caeron

I like NYC, but it sure isn't my weekend away spot because prices are so nuts. I've never understood by its escort prices where always so much higher than the rest of the country.

I agree. It is cruel and I hope they get some relief. Part of the problem is that the way these things get funded involves a ton of guesswork. You can't know until the piper comes calling if you've under or over funded the obligation. It's one of the reasons why companies should have been so leery to make these kind of commitments.

I used to watch that show as a kid all the time. great memories.

kayak (www.kayak.com) is my favorite airfare search site. I find it gives me very good insight into what fares are doing and I can get to the lowest standard fare quickly.

I think the debate here does highlight the need to address healthcare nationally. Both from a coverage standpoint, and from a cost standpoint. I'm married because of healthcare. I married my best friend 15 years ago because I was appalled at the thought that she had no healthcare. It has ended up a magnificent, if non-traditional, marriage that has brought us both joy, but it's roots were in the fact that she had no coverage. It turned out well for us, but it hasn't turned out as well for others. A friend's father died because he didn't have healthcare coverage and the state set necessary, but brutal cutlines on what it would pay for with its limited resources for those without coverage. I don't want to give up the great healthcare we can get in the US to wait months to see a doctor, but we need to do something about this issue.

I agree. It is tragic. Perversely, I think one of the benefits I have is that no employer of mine has ever made such promises to me. I've had to plan on counting on myself, and have built a fair nest egg as a result.

I agree. It is tragic. Perversely, I think one of the benefits I have is that no employer of mine has ever made such promises to me. I've had to plan on counting on myself, and have built a fair nest egg as a result.

You did miss my point if you thought that was my point. My point had nothing to do with the active workers. It had to do with the total labor costs that Detroit bears versus folks like Toyota. The active workers make about the same as those at Toyota plants. The problem is paying for the promises made to workers past.

I think you're missing my point. It doesn't matter what workers are getting the labor costs. The differences are real, and crippling to the detroit companies. Detroit can't promise to take care of its workers forever if nobody else in the industry is doing it. That's the reality they're dealing with today and why bankruptcy is probably the right way to go. In effect, they have to break their contract with their retirees if they're to continue to exist as a company. Kudos to the UAW for getting a good deal for their workers when the companies could afford it. Now they can't, so the deal's gotta change.

That's hardly unique to the auto industry. The disparity of pay between workers and execs across industries in the US is really screwed up.

http://www.slate.com/id/2206527/?from=rss Another amusing article on Craig from Slate. Apparently Craig's legal defense fund has raised less than $5000. I guess when you make a career out of pandering to anti-gay right wing bigots, they aren't very generous when you turn out to be a cocksucker. What a shock.

Found a link confirming the wage differences on AP. They do make the point that GM has many more retirees they're carrying. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AUT...EMPLATE=DEFAULT

It may be only 10%, but it's significant. First my data source courtesy of a quick google :http://townhall.com/Columnists/CalThomas/2008/11/11/breakdown Detroit loaded hourly wage: 78.21 Toyota loaded hourly wage: 48 Difference per vehicle totaled: $1000 (from which we may infer there is about 33 hours in assembling a car) That's a pretty big difference.

You probably know better than I do, but it doesn't sound to me like you're on the shit list, it sounds like you're in vegas. Service has been crap there at any number of hotels I've stayed at compared to most other cities. It's not that they don't care about you. They don' t care about anybody.

True, though I have some sympathy. You know he wouldn't have gotten the votes if he'd been out.

I guess you'd have to define success. If some people came out at work and helped open some eyes, then it had some. As a concept, it's entirely too diffuse to have much impact overall. Now if it had been "go piss on a mormon temple day", that might have had some impact!

I'd heard detroit had gotten their quality up a lot in the last number of years. I actually was thinking about getting a GM instead of the Toyotas I usually buy next time around because I like the OnStar feature. In the abstract, I do think bankruptcy would probably be better, but I'm selfish enough that I'm not sure I want to take the damage on wall street when they start failing....

I too enjoyed The Day the Earth Stood Still, but say so with the proviso that I am entertained by schlocky sci-fi movies. If you like bad hollywood movies, you'll like it. If you want a coherent plot, you'll be disappointed. I liked Quantum of Solace too. It's still very much a hollywood james bond, but with some actual thought put into the character, and I like the fact that you walk out of the theatre with some questions. They've got more of the story to tell, and don't feel obliged to wrap the whole thing up with a bow at the end. For TV, we've been captivated by Dexter recently. The writers have done a good job of making a likeable, but sort of squicky serial killer.

Wow, this had me in stitches. We just went to see The Day the Earth Stood Still, and in addition to being stunningly bad (though dare I admit entertaining), it nailed nearly all of these.

I'm not really out at work. I thought about it, but thought one, I don't really care to discuss this with my boss. Our relationship over the years has improved a lot, but it's always been a bit tentative, and this would be a weird way to broach the subject. Second, my company is very gay positive, so it seems like a kind of stupid way to make a point. I think targetted protests/actions where you can focus a lot of gay attention on a few people generates the most bang.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/13/us/13smi...eld.html?ref=us Interesting article on the unionization of the smithfield ham plant. Much he-said she-said, but in general it seems the company was really nasty about the unionization. This quote I think really echoed the sentiments we expressed here: “It feels great,†said Ms. Blue, who makes $11.90 an hour and has worked at Smithfield for five years. “It’s like how Obama felt when he won. We made history.†“I favored the union because of respect,†said Ms. Blue, who is black. “We deserve more respect than we’re getting. When we were hurt or sick, we weren’t getting treated like we should.†You wonder if this would have been an issue at all if the company had just treated their employees well. As a manager, people talk all the time about how they want more money, but what they really respond to is positive feedback and feeling valued. (provided their money is reasonable, of course)

I too have to wonder what I'm going to do about healthcare after I retire. I have a couple of pre-existing conditions that are likely to drive my premiums sky high in the private market. I think it would be great if we could get to the point where we all have a solid base of care, and then we can buy kicker policies to upgrade that.

I agree that the Healthcare issue is a back breaker for Detroit. We need to address this with some form of national healthcare. As someone who has a nice HMO, I don't want to lose what I've got, but it just isn't right that many do without anything at all. Companies can't carry this burden alone, it has to be addressed federally.

New review going us seem to frequently still not be showing their city to me. Right now, daniel, arekk, and andrewjustice all aren't showing their city. Is this still an issue for others or is it just me?

I'm also a bit dubious of unions, but have little sympathy for companies that treat workers as expendable and then are surprised when their workers unionize and are hostile to the company. I get the wonder of free markets, but I'm selfish and worry that we're bleeding out our nation to raise the standard of living for others. If the golden goose dies, what then? I have no answer though. I think most of the cures proposed are far worse than the disease.