Airlines and KGB

The airline industry is about the only industry outside of the petroleum industry that has free range to do what they want. The difference between the airline and petroleum industry, is one sells a service while the other sells a product. Though they are both subsidised by the people of this great county. After my second delay in DFW airport I was a little bit frustrated with the service. The attitude of the airline industry is that they are doing you, the customer a favor by letting you fly the unfriendly skys. Ignoring the fact the we the customers paid to fly and that our tax dollars continue to keep miss manged companies like United Airlines, Delta Airlines, and American Airlines in business. How do they thank their customers and citizens of the United States of America? They lower service expectations, increase delays and raise their prices and give their executives a 70 million dollars in bonuses while they ask their employees to take a total of 1.6 billion dollar in pay cuts.(USA Today 2006) It is no wonder why planes are always late and delayed, their employees are pissed off. When a person normally buys a service and a company fucks up, the customer gets some type of compensation.

Think delivery services, food, package, and taxis. If you order food there is a reasonable expectation that it will be delivered within an hour, or the company will discount your order, since it is there mistake. If a customer request next day delivery from UPS, FedEx, or DHL a customer expects it to be delivered within 24 hours. If it takes 2 days for it to be delivered they will discount the cost, because they fucked up. Taxis will take the long way to a destination and pass on the cost of their mischiefs to their customer. The same way the airlines do to their customers, congratulations American Airlines, you run your company like Yellow Cab Taxi Company. Its nice that the airline provides free drinks to their customers, as they charge them 3 dollars for a bag of Lays potato chips, 5 dollars for freeze dried fruit mix, and 5 dollars for beer. The beer is a good deal, it cost more at a ballpark. You can't even provide peanuts to anyone, I hate those things but it was the thought that counts. My ticket cost 100 dollars plus for each leg, of a trip. Owell necessary evil, can't live with them, hope they go out of business. Screw You American Airlines.



The Airline industry wanted to show people just how much they cared so the Airline Industry Seeks To Block NY's Passenger Bill Of Rights

"A federal judge is hearing arguments challenging New York's law requiring airlines to give passengers food, water, clean toilets and fresh air when they're delayed on planes for more than three hours...The Air Transport Association wants to stop the law from taking effect on Jan. 1, arguing that states aren't allowed to regulate airlines, which are overseen by the federal government." WNBC

Brilliant, lets argue that a state has no right to protect their citizens from the airline industry because of constitutionality.

Man uses his Obesity to retain custody of his adoptive child and get free surgery. Houston Chronicle

A man who gained national media attention by claiming he was not allowed to adopt a baby because of his weight was awarded temporary custody of the child, but the judge chided him and his wife, saying they knew the primary reason the boy had been removed from their home had nothing to do with obesity. Gary and Cindy Stocklaufer had violated adoption law when they failed to obtain some required paperwork when the baby was moved into Missouri from another state, Jackson County Circuit Judge John R. O'Malley said in his order, which he made public Tuesday. After their petition to adopt the baby, Max, was denied in July by another judge, the couple publicly said it had been because Gary Stocklaufer weighed 550 pounds at the time. The 35-year-old underwent gastric bypass surgery for free from a Dallas clinic in August after the publicity and has lost about 200 pounds. "He seeks to extort a favorable result by his
accusations," O'Malley said. "Fortunately, Missouri courts base decisions on the weight of the evidence, not the weight of the litigants."

All I can say is Kudos, not only did he get to keep his kid he got free surgery. The judges statement is classic though, way to get in that punch. He was huge 550 that is out of control.

Gravity switched off due to '"Essential maintenance work"newsbiscuit.com

Malaysia doesn't believe in human rights, but has DVD sniffing dogs thanks to the MPAA (A.P 2007)

Malaysia will get two new sniffer dogs to unearth pirated DVDs after the resounding success of their predecessors, Lucky and Flo, earlier this year, an official said Wednesday...During their six-month stint in Malaysia, Lucky and Flo helped find 1.6 million pirated DVDs and other optical discs and equipment, worth $6 million. The dogs were also deployed in the Philippines briefly before returning to the U.S.

Who is 55, and ex-KGB? The Times man of the year.

Ex-Hyundai CEO Elected President in S. Korea (A.P. 2007)

A former Hyundai CEO known as "The Bulldozer" for his determination to get things done rolled over all opposition and financial fraud allegations to win South Korea's presidency Wednesday, ending a decade of liberal rule...Lee Myung-bak pledged to work for a nuclear-free Korean peninsula and strengthen Seoul's alliance with the United States...It was the biggest margin of victory in any South Korean presidential election. The candidate with the most votes wins and there are no run-offs. Turnout was a record low 63 percent of 37.7 million eligible voters...Just days before the election, parliament approved an independent counsel investigation into allegations that Lee manipulated stock. The investigation is to be completed before the Feb. 25 inauguration, and Lee has said he will step down if found at fault...Lee emphasized the economy in his campaign with a "747" pledge — promising to raise annual growth to 7 percent, double the country's per capita income to $40,000 and lift South Korea to among the world's top seven economies. He also proposed a "Grand Canal" linking Seoul to the southern port city of Busan that would improve transport and be a tourist attraction.

Does anyone really care?

The country of Malaysia is doing no better than when their protest started. Is that freedom I hear being taken away, does anyone care.

BBC reports:
Five ethnic Indian rights activists have been arrested in Malaysia, under a rarely used security law that allows indefinite detention without trial.

The men belong to the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), which organized a mass rally last month alleging discrimination against ethnic Indians...The five men are being held under the Internal Security Act (ISA), which human rights groups want to abolish...The five detained activists were involved in a peaceful rally last month - the biggest protest involving ethnic Indians in more than a decade...Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharom said the five men had been arrested because their actions threatened national security...Earlier this week Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said the government would not tolerate street demonstrations, and warned that if necessary he would resort to using the ISA "without feeling guilty, without feeling sad".

Remember kids don't speak out on injustice, or big brother will kick your ass



Equality isn't as important as tourism!
Malaysia says street protests have hurt tourism AFP

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Thursday that a recent spate of street protests has hurt the tourism industry, with hotels and tour agencies reporting cancellations...Faced with growing regional competition, the government spent 200 million ringgit (60.4 million dollars) to promote "Visit Malaysia Year 2007" to boost the sector -- the nation's second-largest foreign exchange earner.Although Malaysia's multiculturalism is a major selling point for tourism authorities, ethnic Chinese and Indians say they face discrimination by Malay Muslims, who make up 60 percent of the population.

New Tourism Motto?
Malaysia: You can come to visit, but don't think of staying if your not Muslim. This isn't your home, just a vacation. On your right you can see the poor saps who want a job.

How do you get rid of African Americans in a city that is populated with large amounts of African Americans.

Let a Hurricane hit the city
Dont provide any government assistances before, and after the storm
Push survivors out to neighboring cities(e.g. Houston)
Put the other survivors in formaldehyde lined trailers, provided for by the government. msnbc
Demolish the public houses left, for rebuilding purposes. <----Thats a new one
Is it necessary to have the military present?

Demolition of Public Housing Starts A.P.

In normal times, redevelopment of public housing to make way for mixed-income neighborhoods might have gone largely unopposed. But passions are high in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, where residents are desperate for cheap housing.The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development wants to demolish about 4,500 public housing units at four of the city's largest complexes and replace them with mixed-income neighborhoods.Protesters have marched on Mayor Ray Nagin's home and disrupted City Council proceedings with chants. A march on the HUD offices in Washington, D.C., also was planned for Thursday. Protesters were able to temporarily halt crews from demolishing decrepit buildings at the B.W. Cooper housing site on Thursday. They vow to continue disrupting work there and at other sites around the city. The protesters have won the blessing of one presidential contender, John Edwards. "There is a housing crisis in New Orleans today — the result of government policies that have failed the people of the Gulf," Edwards said in a statement this week. "Rents have doubled, families are being evicted from FEMA trailers and now the current administration is trying to make a bad situation worse." Opponents are suspicious of HUD because the redevelopment plans — following a model used around the country to break up concentrations of poverty — call for a reduction in subsidized housing and allow commercial development on the sites.Tessua Faulk, a 31-year-old teacher, said she doesn't trust the plans because demolition at New Orleans' St. Thomas development, where she grew up, left some of her old neighbors homeless....

By mixed-income they must mean, everyone will have means to purchase housing except the low-income.

National Lawyers Guild (NLG) Urges New Orleans and HUD to Stop Racially Motivated Demolitions of Public Housing source


THE MITCHELL REPORT IS RELEASED!

Roger Clemens, Miguel Tejada and Andy Pettitte were named in the long-awaited Mitchell Report on Thursday, an All-Star roster linked to steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs that put a question mark -- if not an asterisk -- next to some of baseball's biggest moments. SI.com

This report sounds like it comes from a bunch of hearsay, are there any real ramifications for athletes listed in this document? This Mitchell report is publicly flogging athletes and not MLB as a whole, for the role they played in the reemergence of baseball after the strike. At least Bonds isn't alone anymore, more lambs to the slaughter.

There is no fairness, or maybe I am just a hater.

"Alex Rodriguez set another record for baseball's highest contract, finalizing his $275 million, 10-year agreement with the New York Yankees on Thursday." Si.com

Why cant teams afford to build their own stadiums, it is clearly not the lack of money. All the public funds appropriated for stadiums, could be used for good. I dont know, fighting poverty, funding education, subsidizing gas prices. But those aren't any problems in the U.S.A., especially not New York City. That is for another post, look forward.

That's it for today, keep your eyes open. What you see is not always the truth.