the latest issue of the free WMail 'Working Minds' philosophy & activism email newsletter is sent out, and also posted online
the essay topic is "State of Emergency", posted online at http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay56.htm; the full issue includes news & comments and a couple dozen quotations, and that is posted at http://www.working-minds.com/WM2006a.htm#56
the topic of the last issue was "Joining the Circle", and the February issue will be on the topic "The 51% Solution"
each issue is posted online –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMailindex.htm;
and the essays are also posted separately –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMessays.htm;
the quotations are posted by author
at http://www.working-minds.com/WMquotes.htm
sign up for the free ezine via email here
Sunday, January 29, 2006
timely quotations
“Nothing is required for the triumph of evil but that good men do nothing.” — quoted by John F. Kennedy, often attributed to Edmund Burke, but actual origin unknown
“Anyone who votes for George Dubya Bush is dumber than he is.”
— G.E. Nordell (2004)
“If Dubya wins, America loses.” — G.E. Nordell (2004)
“Freedom exists in the exercise of it.” — G.E. Nordell
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.”
— Anaïs Nin [1903-77]
“I actually think [George W.] Bush is the greatest threat to life on this planet.” — Ken Livingston, Mayor of the City of London, U.K. (2003)
“Anyone who votes for George Dubya Bush is dumber than he is.”
— G.E. Nordell (2004)
“If Dubya wins, America loses.” — G.E. Nordell (2004)
“Freedom exists in the exercise of it.” — G.E. Nordell
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.”
— Anaïs Nin [1903-77]
“I actually think [George W.] Bush is the greatest threat to life on this planet.” — Ken Livingston, Mayor of the City of London, U.K. (2003)
Thursday, January 26, 2006
filibuster Alito
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." — Sinclair Lewis [1885-1951]
nationwide demonstrations on Tuesday January 31st before & during King George's 'State of the Union' speech: locations at the World Can't Wait website
World Can't Wait is holding a demonstration on Saturday February 4th in Washington, DC to march in protest to the White House: protest info
other events are listed at the Democratic National Committee website
SIGN THE FILIBUSTER PETITION at John Kerry's website
{signers' names will be entered into the Congressional Record by Sen. Kerry}
nationwide demonstrations on Tuesday January 31st before & during King George's 'State of the Union' speech: locations at the World Can't Wait website
World Can't Wait is holding a demonstration on Saturday February 4th in Washington, DC to march in protest to the White House: protest info
other events are listed at the Democratic National Committee website
SIGN THE FILIBUSTER PETITION at John Kerry's website
{signers' names will be entered into the Congressional Record by Sen. Kerry}
Monday, January 23, 2006
WMail #55: "Joining the Circle"
the latest issue of the free WMail 'Working Minds' philosophy & activism email newsletter is sent out, and also posted online
the essay topic is "Joining the Circle", posted online at http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay55.htm; the full issue includes news & comments and a couple dozen quotations, and that is posted at http://www.working-minds.com/WM2005b.htm#55
the topic of the last issue was "F*** the Fed" (opposing the Federal Reserve System), and the January issue will be on the topic "The 51% Solution"
each issue is posted online –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMailindex.htm;
and the essays are also posted separately –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMessays.htm;
the quotations are posted by author
at http://www.working-minds.com/WMquotes.htm
sign up for the free ezine via email here
the essay topic is "Joining the Circle", posted online at http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay55.htm; the full issue includes news & comments and a couple dozen quotations, and that is posted at http://www.working-minds.com/WM2005b.htm#55
the topic of the last issue was "F*** the Fed" (opposing the Federal Reserve System), and the January issue will be on the topic "The 51% Solution"
each issue is posted online –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMailindex.htm;
and the essays are also posted separately –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMessays.htm;
the quotations are posted by author
at http://www.working-minds.com/WMquotes.htm
sign up for the free ezine via email here
Saturday, January 21, 2006
State of the Union 2006
the U.S. Constitution is under a full to-the-death attack from the neo-con fascists, and the matter has reached a critical point, such that we may be living in a dictatorship before another month has passed
• • • the appointment of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court is a travesty, and a disgrace; the danger is obvious from his record, which includes the invention of the principles of 'unitary executive' and 'signing statements' and years of knee-jerk approval of anything that the Executive Branch or Big Business proposes; a filibuster by the Democratic Party seems to be the only route to preserving the Constitution
• • • Dubya's movement toward more & more actions based on the 'unitary executive' principle looks a lot like Germany in 1933: the burning of the Reichstag [27 February] is the equivalent of the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center; our Patriot Act removed extant civil liberties as did the Reichstag Fire Decree; and the Democratic Party is removed from participation in the Legislative Branch (Hitler blamed the Reichstag arson on the Communist Party and had its leaders jailed)
• • • laws have no meaning for the Bush Gang, and laws they don't like are just interpreted as not binding on the Executive Branch; torture? war profiteering? malfeasance in office? perjury? bribery? warrantless surveillence?; if Dubya says it is okay, then the Constitution cannot stop him — how is that different from Saddam or Adolf or Stalin or any other dictator?
• • • Dubya stated proudly & publicly that he intends to continue to violate his own Patriot Act by wire-tapping American citizens without bothering to get even rubber-stamp FISO Court warrants — the scary & logical conclusion is that these wire-taps are illegal & indefensible even under FISO
• • • back in December 2004 Bush ordered the Pentagon to construct plans for an invasion of Iran, and Condi & Rumsfeld have recently pounded the war drums on the Sunday talk shows — a pattern: Bush ordered plans for invading Iraq in May of 2002, Condi & Powell & Rumsfeld testified falsely on camera for months, and the justified-by-falsehood invasion of Iraq began in March 2003
• • • America's finances are in disarray; George Dubya took office with a budget surplus and yet has in five years increased the U.S. National Debt by 42.8 percent {see counter on right side of blog homepage for the latest figure}
• • • the U.S. House of Representatives has been in recess since December 17th, an event without precedent in U.S. history for the year-end holiday break; the likely cause is the G.O.P.'s inability to sweep aside the DeLay & Ney & Taft & Abramoff scandals (no Democrats are involved); Republicans are scrambling for a diversion, such as the recent Osama tape, but have found none – the evidence is clear and the G.O.P. is losing credibility and fealty from even members of its own party in Congress
• • • be very alert to what Dubya says in his State of the Union speech on January 31st: Congress re-convenes that day at Noon; in the intervening week, the G.O.P. spin-machine will have a busy time preparing & sowing 'talking points' parsiflage to support Dubya's statements; I will not be surprised if the Bush Gang stages an emergency and declares martial law or some such thing, for there is no other way out of this political box-canyon — except impeachment or resignation
• • • the liberal-American majority does not want impeachment, because the cost to the Country is enormous, both politically and operationally; the other down-side is that Dubya's resignation gives us President Cheney; if both Bush & Cheney are impeached or forced to resign, that gives President Dennis Hastert [GOP-IL]; next in line is President Pro Tempore of the Senate Ted Stevens, the 'pork barrel king' of Alaska; fourth in line is [oh, shudder!!] Secretary of State Condi Rice, followed by Secretary of the Treasury John Snow and Secretary of War Donald 'Who Knows?' Rumsfeld — in all, a motley crew and not much better than King George; if I had to choose, I would cross my fingers and hope that Hastert is merely the Gerald Ford of the XXIst Century
• • • the mid-term elections are, however, a long way off; Hastert may not return to the House in November, and a Democratic majority in either House or Senate could tip the balance back toward democracy; the new Speaker might be Harry Reid [Dem-NV], which will be excellent; 'Bulldog' Patrick Fitzgerald is preparing further TreasonGate indictments, Jack Abramoff is confessing to a grand jury (giving at least 60 G.O.P. Congressmen and -women sleepless nights), and 'Scooter' Libby's trial starts in February – the Bush Gang is in a lot of battles that Dubya is destined to lose
I have said before that 'Freedom exists in the exercise thereof" and that still holds true; but such exercise gets harder and harder as the Bush Gang tightens its grip on the Culture-Structure and chops away further portions of America's unalianable rights and the Rule of Law
the rights that America has in November 2006 will be the ones that YOU do not give up, the ones that YOU stand for preserving
REGIME CHANGE IN NOVEMBER 2006 !!!
• • • the appointment of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court is a travesty, and a disgrace; the danger is obvious from his record, which includes the invention of the principles of 'unitary executive' and 'signing statements' and years of knee-jerk approval of anything that the Executive Branch or Big Business proposes; a filibuster by the Democratic Party seems to be the only route to preserving the Constitution
• • • Dubya's movement toward more & more actions based on the 'unitary executive' principle looks a lot like Germany in 1933: the burning of the Reichstag [27 February] is the equivalent of the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center; our Patriot Act removed extant civil liberties as did the Reichstag Fire Decree; and the Democratic Party is removed from participation in the Legislative Branch (Hitler blamed the Reichstag arson on the Communist Party and had its leaders jailed)
• • • laws have no meaning for the Bush Gang, and laws they don't like are just interpreted as not binding on the Executive Branch; torture? war profiteering? malfeasance in office? perjury? bribery? warrantless surveillence?; if Dubya says it is okay, then the Constitution cannot stop him — how is that different from Saddam or Adolf or Stalin or any other dictator?
• • • Dubya stated proudly & publicly that he intends to continue to violate his own Patriot Act by wire-tapping American citizens without bothering to get even rubber-stamp FISO Court warrants — the scary & logical conclusion is that these wire-taps are illegal & indefensible even under FISO
• • • back in December 2004 Bush ordered the Pentagon to construct plans for an invasion of Iran, and Condi & Rumsfeld have recently pounded the war drums on the Sunday talk shows — a pattern: Bush ordered plans for invading Iraq in May of 2002, Condi & Powell & Rumsfeld testified falsely on camera for months, and the justified-by-falsehood invasion of Iraq began in March 2003
• • • America's finances are in disarray; George Dubya took office with a budget surplus and yet has in five years increased the U.S. National Debt by 42.8 percent {see counter on right side of blog homepage for the latest figure}
• • • the U.S. House of Representatives has been in recess since December 17th, an event without precedent in U.S. history for the year-end holiday break; the likely cause is the G.O.P.'s inability to sweep aside the DeLay & Ney & Taft & Abramoff scandals (no Democrats are involved); Republicans are scrambling for a diversion, such as the recent Osama tape, but have found none – the evidence is clear and the G.O.P. is losing credibility and fealty from even members of its own party in Congress
• • • be very alert to what Dubya says in his State of the Union speech on January 31st: Congress re-convenes that day at Noon; in the intervening week, the G.O.P. spin-machine will have a busy time preparing & sowing 'talking points' parsiflage to support Dubya's statements; I will not be surprised if the Bush Gang stages an emergency and declares martial law or some such thing, for there is no other way out of this political box-canyon — except impeachment or resignation
• • • the liberal-American majority does not want impeachment, because the cost to the Country is enormous, both politically and operationally; the other down-side is that Dubya's resignation gives us President Cheney; if both Bush & Cheney are impeached or forced to resign, that gives President Dennis Hastert [GOP-IL]; next in line is President Pro Tempore of the Senate Ted Stevens, the 'pork barrel king' of Alaska; fourth in line is [oh, shudder!!] Secretary of State Condi Rice, followed by Secretary of the Treasury John Snow and Secretary of War Donald 'Who Knows?' Rumsfeld — in all, a motley crew and not much better than King George; if I had to choose, I would cross my fingers and hope that Hastert is merely the Gerald Ford of the XXIst Century
• • • the mid-term elections are, however, a long way off; Hastert may not return to the House in November, and a Democratic majority in either House or Senate could tip the balance back toward democracy; the new Speaker might be Harry Reid [Dem-NV], which will be excellent; 'Bulldog' Patrick Fitzgerald is preparing further TreasonGate indictments, Jack Abramoff is confessing to a grand jury (giving at least 60 G.O.P. Congressmen and -women sleepless nights), and 'Scooter' Libby's trial starts in February – the Bush Gang is in a lot of battles that Dubya is destined to lose
I have said before that 'Freedom exists in the exercise thereof" and that still holds true; but such exercise gets harder and harder as the Bush Gang tightens its grip on the Culture-Structure and chops away further portions of America's unalianable rights and the Rule of Law
the rights that America has in November 2006 will be the ones that YOU do not give up, the ones that YOU stand for preserving
REGIME CHANGE IN NOVEMBER 2006 !!!
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Monopolies Я Us (part 1)
Part of the hold that the Oligarchy has on the U.S. economy is the creation of not-quite-monopolies that control major industries here – with similar connections within the European Union and among the multinational mega-corporations around the globe.
A true monopoly is when one corporation controls all of an industry, or all of a product or commodity, and performs dastardly acts to stifle competition.
The mega-corporations of the XXIst Century are more subtle: half a dozen entities buy up a majority of an industry and merely work in concert to stifle smaller, independent companies. A key factor are the business barons who serve on the boards of many corporations – a kind of 'team-style' monopoly.
Perfectly legal: no violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, the Clayton Anti-Trust Act, and other statutes. But the result is the same as a monopoly.
Data has so far been difficult to uncover; research continues. Even the Departments of Commerce and Transportation and Energy obscure such matters as 'gross annual revenue' by industry. For example, online statistics on the U.S. oil industry are displayed by barrels (of crude oil), not by annual revenue – that I have so far been able to locate.
Industries to be covered in this series of blog-postings include motion picture exhibition, book publishing, petroleum, railroad freight, self-storage, soda pop, and banking.
MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITION INDUSTRY
The industry group N.A.T.O. {National Assn. of Theater Owners} says that 2004 box office for the U.S. was $9.53 billion dollars, with total U.S. screens of 36,652.
Statistics gleaned from their website show that the six largest corporations own 50% of the movie screens in America.
1 Regal of TN ............................ 6,264 ... 17.1%
2 A.M.C. + Loews ...................... 4,735 ... 12.9%
3 Carmike of GA ........................ 2,450 .... 6.7%
4 Cinemark of TX ....................... 2,347 .... 6.4%
5 Cineplex Galaxy of Toronto ....... 1,560 .... 4.25%
6 National Amusements of MA ..... 1,099 .... 3%
. . . . . . 18,455 screens ÷ 36,652 total = 50.4%!
7 Century Theatres of CA ....... with 985 = 2.6%
8 Kerasotes of Chicago .......... with 609 = 1.7%
9 Marcus of WI ..................... with 503 = 1.4%
Total box office revenue for 2005 looks to be $8.75 billion, which is down from $9.53billion in 2004. The obvious reasons are the stagnant economy and ticket prices, which only go up. Usually, ticket prices are raised in New York City, and within a week or two, prices go up across the country.
WORLDWIDE SODA POP INDUSTRY
The Coca-Cola® Company, with all their various brands & flavors, sells 51% of the world soda pop market (February 2004).
RAILROAD FREIGHT INDUSTRY
There are only seven 7 Class I railroads in the U.S.A., and according to Trains Magazine, they handle ninety-one percent of the railroad freight business, which in 2004 was total operating revenue of $40.5 billion. In Canada, the situation is similar, with large portions of C.N. and C.P. revenue coming from their U.S. subsidiaries.
{Figures below are in millions of U.S. dollars.}
Union Pacific ................ $12,215M
B.N.S.F. ....................... $10,946M
C.S.X Rail .................... $8,020
Norfolk Southern ........... $7,312
Kansas City Southern ...... $639.5
Grand Trunk {U.S division of CN} – (data not located)
Soo Line {U.S division of CP} – (data not located)
Canadian National ....... $5,457M
Canadian Pacific – (data not located)
A true monopoly is when one corporation controls all of an industry, or all of a product or commodity, and performs dastardly acts to stifle competition.
The mega-corporations of the XXIst Century are more subtle: half a dozen entities buy up a majority of an industry and merely work in concert to stifle smaller, independent companies. A key factor are the business barons who serve on the boards of many corporations – a kind of 'team-style' monopoly.
Perfectly legal: no violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, the Clayton Anti-Trust Act, and other statutes. But the result is the same as a monopoly.
Data has so far been difficult to uncover; research continues. Even the Departments of Commerce and Transportation and Energy obscure such matters as 'gross annual revenue' by industry. For example, online statistics on the U.S. oil industry are displayed by barrels (of crude oil), not by annual revenue – that I have so far been able to locate.
Industries to be covered in this series of blog-postings include motion picture exhibition, book publishing, petroleum, railroad freight, self-storage, soda pop, and banking.
MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITION INDUSTRY
The industry group N.A.T.O. {National Assn. of Theater Owners} says that 2004 box office for the U.S. was $9.53 billion dollars, with total U.S. screens of 36,652.
Statistics gleaned from their website show that the six largest corporations own 50% of the movie screens in America.
1 Regal of TN ............................ 6,264 ... 17.1%
2 A.M.C. + Loews ...................... 4,735 ... 12.9%
3 Carmike of GA ........................ 2,450 .... 6.7%
4 Cinemark of TX ....................... 2,347 .... 6.4%
5 Cineplex Galaxy of Toronto ....... 1,560 .... 4.25%
6 National Amusements of MA ..... 1,099 .... 3%
. . . . . . 18,455 screens ÷ 36,652 total = 50.4%!
7 Century Theatres of CA ....... with 985 = 2.6%
8 Kerasotes of Chicago .......... with 609 = 1.7%
9 Marcus of WI ..................... with 503 = 1.4%
Total box office revenue for 2005 looks to be $8.75 billion, which is down from $9.53billion in 2004. The obvious reasons are the stagnant economy and ticket prices, which only go up. Usually, ticket prices are raised in New York City, and within a week or two, prices go up across the country.
WORLDWIDE SODA POP INDUSTRY
The Coca-Cola® Company, with all their various brands & flavors, sells 51% of the world soda pop market (February 2004).
RAILROAD FREIGHT INDUSTRY
There are only seven 7 Class I railroads in the U.S.A., and according to Trains Magazine, they handle ninety-one percent of the railroad freight business, which in 2004 was total operating revenue of $40.5 billion. In Canada, the situation is similar, with large portions of C.N. and C.P. revenue coming from their U.S. subsidiaries.
{Figures below are in millions of U.S. dollars.}
Union Pacific ................ $12,215M
B.N.S.F. ....................... $10,946M
C.S.X Rail .................... $8,020
Norfolk Southern ........... $7,312
Kansas City Southern ...... $639.5
Grand Trunk {U.S division of CN} – (data not located)
Soo Line {U.S division of CP} – (data not located)
Canadian National ....... $5,457M
Canadian Pacific – (data not located)
Monday, January 09, 2006
Mother Jones Tidbit #2
"Union membership has collapsed from 35 percent of the labor force in the mid-1950s to a mere 7.9 percent in the private sector today ... The corporate share of the federal tax burden has declined in eerie lockstep with union membership – from 35 percent in 1945 to 10.1 percent in 2004."
— Dr. Gar Alperovitz, University of Maryland Professor of Political Economy
— Dr. Gar Alperovitz, University of Maryland Professor of Political Economy
Monday, January 02, 2006
Tales of Hypocrisy
the U.S. taliban are hypocrisy personified
besides the camel/needle issue posted previously, there is the matter of 'doing unto others that which you would have done unto you'
such as:
— invading another country for mercenary profit?
— torture?
— electronic surveillence with no warrant?
the Rove-Cheney cabal survives by bearing false witness
the Oligarchy is giving less to Caesar than five years ago, working closer to giving nothing – they do not give to their god, their god is themselves and they only take
it is about time that the money-handlers were thrown out of the temple – Halliburton continues its monoploy on war profiteering and no-bid government patronage
the phrase 'Christian Republican' or 'Republican Christian' is an oxymoron
besides the camel/needle issue posted previously, there is the matter of 'doing unto others that which you would have done unto you'
such as:
— invading another country for mercenary profit?
— torture?
— electronic surveillence with no warrant?
the Rove-Cheney cabal survives by bearing false witness
the Oligarchy is giving less to Caesar than five years ago, working closer to giving nothing – they do not give to their god, their god is themselves and they only take
it is about time that the money-handlers were thrown out of the temple – Halliburton continues its monoploy on war profiteering and no-bid government patronage
the phrase 'Christian Republican' or 'Republican Christian' is an oxymoron
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