THE WEEK IN COMEDIC REVIEW: BARE BREASTS, CENSORSHIP IN RUSSIA, AND CRAZINESS FROM TRUMP

Let's have some fun, beginning with Emma Watson's decision to expose herself.


I'm not sure where to start. The former Harry Potter actress, and avowed feminist, decided to go bra-less in a white, ropy Burberry top that revealed much of her breasts. The picture was for the latest issue of Vanity Fair, Anyone that reads that particular magazine should be well accustomed to softcore porn. My first instinct is to say "so what?", and brush it off as another piece of silliness from the crazies of Hollywood. It's a good thing I've learned to trust my instincts.

Of course there has been some backlash from angry women that have denounced Watson's decision, using very shrill sounding rhetoric. Perhaps they have a point. A good portion of modern feminists angrily decry the "sexualization" of women by leering, lecherous, and creepy males. I like Watson's response to the naysayers "They were saying that I couldn't be a feminist and have boobs", she later continued "Feminism is about giving women choice. Feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women with. It's about freedom. It's about liberation. It's about equality. It's not -- I really don't know what my t*ts have to do with it....... The more I have spoken about feminism, the more I have realized that fighting for women's rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating. ... For the record, feminism by definition is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities." 

Naturally, someone had to dig up Gloria Steinem (I hope they didn't have to dig too deep). Her response, coming from the grandmother of all feminists, is unique and filled with all the extravagance everyone expects from a 1960's free-love and rock and roll feminist. "Feminists can wear anything they f****** want," Steinem told TMZ. "They should be able to walk down the street nude and be safe." I still think this story belongs in the "so what?" part of the news. 

This next issue is of Russia discussing a possible ban of the remake of "Beauty and the Beast". 

The reasoning is that one of the characters is openly gay and this is seen as immoral Western propaganda by cynical and socially conservative Russians. I've never been a believer in censorship of any kind; anyone that wants to watch the film will eventually watch it. I've seen the trailers, and that was enough to convince me of the fact that this is not my type of movie. It's a remake, and remakes have a tendency to disappoint everyone. Perhaps the producers and directors put in some genuine TLC  and have made a genuinely good movie. If they have, please let me know and I'll go judge for my self.

Our last bit of news comes from the Trump White House, and I get the feeling this will be a constant source of good comedic material.

Trump is undoubtedly the most unique person to take up residence in the White House in a very long time, perhaps of all time. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, the issue of who spoke to which Russian ambassador, when, and why, seems to be a rather dubious attempt by the Washington media to create some kind of story. However, I could be wrong; there's no way to tell at this point. Then Trump made the accusation that the Obama administration had wiretapped his offices and was spying on him. Huh? Why would anyone want to spy on Trump? His life has been an open book for decades, all of his secrets and personal habits have been well covered by the tabloids for the past thirty years, there's nothing new to be learned. Is there something we didn't know about the man that he wishes to keep secret? He is an older man, the oldest to ever get elected president, perhaps his brain is starting to go soft. That would be something to keep secret. Perhaps he's been cheating on his wife. He's rich, has lots of nice toys, has been married three times, and is a very powerful man, its not inconceivable that he's getting some on the side, if he can ever comb his hair. If he is cheating at his advanced age he may need to use a bit of Viagra or something like that, and that is something any guy would want to keep secret. I think Trump is just making the whole thing up to distract everyone from what's really happening, and whatever that may be, it has escaped my notice.

THEY TOOK A BEAUTIFUL AND PROSPEROUS COUNTRY, AND THEY RUINED IT.

Caracas burning 

I am discussing Venezuela, one of my pet peeves. Venezuela going bankrupt  Beginning with the infamous Hugo Chavez in 1999 and continuing with his chosen successor, the bungling and poorly educated Nicolas Maduro, the once thriving Venezuela has been turned into a disaster zone.  Theses two close-minded Marxist fanatics have torn their country apart in their desire to forcefully implement a Socialist fantasy that has failed every time it's been tried!  Chavez was an educated man and made some effort to keep his country from falling to pieces, he made an effort to keep at least the appearance of good governance. Perhaps, I've given Chavez too much credit; when he came into office there was still some wealth and industry in Venezuela, which he promptly began destroying. On the other hand, Maduro is a barely literate Communist fanatic that doesn't know much about anything, but he rules with an even harsher iron fist than Chavez.

Part of the problem is that Chavez enjoyed great popular support from a large percentage of the voters. Many of the poor, especially the indigenous "Indian" peoples, felt abandoned by the world and saw a hero in Chavez with his populist rhetoric. When Chavez began dismantling institutions: the courts, the legislature, the press, industry, and private property, many people believed it was all in an effort to bring justice and equality to everyone. After the death of Chavez, people began to view Maduro with a different light. Maduro is not as charismatic as his predecessor, nor is he even half as competent..  He has stumbled, fumbled, and bungled his way through his time in office, and Venezuela is now in serious trouble..

The best thing that can happen is the immediate removal of Maduro from office, and the dismantling of all the failed and nonsensical Socialist policies that have brought the nation to the brink of ruin. Socialism does NOT work as an economic system; it never has and it never will. It removes the incentive for people to work hard or excel, and eventually an economy will collapse from people not being productive. This is what happened in Eastern Europe and the USSR, and this is what has occurred in Venezuela.

BIG BOX RETAILERS ARE FEELING THE INEVITABLE BITE OF INFLATION AND THE INTERNET

The out of control inflation that is sickening our nation's economy is having a drastic impact on "big box" retailers. This terrible scourge of inflation is eating away at the public's disposable income, and this leave people less money to spend on shopping. Inflation makes it appear that prices are on the rise, but in reality it is people's money that is losing its buying power.

The Internet and on-line shopping have of course had a tremendous impact on the market and the way in which people shop  However, the middle class has always looked for both value and quality when shopping, this means that everyone is not flocking to budget or discounts shops like Walmart.  Amazon will never have the sex appeal of Victoria's Secret. Personally, I dread the thought that Walmart will dominate every facet of the marketplace.

Regardless of Amazon's or Walmart's market share, if things continue the way the are and the Inflation bubble is not corrected, even modestly priced stores like Target will continue to lose ground.

BOSS VS LEADER, OR PERHAPS MANAGER VS LEADER

Over the past few years there has been a growing discussion over leadership styles, with various writers phrasing the issue as “Boss vs Leader”. For the purposes of this article, in order to keep clearly defined terms, the argument will be phrased as “Manager vs Leader”. Within the article the term “manager” will be used to denote persons responsible for guiding an organization. There are several good reasons why this is an appropriate nomenclature, all of which will become more evident as the discussion progresses. The terms Boss, Manager, and Leader will be defined and described as to how they fit within an organization. The graphic below will serve to initiate this discussion.  

 

The above picture is ubiquitous on the Internet, it comes in all sorts of shapes, sizes, colors, and decorations, but the information is the exact same. As can be quickly observed, most of the differences are based strictly upon charisma and personality. How does the term “Boss” fit into the structure of an organization? For the various Internet authors, “Boss” is used as a pejorative to denote anyone lacking in personal charisma.  Anyone holding a position of even the slightest authority can be called “boss” by their co-workers; therefore the term itself becomes vague and generally useless for the purposes of this discussion. A “manager” is defined as someone with a formal position within an organization (from assistant supervisor to CEO or business owner) who has the responsibility and authority to carry out the duties of that position. A manager derives authority because of his official position. A “Leader” is not an official position; rather it is someone who people desire to follow because of perceived personality and character traits.

There is a legitimate question of how effectively managers lead their organizations through their personal mannerisms.  Some issues are quite obvious; nobody wishes to hear their supervisor or company executive exclaim “You need to do what I tell you because I’m the boss around here!”, nor does anyone wish to experience abusive or condescending behavior in the workplace. It is assumed that astute managers desire a harmonious work environment in which their employees can be motivated to work at their full potential.

The study of management and leadership began during the late 1800’s, the University of Pennsylvania has the distinction of being the very first university to offer a degree program focused in this field. The early researchers began their examination by looking at the different characteristics of military and business leaders. They were able to discern different tasks or functions that are common to all authority figures or “managers” in carrying out their duties.  The Five Functions of a Manager, as any business school student can recite, are as follows: Plan, Organize, Direct, Control, and Communicate (Many authors use the term “Staffing” as the fifth function; however, for several good reasons, I prefer to use the term Communicate). How a manager carries out these various functions is the basis for this discussion of Boss vs Leader.

Each of the Five Functions of a Manager requires a different set of skills and knowledge, and different people will approach them in different ways. Below is an explanation of each of the terms.       

• Planning: CEOs and business owners must decide on the future of their organizations by carefully planning in advance. Hypothetically, the CEO of ABC company decides to expand operations into the Southern US. The CEO will issue a statement to the effect “We find opportunity in the South, and expect to expand operations soon.”

• Organize: After plans are decided upon, managers must organize resources (both personnel and material) in order to reach whatever plans or goals have been made. Continuing from the previous example, the CEO of ABC company decided to expand operations to the Southern US. The CEO must now organize company assets by hiring additional employees, moving assets to the South, leasing office space, or doing whatever else is needed to accomplish the company’s goals.

•  Directing: This can also be called Commanding or Leading, the manager directs employees by issuing orders. How a manager goes about directing employees is of the utmost importance, and it will depend on a great many factors.  For example, the CEO of IBM directing the Vice-President of Finance to sell some stock in order to raise working capital will use a very different sort of language than the manager of a fast food restaurant directing a rebellious teenage employee to clean the bathrooms.

•  Controlling: Managers control their company’s resources in order to ensure goals are being met. This is another area in which everything will depend on the situation. The manager of a car dealership may control employees by setting quotas. For example, an underperforming employee may be warned “If you don’t sell three more cars by the end of the week, you’ll be looking for a job”.  A manager may have to address an employee that’s being distracted by personal issues. Example “Get off the phone, and pay more attention to your work”

• Communication: A manager must communicate constantly, both internally to employees and to external stakeholders. The most successful and effective managers are able to communicate very effectively.

Given the various functional areas of management, and the wide spectrum of organizations and circumstances, it is clear that different managers will be focused on certain of the Five Functions. From the examples above, the CEO of a large company will be focused almost exclusively on Planning. Organizing, and Communicating, with little time to Direct or Control employees and assets. A department manager at the local department store will be focused on Directing and Controlling, with little opportunity for anything else.

Taking into account all the information discussed above, it becomes apparent that an individual manager will adjust their management style depending on the situation. Generally speaking, there is no one with an absolute personality of evil Boss or saintly Leader; everyone has some mixture of both personality traits and everything will depend on a given situation. It should be emphasized that the best leadership style is the one that is appropriate to the situation and will motivate employee to reach their fullest potential.

BOSS VS LEADER

There are all sorts of articles on the Internet trying to compare the qualities of a "Boss" and a "Leader". Much of what has been written seems copied from one author to the next. For my next article, I will explore the different leadership styles, and provide some clarity on how they function in an applied basis given different scenarios.
Stay tuned my dear friends, the article should post within the next few days.