On the Radar

Eye of the Tiger

Normally I am not one for gossip and frivolous bits of tat *cough*, however this Tiger Woods nonsense has peaked my interest ever so slightly.

In my humble opinion it is still none of our business what he wants to do in his personal life. I know I know that people in this position of fame are somewhat role models. I hate that term sometimes because who am I to let someone else decide my idea of a role model.

So he has lost some sponsors and will probably lose a lot more before all is said and done. But do you know what? I don’t think he gives a toss what the media or you and I think about it all. I believe that he will continue playing golf with or without the big endorsements. By god, he can well afford to never even play another tournament.

When it comes down to it all, he is a human being and as fallible as the rest of us. He’s not the first and he won’t be the last to go down this road.

Underneath it all

So a friend of mine who also has a blog recently posted a link to a trailer advert for a new film entitled, “Babies.” The story, in the  form of four anecdotes, follows the lives of four babies from Mongolia, Namibia, San Francisco and Tokyo.

It’s very interesting to me when people look at different cultures and races and come to the conclusion of how different we all are. I’m usually the opposite. I tend to see how very similar we are and that despite our unique appearances underneath it all we are truly the same.

Parents wish the best life for their children and any parent would do anything to protect their child. It is a very basic human instinct. It goes beyond rational thinking. It’s the main reason we exist and as long as humans believe in the potential of new life then we may be here for another thousand years…

Oh-Bama

The honeymoon is well and truly over. Eleven months into Obama’s presidency it seems as if the American people may have lost faith in their Messiah. His approval rating has dropped below 50% and shows little signs of improving. So what’s the most powerful and influential man on the planet supposed to do?
I have a little anecdote that might help Mr. President turn things around or at the very least put some perspective on the whole matter at hand.
In 1980 when I was about to start secondary school in the UK, or high school to my American friends, I was dead set on going to Fairfield Grammar. It was close to my house and all my primary school friends were going there. To my utter disdain, my Mum decided that Cotham Grammar, a school that was located further away and where I would know absolutely no one would be a better choice. You see, she knew that Cotham was a “better” school and more strict. I only cared that I would be in a place that was familiar to me. I couldn’t give a toss that this school might put me on a better educational path.
I cried and begged and sulked and stamped my feet but she would not budge on the matter. I thought that she was cruel and heartless. A few months after starting at Cotham she came up to me one day and admitted that she empathized with my trauma and had wrestled with making the decision with her head and not her heart.
This stuck with me and made me realize that sometimes you have to overrule your heart based on what you believe will make a better future.
In my view President Obama has made several decisions solely with his “head” early in his presidency and I don’t fault him for that. I just believe that in making those decisions he might take the time out to really explain to the American people that we all have to sacrifice and make tough choices. These might not seem at all appealing now but will be the building blocks for a stable future.
If he can make Americans feel like my Mum made me feel once she opened up and explained her thoughts, then he will be well on the way to boosting confidence in his ability to lead and in his decision-making processes.

Remembrance Day

On the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month, Nineteen Hundred and Eighteen, World War I officially ended.

Remembrance Day (also known as Veteran’s Day or Armistice Day in the U.S.) commemorates the armistice signed between the Allied Forces and Germany on that day, 11th of November, 1918.

In 2009, the three last British soldiers who fought in that war died. It is a testament to their courage that they spent the last years of their lives trying to educate others about the horrors of war.

Harry Patch who was one hundred and eleven, when he died last July, once said: -

“I didn’t welcome the war at all, and never felt the need to get myself into khaki and go out there fighting before it was ‘all over by Christmas.’ That’s what people were saying, that the war wouldn’t last long.”

It lasted a lot longer and he saw horrors no human being should be exposed to. So it is no surprise that he strongly believed that the war could have been avoided and was unjustified. It was a traumatic and undoubtedly complicated event at best and I am not the least bit qualified to pass judgment on his beliefs. I can only admire this man’s will to live and overwhelming desire to survive that enabled him to pull through that tumultuous era.

In 2007 at a Remembrance Day ceremony, Harry Patch said that he was “humbled that he should be representing an entire generation.” He went on to make the following statement: -

“Today is not for me. It is for the countless millions who did not come home with their lives intact. They are the heroes.”

That says it all.

Yankee Doodle Dandy

As a die hard New York Mets Baseball fan, I was surprised by my enjoyment of this year’s World Series. I hadn’t planned on watching, because as a Met fan, the Phillies are our divisional arch rivals and the Yankees are, well, the Yankees.

However the players on both teams played their hearts out to such a degree that it was practically impossible to ignore their talent and tenacity. In the final game six, which of course everyone knows the Yankees won, the tension was palatable from the first pitch.

I had spent the entire season trying to avoid baseball as the Mets Team imploded and collapsed. It was refreshing to watch eighteen players on the field performing at the highest of standards from every position. It was very difficult to find that weak link.

Every last one of the players impressed me, but especially Yankee designated hitter (DH) and World Series MVP, Hideki Matsui. Who would have thought that he would be the lynch pin in such a pivotal game?

So in spite of how unfortunate and disappointing the Mets season was, I have to tip my hat to the Yankees and a team of players who came to win and did just that.

The Perks Game

For years I worked for a stockbroker firm in New York. During my tenure there in the Accounting Department I became very familiar with company perks and “kick-backs”.
Why am I so enamored with this event all of a sudden when it’s been around for centuries?

Well after the US Government bailed out several high profile companies with our hard earned money, there are rumors amok that several offices in these companies are still being “perked”!

It is my understanding that one such CEO received “gross-ups” (where a reimbursement, award or bonus pay is adjusted to account for income tax) on a bonus after the company had received bailout cash. There were also cases where company officers were reimbursed for home renovations and other personal expenses. All of this after the mismanagement of company funds in prior years.

This has prompted the White House to introduce legislation, prohibiting these types of transactions for firms that have received government money under the Bailout agreements.

In my view they should send the lot of them packing. It’s hard enough to sit back and watch some of these Wall Street Vultures get slaps on the wrist for their egregious and selfish actions, when it comes to their clients’ future welfare. I’ve witnessed a lot of these greed-motivated actions first hand and I can tell you it isn’t pretty.

Unfortunately there’s little that we can actually do to stop the “perks game”. Let’s just hope that there’s room left for the “little man” to eke out a living, at the end of the day.