SodaHead - TxTeamster's Questions

GM to cut 10K management jobs and impose paycuts on executives and salaried workers. How will the conservatives find a way to blame the Union on this?

2009-02-10T16:09:19Z

GM to cut 10K management jobs and impose paycuts on executives and salaried workers. How will the conservatives find a way to blame the Union on this?

28 answers, +7 raves

Just repeat it loud enough and long enough and people will start believing it	21% (6 answers)
Massive antiUnion propaganda campaign	25% (7 answers)
They CANT. You dont have to be a genius to know its been mismanagement all along	39% (11 answers)
Undecided	4% (1 answers)
None of the above	11% (3 answers)

Citigroup, recipients of a $45B taxpayer bailout, blows 50 mil on a new corporate jet. Any thoughts?

2009-01-26T14:57:30Z

Citigroup, recipients of a $45B taxpayer bailout, blows 50 mil on a new corporate jet. Any thoughts?

4 answers, +1 raves

Beleaguered Citigroup is upgrading its mile-high club with a brand-new $50 million corporate jet - only this time, it's the taxpayers who are getting screwed. Even though the bank's stock is as cheap as a gallon of gas and it's burning through a $45 billion taxpayer-funded rescue, the airhead execs pushed through the purchase of a new Dassault Falcon 7X, according to a source familiar with the deal. The French-made luxury jet seats up to 12 in a plush interior with leather seats, sofas and a customizable entertainment center, according to Dassault's sales literature. It can cruise 5,950 miles before refueling and has a top speed of 559 mph. There are just nine of these top-of-the-line models in the United States, with Dassault's European factory churning out three to four 7Xs a month. Citigroup decided to get its new wings two years ago, when the financial-services giant was flush with cash, but it still intends to take possession of the jet this year despite its current woes, the source said. "Why should I help you when what you write will be used to the detriment of our company?" replied Bill McNamee, head of CitiFlight Inc., the subsidiary that manages Citigroup's corporate fleet, when asked to comment about the new 7X. http://www.nypost.com/seven/01262009/news/nationalnews/just_p...

I have no problem with that.	0% (0 answers)
I am outraged at the arrogance of this Corp.	100% (4 answers)
The Board of directors deserves to fly in ultra Luxury	0% (0 answers)
Other	0% (0 answers)
Undecided	0% (0 answers)
None of the above	0% (0 answers)

Colin Powell..... Could the release of Oliver Stone's "W" have anything to do with Powell endorsing Obama. I saw the movie last night and thought he was the only one portrayed as having a heart/brain. Loved the way it torched Condi....

2008-10-20T16:21:44Z

Colin Powell..... Could the release of Oliver Stone's "W" have anything to do with Powell endorsing Obama. I saw the movie last night and thought he was the only one portrayed as having a heart/brain. Loved the way it torched Condi....

1 answers, 0 raves

Was the timing of the release of the movie and the endorsement just a coincidence?

Yes.	0% (0 answers)
No.	100% (1 answers)
Maybe	0% (0 answers)
Who cares?	0% (0 answers)
Undecided	0% (0 answers)

Is trhis the worst case of horrible parenting you ever heard of? It is for me.....

2008-08-02T03:57:35Z

Is trhis the worst case of horrible parenting you ever heard of? It is for me.....

12 answers, +5 raves

Starved, disabled girl was failed at every turn By KATHY MATHESON, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 22 minutes ago PHILADELPHIA - For days before Danieal Kelly died in a fetid, airless room — made stifling hot by a midsummer heat wave — the bedridden teenager begged for something to drink until she could muster only one word: water. ADVERTISEMENT Unable to help herself because of her cerebral palsy, she wasted away from malnutrition and maggot-infested bedsores that ate her flesh. She died alone on a putrid mattress in her mother's home, the floor covered in feces. She was 14 but weighed just 42 pounds. The nightmare of forced starvation and infection that killed Danieal while she was under the protection of the city's human services agency is documented in a 258-page grand jury report released this week that charges nine people — her parents, four social workers and three family friends — in her ghastly death. The report describes a mother, Andrea Kelly, who was embarrassed by her disabled daughter and didn't want to touch her, take her out in public, change her diapers or make sure she had enough fluids. It portrays Daniel Kelly, the father who once had custody of Danieal, as having no interest in raising her. And it accuses the city Department of Human Services of being "uncaring and incompetent." "It was this indifference that helped kill Danieal Kelly," an angry District Attorney Lynne Abraham said. "How is it possible for this to have happened?" The report should "outrage the entire Philadelphia community" and bring about "earth-shattering, cataclysmic changes" at the Department of Human Services, Abraham said. Andrea Kelly, 39, the only defendant charged with murder, was ordered held Friday without bail. The social workers — suspected of falsifying home visits and progress reports in the case — face charges ranging from child endangerment to involuntary manslaughter. The family friends are accused of lying to the grand jury about the girl's condition before her death. None of the lawyers for any of the defendants had any immediate comment. Human Services Commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose, in office only a month, said Thursday that she is intent on improving child safety and worker accountability in an agency that has repeatedly been accused of failing to protect children. Late Friday, the city announced the resignation of Assistant Health Commissioner Carmen Paris. The grand jury had accused Paris of interfering in the investigation of the girl's death while she was acting health commissioner, but found insufficient evidence to charge her with obstruction of justice. The report on Danieal's death in August 2006 documents a downward spiral from the early years that she spent in Arizona with her father and his girlfriend. Though Danieal attended special-needs classes only sporadically, a school report described her as an active learner and "one of the sweetest students ever enrolled in this program." But allegations of parental neglect soon surfaced, and following Daniel Kelly's breakup with his girlfriend in 2001, Danieal never again attended school. Daniel Kelly and his children moved to Philadelphia in 2003. He eventually asked his estranged wife to move in, even though she had several other children and he knew she was incapable of caring for Danieal, authorities say. He then moved out. "Daniel Kelly was well aware what deserting his daughter meant to her safety and welfare," the grand jury report said. "He just did not care." The Department of Human Services received at least five reports of Danieal being mistreated between 2003 and 2005. All described a "helpless child sitting unattended, unkempt and unwashed, in a small stroller in her own urine and feces," her screams ignored by her mother, the grand jury report said. The stroller, which served as a wheelchair, apparently never left the house. Agency employee Dana Poindexter, assigned to investigate, also ignored Danieal, authorities say. Already having been suspended after a 3-week-old baby died on his watch in 2002, Poindexter continued his "slovenly, neglectful and dangerously reckless work habits" after being assigned the Kelly case, the grand jury said. He did not file a single report, authorities said. The Kellys finally were assigned help from a private agency in 2005. Employee Julius Murray was required to visit the family twice a week, but authorities believe he may have come to the house only once — to have Andrea Kelly sign predated forms attesting to future visits. The grand jury report said Laura Sommerer, a city social worker, failed to hold the now-defunct company accountable when, months later, Danieal still was not enrolled in school or receiving medical care. And after Danieal died, authorities say, company director Mickal Kamuvaka held a "forgery fest" in her office where she had employees "concoct almost a year's worth of false progress reports." But authorities say Andrea Kelly, whose other children are now in foster care, is primarily responsible for her daughter's death. The report said she was confronted repeatedly by her own mother, uncle, friends and even two of her sons about Danieal's deteriorating health. She would lie or put them off by saying she would seek help, or banish them from the house, authorities say. In the meantime, the report said, she entertained friends, attended classes and fed her other children. "This behavior indicates that Andrea Kelly did not merely allow Danieal to die," the report said. "She may have even wanted her disabled daughter to die." When an ambulance responded to a 911 call for Danieal on Aug. 4, 2006, the girl had been dead for several hours. Authorities said she was so emaciated she looked like the victim of a concentration camp. She had been lying on the filthy mattress for so long that her body outline was imprinted on it.

Without a doubt	83% (10 answers)
you wont believe this.........	0% (0 answers)
Undecided	0% (0 answers)
None of the above	17% (2 answers)

WalMart urges managers to lobby against Obama. Scared of pending EFCA passage and Unionization is Dems win in November

2008-08-01T13:07:34Z

WalMart urges managers to lobby against Obama. Scared of pending EFCA passage and Unionization is Dems win in November

37 answers, +4 raves

Wal-Mart mobilizes against Democrats: (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc is mobilizing U.S. store managers to lobby against Democrats in November's presidential election, fearing they will make it easier for workers to unionize, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. In recent weeks, thousands of Wal-Mart managers and department heads have been summoned to mandatory meetings at which the retailer stresses the downside for workers if store workers unionize, the paper said. About a dozen employees who attended meetings in seven states said executives stressed employees would have to pay hefty union dues and get nothing in return, and might have to go on strike without compensation, and warned that unionization could force the company to cut jobs as labor costs rise, the Journal reported. The Wal-Mart human-resources managers who have run the meetings didn't tell those attending how to vote in the November elections, but made it clear that voting for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, would be tantamount to inviting unions in, the Journals said. Wal-Mart could not be reached immediately for a comment.

WalMart sucks. Those employees deserve so much better	62% (23 answers)
I did not know how bad they treat the employees	3% (1 answers)
I'm a dumbass who thinks those employees are lucky to get what they get	16% (6 answers)
Undecided	16% (6 answers)
All of the above	3% (1 answers)

Cheech and Chong Reunited. Do you care?

2008-07-31T15:57:56Z

Cheech and Chong Reunited. Do you care?

6 answers, +1 raves

They were hilarious in the 70's but creative differences kept them apart for 25 years. Can they rekindle the magic?

Yes. I'll go see them	83% (5 answers)
No. They're better off solo	0% (0 answers)
Undecided	0% (0 answers)
None of the above	17% (1 answers)

New Oliver Stone movie about George W Bush set for release Oct 17.. Could this have an effect on the way you vote in November?

2008-07-28T19:00:13Z

New Oliver Stone movie about George W Bush set for release Oct 17.. Could this have an effect on the way you vote in November?

16 answers, +8 raves

The trailer for Oliver Stone's biopic of President George W. Bush, "W," is now online. The film is expected to be released October 17th, less than three weeks before voters go to the polls to choose Mr. Bush's successor. The movie appears to portray the young Mr. Bush as a beer-drinking, hard-partying screw up who looks chastened during a lecture from his father, George H.W. Bush. "If I remember correctly, you didn't like the sporting goods job," the elder Bush says in the trailer. "Working in the investment firm wasn't for you either, or the oil rig job. You didn't exactly finish up with flying colors in the Air National Guard, junior." Josh Brolin, who starred in "No Country For Old Men," portrays President Bush in the film, which also features portrayals of Laura Bush, Barbara Bush, Tony Blair, Colin Powell, Karl Rove, Condoleeza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, and Dick Cheney. It is impossible to know what, if any, impact the film might have on the presidential election. Democrat Barack Obama and other Democrats have tried to cast rival John McCain as representing a continuation of Bush administration policies, and a negative portrayal of that administration and Mr. Bush himself could feed into that narrative.

Nope. I was voting Dem anyway.	56% (9 answers)
Nope. I'm still Voting for GW Bush' 3rd Term	19% (3 answers)
Undecided	0% (0 answers)
None of the above	25% (4 answers)

Should Michael savage be fired for his Anti-Autism rant?

2008-07-22T14:48:52Z

Should Michael savage be fired for his Anti-Autism rant?

60 answers, +16 raves

Radio host angers parents of autistic children By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer Tue Jul 22, 7:25 AM ET NEW YORK - Radio talk show host Michael Savage, who described 99 percent of children with autism as brats, said Monday he was trying to "boldly awaken" parents to his view that many people are being wrongly diagnosed. Some parents of autistic children have called for Savage's firing after he described autism as a racket last week. "In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out," Savage said on his radio program last Wednesday. Savage offered no apology in a message posted Monday on his Web site. He said greedy doctors and drug companies were creating a "national panic" by overdiagnosing autism, a mental disorder that inhibits a person's ability to communicate. On his radio show last week, he said: "What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, `Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, you idiot.'" The government estimates about 1 in 150 children have some form of autism. But many experts believe these unsociable behaviors were just about as common 30 or 40 years ago and that the increase is mostly caused by a surge in special education services and a corresponding shift in diagnoses. Wendy Fournier of the National Autism Association, a parents' advocacy group, said she was invited to speak Monday on Savage's three-hour program by Savage's boss, Mark Masters of Talk Radio Network, which syndicates the show across the country. A spokeswoman from Talk Radio Network did not immediately return a call for comment. Fournier called Savage's comments "way, way, way over the line and cruel." "I'm hoping to make him see the reality of what these kids are facing," she said. "You can't fix it by telling a kid to shut up. It's like telling a kid with cancer to stop being sick." Evelyn Ain, whose 8-year-old son has been diagnosed with autism, said she had never heard of Savage and couldn't believe what she had heard when she first listened to the remarks. She organized a demonstration Monday outside New York's WOR-AM, which broadcasts Savage. "That isn't just freedom of speech, it is hateful speech when you say 99 percent of children with autism are brats," she said. "I'll tell you, I wish I had a brat." Savage, with more than 8 million listeners a week, is talk radio's third most popular personality behind Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, according to Talkers magazine. He's made a living off bold, outrageous statements: His brief MSNBC show was canceled after he told a caller he should "get AIDS and die, you pig." Peter Bell, executive vice president of national advocacy group Autism Speaks, said he isn't aware of any big controversy about overdiagnosis of autism. He said Savage's remarks, effectively blaming parents, reflect an outdated point of view. "He's an entertainer, he does these things for attention," Bell said. "I think we should, to the best we can, ignore it."

Yes. What an insensitive jerk	23% (14 answers)
No. He's no bigger idiot than Imus or Stern	47% (28 answers)
Undecided	8% (5 answers)
None of the above	22% (13 answers)

Budweiser sells out. Busch family cashes in for $52 Billion. Belgian beer behemoth is worlds largest with shady labor practices

2008-07-14T12:52:41Z

Budweiser sells out. Busch family cashes in for $52 Billion. Belgian beer behemoth is worlds largest with shady labor practices

21 answers, +2 raves

Anheuser Busch Cos. said early Monday it had agreed to a sweetened $52 billion takeover bid from Inbev, heading off what had promised to be a long and acrimonious fight for the maker of Budweiser and Bud Light beers. The deal would create the world's largest brewer and the fourth-largest consumer product company under the name of Anheuser-Busch InBev. On its website, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents 8,100 of A-B's 30,000 full-time U.S. workers says it wants "to safeguard the unique legacy of Anheuser-Busch, a proud union company and American icon, built by generations of Teamster workers." It warns workers that "InBev's buyout record in Europe and Canada shows that workers and communities that depend on Anheuser-Busch would suffer from a possible erosion of working conditions and even layoffs." The Teamsters union also says that "to recoup the huge purchase price ... InBev probably would have to cut Anheuser-Busch's operations to the bone," with retiree health care one likely target. Another American Icon gone.....Bud, Hershey, Heinz and 100s of others. Should the Busch family had sold out or not?

Let them sell. Who cares?	5% (1 answers)
It's anti-American to sell to inBev	48% (10 answers)
Business is business	19% (4 answers)
Undecided	19% (4 answers)
None of the above	10% (2 answers)

Jon Benet Ramsey's parents officially cleared by DNA.

2008-07-10T14:40:08Z

Jon Benet Ramsey's parents officially cleared by DNA.

7 answers, +2 raves

They are no longer under the umbrella of suspicion. All this time I thought it was the Mom. Too bad she wasnt cleared before she passed. Are you surprised by this latest development?

Yes. I thought it was the Mother	14% (1 answers)
Yes. I thought it was the Father	0% (0 answers)
No. I knew all along the Parents werent involved	43% (3 answers)
Undecided	0% (0 answers)
None of the above	43% (3 answers)