by cameron | Mar 24, 2008 | capitalism, Iraq, Uncategorized
I’ve been having a discussion over email with a friend about Barak Obama, based on my post the other day where I said he’s just like Bush (for denying that the USA has caused the terrorist problem by interfering in the government of other countries). My friend forwarded to me an email from Obama’s mailing list where he talks about troop withdrawal, suggesting he’s one of the good guys. I replied:
“Get Out Of Iraq” is an easy story to sell to the American people at the moment. There is enough support for it with enough corporations that he can get away with it. So Obama gets no points for telling that story. And while he continues to deny that America has caused most of the problems they are facing around the world at the moment, I don’t think he can actually change the underlying problems. At the end of the day, Obama works for the same people that Bush or Hillary or McCain does – the rich white guys. And to get power he has to agree to represent their interests just like anyone else. The two-party system in the US (as in Australia) is there to give us the illusion of freedom of choice. But the system is inherently biased to represent the interests of the people with wealth and power. Look at Ron Paul – most people don’t even know he exists. Why? He’s been getting a massive amount of the primary vote. It’s because the media, and his own Republican executive, have completely ignored him. Why? Because he says the things they don’t want people to hear. If you speak the truth, you get ignored. Anyone, including Obama, who is operating inside the system is bound by the same rules. Say what we want you to say. Don’t say anything you’re not allowed to say – or suffer the consequences.
Like this from Ron Paul:
Of course, while the supporters of increased regulation claim Enron as a failure of “ravenous capitalism,” the truth is Enron was a phenomenon of the mixed economy, rather than the operations of the free market. Enron provides a perfect example of the dangers of corporate subsidies. The company was (and is) one of the biggest beneficiaries of Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank and Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) subsidies. These programs make risky loans to foreign governments and businesses for projects involving American companies. While they purport to help developing nations, Ex-Im and OPIC are in truth nothing more than naked subsidies for certain politically-favored American corporations, particularly corporations like Enron that lobby hard and give huge amounts of cash to both political parties. Rather than finding ways to exploit the Enron mess to expand federal power, perhaps Congress should stop aiding corporations like Enron to pick the taxpayer’s pockets through Ex-Im and OPIC.
Now, THAT isn’t going to make him many friends in corporate America.
Then my friend asked me why I thought Obama works for the rich, white guys. Here’s why.
It’s simple. Where do you think Obama’s campaign finance is coming from? Poor black people in Louisiana? Let’s see – he’s raised $16 million to date for his campaign. Let see who this came from.
Top Contributors
| 1 |
Goldman Sachs |
$535,678 |
| 2 |
JPMorgan Chase & Co |
$333,337 |
| 3 |
UBS AG |
$306,880 |
| 4 |
Kirkland & Ellis |
$304,264 |
| 5 |
Exelon Corp |
$299,011 |
| 6 |
University of Chicago |
$293,481 |
| 7 |
Lehman Brothers |
$288,197 |
| 8 |
Skadden, Arps et al |
$282,841 |
| 9 |
Sidley Austin LLP |
$279,857 |
| 10 |
Citigroup Inc |
$278,336 |
| 11 |
Harvard University |
$267,541 |
| 12 |
University of California |
$251,194 |
| 13 |
National Amusements Inc |
$237,050 |
| 14 |
Jenner & Block |
$213,907 |
| 15 |
Jones Day |
$212,525 |
| 16 |
Morgan Stanley |
$212,276 |
| 17 |
Google Inc |
$201,107 |
| 18 |
Mayer Brown |
$184,333 |
| 19 |
Credit Suisse Group |
$171,800 |
| 20 |
Citadel Investment Gro |
$171,650 |
This is LITERALLY the list of people he works for. Follow the money, people, follow the money. These people don’t “donate” money to a campaign. They “invest” in it. They expect to get something in return for their contribution.
Let’s look at the top one, Goldman Sachs, one of the world’s largest investment banks. You have to ask – what would Goldman Sachs want to get for their investment? Healthcare reform? Perhaps. They also have a private equity arm. What are their significant holdings?
Major Assets (GS Group)
- Ayco L.P. – (Financial Advisory)
- Cogentrix Energy (Energy)
- American Casino & Entertainment Properties (Casinos)
- Coffeyville Resources LLC (Refinery)
- Myers Industries, Inc. (Plastic & Rubber)
- USI Holdings Corporation (Insurance & Finance)
- East Coast Power LLC (Energy)
- Zilkha Renewable Energy (Energy)
- Queens Moat Houses (Hotels)
- Sequoia Credit Consolidation (Finance)
- Shineway Group (Meat Processing)
- Equity Inns, Inc. (Hotels)
- KarstadtQuelle property group (Retailer)
- Nursefinders Inc. (Healthcare)
- Latin Force Group, LLC (Media)
They have a healthcare investment. They will want to make sure it does well, so whether or not they want reform depends on what their business needs. They have an investment in renewable energy. Think they care about oil?
The Google investment is interesting. What do you think they expect to get for their money?
BTW, the above listings are from a terrific site called Open Secrets. Check it out.
by cameron | Mar 24, 2008 | Podcast, TPN
This week on TPN – discussions about photowalking, the future of social networking, the Bear Stearns financial crisis, nuclear energy, a $3 Billion Man, a reversal of the full mount position, The Wire finale, footy, What To Do When You Become The Boss, box office results, with lots of free music and much, much more!
Don’t miss out – feed your brain by subscribing via RSS or email (fill in the below box) to get a weekly list of all of the new episodes on TPN in one easy-to-read format!
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Ben Kenney is the host of theWatt Podcast a well established and popular discussion show about all things energy. We talked about power decisions in Canada, CANDU technology, and New Brunswick’s electricity export plans.(MP3 – 22 MB – 01:03:49 M) Listen to Atomic Show #087 Here! Ben Kenney is…
Join Norg Media’s Bronwen Clune, Scouta’s Richard Giles, TechCrunch’s Duncan Riley and briefly Tangler’s Mick Lubinskas for a chat on Flame Wars in the week that was (including exclusive comment fromDuncan Riley) Instablogs funding and Citizen Journalism Web 2.0 newspeak and the need for…
We’ve had a number of request to see Scot on the mat. Here’s the result. We are not responsible for any injuries or damage that may occur when you fall off your chair laughing. Master Chris…
DOWNLOAD the podcast by right-clicking this link or press play and listen in your browser. Today In Music History: March 21, 2008
Jamais Cascio is a San Francisco Bay Area-based writer and ethical futurist. He joins me today to talk about our growing reliance on online social networks and the net in general as forms of identity management. What are some of the consequences of putting your personal information online or -…
Howard Shaffer is a Rickover selected former Navy nuclear officer, he helped to build and operate several plants in the US and Taiwan, and volunteered throughout his career to share nuclear information with anti-nuclear advocates.(MP3 – 19.8 MB – 00:57:28 M) Listen to Atomic Show #086 Here! Howard…
Box Office Weekly #110 (MP3 – 16 MB – 23 min)Listen here: In today’s show, weekend box office figures, TV ratings and these stories: Let the NBC fire sale begin!… Broadway flushes out a new venue… and in this week’s commentary Dan suggests something to watch if you’re sure you don’t want…
EELS44 This edition of the show is Sponsored by Nick Hodge, Professional Geek at Microsoft.The Extraordinary Everyday Lives Show #044 – Thursday 20th March 2008 : Al Upton and the miniLegendsDOWNLOAD AND SAVE – Right-click. 1:05:03 22.9MbExtraordinary Everyday Lives show #44 – Al Upton and the…
DOWNLOAD the podcast by right-clicking this link or press play and listen in your browser. Today In Music History: March 20, 2008
The Digital Photography Show #87: HDR, Photowalking and More with Jeff Revell.[audio:http://digiphoto.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_digiphoto_20080318_087.mp3]March 19, 2008 : Today, we talk with uber-enthusiast Jeff Revell about HDR images, photowalking, the newest Nikons, the…
Out Of Sight, by Uncut (www.thenewviolence.com). Originally aired in TPN Rock at SXSW 2007. Tags: Uncut.
DOWNLOAD the podcast by right-clicking this link or press play and listen in your browser. Today In Music History: March 19, 2008
DOWNLOAD the podcast by right-clicking this link or press play and listen in your browser. Today In Music History: March 18, 2008
Getting that first management job can be exciting- or really tough. Here are some great tips for survival. Wayne Turmel talks to Bob Selden, author of What To Do When You Become The Boss. We also salute two Australian explorers whose first management gig didn’t go so swell. It’s been that kind…
This weeks episode is co-hosted by Daisy Pearce. Daisy is the captain of the Darebin Falcons who are the reigning VWFL premiers. Daisy is a superstar footballer who played her junior footy with the boys until she was 15 before gaining all Australian selection in the womens league at age 16. She’s…
While I’m off having my ears melted from my head at Austin’s SXSW (expect a highlights show at some point!) it’s the monthly…
DOWNLOAD the podcast by right-clicking this link or press play and listen in your browser. Today In Music History: March 17, 2008
Leon Gettler and Garry Barker examine the Bear Stearns financial crisis as it touches world banks and Australia in particular and suggest we ain’t seen nothing yet. They touch on Telstra and the Australian national broadband network, yet to be built, and do a bit of forecasting on interest rates.
David Moore is Director of Enterprise Engagements at Hewlett Packard in Sydney, Australia – and through the course of his career, has been involved in closing deals totaling in excess of $3 Billion.Prior to joining HP, David had a long career at Deloitte Consulting, as Industry Leader in Energy,…
This time we cover the differences between sport martial arts and self defense and Michael looks at a reversal of the full mount position.Please subscribe to this version of the podcast in…
Join Norg Media’s Bronwen Clune, Scouta’s Richard Giles, and TechCrunch’s Duncan Riley for a chat on The new and old Microsoft Balancing family life and a startup The appeal of Live internet TV Mark Zuckerberg/ Sarah Lacy WordPress vs MovableType Download Stream:
I thought it was time to go back to the technology of productivity, and who better than David Gray of the The Global Geek Podcast, to discuss all things geek and beautiful. Patient Admin Systems! – Tony sold ‘em, Dave now uses them. They record things like blood pressure straight into…
by cameron | Mar 23, 2008 | capitalism, CIA, US politics
If you’ve seen the recent Hollywood blockbuster “Charlie Wilson’s War”, you probably think you know why the CIA decided to lend support to the mujahadeen in Afghanistan in 1980. It was to help defeat the evil invading Soviet army – right?
Wrong.
According to former CIA director Robert Gates and President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brezinski, the CIA were involved in Afghanistan at least six months before the Soviet’s invaded. Okay, I know this isn’t new news, but I’m just catching up.
The CIA, with Presidential approval, were illegally supporting terrorist forces within the country to help them attack and overthrow the pro-Soviet government run by Nur Muhammed Taraki. Taraki, who had taken power via a coup from Mohammed Daoud Khan, a member of the Royal Family, was upsetting Muslims by trying to modernize the country – including the establishment of full women’s rights and the implementation of land reform. These are things you’d think the USA would support, right?
Wrong.
The USA was doing everything they could to prevent the spread of Communism. But why?
I’ve often wondered where this American fear of communism comes from. I know we’ve all been programmed from birth to believe “communism = evil, capitalism = good”, but why? If communism is just another political idea, like being a Democrat versus being a Republican, why not just let “the people” decide what they want? Why the massive scare campaign about the ‘red terror’?
I finally figured it out. Okay, I know, I must be dumb. It’s because the powers than run the USA are wealthy white men, otherwise known as the bourgeoisie. They are, by definition, anti-Communist. They have money and power and communism would take that power away from them and disperse it amongst the people. The success of socialism or communism around the world would encourage the people inside the USA to think about the benefits of Marxism and this would run contrary to the self-interest of the American upper classes. In fact, it is probably the last thing they want the people to think about. Think about football, celebrities, game shows, Saddam Hussein, New York Governors and their expensive hookers, ANYTHING – just don’t think about a different political system which would stop protecting the position of the privileged and the wealthy.
So anyway, back to Afghanistan. When the civil war, funded and supported by the CIA, was getting out of control, President Taraki asked the Soviets to help. They told him that sending troops in would be a VERY BAD IDEA. They knew what would happen. They knew the USA would use it as a pretext for further support.
After Taraki was assassinated, allegedly by a member of his own Government, then the Soviets invaded. And the rest is history.
Why is all this important? Because it goes to show, yet again, how you can’t just believe the official version of events.
If you believe the official version of events, the CIA stopped meddling in the affairs of other countries after the Church Committee Report came out in 1975. Yeah, right.
by cameron | Mar 23, 2008 | capitalism, Uncategorized
I’ve been reading a lot about Socialism and Communism lately but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the best things about Capitalism. This story I read this morning about how Hugh Hefner started PLAYBOY is terrific. I haven’t fact checked it but who cares – it’s the myth that counts (for once):
In the early 1950s, Hefner worked as a promotion copywriter for Esquire. When the magazine turned down his request for a $5 raise, he quit his job and decided to launch another publication geared to young men.
(…)
Playboy magazine hit newsstands in December 1953, shrewdly featuring Marilyn Monroe on its first cover. That issue sold more than 50,000 copies.
Within a few years, Playboy’s circulation topped 700,000 and then surpassed the 1 million mark, eclipsing rival Esquire along the way. Its circulation is now about 2.6 million, according to a spokeswoman. When Playboy celebrated its 25th anniversary at Tavern on the Green in New York City, Esquire’s former editor Clay Felker presented Hefner with a replica of a $5 bill.
“My face was on it,†Hefner said with a smile. “Felker told me, ‘All is forgiven. Please come home.’â€
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by cameron | Mar 22, 2008 | Australian media, Iraq
The title of this post is from a proposal I received for one of my outsourcing projects at the moment. I’m using elance.com to get a few things done and the process is intriguing. I have my new coach Tom to thank for pushing me to consider outsourcing. I’m finding it interesting on a number of levels. When you get proposals from people all over the world wanting your business, it can make you feel important and powerful – but it also challenges your own biases. Things like language. Should it bother me if someone bidding for build a brochure for me writes poor English in their proposal? I’ll be providing all of the text for the brochure anyway, so logically – no. But yet I still find myself gravitating to the bids with the better command of English.
The project I am awarding this morning is for the creation of the development of a two-page promotional brochure for TPN’s corporate consulting business. In 24 hours, I received 13 bids on the project, from places like Buenos Aires, Sverdlovskaja, West Bengal, Maharashtra… and New York. Some of the proposals are written in excellent English and some struggled.
The bidder from Sverdlovskaja (Russia) actually included some examples of his previous work, including one brochure which used a golden spiral (which I’m quite fond of) in the design, and it’s amazing how much that impacted on my decision to go with the firm. What impacted most, though, was his list of positive feedback from people who have worked with him in the past and his price, which was in the median of the bids I received.
Now I’m working on a project to build a marketing database to send the brochures to. The plan is to have 4 – 5 outsourced projects being worked on while I’m moving over the next week. Today is D-Day minus 5.
——————
My other thought for today is how biased THE AUSTRALIAN continues to be towards the Right. Over brekky at a local Yarraville cafe this morning I glanced through the first couple of sections of the paper and it AMAZED me how many of the stories had a pro-Right bias. They were all about how bad Saddam was, what a good decision invading Iraq was, how dodgy the recommendations in Prof. Garnaut’s draft report on carbon trading are, how dodgy the new ALP government is, etc. These weren’t all “opinion” pieces, btw. Even the selection of stories the paper covers and gives prominence to shows a strong Right bias. Why am I surprised? I guess that with the current trend away from the Right in Australia, the USA and the UK, I kind of expected Murdoch to tell his minions to move with the times. It seems he has other plans.
