Goat of Scape
Apr. 30th, 2010 08:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
howeirdThis witch hunt focusing on Goldman Sachs is too little too late, and is diverting attention from the big picture. Before the crash, 30% of my IRA was invested in a variety of mortgage loan companies. They paid super-high dividends (on the order of 20% a year), and the prices were relatively stable. All of them are now bankrupt. All of them were playing the same game as G-S, and all their CEOs (and many of their staff) should be prosecuted.
On the other hand, the craptastic commentators I am hearing on the radio are more upset that the staffers bragged in email about how they were making lots of money. WTF? If you work on Wall Street, you're all about the money. It's part of the culture to brag about how much you're making, and how you're making more than someone else, just as it's part of the culture for athletes to brag about how much they have scored (on and off the field) and how they showed up someone else. It used to be part of the Silicon Valley culture to brag about how much money we made, but now it's whether we have a job, and if it's contract or employee-with-benefits. :-(
While I'm in that sort of mood, why are there so many traffic reports on the radio? The Bay Area is just too big to make them relevant. And in the rare case when the report happens to be on your commute path, by the time you hear about an accident you are either caught in the backup or it has been cleared and there's nothing you need to do about it. And why are so many of them sponsored by mattress companies? Do that many commuters fall asleep at the wheel? How often do you buy a mattress, anyway?
On a roll here. In a role here. Stupid commercials. Every time a Geico commercial comes on I change channels. That company spends more $$ producing and airing ads. Annoying ads.
Speaking of annoying ads, there's one for a mobile phone company on the air these days for a push-to-talk feature where a cargo handler at an airport finds a dog carrier empty, and after some inane pushing and talking the mutt is found in the food court. WTF? The ad writers apparently have never been in an airport, or transported a dog by air.
And then there's AT&T U-verse, which, after 3 years of bombarding me with ads is finally available in my area. Their monthly rate is significantly higher than Comcast's for the same service. That's at their new customer special bargain trial rate - it goes up in 6 months or so.
</rant>
On the other hand, the craptastic commentators I am hearing on the radio are more upset that the staffers bragged in email about how they were making lots of money. WTF? If you work on Wall Street, you're all about the money. It's part of the culture to brag about how much you're making, and how you're making more than someone else, just as it's part of the culture for athletes to brag about how much they have scored (on and off the field) and how they showed up someone else. It used to be part of the Silicon Valley culture to brag about how much money we made, but now it's whether we have a job, and if it's contract or employee-with-benefits. :-(
While I'm in that sort of mood, why are there so many traffic reports on the radio? The Bay Area is just too big to make them relevant. And in the rare case when the report happens to be on your commute path, by the time you hear about an accident you are either caught in the backup or it has been cleared and there's nothing you need to do about it. And why are so many of them sponsored by mattress companies? Do that many commuters fall asleep at the wheel? How often do you buy a mattress, anyway?
On a roll here. In a role here. Stupid commercials. Every time a Geico commercial comes on I change channels. That company spends more $$ producing and airing ads. Annoying ads.
Speaking of annoying ads, there's one for a mobile phone company on the air these days for a push-to-talk feature where a cargo handler at an airport finds a dog carrier empty, and after some inane pushing and talking the mutt is found in the food court. WTF? The ad writers apparently have never been in an airport, or transported a dog by air.
And then there's AT&T U-verse, which, after 3 years of bombarding me with ads is finally available in my area. Their monthly rate is significantly higher than Comcast's for the same service. That's at their new customer special bargain trial rate - it goes up in 6 months or so.
</rant>
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