Wednesday, November 7, 2007

What the Heck is Going on?

The U.S. Dollar fell again, oil prices are on the rise, and the stock market is plunging. What is going on? The housing market is also faultering due to the lack of payments on loans. Citigroup fell once again and will most likely lay off more people.

Today the Dow Jones closed at -360.92 or down 2.64 percent, the NYSE closed at -272.26. What will happen if this continues? How long can it continue before the whole thing crashes? Does anyone see a crash in the future? Should we take our money out of our banks?

What about the amount of energy we are using up? China is on the rise and is expected to be using like 5% more energy in the next year. Should we find other sources for energy like yesterday?

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Writers go on Strike

What now? $200,000 annually is not enough? So far it is only the late night shows such as Letterman and Leno. If the strike continues then it could be just about all those television shows that you love to watch and make an event out of it every week. What will you do without the life lessons that you learn on Greys Anatomy? Who will win the Survivor challenge? Maybe this strike is a sign to bring people back into doing things that our elder reletives did, read books. Most likely not though, people will turn to the internet and YouTube. Some people might be fascinated by what it is that they actually find on the internet. Real life things that are really happening in the world today. Who'd a thought?

Instead of watching some fictional story about some fictional event that might happen to some people in the world but will never happen to them, they will be forced to learn about the real stuff that is going on in the world. Did you people know that we are still at war in Iraq? Do you even know who is running for President?

Lets look at it from the writers prespective for a minute and ponder that. From what I know this strike is about management and internet royalties for their shows. There is probably more to it than that, but that is what I know so that is what I am basing my judgement on. We have all been in their shoes. We are little people trying to survive in "Corporate America" working for the man just to be able to pay rent or a mortgage. The big boys make all the big bucks and it seems they haven't a clue about what it is that we go through on a daily basis to make ends meet. To be honest, they don't care. When they get that big they only care about themselves and what type of Bently they will be purchasing next.

In this way, I hope these writers send a message to those corporate A holes and make them think about it. But what about when the strike is over? Is a writers strike a big enough message to send out to "Corporate America"? No it is not. These writers are talented and some of them good at what they do, but the fact is, they are replaceable. In fact, I would replace them in a heart beat. Sure I wouldn't be as good as most of them, but I would do it and I would do it for less than what they get paid. To be a Hollywood writer is a dream for a lot of people and I bet all those networks are getting bombarded by resumes of people that want to get in the business right now.

So when you ponder the writers strike while surfing the internet because the only thing that is on television is re-runs of old worn out shows like MASH and Full House, think about not just the writers strike, but why they are doing it. It may help you figure out just where you want to be in the future and help you to realize that no matter who they are, CEO, President of the organization, VP of tech, etc. Remember this, no matter what an organization titles them, they are just people like you and I trying to make it through each day alive. For more see Business Week at the link.
BusinessWeek