The Value of Life In a "Me First" Society

I was disturbed over the report of a temporary worker, Jdimytai Damour, at Wal-Mart who was trampled to death on Black Friday. I did not get a chance to blog about it at the time, but with more stories coming out, it appears to be even worse than I imagined. For anyone who has not heard about the incident, a temporary worker at Wal-Mart who was posted at the front door was trampled to death by a crowd that broke down the doors in order to get into the store for the Black Friday bargains.

So, Damour must have been older and smaller for this to happen, right? In fact, he was 34 years old, 6'5", weighing 270 pounds. Quoting Nassau County Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey, "Literally anyone, those hundreds of people who did make their way into the store, literally had to step over or around him or unfortunately on him to get into the Wal-Mart store." Estimates were that the crowd was about 2,000 people. [see Wal-Mart Worker Trampled to Death Lacked Training, Attorney Says] Now, when a crowd of 2,000 people is all pushing in the same direction it is very hard to stop or you risk getting trampled yourself. If this had been 2,000 people running out of the store for their life, I would understand. Two thousand people pushing and shoving to get into a store? That's evidence of a "Me First" society and it cost a man his life.

Damour's coworker, Jimmy Overby, describes the account first hand. "They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me. They took me down too ... I literally had to fight people off my back." [See Wal-Mart Worker Dies When Shoppers Break Down Doors]

And if that's not enough of, "Other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man, and customers stepped over him and became irate when officials said the store was closing because of the death, police and witnesses said." [See Police Reviewing Video to Identify Shoppers in Wal-Mart Stampede That Killed Worker] So let me get this straight, a man is TRAMPLED TO DEATH and you're upset because you're not getting your bargain?

While police are trying to review any video surveillance, it is difficult to not only identify people, but also figure out who is liable. [See Police Try to ID Shoppers in Wal-Mart Trampling Death Surveillance Tape]

Damour's biggest crime? "[He was] trying to shield a pregnant shopper from the throngs of bargain hunters pushing their way in." [See Lawyer: Family of Trampled Worker Sues Wal-Mart Over Death] That's right, Jdimytai Damour a 34 year old, 6'5", 270 pound man was crushed to death because he was trying to protect a pregnant woman from a crowd who had to have their bargain no matter what the cost.

Damour's siblings are suing different groups that they feel were responsible including Wal-Mart (Damour had no crowd control training). Sadly, the people who are really responsible will probably not even get caught.

To the family of Jdimytai Damour, we offer our condolences. The greed and "Me First" attitude that has taken over our culture is appalling.

I hope that this incident will serve as a wake-up to our society; however, I fear that stories like this will only become more and more common.

The New American Business Plan

Apple pulls antivirus tech note

Oops. Apparently, undercutting one of your major selling points during the Christmas season is not the best way to shore up your stock price. To be fair, further research showed the doc was actually from 2007 - i.e. it was nothing new - and merely caught the attention of bloggers when the version numbers were updated on the "recommended software." My guess is this page will mysteriously return around January 1, to cover Apple from frivolous lawsuits.

Georgia ensures no filibuster-proof majority for the Democrats

Losing the presidency was like a nightmare for the Republican Party. Losing both houses of Congress was like their worst nightmare. The prospect of the Democrats also having a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate - effectively denying the minority party ANY vote - would have been the end of their world. But it had seemed possible with Georgia and Minnesota in the midst of runoffs and recounts respectively. But the win of Republican Saxby Chambliss has ensured that the GOP can still have a voice in the upcoming Congress. A small tiny, whiny voice. But a voice nonetheless

n the end, Martin, a 63-year-old former state lawmaker from Atlanta, wasn't able to get Obama voters back to the polls in large enough numbers to overcome the Republican advantage in Georgia, which has become an increasingly a reliable red state since 2002.
Turnout was light throughout the state Tuesday. A spokesman for Secretary of State Karen Handel predicted between 18 and 20 percent of the state's 5.75 million registered voters would cast ballots - far less than the 65 percent who voted in last month's general election.
The runoff between the former University of Georgia fraternity brothers was necessary after a three-way general election prevented any of the candidates from getting the necessary 50 percent.

Apple now suggests "multiple" Antivirus programs

After years of bragging about MacOS X's invulnerability to computer virii (there has never been a virus for MacOS X seen in the wild), they are now changing their tune. Not only are they recommending antivirus software, but actually recommending multiple, overlapping software so that hackers can not target only a single algorithm. This leads to the obvious question: "What do they know that we do not?" Is this simply a move to insulate them against potential future lawsuits, or is there a MacOS X virus out there that we just don't know about yet?

Acorns MIA?

This is first I am hearing of it, but apparently some parts of the USA are seeing no acorns this year. How is the crop in your area of the country? Are the squirrels looking thinner this year?

How involved was Pakistan in the Mumbai attacks?

While Americans were busy eating turkey and shopping for Black Friday deals, India was busy dealing with their own equivilent of 9/11, as 10 gunmen invaded railway stations, hotels, and shopping areas killing hundreds before all but one were killed by Indian commandos. The question now is how complicit was Pakistan in the attacks? The answer could decide whether two nuclear-armed countries go to war int he next few weeks.

The announcement blaming militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, threatened to escalate tensions between India and Pakistan. However, Indian officials have been cautious about accusing Pakistan's government of complicity.
A U.S. counterterrorism official had said some "signatures of the attack" were consistent with Lashkar and Jaish-e-Mohammed, another group that has operated in Kashmir. Both are reported to be linked to al-Qaida.

(AP) Mourners gather for a memorial to pay tribute to Mumbai police officers who lost their lives in the...
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Lashkar, long seen as a creation of the Pakistani intelligence service to help fight India in disputed Kashmir, was banned in Pakistan in 2002 under pressure from the U.S., a year after Washington and Britain listed it a terrorist group. It is since believed to have emerged under another name, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, though that group has denied links to the Mumbai attack.

My own impression is that it is unlikely that Pakistan incited these attacks, but that it is very likely one or more Pakistani officials looked the other way to allow them to happen. Pakistan is in the midst of a transition from one government to another, and in that time there is a power vacuum. Who knows who may have stepped in?