I am so disgusted to be an American I want to puke. And then move to Canada or Europe or anywhere I can fake an accent and hide my origin.
Someone just asked me if I had heard about Paris. Silly me, I thought, city of light, cultural mecca. No such luck. They meant the heir-head "Paris I'm a worthless human being Hilton".
Once again the justice system of this country has failed us all. Paris has been released after only five days in jail because of an 'unspecified medical condition'. Ya, she's allergic to not getting her own way. She was sick of having to follow the law of the land like regular people.
We should all be very sad and fearful for the future of this country. Day after day we are told that justice is blind, no one get special treatment in the eyes of the law. WRONG!
What we are shown instead, is that justice is not blind but checking us out to see who is the most attractive and has the most money. If you are a celebrity, socialite or just stinking rich, you can get what ever the hell you want regardless of the law. The rest of us have to pay for our actions. Like the poor kid (honor student mind you) in Atlanta that is serving a 10 year mandatory sentence for consensual oral sex. Justice sure saved us all there.
The LA county sheriff should be fired. Is this the kind of lesson we want our kids to learn? All you need is money, a good lawyer, and like to spend as much time as you can in front of cameras with little to no clothes on, and you can get away with anything from drunk driving to murder. Remember OJ? Oh the joys of being a celebrity in the United States.
Those of us not lucky enough to have a grandparent make a fortune that we could inherit, have to tow the line. For we are second class citizens, mere servants to the rich and famous. Our health and well being are of little importance when things like Paris' well being are concerned. Far be it for us to make her pay for her wanton disregard of the laws of this country. Her snubbing her plastic nose at the rest of us who don't have a personal manager, PR person and assistants to blame our mistakes on. The rest of us have to make decisions on our own, using our own brain. The rest of us have to live with the consequences of our actions.
Oh, to be a celebrity in the US where you can be a mindless, racist, with no regard for anyone or anything other than your own greedy personal satisfaction and the rest of us will still worship you no matter how pathetic and unworthy you are.
Showing posts with label Ethics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ethics. Show all posts
Every Silver Lining Has A Dark Cloud...
When you get yourself into a bad situation, you think that you would sell your soul to get out of it. Then one day someone comes along and offers you something better. This someone isn't just anyone. It's someone that you have known and trusted for almost twenty years. This someone has been responsible for some of your best breaks.
Even though my father always told me, "Never do business with family or friends...when money is involved you can always count on your loved ones to fuck you over." How true. I despise money.
I went against my better judgment, because I wanted out of where I was, so bad.
The contract was never actually produced so it was never signed. The promises made have gone by the wayside.
The venture that was to cost us nothing, has now drained several tens of thousands out of our savings.
The great offer that was to deliver us from the bad situation has now officially become a night mare worse than our previous reality. Hind sights a bitch.
Ulcers, anxiety attacks, sleepless nights have become SOP.
I have never been so upset at myself. Dragging my family across country, on a promise and a hand shake only to make things worse than they were before.
Hanging by our teeth for the last eight months, we just can't hang anymore.
Never go against your gut. My gut told me to go slow. Instead I rushed in and got clobbered. I hate it when I do this kind of stupid shit. I knew better. Damn, I knew better!
The sound you are hearing: A dream being run through a meat grinder and tossed into the gutter to be forgotten.
I have spent my life following my dreams. Without them I have nothing to live for. I have had my hopes dashed and my heart broken many times. This time it feels much more personal. Maybe it's Mr. Man. I have to make sure that he is taken care of. I told myself that I could trust this someone because he knew I had Mr. Man to care for.
I walked right into it, wide eyed and blind. FUCK!
Even though my father always told me, "Never do business with family or friends...when money is involved you can always count on your loved ones to fuck you over." How true. I despise money.
I went against my better judgment, because I wanted out of where I was, so bad.
The contract was never actually produced so it was never signed. The promises made have gone by the wayside.
The venture that was to cost us nothing, has now drained several tens of thousands out of our savings.
The great offer that was to deliver us from the bad situation has now officially become a night mare worse than our previous reality. Hind sights a bitch.
Ulcers, anxiety attacks, sleepless nights have become SOP.
I have never been so upset at myself. Dragging my family across country, on a promise and a hand shake only to make things worse than they were before.
Hanging by our teeth for the last eight months, we just can't hang anymore.
Never go against your gut. My gut told me to go slow. Instead I rushed in and got clobbered. I hate it when I do this kind of stupid shit. I knew better. Damn, I knew better!
The sound you are hearing: A dream being run through a meat grinder and tossed into the gutter to be forgotten.
I have spent my life following my dreams. Without them I have nothing to live for. I have had my hopes dashed and my heart broken many times. This time it feels much more personal. Maybe it's Mr. Man. I have to make sure that he is taken care of. I told myself that I could trust this someone because he knew I had Mr. Man to care for.
I walked right into it, wide eyed and blind. FUCK!
Carefull Where You Crash...
Yesterday was going so well. It didn't rain. Precious came to have lunch with me while Mr. Man was with a sitter. People were in the gallery. All in all it was nice.
As I am leaving for the day I spy a note on my windshield. A love note from Precious, I think to myself. How cool. I do enjoy a nice love note.
I pull the note off the window and this is what I read...
This is not very romantic, but I kind of chuckle to myself. Then I think. This is not the handwriting of my Precious.
I walk around the side of my car to find a big fat dent, scrapes and paint transfer.
My good day is now shot to hell. I am so PO'ed at the fact this beeotch left this note with no personal info. She clearly new some one had seen her so she is going to make the witnesses think that she's doing the right thing when in fact she is just being mean, rude and irresponsible.
I apologize to women every where for assuming that it was a woman that hit me. At this point I had no idea.
Having learned early on in life that revenge, like sushi, is best served cold, I calm myself and begin my investigation.
All the shops were closed. No witnesses to be found. I examine the note more closely.
This was the other side of the note.
Not much to go on, but it's enough if you have been around the block a few times.
Within 10 minutes of finding the note I new the womans name (sorry women, it was a woman)
her phone number, type of vehicle, her address and insurance carrier.
In Oregon a hit and run of any kind is a criminal offense. How ever, I decide to give her the chance to do the right thing.
I call the number and ask for her by name. What I get is, "Um...no...that's not me...um...who is this?...how did you get my number?...um...wrong number." CLICK. She hung up on me.
I tried it again only to get an answering service. Guess who's voice I hear. That's right. The same woman that just told me I had the wrong number.
Now I'm pissed.
As I am talking with the police, giving them the info I get another call. It's her. She starts off by asking if I am the person who's car she hit. Then she desperately wants to know how I found her. I did not share techniques.
Maybe she started to think about how much trouble I could cause for her if I were so inclined or she was feeling guilty. Who knows. Who cares. She does offer to call her insurance company and file a claim. Which she has now done. We will see where this goes.
I will give her credit for having called me back. I didn't think she would. But I don't have much faith in people.
The moral of my tale...
Be careful before you try to pull a fast one. You never know who you might be dealing with. No matter what you do, you are very easy to find. Just look at how much info I got on this person in less than ten minutes with this little slip of torn paper.
*****
On a side note. Mr Man loved the "Lil Dave" buttons!
As I am leaving for the day I spy a note on my windshield. A love note from Precious, I think to myself. How cool. I do enjoy a nice love note.
I pull the note off the window and this is what I read...
This is not very romantic, but I kind of chuckle to myself. Then I think. This is not the handwriting of my Precious.I walk around the side of my car to find a big fat dent, scrapes and paint transfer.
My good day is now shot to hell. I am so PO'ed at the fact this beeotch left this note with no personal info. She clearly new some one had seen her so she is going to make the witnesses think that she's doing the right thing when in fact she is just being mean, rude and irresponsible.
I apologize to women every where for assuming that it was a woman that hit me. At this point I had no idea.
Having learned early on in life that revenge, like sushi, is best served cold, I calm myself and begin my investigation.
All the shops were closed. No witnesses to be found. I examine the note more closely.
This was the other side of the note.
Not much to go on, but it's enough if you have been around the block a few times.Within 10 minutes of finding the note I new the womans name (sorry women, it was a woman)
her phone number, type of vehicle, her address and insurance carrier.
In Oregon a hit and run of any kind is a criminal offense. How ever, I decide to give her the chance to do the right thing.
I call the number and ask for her by name. What I get is, "Um...no...that's not me...um...who is this?...how did you get my number?...um...wrong number." CLICK. She hung up on me.
I tried it again only to get an answering service. Guess who's voice I hear. That's right. The same woman that just told me I had the wrong number.
Now I'm pissed.
As I am talking with the police, giving them the info I get another call. It's her. She starts off by asking if I am the person who's car she hit. Then she desperately wants to know how I found her. I did not share techniques.
Maybe she started to think about how much trouble I could cause for her if I were so inclined or she was feeling guilty. Who knows. Who cares. She does offer to call her insurance company and file a claim. Which she has now done. We will see where this goes.
I will give her credit for having called me back. I didn't think she would. But I don't have much faith in people.
The moral of my tale...
Be careful before you try to pull a fast one. You never know who you might be dealing with. No matter what you do, you are very easy to find. Just look at how much info I got on this person in less than ten minutes with this little slip of torn paper.
*****
On a side note. Mr Man loved the "Lil Dave" buttons!
Thorn In My Side...
Disclaimer: The following is hypothetical and any similarities to actual people, places or companies is purely coincidental.
*****
Art publishers represent artists to make things easier for the artist. The publishers take care of the show schedules, create limited editions, distribution, publicity, marketing, pricing, blah blah blah.
The publisher makes it possible for the artist to be an artist.
The publishers then sell the programs of their artists to galleries. The galleries get to chose from several artists while only having to deal with one sales rep. Artists can be a bit difficult to deal with on a one to one basis.
Publishers can be a great advantage for both galleries and artists. Most are great to work with.
Unfortunately some publishers give the whole art world a bad name. They lie, they cheat and would sell their own mothers for a quick buck.
I guess it's probably no different than other businesses. When money is involved people do crazy things. When art is involved it is easy to take advantage because most people know very little or nothing about it.
Lately several of them have decided that they will no longer take credit cards from galleries who buy their work. They don't want to pay the fees. The galleries really have no choice. If we want the work we have to pay cash. The galleries on the other hand have to take credit cards if we want to sell art.
Cheap and annoying but not dishonest.
I have been about told a couple of publishers that would artificially increase the price of works to make collectors believe that they were investment quality works. This is very dishonest and it's all about the money.
The publisher offers a limited edition work, say 195 pieces, 30 x 40 inches on canvas. With todays technology, it costs about $25 to $40.00 per sheet to print. If they go top quality. Cut a few corners and it's about $5.00 to $10.00 per sheet. They are then pre-released for $1595.00 each. That is not a typo!
After the first 25 are sold the price goes up to $1895.00. The next 25 are $2295.00 and so on.
If the work is good and all 195 sell, the last few are sold for around $7500.00 each or more.
If the edition is not selling well, the publisher only prints 25 to 50 of the 195. They claim that it is selling out or already sold out and jacks the price all the way up. No one knows that all of them were never printed. All of the paper work says they were. The galleries end up pay more as do the collectors.
They only have to sell the first few in order to pay for the entire edition. After years of this a publisher can end up with hundreds of unsold works. Even more if the publisher actually printed all of them. Once the publisher has milked the artist for everything they can, they take all of the unsold works and sell them for pennies on the dollar to places like, Home Shopping Networks. Doing this destroys any value that the works may have had. The good and the bad alike. A collector that paid thousands of dollars for a work now has something that is basically worthless.
It can be disastrous to the artists reputation and career. What's worse is that the artist may not know what is going on until it's too late.
An artist dying is sometimes an opportunity for the publisher to take advantage as well. They have an artist who is selling well, becoming very popular, but still unknown. The prices are honestly going up. The for reasons beyond anyones control the artist dies. The publisher quadruples (or more) the price of everything left. People hear that the artist has died and a feeding frenzy begins. Peoples greed and the thought of making a quick buck fill the air. They buy with the sole thought of investment.
The problem is that the artist had not reached their full potential. Mainly because the publisher was holding them back in the first place, but because the artist was young and still relatively unknown, the works will most likely never hold the new inflated value. The fact that they have now been artificially inflated because of the death will end up hurting the value of all of the works in the long run.
To be fair, galleries and artists can be just as shady. But those are different posts.
*****
Art publishers represent artists to make things easier for the artist. The publishers take care of the show schedules, create limited editions, distribution, publicity, marketing, pricing, blah blah blah.
The publisher makes it possible for the artist to be an artist.
The publishers then sell the programs of their artists to galleries. The galleries get to chose from several artists while only having to deal with one sales rep. Artists can be a bit difficult to deal with on a one to one basis.
Publishers can be a great advantage for both galleries and artists. Most are great to work with.
Unfortunately some publishers give the whole art world a bad name. They lie, they cheat and would sell their own mothers for a quick buck.
I guess it's probably no different than other businesses. When money is involved people do crazy things. When art is involved it is easy to take advantage because most people know very little or nothing about it.
Lately several of them have decided that they will no longer take credit cards from galleries who buy their work. They don't want to pay the fees. The galleries really have no choice. If we want the work we have to pay cash. The galleries on the other hand have to take credit cards if we want to sell art.
Cheap and annoying but not dishonest.
I have been about told a couple of publishers that would artificially increase the price of works to make collectors believe that they were investment quality works. This is very dishonest and it's all about the money.
The publisher offers a limited edition work, say 195 pieces, 30 x 40 inches on canvas. With todays technology, it costs about $25 to $40.00 per sheet to print. If they go top quality. Cut a few corners and it's about $5.00 to $10.00 per sheet. They are then pre-released for $1595.00 each. That is not a typo!
After the first 25 are sold the price goes up to $1895.00. The next 25 are $2295.00 and so on.
If the work is good and all 195 sell, the last few are sold for around $7500.00 each or more.
If the edition is not selling well, the publisher only prints 25 to 50 of the 195. They claim that it is selling out or already sold out and jacks the price all the way up. No one knows that all of them were never printed. All of the paper work says they were. The galleries end up pay more as do the collectors.
They only have to sell the first few in order to pay for the entire edition. After years of this a publisher can end up with hundreds of unsold works. Even more if the publisher actually printed all of them. Once the publisher has milked the artist for everything they can, they take all of the unsold works and sell them for pennies on the dollar to places like, Home Shopping Networks. Doing this destroys any value that the works may have had. The good and the bad alike. A collector that paid thousands of dollars for a work now has something that is basically worthless.
It can be disastrous to the artists reputation and career. What's worse is that the artist may not know what is going on until it's too late.
An artist dying is sometimes an opportunity for the publisher to take advantage as well. They have an artist who is selling well, becoming very popular, but still unknown. The prices are honestly going up. The for reasons beyond anyones control the artist dies. The publisher quadruples (or more) the price of everything left. People hear that the artist has died and a feeding frenzy begins. Peoples greed and the thought of making a quick buck fill the air. They buy with the sole thought of investment.
The problem is that the artist had not reached their full potential. Mainly because the publisher was holding them back in the first place, but because the artist was young and still relatively unknown, the works will most likely never hold the new inflated value. The fact that they have now been artificially inflated because of the death will end up hurting the value of all of the works in the long run.
To be fair, galleries and artists can be just as shady. But those are different posts.
Repairing Injustice...Part 3
Hungary has made it look as though they are trying to make restitution for works taken during WWII. Their efforts have thus far been lip service at best. In 1991 Hungary adopted a compensation law for property losses between 1944 and 1989. The sums were not generous. The average voucher issued for a man's wedding ring was the equivalent of $1.25, and the law was not designed to cover cultural property because of the complications connected to the valuation of artworks.
Hungary is also making claims on cultural property and demanding that work be returned to them, even though they had joined the Germans in the war.
So far they have been slow with information, restitution and have appealed several of the courts rulings against them.
The Netherlands, since 2002 has returned more than 500 artworks to original owners or their heirs. They have changed their laws in order to re-open some cases that had been settled years earlier. They seem to be going out of their way trying to make things right.
France has all but said that the restitution for looted property is not a priority. Of the 60,000 objects returned to France after the war, 45,00 were returned to Jewish dealers and collectors. More than 10,000 objects deemed unimportant by the government were auctioned. The remaining property was marked MNR, Musees Nationaux Recuperation, and distributed among the five national museums.
Anyone with a claim was for the most part on their own.
France appears to be unwilling to dredge up the past preferring to leave things where they are move on.
The United Kingdom has committed itself to resolving claims for artworks looted during the Nazi era that are now in public collections. The claims have been so few that in most of the cases, instead of returning the art they are giving compensation to the heirs and leaving the art on display.
All countries seem to be undecided about putting deadlines on claims or how to handle them.
*****
How do you change history? Can you?
What good comes from making restitution or compensation to people who were not directly involved in the first place? Does that really change things? Does it make anything better?
For the suffering and deaths of people 65 years ago. We will pay your grand children. What does that fix?
It doesn't stop there.
Our government has talked about giving compensation to the descendants of slaves. Are they entitled to money because someone in their family tree was enslaved? Would it make anything better? Would it change history? Where do you draw the line once you start trying to re-write what has been done? When do payments stop for things already done? 50 Years? 100? 200?
If you look at history like this. There are far more victims than not. When do we learn from our mistakes instead of trying to buy our way out?
What is the right thing to do?
Hungary is also making claims on cultural property and demanding that work be returned to them, even though they had joined the Germans in the war.
So far they have been slow with information, restitution and have appealed several of the courts rulings against them.
The Netherlands, since 2002 has returned more than 500 artworks to original owners or their heirs. They have changed their laws in order to re-open some cases that had been settled years earlier. They seem to be going out of their way trying to make things right.
France has all but said that the restitution for looted property is not a priority. Of the 60,000 objects returned to France after the war, 45,00 were returned to Jewish dealers and collectors. More than 10,000 objects deemed unimportant by the government were auctioned. The remaining property was marked MNR, Musees Nationaux Recuperation, and distributed among the five national museums.
Anyone with a claim was for the most part on their own.
France appears to be unwilling to dredge up the past preferring to leave things where they are move on.
The United Kingdom has committed itself to resolving claims for artworks looted during the Nazi era that are now in public collections. The claims have been so few that in most of the cases, instead of returning the art they are giving compensation to the heirs and leaving the art on display.
All countries seem to be undecided about putting deadlines on claims or how to handle them.
*****
How do you change history? Can you?
What good comes from making restitution or compensation to people who were not directly involved in the first place? Does that really change things? Does it make anything better?
For the suffering and deaths of people 65 years ago. We will pay your grand children. What does that fix?
It doesn't stop there.
Our government has talked about giving compensation to the descendants of slaves. Are they entitled to money because someone in their family tree was enslaved? Would it make anything better? Would it change history? Where do you draw the line once you start trying to re-write what has been done? When do payments stop for things already done? 50 Years? 100? 200?
If you look at history like this. There are far more victims than not. When do we learn from our mistakes instead of trying to buy our way out?
What is the right thing to do?
Ethics...
For as long as I have been in the art business I have wondered how "we" get away with the things we do.
There is so much that comes to mind I have no idea where to begin.
Andy Warhol
Cy Twombly
Thomas Kinkade
An instalation of "Farts" in the London Museum
Those were just the first things that shot through my mind. I could write volumes about why I think they are hucksters or why people are so sheep like, but I have other bones to pick at the moment.
As a few of you know I have been taking courses from an international organization, so I may be an accredited fine art appraiser.
For years I have been working with appraisers and answering questions for them so they can get paid to do appraisals. I figured that I should be the one getting paid if I was doing the work.
Almost every appraiser I had ever met was a member of one of the three top appraisal organizations. All of them offer classes. All of them preach about being a member and the benefits it will bring.
Needles to say I picked one and signed up for their classes.
From the beginning they like to go on and on about Ethics. How important they are to the business of appraising. How anyone not a member of one of the organizations could not be Ethical.
ethics |ˈeθiks| plural noun 1 [usu. treated as pl. ] moral principles that govern a person's or group's behavior : Judeo-Christian ethics. • the moral correctness of specified conduct : the ethics of euthanasia. 2 [usu. treated as sing. ] the branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles. Schools of ethics in Western philosophy can be divided, very roughly, into three sorts. The first, drawing on the work of Aristotle, holds that the virtues (such as justice, charity, and generosity) are dispositions to act in ways that benefit both the person possessing them and that person's society. The second, defended particularly by Kant, makes the concept of duty central to morality: humans are bound, from a knowledge of their duty as rational beings, to obey the categorical imperative to respect other rational beings. Thirdly, utilitarianism asserts that the guiding principle of conduct should be the greatest happiness or benefit of the greatest number.
The more I learn about the business of appraising, the more problems I'm having.
Let me explain.
First. Not one of any of the organizations will tell me about their disciplinary practices. I wanted to know how often they discipline members for Ethical violations. Not one of them will answer that question.
Second. I have come to find out that there is no governing body that watches over appraisers. Meaning, anyone and everyone can be an appraiser of anything. No matter what your education, or background or what ever. Legally, anyone can be an appraiser of anything. No questions asked. Membership to any of the appraisal societies is not required or necessary.
Third. Any object can be appraised for what ever amount you want it appraised for.
An antique can have an appraised value of $200.00 or $10,000.00 for the exact same object, and both would be legal. If you get an appraisal for the IRS, you want it have a low value so you don't have to pay taxes on it. An appraisal for insurance replacement value you want to be high in case you lose or damage the object. It can get much more complicated than that.
We are talking about the same object. Maybe it's just me, but that does not sound very ethical. Screw who ever you are doing the appraisal for as long as you come out ahead. That's how I see that. There are ten chapters that explain how and why these things are done but it all sounds the same to me.
What it comes down to is. An appraiser has to be able to justify the findings in court, should the appraisal be questioned. That is what the classes teach. How to justify your appraisal value, depending on who you are talking with.
Am I missing the point of ethics?
There is so much that comes to mind I have no idea where to begin.
Andy Warhol
Cy Twombly
Thomas Kinkade
An instalation of "Farts" in the London Museum
Those were just the first things that shot through my mind. I could write volumes about why I think they are hucksters or why people are so sheep like, but I have other bones to pick at the moment.
As a few of you know I have been taking courses from an international organization, so I may be an accredited fine art appraiser.
For years I have been working with appraisers and answering questions for them so they can get paid to do appraisals. I figured that I should be the one getting paid if I was doing the work.
Almost every appraiser I had ever met was a member of one of the three top appraisal organizations. All of them offer classes. All of them preach about being a member and the benefits it will bring.
Needles to say I picked one and signed up for their classes.
From the beginning they like to go on and on about Ethics. How important they are to the business of appraising. How anyone not a member of one of the organizations could not be Ethical.
ethics |ˈeθiks| plural noun 1 [usu. treated as pl. ] moral principles that govern a person's or group's behavior : Judeo-Christian ethics. • the moral correctness of specified conduct : the ethics of euthanasia. 2 [usu. treated as sing. ] the branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles. Schools of ethics in Western philosophy can be divided, very roughly, into three sorts. The first, drawing on the work of Aristotle, holds that the virtues (such as justice, charity, and generosity) are dispositions to act in ways that benefit both the person possessing them and that person's society. The second, defended particularly by Kant, makes the concept of duty central to morality: humans are bound, from a knowledge of their duty as rational beings, to obey the categorical imperative to respect other rational beings. Thirdly, utilitarianism asserts that the guiding principle of conduct should be the greatest happiness or benefit of the greatest number.
The more I learn about the business of appraising, the more problems I'm having.
Let me explain.
First. Not one of any of the organizations will tell me about their disciplinary practices. I wanted to know how often they discipline members for Ethical violations. Not one of them will answer that question.
Second. I have come to find out that there is no governing body that watches over appraisers. Meaning, anyone and everyone can be an appraiser of anything. No matter what your education, or background or what ever. Legally, anyone can be an appraiser of anything. No questions asked. Membership to any of the appraisal societies is not required or necessary.
Third. Any object can be appraised for what ever amount you want it appraised for.
An antique can have an appraised value of $200.00 or $10,000.00 for the exact same object, and both would be legal. If you get an appraisal for the IRS, you want it have a low value so you don't have to pay taxes on it. An appraisal for insurance replacement value you want to be high in case you lose or damage the object. It can get much more complicated than that.
We are talking about the same object. Maybe it's just me, but that does not sound very ethical. Screw who ever you are doing the appraisal for as long as you come out ahead. That's how I see that. There are ten chapters that explain how and why these things are done but it all sounds the same to me.
What it comes down to is. An appraiser has to be able to justify the findings in court, should the appraisal be questioned. That is what the classes teach. How to justify your appraisal value, depending on who you are talking with.
Am I missing the point of ethics?
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