The Daily Dose/August 26, 2018
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
In The News
United States Senator Bernie Sanders of New Hampshire proposed this week that companies that employ over 500 people pay dollar for dollar for whatever federal charity their employees receive. This follows a report that some Amazon employees are receiving government assistance. Similar reports have been issued about Walmart and both are amongst the world’s most profitable companies.
Wages are the only part of the American economy that are not strong right now. This is not an employer’s fault because, as has been the case since time immemorial, employers will not pay anymore for labor than their employees force them to pay.
We have street cred in this matter. We punch a clock for upwards of 65 hours a week and right now the American worker is, by and large, content to take what the boss offers. Part of this, of course, is due to the decline of the private sector union, but I’ve noticed no great groundswell to improve wages, even amongst me.
(While we would not dismiss out of hand the prospect of earning a living writing, we will add philosophically that having an income independent of writing means we can say what we feel needs to be said every time we ply this trade, a writer’s great prize.)
Working anywhere – Amazon, Walmart, your aunt’s bakery – is employment, not indentured servitude. We are all free to decide how much we want to make, identify jobs that pay that and then put the work in required to get that job.
As soon as workers start demanding better, gainfully employed workers will no longer need federal charity.
Today At The Site
Despite the fact the new temporary GM at the hotel lives five feet from the front desk, Sparrow is relieved 20 minutes late on today’s edition of The Diary of a Nobody. Also, Sparrow and The Wife have had the cat for seven years and in celebration of that, the cat no longer is demanding her morning yummy ration when Sparrow comes home from work.
John Locke, a smart and practical man, has The Thought for the Day. Locke’s influence on, among others, our Founding Fathers, was profound, and today’s quote talks about suffering and resistance.
On This Date
In 2009 – Jaycee Dugard, missing since 1991 and now 29-years-old, reappears alive when she appears with her kidnapper John Garrido at the office Garrido’s parole agent. Initially, Dugard claims to be a battered wife from Minnesota, though she later admits the truth.
In 1912 – Owen Wilson of the Pittsburgh Pirates hits three triples in a doubleheader against the Boston Braves, his 30th, 31st and 32nd triples of the season, establishing a new major league record that had been held by Dave Orr (1886, New York Metropolitans, American Association) and Heinie Reitz, 1894, Baltimore Orioles, National League). The game was played at Forbes Field, a haven for triples, and virtually every significant ML triples record is held by someone who played with the Pirates of that era. The record still stands.
In 1972 – After four weeks at #2, Looking Glass is at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for its only week with Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl). Though not an ultimate one-hit wonder, an act whose only Top 40 hit goes to #1, Looking Glass only hit the Top 40 one other time with a song that went to #33. The song’s social impact was moderate, as Brandy went from the 353rd most popular girl’s name in 1971, to the 140th in 1972 to the 82nd in 1973.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
The Billboard R&B/Soul chart debuted in 1942 as the Harlem Hit Parade. It is now known as the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Today’s Stumper
When was American private sector union membership highest and what is it now? – Answer next time!
Shameless Plugs
Backstairs at the Monte Carlo: A Vegas Memoir!: Clock in with the graveyard crew at the Monte Carlo Security Department on the glamorous Las Vegas Strip. You’ll meet drunks, reprobates and scoundrels, and those are just the officers! The funniest Vegas memoir ever! Promise!
The Regular Guys: Meet Lenny and Larry, two comedians who team up more or less out of desperation and become the biggest in show business. As funny as you would expect from Gaylon, and poignant, too.
Click here to read previews of both!
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