According to Gannett Blog, tonight is the Night of Long Knives for Gannett, Inc., the corporation that owns the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

An excerpt:

Managers are now calling subordinates, notifying them by phone that they're being laid off, a handful of readers say.

One wonders if there is some justice in the world and Randall Beck got "the phone call" after he made his phone calls tonight offing his own staff at the Argus. 

Amway—yes, THAT Amway of “multi-level marketing” and “parties” where your now former friends try to sell you crap you don’t need—says that nearly four in ten South Dakotans believe that the presidential candidates’ positions on “personal wellness” will influence how they vote this fall.

Are you kidding me?

Here’s an excerpt from Amway’s press release on the South Dakota results of a nationwide study on “wellness”:

Forty-two percent of Americans, versus 39 percent of South Dakotans,report that the economy is having a negative impact on their wellness choices. For the nation, current economic conditions also are negatively affecting the wellness of 51 percent of non-working parents,versus 43 percent of working parents. And, when it comes to the battle of the sexes, the health of women is affected more by the economy (44 percent) than men (40 percent). Overall, 25 percent of South Dakotans and 33 percent of Americans claim that the candidates’ positions on personal wellness will influence how they vote this election.

So, based on this study, forty percent of South Dakotans must:

A.  Think Barack Obama and John McCain have positions on “personal wellness”; and
B.  And that those positions make a difference to them and others.

Like how many times Obama says we should go for a walk and what McCain says about eating foods low in fat and sodium is what this election turns upon?

Huh?

If by “personal wellness” the multi-level marketers at Amway mean “health care,” sure, I might buy it.

But with the nation facing a two front war, rising energy prices, a dicey economy, and eight years of erosion of our civil liberties, I highly doubt even a large plurality of Americans or South Dakotans give a damn about the candidates’ views on “personal wellness.” 

I think we Democrats and Republicans can both agree that this is just goofy.

I have a notebook full of notes and several photos from last night's Lincoln County Democratic Party meeting which featured environmental engineer Karen Hall's research and analysis of the proposed Hyperion Refinery near Elk Point.

She gave an excellent, fact-filled talk that came down on opposition to the facility.  I'll have a full story later today.  In the meantime, KTIV-TV from Sioux City showed up and did a story.  Here's their coverage:

Engineer: Hyperion Energy Center 'Not The Answer' To High Fuel Prices - KTIV
28/01/08 15:26 from Gorilla Project
KTIV Engineer: Hyperion Energy Center 'Not The Answer' To High FuelPrices KTIV, IA - 2 hours ago On the other side of the coin, HyperionResources says their oil refinery would be the cleanest in the nation.

Photo: Karen Hall, SDSM&T chemistry and chemical engineering graduate and former refinery compliance engineer from Rapid City, points to the tons of pollution that a refinery the size of the proposed Hyperion Refinery would produce.  She spoke to the Lincoln County Democratic Party last night at their monthly meeting in Canton.


Technorati Tags: Karen Hall, oil refineries, crude oil, Hyperion, Hyperion refinery, Gorilla Project, Elk Point, South Dakota, Canton, Lincoln County Democratic Party

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Sibby and I might find some common ground on this issue.

Citi, with a major credit card operation in Sioux Falls, is willing to get bailed out of its sub-prime credit mess by a foreign government—Dubai—yet turns down a proposal to merge with a good, old fashioned AMERICAN company, namely Bank of America.

First, a blurb from Reuters this morning:

Citigroup spurns Bank America overture: report
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc got a call from a prominent investment banker suggesting a merger with Bank of America Corp as it was dealing with billions of dollars in mortgage-related losses and the departure of Chief Executive Charles Prince, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday in its online edition… .

Full Article

And a blurb from the New York Times today:

For Abu Dhabi and Citi, Credit Crisis Drove Deal

A falling dollar, a growing pile of oil revenue and an interest in not being overshadowed by Dubai spurred Abu Dhabi to purchase a big $7.5 billion stake in Citigroup… .

Do we want our oil, our manufacturing, and our banking largely controlled by foreign nations or foreign corporations?  It is a form of reverse colonialism.  America is becoming the economic colony of Japan, the Middle East, China, and others. 

This can’t be a good thing for the US of A.  And again, if I worked at Citibank in Sioux Falls, I’d be updating my resume.

Photo: The Burj Al Arab in Dubai.

Technorati Tags: Citi, Citibank, Citigroup, Dubai, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, credit cards, sub-prime lending

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From the Wall Street Journal (subscription required):

IN THE LEAD, By Carol Hymowitz
The higher executives climb, the less likely they are to know what is and isn’t working at their companies. Many are surrounded by yes people who filter information; others dismiss or ignore bearers of bad news.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/in_the_lead?mod=djemtct

I came across this news release about the millions of dollars tobacco companies spend to hook our kids on tobacco products.

It is time to ban all forms of tobacco advertising. I volunteer to find a Constitutional way to take care of the First Amendment issues.

Excerpts:

New Report: Tobacco Companies Spend Massive $37.7 Million a Year on Marketing in South Dakota

WASHINGTON, May 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Tobacco companies spent a massive $37.7 million on marketing in South Dakota in 2005, with most of it spent on marketing in retail stores that is effective at encouraging kids to smoke, according to a report released today by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The vast sums the tobacco companies spend to market their deadly and addictive products show the need for Congress to pass pending legislation granting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority over tobacco products, including the authority to crack down on tobacco marketing and sales to kids…

The FTC report showed that more than 90 percent of cigarette marketing is now spent in convenience stores and other retail stores on colorful advertising and gifts with purchase and on price discounts that make tobacco products more affordable to kids.

A study published in the May 2007 issue of the scientific journal Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found that these retail marketing strategies are highly effective at getting children to smoke. The study concluded that the more cigarette marketing teens are exposed to in retail stores, the more likely they are to smoke, and that restricting these retail marketing practices would reduce youth smoking.

The FDA legislation before Congress would limit tobacco advertising in stores and in magazines with significant teen readership to black-and-white text only, eliminating the colorful, youth-oriented images that depict smoking as cool and glamorous. It would require stores to place tobacco products behind the counter; ban all remaining tobacco brand sponsorships of sports and entertainment events; and ban free cigarette samples and free giveaways of non-tobacco items with the purchase of a tobacco product. The legislation would also ban candy-flavored cigarettes that clearly are a starter product for young new smokers…

“The vast sums spent to market tobacco products show why it is so urgent that Congress pass legislation granting the FDA authority to regulate tobacco products,” said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.”The FDA must have authority to crack down on tobacco marketing that impacts children and misleads the public. We urge all of South Dakota’s U.S. representatives and senators to support this long-overdue step to protect our children and reduce the death and disease caused by tobacco use.”

Nationwide, tobacco use kills more than 400,000 people and costs more than $96 billion in health care bills each year, and 23 percent of high school students smoke. In South Dakota, where 28.2 percent of high school students smoke, tobacco use kills 1,100 residents and costs the state $274 million in health care bills.

The state- by-state analysis of tobacco industry marketing spending can be found at: http://tobaccofreekids.org/pdf/ftcreport.pdf

I love Microsoft Outlook.  Email, notes, calendar, contacts all in an easy to use, integrated package.  And you pay good money for it.

I have had an MSN email account for probably five years.  It integrated nicely into Outlook email.  It was my email reader of choice because I could preview messages, easily send emails to folders, and save and use contacts simply and quickly.

But not anymore.

This morning when I tried to refresh my Outlook MSN account inbox, nothing happened.  Then I got some odd message about needing a "subscription."  MSN has offered free accounts for years.

Huh?

I come to find out that apparently as of today, only PAID MSN and Hotmail accounts will integrate with Outlook.  I had no warning.  And I've lost a great deal of functionality.

So I am stuck using the MSN/Hotmail web mail client, which is ok, but not great.

However, I am fighting back.

I was fortunate enough to get a Gmail account (Google's email) from a guy in a Treo forum.  I now have 19 or so Gmail accounts I can give away.  They have basically unlimited storage.  Their mail client is not great either, but it isn't any worse than MSN's.  And, at least for now, they aren't owned by Microsoft.

So, if you want to help me in my war against Microsoft, I'll send you an invitation for a free Gmail account.  You can email me at epplaw (at) gmail.com.

Strike a blow against "The Man," Bill Gates.

 

Just another thing that makes you go, "hmmm."  This just in from Forbes:

Gonzales Recuses Himself From Enron Trials
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has recused himself from the Enron criminal prosecutions, his office said Thursday. Justice Department spokesman Bryan Sierra would not say why Gonzales made that decision. But the attorney general did legal work for Enron when he was practicing law in Houston. And while he was a Texas judge, he accepted a campaign contribution from an Enron political committee.

Once upon a time in a kinder, simpler time in South Dakota, NorthWestern Corporation was a good company that provided excellent service, paid its workers well, and gave a steady return to its investors.  The utility was a well-regarded part of the communities it served in South Dakota.

 

Then in the 1990s and 2000s, NorthWestern went "Enron."  It invested too much in non-core businesses, gave exhorbitant salaries and bonuses to dubious managers, and took its investors for a financial ride.*  The once great company landed in federal district court and federal bankruptcy court in South Dakota.

Today's Sioux Falls Argus Leader, running an AP story from Montana, describes how the new owners are cutting some of its employee's pensions:

 

"These are the loyal of the loyal employees," said Randy Morris, who managed pay packages for Montana Power and now works for the [Montana] state Department of Administration.

"They are at the mercy of a whole new company, NorthWestern Energy, to uphold the contract negotiated back in 1988."

[Sherwood] Christensen, a widower with two sons, said he has retained a lawyer who may represent the other former Montana Power workers when they are identified in court documents.

Why am I mentioning this in a blog about Sen. John Thune?

Because of the Debate on “fixing” Social Security and the GOP and President George W. Bush’s ideas to privatize at least some of the investing.

NorthWestern is Exhibit A in how good, private corporations can go bad and end up screwin their workers.

The Social Security social contract has been that workers pay in then they withdraw when they are retired.  Depiste its flaws, that system has worked.

Corporations have profit as their motive.  Northing wrong with that, as long as it is purused responsibly.  Sometime, like in NorthWestern’s case, it is not.

Social Security is a safety net, not an investment program.  Some workers will have the acumen and resources to play the market with some of their retirement money.  Nothing stops them from doing that now.  Others do not have such skills or resources.

As this debate plays out, I hope Sen. Thune understnads that the “conservative” thing to do is the “liberal” thing to do: ensure that when workers wretire, they can draw on Social Securty to supplement theor own resources and pensions. 

As Sen. Thune should be remnded by the corporation in his own back yard, sometimes even private businesses making private investments don’t make wise choices.  And it is the workers who ultimatelly get hurt when their pernsions go bye-bye, not the honchos who made the bad decisions.

*Full Disclosure: In 2003 and 2004, I was local counsel for a Los Angeles law firm that was attempting to represent a class of NorthWestern Corp. preferred stock holders in various actions in the Federal District of South Dakota.

Photos courtesty of DHD Multimedia Gallery and the U.S. Mint.