Mullings An American Cyber Column By Rich Galen

US & Int'l Papers

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PETA Files Suit, Etc.

Rich Galen

Friday January 23, 2009

Click here for an Easy Print Version

Ok. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is not, as of this writing, suing but I am surprised they have not.

Given PETA's grasp of reality, I was certain that they would have, by now, filed a class-action suit against U.S. Airways, the flight crew of flight 1549, LaGuardia Airport, Airbus Industries, as well as France and the United Kingdom (which jointly own Airbus) for their reckless disregard for the health, safety and welfare of the � Canada Geese which Flight 1549 killed when it painfully and wantonly sucked the birds into its engines upon takeoff last week.

Next Topic

Buried and lost in the ectosphere of the internet, this from the Washington Post's Jonathon Capehart:

"I have not been surprised by the extraordinary grace Bush showed the new president and first lady from the moment Barack Obama was elected to the moment he and Mrs. Bush waved goodbye one last time from the helicopter. Mr. Bush is a man of great warmth and humor, of kindness that most didn't get to see.
"Since that November day when the nation signed the lease of the White House over to the Democratic candidate, Bush has been a gentleman. True to his patrician roots. And respectful of the office of the president and the man who now occupies it."

What? You didn't hear about the man of "great warmth, humor and kindness" when he was being booed during the Inaugural? You didn't read about the man of "extraordinary grace" when he said goodbye at Andrews and told the folks in Midland that he was happy to be home?

I'm shocked.

Last Topic

One of the most respected brokerage firms in the United States is Merrill Lynch. When I was a kid in New York and listened to WQXR (the radio station owned by the New York Times) they sponsored the morning business report. Back then were then known as Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

SIDEBAR

You may be surprised to learn that listening to WQXR-FM (which featured classical music) and being able to hum the second movement to Beethoven's Fifth when everyone else was listening to Cousin Brucie on WINS-AM (which featured rock 'n roll) and could sing all the words to every Supremes song, did not grant me immediate access to the cool kids table during lunch at West Orange (NJ) Mountain High School.

END SIDEBAR

Merrill Lynch is now part of Bank of America which bought the firm during the near-collapse of the financial industry last fall.

The guy who ran Merrill Lynch when they were given the option of being bought or being buried is named John Thain.

John Thain was fired yesterday.

Here's why we hate these guys:

While the firm was collapsing around him, (according to the Wall Street Journal) "Thain had spent more than $1 million of the firm's money to decorate his office last year, including more than $35,000 for a toilet." [What can a $35,000 toilet do that a standard $129 toilet can't do?]
Thain's driver made $230,000 last year (US News & World Report)
Merrill lost $41.2 Billion in 2008 ($15 billion in the fourth quarter), yet Merrill decided "to pay billions of dollars in bonuses days before the closing of its sale to B of A." (Financial Times)
"Bank of America last week struck a deal with the government to receive an additional $20 billion" to cover the losses at Merrill which had not been made known to B of A. (CNBC)
"Arguing that his quick sale of the firm to Bank of America helped avoid a larger catastrophe," Thain demanded payment of a $10 million bonus for 2008. (NY Times)
All of which cost you and me $143 billion in "an additional $20 billion in Treasury support; $118 billion of government backstops; a $15 billion loss at Merrill." (Wall Street Journal)

When was the last time you heard anyone mention "Sarbanes-Oxley." Remember that pesky law which required the chief executive of a publicly traded company to personally guarantee the quality of his company's financial reports?

Let's start a new group: PETT: People for the Ethical Treatment of Taxpayers.

On the Secret Decoder Ring today: A link to a WSJ piece summarizing the whole Merrill Lynch deal, as well as a link to a place to buy a toilet; a Mullfoto of the day proving why people don't buy stupid art and a Catchy Caption of the Day.

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