111 posts from 2008

Starbucks starts boarding up!

Starbucks Corp. announced Tuesday it will close 600 company-operated stores in the next year as the faltering U.S. economy hastened the pain caused by the company's own rapid expansion.

No longer will you be able to grab a Starbucks to drink while on your way to Starbucks ...

But hopefully, this favorite movie scene will never lose its relevance.

So, tons of news trucks are parked outside of the downtown Marriott, complicating the already messed up traffic situation in my little corner of downtown Indy.  All, to take a peek at THIS guy!   Yuck!

Does My Breath Stink?

And, for the record, I agree with Wesley Clark:  I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.  Obama/Clark 08? 

they sound a lot like Right Said Fred

I think I want some Crusha.

I miss Carl Sagan.

I had the privilege to see Carl Sagan when he came to the IUPUI campus about 15 years ago.  It was a joy to hear him speak and to watch him respond to every audience question with thoughtfulness and respect. 

Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

So, the Supreme Court of the United States says it's okay to have a gun. 

But this decision really frosts my cookies!

The Supreme Court on Wednesday reduced what had once been a $5 billion punitive damages award against Exxon Mobileto about $500 million. The ruling essentially concluded a legal saga that started when the Exxon Valdez, a supertanker, struck a reef and spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into the Prince William Sound in Alaska in 1989.

The decision may have broad implications for limits on punitive damages generally. Punitive damages, which are meant to punish and deter, are imposed on top of compensatory damages, which aim to make plaintiffs whole.

Justice David H. Souter, writing for the majority in the 5-to-3 decision, said a ratio between the two sorts of damages of no more than one-to-one was generally appropriate, at least in maritime cases. Since Exxon has paid about $507 million to compensate more than 32,000 Alaska Natives, landowners and commercial fishermen for the damage caused by the spill, it should have to pay no more than that amount in punitive damages, Justice Souter said.

Oh ...Verdict schmerdict!  Hasn't Exxon paid enough?  That doesn't even make any sense ... since the compensatory damages were high, the punitive damages should be diminshed?  In his dissent, Justice Stevens invokes the voice of sanity:

"In light of Exxon’s decision to permit a lapsed alcoholic to command a supertanker carrying tens of millions of gallons of crude oil though the treacherous waters of Prince William Sound, thereby endangering all of the individuals who depended upon the sound for their livelihoods,” Justice Stevens wrote, “the jury could reasonably have given expression to its moral condemnation of Exxon’s conduct in the form of this award."

And Alaskan Congressional candidate, Ethan Berkowitz, is none too pleased:

Last year, Exxon generated a record $40.6 billion dollars in profits, the largest profits of any corporation in history. The damages awarded under this ruling represent roughly 4.5 days of Exxon profits. They can certainly afford to do the right thing. They simply refuse to.

Exactly.  By cutting the punitive damage award, they are making it a non-puntive award.  In other words, this is just a drop in the bucket for Exxon, not a penalty that will punish them for the devastation caused by their actions. Just another example of how corporate interests trump compassion for our citizens. 

Foul!

Maria's Grandma gave her this whistle.  Maria loves it, she never gets tired of blowing it ... loudly.  And, though we think we're pretty clever in hiding it from her, she somehow always seems to find it ...  Still, I don't have the heart to just pitch it.  And, I have to admit:  it is sort of fun to blow a whistle, just not repeatedly in someone's ear ... M'kay?

Note to Grandparents:   Don't ever give a 3-year-old a whistle unless you want the parents to wash Ibuprofens down with Cabernet!

Could my red state turn blue?

In an election today in Indiana, Barack Obama takes 48% of the vote, John McCain 47% of the vote -- a statistical tie -- according to this latest SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for WHAS-TV Louisville and WCPO-TV Cincinnati. Obama's 1-point lead is within the survey's 4 percentage point margin of sampling error, and these results should be reported as a tie. Among men, McCain leads by 5; among women, Obama leads by 7 -- a 12-point gender gap. Among voters age 18 to 49, Obama leads by 5; among voters 50+, McCain leads by 3. Obama leads by 22 points among voters under age 35. 16% of Republicans cross over to vote for Democrat Obama; 19% of Democrats cross over to vote for Republican McCain; Independents favor Obama by 7 points. Among those voters who say they have already made up their minds, the two candidates are tied; among the 25% who say they could still change their mind, Obama leads by 2.

I know this is close and it is early, but typically in Indiana the Republican presidential candidate would be enjoying a head and shoulders lead over the Democratic candidate. 

Share a recipe for your favorite summer drink.

Celis White

•  Chill
•  Remove cap
•  Pour
•  Drink

I'm so happy to see the return of Celis Beers.  Celis Brewing has had an interesting history.  Pierre Celis, who founded the Hoegaarden Brewery in Belgium (pause for genuflection), started Celis Brewing in Austin, Texas, though he never actually relocated to the United States.  In the late 90's, Miller Brewing bought a stake in Celis and started managing its distribution.  Pierre Celis eventually sold his shares to Miller and then Miller closed the brewery based on poor revenues.

In 2002 Michigan Brewing Company bought the Celis brand name from Miller and began brewing Celis beers again, and it is again popping up on my local store shelves!  Welcome back, Celis!  I've missed you!

This morning, I logged into my Yahoo mail and saw this message:  "David Orentlicher added you as a friend on Facebook"

Oh David!  You ran such a crappy campaign, but I just can't quit you!

There's More Than Corn in Indiana

It's Complicated

The subject of death can be a tricky one to navigate when trying to communicate about it with a 3-year-old, especially when you're not especially religious.  Lately, whenever Maria and I drive past a cemetery, she asks, "What's that?"  Typically, the rest of our conversation goes something like this:

Me:  It's a cemetery.

M:   What's a cemetery?

Me:  It's a graveyard?

M:  What's a graveyard?

Me:  It's where they bury people after they die.

M:  Why do they die?

Me:  Oh (sigh)... they get old, or sick or hurt.  Everybody lives and everybody dies. 

And, that's usually that. 

So, last weekend, we drove past a cemetery and there were people standing around, having just attended a funeral.  Maria asked, "Did those people die?"

Me:  No, they know someone who died.

Maria:  I don't want you to die.

Me:  (gulp)