Seattle's Bullyboy wins out again
For The Observer/Guardian UK
Britain had to go to war to force China to buy opium. But the USA hasn’t had to fire a single bullet to make the world surrender to our Disk Operating System.
Nanwalek Rocks Natives at Ground Zero of the Exxon Valdez oil spill
At the far side of Alaska’s Kenai Fjord glacier, a heavily armed rock-and-roll band held lock-down control of the politics and treasury of Nanwalek, a Chugach village, until four years ago.
Jack Straw's Plan to Keep it Zipped
For The Observer/Guardian UK
I am convinced the only person in Britain with a true understanding of the consequences of Freedom of Information is Jack Straw. The home secretary’s critics claim his resistance to FoI is rooted in some pathological distrust of open democracy. That’s quite unfair. His concerns are rational indeed. This government has some very specific information – records of meetings,phone calls, deals – it would hope to keep very un-free.
Praise Uncle Sam and Pass the 18p an Hour
For The Observer/Guardian UK
At Wal-Mart’s 1992 general meeting, founder Sam Walton asked shareholders to sing God Bless America. The 15,000 Wal-Martians responded to Sam’s call – even though Walton had been dead for two months.
Bank of Scotland Counts Cost of US Misadventure
For The Observer/Guardian UK
The story of Bank of Scotland’s painful association with American TV evangelist Pat Robertson can easily be told as a hilarious tale of misjudgement, a public relations disaster that provided huge entertainment for all.
UK Fat Cats? Mere Kittens
For The Observer/Guardian UK
It’s that time of year again, when executive pay league tables hit the headlines and set off a chorus of union leaders, professors of ethics and the plain jealous who yowl about fat cat pay.
The Monks Partnership issues the most-watched listing and has given The Observer a sneak preview. This year, the finger-waggers won’t be disappointed. The bosses’ pay is up by an average 9 per cent over last year’s 546,000, excluding share options. Take away inflation and that’s three-and-a-half times the percentage pay hike for the average British employee.
Bank Appoints Controversial TV Evangelist
The Bank of Scotland has appointed the controversial American TV evangelist Dr Pat Robertson as chairman of its US retail banking holding company. The fundamentalist minister is known in America as founder and president of the 1.2-million member far-right Christian Coalition and for his statements attacking feminists, homosexuals, Democrats and Hindus.
Are Scots on the Oregon Trail a lot Smarter than they seem?
While we were in jail in Washington during the war in Vietnam, my comrades and I spent part of our night as guests of the state singing several choruses of the song, ‘Waist Deep in the Big Muddy’.
I would not compare Scottish Power chairman Ian Robinson to President Lyndon Johnson. And Robinson’s invasion of the US power industry through his plan to purchase PacifiCorp of Oregon is not exactly the landing at Da Nang. But there is a little bit of LBJ’s resolute optimism, while marching deeper into the quicksand, which has me humming that old song.
Scottish Power's US Bid 'is Dead'
Talks on Friday failed to boost Scottish Power’s $4.7 billion bid for the US electricity company PacifiCorp. Earlier in the week it was dealt a possibly fatal blow when analysts at the Oregon state utility commission urged regulators to reject it.
Native Inc Oils Wheels in Alaska
For The Observer/Guardian UK
Holy week is especially solemn in Chenega. On Good Friday 1964, a tidal wave swept over the Chugach native village on Chenega Island in Alaska’s Prince William Sound. Every home was washed out to sea. One-third of the residents drowned.
Don't Buy Exxon's Fable Of The Drunken Captain
For The Guardian UK
Thirty years ago this month, Alaskan natives sold Exxon and its partners an astronomically valuable patch of land — the oil terminal at Valdez for a single dollar.
The Chugach Natives of the Prince William Sound refused cash. Rather, in 1969, they asked only that the oil companies promise to protect their fishing and seal hunting grounds from oil.
Stiff US Opposition to Scottish Power
For The Observer/Guardian UK
In an attempt to salvage its troubled takeover of US electricity company Pacificorp, Scottish Power on Friday presented a detailed list of the benefits to customers.
