Effective measures

I just heard on the radio that Citigroup is cutting thousands of jobs and is taking other steps to cut costs to help it survive.

My question: How much are they cutting the pay and bonuses of the top managers? I find it completely unacceptable that top managers routinely talk about "the good of the company" but aren't willing to forgo their bonuses or seven-figure salaries to make things better. They're perfectly willing to cut other people's pay, but heaven forbid they should not get a bonus!

And don't even get me started on using bailout money to give bonuses so that people won't leave and go to other companies.

A friendly note to car makers

When advertising your giant gas guzzlers, please don't use the phrase fuel-efficient to describe vehicles that get less than 30 mpg on the highway. News flash: 23 mpg highway is not fuel efficient. Just because it's better mileage than other gas guzzlers doesn't mean it's fuel efficient. It just means its more fuel efficient than other gas guzzlers.

Clearly, this is a hysterical LOLcat

Yes, I admit, I enjoy the LOLcats. Especially this one. I'm actually finding myself looking for reasons to use it!


more animals

Read this review! (And then read the book!)

GrrlScientist has a great review of one of my favorite nonfiction books (it even makes my list at the bottom of this blog), Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood, by Taras Grescoe. Unfortunately, she beat me to it; I was planning to write a review of it, too. Hers is good enough that I don't think I have to. Guess I'll pick another one of my favorites, instead.

Go! Read the review! Then read the book. And most importantly, act on it!

UPDATE: There's an interview with Taras Grescoe over at oceana. Read it here. (If that link dies or shows up as subscriber only, you can also read an excerpt of the interview here.)

Photos that won the election

PDN (Photo District News) has put together the top five photos that their staffers think helped President-Elect Obama win the election. Check it out.

(Thanks to Greg Laden for the link.)

I think my favorite of the bunch is one that didn't actually make the top five: The photo of then-Senator Obama with his feet up on the table, showing the holes in the soles of his shoes. I wonder how long he wore those shoes before those holes got there? I'm inclined to say that they were not new shoes...I mean, it's not like candidates are putting serious miles on their shoes. Yes, they travel a lot--but they drive. Or fly. Or train. And once they get there, they stand. Not activities likely to put quarter-sized holes in good-quality dress shoes. My guess is they're the same shoes he's been wearing for a while. (I understand completely--it's almost impossible to get me to give up a comfortable pair of dress shoes. Do you know how hard it is to find comfortable flats?) I don't know, something about that kind of makes me respect him a bit more. I mean, he's obviously not hurting for money--but he's wearing worn-out shoes.

Of course, it's possible the shot was totally staged, and all of his shoes are brand new. It's also possible that he thinks those shoes are good luck, or that they're his "lounging around calling staffers and reading briefs" shoes (in which case, I suppose he should get used to wearing them...), or something. But maybe, just this once, I'll be optimistic. :)

Expected, this was!

So, in case you're living in a dark hole somewhere (in which case you probably aren't reading this anyway), Barak Obama (I guess spell check programs will have to start including his name now...) has won the presidency. And not just won. He WON. By a very large margin.

To me, the most impressive thing isn't the victory itself, but the fact that several devoutly Republican states--Indiana, Florida (somewhat), and Virginia spring to mind--went for Obama. I think that speaks to effective outreach.

Now we just have to hope it actually works...