Sunday, May 24, 2009

When Corporations Rule the World

By David C. Korten

I wrote a review of Mr. Korten’s second book recently, entitled, “The Post- Corporate World”. In it I stated I would probably read his first book as well, and I just did. He points out with clear examples the obvious truth that huge mega-corporations today truly rule the world. I personally have been a believer for some time now. It took awhile as my life’s career was working for a large corporation for which I had and still do respect and support. I did not want to believe what had occurred in the 60 years following the Second World War.
To digress, corporations up until the late 30’s had done much the same as today, but they were exposed and tamed by the Roosevelt Administration. He referred to them as “Robber Barons”. In his new deal he took drastic steps to bring them under scrutiny and control by enactment of legislation. One of the controls was the Glass-Steagall Act enacted into law in 1934 to reduce the risk of bank failure. It prohibited banks from engaging in the insurance business. In 1998 President Clinton together with a Republican Congress joined forces in repealing this law. Huge mergers of banks and insurance companies were created. Since then investment companies have been added to the mix. The disastrous result we are currently paying the price for, as we taxpayers bail them out to the tune of trillions of dollars with no end in sight.
The framework for corporate takeover started with the best of intentions at a conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire July 1-22, 1944. Out of that came The World Bank, the International Monetary System (IMF) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The purpose was to create order in the world economy so that goods and services could be made available between countries without artificial barriers. It was signed by 44 countries. As corporations increased their power the effect has been to decrease sovereignty of countries including our own. In effect corporations rule with impunity. He provides many instances to support his theory.
He points out the obvious that governments all over the world including America have been doing their bidding with their power increasing year by year. He proposes solutions and shares the names of organizations that increasingly are fighting back. Make no mistake, in America it is not one party as compared to the other. They are both under control of the money machine.
Read this book and get involved.

Jack B. Walters
3961 N. Hillwood Circle
Tucson, AZ 85750
(520) 722-2958
May 24, 2009
jackbwalters@yahoo.com

Thursday, May 21, 2009

My Sky Dive Experience

May 18, 2009, yours truly finally accomplished his goal of parachuting, as they say, out of a perfectly operating airplane. Ironically it was exactly one year ago that I had scheduled a dive with hiking friends: Gary Fabiano and Silver Wilkie. The day before, I was guiding a group from the club to four peaks in the Tombstone area. While attempting the final climb of the day I fell and dislocated my right shoulder. It was a painful experience. The next day Roxanna drove me to Eloy to be with Gary and Silver to cheer them on. They both accomplished it and thoroughly enjoyed the drop.
Gary promised to go again with me. He left town for the summer and it took quite awhile before I had confidence in using my right arm. We would talk about it from time to time until finally we agreed on a date. Ursula Pillar was going to join us. At the last moment Gary had to cancel because of an appointment with his eye surgeon and Ursula decided not to go as she was preparing for a visit to Germany to visit her daughter. That left just me with Roxanna as the driver when lo and behold Mike Harris said he would join us and video tape my drop. This was important as he is a skilled sky diver with 230 drops to his credit. Having his quiet confidence was calming to me.
Actually I was never scared. I looked at it no differently than a person putting confidence in a physician and allowing him to do whatever is required. Sky Diving is no different. I should explain that I was not parachuting by myself, it is called tandem. I was strapped in front of a fine young man. His name is Jason Sanders. He like the others takes people like me up five or six times every day. They know what they are doing. I had complete confidence that it would be a thrill which I would live to tell about.
The airport is named, Sky Dive Arizona, located in Eloy, about forty miles North of Tucson. It is world famous. There were teams from the Air Force Academy practicing on the same day. We remember, a year ago there was a large group from Asia. I checked in at 9: 30 AM, watched a video and then signed documents holding them and the rest of the world blameless in case of injury or death for any reason. This was the worst part as they described the various things that could go wrong. We made friends with three young students who would be jumping with me. Our turn came at 11:30 when we met our instructor. We stepped into our harness which was adjusted to fit but not tightened, then at noon we were led to an open wagon, climbed on next to our instructor and driven to the airplane. I was first on which meant that we were the last to jump and the last to land. As we reached 13,000 ft. we unbuckled our seat belts and for the first time Jason pulled me to him hooking up the clamps and tightening the straps until we were essentially one person. We hitched our way closer to the door until there were no more people. He shoved me to the opening, grabbed the bar and swung out the door. At 120 miles per hour, that is quite a rush. After dropping 3,000 ft. he signaled it was time for me to pull the rip cord. I pulled, but I was also aware of his hand on mine making sure it was done sharply. We were pulled upwards and then started our gradual descent. He put my hands on the control rings so I could move from side to side. It was then he asked if I liked Roller Coasters. I replied no. If I had said yes he would have had us tumbling about. I had absolutely no interest in doing that, so we just floated quietly to earth. At about three thousand feet he took the rings from me so he could assure a safe landing on the grassy area in front of the Academy. I held my legs up so he could land on his feet. We did but then I sat down. He got me up and released me at which time I started towards Roxanna and Mike. I felt dizzy but did not get sick. The pressure on my ears just wouldn’t release for quite awhile afterwards. We treated Mike to lunch and returned home.
Just another bucket list item checked off.


Jack B. Walters
3961 N. Hillwood Circle
Tucson, AZ 85750
(520) 722-2958
May 20, 2009
jackbwalters@yahoo.com

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Lemay- a book report

By: Barrett Tillman

Those of you old enough to have seen the movie, “Dr. Strangelove”, will recall the heavyset General with his jowls hanging down and a stogie in his mouth. This was a caricature of General Curtis E. Lemay. Everyone enjoyed the movie. It was designed to show the sickness that we lived with during the cold war. America and Russia poured our collective wealth into thousands of nuclear warheads and the delivery systems to send them on their way. Should that have occurred hundreds of millions would have died and there was concern that perhaps the world would cease to function as the result with the sun blotted out by the mushroom clouds.
While the movie was outrageous, it was not fair to General Lemay. This was a man who devoted his life in defense of our country. He was born in 1906 and early on developed a love for flying. He went through the lean years before the war and was ready when war broke out. He is credited with designing the box formation used by our B-17’s in Europe to defend against German fighter planes thereby saving countless American lives. He was transferred to the Pacific with the first B-29’s and is credited for making them into the weapon they became. He sent hundreds into low level fire bombing missions over Tokyo and other major cities causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands. He then sent the planes that dropped the Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It, of course was not his decision, that decision came from President Truman, but it was he that carried it out. At that point the war was over. I am one of those that believe the war would have continued on with great loss of American lives had the air war not done its job. Brutal, yes, but then all warfare is brutal. The difference between average men and General Lemay was that he did what he had to do to end the war.
He was in command in Europe when Russia shut off all land transport to Berlin. It was he who started the airlift and kept improving it until such time as Russia relented.
He was the man who organized SAC, the Strategic Air Command. Under his leadership it continued to expand and improve throughout the cold war. Because of his leadership a nuclear war did not happen. Russia realized the futility of sending bombers or missiles our way. It would have meant the complete destruction of the Soviet Union.
He went from here to Washington advancing to Chief of Staff of all armed forces doing whatever he could to keep America strong. He retired in 1965 after serving 37 years. The world had changed and he was out of step. He, like General McArthur wanted to use our full potential in Korea and was denied. He wanted once again to use our full potential in Vietnam and was denied. The Bay of Pigs fiasco angered him and it was he that insisted on bombing the Cuban missile installations in Cuba. He was convinced that Russia would back down. Thankfully the embargo was effective and it was ended peacefully.
If you read this book you will be amazed at his accomplishments during his service years and beyond. All Americans should give him the honor and respect he deserved.


Jack B. Walters
3961 N. Hillwood Circle
Tucson, AZ 85750
(520) 722-2958
May 14, 2009
jackbwalters@yahoo.com

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Our Lincoln- a book report

Our Lincoln
New Perspectives
On Lincoln and his world
Edited by Eric Foner

This is a new book published in 2008. It is unusual in that Mr. Foner did not write it. He compiled chapters written by different researchers. Each of them wrote about Lincoln in the various aspects of his life. Instead of an overview, each of them concentrated on one subject. For example the first chapter is his role as commander in chief while the ninth chapter covers his religion.
As most of you have probably done, I have read countless books about Lincoln. Fortunately, the ones I have read were positive. I was hurt to realize in the final chapter the number of negative books that have also been published. I find it sad that in current times so many have tried to cheapen the lives and accomplishments of so many of our greatest leaders in American history.
The growth and skill of this man as he steered the Union through its darkest years is a marvel to recall. He was always opposed to slavery but at the same time early on did not consider Negroes the equal of whites. This began to change as he allowed leading black leaders the opportunity to visit with him in the white house and changed completely when the blacks in the Union Army acquitted themselves in such outstanding ways beginning with the Massachusetts’ 64th Infantry’s attack on Ft. Wagner in South Carolina. After that he not only pushed for their freedom but also for all other rights of white citizens including education.
If you are open to read another Abraham Lincoln book, you will not be disappointed. I found this in the Tucson Public Library.


Jack B. Walters
3961 N. Hillwood Circle
Tucson, AZ 85750
(520) 722-2958
May 10, 2009
jackbwalters@yahoo.com

Friday, May 8, 2009

Assoc. Press article about Muslims in Europe

Study finds religion not a big stress factor for Muslims in West
(Associated Press article- 5/8/2009)

What a bunch of hogwash. The article claims that Muslims do not consider religion as important as jobs. If that is so then why have only 10% integrated themselves into British Society, 46% in France and 35% in Germany? These are the percentages listed in the article. I doubt if they are true. Everything I have read in books and news media tells me that they deliberately keep apart and do not allow integration into society, preferring to stay in conclaves living by their own laws and defying the countries laws and customs.
This article is nothing more than balm to soothe us and keep us asleep while their poison spreads country to country with the ultimate goal of ruling the world. They are doing a commendable job of it. Certainly no high ranking official in our government has a clue. They continue to fiddle while the fire starts burning higher and higher.


Jack B. Walters
3961 N. Hillwood Circle
Tucson, AZ 85750
(520) 722-2958
May 8, 2009
jackbwalters@yahoo.com

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Letter to Representative Giffords and Senator Kyl

President Obama is addressing the issue that is of utmost importance to the recovery of our country. For decades the Federal government has done the bidding of big business and created incentives to shut down factories in our country in favor of sending them overseas and then allowing them to cheat on taxes owed forcing citizens to support our government’s needs while they get off Scot free. It has had a devastating impact on the lives of our people trying to support their families with reduced income. I read that some Democrats in Congress are uneasy with this and are reluctant to support him. I sincerely hope you are not one of those. This is your time once again to step to the plate and take the bold initiative that is being presented to you. I, and others like me will be watching.

Letter to Pima County Sheriff Dupnic

Sheriff Clarence W. Dupnik,
I had intended to write in support of your brave, honest appraisal of the illegal immigration issue but held off until reading the article in today’s Star where a number of Democrats have signed a letter demanding an apology. I sincerely hope you will not cave in to their demand. They are out of touch with reality, not you. They can stick their heads in the sand if they want to. The position you took is supported by the majority of voting Arizona citizens. They and I are not racists. We are only demanding that our elected officials get control of this issue and take steps to restore some semblance of order. In my opinion government only puts forth lip service without any real intention of stopping the constant inflow from our neighbors to the South. Representative Giffords is reported to have said they just want to come to flip hamburgers. She wants to overturn the employer sanction legislation we voted for two years ago. Homeland Security Director Napolitano was furious to discover that her agents had raided a business; I believe it was in the State of Washington. You can be sure there will be no more raids on her watch.
The letter implies that you spoke without data to support your statement. Who better than you, who deal with this on a daily basis, can understand the results of uncontrolled illegal immigration on our county?
You are not in the minority. It is only the government elected and judicial officials that are out of step. Trust me, when the push comes to grant citizenship to the millions who have settled against the law, there will be a groundswell of anger just as there was when Senator McCain and President Bush tried. We, or should I say I, would be supportive of expanding work visas if there was a shortage of labor one place or another, but with unemployment nearing 10% I doubt even that could stand the test of reality.
Sincerely yours,


Jack B. Walters
3961 N. Hillwood Circle
Tucson, AZ 85750
(520) 722-2958
May 5, 2009
jackbwalters@yahoo.com

Sunday, May 3, 2009

The Post- Corporate World

Life after Capitalism
By: David C. Korten

Mr. Korten previously wrote a book entitled “When Corporations Rule the World”. This new book suggests how much improved the world could be if they no longer had control. I will probably punish myself by reading his other book. Whether I do or not, it will probably not change my current opinion. There is no question in my mind that money rules and all else is merely what’s left. All governments are seemingly powerless to resist the mega bucks controlled by international corporations. He mentions in passing the enormous influence and power of organizations such as: the Council of Foreign Affairs, the Bilderberg, the Tri- Lateral Commission, and the Business Roundtable. He also lists the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and their control over third world countries.
The theme of this new book is to point out that there are many groups of caring, thoughtful people around the world that are fighting back. He lists a number of success stories. He points out a goal of substituting life for money and how when considerations other than wealth are used that improvements can be forthcoming.
This is not an easy book to read. I will recommend it nonetheless to those who care as I do.
I would like to close this review with information contained about how and when Corporations were granted the same privilege as persons. It came about with a unanimous decision by the Supreme Court in 1886. There was a case involving Santa Clara County vs. the Southern Pacific Railroad. Their decision was that a private corporation is a person and entitled to the legal rights and protections the Constitution affords to any person.
This decision is responsible for the growth in power and wealth of corporations at the detriment of our people. It would be great if some group put forward a test case to try to overturn. Since this happened so long ago our government leaders must have concluded that it is proper. I doubt if it will change, which will maintain the status quo where corporations, due to their enormous financial power will continue to dominate and control whoever we elect to government positions.


Jack B. Walters
3961 N. Hillwood Circle
Tucson, AZ 85750
(520) 722-2958
May 3, 2009
jackbwalters@yahoo.com