RUBIN ADMITS HE IS A CLUELESS FOOL

Rubin is now under sustained attack from not only Krugman of the NYT but now, the Wall Street Journal.  This means, this idiot, this horrid, stupid, incompetent fool will probably not be in charge of the many trillions of bail out money that our government is spilling all over the place.

 

Good riddance.  Also, we look at the Walmart trampling episode: Walmart is a crime magnet.  It was only a matter of time before it made the news.  I hope Walmart get sued.  This will motivate them to fez up and provide realistic security in their little hell holes they call ‘mega-stores.’

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Rubin Defends His Role at Citigroup – WSJ.com

Under fire for his role in the near-collapse of Citigroup Inc., Robert Rubin said its problems were due to the buckling financial system, not its own mistakes, and that his role was peripheral to the bank’s main operations even though he was one of its highest-paid officials.

“Nobody was prepared for this,” Mr. Rubin said in an interview. He cited former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan as another example of someone whose reputation has been unfairly damaged by the crisis….Mr. Rubin’s salary made him one of Wall Street’s highest-paid officials — and a controversial figure among Citigroup shareholders and some executives, who questioned whether his limited duties justified the big paydays.

“Even though he has no ‘operating’ responsibilities, he still has a fiduciary responsibility as a board member,” said William Smith, a New York money manager and frequent critic of Citigroup’s current management and board. “He has overseen the entire meltdown, yet been compensated as an operating employee while bragging about having no operating responsibility.” Mr. Rubin can’t “have it both ways,” Mr. Smith added….With Citigroup shares at $8.29, the stock is down 86% from its all-time high about two years ago and 70% since Mr. Rubin came aboard. The recent stock collapse “was a systemic problem of which Citi was a piece,” said Mr. Rubin, who added that one cause was short sellers ganging up on the stock, selling borrowed shares in the hope of driving the share price down.

 

I sincerely hope that Rubin be showed the door. Perhaps, shipped off to Saudi Arabia to explain the collapse to that shady Saudi Prince.  Note how, in 1999, this clown was a ‘genius’ who could save the entire planet from financial melt-down.  But now, with his pudgy hands caught in the gears, he is totally stupid. 

 

Couldn’t see the obvious coming!  Ta-da!  This is the The Peter Principle – Bureaucracy at Work:

According to Laurence Johnston Peter: Work is accomplished by those employees who have not reached their level of incompetence. Thus we can see why organizations still function even as Peter Principled employees accept one too many promotions. Laurence Peter provides an insightful analysis of why so many positions in so many organizations seem to be populated by employees who seem incompetent. This concept is likely to be ignored by most senior managers since to admit one’s organization is suffering from this bureaucratic malady is admission that people have been improperly promoted. This, in turn, suggests that senior management might have attained their own level incompetence, and the problem is easily ignored, lest it become suggested that senior management be more closely examined for their incompetence.

 

So, let us laugh in unison! HAHAHAHAHA.  This utter clown, this rattled and bedazzled little idiot was a non-entity at Citigroup while collecting the highest pay?  Again, we must strive to laugh to death: HAHAHAHAHA.  Whew!  My sides hurt.

 

This man should be arrested for impersonating a financial genius.  He should NOT be put in charge of anything bigger than a lemonade stand.  And even Lucy would not permit him to keep the books.  How infantile these men are!  Stupid gnomes cringing and whining are not pleasant guests.  We must relegate them to the outdoors. Like, to Siberia.  I hope I never, ever see that goofy Mr. Rubin’s name in public again. Shame on you, sir!  How dare you stick your nose into our affairs!  Out!

 

Now, on to Walmart: I notice they are painting the stores a Stalinistic blue/gray with a yellow star/sun.  Why not a yellow star on a bright crimson background?  After all, they are the Manchurian Discount!  Thinking back about Lucy, she would make a better financial advisor than any of the stupid, stupid three Marketeers. 

 

We should let Lucy run security at Walmart.  Lord knows, they need security!  Maybe Linus should run it?He knows all about security blankets.  He also knows how to deal with violent bullies like his sister.  Yes, I see a team forming here!  Charlie Brown, of course, as CEO who knows nothing and can’t do anything.  That cover’s today’s news.

 

Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death – NYTimes.com

The throng of Wal-Mart shoppers had been building all night, filling sidewalks and stretching across a vast parking lot at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, N.Y. At 3:30 a.m., the Nassau County police had to be called in for crowd control, and an officer with a bullhorn pleaded for order.  Tension grew as the 5 a.m. opening neared. Someone taped up a crude poster: “Blitz Line Starts Here.”

By 4:55, with no police officers in sight, the crowd of more than 2,000 had become a rabble, and could be held back no longer. Fists banged and shoulders pressed on the sliding-glass double doors, which bowed in with the weight of the assault. Six to 10 workers inside tried to push back, but it was hopeless.…

Wal-Mart security officials and the police cleared the store, swept up the shattered glass and locked the doors until 1 p.m., when it reopened to a steady stream of calmer shoppers who passed through the missing doors and battered door jambs, apparently unaware that anything had happened.

It is obvious that the cheapsters running Walmart are too cheap to hire guards and won’t pay the cops extra to patrol on Turkey night.  Cops want double overtime on these occasions.  So of course, if Walmart wants to run the equivalent of a rock concert riot, they better pay for security.  They can’t demand a community pay for these sorts of promotions.

 

Walmart is infamous for dumping on the public.  They pay their workers poorly so they need food stamps and other government aid programs.  Walmart could pay a real wage but will not.  Nor do they obviously hire enough staff.

 

Union Responds To Death of Long Island Wal-mart Worker

QUEENS VILLAGE, NY (11/28/2008; 1514)(readMedia)– United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500, New York State’s largest grocery workers Union, has called for an immediate investigation by Federal, State and Local authorities into the “avoidable” death of a Wal-mart worker at the Valley Stream, Long Island Wal-mart. Specifically, the Union has called on the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the New York State Department of Labor and the Nassau County Prosecutor to investigate Wal-mart’s failure to provide a safe workplace.

“This incident was avoidable,” said Bruce Both, President of United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500. “Where were the safety barriers? Where was security? How did store management not see dangerous numbers of customers barreling down on the store in such an unsafe manner?” asked President Both. “This is not just tragic; it rises to a level of blatant irresponsibility by Wal-mart. UFCW Local 1500 will demand a full investigation by all levels of Government to ensure both justice for the surviving family members and to ensure the safety of current employees and the general public. This can never be allowed to happen again and those responsible must be held accountable,” Both concluded.

 

Since this happened in NY, there is a very good chance, the corporation will be hauled into court.  I bet, lawyers are already lining up to take on this case.  The bereaved parents will probably end up suing.  The people in the front of the store are being cast as criminals.  But they were pushed into the doors.  They didn’t push themselves, they were pushed from behind.  This was due to ZERO security guards outside.  

 

Of course, the inhumanity the shoppers showed is classic: this is the mob.  The consumer society is soulless.  Xmas is a time when we get inundated with commercials trying to lure us into buying things.  We watch TV specials that proclaim, Xmas is all about loving and sharing.  But the commercials are all about grasping and demanding things no matter how inappropriate.  Most profits for the year come from this one month’s buying orgy.

 

While looking up Walmart crime stats, I came across this report from 2005:

 

http://www.walmartcrimereport.com/report.pdf

1.  In 2004, Wal-Mart had a total of 2,909 calls for service for alleged “serious or violent crimes” at just 460 of its stores. For this sample, the most “serious or violent crimes” that police reported responding to, included: 4 homicides, 9 rapes or attempted rapes, 23 kidnappings or attempted kidnappings, 154 sex crimes, 1,024 auto thefts, and 550 robberies or attempted robberies. Based on the total number of “serious or violent criminal incidents” reported, an average of six “serious or violent incidents” were reported per Wal-Mart store in 2004 (see Section C)
2.  The Wal-Mart stores sampled had an average reported police incident rate of 269 incidents per store in 2004 (see Section B).
3. Based on the number of incidents in the sample, we estimate that for all Wal-Mart stores nationwide, police may have responded to 995,838 police incidents at Wal-Mart stores in 2004, two incidents per minute (see Section D).
4.  Wal-Mart stores had more calls for service than nearby Target stores. For the sample, the average rate of reported police incidents at Wal-Mart stores was 400% higher than the average rate of incidents at nearby Target stores and 6 times higher for the number of reported criminal incidents defined as “serious or violent” (see Section E & F).
5.  Based on the number of incidents in the sample, we estimate that in 2004 the nationwide cost to American taxpayers for police to respond to 995,838 calls for service at Wal-Mart stores or parking lots was $77 million (see Section G).

*snip*
In 1996, Dave Gorman, then vice president of Loss Prevention for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., publicly
acknowledged that a 1994 test project of “roving security patrols” effectively reduced incidents of crime at high crime Wal-Mart stores to near zero.30 According to Mr. Gorman, a 1994 internal Wal-Mart survey determined that 80 percent of Wal-Mart crime occurred in store parking lots. Since 1996, Wal-Mart has yet to publicly adopt a national Wal-Mart crime deterrent policy that would include security measures, such as manned security cameras and roving security patrols at all stores.

The most recent public statements by Wal-Mart in 2000 state that only 17 percent of its stores have roving security patrols.31 Given the large number and type of police incidents that were reported at just a sample of Wal-Mart stores in 2004, it would appear that Wal-Mart could, as it determined in its own study in 1994, significantly reduce police incidents, as well as deter future incidents, through more active security measures at each store. More importantly, since Wal-Mart estimates that 151 million consumers – 70 percent of them women – shop at Wal-Mart stores each week, and given that its own internal reviews in 1996 show that crime is a factor in store performance, it is fair to state that improvements to Wal-Mart security would provide a safer shopping experience for consumers while also helping minimize taxpayer costs.

This part of the “Is Wal-Mart Safe?” study estimates the total cost to Wal-Mart if it adopted a company- wide program of 24-hour roving “security patrols” for all its stores.

 

Seems that Walmart is a crime-magnet.  If this is so, why no security?  The majority of crimes happen in parking lots.  I see security in the store which keeps the staff from stealing.  But virtually none in the parking lots.  Many of the suggestions of this report are easy and sane.  But Walmart will not do a thing unless it makes the news.  Like yesterday.  

 

Only when laws force businesses to act or someone sues and it costs more than doing things right, does anyone change.  Look at Rubin!  I knew several years ago, Citigroup was doomed due to its rising accumulation of derivative credit default swaps!  How on earth could this genius, this Marketeer, not figure out the obvious?  

 

We know where they all belong: behind bars, and not one that serves drinks.

 

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