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January 14, 2010

Marvel comics does a solid for a retailer with a leaky roof

The Savage Critic(s): A Very Public Thank you to Marvel Comics My local comics retailer (and yours), Brian Hibbs, had a problem this last weekend when the hotel above his shop sprung a leak and flooded part of his store (again). His entire rack of Marvel comics was destroyed. Marvel saw his blog post, called him, and is now freely replacing the lost comics. Nicely done, Marvel.
As you saw from my last post, my "Marvel" section got wiped out. (This is not, in fact, EVERY Marvel comic in the store. I keep, for example, the X-books racked separately from the rest of the Marvel U, as well as the licensed titles or adaptations or kids comics or the Soliel books, and so on) David Gabriel, VP of Sales at Marvel contacted me and asked me for a list of what I lost. I gave them a list of stuff that I thought I should actually replace, in "appropriate" quantities (ie, I didn't mention completed mini-series that I still had on the rack, I didn't list anything b-list or under, and I only specified what I thought I might sell in the next 6 or so weeks, rather than what I actually lost -- which was a truly larger number of books), and I've been told that I'll have my whole list sent to me, for free, with free and expedited shipping so I'll have it by Friday. Marvel did not have to do that, they were under no obligation, and, frankly, since we joust so much I am not entirely sure that I'd've done the same thing in their position. But they did, and that's awesome, and they deserve some public props for that, so here they are! Thank you Marvel comics!

Obama furious at banks, vows to "tax the fuck out of them"

Obama to banks: `We want our money back' Admittedly trusting the banks to self-regulate was never going to work. I'm sure they told him pretty stories about everything they'd do with the TARP money (loan it to small businesses, fix America, etc) and then they turned around and used it to pay off debts, buy up other banks and give themselves enormous bonuses. Obama was way too trusting, and the banks are really dumb for rubbing his nose in it. Here's to hoping they get smacked around a bit.
Declaring "We want our money back," President Barack Obama wants to slap a tax on banks to recoup the money that the American public spent on bailing out large financial institutions on the brink of collapse. The president said Thursday his goal is not to punish banks, but rather to prevent them from a behavior of excess, including new employee bonuses he called "obscene." In brief comments at the White House, Obama took a deeply populist tone. He said: "My commitment is to the taxpayer." The president said big banks had shown irresponsibility, engaged in reckless risk for short-term profits, and had gotten themselves into a crisis of their own making. Some firms would have to pay the fee even though many did not accept any taxpayer assistance.

January 13, 2010

The future of America's workforce: tempslaves

Future of America’s workforce: permatemps - Careers- msnbc.com
. . . The era of the disposable worker has big implications both for employees and employers. For workers, research shows that chronic unemployment and underemployment cause lasting damage: Older people who lose jobs are often forced into premature retirement, while the careers of younger people are stunted by their early detachment from the working world. Even 15 years out of school, people who graduated from college in a recession earn 2.5 percent less than if they had graduated in more prosperous times, research has shown. Diminishing job security is also widening the gap between the highest- and lowest-paid workers. At the top, people with sought-after skills can earn more by jumping from assignment to assignment than they can by sticking with one company. But for the least educated, who have no special skills to sell, the new deal for labor offers nothing but downside. Employers prize flexibility, of course. But if they aren't careful they can wind up with an alienated, dispirited workforce. A Conference Board survey released on Jan. 5 found that only 45 percent of workers surveyed were satisfied with their jobs, the lowest in 22 years of polling. Poor morale can devastate performance. After making deep staff cuts following the subprime implosion, UBS, Credit Suisse, and American Express hired Harvard psychology lecturer Shawn Achor to train their remaining employees in positive thinking. Says Achor: "All the employees had just stopped working." . . .