Roaches in the World’s Most Expensive Dessert

Can you spare a tear for the ultra-rich? One week after achieving the Guinness World record for the world’s most expensive dessert – a $25,000 “Frrozen Haute Chocolate” containing 5 grams of edible 23-karat gold – the New York restaurant Serendipity 3 was shut down by the health department. It turns out that in addition to truffle shavings and other Haute Chocolate ingredients, the restaurant’s kitchen contained "a live mouse, mouse droppings in multiple areas of the restaurant, fruit flies, house flies, and more than 100 live cockroaches," according to the inspectors.

The Haute Chocolate story is already exciting the usual populist outrage drizzled with references to Marie Antoinette. In the Detroit News, Brian O’Connor notes that for the price of two dozen of these confections all the food banks in his city would be able to meet the Thanksgiving demand instead of facing the holiday with empty shelves. He recommends guillotining the Haute Chocolate eaters, “Then we could treat the needy to a helping of my favorite dessert: ladyfingers.”

But there could be all kinds of reasons for needing a $25,000 Haute Chocolate. What about the chocolate addict who freely chooses to blow his or her life savings on a single dessert? And we mustn’t rule out those who suffer from a rare gold deficiency disorder and have already consumed their fillings and wedding rings. All of these worthy people now face a shuttered Serendipity when they go for their fix.

No, this isn’t just another story about gluttony. It’s a story about the inevitability of cockroaches in a world divided between rich and poor and served by a public sector in a state of bad decay. In this situation, even the rich get ripped off, and should live in fear that those truffle shavings are actually maggots in cross-section. As Robert Frank, the author of Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich, observed of the cockroach finding: "It goes to show that in today's mass luxury world, just because something is expensive doesn't mean something's good or high-quality."

I discovered this when a recent move put me within striking distance of two high-end food markets, Whole Foods and Balducci’s. Ah, was my thought, no more cooking! For dinners at least, I would eat nothing but their tasty deli offerings. How disillusioning then to discover that the items that look so delightful behind the counter are little better than the take-out at Safeway. Balducci’s fresh mozzarella-topped lamb burgers require a steak knife; their shrimp-and-caper concoction, at $26 a pound, seems to involve a preparatory stage of fossilization. You can do slightly better at Whole Foods, but only if you avoid anything with a sauce, which is likely to be a super-saturated solution of sodium chloride.

Yes, over-salting and over-cooking have a preservative effect, perhaps allowing the same items to be displayed for days at a time. But there could be something else behind the consistently bad prepared food at these upscale sources: Many, if not all, of the people doing the cooking behind the scenes are making foods they are unlikely ever to confront in real life. Ask a Salvadoran immigrant to whip up chicken masala and he or she will no doubt follow directions, but in complete ignorance of the desired taste. One of the women working at the Balduccis I have patronized has only one visible tooth in her mouth, which in addition to speaking ill of the store’s dental benefits, means she can never have bitten into one of the lamb burgers she sells.

And what about the kitchen workers at Serendipity 3? Like most underpaid New Yorkers, they probably went home to vermin-infested apartments, and thought nothing of a cockroach or two.

What this means is that even the very rich cannot escape into their own little bubble of purity and excellence, of “haute” this and “haute” that. Ride around in a limo and you still have to sit in traffic created by ordinary people who can’t afford to live near where they work. Fly in a private jet and you’re still dependent on archaic, underfinanced, systems of air traffic control. Travel first class on the Acela train and you still have to stare out at the rotting environs of Philadelphia and Newark. Oh, and you lobbied against higher taxes and regulations on business? Then think twice before you sink your teeth into that chocolate and gold dessert. The vermin are always with you.

Comments

[Steve St-Laurent]

"One week after achieving the Guinness World record for the world’s most expensive dessert – a $25,000 “Frrozen Haute Chocolate” containing 5 grams of edible 23-karat gold – the New York restaurant Serendipity 3 was shut down by the health department."

Absolutely delightful! Thanks for starting my week with a bang. Sort of knocks the starch out of the "left-as-politics-of-envy," doesn't it? Let them eat roaches.

[roger]

"One of the women working at the Balduccis I have patronized has only one visible tooth in her mouth, which in addition to speaking ill of the store’s dental benefits, means she can never have bitten into one of the lamb burgers she sells."

it seems like barbara recycles these stories. are we to assume that the woman only has one tooth because the filthy capitalists failed to provide adequate dental insurance.

"In the Detroit News, Brian O’Connor notes that for the price of two dozen of these confections all the food banks in his city would be able to meet the Thanksgiving demand instead of facing the holiday with empty shelves."

if only those filthy capitalists would refrain from baking ridiculously expensive confections the food banks would have food.

why are we so desperate to blame the wealthy for society's hardships. can we not foresee that there might be any myriad of reasons why folks would only have one tooth or why the food bank is not fully stocked.

[PeonInChief]

What a wonderful note. It only confirms that some of our rich folks are dumb as posts. If our system requires that we envy their lifestyles, dammit, we want to envy better ones.

[sharon]

What a great story! They can live in their gated estate and have bottled water trucked in, but they can't escape the fact that they depend on the "little guys" to wash their clothes, collect their garbage, and cook their food. I love it.

[chris]

Before the Health Police shut down Serendipity, how many of these goofy desserts did the joint sell?

ZERO.

For the newly initiated, the gambit of offering an outrageous product that awakens sensibilities of excess is also known as FREE PUBLICITY.

Newspapers and other media venues around the country suddenly featured stories about the $25,000 dessert at Serendipity. Tourism is booming in NYC these days. A story about a mind- and stomach-boggling dessert is guaranteed to draw people from all over, and it will caused them to stick their noses in, then actually purchase and eat a commonplace, but expensive, hot fudge sundae, and let them leave feeling they got off cheap.

Serendipity exploited typical NY City-style advertising based on hyperbole and free media coverage. Too bad about the rodents.

[Chickensh*tEagle]

chris: "...then actually purchase and eat a commonplace, but expensive, hot fudge sundae, and let them leave feeling they got off cheap."

Or like some of that golden aura rubbed off on them.

roger: "...are we to assume that the woman only has one tooth because the filthy capitalists failed to provide adequate dental insurance."

...And fight tooth and nail against any form of "socialized medicine."

Routine cleaning, $129. Root canal, $800. Partial plate, $990. Commensurate prices for X-rays, fillings, extractions, crowns, etc. Implants, fuggeddaboudit.

"...can we not foresee that there might be any myriad of reasons why folks would only have one tooth..."

If there "might be" myriads of reasons, would it too much to ask for one or two reasons that actually are?

[roger]

"If there "might be" myriads of reasons, would it too much to ask for one or two reasons that actually are?"

since we are talking about possibilities and i am not implying/accusing/imitating/suggesting that this is the case, a common reason for missing teeth is crack.

[Chickensh*tEagle]

"...since we are talking about possibilities ..."

In other words, you can't. Thank you.

[roger]

"What a great story! They can live in their gated estate and have bottled water trucked in, but they can't escape the fact that they depend on the "little guys" to wash their clothes, collect their garbage, and cook their food. I love it."

i gather that it is a swindle and betrayal to live in a gated community in an attempt to avoid the plague of violence. how simply we assume that those who have means are suspect. i might remind you of the case of channon christian.

[roger]

In other words, you can't. Thank you.

welcome

http://www.ada.org/prof/resources/topics/methmouth.asp

are you implying that methmouth is not a reason why a person would have only one tooth or that there is no possibility that a person working is a high end establishment would use meth.

[Larry In Lethbridge]

When rich people pay exorbitant amounts for something, it is not because they truly like it or will use it.
It is part of an inherent need to be a connoisseur, and be viewed or recognized as a connoisseur.

It is already assumed the person has bucks. This behaviour just elevates it up a notch.

As for any Balducci's, what a dump and what crappy food they sell. Only fools shop there.

[roger]

looks like i confused crack and meth

[Chickensh*tEagle]

"...are you implying that methmouth is not a reason why a person would have only one tooth or that there is no possibility that a person working is a high end establishment would use meth."

Roger, perhaps I'm just not cynical enough. See, when you said "any myriad of reasons" I actually thought you were talking about reasons that weren't really anyone's fault.

Well then, are you implying that there is no possibility that a low wage worker, unable to afford dental care for herself and her children, would see to her children first? Or that she might not even be able to afford dental care for herself even if both childless and drug-free?

I seem to recall Barbara observing in Nickel and Dimed that bad teeth were common among Wal-Mart workers. Would you have it that all, or even a large minority, used meth?

[chris]

chickenshit_eagle, you wrote:

"Or like some of that golden aura rubbed off on them."

I see. Not only do you detest wealthy people who indulge themselves, you also dislike those from other economic strata who want to indulge themselves to the extent they can.

You disapproval of these activities reveals your spartan nature. I guess that means no Disneyland for your kids and no occasional pampering at a pricey resort. As though such activities demonstrate an unholy worship of money.

[roger]

"Roger, perhaps I'm just not cynical enough. See, when you said "any myriad of reasons" I actually thought you were talking about reasons that weren't really anyone's fault.

Well then, are you implying that there is no possibility that a low wage worker, unable to afford dental care for herself and her children, would see to her children first? Or that she might not even be able to afford dental care for herself even if both childless and drug-free?"

thats why i said in the beginning that i was not implying that the worker was using meth. i said that meth use was one of the possibilities for having poor dental hygiene. apparently the fact that there were additional possibilities means to you that i cant come up with a reason for poor conditions. apparently im not following your logic.

[Anarcissie]

roger: '... i gather that it is a swindle and betrayal to live in a gated community in an attempt to avoid the plague of violence. ...'

Actually, that plague is currently in remission. Crime rates in most places in the US have been rather low in recent years. So at the moment gated communities _are_ a sort of swindle, but the people who buy into them are mostly swindling themselves, and if they're happy with it, so what? And if the pendulum swings the other way, they'll be happier still. Security, security!

But speaking of plagues, I think the return of tuberculosis, and its appearance among the better-off in recent years, is a bigger monster of the same species as the roaches in the mousse and one gated communities probably can't keep out. "Only disconnect," think the rich, but they can't. The meaning of their money is its ability to command the labor of the poor.

[Solo]

Wonderful essay.

It ties in with a news article I read recently exposing the poor workmanship found in high coutoure fashions.

Seems the many of the high end designer label fashions are being sewn by folks with little experience or training.

The hem on a $500 blouse many be unraveling or not sewn at all. Linings are poorly done and lopsided.

What a hoot that you can pay $10,000 or more for an outfit that fits just as poorly as something offered at Wal-Mart.

On a tangent note, there is actually more crime in gates communties than most people know. Crooks posing as various types of service people gain access, scour the various streets and find easy targets, such as backdoors or garage doors left open.

[chris]

Solo, you wrote:

"It ties in with a news article I read recently exposing the poor workmanship found in high coutoure fashions."

You should take note that when it comes to a certain stratum of food and fashion, durability is at the bottom of the priority list. Ostentatious desserts and gowns are all about creating an eye-catching image during a single event, an extraordinary dinner or a charity ball. The fact that neither will last as long as the great pyramids is irrelevant.

You wrote:

"Seems the many of the high end designer label fashions are being sewn by folks with little experience or training."

Oh. Should these worker bees apply to Seamstress University to sharpen their skills? Meanwhile, are there many "wardrobe malfunctions" afflicting women who wear high-fashion clothing?

You wrote:

"The hem on a $500 blouse many be unraveling or not sewn at all. Linings are poorly done and lopsided."

Oh my god! Alert the rich! They're being had!

You wrote:

"What a hoot that you can pay $10,000 or more for an outfit that fits just as poorly as something offered at Wal-Mart."

For $10,000 you get an individually tailored designer gown, not off-the-rack. The tailored designer gown will fit perfectly or the lady will have someone's head.

If you want to lampoon the rich, there's lots to work with, but wishing that women's designer clothing will self-destruct is to mix envy and schadenfreude.

You wrote:

"On a tangent note, there is actually more crime in gates communties than most people know. Crooks posing as various types of service people gain access, scour the various streets and find easy targets, such as backdoors or garage doors left open."

More crime in gated communities than most people know? If you don't live in a gated community is this knowledge of value? Meanwhile, your post suggests people who live in gated communities are wide-eyed innocents who recoil in fear when they learn the ugly truth about the schemes housebreakers use to enter the placid enclaves.

Are you opposed to the existence of gated communities? Do you think criminals are entitled to equal access?

[Chickensh*tEagle]

chris: "Not only do you detest wealthy people who indulge themselves, you also dislike those from other economic strata who want to indulge themselves to the extent they can."

Not really. I was simply commenting on the usefulness of class envy as a marketing tool. You're more than welcome to all the $50 hot fudge sundaes you can eat, as far as I'm concerned.

"...is also known as FREE PUBLICITY."

I doubt it was actually free. There was probably a fairly pricey publicist involved.

roger: "thats why i said in the beginning that i was not implying that the worker was using meth."

As disclaimers go, that's one of the lamest I've seen. If not that individual worker, then low-paid workers with bad teeth generally. Else you simply wouldn't have picked on meth.

"i gather that it is a swindle and betrayal to live in a gated community in an attempt to avoid the plague of violence."

Having lived in marginal neighborhoods, I don't blame anyone for wanting to get away from violence. The problem is that in the long run, the gated mentality, in tandem with the violence it seeks to escape, accelerates the breakdown of civil society.

People who travel by corporate jet have no reason to care about the state of public transportation. People who send their kids to elite private schools have no stake in the condition of public schools. People who have their own private security and firefighting services have no stake in the the community's police and fire departments. If people forget they're all in the same boat, then sooner or later you don't have a nation anymore.

[roger]

"People who travel by corporate jet have no reason to care about the state of public transportation. People who send their kids to elite private schools have no stake in the condition of public schools. People who have their own private security and firefighting services have no stake in the the community's police and fire departments. If people forget they're all in the same boat, then sooner or later you don't have a nation anymore."

the broadest brushstrokes known to exist in the english language. why would the ruling class not have a stake in the police and fire department or public education or in government. rich folks homes dont catch fire. rich folk were not in the twin towers when struck by passenger planes six years ago. rich folk do not hire the products of the public school system. rich folk arent robbed on the street on the way to the office. you are being intentionally obtuse here.

[roger]

"Having lived in marginal neighborhoods, I don't blame anyone for wanting to get away from violence. The problem is that in the long run, the gated mentality, in tandem with the violence it seeks to escape, accelerates the breakdown of civil society."

it really is astounding. white flight and urban sprawl, not lack of respect for law and disintegration of the family structure, causes inner city crime. i wonder if you could expand on this for the rest of us.

[Hattie]

The comments on the Huff Post are quite good.

[Luciana]

"People who send their kids to elite private schools have no stake in the condition of public schools."

It's interesting that this exact discussion has been triggered by recent news in Brazil.

A research has found that 70% of the teachers in Brazilian elite private schools come from public schools. If rich kids are being taught by people who studied in public schools, it would be stupid of their parents not to care about the state of the public schools these teachers come from.

I don't know how the numbers compare in the U.S., but wealthy people do not live in a bubble, and sooner or later they will be affected by the conditions of the less-affluent. Even for selfish reasons they should care.

[Anarcissie]

roger: ' ...
it really is astounding. white flight and urban sprawl, not lack of respect for law and disintegration of the family structure, causes inner city crime. i wonder if you could expand on this for the rest of us.'

Ask yourself: What stops a person, any person, from being a criminal?

[Chickensh*tEagle]

roger: "the broadest brushstrokes known to exist in the english language."

Right up there with meth as the prevalent cause -- or at least the one that came most immediately to mind for you -- of dental problems in low-wage workers.

"rich folk arent robbed on the street on the way to the office."

Um, how many rich people walk to work or ride the buses or subways instead of driving or being chauffeured?

"why would the ruling class not have a stake in the police and fire department or public education or in government."

Exactly! The question then becomes, why do they seem increasingly blind to that reality, as evidenced by their attempts to cash out of that stake through privatized services?

"it really is astounding. white flight and urban sprawl, not lack of respect for law and disintegration of the family structure, causes inner city crime."

Had you ever thought that these might be mutually reinforcing trends?

Respect for law is a two-way street. Those who make and enforce the laws have to respect those who are supposed to obey them. A symbolic example -- at the outbreak of the riots of 1992 over the acquittal of the cops who beat the crap out of Rodney King, LAPD Chief Darryl Gates was attending a fund-raiser in an affluent private home. Its purpose was to oppose establishment of a civilian police review board.

Luciana: "...but wealthy people do not live in a bubble, and sooner or later they will be affected by the conditions of the less-affluent. Even for selfish reasons they should care."

Yup. Nonetheless, they're going all out to build that bubble.

[Luciana]

Chicken said: "Nonetheless, they're going all out to build that bubble."

It certainly seems so, and it doesn't make me very impressed with their intelligence ;-).

[Andrea]

It's not so saddening to hear that there are chocolate desserts going for $25,000.00 made in kitchens where mice and roaches play in the spills and parings.

I don't know if anyone has ever heard of The Cheese Nun, but she is famous for saying that the bacteria that exist in our small area of the world are our Patrimony, our inheritance, and that they make our foods what they are. The mice and the roaches are part of that patrimony, too. I think we spend way too much time fighting these critters, and the bacteria, and not nearly enough time trying to understand them and coexist with them in a mutually healthy way.

Yeah, kinda like we do with the poor.

[Rob]

Yes, wealthy people want to live in a "bubble." Why would they want their children to grown up around ignorant, obese, violent people. Most of America is turning "Ghetto", and the only way to escape this is through money. Bringing in millions of the least educated and cultured people from the south is also contributing to our own mix of morons here. As a teacher I feel less and less sympathetic to those kids from the lower strata who don't do homework, and and don't make up their tests. They come from a culture where education is not valued, and sadly, they are going to end up where they deserve. I can't put a gun to their head and make them do their homework. People who don't work around the inner city or around the lower classes like to be idealistic, like Barbara. There is really little a teacher can do except pluck a few that want to be plucked out of an ocean of ignorance. I know, and I see it everyday. You can't instill a value of education or proper values/morals into these people. Therefore I don't think that these lower strata people deserve one penny from the educated rich who usually work hard for what they have. Even if they do inherit money, they believe in the value of educaton, etc. Spreading their money to those who absolutely do not deserve it would be horrible! They don't pay the price, why should they get the spoils? Also better schools, better teachers won't make one iota of difference with these people. They don't value education, and no matter how engaging of a teacher you are, you will ultimately fail with most of them. That is the sad truth. In other words, nothing will work to improve the lives of the vast majority of the growing underclass in our country. You can send them all to Yale, but if they tell the professor to go fuck off, or refuse to turn off their I-Pods and cell phones, I doubt they will be successful. People need to wake up and be accountable for themselves. If they grow up in a family of morons, then they need to see the successful world around them, and try to emulate them. Why do you think Oprah Winfrey built her school in South Africa and not in Chicago. The kids in Chicago just wanted fancy shoes and I-Pods, the kids in South Africa wanted an education. It is all about culture and work ethic, and I dare Barbara to try to debate me on this one. Just keep drinking your lattes in Starbucks and feeling so "sorry" for those less fortunate. News flash: Most people who are poor and ignorant deserve what they get. Let's talk the "truth" because I would rather have the truth and not some hyped up fantasy about what people are not!

Rob in an inner city public high school.

[Anarcissie]

Rob, I think you need some R&R.

[CanadaKat]

Rob, you wrote:

"Most people who are poor and ignorant deserve what they get."

If you really are a teacher, I pity your students and I never want you anywhere near my kids.

Walk right over the homeless as you pass by do ya? Or maybe just kick 'em in the ribs for fun...

No, Anarcissie, he doesn't just need R & R.

[CanadaKat]

Rob, you wrote:

Why do you think Oprah Winfrey built her school in South Africa and not in Chicago. The kids in Chicago just wanted fancy shoes and I-Pods, the kids in South Africa wanted an education. It is all about culture and work ethic"

Okay, here I will agree with you. Except that your comment does not reflect the poor and the ignorant. It reflects the culture of egocentricity we have allowed to develop. All about me - not what I have to contribute, even to myself.

Bad work ethic is everywhere, rich or poor.

[Anarcissie]

I think Rob has been on the front lines too long. For instance, he says Barbara (E., I take it) hasn't been around the poor enough, contrary to famous fact -- she wrote a book about living with and as a poor person. He also has her drinks latte (funny he didn't mention quiche-eating as well). He's having a cliche' seizure! Rob needs a rest.

But as for the work ethic -- those who most recommend it always seem to feel it's for someone else. I am suspicious of anything recommenders do not prescribe for themselves.

[Rob]

Are my comments off base? You can't help those who aren't willing to help themselves. "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." You can be a good teacher, and you can control your class. You can make your lessons engaging and interesting, of course there are limits. I can't turn the class into a video game for example...Other teachers just read a newspaper during class, while the kids go wild. I do reach a "few" kids, but I am talking maybe 2 out of 30, a bad percentage. Asian and Eastern European kids don't even go to the inner city schools anymore, they go buy apartments in the suburbs. They bring with them a respect for their elders, and respect for education. I am saying all of this because I want to make it clear that many in the permanent underclass don't want to be saved, and they would/will tell you f___ off if you try to come at them in that way. Their world is very different, and just having good teachers and good facilities isn't going to make one iota of difference. I remember going into teaching thinking that I was going to "save" all of these poor ghetto kids, boy was I wrong. A good family doesn't grow out of nothing. A single teacher or group of teachers isn't going to convince a gangbanger that reading will do it for them. Come on...Let's be a little more realistic here. Not everyone is meant to or has the capability to be intellectual in any way. The underclass is too far gone in their way of thinking. Everyone here should read "Dark Ages America" by Morris Berman and get a reality check. Why don't you listen to NPR archive of public school teachers getting attacked by their students and kicked in the neck. More and more teachers I know are getting attacked. It is nihilistic and dark. If you haven't lived in the "ghetto", and you think that poor people would all love to have an education and work hard if they only had the chance, then don't comment anymore. You are dreaming about what poor people should be and not are. Canada doesn't even have poor people like we do here. You don't understand the depth. Yes, America did many things wrong. It is too late, and nothing is going to save the inner cities. I will get a job in a nice suburb and teach those that actually want to learn. What a concept! Go walk through Chicago at night, Kanada Kat, (Southside), and let's see how much those poor people need your help. I think you will change your tune quickly. And, no, just because Barbara E. worked with the white working poor, doesn't mean she understands the ghetto. We are talking about a whole other level of darkness. Does Barbara live in the Ghetto now? It is one thing to do a little "safari", and another to live poor day after day. Give me a break. Is Barbara living in the South side of Chicago in one of the remaining housing projects? I don't think so, because she wouldn't survive a week. Maybe all of the great liberal thinkers should live what they preach. The hard truth is that no one wants to live around the violent, ignorant, poor, obese masses of America.

Rob (soon you call me "suburban Rob")

[chris]

Rob wrote:

"You can't help those who aren't willing to help themselves. "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." You can be a good teacher, and you can control your class. You can make your lessons engaging and interesting, of course there are limits. I can't turn the class into a video game for example...I do reach a "few" kids, but I am talking maybe 2 out of 30, a bad percentage."

Rob, unfortunately, is correct. Very few black and hispanic kids in urban schools are motivated students. They are not even average students. That's not to say they are inherently stupid. But it is a fact that far far too many do almost no work and know very little when they leave high school, either by dropping out, aging out, or obtaining some form of diploma.

Rob further states that they get what they deserve.

Well, it's a little rough to say someone "deserves" the hardships that are likely to plague a person who gained next to nothing from his formal education. But it is a fact that less education equals less success in life.

Therefore, blacks and hispanics who learn little in school will probably miss out on the majority of opportunities that are arising these days. And there are many. But it's a excessive to couch the prediction of their futures so harshly as to say they "deserve" to fail.

However, the comment strikes me as a wail of frustration coming from a guy who is working with the kids who need a lot help but who are indoctrinated against the very life-saving help he is putting under their noses.

Having been in the urban classrooms myself, it's easy to understand the frustration of any teacher who's ready to scream out, "learn something and get your asses out of the crappy environment you're in," after witnessing the endless stupidity and self-defeating activities that have been handed down from one generation of morons to the next.

If anyone thinks Rob is wrong about the state of things in urban schools, I suggest getting a little personal experience in an urban school. You will see and hear a lifetime of idiocy and vicious lunacy in a week.

Actually, Barbara should take the challenge of working as a teacher at a crappy school in NY City. But there would be no Nickel and Dimed to come out of it because the system is not the problem. She would have to admit that too many students are too disruptive for learning to occur.

But the problem does not afflict the entire system. There are Gifted programs in the NY City school system that enroll about 7% of the students. The Gifted program has two components. The main program takes the top 7% of students who pass the test for entry into the program. But the top 1% of the test-takers are in an extra-special cream-of-the-crop program.

They are outstanding and exceptional kids. It shouldn't surprise anyone that most are white or asian, but quite a few are black and hispanic. Guess what? Their parents care. It's that simple Like Rob says.

If the family values education then good things happen. If not, the kids become idiots.

[Anarcissie]

So, what creates and sustains the culture of ignorance and stupidity? And how come it doesn't affect American White folks as much, who by and large seem to be as contemptuous of learning, knowledge and thought as the differently pigmented, if not a good deal moreso?

[chris]

The Evils of Capitalism

Google Options Make Masseuse a Multimillionaire

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 11 — Bonnie Brown was fresh from a nasty divorce in 1999, living with her sister and uncertain of her future. On a lark, she answered an ad for an in-house masseuse at Google, then a Silicon Valley start-up with 40 employees.

She was offered the part-time job, which started out at $450 a week but included a pile of Google stock options that she figured might never be worth a penny.

After five years of kneading engineers’ backs, Ms. Brown retired, cashing in most of her stock options, which were worth millions of dollars. To her delight, the shares she held onto have continued to balloon in value.

“I’m happy I saved enough stock for a rainy day, and lately it’s been pouring,” said Ms. Brown, 52, who now lives in a 3,000-square-foot house in Nevada, gets her own massages at least once a week and has a private Pilates instructor. She has traveled the world to oversee a charitable foundation she started with her Google wealth and has written a book, still unpublished, “Giigle: How I Got Lucky Massaging Google.”

When Google’s stock topped $700 a share last week before dropping back to $664 on Friday, outside shareholders were not the only ones smiling.

According to documents filed on Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Google employees and former employees are holding options they can cash in worth about $2.1 billion.

In addition, current employees are sitting on stock and unvested options, or options they cannot immediately cash in, that together have a value of about $4.1 billion.

Although no one keeps an official count of Google millionaires, it is estimated that 1,000 people each have more than $5 million worth of Google shares from stock grants and stock options.

One founder, Larry Page, has stock worth $20 billion. The other, Sergey Brin, has slightly less, $19.6 billion, according to Equilar, an executive compensation research firm in Redwood Shores, Calif. Three Google senior vice presidents — David Drummond, the chief legal officer; Shona Brown, who runs business operations; and Jonathan Rosenberg, who oversees product management — together are holding $160 million worth of Google stock and options.

“This is a very rare phenomenon when one company so quickly becomes worth so much money,” said Peter Hero, senior adviser to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, which works with individuals and corporations to support charitable organizations in the region. “During the boom times, there were lots of companies whose employees made a lot of money fast, like Yahoo and Netscape. But the scale didn’t approach Google.”

Indeed, Google has seemed to exist in its own microclimate, with its shares climbing even as other technology stocks have been buffeted by investor skittishness. The stock touched an all-time high of $747.24 on Tuesday before falling more than $83 a share during the week to close at $663.97 on Friday. But even after that sell-off, the stock has risen more than 44 percent, or $203 a share, this year.

The days are long gone when people like Ms. Brown were handed thousands of Google options with the exercise price, or the pre-determined price that employees would pay to buy the stock, set in pennies.

Nearly half of the 16,000 employees now at Google have been there for a year or less, and their options have an average exercise price of more than $500. But those who started at the company a year ago, or even three months ago, are seeing their options soar in value.

The rise in Google’s stock is affecting the deepest reaches of the company. The number of options granted to new employees at Google usually depends on the position and the salary level at which the employee is hired, and the value is usually based on the price of the stock at the start of employment.

The average options grant for a new Google employee — or “Noogler” — who started in November 2006 was 685 shares at a price of roughly $475 a share. They also would have received, on average, 230 shares of stock outright that will vest over a number of years.

The Nooglers might not be talking about second homes in Aspen or personal jets, but they are talking about down payments on a first home, new cars and kitchen renovations. Internal online discussion groups about personal finance are closely read.

Google, like many Silicon Valley companies, gives each of its new employees stock options, as well as a smaller number of shares of Google stock, as a recruiting incentive.

When Ms. Brown left Google, the stock price had merely doubled from its initial offering price of $85. So Ms. Brown is glad she ignored the advice of her financial advisers and held onto a cache of stock.

As the stock continues to defy gravity, Ms. Brown, whose foundation has its assets in Google stock, can be more generous with her charity. “It seems that every time I give some away, it just keeps filling up again,” she said. “It’s like an overflowing pot.”

The wealth generated by options is giving a lot of people like Ms. Brown the freedom to leave and do whatever they like.

[chris]

Anarcissie, you asked:

"So, what creates and sustains the culture of ignorance and stupidity?"

It is self-perpetuating, and it is driven by illegitimacy, fatherlessness and contempt for learning. That contempt is demonstrated by the word and deed of the parent, pseudo-parent or non-parent overseeing each childs upbringing.

You wrote:

"And how come it doesn't affect American White folks as much, who by and large seem to be as contemptuous of learning, knowledge and thought as the differently pigmented, if not a good deal moreso?"

You are simply wrong.

By every measure of academic achievement, white and asian kids are far ahead of black and hispanic kids in NYC. The most obvious proof is the demographics of the gifted programs, and ultimately the top high schools.

Stuyvesant High School, Bronx Science and Brooklyn Tech have student bodies that are roughly 50% asian, about 40% white, and 10% everyone else. Entry to these schools is based on a single test. Merit is the only way in.

Meanwhile, if you ride the NY subway, look around while you're onboard. Among many sights, one you will rarely see is a black male reading a book. If you see a black woman reading a book, the book is most likely to be either spiritual or some cheap escapist pulp stuff. It's good to see people reading anything, but black and hispanic kids are showing by example that reading is way down near the bottom of their priority lists. They have learned this lesson at home and in the alternate reality in which too many reside.

Back to school testing. Students in grade school sit repeatedly for city and state tests to measure their progress and relative standings. The tests segment the students in four groups. The lowest-performing group is almost exclusively black and hispanic, and the top-performing group is almost exclusively white and asian.

This imbalance is even more remarkable when you consider that asians account for about 14% of public school students, whites also account for about 14%, but blacks and hispanics account for around 70% of students.

Again, it's all about the culture in which the kids live. When a culture is distorted by the social pathologies that afflict high percentages of blacks and hispanics, you get a rejection of education.

The only solution is to leave the schoolhouse door open to all. Eventually the day will arrive when some of those troublesome, troubled high school kids will awaken and desire another shot.

In fact NYC does keep the doors open. There are adult programs for high school dropouts who want to repair the damage they inflicted on themselves. But, like all aspects of education, the process is voluntary.

Additionally, blacks especially have developed a culture of victimization. Too many practice victimology, and poliitically speaking, too many belong to the Victicrat Party.

That's the party that blames every problem and social pathology in the black community of whites and racism. Every problem is traced to an external cause. This form of thinking is similar to muslim thinking.

Both groups deny their cultures are flawed. Instead, they claim everyone else is at fault.

Whites and asians, on the other hand, expect to be critiqued and expect that there is always someone around to judge them, their work, their lives. Evaluation and assessment is an accepted part of the white and asian experience. But as imperfect as we are, we do learn something from our mistakes.

[Rob]

Thank you Chris! Finally, a little reality check around here. Now, we can take this whole issue further. How would taking money from the rich and distributing to the poor help anything? If the child doesn't value education then they would do the same nonsense in a beautiful modern school. We actually just received a new computer lab at school, and I took the kids into the lab to write a paper. Most of them looked at Rap/gang websites, tried to access porno, tried to listen to music and in short, did not write their papers. They did enjoy screaming at each other, and giving each other gang symbols though, that was a real thrill for them.

The deeper truth as in a recent article by slate.com, is that there are real differences between racial groups as far as IQ. Asians score highest, and we see this in the schools, then whites then hispanics and blacks at the bottom. Of course these are average IQs per group, but come on. I see Asians/people from India and whites forming a kind of upperclass/literati class.

Of course parental values/family culture is the main culprit. Even if you have a low I.Q. and work hard, you can still do well in high school, which has been dumbed down so far you wouldn't believe it. You can be still be dumb, and be a good person a la Forrest Gump.

Socialism does work in countries which are mono culture. Go to Denmark, and see what kind of utopian vision they are running over there, but Denmark is 95% Danes who work hard, play by rules, value education, are nice people in general. In a diverse country like ours Socialism has not and will never work. I sit on the "L", and there is ocean of knowledge that divides me from your average blank staring idiot sitting there. This differences will only solidify, and I don't see a way out of it. We can't swoop in and teach their parents how to parent, or how to be sophisticated, come on!! Is it also fair for the government to take my money. I wake up at 6:00 a.m. every morning on snowy streets to dig my car out and go to work. Should half of my money go to people who told their teachers to f____ off! or "I'm gonna kill you!" after the teacher tells them to take out their I-Pod ear plugs,

Yes, low wage workers should be paid more. They are working, and they should at least be paid a decent wage, this is obvious. Handouts, Socialism, or help in any way for those individuals who are lazy, proud to ignorant, violent, etc. do not deserve anything, as far as I am concerned. Giving them money or support for doing nothing would just encourage them. Just let them sink into what they have asked for or what they are too ignorant to escape. I am not a liberal anymore, and I encourage all of you who still are to go live among these precious people for one month, and if you survive or aren't in the hospital then drop me a note.

America is sinking down, and the majority of America is becoming ghetto. The only way out of this is to live among the wealthy, the educated. Socialism is not going to make poor people start reading Shakespeare, and there is no way out of this. It is nihilistic and it is very, very dark. This same thing is happening more slowly in Europe (riot in France, England). Maybe multiculturalism doesn't work. Maybe we are headed for a Brazil-type model. I'm not a racist, but I think that people who live together have to have the same work ethic, values, morals, etc. for a country to function. It is all about culture,not race. If you take a country like America with its traditionally strong Protestant work ethic and then dump (willing or unwilling) millions of uneducated, unmotivated people there will be cracks that will appear and eventually the class lines will solidify. Gated communities etc. This is my vision for America and it took five years in the inner city to really see it. I encourage all of you to take the "red" pill and wake up. Socialism will not save you!

Rob

[blue8064]

Rob said: "Most people who are poor and ignorant deserve what they get." However, that statement violates the principle of innocent until proven guilty, even if it is true. Just as accused criminals are innocent until proven guilty in the eyes of the civil law, poor people ought to be presumed to be deserving, until proven otherwise. In addition, even poor people who can be proven to be at fault still ought to have any rights that a convicted criminal would have.

Rob also said: "help in any way for those individuals who are lazy, proud to ignorant, violent, etc. do not deserve anything, as far as I am concerned." However, I simply cannot believe that laziness is serious enough to justify capital punishment, even if guilt has been proven. To deliberately starve someone who refuses to work is just as much capital punishment as executing someone is.

Time limits on eligibility for both welfare and unemployment compensation ought to be challenged in court on the grounds that they violate the principle of innocent until proven guilty, and the penalties (capital punishment by starvation or lack of some other basic necessity) are totally disproportionate to any wrong done. This means that the deliberate cutoff of welfare or unemployment compensation to those who need them ought to be considered cruel and unusual punishment and therefore unconstitutional.

Rob also said: "Giving them money or support for doing nothing would just encourage them." However, if they are not given welfare, they could commit a crime, go to jail, and then let the taxpayers pay for the resulting jail sentence. Of course, such a person would plead guilty when the time came, since the whole point of committing the crime would be to FORCE the taxpayers to pay the costs of the resulting jail sentence. I cannot help but think that at least some crimes committed by the underclass have precisely this motive.

As long as the criminal is in jail, he/she is fed and provided for at taxpayer's expense, no questions asked. However, as soon as he/she is released from jail, he/she will be on his/her own. Having a criminal record will then make it even more difficult to find a job than it would have been otherwise. That in turn would be an incentive to immediately commit another crime, go right back to jail, and again be fed and provided for at taxpayer's expense. No wonder the recidivism rate for criminals is so high.

[Hattie]

I appreciate Barbara Ehrenreich's point that even the rich have to live with the consequences of poverty.
It would be much easier for rich folks if those who do not create wealth for them or serve them in some way would show some consideration and just drop dead.
The desire of unnecessary people to have lives, and their ridiculous sense of the importance of their own existence, of course annoys rich people very much. And to want to have those lives on their own terms--unspeakable cheek! Poor people make such a mess with their problems, don't they?
And the vermin! It's terrible, is what it is!

[chris]

Hattie the nitwit writes:

"It would be much easier for rich folks if those who do not create wealth for them or serve them in some way would show some consideration and just drop dead."

First, the existence and presence of the poor create many wealth-building opportunities for smart people. Doctors, for instance. While some simply donate services to the poor, others earn their living by receiving their compensation from Medicaid.

Others have founded and operated schools that are funded with tax-payer dollars. Still others build housing that puts roofs over the heads of the poor.

You wrote:

"The desire of unnecessary people to have lives, and their ridiculous sense of the importance of their own existence, of course ANNOYS rich people very much."

Okay. Let's examine that annoyance. Start with the two richest Americans. By your measure, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett should be the two most annoyed people in America.

They have demonstrated their annoyance by forming a charity funded with more than $50 BILLION. Can we breed more people similarly annoyed?

Furthermore, you can be absolutely sure that Bill
Gates and Warren Buffett will never buy one of those silly ice cream confections offered at Serendipity.

[Anarcissie]

I notice, though, that Bill Gates's Microsoft has done what it could to kill the XO project, which you can read about here: http://laptopgiving.org/en/index.php and here http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/technology/circuits/04pogue.html?pagewanted=1

It's amazing how these wonderful guys never stop doing evil. Maybe Bill has retired from this role -- anyone who oversaw the creation of Visual Basic has done evil enough -- but his company marches on.

Incidentally, although the Give 1 Get 1 program was supposed to end on November 26th, it has been extended to December 31st (or so I am told).

Now, what I think they should do is not only distribute these things in the overseas Third World, but in the Third World at home as well. And that's what I'm going to do with the one I ordered. Being one who, rather than curse the darkness, would light a fuse.

[Anarcissie]

I notice, though, that Bill Gates's Microsoft has done what it could to kill the XO project, which you can read about here: http://laptopgiving.org/en/index.php and here http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/technology/circuits/04pogue.html?pagewanted=1

It's amazing how these wonderful guys never stop doing evil. Maybe Bill has retired from this role -- anyone who oversaw the creation of Visual Basic has done evil enough -- but his company marches on.

Incidentally, although the Give 1 Get 1 program was supposed to end on November 26th, it has been extended to December 31st (or so I am told).

Now, what I think they should do is not only distribute these things in the overseas Third World, but in the Third World at home as well. And that's what I'm going to do with the one I ordered. Being one who, rather than curse the darkness, would light a fuse.

[chris]

Anarcissie, you linked:

"No, the biggest obstacle to the XO’s success is not technology — it’s already a wonder — but fear. Overseas ministers of education fear that changing the status quo might risk their jobs."

The preceding is a real fear.

But:

"Big-name computer makers fear that the XO will steal away an overlooked two-billion-person market."

Nonsense. This goofy computer would, if anything, open the real market, which is not GIVING computers to kids. Spreading these computers around would ultimately lead to the failure of the company no matter what. It will self-destruct when it cannot maintain or repair these machines, and when the batteries prove far more expensive than the ridiculous low-ball estimate given in the article. Frankly, the computers will cost more too, because Negroponte is out of his league in this game.

And:

"Critics fear that the poorest countries need food, malaria protection and clean water far more than computers."

Absolutely true. About ONE MILLION African kids DIE EACH YEAR from water-borne diseases that would disappear if clean water were available.

And:

"(The founder, Nicholas Negroponte’s, response: “Nobody I know would say, ‘By the way, let’s hold off on education.’ Education happens to be a solution to all of those same problems.”)"

This quote marks him as an idiot. He's simply wrong.

There's also the theft factor. Millions of these computers will disappear, stolen by the usual thugs who rip off African nations every day. The thugs are otherwise known as the rulers.

Oprah can't run one school in Africa, but idealistic nitwits everywhere think it's possible to drop a billion laptops on poor kids around the globe and honesty will break out all over. If only.

[Brian]

You know you are exactly right about the fossilized quality of the prepared food at Whole Foods for I found if you simply let the fancy looking hot soups and stews sit in the fridge a day they are really nothing but cheap salty stock, torn up veggies, and barely even a modicum of meat or fish. I use to survey Balducchi's cheese section with glazed eyes when I was in school, but alas, no money so I don't know their situation. Going back to whole foods somehow all their prepared deli and buffet self-serve dishes degrades magically overnight into something less edible than home boiled boxed mac n cheese. A small chunked up bit of melons, four wilted berrys, and a slice or two of drying pinapple in a plastic container is 7 dollars. When I watch Iron Chef on tv, although a little amusing, I feel aghast at watching the judges make me want to start a new revolution while all that food goes to total waste. Maybe they should hold it in a homeless shelter and feed the patrons at the end. But recently I have caught on the unity of nightly themes across the cooking channel shows which push certain marketable concepts and products every home chef-enata should certainly own. Yes, its another marketing platform, and they pick the cooking pans and tools carefully they use so you will want to buy them too. No real harm there, but yes many people are starving across the world as we watch on tips on how to boulibasse and plate fancy stacked food contraptions to impress the "judges". Lets face it, we are modern France of yore and we are a nation of overly heavy "jiggly" well fed folks with attitudes and credit cards, that are fighting wars across the world against the skinny less fed weathered high cheek boned ancients that want to control sand lots and build scary technologies. Daily I wonder if we are all going to hell as we are all part of this culture, we all feed it and eat off of it, and we are blind to the other sentient souls that inhabit this earth, our species or not. I like the idea of a fun higher level educational food store with all the food riches of the world on hand, but then I do feel guilty when I see the $300 bill at the end and wonder what the clerks must think since everybody judges everybody these days. Why does a single piece of cooked terryaki salmon cost $14 and why am I too spoilt to fry up my own from Safeway? Why does a small tub of mustard "summer" potatoe salad cost $4.99 that I can eat with a spoon in four minutes? Why is it the same salad dressing on all the different items in the bin? Why is a small fat laden pie $14.99? Why do the vitamins to thin your arteries and happy your brain and skin cost dozens and dozens of dollars? Are they really full of Ponce de Leon? I would probably be better off just getting a bowl of oatmeal somewhere and an orange and cup of tea and go hiking up and down some hills and have a little good cheese covered with tomatoes and romaine lettuce on some whole grain rye bread for lunch with a simple yogurt strawberry banana smoothie and for dinner some stir fryed fresh fish of some kind mixed in with some brown rice and broccoli and carrots with onions and garlic. Dessert could be a couple of pineapple slices covered with sliced kiwi and flax seeds and a litle vanilla bean frozen yogurt for cream. An Macintosh apple for desert with a graham cracker and a little wedge of dark chockolet for a late snack and I am good to go. Isn't this better than a puff pastry cheese and bacon omlet layered in between belgian waffles and pancakes covered with melty butter, whipped cream, honey, real maple syrup, and jimmys with a side of real mesquite smoked pork sausage, bisquits and gravey, and a four sunny side egg plater drapped on a fried scrapple and fried corn mush medly soaked in gran marnier and glazed with a ronson bunson burner? I suppose you could pour a flask of marinated cherries over all and consume it like a giant soup before draddling down a pair of quadruple lattes with marshmallows, a shot of good irish whiskey, a shot of kaluha, and the appropriate carmaelized creams in place. Would I add some tasty cinammon crumb cake well buttered on all four sides to it as a topper? perhaps.

[roger]

" You can't instill a value of education or proper values/morals into these people. Therefore I don't think that these lower strata people deserve one penny from the educated rich who usually work hard for what they have. Even if they do inherit money, they believe in the value of educaton, etc. Spreading their money to those who absolutely do not deserve it would be horrible! They don't pay the price, why should they get the spoils? Also better schools, better teachers won't make one iota of difference with these people. They don't value education, and no matter how engaging of a teacher you are, you will ultimately fail with most of them. That is the sad truth. In other words, nothing will work to improve the lives of the vast majority of the growing underclass in our country. "

lets slow down here a minute. what you are describing is the failure of public education to impose value of education and thrift into the lower classes. there are two accounts here. public education does not have capacity to reach sufficient numbers of parents and leaders in the minority population to effect change and additionally the minority population does not see value in education and ownership to begin with. i cite this as failure without assigning blame. that we leap from the poor fit of education and minority culture to hopelessness for an entire class and race of persons is fatuous. we cannot simply abandon people who fail to compete in the culture and economy. opportunity for success and self respect and employment must be provided. if we end up with a permanent custodial underclass it will be far more dangerous, costly and perilous in the long run.

[roger]

hattie: " It would be much easier for rich folks if those who do not create wealth for them or serve them in some way would show some consideration and just drop dead.
The desire of unnecessary people to have lives, and their ridiculous sense of the importance of their own existence, of course annoys rich people very much. "

it is just such ignorant statements which cause the ruling class to assume that the vision of the ruling class is worthy of being the only view for the future of the united states. why not simply proceed with the relatively enlightened doctrine of wealth and power consolidated in the hands of a worthy few if the great unwashed thinks in such ludicrous terms.

[Otis]

Chris mentioned : "Additionally, blacks especially have developed a culture of victimization. Too many practice victimology, and poliitically speaking, too many belong to the Victicrat Party.

Is this a real party I can join ? Are they for legalizing our guns ? I don't want to give up my piece though . How do I get in touch with this party ? Does mr Obama know about this ?

[chris]

Otis, you wrote:

"Is this a real party I can join?"

Yes. But it is a party of the mind and imagination. If you believe its message, you are a registered member.

You asked:

"Are they for legalizing our guns?"

Legalizing OUR guns? I see. In other words, you're affiliated with many people who possess guns illegally.

The answer to your question is yes, the Victicrats have shown support for gun possession and use, legal and illegal. Of course, that means their possession and use.

You admitted:

"I don't want to give up my piece though."

Can you give me a profile of your most likely assailant?

You asked:

"How do I get in touch with this party?"

Check with Larry Elders, the radio host. He'll assist.

You wrote:

"Does mr Obama know about this?"

Yes.

[Anarcissie]

chris:
'"Big-name computer makers fear that the XO will steal away an overlooked two-billion-person market."

'Nonsense. This goofy computer would, if anything, open the real market, which is not GIVING computers to kids. Spreading these computers around would ultimately lead to the failure of the company no matter what. It will self-destruct when it cannot maintain or repair these machines, and when the batteries prove far more expensive than the ridiculous low-ball estimate given in the article. Frankly, the computers will cost more too, because Negroponte is out of his league in this game. ...'

I think the writer you quote is mistaking the fear. There is no doubt that spreading a lot of toy computers around will probably greatly enhance the market for heavier-duty computers made by the big-time companies. What the companies fear is that they may not dominate that market. Intel, for example, opposed and tried to sabotage the XO because the original model ran on an AMD chip. Now that the XO makers have cosied up to Intel by agreeing to buy some Intel chips, Intel is being a little nicer. The other big enemy is Microsoft and its numerous satellites and sycophants: they hate and fear Linux, which is the operating system of the XO. Here, no cosying-up is possible because Microsoft's stock in trade is closed-system bloatware. If millions of people are exposed to Linux it will undercut Microsoft's carefully-nurtured illusion of inevitability, which is already fading in the developed world but still swings some weight in poorer countries (see the part of the news report about how the fix reached Nigerian bureaucrats).

Of course, the XO folks made a big mistake in trying to further their project through governments, big corporations and other such institutions. You can only go so far with such people, because they are always looking for someone powerful to suck up to, and there are no people who play that game better than the creeps heading Intel and Microsoft, both of which achieved their dominant position mostly through luck, although ruthless and sometimes unethical business practices helped, and are not about to yield an inch to charity or decency. The XO project may make some headway if individuals can be interested.

Well, that's off the point; I just felt the need to adjust the usual revolting portrayal of Bill Gates as the benefactor of mankind. Phooey.

And now, back to making up stories about the vicious, ungrateful, incorrigibly degenerate poor.

[Anarcissie]

roger: '... opportunity for success and self respect and employment must be provided. ...'

How do you propose to do that, if, as appears to be the case, the more pigmented sorts of poor people suffer discrimination as well as bad culture? And what are you going to do about their allegedly bad culture?

[roger]

the tools to be used here for self improvement and generational advancement are govt and business. neither of these are capable of impacting culture. these can however provide earned income and protection from violence. the best that can be hoped for is removing the threat of violence and temptation of easy drug money commonly found in minority neighborhoods and replacing the same with employment and safety. mothers should not need to compete with drug dealers for their son's attention. families should not live in fear of retribution for the reporting of violent crime. i will be the first to admit that chances for success in these goals will be feeble. the blunt instrument of govt is not capable of effecting the desired results. additionally the behaviour and culture is deeply engrained. on the other hand we cannot in good conscience simply abandon these people.

[roger]

all of this of course is contingent upon our capacity to assume that some behaviours and some cultures are more productive, beneficial, advantageous, and benign than other behaviours and culture. if the situation becomes sufficiently dire these evaluations will need to be made. the probable response however will likely be to abandon the effected population and seek ones own safety and protect ones own family. i cannot bring myself to say that this is a faulty choice.

[chris]

Anarcissie, the XO computer was promised at an initial price of $100. Of course that was a phony price, but it was compelling enough to start the ball rolling. It wasn't long before the promised price was $200. The fiction was extended by promising the NEW battery would cost only $10 to replace.

Ten Bucks? That's hysterical. Can't be done for Ten Bucks. That price is a fiction based on a long string of variables conflating in perfect harmony about 10 years down the road.

I would love to see the XO computer exceed everyone's dreams. But it won't. No government-sponsored product ever has. Moreover, to increase prospects of success, the computer is to offer a tax benefit to the buyer who is actually donating it to some kid. The opportunities for abuse are multiplied many times by offers like these.

Furthermore, no one fears Linux. It's been around forever and it hasn't taken off even though it appears to have advantages of some of Microsoft's stuff. If it can't succeed beyond the hobbyist category here, it won't start a revolution among the new computer users in the Third World.

Unfortunately and sadly, this program will crash and burn. Such high-minded efforts always do because they depend on too much high-mindedness at every level. It doesn't exist except in the hearts of idealists in the US who refuse to believe or actively deny that almost every Third World country -- certainly in Africa -- is run by thugs who will steal anything from anyone, including AIDS drugs. A stockpile of free computers, well, that's just too tempting for these guys.

Like I said, Oprah is learning this lesson, and she's got only ONE school of kids to educate.

[chris]

Anarcissie, there's another problem big enough to sink the XO computer program: Language. Unless the TWO BILLION potential recipients of this global largesse write and speak English, these computers will have no value. Moreover, without a common language to unify and simplify technical issues, the cost will rise.

[roger]

again some behaviour and some culture is perilous and detrimental:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/27/us/27aids.html?ei=5099&en=b0d1fb1313260747&ex=1196744400&adxnnl=1&partner=TOPIXNEWS&adxnnlx=1196172465-ivJP7qPIL+MBfj6+JsTwEA

[Anarcissie]

chris -- many of the objections you have mentioned to the XO have been met, but on the whole I think you're misunderstanding the project anyway. It's a shot in the dark, not an orthodox attempt to make a profit through advantageous commerce. It may or may not succeed; it may or may not lead to other, different projects and products made by other people. It has already inspired other companies to make and try to sell similar products. The point I was trying to get across in this case -- although I was glad to advertise the XO -- had to do with Microsoft's destructive role in the matter, which has to have come from the highest levels of its management and is consistent with its past practices. The sad fact is that the rich and powerful, however admirable you may find them, are not always nice and good.

[roger]

.....and further evidence of social decay from france:

http://michaeldeibert.blogspot.com/2007/11/flames-of-villiers-le-bel.html

" The vast majority of people in the banlieues, the non-violent people who struggle daily to make ends meet and to find work and to support their families, deserve better than France’s politicians have given them thus far. "

the question of course is whether govt can indeed find a resolution to this idleness and crime.

[roger]

anarcissie: " And now, back to making up stories about the vicious, ungrateful, incorrigibly degenerate poor. "

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,519904,00.html

indeed

[Anarcissie]

roger -- what you are advocating has been the official policy of the U.S. government and most of the major institutions (including business corporations) based in the U.S., for the last forty years, from Affirmative Action to the War on Drugs (both formulated under Richard Nixon). Many of these programs have had bad results, and the War on Drugs in particular appears to be a crime against humanity, but on the other hand the crime rate has fallen radically. So I don't know what you want done now. Guaranteeing that those who did the right thing -- go to school, try to get a job -- were reasonably rewarded for their efforts in spite of ethnic prejudice and discrimination would require draconian laws and law enforcement which would far exceed the powers granted to the government under the U.S. Constitution.

I disagree, by the way, about the relation of business and government to culture. Business and government are part of culture and they affect other parts profoundly, although often in unexpected ways. Relevant to this point in particular, consider the material purveyed to adolescents by television, especially that featuring young Black persons. I won't describe it -- this is a family blog -- but I do think those who are profiting from it should remind their victim-customers that if you have sex with everyone who comes down the street you may get sick or pregnant, and that if you shoot people at random you may wind up in jail or dead. A little warning, like the one on a pack of cigarettes, that the product offered may be dangerous to your health. But, oh, that might interfere with profits....

[roger]

im advocating the quadrupling of the police force in the inner cities thus providing safety and security and an intense and dramatic increase in school presence in the inner cities thus providing opportunity and tax breaks and significant incentives for business to relocate and expand into the inner cities thus providing employment.

affirmative action is racist and ineffective.

war on drugs = crime against humanity = holocaust

you will need to help me here.

[Anarcissie]

In regard to quadrupling the police force in those inner cities which haven't been gentrified beyond recognition, I can only parody John L. Lewis, who pointed out that you can't dig coal with bayonets. Just so, you can't teach children with guns and billyclubs. When you have to turn the school into a prison, something more fundamental is wrong outside. It will not help real estate values or business, either. In any case politicians are not going to spend the kind of money you are talking about on poor children -- they have to take care of their friends.

As for the Drug War, most of the people now in prison in the U.S. -- millions -- and most of those with prison records have them because they engaged in actually harmless activities like possessing and using forbidden substances. Thousands have been killed in or because of related criminal activities. Meanwhile, just as alcohol prohibition funded the establishment of the Mafia in America, so this form of prohibition continues to provide opportunities and occasions for organized crime which overlap into gun-running and provide routes through which the personnel and materials necessary to carry on terrorism can be introduced to this country (and any other country with a Drug War.)

The Drug War is an indulgence in superstition, sadism and racism which we can't afford. Drug addiction needs to be treated as a medical problem, not as witchcraft.

[chris]

anarcissie, you wrote:

"Just so, you can't teach children with guns and billyclubs."

Your thoughts are from someone who is unfamiliar with life inside too many urban schools.

Guns and billyclubs are not teaching tools. But the presence of overwhelming force is an unbeatable way to suppress unnecessary, unwanted and counterproductive disruptions.

I guarantee you if troublemaking students understood that some of their behaviors would cause their immediate removal from the grounds, the learning environment at schools would rise to a level that would allow teachers to shift their energies from classroom management to teaching.

You erroneously wrote:

"When you have to turn the school into a prison, something more fundamental is wrong outside."

On the contrary, schools are prison-like now. Troublemakers are returned to class after brief detours to an administrator's office. Current regulations and practices force troublemakers upon classrooms, thereby disrupting, if teachers are lucky, or destroying, commonly, the learning environment.

YOu can be sure that teachers would welcome the change to hail a cop to come into a classroom to remove unruly students. When they're gone from the classrooms, the remaining students progress.

There's nothing esoteric or abstract about group leadership and the breakdown of command. When a leader has no power, mutiny is always at hand. Rival factions emerge to challenge the toothless authority, and the rivals learn that it is easy to destroy a leader's control.

Meanwhile, too many students engage in interpersonal acts that are plainly illegal in adult settings. Verbal abuse, threatening and intimidating, and physical assaults are common. The hrashness of the verbal abuse and sexual harrassment occurring between students would lead to multi-million-dollar lawsuits if the same behavior occurred in workplaces.

You wrote:

"It will not help real estate values or business, either."

Wrong. Improving real estate markets are tied directly to the willingness of white families to move into formerly minority neighborhoods. Once again, safety is key, especially if the new residents have kids who might attend the local schools.

You wrote:

"In any case politicians are not going to spend the kind of money you are talking about on poor children -- they have to take care of their friends."

I see you have slipped into your fiction mode. The per-pupil expenditure at schools populated almost entirely by blacks and hispanics is over $15,000. In many cases the per-pupil cost is up to $17,000.

On the other hand, the per-pupil expenditures at NY City's best high schools, which have student bodies that are almost exclusively white and asian, is under $10,000. For years taxpayers have paid a high cash premium for the underachievement of black and hispanic students, while enjoying the fact that good students are taught at a substantial discount.

Unfortunately, the blacks and hispanics account for nearly 70% of the NY City public school students. Whites and asians account for 14% each. Thus, the discount does not offset the premium.

[Anarcissie]

chris -- You are incorrect about cops raising real estate values in slums. Generally, the leading wave of gentrification consists of hippies, bohemians, artists and such. These are followed by semi-hip breeder types who form concentrated nests in poor neighborhoods from whence they cry out for city services unheard-of by the poor schmucks they displace. Their correctly-spelled letters strike fear into the hard hearts of mayors, councilmen and bureaucrats and the Sanitation Department is directed to stop forgetting their streets. Pretty soon the fern bars, boutiques, and cafes appear, and it's all over. If only we bohos could get a cut!

[Chris2]

I saw your blog post and shared it with my best friend. We then spent an hour deciding that if we were to buy one, whose face we would throw it in.

She's sticking with Ann Coulter. I'm leaning towards George Will.

[roger]

" These are followed by semi-hip breeder types "

you cant be serious.

[chris]

anarcissie, you wrote:

"You are incorrect about cops raising real estate values in slums."

The money arrives after the streets become relatively safe, which is a function of police presence and some displacement of miscreants by non-criminal residents.

You wrote:

"Generally, the leading wave of gentrification consists of hippies, bohemians, artists and such."

Usually true. But the arrival of the vanguard does little to raise real estate prices. Meanwhile, the joke in NY City is the prevalence of trust-funders and other parentally-funded characters among the membership of the "pioneers."

You wrote:

"These are followed by semi-hip breeder types who form concentrated nests in poor neighborhoods from whence they cry out for city services unheard-of by the poor schmucks they displace."

Oh please. Community activists, city councilmen and others skilled at attracting media attention lean on the mayor every day, with admirable results.

But abundant city services is not what creates a vibrant neighborhood. That's all a result of private funding.

You wrote:

"Their correctly-spelled letters strike fear into the hard hearts of mayors, councilmen and bureaucrats and the Sanitation Department is directed to stop forgetting their streets."

First, the city councilmen representing the dilapidated and run-down neighborhoods are either black or hispanic, and they themselves cannot write cogent letters.

As for the sanitation department, well, as the vanguard of white residents arrives, an appreciable increase in the accuracy of the garbage toss is noticed. Instead of dropping McDonald's or Popeye's food containers on the ground, they land in the trash cans.

You wrote:

"Pretty soon the fern bars, boutiques, and cafes appear, and it's all over."

All the result of private money. No city agency ever opened a bar or boutique, though I admit almost every city department sells its own line of clothing, including the sanitation department, which enjoys the style-setting acronym of DSNY.

You lamented:

"If only we bohos could get a cut!"

Everything is for sale. But even those who don't buy should enjoy the ambiance as part of the rent. Meanwhile, due to the increasing problems in the real estate market, next year will very likely prove to be a good time for purchasing local property. Low rates and somewhat lower prices in many neighborhoods.

[The Eternal Squire]

This discussion reminds me of the National Public Radio interview with Democracy Now regarding the penchant people for owners of mansions in California to hire thier own private firefighting and rescue service. The DN anchor remarked about how in the recent California fires the mansions were saved but the nearby houses were not. The anchor was outraged and so was I. Private safety and security operating seperately from public fire and police in the same disaster area would seem to be an affront to the basic idea of equal protection under the law... emphasis on "equal protection". I think the one remedy to this would have each of the states enact thier own law giving the governer in time of natural disaster the power to seize all private fire and safety assets and subordinate them to public fire and safety organizations presently on the field, as part of his marital law powers.

The Eternal Squire

[Chickensh*tEagle]

"...have each of the states enact thier own law giving the governer in time of natural disaster the power to seize all private fire and safety assets and subordinate them to public fire and safety organizations presently on the field...."

An appealing idea -- but it's one thing to issue an executive order and quite another achieve anything but a giant clusterfuck in trying to integrate the private companies' operations into those of the public agencies when a disaster strikes. Remember, the police and fire agencies' radio systems couldn't even talk to each other during the 9/11 emergency.

It would take extensive prior planning, and legislation, which you can bet the private companies would oppose. After all, they're in business precisely to serve their wealthy clients, not the general public.

[Monica]

It wouldn't be fair. I mean, somebody is paying in full for those private services out of their own money. If they had their own housecleaning staff, the city would not send the staff to clean somebody else's house. Why would that happen to firefighting and rescue service?

People who pay could decide to provide services to others out of the kindness of their heart, or for practical reasons such as that they don't want fire to spread to their own houses or that in some cases, it doesn't take too much extra effort. But the decision, including the decision not to do so, should be up to them. If other people or their city want to have such services, let them pay.

People do have the same basic protection, . It's just that those who are buying private firefighting and security services are paying extra to get something better than what everybody else has. If what everybody has amounts to next to nothing, that does not mean that those who took the trouble to pay for their own protection should be penalized by having that taken away from them or shared with everybody at their expense.

[LaSmartOne]

I actually live within a couple blocks of Serendipity and let me tell you, the Jackie O's and Park Avenue moms of New York really aren't patronizing that establishment anymore. It's mostly a tourist trap, really. Their world record dessert was more of a publicity stunt than anything else. All the same, they probably did use underpaid "illegal immigrants" in their kitchen.

[Jake]

I worked at a grocery story once, and let me tell you, I was disgusted at the amount of food they threw out on a daily basis. Now, I live in a pretty well-off suberb, and I've only ever seen maybe 3 different bums around town, but still, to throw away all that food just seemed so effing stupid to me. They weren't even allowed to give any of it or allow any of the employees to take any of it home, because that would be "stealing." What a country.

[Revival Lawrence]

possibility is the ability to make things happen.the amonth of your faith or the level of your faith determine your possibility.