Thank you to New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow for his piece on the self-destruction of the record industry. It’s quite possibly one of the most truthful assessments to come out. It’s fairly well thought-out, and simply put, although he gets one thing wrong and skips one important point.
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The worst has come to pass. We voted down everything. Our state began issuing promissory notes yesterday. Those who don’t think very hard about it blame “the legislators.” Really, though, it’s everyone’s fault, the state legislature, the governor and their constituents — us.
I say we call a legislative convention. Here’s how my fantasy works:
(Quietly, no publicity)
1. Redraw the state’s legislative districts into 40 and 20 districts equal by population, no funny shapes except as dictated by topography.
2. Repeal the 1933 two-thirds rule for passing state budgets, and the language from Propositions 13 and 98, all of which strangle our ability to make revenues balance out costs.
(As much publicity as possible now)
3. Either a cage match or a battle royal between legislators. The order of entrance to the ring would be determined either by random number generator or by drawing straws. The last person standing gets to be the Governor. This is to be broadcast on California’s PBS affiliates.
4. Have a statewide election for the new districts.
If only.
Have a happy Independence Day weekend, everyone!
Californians: We have an election coming up in one week. Don’t know much about what’s up for grabs? Then grab a cup of coffee, settle in and relax, for I have read the fine print for you. Have extra information? Comment here or send it to theyellowmenace1@gmail.com. These opinions are subject to change, pending the discovery of heretofore unforeseen facts or mood swings.
Ever since the economy “soured,” as the New York Times tends to say, we’ve had many opportunities to hear about countless layoffs, “tough choices,” and vacant glass storefronts. This week, we received two rare and unusually personal and frank stories about corporate comings and goings.
The first actually came from Gizmodo on Feb. 4 in textual form. Gizmodo solicited writings and reflections from Circuit City employees as an independent liquidation firm led the company into shutdown. The folks at This American Life produced a radio version with actual former employees telling their stories.
The second comes from a former employee of the American International Group’s Financial Products division. He sent a copy of his resignation letter to the New York Times, providing an analysis of events the rest of us simply did not catch via the papers or TV news. Check out the readers’ comments for an even more telling counterpoint.
Both stories provide surprising glimpses of personal strength, a healthy dose of good old American bad behavior and some of the shocking ways in which we fail each other.
Starbucks announced today that it plans to close 300 more company-run locations this year. This comes in addition to the 600 locations it planned to close last year. Out of the chain’s approximately 11,434 retail locations, 7.8 percent of them will have shut down this year after the quarterly revenue fell 5.5 percent from one year ago. Say what you will about the coffee retailer, a cutback that big has to hurt.
While today’s announcement estimates about 6,000 people put out of work in actual stores and 700 in corporate offices, Starbucks is also one of the largest companies to offer health insurance to part-time workers.
