Telecoms Trying To Shift The Blame To The Government
from the it's-not-us! dept
The telecom sector is in serious trouble. Of course, a lot of people have been blaming the greedy, unethical, or just plain stupid management of the various telecom companies for the mess they're in. It seems the telecom companies are starting a PR campaign to fight that image and it's starting with an article in USA Today explaining why it's really (really!) the government's fault that telecom is in trouble. They blame "greedy" local governments for trying to get extra money out of the various telecom initiatives, that either drove up the prices for telecom companies, or made them have to make costly changes that left certain areas uncovered. I don't doubt that there's plenty of blame to go around for just about everyone involved, but it doesn't seem likely that the telecom industry is getting ready to admit their own mistakes in all of this either.
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Blaming the gov't
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Add Wall St. To The List
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Re: Blaming the gov't
It's ok to drug test high school kids, but no one is drug testing the people that influence these kids (teachers, administrators, school boards).
While I agree with your rant, I cannot agree with this...most school districts in the nation already have random drug tests for faculty and staff. In California, it is actually required by law, with a stringent "Positive and your fired," rule which basically boils down to the person who fails a drug test having to procure a lawyer and fight the issue in order to keep their job. This includes false positives, which actually happens a lot, a friend of mine had a hard time keeping his job after they tested him positive for heroin (which he has never used,) due to the fact that this guy loved eating bread with poppy seeds on it. However, this is only k-12, colleges are another story. I don't think school boards are required to be tested, so that might account for the overall stupidity of school boards across the nation, and especially in California.
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Re: Blaming the gov't
You're right - I shouldn't have confused a local issue with a national issue. Pretty intelligent law in California - it's not like that here. As a parent, though, I consider my childrens drug education to be my decision and my responsibility. If I want to buy a home drug test and test my children, that's up to me. I don't think the schools should have anything to do with it. But that's just me. I'm a bit of a libertarian. I got a little riled up this weekend when our local paper ran a front page story questioning why a multi-million dollar taxpayer funded organization (DARE) is completely unaccountable for the money, and seems to spend more time building up its organization than it does performing its intended function.
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Re: Blaming the gov't
I think the gist of the decision was that the agents of the state (ie the school system) are not permitted to obligate others (ie students) to say it. You can say whatever pleases you.
Personally, I tell people who ask me to swear "so help me go" that I'll say the words and touch their book if they insist -- but such a promise holds far less weight with me than me giving my personal word. Their choice.
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Govt - Big Corp: Same Difference
Qwest - Nacchio gets "fired" but is given a consulting contract on the way out rumored to be worth millions.
Worldcom - Ebbers gets a million dollar pension for life, after running the company into the ground and apparently violating a whole bunch of laws on the way.
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No Subject Given
Since when does the telecom industry absorb any sort of fee without passing it along to the customer? Of course with all the woes in the telecom industry they'll have to raise rates again. That will be the excuse once again this year (and probably the next few years). I'm sure their six-figure executives will continue to be paid for their creative f##k-ups while we the working class continue to be laid off left and right.
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