AIG warns staff to travel in pairs after death threats over bonuses

[billyoc]

The embattled US insurance company AIG has warned its staff to travel in pairs after dark, not to wear company logos and to avoid discussing their work outside the office, as public outrage boils over at multimillion-dollar executive bonuses.

AIG's employees have been subjected to death threats since the company handed out $165m (£115m) in "retention" awards to employees in its disastrously loss-making financial products division this week.

Recipients of the bonuses said they feared for their own safety. A union-backed campaign group is today taking protesters on a bus tour of AIG executives' homes in a wealthy enclave of Connecticut known as the "gold coast".

In a leaked company-wide memo, AIG's corporate security team this week warned staff to take special precautions "due to a growing sense of public attention fuelled by increased media scrutiny".

...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/mar/21/aig-insurance

[peacebird]

1. Is this story the brainchild of AIGs (taxpayer funded) new ad agency?

If so - a word of advice - drop the "poor poor pitiful me" routine AIG, it ain't working.
:eyes:
Pay back the money, all of it, immediately. And then fire the fools who thought giving taxpayer funded retention bonuses for dereliction of duty was somehow a good idea.

[Jeep789]

2. What a croc! nt

[willing dwarf]

3. I might reccomend they dress up like scarecrows

So that when we the people turn up with our picks and pitchforks, we'll know who the stuff shirts are and stick it to them!

[L0oniX]

56. I recommend that they take their ill gotten gains and hire some Blackwater thugs for protection.

[Botany]

4. Connecticut's Gold Coast

[Rusty5329]

5. I know some of the people...

organizing the bus tour, and you definitely don't need to fear physical harm from them, they're activists but peaceful ones.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[salguine]

7. You know, rather than sneaking around, traveling in pairs, not wearing company

logos, and keeping silent about where you work, it might be an easier solution to give the fucking money back, dickweeds.

Oh, yeah, right.

[TankLV]

32. to you and Ima above - both EXCELLENT responses...took the words out of my mouth...

should've thought of THEIR CRMINALITY BEFORE they RAPED the COUNTRY!!!

Friendly Reminder to those ASSHOLES: IT'S OUR FUCKING MONEY you're now bitching about!!!

I vote to let them file for bankruptcy...

[Ian David]

8. I hope nobody gets hurt, but I hope the extra security costs them about $317 Million. n/t

[Ian David]

9. FYI: Some douchebag in Disney World last month was wearing an AIG t-shirt.

I wanted to push him into the water on the It's A Small World ride, but I restrained myself.

[wovenpaint]

41. It wasn't Bobby Jindal, was it?

sorry, couldn't resist...:rofl:
Good for you with your self restraint!

[CoffeeCat]

10. The "powers that be"...

...aided by their cohorts in the media--want us focused on the AIG bonuses.

It's a deliberate distraction from the fact that ALL of these banks--and our
politicians, Paulson, Bernake and Geithner--have been working in concert to
rob us blind and bankrupt our nation.

AIG is the shiny object that they hope will distract us from a huge systemic
problem.

[formercia]

16. This is all about Insurance Fraud on a massive scale

that's why Greenberg was removed from AIG. They were selling worthless insurance based on actuarial tables conjured up in la-la land. They undercut everyone in pricing as a result. When the bubble popped, it was time to pay but the game was already rigged to have the taxpayer foot the bill.

[marmar]

11. Do they wear big yellow AIG T-shirts or something?

How the hell would someone know an AIG employee from a Citibank employee from an Amex employee.....etc?

[KittyWampus]

33. that's why this reeks of bullshit.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DemoTex]

13. A cynical attempt to manufacture sympathy ..

:nopity:

[burythehatchet]

14. There are thousands of emplyees who have no idea what a CDO or a swap are

This is not right. We are supposed to be a nation of laws. Mob justice will backfire.

[Mojorabbit]

20. I don't like it either

there are a lot of crazys who don't know the difference between a high roller and a clerk at the company. I would hate for a totally innocent person to be cringing in fear in their home worrying about the safety of their children.

[burythehatchet]

24. I inhabited a cubicle there at the start of my career. Most AIG employees

have absolutely no idea of what other sister companies do. They are just working stiffs trying to feed their families. This is just a sad, sad reaction from "enlightened" people.

[soleft]

45. Thank you.

[TankLV]

34. again - you don't know what you're fucking spewing - we're talking about the RICH CRIMINALS

STEALING OUR money - not the JANITORS!!!

STOP TRYING TO DEFEND THE INDEFENSIBLE AND CREATE DISTRACTIONS!!!

[soleft]

47. Like janitors and executives don't go in and out the same door

Work in the same building. Travel to and from the subway on the street. You don't think bullets miss their targets. Lunatics in a rage don't wield their knives at everyone in reaching distance?

[soleft]

44. Thank you. Nice to see some sanity

[tammywammy]

61. Agreed n/t

[KharmaTrain]

15. They Like The Light...Can't Take The Heat

How many of these high rollers love to show off? Fancy mansion, expensive car, modern offices, trips around the world...it's all those dreams Robin Leach used to chirp about and more. Oh how the worm has turned. Now that people are seeing the greed for what it is...something to be scorned, not worshiped, that light is getting a little too hot for the rich. They see the masses starting to grab the pitchforks and they're scared shit. What really scares em is the real truth coming out about their greed and crimes.

[TankLV]

36. And we need to PUT THE HEAT ON MORE AND FAN THE FLAMES!!!

Now is not the time to let these RICH GREEDY asshole off the hook...!!!

[Deja Q]

17. I'd pay the paparazzi real money if they snap a shot of both of them french kissing

:* :*

[rucky]

18. Who will protect them from the unwashed masses?

if not each other?

:nopity:

[Urban Prairie]

19. I wonder if "Anonymous" is hounding any of them yet?

I've heard that they can make people's lives pretty miserable, if they choose someone to target.

As it is, I feel that they have and will be indirectly responsible for who knows how many people's deaths, due to their criminal thievery.

[C......N......C]

21. How do you tell an AIG staffer.

Is his sedan chair any different ?

[soleft]

48. Yes. Very. Get a grip on your emotions.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

22. maybe these people should give any bonuses back in gesture?

like donating it to poor children?

[burythehatchet]

23. see post 23

[Rosa Luxemburg]

and the other 5%?

[burythehatchet]

30. How will identify who you wish to burn at the stake? Or is terrorizing the innocent 95%

OK with you?

[TankLV]

38. We're not talking about the phoney "innocent" - WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE GREEDY CRIMINALS!!!!

[soleft]

50. Thank you.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

58. I don't think refunding the 5% what they shouldn't had in the first place is witch burning?

[burythehatchet]

60. I have no problem with that at all. But you know that there are reactionaries who

are talking like compete loons and implicating anything what the AG name on it. As a rational person you know that is not what we're about. :hi:

[C......N......C]

25. Here is what I said earlier.

Selling a known defective product. Every risk manager at every firm knew the shortcomings of all the financial instruments. They were overridden by influence to make more money available for discretionary spending. The executive compensation committees see how much money there is to divide up. If there is low risk, then there is more money to divide up. Trouble is it is hard to get a law passed that might jeopardize your neighbor

[aquart]

26. Not giving back a dime, are they?

[ljm2002]

27. So if they're that scared...

...they should just quit. They are, after all, the best and the brightest. Surely the rest of the financial world will be beating their doors down, trying to hire them.

No more AIG employees, no more death threats.

Personally I think it would be the most delicious of ironies to have AIG's employees leave en masse, exposing it as the dried out hull of a once-great company that it most assuredly is. Furthermore, I think it is long past time that we stopped being scared of "what might happen" if this, that or the other financial institution collapsed. You know what? The bad stuff, it's already happened. Right now they're trying to breathe life into a rotting corpse, hoping us peasants won't notice the truth of the matter. Maybe they'll get lucky and lightning will strike and the corpse will rise Frankenstein-monster-like and live again. But I doubt we'll be happy with the results, and the final scene is always the same: torches and pitchforks.

Better we do the torches and pitchforks now. Well we don't have to resort to violence. My suggestion is that in every town in the USA that has federal offices, we organize a demonstration. Every town picks one federal building -- if it's a big city, pick one to five federal buildings, so there's room for everyone. And organize people. Take the damned day off work, just one day, and show up at the federal building, and hold a candlelight vigil, all day long and into the night -- a day of mourning, if you will. Just close the damned system down and show up in front of the offices of what used to be our government and show what we think about it. Occupy the lobbies. Just show up in great numbers. No need for people to fly across the country for one mega-demonstration, rather, do it locally but do it all across the nation. The fools who run our government and are bailing out the rich bankers need to be reminded of some numbers other than the phantom numbers on their balance sheets -- i.e., 435 members of Congress, 300 million citizens in the country. Work it out, assholes.

(on edit) Actually now that I think about it, never mind the candles. Everyone should bring a noisemaker -- horns, gongs, pots and pans, and make such a din that the powers that be will be holding their ears and screaming for mercy. Make our presence known! Still peaceful but damn, let the fuckers know how bad they've screwed up.

[C......N......C]

29. This country has a history of not giving in to demands from hostage and kidnappers

and all the rest that threaten us with harm if we don't comply. What happened ?

[TankLV]

40. This country was BORN in REVOLUTION!!!

and WE don't take kindly to ROYALTY who PRIVATIZE the REWARDS and SOCIALIZE the RISKS!!!

[C......N......C]

43. How do we stop the fraud and coercion

that Wall Street and the Banks are threatening us with? I heard AIG's Liddy say at the hearings, that they will turn in their bonuses with their resignations. I can't believe that the Congressmen didn't jump on that.

[C......N......C]

28. These people ( like AIG )have control over money that is supposed to be

paid out to others. How do they get to determine how much of that money they can take for themselves. It's like if someone gives you a bank deposit and tells yon to make the deposit for them. They say take some for yourself for doing this for me. What gives them the right to take it all?

[Name removed]

31. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Belial]

35. Its because of morons out there that don't understand

anything about anything.. this whole bonus thing is such a NON Issue.. and the dumbasses that voted for the bailout package should be in MORE trouble than the AIG execs. This whole pile is costing us way more than $160 Million..

[cherish44]

37. Why the hell are people threatening death?

Sure be outraged but is it justified to KILL someone over this? Is going to prison worth it?

[hack89]

39. Hate can't be controlled - and there is a lot of hate directed at AIG. nt

[Gin]

42. now that names are starting to come out.....I hope they use all of that

money on body guards...that would be poetic justice!

[burythehatchet]

64. This is how the uber-class manipulates us. By playing us and distracting us.

Let's keep our eye on the ball. The small coterie of manipulators who engineered the entire debacle to enrich themselves at our expense.

[Uzybone]

46. What would happen is a nut job decides to take out an AIG exec

Or even worse, one of the grunts who have never seen a bonus. How would that change the tone of the discussion?

I bet the corporate media outrage would vanish.

[RB TexLa]

51. Are you kidding, they would love it. "If it bleeds it leads."

[RB TexLa]

49. Smart move on their part. It's sad but I think it will happen. I hope it doesn't.

[jazzjunkysue]

52. Great. It's a two-fer.

Do you have a sense of humor? If not, flame away.

Isn't the "traveling in pairs" advice what they told the hapless visitors at Cheney's quail shoot country jamboree?

[soleft]

54. If someone dies I hope you have a good laugh.

[varkam]

59. HAHA. I GET IT. DOUBLE HOMICIDE HUMOR NEVER GETS OLD!!1!

:eyes:

[shadowknows69]

53. You reap what you sow. Welcome to fear asshats.

[northernlights]

55. cry me a river, Jackpot Jimmy...

'One of those who received a multimillion-dollar bonus, James Haas, became tearful when confronted by journalists at his house this week. He told the New York Times: "I feel horrible. This has been a complete invasion of privacy."'

:nopity:

Seriously, if these people want to understand what loss of privacy feels like, they should try spending some time at a shelter, or in a tent city. Or in prison, where they effing belong.

[Iggo]

57. Maybe if they stopped calling them bonuses...

...and started calling them what they are...thefts...then it might dawn on them to be more careful when walking among the people they stole the money from.

[SmileyRose]

62. Death threats my ass.

Victims my ass.

[Incitatus]

67. victims, no, but death threats wouldn't surprise me

If they were smart, they would take their money and leave the country. I don't intend on breaking any laws, but there are a lot of pissed off and unstable people out there.

[gratuitous]

63. "They fear for their own safety"

Sorry, but I don't believe a word of it. Not a syllable. This is public crying in an effort to grab some sympathy. At this point, I'd believe a pro wrestler before I'd believe a word out of the mouths of any of the higher ups at AIG.

[BlooInBloo]

65. Cool. Two at a time.

[Gin]

66. what ...are they nuns? they have to travel in pairs......geez.

[billyoc]

72. They'd be even safer driving around 5 at a time, in Ford Pintos.

:evilgrin:

[comrade snarky]

68. Good

I don't want to see them actually hurt but I'm OK with robbers being afraid of a little rough justice.
To quote from one of my favorite movies:

We cook your meals, we haul your trash, we connect your calls, we drive your ambulances. We guard you while you sleep. Do not... fuck with us.

[WI_DEM]

69. You know if anybody ever does get hurt from association with AIG it won't be the big shots who got

the bonuses, but some lower paying employee who got zilch--maybe somebody in customer service or something.

[lib2DaBone]

70. ..Could we expand that warning to Republicans in General? How bout Rush?

[opihimoimoi]

71. Pairs? Are they NUTZ??...setting up a 2fer? get 2 w 1 hit? OMG

[daleo]

73. Plus, avoid getting too close to guillotines

And unruly mobs with pitchforks.

[marshall]

74. Are their names and addresses posted somewhere?

I know AIG is dragging its feet coughing up the list for Congress. Has somebody else managed to get the list?