MICHAEL O. ALLEN

Menu
All Posts By

michael o. allen

You’re afraid of change

By HomepageNo Comments

The Matrix, 1999

>

I know you’re out there.

I  can feel you now.

I know that you’re afraid.

You’re afraid of us.

You’re afraid of change.

I don’t know the future.

I didn’t come here to tell you how this is going to end.

I came here to tell you how it’s going to begin.

I’m going to hang up this phone and then I’m going to show these people what you don’t want them to see.

I’m going to show them a world without you, a world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries, a world where anything is possible.

Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.

September 24, 2008
Love0

Sorry, Senator.

By HomepageNo Comments

No, Sen. McCain, the election will not be suspended just because circumstances do not currently favor your ascension to the presidency.

One way or another, Republican misrule must end. John McCain cannot postpone the inevitable. If he has any idea how the nation should navigate these treacherous economic waters, he should propose them. One thing is clear: the administration’s current proposal that Congress hand over $700 billion without oversight is not going to work.

They need to either come up with a more realistic plan, or negotiate one with the Congress.

September 24, 2008
Love0

Stone throwers

By HomepageNo Comments

Should not live in glass houses

John McCain was Chuck Keating’s cabana boy

How could McCain, a man with his background, try to falsely tie Sen. Barack Obama to former Fannie Mae Chairman Frank Raines? McCain, corrupt and out of his depth, is beginning to show he has no plan, no scruples, and that he would do anything that his sludge merchants of Republican campaign advisors tell him to do.

Other than that, like Obama, Raines is black, the connection between the two men is tenuous, at best.

He should not have put his name to slime. McCain’s connection to corrupt people–Keating, Phil Gramm and Carly Fiorina–is well established.

September 19, 2008
Love0

Joe Biden @ St. Claire Shores, MI

By HomepageNo Comments

Biden: The Case for Change

Transcript:

Eight years ago, a man ran for President who claimed he was different, not
a typical Republican. He called himself, you remember, he called himself a reformer. He admitted that his Party, the Republican Party, had been wrong about a number of things in times past. He promised us, if you remember, it was a major selling point, that he would work with Democrats. He said he’d been working with Democrats for a long time in Texas.

That candidate was George W. Bush. Remember those promises? Remember the promise to reach across the aisle? To change the way things were done in Washington. To change the tone? To restore honor and dignity to the White House?

You know, we saw how that story ends. A record number of home foreclosures. Home values, tumbling. And the disturbing news that the crisis that you’ve been facing on Main Street is now hitting Wall Street, taking down Lehman Brothers and threatening other large financial institutions.

Read More

September 19, 2008
Love0

John, the tool

By HomepageNo Comments

McCain Embraces Regulation After Many Years of Opposition

By Michael D. Shear, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, September 17, 2008; A01

A decade ago, Sen. John McCain embraced legislation to broadly deregulate the banking and insurance industries, helping to sweep aside a thicket of rules established over decades in favor of a less restricted financial marketplace that proponents said would result in greater economic growth.

Now, as the Bush administration scrambles to prevent the collapse of the American International Group (AIG), the nation’s largest insurance company, and stabilize a tumultuous Wall Street, the Republican presidential nominee is scrambling to recast himself as a champion of regulation to end “reckless conduct, corruption and unbridled greed” on Wall Street.

“Government has a clear responsibility to act in defense of the public interest, and that’s exactly what I intend to do,” a fiery McCain said at a rally in Tampa yesterday. “In my administration, we’re going to hold people on Wall Street responsible. And we’re going to enact and enforce reforms to make sure that these outrages never happen in the first place.”

McCain hopes to tap into anger among voters who are looking for someone to blame for the economic meltdown that threatens their home values, bank accounts and 401(k) plans. But his past support of congressional deregulation efforts and his arguments against “government interference” in the free market by federal, state and local officials have given Sen. Barack Obama an opening to press the advantage Democrats traditionally have in times of economic trouble.

Continue . . .

September 17, 2008
Love0

NYT Editorial: Mr. McCain and the Economy

By HomepageNo Comments

John McCain spent Monday claiming as he had countless times before — that the economy was fundamentally sound. Had he missed the collapse of Lehman Brothers or the sale of Merrill Lynch, which were announced the day before? Did he not notice the agonies of the American International Group? Was he unaware of the impending layoffs of tens of thousands of Wall Street employees on top of the growing numbers of unemployed workers throughout the United States?

On Tuesday, he clarified his remarks. The clarification was far more worrisome than his initial comments.

He said that by calling the economy fundamentally sound, what he really meant was that American workers are the best in the world. In the best Karl Rovian fashion, he implied that if you dispute his statement about the economy’s firm foundation, you are, in effect, insulting American workers. “I believe in American workers, and someone who disagrees with that — it’s fine,” he told NBC’s Matt Lauer.

Let’s get a few things straight. First, no one who is currently running for president does not “believe in American workers.”

Continue . . .

September 17, 2008
Love0

Slow to Refocus

By HomepageNo Comments

Late to Digital, Leica Slow to Refocus:

German Camera Pioneer Fired American CEO Who Pressed for Filmless Future

By MIKE ESTERL

SOLMS, Germany — Leica Camera AG’s employment dispute with fired Chief Executive Steven Lee brings to light the venerable German company’s troubles moving into the digital age.

The quirky company, which helped create modern photography in the early 20th century, stuck too long with film technology and now faces mounting losses and sinking sales.

Since 2006, Leica has been controlled by Andreas Kaufmann, a 54-year-old German aristocrat. A wealthy photography aficionado, he decided to buy the company to rescue it. Mr. Kaufmann imported Mr. Lee, an aggressive American executive from Best Buy Co.

As part of a turnaround effort, Mr. Lee pressed longtime employees to turn out digital products more quickly. He also tried to replace Leica’s small network of specialty dealers with Internet sales and kiosks in upscale resorts.

Mr. Kaufmann eventually fired Mr. Lee after employees complained about his management and the company’s sales slumped. “My mandate was not to be Mr. Nice Guy,” says Mr. Lee, 54, who worked for two decades at International Business Machines Corp. before becoming a Best Buy executive. He recently moved back to Minneapolis and is suing Leica for wrongful dismissal. A German court held a hearing in June but has issued no ruling.

Leica helped pioneer the 35-millimeter film format that took photography out of the studio and into the streets. Many of the 20th century’s most arresting moments of revolution, war and its aftermath were captured by Leicas, the camera clutched by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Robert Capa and other photographers.

Continue . . .

September 17, 2008
Love0

An appeal

By HomepageNo Comments

“Plan for Change” Ad

Transcript:

In the past few weeks, Wall Street’s been rocked as banks closed and markets tumbled.

But for many of you — the people I’ve met in town halls, backyards and diners across America — our troubled economy isn’t news. 600,000 Americans have lost their jobs since January. Paychecks are flat and home values are falling. It’s hard to pay for gas and groceries and if you put it on a credit card they’ve probably raised your rates.

You’re paying more than ever for health insurance that covers less and less.

This isn’t just a string of bad luck. The truth is that while you’ve been living up to your responsibilities, Washington has not.

That’s why we need change. Real change. This is no ordinary time and it shouldn’t be an ordinary election.

But much of this campaign has been consumed by petty attacks and distractions that have nothing to do with you or how we get America back on track.

Here’s what I believe we need to do:

* Reform our tax system to give a $1,000 tax break to the middle class instead of showering more on oil companies and corporations that outsource our jobs.

* End the “anything goes” culture on Wall Street with real regulation that protects your investments and pensions.

* Fast track a plan for energy ‘made-in-America’ that will free us from our dependence on mid-east oil in 10 years and put millions of Americans to work.

* Crack down on lobbyists – once and for all — so their back-room deal-making no longer drowns out the voices of the middle class and undermines our common interests as Americans.

* And yes, bring a responsible end to this war in Iraq so we stop spending billions each month rebuilding their country when we should be rebuilding ours.

Doing these things won’t be easy.

But we’re Americans. We’ve met tough challenges before. And we can again.

I’m Barack Obama. I hope you’ll read my economic plan. I approved this message because bitter, partisan fights and outworn ideas of the left and the right won’t solve the problems we face today. But a new spirit of unity and shared responsibility will.

September 17, 2008
Love0