What’s in and what’s out . . .

Who's in and who's out in 2008

My fickle tastes are always changing. I think that's why the pollsters love calling my house. One day I'm an Obama fan and the next a McCain fan. They're in. Hillary and Romney are out. I like Richardson, but it looks like the Iowans have said he's out. Richardson is New Mexico's governor for those who don't know. He's extraordinarily qualified and would bring home the pork to New Mexico, but he finished an appallingly low 4th place with 2 percent of the vote in Iowa.

Rosie is in. Dr. Phil is out. Last year, I wrote that I was so over Rosie O'Donnell. But, at the moment, I am applauding her. She is refreshingly and appropriately appalled over Jamie Lynn Spears and her sister and how their mother raised them. US weekly has it right, "Ruined by Mama.' Dr. Phil, for some reason has come to Lynn's defense. Those southerners love to bond together. The Spears family is a joke. Lynn Spears' so-called parenting book is a joke unless you want to buy it for what not to do in raising children.

Ken Follett is in, James Patterson is out. I usually enjoy James Patterson. His books, mostly the Alex Cross series are easy, entertaining reads. But lately, I am left wanting over the relative let downs his books provide. They are hardly even entertaining anymore. They're pap. Ken Follett on the other hand, has just written, or rather reintroduced, or rather Oprah has reintroduced a book Follett wrote nearly 20 years ago, "The Pillars of the Earth." It is an absolutely fascinating novel, set in Medieval England and regarding the building the decades long building of a cathedral. It is a great, challenging, entertaining and historical read. Buy it.

Seattle's Best is in, Starbuck's is out. Support your local Border's store. Buy their books and drink their coffee and avoid Barnes and Noble and Starbuck's. Just support anyone other than Starbuck's. Support your local bookseller and coffee maker. We buy all of our coffee at the local panaderia just two blocks from the house. They are cheaper, better, friendlier and all around better for our economy. And your pocketbook. If you buy a Starbuck's latte every day, you spend $50.00 per month and gain five pounds on coffee, a free and fat-free drink. Break the habit.

7:25 PM - 1 Comments - 1 Kudos - Add Comment

Catching up
Current mood: amused

Wow! I don't think I have blogged since this summer. I apologize to all two of you who actually ready my rants, my raves, and my musings.

I will therefore catch up everyone on what has transpired since summer. The biggest news, and the blog delaying news, is that I bought my office space. If you recall, earlier this summer, I had attempted to buy an older home in the historic district in which to place my office. The house was advertised as great for a law office, close to the courthouses, etc. But the neighborhood organization (NO) ran me off, as did neighborhood nazi (more on this subject to come).

But alls well that ends well, and this story ends very well. I found a beautiful condo loft in the center of downtown and purchased it in August. We furnished it with all new furnishings, which I had never done before. I may by a piece of new furniture every other year or so, never a whole houseful. It was so much fun.

And after working out all of the kinks, the final synopsis is . . .I love it. I love being out of the house, I love my staff. The practice expanded from one assistant working 10 hours per week last December to two full time and one part time people as of this December. I am still able to leave to pick up the kids at 3:30 from school, although I am not as involved in their school as I would like. Perhaps I can make that a New Year's Resolution.

The neighborhood nazi . . .is now actually a good friend. We don't necessarily hang out, but being neighbors, we see each other at various locales, parties, and gatherings at least every other month. I would say we have more in common than not. The ultimate conclusion after the near fiasco of buying the previous property has been resolved and it just showed me that she was just as passionate about her position on the matter (albeit wrong) as I was. Anyway, I like her. And if she ever reads this, I hope that she will forgive me.

Finally, Target has redeemed itself in my book. I allowed it redemption is more likely. K-Mart is simply unbearable and everyone knows my position of Wal-Mart. So, out of desperation, I returned. I decided it wasn't so bad to require a receipt, I just wanted them to allow exceptions and grant me my requests under the "customer is also right" argument. I lost that argument and now I just always keep my receipts. I don't shop there as often, however. I am not sure if this is due to my new giant mortgage or due more to the fact so I still feel slightly betrayed by my favorite red target. I suppose it doesn't matter. They still love my money and I keep giving it to them.

8:09 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Target sucks
Current mood: bitchy

I am one of Target's best customers. I really am. A slow month would have me spending $200 there. I buy my clothes, ALL the kids' clothes, Paul's clothes, cleaning supplies, home decorating decor, shoes, toys, dishes, linens, school supplies, birthday presents, electronics, toiletries. Frankly it scares me putting all this in writing and seeing how much I actually do spend there.

However, today, they turned on, and I have turned on them. Here is how the sad saga goes. My assistant Esther bought a lamp for the office at Target last week. I reimbursed her with a check. Since she had bought other things on that receipt, she kept it.

Today I attempted to put together the lamp only to discover it was broken. I immediately drove the 12 miles to my favorite Target, albeit, none of them are close by, probably saving me another $200.00 per month. I picked out my replacement lamp, identical to the first and hauled it, alongside the broken one straight to customer service.

They asked for my reciept, I said I didn't have one. They in return said, "There is nothing we can do." I know all the return tricks in the book and I immediately asked for the manager. Now I am not a problem returner. I might buy three shirts in one color and return one, or exchange one shelf for another. With the records that Target keeps, they can look me up and see what a perfect, and generous, customer I am.

Anyway, none of these tricks worked. I tried using, do you know how much money I spend here.

I tried, what difference does it make, you don't need to track the item, you keep the broken one and I take the new one. I even called over a more senior manager. I said you accusing me of stealing it. They said we care not, we need to track the items we sell. I said I don't care about your tracking, I care about the fact that you sold me a faulty item and I feel cheated.

She wouldn't bend, but neither would I. She kept insisiting I needed a receipt. I said kept insisting that I didn't have one.

Then the manger said she would call in to see if she could get approval. I thought, now we are getting somewhere. She offered me the phone, I assumed to let me hear the approval. Do you know she had the gall to hold the phone up to my ear with a recorded message of Target's return policy. I actually threw the phone on the counter and left.

In the middle of it all, the second manager looked down and saw a bill (money) on the floor. He asked if I lost money. I said, "If it's a hundrded dollar bill I did.": That sounded so snide but it was true! That was my Target money and I had jammed the stupid loose bill in my purse, but of course know I looked like a thief and a liar. he did return my money, but I was not allowed to return the lamp.

I would like the moral to be, I will never go back. Howver, that is probably not true, but I need some remedy. I already don't go to Walmart so I can't start shopping there. And K-mart is another piece of crap.

What I want to do is break half the dishes in the set I just bought and then return them, with the requisite receipt, in addition to the dishesglasses I bought and the clothes for school, that now have rips, and everything else I bought in the last month. In actuality I am not sure what I will do.

I just want to be validated. Those in my peer and income set LOVE Target. We can get a great deal, while spending a great deal of money and it makes us feel so happy we go do it again next week. They market to me and my group of peers really well. that being said, we don't like being accused of thievery. I have spoken, just in the past hour to several friends who have had similar experiences. We are done.

6:23 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

It's the end of this world as we know it . . .
Current mood: pensive

It is my opinion that Wal-Mart is ruining the world. The Wal-Mart corporation is singularly responsible for maintaining ruinously low wages in the US, for causing the near collapse of the health care system in this country and for ruining countless companies that wrongly choose to do business with "The Beast." The Beast is the pet name our family gave the afore mentioned conglomerate. But, why I think Wal-mart is responsible for so much ill-will.

First, the low wages. The average Wal-Mart employee earns between $7.50 and $8.00 per hour. That employee can expect to bring home less than $800.00 per month! . That wage is less than minimum wage when you consider that the Wal-Mart employee is allowed to work more than 30 hours per week until he or she has worked at Wal-Mart for three years. What can that buy? It either pays the rent, or it pays the car payment and utilities There is no money for food, no money for health care (of course the average employee is on Medicaid, at the cost of you the taxpayer), no money for day care, no money for entertainment .

So if that many people are making that little money, why isn't anyone complaining. First, Wal-Mart prohibits labor unions. For those who do not know, labor unions help maintain reasonable wages and benefits for the companies employees. Wal-mart has banned labor unions for Walmart employees. This is why Wal-Mart failed in Germany, because that country refused to allow their employees to work without some type of formal representation. Wal-Mart left in a hurry, rather than set a precedent of reasonable wages. Of course that is also why Wal-Mart does so well in China. The lack of oversight there is the perfect storm of low wages, minimal oversight and plenty of workers and big business for The Beast.

The wages are also kept artificially low because so many people work at Wal-Mart and the company simply has so much financial clout. Wal-Mart accounts for 2% of the gross domestic product of this country. The GDP is the product of private consumption plus investment plus net exports. What it really means is that Wal-Mart is big. It's bigger than most countries in Africa. It is more than 10 times bigger than its nearest competitor )Home Depot) and it has an unlimited supply of money for lawyers to keep things the way Wal-Mart wants them. Wal-Mart sells more than its rivals Target, Sears, JC Pennys, Kmart, Safeway and Kroger combined.

Wal-Mart hires an inordinate amount of undocumented workers willing to take low wages. And after it runs out the competition from its market place, it can offer any wage it wishes to the displaced local worker. Those individuals have no choice, they feel, but to be hired on by "The Beast.":

Secondly, Wal-Mart is also single-handedly responsible for bringing this country's health care system to its knees. The average employee of "The Beast" was expected to pay one-fourth of his wage for family health care coverage. Even at that, deductibles were $3,000.00 per year, or $250.00 per month. So now, the $800.00 per month is reduced to $600.00 per month, before deductibles, $350 per month after, for 125 hours of work. That is the monthly salary for the entire family! At a wage of $2.91 per hour! (30 hours a week at $7.50 per hour minus taxes, health insurance and deductibles)

So the Beast employee uses Medicaid, at my expense, or uses the local emergency room. Have you ever considered that this is why is nearly impossible to receive timely service in the ER? It is because, families cannot pay the deductibles for their insurance or even the co-payment and are forced to go to the ER where no one charges them and everyone just hopes may be they will pay in the future.
Wal-Mart's insurance rose in cost nearly 200% between 2000 and 2005. Industry standards were well below this amount. During this same time period, Wal-Mart's advertising budget increased by 45%, or $450 million dollars.

Wal-Mart finally answered the numerous complaints of employees, the media, and the various state health care system with respect to the full-time Wal-Mart employee still qualifying for Medicaid. Just this year, the Beast began providing a new form of health coverage called Starbridge. For just $10.00 per week, the Wal-Mart employee now has health "insurance". However, the employee, either doesn't read or understand English, or is simply too elated in finally being able to afford health insurance that the employee might have failed to read the fine print. This insurance, Starbridge, covers all of the Wal-Mart employee's health care expenses—up to $1,000 per year. The price of a broken arm, $10,000, the price of a mammogram and colonscopy, $5,000, the cost of Wal-Mart health insurance—priceless. Starbridge is not insurance. Insurance by definition protects one from catastrophic events. Starbridge protects no one from catastrophe. It enables a woman to get the mammogram or colonoscopy she so desperately desires, but refuses to cover any of the cancer treatment that the scans revealed.

This failure to protect the American worker is an travesty. And it frightens me. I think the power of Wal-Mart has the ability to collapse this nations health care and financial systems. We the people must rise up and stop shopping at Wal-mart. I have not been inside a Wal-Mart for two years. In the following articles, I will report on how Walmart caused the collapse of Vlasic pickles and Huffy bicycles, how to get the low prices you seek without shopping at Wal-Mart and how China and the recent recalls figures into the formula.

7:47 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

To my dad . . .
Current mood: grateful
Category: Life

To my Dad . . .

I've been giving a lot of thought lately to what makes a good dad. Is it the Fun Dad. The one that leaves memories of treehouses erected over the course of a couple of weekends. The ones that take you fishing more than once a year. The dads that taught you everything you needed to know about surviving in the real world, how to balance a checkbook, how to study for finals, how to write a resume.

While those are all great and admirable qualities, such qualities alone do not "make the man." I've looked at and analyzed my friends and acquaintances for years in my effort to determine, what makes the perfect father. I have compared that with memories of my own upbringing and things my father did and did not do At age 40 and 7 months, I feel qualified to opine on What Makes A Good Dad. There are only four main qualities that make up a reat Dad, two of which are essential and two, that while helpful, are not altogether necessary.

The first of the two necessities is love. If this quality is missing, a good father will not be found. My Dad loved us. I don't mean he loved us because we were his kids. He really, really loved us. He missed us when we were gone. He played with us. He read to us. He spent time with us. I guess that is the true sign of active love from a father. I mean all fathers, I suppose love their kids, but do they desire to spend time with their kids or do they give the precursory hug and kiss and head back to the office. My dad wanted to be with us. He wanted to take vacations with us. He wanted the best for us and acted to ensure that for us.

The other necessity is that of spiritual leader. I've seen a lot of friends who have reached adulthood and have no desire for spiritual matters. They were raised in a Christian home as was I. So what happened? The only common element in all of these scenarios is that of the missing spiritual leader. Maybe the father was quiet or conspicuously absent or simply too complacent. I compare this again to my own upbringing and my Father was the opposite. Now granted, my Dad was a pastor. But there are plenty of pastors whose children grow up leaving God far behind.

My Dad's love for God was passionate and it was deeply personal. He loved his Lord, raised his children to love his Lord, and lived his life in a way to convince us all (I have four siblings) that there was no other way to live. I don't believe in giving your children options in this area and that learning came directly from my Father. He ensured my spiritual well-being. Finally, he headed up spiritual leadership in the home, leaving many other matters of home and hearth to Mom, but taking ultimate responsibility for his children's spiritual lives.

Now for the less necessary, but still integral parts of being a Father. Dad needs some measure of fun balanced with some balance of teaching. Some fathers are mostly fun fathers. They engage their children in games, field trips, vacations and the like on a regular basis. This encourages and develops a never-ending source of memories and scrapbook pages. Fun dad takes his kids to the amusement park on Saturdays, the beach on vacation and doesn't mind a day of hooky here and there.

The other type is Responsible dad who focuses on teaching his children. His children, when grown, know how to manage a savings account and balance a checkbook, they know how to apply for college, they know how to behave in better circles. His children may not have the fun memories of childhood as the child of fun dad, but they are ready to enter the real world upon maturity and are able to do so without transitional problems.

A Great Dad must have a combination of both and the resulting child will reflect Dad's style. A well-balanced child of Great Dad, will hopefully spend quality vacation time with his tots on alternating amusement parks with visits to museums, science fairs with farting contests. My Dad strongly favored the fun qualities and slightly neglected the responsible qualities. I have fabulous memories of childhood. We had vacation stories and photos that could fill a legion of best sellers on family vacations. We competed in breath holding contests until dad would nearly faint (one time he did, while driving), swimming contests until the brothers would nearly drown, we swam in Hurricane Charley, drove the car at age 10, we spent some quality time in Amsterdam (know more need be said about that one) . . . We had fun!

That being said, I wish dad would have taken us on maybe one less outing and helped me fill out my college applications, or taught me to balance a checkbook. All through my twenties I resented this fact, because I struggled so hard to learn these crucial skills on my own.

However, I did learn them. And why? Because of the solid backing I gained from my Dad—the love the spiritual guidance, the fun and the teaching. The Responsible Father seems so much less necessary now than it did 15 years ago AND I have the lovely memories that will never leave me.

As Paul and I raise our own children teach them and my Dad taught me, love them as my Dad loved me, have fun with them as my dad did with me, plus maybe on an odd weekend here and there, teach them to balance the checkbook. Thank you Dad. I love you.

7:59 PM - 3 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Don’t screw with the neighborhood nazi.

I bought a building this week. Or I thought I bought a building this week until the neighborhood nazi ran me out. Better to know this before plopping down the 300 grand, than after. Way better. Where to start . . .

I have practiced law out of my home for 10 years now. It has served its purpose well. We purchased this particular house initially because it was so perfectly configured to allow me to practice out of it, with a semi-professional looking office including lawyer quarters, paralegal's office and reception/waiting area. It was really pretty snazzy looking.

For the last seven of those years, it's been semi, semi professional looking because I took my desk out so the kids could have their video games in there. When business picked up again, I removed the video game console but didn't bring back the desk. I still wasn't working more than 3 hours a day and moving that desk from three blocks down the street where a friend was using it was more trouble than it was worth.

But in the past year, the hours have increased to full-time and I quickly found myself ready to move out. Nothing personal, Dear Husband. I'll come back home at night In the past month I started looking for property.

We live downtown and I when I go to court, once a week or so, it's only a mile to the courthouse. Furthermore the kid's school is also a mile away. I can walk to any of them, and often do. So when I decided to move out, I wanted something nearby. The only property I ever considered was an older home that I could convert into an office. Many of my colleagues have done the same and on some streets, half the homes have been converted in law offices. The neighborhood has tolerated it, because often the lawyers keep the places nicer than the tenants do. Good for customer relations of course. Real estate has become so pricey that the only ones who can afford to buy are the professionals. Families live in many, but an ever increasing majority of the homes along this stretch are now occupied by tenants and the houses reflect that fact, with overgrown lawns, peeling paint and three mailboxes in front of each residence as they are slowly being converted into apartments.

So in my search for a property, I came across a lovely residence that was ready made to house my burgeoning law practice.

Despite my enthusiasm to leave the nest, I really didn't leap into this decision. I spent hours at the city zoning commission. I met with their advisory board. I talked to the neighbors. I browsed the neighborhood. Everything led me to believe that I could move into the building, lock, stock and law practice.

We made an offer. The offer was accepted. The appraisals were done. The inspections completed. When, a little tickle started in my side. It was actually a neighbor who asked how zoning was going. A subtle question from a concerned neighbor you might say. There was something about, I still cannot quite put my finger on it. Of course, I think it was God screaming loud and clear through my concerned neighbor, ""BEWARE THE NEIGHBORHOOD ZONING NAZIS!!

So I began to follow up on my earlier leads. The zoning commission had told me, write a letter with legal arguments supporting the reasons for the change in zoning to allow the law practice, get the neighbors to agree, get the neighborhood nazis, I mean association to agree. Easy, I make winning legal arguments for a living. My neighbors love me, and the neighborhood association, well, all I had to do was charm them. My first call was to the vice-president of the Neighborhood association.

"YOU'RE WHAT??" and the conversation ended on . . .
"OVER MY DEAD BODY." I don't remember much in between.

The meeting with other members later that evening didn't go much better. I still hadn't yet hit despair. That came later. I thought, I can do this, I will win, I will prevail. This is what I do, I DON'T LOSE.

Member after member informed me, some more kindly than others, "We really appreciate your candor but "lawyer creep" isn't something we're interested in. I am still not sure if creep was used as a noun or a verb.

One guy was finally the most informative of all. He said, very objectively, "I've been on the board for 6 years and I've seen only one of these get approved He pursued this for 6 years and he was French." I don't know why he added that. I thought it was to jab the knife a little deeper, but I think he was just making conversation. The guy literally spent the entire 6 years attempting to obtain his zoning. This was almost my fate.

I promptly got sick and then called the realtor, while still wiping the vomit from my face. "Terminate, TERMINATE NOW!!"

The contract will be terminated due to the due diligence of yours truly in insisting that language be added to allow termination under a myriad of circumstances. I still await the refund of my earnest money however.

So the moral of the story, Don't take on a Sicilian in a land war in Asia, don't take on a zoning war with a Frenchman in Albuquerque, and don't take on a nazi who hates lawyers. You will never win.

PS I will be closing on my new condo in downtown district next week.

8:25 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

tonight should be fun . . .

I've decided that Thursday is blog day. So all you admirers of mine can look forward to reading Misha Matters each and every Thursday. Like John Rosemond. (He's in our paper here every Thursday and he's my favorite guru on parenting). I actually posted last night. However, after tossing and turning all night and waking up in a nervous sweat this morning, I quickly deleted it. Trust me, it wasn't worth the paper it was written on . . .Something about me being brilliant and the rest of the world a bunch of dumb slugs. I could just see that being posted worldwide . . .

Anyway . . .

Tonight should be fun. I am taking the children to a dance recital. Paul, bowed out, thinking he was getting the better end of the deal. Now he is actually showing interest in going along for the ride. You see, tonight's entertainment isn't really the dance.

What I do for a living, is, practice law. Sometimes that means I divorce people. A lot of people. Most individuals request my services. However, others do not. My customary client is the wife of a philandering, pornography obsessing husband. Lately, the trend of divorcing philandering, pornography obsessing spouses has caught on at church of all places. Who'd have thunk it. I have represented several lovely ladies with philandering, pornography obsessing spouses. All was well, when we were all anonymous. Wives delivered papers to husbands. Husbands signed papers and returned to wife. Attorney delivered papers to judge and Voila, easy divorce in the 21st century. Once in a while, we all meet, but no one minds in the anonymous quarters of my office.

Now the problem is that our church is clique-ish. Everyone homeschools (except us, the heathen outcasts), everyone hangs out together, everyone puts their children in the same dance studio . . .

Yes, the subject for tonight's entertainment is when all these parents appear with their precious darlings, their not so precious spouses and me. Won't that be fun. The philandering husbands love their little daughters and attending dance recitals of the precious little girls makes them look less philandering and pornography obsessed. So all the requisite parties will be there. Will the fathers recognize me. I expect yes as two of them showed up at my office this week. Will they yell and scream and throw tomoatos at me. Will they acknowledge me or ignore my presnece and quielty let the air out of my car tires at intermission. Will the wives introduce me. Uhh, ______ (philanderer), this is Michelle, you remember her. Will they introduce me to the grandparents. I expect the wives will. Their parents love me for getting rid of their daughter's philandering pornographhy obsessed husband. The husband's parents, well they wll be the ones letting the air out of my tires.

I am kind of hoping for a big scene. I guess I am needing a little excitement in my life this week. Stay tuned.

5:48 AM - 4 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Rosie O'Donnell

    It used to be that whenever you mentioned Rosie O'Donnell, people would generally stop and listen.  She may have been a little wacky, but she usually had something interesting to say, or an interesting cause, or she was just plain funny.  My family never understood my zeal for her show, "Oh she's so nasty," they'd say.  Even husband never understood my adoration for her.

But adore her I did.  I subscribed to every issue of her magazine ever published.  I loved the recipes, crafted with care to fit each month's theme.  I loved the stories, the wonderful causes.  Did you know, she used to award a college education to some worthwhile person nearly every day.  I watched every episode of her show, even going so far as to tape the ones I couldn't view.  (This was in the days before Tivo, remember.  Videotpaes weren't cheap either.)  I loved that show.  I loved her Halloween episodes.  I loved her game show episodes.  She was so competitivelike me. 

    I loved her growing excitement for her favorite guests, when she would announce their appearance dates, weeks in advance.  Then she'd count down the days, particularly for Tom c and Barbara of course.  It was fun to watch such joy for life.  But that was just it.  She lost her joy.  She lost her zeal for life that she had exhibited so openly on her show.

    I think it all started when she outed herself.  Once she outed herself, she let her angry lesbian self take over and her sweet self was relegated to family time only, I guess, or maybe it dispappeared all together. I have nothing against lesbians, but I've never seen one not let her anger often if not always take over her life. It's a shame.  Rosie used to have such joy. She enjoyed hosting her show so much. And even when she didn't, on bad days, when she was so sad, she could hardly go on, she let everyone see her soul. She was real and honest until she outed herself. And then all there was, was anger.  I never hear anymore about her crushes. I never hear about all the neat causes.

     Now she talks about is what a slut Britney is or Tara is and how stupid Donald is and implies what a loser Elizabeth is. What did Elizabeth ever do to her, or Rupert Murdoch for that matter. When I first saw this change, I thought I'd write to her, and maybe, just maybe, she'd see it and wouldn't think I was some wacko, but really take it to heart. But then I realized that would not happen. Either because I would never write that letter, or becuase I knew Rosie's anger was too deeply embedded. I don't know, I keep holdling out for the former rather than the latter.

    Good luck to you Rosie in your next endeavor. I hope your kids are well--Parker and Chelsea and Alexander and . . .the baby, Vivi. Kelly too.

That's it for Mishamatters.

8:01 PM - 3 Comments - 3 Kudos - Add Comment

Comments on Don Imus
Current mood: contemplative
Category: News and Politics

I've been wanting to comment on the Don Imus debaucle for some time.  First, I was too afraid to say something for fear of looking like a racist.  Then the Virginia Tech thing happened and I thought if I still care about the Imus thing after the "tragedy" back East, well, I'd look like a racist.  Oh well, I'm trudging forward into the mud and slime of defending Don Imus, a man I've never met, heading up a show I've never seen or listened to  .  .  .

I don't think he should have been fired.  The bottom line was, I don't think his speech was hateful.  Obviously, as his employers, NBC and CBS had the legal right to do whatever they wanted, but it was obvious they cowtowed to advertising pressure.  Can you imagine what would have happened had Imus made his comments, in the midst of the Virginia Tech shooting, instead of last week when there was no other news.

I suppose Imus would still have his job, until the next time he made "rude" comments.  But I suppose he would have bought himself a couple of years, maybe a couple of months.

But he said his comments on a slow news week and the NBC president got more rantings and ravings than he could handle and so, bye bye Imus.

You know I never watched the show, but I don't think he should have been fired.  the line he did not cross was hate speech.  He said unkind things.  He said vulgar things.  But honestly, everyone in America believes that is his job-except when it's against some black girls basketball team that didn't even win.

I think Kramer's speech was hate-filled.  Actually I think Mel Gibson's was too.  And sometimes these things have to be decided on a case by case basis.  And we have the right to talk in America, and say things that other people do not like and maybe even words that criticize others--or maybe even make fun of others.

And that's all I got to say about that  .  .  .

7:50 AM - 2 Comments - 1 Kudos - Add Comment

Virgin posting
Current mood: accomplished
Category: Blogging

 Wow! My virgin posting on myspace.com.  I never thought I had the time to sit and post things and not be cleaning the house, calling back clients, or managing the latest school field trip  .  .  .Whatever!
 But today I am sick with a spring cold and need something to do rather than finish my latest Maeve Binchy book, which, frankly is boring, and I never thought I'd say such a thing.  She is one of favorite authors.  I am tired of Spider solitaire and too drugged up to get in a good round of sudoku.
  Never too sick to eat though.  Or cook.  Debi, here's one good enough for you.  Mediterranean pizza.  Use Italian herb dough from Trader Joe's and for the topping, toss together, spinach, pine nuts, tomatoes, garlic, rosemary, oregano, feta cheese, olive oil and red wine vinegar and put on crust and bake.  Delicioso!!
  So that's me.  Legal genius, master chef, involved mother, avid reader, advanced game player, and wife of Paul.  He hit the bottom of the list tonight because I'm still mad he paid $1,200 to get his brakes fixed.  I'll rave about him next time.  He did get this account/blog set up for me. 
  Thank you Honey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  He really is quite wonderful.

6:19 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment