Most of the world is obsessed with some sort of balls. Many times its personal. Not being much of a fan of any activity involving a single ball (even Highballs I do not stop at just one - you dirty minds) I did indulge myself by watching some baseball this weekend. You see the local bay area team is in the World Series (another misnomer for what constitutes Americans playing in America, although I am told they have bought and sold foreign born players).
Amazing to see the players get rock star treatment for use of their ball and socket, which is to say they make millions playing ball. And get paraded on the street if they pick up the World Series Trophy.
Now that is one way to make your millions.
Or you can play ball a different way - figuratively and be the executive of a major corporation in America or some other country. In America you at least are morally and legally obliged to disclose that you made millions. Whether you pay tax on that is another matter entirely. Here you play ball with politicos and environmentalists and other Special Interest Groups whose interest may or may not be in making their own millions.
Sometimes I read that the CEO of such and such corporation took a $1 salary yet ended up making millions after the books closed for the year. If that is not a neat magic trick without using a ball I do not know what is. These executives do have to bring their spouse to a variety of balls however. Some of them do not and are apparently promptly dispatched from their million dollar payday jobs. Some also end up with a ball and chain for failure to avoid getting caught when the government busts their balls. The latter may or may not have any bearing on what ballgames they played when in office.
In other countries you can play ball (literally and or figuratively) and make millions and not even have to or want to disclose it. But that is a different ball game.
A good example is Bollywood!
On an informal mission to read one book a week as long as the eyes allow for such ambition. Fiction or non is not important as long as it entertains and /or educates. To that end the past few weeks have brought a bounty in the form of some wonderful and then not so engaging literature. Among the notables are - Non fiction category: 1. Good arguments by Bo Seo (how to handle a dispute or debate the most efficient way possible) 2. Genesis by Eric Schmidt (and former US Secy of State Henry Kissinger, who recently passed) - how AI might affect our lives as we know it 3. One in a billion - Zarna Garg (an autobiographical look at an Indian born American woman with a bindi narrated in a standup format - yes it is at times cliched but still funny) Fiction: 1. Personal by Lee Child (a vigilante story with Jack Reacher the giant, nomad protagonist of Child's novels goes hunting for a sniper) 2. Ramayana unraveled by Ami Ganatra (she might disagree about it being a work of fiction but oh wel...
Baseball appears safer than cricket, where guys are now going to jail for match-fixing quite regularly. Cycling is another dangerous sport, going by the fate of the 'man on the moon'.
ReplyDeletesome seek Armstrong tactics others resort to Strongarm tactics
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