May 09, 2010
GM Bankruptcy
Another Entry that I'm cleaning out.. I may revisit this one and post an updated version later.
This was dated June 16, 2009 at 10:58 AM
So when I heard GM has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy I was relieved.
Honestly, I've never been a fan of GM. I used to live in a GM town (the one where they used to make those gas guzzling SUVs), I've driven GM cars (both on rentals, and long term ownership), and I've had friends who worked for GM.
So if I've had so many ties to GM, why then was I relieved? Because the management of GM has finally been forced to face reality that their business model is broken, that they are no longer, nor will likely ever be again the market leader that they once were.
I watch companies like they're people. (Yes, I know they are not people, but they're made of and led by people, just a lot of them, which can lead to schizophrenic behavior at times if you consider the company to be one person.) GM has been like the older uncle who is old and stuck in his ways but he's hurting himself, everyone in the family knows what he's doing for himself isn't good, but we can't force him to change.
So let me dispel one quick myth: GM failed because of the credit crisis. Now I don't doubt that the credit crisis was a contributing factor to its failure, but if someone is walking on the top of and a strong gust of wind blows them off...
Music and Cards
Yet another blog entry that has been started, but wasn't finished. This one dated June 16, 2009 at 10:58 AM
I had an interesting discussion with a friend of mine who has 160 gigabytes of music, thats several weeks. I wonder what do you do with 160 gigabytes of music? I can understand if you're DJing regularly or something along those lines, but he doesn't. Last I checked he hasn't even listened to most of it. Its a matter of collecting to collect.
I do that to. I have a box below my bed of a collection of cards, not greeting cards, cards that would go in your wallet and the like. I've got a bunch of starbucks cards and some other ones. Its nice having the collection, its small and compact.
What we share
Another entry that has been sitting around for a while, this one dated February 20, 2010 at 8:15 am
This blog entry has been percolating in my head for many months, although this is the first time it has met text.
One of the things that I think has been sadly lost in our society is celebrating what we share. Too often in our daily lives we jump to identifying what is different and what divides us from others. This is useful in our daily lives, but it is also hurtful. Too often when we're identifying our differences we often approach identifying what divides us as a search to identify where we will have our battles.
I read Ted Olson's Conservative Defense of Gay Marriage and I cried. Notwithstanding its exceptional eloquence I was moved that someone who on first glance should be one of my staunchest political enemies was espousing a stance which I wholeheartedly agreed with, but one which also came from a place of true honesty within his beliefs and values.
Mariage Etc.
I'm doing a bit of cleaning out of those entries that I started but never finished... Here is one titled Marriage etc. As I remember it was a response to a Facebook discussion, or something along those lines. The file date on it is December 21, 2008.
Interesting idea to think about: The Salvation Army (a church) is in favor of not having Christmas be recognized as a federal holiday. Why? Because having the government recognize such a special day diminishes the experience.
I don't like the fact that some religions can and have chosen to recognize gay marriages, but because of other church's beliefs they are unable to bestow the same legal rights on gay couples as they do on straight couples. This is clearly an infringement of freedom of speech/religion. So by banning gay marriage you are actually infringing on freedom of religion.
I know ministers who will not sign marriage licenses for this very reason.
Jared, I'm reminded of the scene in Jurassic Park (the book, not the movie) where they're amazed that they discover the dinosaurs are breeding because the computer system they've set up to track them only checks for the preset number that it expects to there to be. They're only looking to make sure they're not losing dinosaur...
March 16, 2010
Part of Love (As said to the Cats)
I say witty pithy things to the cats when I leave the apartment. Usually they're not memorable, but I felt a need to write this one down.
Part of love is that it's ephemeral
One of you will lose the other
And I will lose one of you
Then the other