Chevron posts $4 Billion in profit

San Ramon, Calif. - Chevron Corp.'s first-quarter profit soared 49 percent to $4 billion, joining the procession of U.S. oil companies to report colossal earnings as lawmakers consider ways to pacify motorists agitated about rising gas prices.

The San Ramon, Calif.-based company's net income, reported Friday, translated into $1.80 per share, two cents above the average estimate among analysts polled by Thomson Financial. It compared to a profit of $2.7 billion, or $1.28 per share, in the same January-March period last year.

Revenue totaled $54.6 billion, a 31 percent increase from $41.6 billion last year.

If not for continuing production problems caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita last summer, Chevron said it would have made an additional $300 million - an amount that would have generated the highest quarterly profit in the company's 127-year history.

As it was, the performance marked the fourth consecutive quarter that Chevron has earned at least $3.6 billion as the company continued to capitalize on oil prices that have climbed above $70 per barrel since the first quarter ended.

The run-up recently has pushed gasoline prices above $3 per gallon, much to the frustration of consumers and politicians looking to win votes in an election year.

Chevron released its results after two of its biggest rivals, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil Corp., already provoked public outrage with similarly large first-quarter profits. Combined, the three oil companies earned $15.7 billion during the three months of the year.

and with that said here is your moment of liberal hatred fueled by idiocy (with a few facts mixed in)

Next time you hear some liberal moron whining about gasoline prices, here’s a reality check for them. Per gallon of gas, guess how much the oil company makes?


Thursday, Exxon Mobil announced it had earned $8 billion in profits in the first three months of this year. For outraged consumers, the staggering profit numbers boil down to this: Exxon earned 9.5 cents on every $1 of gasoline and oil sold, cashing in on skyrocketing prices at every stage of the process.

“The big money for Exxon Mobil,” says oil trader John Kilduff of Fimat USA, “is being made by taking crude oil out of the ground and refining it into gasoline and selling it on the street corner.

Okay, so Exxon makes about 10 cents a gallon. Not a huge profit margin, is it? Now, by way of comparison, the average per-gallon gasoline tax is 45.9 cents, according to the American Petroleum Institute (PDF file). In other words, on every gallon of gas sold, the state takes FIVE TIMES MORE MONEY than the greedy bloodsucking oil companies.

Where’s the outrage?

Update: A reader just emailed me to point out that the profit on oil per dollar is 9.5 cents, meaning that on a $3 gallon of gas the profit is roughly 30 cents. Fair enough, I read that wrong. But my point still stands. When gas was $2 a gallon the oil companies were making 20 cents per gallon and the gas tax was still 50 cents. So no matter how you cut it, the state is still far more responsible for the high cost of a gallon of gas than the oil companies.

Let me put it this way. When gas was $2 a gallon the average tax was 25% of the purchase price. The only reason this percentage has gone down is because the price of gasoline is dynamic, whereas the tax is static. Lefties are pissing and moaning that the oil companies are now making 10% profit now that gas is expensive, when the tax rate was 2.5 times the profit margin back when gas was cheap.

This whining over gas prices has far more to do with boilerplate liberal hatred of corporations and profit than it does anything based in reality.

Go see more of this idiocy here. I intend to post some comments to this "person" later today. I am willing to bet money this man still thinks that GWB is taking this country in the right direction AND that hes doing good by the people. Any takers?

Iran gets defiant

Iranian president: We don't 'give a damn' about UN resolution

Iran's president said on Friday his country would pay no attention to international calls to halt its nuclear work, hours before the United Nations atomic watchdog reports on whether Tehran has met UN Security Council demands.

"Those who want to prevent Iranians from obtaining their right, should know that we do not give a damn to such resolutions," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a rally in northwest Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Mohamed ElBaradei, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is widely expected to tell the council and the agency's board on Friday that Iran has not stopped enriching uranium or fully answered IAEA queries as the UN body asked a month ago.

The West accuses Iran of pursuing a civilian nuclear program as a cover to acquire atomic bomb. Tehran denies it.

"Enemies think that by ... threatening us, launching psychological warfare or ... imposing embargos can dissuade our nation to obtain nuclear technology," Ahmadinejad said in Zanjan province.

Iran said this month it had enriched uranium to the level used in power stations for the first time and has vowed to pursue large-scale enrichment of uranium.

Iran: Israel's election to UN Disarmament 'ridiculous'
Iran's UN ambassador said it was "absolutely ridiculous" that Israel was elected to be a vice-chair of the UN Disarmament Commission, claiming it has been singled out as a threat to peace and security in the Middle East.

Ambassador Javad Zarif also lashed out at criticism in Israel of Iran's election to be a vice-chair of the commission, calling it absurd that a country which hasn't signed an international disarmament treaty "has the audacity to talk about another country having a seat."

Zarif's criticism follows Ahmadinejad's repeated questioning of Israel's right to exist and threat to wipe Israel off the map. Israel has for years regarded Iran as the primary threat to its survival, disputing Tehran's claims that its nuclear program is peaceful.

"We are not surprised that Iran is continuing in its attempt to divert the international community's attention from the real problem, which is Iran's threat to global security and stability arising from its nuclear program," said Meir Itzchaki, deputy director for arms control in the Foreign Ministry.

"It is disappointing that Iran, once again, is choosing to take advantage of the UN to promote their anti-Semitic agenda and their culture of hatred and terror while acting in total defiance of their international obligations and demands set out by the UN Security Council" and the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Itzchaki said.

Iran's decision in February to start enriching uranium, for what it insists is a peaceful nuclear energy program to produce electricity, led to its referral to the Security Council. Tehran has refused to comply with the council's demand to stop enrichment . The United States, which believes Tehran's real goal is to produce nuclear weapons, is planning to introduce a council resolution shortly that would make its demand to suspend enrichment
compulsory.

Zarif, who chaired the UN Disarmament Commission in 2000, noted that Iran is a party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, considered the cornerstone of nuclear disarmament efforts, while Israel is not. Israel, which is believed to possess nuclear weapons, has refused to sign the treaty along with nuclear rivals India and Pakistan.

"I think it's a rather interesting question that a regime that is not a member of any international treaty, has been recognized by the Security Council time and again as the single most serious threat to the peace and security of the Middle East, has been violating every single Security Council resolution that has been adopted about the Middle East ... has a seat in the Disarmament Commission, and has the audacity to talk about another country having a seat,"
Zarif told a group of reporters at a lunch he hosted.

"That is absolutely ridiculous," he said. "It's pushing the issue to the border of absurdity."

The Disarmament Commission's missions include trying to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and ensure that atomic energy is used only for peaceful purposes.

Israel and Iran were among eight vice-chairs elected at its current meeting, which began April 10 and ends Friday. Topics on its agenda include "Recommendations for achieving the objective of nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation of nuclear weapons" and "Practical confidence-building measures in the field of conventional weapons."

Iran has missiles that could hit Europe

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Iran has received a first shipment of missiles from North Korea that are capable of reaching Europe, Israel's military intelligence chief was quoted on Thursday as saying.

Known in the West as BM-25s, the Russian-designed missiles have a range of around 1,500 miles, giving them a longer reach than the Iranian-made Shihab-4 missiles which are capable of hitting Israel.

The intelligence chief, Major-General Amos Yadlin, was quoted by Israel's Haaretz newspaper as saying in a lecture on Wednesday that some BM-25s had arrived in Iran.

The BM-25 was originally manufactured in the Soviet Union, where it was known as the SSN6, a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, Haaretz reported.

After the Russians decommissioned the SSN6, the missiles were sold to North Korea, which adapted them to carry a heavier payload, the newspaper's military affairs correspondent said.

In February, a German diplomat, citing his country's intelligence data, confirmed a German newspaper report that said Iran had purchased 18 disassembled BM-25s from North Korea.

Israel has been urging the international community to pressure Iran to halt its nuclear programme as well as its efforts to obtain long-range missiles.

Iran, the world's fourth largest producer of crude oil, says its nuclear programme is a peaceful project to provide electricity.

Israel is widely believed to have more than 200 nuclear warheads. It declines to comment on its atomic program, saying only it will not be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East.

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I'm not hopping on the bandwagon of stirring the fear here, I just wanted to make sure that this tidbit of information didnt go past anyones notice.

Senators try to give everyone $100 and the enviroment the shaft at the same time

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Every American taxpayer would get a $100 rebate check to offset the pain of higher pump prices for gasoline, under an amendment Senate Republicans hope to bring to a vote Thursday.

However, the GOP energy package may face tough sledding because it also includes a controversial proposal to open part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil exploration, which most Democrats and some moderate Republicans oppose.

Democrats are also expected to offer their own competing proposal, as members of both parties jockey for political position on the gas price issue.

The energy package, sponsored by Sens. Charles Grassley of Iowa, Ted Stevens of Alaska, Pete Domenici of New Mexico and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, will be offered as an amendment to an emergency spending measure now before the Senate funding the Iraq war and hurricane relief, according to a senior GOP leadership aide.

Under Senate rules, either the GOP amendment or the Democratic alternative would probably need 60 votes to pass, which is considered unlikely. However, the amendments would give senators a change to cast votes on measures designed to help constituents being hit by high gas prices.

As outlined by the senior GOP leadership aide, the energy package would give taxpayers a $100 rebate, repeal tax incentives for oil companies and allow the Federal Trade Commission to prosecute retailers unlawfully inflating the price of gasoline.

The measure would also give the Transportation Department authority to issue fuel efficiency standards for passenger vehicles, expand tax incentives for the use of hybrid vehicles and push for more research into alternative fuels and expansion of existing oil refineries.

The GOP senators are also calling on the Bush administration to suspend deposits into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for six months to increase the nation's oil supply. President Bush announced Tuesday that he would halt new deposits into the reserve until after the summer driving season.

On the other side of the aisle, Democrats on Wednesday called for a new energy bill and federal legislation to punish price gougers.

"There's no reason why we can't put forth a real energy policy that addresses the needs of this nation," said Rep. Bart Stupak, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, "from gouging to market manipulation to biofuels. We can do it."

And leaders of the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday asked the Internal Revenue Service to let them examine the tax returns of the nation's 15 largest oil and gas companies, as part of a "comprehensive review" of oil industry profits.

"I want to make sure the oil companies aren't taking a speed pass by the tax man," said Grassley, the committee's chairman, in a written statement

Millions more have NO health insurance

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- More than 40 percent of Americans making between $20,000 and $40,000 a year went without insurance for at least part of the year last year, according to a study published Wednesday.

The research by The Commonwealth Fund also found that 20 percent of working adults are paying off medical debt -- often $2,000 or more -- and 60 percent of uninsured adults with chronic illnesses such as heart disease skip pills to save money.

The Commonwealth Fund researchers called the 40 percent figure a "dramatic and rapid increase from 2001," when 28 percent of people in this moderate income bracket were uninsured.

The group, which does the survey every other year, also found that 67 percent of the 48 million going without insurance were in families where at least one person worked full-time.

"The jump in uninsured among those with modest incomes is alarming, particularly at a time when our economy has been improving," said Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis, who helped write the study.

"If we don't act soon to expand coverage to the uninsured, the health of the U.S. population, the productivity of our workforce, and our economy are at risk."

The Fund, a private research group focusing on health care issues, surveyed more than 4,000 people by telephone for the report.

It found that people without health insurance were more likely to go without recommended cancer, cholesterol and blood pressure screenings. For instance, 18 percent of adults aged 50 to 64 who lack insurance had a colon cancer screening in the past five years compared to 56 percent of insured adults.

"For an uninsured person who is unlucky enough to get sick, it is easy to see how quickly they can fall into a downward spiral of debt, forgone care, and poorer health," Sara Collins, Commonwealth Fund senior program officer, said in a statement.

The study found that 21 percent of the adults surveyed between August and January had unpaid medical bills.

More than a third said they either had medical bill problems in the past year or were paying off medical debt. Of these, more than 60 percent were insured.

Several reports on people who lack insurance in the United States have shown that they do not have to regular doctors and often rely on emergency care, which in turn drives up costs.

The Commonwealth survey found that 35 percent of uninsured adults with chronic conditions visited an emergency room in 2005, stayed in the hospital overnight, or both, compared to 16 percent of patients with a chronic condition who were steadily insured.

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At some point, America is going to wake up and really come to terms that we have a national crisis on our hands. The United States has a rough population of 298 million people. If these numbers are correct (and not adding the illegal immigrant population) there are approximately 119 million people without health insurance. Those numbers are staggering.

Obviously socialized or nationalized healtcare isnt the answer. You can read an article here thats a good article about the failings of that system. This may not be the answer, but something has got to be done.

Stopping the COPE Act

For those of you who dont know what the COPE Act is go here

Go here to send the following letter to your Congressmen:

Network neutrality is critically important to the future of freedom and innovation on the Internet. Unfortunately, the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006 (COPE Act) effectively binds the hands of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), leaving Internet providers free to violate net neutrality principles in pursuit of greater profits. I strongly urge you to vote against the COPE Act.

Many Internet providers, including AT&T, Verizon and Comcast, have already announced plans to create "tiers" or "lanes" on the Information Superhighway, and to charge websites and web-based services for the ability to operate in the "fast lane." Creating a multi-tiered system would put small businesses and innovators at a significant disadvantage and stifle innovation on the Internet. Where will the next Amazon, eBay or Google come from if these telecom giants are allowed to impose costly barriers to entry? What will happen to the open and freewheeling nature of the Internet if network providers are allowed to control the flow of information?

The COPE Act jeopardizes the free and open nature of the Internet, and I urge you to vote against this flawed bill.

Bush says high oil prices cant be helped

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — As oil prices hit a record, drivers worried about $3-a-gallon gas and politicians feared the impact on elections, President Bush on Friday acknowledged the pain but seemed resigned to being able to do little about it.

"I know the folks here are suffering at the gas pump," the president said while promoting his competitiveness initiative at the Silicon Valley headquarters of Internet networking company Cisco Systems Inc. "Rising gasoline prices is like taking a — is like a tax, particularly on the working people and the small-business people."

But to address the immediate problem, Bush offered only a pledge that "if we find any price gouging it will be dealt with firmly."

Bush said that lowering America's dependance on foreign oil imports will help reduce the country's vulnerability to global oil price fluctuations. On Saturday, the president was pushing his proposals to boost spending to develop alternative energy sources, particularly hydrogen-fueled cars.

Critics say Bush's ideas are too modest and focus on solutions that are far from being a reality in the marketplace.

Crude-oil prices broke through $75 a barrel Friday amid concerns about the standoff over Iran's nuclear ambitions, rebel disruptions of oil production in Nigeria, and tight U.S. gasoline supplies. Analysts say they are likely to climb even higher.

Prices at the gas pump also kept rising and were not considered at their peak, with the average price of a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline at $2.855. That's 3 cents higher than a day earlier and more than 60 cents higher than a year ago, according to AAA's daily fuel gauge report.

Democratic efforts to score political points by focusing on gas prices have Republicans worried that their majority in Congress could be at risk in the fall midterm elections.

High gas prices were hardly the only problem facing Bush's White House as he embarked on a four-day swing to California and Las Vegas. He was traveling with new chief of staff Joshua Bolten, charged with reinvigorating a White House rocked by public discontent with the Iraq war and a series of missteps ranging from an ill-fated Supreme Court nomination to a bungled response to Hurricane Katrina.

Bush's poll ratings are at their lowest point. Hundreds of protesters called for his resignation near the Cisco compound where he spoke.

Even his trip put the president squarely in the middle of a federal-state dustup.

Bush decided not to grant the pre-emptive federal disaster declaration sought for California's fragile levees by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican who faces a tough re-election fight and has had a chilly relationship with Bush. Instead, the president is allowing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help speed repairs at the state's expense.

Bush seemed aware of the precarious political landscape.

When Bush turned the microphone at Cisco over to Schwarzenegger, the governor said, "First of all, I want to say congratulations."

"For what?" asked the president, appearing genuinely surprised.

The governor, who had discussed the levee issue during a limousine ride with Bush, replied that he was glad to see the president "really paying attention" to the competitiveness issue.

Afterward, Bush talked privately with scholars from Stanford University's Hoover Institution, including former Secretary of State George P. Shultz, a Hoover fellow and early defender of the use of pre-emptive force to deal with Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq.

Plans to hold the meeting at the Hoover Institution were scuttled when protesters blocked Bush's motorcade from going through the only entrance. Shultz, who was already hosting a private dinner for Bush later at his Palo Alto home, had the session moved to his two-story, gray-shingled house.

One reason for a weekend trip with a lot of downtime in beautiful places became clear even before Bush boarded Air Force One to leave Washington. Crew were seen loading two shiny mountain bikes — one a red-white-and-blue Trek adorned with the presidential seal and "United States of America." With stays scheduled in picturesque Napa Valley and the Palm Springs area, the bikes weren't likely to remain clean for long.

"Tomorrow I'm going to be riding my bike in Napa Valley. I can't wait," Bush told his Cisco audience.

Before returning to Washington Monday night, Bush was making stops to raise money for the national Republican Party, visit with Marines and Navy sailors, and press Congress to break a logjam over the immigration legislation he wants.

The ICRA responds to Alberto Gonzalez

WASHINGTON, April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez announced a new legislative package, the Child Pornography and Obscenity Prevention Amendments of 2006, which will require communications providers to report the presence of child pornography on their systems by strengthening criminal penalties for failing to do so. In addition, the Attorney General added a proposal to mandate the labeling of sexually explicit material with "warning labels."

The Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA) is an international, non- profit organization of Internet leaders working to protect children from objectionable material while preserving free speech on the Internet.

In response to this new legislative initiative, Stephen Balkam, CEO of ICRA, replies:

"ICRA applauds the efforts of Attorney General Gonzalez to combat child pornography, which is abhorrent and utterly illegal. We understand the gravity of this widespread threat and share the goal of creating a safer Internet for children. However, we vigorously oppose an added measure included in the draft bill which would require Web sites with sexually explicit material -- material that is legal, but potentially harmful to minors -- to use a government-mandated labeling system. ICRA strongly believes that self- regulation of legal Internet content leads to the best balance between the free flow of digital content and the protection of children from potentially harmful material.

ICRA's self-labeling system is applicable in any language. Parents can use filtering software to allow or disallow access to Web sites based on the information declared in the label. A nationally mandated system like the one proposed today for sites with sexually explicit material cannot guarantee international compliance. US-based servers will simply move offshore to avoid this well intentioned, but fatally flawed law.

We look forward to sharing our ideas with the Department of Justice and together, we can work to prevent and punish illegal child exploitation while allowing legal access to adult material and also protecting children from potentially harmful material."

ICRA's mission is to direct users to the content they want, to trust what they find, and to avoid content they prefer not to see, whether for themselves or their children. ICRA is supported by many of the leading Internet industry players: AOL, AT&T, British Telecom, CompTIA, Microsoft, RuleSpace, T-Online, and Verizon

Bush's Approval Ratings continue to slide downward

NEW YORK — More Americans disapprove than approve of how George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and Congress are doing their jobs, while a majority approves of Condoleezza Rice. President Bush’s approval hits a record low of 33 percent this week, clearly damaged by sinking support among Republicans.

Opinions are sharply divided on whether Rumsfeld should resign as secretary of defense. In addition, views on the economy are glum; most Americans rate the current economy negatively, and twice as many say it feels like the economy is getting worse rather than better. These are just some of the findings of the latest FOX News national poll.

President Bush’s job approval rating slipped this week and stands at a new low of 33 percent approve, down from 36 percent two weeks ago and 39 percent in mid-March. A year ago this time, 47 percent approved and two years ago 50 percent approved (April 2004).

Approval among Republicans is below 70 percent for the first time of Bush’s presidency. Two-thirds (66 percent) approve of Bush’s job performance today, down almost 20 percentage points from this time last year when 84 percent of Republicans approved. Among Democrats, 11 percent approve today, while 14 percent approved last April.

"It seems clear that many Republicans, while they may still like and support George Bush, are growing uneasy with what may happen to their candidates — and the policies they support — in the November elections," comments Opinion Dynamics Chairman John Gorman.

(Even FOX News cant save his numbers!)

Child Porn gets a smack in the face

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Thursday issued what he termed a "wake-up call" to the growing problems of pedophiles prowling the Internet and online images of sexual abuse of children.

Gonzales described the depravity and horror of criminal acts against children in unusually graphic detail.

"It is not an exaggeration to say that we are in the midst of an epidemic in the production and trafficking of movies and images depicting the sexual abuse of children," Gonzales said.

"The threat is frighteningly real, it is growing rapidly, and it must be stopped," he said.

To highlight the Justice Department's growing concern, he traveled to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Virginia, to deliver his speech.

Gonzales praised the center for its help, but said the public "does not yet appreciate the scope, the nature and the import of this criminal activity and the threat it poses to our kids."

The attorney general said one of every five children online is now solicited. He cited a recent estimate that 50,000 predators are online at any given time prowling for children.

"It is graphic, but if we do not talk candidly then it is easy for people to turn away," he said.

"I have seen pictures of older men forcing naked young girls to have anal sex," Gonzales said. "There are videos on the Internet of very young daughters forced to have intercourse and oral sex with their fathers.

"Viewing this was shocking and it makes my stomach turn, but while these descriptions may make some uncomfortable, we will not defeat this threat unless we all really understand the nature of the child pornography now prevalent on the Internet," he said.

Gonzales said the public must not consider child porn a victimless crime.

"There are images of graphic sexual and physical abuse of innocent children, even babies," he said. "It is brutal; it is heinous, and it is criminal."

He said he is sending to Congress a legislative package that includes greater penalties and improved cooperation from Internet service providers.

"This legislation will help ensure that Internet service providers report the presence of child pornography on their systems by strengthening criminal penalties for failing to report it," the attorney general said.

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And of course does anyone remember the 2257 records and how that worked out?
Wanna read more on the War on Porn? Go Here

Also, just as an aside. Anyone else notice the timing of this? Could it be coincidence that this announcement is coming in the same week that all of the shakeup is happening at the White House?

Heres the real kicker on this thing. Gonzales is proposing a rating system for the web. Here is the definition of sexually explicit:

The definition of sexually explicit broadly covers depictions of everything from sexual intercourse and masturbation to "sadistic abuse" and close-ups of fully clothed genital regions.

Heres a better story on this.

Worst President in History

Now this isnt just us liberal "whack jobs" saying this:


The Worst President in History?
One of America's leading historians assesses George W. Bush
George W. Bush's presidency appears headed for colossal historical disgrace. Barring a cataclysmic event on the order of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, after which the public might rally around the White House once again, there seems to be little the administration can do to avoid being ranked on the lowest tier of U.S. presidents. And that may be the best-case scenario. Many historians are now wondering whether Bush, in fact, will be remembered as the very worst president in all of American history.

From time to time, after hours, I kick back with my colleagues at Princeton to argue idly about which president really was the worst of them all. For years, these perennial debates have largely focused on the same handful of chief executives whom national polls of historians, from across the ideological and political spectrum, routinely cite as the bottom of the presidential barrel. Was the lousiest James Buchanan, who, confronted with Southern secession in 1860, dithered to a degree that, as his most recent biographer has said, probably amounted to disloyalty -- and who handed to his successor, Abraham Lincoln, a nation already torn asunder? Was it Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson, who actively sided with former Confederates and undermined Reconstruction? What about the amiably incompetent Warren G. Harding, whose administration was fabulously corrupt? Or, though he has his defenders, Herbert Hoover, who tried some reforms but remained imprisoned in his own outmoded individualist ethic and collapsed under the weight of the stock-market crash of 1929 and the Depression's onset? The younger historians always put in a word for Richard M. Nixon, the only American president forced to resign from office.

From the rest of the article click here

Greed not the Market may be why you're paying more at the pump .... Are we surprised

Santa Monica, CA -- The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights released a new study today of rising gasoline prices in California that found corporate markups and profiteering are responsible for spring price spikes, not rising crude costs or the national switchover to higher-cost ethanol, as the oil industry claims.

Click here to download and read the study.

Independent petroleum consultant Tim Hamilton analyzed gasoline price increases from January to April to find that:
Increases in the "spot" market price of crude oil -- which is the highest price a major oil company would pay for crude oil -- accounted for only 12 cents per gallon. California's percentage sales tax increased fuel prices by another four cents per gallon. More than 40 cents of the 60-cent increase in gasoline prices over 3 1/2 months is attributable to increased refinery and marketing profit margins for the oil companies;
Neither the MTBE phaseout nor the substitution of ethanol is a serious part of the increase. If the MTBE phaseout or ethanol blending specifically increased costs for oil companies in California, other states in the West using conventional unblended gasoline should be much less affected. Yet Washington State, which uses only conventional gasoline and has similar refinery capacity and crude oil sources, mirrored California's increase;
The profit increase of 42 cents, on top of record profits last year, means California gasoline will cost consumers approximately $546 million more in April 2006 than in April of last year.

"While oil companies continue to blame crude oil prices and ethanol additives for the recent gasoline price spikes in California, the chief cause is increased profiteering by oil companies that have previously posted world record profits," said Hamilton.

"Oil companies are opportunistically using the rising world price for crude oil as an excuse to excessively raise gasoline prices and pump up their profits, even though the spot market price for crude has gone up far more slowly than gasoline prices," said FTCR President Jamie Court. "In addition, the spot price is higher than most oil companies pay, since they either harvest their own crude or pay more stable and often much lower contract prices.

"This study should be a wake-up call for California voters who will vote in November on a ballot initiative to tax windfall profits by oil companies so the state can develop alternatives to the petroleum economy."

Halliburton to start building US Detention Centers

My note: This is a bit of what I call "conspiracist" theory on the whole martial law slant but a good read just the same.

Editor's Note: A little-known $385 million contract for Halliburton subsidiary KBR to build detention facilities for "an emergency influx of immigrants" is another step down the Bush administration's road toward martial law, the writer says.

BERKELEY, Calif.--A Halliburton subsidiary has just received a $385 million contract from the Department of Homeland Security to provide "temporary detention and processing capabilities."

The contract -- announced Jan. 24 by the engineering and construction firm KBR -- calls for preparing for "an emergency influx of immigrants, or to support the rapid development of new programs" in the event of other emergencies, such as "a natural disaster." The release offered no details about where Halliburton was to build these facilities, or when.

To date, some newspapers have worried that open-ended provisions in the contract could lead to cost overruns, such as have occurred with KBR in Iraq. A Homeland Security spokesperson has responded that this is a "contingency contract" and that conceivably no centers might be built. But almost no paper so far has discussed the possibility that detention centers could be used to detain American citizens if the Bush administration were to declare martial law.

For those who follow covert government operations abroad and at home, the contract evoked ominous memories of Oliver North's controversial Rex-84 "readiness exercise" in 1984. This called for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to round up and detain 400,000 imaginary "refugees," in the context of "uncontrolled population movements" over the Mexican border into the United States. North's activities raised civil liberties concerns in both Congress and the Justice Department. The concerns persist.

"Almost certainly this is preparation for a roundup after the next 9/11 for Mid-Easterners, Muslims and possibly dissenters," says Daniel Ellsberg, a former military analyst who in 1971 released the Pentagon Papers, the U.S. military's account of its activities in Vietnam. "They've already done this on a smaller scale, with the 'special registration' detentions of immigrant men from Muslim countries, and with Guantanamo."

Plans for detention facilities or camps have a long history, going back to fears in the 1970s of a national uprising by black militants. As Alonzo Chardy reported in the Miami Herald on July 5, 1987, an executive order for continuity of government (COG) had been drafted in 1982 by FEMA head Louis Giuffrida. The order called for "suspension of the Constitution" and "declaration of martial law." The martial law portions of the plan were outlined in a memo by Giuffrida's deputy, John Brinkerhoff.

In 1985, President Reagan signed National Security Decision Directive 188, one of a series of directives that authorized continued planning for COG by a private parallel government.

Two books, James Mann's "Rise of the Vulcans" and James Bamford's "A Pretext for War," have revealed that in the 1980s this parallel structure, operating outside normal government channels, included the then-head of G. D. Searle and Co., Donald Rumsfeld, and then-Congressman from Wyoming Dick Cheney.

After 9/11, new martial law plans began to surface similar to those of FEMA in the 1980s. In January 2002 the Pentagon submitted a proposal for deploying troops on American streets. One month later John Brinkerhoff, the author of the 1982 FEMA memo, published an article arguing for the legality of using U.S. troops for purposes of domestic security.

Then in April 2002, Defense Dept. officials implemented a plan for domestic U.S. military operations by creating a new U.S. Northern Command (CINC-NORTHCOM) for the continental United States. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called this "the most sweeping set of changes since the unified command system was set up in 1946."

The NORTHCOM commander, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced, is responsible for "homeland defense and also serves as head of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).... He will command U.S. forces that operate within the United States in support of civil authorities. The command will provide civil support not only in response to attacks, but for natural disasters."

John Brinkerhoff later commented on PBS that, "The United States itself is now for the first time since the War of 1812 a theater of war. That means that we should apply, in my view, the same kind of command structure in the United States that we apply in other theaters of war."

Then in response to Hurricane Katrina in Sept. 2005, according to the Washington Post, White House senior adviser Karl Rove told the governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, that she should explore legal options to impose martial law "or as close as we can get." The White House tried vigorously, but ultimately failed, to compel Gov. Blanco to yield control of the state National Guard.

Also in September, NORTHCOM conducted its highly classified Granite Shadow exercise in Washington. As William Arkin reported in the Washington Post, "Granite Shadow is yet another new Top Secret and compartmented operation related to the military's extra-legal powers regarding weapons of mass destruction. It allows for emergency military operations in the United States without civilian supervision or control."

It is clear that the Bush administration is thinking seriously about martial law.
Many critics have alleged that FEMA's spectacular failure to respond to Katrina followed from a deliberate White House policy: of paring back FEMA, and instead strengthening the military for responses to disasters.

A multimillion program for detention facilities will greatly increase NORTHCOM's ability to respond to any domestic disorders.



In our age there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics.’ All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schitzophrenia.
- George Orwell -

Further corruption in Iraq

An American businessman who is at the heart of one of the biggest corruption cases to emerge from the reconstruction of Iraq has pleaded guilty to conspiracy, bribery and money-laundering charges, according to documents unsealed yesterday in federal court in Washington.

As part of the plea, Philip H. Bloom admitted his part in a scheme to give more than $2 million in cash and gifts to U.S. officials in exchange for their help in getting reconstruction contracts for his companies. Bloom's firms won $8.6 million in reconstruction deals, with an average profit margin of more than 25 percent.

Yesterday's filings included e-mails that provide insight into the fraud. In one, an Army Reserve officer who allegedly helped Bloom secure his contracts expresses gratitude for Bloom's largesse.

"The truck is Great!!! I needed a new truck . . . People I work with cannot stop commenting on how much they love it," the officer wrote in a Sept. 2, 2004, message to Bloom. The officer then added a bit of reassurance: "If there were any smoking guns, they would have been found months ago."

The reassurance was premature. Bloom's deals soon attracted the interest of investigators, and the case has ensnared three officials of the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority, which ran Iraq for a year after Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled.

More arrests are likely. The documents unsealed yesterday refer to an unidentified co-conspirator who was chief of staff for the CPA office in Al-Hillah, which supervised the reconstruction of all of south-central Iraq.

According to Bloom's plea agreement, which was signed in February, he faces up to 40 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of $750,000. He also must repay the government $3.6 million and forfeit $3.6 million in assets.

John N. Nassikas, Bloom's attorney, said that his client is cooperating with investigators and that he hopes to have Bloom's prison sentence reduced.

Bloom's cooperation may provide investigators with further insight into a case that highlights how some were able to exploit the chaotic, freewheeling and cash-rich environment that characterized Iraq in the months after the U.S. invasion. That initial period was marked by little oversight, but that changed as auditors have fanned out across the country looking for signs of impropriety.

"This shows oversight is working," said Stuart W. Bowen Jr., special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, whose office uncovered Bloom's crimes. "It will send a message to those involved in similar schemes that we are on the case."

Bowen said his office is investigating 70 other cases that involve criminal allegations.

The Bloom case came to light in November when he and CPA official Robert J. Stein Jr. were charged with fraud, money-laundering and conspiracy - the first criminal corruption case arising from the Iraq reconstruction. Stein, already a convicted felon when he was hired as a CPA contracting officer, pleaded guilty in February.

Two others have been charged in connection with the case. They are Michael Brian Wheeler and Debra Harrison, both lieutenant colonels in the Army Reserve.

The court papers unsealed yesterday paint a picture of how Bloom, a businessman with operations in the United States and Romania, used gifts of cash, cars, plane tickets and jewelry to secure lucrative reconstruction contracts from December 2003 to December 2005. Bloom also supplied women to provide sexual favors at his Baghdad villa to the CPA officials who helped ensure that his companies won the contracts he wanted.

In many cases, the documents show, Bloom submitted multiple bids on the same contracts but did so under different names to disguise the fact that the CPA officials were steering the deals his way. He also used elaborate money-laundering tactics to hide the bribes he handed out in return.

E-mail exchanges between Bloom and his conspirators show that they had highly specific demands for what bribes they wanted. One official coveted a 2004 GMC Yukon sport-utility vehicle with all-wheel drive, a "Summit White" exterior and a "Sandstone Leather" interior. Another, the chief of staff, apparently instructed Bloom through an intermediary that he wanted an electric-blue Nissan 350Z hard-top convertible but that there were only two such cars in the western United States. "There is a car in California that has all these features, plus a satellite radio. Cost (including shipping to Salt Lake City): $35,990," the unidentified intermediary wrote to Bloom in a June 25, 2004, message.

Another official wrote to Bloom two months later: "I'll let you know when I actually pick up the car. At that point you'll get a great big thank you and I owe you from me."

And STILL people act surprised

Call center workers in India are having nervous breakdowns after being abused by fed-up Australians – but they aren't getting much sympathy.

Half a million people are employed in India's fast-growing call-center industry, famous for maddening calls at dinner time in Australia.
For some of the workers, abuse and overnight working hours are contributing to stress, sleeping disorders, fatigue and migraines.

A survey of Mumbai call centers found most call-center workers suffer from burn-out stress syndrome.

The abuse included racial taunts, the Global South Research Group survey found.

"Racial abuse by foreign customers is a job hazard that most employees have to deal with," a report on the survey says.

"The US and Australia are the worst abusers," said Vino Shetty, from his Young Professionals Collective office in Mumbai.

"Australian accents – especially in working-class areas – are very difficult to understand.

"The Australians then get frustrated because they are not being understood and when they realise the call is from India their anger gets worse.

"They can feel that jobs are being taken away from Australians and if they recently have been out of a job themselves, the abuse escalates," he said.

But Queensland Consumers' Association spokeswoman Cherie Dalley said Australians were reacting to phone calls because they were at "ridiculous" times.

"Australians are tired of having their privacy interrupted by people trying to sell them things they didn't want in the first place," she said.

James Organ, director of Australian research organisation Callcentres.net, said "lots of poor innocent Indian workers" were abused regularly by Australians.

"Some companies are regretting outsourcing this business to India because of the damage it does to their products' reputation," he said.

"Its a cultural thing – the moment an Australian suspects the call is coming from India they can get uptight.

"Yet in the UK, where they are used to interacting with Indian people, there's not so much negative reaction."

Mr Organ's group estimates Indian call centers account for 50 million calls to Australian homes each year – one fifth of the total telemarketing calls made. "Everyone has a story of how they were called by someone in Mumbai," he said.

Outsourcing of telemarketing and other business began about seven years ago when companies found it was cheaper to hire people in India, the Philippines and Malaysia to sell mobile phone plans, financial services, insurance and credit cards.

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While I do not wish any particular ill will towards people in India working for all of these companies who have outsourced to their country. I WILL say this. Evidently customer service is a dying thing in the world now. That as long as your employees arent hanging themselves in the breakroom and customers arent blowing up their buildings, I guess we're ok. Maybe one day companies will understand that there is a LOT of backlash out there if someone from say .... oh Texas calls to talk to a Dell customer service agent (Dell's Corporate office is in Austin) and they are suddenly routed to Bangalore. Where they get to talk to "Steve" whos OBVIOUSLY not American and gets payed like $100 a month. Remember that old addage "You get what you pay for?" Need any further proof?

Inhumanity doesnt just apply to humans

Animal welfare rescuers have discovered 250 dogs crammed into a garden shed.

The discovery was made after the death of the 73-year-old breeder in West Sussex. Rescuer Lisa Gooch of Brighton Animal Action said the animals' living conditions were the worst she had seen.

The 250 Yorkshire terriers were kept in a 40ft shed with no windows. Six puppies were dead. The dogs were stuffed into tiny carrier boxes.

Miss Gooch said: "The carry boxes were full of excrement with the dogs wedged in at the top. They were dripping from the urine they had been lying in for so long.

"They were all absolutely starving and thirsty, but there were a lot that were just so weak they were on death's door."

The floor was covered with newspapers, up to knee height.

Worthing and District Animal Rescue Service spokesman Billy Elliott said: "They were almost walking as if they were crouching down, as if they had never stood up. They will need several baths before the smell goes away."

He has taken in six dogs and will have them neutered and microchipped, before they are house-trained.

Miss Gooch said of Sunday's find: "I've seen some awful things in my time but that was by far the worst. I will never forget it.

"People need to be aware that this sort of stuff goes on and people get away with it.

Military Contracts given bonuses for doing "average" work

Man I wanna work for some of these companies:

WASHINGTON, April 16 (UPI) -- A U.S. government study has found incentive payments are routine in some major weapons contracts, even if projects are over-budget or not on schedule.

The payments, known as award fees, are intended to motivate defense contractors to perform to high standards, but a Government Accountability Office study concluded the fees are paid almost as a matter of course, The Washington Post reported.

The newspaper cited a case involving the Boeing Co.-Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. partnership, which was developing the Comanche, a helicopter that was supposed to evade radar. In February 2004, the Army announced it was canceling the project, which was nearly three years behind schedule and more than $3.5 billion over budget.

Nevertheless, an Army panel a few weeks later granted the Boeing-Sikorsky partnership a $33.9 million "award fee" -- part of more than $200 million in such fees paid to the partnership over four years.

Such practices "undermine the effectiveness of fees as a motivational tool and marginalize their use in holding contractors accountable," the GAO concluded -- adding that defense contractors receive award fees for work that is simply "acceptable, average, expected, good, or satisfactory."

Honey We're Killing Our Kids

Ok, so I sat down last night to watch some TV (as I do sometimes with dinner) and was given THIS stinking pile of crap to infest my brain. Has anyone else seen this train wreck of a show yet? The premise is simple, this "doctor" comes on to tell the parents that basically, your kids are spoiled and fat. Then they show the parents with computer imaging how their kids will look some years into the future. So the show last night, had a family of 5. All 3 of the kids were boys. They went through the house and removed all of the "junk food" they had in the house and then put them on a diet of tofu and rice. Then they sent the two older boys to an etiquette class and gave the family an "acceptable behaviour" manual. As I sat watching this and just feeling my brain shrivelling up and trying to exit my skull, I was reminded of my youth. Now if anyone who reads this site ever watches Carlos Mencia, he often talks about being beat by his mother for things that he was about to do not even things that he had done yet. My take on it is this, if your kids are cursing at you, wont eat or whatever, then its your job as a parent to remind your kids that YOU are the parent and THEY are the child. George Carlin has called it the "pussification" of America. Now, before you get all upset thinking that I condone beating your kids, let me clarify. As a child, my parents NEVER hit me as a punishment, but I KNEW that if I was an idiot and yelled obscenities at my mom or dad that there was a THREAT of being beaten until I was stupid. The kids that TV shows with shows like Super Nanny (or whatever its called) and this new pile of poop, show kids who dont need TIME OUT but need a good smack to the back of the head and a reminder of where they are in the family "food chain." But I digress, what I really wanted to write about is who green lights these shows? Heres a list of shows I wouldnt mind seeing.

1. Honey, I've Killed a TV Executive - Premise: 3 Couples are given $5000 and 3 days. A GPS tracking device and the last known location of 3 men, the executive who greenlighted American Idol, Anna Nicoles Show and ANYONE from Fox.
2. Assault and Battery Park - Premise: 10 Inmates are given a chance for freedom. They are let loose in New Yorks Battery Park (which has been fenced in with various forms of high tech equipment) and the last one to escape is given a death penalty. His execution is publicised, there is an admission price of $5 per person and is shown live on Network TV.
3. Bootcamp for Bastards - This show would have to be on the BBC or FOX. Premise: 5,1st Time molesters are put in prison for one week. Every inmate knows what crime they committed. The molesters are part of the general population. Let the fun begin.

Thats just some of the ideas I have. Any executives listening? I'm sure there is an idea in there somewhere.

San Francisco to the rest of the US .............. take note!

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) April 15, 2006 -- San Francisco on Tuesday became the first major U.S. city to pass a resolution acknowledging the threats posed by peak oil, urging the city to develop a comprehensive plan to respond to the emerging global energy crunch.

The resolution (http://www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/bdsupvrs/bosagendas/materials/060442.pdf), which won unanimous support by the board was sponsored by supervisors Aaron Peskin, Jake McGoldrick and Sophie Maxwell. It cites an influential study commissioned by the U.S. Dept. of Energy, known as the Hirsch Report (http://www.mnforsustain.org/oil_peaking_of_world_oil_production_study_hirsch.htm), which raised concerns about the nation’s ability to avert a major crisis from the peak and decline of oil production.

The measure comes on the heels of an increasingly effective grass roots campaign by groups such as San Francisco Oil Awareness, Post Carbon San Francisco, and SF Informatics, who have sponsored mailings and meetings targeting Bay Area elected officials for more than two years. San Francisco has been making strides in the area of energy independence, energy watchdogs have reported. The group Sustainlane.com says that San Francisco was voted third best city to withstand an oil crisis.

Michael Poremba, spokesman for SF Informatics, congratulated the supervisors on their action Tuesday. “We are thrilled to see the city finally acknowledging the peak oil issue,” Poremba said. “Our society runs on oil, our economy runs on oil, and farsighted local governments should begin planning now--indeed years ago--for an era of declining supplies, because that era is starting now.”

Citizen’s group San Francisco Oil Awareness played a key role in bringing the idea of a resolution in front of city officials. Members of the group, including Jennifer Bresee, Allyse Hartwell, Dennis Brumm and David Fridley, formed a committee promoting a draft resolution discussing the issue with officials on the board and at other venues.

Local peak oil activists have been gaining wider recognition in recent months as the topic has gained traction in the media and in the US Congress, where Rep. Roscoe Bartlett introduced the first-ever “peak oil resolution” and formed a caucus to study the issue. Members of the SF Post Carbon group were featured in a recent article in Salon.com http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/03/22/peakoil/index_np.html surveying the growing movement.

Among the high-visibility tools used by the groups is a colorful poster called The Oil Age, created by SF Informatics in association with Global Public Media. The poster traces the history of oil production worldwide and displays relevant energy statistics from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, BP Statistical Review and other industry sources. The poster was hand delivered to dozens of Bay Area elected officials in January, including the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, The Department on the Environment and the Communion on the Environment.

“The poster is a great way to open up city officials’ doors,” said David Fridley, a scientist with the Lawrence Berkeley Lab and a member of San Francisco Oil Awareness. “It’s a very effective passport into the halls of power because of its polished and professional quality.” Co-member Jennifer Bresee agrees: “Plunking down this poster in front of a supervisor is a lot more effective than trying to explain it in words alone,” she says.

Copies of The Oil Age poster can be purchased at www.oilposter.org. To date, over 1,600 posters have been donated to teachers worldwide. And thanks to Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, the poster has been distributed to every member of the U.S. Congress.

PDF of San Francisco’s Peak Oil Resolution available at: http://www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/bdsupvrs/bosagendas/materials/060442.pdf

Public Dissent goes to the Immigrants

OVER THE LAST few weeks, it's become obvious that the immigrant community is seriously out of the American cultural mainstream.

Mainstream Americans don't go in for protest marches anymore (mass protests are so '60s). But demonstrating a mind-boggling degree of cultural obtuseness, hundreds of thousands of immigrants turned out for nationwide rallies opposing the punitive Republican-sponsored immigration bill passed by the House in December.

Maybe it's a language problem. This nation's immigrant communities must have taken literally those lines in the Constitution about the right to assemble peaceably and petition the government for the redress of grievances.

Whatever. Real Americans — that is, those of us whose immigrant ancestors made it to the United States more than a generation or two ago — gave up on that sort of foolishness long ago. (The Bill of Rights is so 1791.)

When we Americans have a grievance we want redressed, we don't assemble. Assembling en masse is a sweaty, fatiguing enterprise requiring the purchase of lots of poster board and the occasional use of Porta Potties. Yuck.

Instead, real Americans sulk and whine. What's more, because we take pride in individualism, we mostly do our whining and sulking alone. As a result, even when we're really, really mad at our government, an outside observer would be hard-pressed to notice.

And we are pretty mad at our government these days.

Recent polls tell us, for instance, that 60% of Americans disapprove of President Bush's overall job performance; 74% disapprove of his handling of rising gasoline prices; 62% disapprove of his handling of the Iraq war; 63% think the president's role in the intelligence leak scandal was either illegal or unethical. Further, 45% of Americans think Bush should be censured or officially reprimanded for authorizing secret domestic surveillance by the National Security Agency, and an astonishing 33% of Americans think Bush should be impeached. (As a point of reference, public support for impeaching President Clinton averaged only 26% in the summer and fall of 1998.)

In many foreign countries, such a high level of popular discontent would translate rapidly into mass protests. In France this spring, polls suggesting that more than 60% of the public disapproved of a new labor law were soon paralleled by massive street protests against the legislation and a general strike. In Ukraine, public dissatisfaction with the pro-Russian regime led to mass protests in 2004. In Serbia, polls showing widespread unhappiness with the government of Slobodan Milosevic were followed by a popular uprising in late 2000, after Milosevic claimed victory in a disputed election.

By definition, immigrants are all foreign-born, so maybe this explains why the ones here have not abandoned the politics of mass protest. Not very assimilationist of them, is it?

Of course, sometimes mass protest actually changes things. In other countries, anyway. On Monday, for instance, French President Jacques Chirac was forced to withdraw the labor measure that sparked the protests; in 2004, the so-called Orange Revolution brought a democratic government to Ukraine; in 2000, the Serbian popular uprising forced Milosevic to step down and ultimately led to his transfer to The Hague to face trial for crimes against humanity.

Come to think of it, mass protests over the punitive Republican immigration bill may have brought about a change in U.S. politics too. On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) suggested a new willingness to reconsider several of the bill's harsher provisions. All this because hundreds of thousands of the country's most politically marginal residents took to the streets.

What would happen if mainstream Americans did that sort of thing too? If the 33% of Americans who think Bush should be impeached took to the streets to peaceably express their views, that would be almost 100 million marchers — enough to wake up even the most somnolent of politicians. If the 47% of Americans who think U.S. troops should leave Iraq ASAP actually marched on Washington, our troops would already be on their way home. If the 60% of Americans who disapprove of Bush's job performance decided to stage a peaceful sit-in outside the White House, they'd spill over into a dozen neighboring states, and the American political machine would grind to a screeching halt.

Of course, political protest isn't easy. Effective protests take money, endurance and courage. Protesters have to take time off from work; they have to travel to distant cities and come up with somewhere to sleep and eat; they have to risk encounters with police who may not always distinguish between peaceful protesters and those who are breaking the law.

Especially when the stakes are high, political protest can be difficult, exhausting and dangerous work.

This may explain why so few Americans are willing to express their discontent through public protest. As with so much unappealing work here in the U.S.A., we leave that kind of thing to the immigrants.

Whee

Google eBay and Amazon talk of building their own network ..... Last heard saying to AT&T .... BITE ME!

AT&T and the telcos are threatening to charge Google and other Web sites extortion-type fees unless Google and others pay for adequate bandwidth. But Google and others may soon have this answer for them: No, thanks. We'll build our own fat pipe into customers' homes.

That's the speculation, anyway. Investor's Business Daily points out that big swaths of the wireless spectrum are about to go out to bid -- and whoever buys them could build a high-bandwidth wireless pipe into people's homes and businesses across the country.

I won't go into all the gory details, but there are two big blocks of spectrum up for sale, and Internet companies like Google are expected to bid on both.

Google, eBay, and Amazon could form their own consortium to spend the many billions of dollars needed to buy parts of the spectrum, and build a high-speed, nationwide wireless network.

Investor's Business Daily quotes George Dellinger, an analyst at research firm Washington Analysis, as saying "A consortium of new media companies could wind up leading the pack to buy that spectrum and provide a third (broadband) pipe into homes."

Sound far-fetched? Google is already building wireless networks in San Francisco and its home of Mountain View. The company is sitting on top of the biggest pile of cash south of Bill Gates -- probably close to $10 billion after a planned $2 billion new stock offering. It can afford to do it. And when it comes to cash, eBay and Amazon aren't slouches, either.

So the network neutrality debate may blow up in AT&T's face. When it comes to buying bandwith, I'll choose Google over the telco dinosaurs any day of the week

Corporate Speak for Dummies

Even if you are in a technical position, you may still find yourself dealing with sales people and other corporate types. You may also discover that they speak a different language and use an arsenal of corny phrases that might just give you the hives. This article is a glossary of our 35 favorite terms and phrases.

Acquisition
Demonstration of the corporate food chain, whereby larger eats smaller and then excretes all non-essential nutrients.

Action Item
Something which needs to be either done or at least placed in a list of things in need of doing. This is probably the most annoying corporate term that there is.

Challenge
A big problem that nobody in the company knows how to fix. A challenge may very well lead to the demise of said company. If your company spends more time talking about challenges than home runs, it may be time to look for a new job.

Corporate
The group of people in a company that make the important decisions and all of the money. You are most likely not a member of this group.

Corporate Vision
The list of things that a company would like to provide and accomplish. Most are more like hallucinations than visions.

Deliverables
Features of a product that should have been included in the original release, however, due to market pressure the product had to be released without these features. These may be sent to customers if/when they are available.

Disconnect
This is a misunderstanding. For example, your sales staff is probably selling a product that was discontinued in the '70s. This would be a disconnect between sales and marketing.

Diversity awareness/training
The classes that are taken when a racial discrimination or sexual harassment complaint has been filed against a company in order to limit legal liability.

Download
If you request information from me, I will give you the download. This term is usually used by sales staff in hi-tech companies that want to seem cool in front of the computer geeks.

Fast Track
Usually referring to a person that has moved up the corporate ladder faster than they could prove their worth or be held accountable for the mess they made.

Growth industry
A bandwagon. All aboard?

Hit a Home Run
This can either mean that things went according to planned for once or that the sales team has actually been coming into work and selling stuff.

Incent
This means to motivate someone to do something by promising something (usually a company mug or pen) if they do. They become a perfectly predictable robot, subject to the whims and offerings of the clever, incentive-offering manager.

Integrated solution
A utopian term meaning that all of the different parts of a solution (product or series of products) work together. While the term is used frequently, there is no such thing in the real world.

Key Enabler
The person that will get all of the credit on a project.

Leverage
A fancy version of the word "use." For example, instead of saying "We could use your product knowledge to help us make a sale", the corporate type would say, "We could leverage your product knowledge to help us make a sale". The use of this word is one of many examples of people trying to sound important in the office.

Major Account
As a technical type, these are the accounts that you will drop everything for and brown-nose at the request of sales and management.

Metric
A measurement of success or value. These measurable parameters are used by companies to make important decisions regardless as to whether or not they are measuring what they should be or their collection model is sound.

Next steps
Next steps are where you go from here and can refer to a project or a process. It is difficult to ever complete these steps due to the number of meetings scheduled to determine what the next steps are.

Objections
The reasons why a customer does not want to buy from your sales people. The most common objection is the overuse of the terms on this page which tends to confuse the customer. The antidote is plain English.

Off-line
This means to discuss something in a place or at a time other than the one you currently find yourself in. This may be used by managers to convey that they do not wish to talk about the subject, they do not find it important or you are wasting everyone else's time in a meeting.

Out of the Loop
This phrase means that one has not been informed about a subject. It is used to deny responsibility or to complain about not having been consulted.

Outside the Box
Creativity. Those that do think outside the box are generally considered rabble-rousers and trouble-makers. While verbally encouraged, your reward for thinking outside the box may be a pink slip party.

Outsourcing
The process of laying off internal employees in favor of a staff of high-school drop-outs run by another company for half the price.

Overhead
The cost of keeping the lights on and the doors open.

Own
To take responsibility for something. Someone who "owns" something can never claim that they are "out of the loop."

Pre-Meeting
A meeting before another meeting in which the company slackers will get together and figure out what to say or present at the next meeting so that they do not make fools of themselves.

Resource
An employee. Resources are managed by a group which calls itself "Human Resources." Like hardware, resources have fixed lifespans, can become obsolete and can even malfunction.

Restructuring
Poor choices have been made and the company needs to start from scratch. Will include massive layoffs and double the workload for those that remain. Upper management will all receive raises.

Talk Track
A sales pitch committed to memory by sales staff. Designed to prevent foot-in-mouth syndrome and to discourage creativity.

Team
This term refers to a group of people that work together. The team is strongest when composed of "Yes" men and women.

Up-Selling
The process of convincing a customer to purchase products and services that they do not want or need.

Value-added
Tacking on extra features (for free) to an existing product so that customers have difficulty comparing prices with competitors.

War Story
A story told by a salesperson that describes a difficult sale that they made. It usually starts off something like, "So I was in the Bahamas..."

win/win
A fascinating business concept that somehow eliminates the "loser" in any deal or project. A win/win situation is when a customer pays their bills on time and doesn't ever complain.

I'll post my thoughts later. I was reading Slashdot this morning and was just wondering, is this a short cut to thinking? Do we let words and phrases lie or misrepresent our intentions now because its easier to use -speak of some kind.

One thing I did want to mention that I remember happening a few years ago when I was struggling after being laid off and no jobs being on the market. I worked briefly for an alarm company (not mentioning names but it starts with a B and sounds a LOT like "drinks") and was hating it with every breath I took. On my exit interview, when I had decided that I had more dignity than that job would EVER give me, they told me that I was being "seperated from employment." I reminded them that I had left the company already and that I was glad that I had. I felt sorry for the stooge at the other end of the phone as he got to listen to me rail against the "corporate mentality" that the company had and that terms like "seperated from employment" were simply ways for people like him to feel important and to be able to have dignity in a job that dignity wasnt part of the pittance. Daily now I hear our sales staff talk with potential customers and hear phrases like above bandied about. I go to training classes and find myself presenting ideas to my clients in the same way and its just sad. Corporate speak is just evil and dumb and really is a shortcut to thinking. The next time you hear someone saying things like "paradigm" or "grow the company" tell them to speak english to you and to stop spouting low calorie thinking.

Drug Companies Inventing Diseases to become richer

This should come as no surprise:

PHARMACEUTICAL companies are systematically creating diseases in order to sell more of their products, turning healthy people into patients and placing many at risk of harm, a special edition of a leading medical journal claims today.

The practice of “diseasemongering” by the drug industry is promoting non-existent illnesses or exaggerating minor ones for the sake of profits, according to a set of essays published by the open-access journal Public Library of Science Medicine.

The special issue, edited by David Henry, of Newcastle University in Australia, and Ray Moynihan, an Australian journalist, reports that conditions such as female sexual dysfunction, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and “restless legs syndrome” have been promoted by companies hoping to sell more of their drugs.

Other minor problems that are a normal part of life, such as symptoms of the menopause, are also becoming increasingly “medicalised”, while risk factors such as high cholesterol levels or osteoporosis are being presented as diseases in their own right, according to the editors.

“Disease-mongering turns healthy people into patients, wastes precious resources and causes iatrogenic (medically induced) harm,” they say. “Like the marketing strategies that drive it, disease-mongering poses a global challenge to those interested in public health, demanding in turn a global response.”

Doctors, patients and support groups need to be more aware that pharmaceutical companies are taking this approach, and more research is needed into the changing ways in which conditions are presented, according to the writers.

Disease-awareness campaigns are often funded by drug companies, and “more often designed to sell drugs than to illuminate or inform or educate about the prevention of illness or the maintenance of health”, they say.

Particular conditions that are highlighted in the journal include sexual function in both men and women. The prevalence of female sexual dysfunction, one paper claims, has been highly exaggerated to provide a new market for drugs, while the makers of anti-impotence medicines, such as Viagra and Cialis, have been involved with their presentation as lifestyle drugs that can boost the sexual prowess of healthy men.

Ordinary shyness is routinely presented as a social anxiety disorder and treated with antidepressants, while newly identified conditions such as “restless legs syndrome” — a constant urge to move one’s legs — are presented as being much more common than they really are.

Richard Ley, of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, rejected the accusations, pointing out that Britain has firm safeguards against disease-mongering. Many of the authors’ criticisms, he said, were aimed squarely at countries such as the United States, where pharmaceuticals can be openly advertised directly to patients.

“Drug companies are not allowed to communicate directly with patients, and we do not invent diseases,” he said.

“We provide information that there are treatments out there that might help certain conditions, but at the end of the day it is down to health professionals to decide if they are appropriate.

“The best safeguard is that the doctor who knows the product and knows the patient’s history is the one who decides what to prescribe.”

TRICK OR TREAT?

MENOPAUSE
Symptoms include hot flushes, night sweats and loss of libido
Criticism too often “medicalised” as part of a “disorder” when it is a normal phase of life

IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME
Symptoms include constipation, cramps and diarrhoea
Criticism promoted by drug companies as a serious illness needing therapy, when it is usually a mild problem

SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION
Symptoms impotence in men, lack of libido or difficulty becoming aroused in women
Criticism drugs such as Viagra marketed not only for treating genuine erectile dysfunction caused by medical problems but as lifestyle improvers


OSTEOPOROSIS
Symptoms thinning of the bones, particularly among postmenopausal women
Criticism portrayed as a disease in its own right, when it is really a risk factor for broken bones

RESTLESS LEGS
Symptoms urge to move legs because of unpleasant feelings, often at night
Criticism prevalence of a relatively rare condition exaggerated by the media, along with the need for treatment

Thanks Teddy

Click here to watch it in action

How much longer before we take on Iran?

The Bush Administration, while publicly advocating diplomacy in order to stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon, has increased clandestine activities inside Iran and intensified planning for a possible major air attack. Current and former American military and intelligence officials said that Air Force planning groups are drawing up lists of targets, and teams of American combat troops have been ordered into Iran, under cover, to collect targeting data and to establish contact with anti-government ethnic-minority groups. The officials say that President Bush is determined to deny the Iranian regime the opportunity to begin a pilot program, planned for this spring, to enrich uranium.

American and European intelligence agencies, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (I.A.E.A.), agree that Iran is intent on developing the capability to produce nuclear weapons. But there are widely differing estimates of how long that will take, and whether diplomacy, sanctions, or military action is the best way to prevent it. Iran insists that its research is for peaceful use only, in keeping with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and that it will not be delayed or deterred.

There is a growing conviction among members of the United States military, and in the international community, that President Bush’s ultimate goal in the nuclear confrontation with Iran is regime change. Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has challenged the reality of the Holocaust and said that Israel must be “wiped off the map.” Bush and others in the White House view him as a potential Adolf Hitler, a former senior intelligence official said. “That’s the name they’re using. They say, ‘Will Iran get a strategic weapon and threaten another world war?’ ”

A government consultant with close ties to the civilian leadership in the Pentagon said that Bush was “absolutely convinced that Iran is going to get the bomb” if it is not stopped. He said that the President believes that he must do “what no Democrat or Republican, if elected in the future, would have the courage to do,” and “that saving Iran is going to be his legacy.”

One former defense official, who still deals with sensitive issues for the Bush Administration, told me that the military planning was premised on a belief that “a sustained bombing campaign in Iran will humiliate the religious leadership and lead the public to rise up and overthrow the government.” He added, “I was shocked when I heard it, and asked myself, ‘What are they smoking?’ ”

The rationale for regime change was articulated in early March by Patrick Clawson, an Iran expert who is the deputy director for research at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and who has been a supporter of President Bush. “So long as Iran has an Islamic republic, it will have a nuclear-weapons program, at least clandestinely,” Clawson told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 2nd. “The key issue, therefore, is: How long will the present Iranian regime last?”

When I spoke to Clawson, he emphasized that “this Administration is putting a lot of effort into diplomacy.” However, he added, Iran had no choice other than to accede to America’s demands or face a military attack. Clawson said that he fears that Ahmadinejad “sees the West as wimps and thinks we will eventually cave in. We have to be ready to deal with Iran if the crisis escalates.” Clawson said that he would prefer to rely on sabotage and other clandestine activities, such as “industrial accidents.” But, he said, it would be prudent to prepare for a wider war, “given the way the Iranians are acting. This is not like planning to invade Quebec.”

One military planner told me that White House criticisms of Iran and the high tempo of planning and clandestine activities amount to a campaign of “coercion” aimed at Iran. “You have to be ready to go, and we’ll see how they respond,” the officer said. “You have to really show a threat in order to get Ahmadinejad to back down.” He added, “People think Bush has been focussed on Saddam Hussein since 9/11,” but, “in my view, if you had to name one nation that was his focus all the way along, it was Iran.” (In response to detailed requests for comment, the White House said that it would not comment on military planning but added, “As the President has indicated, we are pursuing a diplomatic solution”; the Defense Department also said that Iran was being dealt with through “diplomatic channels” but wouldn’t elaborate on that; the C.I.A. said that there were “inaccuracies” in this account but would not specify them.)

“This is much more than a nuclear issue,” one high-ranking diplomat told me in Vienna. “That’s just a rallying point, and there is still time to fix it. But the Administration believes it cannot be fixed unless they control the hearts and minds of Iran. The real issue is who is going to control the Middle East and its oil in the next ten years.”

A senior Pentagon adviser on the war on terror expressed a similar view. “This White House believes that the only way to solve the problem is to change the power structure in Iran, and that means war,” he said. The danger, he said, was that “it also reinforces the belief inside Iran that the only way to defend the country is to have a nuclear capability.” A military conflict that destabilized the region could also increase the risk of terror: “Hezbollah comes into play,” the adviser said, referring to the terror group that is considered one of the world’s most successful, and which is now a Lebanese political party with strong ties to Iran. “And here comes Al Qaeda.”

In recent weeks, the President has quietly initiated a series of talks on plans for Iran with a few key senators and members of Congress, including at least one Democrat. A senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, who did not take part in the meetings but has discussed their content with his colleagues, told me that there had been “no formal briefings,” because “they’re reluctant to brief the minority. They’re doing the Senate, somewhat selectively.”

The House member said that no one in the meetings “is really objecting” to the talk of war. “The people they’re briefing are the same ones who led the charge on Iraq. At most, questions are raised: How are you going to hit all the sites at once? How are you going to get deep enough?” (Iran is building facilities underground.) “There’s no pressure from Congress” not to take military action, the House member added. “The only political pressure is from the guys who want to do it.” Speaking of President Bush, the House member said, “The most worrisome thing is that this guy has a messianic vision.”

Read the rest of the story here

Perspective

Yesterday, here in Dallas, I'm sure many of you have seen the pictures of hundreds of thousands marched to protest the upcoming Immigration Laws. Estimates this morning, I heard, was 500,000 people. I heard on NPR speeches referrencing 9/11 and sacrifices given for this country and the odd thing is where were these 500,000 people when me and a few hundred other people were protesting the upcoming War in Iraq some 4 years ago? I know that I shouldnt be angry about it but how many people die per year in Texas from trying to cross the border illegally? I understand that this bill makes being an illegal immigrant a criminal offense and thats wrong, BUT to me, how can you pick and choose this battle and NOT pick up on the fact that this war is an unjust one. That the government lied to the citizenry but NOW we think that they're going to take care of the needs of immigrants? I'm sorry, maybe I'm a bit flawed in my logic, but if they'll lie about why its ok for our sons, daugthers, mothers, fathers, husbands and wives, are allowed to be sent to die, why do we think that they'll suddenly start taking care of people who some say dont have a right to be here anyway?

Wal Mar Wants to Rule the World ... Further Proof Below

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Wal-Mart, ever looking for ways to expand its already huge empire, is asking the government for permission to move into an entirely different industry: running its own in-house bank.

The world's largest retailer will ask the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Monday for permission to open a bank that can process millions of checks and credit-card payments each month. The company says it's not interested in running a consumer bank as well, but some of its opponents still fear such a step could hurt local banks much like the mom-and-pop stores were during Wal-Mart's rapid expansion.

This is Wal-Mart's fourth bid at running a bank — and its request unleashed an unprecedented flood of comments to the FDIC. In response, the FDIC scheduled its first public hearings ever on a bank application.

"It's a landmark battle in both U.S. business and financial services history," said Jerry Comizio, a financial services lawyer for Thacher Proffitt & Wood in Washington, D.C., and a former senior attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Wal-Mart says consumers and retail banks have nothing to fear. It pledges to stay out of branch banking and says it will not provide consumer lending. About 300 institutions operate branches in 1,150 Wal-Mart stores and the company says it doesn't want to compete with them.

Wal-Mart says it can save money if allowed to operate an in-house bank to handle the 140 million credit, debit and electronic-check payments it handles each year. At present, it pays outside companies to handle those transactions.

This time, Wal-Mart is applying for a state charter to open a special type of bank called an industrial loan corporation (ILC) in Utah. The charter needs approval from the FDIC, which would supervise and insure its deposits. ILCs are not regulated by the Federal Reserve, which has oversight over traditional banks.

Concerns are twofold. One is the mixing of banking and commerce — parts of the economy that have traditionally been separate.

The other is concern that a Wal-Mart bank could swallow local banks with its national presence and deep pockets, outcompeting even large institutions such as Bank of America, Chase and Wachovia.

Federal Reserve officials also have weighed in to urge Congress to close a legal loophole that allows nonfinancial companies such as Wal-Mart to open industrial loan corporations.

Austin

There wont be posts this weekend as I'm off to Austin to continue looking for a job and a place to live. I'll post on Monday. Have a good weekend everyone.

Are you paying enough for your Internet access? You may be paying more soon.

In a modest victory for broadband providers, a highly anticipated bill in the U.S. Congress does not include specific rules saying that some Internet sites must not be favored over others.

Rep. Joe Barton, a Texas Republican who heads the committee responsible for telecommunications legislation, released the text Monday and said that a hearing had been scheduled for Thursday at 10 am ET.

"This bill will produce an explosion of opportunity for American workers, and American consumers will get an array of video services that were unimagined just a few years ago," said Barton, chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

A November draft of Barton's bill (click here for PDF) explicitly said broadband providers "may not block, or unreasonably impair or interfere with" Internet access. The final version (PDF), on the other hand, simply gives the Federal Communications Commission the authority to set rules and publish violations.

Under Network neutrality, the companies that own the broadband pipes do not configure their networks in a way that plays favorites. They may not be allowed to transmit their own services at faster speeds, for example, or to charge Net content and application companies a fee for similar fast delivery.

Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, eBay, Amazon.com, Skype and some advocacy groups have been pressing Congress for strict laws requiring Net neutrality, and had been hoping that Barton's bill--called the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act--would mandate it.

"eBay believes that Congress should stand up on behalf of Internet users and small businesses so that they can continue to have unfettered access to all content, applications and services that they wish to use now or in the future," Hani Durzy, the communications director at the auction giant, wrote in an e-mail message Monday. "The Net neutrality provisions in the legislation released today...fall woefully short of that goal."

Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, took aim at Barton's proposal on Monday. "This legislation begins the construction of a multilayered, toll-strewn information superhighway that is out of sync with what has made the Internet work: access for all," said Wyden, who introduced his own bill earlier this month mandating Net neutrality. Digital rights watchdog Public Knowledge added that Barton's bill does not "contain strong enough penalties to discourage misbehavior."

Last week, executives from Verizon Communications and AT&T elaborated on their plans to offer multitiered services and said they have no intention to degrade or block other companies' traffic that rides over the public Internet. Rather, AT&T said, it would like to invest more in video--and simple economics demands a dedicated pipe for that service.

Because Barton's bill does award the FCC some authority, it's not a complete win for broadband providers. The National Cable and Telecommunications Association, the primary cable lobby group, said in response that "we continue to believe that the better course is for the government to resist injecting itself into a thriving, dynamic market."

Last fall, the FCC published a vague "policy statement" (Click here for PDF) on Net neutrality that said consumers should be able to access the Internet content of their choice. This month, though, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin added that broadband providers must be permitted to invest in their networks and "recoup their costs"--a statement that was widely viewed as taking issue with strict Net neutrality mandates.

Read more about net neutrality here and here

Plamegate gets teeth

Indicted ex-Cheney aide told grand jury of White House approval

APRIL 6--A former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney told a federal grand jury that President George W. Bush authorized him to leak information from a classified intelligence report to a New York Times reporter. Details of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's testimony were included in a court filing made yesterday by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, who is prosecuting Libby for perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false statements in connection with the probe into the leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity. According to Fitzgerald's filing, an excerpt of which you'll find below, Libby, 55, testified in 2003 that he provided reporter Judith Miller with information from a classified National Intelligence Estimate after being told by Cheney that Bush "specifically had authorized" him to "disclose certain information in the NIE." Libby also testified that Cheney specifically directed him to speak to other reporters about information in the classified NIE (which addressed Iraq's purported weapons of mass destruction programs) as well as a cable authored by Plame's husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson. The leaking of the classified material was apparently done in an effort to counter claims made by Wilson regarding the White House's justification for invading Iraq. The Fitzgerald filing also notes that Libby told grand jurors that he conferred with David Addington, Cheney's counsel, about the leak directive and that Addington told him "that Presidential authorization to publicly disclose a document amounted to a declassification of the document." While both Bush and Cheney have been interviewed by Fitzgerald, it is unknown whether they confirmed or disputed Libby's assertion that he was authorized to disclose findings in classified reports. Libby, Cheney's former chief of staff, resigned his White House post last October following his indictment on five felony counts.

RIAA To Students ... SUCK IT ....

Either since the day I visited my first aquarium or the day Goldie came into my family’s life, our parents have told us not to tap the glass of the fish tank. It’s cruel to Goldie — I understand and respect that. I mean, heck, I am a vegetarian. But would we have many qualms over a little water perturbation if Goldie were, say, a bloodthirsty shark? I’d knock on that glass to the near-cracking point. And in that spirit, I decided to call up my new friend at the RIAA negotiation hotline again. (Hereafter I’ll refer to her as Bowie, which means “yellow haired,” as I’m pretty sure that’s the case.)

Last time I spoke with Bowie, the conversation was pretty much over after she named $3750 as the settlement amount. (I haven’t actually agreed to settle yet.) So when I called her again, I asked — again — about how to negotiate that amount. I counted on the fact that self-important types wouldn’t be inclined to remember a lowly pirate like me. Bowie didn’t disappoint. She launched into her spiel about how the RIAA doesn’t negotiate settlements. I told her that it was too much to ask for thousands of dollars from a college student who only makes just enough from term and summer employment to still come out a couple thousand in debt.

Bowie replied that the RIAA was oh-so-kind enough to offer a six month repayment plan. At this point, I was beginning to speculate on Bowie’s hair color, and decided to switch tactics. I concisely and calmly explained how the situation was ridiculous: they weren’t offering a settlement, they were issuing an ultimatum! Let us screw you over gently now, or with chains and whips in court. Surely there must be some flexibility for individual cases.

Well, she replied, they do make allowances if something like a medical emergency comes up. Now we’re getting somewhere. “And who would I talk to about a situation like that, because I’d like to talk to them now.”

“Me,” she replied. Ever feel like your nose has just been flattened by something large and solid? I mean, besides the doors at 77 Mass. Ave. “But you’re not in a situation like that.”

Oh, but I am. The Institvte has left me with severe bouts of p-set-induced insomnia and a case of stuck-to-desk-itis that recurs two to three times in a semester, then again just before break. And my wallet certainly takes a hit for it.

But as much as I tried to argue that I was in as unique a situation as someone with medical expenses, there was no getting through. Bowie even had the audacity to say, “In fact, the RIAA has been known to suggest that students drop out of college or go to community college in order to be able to afford settlements.”

Are. You. Shitting. Me.

There you have it, fellow Techsters: proof of the fantastic levels of absurdity to which the RIAA attack has sunk. The Recording Industry of America would rather see America’s youth deprived of higher education, forever marring their ability to contribute personally and financially to society — including the arts — so that they may crucify us as examples to our peers. To say nothing of wrecking our lives in the process. I finally understand what the RIAA meant when they told me “stealing music is not a victimless crime” — the victims hang for all to see.

Please, RIAA — if any competent representative happens to enjoy flipping through The Tech — please tell me Bowie is a moronic tool who can’t help what the Superior Gray Coverage Golden Blonde hair dye does to her mental facilities. Please tell me you actually care about the futures of the age demographic that buys most of your music (http://www.riaa.com/news/marketingdata/pdf/2004consumerprofile.pdf). Your evil pirates are people too, people who enjoy music and almost always still purchase it legitimately. Each has an individual life and circumstances that deserve consideration, if not for the sake of empathy for your fellow man, then for the sake of business sense.

Sure, if you commit a crime against someone, you should be held accountable. But I find it horrifying that anyone would single-mindedly and without compassion process people like a meat grinder set to purée. So while the RIAA continues to play the part of shark, I’ll continue to stand behind the glass, tapping away, wondering which of us is on display.