Boneheads

I don't say that there are not a lot of very smart business people.

There are also many who do very bone-headed things.

Let's looks at the UFC. For years, they have been accused of underpaying and undervaluing the fighters that the sport is built on.

Let's look at a concrete example.

George St. Pierre is one of the biggest money makers that the UFC has ever had. About three years ago he decided to take some time off, and is now ready to return. In spite of all the wealth he had generated for the UFC in the past, and the potential future riches that might still come from his fights, the organization gave him a hard time about his return.

They played hardball with him, likely over the money that he wanted. He was still under contract to them, and they had to offer him a fight by a certain date, or they would be in default. They offered a nonsensical fight, with none of the conditions worked out just hours before the deadline. St. Pierre and his legal team decided the organization was in default, and declared that St. Pierre was now a free agent. Keep in mind, during his career, St. Pierre has fought everybody that the UFC asked him to, and never complained about money or treatment.

You see, fighters have a limited shelf-life. St. Pierre is 35, and can't afford to waste a year of two trying to negotiate his deal. This is what the UFC has been banking on. They pretend that they don't care about all the money that St. Pierre will bring in. It is a game of chicken, and they have proven many times that they'd rather miss out on huge paydays than to pay a penny more than they want to.

However, St. Pierre didn't fold, he left. Next the UFC said it would tie him up in the courts to prevent him from fighting for anybody else.

Then the company-man St. Pierre pushed back. He, and a number of other big-name fighters, have declared the formation of a fighters association. Dare I say union.

The UFC could have negotiated in good faith, and made a deal that would have benefitted them far more than St. Pierre, but also left him content. Instead, they have thrown their weight around, and ended up with a fighter who has gone free-agent and who is being instrumental in a potential fighters union.

Suddenly, Dana White, the UFC front man, is taking all lovey-dovey about St. Pierre, and how certain it is that a deal can be made. Strangely, for months all White ever said about St. Pierre was negative.

Not only did the behaviour of the UFC belittle one of their most loyal and successful fighters, they were willing to do so in a way that would not only have cost them huge amounts of fight revenue, but they have also managed to cut that potential revenue to zero by driving St. Pierre away, and might have been instrumental in the formation of a fighters union.

It would seem that they are now running in terror. They say that the fighters don't need or want a union. That would be true, except that due to the crappy treatment they have been getting they actually do want and need protection from the UFC's dictatorial no-protection and no-benefits system.

Can the UFC afford to support fighters more? Well, Dana White is just the front man, and receives a salary of 15-20 million bucks a year (sources vary), and made $180,000,000 from the recent sale of the UFC. His 9% ownership of the UFC ran from 2001-2016, and so he made $27,000,000 a year from that alone. Add on his salary, and he has been hauling in up to $50,000,000 a year. The major shareholders are worth billions.

The UFC has plenty of wealth that it could be sharing, and they would still be an incredibly profitable organization.

If they'd thrown perhaps an extra million bucks or two at St. Pierre, they would already be pulling in many times that due to his return, and still have him on their side, and in their stable, and not backing a union.

Well played, UFC.

Well played.

Plan Ahead

Travel plans for 2017 are shaping up nicely.

Both Helen and I like setting these things up well in advance. That way we can think about them for months and months before they actually occur. Anyhow, all the big trips for that year are on the calendar. We will be sticking to our usual pattern of two big vacations, plus a cruise-with-friends to Alaska.

The Alaska trip is always the easiest to figure out. Bernie and I pour through the offerings of our favourite Cruise lines, looking for interesting itineraries and price points. Our acceptable lines are Princess, Holland America, Celebrity, and Royal Caribbean. This year, it looks like a lean towards Holland America, as everybody's trips are pretty much the same, and they are coming in as the low bidder.

The first of the big trips on the docket involves a couple of weeks in California, and a month in Arizona. It will be our third such expedition down to retirement-community land, and might just be our last. We have enjoyed them greatly, but Helen is ready to move on to something else. She might change her mind once we're there. I am good either way.

The last of our major trips involves a lot more planning. We are heading off to a few days in Paris, followed by a few weeks in Britain, and topped off with a couple of weeks on a cruise ship out of England that pops down to the Mediterranean and back. The cruise was the first part that we committed to.

I've been watching flights, and they are just starting to fill up, so it's time to book the air travel. My rules for such a trip are to go non-stop if humanly possible, and with an airline that I trust to not make it more of an ordeal than absolutely necessary. I will run the flights past Helen, and give her a last chance to think about adding a couple more days to the trip, and then to book the flights.

The last step will be to nail down the hotel rooms. I've already decided on our London hotel. It's funny; people say that it's an expensive city, but the room rates seem just fine. Maybe that's because I am looking at small places recommended by travel writer Rick Steves. I read his descriptions, and then go online to get information about nearest underground station, precise prices, and to see hotel photos. It's a good system. I even look around the neighbourhood using Google Street-View.

Anyhow, that's the big travel stuff for 2017. We're already dreaming about going to Singapore the following year. Nothing in stone yet about that one; just wistful thinking.

Phone voyage

Well, the iPhone expedition all went well.

We got the car to the dealer for servicing a bit ahead of schedule. The wait was reasonable, and they had a supply of pastry and fancy coffees to keep us entertained.

The next stop was a brief stint for Helen in a massive fabric store. Then it was iPhone time.

Got right downtown. That wasn't the original plan, but the supply of model I wanted ran dry in all of the six Vancouver-area Apple Stores except for the place smack dab in the centre of the city. I therefore made the purchase online with pickup at the Pacific Centre location.

They whisked it out of the back for me post haste, and it sat in my big pocket for the rest of the day.

We also hit the downtown Costco, followed by a Walmart a bit closer to home. We were in the ferry lineup with a healthy time buffer for the 3:30pm boat.

A walk into Horseshoe Bay was therefore called for, with a lunch at Trolls restaurant.

Rode the boat, and another drive, and we were home.

A couple of days have passed, and the phone is everything that I was expecting. It has taken over most of my technological attention.

Yesterday evening, I headed off to Jiu-Jitsu as usual. Normally, I'd a have an iPod for music and audio books in the car, and my iPad Mini for possible use at the school. This time, all I had with me was my phone. It did the music/book chores better than the iPod could, and is large enough to act out the iPad's role as well. Instructional videos are fabulous in it, as are web surfing and all that sort of thing.

It's a keeper.

iPhone

I am a major psycho when it comes to my hobbies, or perhaps I should call them my addictions.

It is that way with Jiu-Jitsu, and Karate before that.

I'm also a major tech geek. I can't even accurately count the number of computers I've owned, but it comes in at something around 15. That works out to a new one every two years on average.

It doesn't even include all of my assorted other tech do-hickeys.

Within that category, there have been a great many Apple devices. I've owned 3 iPods, and 4 iPads.

The funny thing is; I've never owned an iPhone, although my wife has one.

Helen has an iPhone 6s, and before that had a 4s, and has loved them both from day one. We don't even have a land-line. Helen's phone is our only phone.

I have had a couple of cell phones over the years. Way back I had one about the size of a cinder-block that I needed for work. Only had it for a couple of years. More recently, I had a little clamshell shaped model cheapie, but hated it, and didn't keep it even as long as the first. The closest thing I've had to a phone since 2013 then has been my iPad Mini, which is hooked up to cellular data, and can that I can text with.

On Monday, we are going into the city for a car servicing, and I've decided to take the plunge and visit the Apple Store. My goal; a brand new iPhone 7+, with a stupid amount of memory.

Colour? Rose Gold, which means pink. This is for visibility. I misplace things and like bright items to minimize this. It is one of the largest phones around.

So what are some of the features that I'm looking forward to?

The iPhone 7+ has an absolutely stupendous camera. Actually, there are two of them. One is the same as in the smaller iPhone 7 model, and the other works as a magnifier to bring things closer. There are also a bunch of times when the two cameras do things together that will be fun to explore.

My wife has last year's model of the smaller version; an iPhone 6S. It has good battery life, and my new monster will have all of that, and a few more hours on top. An advantage to a big phone is room for equally big batteries.

The iPhone 7+ that I'm getting is huge, which means that I'll be using it more like a tablet than a phone. A regular iPad has a 9.7" screen, and a mini like mine is 7.9". My wife's phone is pretty big, and has a large 4.7" screen. Mine will have one that is 5.5" and somehow that is just over the line in making a device seem iPad-like. Of course, that is how if feels with the limited use of suck machines within an Apple Store. Only time will tell if it works that way in the real world. It is the right size for me in any case, as the typing keys on Helen's phone are just a hair too small for my fingers.

It also has all the regular Apple features, like unlocking with a fingerprint, and Siri.

What I am hoping for is a gadget simplification. My normal load when out for the day includes a shoulder bag with my extra-huge iPad Pro (12.9"), my iPad mini, and my iPod.

I use the iPod for my music in the car or when running or biking. My other devices are too big and clumsy. My new phone is still small enough to take on these chores.

My iPad Mini is hooked to cellular data, and is how I text with Helen, and with friends. I try and keep my bills small on that device, and only rarely use it for other online tasks when away from wifi. The new phone will take over all of those tasks. Our cellular provider has a great deal on right now where you get double data when signing up a new phone. I will no longer be on a low-calorie cellular diet.

The iPad Pro is for serious typing, and drawing, and watching movies and such, or even web surfing when I've got wifi. The model I own does not hook up to cellular. This is stuff the phone won't do.

So, going to Starbucks for coffee will see me with my huge iPad, and my iPhone. Going for a run will have me carrying only the phone. Out for shopping or chores? Also iPhone only.

I'll let you know how it works out.

Coal Miners Despair

Saw a story on a news magazine show the other night. It was one that our pvr collected, and patiently had waiting for us while we were in Hawaii. It was aired before the American election.

It showed a small town in West Virginia, that use to be booming when coal was king, but is currently only a shadow of what it was. Most of the place was boarded up, and the remaining population is mostly subsisting on welfare and food stamps. The best off were perhaps those old enough to be collecting social security.

They aren't expecting miracles, but in desperation were throwing their support overwhelming in favour of Donald Trump.

Over and over, townspeople said, “what have we got to lose?”

I felt for this town, and its people, and their desperation. They saw Clinton as being a continuation of an economy that had left them behind, and a government doing nothing for their situation. No wonder they were hoping that Trump, as an unknown quantity, would help them. Surely he would have to?

They were banking on hope, thinking that anything new would be better, except it won't.

Why would Trump care about resuscitating the coal mines?

But surely it won't get worse?

Trump is all about cutting taxes on the super rich, and selling it as repackaged trickle-down economics. This is a justification by rich folks for paying less than their fair share, and has been repeatedly debunked as nonsense.

To pay for Trump's tax cuts for the super rich, he is going to cut existing programs, and cut deep.

He and his cronies want to do away with Social Security, slash welfare programs, and do away with Medicare and Medicaid, and to gut education. They are also anti-union, and want to eliminate the minimum wage.

The desperate people in places like West Virginia have voted for the very person who will do everything he can to destroy what remains of their communities and their lives.

Moving

Every so often in martial arts training there occurs a major disruption.

Sometimes it can be a good thing, but more often it is not.

A few years back, our academy moved from its old location into our present facility. This was a great event. There was room for a truly epic mat, and change rooms, and the whole place just had a huge, open feel.

Now, the lease is up and it's time to move on. I am not sure when the moving day will be, but it is still a month or two away, and the search for a new place is underway.

Odds are that it will be a smaller venue; we've been so lucky for these few years. No small school ever gets such a great space.

Anyhow, it's one of those major disruptions I mentioned earlier.

Perhaps it will be positive, perhaps negative, and most likely a mix of the two.

Trump

So here's the deal.

It could go one of two ways.

The first is how almost everybody is hoping it will go. Trump takes over, and turns out to do a far more reasonable job than can humanly be expected.

Let's say this happens, and he doesn't ban Muslims from entering the USA, and doesn't try and get his Mexican wall built. Let's say he just cuts billionaires' taxes to the bone, raises the age on Social Security benefits to 75, halves Medicare, and a few other things like that. Let's say he doesn't even screw up foreign policy.

What would happen in the long run? Well, his base will feel betrayed, but even so, in four years he'd stand a very strong chance of re-election.

The other, much more likely scenario, is that it is bad; really, really bad.

He will immediately take over the Supreme Court by appointing some legally-blind right-wing fanatic into the current opening, and will keep doing so throughout his term.

He, along with a Republican Senate and Republican House will disassemble Social Security altogether, and Medicare, and Obamacare, and Planned Parenthood. They will strip public education, and veterans' benefits, and keep cutting taxes on the rich, and cutting, and cutting.

Minimum wage will freeze, at best, and perhaps even vanish altogether. Entire swathes of the population will have their rights stripped away.

New wars are started, and many will die..

Some are pinning their hopes on the Democrats taking the House away from the Republicans, but the entire system is so Gerrymandered that regardless of the will of the people, it will be an uphill battle. The Republican majority is so massive, that they will likely retain control in 2018, giving Trump a totally-free hand for his entire 4-year term.

It will be bad.

However, this is perhaps exactly what the American people need to see; rampant racism, Wall Street unregulated, incompetent foreign policy, with the aged forced to work until they drop, and privatization run amok.....every nightmare.

Let's assume this is how Trump's four years go.

Then, he either runs for re-election in 2020, or some other radical right-winger does, along with every seat in the House and 1/3 of the Senate.

I can see a ground-swelling of anger striking hard. I see a nation getting behind whoever is running against him in a way unseen since 1932.

You see, back then, the Republican Party ruled supreme. Harding had won the presidency in 1920 with 404 electoral college votes against the Democrats 127, followed by Coolidge in 1924 with 382 as opposed to the Democrats with 136, and Hoover in 1924 who won by 444 against 87. There really was no wing other than right wing. It didn't seem to matter that the Republicans made up the people in power who sought to legislate morality in an unprecedented manner called Prohibition, or that it almost destroyed law-and-order in the US, or that they were eventually forced to repeal it. What did matter is that the rampant, unregulated, stock market had collapsed, ushering in the Great Depression.

It also mattered that President Hoover, and all the right-wing government types, could do when the entire economy collapsed was to wring their hands and say that the same system that had destroyed itself, and the economy, would magically reverse and all would be well. It was a pity, they said, that so many were destitute, and were starving to death.

The voters rebelled.

Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, won the 1932 presidential election with 472 electoral votes over the incumbent, Hoover's 59. He promptly went to work trying to inspire the nation, and implementing programs in an attempt to do something, anything, to help; right-wing wisdom be damned.

Back then, it seems, people had longer memories than they do now. Now, they think the economy sucks, and that it's Obama's fault. Back then they knew who had caused the grief, and how those same economy destroyers had not even tried to help fix it.

When election time rolled around again after four years of effort, Roosevelt won re-election with 523 electoral votes; failing to carry only two states, Vermont and Maine, and their 8 electoral votes. In fact, the people continued to hand Roosevelt two more impressive wins in 1940, and 1944, making him the only man to ever win the presidency more than twice.

That's what needs to happen. The American people need to get so motivated for real change that they reject the fallacies foisted on them by antiquated right-wing thinking.

What they should have done this time if they really had wanted change was to have thrown out every single incumbent in both House and Senate, and to NOT have elected a loose cannon as President.

The problem is, they still seem to think that the right-wing nonsense somehow still makes sense. "Trump will stick up for us." Really? Have you seen pictures of where he lives? He has absolutely nothing in common with working folks, or the middle class, or even with most rich people. He thinks he's the Emperor Caligula. He travels with a security team, and a cloud of go-fers, and lackeys. Do you think he carries a wallet with cash in it, and maybe a visa card? I seriously doubt that. He's more like the Queen. Things are done around him and for him. I doubt he dresses himself.

That's the man who will save the common people? Sure he will.

It has to get so bad that the voters need to reject this kind of stupidity forever. They need to see how critical it is that people earn a living wage, and receive proper medical care, and can retire with dignity, and have control over their own bodies, and are not persecuted for their ethnicity, or gender, and to have access to quality education.

It needs to get so bad that the voters scream for what they have in Germany, and France, and Norway, and Canada, and the rest of the western industrialized world.

A wave needs to sweep this all into being, for now and for always.

Strangely, Trump just might bring it all about.