MTA Strike in New York City

First, I should impart some full disclosure. I am very anti-union. It is not that I am against the concept of collective bargaining. I do believe that workers should band together to protect their collective interests. However, I do not believe that those collective negotiations should include pay scales, retirement and medical benefits.

I am a big believer in merit. People should be rewarded in work, as in life, for working hard and being successful. However, unions have become something that spits on merit. Unions bargain for pay according to length of service, education, etc. These scales have nothing to do with how successful someone is in performing their tasks.

Secondly, unions have bargained to the ultimate detriment of their members in a globalizing economy. The unions, in addition to poor management in highly unionized indsutries, have served to create jobs which significantly overpay its employees. While it may be hard to say this with a straight face if I were some CEO making millions, it is true. Auto workers in Detroit have the opinion that a $60,000 per year job assembling autos, with more than $40,000 per year in retirement and medical benefits is middle class. I'm sorry folks, $60k per year in salary is not middle class. That is likely in the top 20% of incomes in the country.

So as it applies to the recent transportation strike in New York City, Americans, and even New Yorkers, are losing their sympathies for workers, who are overpaid for the value that they provide. I was sincerely hoping that Mayor Bloomberg would make more drastic threats to the union, such as firing the whole bunch.

Strikes such as those, or the recent teachers strike here in Oregon, in which a rural district outside of Portland saw teachers striking (and consequently students not in class) for 4 weeks, are simply causing the unions to distance themselves from the people and causing general animosity. Frankly, while this may certainly be painful in the short run, it will likely destroy the unions as we know them today. Perhaps that will be a good thing.

Germans release a terrorist for good behavior?

This week, Germany released a Lebanese terrorist, convicted of killing a US Navy diver in 1985.

Mohammed Ali Hamadi was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. While eligible for parole in January (after 19 years in prison), he was released last week. The German government continues to deny that he has been released, however. At the time of his capture, Hamadi was attempting to enter Germany. The US vigorously attempted to have him extradicted, but to no avail.

The timing of this release is particularly interesting, as a German citizen, archaeologist Susanne Osthoff, was just released in Iraq. If this was a quid pro quo, Germany is continuing to negotiate with terrorists, as fellow EU'ers Italy have been doing since the beginning of the war.

It is hard to argue how this makes anyone safer.

Odds N' Ends

Sorry about the delay. I haven't been very motivated to make any postings recently. I have also been busy, but that is no real excuse.

I am on vacation for the next 9 days (through the day after Christmas), about which I am very excited. Hopefully I'll be able to relax and do some reading.

I am also excited because, in case someone who knows me that comes across this blog doesn't already know, my wife is pregnant with out first child. The due date is supposed to be in June. As it is still early (we are in pregnancy week 14), we are cautiously optimistic. But it is amazing to see and hear the heart beating.

I just found out the Washington Post's managing editor, Steve Coll, moved to the New Yorker magazine. Alright, maybe I won't let my subscription lapse. He is a great writer and working for the New Yorker will allow him to produce the 10,000 word articles he can't do very easily in the Post. I am sorry to see him leave my favorite paper, however.

Also finished another book. I had to stop my James Madison book midstream because I am lacking interest in the moment. I read Robert Baer's 2nd book called, "Sleeping With the Devil." It is about the dependant relationship the US has with Saudi Arabia because it must consume oil, and all the bad things that occur because of that relationship. It is excellent, and I highly recommend it.

Anyway, I should be writing a little more frequently now that I am on vacation, so I'll be back soon!

The Government is Taking Away More of Your Freedoms

Next week (the week of 12/5/2005) Congress will hold a hearing to determine the fairness of the BCS Championship. If that name sounds familiar, it should. The BCS Championship is the Bowl Championship Series to determine the national champion of college football.

As they did with steroids, Congress continues to rape the Constitution by interfering with parts of the country about which it has no legal right. And it is our fault as Americans for letting this happen. Whether or not you like the BCS is irrelevant. This is just the latest example of the eroding status of our freedoms in this country.

When you were a kid, and someone used to tell you, "You can't do that!," and you would respond, "It's a free country. I can do whatever I want!" That freedom is now in jeopardy. I am sure it is not much longer until Congress determines the fairness of dodgeball at school.

Imperial Grunts by Robert Kaplan

I recently finished another book, this one called, "Imperial Grunts," by Robert Kaplan. Like the other Kaplan book I read, "Eastward to Tartary," it is a quick and easy read. I finished this book in about 1 week.

I suggested this to one of my colleagues who has, let us say, different ideological underpinnings than yours truly. Despite an adherent to traditional liberal dogma, she also very much enjoyed the book. In fact, she claimed that it changed her entire perspective on the military. Further, she railed against a negative review the book received in the NY Times; a paper, by the way, which she reads religiously.

I suggest this book for anyone who wants to know more about the great imperial efforts our military is making, and anyone who wants to reaquaint themselves with why ours is the greatest country in the world.