The Government Union

I have frequently heard people advocating government jobs. That is, the people that I know will talk about how good it is to be a government employee. They talk about the pension, benefits, and job security, to name a few. All of these things are true. But just as the unions will get you in the private sector, so also will the unions affect the public sector. Sometimes the unions in the government are organized, but one could make a case for the entire federal government being one gigantic union that stands against their employer (aka the American people).

In a USA Today article, we find out that things are in fact not too good. People are being paid quite a bit nowadays, don’t you think? It is especially interesting that there has been such a boom in government increases during the same time as the private sector losing so many jobs. And by interesting I mean awfully disturbing. The government is becoming a behemoth that is going to continue growing until it collapses and knocks down the support columns that hold up this house.

The thing that I do not understand in the least is how people in government positions can work without the fear of being fired! Whether incompetent or able, they will keep their job (unless perhaps they are grossly ill-performing where even then it will take quite some effort to make a move on them). So when people are presented with the option to try their best or do as little as possible with both seeming to result in the same outcome, what would people do? Exactly, they would do the least possible. There is no incentive for people in government jobs to continue to do their best. Now you see what I am saying about the government employees being similar to a union.

Just as the unions have been able to cripple portions of the private sector (such as the American automakers), it is going to be the government employees that are going to bring down the government. If you have not read what unions can do to the world, I suggest that you read the ever popular Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.

All of the signs are there. Health care reform that will dictate much more than we need or want it to, a growing government influence in our lives, a government that dictates what companies will do (since it owns them), perhaps even the degradation of freedoms to which we are rightly entitled to under the Constitution. This is something that concerns all of us, and we all need to care about it. Because we sure are going to have the live with the consequences together. And disregarding warning is a terribly foolhardy thing to do.

Clueless Spokesmen

When there is a disaster happening, the affected agencies always seem to appoint a spokesman. And that spokesman always seems to have no idea what is going on. Is it really that hard to have a spokesman with a little bit of knowledge?

I am rather tired of hearing the endless stream of:

• “I do not have that information”
• “We are not aware of that at this time”
• “I cannot say whether that is true or not”
• “I do not know the answer to that”
• “We have not heard of that rumor”

I do not understand any of the people that are involved in putting these spokesmen out there!

If you are the agency or group that is being spoken for, I would think that you want to seem competent. You want to put out someone who is excellent because they are going to be the face of your group. You do not get that if you present someone who cannot even answer the questions that they field.

If you are the person who is to be the spokesman, I would also think that you would want to be knowledgeable of everything that you are supposed to know. Otherwise, as so often happens, you will get roasted by the questions that the audience has. They are going to ask you about what they have heard and apparently their sources are better than yours. So you will sound clueless and lost. Who wants that to be them?

And me? Yeah I just want someone who will give some answers. I can get tired real quickly of hearing people avoid the questions that they just don’t know the answers to. No, lame answers are not better than no answers.

On another note, salesmen are just specialized spokesmen that are trying to get your money. Time to get those salesmen up to speed on what they’re selling, huh?

Only In The Movies

[caption id=”” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Entertainment of another variety”][/caption]

Public Restrooms Are Scary

Anything can be put down as an algorithm. Anything.

# use_public_toilet.py
#
# Algorithm for using a public toilet.  Success will vary based on the
# toilet/situation (obviously).  However, this seems to be a generally safe
# way to approach using a toilet.
#
# Handles both male and female needs as well as exceptional cases such as
# no available toilet, getting dirty, and entering the wrong gender's
# bathroom.
#
# Algorithm is roughly:
# 1) Enter bathroom
# 2) Find suitable toilet
# 3) Protect yourself if it's a stall toilet that you sit on
# 4) Do your business
# 5) Finish up
    
import common_sense
    
# Sometimes even nature's calling cannot overrule common sense
# Including when you walk into the wrong bathroom
if (bathroom.is_disgusting or bathroom.is_dangerous
    or bathroom.gender != you.gender):
    you.hold('your waste')
    return # (i.e., get out of there!)    

my_toilet = None
# Only male urinaters get to use the urinals, at least in the common case
# (Abnormal cases are unhandled here)
if you.need() == 'urinate' and you.gender == 'male':
    for urinal in bathroom.urinals:
        if not urinal.empty:
            continue
        my_toilet = urinal    

# If you are not a male urinating or there is no urinal available
if my_toilet is None:
    # Time to look for the stall
    for stall in bathroom.stalls:
        # Use an empty toilet that can also be initialized to a clean state
        if not stall.empty or (not toilet.clean and not toilet.works):
            continue
        you.enter('Stall %s' % stall)
        my_toilet = stall
        break
    else:
        # You could not find a suitable stall to use
        return

    you.wipe('toilet seat')
    you.put('toilet seat cover')
    while not toilet.seat_covered():
        you.put('toilet paper')

# Finally the time has come to get down to business
try:
    you.sit()
    you.do_your_business()
except TouchDirtyException:   # Don't touch the toilet!
    you.cry()
    

you.flush(my_toilet)
you.wash_hands()
you.leave()
if you.satisfied:             # Be happy, you're done
    you.smile()

Assumptions Cause Tumbles

While I am happy about the fact that I have become someone who questions a lot of what I hear, I readily admit that we all need to live using assumptions. We do not check every fact each and every time otherwise we would go insane! We sit on chairs without checking that the legs will support our weight (although sometimes the chair unfortunately does not support our weight). We figure that our car engine is going to work even though we don’t check it before turning it on everyday. Staplers have staples, light switches will turn on lights, and our e-mail is accessible. These assumptions are slight and imperceptible things that we do. When the assumption does not hold, it is quickly discarded to handle the exceptional case.

But then there assumptions that have a more costly result. When you and your teammate assume that the other is going to catch the fly ball, you could lose the game. Perhaps you and another drive make an assumption that the other is going to get out of the way and an accident occurs. At work, if no definitive statement is made about who is to carry out a task then all involved will think that the other is doing it. Or in the tragedy of Kitty Genovese everyone assumes that someone else will do the right thing. Or infinitely increasing in the depth of tragedy, what happens to someone who assumes that scientists and public opinion are correct enough that Jesus is not the answer?

Let us not assume! Especially when it comes to the important things. Else we are complicit in the outcome, whatever that might be.