In January 2011, friend Harry wrote a blog regarding the number of media sources who were now agreeing with observations he had made in his blog much earlier.
While he agreed it was sort of a personal validation, he regretted the source and actions of the subject matter: Sarah Palin.
I had a similar reaction yesterday when I saw USA Today's headline on their editorial page: "Fight corporate criminality with criminal prosecutions."
USA Today related a series of incredible criminal events committed by drug companies and financial institutions.
They included:, Savings & Loan's $100 billion bailout (1980's), the Pfizer fine in 2009 ($2.3billion), Abbott Laboratories ($1.6 billion in May), the most recent fine of drugmaker GSK - $3 billion) and a potential settlement by Johnson & Johnson of ($2billion).
They then asked of us:
"With a procession of troubling events like these can there be any doubts that current efforts to police corporate misbehavior are failing?
The follow up question: "Is there any doubt that only a credible threat of jail time will get (the individuals responsibile - the guys/gals in control) to insist that the quest for profits is no reason to break the law?"
More FACTS were then revealed:
" More than 1000 people were convicted of felonies "during" the savings-and-loan crisis. Tellingly, thrifts have largely avoided the problems encountered by other financial institutions in recent years."
"By contrast, NOT ONE high level (boss) has been convicted in connection with the credit hustles
and packaging of misrepresented mortages that brought the world economy to it's heels in 2008".
They USA Today cites the fact that some of those responsible resigned (ed. :Or were hired elsewhere?) -all wealthy (at that point) enough to SUFFER ONLY EMBARASSMENT.
But their final conclusion was the kicker. It was also one I've been shouting from the rooftops for quite some time:
"Intentionally endangering people for profit is a crime" and "the way to change criminal behavior is with criminal penalties. In the finance and drug industry scandals, they've been too scarce."
Why is it taking so long for responsible journalists to come to that conclusion - and sadly, do you really figure there will be any follow up?
Who is going to do it? The department Of Justice/ Congress? The President? The assumed GOP Presidential candidate?
The answer is "NO ONE" - unless we make enough noise to finally be heard. And if we don't we only have ourselves to blame.
The casuse of this problem continuing unabated may well be .tied in with the published "opposing view" following the editorial (and no - I didn't make this up!). Here is the respondents reply edited for space:
"While (the thought of) perp-walking (bosses) offers an undeniable appeal to our retributive (i.e. retribution caused anger) does it deliver the goods in making our marketplace sounder, safer and less corrupt?"
"The aggressive pursuit of individual convictions comes at great cost"
"Prosecution hardens positions and forecloses other avenues of achieving the most socially desirable outcome."
"Would we rather see a corporate (boss) do time, or see a company pay massive fines and agree to run it's operations differently?"
"Prosecution of corporate ( leaders) is never a good idea."
"The threat of prosecution isn't what makes the vast majority of (bosses) want to do the right thing. It's their integrity, their 'DRIVE TO SUCCEED' - and their fear that a misstep will cause the business they've worked so hard to build to be undone."
There is much more in the rebuttal but I doubt there are that many readers out there with a the required gag avoidance strength to read anymore.
In Conclusion:
Maybe it's not the careless drivers who are letting their eyes and attention wander that is today's biggest threat out on the road..
Maybe it's just these guys (above) with the totally screwed up "DRIVE TO SUCCEED"who we need to fear more - both on and off the roads- due to their misplaced belief they are entitled to make up the rules.
Let's get them behind bars where they can rethink their conclusions.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
FIND YOU'RE PAYING LESS ATTENTION?
Do you also find that you're paying less and less attention to political shows and articles?
Fellow blogger Harry (harry2335.blogspot.com/) and I often trade e-mails but seldom ones of a political nature. While we have very similar values we don't always agree about politics and have little fun in agitating the other.
Wife Phyl recently asked me,"Who are you going to vote for in the Presidential election?" .Resisting an impulse to immediately respond "Pat Paulson" - I didn't answer at first.
Not that there is a lot of secrecy in the Sullivan family - I just honestly didn't know what to say because I can't find anything real positive about either candidate.
Mitt is the typical politician who changes his opinions almost daily. Barack thinks the economy is doing fine and has never had a humble moment in his life -having decided it's a great defense mechanism..
Obama promised openness during his term as President and has done just the opposite. Poor Mitt can't seem to decide consistently twice in the same week in which verbal category the insurance mandate belongs. Instead, he comes across to many as having the intellectual depth of a pay toilet - with about as much longevity, I might add..
Because we in Florida are in a swing state, we currently receive almost as many Political ads on TV as we do Attorney ads - and trust me, that's a helluva lot.
Regardless of the source above - politicians or lawyers- , both are mostly spewing lies or at least half-truths. But, Hey, that's why we have Freedom of Speech!
Do you sometimes get the impression that most of the legal firms who advertise so much do so with the same attitude as do some of our most outrageous movie stars - "As long as they spell my name right - and remember me -who cares what they think or say about me?"
Having worked in the insurance industry for about 35 years I believe the use of the mute button on the remote for attorney ads may be one of our truly great freedoms in this country. I encourage more people to take advantage of it's presence.
We have turned into a nation of liars - including those poor sad addled folks who brag about military service accomplishments that never happened.
But, once again "Robert(s) and The Supremes" - a group that includes "Heckle and Jeckel" as sidemen -decided that to punish these folks was a definite threat to Freedom of Speech.
The bottom line is that if every entity is allowed to say (see Citizens v United) whatever they want to say - and have the resources to do so where their ramblings have the greatest opportunity to be seen or read- we are thankfully left with that valid option -"the remote". Turn them off - and believe nothing that they say.
Even should whatever these political types claimed originally, later be revealed clearly to be the "worst of the worst" lies, their reply (if any is given) will still be be the same, "I'm sorry -I must have mispoke."
These guys (and gals) remind me of the wife who stabbed her husband 37 times - "accidentally"!
"Honesty", like the use of "curb feelers" to help park the car, has become a anachronism.
And, that's sad; particularly if after a while you throw your hands up in the air and conclude "nobody" is telling the truth (besides Harry, of course) - so, who cares?
Here's a better and final option. Why not turn off the news and/or Jerry Springer and instead tune in to the Encore Westerns channel?. Select "Matt Dillon's Gunsmoke, and listen to a true character -,Festus Haggan..
Yeah, he's a liar too - but, he's a funny one - who means no harm..
So Hon, looks like Festus is gonna be my main man in November.
Problem solved.
Fellow blogger Harry (harry2335.blogspot.com/) and I often trade e-mails but seldom ones of a political nature. While we have very similar values we don't always agree about politics and have little fun in agitating the other.
Wife Phyl recently asked me,"Who are you going to vote for in the Presidential election?" .Resisting an impulse to immediately respond "Pat Paulson" - I didn't answer at first.
Not that there is a lot of secrecy in the Sullivan family - I just honestly didn't know what to say because I can't find anything real positive about either candidate.
Mitt is the typical politician who changes his opinions almost daily. Barack thinks the economy is doing fine and has never had a humble moment in his life -having decided it's a great defense mechanism..
Obama promised openness during his term as President and has done just the opposite. Poor Mitt can't seem to decide consistently twice in the same week in which verbal category the insurance mandate belongs. Instead, he comes across to many as having the intellectual depth of a pay toilet - with about as much longevity, I might add..
Because we in Florida are in a swing state, we currently receive almost as many Political ads on TV as we do Attorney ads - and trust me, that's a helluva lot.
Regardless of the source above - politicians or lawyers- , both are mostly spewing lies or at least half-truths. But, Hey, that's why we have Freedom of Speech!
Do you sometimes get the impression that most of the legal firms who advertise so much do so with the same attitude as do some of our most outrageous movie stars - "As long as they spell my name right - and remember me -who cares what they think or say about me?"
Having worked in the insurance industry for about 35 years I believe the use of the mute button on the remote for attorney ads may be one of our truly great freedoms in this country. I encourage more people to take advantage of it's presence.
We have turned into a nation of liars - including those poor sad addled folks who brag about military service accomplishments that never happened.
But, once again "Robert(s) and The Supremes" - a group that includes "Heckle and Jeckel" as sidemen -decided that to punish these folks was a definite threat to Freedom of Speech.
The bottom line is that if every entity is allowed to say (see Citizens v United) whatever they want to say - and have the resources to do so where their ramblings have the greatest opportunity to be seen or read- we are thankfully left with that valid option -"the remote". Turn them off - and believe nothing that they say.
Even should whatever these political types claimed originally, later be revealed clearly to be the "worst of the worst" lies, their reply (if any is given) will still be be the same, "I'm sorry -I must have mispoke."
These guys (and gals) remind me of the wife who stabbed her husband 37 times - "accidentally"!
"Honesty", like the use of "curb feelers" to help park the car, has become a anachronism.
And, that's sad; particularly if after a while you throw your hands up in the air and conclude "nobody" is telling the truth (besides Harry, of course) - so, who cares?
Here's a better and final option. Why not turn off the news and/or Jerry Springer and instead tune in to the Encore Westerns channel?. Select "Matt Dillon's Gunsmoke, and listen to a true character -,Festus Haggan..
Yeah, he's a liar too - but, he's a funny one - who means no harm..
So Hon, looks like Festus is gonna be my main man in November.
Problem solved.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
NOT REALLY SURE, BUT . . . . . . . .
Not really sure, but -
Eating Mom's cheese spread on whole wheat bread would surely be Un-American - no matter how much fibre one needs in their diet
Why is it that people in grocery stores open the egg cartons to see if the top of the eggs are broken but don't bother checking out the bottom of the eggs?
You got to admire a Supreme Court decision like the one on health reform when each opposing side is sure they were right - and that they won.
Curious about a recent survey on healthcare (as I am doubtful about almost all of them). Per the survey 56% want us to accept the Supreme Court 5/4 decision and just get on with life and 81% of the 56% are Democrats.
Do sports fanatics really believe that there will ever be a decision on change - like the college football playoffs -or the All Star selection - that will clarify things to the satisfaction of the majority?
By the way, is the average sport fan so naive that they fail to recognize that the primary job of the sports print and TV media is to not to report the news - but to stir up and foment discontent - and, that they really don't give a damn about the fans.?
Speaking of sports, should we be among the people demanding that it's time to "Break Up The Pirates" - or simply wait to see if we repeat the disappointing conclusion of the 2011 season?
Shouldn't DeWayne Wickham's weekly column in the USA Today have a header that proclaims it to be:
"advertisement"?
Did people living in Dodge City in the 1870's really talk like Festus Haggan?
Why is it still so hard for the average man to admit that they occasionally cry in reaction to a stimulus?
Why is it that people who are heavy into nursery rhymes can't seem to grasp that if "Lil Bo-Peep has "lost" her sheep - and doesn't know where to find them - is simply a truism? You see, if she did know their whereabouts - the silly little critters wouldn't be "lost".
Anyway, just wondering - and not really sure of the answers.
Eating Mom's cheese spread on whole wheat bread would surely be Un-American - no matter how much fibre one needs in their diet
Why is it that people in grocery stores open the egg cartons to see if the top of the eggs are broken but don't bother checking out the bottom of the eggs?
You got to admire a Supreme Court decision like the one on health reform when each opposing side is sure they were right - and that they won.
Curious about a recent survey on healthcare (as I am doubtful about almost all of them). Per the survey 56% want us to accept the Supreme Court 5/4 decision and just get on with life and 81% of the 56% are Democrats.
Do sports fanatics really believe that there will ever be a decision on change - like the college football playoffs -or the All Star selection - that will clarify things to the satisfaction of the majority?
By the way, is the average sport fan so naive that they fail to recognize that the primary job of the sports print and TV media is to not to report the news - but to stir up and foment discontent - and, that they really don't give a damn about the fans.?
Speaking of sports, should we be among the people demanding that it's time to "Break Up The Pirates" - or simply wait to see if we repeat the disappointing conclusion of the 2011 season?
Shouldn't DeWayne Wickham's weekly column in the USA Today have a header that proclaims it to be:
"advertisement"?
Did people living in Dodge City in the 1870's really talk like Festus Haggan?
Why is it still so hard for the average man to admit that they occasionally cry in reaction to a stimulus?
Why is it that people who are heavy into nursery rhymes can't seem to grasp that if "Lil Bo-Peep has "lost" her sheep - and doesn't know where to find them - is simply a truism? You see, if she did know their whereabouts - the silly little critters wouldn't be "lost".
Anyway, just wondering - and not really sure of the answers.
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