Pet poisoning leads to $24 million lawsuit

There is nothing like a pet. They are our friends, protectors, and often entertainment as well. They are in essence and fact family. And a year ago hundreds of these beloved members of our family were murdered in our own homes. That murder was via poisons in the food we served to our pets.

The poison was placed, accidentally, in the food we served our pets in China. There were over 200 pet food labels that were involved in the scandal that started in March 2007. And as of today a judge has awarded $24 million to the lawsuit for those that were harmed.

I think it was hardly enough.

There have been 10,000 pet owners that filed for the lawsuit so far. And if you had a pet that was affected you can file up until November 24th. It is expected that for every verified claim there will be an award of $1,500 depending on the number of claims. And if there are funds left over then the proceeds will be given to animal welfare charities.

But the law does not view our pets as family members. It will not allow penalties for the pain and suffering that was inflicted to the families that lost a loved one. That is a failure of the legal system.

The point of such lawsuits is to inflict an equivalent pain to the offender, and to prevent future occurances of the offense. While this is a large amount it is hardly the equivalent, nor does it reach the levels that need to force animal food companies from getting foods from China.

China by the way is unaffected by this lawsuit. That is another shame. While I understand China is so inept that they are equally poisoning their own children, I still see no change in their policies, especially in regard with foreign nations. A huge penalty by law could help to force better standards in that nation.

One thing is sure, our pets deserve better. Hopefully the companies that sold and had the foods made for them will be more critical and proactive in the future. Because there is no reason such wanton murder should ever have happened in the first place.

Will Don Imus pay his due? Part 2 - 8.15.2007.2

Continued from Will Don Imus pay his due? Part 1...

Some might say the team deserves the 20 million dollars that Imus just won. Some might say that Imus is a multi-millionaire and won’t miss the money. They would be right that he is rich, but they would be wrong in presuming that his contractually obligated pay is due these women. The pain and suffering they are currently undergoing will not follow them for the rest of their lives. The embarrassment while severe is not going to prevent them from becoming a successful lawyer or doctor or scientist or President of the United States. It will make life in college during the near term harder to get dates, or study or not be the butt of a joke by a drunken frat kid. So I do believe they deserve monetary reimbursement but not excessive amounts.

In America today money determines almost everything. It determines where you live, what job you get, the friends you can have or do keep and so much more. In this case money in the form of Imus’ job was the reason for an unprovoked attack. It should be money that sends the same message to Imus, CBS, and the media industry across the nation. Impacting the bottom line will stick in the memory of all those individuals far longer than comments from Reverend Al Sharpton, newspaper articles, and a huge number of angry bloggers. Take profits away from the shareholders and changes happen over night. Its one of the great things about the American economy and business environment.

I think that it would be a great slap in the face to Don Imus and his former employers that these women take their money and achieve certificates representing their attainment of prominence in various intellectual fields. CBS told Imus to insult people for a living, create controversy, and be mean. Imus decided to be mean and pushed the envelope many times in his career; finally creating enough of an uproar with this last act. Perhaps the best way to prove this corporation, this man, and those listeners and supporters wrong is the realization of success these women can do. But to just throw money at them and take away one of the motivations why they went to college serves them no good nor their communities nor America as a whole.

There is an Ancient saying:

“You can feed a man a fish and he will eat for a day. If you teach a man to fish he will feed himself for a life time.”

These women should have every opportunity to be taught how to fish and not be given a boat full of fish.

This is what I think, what do you think?

Will Don Imus pay his due? - 8.15.2007.1

The sky is blue, earth is the third planet in the solar system, fire burns, and Don Imus is getting sued. Do you notice that in each and every one of those statements the facts are as obvious as they are true?

Finally what everyone should have expected is starting to happen Don Imus is getting sued for his actions in Aprill which I wrote about several times [Imus, Rutgers basketball, and Rev. Al Sharpton, Don Imus is a symptom]. I’m not amazed nor should anyone else be. I don’t think it needs to be said that Imus was wrong for his comments against the Rutgers Women’s Basketball team. Anyone with a basic brain should understand that (should does not mean everyone does).


So far there is only one player that is suing Imus, Ms. Kim Vaughn, but I don’t expect that she will be the only one to sue him. Shortly I expect to see several of the members of the Women’s basketball team to file similar suits. They will likely be combined into one class action suit. While some may want to defend Imus I have no doubt that Imus will lose on the basis of defamation of character and slander. So the only real question is what they win and how much the major media will defend Imus.

Already we are hearing various pundits step up and say that Imus has been punished too much or was punished too excessively for his comments. Already there is a rally cry going out to lessen the impact that this lawsuit is making. Likely because this lawsuit comes at a time right after Imus has won 20 million dollars in a contract dispute with CBS and his on going negotiations with ABC for a new radio job.

I don’t care that Imus is getting a new job, by that I mean that I stand by my initial calls for him to be fired. He needed to be punished and made an example of for what he said. That was done in part with his being fired. That does not mean that he can never work again. I would not deny anyone the ability to make a living in their career after they have paid a price for that offense. That said Don Imus has not finished paying for his actions. Let’s not forget these were actions that he made with out cause for the mere desire to inflict pain on innocent citizens.

So what would I like to see as the final part of his punishment for his wrong doing? I think that Imus should come out publicly and offer ALL the women of the Rutgers Women’s Basketball team their tuition paid until they have finished their bachelor degrees and half, at least, of their masters degree tuitions and a one thousand dollar per month stipend during that same period.

Now let me tell you why. There is no question that what he said inflicted pain. There is no question that what he said was an insult. There is no question that he has no defense against his own actions. So he’s wrong and therefore liable to these women. The women did not go to Rutgers to be defamed or denigrated. They went to Rutgers not to become basketball stars (I hope not, especially with the salaries of the WNBA), but to become educated successful women in what ever field of endeavor they chose. That should be acknowledged supported and publicly praised. In my view there is no better vindication of their ability, talent, and future than to stand up and provide them a head start in their life choices.

Continued in part 2...