blzrul

I heard yesterday that a reporter actually ASKED Dick Cheney if it was true he hurt his back moving his Death Ray of out his office. That can't be true...

There are bonuses and then there are BONUSES. I got a hefty bonus this past Christmas (in lieu of a raise)...but it definitely wouldn't float NYC. It wouldn't even float dogpatch. The obscene multi-million dollar C-level bonuses are what's drawing the most ire. Those go to a few individuals at a company. Handing out millions of dollars across 5,000 managers is not the same thing. Cutting the former would be justice to some; cutting the latter would definitely impact a city's economy. Assuming they didn't spend it all in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, where many of them probably live....

Explain to me how some professional athletes have "graduated" from college yet are barely literate? Oh yea, they get preferential treatment based on who they are, and skate right on through. I give UT Law School kudos for holding Junior to high standards but am not surprised Harvard didn't. That's the way it works. What would be telling is to see W's GMAT/GRE or LSAT scores.

That is hysterical!

Speaking of regulation, Claire McCaskill has gone off the deep end and is asking for legislation that would hold a CEO's salary to no more than the President's. I'm sure it feels good to scream about that, and it would be a wonderful gesture if these guys would forego obscene bonuses, PARTICULARLY if their company got a government handout. Much as I'd like to crush them like grapes beneath my heel, I don't think I want the government regulating salaries (and please let's not get into a fight over minimum wage...)

My personal suspicion is that Poppy would have liked a son more like Bubba (smart).

Based on the predecessor's precedent, it's about time for a vacation. Maybe he's postponing it until the snow melts. Hard to cut brush in Chicago in January.

He does you proud.

Well he really wanted to get that door open so he could wave hello to Stevie Wonder.

Are you nuckin futs? I remember when people would queue up and BEG for Amica to insure them....and Amica would pick and choose. What's wrong with firing customers who aren't profitable? That's good business sense. Sad truth - if you live in a flood plain, riot zone, tornado alley, on the side of a mountian or combat zone...you're a bad risk! You either pay through the nose or you can't get insurance. Tough sh--.

Does WHAT strike me as ok? I'm a big proponent of regulation? I have always worked in giant, bumbling Fortune 15 corporations except for a stint in a giant, bumbling mega-law firm. I wouldn't say I hate them, I've learned to navigate them quite well. I would say except for the law firm, those companies when I was with them had a decent "social conscience" and encouraged employees to do the same. I am well aware that there are hundreds of corporations that don't...so I don't work there. Of course I'm funny. I can work a room like nobody's business.

No sh--. That's what I meant. I live 1/2 mile from an SBux which is next door to a grocery that ALSO has an SBux. And this is SEATTLE so there are 4 more competitors within 1/4 mile, alone...still there are too many SBux. "Oversaturation" anyone? But it's everywhere, when I lived in Dallas they were building strip malls etc like there was no tomorrow. I could never figure out why there had to be two Albertson's stores 2 miles apart...? Now, many of those stores and malls are closed because there were too darned many of them.

Boeing - 10,000. Sbux - 6,700. It's at the point to where I see anything less than tens of thousands and think "oh that's not bad". Of course it SUCKS if you're one of the people losing their job. Sbux though - they were just stupid. Recession or no I think this was coming anyway.

So when you kick an insurance company out of the state, then the remaining insurance companies wet their pants in gleeful greed and jack up THEIR rates.

For what it's worth - I'm a believer in a paper trail. If you disagree with what you're told and merely want to set the record straight - whilst putting an end to the matter - it wouldn't hurt to send one last written communication. It will go into these guys' files and if there are any issues in the future it will be documented. Assuming it's written in a friendly, non-accusatory / non-judgmental way ("there was an error or typo, the actual time was XX") it wouldn't hurt and if there was intent to deceive would serve notice that you're paying attention. I also like the idea of turning these guys into buddies. It's true that honey always works better than vinegar.

Tina Fey must be ecstatic.

How dare you try to get this thread bacck on track?

I agree. So the choices are: a) give free money to people who aren't working ("the dole") so they can live until things pick up and they can work again. this breeds dependence and is downright depressing for most people, who want to work. b) give free money to companies and trust they'll do the right thing, i.e. hire people (hahahahahahahahahaha) c) spend freely on projects which do something we need anyway, rebuilding crumbling infrastructures etc...thus putting some people to work and greasing the economic skids, at least a bit, while improving the country d) ? e) ? We're in somewhat uncharted waters here. We know where we don't want to go...we're not sure how to avoid it and get back to where we want to be. And of course, being Americans, we're not particularly patient. Like the dotcom bust, this grew over a number of years before it blew up in our faces. Yet, we want it fixed within 6 months. Ain't gonna happen.

Oh Holy Oracle, since you know what women think and what motivates them...something that has eluded males for centures...after you're done writing your book and getting rich and famous, explain to us the thought process and voting habits of Jews, Hispanics, African-Americans and other minorities. Because it really takes a white boy from worldly western New York to know; well actually a white boy from East Podunk, Alaska too, but you're the one who's running with this one now while the others are probably hunting moose or something.

Some would say there's justice in there somewhere.

Not being a woman you wouldn't know. I don't think you're much of a man either. But a PARROT - definitely. How's Rush today? For the record I have mentored many women professionally and it's a credit to me when they succeed. And several of them are - wait for it - conservative women who even voted for George Bush! Wow. How about that. So, you wanna cracker?

Rest assured that if it were some other underqualified nitwit, regardless of race, creed or color, we'd be just as disgusted. Would you raise the same points if I'd posted "CarolynPac"? She's not a nitwit but definitely underqualified and you didn't see me support her, or complain that she got torpedoed.

Plastic! Duct tape!

I think the point of the "stimulus" is to spur new spending to buoy the economy. I won't argue that paying down debt is good - of course it is, which is why I don't have debt. But, I don't think that's what this type of action is intended to do.

She WANTS us to discuss her. You really can't claim that people are obsessing over her when she's determined to stay in the public eye.