Is Bad News Always Good?
Is bad news always good for a brand or company? Take the Sierra Club (I almost typed cult), a report recently published claimed their culture tolerated ‘anger and aggression.’ I don’t know the details or why it’s coming out now but let’s just say when there’s smoke, there’s fire. Something happened there which isn’t good news for the Sierra Club, just thinking, what’s your response if you receive a postmarked fundraising request from the said company? Will your instincts and decisions change from a less tarnished brand?
Stiff Fines Are A Meager Business Expense to Facebook
Accuse me of being last to the party but I read today that Facebook was sued again by the Federal Trade Commission. What else is new? They’re always being sued, at least over the last 5 years and it's quite obvious they simply accept the idea that it is just one part of the cost of doing business. Profits continue to soar as they expect this expense on their annual reports. Suits are submitted in order to force Facebook to be more fair and transparent rather than Facebook wanting to do so on their own accord.
If ICUs Are Full, Then What?
How do we as a society get ourselves in avoidable challenging situations? If something is avoidable, wouldn't you stay away from that item? A headline on CNN reads “Texas health officials warn of full ICUs,” I know this is serious but how serious? How much of this is media hype by CNN? Do they have contingency plans if it gets worse? My hope is for those unvaccinated individuals (I’m still being civil), this is a special chance to get vaccinated, regardless of your location so all are welcome. Am I being too optimistic?
Jason Bourne Blues
I typically don't want many movies on TV (sports typically take precedent) but one night I had the urge to watch one of the Jason Bourne movies on one of our streaming services. Perhaps something with 'Supremacy' or 'Legacy' or 'Identity' in the title. My search for such a movie brought me to Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Netflix without any success. Indeed, I would have settled for any one of Bourne's films at this point, but my only options were to pay $3.99 on Amazon although none of these films were available on Netflix. I assumed with all the hype of the amount of content on either of these "Big Three" would produce Bourne Supremacy, Legacy, or Identity? But no, nothing is to be found without an additional fee. I guess it's not always as easy or cheap as it's portraited to be.
Is Ohtani Better Than Babe Ruth (George Herman Ruth)?
Shohei Ohtani pitches for the California Angels. Shohei plays first base when he's not pitching. Shohei typically plays offense by batting when his turn comes around and in the opposite inning, plays defense as the starting pitcher. Yes, you read that right, a major league player who not only pitches but plays a position on the field. He plays almost every day. Unfortunately, he only pitches once every 5 days.
Ok, on to George Herman Ruth's comparison. From what I read, Babe did pitch his first 5 seasons with the Boston Red Sox, compiling a record of 94 - 46, with an ERA of 2.28. Remarkable stats, regardless of what era we are comparing. He was traded to the Yankees in 1920 and the rest is history. I wonder who was involved in the decision process to make Babe an everyday player and put his pitching career on the shelf? Especially considering how good of a pitcher he was until he solely focused on hitting. I don't know if there's another player in MLB history who compiled such enormous stats of "The Babe" in those ten successful years of the 1920s. The one thing I'll say about Babe is that if he had the opportunity, he could have been a Hall of Famer as a pitcher too!
Shohei is special too and just turned 27 so with that maturity coming to the big leagues, his performance hasn't missed a beat. He's had 18 starts, with an 8-1 record, and a respectable 2.79 ERA. While he pitches, he's such a good hitter and with no other positions available, he has to be the designated hitter. That position is typically given to those good hitters, and he's a pitcher! On to hitting, he's hit 40 home runs so far with 88 RBIs. He's one of the Angels' uniters to get going on offense. While pitching, he's sometimes helped his cause by hitting a home run as the designated hitter. That's just not what's done today in MLB and yet that's what Shohei is doing. One of the bright stars in the game of baseball to pay attention to.
Stiff Fines?
The NY Times reported earlier this year that the Capital uprising on January 6 would be north of $30 million. Over the last few months, there's a group of violators who have been convicted of trespassing at the Nation’s Capital – at the moment, the trend of fines assessed will not come cost to the total cost of this uprising. Why not shift the responsibility onto those who followed Trump and broke into the Capital by levying stiff fines to help supplement the overall damages of such trespassing? If an affordability issue, there are plenty of restitution opportunities, opportunities for these individuals to try to give something back to society. If given community service, my hope is that it's long enough for these individuals to honestly reflect on what they did on Jan. 6, 2021.
I know I'm being delusional but why not have the former President pay for this uprising? Wasn't he the major instigator? Besides, he's such a successful businessman worth billions, paying this paltry fine is the least he can do.
China Nearby
Is it true that a day or so after the American military was given the order to evacuate, come high ranking Chinese officials reached out to potentially do some mining business? Afghanistan has some of the rarest earth materials so I wonder what the Chinese are after? Maybe they can move in their troops for a peacekeeping mission? My approach is not to listen to the Chinese party but watch what they do instead.
Major Clean Up In Aisle Afghanistan, Mr. President
President Biden appears to have created a mess in A. Really; there’s not been a president for the last 20 years who hasn’t made a mess in Afghanistan. I know very little about the current situation. Anyway, Biden and his Secretary of State and Defense need to do some major damage control. To that end, one positive step would be to allow amnesty to the thousands of residents who have supported or assisted the Americans in different capacities. The issue about amnesty should not even be debated in Congress – we owe many of these people a debt of gratitude.