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HOW OFTEN MUST THEY CHANGE THE FREAKIN' TERMS OF OUR AGREEMENT?

i can solve the AIG dilemma

this whole kerfuffle about AIG bonuses is just political theatre. the problem is the term "bonus." if payment of a sum of money to an employee is guarenteed in a contract, that doesn't really seem like a bonus, does it? it's just part of their salary that happens to be paid at the end of the year. people who want to make a big deal of this seized on the word "bonus" as a great way to make hay, but I think the answer is clear cut. pay an employer-voluntary sum to an employee -- aw, hell no. honor your contracts -- yes.

i guess the details are a little unclear about whether, in the first place, the writing of the contracts to guarentee the poorly-named-"bonus" was legal. See story linked above. It doesn't both me if democratic Attorneys General and congresspersons and the President want to pursue that angle. But that's not what they're using to attempt to score political points with regular folks.

But to say that AIG was mistaken for deciding that they were obligate to honor those contracts even under a bailout scenario is stupid. As a society, we want employees and employers and governments and parents and spouses and even dogs to honor whatever their contracts are with other beings on this planet.

the idea that they wrote contracts that were not in the interest of shareholders should not be surprising -- generally speaking, we aren't bailing out the companies that have a history of making prudent decisions! so if ANY company is likely to F up like this, i would argue its much more likely to be one of the ones we are bailing out!

I said many months ago (though not on my blog... probably a mistake) that I believe that no company should be too big to let fail. To be clear, you could interpret that statement two ways:

1) we should let any company fail no matter how big or important it is -- there is no company that could possibly be too big or important to let fail.
2) it IS possible for a company to be too big or too important to let fail -- WE JUST SHOULDN'T LET COMPANIES GET THAT WAY

if you believe in the market system OR if you believe that ginormous corporations do bad things, you can get behind me on this. I believe the market system usually works, but there are exceptions. For instance, we already force companies to disband when they have a monopoly. Nearly everyone accepts this intervention in the free market. It also seems clear to me that the free market doesn't work when companies do not fear the consequences of their decisions.

companies that are "too big/important to let fail" do not have to fear the consequences of their decisions.

therefore the free market doesn't work.

I say we pass a law to cause structured breakups of companies when they reach a certain ceiling of bigness/importantness. Defining that ceiling will be hard, but worth it.

michigan, my michigan

i have apparently really acclimated to michigan. even though it's three days until spring and the weather has been 50s and 60s, my dreams last night were (1) a weather forecast for 6-7 inches of snow and (2) the red wings getting into a fight with some other team with graphic profuse bleeding.

seriously though, last thanksgiving jeff daniels ended his ensemble concert with a polyphonic rendition of this song michigan, my michigan that was really wonderful.

i could stay here if it were closer to the west coast.

an observation

i think the new trader joe's toilet paper is narrower, ie, the roll cylinder is shorter. this is a way to avoid raising prices, i guess? i wonder if anyone else who notices will care. fewer trees, more profit, and still just as functional. i'm for it.

a great winter turkey ham cucumber onions pepper sandwich

i'm vaguely inspired to try to blog more again, partially so i can rekindle my blog relationships with melibers and porter and fourmiles and beyond3d and september's scourge, and partially because i had better have something besides whining about movies if i submit to the tbtl metablog.

so back to my roots. a great new sandwich today.

Italian Pane bread (yes, from TJ's), toasted lightly
mayonnaise to taste on both slices
on one slice, layer
fresh ground pepper, then
chopped green onion
rectangles of sweet pepper (i used orange)
romaine or green-leaf lettuce
1-2 slices honey ham
1-2 slices oven roasted turkey

now stop (hammer time)
slice up peeled cucumber medallions 2-3 mm thick, enough to [eventually] liberally cover your sandwich. from a yellow or white cooking onion (not sweet) cut a very thin medallion and chop. in a plastic baggie (the non-zip, foldover kind is probably best), put about half the onion and cucumber slices. pour some red wine and white wine vinegar in the baggie and work the vinegar onto all the surfaces of the onion and cucumber. add the rest of the onion and cucumber until everything is coated.

layer the cucumber on the sandwich. add the bits of onion on top (or onto the other slice of bread, if you find it more convenient). if you don't mind the mess, you can drizzle a bit of the vinegar from the baggie onto the sandwich. close sandwich and enjoy.

seriously, you'll really enjoy it.