NY Senator Chuck Schumer, in response to questions about his support for union card check legislation, said 3 weeks ago that union membership in the US is down and that card check is needed to increase union membership. Firstly, union membership itself isn’t a goal. Why should it be? Employees ARE NOT voting unions in because the employees don’t believe the unions will benefit them. Card Check, BTW, replaces secret ballot elections by employees for unionization with a union only needing a majority of employees signing cards – and the cards are not secret. “Hey Brutus, Jeff over here would like you to encourage him to sign his card.”
There are 2 factors that have harmed US auto manufacturers and neither one is the economy. One is that they have not produced the cars that consumers want, either in design or quality. The biggest factor though is union wages, rules, and pensions. A union company forced to pay it’s workers $73.26/hr in wages and benefits cannot compete with a non-union company paying $53.20/hr. But that’s not all. A union company forced to pay workers even when they are not working cannot compete with non-union companies who pay employees for actual work performed.
This past Saturday United Auto Workers president Ron Gettelfinger said that workers will not make any more concessions and that getting the automakers back on their feet means figuring out a way to turn around the slumping economy. In other words, we want to continue to make 50% more than other auto workers and we want taxpayers to give us money to do that.
Talk about spreading the wealth. It will be the taxes of an autoworker at the BMW plant in Spartanburg, SC making $59,000 per year that will pay for the Chrysler autoworker to make $81,000 per year.
And get this. That BMW X5 or X6 that the Spartanburg autoworker makes? About every other one is shipped to Europe. If you purchase a X5 or X6 in Germany, it’s made in Spartanburg. Today Germany has an unemployment rate of about 10%, almost twice that of ours in the US. You’d think with that many available workers it’d be better to make them in their home country of Germany. But you’d be wrong. Hiring a worker in Germany is like hiring a union worker in the US. So, it’s a few thousand folks in Spartanburg, SC who get the non-union BMW jobs which come with an average $59,000 in wages plus health, pension, and other benefits. The effectively unionized German workers get... Nothing.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Vienna Coffee Cafés
This past week I got to spend several days in Vienna and Budapest with my son. Great conversation, great coffee, great food, great photographic subjects. Ah, I’m ready to go back.
In very brief research before going (we only decided a few days beforehand) one thing became apparent – Vienna is Coffee Café heaven. Everything written about visiting Vienna included a comment on making sure to visit one of their café’s. Given that I spend several hours almost every day with my laptop in some café somewhere in the world, this sounded like my kind of place.
What makes the Viennese café’s so special?
At the very top of the list is the overall atmosphere. Unlike the average coffee café in the US, the ones in Europe and in particular those in Vienna are quiet. Even with 30 people and a dozen conversations it’s quiet. I was heartened when in one café a group of 3 people began talking somewhat loudly and several people began giving them ‘the look’. They quieted down. When they’d become louder again about 30 minutes later and weren’t seeming to notice the looks of others, a waiter told them to either quiet down or leave. Yes, my kind of place. Surprisingly the offending group wasn’t a bunch of Americans, who are the usual loud and obnoxious offenders of decorum, but a group of Italians.
Interestingly, as I’m writing this, it’s the employees in this US coffee café who are the most offensively loud, not the patrons.
Next on the list is quality. At least at the café’s we were able to visit, the quality of their coffee drinks and rather fattening pastries* was extremely high. The Viennese know how to do it right. While the average high school kid can become a barista in Starbucks in a few hours, in Vienna it takes months and sometimes years.
Aside from Starbucks and CoffeeHeaven, Viennese café’s all have table side service - and very excellent service at that**.
Many of the café’s, particularly the newer ones, take in to account laptop users and provide numerous places for users that allow for privacy, don’t have window glare in front or behind, and often convenient power.
Finally, they take it seriously. From drinks to décor to cleanliness to atmosphere the owners and employees make their patrons and a quality experience in every way their top priority.
Next spring in Vienna sounds good to me!
* Austria is one European country where food portions are huge.
** A very interesting difference in the US and Europe is the general quality of wait staff in all kinds of eateries. In Europe they take good service seriously and for many men it is a career. In the US we treat it as nothing but a stepping stone to something else with many wait staff actually quit incompetent.
In very brief research before going (we only decided a few days beforehand) one thing became apparent – Vienna is Coffee Café heaven. Everything written about visiting Vienna included a comment on making sure to visit one of their café’s. Given that I spend several hours almost every day with my laptop in some café somewhere in the world, this sounded like my kind of place.
What makes the Viennese café’s so special?
At the very top of the list is the overall atmosphere. Unlike the average coffee café in the US, the ones in Europe and in particular those in Vienna are quiet. Even with 30 people and a dozen conversations it’s quiet. I was heartened when in one café a group of 3 people began talking somewhat loudly and several people began giving them ‘the look’. They quieted down. When they’d become louder again about 30 minutes later and weren’t seeming to notice the looks of others, a waiter told them to either quiet down or leave. Yes, my kind of place. Surprisingly the offending group wasn’t a bunch of Americans, who are the usual loud and obnoxious offenders of decorum, but a group of Italians.
Interestingly, as I’m writing this, it’s the employees in this US coffee café who are the most offensively loud, not the patrons.
Next on the list is quality. At least at the café’s we were able to visit, the quality of their coffee drinks and rather fattening pastries* was extremely high. The Viennese know how to do it right. While the average high school kid can become a barista in Starbucks in a few hours, in Vienna it takes months and sometimes years.
Aside from Starbucks and CoffeeHeaven, Viennese café’s all have table side service - and very excellent service at that**.
Many of the café’s, particularly the newer ones, take in to account laptop users and provide numerous places for users that allow for privacy, don’t have window glare in front or behind, and often convenient power.
Finally, they take it seriously. From drinks to décor to cleanliness to atmosphere the owners and employees make their patrons and a quality experience in every way their top priority.
Next spring in Vienna sounds good to me!
* Austria is one European country where food portions are huge.
** A very interesting difference in the US and Europe is the general quality of wait staff in all kinds of eateries. In Europe they take good service seriously and for many men it is a career. In the US we treat it as nothing but a stepping stone to something else with many wait staff actually quit incompetent.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Physics: The Trajectory of Water
Gravity and trajectory are interesting things. Normally water drops straight down towards the earth. That's what we expect it to do. When we turn on a faucet we expect the water to come out of the faucet into the sink below. If however, the sprayer is in it's holder and locked on, water may actually defy gravity. You turn the water on to fill your teapot and instead of the water obeying gravity it comes out of the sprayer with great force. Much of it doesn't fully obey gravity until it hits some other object such as a range, cabinet, oven, microwave or similar unobstructable element of our world. And that water moving with such great force across space can find even the smallest of gaps - namely what was previously thought to be a tiny gap between pantry doors hiding all forms of canned goods.
Our brains are interesting things too. Realization, resolution, and action don't happen all that fast. Yes brain, there is water moving at great force across space. Pause Yes, turning the water off will be a good idea. Pause. OK, as the Nike commercial says, let's just do it.
The island remained dry however, my body saved it from the fate of other cabinets.
Our brains are interesting things too. Realization, resolution, and action don't happen all that fast. Yes brain, there is water moving at great force across space. Pause Yes, turning the water off will be a good idea. Pause. OK, as the Nike commercial says, let's just do it.
The island remained dry however, my body saved it from the fate of other cabinets.
Monday, November 3, 2008
San Fran’s Prop K: A Very Bad Short-Sighted Idea ?
Most people who know me will be very surprised that I don’t support SF’s Prop K. This is the bill that many claim will decriminalize prostitution in San Francisco and anyone who knows me knows that I’m a fairly strong proponent of that. So why do I believe Prop K is short-sighted?
Prop K doesn’t actually decriminalize prostitution. It will be a city law and laws against prostitution are state laws. What Prop K does is say that the City cannot spend any money enforcing the state prostitution laws. It prevents city police from arresting anyone for prostitution. It does not, in any way, limit the city from investigating, arresting, and prosecuting people for crimes such as human trafficking or underage prostitution. So far, so good.
With Prop K someone can establish a brothel anywhere in the city they want. They can put up any signage they want. Streetwalkers will be able to ply their wares on any corner or in front of any store.
I’m all for ending our wars on prostitution. SF spent between $2.8 and $11 million last year enforcing prostitution laws and yet they have just as much prostitution as any other city. Civil prohibitions against personal vice are simply not realistically enforceable, no matter how much money we spend. As Steven Levitt noted in his 2007 draft paper on prostitution – “A prostitute is more likely to have sex with a police officer than to get officially arrested by one.” Our laws don’t reduce activity, they only drive it underground which makes life that much easier for human traffickers to enslave women of all ages and makes things that much more dangerous for the prostitutes and their clients. And the list goes on and on.
Our war on prostitution causes far more problems than the original problem it was intended to solve.
However, I’m also a proponent of limited (VERY LIMITED) regulation. I have no problem with sex workers who provide outcall services going anywhere in the city to meet a client. A brothel next to a school or streetwalkers on any corner is another matter. Not just for me, but for most people in San Francisco. With legal prostitution cities need to be able to, within reason, regulate where businesses are located. They need to be able to establish zones where indoor brothels or red light windows can be located and what kind of advertising they may post on the outside of their buildings. They need to be able to limit where streetwalkers may ply their trade.
Prop K may not allow this. Depending on one’s reading of the laws it may be impossible to establish any zoning under Prop K.
Here’s what I fear will happen. The average San Francisco sexworker is not a wallflower. Just watch many of the annual parades with Scarlet Harlot and her entourage if you don’t believe me. With no boundaries they will go wherever they want and do whatever they want to get attention and make money. If I were them I’d do the same. That’s the point. Find as many potential customers as possible so you have the greatest choice of who you service and can make the most money with the fewest hassles.
Many people who support decriminalization will find a brothel across from their favorite kids store or streetwalkers in front of their favorite café. “This isn’t what I signed up for.” They’ll say. The political types in city hall will start getting engulfed in complaints.
Now, the average politicians way of dealing with things is brash and trash. Nuance is not their strong suit. While a good option at this point would be very moderate regulation, they’ll instead pontificate on the need to reverse Prop K. Instead of finding a way to establish some reasonable zones for brothels, windows, and streetworkers, they’ll go full throttle back to the current failed attempts at civil enforcement of prostitution laws. Instead of a proposition on the 2011 ballot to allow the moderate regulation that Prop K doesn’t allow, expect a proposition to abolish Prop K. And it will likely pass with a large margin.
And you know what, prostitution won’t go down any, but complaints will. The bulk of prostitution will go back underground and streetworkers will re-congregate to ‘safer’ areas. People will be less likely to complain about it, even when they see it near their favorite café, if they just think the cops are doing something about it, than if not.
After this it could be 50 years before anyone can even think of decriminalizing prostitution again in San Francisco. And worse, anytime decrim is brought up anywhere else, all the opponents will need to do is point to the failed decriminalization in San Francisco of 2008 and the battle will be done.
Prop K doesn’t actually decriminalize prostitution. It will be a city law and laws against prostitution are state laws. What Prop K does is say that the City cannot spend any money enforcing the state prostitution laws. It prevents city police from arresting anyone for prostitution. It does not, in any way, limit the city from investigating, arresting, and prosecuting people for crimes such as human trafficking or underage prostitution. So far, so good.
With Prop K someone can establish a brothel anywhere in the city they want. They can put up any signage they want. Streetwalkers will be able to ply their wares on any corner or in front of any store.
I’m all for ending our wars on prostitution. SF spent between $2.8 and $11 million last year enforcing prostitution laws and yet they have just as much prostitution as any other city. Civil prohibitions against personal vice are simply not realistically enforceable, no matter how much money we spend. As Steven Levitt noted in his 2007 draft paper on prostitution – “A prostitute is more likely to have sex with a police officer than to get officially arrested by one.” Our laws don’t reduce activity, they only drive it underground which makes life that much easier for human traffickers to enslave women of all ages and makes things that much more dangerous for the prostitutes and their clients. And the list goes on and on.
Our war on prostitution causes far more problems than the original problem it was intended to solve.
However, I’m also a proponent of limited (VERY LIMITED) regulation. I have no problem with sex workers who provide outcall services going anywhere in the city to meet a client. A brothel next to a school or streetwalkers on any corner is another matter. Not just for me, but for most people in San Francisco. With legal prostitution cities need to be able to, within reason, regulate where businesses are located. They need to be able to establish zones where indoor brothels or red light windows can be located and what kind of advertising they may post on the outside of their buildings. They need to be able to limit where streetwalkers may ply their trade.
Prop K may not allow this. Depending on one’s reading of the laws it may be impossible to establish any zoning under Prop K.
Here’s what I fear will happen. The average San Francisco sexworker is not a wallflower. Just watch many of the annual parades with Scarlet Harlot and her entourage if you don’t believe me. With no boundaries they will go wherever they want and do whatever they want to get attention and make money. If I were them I’d do the same. That’s the point. Find as many potential customers as possible so you have the greatest choice of who you service and can make the most money with the fewest hassles.
Many people who support decriminalization will find a brothel across from their favorite kids store or streetwalkers in front of their favorite café. “This isn’t what I signed up for.” They’ll say. The political types in city hall will start getting engulfed in complaints.
Now, the average politicians way of dealing with things is brash and trash. Nuance is not their strong suit. While a good option at this point would be very moderate regulation, they’ll instead pontificate on the need to reverse Prop K. Instead of finding a way to establish some reasonable zones for brothels, windows, and streetworkers, they’ll go full throttle back to the current failed attempts at civil enforcement of prostitution laws. Instead of a proposition on the 2011 ballot to allow the moderate regulation that Prop K doesn’t allow, expect a proposition to abolish Prop K. And it will likely pass with a large margin.
And you know what, prostitution won’t go down any, but complaints will. The bulk of prostitution will go back underground and streetworkers will re-congregate to ‘safer’ areas. People will be less likely to complain about it, even when they see it near their favorite café, if they just think the cops are doing something about it, than if not.
After this it could be 50 years before anyone can even think of decriminalizing prostitution again in San Francisco. And worse, anytime decrim is brought up anywhere else, all the opponents will need to do is point to the failed decriminalization in San Francisco of 2008 and the battle will be done.
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