Opposition Research: Layoffs

Question for the opposition: why is it better (or at least ethical) to lay off thousands of low and mid level workers as opposed to having some few on the topmost levels retain their jobs but take temporary pay or bonus cuts?

It would seem to me that any action that takes money away from a large group of active consumers (minimum wage earners and those still within a low or middle income bracket) and thus out of the economic picture, does more harm than good. While on the flip side, taking money from those on top (who I may argue are usually more responsible for a companies short comings than hourly workers in these situations) will likely see little to no impact on the economy as a whole as doing so is not likely to put that upper echelon executive into such dire straights. Granted this may just be a "trickle-down" vs "trickle-up" economic theory debate, but why is Socialized failure acceptible, when Socializing everything else is demonized?

PS. I'm serious about this. Can any one give me a reasoned debate on this?

Posted from my iPhone @ Quack's

The World That Can't See You

I just read an article about pop music and the Grammy's and for whatever reason it got me thinking. I'm fairly vocal about my love of sincere music and while that's a difficult concept to explain, for me it's easily quantifiable when listening to music. Because of this I often find people who like to challenge me, especially when I release a new mix tape.

"This band sounds just like (insert mainstream artist here), I don't understand why you think (insert indie band here) is better" is a popular refrain to my reply usually ends up being that "(insert indie band here) wants it more, they're more sincere." which usually draws a blank stare or a frustrated sigh because I'm obviously being unreasonable.

When it comes down to it, if I had to choose between listening to a mainstream punk band that I am not already a fan of, but sounds very much like The Menzingers or listening to The Menzingers, I'm going to choose The Menzingers because they want it more. The indie bands have more on the line, they're more involved with their music and the process and to me that comes through in the sound. At the very least it makes me feel better about supporting them, like eating at local restaurants as opposed to national chains.

Anyway, I was thinking of that this morning and it called to mind (as it often does) the lyrics of the Kid Dynamite punk anthem "Shiner"

Where do you get off wanting the royal treatment?
Who put you on your pedestal? I'll tell you who, the kids did!
They created you, and how do you repay them?
With your snotty looks and your catchy hooks and your rock star image.
They created you, and how do you repay them?
With some words of truth to guide them trough your mind manipulation.

But when the time comes to back up what you say, will you run away?
I'd bet all I had on it. That's what I said, I'd bet it all.
We're all singing along to the same tune (just like you.)
Big deal, you wrote it, but you don't promote it. (YOU DON'T PROMOTE IT!)

It may sound cliche. I don't care. I've seen the way you cheat at all the games you play.
Misuse trust to get what you want it's so easy to believe you.
Cause you're in a band with a mic in your hand and everybody wants to be you.
Well I won't try to. because I don't want to.

When the time comes to back up what I say. I won't run away.
Run away from you, run away from this, Because it means more to me.
We're all singing along to the same tune, (just like you.)
Big deal, we wrote it....Now it's time to promote it. Remember, we're all in this together.

I gotta know!
What could it be that makes you unhappy?
Is it the world that you see, or the world that can't see you?

Link: Robots to Get Their Own Internet

Robots to Get Their Own Internet
"European scientists have embarked on a project to let robots share and store what they discover about the world.

Called RoboEarth it will be a place that robots can upload data to when they master a task, and ask for help in carrying out new ones.

Researchers behind it hope it will allow robots to come into service more quickly, armed with a growing library of knowledge about their human masters."

One more step towards Skynet. I, for one, welcome our future robot overlords.

Lo-Fi Generation

Hand held devices and easily compressible formats have turned our consumption of media into a strictly lo-fi affair whether we want it or not. I just happened upon this link off of Warren Ellis' blog and I find the data to be rather disappointing, but not surprising in the least. Don't get me wrong, I think the proliferation of music by any means is fantastic and anything that get more exposure for obscure bands is great, but to think that there is a whole generation out there getting their music primarily through YouTube fills me with dread.

Lo-fi for lo-fi's sake is one thing, but when you take any recording and compress it to the level of YouTube or many other sites, you lose so much. Even your legitimately lo-fi music ends up sounding shite. It's bad enough you can't get any decent bootleg recordings anymore because the only devices people are using are their smart phones, but I'm horrified to think of a whole generation willingly subjecting themselves to sub par recordings.

I suppose it's happened before though, my generation grew up on cassettes that rose in popularity due to their portability, but were vastly inferior to almost everything else at the time. I can only hope that the youth of today are taking advantage of the the resurgence of vinyl and when they do purchase physical media, at least it's high quality.

The King is Dead

I've listened to The Decemberists latest album The King is Dead several times now and find that it's been growing on me each time. What at first I mistook for a return to a pre Crane Wife sound has actually turned out to be something else. Certainly the foibles of The Crane Wife are not to be found here much in the same way as they were absent from 2008's The Hazards of Love, but there is something else going on here as well, something new, but familiar.

Much had been said about this album before it released about the band moving to a more stripped down sound, but in comparison to the intricacy of The Hazards of Love almost anything else by The Decemberists might be considered "stripped down". Still there is a sense of a return to basics here, maybe not so much in the music (this is very much a multi-instrument album), but perhaps in the presentation of the album itself. I think what's struck me most about the album however is a certain maturity in the songs.

The Decemberists have always been a band with it's tongue set firmly in their collective cheeks much of the time, whether singing songs about whoring mothers, whalers, or chimney sweeps. While it is very much the aesthetic of the band and certainly within Colin Meloy's purview to be writing about subjects that would have been considered fodder for pop music standards in the early 1900's, there is still a certain silliness that came with earlier Decemberists releases. With The King is Dead I feel as if they've momentarily shirked the silliness for a bit of folksy maturity. This is not to say that this is an overly serious album and it's obvious they're still having fun, but it's almost as if they've taken a break from the cheekiness of the past to write and play an album of folk rock standards.

Personally I find the end result to be just as satisfying as any of their other albums, but somehow much more accessible. The Decemberists have very much been a band of geeks for geeks, with SAT words aplenty and subjects only an English major could love. And while The King is Dead certainly feels like a Decemberists album, it's the one you'll probably let your friends listen to first before unleashing the awesome power of The Whaler's Revenge Song.  With this band however, one can't help but assume this is merely a rest stop on the way to bigger, better, and perhaps sillier/geekier things to come.

Link : Open-World Zombie Survival Shambles Slowly Towards Xbox Live Arcade [Microsoft Game Studios]

Open-World Zombie Survival Shambles Slowly Towards Xbox Live Arcade [Microsoft Game Studios]:

"Code name Class3 is not an action game with zombie targets. It's an open-world zombie survival game, and it's coming to the Xbox Live Arcade courtesy of Undead Labs and Microsoft Game Studios."

This looks promising.

The People's Key

I'm just listening to the NPR stream of the forthcoming new Bright Eyes album and it's actually sounding pretty good. The thing that occurs to me now that I'm hearing it is that since Casadega in 2007, Connor Oberst has essentially made the same folk album 4 times with 3 different bands and honestly ... I got tired of that really quick. It's nice to hear him trying something different again.

NPR First Listen - Hear "The People's Key" in its entirety