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(57 of 267)
Re: Matt Taibbi/Rolling Stone
Jun 30, 2009 10:46 AM
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> > Wouldn't it be something if a new industry rose
> from
> > the ashes of the failing US car companies..a
> new
> > company called...the Reliable Transportation
> Company.
> > And this company would rehab used cars! Instead
> of
> > thousands going to the landfills and scrap
> yards
> > every year. They'd rehab and restore and fix any
> and
> > all little problems the cars might have and sell
> them
> > with new warranties for five years or so.
> >
> > It's a green idea, eh? 
>
You just described the car market in Mexico & Cuba.
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13,938
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(56 of 267)
Re: Matt Taibbi/Rolling Stone
Jun 30, 2009 10:45 AM
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> Taibbi played pro baseball for the Red Army in
> Russia,
> & pro basketball in Mongolia.
>
> Then he founded eXile Magazine in Russia where he had
> total journalistic license, and The Beast in Buffalo
> where he didn't.
>
> Corporate ownership of the media and indie
> publications having to rely on corporate ads
> asphyxiates freedom of the press.
>
> Far as I know, the only truly independent media here
> is Harper's Magazine funded by its own wealthy
> foundation.
he played baseball for the red army( moscow red devils) ? . 1st i heard about it and i know several of their old players and they never mentioned an american playing for them. i do know some instructors went over there to do clinics back in 93 but thats about the end of any u.s. involvement.
--
" i thank god...that ronald reagan had...a...daring...relationship...with our dog millie" g.h.w.bush , june 11 2004
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(55 of 267)
Re: Matt Taibbi/Rolling Stone
Jun 30, 2009 10:37 AM
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> How about "The Nation"?
>
Yeah, sure, and others, no doubt. Maybe Rolling Stone and The Onion also. Taibbi wrote for The Nation for a while.
I guess my point is, ala Bob Dylan, everybody's got to serve somebody. Capitalism doesn't seem to honor genius--and maybe as a species we don't honor it. I think more often we torment and destroy it--unless it fits into some exacting category that we find acceptable, and it observes the rules of whatever slot its allowed to operate in. I think Taibbi's a genius. I'm sure he'd scoff at my saying that.
He founded and owned The eXile in Russia, The Beast in Buffalo where his writings were absolutely uninhibited, but he had to leave both for economic reasons.
I'm just not certain that relying on the "kindness of strangers", or in The Nation's case, the kindness of patrons (instead of its own dedicated subscribers) to keep the magazine afloat lends itself to total unrestricted freedom of expression. In the end, all publications have editors that can restrict access and expression.
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35,287
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(54 of 267)
Re: Matt Taibbi/Rolling Stone
Jun 30, 2009 9:55 AM
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Gz
12 pages! Matt was fired up...lol
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3,018
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(53 of 267)
Re: Matt Taibbi/Rolling Stone
Jun 30, 2009 9:36 AM
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There isn't a Rolling Stone original of the article online as far as I can tell. Here's the only online version of the article I could find...
http://www.scribd.com/doc/16763183/TaibbiGoldmanSachs
I bought the edition at the newstand. It's so chock full of historical documentation and timelines I wanted to have it for reference.
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35,287
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(52 of 267)
Re: Matt Taibbi/Rolling Stone
Jun 30, 2009 5:40 AM
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I can't find the latest RS Taibbi article but if I come across it soon, I'll put a copy here. Supposed to be 12 pages railing against Goldman Sachs.
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Posts:
2,492
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11/18/06
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(51 of 267)
Re: Matt Taibbi/Rolling Stone
Jun 30, 2009 12:58 AM
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I'd love to start a company that retrofits popular models of cars that were sold in large quantities with PZEV powertrains. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the technology is ready, using what's available now would be hopelessly underpowered, jaw-droppingly expensive and, using only the electric drive, have a disappointing range.
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Daniel
HBO Forums Abuser
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4,958
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(50 of 267)
Re: Matt Taibbi/Rolling Stone
Jun 29, 2009 11:39 PM
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> Wouldn't it be something if a new industry rose from
> the ashes of the failing US car companies..a new
> company called...the Reliable Transportation Company.
> And this company would rehab used cars! Instead of
> thousands going to the landfills and scrap yards
> every year. They'd rehab and restore and fix any and
> all little problems the cars might have and sell them
> with new warranties for five years or so.
>
> It's a green idea, eh?
Rainy,
Someone tried that a few years ago with the original U.S. Honda Civics, produced from 1973>. They were more than 20 years old by then. They totally rehabbed them, new paint, rebuilt engine, trans, etc. & gave a pretty good warranty. I believe they were selling for $3999 or so. Finally Honda decided they didn't like it & quit selling them parts I believe.
I sold American Motors cars & Jeeps in 1973 & 4. As info a new stripped Gremlin sold for $1999. in 1973 & starting into 1974 models, '74s rose to $2408 or so at end of 1974. This was during gas crisis no matter what some assholes on these threads say. I was selling cars then, I know. 1973 Honda Civics were hard to get new & sold well. A couple friends both bought 1975s new. I bought new 1974 Vega HB in Nov. 1974, easy credit from GMAC.
--
"W stands for WORST!!!!!!!!"
"Only idiots follow an idiot" - s2grand
"Follow the Money" - Mark Felt AKA "Deep Throat"
"We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home." - Edward R. Murrow
"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own fact" - Daniel Patrick Moynihan
The first casualty when war comes is the truth. - Senator Hiram Johnson in 1917
Who murdered Ray Lemme, Michael Connell and George de Mohrenschildt??
Keep the Internet FREE!!!
FREE Don Siegelman!!!
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4,958
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(49 of 267)
Re: Matt Taibbi/Rolling Stone
Jun 29, 2009 11:22 PM
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> Taibbi played pro baseball for the Red Army in
> Russia,
> & pro basketball in Mongolia.
>
> Then he founded eXile Magazine in Russia where he had
> total journalistic license, and The Beast in Buffalo
> where he didn't.
>
> Corporate ownership of the media and indie
> publications having to rely on corporate ads
> asphyxiates freedom of the press.
>
> Far as I know, the only truly independent media here
> is Harper's Magazine funded by its own wealthy
> foundation.
Gzndhyt,
How about "The Nation"?
--
"W stands for WORST!!!!!!!!"
"Only idiots follow an idiot" - s2grand
"Follow the Money" - Mark Felt AKA "Deep Throat"
"We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home." - Edward R. Murrow
"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own fact" - Daniel Patrick Moynihan
The first casualty when war comes is the truth. - Senator Hiram Johnson in 1917
Who murdered Ray Lemme, Michael Connell and George de Mohrenschildt??
Keep the Internet FREE!!!
FREE Don Siegelman!!!
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Posts:
3,018
Registered:
3/21/08
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(48 of 267)
Re: Matt Taibbi/Rolling Stone
Jun 29, 2009 7:57 PM
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Taibbi played pro baseball for the Red Army in Russia,
& pro basketball in Mongolia.
Then he founded eXile Magazine in Russia where he had total journalistic license, and The Beast in Buffalo where he didn't.
Corporate ownership of the media and indie publications having to rely on corporate ads asphyxiates freedom of the press.
Far as I know, the only truly independent media here is Harper's Magazine funded by its own wealthy foundation.
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Posts:
3,018
Registered:
3/21/08
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(47 of 267)
Re: Matt Taibbi/Rolling Stone
Jun 29, 2009 5:10 PM
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Don't open this link if you never met them but you're crying over David Carradine, Farrah Fawcett, or Michael Jackson.
Every time the media dons its grief-stricken face and buries us for days in dead or dying blow-by-blow celeb minutae & whacky presidential revisionist history, try this on for quick relief.
IAEA Report on Iran]52 FUNNIEST THINGS ABOUT THE UPCOMING DEATH OF THE POPE[/url]
Fun brain sludge. When Taibbi's friend, Jeff Koyen, ran this piece as then-editor of New York Press (Taibbi was in CA covering the Michael Jackson trial for his paper, The Beast) so much bullshit hit the fan from Hillary Clinton, Schumer, et al that he tendered his resignation.
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Posts:
35,287
Registered:
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(46 of 267)
Re: Matt Taibbi/Rolling Stone
Jun 18, 2009 4:56 AM
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Matt Taibbi
Taibblog
Jun. 16 2009 - 2:18 pm
Is Corporate Tax Reform Already Dead?
Rather than eliminate the deferral system, however, the administration presented an array of specific measures designed to address some of the more routine (and costly) ways that companies legally shift overseas income to avoid U.S. taxes. In addition, Obama added a proactive concession designed to neutralize his critics: A permanent extension of certain domestic research and development (R&D) tax credits that would facilitate tax planning and stimulate innovation (especially in green technologies), while creating more jobs at home. Overall, the deferral reforms are estimated to recover $210 billion in corporate income taxes, three times the amount needed to offset the R&D credit.
via CorpWatch : Obama?s Tax Haven Reform: Chump Change.
So here?s a story that died quietly, like pretty much all stories about tax reform. Does anyone remember the campaign season last year, when Barack Obama kept promising to do something about corporate tax deferrals, and the steady decline of corporate income tax revenue as compared to all other types of tax revenues?
Well, Obama?s plan has come and gone, and any hope of real reform now seems destined to die a slow, painful death in congress, where the president?s plan, already weak, will be chipped into little bits by the relevant committee chieftains. Charlie Cray?s piece here does a good job of outlining what happened to the reform initiative.
For those who don?t know how this works, the corporate tax system has been insane for more than a generation. Companies can move their profits offshore and defer any taxes on foreign profits until that money is repatriated. Even better, under the current system, companies can claim immediate deductions on their deferred-taxable income. Imagine if you could defer your federal taxes every year but claim your deductions nonetheless; you might end up paying a zero tax rate, or having the government actually owe you money. That is the situation with corporate taxes; although the official tax rate in this country is high enough, around 35 percent, in reality the effective tax rate for most years is far below that. In 2004, a tax amnesty year, the effective corporate tax rate was just 2.3%.
Obama?s plan didn?t end the deferrals (although he sort of promised to do that), but did end the immediate deduction system ? except for a loophole exempting deductions for ?research and development.? That last loophole was a blatant giveaway to the pharmaceutical industry, which was very generous in its support of Obama in the election, but whatever. The point is that the deferral system will remain in place, thanks in large part to intense lobbying from the usual suspects (the Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, etc). And that is a big relief for corporate taxpayers because one can always wait to repatirate profits until the time is right ? for instance when the government decides to grant an amnesty, as it did in 2004 when Bush decided to reduce taxes on all repatriated profits from 35% to 5%.
Just another thing to think about as some of us file our estimated personal taxes this week. Once again there are promises by the Democratic Party that die slow deaths in the congressional bureaucracy, without much in the way of press attention.
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272
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3/28/09
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(45 of 267)
Re: Matt Taibbi/Rolling Stone
Jun 14, 2009 3:24 AM
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Rainy;
There is plenty of new products the world need and the USA can design them and build them. But I think you pointed something out about our American values.
Chogyam Trungpa, Tibetan teacher, wrote a book called "Great Eastern Sun". When we think correctly and our spirit is good we look forward with hope and our lives showing that we care for many things including the future (Eastern Sun). Many people spend frivolously and create a lot of waste in the environment. The sun is always setting for those people (Western Sun). We should live like the sun is always coming up and the future is bright(Eastern Sun).
--
promote the best News outside the US Franchise.
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35,287
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(44 of 267)
Re: Matt Taibbi/Rolling Stone
Jun 14, 2009 2:12 AM
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Then we wouldn't have to put such a high percentage of our incomes into disposable cars.
I think if you spend 20 grand on something, it should last a lifetime, like a house or a diamond, etc.
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35,287
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(43 of 267)
Re: Matt Taibbi/Rolling Stone
Jun 14, 2009 2:09 AM
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Wouldn't it be something if a new industry rose from the ashes of the failing US car companies..a new company called...the Reliable Transportation Company. And this company would rehab used cars! Instead of thousands going to the landfills and scrap yards every year. They'd rehab and restore and fix any and all little problems the cars might have and sell them with new warranties for five years or so.
It's a green idea, eh?
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