Commentary

Category Archives for Commentary.

This Washington Post

by Gary Leff

american flag
Jun 14 2002

This Washington Post article speaks for itself. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights usually investigates discrimination complaints outside its offices. But in the case of its former staff solicitor, Emma Monroig, the agency could have stayed indoors. … Monroig was awarded $150,000 for back pay, mental duress and attorneys’ fees. The EEOC also ordered that she be reinstated as solicitor. … Commission employees have filed nine recent complaints with the EEOC, commission officials said. Three were filed by Hispanics, and the rest by black and white workers. Of those nine, at least three have been settled. In light of Monroig’s award, questions about the treatment of staff, performance evaluations and other personnel issues linger, officials said. Monroig’s odyssey with the EEOC began in 1994, when she filed an informal discrimination complaint. Passman said her claim…

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Fly the Concorde for $1258.95

by Gary Leff

concorde air france
Jun 13 2002

Fly the Concorde for $1258.95 First, buy 21 subscriptions to Inside Flyer magazine for a total cost of $1258.95. If you act by June 30, you’ll get 2500 Starwood points per subscription, or a total of 52500 Starwood points. (If you don’t already have a Starwood account, open one here). Second, transfer the 52500 Starwood points into a Qantas account. For every 20000 points you redeem, you also get a bonus 5000 points. 52500 points becomes 62500 points. Starwood points become Quantas points at a 1:2 ration. Thus, you now have 125,000 Qantas points. (If you don’t already have a Qantas account, open one here). Third, redeem 125,000 Qantas points for a roundtrip ticket with partner British Airways on the Concorde. Availability of Concorde awards seems not to be a problem at all. You can…

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The Los Angeles

by Gary Leff

latimes
Jun 13 2002

The Los Angeles Times covers a gaffe by The Beijing Evening News — the Chinese paper picked up and ran a story from The Onion which claimed that Congress was going to pick up and leave Washington, DC unless a new Capitol was built for them. The paper acknowledged their error, but fails to understand the humor: “Some small American newspapers frequently fabricate offbeat news to trick people into noticing them, with the aim of making money,” the paper said. “This is what the Onion does.” It cited a recent Onion article about the U.S. government issuing life jackets to all Americans for some unexplained reason. “According to congressional workers, the Onion is a publication that never ceases making up false reports,” the Evening News said. Thanks to OpinionJournal‘s “Best of the Web” for the…

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US force in the least

by Gary Leff

canada flag
Jun 13 2002

US force in the least likely of places The U.S. Senate voted to authorize military force against Denmark if a U.S. citizen is held by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The C.D. Howe Institute believes that the U.S. could invade Canada in pursuit of its war on terror. (Thanks to Free-Market.net for pointing these out.)

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Harry Truman was known to

by Gary Leff

american flag
Jun 11 2002

Harry Truman was known to complain when his fellow Democrats caved in and acted like Republicans: “In an election between a Republican and a Republican, a Republican is going to win.” In other words, what’s the point of voting for a Democrat if they’re just going to vote like a Republican? Now the flip side. CQ Daily Monitor says that House Republican ‘sponsors of a Medicare drug benefit bill plan to introduce the measure today and expect to mark it up on Thursday, a GOP aide said. In the meantime, Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce committee chairmen Bill Thomas, R-Calif., and Billy Tauzin, R-La., continue their “education campaign” to solidify GOP support for the legislation. A Dear Colleague letter is being drafted to explain the impact of a package of Medicare payment increases…

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The Senate voted 68-29 to

by Gary Leff

american flag
Jun 11 2002

The Senate voted 68-29 to add $450 billion to the federal debt ceiling — just enough to push off insolvency past election day. I’m sure that date is pure coincidence. Or happenstance. Or on purpose.

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Today’s CQ Daily Monitor has

by Gary Leff

american flag
Jun 11 2002

Today’s CQ Daily Monitor has House Speaker Dennis Hastert announcing at the end of the week a plan to push through the House a bill that would create a homeland security department. The goal, which Dick Armey thinks is realistic, is to create the department by the first anniversary of 9/11. Call me crazy, but I can think of several better ways to honor the victims of the terrorist attack than the creation of a new 170,000 person bureaucracy.

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The Bush Administration is

by Gary Leff

american flag
Jun 10 2002

The Bush Administration is considering privatizing the nation’s air traffic control system. Predictably, the union representing government employed air traffic controllers are unhappy. However, as airline schedules return to their pre-9/11 levels, our congested skies need help. This problem has been pretty much solved in Canada through privatization, and it will work even better here.

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Oenophiles are a homeland security

by Gary Leff

american flag
Jun 10 2002

Oenophiles are a homeland security risk! The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports that the Rochester airport was cleared after security screeners lost track of a woman with a corkscrew in her carryon. Of course, corkscrews can be found in airplane galleys all across the country, where they are used to open bottles of wine (in first class). The woman had taken it from the restaurant in the hotel she had checked out of that morning.

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