As a retired adman, the suicide of American companies floors me today. How could they be so stupid? It takes years & million$ to build a brand; yet a cinch to lose overnight. That these culprits went along with NSA was mistake #1, but their follow-up even more horrendous. They tried to rationalize their crime. This opens the flood gates to say, a Swiss company promising security for $5 a month; if they cheat and get caught, you get $50,000. Wal-Mart Black Friday would look like a morgue in comparison. I remember vividly a high school teacher publically humiliating me in class not understanding how "built in obsolesce" is a friend of labor. By the time I was working, Japan/Europe had 40% of the US car market. Tell that rubbish to Detroit today!
ps I like 'My Comment' above. Wars do not 'make money' in the long run. At 68yo, I've visited many Roman & Greek ruins. Nice places for the day, but I wouldn't want to spend the night there...
Tom Engelhardt never fails to both educate and entertain me. He out did himself with the fictional 'Colonel Manners'. Only to be topped by Smedley Butler in "War's a Racket". He claimed "I could teach Al Capone a few things: he only operated in 3 districts, I on 3 continents." He could also teach Ourbomber & Billary a few things, re Honduras. He was there in 1903: "Not in defense of America, but American fruit companies."
As a retired adman, the suicide of American companies floors me today. How could they be so stupid? It takes years & million$ to build a brand; yet a cinch to lose overnight. That these culprits went along with NSA was mistake #1, but their follow-up even more horrendous. They tried to rationalize their crime. This opens the flood gates to say, a Swiss company promising security for $5 a month; if they cheat and get caught, you get $50,000. Wal-Mart Black Friday would look like a morgue in comparison. I remember vividly a high school teacher publically humiliating me in class not understanding how "built in obsolesce" is a friend of labor. By the time I was working, Japan/Europe had 40% of the US car market. Tell that rubbish to Detroit today!
ps I like 'My Comment' above. Wars do not 'make money' in the long run. At 68yo, I've visited many Roman & Greek ruins. Nice places for the day, but I wouldn't want to spend the night there...
Tom Engelhardt never fails to both educate and entertain me. He out did himself with the fictional 'Colonel Manners'. Only to be topped by Smedley Butler in "War's a Racket". He claimed "I could teach Al Capone a few things: he only operated in 3 districts, I on 3 continents." He could also teach Ourbomber & Billary a few things, re Honduras. He was there in 1903: "Not in defense of America, but American fruit companies."
Read you everyday Dr. Cole, but this is your best in weeks!