I really haven't been paying much attention to Howard Stern's success at Sirius, but at the moment it is all over the news that Stern got an $83m bonus through stock compensation -

Firstly, I didn't know that his contract was for 5 years for a total amount of compensation of $500m. 500 MILLION! To my knowledge this amount is separate from the $83m bonus payment.

Apparently, according to the article, the number of Sirius subscribers totalled 600,000 when Stern signed. They also agreed to a bonus if the number of subscribers at the end of 2006 eclipsed analyst expectations by 2 million - in the end, Sirius subscribers have increased ten fold over the course of the past two years. This is an unbelievably phenomenal growth rate over ten years or longer let alone two.

This is what I call results-based compensation. Its fairly obvious that Stern has affected Sirius in a major way - not so obvious for Goldman Sachs' CEO, who just got a $52m bonus.

Still though - Howard Stern is becoming one of the richest entertainers in the world in a relatively quiet manner - people make a lot less of a fuss over his compensation than corporate officers.

I loathe even suggesting reading something from Artvoice normally, but the newest issue has an amazing interview with Congressman Brian Higgins. Check it out.

And when I say 'amazing,' I'm talking about Brian Higgins. Geoff Kelly, the worm who interviewed him, proceeded to ask Mr. Higgins the most idiotic, biased, leading line of questioning I have ever read in local print. Geoff Kelly is a fucking disgraceful human being who obviously has a major bone to pick with Mr. Higgins because, well frankly, he isn't a liberal. The pathetic part of it all was that Kelly believes that by rewording what he really thinks that somehow the readers, or even Mr. Higgins himself, are going to not realize it. Its a shame and a complete disgrace, but what else am I to expect from the utter and absolute garbage that we have for media in our city? You hire garbage and you are going to end up reviewing, editing and printing garbage. Way to go once again, Artvoice. FUCK YOU. Brian Higgins isn't as loony as Louise Slaughter or Cindy Sheehan and somehow this is a problem for you mouth breathers?

Geoff Kelly is an absolute idiot. Ignore his demure, banal, biased and predictable line of questioning. What to pay attention to is how Mr. Higgins easily handled Kelly. What you will find after reading Mr. Higgins thoughts is that he is a very level headed, practical, intelligent and thoughtful man. I was truly impressed by Congressman Higgins and I am proud to say that we have an excellent representative. If all members of Congress were like Mr. Higgins we would have an amazing body of politicians representing us.

I'm pleased that people seem to have taken to my beer reviews! After thinking about it a little bit (and probably some of what I'm about to say is understood already) I realized that I should probably throw down a list of disclaimers:

1. Talking about how the beer tastes will only be part of the reviews - I intend on passing along a little bit of knowledge about the style of beer, how it may compare to something you are definitely familiar with and a bit of background. This way, as you try new things you can be familiar with the different styles of brew and have a frame of reference when you are trying two things that are similar, and vice versa. Most people understand that a porter is different than a lager, but its not exactly common knowledge HOW they are precisely different. Learning a little bit about what we're drinking is part of the fun as far as I'm concerned and it will make you look smart at a party.

2. I may suggest where to locate a product but by no means am I promoting one retailer over another. For the purposes of the review we'll be looking at different beers that may simply not be available anywhere but a specialty store and so my hands are tied. Luckily for us, we live in a city plagued by chronic alcoholism so a lot of hard to find stuff is within our grasp. Except for Hacker-Pshorr - what the hell is up with that, Premier Group and/or Wegman's and/or Consumers?

3. I want to try to approach the reviews from as neutral a perspective as possible, but we're human and we all have different tastes. You may end up not liking something I liked in a review, so keep that in mind before you go and purchase something. You likely already have a bit of an idea, whether you realize it or not, about the things that you like and your willingness to take a leap of faith based on something somebody wrote. I hate saying that since part of the spirit of me doing this is to encourage people to branch out and try something completely different, but I'm definitely not handing out refunds.

4. Maybe there is a killer find out there that you think I should try and review - by all means I am open to suggestions, so don't be afraid to offer something up. (e:chico) asked so he shall receive!

5. I will never waste my money on buying Busch or PBR let alone drink them, so you'll never see commercial domestic beer (in the traditional sense) in my reviews.

6. Like I said, the goal is to have some fun, learn some stuff, try new and exciting beers (or old yet still kicking varieties) and hopefully at least one person over the course of time will try and like something I liked - there is always a degree of pleasure in introducing something to somebody and getting a positive reaction, isn't there? If you dislike something I liked, please comment and go through your points - it will benefit everybody.

Day off - lovely! I've been drinking way more tea lately... I am enjoying it!

(e:paul) - your thing about the braces - I have always believed that doctors are guilty of trying to drum up business for each other. The first question I would have asked is, "If this isn't medically necessary, explain to me why I should be interested in this let alone pay $4200 out of my own pocket for it?"

I was checking out a message board today and there was a discussion about the upcoming minimum wage increase and how it is going to affect American manufacturers. You all (well, most of you) have an idea of what I do and as a result its hard for me, or really pointless in the end, to break out with the "full disclosure" and let people know that because of what our company does I have a direct and privileged access to information about this particular subject. Its one thing to be a message board warrior and try to provide web page links to make a point - its completely another thing to see it on a daily basis in person and have your knowledge come from that kind of direct experience.

My viewpoint on the minimum wage increase is that generally I don't see why we shouldn't. In truth, many states (including New York) have been raising the minimum wage despite what is going on at the federal level.

Advocates of the minimum wage increase claim that a meaningful segment of society will benefit positively as a result of the increase but are being dishonest about exactly WHO will be the biggest beneficiaries. Anybody that has read a collective bargaining agreement know what I'm getting at.

The people who poopoo the idea claim that there will be job losses and price increases. Who is right?

They are both right to an extent, but the truth about all of this is that we are talking about a relatively insignificant number of the American workforce. According to a study done by the Bureau of Labor Statistics - - 1.9 million Americans, or roughly 2.5% of the American workforce, makes at or below the Federal minimum. This includes servers and bartenders, who legally earn a sub-federal wage yet generally earn far more on average.

Creating law to satisfy a very small minority is generally bad law, but on the other hand, what will the argument be in another 10 years if the feds didn't raise the wage - that after another 10 years its still an insignificant number and therefore we still shouldn't bother raising the minimum?

Numerous states defer to the federal minimum, but just as many if not more legislate on their own a minimum wage that is $1.50 or higher than the federal minimum. Most of these states that defer to the federal amount are concentrated in rural areas, and most of the states that have a significantly higher minimum wage are concentrated in the populous states. The most interesting thing to me about the study is that two of the states with the highest minimum wages (California and Washington) by proportion actually have the lowest amount of minimum wage workers. So what does this mean - are we talking about a cosmetic or an effective law?

2.5% of American workers earn at or below the federal, but a whopping 12-14% will be affected by "spillover effects." They are talking about union workers, friends. I know this because I've read countless collective bargaining agreements and correlating wage increases when a minimum wage is increased is PART OF THE CONTRACT! We are talking about people who are earning double, triple, sometimes quadruple or more of the minimum wage, that have a contractual obligation agreed upon by their employer that will allow them to get an extra $2.10 an hour by 2008 if the feds raise the minimum.

So, who are the real beneficiaries of the minimum wage increase? Decide for yourself but knowing what I know and having seen what I seen, and especially after reading federal studies on this subject, I am convinced that the biggest beneficiaries to such an increase will be those who truly do not 'need' the money. Politicians are selling this as an initiative that will help "the little guy" but when only less than 500,000 American workers earn the minimum and the other 1.4 million in the study are service workers that in truth earn significantly more than minimum because of tips.

Opponents of the increase suggest that layoffs will occur and prices will increase, this affecting the entire middle class... and as a result the standard of living will decrease. In my view they aren't entirely incorrect, but are we talking about a massive decrease in our standard of living? Hell no. Layoffs will occur, but not like you would think. Lets take a company that is unionized and has 50,000 hourly employees as an example. With a $2.10 increase per hour, that is $105,000 per hour that the company will pay after a contractually mandated increase. Not including any overtime, this is $4.2m per week and $218.4m per year in wages! I'll give you one guess who is going to end up paying for that extra 9-figure wage bill.

Generally, a minimum wage increase will end up affecting relatively few people and isn't going to cause the benefit or the downfall that people on both sides of the argument have suggested.

Here is my take on it - we should do this because the states are already ahead of the federal government in this regard... the fact that the feds are behind the states is a bit ridiculous. We should do this not because of how many people may or may not be affected, but because its simply the right thing to do. So what if only 2.5% will be affected - for that matter, who cares if 14% will be affected? Just remember that this debate is largely driven by special interests so do not let it cloud your judgment. The federal minimum should be increased, as far as I'm concerned, because there are some in our country, even if it is only a relative few, that can benefit from it. The unions be damned - their part in this can be summarized in how wages and benefits are affecting companies like Ford... they are actually costing their members jobs - my concern is for the 50-year old lady working at BK because no other jobs exist in her area. Aren't people like her the people we should be focusing on?

Matt - we will definitely review a gluten-free beer. I'm aware of a few different types - one was actually contract brewed right here in Buffalo!

After doing a little bit of research and asking around we'll find one to highlight. Soon there will be tears of joy as you sip a beer thats totally faking the gluten content! One I found is a beer that you may be familiar with - Ramapo Valley honey beer. Its actually kosher! I have to imagine that one way of 'masking'

A general rule to follow - if you aren't a celiac you shouldn't be drinking the celiac's special beer. That is denying someone one of the greatest joys unjustly - let the guy or gal have his damn beer in peace!