that she had been vaping during the performance. There is just one problem with those denials.

Faced with irrefutable evidence that she had been vaping, she issued a statement regarding the incident. 

You can read about her apology here, but I am focused on just one section of what she said.

I see two issues with Boebert's denial of recollection of the vaping.

One is that she was reprimanded several times about the vaping.

Two is that if at age 36 her short-term memory is that at the age of 36, having short-term memory that bad calls into question her ability to serve in political office.

We must make sure, legally, that this is her last term in office.

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Before I comment on the recent comments made by Sean Penn about how Will Smith's slap of Chris Rock; I feel the need for transparency and disclosure. I attended the same high school as Mr. Penn. He was class of 1978, I was in the class of 1977. I barely knew him. 

He had a lot to say about what transpired in 2022 when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock's face after Rock made light of Smith's wife. Here is an excerpt from that interview:

After winning his second Oscar for “Milk” in 2009, Penn remarked, “I want it to be very clear that I do know how hard I make it to appreciate me.” This is a true statement. His face is now crimson; a vein in his neck tightens like a rope pulled taut. “I don’t know Will Smith. I met him once,” Penn says. “He seemed very nice when I met him. He was so fucking good in ‘King Richard.’” He lights another in an unchained melody of American Spirit cigarettes. “So why the fuck did you just spit on yourself and everybody else with this stupid fucking thing? Why did I go to fucking jail for what you just did? And you’re still sitting there? Why are you guys standing and applauding his worst moment as a person?"

My problem with what Mr. Penn said are these words:

”Why did I go to fucking jail for what you just did."

The problem with that statement is that Smith's slap of Chris Rock is nothing like what Penn did in 1987 when he was sent to jail for 60 days (he only served 33 days).

In April of 1987 during filming of the movie Colors, Sean Penn had an encounter with an extra. He objected to the extra photographing himself and Robert Duvall. He swore and spat at the extra. When the extra spat back, Penn punched him several times in the face. No way of knowing how bad the assault might have been had members of the film crew not intervened and pulled Penn off of the extra. The extra was treated for cuts and bruises at an emergency room and released.

Then there is the fact that Penn's jail stint was not based solely on that incident. On Memorial Day of 1987, Penn was stopped by police officers on suspicion of drunk driving after he ran a red light. He failed the field sobriety test and the breathalyzer test. His lawyers negotiated a plea deal where the actor pled guilty to reckless driving. 

Add to that the fact that when Penn attacked that movie extra, he was on probation at the time for allegedly assaulting a man he said had tried to kiss Madonna (married to Penn at the time). Penn pled not guilty and got a year of probation for that incident.

In 1985, Penn pleaded no contest to allegations he had attacked two journalists trying to take a picture of Madonna.

So, in 1987 when Penn assaulted that extra, he'd already been charged for two alleged attacks within the last two years.  What about Will Smith? Had he ever been arrested for an alleged assault? The surprising answer is, yes! But that was in 1989 and the charges were dropped.

Analysis:  Will Smith, with no criminal history in recent decades slaps Chris Rock. Sean Penn, on probation at the time and multiple prior recent arrests punches out a movie extra and then goes to jail on that charge along with a plea deal for reckless driving charges.  Sorry Sean, Will Smith did not do what you did.

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General Motors Chair and CEO Mary Barra's 2022 compensation was $29.8 million. This is a hot topic since the United Auto Workers union has gone on strike against the Big 3 U.S. automakers.

As I have written here before, compensation is a function of the employer's perceived value of the labor being performed.

GM claims the average salary of an autoworker is just over $80,000 per year. They claim total compensation for these workers is $96,000. Using the larger number for employee compensation, Ms Barra is paid over 300 times the average autoworker salary.

Has GM profited that much during Ms Barra's tenure?  Let's look.

Net income has been up and down during her tenure, but grew by 320% from 2014 to 

2022. Meanwhile, Ms Barra's compensation grew by 178% during the same period. Seems like a decent increase in her pay based on results achieved. That is how shareholders think. Is it valid?

Again, compensation is a function of the perceived value of the labor. My personal opinion is that her compensation is too high. How much of the net income increase is the direct result of how Ms Barra rn the company? How much would GM have to pay to hire another CEO to replace her? How much of the changes in net income is tied to how our economy is performing?

Another facet of this analysis is how valuable is the labor performed by the autoworkers to the company? Like it or not; without them, no automobiles will be made.

Should there be a direct correlation between the pay of the CEO and the pay of the lowest compensated employees? How would you cap CEO pay in light of the pay of a cashier? 100 times? 50 times? The average annual salary of a GM cashier is $29,000.  

Would qualified people take on the position as Chair and CEO of GM for $2.9 million? For half that amount?

The salary inequities within the Big 3 automakers look really bad to the general public. They are bad. What happens when enough of us are so offended by CEO pay that we boycott their products?

Do you have a solution for this disparity? I don't.

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Drew Barrymore choosing to resume production of her talk show while the WGA and SAG/AFTRA are on strike is a slap in the face of every member of those unions.

Donald Trump says he will testify in his own defense in at least one of his upcoming trials. The odds of that happening are about the same as a manned landing of astronauts on the sun.

Seattle Police Officer Daniel Auderer should be suspended for his outrageous comments after another officer ran over a young woman, killing her.  Actually he should be fired, but that's not likely to happen. Read the story here.

Today's instance of irony - Donald Trump calling Joe Biden "cognitively impaired" as he warns that Biden may start World War II.

Was is wrong for actress Drea De Matteo to become an OnlyFans content creator after her refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine? Not in my opinion. You do what you need to do, within the law, to feed and house your loved ones.

Someone please help Jann Wenner remove his feet from his mouth?