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Comcast Filled My House With Raw Sewage
@forgottenpassword: Good point. I missed that tidbit when I first read the article. Wonder what the heck he was thinking.
Comcast Filled My House With Raw Sewage
Now that's what I call crappy service.
Japan Introduces Monkey Waiters; Blogger Scratches Another Business Plan Off His List
@neko613: I disagree with our vegan friend too, but your reasoning is also slightly retarded. Speaking in defense of people who believe in god, they don't believe we're here for his entertainment. And even so, saying that we can act like gods to lower life forms? Also retarded. If you're going to argue about god you need to first understand what people who believe in god consider him to be. It's not a hierarchy where he's the general, ergo we must be the lieutenants and the monkeys are privates. More like god is grand marshal dictator supreme, over everything. We have no rank in the system.
Not that I necessarily believe in god. But I felt I had to point that out.
Backlash: Outrage Forces AIG To Cancel Second Pricey Hotel Party
"Anyone who has a job right now, regardless of industry, should be acting like a team player to secure their position. Not a brat who wants this, or he'll do that."
That's beautiful, man. People should stop competing and simply join hands.
Backlash: Outrage Forces AIG To Cancel Second Pricey Hotel Party
"I find it a very hard to defend position when people are suffering to see a small minority 'living the good life'."
That simplified outlook is the problem. The public microscope is the problem.
"Every single financial company is in a precarious position"
Well, not quite, at least not in equal proportions. Most of them are probably in a better position than AIG. As someone else commented, "Who would buy insurance from them now?" Indeed, who would. Similarly who would work for them if they had an alternative? Who would take them on as a client or hire them? They're in a bad place competitively, and it of course gets worse if you further take away their ability to compete.
"How exactly did they get themselves in the position where the public is footing the bill again?"
Mostly it was panic. Major financial institutions were no longer able to function because everyone pulled their money out -- selling stock and closing accounts. It's fun and simple to blame CEOs, but really there was a little rattle, everyone lost faith in the system, panicked and ran, just like in the Depression.
Your line of reasoning might work if we could collectively get all companies in a particular industry to lower their expenditures at the same time, keeping the ratios the same. Like some kind of government decree that all businesses who spend above X dollars a month must cut spending by 25% by a certain date (as someone already stated though, maybe that looks too much like socialism). Maybe the companies could all work together on their own to lower costs collectively (but maybe that would look like price-fixing).
There's no easy answer, as you can see. But to get emotional about it and say "they're living lavishly while we're all suffering; ergo I'm pissed and they should change", doesn't mean you really know what's going on and can accurately judge the situation. Them giving up their lavishness does not automatically translate into an improvement in your life, though it may make you feel better. Life will seem a little more fair. Temporarily.
Not that I'm claiming to know everything. But I know enough to know I don't have the answer, and that I can't really say who's right and who's wrong. People should realize and admit that more often.
Backlash: Outrage Forces AIG To Cancel Second Pricey Hotel Party
Siding with the devil here, as someone else here has already done, but here's my version:
For a corporation, it isn't quite as simple as "if you're in debt, spend less money". As a corporation, if you spend less money, you will probably wind up making less money, one way or the other.
If you take money away from something that your competitor doesn't, whether it be in the area of salary, benefits, facilities, even extravagances, your clients and employees will start looking to those competitors.
The people who run these companies really aren't complete morons or super-villains. They aren't trying to keep their fancy vacations just for the sake of comfort. Trust me, given the choice, they would rather keep their business afloat -- and if they thought cutting out the vacation would help, rather than hurt, they would've done it.
The title of this article is more accurate than its content: "Outrage Forces AIG To Cancel Second Pricey Hotel Party". You bet your ass it was outrage, pure and simple, in lieu of reasoned decision-making.
The public, who don't have all the information and who aren't aware of the system's complexities, saw a very simple conundrum: A company in debt spent money on a vacation. They became outraged, and so despite the company's best judgment, they were forced to be political and make the choice that would improve their public image, rather than what would've been best for the company.
Perhaps this one cancellation may not hurt much; but if the public continues to dictate to them how to run their business, they will get hurt in the end; and so will we.
Backlash: Outrage Forces AIG To Cancel Second Pricey Hotel Party
@dynamix10: At least delete the phone number?
Japan Introduces Monkey Waiters; Blogger Scratches Another Business Plan Off His List
Bart: "And every night, the monkey butlers will regale us with jungle stories."
Nelson: "How many monkey butlers will there be?"
Bart: "One at first. But he'll train others."
Japan Introduces Monkey Waiters; Blogger Scratches Another Business Plan Off His List
@anyone: You really can't expect to be able to argue with someone with "vegan" in their name.
To answer his question, when the monkeys decide to stop, perhaps they end up on the plate. The Japanese eat some odd things, maybe they would eat their own waiters too.
Comments from equazcion
Casio Voids Warranty, Claims There's A Fingerprint Inside New Camera
@jjeefff: Heh, I like that idea.