Things That Make Me Angry

I have three things that I feel the need to share that really get my goat, rub me the wrong way, ruffle my feathers, and other animal related colloquialisms that mean "increase one's ire."

First: People who misuse percentages. This may sound a little wacky but hear me out. I was watching a news story regarding the rising cost of gas. The anchor displayed four categories that together make up the price of fuel. They were "Distribution, Taxes, Refining, and Crude." She was comparing 2010 gas data to the current trends using percentages. Her claim was that we shouldn't feel so terrible about the increase in crude prices, because the amount we were paying for distribution, taxes, and refining had decreased based on the percentages. Well DUH! With the price of crude sky-rocketing the way it is and everything else remaining the same, of course the percentages are going to decrease!

Here's the table they were displaying:
.................2010....2011
Refining.......36%......20%
Taxes..........14%.......7%
Distribution...15%.......8%
Crude..........35%......65%

"Taxes and Distribution are down nearly 50%" the TV personality tried to assert, "and Refining is down by 16 points!" Come on!

Now, work with me here: (For the sake of argument, let's use round numbers) let's say that gas in 2010 was $2 a gallon and it's now $4 a gallon. Now, we'll plug actual numbers into this table instead of percentages:

..................2010......2011
Refining.......$0.72......$0.80
Taxes..........$0.28......$0.28
Distribution...$0.30......$0.30
Crude..........$0.70......$2.60

Anyone really think that average Joe watching this news cast is going to break out their trusty TI81 and calculate this fallacy? No, Ms Newscaster, the other three portions of the cost of gas are not decreasing. Crude is so expensive it's name is literal and figurative. It's time to stop misusing percentages (and open up the US reserves, but that's for another post).

Second: Hypocrisy in unions. The NFL Player's Union, to be specific. The NFL players are trying to claim that they are pawns in the greedy hands of the overbearing owners. And in a show of solidarity they've asked the incoming rookies not to attend the draft celebration in New York on Thursday. Anyone paying attention to this so-called lockout knows that the player's union is going to "concede" to a rookie salary cap in order to get some of their own demands met. (I say "concede" because there's no reason for the Player's Union to fight the cap. Why should an 8 year veteran be making less than someone who's never played a down in the NFL?) Why, then, would this trodden-on group of players turn and do the same thing to the incoming rookies?! Hey, players: They aren't part of your union, so they aren't part of your strike (I mean "lockout"). They are going to be your pawns at the bargaining table so please allow them to be knights at the podium on Thursday.

Finally: I've decided that if I can't afford the things I really want, like my iPhone, Internet, cable, (basically the overall lifestyle to which I've become accustomed) I'm just going to go to my neighbors and demand money from them. After all, that's what the government does, right? Cut spending? What's that? No, I'm just going to require everyone to give me cash. And if you were giving me money before, now you have to give me more. I know everyone has less right now. The economy is hard, but how else can I continued to live the way I want to live? Now, if the "powers-that-be" decided that they were going to lead by example, tighten the belt a little bit, then I might be encouraged to do so as well. However, until that happens: If you've taken the time to read this post, please send me $5.00. Thank you.