Sunday I am to speak at a church. I don't know how many people will be there and don't know most of them. I do not know what I am going to say, I don't know what my subject will be. Okay, that means I am ready because I don't need to. I don't know how many times I have spoken before others, it always goes well, I just need to know my subject matter.
I don't know what scares me more, if next week there are more or less people. This will be interesting.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Lets talk Jobs and problems
So what are the biggest problems in the United States. To me the number one is a lack of commitment to one another, it is from that that all the others happen. We cannot make anything work if we are not committed to each other and the goals.
We have gone from being about each other to being about ourselves and momentary pleasure, to having an advantage over others and prosperity (whatever that may mean to the individual). That is what led to the fraud, corruption and shoddy approach to work.
The housing problem is not that we are not selling houses, it is not the value of the houses, it is not that we are not building houses, it is that people cannot afford the houses we have. There are only two ways to deal with that problem, give people bigger paychecks or bring down the price of the houses. It is unlikely that we are going to see people make more, we don't have anything to sell overseas.
What is the problem in the job market, our labor is too expensive and industry was too focused on high returns rather than steady and fair returns. It was also severely warped by basing the value of a company on the value of it's stock rather than it's product. The solution is also simple, we cannot insist upon being better paid than people in other countries making the same product and that includes management. CEO's should not be paid based on the value of the stock; but, instead on the profitability of the company and not for one year's profitability; but, on a multi-year approach (ten or twenty year rolling average for instance).
China has invested trillions in it's infrastructure, we have let ours deteriorate. We do need to upgrade our infrastructure and that is the place to start. With healthy and efficient infrastructure it costs less to produce goods and transport them. That means you can pay your workers more. A new Work Progress Administration is needed and that will put people to work so that they can buy our goods so that our industry can hire people again. That is why I am so disgusted by the lame jobs program announced by President Obama, tax cuts will not get people jobs if we cannot compete with foreign countries.
This new program proposed by the president may pass; but, it won't create any jobs because it does not address the underlying issues and nobody seems willing to. Management wants to keep getting millions of dollars in bonuses even when their companies fail, employees want more money that their labor is worth compared to the rest of the world and nobody wants to pay the taxes that are needed to rebuild this country; therefore, things will not get better. The party is over kids when will we recognize that?
We have gone from being about each other to being about ourselves and momentary pleasure, to having an advantage over others and prosperity (whatever that may mean to the individual). That is what led to the fraud, corruption and shoddy approach to work.
The housing problem is not that we are not selling houses, it is not the value of the houses, it is not that we are not building houses, it is that people cannot afford the houses we have. There are only two ways to deal with that problem, give people bigger paychecks or bring down the price of the houses. It is unlikely that we are going to see people make more, we don't have anything to sell overseas.
What is the problem in the job market, our labor is too expensive and industry was too focused on high returns rather than steady and fair returns. It was also severely warped by basing the value of a company on the value of it's stock rather than it's product. The solution is also simple, we cannot insist upon being better paid than people in other countries making the same product and that includes management. CEO's should not be paid based on the value of the stock; but, instead on the profitability of the company and not for one year's profitability; but, on a multi-year approach (ten or twenty year rolling average for instance).
China has invested trillions in it's infrastructure, we have let ours deteriorate. We do need to upgrade our infrastructure and that is the place to start. With healthy and efficient infrastructure it costs less to produce goods and transport them. That means you can pay your workers more. A new Work Progress Administration is needed and that will put people to work so that they can buy our goods so that our industry can hire people again. That is why I am so disgusted by the lame jobs program announced by President Obama, tax cuts will not get people jobs if we cannot compete with foreign countries.
This new program proposed by the president may pass; but, it won't create any jobs because it does not address the underlying issues and nobody seems willing to. Management wants to keep getting millions of dollars in bonuses even when their companies fail, employees want more money that their labor is worth compared to the rest of the world and nobody wants to pay the taxes that are needed to rebuild this country; therefore, things will not get better. The party is over kids when will we recognize that?
Thursday, September 8, 2011
I Love LA - Randy Newman
Raymond Chandler, Phillip Marlowe, Chinatown, all nice representations of our home. Let's do a little better.
What matters.
What matters.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
A Man Hugged Me and Cried Today
A man cried today because of me. He also hugged me, he was in his late 60's or early 70's. I bought a painting from him, well, I commissioned a painting from him. He does not use computers or cell phones, he will not read this.
The amount was substantial; but, I rarely buy anything for myself, I wanted art and he is an artist. He has not made any art in a couple of decades, I convinced him to do one for me. He gave me a gift today, a numbered print worth almost half of what I am paying him for mine. It was not requested and not expected. He told me how my commission had invigorated him to make art again. Do you understand what the felt like? Do you know what it means to reinvigorate an older man, to see him cry when discuss art with him, to discuss passion?
I have a couple of really crazy beliefs. One is that you can never lend money and expect to get it back, that is a blessing and should not be expected. Another is "Do the right thing for the right reason". I told you I am insane. I also believe in paying a worker his due and I believe that every second is an opportunity to make someone else's day. I told you, completely insane thoughts.
For my new found friend Zuma Dogg, God is in heaven and all is right with the world. We are always exactly where we are supposed to be, when we are there, it is our chance to make choices and define ourselves. Be well kiddies, things are in motion and end games are always the most interesting. Be well.
The amount was substantial; but, I rarely buy anything for myself, I wanted art and he is an artist. He has not made any art in a couple of decades, I convinced him to do one for me. He gave me a gift today, a numbered print worth almost half of what I am paying him for mine. It was not requested and not expected. He told me how my commission had invigorated him to make art again. Do you understand what the felt like? Do you know what it means to reinvigorate an older man, to see him cry when discuss art with him, to discuss passion?
I have a couple of really crazy beliefs. One is that you can never lend money and expect to get it back, that is a blessing and should not be expected. Another is "Do the right thing for the right reason". I told you I am insane. I also believe in paying a worker his due and I believe that every second is an opportunity to make someone else's day. I told you, completely insane thoughts.
For my new found friend Zuma Dogg, God is in heaven and all is right with the world. We are always exactly where we are supposed to be, when we are there, it is our chance to make choices and define ourselves. Be well kiddies, things are in motion and end games are always the most interesting. Be well.
A Little Time with a Friend
Taking a little time off to have dinner with a friend. As a consequence of Zuma Dogg's pointing to this site I have seen triple the amount of viewings. I would like to publicly thank him for his kind words. Peace.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Who Are These People
I have gone back and tagged most of my posts on pension fraud. I have about 800 posts and didn't read them; but, lots of dots. Be well.
CIM Group, who are these people? CIM, it is said, is the third largest property owner in Hollywood. It was started by three people, Mr. Richard Ressler, Mr. Shaul Kuba and Mr. Avi Shemesh.
As for Mr. Ressler, he had previously worked for Drexel Burnham Lambert and founded Orchard Capital Corporation. You might remember Drexel Burnham Lambert because one of their employees, Michael Milken was known as the junk bond king, he was sentenced to 10 years in jail and is one of the 500 wealthiest people in the world. Mr. Ressler's brother, Tony Ressler, is the managing partner of Ares Management. Tony was also a founder of Apollo Management. Tony was also the Senior Vice President in the High Yield Bond Department of Drexel Burnham Lambert.
In regards to Mr. Shaul Kuba we know practically nothing. He had previously founded Dekel Development is all his bio says at CIM's website. Mr. Avi Shemesh, his bio is about identical. An article from Y Net Money, "Tshuva's rescuers: Avi Shemesh, Shaul Kuba".
An article in the Los Angeles Business Journal (found here on allbusiness.com) states the following:
"By 1994, Ressler, by then semi-retired, had started private equity firm Orchard Capital Corp. He was overseeing work on his Westside home when he, Kuba and Shemesh, who had built commercial real estate and landscaping businesses, met to talk about his lawn.
The trio hit it off, and bought a building on Third Street."
CIM Group has almost a billion dollars in assets and has received investments of hundreds of millions of dollars from CalPers, Lacers and other Public Pension Funds. Now when CIM Group first sought investments from CalPers, they hired Alfred Villalobos to lobby for them, we will get back to him. The president of CalPers, at the time, was Sean Harringan, we'll get back to him too.
So how do a couple of Israeli ex-soldiers become so powerful so quick and how did they manage to get so much money from public pensions? Better yet, how come we know practically nothing about these people? Do you buy the story that a couple of landscapers met a retired investment manager and started this company while discussing his lawn?
Lets get back to Alfred Villalobos. Here is a story about Mr. Villalobos' son, he was just convicted on extortion charges. The story is from the Sacramento Bee. Now Mr. Alfred Villalobos is currently being sued by the state for allegedly paying bribes to former CalPERS Chief Executive Federico Buenrostro Jr.
What is interesting is how many of these people have a connection to the City of Los Angeles, it's politicians and it's retirement funds. Seems like one big happy family. I forgot to mention Mr. Ari Swiller. Mr. Swiller, as I mentioned in previous posts, partnered with CIM Group to buy land that LADWP was trying to buy. Mr. Swiller had worked for Ralphs and Mr. Harrigan was a regional director of the United Food and Commercial Workers union. I wonder if they ever met?
Here is a nice article on Mr. Harrigan from the L.A. Times. It is about when he had to resign from the Los Angeles Police and Fire Pension Board. The article also mentions another man, Elliot Broidy, he was the one convicted of bribing members of the New York Pension board in order to get investments.
CIM Group bought a famous Hollywood landmark from a man named Eddie Nash. The L.A. Times reported this in 2007. You might want to read up on him. Mr. Nash who had owned the building for decades said that they had "wore him down". Now, that would be quite an achievement.
I do hope you are enjoying my little story. I forgot to mention that CIM Group, funded by public pensions, bought the Lady Luck Hotel and Casino according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Now if CIM Group planned on opening the casino again, they would have to tell a lot about themselves to the Nevada Gaming Commission. Maybe that is why it is still not open.
Maybe it is just me; but, I would like to know more about Mr. Kuba and Mr. Shemesh seeing as how lots of tax dollars have gone into making them very wealthy. I would like to know what it took to wear down Mr. Nash. I forgot something, New York.
CIM Group has been buying properties in New York, they have partnered with a Mr. Macklowe.
CIM Group, who are these people? CIM, it is said, is the third largest property owner in Hollywood. It was started by three people, Mr. Richard Ressler, Mr. Shaul Kuba and Mr. Avi Shemesh.
As for Mr. Ressler, he had previously worked for Drexel Burnham Lambert and founded Orchard Capital Corporation. You might remember Drexel Burnham Lambert because one of their employees, Michael Milken was known as the junk bond king, he was sentenced to 10 years in jail and is one of the 500 wealthiest people in the world. Mr. Ressler's brother, Tony Ressler, is the managing partner of Ares Management. Tony was also a founder of Apollo Management. Tony was also the Senior Vice President in the High Yield Bond Department of Drexel Burnham Lambert.
In regards to Mr. Shaul Kuba we know practically nothing. He had previously founded Dekel Development is all his bio says at CIM's website. Mr. Avi Shemesh, his bio is about identical. An article from Y Net Money, "Tshuva's rescuers: Avi Shemesh, Shaul Kuba".
An article in the Los Angeles Business Journal (found here on allbusiness.com) states the following:
"By 1994, Ressler, by then semi-retired, had started private equity firm Orchard Capital Corp. He was overseeing work on his Westside home when he, Kuba and Shemesh, who had built commercial real estate and landscaping businesses, met to talk about his lawn.
The trio hit it off, and bought a building on Third Street."
CIM Group has almost a billion dollars in assets and has received investments of hundreds of millions of dollars from CalPers, Lacers and other Public Pension Funds. Now when CIM Group first sought investments from CalPers, they hired Alfred Villalobos to lobby for them, we will get back to him. The president of CalPers, at the time, was Sean Harringan, we'll get back to him too.
So how do a couple of Israeli ex-soldiers become so powerful so quick and how did they manage to get so much money from public pensions? Better yet, how come we know practically nothing about these people? Do you buy the story that a couple of landscapers met a retired investment manager and started this company while discussing his lawn?
Lets get back to Alfred Villalobos. Here is a story about Mr. Villalobos' son, he was just convicted on extortion charges. The story is from the Sacramento Bee. Now Mr. Alfred Villalobos is currently being sued by the state for allegedly paying bribes to former CalPERS Chief Executive Federico Buenrostro Jr.
What is interesting is how many of these people have a connection to the City of Los Angeles, it's politicians and it's retirement funds. Seems like one big happy family. I forgot to mention Mr. Ari Swiller. Mr. Swiller, as I mentioned in previous posts, partnered with CIM Group to buy land that LADWP was trying to buy. Mr. Swiller had worked for Ralphs and Mr. Harrigan was a regional director of the United Food and Commercial Workers union. I wonder if they ever met?
Here is a nice article on Mr. Harrigan from the L.A. Times. It is about when he had to resign from the Los Angeles Police and Fire Pension Board. The article also mentions another man, Elliot Broidy, he was the one convicted of bribing members of the New York Pension board in order to get investments.
CIM Group bought a famous Hollywood landmark from a man named Eddie Nash. The L.A. Times reported this in 2007. You might want to read up on him. Mr. Nash who had owned the building for decades said that they had "wore him down". Now, that would be quite an achievement.
I do hope you are enjoying my little story. I forgot to mention that CIM Group, funded by public pensions, bought the Lady Luck Hotel and Casino according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Now if CIM Group planned on opening the casino again, they would have to tell a lot about themselves to the Nevada Gaming Commission. Maybe that is why it is still not open.
Maybe it is just me; but, I would like to know more about Mr. Kuba and Mr. Shemesh seeing as how lots of tax dollars have gone into making them very wealthy. I would like to know what it took to wear down Mr. Nash. I forgot something, New York.
CIM Group has been buying properties in New York, they have partnered with a Mr. Macklowe.
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