The $5 day

As The New York Times reported, on this date in 1914 —

Henry Ford, head of the Ford Motor Company, announced…one of the most remarkable business moves of his entire remarkable career. In brief it is:

To give to the employees of the company $10,000,000 of the profits of the 1914 business, the payments to be made semi-monthly and added to the pay checks.

To run the factory continuously instead of only eighteen hours a day, giving employment to several thousand more men by employing three shifts of eight hours each, instead of only two nine-hour shifts, as at present.

To establish a minimum wage scale of $5 per day. Even the boy who sweeps up the floors will get that much.

Before any man in any department of the company who does not seem to be doing good work shall be discharged, an opportunity will be given to him to try to make good in every other department. No man shall be discharged except for proved unfaithfulness or irremediable inefficiency.

Read the complete Times article.

Twelfth day of Christmas

Though advertisers and merchants would have us believe that the Christmas season begins at Thanksgiving (or possibly Halloween), liturgically it begins on Christmas Eve and extends until Twelfth Night, the eve of the Epiphany. The Twelve Days of Christmas are Christmas through January 5th.

Scrooge never had it so good

From a news report:

David and Victoria Beckham have hired a £1000-a-day [$1,888] butler to spend four hours unwrapping their Christmas presents.

A source close to the Beckhams said: “When Victoria and David’s long-standing butler John Giles-Larkin quit earlier this month there was a bit of a panic – especially as it was so close to Christmas.

“After such a turbulent year they’re determined the festive period is going to be devoted to family. They want to spend as much time together as possible and prove they’re still a strong family unit.”

To make sure the festivities go without a hitch Posh has enlisted the help of the butler.

The source added: “The person they’ve hired is one of the best in his field. He was originally booked by the Osbournes to spend Christmas with them, but the Beckhams really wanted him so they upped their offer.”

He will reportedly spend half the day unwrapping gifts for the couple’s sons, as well as presents for the rest of the family.

Pointer via Sideline Chatter.

Leno

“The temperature was cold, wasn’t it? It was so cold, Karl Malone got his tongue stuck on Kobe’s wife.”

“According to ‘In Touch’ magazine Donald Trump is coming out with a line of hair products for men. Donald Trump hair products? Isn’t that a little like Keith Richards coming out with his own line of facial creams.”

And from New Year’s Eve:

“Happy New Year everybody! We’re live tonight. Unfortunately, so is bin Laden. And Scott Peterson.”

“Andre Champagne has announced they have a new screw on top that keeps their four-dollar bottle of champagne bubbling for days. Well that’s good news – you wouldn’t want to rush through a four dollar bottle of champagne. That’s something you want to keep in the refrigerator next to the half eaten Big Mac in the zip lock bag. “

Rainy day news

In Albuquerque, last year was the eighth wettest year since 1931 with 11.80 inches of precipitation, ending a five-year streak of below-normal precipitation for the state’s largest city.

But elsewhere, drought has been harder to erase, Liles said. Santa Fe’s precipitation was below average for the year and Jemez Springs fell further behind.

“In parts of the northern mountains, the drought worsened this year,” he said.

From report in the Albuquerque Tribune

One-fifth of Albuquerque’s precipitation came in a 24-hour period last April. The average annual precipitation in Albuquerque is 8.46.

It’s the birthday

… of Jane Wyman. The Oscar-winning first Mrs. Reagan is 91.

… of Floyd Patterson. The former heavyweight champion is 70.

… of Dyan Cannon. The actress and Lakers fan is 68.

… of Julia Ormond. Guinevere or Sabrina, take your pick, is 40.

More on Social Security (because it’s damn important)

More from Paul Krugman’s excellent column:

Here’s the truth: by law, Social Security has a budget independent of the rest of the U.S. government. That budget is currently running a surplus, thanks to an increase in the payroll tax two decades ago. As a result, Social Security has a large and growing trust fund.

When benefit payments start to exceed payroll tax revenues, Social Security will be able to draw on that trust fund. And the trust fund will last for a long time: until 2042, says the Social Security Administration; until 2052, says the Congressional Budget Office; quite possibly forever, say many economists, who point out that these projections assume that the economy will grow much more slowly in the future than it has in the past.

Caveat lector

NewMexiKen assumes no responsibility for money lost as a result of any recommendations or predictions made on this website.

Stingy

Altercation —

The governments of Sweden and England contributed $8.40 per citizen. The government of the wealthiest country on earth, the United States of America, originally offered twelve cents per citizen, here.

Now we’re up to a buck twenty. Japan, a country a fraction of ours and with a relatively tiny population, is giving more than is our government.

Joseph de Veuster …

was born on this date in 1840. Known as Father Damien, the Belgian priest spent the last 16 years of his life ministering to the leper colony on Molokai.

“This is my work in the world. Sooner or later I shall become a leper, but may it not be until I have exhausted my capabilities for good.”

With King Kamehameha, Damien’s statue is one of the two chosen by Hawaii to be displayed in Statuary Hall in the nation’s Capitol.

Source: Hawaii State Government: Father Damien

It’s the birthday

… of George Martin. The man who produced The Beatles’ records is 79.

… of Dabney Coleman. Franklin M. Hart Jr. is 73 (that’s the boss in Nine To Five).

… of Bobby Hull. The hockey hall-of-famer is 66.

… of Stephen Stills. The rock and roll hall-of-famer is 60.

… of Victoria Principal. Pamela Barnes Ewing (Dallas) is 59.

… of Mel Gibson. Old Blood and Guts is 49.

Best films 2004

The 13 Best Movies of 2004 by David Edelstein —

  1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  2. Sideways
  3. Hero and House of Flying Daggers
  4. Bad Education
  5. The Incredibles
  6. Tarnation
  7. Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
  8. Moolaadé
  9. Kill Bill: Vol. 2
  10. Goodbye, Dragon Inn
  11. Spanglish
  12. Team America: World Police
  13. Collateral (FIRST HALF ONLY)

He says Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is “an inexhaustible masterpiece and, by a wide margin, the best film in many years.”

Most admired

From Gallup —

George W. Bush leads Gallup’s annual survey of the “most admired man” for the fourth year in a row. Hillary Clinton tops the most admired woman list with Oprah Winfrey close behind. Republicans overwhelmingly say the president is the most admired man, and also name first lady Laura Bush and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice as the most admired women. Democrats, meanwhile, are most likely to mention Bill and Hillary Clinton as the most admired man and woman.