From fork-admin@xent.com Sun Sep 22 21:57:47 2002 Return-Path: Delivered-To: yyyy@localhost.spamassassin.taint.org Received: from localhost (jalapeno [127.0.0.1]) by jmason.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 805E016F03 for ; Sun, 22 Sep 2002 21:57:46 +0100 (IST) Received: from jalapeno [127.0.0.1] by localhost with IMAP (fetchmail-5.9.0) for jm@localhost (single-drop); Sun, 22 Sep 2002 21:57:46 +0100 (IST) Received: from xent.com ([64.161.22.236]) by dogma.slashnull.org (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g8MFIsC05952 for ; Sun, 22 Sep 2002 16:18:55 +0100 Received: from lair.xent.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by xent.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8A8032940EC; Sun, 22 Sep 2002 08:15:07 -0700 (PDT) Delivered-To: fork@spamassassin.taint.org Received: from homer.perfectpresence.com (unknown [209.123.207.194]) by xent.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5189129409A for ; Sun, 22 Sep 2002 08:14:05 -0700 (PDT) Received: from adsl-157-233-109.jax.bellsouth.net ([66.157.233.109] helo=regina) by homer.perfectpresence.com with smtp (Exim 3.36 #1) id 17t8V8-00042A-00; Sun, 22 Sep 2002 11:18:26 -0400 From: "Geege Schuman" To: "Owen Byrne" Cc: "Gary Lawrence Murphy" , "Mr. FoRK" , , "Digital Bearer Settlement List" Subject: Crony Capitalism (was RE: sed /s/United States/Roman Empire/g) Message-Id: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-Msmail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2911.0) In-Reply-To: <3D8DDBC8.8030602@permafrost.net> Importance: Normal X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 X-Antiabuse: This header was added to track abuse, please include it with any abuse report X-Antiabuse: Primary Hostname - homer.perfectpresence.com X-Antiabuse: Original Domain - xent.com X-Antiabuse: Originator/Caller UID/GID - [0 0] / [0 0] X-Antiabuse: Sender Address Domain - barrera.org Sender: fork-admin@xent.com Errors-To: fork-admin@xent.com X-Beenthere: fork@spamassassin.taint.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.11 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Friends of Rohit Khare List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Date: Sun, 22 Sep 2002 11:15:34 -0400 reminds me of Cheney during the VP debates, when he declared his wealth was not the product of government favors. http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/communications/logs/Gulf-War/desert-stor m/07 (good time to refresh our memories re iraq . . .) starting a debate on govt. contracts, gg -----Original Message----- From: fork-admin@xent.com [mailto:fork-admin@xent.com]On Behalf Of Owen Byrne Sent: Sunday, September 22, 2002 11:04 AM To: Owen Byrne Cc: Gary Lawrence Murphy; Mr. FoRK; fork@spamassassin.taint.org; Digital Bearer Settlement List Subject: Re: sed /s/United States/Roman Empire/g Owen Byrne wrote: > R. A. Hettinga wrote: > >> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- >> Hash: SHA1 >> >> At 10:32 AM -0400 on 9/21/02, Gary Lawrence Murphy wrote: >> >> >> >> >>> Cool --- I wasn't aware that the US had lifted it's population out >>> of poverty! When did this happen? I wonder where the media gets the >>> idea that the wealth gap is widening and deepening... >>> >> >> >> All the world loves a smartass... >> >> :-). >> >> Seriously. Look at he life expectancy and human carrying capacity of >> this continent before the Europeans got here. Look at it now. Even >> for descendants of the original inhabitants. Even for the descendents >> of slaves, who were brought here by force. >> >> More stuff, cheaper. That's progress. >> >> Poverty, of course, is not relative. It's absolute. Disparity in >> wealth has nothing to do with it. >> >> It's like saying that groups have rights, when, in truth, only >> individuals do. Like group rights, "disparity" in wealth is >> statistical sophistry. >> >> >> Besides, even if you can't help the distribution, industrial wealth >> is almost always transitory, and so is relative poverty, even when >> there are no confiscatory death-taxes. The 20th anniversary Forbes >> 400 just came out, and only a few tens of people are still there >> since 1982, a time which had significantly higher marginal taxes on >> wealth, income, and inheritance than we do now. More to the point, >> they're nowhere near the top. >> >> Lovely quote from the Forbes 400 list: "and not a single Astor, Vanderbilt or Morgan rates a mention on the current Forbes Four Hundred. " But you have to studiously ignore the 4 Rockefellers, 3 Gettys, 3 Hearsts, Fords, Kelloggs, Wrigleys, and so on. There are more self-made people on the list than I previously alluded to - I made a mistake. Most of them seem to have Ivy League educations, or are Ivy League dropouts, suggesting to me that they weren't exactly poor to start with. Some of them have lovely self-made stories like: #347, Johnston, Summerfield K Jr track this personTrack This Person | See all Bacon Makers 70 , self made *Source: Food , Coca-Cola* (quote , executives , news ) Net Worth: *$680 mil* returnee Hometown: Chattanooga , TN *Marital Status:* married , 5 children Grandfather James and partner landed first Coca-Cola bottling franchise in 1899. Company passed down 3 generations to Summerfield 1950s. Became largest independent Coke bottler. Merged with Coca-Cola Enterprises 1991. (...by a compensation committee) Owen