I had planned to make a comment about the Arab investment in CitiCorp, something along the lines of how the xenophobic, particularly Islamo-hating Bush dead-enders continue to slavishly support Him while He sells the country to terrorist-supporting Arabs, Chinese, and other less-than-Norman-Rockwellish-folk from around the globe. Yea, yea, them so stoooopid. Tell me something I don't know.
More and more it looks like things are going the way Vonnegut foresaw in Hocus Pocus: Mr. Vonnegut still finds abundant metaphors for our current situation. Hartke compares the land of the free and the home of the brave to a vast plantation, the soil and labor of which has been exhausted. The owners, whites of European descent, are selling it off, dispossessing the laborers.
As that comes to pass, those poor conservatives will be learning to love Allah in the vain hope of getting a job while Bush’s real buddies and the bozos on the Washington Post editorial page will retire en masse to the beaches of Bahrain, or perhaps the Arab Emirates. In fact, that's already happening (see below).
But on my way to bashing the boneheads about CitiCorp, I got sidetracked by the supporting evidence. Recently General Electric sold their plastics division to a state owned Saudi Arabian company. One of their largest plants, which is also an insanely dangerous chemical factory, is located in southern Indiana, a hotbed of right wing ignorance, hate and stupidity. This is the place where, a few years back, the local conservatives blew a gasket because the highway signs had inventory code on their backsides which the right wing geniuses interpreted as secret directions for the UN invaders when they came to take all of America’s guns.
A lot of the comments are what you would expect:
Posted by gdubord on May 22, 2007 at 4:36 a.m
Boy! What A bonehead move that is. All in the name of Money!! It's not good enough to be at war with them...Now we sell our souls to them!
Posted by SGT_SHLITZ on May 22, 2007 at 5:50 a.m.
Fools! Now we will have tent people here. You are right, gdubord. We should be at war with the Saud's.
Posted by tonkaboy on May 22, 2007 at 5:50 a.m.
What happens when they hire thier extremist countrymen to come in as "consultants", and they turn out to be suicidal? Most people know (I think) what kind of large tanks of volitile chemicals they store on site. Not a very good idea for our area!!!!
Posted by 81VETT on May 22, 2007 at 6:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
We just sold the potential for the biggest "Dirty Bomb" in the world to the people who brought you 9/11?
Posted by Anonymous on May 22, 2007 at 6:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Does anyone know what the nationality was for the majority of the 9/11 homicide hijackers?
Take a guess.
Posted by SGT_SHLITZ on May 22, 2007 at 6:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
They were Saudi's, Anon. Guess who else was a Saudi citizen? Osama Bin-Ladin.
Posted by hardestnose on May 22, 2007 at 7:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
And George Soros, billionaire liberal Dem, bought Halliburton and moved the company to Dubai after thousands of his minions bad-mouthed the company and drove down the price of the stock.
Interesting? Aside from the enlightening Soros info, no so much. We've seen this kind of thing all too often. But it gets deeper. Southern Indiana is one of the last blue collar/union strongholds:
Posted by toeped on May 22, 2007 at 6:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
When the cutbacks and layoffs start these GE employee's who have been getting all the benefits with none of the cost of the union plants will find out why they should have been union instead of coat tail riders. Bring out the ax, its time to downsize and consolidate.
Posted by Blackstone on May 22, 2007 at 7:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"There are products that are made in the USA that would be just as good. Check the products you buy, lets support our neighbors and buy American owned and made products. Shop around and save a job for an American." ++++
Looks like you won't be shopping at Target, WalMart, TJ Maxx, Lowes, Home Depot, Best Buy or Circuit City anytime soon.
I never knew this board hosted so many Ph.D.s and MBAs. Wow.
Posted by kmalongway3 on May 22, 2007 at 8:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
cat,no i never applyed at GE,i haul coal down there,now what?
A few have a sense of humor:
Posted by moogoogaipan on May 24, 2007 at 1:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Who needs GE Plastics? Mount Vernon now has EXPRESSWAY AUTO MALL OF AMERICA! and EXPRESSWAY JEEP in DOWNTOWN MT. VERNON INDIANA! The town can make up the any losses with car sales, and by the looks of the people on the ads, food and beverage sales have great futures.
Posted by imanidiot on May 24, 2007 at 3:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
As a long time resident of Mt. Vernon and a 25yr employee of GE, I can honestly say that this could mean some great opportunities for the community. After SABIC takes control, I plan to re-open Gundi's restaurant. It will of course be renamed Gandhi's and will be a full service mosque and drive-thru kufta establishment. Peerless will have to bring in some belly dancers. The ones there now on 185lb. night don't count. Everyone will prosper until the first plant accident wipes out 250 square miles.
Posted by courier_studio_audience on May 22, 2007 at 12:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Message Board Posting Concepts:
The Law of Human Homogeny: This is the concept that all people are CREATED in GOD’S image which, of course, is white, Christian, heterosexual, American, and politically conservative. Anyone who doesn’t fit that image has made the conscious decision to deviate from God’s plan. The only way for these freaks, perverts, and sinners to avoid eternal damnation in Hell is to act white, Christian, heterosexual, and politically conservative – in a word, ‘merican - because that’s the way God intended. It is clearly spelled out in the Bible, which God has translated into English for us.
And those who have those high paying jobs and want to keep them? Or just want to get one? Somehow they are a bit more rational:
Posted by sodapop on May 22, 2007 at 10:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I have been employed by GE for over 20 years of shift work.The last 10 yrs I have made over $110,000 per year.Not bad for someone with just a high school diploma. I will continue do the best job for whomever owns the Plastics division. After reading Sabics financial report from last year.I actually can't wait to start investing in thier company. GE stock has been virtually flat for 5 yrs. Sabic' stock has doubled in the last 3 years. Most of the bashing I have read is probably from people that really don't know what the heck is going on. Sabic is a premeir employer. If I may dispell a few myths..not all rednecks are racists..not all Catholics preists are molestors and not all Saudi's are terrorists.Hope this helps out the narrow minded.
Posted by rileysmom on May 23, 2007 at 3:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I am ashamed to be from southern Indiana right now. I work at GE right now, and I can say that without them, I wouldn't have half of what I do. I think it is safe to say, that there are some people who work there that are scared....not because of the SABIC but because of the sale in general. Who knows what is going to happen. I do believe that SABIC wouldn't pay almost 12 billion dollars to turn around a bvlow it up. Come on now people, lets get realistic. Yes we do have very dangerous chemical, but we also have very well trained people to deal with these chemicals. I believe we need to be looking within our own country too for so called terriorists. Its seems that we tend to forget the Timothy Mcveighs. He was an american citizen, that killed hundreds of innocent people. We need to stop hating. What is that teaching our children? I bet haf of the people who are saying negative things have never even worked witha a muslim person. If you try and boycott GE, the only thing you will end up doing is hurting your own family, and friends that work there now. What I suggest is people grow up and stop being biggots.
Posted by cjworks on May 31, 2007 at 7:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The union didn't save my job at Whirlpool. It's hard to find a job in this area with equal pay. I have an interview with GE. I'm a single parent looking to support my family. This is the best way to accomplish that. If offered a job, I have no qualms accepting. Just think how devastating the Whirlpool layoff has been to this community. We don't need another big employer packing up shop. If nothing else, be supportive of those of us who are desperate for decent jobs.
To me, that’s all a great example of the beauty of the internet. It’s like a good literary work, filled with different characters with different points of view. There’s drama, pathos and bathos, humor and human suffering. It gives us insight into both current events and the timeless human condition.
This type of thing will have to be outlawed, of course, or at least priced out of the reach of normal people, but for now there are still opportunities for enlightenment.
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