Evil Thoughts in the Middle of the Night

Sometimes when the sandman seems to be busy somewhere else I sit and ponder on things, and being a bit of a contrarian sometimes those thoughts turn to evil things, not hurt people evil, but serves people right evil.

Thought #1: Walmart deserves a union. By and large I think that the era of the union has passed, but if anyone deserved to be unionized its the workers in Walmart. Y'all are screwed! They don't buy American, they don't like competition, they are a horrible employer. If the AFL/CIO is serious about protecting workers they should take on Walmart, after all, where would they be without trucks to deliver, are the drivers teamsters? Well then, if they don't want a union in their stores then why should one deliver to them? And if a union doesn't deliver to them, why aren't they raising hell about it? Anyone remember the news coverage a few years ago because Walmart was telling employees that they needed to Medicare, WIC and Welfare? Walmart keeps lists of all of the forms they need to fill out for these things at every store. And if Walmart thinks that they can't operate with unions, why do Walmarts in places like Germany have them, and still make a profit? They fare better than the $3 a day workers in the sweatshops in China.

I'd recommend everyone watch Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price.

Thought #2: When Japan imports a car into the US it breezes right in, when the US imports a car to Japan is is almost stripped in the "safety inspections" and the cost of the inspection is passed on to the buyer, so not many US cars get sold there. Why is Japanese practice essential for them, but not for us? I lived in Japan for 7 years, I've seen what happens when their cars get in a wreck, it doesn't look any better than when one of ours does. Screw it, our import laws should match those trying to import products into the US.

Thought #3: As much as I like the feel of a newspaper I know print is dead, its time for breaking the paradigm and converting to the internet. It'll mean they have to get more creative in their advertising and finance, but better that than the slow painful spiral into insolvency. Think outside the box or sell out quick... no... wait... newspapers aren't selling right now. Too late.

Thought #4: People need to quit @!$%#ing about the "lock" that conservatives have on talk radio. Screw it, break the mold. I listen to almost no radio, that's over the airwaves or satellite, why bother, there's this thing called the internet and on the internet you can podcast, or go out live. A great example is the Brewing Network, its about what it sounds like, its programming for home brewing beer and other like things. The programming has a set market, it has targeted advertisers and its damned good information. If a network can evolve around the hobby of homebrewing then why can't one spring up over other things? The BN operates out of a garage and is funded by advertising and has a few hundred subscribing listeners, even though the content is free to listen to live or you can download it from their site or on iTunes or Zune. It can be done, people just need to quit thinking conventionally. Another fine example is Bodhi1 and his Field Guide to American Politics. Neither example has high dollar facilities but they both get their message out, which is more than you can say for Air America.

I think 4 is a good stoipping point, after all I don't want to sit up writing this thing or I'll wind up working all night instead of not being able to sleep. Time for a sleepytime tea and some unconsciousness.

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