Banning Trans Fat

New York City banned trans fat. Massachusetts is considering the same. Selling Cigarettes is still legal in both locations. Enough said?

Patents

Did I once cover this topic? I didn't look but if not what an oversight.

Recently I was catching up on my old Wall Street Journals, doesn't seem like I read much else, and found an article on patents. The article was discussing how many are challanged and thrown out these days. It went on to further discuss how the system has developed over the years and even stated one of the determining factors in if a patent is justified and should be granted. The article said something to the effect that the idea can't be something that somebody with a reasonable knowledge in the applicable field could readily build. This was like a lightening bolt to me.

My first interest in patents came about when a friend of a friend was saying he wanted to be an inventor but needed that one product to support him while he worked on more. He had a full time job and had actually patented a few ideas in the past. His 'big' patent seemed alright to me but he mentioned a friend who had patented a retractable jumper cable. I thought at the time that he was joking and that couldn't be enforceable. He said the guy had licensed it to some companies and made some money from it. After reading this article I think the guy got lucky. My mother's vacuum cleaner had a retractable cord on it when I was running around in diapers so I think a trained monkey could have put together retractable jumper cables.

Many patents on computer technology seem to fall into this category as well - when I say technology I mean more the software. Things like one-click checkout are really an idea and a good coder, not some breakthrough technology that warrants a patent. Right after reading the article I was in a hotel shower and noticed the shower curtain. It used some 'fancy' means of attaching to the shower rod and had a tag saying it was covered by 3 patents with more pending. The 'fancy' means was essentially a hard plastic circle with one side slit open so you could bend the plastic and slip it over the rod. Patentable? With 3 patents? It was a shower curtain, not a patentable item.

The US Patent system has some flaws, hopefully this will be corrected at some point to avoid the years of lawsuits we love to fling at each other.

Leveraged Buyouts - Criminal

I was considering the recent surge in Leveraged Buyouts and began to wonder why they occur, especially some of the recent ones where the firm goes private and then public again within a short time period, often after 1 to 2 years.

It is obvious to everyone who reads the business news that the private equity groups taking public companies private are making enormous profits. Based on this factor alone the current shareholders of a company for which an offer is made shouldn't be interested in selling as they are clearly leaving a significant amount of value on the table.

This leads to the question of why is there value left on the table? It would seem that the private equity firm has a different operating model in mind for the firm. Assuming the firm is run to maximize shareholder value (there are other considerations but I am not going there for simplicity and the private equity firms aren't going there either) then the current management team should be doing what the private equity firm wants to do. Given the number of transactions over the past few years it should be obvious to management what the new owners will do and they should do it immediately.

If Management is involved in the leveraged buyout the board of directors should immediately fire the entire team and initiate lawsuits seeking damages as the management team clearly has steps in mind to increase the value of the firm that they aren't initiating until they are the owners. They have stopped working in the shareholders interests.

Lawyers are quick to sue a firm whose stock price drops for that fact alone which costs the firm further reducing its value making the entire process suspect but when the shareholders are clearly being harmed why does no one sue?

Are investors so niave that they really believe a bid slightly over market is such a good deal? Clearly the buyers think it is a bargain or they wouldn't have made the bid.

One last observation, this would not apply to mergers between firms. When two firms merge, especially in the same industry, there are other economies of scale that can't be achieved by either firm independently such as combining back office operations and firing one of the home office staffs.

Saving the Turtle Farmers in LA

Today's Wall Street Journal has a front page article on the actions of Turtle Farmers in LA to have the FDA overturn it's ban on the selling of turtles with shells under 4 inches long. It just so happens that I have had an inexplicable lifelong attachment to turtles and tortoises. I currently have 9 of them as pets and when moving they warrant as much consideration as my child in regards to making sure we have room and what not for them to live adequately.

The history of the ban is that baby red eared sliders (size of a quarter) used to be sold or given away very cheaply at stores across the nation. It was once common practice to sell a small water bowl with a plastic palm tree on it with a free turtle. Ignoring the issues with this setup which would be illegal even if small turtles could be sold, the size of the turtles led to children putting them in their mouths. Since turtles can carry salmonella in their intestinal tracts children got salmonella poisoning. I believe there was one outbreak in particular where several children got sick that sparked the ban.

The turtle farmers want the ban lifted. The primary reason is financial. The price of turtles has collapsed over the past few years as China, a key buyer(they eat them), has developed it's own in country breeding programs and no longer needs US turtles. In support of their argument to remove the ban they claim with a few studies to back them that the salmonella risk is minimal if existent at all.

I don't know if they are correct in their claims. I have never gotten sick although I don't have any red eared sliders either.

I do believe that a ban should be maintained. Red Eared Sliders have been referred to as the Opuntia Cactus of the animal world. Opuntia Cactus was a local plant that when transported to other regions of the world readily adapted and can be seen in virtually all desert regions now. Red Eared Sliders are very sturdy and can survive wide climate variations as long as they have water. They have been found in waterways all over Europe and Asia where they are not naturally occurring. Within the US they have spread to every corner of the country and are standard in most ponds. All of this a result of owners getting tired of caring for them and dumping them in the nearest pond.

4 inch Red eared sliders are readily available at any pet store selling turtles and are the bane of turtle rescue groups. Visit Turtle Homes and they generally have 10's of Red Eared Sliders available and are alway looking for locations to send them. Making baby turtles legal and readily available will only aggravate both the release and the rescue issues.

A 4 inch turtle by it's size requires a certain setup to live including tanks and filters which easily cost a couple hundred dollars on the cheap side thus making folks think twice about buying a pet. A quarter sized turtle can suddenly fit in a fish bowl that you dump out once in a while and refill. Suddenly that quarter is a half dollar and then 4 inches. What do the owners do then? Dump it in a pond, call a rescue group or buy a big new setup?

The real world is brutal and the turtle farmers should have to find a different solution to their problem besides promising that thousands of turtles will be mistreated and otherwise abused.

Mr. Foley's Shooting

Steve Foley, the ex-Charger, who was shot by an off duty police officer has been charged with misdemeanor drunk driving, or as they call it now, under the influence. He might be guilty, he might not, the courts will decide.

The charges against his girlfriend should never have been filed, why add fuel to a fire when you can just let her go.

The off duty police officer that shot him, he should have already been fired. His actions in noticing the erratic driving and calling for backup were fine. His confronting Mr. Foley resulting in the off-duty officer in a civilian vehicle feeling trapped at the end of a cul-de-sac requiring him to shoot Mr. Foley shows at best sheer incompetence. He screwed up bad and needs to face the consequences or once again the public loses their faith in law enforcement.

I know nothing about this officer other then what the newspapers have reported and these are bare facts with nothing about his personality and goals in life. I will say that the situtation he finds himself in is the exactly the sort of situation I told my father an officer in his hometown was likely to end up in. That officer is very gung ho and willing to charge in and do anything. He manages to get mentioned in the papers for virtually every major police story in the town. Seems odd with something like 28 officers one is mentioned well over 50% of the time.

Police have a tough job that gets little recognition. Like many jobs they are expected to do it perfectly. Anything less is a failure and recognition is hard to come by since how do you surpass perfection? But within their ranks they have to watch out for those that are a bit too gung-ho and jeopardize the respect and admiration required for police to do their job effectively.

Steve Irwin's Death

I feel very sorry for the family of Steve Irwin as I would for any family who suffers a loss such as theirs. My curiosity is aroused by the news media once again though. Why is his wife always described as American born?

Do the Australians consider that a mark of honor? A traitorous act? Is it the greedy Americans trying to take credit in some small way for Steve Irwin? Is that all she has going for her?

If some white guy were to die and the media started reporting that his black wife was flying home with the kids there would be rioting in the streets.

How fickle we are.

Business News

I am on the road again for a few days so this morning I went to breakfast and read the Money section of USA Today. Top of the page story, 'Fliers board faster as fewer carry on bags'. This is news? If people have less stuff in their hands they move quicker, not only that, they aren't trying to wheel bags down the aisle that just don't fit. Being a semi-frequent traveller I have always been irritated by fellow flyers who carried on foot lockers and couldn't figure out why they didn't fit in the overhead storage. Don't worry, I shared the blame for this with the agents who allowed this bag onto the plane despite the 'cages' outside the gates saying anything larger then this needs to be checked. After watching 'Airline' a few times about Southwest Airlines reality I don't understand how it happens because those agents are real bastards and seem like they would question if a wallet in a rear pocket were too big.

Below this was the Cover Story about clothing manufacturers getting squeezed by the recent store mergers. Oh my goodness, fewer stores, less space, who would have guessed. I don't understand the Macy's/May's merger getting by regulators but that is life. Normally I think mergers are fine but this one combined the only two department stores I have ever really bought clothes at. The article mentions Kohl's as an option, I grew up in New England and don't know what Kohl's is but it took the old Bradlee's location (bankrupt) so it has inherited the Bradlee's image and I never bought clothes there. JCPenney, never really liked that place for some reason an their new 'image' hasn't won me over just yet. Not even sure I could find one of their stores. Mervyn's just doesn't cut it but if I had bought them out a year or two ago I would be pumping up the advertising and chasing all those like myself.

But what I really found interesting was how many 'labels' were owned by a small number of clothing manufacturers. The articles mentioned how they have opened outlet stores and so on. Based on the number of labels any one of them own they could open their department store, forget the outlets.

My favorite article was at the bottom, 'Mortgage lenders see stock prices sink'. I work in the investment industry and am always amazed at how things work. For mortgage lenders (and many others but this article is about them) when the market was screaming their stocks took off. Sound logical? Yes and No. Theoretically stock valuations are based upon future expectations of a firms prospects. During a boom time analysts and others all see roses and project that the party will last forever. They act surprised when something changes or goes wrong despite the knowledge that the industry was overheated and due for a slowdown or adjustment.

Knowing that the market was overheated and that a slowdown had to come should have been factored into the stock valuations all along. Some error based upon timing of when this would occur can be expected resulting in valuation adjustments but a 20% decline within 2006 is absurd. One would assume that either the stocks were overvalued to begin with or are undervalued now. Given how companies operate I would go with overvalued but wouldn't bet on undervalued now. Many of these firms have been taking on greater and greater risks as they add more options to the mortgages they offer and chase poor risk borrowers to try and juice their returns.

I propose that most of the mortgage lenders (not all, there are some more conservative then others), expecially those lending to risky borrowers have been overstating their income and prospects for several years based upon the real estate boom. When the market is climbing rapidly errors get masked as the person who is short cash sells the real estate and pays off the mortgage instead of defaulting. The companies then say that their default rate is miniscule and use this number to project future defaults despite the historical norm for defaults being much higher. They spin tales of how they have refined the review process and keep on top of the borrowers and act quickly to stem issues but that is all for the media and analysts. The market masked their errors. Soon there will be articles about lenders going bankrupt and they will say how the new 'paradigm' the firm operated in fell apart with the market. Well, there was and is no new paradigm, they capitalize on a short term market and fail in the long term due to the high risk they assumed without generating a comensurate return. Meanwhile senior managers walk away with millions and shareholders lose their shirts.

That was the business news today.

First Amendment & The Press

When the media prints a story from unnamed sources and then refuse to divulge the names of the sources as this would cause sources to dry up I understand. This has to be tempered by the threat of made up sources and the media does a pretty good job of roasting it's own when such a violation is uncovered.

This weekend I was reading the WSJ opinions page from August 19 -20th, 2006. One of the areas I always look to is the upper right hand corner of the second page. Sometimes the opinion expressed in this area is of little to no interest. In this edition I found it interesting. Theodore J. Boutrous, Jr., a lawyer by trade, was expressing his opinion on a lawsuit regarding the use of a phone conversation originally acquired via illegal means. Mr. Boutrous represents Dow Jones, which is noted, so clearly his opinion will support that of the media and the WSJ.

Mr. Boutrous argues that although the taping of the phone conversation was illegal the reporters, and a congressmen who actually received the tape first and passed it on, had a right to publish it as the conversation was accurate and the reporters committed no crime. The argument is obviously one around the First Amendment and freedom of the press.

I disagree. If my TV is stolen and the thief gets on EBAY and sells it, I still expect my TV back. I don't expect the buyer to be arrested. If the Buyer knew the TV was stolen neither they nor anyone else would have purchased it I would like to think. Similar to a pawn store where they actively check for stolen merchandise before purchasing anything to avoid problems with the law and their business licenses.

It is illegal to tape phone conversations without the parties being aware of the taping. The conversation is now stolen property and is readily identifiable as so. A respectable news organization should make sure to return the property and not publish it.

A prosecutor in a court of law would not be able to use such a piece of evidence to convict someone so if it could taint a court proceeding why doesn't it taint a news organization?

So You Think You Can Dance....but can you host?

Last year the TV show ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ had an attractive (read as smoking) Latino host.  She was everything the show tried to be.  For unknown reasons this season they replaced her with Cat.  Cat is a British import probably a result of the head judge who is British who is TERRIBLE!  As the season has progressed they must have noticed viewer feedback and they have tried to sex her up with clothing, makeup and hair all to no avail.  Cat is not cut out to be a host.  She does not deserve 9 lives and should be replaced NOW.  I don’t care if the host is sexy, just worthy of the job.  It has to appear natural and right now it doesn’t.

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Driving Safety

How can a state require the use of seatbelts for automobile drivers and in some cases all passengers while not requiring motorcycle helmets?

Small Town Politics

I have been spending the past week or so in my hometown visiting family and friends and generally showing off my daughter to everyone. During this I have been able to witness, once again, small town politics at it's best.

One citizen previously started a concerned citizens group to preserve and protect a creek. He was then asked to be on the planning board so he 'left' the citizens group to avoid conflicts. His wife took it over.

A developer was putting up some homes and submitted paperwork to build a pier for residents to keep their boats at. This gentleman was against the pier. Piers are under the purview of the Port Authority which reviewed it and approved it as it followed all the regulations. The larger plan then went to the planning board for review and they rejected it based on the pier.

Numerous individuals said this was inappropriate but the board didn't listen. Lawsuits followed and now the board has been told they were wrong, the pier is not under their realm of responsibility. Folks against the pier are up in arms.

Even better, the folks running the citizens group recently had their boats vandalized on their piers. They are upset as they can't leave their boats out anymore. What they fail to consider is the considerable expense that they are putting the developer through and the hassles the folks who bought the land have had to deal with. Most of the land was sold but has gone back on the market clearly indicating the problems their actions have caused. Someone got irritated and decided to express their frustration. Vandalism is clearly illegal and the perpetrator, if caught, should be prosecuted. Yet, what is the difference between what the vandal did and what the citizen's group is doing?

Both result in financial hardship to another without the benefit of legal standing. The citizen's group is using it's influence to have the planning board ignore the rules and take independent actions that don't stand up in court. This is similar to limited terrorism, we will keep making your life difficult and costing you money unless you do what we want.

The town should be forced to compensate the developer for his losses and the facts of the case should be clearly defined and distributed to all taxpayers in the town. The standing of every board member and what they said and voted on the development should be publicized with what the cost to the town has been. If neighbors start realizing their taxes are going up because of Joe Next Doors actions the pressure on Joe to follow the rules will force a change or get Joe out of his role.

Likewise, when a developer sues trying to get something extra they don't deserve and they lose they should pay the town for the towns costs.

My hometown is hardly the only town dealing with similar issues. It is too bad that common sense no longer applies and that lawyering is a growth business. Sometimes I wish I had chosen that occupation and will surely suggest it to my daughter when she is old enough to ask.

Coke Rewards

As a regular drinker of Coke products I started entering the ‘codes’ for Coke Rewards on their website and have managed to accumulate a few points, just enough to get a t-shirt that says Coke.  Checking my email I receive notification that an item on my wish list, the t-shirt, is running low and may no longer be available soon.  I rush to the website and sure enough, t-shirts are gone.

 

A suggestion to Coke.  Printing several thousand t-shirts with a Coke logo is CHEAP.  The advertising generated by thousand of folks walking around wearing a Coke t-shirt is worth handing them out for free, never mind making us collect bottle caps at 3 points apiece to get something like 200 points to earn one. 

 

At my point collection rate there isn’t anything I want from this promo that I can achieve now that the t-shirts are gone.  Do they think this will engender good will towards Coke?  I had been trying to improve my habits and was drinking water with a Coke as a reward when I finished whatever amount I had to drink.  I hate drinking water.  This promo got me drinking more Coke again but if it all comes to nothing I could decide to try the healthy thing again.

 

Several years ago my sister got a Generation Next t-shirt from Pepsi and gave it to me.  I never drink Pepsi unless some restaurant holds me hostage and that is all they serve.  I have worn that t-shirt for at least 5 years on a regular basis giving Pepsi tons of advertising.  It is finally wearing out and Coke has an opportunity.  Will they let it pass?

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Fashion Designer Advice

This morning on the TODAY show I caught a segment where a fashion maven provided advice on what to wear to weddings depending on how the invitation described the dress code.  Although one might argue with any particular style what I found questionable was a casual formal selection for men.  The model came out in a fantastic suit from Brooks Brothers for around $750.  The description went on to the shirt for $20 from Marshall’s……

 

If I spent $750 for my suit at Brooks Brothers I would not be buying a cheap oh shirt at Marshall’s for $20.  I would probably go whole hog and buy the shirt at Brooks Brothers.  Why risk ruining the look of a fantastic suit by going el cheapo on the shirt?

 

During this time I also heard that Nellie Furtado (sp?) was coming right up.  Just so happens I am in NY and the office is right next to the outdoor stage so I walked by it on my way in.  Did I see Nellie?  No, I saw Nelly or some other rap singer who looks the same – turns out it was Timbaland, guess he learned hooked on Phonics and liked his boots a lot.  This got me asking myself why is it that singers who aren’t black and male need to have black male singers join them?  Sometimes the black males band together to help the newbie get some publicity and build up their reputation but recently it seems to be female singers needing the black male on stage and in their songs. 

 

Seems they must want to perpetuate the male treating women like sh*t.  I can’t think of any other reason why.  I have seen many a man treat women like playthings and the women eat it up.  They love the guy and think he will change.  Forget it he is with the neighbor right now treating her like trash too.

 

Hmm, starting to sound like Bill Cosby.

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Enforcing Immigration Laws

I was in a rush this morning but saw a headline on the USA Today left at my hotel room door.  It was to the effect that Large City Police Forces (and probably small city and town as well) don’t enforce the illegal immigrant laws as they see it as a Federal issue and a Federal law.

 

Aren’t most laws federal or state?  Very few are actually city or town laws besides basic nuisance regulations (not that the regulations are nuisances but they attempt to ban things that would be a nuisance to residents) like speed limits, noise restrictions, leash laws, etc.  Murder is federal and/or state.  Drug laws are federal.  Both get the full attention of the police.  One gets them headlines and publicity, bad if not solved, neutral to good if solved, the other gets publicity AND has the prospect of seizing property that the town/police can use to pad their budgets.  Illegal immigrants just fill up the jail.

 

Maybe the article mentions this, I don’t know, didn’t have time to read it.  I don’t get to opt in or out of what rules I obey, odd they can opt not to enforce rules.  Wouldn’t failure to enforce the rules be a crime too?

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Fat Children

Politicians have seized open childhood obesity to remove fast foods, ban soda machines and legislate sweets out of schools. All with the intent of showing that they are serious about the problem and are taking action. The question we should be asking our politicos is when they will start legislating something that will actually work on reducing obesity in children?

Many times I have stood in line behind a family using food stamps to acquire their weekly groceries. They have one cart with the milk, eggs, whole grain cheerios and bread paid for with food stamps. They have a second cart with the Eggo Waffles, Potato Chips, Hostess Twinkies and the 3lb bag of M&Ms paid for with cash. Some folks may say this is an aberration from the norm but I can’t remember a single instance of seeing someone use food stamps and not having a second batch of garbage food paid for with cash although I am sure it must occur.

Then there is the single mother on welfare wearing more bling then 50 Cent but that is another topic. 50 Cent wears lots of bling doesn’t he? I am showing my age.

What children eat is only a part of the problem. A complete lack of exercise is more to blame. As a child I didn’t have a strictly healthy diet and once in high school spent plenty of money on candy, soda and pizza yet I wasn’t fat. At times I was downright svelte. Drinking in college would pack on a bit of extra weight during the winter when I didn’t go out and do anything but once summer rolled around I would drop the extra baggage within a month thanks to a job mowing lawns.

I grew up in Maine where my folks had a large plot of land and my best friend’s family had a farm. Another elderly neighbor had over 40 acres including a large hill that they allowed everyone to slide on in the winter. I spent considerable amounts of time outside playing, exploring and doing what kids used to do. I would ride my bike to my friends or vice versa and we would play baseball, play football, skateboard, build forts in the woods, explore the hay loft, etc. Sure, there were times we sat inside and played games but those tended to be the rainy or cold days when going outside was a bit uncomfortable.

I now live in San Diego where the neighbor’s house is a hop away if you make a really short hop. Yards are the size of a postage stamp and pickup games of baseball are impossible. Children who live in residential areas in the suburbs would have to play baseball in the street to have enough room just to lay out the bases. Either that or go to a local park which they can’t do without supervision as they are now at an extremely high risk of being kidnapped by a pedophile. Where did all these pedophiles come from? Where were they when I was younger?

My old hometown has changed as well. The elderly neighbors passed away and the out of state heirs sold the land. The sledding hill is now home to a very large house. My friend’s farm was just sold and only developers could afford the price as taxes had gone through the roof on the real estate, a main reason for the sale. There are still yards and kids can still play outside but even there the opportunities are disappearing slowly.

A Senator Barrios in Massachusetts is proposing an amendment to ban Fluff in schools. If you are from New England you probably know what a Peanut Butter and Fluff sandwich is. Otherwise just accept that it is a standard childhood meal along the lines of peanut butter and jelly. Combining Peanut Butter, Jelly and Fluff was the ultimate. He was upset his child had been given such a sandwich for school lunch. I won’t go anywhere near claiming that Fluff is a healthy food alternative but when someone specifically legislates a single food item out things are spinning out of control. Since Apples are better then peaches, according to the Apple lobby, shouldn’t we ban peaches for apples? Ok, I made that up for effect.

Senator Barrios should stop worrying about the specific items in the school lunch program and pass legislation that does two things. Simply require healthy lunches in schools and more physical education time. Yes, healthy is a loose term but why not let the school districts decide what is healthy and if parents disagree let them argue it out at the local school district level. This fear of parent arguments will keep the lunch programs in line a vast majority of the time and not make the School Lunch Police Force a new requirement to enforce the no Fluff Law. Physical Education will get kids moving. It might even cause a few to recognize an activity they like and take it up. At the very least it gets them out for and hour or two a day. School Days are short enough that an extra 30 minutes of PE wouldn’t hurt, eliminate some of the study halls the older kids have.

The irony of Senator Barrios’ action is that the company that manufactures Fluff is situated in his district meaning he is advocating a law that could get his constituents fired as their sales theoretically decrease. A stupid law that costs him support, if only justice were always so easy.

LATE Breaking Update. Last night and this morning this story was on the Major News Networks. The folks at Fox in the Morning made A**es of themselves with the story.

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Everyone's Phone Calls Database

I am curious as to howthe government has managed to do this. Isn't it the CIA that tried to put in a new computer system and after a couple of hundred million spent had nothing to show for it?

Don't the phone companies keep these records so that if the government really needed to track numbers they could get them when needed, not keep them all just for the heck of it?

What happens when Joe Local police office is curious about phone calls made from some guys house that they just busted for drug dealing? Does he still need a court order or can he just call up a bud at the Justice Dept and get the phone records?

Can Joe local then start knocking on or kicking in everyones' door who called or was called from that phone?

George Orwell's only mistake was the year.

I am a registered Republican. George Bush and his like minded politicos have to go.

The Duke Scandal?

Why is the story about the Duke lacrosse team such big news? It is no different then any other number of rapes that happen every day and certainly less newsworthy then most of the horrific acts occuring around the world that we blindly ignore.

3 lacrosse players do not represent all of Duke. One could argue that they represent the mindset of testosterone charged males involved in team sports. How many professional athletes get in trouble despite the obvious costs involved? Society promotes their antics right up until it becomes violent and then wonders how it could have happened.

Rep. McKinney

I don't have much in common with Rep. DeLay. Don't really know much about him other then he has some legal problems but I completely agree with his statement regarding Rep. McKinney. Her scuffle with the Capitol Police is about her racism and not the police officers. In these litigous (is that a word?) times many a minority finds it easy to scream racism and attract attention. This makes it much harder for anyone to defend themselves as proving a negative is very hard, 'I am not a racist' just doesn't work as well as 'You are a racist'.

This carries over into many other areas, all claiming discrimination in some form or another. Try firing a minority. Files to fire a minority have to be twice as thick and much more documented then to fire a non-minority.

I don't deny that racism and discrimination exist, they do, just not at the level that many rather vocal members of minorities would like you to believe.

911 Calls from 9/11

Of course family members should be free to receive copies of emergency calls from those that died in the World Trade Center attack. Folks should be free to listen to any of the calls if they desire.

But why does the news have to broadcast them? Not that I think it is offensive, I just don't understand why the generally audience has any interest in hearing it. The calls are really no different then those received from any major problem other then knowing most of the callers are probably now dead. We learn nothing from them.

Yet airtime and newsprint was spent in abundance about their release. The delay in releasing them is the only knews. What idiot thought they should be horded?

Immigration Riots

Once again immigration reform causes a stir. Funny how the illegal immigrants all hide and avoid the system until they might get booted and suddenly free speech is seized upon.

I don't have a problem with immigrants and don't have an answer to illegal immigration. As long as Mexico and any number of other countries are cesspools of civilization then people will attempt to get into the US. I don't see that they really hurt anything other then a rather irritated minority who don't want to earn their jobs and would prefer to be able to hold the country hostage to their whims. Kind of like the auto unions.

The one thing I do find wrong in the immigrant situation is that anyone born on US soil is a US citizen - period. Mexicans, and others, have been abusing this for decades. Get across the border before giving birth, go to a hospital who has to care for you for free and the kids are US citizens. Talk about rewarding the child for a crime of the parent. This should be reformed.

Then there are the children living in Mexico who come across the border every day for school. That should be illegal. I couldn't go to the neighboring town without coughing up cash when I grew up.

Then there are t he unions are Delphi. "We will strike if the contracts are voided...blah, blah, blah." Perhaps they missed the meaning of Delphi closing ALL their plants in the US. Exactly what are they going to strike? Delphi is gone and bankrupt - lot of good that will do the union membership. GM? Strike them and they are gone and bankrupt as well. More union members on the street. Those who aren't fools should be taking GM's buyout cash and running to the bank as fast as they can.

NY Suing H&R Block...

Hmm, seems the allegations in the NY suit against H&R Block are exactly the complaints I have about the UPromise 529 College Savings Plan. I bet suing UPromise just doesn't generate the same publicity and might harm is run for Governor so I won't hold my breath. I wonder if the NY State plan has the same sort of fee structure as UPromise?

Milosevic et al

The press seems to be having a field day with the potential that Milosevic's death wasn't natural. Every story puts focus on the family saying he was killed by the UN.

What every story should headline is that the Butcher of the Balkans is dead. He escaped justice here on earth the same way that Hitler did.

If someone poisoned him they should be caught for stealing justice from his victims. The world choked on it's own benevolence when the slaughter in the Balkans wasn't stopped (not to mention other locales). Failure to bring those responsible to justice is simply keeping the wounds open amongst the victims.

When will the media recognize it's culpability in these actions and report stories based on facts and not mere inuendo and slander propogated by those with clearly biased views.

Mortons - The Steakhouse.....in San Diego

There are times when I wish that I were a food critic. Today I get my opportunity.

Last night I dined at Mortons - The Steakhouse in downtown San Diego. I don't anticipate returning there any time in the near future.

To be fair the food I had was wonderful. We started out with a Lump Crabmeat appetizer that was fantastic. Iced Vodka shots stuck in the sides of the fancy serving dish would be a nice touch but not a requirement.

The Filet I ordered was tender and cooked as ordered as was my wife's. The serving size was large but then so is the cost. There are a lot of steakhouses around these days and many have meat just as good, perhaps better, then Morton's in my experience, not that Morton's was bad, it wasn't, just that they aren't above the bar like they might have been once.

Now to the problems as I see them. When I was younger I would spend good money to go to a rock concert to have my hearing damaged. When I go to a top rated restaurant I don't expect the same experience. The noise level in the restaurant was mind numbing. I thought I was sitting in the middle of a club on 5th Avenue, not the Morton's dining room. Some acoustic damping design features are sorely needed.

While working on design features the glass partition between the bar and dining room needs some attention as well. Being a party of two we were seated along the bar/dining room wall. The top portion of this wall is glass with some designs etched into the panels. The bar itself is set slightly above the dining floor or appears that way with the bar height tables and chairs in that section. What this does is give the bar patrons a birds eye view of the dining room. I don't particularly care for someone staring over my shoulder when I am eating unless they are the wait staff and then it shouldn't be noticed.

The wait staff is a hard working group of individuals who were constantly on the move. This has more to do with a lack of structure in the organization of the roles and responsibilities then in a need to be rushing around. Our service was poor. When we had clearly finished with out bread there was no one to notice and remove it. I was surprised when our server actually removed the bread and assorted dishes that went with it and the appetizer. At a truly top restaurant the servers are serving the food and meeting needs, not schleping dishes.

My wife had been suffering from an upset stomach most of the day and by the time we reached the main course she was feeling full and only had a couple of bites. The waitress never noticed and never asked if everything was alright which it was but they couldn't have known that. Someone ignoring their steak deserves a little attention. During this period our waitress actually disappeared. I ate a bit of my steak and some of the vegetable and then stopped as well so that we could wrap things up and my wife wouldn't have to sit there feeling bad. Still no one came to our table. Eventually our waitress did reemerge and simply asked if we wanted everything wrapped to go. No questions on how was it.

This issue with the staff actually began with the hostess. Upon entering the restaurant her opening was, "What Can I Do for You?" with a bit of attitude reflected in the tone she took with us. What she can do is lose the attitude. We weren't exactly dressed up for the night but we weren't dressed down and in comparison to several other diners we looked downright respectable.

My final issue is with the food cart/menu. The idea of showing a diner what they have to offer is fine, I actually appreciate it generally speaking. What I didn't appreciate was the live Lobster. I grew up in Maine, I have relatives who earn a living as lobsterman, I have handled many a lobster. This lobster was a magnificent specimen who was being tortured and slowly killed to act as a display for diners. The lobster sat still on a platter, never moving. I was wondering if it was dead until the waitress picked it up and it reacted. I have never seen a lobster that would sit still for any length of time while out of it's natural environment unless it was very cold or just about dead. This specimen was warm. That display was just cruel.

I don't really have a problem with the vegetable display but I did find it odd. They had whole vegetables like a potato, an onion (I think) and asparagus laid out. You really had no clue what you would be served other then one of these items prepared and looking very different - like the potato that came in 5 variations. And they made a big deal out of their Jumbo Asparagus. If I see jumbo asparagus in the store I keep on walking. Skinny asparagus is more tender and in my opinion flavorful. I passed on the asparagus although I do love it as a vegetable.

Morton's says it is The Steakhouse and they had magazine covers on the walls showing how one of it's restaurants was picked as the Best of or some such award in various cities. The San Diego location deserves no such award and is coasting by on the reputation the chain already has established. If San Diego is any insight into where these restaurants are headed that reputation is in for a bumpy ride.

Chinese Censorship of the Internet

It seems to me that if China wants to censor access to the Internet for it's citizens then the internet should be blocked from China.

Imagine the interruption to their economy as manufacturers couldn't email the buyers and the list would go on.

Harrassment or Discrimination

Do you own stock in First American? It has had a nice run as of late but I wonder if it is in for a rocky time.

Long story short. A friend works there. She is dating a co-worker who had essentially the same job she had. This co-worker was promoted to be a supervisor.....of my friend. Essentially everyone knew of this relationship when the promotion occurred although it is possible that management was unaware.

Recently my friend was given an award by her supervisor that gave her a free trip. She is taking the supervisor on the trip with her. For those of you keeping score at home...employee is screwing boss, boss gives employee bonus award, employee shares award with boss. It should be noted that there is no stated basis for awarding the reward, it goes to who management selects.

It is no longer possible for management to claim they are unaware of this relationship as most of them were somehow on this trip as well.

It is clearly stated in the employee handbook that supervisors can not have personal relationships with those reporting to them.

How do you think all my friends co-workers feel about this situation? They are a wee bit upset. My question is...Is this sexual harrasment or simply sexual discrimination?

Doesn't really matter does it? Some enterprising employee could easily contact a lawyer (probably one of the ones I already trashed) and file a lawsuit on behalf of everyone in the department. They won't get millions but $10K each to someone who resigns for a new job still sounds pretty good.

I am further amazed by how many people have essentially laid their jobs on the line by turning a blind eye. From what I hear I think the Supervisor, the supervisor's manager and that manager's manager have got to be aware of this and thus all subject to immediate termination with cause if someone makes a stink.

Who is the Racist?

Today I read an article about a woman, Nadine Thompson, who sued Southwest claiming racial discrimination. She is black. Clearly she never watched 'Airline'. Nadine is a fat woman who the airline staff tried to charge for a second seat.

The airline admits that it's staff didn't apply the policy correctly as they are required to charge extra prior to a passenger boarding and Nadine was already on the flight. The only claim from Nadine on race was that they tried to charge her because she was black. No one ever said anything to her about race. The only racial statements made were by her while she was screaming at the airline staff. She should be the one sued for being a racist and arrested for her actions like other passangers who become unruly. Maybe it would knock that chip off her shoulder.

Remember, when you fly you are at their mercy, you give up your rights at the metal detector.

Her lawyer was Neil Osborne - don't have his contact info but he was in Concord,NH so if you can locate him feel free to call and get the details.

Apple Sued over Ipod

Some lawsuits are so riduculous that one just can't believe a lawyer would file them. The sad part is that we all pay for this. If you think the lawsuit seeking redress from Apple for selling a product that can harm the users hearing is ridiculous you should let the lawyer who filed it know. Why shouldn't he pay for wasting out money and resources?

I am still amazed that some idiot would be happy to publicly admit he doesn't know how to turn down the volume of an Ipod. The real kicker would be if the idiot smoked. Too bad I don't have his contact number.

Here is how to contact him.

Steve W. Berman
steve@hbsslaw.com
206-623-7292

And what is the NBA thinking?

A player goes into the stands to defend his wife. A claim that seems legit based on the fact that he went straight to her, didn't touch anyone else in the stands and went back to the court when she was fine.

The NBA suspends him for 5 games and says they are being nice. Talk about Family Values. Personally I think professional basketball is a joke - to make it exciting they relaxed all the rules I learned as a child and combined it with a crop of super sized humans. I can not stand to watch the players palm the basketball repeatedly so I don't watch it.

Now they are trying to drive away families with their actions. Pity.

And don't get me started on the fan sitting by his wife - threatening a lawsuit for $1million dollars!?!?! Get real loser. Just for making the threat you should be brought up on blackmail charges. Your family should be ashamed to see you on TV and have the world know it is their relative who is such an idiot. Or maybe he comes from a 'Jerry Springer Show' family, I don't know.

Google Saving the World - NOT

I haven't had much to complain about lately and have been distracted with travel for work. But this little disagreement between Google and the US Government got me thinking.

All the news stories seemed to pit poor upstanding Google as being on the side of the little guy as the big mean US Government overstate it's rights and demands information on every search done in the last year.

The single fact that Google HAS all of this information and MORE is a mere saddened frequently not even mentioned. Who is to say the Google is any better then the government in having and utilizing this information?

I think the government is a bit over it's head in this situation and question if they even have enough drive space to store the data but since when has reality ever been an issue with the government?

But Google actively uses this information, not for the benefit of you and I, but for it's own economic interests. I bet if the government walked into the offices of Google and said we would like to pay you to do a search of your data and identify X situation we wouldn't have even heard about this topic. Google would have done it's magic and handed the information over - just like they do to all their other clients.

You think the government seeing what you search is bad? Think what corporate America is doing with that same information then decide how righteous Google really is.

** The opinions espoused in this post are solely the authors in case you didn't know that - don't you hate these stupid idiotic disclaimers that the law essentially requires to avoid being sued over something very obvious.