See Ya!

A flight attendant ran out of patience on a plane that just landed at JFK on Monday afternoon, so he allegedly cursed a blue streak over the p.a. system, grabbed some beers, pulled the emergency chute, slid down and ran from the plane, sources said.

Jet Blue employee Steven Slater, 38, was working on Flight 1052 from Pittsburgh to Kennedy Airport, which landed at around 12 p.m., when he got into a verbal altercation with a passenger, law-enforcement sources said. Following a heated exchange, the flight attendant told off the entire plane on the public address system, activated an emergency chute near the back of the plane and jumped down the evacuation slide and ran for it.

The argument began when one of the 100 passengers on the flight, got up early to get her luggage from an overhead compartment, according to sources. Slater told the passenger to sit back down — but, as he approached, the woman continued to pull her belongings down and struck him in the head with her bag, authorities said.

Slater asked for an apology but the woman cursed him out, saying in effect go f–k yourself” and calling him a “mo-fo,” according to law enforcement sources who are still sorting out the specifics. Then Slater got on the flight’s announcement system and allegedly cursed out everyone on the plane — especially the person who mouthed off to him, according to law enforcement sources.

When his tirade was through, he then took a some beers from the galley and pulled the emergency chute and slid off the Embraer 190 plane. According to police sources, he threw his luggage down first and said something to the effect of “there goes 28 years,” before he took the plunge. Slater was later arrested at his home in Belle Harbor, Queens by Port Authority officials. Police sources said that when authorities found Slater he seemed to be in the midst having sexual relations.

Hah! You have to admire a guy who goes out with a bang, literally.


cnet news

CEOs from Google and Verizon Communications on Monday announced a proposal to policymakers for keeping the Internet open.

The companies jointly suggested a legislative framework for consideration by lawmakers. The major breakthrough in the proposal is an agreement that the nondiscrimination clause that the Federal Communications Commission has proposed as part of its regulatory efforts would be enforceable.

“We agree that, in addition to these existing principles, there should be a new, enforceable prohibition against discriminatory practices,” the proposal states. (See entire document embedded below.) “This means that for the first time, wireline broadband providers would not be able to discriminate against or prioritize lawful Internet content, applications, or services in a way that causes harm to users or competition.”


This is ridiculous and amazing.

Despite President Obama’s pledge to retain more hi-tech jobs in the U.S., a federal agency run by a hand-picked Obama appointee has launched a $36 million program to train workers, including 3,000 specialists in IT and related functions, in South Asia.

Following their training, the tech workers will be placed with outsourcing vendors in the region that provide offshore IT and business services to American companies looking to take advantage of the Asian subcontinent’s low labor costs.

Under director Rajiv Shah, the United States Agency for International Development will partner with private outsourcers in Sri Lanka to teach workers there advanced IT skills like Enterprise Java (Java EE) programming, as well as skills in business process outsourcing and call center support. USAID will also help the trainees brush up on their English language proficiency.


Sends our money to India



Business Insider

In the conference call following the shocking ousting of HP CEO Mark Hurd, it was revealed that the real reason he was forced out (can we just say “fired,” please?) was because he filed false expense reports to hide the affair he was having.

Here’s the description in the NYT:

Michael Holston, executive vice president and general counsel, said during a conference call that the violation [that Hurd was fired for] involved expense reports, though he would not discuss the amount of money involved. Mr. Holston described Mr. Hurd’s relationship with the contractor as “close” and “personal.” The woman, he said, had been hired by the office of the chief executive. He also said the inaccurate expense reports were intended to conceal the personal relationship, adding that it showed “a profound lack of judgment.”

We have also, of course, learned that Mark Hurd will be getting a $50 million severance payout ($12 million in cash, plus stock). This is on top of the $10 billion of market value that HP shareholders have lost so far as a result of his sudden departure.

Another corporate scumbag getting away with millions. When is this going to stop?

Found by Cinàedh.




For your Sunday Enjoyment


cnet news

Genesha, who goes by Spike, is a playful Asian elephant who lives at the Calgary Zoo in Canada. Not long ago, he broke one of his tusks above his old cap (which he’d been wearing since 2002) while playing too vigorously with a tire. To prevent further damage to the tusk, and to prevent infection, he was fitted with new, larger dental caps.

But these caps are stainless steel and weigh in at more than 46 pounds each, and break the record for largest dental caps that had been held by their predecessors. They were designed by students at SAIT (South Alberta Institute of Technology) Polytechnic’s school of manufacturing and automation. The engineering was a challenge they were happy to accept as a test of how targeted manufacturing can be applied to unique situations requiring an uncommon solution.

Wow! An elephant super-hero!


U.S. companies have had a long love affair with debt, and Washington has tacitly approved. Although the tax benefits are not the only driver of corporate America’s preference for loans — cheap rates and corporate strategy, as in Macy’s case, are other major factors — the tax code often tips the scales toward using debt for deals or for expanding a business.

Over the past generation, debt in America has exploded, becoming a way of life in nearly every sphere of society. And the tax code has been its handmaiden. Home buyers, towns and corporations all enjoy tax breaks that grow as they borrow more. Indeed, federal officials have found that the deductions for business debt are so generous that the government is, in many cases, essentially paying companies to borrow.

The surge in borrowing has opened new markets and financial industries. It has also at times powered economic growth — for instance, the boom preceding the housing bust — and activities that wouldn’t have been possible under other conditions. Commercial developers build projects they otherwise wouldn’t. Private equity firms are able to buy out companies with huge sums of borrowed money. Big banks that lend out all this borrowed money have come to play an outsize role in the economy.
[…]
“The tax code is interfering dramatically with the choice of how you finance and how you deliver returns in the corporate sector,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, an economist who heads the American Action Forum. “Why would you build into the tax code a permanent bailout for corporate debt-financed investments?”



The storm chasers, Silver Lining Tours, picked up a few hailstones.


Without comment


I found this one on an old cell phone. This is ground training. Before this I had tried to keep him off the ground so that the cats weren’t tempted, but I thought he needed to start to learn how to be on the ground and run.


Found by Cinàedh.


NSFW

I miss George.


You’ve got to hand it to the Milwaukee Teacher’s Union; they really have their priorities in order. 482 teachers in the district have been laid off and they’re fighting to have taxpayer funded Viagra. Milwaukee Teacher’s Union has asked a judge to once again force the school board to include erectile dysfunction drugs. They say that it’s discrimination against male employees.

School board lawyers say that the drugs in question were removed from coverage back in 2005 to save the district money. By the way, it would cost $786,000 per year to include Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs. That is some major dysfunction.

Leave it to the unions, they’re also protesting the layoff and potential layoff of hundreds of teachers at the exact same time they’re bellyaching about having a nearly $1 million dollar unnecessary expense reinstated. This is exactly the kind of thing liberals have failed to understand since the beginning of time. You can’t have it all. Pick one. Do you want the teachers to have jobs or do you want your pee-pee drugs?


« Previous PageNext Page »

Bad Behavior has blocked 10731 access attempts in the last 7 days.