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Friday, May 29, 2009
Romantic Touches...
What's not to love about these pretty, romantic touches! They remind me to celebrate being a lady. Hoping your weekend is lovely and romantic...
/photos by Sandra Lane/
Thank you for visiting Haute Design, by Sarah Klassen
Labels: fashion, home decor
8 comments:
i love black laceReplyDelete
Sarah-Such gorgeous images-I am lost in the beauty.ReplyDelete
It is amazing...how small little touches can make things feel so much more special. The images are so charming ...ReplyDelete
Have a beautiful weekend :)
Very pretty!ReplyDelete
Absolutely! I love litle feminine touches. These photos make me glad to be a woman! Well done.ReplyDelete
Oh these are just lovely - I'm such a francophile! I enjoy being a girl...ReplyDelete
I couldn't resist posting up these pretty images :)ReplyDelete
Gorgeous--and I just love that bed!ReplyDelete
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Steel crazy after all these years, United States Steel is North America's largest integrated steelmaker and the world's eighth-largest steel producer. The company operates mills throughout the Midwest in the US; in Ontario, Canada; and in Slovakia. U.S. Steel makes a wide range of flat-rolled and tubular steel products, and its annual production capacity – more... is about 30 million net tons of raw steel. Its customers are primarily in the automotive, appliance, construction, oil and gas, and petrochemical industries. In addition, U.S. Steel mines iron ore and procures coke, which provide the primary raw materials used in steelmaking. It is also engaged in railroad and barge operations and real estate.
In the US, the company holds integrated steel plants, including Gary Works, East Chicago Tin, and Midwest Plant, all in Indiana. It also holds the Great Lakes Works in Michigan, Mon Valley Works and Fairless Plant in Pennslvania, Granite City Works in Illinois, and Fairfield Works in Alabama.
U.S. Steel's tubular steel operations, which serve the energy industry primarily, provide both seamless and electric resistance welded (ERW) products, commonly called oil country tubular goods (OCTG).
Its U.S. Steel Canada segment maintains the company's two facilities in Ontario, the Lake Erie Works and the Hamilton Works. Together, the plants have an annual capacity of 4.9 million tons.
The company also participates in joint ventures with a number of its industry competitors. They include the world's #1 steelmaker ArcelorMittal, Japanese producer Kobe Steel, South Korean giant POSCO, Russian metals company Severstal, and US steel service center Worthington Industries.
Financial Analysis
In 2011 the company posted net sales of $19.9 billion, compared to $17.4 billion in 2010. Higher averaged realized prices and improved economic conditions helped drive sales for the company's flat-rolled products segment. Favorable foreign currency translation effects in Europe kept prices high and offset softened demand. An improved energy market also drove sales for the company's tubular operations. However, increased operating costs, a loss in commercial land sales, and an $18 million environmental remediation charge were among factors contributing to a net loss of $53 million in 2011. That year the company also averaged 77% of its production capability and produced 18.6 million tons of raw steel, which edged over its 76% average in 2010, and notably improved over its 48% average in 2009.
U.S. Steel made a number of acquisitions in the middle of the last decade, building up its capacity significantly. But as the global economic nightmare hit several of its target markets especially hard -- the automotive and construction industries, for example -- U.S. Steel severely curtailed production. A return to drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and more drilling in shale formations now help drive sales for the company's tubular operations. The recovery of the automotive industry in the US has also helped improve demand, although the construction industry remains challenging. The ongoing Eurozone debt crisis also continues to impact the company's operations in Central Europe.
To contend with its challenges, U.S. Steel focuses on meeting its customers' needs and requirements by developing new steel products and uses. In depressed markets, it concentrates production at certain plants and idles production at others, in response to customer demand. It continues to grow organically and invest in key projects, while reducing its reliance on coke for steelmaking by applying advanced technologies, upgrading its coke facilities, and using natural gas and pulverized coal in its operations.
Recent investments include building an environmentally advanced battery at the Mon Valley Works' Clairton Plant in Pennsylvania, which will have a capacity of 960,000 tons per year, and a carbon alloy plant at Gary Works in Indiana that will be able to produce a coke substitute and have a capacity of 500,000 tons per year. In Europe the company has completed blast furnace coal injection facilities that use pulverized coal, a lower cost source of carbon than coke.
In 2012 the company exited its Serbia business (U.S. Steel Serbia) after the European economy slid significantly, and weak demand caused the company to lose more than $200 million from its Serbian operations in 2011. U.S. Steel sold the segment to the Serbian government for only $1. U.S. Steel Serbia was part of the company's U.S. Steel Europe. The other segment, U.S. Steel Kosice in Slovakia, produces sheet steel used by the automotive and other industries, and continues to contribute to the company's annual production. Its plant in Kosice has an annual capacity of 5 million tons.
In 2011 the company sold Oklahoma-based subsidiary Steel Coil Services to Macsteel Service Centers USA. – less
49 salaries reported
$61,925 per year
20 salaries reported
$70,932 per year
23 salaries reported
$71,302 per year

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Frosted Blueberries Beret by Taiga Hilliard Designs
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Frosted Blueberries Beret
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The perfect hat to give as a gift or keep for yourself.
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text:
Diana Brothers
14 Wing Greenwood remains "a real option" as a site for a relocated Kings County Municipal Airport, says Kings County's warden.
Diana Brothers was reacting July 18 to comments made at a meeting the previous evening in Canning on a proposed airpark for Saxon Street, at which the topic of the future of the Waterville airport was raised.
Brothers confirmed comments contained in a July 18 email from Deputy Warden Brian Hirtle, which stated, "the reality is, 14 Wing Greenwood is very doable."
Based on his most recent meeting, Hirtle said MP Greg Kerr, the minister of national defence, and the wing commander "are all willing to look at the relocation of the Waterville airport to 14 Wing."
An agreement, he said, would cover a 25-year period and "would be based on existing agreements with 19 Wing and 3 Wing." Both these other bases house businesses, private aircraft and recreational flying.
There is an existing runway at 14 Wing not currently in use, as well as land available that could be utilized for new hangars, built with input from the Valley aviation community and contracted out on a local basis, he said.
"All Greenwood needs to know now is how big the aviation community wants the footprint to be," including the size and number of hangars, Hirtle said.
Not at meeting
Neither Brothers nor Hirtle attended the meeting in Canning, but they received, and reacted to, a report from Coun. Kim MacQuarrie, who was in attendance.
Brothers said discussions for Greenwood as a potential site for a relocated airport date back to 2011. In response to a letter sent by the municipality to the Department of National Defence at that time, "they said it was something they would be willing to discuss."
Hirtle sits on the committee that was struck and a preliminary report has been prepared. At the present time, discussions are ongoing, at the committee level, on the subject of a timeline. The next committee meeting is set for July 29.
"It's always been our goal to find a new home for the Waterville airport, and it still is," Brothers said.
Asked the chances of at least an agreement being in place with 14 Wing prior to council's Sept. 30 closing date for the airport, Brothers said, "I can't reply to that right now," citing "a court case pending that our CAO is dealing with."
Airport not abandoned
"It's always been our goal to have both an expanded Michelin and a home for the airport. 14 Wing has been on the table since 2011, and is still a very real option," Brothers said.
"(14 Wing) has said Waterville could be picked up and moved to Greenwood. We've asked them to look at relocating the existing airport."
Hirtle is hopeful the committee will have a roll out of a plan to present soon. "The aviation community is aware of that plan," he added.
No decisions have been made yet.
"The only thing for sure is that staying in Waterville is not an option," Hirtle said.
Council open: warden
Brothers also took exception to other comments made at the meeting in Canning, including a suggestion that too many of council's discussions, on this and other issues, were taking place behind closed doors.
In terms of the Saxon Street proposal, Brothers said council had received a request to make a presentation, in camera, on an issue "we were asked to keep confidential."
The email came from Gordon Squires, acting on behalf of the Saxon Street airpark group. They were offered a chance to make their presentation to council's July 22 committee of the whole meeting, "in open forum," and they refused, preferring the presentation take place in camera.
"Any time we go in camera, it's on the advice of our solicitor or our CAO," for items covered under the provisions of the Municipal Government Act, Brothers said.
"Anything we can address in public, we do so. We've always done that, and will continue to do so. We'd rather it be done in public. We want to be as transparent as possible."


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Arthritis & Rheumatism, Volume 60,
October 2009 Abstract Supplement
The 2009 ACR/ARHP Annual Scientific Meeting
Philadelphia October 16-21, 2009.
Golimumab, ANew, Human, TNF Alpha Antibody, Administered Subcutaneously Every 4 Weeks in Psoriatic Arthritis Patients: 104-Week Efficacy and Safety Results of the Randomized, Placebo-Controlled GO-REVEAL Study
Kavanaugh1, A., Mease2, P., Krueger3, G.G., Gladman4, D., Zrubek5, J., Beutler5, A., Hsu5, B.
UCSD, San Diego, CA,
Swedish Med Ctr/U of Washington, Seattle, WA,
U of Utah Hlth Sciences Ctr, Salt Lake City, UT,
The Toronto Western Hosp., Toronto, ON,
Centocor R&D, Inc, Malvern, PA,
University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
To assess long-term efficacy & safety of golimumab (GLM) in active PsA.
PsA pts with >=3 swollen and >=3 tender joints and psoriasis were randomized to SC PBO or GLM (50 or 100 mg) q4wks. At wk 16, pts with inadequate arthritis response entered early escape (EE). All pts received GLM from wk 24. Investigators could dose-escalate pts receiving GLM 50 mg to 100 mg based on clinical judgement after all pts reached wk 52. The results for pts who remained on the same dose of GLM 50 to 100 mg are described. Analyses were based on observed data.
405 pts with active PsA were randomized (113 PBO, 146 GLM 50 mg, 146 GLM 100 mg). GLM was significantly better than PBO in improving signs and symptoms of PsA at wk 24, and GLM efficacy was maintained through wk 52.Through wk 104, pts continuing on the same dose of GLM 50 or 100 mg maintained high levels of response. GLM 50 mg pts who switched to 100 mg in EE or via dose escalation also achieved clinically meaningful responses (Table). 8.6% (34/394) of GLM-treated pts experienced SAEs through wk 104. Injection site reactions occurred in 8.9% (35/394) of pts. There was 1 case of histoplasmosis in a pt (GLM 100 mg) that was successfully treated. Malignancies reported through wk 104 include basal cell skin (1 pt), colon (1 pt), and small cell lung cancer (1 pt) in pts receiving GLM 50 mg, and basal cell skin (3 pts), prostate (1 pt), and small cell lung cancer (1 pt; fatal) in pts receiving GLM 100 mg. An additional pt died due to a climbing accident (GLM 50 mg).
Table. Summary of efficacy in GO-REVEAL through wk 104
Pts with active PsA treated with GLM 50 and 100mg SC q4 wks maintained high levels of improvement through wk 104. GLM was generally well-tolerated, with a safety profile similar to that observed for other anti-TNF agents.
To cite this abstract, please use the following information:
Kavanaugh, A., Mease, P., Krueger, G.G., Gladman, D., Zrubek, J., Beutler, A., et al; Golimumab, ANew, Human, TNF Alpha Antibody, Administered Subcutaneously Every 4 Weeks in Psoriatic Arthritis Patients: 104-Week Efficacy and Safety Results of the Randomized, Placebo-Controlled GO-REVEAL Study [abstract]. Arthritis Rheum 2009;60 Suppl 10 :512
DOI: 10.1002/art.25594


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Ole Miss Commits
**S Gerod Holliman and S'Ridge beat Braddock 50-14 in the
1st round of the playoffs last Friday. The Ole Miss commit had 6 rushes for
60 yards and 1 TD. He caught 4 passes for 88 yards and another TD. And on defense,
he forced a fumble and totaled 5 tackles.
Holliman leads Dade/Broward counties in interceptions with 11 and has over 1,400 yards of offense and 17 TD's. S'Ridge faces South Dade tonight in the 2nd round of the playoffs.
**CB Andrew Johnson has recovered nicely from his concussion
as he rushed for 128 yards and 2 TD's on 9 attempts. He also picked off a pass
at cornerback and brought it back 72 yards for a TD.
S'Ridge faces South Dade tonight in the 2nd round of the playoffs.
**RB Chelarvez Brown had 13 rushes for 31 yards and 1 reception for 14 yards in Winona's 10-7 win the 3rd round of the playoffs against Water Valley. This brings his season totals to over 1, 926 rushing yards and 30 TD's. He has three special team TD's and contributed 52 tackles and 8 int's on defense.
Winona faces Aberdeen in the Class 3A North Half Championship game tonight.
**OL Mitch Hall and Russellville's season is over and he got through it injury free.
**WR Donte Moncrief and Raleigh's season is over. He finished the year with 21 catches for 448yards (21.28 per catch average) and 9 TD's. He passed for 154 yards and rushed for 111 yards (12.3 yards per rush) and totaled 12 TD's. On defense he collected 49 tackles and 4 interceptions.
**DE Kameron Wood and John Carroll's season is over. He finished the year with 80 tackles, 10 sacks, 3 interceptions and 24 qb hurries.
**S/RB Artez Brown finished the season with over a 1, 000
yards rushing/19 TD's and 42 tackles/5 int's on defense for 3-7 Newport (Ark).
**TE Jamal Mosley finished the season with 32 catches for 309 yards and 3 TD's while helping the Rangers to the State semifinals.
**DT Woodrow Hamilton finished the season with 65 tackles, 12 tackles from behind the line of scrimmage, 6 sacks, 3 pass deflections, 2 blocked punts in an injury riddled season.
**QB Maikhail Miller finished the season with 1, 656 yards passing/14 TD's and 1, 148 yards rushing/22 TD's.
**OL Aaron Morris and OL Justin Bell's season
is over. They helped Callaway to the leading rushing offense in Class 5A.
**S Cody Prewitt and Sylva Bay dream season came to an end Friday as Trinity Episcopal Day defeated them 43-13. Cody rushed for rushed for 135 yds and scored both TD's on the night. This brings his season total to 2, 406 rushing yards and 41 TD's. On defense, Prewitt had 68 tackles, 11 picks and took back two of them for TD's.
**WR Collins Moore and Bob Jones were defeated 28-21 by Clay-Chalkville (AL) in the playoffs last Friday. Moore finished the season with 46 catches for 808 receiving yards and 10 TD's.
**T.J. Worthy and Gadsden were upset in the 3rd round of the playoffs 17-13 to Mountain Brook. The Ole Miss commit had 2 catches for 56 yards and a touchdown in the contest.
**LB Serderius Bryant and Seminole (FL) defeated Timber Creek (FL) 46-14 this past Friday in the 1st round of the playoffs. Bryant rushed for 2 TD's on offense, converted two 2-point conversions and collected 9 tackles and 1 interception on defense. This brings his season totals to 114 tackles, 2 sacks, 4 interceptions, 5 caused fumbles, and 2 recovered fumbles on the season. He has also returned a punt 81-yards for a TD and has rushed for 265 yards on 23 rushing attempts and 5TD's.
Seminole faces Winter Park (FL) in the 2nd round of the playoffs tonight.
**CB Senquez Golson and Pascagoula's season has been completed. He had 247 rushing yards, 320 receiving yards and 5 TD's of offense through seven games. On defense, where he plays sparingly, he collected 26 tackles and 2 interceptions through seven games.
**OL Ethan Hutson and Destrehan's season is now over and he will participate at the Army All-American game in early January and will report to Ole Miss after the All-Star game and will go through spring practices.
**LB Marcus Mayers and Taylorsville defeated Bassfield in thrilling fashion by the score of 42-41 last Friday. Mayers was a beast as he forced 2 fumbles, had a sack, and contributed 13 tackles on defense.
Lumberton (11-2) plays at Taylorsville (13-0) in the 2A South Half Finals tonight
Senior Prospects
**RB Qyen Griffin rushed for 240 yards and 1 TD on 30 carries
in South Panola's 24-13 2nd round win over Olive Branch.. He has rushed for
2, 292 yards yards and 31 TD's on the season and is averaging just over
10 yards per-carry.
South Panola plays at Madison Central tonight in the Class 6A North Half Championship game.
**WR Nickolas Brassell had 2 catches for 15 yards in South
Panola's 24-13 win over Olive Branch. For the season he has 46 catches for 764
yards and 13 TD's this season.
**WR Tobias Singleton and Madison Central defeated Tupelo 48-10 in the first round of the playoffs and face N'West Rankin tonight in a rematch from their only loss on the season. Bias made most of his contributions against Tupelo on defense as he finished the game with 8 tackles at safety but also chipped in a touchdown on offense. Singleton now has 38 catches for 579 and 10 TD's on the season. He has also rushed for 394 yards and 6 TD's. In the return game he has over 500 yards and 1 TD.
**RB Tre Mason rushed for 1, 683 yards rushing and 26 TD's this season. Park Vista missed the playoffs despite an 8-3 record.
**WR Josh Pinkston helped Forest to 30-0 win over Hazlehurst
Friday. He had 5 tackles and 1 sack on defnse and contributed over 70 yards
of offense.
Forest plays at Tylertown tonight in the Class 3A South Half Finals.
Junior College Prospects
Cornellius Carradine (DE Butler CC) 109 tackles, 20 TFL, 13.3 sacks, 2 FF, 4 FR, 1 Defensive TD
John Jenkins (DT MGCCC) 41 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 TFL
Clayton Moore (QB MGCCC) 54 carries for 289 yards 6 TD's, 129-210 61.4%, 2039 yards, 19 TD's, 5 INT
Gilbert Pena (DT ASA) 51 tackles, 17 TFL, 5 sacks, 1 FF
Ivan Nicholas (S ASA) 60 tackles, 13.5 TFL, 3 sacks, 1 FF
Otha Foster (LB/S Pearl River CC) 73 tackles, 2 TFL, 2 FF, 1 FR
Sylvester Williams (DT Coffeyville CC) 49 tackles, 11.5 TFL, 2 sacks, 1 FF, and 4 blocked kicks.
Leon Mackey (DE Hinds CC) 47 tackles, 15.5 TFL, 4.5 sacks, 1 FF
Zach Stoudt (QB/Iowa Western CC) - 1, 812 yards and 18 TD's
Zach Mettenberger (QB, Butler CC) - 2, 512 yards and 31 TD's and plays in Juco National Championship Game on December 5th.
Junior Prospects
**QB Jeremy Liggins was 5-8 for 130 yards and 2 TD's in Lafayette County's 52-0 win over New Albany in the 2nd round of the playoffs. He also rushed for 76 yards and 2 TD's. This brings his season totals to 1, 538 passing yards/19 TD's and 961 rushing yards/14 TD's.
Lafayette County plays at Noxubee County in the Class 4A North Finals tonight.
**DT Issac Gross had five tackles and two sacks South Panola's win over Olive Branch Friday. For the season he has 66 tackles and 10 sacks.
**DE Temario Strong had 8 tackles and 2 sacks in the second
round of the playoffs against Olive Branch. For the season he has 65 tackles,
14½ sacks, 2 caused fumbles, recovered 3 fumbles, and blocked 2 punts.
**QB Anthony Alford accounted for 2, 712 yards and 34 TD's for the season.
**S Deon Bush had 9 tackles and 2 pass break-ups in their 2nd round 27-24 loss to N'Western.
**CB Corderyl Weathersby season is now over. He finished the
year with 73 tackles and 3 interceptions.
**DT Quay Evans finished the season with 80 tackles and 8 sacks for 9-2 Morton.
**DT Nick James finished the season with 33 tackles and 3 sacks for 9-2 Long Beach.
Sophomore Prospects
**RB Kailo Moore had 186 rushing yards in West Bolivar's 3rd
round 28-14 win over win over Coahoma Friday. Moore has over 2,2oo rushing yards
and 31 TD's on the season and is averaging over 225 yards a game rushing.
West Bolivar faces Calhoun City in the Class 2A North Finals game tonight.
**RB Ashton Shumpert's season is over and he finished the year with 1, 500 yards of offense and 17 TD's.
**S Tony Conner had 5 carries for 60 yards and a 1 TD in South
Panola's second round 24-13 win over Olive Branch. He also chipped in 8 tackles
and 1 sack on defense. Antonio had 26 carries for 370 yards and 5TD's on offense.
On defense, where he is projected to play on the next level, he has collected
76 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 interceptions, 4 forced fumbles, and 3 fumble recoveries.
South Panola plays at Madison Central tonight in the North Half Finals.


text:
O'Brien interrupts Handler's showering session to confront her for 'stealing' his studio and parking space which ends up with them having fake black eyes after a slap fight.
Chelsea Handler stripped down to her birthday suit once again for a sketch on "Chelsea Lately" aired Wednesday night, April 3, this time co-starring Conan O'Brien. The "CONAN" host entered the shower room naked much to Handler's dismay, alluding to her previous nude shower confrontation with Sandra Bullock.
"How do people keep getting in here?" Handler asked, to which O'Brien replied, "This is my studio. You stole it, remember? I still have the key. Plus, this is the best water pressure in Hollywood." The two then argued about who deserved the studio and its luxurious parking space, which O'Brien said is four inches wider than his current parking space.
O'Brien also accused Handler of using his back massager and suspected that she's actually a man. Things then got physical with the two trading slaps, which ended with them having black eyes.


text:
Following a 5-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes last night to take control of the Southeast Dvision with 19 points, the Tampa Bay Lightning immediately get another chance to gain some points in the standings and create some distance between them and their division rivals with a road tilt against the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight.
The Penguins, who thoroughly dominated the Bolts in regular season play a season ago, will be without reigning Art Ross and Hart Trophy winner Evgeni Malkin, who terrorized the Bolts in three Pittsburgh wins out of four tries in 2011-2012.
Malkin will miss some time after appearing to suffer whiplash and/or a concussion after slamming hard into the boards on Friday night after a hit by Florida Panthers defenseman Erik Gudbrandson.
However, the Penguins have had success with coach Dan Bylsma behind the bench no matter which forwards they ice. They pushed the Tampa Bay Lightning to seven games in the opening round of the 2010-2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs despite being without top two centers Malkin and Sidney Crosby.
Tampa Bay is also coming off a game last night with travel in between, and will undoubtedly face an upward battle against a more rested Pittsburgh club that hasn't played since Friday against the Florida Panthers.
Tonight's game will air nationally on the NBCSports Network in a head-to-head match-up of the league's two leading scorers, Steven Stamkos and Sidney Crosby.
Stamkos has 26 points on the season (12 goals, 14 assists) while Crosby has 25 points (7 goals, 18 assists).
The puck drops at 7:00 PM EST.Tags: Evgeni Malkin, Hockey, NHL, Pittsburgh Penguins, Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay Lightning


text:
Former employee. Reports from inside are:
Following the stages/lies by the numbers. GIS has now been told there is no timeline and that nothing they do will happen suddenly.They have been told no one will lose their jobs. They were also told these were rumors. Appears that Accenture has completed a study and now Capgemini is going to be rebadging the IT staff in prep for "Rightshoring" the jobs.
The idea is that they are being moved to a new company to augment the staff with new workers. That this makes no sense whatsoever has not stooped mgmt from repeating this ridiculous notion. 2 weeks before Thanksgiving. Nice. Resumes of key people posted, some are already interviewing. The failures of management in the last 3 years to globalized IT is now being visited upon their limited stock of IT talent, who are already planning a quick exit to fulltime or contracting elsewhere. Good luck everybody I'm glad to be out of there.
I work at a Silicon Valley company and there's a diverse workforce at my company.
I have a coworker, "S", who is Indian. She's arrogant and patronizing and I don't like dealing with her but I am professional towards her.
A few months ago, she and her husband bought a house and had a house-warming party. She invited some of the people in our group. But they were all Indian. She only invited her Indian coworkers to her housewarming party. No whites or Asians.
"S" only socializes with other Indians; with Asians or whites like me, she does not socialize with us. That's OK with me. I support the right or freedom to associate with anyone you want. Just be professional at work because I'm at the office primarily to work and get a paycheck, not primarily to socialize.
A few weeks ago, I had a Super Bowl party at my house. I invited a few coworkers. Since "S" does not like football, I did not invite her. I did not invite any of my Indian coworkers, not because I wanted to exclude them but because they have never shown interest in football. Most of the coworkers I invited were also men, because I invited the ones who liked football.
"S" found out about the party and complained to my manager so that it came across as if I excluded Indians. Mind you, there was an Indian (male) at my SB party but he was not a current coworker but a former one (who works at another company). There were also Chinese, Korean, and Hispanics at my party, as well as white people.
I didn't hold a "whites-only" party.
Now, I support "S" and other Indians to socialize among themselves and exclude me. That's fine. But why is it that when I exclude them, it's viewed as being racist?
I don't understand how the various ethnic cliques at my company (Russians, Indians, Chinese) are tolerated but if whites formed a little social clique at work, we'd be viewed as racist.
Why doesn't the norms of race apply equally to all races? Why didn't "S" get dinged for only inviting Indian coworkers to her house warming party but I did for not inviting Indian coworkers who don't even like football?Read 6 Replies | Add a ReplyLink: Comments:Close Replies
By wageslave:
Did your manager actually address this with you? Do all these people know you are allowed to invite anyone you want to your OWN house? I feel bad for you, you have ridiculous co-workers.
By BonusOnus:
My manager did bring it up with me. She's not Indian though so she advised me to invite everyone next time to look like I wasn't being exclusionary.
I didn't retort to her that she should give the same advice to my Indian coworker "S" either. I suspect "S" is just doing the Indian thing and trying to cause trouble behind my back.
However, what bugs me the most is that Indians like my coworkers can socialize only amongst themselves or the Chinese or Russians can form their own exclusionary ethnic cliques without any ramifications. But if I formed a "white Americans only" clique, we'd be in trouble. What's wrong with this picture?
By Office Drone:
'the picture' is what is wrong. Anything White or Christian cannot be tolerated, too racist, not P.C. It sucks and it's wrong, you're not. Wonder if you had invited 'them' if any of them would have come???
By Itstheeconomystupid:
I have been following your stories. Please stop lamenting and do your work. There are plenty of countries out there willing to send their brightest, dumbest and average to eat you lunch. Fast forward ten years and forget your boat, parties and the false sense of entitlement driven by maxing out on credit cards. This will bite you. Bye now.
By don-task :
... boats? parties? sense of entitlement? credit-cards? And Where Have You Been for the last 10 years?
To be treated as a human being and with dignity at a job should not even be an issue, but right now it's priceless.
By BonusOnus:
Hey itstheeconomystupid,
I do my work. And I am painfully aware of the situation in other countries where they can only dream of things that we here take for granted.
I've travelled a lot too, not just to 1st world countries in Europe but places like India. I know what it's like. I know people in other countries would die to get a chance to switch places with me. Mexicans risk death by crossing our borders through deserts. Chinese risk death by being sealed in containers on container ships.
However, the reason so many bright/dumb/average Indians is because our country is one that provides opportunities. And we can do this because we have a unique culture, especially in the Silicon Valley. One of them is that we try to hire or work with the best and brightest, no matter what race or nationality they are. The other is that we "mix" racially. We do not have ethnic cliques or ethnic ghettoes.
When Indians come over here because they can't make a decent living in India, I expect them to adopt to our culture, not try to impose their culture on us non-Indians. That means they shouldn't just socialize themselves while complaining if we do the same. That means hiring the best and brightest, not just other Indians (which I have seen way too often). They shouldn't treat those subordinate to them like they do their servants, as they do in India. They should leave their racism and prejudices in India.
That's only fair.
Add a Reply
I tried to dispute a Sears credit card charge this weekend. I was connected with an operator in Guatemala. I could hardly understand her. The whole conversation was very frustrating and I asked to be connected to someone in the US. Why is a multibillion dollar company throwing away jobs?
Why can't I find one pair of jeans made in the US? LEVIS are now made in Mexico and India and their quality has suffered. NFL gear is not cheap but that's how it's made.
I am starting my own personal boycott on foreign made goods. Bring back the tariffs on foreign made goods! Corporations will not wise until they feel the economic pinch.Read 7 Replies | Add a ReplyLink: Comments:Close Replies
By labtech:
You can ask to be connected to an operator in the US, that's about all you do. You can't find a Hershey's chocolate bar made in the US either, they're made in Mexico. To find jeans made in the US, go to All American Clothing Company. But you won't be able to buy much else that's made in America now - and some tools are made in China, relabelled as Made In America, repacked and sold as the real goods. So in a generation or so, we'll be just as third world as the countries these big corporations are outsourcing to, since jobs will be so scarce, minimum wage will be the main goal of most working class Americans - and owning a house, raising a family, will be impossible dreams unless you are on welfare and food stamps. Welcome to the 19th century. Just wait until China calls in those loans our president made. We'll be a bigger version of Greece.
By wageslave:
Labtech, thanks for the tip. But wasn't it president Bush who made the deal to finance a war on credit? I am not meaning to be snarky but our President inherited the worst financial mess ever. I feel bad for Obama I wouldn't want his job for anything.
By wageslave:
I won't buy Hershey bars anymore. Everyone knows not to drink Mexican water. How do you make food without water?
By Sphincter Detector:
Does anyone else think Hershey chocolate smells like sour cream/baby throw up? I can't eat it, I gag ever time.
By dontask :
Because Hershey's is made with sour milk, that's why. A convoluted and slow mixing process sours the milk. The bad aftertaste is deliberate to make you reach for the next piece of chocolate. Everything is geared towards more consumption and makes us fat.
I stopped dealing with Sears or buying Hershey's a long time ago.
By wageslave:
I will be dropping Verizon and switching to Comcast. Verizon outsources their customer service. We had 4 TV's and the 1 downstairs was old and blew out. I sent back the box and they raised my rates. I called and asked that someone call me to explain how 3 TV boxes cost more than 4 and no one ever called me back. Every one I know is disastified with their billing. I relayed my request for a callback to some foreign customer service rep. Once my service is cancelled I can't wait for their call I am going to let them have it.
By wageslave:
I contacted Verizon and the angry rep asked why I disconnected service. I explained and she tried to belittle me. I had to make 3 phone calls to get to someone who was intelligent and rational.
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For the past six months I've been trying to start a business. It's a silly little thing, coupon booklets, printed material and such, but it's potentially very profitable if you consider that it's a one time cost expense that can be reproduced for pennies and sold for dollars. Anyway, I used to have a real hard-on about these greedy jokers that like to send our jobs to China and India ( me and Lou Dobbs!) just to inflate their already fat bottom lines and I was very hard lined about sourcing suppliers locally.. That is, until I experienced first hand, the sheer greed and opportunism that exploits 'need' by charging outrageous prices leaving me no choice but to go to China to be even a little bit profitable. Let's take for example, something like a simple 8.5 x11 color flyer printed on slandered white paper. How much do you figure a piece of printed paper should cost? 5 cents? 20 cents? 50 cents? At the 'Quickie' mart it costs 50 cents and I'm good with that. But now I need 20 thousand flyers and the Quickie mart doesn't give bulk discounts. Any good business person would expect a discount when ordering in bulk and since I can't expect that from my local Quickie mart, I have to go to a commercial printer. Guess what, the lowest quote I got was 1.20 per flyer. I guess they roll their bulk discounts in from the top down! Are you f'n kidding me? Well no wonder everyone's going to China! I go to China and get quoted 4 cents! Don't have to be a genius to figure out the math on that one. Now, I'm supposed to feel guilty, like I'm the one being greedy and unpatriotic? So, Mr. Supplier, and Mr. Quickie Mart, if it weren't for your greed in the first place, I wouldn't have had to go to China! If the Quickie Mart had the brains to start issuing bulk discounts and the Local supplier didn't exploit the market, no one would outsource. So the way I figure it, the problem starts with you! Don't get me wrong, I would have gladly paid a modest premium to source locally, I would have paid up to 75 cents or even a buck. But you make it virtually impossible for me, and then fault me for my choice to go to China. What a hypocrisy!
I realize there are several reasons why the pricing disparity is so huge. Cost of labor, sweatshops, unsafe working environments. But even providing for that, by working with ISO certified vendors, you're still looking at less than 10 cents a flyer. So this just tells me that sometimes cheap is cheap simply because it's cheap, not because it's unethical. Our local guys are charging upwards of 500 percent mark ups.. So why not just 50%, this way everyone can make a buck!? So long as we have a 'meet it or beat it' annual profit guidance, this will never happen. 'Some' profit is never enough.. always has to be 'more' profit. Same profit as last year is never good enough, always has to be more than last year.. at what point to you cap out? reach the max limit? So the way I see it, we're all guilty of perpetuating this outsourcing problem. The consumer wants it cheap, cheaper and cheapest, so the retailer wants it wholesale, and the wholesaler wants it for next to free. Wholesaler has to go to China. Everyone's got to get greased, to keep this big wheel moving.. Capitalism at its finest folks!.. and I have no solutions, just observations.Read 3 Replies | Add a ReplyLink: Comments:Close Replies
By Printing Fool :
Wow, I don't know what state you're in. I'm in Alaska and we don't even have prices like that! There usually is a price break per 1000 units. At 20,000 copies you should be able to get a per unit price at 5 to 7 cents a unit black and white copy,(black ink, white bond 20lb paper). For most color jobs, spot color or even process (dot to dot) that's usually about 70 cents per unit. Make sure you are going to REAL Printers, not the push button digital copiers. Ink costs way less than toner, offset is way faster, and the quality much better, plus you are not limited to the type of paper that can be put on a real press. Most papers designed for digital copiers are way more expensive, and they are limited on the types of substrates that they can print on. You also have to figure out the cost per unit when bindery is needed. But I have to say, these prices just don't sound right to me. What state are you in, and how much do those Printer's make down there?!! I should think about moving!!!!
By Printing Fool:
You also have to be on guard of these so called print shops. They will call themselves a printery but they will not have any presses, only digital copiers. I think there ought to be a law against this.
By Printing Fool:
You should be getting a price break after every thousand ordered.The main costs are the plates and set up involved on a press that is the most expensive. After the press is set up to print additional thousands is called "gravy time" The owner makes money, the Printer gets to sit back and just feed the press paper and ink and the customer sees their per unit cost reduced the more that is printed. Digital Printers have a click charge with every print. That is the company that sold them the machine gets a cut for every print that comes off that copier. It can range anywhere from one half percent to three cents a copy. That may be the reason they are not giving you a discount for every thousand that you print. Just find a REAL print shop, especially a smaller one. You will get better prices, better prices, and they will work their hardest to keep you as an account. I hope this helps. If you have anymore questions just email me at firstname.lastname@example.com.
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In the 1990s, the Democrats wanted banks to stop "redlining" and offer mortgages to poor people so they could buy houses.
So banks did.
And then to "reduce" the risk of loaning money to people who couldn't afford it, they created exotic financial instruments that were supposed to make the loans to poor people less risky.
Poor and lower income people, people who shouldn't have been able to buy a home with their level of income and savings, bought homes. Created a housing bubble.
The bubble popped.
Banks and financial institutions were in trouble because they were holding these mortgage loans on people who couldn't afford them.
So our politicans, the same ones who pushed the banks to make loans to the people who couldn't afford them (ie the poor), now attacked the banks for offering loans to people who couldn't afford them. And made it sound like the banks were in some scam to bilk the lendees. And the politicians (especially the liberal Democrats) absolved themselves of the blame.
The banks got bailed out. They got attacked for making risky loans to people who couldn't afford them. And tightened their lending standards.
Now the politicians are saying that the banks need to lend more to Main Street America, even if it means lending to risky lendees and offering them loans that they can't afford to pay.
Isn't this how we got into this mess in the first place?Read 5 Replies | Add a ReplyLink: Comments:Close Replies
By BonusOnus:
I stand corrected. The banks are lending. They have capital reserves after being backed by us, the taxpayers.
But they're only lending to the US government (via bonds).
The banks get loans from the US government at almost 0% rates. Then they turn around and buy US bonds that offer them about 3%.
So they're making about 3% by returning the money to the US government. And paying big bonuses for that.
This has got to be the stupidest financial bailout in history.
By Wage Slave:
Corporate America owns this country, the Democrats and the Republicans. Don't be confused by the Republicans v. the Democrats shell game. It's just smoke and mirrors.
The wealthy contol the market and didn't lose as much money as the poor schlubs with their 401k's. The stocks available to the average 401k participant were garbage with no hope of growth. Hedgefunders controlled gas prices when they were ridiculous.
As long as we bury our heads in the sand and point fingers; it's the Democrats fault or it's the Republicans fault, corporate America and the ultra wealthy will get away with ruining this country.
Both the Dems and the GOP have a hand in the current mess.
By BonusOnus:
I'm pointing fingers at both parties. The Democrats had a hand in the housing bubble because it was because of their policies that led to people getting mortgages that couldn't afford them.
I also blame the Republicans for quickly moving to bail out the banks and Wall Street firms because they were "too big to fail". By doing this, they let Wall Street keep their profits when times were good but bailed them out when times got rough. This is NOT FREE MARKET economics that Republicans are supposed to support!
I don't know who's dumber - the Republicans who think bailing out corporate America is "free market" economics. Or the Democrats who think that their party isn't beholden to corporate interests like Republicans do.
By econobiker:
Remember that Republicans only think welfare is wrong when po' folks get it versus tax credit, training credit, stimulus fund etc type welfare for mega corporations.
I am currently reading the 1977 book by John Kenneth Gailbraith "The Age of Uncertainty" which predicted our most recent corporate situation but only 30 years ago.
Also the term "too big to fail" used to mean a "monopoly" which needed to be broken up.
"Teddy Roosevelt where are you now?"
By BonusOnus:
You're right econobiker. Republicans only think it's wrong if poor people get welfare.
Republicans have no problem when corporations get welfare. And these corporations get billions.
Unfortunately, Democrats don't have a problem when corporations get welfare either.
Here's a little secret.
Corporate welfare (tax breaks, subsidies, bailouts) DWARFS the social welfare programs.
A free market advocate can't possibly justify giving welfare to corporations that are *making* millions in profits.
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Now that we have Obama has president, we have:
1) Wingnuts who claim Obama is illegitimate because he wasn't born in the US
2) people who disrupt health care townhall meetings because they are extremely opposed to health care reform
3) people who equate Obama with Hitler
I shake my head.
Then I look at the other side of the political aisle and remember just a few years ago when:
1) Wingnuts claimed Bush was illegitimate because he "stole" the election in 2000 and 2004.
2) anti-war people like Code Pink disrupted government meetings and threw items at Bush's 2004 presidential procession.
3) people who equated Bush with Hitler
I shake my head even more....Read 7 Replies | Add a ReplyLink: Comments:Close Replies
By chubby girl:
Are all these people crazy or do the bad times bring out the worst in people?
By BonusOnus:
No, they are just stupid. Both the right and the left.
Why do we have such poor political leaders in DC? Look at the voters.
By avid reader:
Ha! Very observant! You are so right.
By anonymous:
it was scary to see how low the educational level of the biggest screamers are and how easy they could influence and frighten the crowd. we are up the ...creek without even a stick, forget the paddle.
however there were some electronic election irregularity going on in 2000 and 2004 and maybe even before that. one is quietly being handled in a neighboring town, there were also some letters to officials on another site, describing how it was done. Another official was not allowed to warn voters that sharpie pens would negate the ballot. it is against the local law to disparage any product.
By anonymous:
BTW where did CK's entry about employment verification go to? very good and thanks!
By BonusOnus:
There were election irregularities in the Minnesota Senate election of 2008 and the Washington governor election of 2004 (where the Repub was declared the winner in the initial and 1st recount and the Dems demanded another recount until the results were in their favor).
There are voting irregularities in almost any election with 5 digits of voters. Usually the election isn't close enough for the disputed votes to matter.
I for one would like to see a uniform voting law for all national offices. But people will complain that it unfairly disenfranchises the poor or minorities.
By DanieD:
I actually do think the Bush family rigged the first election, but I'm astounded that he was elected willingly the second time...
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The outsourcing companies say that the Indian government will respond. Of course they will. But they'd be hypocrites. They have already reacted to the global economic downturn by trying to force Indian airline companies to fire foreign pilots and hire Indian pilots. Now they are angry that the US government is reacting the same way?Read 5 Replies | Add a ReplyLink: Comments:Close Replies
By WalkingInMyOwnShoes:
Don't buy and don't use products, services of these companies and countries. I do my utmost to buy local. I also know that sometimes it's impossible (sigh) but I substitute somehow or use my imagination to replace whatever is needed. What else can we do?
By CK:
They want our jobs but not our people! Now Walmart is outsourcing the IT department to India!
By WalkingInMyOwnShoes:
What terrible news, sorry CK. This is another store to ignore. I bypass it many times.
By James:
Hey "WalkingInMyOwnShoes". I dont think Walmart will consider your ignorance by not making that move if its good for the business.
By Anonymous:
I deal with these Indian H1B's as tech support at a well known company. These Indians are such jerks. If you don't drop everything on a less than a moments notice, they wiil escalate the ticket to management and make you look bad.
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Even India's government tries to look out for its citizens first.
Ours doesn't. Doesn't matter if it's Democrat or Republican, the jokes on us, the voters, for believing the BS that either side blows.Read 9 Replies | Add a ReplyLink: Comments:Close Replies
By SouthernProgrammer:
I agree, I don't see that happening here though it should happen.
By BonusOnus:
It's funny how the Indian government is forcing their nations' companies to give preference to their citizens, but then turns around and is outraged that the US government would dare do the same thing (eg, prohibiting companies receiving bailout money from hiring H1B visa workers)
By CK:
Sad isn't it! They want the US jobs and money but not the citizens ... What is IBM going to do when they start shipping US citizens to their Indian IBM plants? Some how I don't think IBM thought of that!
I know that at times Canadians get slammed but being half Canadian myself I have to defend them. The Canadian government has always been their citizens first.
India is using protectionism for their slumping economy. But we would be slammed if WE did the same thing! I say that we should cut the H1b visas and put OUR citizens to work! If India complains then say that we are following their example!
By SouthernProgrammer:
Here in the US not only do we bend over....backwards for illegals we want to give voting rights...
By BonusOnus:
SP, wow, I'm surprised Mass. cities allow non-citizens (even legal immigrants) to vote.
San Francisco had a proposal to allow this too - let noncitizens, legal or illegal, vote in local elections. Even in wacko SF, this proposal was defeated.
That's just incredible. Letting noncitizens to vote. Why don't we just let everybody in the world vote in our elections?
By labtech:
There's no proof of citizenship required in my state, to get to vote. So ANYONE, including your family pet, can fill out a form and get permission to vote in the next election and for all those to follow. And in my state, they want to give the illegals driver's licenses and cheap college tuition (probably financial aid, too).
What if America had a "required" percentage for employment of citizens ? What if a foreign citizen could only work here for so many years, then had to become a citizen or go home ?
By BonusOnus:
There's no requirement to show proof of citizenship to vote in CA either. Or even a requirement to show a proof of ID.
I think Georgia required a ID requirement to vote and it was opposed by liberals because they said that it was a racist law because it unfairly affected blacks and Hispanics more than whites. I don't understand the logic of their argument but suffice it to say, it's easier to vote than to buy a beer or rent a DVD in almost every state. And you wonder why our country is screwed up?
By sympathetic reader:
Bonus you hit the nail on the head!!!! Our politicians do not care about us. We are paying for some crazy kind of shell game. I actually read the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act because my husband bought a new AMERICAN car and we can deduct the sales tax. According to the act we could have deducted the sales tax if it was a FORIEGN car. I'm really glad we are helping out TOYOTA and HYUNDAI. I was really worried about them since all I hear about is GM employees losing their jobs! Some FOREIGN car manufacturers are greasing some politicians' hands. To hell with these people being laid off. To hell with those of us working paying taxes and subsidizing this mess. These politicians from both sides count on us ignoring everything.
By BonusOnus:
It's hard to define what constitutes an "American" car these days. What does the definition of an American car mean to you?
1) A car made by an American car company (GM, Ford, Chrysler) built in a factory in Mexico that employees Mexican workers and shipped over the border?
2) A car made by an American car company where the parts are made at factories outside the US but then are assembled in the US by American workers?
3) A car made by a foreign car company (Toyota) but built at a factory in America that employs American workers?
Because of globalization, you can't really determine what it means when they say "American cars"
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Over the past few months, I have noticed a big change at work. Mainly that people are taking longer lunch breaks, leaving earlier than usual, and just really seem to be more blasé about work.
I mentioned this to a few co-workers during lunch and the response was "Well, since [insert co-workers name here] has been laid off I see the company isn't loyal to me so why should I knock myself out!"
I can't say I blame them, I too have felt less excited about work these days and find myself looking more forward to the weekends to the point it has become a distraction.
How about you?Read 9 Replies | Add a ReplyLink: Comments:Close Replies
By BonusOnus:
I work at a startup now so no one here can afford to let off the accelerator. Everyone here is committed to a single goal of generating sales and growing this business (and this is one of the things I like about this job).
But at my last job, where things were toxic and full of backstabbers, I did notice that I stopped caring as much when I made the decision to leave.
I did hear that some of the slackers in my former group were working harder because the new manager was threatening them with layoffs in a subtle way to get their performance up.
It's an ironic thing but the people who are good won't take well to this kind of "intimidation" because they are talented and can find work somewhere else, even in this tough job market.
It's the deadwood who will try to improve because they know they can't find another job so easily.
If a company treats its employees bad, ironically, it's the good ones who leave first because they are good. You have a perverse situation where the people you wanted to drive out are the ones who remain. That's what's happening in my former group.
By labtech:
Yes, I notice that the hard workers get more work, of a more difficult nature; the slackers get less work, of an easier nature, their mistakes are overlooked, and they are permitted to loaf around at breaks and lunchtime. I notice that the hard workers are being rushed through tasks and expected to multitask everything; it's almost as if the boss is trying to have a accident occur, or he's trying to drive some of us to leave the job. We have a deadwood lower-level supervisor who could be dropped and no one would notice, but since this little maggot has one skill - kissing up - we're stuck.
I also notice that the only new hires are those with definite connections in the company - family members, who are well-placed.
So my outlook at work is grimmer than a year ago.
By CK:
I have to agree with LT - the salckers have taken over. The only reason that the y haven't fired the slackers is because management enjoy their little pets but also need work done so they can't get rid of the hard workers.
I also noticed that there is more and more rework and/or mistakes made. But the real kicker is that management thinks it is OK because it bumps up the numbers. Management is measuring the wrong matrix!
By sympathetic reader:
I noticed about 2 years ago they put pressure on everyone to work harder and do the impossible. I cannot count how many people retired or transferred. Even the suck ups left because they were expected to work. Now we have a younger workforce that really appreciate having a job. I am thankful to have a job.
By SouthernProgrammer:
In my case, my company kept a mix of those who have talent and those who may not have as much talent but do not have high salaries.
In my companies case, very few slackers have been kept but they did get rid of some people who had been with the company for years (except for myself).
By HaveADamnNiceDay:
I think my attitude has definitely changed, but probably moreso over the last ten years than over the last year. I entered the workforce energetic, optimistic, compliant and super-hard-working. Now I feel like I belong to a theives' guild or something because I distrust companies and their management so much. I have busted my @$$ for people and all they did was mistreat me, demean me and only recognize mistakes instead of consistent good work. I've stopped caring. I used to care. I'd take one for the team. Now I only care about myself. I feel this attitude protects me, but is harmful to me overall. I feel like it prevents me from caring about others, but I'm afraid to now because I think they might take advantage of me or my friendship and use it to advance themselves, promote themselves or get rid of me because I'm slim and pretty (and the harpy even mentioned my looks--a lot) and they for some reason are intimidated by that (someone explain that to me please).
But anyhow, I've slowly become a cynic in the workplace. I watch and wait to see where and when managment will try to screw me first.
I wish I had the capacity to start my own company... things would be run differently. My employees would be my asset, not a liability. I'd value them and praise them for good work. I'd fire the @-holes and have a no-BS policy at work. I'd give the best benefits I could possibly give, and put employee needs over company profits--meaning I'd rather give the employees a raise than line my own pockets and take expensive vacations while they toil away in a hopeless dead-end job. I'd find a way to give people tuition reimbursement, and I'd find ways to encourage them without using stupid corporate crap (like the fish philosophy).
It just wouldn't be like a typical workplace. I'd make sure that my employees didn't dread coming to work in the morning.
However, my dad often says, if wishes were horses, then beggars would ride. Does anyone know what that means?
By sympathetic reader:
Beggars/dreamers always have lots of high hopes and nothing else. They don't have horses. Horses were once a valuable asset for transportation, and a measure of one's wealth.
By OCLADY1208:
I don't seem to care as much anymore. I use to go out of my way to find out why something wasn't getting done by another dept. for one of my customers. But after the 1st Qtr. lay offs that I survived, I just don't give a d*mn anymore. If something isn't getting done, it's because someone isn't doing their job. And guess what, it's not my problem anymore. I don't get paid enough to worry about it. Let the Management worry about it. They're the ones screwing us over and not treating us right. Sure, I have benefits that most people would love to have. And yes I'm going to hold on to my job only because it's paying the bills. If this company goes down, it'll be because of poor "Leadership"!
By SouthernProgrammer:
OCLady Nailed It....
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I have a family friend. He's actually the friend of my dad.
He has a small business and employs about 6 people. It's not a big business. It's a sole proprietorship so the friend, who is also the owner, gets the profits from the business. In other words, his salary is what his business makes, minus labor costs, rent, equipment, insurance, etc.
He has had 1 employee for 8+ years. He doesn't pay them all that much but they make around $15-18 an hour. He doesn't offer them health care benefits but provides for vacation. He pays all the payroll, unemployment insurance, and disability insurance. Most of his employees are Hispanic.
His business has gone down since the recession started.
He has a competitor and he's been losing contracts to the competitor. He found out that the competitor is hiring illegal immigrants and paying under the table. The competitor does not pay for payroll, UI, DI, etc. and passes that savings onto the customers. Since the competitor can offer less for contracts (around 10% less), his competitor has been eating into his business. He needs all the business he can get.
He has tried reporting the use of illegal immigrants to the ICE. Nothing happened, no raids, nothing. My friend is thinking of now firing all his employees and either hiring them back off the books or hiring illegals on a per day basis to keep his labor costs down. If he doesn't do something, he will lose business and have to lay off almost everybody. His business might go under.
I advised NOT hiring illegal immigrants but he's desperate and he sees his competitor surviving this way. I don't necessarily blame him though. What should my friend do? Abide by the law and get underbid and go out of business? Or cheat and survive?Read 7 Replies | Add a ReplyLink: Comments:Close Replies
By HaveADamnNiceDay:
Wow, Bonus! Your friend is in a pickle! Since the law is not responding to him, he should make them accountable by going to the local media anonymously!
He might spark an investigation.
By BonusOnus:
This is California. The media won't get involved since they are usually sympathetic to illegal immigrants.
He's reported his competitors to the INS/ICE many a times but nothing.
By CK:
What evidence does he have? Also what about the news media? If the government won't do their job then try the news! If anything, just keep talking to others - congress representive, ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.
By UnsupportedSupport:
Well here is a website for reporting places that hire illegal aliens: http://www.wehirealiens.com/
The website itself isn't going to do much since it has never occurred to me to go looking for whether the companies I work with employ illegal aliens or not. However, by using the contact form the person that runs this site will probably have the most efficient answers on dealing with this problem.
By SouthernProgrammer:
Before he does anything, he needs to talk to his employees. Hiring them off the books probably sounds like the best option.
He should not slander his competition in anyway (IE - media), that may backfire against him in the form of a lawsuit.
I doubt the Government will do anything about the illegals, they know about it but consider it a necessary evil.
By sympathetic reader:
If these people were paid as employees and he converts them to self employed contractors he can get into trouble through the department of labor. He may have to pay back payroll taxes. It can really bite him in the end.
If it's a landscaping business has he thought about hiring American or any other teenagers in the summer? They would jump at the chance of making half this much. My cousin's husband has a very successful landscaping business. He hired high school and college boys in the summer and kept cost down that way.
By BonusOnus:
He is not in the landscape business. He is in the industrial market. The competition is tight. He fills niche markets -- the huge orders are filled by the bigwigs and since these bigwigs demand a minimum size, my friend can fill these for small or medium size businesses.
Problem is, he just can't make the margins. He's already laid off employees and he looks like he's going under.
He's already complained to the INS/ICE but I don't think he will gripe to the media. That's a good way to blacklist yourself and get Hispanic activists to show up at your front door to protest that you are a nativist racist.
I hope he survives. But to say that illegals only do the work that Americans won't do isn't 100% true. It tilts the field away from the employers who play by the rules about paying payroll taxes and observing labor laws.
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text:
By Marisa Kendall, USA TODAY
If you passed a homeless person and a metal, donation-collecting machine on your way home, which would get your spare change?
A growing number of cities, including Nashville, Virginia Beach and Las Vegas this year, have begun encouraging the latter by providing revamped parking meters for donations — a move some homeless advocates oppose.
The program has been established in at least 16 cities, according to Neil Donovan, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH). Donations deposited in meters go to local charity organizations to provide services such as housing, meals, counseling and job training to the city's homeless, he says.
Homeless-rights advocates who criticize the program say the meters are just a way to expel panhandlers from city limits.
KINDNESS: New ways we give and volunteer
"The NCH believes that communities whenever possible should preserve the relationship of one individual supporting the other … and meters intercept that relationship," Donovan says.
Other cities using donation meters include Atlanta, Baltimore, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Little Rock, San Francisco and Seattle, he says.
Virginia Beach installed seven bright red donation meters in August, says Mike Eason, the city's resort administrator. The goal is to educate the public and redirect money to centralized charity organizations, he says.
"Each year, thousands of dollars are given to homeless individuals without truly knowing where the money is going," Eason says.
Kirk Welch, executive director of the Judeo-Christian Outreach Center, a homeless aid organization in Virginia Beach, says he does not think the meters will meet their goal of stopping aggressive panhandling.
David Pirtle, a speaker for NCH, was homeless from 2004 through 2006. He says the biggest danger of the donation meters is that they could reinforce negative stereotypes.
"The worst thing about being homeless is the way people treat you," Pirtle says. "If you walk by a panhandler and just ignore them, that just shatters them." The degree of success the meters experience varies greatly depending on the city.
Denver installed the meters in 2007 and raises about $100,000 a year through more than 80 of them, says Amber Callender, executive director of Denver's Road Home, a program working to end homelessness in Denver. About $30,000 of this is from coin donations and $70,000 is from the sponsorship of businesses and residents who pay $1,000 a year to sponsor a meter, Callender says. The program uses recycled parking meters placed along established meter collection routes, so no installation or collection fees are taken from the proceeds, she says.
Cleveland installed 12 donation meters in the summer of 2009 and has since doubled that number, says Mark Lammon, special projects manager of the Downtown Cleveland Alliance. The total installation and refurbishing cost was about $3,400. During the first year the meters were in place — June 2009-June 2010 — the meters made about $100 per week for a total of about $5,200. That number has dropped in recent months to $20 per week, Lammon said.
Tulin Ozdeger, civil rights program director for the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, says most cities using donation meters have tried enforcing anti-panhandling laws without success.
Since installing the meters, Denver has reduced its number of panhandlers on one main street by 80%, Callender says.
"We're pretty proud of that reduction," she says.
Orlando will probably install donation meters by the end of this year if the City Council approves the measure, says City Spokesperson Heather Allebaugh.
A 2009 report by the NCH and the National Law Center ranked Orlando the third "meanest" city in the USA to the homeless. In Orlando, people can panhandle only when inside special blue boxes painted on the sidewalks. The city just reduced the number of blue boxes from 36 to 27 on Sept. 13, Allebaugh says.
Mark Baca, 51, has been homeless since April 2009 and recently entered a Denver rehabilitation center. He is skeptical about whether he will ever see the money that goes into donation meters.
"The only time I've seen the donations go straight to the homeless people is when a car pulls up, opens up the back and starts pulling out burritos," he says.
Panhandling ploys such as asking passersby for bus money brought Baca as much as $45 in 20 minutes some days, though other days he made nothing, he says. A chronic alcoholic, Baca says he usually spent the money on alcohol. He estimates 95% of panhandlers spend donations on alcohol, drugs or cigarettes.
As an alternative to donating to either a meter or a panhandler, Donovan suggests having a conversation with the person.
"Then the person becomes real and is not just an object of annoyance you'd like to see removed from your daily commute," he says.
Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more.


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Read this profile of a winner of an Anne Frank Award for Moral Courage and answer the questions which follow.
Danielle Maughan
On a school trip to Alton Towers, Danielle overheard a conversation between youths in a queue who were making racist comments about two 11-year old Asian boys.
Rather than taking the easy route of ignoring the comments, and with no time to consider how her peers would react, Danielle intervened, putting herself at risk of being ridiculed.
Without worrying about the consequences Danielle stood up for what she believed was right and challenged the racist comments.
She was at further risk as there was always the possibility that throughout the day at the park she might have encountered the group she had confronted and she had no way of knowing their reaction towards her.


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AUT University's Rookie Show Pushing the Boundaries
AUT University's Rookie Show Pushing the Boundaries This Year
AUT University's fashion studio is alive with activity as the 24 students selected for the Rookie show frantically tweak their collections, one week out from the show.
The show, on November 8, will be unlike any other.
It will present a brave new vision for the future of New Zealand fashion according to AUT's Head of the Fashion Department, Andreas Mikellis.
"This year's show is a marker for a new philosophy for the fashion department that promotes far more experimental responses to the idea of what fashion design is," he says.
"Our students are going above and beyond this year and we are at the beginning of the next big change in fashion. The work the students are producing this year is provocative and world-class with a particular focus on menswear for quite a few of them."
It is not just the collections audiences can look forward to either; the 2012 show will clearly reflect this shift as well.
Models will be pounding along an extraordinary 99.5m runway with a backdrop of a 'wall of sound'.
While the fashion and the show are the focus, Mikellis also says the students this year have embraced the department's new vision and are setting themselves up well for the international stage.
"Many of the students now see their career paths from a broader, international perspective. We have growing numbers of graduates working for design companies overseas and others taking a very entrepreneurial approach by setting up design businesses in New Zealand but with a focus on an export market."
Students have been working on their final collections as part of the Bachelor of Design in Fashion course, with the announcement of who would show at Rookie made on October 19.
The AUT Rookie show is on November 8 at Shed 15 (Lower Deck), 90 Wellesley St, Auckland's CBD. Doors open at 6.30pm and the show will start at 7.30pm.
Tickets are available from Eventfinder for $39.95 and can be purchased here http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/2012/aut-rookie-fashion-show/auckland


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TEA-21 requires the U.S. DOT to encourage the use of youth conservation or service corps.
Legislation: TEA-21 §1108(g):
The definition of a qualified youth conservation or service corps is taken from existing titles and chapters of the United States Code (U.S.C.). These sections of the U.S.C. are provided below.
42 U.S.C. Sec. 12572
Division C - National Service Trust Program
(a) Eligible national service programs
The recipient of a grant under section 12571(a) of this title and each Federal agency receiving assistance under section 12571(b) of this title shall use the assistance, directly or through sub-grants to other entities, to carry out full- or part-time national service programs, including summer programs, that address unmet human, educational, environmental, or public safety needs. Subject to subsection (b)(1) of this section, these national service programs may include the following types of national service programs:
A community corps program that meets unmet human, educational, environmental, or public safety needs and promotes greater community unity through the use of organized teams of participants of varied social and economic backgrounds, skill levels, physical and developmental capabilities, ages, ethnic backgrounds, or genders.
A full-time, year-round youth corps program or full-time summer youth corps program, such as a conservation corps or youth service corps (including youth corps programs under division I of this subchapter, the Public Lands Corps established under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1721 et seq.), the Urban Youth Corps established under section 12656 of this title, and other conservation corps or youth service corps that performs service on Federal or other public lands or on Indian lands or Hawaiian home lands), that -
A program that provides specialized training to individuals in service-learning and places the individuals after such training in positions, including positions as service-learning coordinators, to facilitate service-learning in programs eligible for funding under part I of division B of this sub-chapter.
A service program that is targeted at specific unmet human, educational, environmental, or public safety needs and that -
An individualized placement program that includes regular group activities, such as leadership training and special service projects.
A campus-based program that is designed to provide substantial service in a community during the school term and during summer or other vacation periods through the use of -
A pre-professional training program in which students enrolled in an institution of higher education -
A professional corps program that recruits and places qualified participants in positions -
A program in which economically disadvantaged individuals who are between the ages of 16 and 24 years of age, inclusive, are provided with opportunities to perform service that, while enabling such individuals to obtain the education and employment skills necessary to achieve economic self-sufficiency, will help their communities meet -
A national service entrepreneur program that identifies, recruits, and trains gifted young adults of all backgrounds and assists them in designing solutions to community problems.
An inter-generational program that combines students, out-of-school youths, and older adults as participants to provide needed community services, including an inter-generational component for other national service programs described in this subsection.
A program that is administered by a combination of nonprofit organizations located in a low-income area, provides a broad range of services to residents of such area, is governed by a board composed in significant part of low-income individuals, and is intended to provide opportunities for individuals or teams of individuals to engage in community projects in such area that meet unaddressed community and individual needs, including projects that would -
A community service program designed to meet the needs of rural communities, using teams or individual placements to address the development needs of rural communities and to combat rural poverty, including health care, education, and job training.
A program that seeks to eliminate hunger in communities and rural areas through service in projects -
Such other national service programs addressing unmet human, educational, environmental, or public safety needs as the Corporation may designate.
42 U.S.C. Sec. 12656
Division J - Miscellaneous
Sec. 12656. Urban Youth Corps
(a) Findings
The Congress finds the following:
The rehabilitation, reclamation, and beautification of urban public housing, recreational sites, youth and senior centers, and public roads and public works facilities through the efforts of young people in the United States in an Urban Youth Corps can benefit these youths, while also benefiting their communities, by -
A significant number of housing units for low-income individuals in urban areas has become substandard and unsafe and the deterioration of urban roadways, mass transit systems, and transportation facilities in the United States have contributed to the blight encountered in many cities in the United States.
As a result, urban housing, public works, and transportation resources are in need of labor intensive rehabilitation, reclamation, and beautification work that has been neglected in the past and cannot be adequately carried out by Federal, State, and local government at existing personnel levels.
Urban youth corps have established a good record of rehabilitating, reclaiming, and beautifying these kinds of resources in a cost-efficient manner, especially when they have worked in partnership with government housing, public works, and transportation authorities and agencies.
(b) Purpose
It is the purpose of this section -
to perform, in a cost-effective manner, appropriate service projects to rehabilitate, reclaim, beautify, and improve public housing and public works and transportation facilities and resources in urban areas suffering from high rates of poverty where work will not be performed by existing employees;
to assist government housing, public works, and transportation authorities and agencies;
to expose young people in the United States to public service while furthering their understanding and appreciation of their community;
to expand educational opportunity for individuals who participate in the Urban Youth Corps established by this section by providing them with an increased ability to pursue post-secondary education or job training; and
to stimulate interest among young people in the United States in lifelong service to their communities and the United States.
(c) Definitions
For purposes of this section:
Appropriate service project
The term ''appropriate service project'' means any project for the rehabilitation, reclamation, or beautification of urban public housing and public works and transportation resources or facilities.
Corps and Urban Youth Corps
The term ''Corps'' and ''Urban Youth Corps'' mean the Urban Youth Corps established under subsection (d)(1) of this section.
Qualified urban youth corps
The term ''qualified urban youth corps'' means any program established by a State or local government or by a nonprofit organization that -


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NEW YORK (Jun. 8)
More than 250 writers and Jewish leaders paid tribute to the literary achievements of Sholem Asch, leading Yiddish novelist and playwright, at a testimonial dinner last night in the Commodore Hotel on behalf of the emergency campaign of the United Jewish Appeal for Refugees and Overseas Needs. Speakers included Abraham Cahan, editor of the Jewish Daily Forward; Dr. Solomon Goldman, president of the Zionist Organization of America, and Edward M.M. Warburg, executive chairman of the New York campaign of the United Jewish Appeal, who was toastmaster.


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10 Favorite Bakeries In Metro Phoenix
A pretty pastry case at Essence Bakery
Courtesy of Essence Bakery
If you're one of those people who bakes a pie to cheer up a friend, makes your specialty carrot/red velvet/whatever cake for everyone's birthday, and routinely pulls together all manner of adorable goodies for your children's school programs and bake sales . . . well, bully for you (and the rest of us
hate admire you no end). You obviously like living in the kitchen and don't need the services of the shops provided here.
See also: -- Macaron and Cake Classes with Linda Schneider of 21 Cakes in Scottsdale This Spring -- The Coffee Shop Kicks Off Coffee Class Series at Crepe Bar in Tempe
But for the rest of us poor slobs who can't or won't make the time to DIY the snickerdoodles and would never dream of attempting Danish or anything that actually requires an understanding of dough, here are 10 bakeries that keep our collective sweet tooth satisfied. You won't see every popular or mainstream bakery here, however. This is a collection of slightly quirkier favorites -- many of them ethnic, a few of them hyper-focused or artisanal.
The new Tammie Coe and MJ shop on Central Avenue
Tammie Coe is justifiably famous for her whimsical, colorful, fondant-wrapped cakes and Ooey Gooey cupcakes, which stick to the roof of your mouth in a good way. But there's so much more this creative pastry chef and her bread-maestro husband MJ turn out that's equally worthy of attention. How about a variety of chewy cookies roughly the size of your face? Or a pretzel croissant that makes an excellent foundation for a great sandwich? Or a Righteous Brownie, flour-less and so delish? A selection of fantastic breads, including ciabatta, focaccia and fruit and nut, the latter changing daily? Or -- and this one may be the mind-blower -- a butterscotch crumb bun that's a crispy, chewy, gooey, sugary swirl of caloric trouble you'll be tempted to devour in one sitting. The cozy, living room-ish new location on Central stays open until 10 most nights. Keep that in mind when you need a sugary nightcap after the movies.
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2 Recommendations
dioverton's recommendation
If you can't visit the Meatpacking District in Manhattan then go see the website. I visited in February this year and it is the most amazing mix of shops the meatpackers still work out of there making it so unique.
My Collections:
TheSenator's recommendation
If you visit New York City, be sure to visit the meatpacking District. And while there, be sure to eat at Old Homestead steak house (and yes I will say better than Peter Luger, yell at me all you want) and also try out Markt a Belgium restaurant diagonally across the street. If you love tomato soup, then you'll Markt's. Never in my existence have I tasted such delicious soup. The other great thing about the Meatpacking District is the bars and lounges are off the hook and everyone in the area is hot!


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TROLD Norway
Bjorn Opheim and Stein V. Skjoldal from Stavanger, Norway.
They fell in love with the psy trance culture in the 90's and have released two albums and numerous track's on many different labels.
They are currently working on their 3'rd album entiteled; "TIME for solutions".
Trold's musical style fits when the light goes away, or when night meets the day...................
............stay tuned. ... more
Streaming and Download help


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WASHINGTON, D.C., MARCH 29, 2003 (Zenit.org).- The outbreak of the Iraqi war has rekindled the moral debate over civilian deaths and the selection of military targets. The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives a synthesis of the traditional ethical principles governing the conduct of war, in Nos. 2312-4. They can be summarized in the following points:
— The Church affirms the permanent validity of moral laws during armed conflict. The outbreak of war does not mean that everything becomes licit.
— Noncombatants, wounded soldiers, and prisoners must be respected and treated humanely.
— Blind obedience on the part of those fighting is not an excuse for carrying out actions contrary to laws and universal principles.
— Acts of war that involve indiscriminate destruction of entire cities, or vast inhabited areas, is a crime against God and man.
In a 1993 document, the Catholic bishops of the United States also dealt with the norms regarding the use of force. "The Harvest of Justice Is Sown in Peace" spelled out these principles on conduct in war:
— Noncombatant immunity: civilians may not be the object of direct attack, and military personnel must take due care to avoid and minimize indirect harm to civilians.
— Proportionality: in the conduct of hostilities, efforts must be made to attain military objectives with no more force than is militarily necessary and to avoid disproportionate collateral damage to civilian life and property.
— Right intention: even in the midst of conflict, the aim of political and military leaders must be peace with justice. Acts of vengeance and indiscriminate violence, whether by individuals, military units or governments, are forbidden.
The document also makes an important observation concerning the application of these criteria to a given situation. The bishops recognize "that the application of these principles requires the exercise of the virtue of prudence." Due to this factor, "people of good will may differ on specific conclusions."
The bishops also warned that "the just-war tradition is not a weapon to be used to justify a political conclusion or a set of mechanical criteria that automatically yields a simple answer, but a way of moral reasoning to discern the ethical limits of action." Therefore, both those in charge of policy and commentators on opposite sides of an argument regarding the use of military force "need to be careful not to apply the tradition selectively, simply to justify their own positions."
Moreover, the bishops continued, "any application of just-war principles depends on the availability of accurate information not easily obtained in the pressured political context in which such choices must be made."
The document, written with the experience of the 1991 Gulf War in mind, makes specific reference to the use of air power. The bishops ask for further reflection on how traditional ethical norms can be applied to this sector of military action.
Targeting civilian infrastructure, they noted, "afflicts ordinary citizens long after hostilities have ceased." They warned that this "can amount to making war on noncombatants rather than against opposing armies."
Proportionality of means
James Turner Johnson's 1999 study "Morality and Contemporary Warfare" also addresses the subject of noncombatants and war. Johnson, a professor of religion at Rutgers University and author of numerous publications on morality and warfare, comments that the moral and legal tradition developed in Western thought assumes that, as a practical matter, complete avoidance of harm to noncombatants is impossible outside of exceptional circumstances, such as naval battles or land warfare in unpopulated zones.
He notes that some maintain that any harm to noncombatants necessarily renders war unjust. But that view would amount to pacifism, Johnson observes, given that modern warfare normally results in such harm to noncombatants. Such a position, he notes, is not in accord with just-war traditions, nor even with U.S. bishops' documents.
Johnson explains that in judging the morality of such harm it is important to distinguish between damage caused by undesired incidents, and those actions that directly and intentionally target noncombatants. This does not mean, however, that there are no limits to the amount of unintentional damage to civilians. A proportionality of means must be respected, in which acts of war should not cause damage disproportionate to the ends that justify them.
Johnson also mentions a further limiting principle: the need to avoid a Carthaginian peace, that is, a degree of devastation that would leave a land uninhabitable after the war is over. This notion comes into play when considering such weapons as chemical agents, nuclear radiation or the indiscriminate sowing of land mines.
U.S. military doctrine
The U.S. military has made a serious effort to come to terms with the need to limit civilian casualties, according to Michael Knights in the April issue of the British magazine The World Today. Knights, defense editor of the Gulf States Newsletter, recently finished research in London on air targeting strategies.
"There was an unprecedented effort to reduce the suffering and deaths of noncombatants" in the 1991 Gulf War, affirmed Knights. Nevertheless, civilians suffered due to the destruction of power, transport and communications. A large number of civilians died after the war due to the lack of power and safe water supplies. In part, he observed, the excessive damage was due to the persistence of "Cold War thinking."<br>
In following years a much more sophisticated strategy was adopted, Knights said. As evidence he cited the reduction in civilian casualties during U.S. military action in Kosovo and Afghanistan.
A recent issue of the Journal of Military Ethics, cited by the New York Times on March 8, affirmed that point about the Afghan war. Military policy now requires legal advisers to approve combat targets in advance. This led to clearance delays and denials that allowed key Taliban and al-Qaida members to escape unscathed, say U.S. Air Force officials. But that's OK, retort scholars. They insist that the ethical advantages of the policy outweighed its tactical costs.
On the ground in Iraq
The Iraqi war has already seen civilian deaths. On March 27, the Iraqi Health Minister alleged that more than 350 Iraqi civilians had been killed, Reuters reported. He also claimed that many more had been injured. The accusation came after explosions in a Baghdad residential area killed about 15 people.
Friday saw another explosion in a market area, causing numerous deaths, the New York Times reported today. In both cases Iraqis contended that a U.S. missile or bomb caused the damage.
In the first case an American official, Brigadier General Vincent Brooks, argued that it could also have been an Iraqi missile falling back to ground after being fired at an aircraft, the Associated Press reported March 27. And regarding Friday's incident the New York Times quoted a U.S. military spokesman as saying that the explosion might have been caused by an errant Iraqi missile or even bombs that were planted by Iraqi authorities.
Any judgment would also need to take into account the strategy adopted by Iraqi authorities; they have deliberately provoked civilian casualties, in a bid to woo public opinion. During the recent battle in Nasiriya, for example, Iraqi fighters pushed women and children into the streets to serve as human shields in order to drive up the civilian toll, the New York Times reported March 24. Numerous other reports also explain how the Iraqis have deliberately located military sites next to schools and hospitals.
Making a moral judgment on these individual events is highly problematic. As the 1993 statement by U.S. bishops noted, applying the ethical principles to specific cases is not easy. That is doubly so now, with the conflicting reports from the battlefield.
As arguments continue over the question of civilian deaths, the number of military casualties should not be ignored. Soldiers too have families who would feel their loss. All the more reason to follow the Pope's example of incessant prayers for an end to the conflict.


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Food and Drug Administration, Dockets Management Branch, 5630 Fishers Lane - Room 1061- HFA-305, Rockville, MD, 20852; 301-827-6860; Fax 301-827-6870; TTY/TDD Users 1-800-735-2258 - [E-mail Us]
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02P-0135 Orally-Administered Levothyroxine Sodium all NDAs & ANDAs *
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Bill O'Reilly Takes on JetBlue's Sponsorship of Daily Kos Convention
According to Bill O'Reilly's website, the Fox News host Monday evening will be taking on a decision by airliner JetBlue to sponsor YearlyKos, the second annual convention of Daily Kos and company:
Talking Points Memo & Top Story
JetBlue and the radical left
Why would JetBlue sponsor a hateful far-left website? We'll discuss it.
This information was obviously made available to the Kossacks, as regular DK diarist mcjoan had plenty to say on the subject in a posting early Monday (h/t Charles Johnson, emphasis added throughout):
Bill O'Reilly has discovered that sometimes people say stupid things on the Internet. And he's going to have a big story about it tonight, supposedly.
He's decided to play David to what he imagines is a corporate Goliath, JetBlue, because they're one of the sponsors of YearlyKos. This is undoubtedly happening on Murdoch's orders: Markos led the way in getting the Democratic presidential candidates to boycott the Fox debate, and we're going to be having a Democratic presidential candidates forum at YearlyKos.
So they ambushed JetBlue's CEO outside of his apartment last week, demanding to know why he was sponsoring people who are mean. Meaning they cherrypicked the worst of the comments on Daily Kos, many which were probably from GOP trolls anyway, and found a couple of 9/11 conspiracy diaries and are trying to smear the whole of the lefty blogosphere with a handful of kooks who've been banned from the site for being, well, kooks.
This cherry-picking defense by mcjoan is rather laughable. After all, when a virtually unknown blogger named Spocko tried to get sponsors of conservative radio station KSFO to pull their ads in January by sending them cherry-picked, out of context quotes made by various hosts, the folks at Daily Kos were largely responsible for disseminating the story throughout the liberal blogosphere.
In fact, as NewsBusters reported on January 15, a January 3 diary posted at DKos by contributor Mike Stark was what got Spocko's campaign going throughout the netroots.
I guess when the Kossacks want to bring down some entity they don't like by presenting cherry-picked comments, that's fine. But, when the shoe is on the other foot, they think it's inappropriate behavior.
Hysterically, this is just another example of the liberal mantra "Do as I Say, Not as I Do!"