AtDTDA 101: Communications from far, far away

[robinlandseadel at comcast.net]

        With the vice president's office being completely discredited 
        today and using the justice department for political purposes, 
        we are now officially in Nixon territory. 

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/next-up-by-digby-libby-verdict-is-very.ht
ml

I'm finding this all very interesting, as TRP's doorstopper to stop 
all doorstoppers is going through quite a few second (in some 
cases third) readings, comprehension levels of the novel 
increasing in direct proportion to the reader's level of  interest 
in radical left politics. Kinda like the time of the Watergate 
hearings, when paranoia ran rampant and you'd find Gravity's 
Rainbow on Paperback racks in supermarkets, while you were 
shopping for some Little Friskies or a box of "Screaming Yellow 
Zonkers" and a Jug of Red Mountain.

Now, a Foley Walker might be the guy who creates the audio 
special effects for a motion picture. You know, horses clopping, 
rattlesnake noises, explosions. . . .  Or the heavy tread of an 
oncoming army battillion. Of course, the Traverses have a long 
history with film of all sorts.

Anyway, Foley makes a little noise (swallowed up soon thereafter
by a panoply of Foley, what with Tesla's high impact Van der Graff
generators pouring on the juice and occasionally exploding) that, 
in the context of the larger storyline, really sets things in motion:

       "Isn't exactly your physical well-being I'm instructed to look after."
      "Oh. Of course, those voices you hear. Well, what are they 
   saying to you, Mr. Walker?"
      "You mean lately? A lot of talk abouit some kerosene company 
   out in Cleveland. Fact, not a day goes by there isn't something. 
   You'd know better'n me. 'The Standard Oil'? Supposed to be 
   'expanding their capital,' whatever that means. Voices say now'd 
   be a good time to buy in?"
      "Everything all right in here, Mr Vibe?"
      "Fine, Bruno, just fine, thanks. Let's indulge this gentleman, shall 
   we. Let's just buy a hundred shares of this kerosene stock, if it 
   exists, and see what happens."
   "Voices say five hundred'd be better."
   AtD 101

Thus planting the Vibe fortune squarely at the feet of W, Shrub,
the Decider, call him what you will, he has many names, he 
contains multitudes (kinda reminds me of "Roller Maidens From
Outer Space", where it's Nick Exxon vs. Jesus Retardo. We hear 
Nick Exxon selling used cars on some late-night TV show on local 
Fresno TV, and afer a while Exxon drifts off to smoothly turn out 
some fresh new talent).

          News of American oil quickly spread to Europe and soon 
          Standard Oil was contracting more and more ships to meet 
          this international surge in demand. In the 1870s and 80s, 
          kerosene exports – most to Europe – accounted for half of 
          all US oil production and provided the fourth largest US 
          export in value. Ninety percent of that kerosene came 
          courtesy of Standard Oil.

http://petropulse.com/2006/07/18/oil-chapter-1-the-pursuit-of-power-part-ii/

Landes opens a chapter with the admission that, "the Rockefeller 
story is really that of the meteoric rise of one person, John D. 
Rockefeller" (p. 217). He could have said as much about Nathan M. 
Rothschild, Henry Ford, and J. P. Morgan. In these stories, the 
making of a dynasty was more a function of biology than business. If 
there were sons who could take over the business -- daughters would 
not do -- then a dynasty could be created; if not, then the 
illustrious founder sold the company. Several of the stories hinge on 
the lack of an heir or the unsuitability for business of an heir. 
Only the Rothschilds seem to have benefited from the kind of family 
information that Landes describes in his introduction. Perhaps one 
moral of these stories is that the demographic revolution, by 
substituting quality children for numerous children, has reduced the 
role of families in economic development. Landes argues for their 
importance in less developed countries, precisely where the 
demographic transition has not taken place or is in its early stages.

One cavil may be permitted. Landes correctly includes the railroads 
in his story of Rockefeller and Standard Oil, but he misses the 
essential interaction. The railroads tried unsuccessfully to form a 
cartel and profit from shipping oil, but they could not cooperate. 
Their solution to the problem of cartel design was to recruit a fox 
to help police the chicken coop; they recruited Standard Oil to 
ensure that the railroads did not cheat on one another. Previously a 
railroad might agree to participate in a cartel and then quietly 
arrange with a few refineries to ship some extra oil more cheaply. By 
the time the other railroads found out, the deal was done, and the 
cartel was in shambles. Under the new scheme, Standard Oil 
forestalled cheating by committing to reduce the amount of oil it 
shipped over any railroad that violated the agreement. In return, it 
received both a rebate on its own shipments of oil and a drawback on 
its competitors' shipments. The fox enjoyed his access to chickens, 
and Standard Oil received about half of the profits from the railroad 
cartel.[1]

http://eh.net/pipermail/hes/2007-February/007604.html
   

The Rockefeller family, long aligned with the Bushes, owned Standard 
Oil. Through a stock transfer they became half owners of Germany's IG 
Farben with Farben likewise owning almost half of Standard Oil. 
According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, IG Farben built and operated 
more than 40 concentration camps in Nazi-occupied Europe, including 
Auschwitz.

http://www.georgewalkerbush.net/bushgang.htm