Walter E. Williams: Some things I wonder about

Townhall.com ^ | December 31, 2003 | Walter E. Williams

[smiley]

Love that Walter! Wish they would have had college professors like this during the 1960's anti-American protest rallies. Could listen to Walter all day everyday!

[nj_pilot]

Walter shouldn't believe everything he reads on the internet. The Merv Grazinski story is an myth that has been around for a while (see http://www.snopes.com/legal/lawsuits.asp for an interesting article on these "outrageous lawsuits.."

[Possenti]

Williams hits another home run.

[billorites]

"I thought you said the prices were unreasonable. Why did you buy them? Are you unreasonable? Only an unreasonable person would pay unreasonable prices."

I love Walter too, but if I said that to my wife...

I'd get hot tongue and cold shoulder.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Walter blew it on the Winnebago story. It is an urban myth, a false story tacked onto the "Stella Awards."

http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/cruise.asp

[Quilla]

I think Williams says many things about his frugality in jest. Recently, while subbing for Rush, he mentioned a gift he was buying his wife for Christmas - I believe it was a cell phone battery. Talk about hot tongue and cold shoulder....

[Capriole]

I love Dr. Williams. His wife is a fortunate woman, and he is a fortunate man. Snopes notwithstanding.

[robertpaulsen]

True. But how many thousands of these types of cases are settled out of court in order to minimize cost or prevent negative publicity?

Those we don't hear about.

[PatriotCJC]

Dr. Williams, Dr. Sowell, Justice Thomas PING!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rummyfan]

Bump for later.

[MattinNJ]

how many thousands of these types of cases are settled out of court in order to minimize cost or prevent negative publicity?

You have no idea. I'm an insurance defense lawyer. You would be amazed at the amount of B.S lawsuits that hit my desk every day.For eaxample, I recently went to an arbitration where the plaintiff was bitten by a bat at an adventure park. I didn't get a chance to read the file until an hour before the arb. Stupid me, I assumed that there was some sort of "South American Fruit Bat exhibit" and the bat got out and went after this guy. I actually was sympathetic. No. This was a random bat attack. Apparently, there are some bats in that county and one must have gotten disoriented. There is no possible way that the park could have foreseen or prevented this attack. The ins. co. wanted me to pay him 6 grand for nuisance value. I absolutely refused. I'm yelling at the adjuster and the guy's lawyer "What if he had gotten hit in the head with a meteorite-how much would that be worth?". Eventually the adjuster called my boss who called me and told me to make the deal. I gave in, but man was I annoyed.

[robertpaulsen]

I couldn't do your job more than one day. I would have bitten the guy myself (and the adjuster and his scum-sucking lawyer).

[smiley]

...tort reform....tort reform.......

[Protagoras]

There is a economics lesson there which would bring an instant flame war upon him if he uttered it as a freeper. He would be called a traitor for even suggesting that it might be OK to pay someone less than another if that person was from another country.

It seems that many freepers think Americans deserve more money than other people and anyone who trades with anyone else from another country should be prevented from doing so at gunpoint if necessary.

[CobaltBlue]

I am a litigator who wishes that it was possible to get rich - or maybe just pay the overhead - with frivolous lawsuits, but it ain't so.

Here's a synopsis of a real lawsuit that took place in the courthouse just across the street from my office.

A family out in Manassas had new windows and screens put into their townhome. Shortly thereafter, as mama left to go to work, daddy let the little 2 year old child stand on a piece of furniture and look out the window to wave bye-by to mama. The child put his hands on the screen, and the screen popped out, and the child tumbled two stories and became paralyzed for life.

The pins that held in the screens, unbeknownst to them, were too short to hold the screens in. The foreman of the assembly line testified at trial that he had warned the owners many times that the pins were too short to hold the screens in, but they wouldn't listen to him.

The judge tried to get the parties to settle but the defendant refused. The judge, a very seasoned trial judge, no bleeding heart but a very fearsome man, denied the defendant's motions to dismiss and to strike the evidence and for partial summary judgment. The jury awarded millions, the highest jury award in Virginia at that time.

On appeal, the Virginia Supreme Court reversed, on the grounds that window screens are intended to keep bugs out, not keep kids in. The old seasoned trial judge had misapplied the law, they ruled.

Whoda thunk it?

[Political Junkie Too]

How many times have we heard the accusation that a corporation moved overseas to take advantage of lower-priced labor or hired cheaper-priced Indians with HB-1 visas to replace higher-priced American high-tech workers? You'd think that a desire for lower prices is somehow immoral. Why should a preference for low prices be OK for you and me, and not so for CEOs?

Do we know for certain that this is resulting in lower prices, or are the prices remaining the same and the profits are increasing? Is it just showing up as shareholder return? or reinvestment back into the company? Or is it to reduce the long-term salary burden on pension plans and benefits?

How much of the labor savings by off-shoring are actually showing up as retail price reductions?

-PJ

[robertpaulsen]

I feel for the family, but have to agree. At some point, whether it's a 2-year-old, 6-year-old, etc., the screen's gonna give, even with longer pins.

"Window screens are made to pop out for fire safety reasons, and do not serve as abarrier to prevent children from falling out of windows." (Christoffel KK. How can we prevent children from falling out of windows. Presentation at the APH conference, Chicago, Illinois, January 23, 1985.)

[PoorMuttly]

About the crash: I am AMAZED that this happened to an educated American.

The police in Long Island, New York, still tell the story of a wealthy Arab fellow during the oil shortage, who bought himself a fully-equipped luxury van, and decided to show it off to his friends in the city. He got on the Expressway, pointed West, and proceeded to go into the back to make himself a drink, and perhaps watch t.v.

Well..the road curved, and he went off into the trees.

He was fine...but nobody was held responsible for not knowing that cruise control and AUTOMATIC PILOT are two different things. That this is/was a judge is horrendous. I should think that his absurdly ignorant behavior would destroy the rest of his credibility, too.

Winnebago was wrong in giving him a penny...and should have used him as a marketing tool for commercials..."we make a great product, but it doesn't fly, cross the Atlantic on a tank of gas...don't be stupid in our vehicles."

[PoorMuttly]

..and I humbly, loudly state again...:


WALTER E. WILLIAMS for PRESIDENT !