Tag Archives: greed

A now-profitable General Motors, having been bailed out by the people of Michigan, repays them with massive layoffs and the shuttering of facilities in Hamtramck and Warren

By Mark | November 26, 2018

Back in 2016, while on the campaign trail, Donald Trump made the following promise to Michigan’s automotive workers. “If I’m elected, you won’t lose one plant, you’ll have plants coming into this country, you’re going to have jobs again, you won’t lose one plant, I promise you that,” he said. Well, General Motors announced today […]

Posted in Corporate Crime, Michigan, Uncategorized | Also tagged Alternative Energy, automotive bailout, autonomous vehicles, bailout, Baltimore, beyond fossil fuel, cheap labor, Chevy Volt, China, Detroit, Donald Trump, electric vehicles, factories, General Motors, global climate change, GM, Hamtramck, Lordstown, manufacturing, Mary Barra, Mexico, mobility, offshore manufacturing, Ohio, outsourcing, Sherrod Brown, SUVs, tax cuts, Terry Dittes, UAW, Warren | 27 Comments

The Twinkie defense… Is management or labor is less deserving of the blame in the Hostess liquidation?

By Mark | November 19, 2012

A few days ago, upon hearing that Hostess Brands Inc. was going out of business, I posted the following, assuming that it would just be a matter of time before folks on the right started floating conspiracy theories involving Michelle Obama and her “nanny state” jihad against junk food. As my friend Steve Cherry quickly […]

Posted in Corporate Crime, Economics, Uncategorized | Also tagged asshole CEOs, Bakery, Confectionery, conspiracy theories, game theory, Hostess, Hostess Ho-Hos, junk food, King of Kona, labor, Michelle Obama, nanny state, Teamsters, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, twinkie defense, Twinkies, unions, Wonder Bread | 10 Comments

Lovecraft, and his insight into ancient evil (and Republicans)

By Mark | September 23, 2010

I received an odd letter today from a former Ypsilantian who now finds himself living among the natives of Hawaii. He wanted to let me know about a quote that he’d stumbled across concerning Republicans. The piece, according to him, was penned in 1936, by none other than H.P. Lovecraft, the man behind Cthulhu (think […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged 1936, Abdul Alhazred, Ann Coulter, anti-science, Bill Maher, Cthulhu, Dick Cheney, fear, Global Warming, global warming denial, H.P. Lovecraft, H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, Kevin Dole, Michelle Malkin, Mike Castle, Necronomicon, Providence, Republicans | 6 Comments

Watching movies with my daughter

By Mark | October 11, 2009

I showed Clementine The Wizard of Oz a couple of months ago, soon after she turned five. I thought that she was old enough. We’d already read the book. And I’d already warned her about the flying monkeys. And I’d shown her the scene where the Wicked Witch of the West melts on YouTube. So, […]

Posted in Art and Culture, Mark's Life | Also tagged Clementine, crying, Dorothy, empathy, gun violence, Humphrey Bogart, John Huston, killing, Robert Blake, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Wizard of Oz | 14 Comments

Who else should be going to prison with Bernie Madoff?

By Mark | September 30, 2009

In case you missed the segment on 60 Minutes a few days ago, I wanted to pass along this interview with the men overseeing the investigation into where Bernie Madoff hid his money, and who else might have known what he was up to. WARNING: Watching this will make you want to punch Madoff’s douche […]