Bush's Biggest Mistake

While I'll freely admit that I voted for the guy (and still believe that he was the lesser of two evils), there is no doubt in my mind that the man is not cut out for the job. But also realize that neither he, nor probably any other mentally-challenged individual could possibly succeed in the office of the President. For that matter, I don't think there a single individual, handicapible or not, that can respond properly and without error given the responsibilities of the position.

If I were to summarize his blunders in one simple statement, it would be this: He obviously is not a student of history. If he were he would have been more prepared for what Churchill forewarned:

"Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events."

Good luck to the next guy.

Great Britain Kicks Ass

This story of white-trash gone bad can only sound this compelling and proper in the U.K. My favorite quote "Magistrates said they did not have the power to punish Miss Ellis severely enough". Punishing magistrates kick ass.

Why is that "proper" English and the culture of England still hold such a power over us, the uncultured Americans? You could read me dog food ingredients, and if it was done with the proper British accent it would kick ass so much I'd want to eat it.

Of course this is all balanced by our complete lack of understanding when it comes to British royalty. I guess maybe we just transfer our need for celebrity onto those in show business, while the Brits stick to their inbred monarchs. So take you're pick; tall, big-eared prince with questionable taste in women, or short, purple-clad prince with questionable-straight tendencies. Prince and Prince do NOT kick ass.

Outsourcing: It's Not Just Dumb, It's Deadly

A disaster like this can ruin a company. Only time how well Reebok can survive the consumer backlash, lawsuit, and all the negative press. Is this actually a new Chinese plot, or simply a lack of intelligence in the marketing department at Reebok? Obviously the excitement from the "I can get 'em for 5 cent each!" marketing department has faded.

When is corporate America going to realize that, although there are a lot of fat, lazy American workers, most likely they'll still do a better job than someone in China, India, or some other non-English speaking country.

While the cost per unit savings in a manufacturing industry might be easy to monitor, I don't think the same holds true for technology jobs. It seems like outsourcing technology jobs is still a "good idea". A while back Dell claimed they were no longer outsourcing technical support to India. It appears as though it was only one company in India that lost their business. Turns out, only corporate customers get the benefit of no calls being handled in India.

I'm sure the metrics and financials for outsourcing technology jobs are complex, and it's probably very easy to look at the per hour wages being paid to employees and say that the company is saving money. A proper analysis would look at some of the other, softer factors such as customer satisfaction, productivity losses due to time zone and language barriers, etc.

I have many other thoughts on this subject but I'll simply provide the sage wisdom that only Scott Adams can provide in three simple frames. (checkout the follow up from 3/28).

Risk Free Offer (sic)

So I'm plowing through the reams of junk mail we get every day; catalogs, credit card offers, and other useless marketing materials that only make me not want to use the sending companies products and services. When, all of a sudden I find something out of the ordinary. It's a small relatively plain card with information regarding a free offer.

Simply apply the included sticker and receive a Risk Free Trial. Generally I'm all over free stuff. But it was the Risk Free part of the statement that made me stop and ponder. The offer was for a complimentary issue of Playboy.

Free yes, risk free for the average married man....no way. "Look honey, my free issue of Playboy just showed up. I love the articles." Playboy should really have better demographics for their lists and should have different messages for married versus single men. What I got would be fine for single guys, but the married card should have said something like "Get a free copy and we'll send it in an opaque plastic bag to your alternate address of choice."

But even that isn't risk free. Maybe Playboy should just go with "FREE". Nakedness and risk generally go hand-in-hand....so to speak.