Haley Joel Osment Would Be Proud

The other day, Shannon and I were on the way to the park. We thought we owed it to the little guy to have a chance to run around out in the open for a while. On the way to the park, we decided to stop at a pet supply store to get a tennis ball for the dog. Shannon ran in to get one while I waited in the car.

Having sat in the parking spot for no more than a minute or two, a middle age woman walked up to the driver side window. I turned down the radio and lowered the window. She started by explaining that her car had been towed by AAA because her transmission broke. She then asked me if I could give her a ride to her “auntie’s” house down the street, or give her a couple of dollars towards cab fare. Everything I had ever learned about strangers from a young age had popped in my head. What's more, we were in what is oft considered a "rough side of town." Was this woman about to rob me? Kill me? Use the “cab fare” to buy crack? My parents and the news media would have me believe that there was a greater chance of a crime to be committed than an honest person needing a helping hand.

I decided to cast away my white-flight suburbia fears and lend a favor to someone in need. Shannon came back out to the car and I quickly explained why there was a stranger in my car. We turned out of the shopping center and continued down Broad street toward her destination. During the trip she explained how she had asked so many other people for a ride and was repeatedly denied. She even tried the police, and to her claim, their “to serve and protect” mantra didn’t serve her at all. She also considered taking a bus, but did not know which to get on or where to get off. I can’t blame her on that point. Despite having used dozens of public transportation systems in the U.S. and in countries where I don’t speak the native tongue, I still have no idea how to use the Columbus bus system. Our passenger was very appreciative of us taking the time to help her out, as she expressed that a number of times.

Her “auntie’s” house turned out to be only a mile or so from the park to which we were headed, but it would have been a long walk from the shopping center. It was located in a neighborhood that most of my ilk would do anything to avoid. There were run down houses, others that looked like they hadn't been painted since the Nixon administration, and what any suburbanite would depict as unfit for the middle class.

I thought about my decision to help this woman later. Why had I decided to allow a complete stranger into my car, despite everything I had ever been taught? We’re not supposed to help the under classed and under privileged this way. Think about what you know about hitchhikers- haven’t you always been advised against giving them a ride? I was led to believe they were all murderers who carried various weapons in their bandana-on-a-stick.

Call it cliché, but I think part of my decision to help her out stems from the concept of “paying it forward”. I’m sure that I owed it to the universe to help someone out when they needed it. For those not familiar (or not having seen the movie), “paying it forward” means when someone does a favor for you, big or small, you should not focus on “paying them back”, but instead “pay it forward” to someone else needing a favor. It works kind of like Karma, I think.

On a total side note, did you know Bon Jovi was a character in that movie? Weird.

(Update: While doing some Haley Joel Osment "Where are they now?" research, I came across this little tidbit: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/osmentmug1.html
I guess he's old enough to know how to take two and pass...)

Gnarls Barkley: "Crazy" like a fox

I recently read in Wired magazine that Gnarls Barkley’s song “Crazy” was the first to hit #1 on the charts based entirely on downloads. The song was originally released without an album and has been extremely successful in the US and abroad.

This isn’t the future of music anymore- it’s the present. Music is now available at many different outlets online as well as on CDs at your local Wal-Mart. What I can’t figure out is what took the recording industry so long to realize this and capitalize on such a profitable opportunity.

Thinking back, I’ve been downloading music since the late 90’s. I can remember finding songs in the MP2 format on AOL servers and FTP sites. It was possible to acquire electronic versions of hit songs well before Napster came along. Even in the post-Napster era, we are easily able to access other servers. Limewire, Kazaa, Morpheus, DC++, and so many others link consumers to free copies of music. Instead of coming to some sort of realization or epiphany about a new way to distribute music, the RIAA and its dominant labels proceeded to file lawsuits against downloaders. They have fought a losing battle for the past decade, when all the while they were sacrificing their own potential profits.

Instead of spending money to pay lawyers and court fees, music labels could have set up music purchasing sites earlier. Imagine if iTunes and similar sites had existed 5 or 6 years ago. Think of how many illegal downloads would have been unnecessary. Many music fans who have since learned of ways to download music illegally may have chosen legitimate means to get their music. And the music companies would have made more money too. As cheap as it already is to produce a CD, the marginal cost for downloading an electronic copy of a song is next to zero. All companies need to pay for is some web design and a server to contain the files.

Another huge benefit of the ability to download music is the very reason Gnarls Barkley was able to be so successful. Music fans have the option of downloading just the song(s) they want from an album, instead of spending money on the whole CD. Today, albums are not put together in a creative “total package” configuration, the way they were a few decades ago. Look at the Beatles “Revolver” or “Sgt Pepper”, or the best example, “Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd. These collections of songs were destined to be together. Individually, there are a few stand-out songs, but the album creates a whole new work of art. Most albums today are a collection of songs assembled by executives at a recording label. They work hard on a few songs, promoting them extensively as “singles” but the rest is filler. They need to fill space on the CD so it sounds worth it to spend $15. I would much rather spend a dollar apiece on the specific songs I want to hear.

Let’s face it. We’ve all purchased a CD of an artist that has been a disappointment. There may be one hit song, maybe another song or two that’s pretty good, but the rest isn’t worth spending money on. How many CDs have you actually owned where most or all of the songs on the CD are really worth purchasing? How many CDs do you own that you can listen to straight through without wanting to skip a few tracks?

The music industry is only now catching on to a concept they should have discovered years ago. Gone are the days where they could get consumers to spend almost $20 for two good songs and an album full of filler. The 80’s may have been called the “me generation”, that I would argue that this generation has demanded (and received) more capacity for individualization than any before it. We can tailor our spending to our personal wants and needs, and this is the audio example.

A Crazy Idea

During the last few years of college, I had a crazy idea. I knew that graduation was approaching and time left in school was limited. I had to figure out what I was going to do. Should I pursue a PhD? Should I get a job? What’s to come after June? That’s when it hit me.

My crazy idea was that I would finish school as planned and pursue a career. I would get a job at a nominal salary, at which point I could afford to live in a decent apartment, start paying off school loans, be able to go out and have fun once in a while and maybe even afford a car that’s less than 10 years old. I mean heck, I figured having a graduate degree would put me leagues ahead of much of my competition. I had good credentials, office working experience, communications and computer skills, leadership experience and I studied abroad to boot. I didn’t need the perfect job, definitely not right off the bat. But that wouldn’t be an issue. Undoubtedly I could send out some resumes, get a few offers then take one that I like. After all, I was willing to move anywhere in the country, or even the world.

So I started putting out some resumes in April. I figured that it was as good a time as any to apply for jobs. Maybe I could beat some of the college graduate rush. Applying for jobs was quite exciting at first. As I filled out applications, wrote cover letters, and searched through so many pages of job listings, I imagined where I might find myself or what I might be doing in a few months. Some days I would apply for three or four jobs. I’d say the average week yielded at least ten. I continued this pursuit of a job through the end of spring quarter and into the summer.

Now it is nearly October, and I haven’t worked a day since graduation. The nearly one hundred resumes have yielded only one or two phone calls and no real interviews. To make things worse, the calls I did get were for the jobs I wanted the least- the ones that required a move across the country for minimal pay and maximum hours. Things have been looking grim. I have applied for jobs that have little or nothing to do with my degree, nor my intended career. Frustration only describes the half of it.

Only now have things been starting to look up. All I can say is that the old adage “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” has proven true. The leads that I feel so fortunate to have right now are only due to people I know.

The biggest of these is a consulting firm based in Chicago that my cousin’s husband works for. He’s considered a big shooter there and was able to land me a phone interview that has parlayed into an invitation to visit their office next month. Even this lead has been time consuming and stressful to arrange. I began the application process in mid August. Even if I get the job, I won’t be able to start until February.

In the shorter term, a friend of my girlfriend was able to set up an interview with the Associate Dean of a local adult tech education center. I received a call early this week stating that I got the job, though I have yet to start. I would be teaching economics for four hours, one night a week. Pay is minimal, but minimal is a positive integer greater than zero. In other words, it’s better than nothing.

I’m confident with the Chicago job, and if this teaching job would get started, it would resolve some of my problems. I’m good at interviewing and to my recollection have landed pretty much every job I’ve interviewed for. The hardest part has been getting that opportunity.

To all those still in school, plan ahead for graduation. Plan way ahead. I would start looking for job opportunities six months ahead of when I did, which does mean the calendar year before you actually graduate, for most of you. Apply for jobs you’d really like to have, but scour your friends and relatives for someone who works for a company that might have something you’d be good at or eligible for. After all, many employees get a referral bonus if you get hired.

If you want to get a job quickly after graduation, you need to think outside the box. Sending out dozens resumes sure didn’t cut it for me. Maybe you know someone, or know someone that knows someone, or know someone who knows someone who knows someone that can get you an interview. There’s so much competition out there. Think about that when you’re sitting in your chair at the commencement ceremony awaiting your diploma. Look around- see the other 3,000 students in the room? They’re your competition. Not just them either. Factor in all the new bachelors’ degree holders at all the universities in the country, plus all those already in the work force with real job experience. You need to find a way to get ahead of these other people- a way to get noticed in a sea of college grads.

I don't want to be too discouraging. I hope my experience is unique to me. I wish only the best of luck to you and your job hunt. I do know that if I ever have the opportunity to help a friend get a job, I’ll be sure to do all I can. Things are starting to work out finally. If nothing else, I've located some temp work that pays fairly well. Well, it'll pay the rent anyway.

What is the value of human life?

Some of you might respond to this question simply by saying that it is priceless. You may suggest that life is a gift that can not be bought or sold for any amount of money. I contend that human life has a finite value. Take, for example, a severe illness has bestowed itself on a dear family member. What price would you be willing to pay to save that person’s life? What if the disease necessitated a $10,000 operation? Would you pay it? What about $100,000? Even with fundraising, insurance and loans, there eventually becomes a price that is just too much to pay. The maximum amount that could be afforded is then the value of that life.

But the real depth to this concept isn’t the price you would pay for a loved one; it’s the price you wouldn’t pay for someone else. Are some people’s lives worth more than others? Consider if the sick individual wasn’t a relative. What if the person was actually a child, half a world away, in a developing country? Would you pay the same amount to save their life? As the commercials and NGO’s insist, often times it only a few hundred dollars to save a persons life from malnourishment and diseases that have been eradicated in the western world. So is a relative’s life worth the lives of tens or hundreds of others?

The value of one’s life is determined by a few factors. Individuals may vary in value by their earning potential. Someone who is well educated with an established career has more earning potential than a hobo, for example. Our value is also established by the people around us. Our social value to our family, friends and community is an important factor. A person who is well liked has more redeeming value than someone despised by all.

In this world, we’re not created equal. Our value is determined on where we live, what we do, and who is important to us. How much I may value an individual’s life could be vastly different from your valuation. Regardless, it shows that human life is not priceless in a monetary sense, nor is it uniform across the human population.

The Challenge of our Generation

Every generation faces a major challenge. In the past 100 years we have seen wars, economic depressions and an iron curtain that divided the world for decades. Undoubtedly, our generation too will have to come to terms with a major crisis. While we can only speculate what that may be, the challenge of developing a new fuel source ranks very high.

For centuries the world has utilized coal, oil, and other non-renewable fossil fuels as the primary source of energy for everything from lights to spacecraft. At our current rate of consumption, the planet cannot endure this kind of energy expenditure. With globalization offering empowerment of millions every day around the world to own cars, use air conditioning and power electronics, the rate of energy use is skyrocketing. China and India in particular are each bringing over a billion people into the modern energy world. In part, this competition has driven the costs of fuel up as demand for energy is increasing much faster than the available supply.

While the supply-demand problem of energy is becoming easier and easier to see through our wallets, it is only a matter of time until this becomes an even bigger international issue. It will not be long until countries begin to compete over access to oil. Because fuel is such a necessity for the modern economy to power our computers, trucks, cargo ships, cars and trains, no country is willing to go without it. As if the soon-to-be intense competition for oil between India, China, the US, Europe and others were not problem enough, a sick twist of fate has left the majority of the worlds' oil supply in the hands of a few rogue nations. The world's largest oil producers are Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Iran and Nigeria. Each has a history of human rights issues, social problems and most importanty, international political difficulties. When oil supply gets worse, the countries wielding the most power will be those who least deserve it and least able to handle it.

Beyond the supply of fossil fuel, its very use is causing tremendous environmental damage. The notion of global warming used to be almost a joke. Even if it were true, it was happening so slowly that no one alive today would survive to experience its real effects. But look at the last 12 months. Last August demonstrated a hurricane season unmatched in decades. As you may recall, the national weather service actually ran out of names to give all of the hurricanes. The following winter was unusually mild. Here in Ohio there was hardly snow to speak of. Now this summer has shown an incredible heat wave throughout the whole of the United States with temperatures of 100 degrees no longer limited to the southwest, but into the northern plains and Midwest.

The challenge of our generation may be to find a solution to this compounding problem. We need to discover a new form of energy that is clean, renewable, and sustainable. No time soon will fossil fuels be entirely replaced, but they need to be subsidized as soon as possible to alleviate today’s energy woes.

Foul pLay

Though it was covered a lot less in the news than one would expect, ex chief of Enron and W. henchman Ken Lay died last week of an apparent heart attack. The reaper found him at one of his vacation homes in Aspen, Colorado. Since the collapse of Enron and the theft of countless individuals’ jobs, salaries, retirement packages and stocks, Ken Lay has been on my list of hated individuals. I firmly believe that this guy and his partners committed a serious crime and deserve to pay the penalty for their unbelievable greed.

That day will never come, however. In May, Lay was found guilty on counts of fraud and conspiracy, as well as for being an outright asshole. Sentencing was to take place this coming September, in which Lay would be likely forced to spend the rest of his life in prison and return $183 million of stolen funds. Because you can’t put a dead guy on the stand, and nor can you stick one in jail, the trial is being vacated. That means that the Justice department is giving up on seizing Lay’s assets. Yeah- his family gets to keep all of the money, even though Lay was convicted.

I hate to be “that guy” when it comes to conspiracies. I don’t like to be thought of as crazy because I believe there’s more than what meets the eye. However, Ken Lay’s death seems altogether too convenient. After losing the trial, Lay was out of prison on $5 million bond- pocket change for him. With millions tucked away in offshore bank accounts, it would be easy for Lay to fake his own death, and could be anywhere right now sipping daiquiris on a beach in the Caribbean.

Lay has the money and the connections to pull something like that off. Frankly, if you have enough money you can do pretty much whatever you want. His close ties with the Bush administration including large donations to the president’s election war chest could have allowed him to obtain a new passport, safe passage out of the country, or even a position within the witness protection program- any of which could help him skirt the sentencing trial, jail time, and hefty fines.

I’ve consistently been very skeptical of the Bush regime and the whole Enron situation. Honestly, I find anything coming out of Texas to be a bit unnerving. So maybe its fitting that I’m suspicious of Lay’s opportune death, but I think someone needs to be looking into it. The autopsy was too fast, the body was cremated, and I have yet to read a report that suggests that a member of the press actually witnessed Lay’s deceased body.

Interestingly enough, Lay is not the only one connected with the Enron fallout that has recently died. A British banker who was questioned regarding his involvement in the collapse of the energy giant was also found dead.

After doing some googling for other Ken Lay conspiracy theorists, I have found a few other ideas of what happened. I find these to be a little bit farther fetched, but still worth reading. Some suggest the Bush administration may have disposed of Lay to take away some negative press. Others believe that Enron attorney Jeffery Skilling may have had something to do with it. With Lay gone, Skilling may be off the hook.

Any way you cut it, Lay was found guilty of a crime against thousands of hard working Americans who lost thier financial lives to the greed of a handful of executives. Those victims will never get justice, nor will they retrieve thier lost money. The Ken Lay- Enron story is altogether a chilling tale of what people in high places can get away with.