Stormbringer's Thunder

This steak still has marks from where the jockey was hitting it! — Rodney Dangerfield in "Caddyshack" I tried to tell people before, but did they listen? Noooooooo! What is it, really? morgueFile/MaxStraeten So I'll say it again, and appeal to the wallet instead of ethics: This is not the kind of economy for businesses to be cheap! There are reports of horse meat in various products [ 1 , 2 ] ("contanimated" is such a strong word...it's just not what people paid for) and speculation that the merchants are cutting corners. "Generic" or "store brand" items thaqt were formerly comparable (and sometimes superior) to their name-brand counterparts are getting less desirable ; t he name-brand products are often reducing quality themselves. Customer service? In many cases, fuggedaboudit! Little to no help. You have to learn how to work that gadget yourself. Restaurants that water down the soup? How cheap can you get?...

Listen, don't get me wrong, I'm all in favor of businesses making a profit. Also, I don't hate the rich (after all how many poor people can give you a job, huh?).What grinds my gears is when any employer, big or little, will take advantage of the employees. I was pondering some of the stories that Neil told me about his cheapskate but very large Fortune 100 company. First, they claim to be interested in "diversity". Their propaganda has phrases like this: Diversity is about having a broad mix of talent in our operations A diverse workforce offers unique perspectives, ideas and solutions [With] diverse workforce, we can better meet the needs of the increasing multicultural clients, communities and individuals Build teams that bring together varied points of view to generate unique ideas and business solutions Age, experience, gender, ethnic backgrounds all contribute to a grand and glorious whole (my summary of some of their other propaganda)   And so o...

Start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees, motivate them and reward them. If you do all those things effectively, you can't miss.   — Lee Iacocca Tweaked for clarity 3-26-2011. Buona sera. I have an attitude with thunder and lightning heading your way. You may have noticed that the title of this missive is the opposite of true intelligence. It constantly amazes me that so many companies seem to think that if their employees are not in a minor panic, sweating and frantic, that work is not getting done. Brace yourselves, this is Bluntness Day: They are too cheap to supply their employees with the proper tools to get the job done. Remember my buddy Neil? He works for a cheapskate Fortune 100 company. They are certainly not in the "100 Best Places to Work" list, but they cannot determine the cause. Spurious surveys to make themselves feel good, with faked results and continually contemptuous workers are the r...

Buon giorno . I'm still worked up about the illegal immigration issue ( Part 1 is here ). E-mails like the ones my brother sent me get me going again. So, this session is a cheat. Not my own work, but it reflects my sentiments and also pulls together things I've read and heard in other places. But I did put some work into the links. Groovy, huh? Even groovier is that an upcoming Weblog will tie into the cheapness of labor issue. Do me a favor, though, willya? I just added some links to document some of the claims (I won't do all your work for you, though. Some of it's simply common sense, and things you can see with your own eyes). When you check out some of the links, open them in a new browser window or tab. That way, it's easier to find your way back here and finish the article. And maybe read its companion piece. OK, as my buddy Duke Nukem says, "Let's rock!" CHEAP LABOR? Isn't that what the whole immigration issue is about? Let's be hones...