Posts by roybatty

28

Is the average American afraid of the return of its troops?

by Gill in

is the ordinary american, afraid of the return of their service men from iraq?

without a doubt, these young men have been traumatised by everything they have done, or seen done.

how damaged are they now?

roybatty

Your average EMT worker in a large city sees more horrors than your average soldier, warrior, or sailor in a tour of war. I say average, there are the exceptions of course. Peeling kids off the pavement every other night, putting people in body bags on a near daily basis, seeing the despair of suicide, etc...etc...

Excellent point. I recently came to appreciate this more when I spoke with a friend of mine who quit being an EMT for a large city. After being one for a year or so, she just couldn't take pulling another mangled kid's body from an auto wreck.

Regarding the topic at hand, what a stupid assertion. I don't know about other areas of the country, but here in my town, vets are being given warm welcomes. While the war is becoming more and more unpopular, people are still treating our vets as heros. Banners hanging from homes and announcements in the local paper showing our appreciation.

It now appears, that the rule with a rod of iron was what the Iraqis needed.

What an insane comment. A small percentage of peole in Iraq are doing the killing but on the other hand, even with the threat of violence, 75% of Iraqis turned out to vote. How could you even claim that any people deserve or need a ruler like Saddam? What does seem to be missing in Iraq is a patriot to stand up. No matter how much Bush or Cheney might think wish for it, Marines don't make a good peace keeping force. The people of Iraq will have to do that themselves.

18

Have you been rejected by your JW children?

by AlwaysSeeking in

jw
friends

it's been a long time since i last posted, but something recently happened that is making making me heartsick... i just learned that one of my children is engaged to be married.

all of my children are grown up and when they reach around 18 years old, decided to become jws.

they were quite young when i left the organization, shortly after which my wife and i separated.

roybatty

My 15 year old son rejected the wacky Jdubs but my 12 year old daughter, who is very close to her JW mother, appears to be headed more and more toward it. When I discuss this topic with my ex-wife, even she doesn't know how to answers. Even deep down she knows its wrong.

One has to wonder how a JW parent would feel if the non-JW parent brought their children to a anti-JW church which taught them to shun all things JW.

99

Sign Governors' petition to President Bush to lower gas prices!

by FlyingHighNow in

our governer, jennifer granholm and other governors have come up with a petition to cap oil company profits and bring the price of gas down.

please read about it.

please sign it and encourage everyone you know to sign it.

roybatty

I'll sign the petition, but I prefer the idea of everyone - (and I do mean everyone) - joining the boycott of Exxon and Mobil (largest suppliers) to force a price war.

I'm actually surprised someone hasn't organized this. Where's Ralph Nader when you need him?

99

Sign Governors' petition to President Bush to lower gas prices!

by FlyingHighNow in

our governer, jennifer granholm and other governors have come up with a petition to cap oil company profits and bring the price of gas down.

please read about it.

please sign it and encourage everyone you know to sign it.

roybatty

You my friend are a waste of skin...

Eh, perhaps. But be sure to let me know if you ever have a product you need produced. I'd LOVE to have a client who sees no problem with post-manufactured price increases.

99

Sign Governors' petition to President Bush to lower gas prices!

by FlyingHighNow in

our governer, jennifer granholm and other governors have come up with a petition to cap oil company profits and bring the price of gas down.

please read about it.

please sign it and encourage everyone you know to sign it.

roybatty

the oil companies doing the same thing with the price of gas is not? Ok, what did I miss here?????

I'll tell you what you missed...the oil companies DO NOT set the price of oil.... the only increase in GAS as this point has been the rise in the market price of oil...and taxes...that's it... Didn't you read the breakdown on Oil Economics 101? Apparently not.

You truly are a knuckle head. Yesterday oil hits $75.00 a barrel and later that afternoon the gas stations across the U.S. increase the price of gas. Price gouging? Duh.

You are incorrigible... The stretch you make from "cost cutting" to "deliberately creating a shortage" is truly worthy of an Awake Pulitzer.

Did you bother to do read any research on the internal memos from oil companies and the purpose of shuting down their refineries? Nah.

You voted for "W" based on how he "appeared".... I'm starting to see where you're coming from...

Yeah, he got me all scared with the war on terror but I felt much better now that he's helped India with their nuke program. Nice one Mr. President.

I've been saying that for 20 years!!! Agreed.

I'm sure big oil had nothing to do with these programs being underfunded....nah.

It's price gouging plain and simple.
Your ignorance and false analogy (you CAN'T compare apples to oranges) are laughable...and literally make your argument lose any and all credibility... you are FLAT OUT WRONG...not a company on planet Earth adheres to your rediculous myopic view of things...NOT ONE!

Hmmm....let's see. As a manufacturing engineer I've worked with HON furniture, Federal Signal, Newell-Ruddermaid, Black & Decker (just to name a few). I work with their manufacturing and engineering department to calculate the cost to produce a product, so while you sit at you computer and make dumbass claims, I'm actually doing not saying. This idea of yours that companies re-price finished goods because a spike in raw material costs is insane. What do you think would happen if Rubbermaid re-priced a truck load of plastic office supply product enroute to Wal-Mart becase oil today hits $85.00 a barrel?? It wouldn't make sense. Now if Wal-Mart were to place an order TODAY for product due IN A MONTH, that's a differnt story.

As for your final comments... you again seem to be alluding strongly that life (and business) should be "fair" grow up Witnoid...LIFE AIN'T FAIR...and you and me are small potato's.... get used to it. In the meantime, hone your debating skills some...

Who said life is fair? You have this habit of assuming what other people think, a very Watchtower like trait. There are laws and rules in place to protect the American consumer, is it unfair to expect the SEC and FTC to enforce these rules? You seem like the type you just wants to sit back and say "oh well, I'm just a little guy and can't do anything about it." Hell with that.

As far as my debating skill, well, I'll work on that as long as you work on your spelling. I'm not the world's best speller but, common, how does someone spell "ridiculous" - "r-E-d-i-c-o-u-s" -- twice!

BTW, looks like even the puppets in Washington are standing up and taking note:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/25/news/economy/bush_gasoline.reut/index.htm

I guess you have to be so good at debating because the facts just don't seem to be on your side......

99

Sign Governors' petition to President Bush to lower gas prices!

by FlyingHighNow in

our governer, jennifer granholm and other governors have come up with a petition to cap oil company profits and bring the price of gas down.

please read about it.

please sign it and encourage everyone you know to sign it.

roybatty

No matter who was in charge of Exxon...it would have made record profit...that's the big league.

Correctamundo!!!! It's not the AMOUNT that Raymond received its the WAY he received it. IMO is wasn't some new innovation or product, it was manipulation of the market and the American consumer. Naughty naughty Mr. Raymond.

Oh yes it is... what you described is "gouging"... that is ILLEGAL and borderline immoral...although a true "capitalist" would say that supply and demand determine the value of anything...

So a post-Katrina store owner in New Orleans starts selling a $1.00 bottle of water for $100.00, that's gouging but the oil companies doing the same thing with the price of gas is not? Ok, what did I miss here?????

to increase their margins

First of all... that is HIGHLY debateable... but again...SO WHAT!....Since when can't ANY business lower it's costs to increase it's bottom line? Heaven forbid they become even MORE profitable... it's all perspective...The little guy of course hates to be laid off... and the big guy is proud that he made billions and pleased his stock holders...

No it's not debateable. You can read the memos from the OIL COMPANIES THEMSELVES. It's not a matter of costs cutting, it's instead purposely creating a shortage of a vital resource in order to gouge consumers. And it worked!

Voted for Bush....twice!

Wow...good for you ... you voted!

Yup, shame on me the second around though. Oh well, he seemed so sincere.

As far as increasing the MPG... no agrument from me there... I see it happening on the commercials of the automakers daily. Except it would perpetuate continued dependency on oil (and Exxon would still make profits for even longer)... which I thought was the problem to begin with...

Funny how ethonal and other alternative fuels just can't seem to get any traction....

You were making good progress till here... this is where your understanding of economics is flawed. THAT is EXACTLY how supply and demand work... The price we pay for ANYTHING isn't determined at the time that "anything" is made...

Um...yeah, actually it is. Ask any producer of goods how they calculate the cost to produce a product. If you have me quote building you a porch today, I find out what lumber costs me at the moment, not what it may cost me next year. But according to your wacky reasoning I would give you a price based upon what lumber may cost a year from now though I'd be building you a porch this weekend. Just the same way oil companies re-price gas enroute to their gas staions or even worse, gas that's already there, but was produced months ago. It's price gouging plain and simple.

I just wonder...what will happen when all the obscenely profitable companies like Microsoft, Exxon, General Mills, GE, ahemmm ...Halliburton**cough**... all go under (if that were possible)? Will anyone feel sorry for all the 100's of thousands of employees that lose their jobs... What will we ever do?

Again, you're missing the point. Maybe I can hold your hand as you try and connect the dots. I have no problem with a company making as much profit as possible AS LONG AS ITS DONE FAIR AND SQUARE. You invented a better mouse trap, hey, charge whatever the market will bare. But what you're not allowed to do is release mice in your neighborhood and double the price of your mouse trap. There are rules against manipulating the market and big oil doesn't follow them. They have the best of both worlds. They have a monopoly, like your utility company, but don't have the shackles of any govermental oversight. Can you imagine your local gas or electric company being de-regulated, then deciding the close power plants in your area in order to, as you stated "cut costs", then forcing you to pay triple the price for heat or electric because they have to run their plants at full capacity. Seems in your world this would be just fine.

99

Sign Governors' petition to President Bush to lower gas prices!

by FlyingHighNow in

our governer, jennifer granholm and other governors have come up with a petition to cap oil company profits and bring the price of gas down.

please read about it.

please sign it and encourage everyone you know to sign it.

roybatty

Ran the biggest company in America...that's all. Who are YOU to judge that?

What did he do? What exactly did he do that resulted in the biggest profit of all time? Must have done something amazing.

I never called 'em "saints"...you did.

It's called sarcasim. Catch it.

Yes, companies, even oil companies deserve to make mucho profit but not at the expense of the American consumer
Then who?....That is ASININE!!! You make it sound like they just steal the money with out giving anything in return..."at their expense"...

I'll make this really easy for you. Let's say a natural disaster hits your area. No food. No water. Hopwever, a local merchant has both and he decides to charge $100.00 for a bottle of water and $200.00 for a loaf of bread. Do you see any problem with that senerio? It's no differnt with the gas prices.

As far as not building new refineries...that my friend is the work of the LIBS!!! Environmental nutjobs to thank for that...I lived in California most of my life... I saw it first hand.... Bitch that we don't have enough of ANY resource...then make it virtually impossible to harvest that "natural" resource...be it oil, lumber, minerals etc...

Ummm....no. That's not the case. Do you little research dude. You can find INTERNAL MEMOS from the big oil companies showing that they themselves shut down gas refineries to increase their margins. Buty I guess its just easier to blame the enviroment nut jobs. Blah blah blah...always the Libs fault. Funny thing is the Mr. Lib (aka John Kerry) pushed for a 1 mile increase in the MPG law back in 2002. Bush shot it down just like Clinton did in the 90's. Sad thing is, if they would have continued to raise the bar on minimum MPG like we did in the 80's, we'd be using 1/3 less gas today.

Why build new refineries when you can shut down half of them and create a shortage?? Brillant!!!

Is this Rush?
Wow... you listen to Rush....? I'd think you'd know a little more about him then... Nobody listens to Rush...just like nobody voted for "W"...twice!!! lol!!!

Voted for Bush....twice!

You know... as much as you try to fit me into a box opposite of your views...it just don't work....does it? You can't stand that I agreed with you on the valid points you made...and vehemently disagreed on some others... so you must lob me into the camp you like to fight with...

What camp is that? Seems like you get anouyed by the facts, but, thats ok. If you don't have a problem with a company controlling a vital resources and manipulating the market, well, what can I say.

Funny thing is, there is NO SHORTAGE OF OIL yet both oil and gas are at an all time high. Don't you at least want to take a minute and think about "why"? If you turned on CNN today and saw a story that a hurricane hit Florida and 75% of the oranges were suddenly destroyed, would you expect the OJ sitting on the shelf at your local store to suddenly skyrocket in price? Of course not. By why does ths happen with gas that was refined months ago and is now sitting at your local gas station?

What the oil companies are doing is NOT capitialism. When huge companies like Mobil and Exxon merge and control the market it's more like socialism.

99

Sign Governors' petition to President Bush to lower gas prices!

by FlyingHighNow in

our governer, jennifer granholm and other governors have come up with a petition to cap oil company profits and bring the price of gas down.

please read about it.

please sign it and encourage everyone you know to sign it.

roybatty

comparing the pay of American CEO's to their Japanese or European counterpart

So what... some American CEO's make bank...so? Apples and Oranges IMO.

Huh? Apples to Organges to compare CEO's in the US to those in Japan and Europe? Alrighty then.

If I were a pension funds manager and had money invested...

You're not... and I'm sure the reasons are numerous...

Great addition to the debate. Thanks for adding to the argument. Is this Rush?

huge coporations loosing millions while giving their CEO's big, fat paychecks

Uhhh...did I miss something...I thought we were talking about Exxon...a PROFITABLE company....don't mix issues. Of course I'm against what you mentioned...let's stay on topic.

So what did Mr. Raymond do to deserve a 400 million dollar retirement package?? Geez, answer this ONE question. PLEASE tell me!!!! I'm dying to know.

out what many huge companies do when they merge

We weren't discussing that...so why argue it? Different subject all together... and again I agree...dishonesty and cheating and stealing is bad...

And nothing like that happened in the oil industry, right???? Right??? Right?? Let's see it's 1999 Exxon and Mobil merge, thousands loose their jobs, ExxonMobil becomes the biggest U.S. company by revenue and has record profits. I'm sure everything was above board <<wink wink>>

Can anyone spell "HP"?

Are you referring to Hewlett Packard..? Cuz if you are what a coincidence, my current business partner was General Manager for them for 33 years... did quite well...but left when Carlie took over and drove it into the ground. Cest la vie!
People think that stories like Enron or Tyco are the exception but the truth is it's rampant.

We were discussing OIL not the corruption of Corporations...and ALL countries have corrupt Corps. not just the US...puhleeez...

Oh yeah...back to oil and the "saints" who are in charge of it. Hmmm...now let's see here... One huge reason prices are tight because refinery capacity is very tight, oh, but guess what???? Since 1980 HALF of the refineries have been SHUT DOWN! Wow, imagine that....hmmmm..wonder who made that decision? Couldn't be big oil men? Did they have any idea what would happen in the future? Let's think about it...hmmm..I'm a big oil dude...shut down refineries....WOW, that will make my gas MORE expensive and I won't have to spend more money on building new ones! AWESOME! I deserve another 100 million dollars. Hmmm...I wonder if this will harm the country,,,,maybe, oh well. If the FTC or SEC decide to investigate I'll just give MY senator a call and remind him who financied his campaign. Yes, companies, even oil companies deserve to make mucho profit but not at the expense of the American consumer. Remeber last November when the big oil tycoons were called before a senate panel to answer their questions about the skyrocketing oil prices? Remember what happened when one senator wanted the big wigs sworn in? All hell broke loose and the head of the committee stood up for the poor ol' oil tycoons. Awwww... Well, since you're Mr. Big Business dude, tell me what Mr Raymond did to earn his 400 million dollar retirement package and tell me where the money came from.

99

Sign Governors' petition to President Bush to lower gas prices!

by FlyingHighNow in

our governer, jennifer granholm and other governors have come up with a petition to cap oil company profits and bring the price of gas down.

please read about it.

please sign it and encourage everyone you know to sign it.

roybatty

All he's got to do is impound the

excess profit they're making and relax federal tax on finished petroleum

products, to pass the saving along to the public.

This scares me more then the big oil companies sticking it to us. Having the government decide that a company or inductry makes too much money and simple take it away is only a step away from socialism. However, there is plenty that they can do. One, proceed with anti-trust action. Two, federally fund, I mean REALLY do it, alternative fuel sources and generously reward people who invest in it (i.e. hybred cars, solar power at home, etc.). And three, see what role big oil has play and lobbied for the situation we're in now.

99

Sign Governors' petition to President Bush to lower gas prices!

by FlyingHighNow in

our governer, jennifer granholm and other governors have come up with a petition to cap oil company profits and bring the price of gas down.

please read about it.

please sign it and encourage everyone you know to sign it.

roybatty

roybatty... you're assumptions and analyis are completely innaccurate! CEO's don't vote themselves raises and then raise their price to cover it...that's asinine. The bottom line is already figured into the cost of the goods or service...These are PROFITABLE companies...how they spend their money is nobody's damn business... (ie. Enron, WorldComm illegal activity...is a different story)
How would you like it if anyone tried to tell you how to, or not to spend your paycheck? I'd tell them to F*CK OFF!!!
Like an insurance company... their profit margin is FIXED into the cost of the service. If their actuaries are wrong and outgo exceeds income than they tap reserves and in the future raise rates (which are mandated and approved by the States)... They DON'T raise their rates to just make more money...that's rediculous and WRONG. The insurance company NEVER gets hurt as the profit is never touched... just like a casino!
How does a CEO not "earn" his money? Do JWD people read any "business" or "industry" journals...or are we still reading AWAKE?
I BEG you to take just one small course at a community college near you and open your eyes to the real world...not "the world".
Just cuz a company is BIG...doesn't mean it's bad....Just like just cuz a company is small doesn't make it good....

Let's see...you WORK for someone while I OWN a business....ok, now that we have that straight, let's get back to my comments about todays CEO's. My comment was directed toward the comparison of a multi-million dollar movie star versus a multi-million dollar CEO. It's not the same thing. Anyhow, since youre big on telling people what to do, you really need to educate yourself.

First, take the time to find a good business article comparing the pay of American CEO's to their Japanese or European counterpart. I'm not talking about paycheck paycheck, I'm talking about the pay from the lowest paid worker verses the CEO. Here in the States it has gone off track. You don't see a problem with the board of directors "rubber stamping" a 400 million dollar retirement package for Lee Raymond? If I were a pension funds manager and had money invested in ExxonMobil I'd wonder about it. Even more questionable is huge coporations loosing millions while giving their CEO's big, fat paychecks. Can anyone spell "HP"?

Secondly, find out what many huge companies do when they merge. Of course they have to file proxies with the SEC but many times they "hide" the generous retirement packages they are planning to give to the outgoing CEO's, while at the same time, many people end up loosing their jobs. While what they are doing isn't illegal, the SEC should do a better job and force these companies to spell-out IN PLAIN ENGLISH what this merger will do and who's making what.

Try this web site on for size and you'll see that it's more common place then you think...

http://www.footnoted.org/

People think that stories like Enron or Tyco are the exception but the truth is it's rampant.

I could post all day long how MANY CEO's and board of directos of big coporations stick it to their shareholders (let alone there works) while the SEC does nada. Do you think it's fair when a CEO and other execs have their golder paracute when a company collapses but the average joe looses his pension? Just because something isn't illegal doesn't mean it isn't wrong.