High Truths and Low Lies

My Comments on the United States Postal Service.

November 26, 2023

The USPS is run by the Executive Branch of the US government and is considered to be an independent agency. It has 655,000 employees, including about 160,000 part-timers and contractors. The average pay per employee is $66,000. Unfortunately, the USPS is heavily unionized. A Board of Governors provides oversight to the Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy. Again unfortunately, the Board is heavily Democratic, and union influenced.

The USPS is in the service industry, moving letters and packages from place to place. Overall, it is not a sophisticated operation.

The USPS fiscal year ended in September and reported a $6.5 billion operating loss. Net income for the year was $56 billion including billions from the Postal Service Reform Act, a government bail-out. The $6.5 billion loss comes after 4 postage rate hikes in the last 2 years. Rate hikes actually hurt mail volume, especially for business marketing mailers. Duh.

PM DeJoy has a 10-year plan which began 2021. The goal is to make the USPS net positive. Bull! There is no such thing as a 10-year plan in any industry or business. Too many factors change. Things have gotten worse. A drop in overall revenues and a hike in operating costs resulted in the $6.5 billion loss. Of course, higher fuel costs for delivery vehicles (thanks Joe) were a huge factor, along with the decline in business mailings.

There is no future for “hard” mail. The world is going paperless. So, DeJoy needs to do the following:

The Charlotte “Fish Wrap”

November 24, 2023

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Maimonides

Our local paper is terrible. Every day the paper runs several articles about 1,2, or 3 oppressed groups. The headlines are always exaggerated and misleading. And recently the “esteemed” editorial board is publishing liberal opinions on minor issues or non-events.

Case in point-the paper ran a half page article about voter ID’s. The “Fish Wrap” headline was “NC’s voter photo ID law could trim votes in 2024.”

The vast majority of Americans (80%) favor voter ID laws. If you want to vote, you must present a government issued photo ID. We do not want non-citizens to vote, especially after Biden opened the border to 8 million immigrants.

According to the editorial board, the new NC voter ID law was actually an attempt by Republicans to suppress Democratic voters. Hogwash!! Buried in the article was some data about the recent local primary elections. Out of 99,000 votes cast, about 40 were set aside due to lack of proper ID. I guess those people can’t buy alcohol, travel by air, drive a car, buy cigarettes, apply for government assistance, rent a car/house, or open a bank account.

Voters without proper ID can cast provisional ballots, and have it count after presenting additional information. So-what’s the problem? For me, the issue is illegal immigrants casting ballots. Finally, recent elections in many states showed record voter turnout, Georgia is a good example. There was absolutely no voter suppression. The editorial board should use data and facts not prejudiced speculation.

Dawn Staley is Wrong

November 23, 2023– Thanksgiving Day

Dawn Staley is the women’s basketball coach at the University of South Carolina. In 2021 she signed an historic coaching contract for $22 million. Her annual pay is 2.5 times higher than the Dean of the USC Business School. She has a net worth of $7 million. She has been incredibly successful as a player and coach.

Recently, she used her high-profile status to highlight alleged pay disparities for Black women. She claims Black women are subject to racial and gender bias. The data does show Black women earn less than white men and white women, but nowhere does Staley offer the true reason. Black household income is $20,000 to $30,000 less than white families because Black households are overwhelmingly (75%) single women, often poorly educated and working part-time. These Black women have childcare issues. White families mostly have 2 wage earners. Asians often have 3 wage earners per household.

Data shows men earn a higher income than women, and the reason is very clear and indisputable. Men work in higher paying industries. Period. Women work in retail, clerical, childcare, education, medical admin., and other low skill industries. Also, due to childcare issues, many women work part-time.

Racial and gender bias is not the reason. Staley is wrong. Black women need job-related skills and education. For years, companies have tried very hard to recruit Blacks and women. Quotas, affirmative action, and DEI have hardly made a dent in the wage gap. Notable economists James Heckman (Nobel Prize) and Thomas Sowell have studied the pay gap problem for decades. They both conclude parenting skills, family structure, and education is the true basis for any wage disparities.

Footnote–Staley is 53 and has never been married, and has no children.

My Trip to the Mall

November 17, 2023

“If you buy things, you do not need, soon you will have to sell things you need.” W. Buffet

I recently went on my annual trip to the mall. South Charlotte has a very large and upscale mall, with stores like Tiffany’s, Coach, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Lululemon, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Kate Spade, Burberry (scarfs were $475), and Michael Kors. There are a total of 165 stores at this mall, including the small annoying kiosks. The mall also had a food court. Chick-fil-A was jammed.

Victoria Secrets had a store, but I have always been too intimidated to enter.

In the large stores like Nordstrom, Belk and Macy’s I could not find an employee. Nor could I find a cashier. To make a purchase I had to travel the width of the store to check out. Since I was shopping for clothes for my wife, I was amazed at the horrible fashions. A lot of grays and browns. No wonder the store was empty of customers.

And women’s sizing is incomprehensible. I saw an extra-large petite. a 2X small, a 5-6, numerous plus sizes, and extra small petite (a cocktail dress for a 4th grader). Torn jeans cost more than regular jeans; some were shredded.

The cosmetic departments and perfumes were staffed by foreign speaking women, most from eastern Europe. And-there’s always a holiday gift set, with 7-9 products and a “gift bag.”

The mall was beautiful but had very few customers. Older men were sitting on couches waiting for their wives. Some walking clubs were present, just walking the mall for exercise.

I don’t see a future for these malls. Another mall in Charlotte recently defaulted on a $147 million loan. Too bad. The frosted soft pretzels were very good.

The Death to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

November 10, 2023–Veterans Day

Corporations, businesses and organizations now realize that the pursuit of DEI is a waste of time and money. The fad is over.

There is no empirical evidence that a “diverse team” achieves higher goals and more success than a non-diverse team. The NBA is a grand example, 73% Black. Highly successful teams have individuals with knowledge, experience and functional merit. The major problem with “diversity” is that it subjugates merit. Gender and race are not qualifications.

Inclusion is nonsense. Give everyone a participation trophy. Stop the honors programs because it leaves people out! Recently a very large company in Charlotte stopped the “recognition luncheon” for Veterans because it left people out. This is madness.

The pursuit of equity requires the “dumbing down” of the standards. Making everyone equal in achievement, often called outcomes, can only happen with the lowering of acceptable results or output. There will always be the “lower 20%.” It is a mathematical fact. I am convinced that certain people, especially in the “lower 20%” make bad decisions early in life and are often lazy. The recent studies regarding the “laziness gene” are fascinating. Many scholars attribute achievement to effort applied. Why pay and promote everyone the same? Biden wants to promote military officers based on gender and race. How stupid is that? Men account for 80% of the active-duty military.

Lastly, for important decisions, merit must be the major factor. The decision to choose a heart surgeon, platoon leader, commercial airline pilot, investment banker, HS principal, family doctor, and to a lesser extent a roofing contractor must be made using merit. Merit is achieved through effort, knowledge, experience and intelligence. There is no other way.

Chasing DEI has not worked. Same with quota systems and affirmative action.

My Weekly Highlights-in case you missed!

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” Peter Drucker

These are the lesser events but still important.

October 27, 2023

Las Vegas Aces won their second straight WNBA title. About 800,000 people tuned in. Can you name 3 players in that league? Soon, a biological male will win the scoring title. Hope not.

NYC has banned Airbnb for short term rentals. Plus slapped on new rules. Another example of government involvement in small business. This will result in a huge decline in rentals. Why does NYC care how long you rent your house? The hotel industry lobby hates Airbnb. Plus, they say it hurts the supply of “affordable housing.” Hogwash! Travel to NYC will be hurt.

The Nobel prize in Economics was awarded to American Claudia Goldin. She is a professor at Harvard. She studied the pay “Gender Gap” going back 200 years in the US. Although she did not offer many conclusions, she did note “Education and career choices as the main causes for the “Gender Gap.” She claims through research that men are often employed in “greedy jobs” like law and consultancy where the pay can be substantial. And she dismisses current claims about systemic employer-based gender bias. She also cautions about the “work from home” option being impactful on women. Last year’s NB prize winner was Ben Bernanke, Fed Chairman, who steered the US through the financial crisis of 2007-2008.

A record 2.6 million British workers have been classified as unfit for work. Those that apply for social benefits are accepted at an 80% level. In other wealthy countries the rate is 30-50%. British economists say this situation is a cause of the labor shortage. Plus, the cost to British government (lower tax payments and higher welfare spending) is significant. Those classified as permanently unfit get even more benefits (2X), so claimants tend to “expand” their ailments.

The NFL is Deteriorating!

October 20. 2023

“If it doesn’t matter who wins or loses, then why do they keep score.” Vince Lombardi

The NFL is in the Sports Entertainment business. We watch to be entertained. The sport is very popular in the US, but I think the quality of the game has declined. Here’s why:

—Too many penalties and most are for boneheaded plays. The average number penalties per game in the NFL is 12. See chart above for the most common.

–players hold in every game, at least 4-6 times; players line up in the neutral zone; delay of game penalties are maddening, Taunting is just plain stupid.

-pass interference is called at least 3-4 times a game, same with off-sides. Running in to the kicker is dumb, same with ineligible receiver down field. Then, there’s too many players on the field.

–illegal shift penalties are called. Dumb. False start means a player moved before the ball was snapped!

There are 7 officials for each game. They watch the play carefully and enforce the rules. Penalties stop the game, and often erase a positive gain. At times, penalties are called on both teams or 2 on the same team. Sometimes the network will cut to a commercial while the officials sort things out. Maddening!

Players celebrate a score with an end zone dance, even if they are losing by 25 points.

Penalties are just sloppy plays. Period. Perhaps it is just bad coaching, or lack of discipline.

Colored Pencils and Cowards

“The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance”

October 18, 2023

Crayola has been making colored pencils for 100+ years. The company was started by 2 cousins and is located in Easton, Pa. Originally, the company sold a box of 8 crayons for 5 cents! Crayola is a wonderful company with a huge selection of educational products. In 2007 the company was sold to Hallmark.

This Fall, my sister -in-law lead her company’s effort to collect school supplies for the local schools. She lives in a rural area of Virginia and the schools needed help with supplies, especially the schools in low-income areas. Many companies have such efforts. For years, her company and employees have donated supplies.

My sister-in-law sent several emails to employees with details regarding the collection drive, timing, and what the schools needed. In one of her emails, she highlighted the need for “colored pencils.” See image above.

About 2 days after her email, an employee (Black woman) complained about the use of “colored pencils.” She claimed the wording was racist. The loons in HR got involved and instructed my sister in law’s manager to conduct a formal, written disciplinary review, and to document the review in her employee file. My sister-in-law refused to sign the document. She will no longer lead the effort to collect school supplies.

The company and the manager acted cowardly. Her email was specific and correct and certainly not racist. This is a good example of what’s wrong in the US today.

My Advice to the “Golden Bachelor”

October 13, 2023

The Golden Bachelor is on ABC Thursday nights at 8pm. My wife and I watched episode 3. The show stars Gerry Turner, a 71-year-old widower, and 22 women all over the age of 60. The objective of the show is for Gerry to find his “new love.” I hope he does, so here is my advice below:

Never date a woman that has more issues than you!
Never pick a woman that cries on the first date.
Be cautious with woman that dress in long flowing dresses.
Avoid woman that wear 3-4 bracelets on each wrist.
Women with hyphenated last names are not much fun.
Never date a woman that can’t do long division!
Physical attraction is important. So are energy, class and manners.
Avoid women that use bad grammar. If they start a sentence with “me,” watch out.
Watch how much alcohol they drink.
I prefer woman that have skills and hobbies.
Avoid woman that read romance novels, especially about Vikings and cowboys.
“Blessed are the Pure of Heart” is an excellent pursuit when selecting a wife. Life with her will be wonderful!

Dogs on the Beach and Electric Cars

October 11, 2023

“When making decisions, “preserve optionality,” Ben Bernacke, Fed Chairman

I like dogs and dogs like me. We have family, neighbors, and friends that own dogs. I also like the beach for vacation and spend 3-5 weeks per year enjoying the sun and sand. We spend a lot of time fishing the surf. Great fun!

At our beaches dogs have to be on leashes and are restricted to specific times (after 5pm) during certain months. Some dog owners follow these rules, some do not. In the Fall, dogs are allowed on the beach and there are hundreds of them, big and small.

However, the problem is barking. A percentage of the dogs bark constantly. The owners have not trained the dogs to stop barking, and the noise travels far. So instead of having a quiet time on the beach, what we hear are dogs barking and sometimes fighting with each other. Some small dogs have a piercing bark.

Electric Car Rebates– The Biden Administration has issued new guidelines for EV car rebates. The US. Treasury will now give buyers $7,500 (tax free) which can be used as the “down payment” toward the new car purchase. So, with the purchase of a $50K car, the buyer puts $7,500 down and finances $42,500 for 6 years. The monthly payments at 5% interest rate will be $684.00 per month. This is a dangerous policy and certainly inflationary. The loan companies will be criticized in 2 years. Free money to make expensive purchases is a terrible policy. liken this to the sub-prime debacle. If a consumer needs $7,500 for a down payment, they cannot afford $684/monthly payment!

And-new EV buyers will need charging stations installed at their homes. That’s another $2,000. Plus $11/per charge on their electric bill.

And one more fact: Auto loan debt in the US is currently $1.5 trillion (historical record), credit card debt is $1.2 trillion (historical record), and school loans debt is $1.7 trillion.

Under no circumstances should Biden be encouraging more debt.