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	<title>Drunk With Ink &#187; Corporate Feudalism</title>
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	<description>"A little revolution now and then is a good thing..."</description>
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		<title>Human Life Is Worth $20 To Corporate America</title>
		<link>http://www.DrunkWithInk.com/blog/2009/05/28/human-life-is-worth-20-to-corporate-america/</link>
		<comments>http://www.DrunkWithInk.com/blog/2009/05/28/human-life-is-worth-20-to-corporate-america/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2009 00:08:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>theDrunk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Corporate Feudalism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The World]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.DrunkWithInk.com/blog/?p=103</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Ah dear reader, so in case you still don&#8217;t believe me about the state of our country and our little known servitude to the machine of corporate America and the wealthy, here is a story where even the Government holds a second tier status to a vast Corporate Giant. Now, before you say, well, yeah the Government shouldn&#8217;t be in a superior position to anyone, our rights are more important. This was about the public welfare and the search for a distressed man. According to The Times-Reporter on May 20, 2009 Ohio&#8217;s Carroll County sheriff organized a search party for a 62-year-old Carrollton area man man after deputies responded to a domestic call Wednesday at 2:21 p.m. The sheriff said the caller said the man was destroying the house and breaking windows and other items. But when deputies arrived they were told the man had fled and had taken several bottles of pills. So the sheriff&#8217;s department initiated an intense search overnight by Carroll County sheriff deputies, an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper and the patrol’s airplane. Two K-9 units, several fire departments and 100 individuals on foot also were involved in the search for the man. Sheriff Sgt. Ron Clapper and firefighters found the man about 1 a.m. the morning of May 21st after 11 hours of searching. Now, you may be saying at this point, &#8220;So what? It&#8217;s terrible that some man in Ohio had a bit of a breakdown, but what does this have to do with the Tyranny of American Greed?&#8221; Well, the reason it took more than a hundred people 11 hours to find the man is that Verizon Wireless refused to add in locating him. Here&#8217;s what happend, Sheriff Dale Williams said he attempted to use the man’s cell phone signal to locate him, but the man was behind on his phone bill so the phone had been turned off. Williams contacted Verizon Wireless to request that they turn the phone on for a couple of minutes so they could get a fix on his location. The Verizon operator politely refused to connect the signal unless the sheriff’s department agreed to pay the overdue bill. After some haggling, Williams agreed to pay $20 toward the phone bill in order to find the man. Deputies discovered the man just as Williams was preparing to make arrangements for the payment. “I was more concerned for the person’s life,” Williams said. “It would have been nice if Verizon would have turned on his phone for five or 10 minutes, just long enough to try and find the guy. But they would only turn it on if we agreed to pay $20 of the unpaid bill. Ridiculous.” Williams said he doesn’t know how close the situation was to becoming a tragedy because he’s not a doctor, but he thinks the man’s condition was very serious. So, from Verizon&#8217;s perspective, a human life is worth $20. Now my friends do you realize your place in society?]]></description>
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		<title>You Know If They Could Get Away With Putting Nicotine In Macaroni &amp; Cheese They Would</title>
		<link>http://www.DrunkWithInk.com/blog/2009/05/18/mac-and-cheese-addiction/</link>
		<comments>http://www.DrunkWithInk.com/blog/2009/05/18/mac-and-cheese-addiction/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 May 2009 01:48:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>theDrunk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Corporate Feudalism]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.DrunkWithInk.com/blog/?p=71</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For those of you who only think I rant about financial issues, I have an excellent example of how we are all just slave to the elite and the corporations. Dr. David Kessler, a renowned scientist and former FDA director, set out some seven years ago to figure out the reasons behind the obesity crisis besetting the nation and what he found is laid out in his new book, The End of Overeating. He puts fourth the theory of &#34;Hypereating&#34;. Hypereating is eating that is excessive, out of control and has nothing to do with satisfying hunger. You wouldn&#8217;t give your child a cigarette, or a shot of whiskey, or a snort of cocaine, but every day millions of American parents are giving thier children something almost as addictive—meals laden with sugar, salt and fat. And this is priming them for a lifetime of “conditioned hypereating.” Corporate America, the modern version of the Feudal Lord, has found another way to get us to spend what we don&#8217;t have and buy what we don&#8217;t need. It turns out that our national weight gain is not, contrary to popular belief, because we are far less active. Studies have found little difference in the average energy expended now compared to the 1950s. In reality it is because we are eating way more calories than ever before, in the form of soda, junk food, sweets, fat and salt laden meals, and huge portions. We have become addicted to food, and that addiction starts in very early childhood. Kessler&#8217;s book explains how sugar, fat and salt stimulates the reward centers of the human brain in a very similar way to cigarettes, alcohol and drugs. By eating food that is extremely palatable, we want more, even when we aren&#8217;t hungry, and almost can&#8217;t help ourselves. Since highly palatable junk food is socially acceptable, and often cheaper than the healthy stuff, we keep going back for more and more. And no one knows this better than the food industry. Dr. Kessler interview an industry consultant who says that food manufacturing companies try to hit what they call the “three points of the compass”: &#34;Sugar, fat and salt make a food compelling&#34;, said the consultant. &#8216;They make it indulgent. They make it high in hedonic value, which gives us pleasure.&#34; “Do you design food specifically to be highly hedonic,” I asked. “Oh, absolutely,” he replied without a moment’s hesitation. “We try to bring as much of that into the equation as possible.” It’s incredibly hard in this country of cheap calories to fight the power of the food makers, advertisers and friends and family. Dr. Kessler, who was instrumental in the 90s in bringing about tobacco regulation, says it will take many years to reverse the trend that started almost 30 years ago, just as it took decades to reduce the smoking rate. But this will only happen if people start standing up for their right to eat food that isn&#8217;t designed to addict them and their kids.  Maybe some sort of regulation is required,Ii dunno. Try making something from scratch, use less box meals, and for god&#8217;s sake, drive by McD&#8217;s once in a while without stopping.]]></description>
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		<title>The United States of Banking and Serfdom</title>
		<link>http://www.DrunkWithInk.com/blog/2009/05/10/the-united-states-of-banking-and-serfdom/</link>
		<comments>http://www.DrunkWithInk.com/blog/2009/05/10/the-united-states-of-banking-and-serfdom/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 May 2009 00:55:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>theDrunk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Corporate Feudalism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.DrunkWithInk.com/blog/?p=62</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Ahhhh, smell that, it is the smell of destroyed dreams in the morning.  For those of you who thought my post on April 2, &#8220;This Country Needs An Enema&#8221;, was overwrought, pedantic, unrealistic, Utopian&#8230;.  (umm, let me see what else did I hear, oh yeah, I forgot there were those of you who said &#8220;On the mark&#8221;, correct, the truth, a sad fact&#8230;.  well you get the point) here is another post that ought to generate some emails. So at the end of April we got a huge neon sign of a message explaining who OWNS this country.  A country &#8220;of the people, by the people, for the people&#8221; my ass&#8230; it&#8217;s a country of &#8220;the Rich&#8221;, by &#8220;the Rich&#8221;, for &#8220;the rich&#8221;.  And don&#8217;t start, I am not criticizing Lincoln , he is one of the very few true Americans ever!  And one of my personal heroes. So the neon sign of which I speak is the defeat of the measure that would have allowed judges to modify primary mortgages for borrowers in bankruptcy court by the Banking industry and it&#8217;s minions in the Senate (mostly Republicans, but with 12 Democrats sprinkled in for good measure).  By the way, for anyone interested I will list the Senators at the end of this post. Now here is the thing about primary mortgage modifications in bankruptcy court, it isn&#8217;t a new thing.  Prior to the 1980&#8242;s judges were able to do this, it was the Republican Congress of the 1980&#8242;s that changed it.  And even today, if you have loans on vacation houses, cars, and boats bankruptcy judges have the power to modify those loans. In other words, for people who have arguably &#8220;extra&#8221; stuff besides their home, a judge can reduce principal on the loans for such &#8220;extras&#8221; to make them more affordable, but the judge isn&#8217;t allowed to do that for the home that keeps you off the streets. A key idea behind the legislation was that it could have encouraged lenders to modify loans for borrowers before they were forced into bankruptcy. Across the United States, the measure was estimated to prevent 1.69 million foreclosures and preserve $300 billion in home equity. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said, &#8220;I am sick and tired of being asked to give billions to these banks,&#8221; threatening to oppose any further industry bailouts. &#8220;If they have no sympathy for homeowners facing foreclosure, I don&#8217;t have any sympathy for them.&#8221; Durbin concluded that banks &#8220;frankly own the place.&#8221; Now you all know that I have been a long time fan of President Obama, but, this is one time when his administration either dropped the ball (which is what I sincerely hope happend) or caved in to Banking and Mortgage Industry lobbies.  They made no push to get this passed.  The administration meakly stated they were for the measure, even though it had been one of Candidate Obama&#8217;s ideas during the campaign.  The President refused to use his bully pulpit to get support for this both in the Senate and in the electorate, instead allowing House Democrats to run with it.  Even though in the past he was quick to point out that foreclosures are one of the biggest downward pressures on housing prices. I hate to do it, but, I must agree with much of what was said in the New York Times editorial on May 3rd. So what do we learn from this kiddies?  We learn yet again, that if you are wealthy and have influence, then the rules are designed to elevate you and keep you safe from harm.  However, if you are a working stiff, doing your best to save your home and family, you better go buy a good thick winter coat just in case! And so, as promised, here are the Senators responsible for the defeat, and courtesy of the Huffington Post, how much some of them were paid by the financial industry to sell their souls: Alexander (R-TN) Barrasso (R-WY) Baucus (D-MT) Bennet (D-CO) Bennett (R-UT) Bond (R-MO) Brownback (R-KS) Bunning (R-KY) Burr (R-NC) Byrd (D-WV) Carper (D-DE) Chambliss (R-GA) Coburn (R-OK) Cochran (R-MS) Collins (R-ME) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) Crapo (R-ID) DeMint (R-SC) Dorgan (D-ND) Ensign (R-NV) Enzi (R-WY) Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Gregg (R-NH) Hatch (R-UT) Hutchison (R-TX) Isakson (R-GA) Johanns (R-NE) Johnson (D-SD) Kyl (R-AZ) Landrieu (D-LA) Lincoln (D-AR) Lugar (R-IN) Martinez (R-FL) McCain (R-AZ) McConnell (R-KY) Murkowski (R-AK) Nelson (D-NE) Pryor (D-AR) Risch (R-ID) Roberts (R-KS) Shelby (R-AL) Snowe (R-ME) Specter (D-PA) Tester (D-MT) Thune (R-SD) Vitter (R-LA) Voinovich (R-OH) Wicker (R-MS) How much did the Senate go for, well according to the Huffington Post: &#8220;The banking and real estate industry has funneled roughly $2,000,000 into Landrieu&#8217;s campaign coffers over her 12-year career, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. The financial sector is Nelson&#8217;s biggest backer; he&#8217;s taken $1.4 million from banks and real estate interests and another $1.2 million from insurance firms. Tester has fielded roughly half a million in his two years in office. Lincoln has taken $1.3 million from banking and real estate interests. &#8220;Carper has raked in more than $1.5 million. Baucus, chair of the finance committee, has been on the receiving end of $3.5 million over his career. Specter has hauled in more than $4.5 million and Johnson has gotten some $2.5 million.&#8221;]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>The Fish Stinks From The Head</title>
		<link>http://www.DrunkWithInk.com/blog/2009/03/18/the-fish-stinks-from-the-head/</link>
		<comments>http://www.DrunkWithInk.com/blog/2009/03/18/the-fish-stinks-from-the-head/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:44:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>theDrunk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Corporate Feudalism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.DrunkWithInk.com/blog/?p=12</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A few thoughts about AIG. Personally, I am as upset as anyone about the $160 million that AIG paid in bonuses but, I am more concerned about finding out EXACTLY what they did with the rest of the $160 billion that they got.  How many foreign firms were paid from that on policies they had, etc.  There are two things about the bonus money that would be interesting.  One of them is from Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), he had suggested that a great idea would have been to directed the board of AIG to NOT make the payments, thus forcing the executives to sue AIG.  Now, most likely AIG would loose and the contract would have been enforced but, it would have made them go on public record asking for the money, and they would have had to suffer a little indignity. The other thing I have heard is that Congress could pass a law implementing a 100% income tax on the bonuses.  This might be unconstitutional and certainly contains a lot of &#34;moral hazard&#34; but, it is an interesting idea.]]></description>
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