tfdl

Mitch Albom, author of Tuesdays With Morrie, and The Five People You Meet In Heaven, is also a columnist with The Detroit Free Press. He has an interesting take on the auto industry crisis, and how it is perceived (or at least being framed) by the swells in Washington DC.

He has some particularly pointed remarks for southern senators with strong ties to foreign auto companies.

You've already given hundreds of billions to banking and finance companies -- and hardly demanded anything. Yet you balk at the very idea of giving $25 billion to the Detroit Three. Heck, you shoveled that exact amount to Citigroup -- $25 billion -- just weeks ago, and that place is about to crumble anyhow.

Does the word "hypocrisy" ring a bell?

Sen. Shelby. Yes. You. From Alabama. You've been awfully vocal. You called the Detroit Three's leaders "failures." You said loans to them would be "wasted money." You said they should go bankrupt and "let the market work."

Why weren't you equally vocal when your state handed out hundreds of millions in tax breaks to Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Honda and others to open plants there? Why not "let the market work"? Or is it better for Alabama if the Detroit Three fold so that the foreign companies -- in your state -- can produce more?

Way to think of the nation first, senator.

A good read HERE.

Posted by Edd at 8:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This e-mail message arrived a few weeks ago from my bank, Sovereign...no Santander, the new masters from Madrid. Not the same as the old banker's greeting. This one began, "Estimado cliente". We need to get used to these changes, both large and small. How do you say "global financial meltdown" in Spanish?
View image here.

Posted by Edd at 8:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After eight years of an MBA In Chief, now is definitely the time for leadership that has had some personal experience with life at the base, as in bottom of the heap.
This from an Americorp member serving in Galveston...

Galveston is in trouble. That is almost as much as I can say about the community here. My name is Jimmy Mai and I'm a Member with Americorps' National Civilian Community Corps. We're stationed in Galveston, TX doing needs assessment post- Hurricane Ike. In doing this, we are walking door to door and stopping people on the streets to see what they may need. From that we are making notes on whatever support they require and enter it into a nation-wide database called the Coordinated Assistance Network (or CAN). CAN is a system that allows hundreds of Non- Profit organizations to come together and look at these individual needs and send out help respectfully.

The problem is we- Americorps NCCC members- have no idea how this network is being managed. Case managers are supposed to overlook the people we are putting into this database, but that's not supposed to be for another three weeks, and we have no idea why there is a postponement. We are told that organizations like Metro United Way, Salvation Army, and The Red Cross are apart of this, but we haven't been told any information on what they are doing to use CAN to it's potential.

There is a hinder in the recovery process because of this and FEMA response. Although FEMA has helped a few, the number of untouched cases and unheard people are overwhelming. We go to the community and listen to their stories; unfortunately, there's an agreement on camp that the amount of people being helped, compared to those not, is unacceptable.

Some of the stories we've heard from these people are unfathomable. A man, named Mike, actually read me a few pages from his personal journal. These pages were filled with emotion from day 1 of Hurricane Ike. Everything from confusion, anger, and despair; as he read on, he began to weep as these images ran through his mind a second time. When he asked me "Why does it have to be this hard to get some help?", the only thing i could tell him was "I don't know". This man belives in commmunity; currently he is letting a homeless man live in the upstairs part of his house. He's helped numerous neighbors clean out their homes, but, as for himself, has received nothing.

Recently University Of Texas: Medical Branch's hospital laid off 3,800 employees, leaving much of Galveston's working class out in the dumps. They were Galveston's largest employer, but are now leaving due to Hurricane Ike. 3,800 people now have to worry about being jobless on top of recovering from a major disaster. These people need help. These people need a voice, and they need resources to help them through this.

This community has many strong points; they are accustomed to bad weather, and have an amazing resilience and sense of hope. But Hurricane Ike is really testing them; lets help them fan the flames once again. If anyone knows anything that might help this area, please let me know. If anyone would like to call or meet for further discussion, don't hesitate to contact me, because many corps members and I are in need of information and networking that might help these people. Americorps members are at an advantage in that we experience first hand what this community is going through. We've heard the stories, but now we need to get something done.

Posted by Edd at 4:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Fortunes change like the swish of a horse's tail", said Buddha. This is true of countries as well as individuals.
On the President-elect's new website, change.gov, there is a section called an American Moment. This election is also a moment for the world. Even as the American Empire seems to be a bit diminished currently, our present policies still impact almost every person on the globe.
Isn't it remarkable that with the swish of that horse's tail on January 20th we will have a president who is a constitutional scholar replacing a man who may not have ever even read the Constitution?
The new administration has already begun to lay out the great issues they plan to address, and are beginning to model a transparency in governing that seemed all but lost.

The new website, like the new Obama administration really is a site for sore eyes!

Posted by Edd at 9:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)