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Why the Bush-Cheney Gang
Shouldn't Leave the JurisdictionStephen Green details the crimes that opened the Bush gang to arrest warrants and sealed indictments. Eamonn McCann describes how a secret state scheme saw 150,000 children “exported” to Australia to stock that continent with white Christians. No, Barack Obama isn’t the best guide to Saul Alinksy’s ideas on organizing. Mike Miller on movement building in the 1960s and today. Get your new edition today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! CounterPunch books and t-shirts make great presents.
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Today's Stories November 27 - 29, 2009 Carl Ginsburg Joshua Frank David Macaray November 26, 2009 Vijay Prashad Greg Moses Jayne Lyn Stahl Jeff Cohen John Blair Ann Robertson / Farzana Versey Sam Husseini Tom Mountain Website of the Day November 25, 2009 Dave Lindorff Marjorie Cohn Belén Fernández Ralph Nader Rannie Amiri Missy Beattie Rob Stone, MD Health Care Delusions: Better Than Nothing? Norm Kent Binoy Kampmark Handing It to France: the Sporting Trial of Thierry Henry Ron Ridenour Website of the Day November 24, 2009 Mary Lynn Cramer Dean Baker George Ciccariello-Maher Eric Walberg Andy Thayer David Macaray Laura Carlsen Gary Leupp Adam Federman William S. Lind Mission Creep: Counter-Insurgency in Salinas? Website of the Day November 23, 2009 Paul Craig Roberts Jonathan Cook Edward S. Herman / David Peterson Bouthaina Shaaban Helen Redmond Rannie Amiri Dave Lindorff Rev. William E. Alberts Mike Whitney Mark Weisbrot David Michael Green November 20-22, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Gareth Porter Mike Whitney Fred Gardner James J. Brittain Jonathan Cook Alan Farago David Macaray Binoy Kampmark Ben Sonnenberg Ron Jacobs David Yearsley Brenda Norrell Ron Ridenour November 19, 2009 Christopher Ketcham Shamus Cooke John V. Walsh Saul Landau Ralph Nader Nikolas Kozloff Fred Gardner Charles R. Larson John A. Murphy Jayne Lyn Stahl November 18, 2009 Uri Avnery John Ross Conn Hallinan Mike Whitney Ray McGovern Nelson P. Valdés Ramzy Baroud Ron Ridenour November 17, 2009 Mike Whitney Jayne Lyn Stahl Brian M. Downing Jonathan Cook Joanne Mariner Dean Baker Martha Rosenberg Danny Weil David Macaray Laura Flanders Walter Brasch November 16, 2009 Alan Nasser Jonathan Cook Mark Weisbrot Carol Miller Gary Leupp Harry Clark Ray McGovern Norman Solomon Ron Ridenour Norm Kent Brenda Norrell November 13-15, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Patrick Cockburn Tariq Ali Douglas Lummis Vijay Prashad Carl Ginsburg Manuel García, Jr. Rannie Amiri Mary Lynn Cramer Fred Gardner Dave Lindorff Robert Jensen David Macaray Corporate Crime Reporter Ron Jacobs David Model John V. Walsh Jon Mitchell Stuart Easterling Dan Bacher Franklin Lamb Farzana Versey Charles R. Larson Saul Landau David Yearsley Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement
November 12, 2009 Robert Weissman Franklin Spinney Nadia Hijab Afshin Rattansi Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Belén Fernández Allan J. Lichtman Dave Lindorff Jayne Lyn Stahl November 11, 2009 Andrew Cockburn Mike Whitney Rev. Jesse Jackson Jeff Nygaard Stewart J. Lawrence James Ridgeway Eamonn McCann Michael Ortiz Hill Shepherd Bliss Walter Brasch November 10, 2009 Ellen Cantarow Dean Baker Rose Ann DeMoro Ramzy Baroud Peter Lee Dave Lindorff Roberto Rodriguez Winslow T. Wheeler Alan Farago Joseph Grosso November 9, 2009 Patrick Cockburn Linn Washington Carl Ginsburg Jeff Leys John A. Murphy John Halle Bouthaina Shaaban James Ridgeway Dave Lindorff David Macaray Stephen Fleischman Website of the Day November 6-8, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Mark Grueter Paul Craig Roberts Patrick Cockburn Gareth Porter Mike Whitney James Bovard Dean Baker Robert Lawless Saul Landau Jayne Lyn Stahl Stephanie Westbrook M. Shahid Alam Marc Levy Franklin Lamb Ron Jacobs David Ker Thomson John V. Whitbeck Julien Mercille Rannie Amiri John Ross David Michael Green Carl Finamore Farzana Versey Missy Comley Beattie Charles R. Larson David Yearsley Kim Nicolini Poets' Basement November 5, 2009 Pam Martens Vijay Prashad Brian Gallagher Norman Solomon Nadia Hijab Joseph Shansky Andy Thayer Tracy Rosenberg Website of the Day November 4, 2009 Stan Cox Andy Worthington From Gitmo to Palau: Who are the Uighurs? Robert Weissman Susan Galleymore Ralph Nader Michael Leonardi Bitta Mistofi Robert Bryce Martha Rosenberg Dave Lindorff Website of the Day November 3, 2009 Patrick Cockburn Mike Whitney Franklin C. Spinney Laura Carlsen Serge Halimi John Stanton Sophia Weeks Dave Lindorff November 2, 2009 Steven Higgs Ishmael Reed David Macaray Bouthaina Shaaban David Michael Green David Swanson Ellen Brown Adam Federman James McEnteer Stephen Fleischman Website of the Day October 30 - Nov. 1, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair / Carl Ginsburg Mike Whitney Joe Bageant Gareth Porter Saul Landau Anthony DiMaggio Dave Lindorff Rannie Amiri Niranjan Ramakrishnan Jayne Lyn Stahl Rev. William E. Alberts Alvaro Huerta Martha Rosenberg Binoy Kampmark Norm Kent Charles R. Larson Roth's "The Humbling:" Nothing Like a Novel From an Old Pro Ron Jacobs David Yearsley Lorenzo Wolff Kim Nicolini Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend October 29, 2009 Michael Neumann Mike Whitney Gary Leupp Conn Hallinan Marshall Auerback Laura Flanders Eamonn McCann David Macaray Mark Weisbrot Stephen Soldz Christopher Brauchli Website of the Day October 28, 2009 Moshe Adler Dave Lindorff Frank Joseph Smecker Alexandra Early M. Shahid Alam Vijay Prashad John Ross Franklin Lamb Gregory Travis Susan Galleymore Website of the Day October 27, 2009 Mike Whitney Patrick Cockburn Stewart J. Lawrence Alan Farago Ralph Nader Dave Lindorff Bouthaina Shaaban Brian M. Downing Elections in Afghanistan, the Second Time Around Iain Boal Carl Finamore Jayne Lyn Stahl Website of the Day October 26, 2009 Bill Quigley / Paul Craig Roberts Uri Avnery Mike Whitney Michael Snedeker Shamus Cooke David Michael Green Martha Rosenberg Patrick Bond Binoy Kampmark Website of the Day
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Weekend Edition Monopolizing AmericaBig Beer Takes OverBy DON MONKERUD Forget about kicking back and enjoying an American beer; a massive wave of consolidation is transforming the industry. According to a recent report by the Marin Institute, a California-based alcohol industry watchdog, a rush of buyouts and mergers in the last years of the Bush Administration has left two overseas giants in control of 80 percent of American beer consumption. "How beer is marketed and sold in this country will never be the same," said Charisse Lebron, corporate responsibility & advocacy manager at the Marin Institute. "Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors, controlled by parent companies SABMiller and Molson Coors Brewing Company, are all that really matter in the U.S." America is the world's most profitable beer market, yet the U.S. has lost what was once a competitive industry. As recently as 2004, ten companies fought over world consumption; today Belgium-based InBev (Anheuser-Busch InBev) controls 25 percent of the world's beer market. SABMiller, the second largest brewer with 15 percent of the market, is a London-based conglomerate that formed when South African Breweries acquired U.S.-owned Miller in 2002. From 1947 to 1995, the number of large brewers in the U.S. fell 90 percent. As recently as 2003, American-owned Anheuser-Busch was the world's largest beer company, with 12 breweries in the U.S. and 15 overseas, producing the world's most popular beers: Bud Light and Budweiser. In 2004, the world's third and fifth largest brewers, Belgian Interbrew and Brazilian AmBev, merged to create the world's largest beer producer, AmBev. In the buyout frenzy of 2008, AmBev bought Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion to become InBev and control the popular beers: Budweiser, Michelob, Stella Artois and Bass. Yearly sales for InBev topped $40 billion in 2008, surpassing SABMiller-Miller Lite, Miller Draft, Henry Weinhard's-with $21 billion in revenue. Today InBev is a behemoth with 151 beverage plants and 120,000 employees worldwide. The new company sells four of the top ten beers in the world, produces the first or second most popular beers in over 20 markets and ships beer to over a hundred countries. In 2007, to better compete with InBev, SABMiller announced a joint venture with Molson Coors, the world's fifth largest beer producer. Headquartered in Chicago, the newly formed MillerCoors is controlled by its parent companies, London-based SABMiller and Canada-Colorado-based Molson Coors, which reported gross profits of 70 percent in March 2009. SABMiller corporate leadership forms half of MillerCoors' board and receives 58 percent of the profits. Although microbreweries are growing in popularity-there were 1,300 in 2006-they represent a mere ten percent of total beer sales. There's no way they can compete with the giants, who dominate the market. Approved in record times by President Bush's Federal Trade Commission, these beer mergers have a number of drawbacks. Charisse Lebron, author of the Beer Duopoly Report, predicts that American shareholders will have difficulty attending annual meetings overseas. Less shareholder involvement could lead to lower environmental and labor standards, while InBev and MillerCoors replace local beer distributorships with direct distribution from the brewery. The current three-tier system of alcohol sales and distribution was established 75 years ago to prevent aggressive sales tactics and give states oversight of alcohol. "We advocate for the distributors because they are community based, have been around a long time, and are attuned and accountable to consumers and regulators," Lebron said. An even more troubling problem arises over taxes, especially with government facing reduced tax revenues. Federal alcohol excise taxes haven't been raised since 1991 and, adjusted for inflation, have lost 40 percent of their value. State taxes are similar: Wisconsin hasn't raised its alcohol tax to keep up with inflation since 1969 and has lost 83 percent of its value. Maryland's alcohol excise tax was set in 1972 at 9 cents a gallon, but would be 38 cents a gallon if it were adjusted for inflation. "Increasing taxes is the number one most effective way to reduce underage drinking and overall harm," said Lebron. "The beer companies know that and are fighting it, despite the fact that alcohol harm in California alone amounts to $38 billion a year. In the U.S., it's over $200 billion a year. Industries that cause harm, such as alcohol and tobacco, should be financially responsible for some portion of that harm." The beer duopoly is spending large amounts to prevent tax increases. The Marin Institute estimates that in 2009 alone the beer lobby defeated bills to raise alcohol taxes in 14 states that cost taxpayers $2.6 billion in revenue. If alcohol taxes were adjusted for inflation nationwide, it would add $6 billion to tax coffers. Beer producers spend lavishly to defeat tax bills: On the national level, InBev spent over $1.5 million in 2008. Additionally, InBev, MillerCoors, and its parent companies, spent almost $6 million lobbying state and local governments. They threaten state legislatures with closed breweries and lost jobs if taxes rise. Americans are discovering that companies that once served their interest now determine their lives. Although some continue to support unregulated "free enterprise," others find that powerful monopolies now determine government policy. It's time to limit political contributions and control lobbying. Don Monkerud is an California-based writer who follows cultural, social and political issues. He can be reached at monkerud@cruzio.com. |
Now Available from CounterPunch Books! Yellowstone Drift:
"Powerful and shocking .. Waiting for
Lightning
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