The Susan Komen Foundation folks are headquartered in Dallas so they should’ve known [...]]]> New Orleans  For a change we’re winning one against the right wing strategy of progressive institution defunding. This is a Texas-style bare knuckles dispute, and I’m so proud of the way Cecile Richards stepped into the ring here that I could just spit!

The Susan Komen Foundation folks are headquartered in Dallas so they should’ve known a mess was coming.  Sure they were easily surrounded by the Southern Baptist Convention and some of their largest churches are in Dallas, so they should have been used to the climate, rather than folding like a cheap skirt.  Cecile is a Texas woman through and through and the daughter of a fighting labor lawyer and a fire-fun-and-fury woman, Ann Richards, former Texas governor and freedom fighter, none of which should have made the pink people think that when they go after women, Cecile and Planned Parenthood were going to meekly creep to the corner and let it go down.

We’ve been through how thin, hypocritical, and fictional the excuse that Komen came up with to defund Planned Parenthood in order to either curry favor from right wing pols and anti-abortion zealots or to cave into their bullying.   Picking between those two paths should pretty much disqualify Komen from any future pretense as an advocate for women and their health.   The lead editorial in the Times appropriately called their rationale a “fig leaf,” but frankly that dishonors an excellent tree and a delicious fruit.  This was subterfuge and a lie, pure and simple.

I was shocked to see how little Komen was supporting Planned Parenthood, even when they were supposedly long time partners.  A $94 million operation that funded 2000 groups around community health initiatives was only providing $700,000 in support?  Seems way small, and this has been a long time criticism of Komen that so much of its pink-thing, branding emphasis, and change-through-marketing strategy was distracting and not really doing all it could and should about women’s health and its declared mission around breast cancer.

So far the lost money has been replaced by individual donors, some 6000, and pledges by folks like Mayor Bloomberg.   That’s not enough to declare victory.

Cecile and Planned Parenthood have seized the initiative by creating a campaign around the stark cynicism and cowardice that allows all of these rightwing, gotcha strategies to work.  They prey on the weak and unprincipled who are so afraid that they could be next or that they might have trouble that rather than banding to protect their partners and friends when under attack, they run for the hills with their tails between their legs and hope nobody notices them.  This is what happened on the ACORN attack.  Friends and allies pulled up the covers and hoped it wouldn’t happen to them.  This is what board members of Komen have publicly confessed.  They didn’t analyze the merits of the scurrilous attacks on Planned Parenthood or the impact on the women they had claimed were their mission, they simply deserted them, trying to save themselves.  Shame, shame, shame!

And hooray for all the women, including some within the Komen ranks who have resigned and are protesting (all 7 branches in California!), who have finally said “enough is enough” to these kinds of unprincipled attacks and stood up for Planned Parenthood.

Now if we could get men to grow backbones as well, and, if we could get everyone to stand together for a change, we could finally take the teeth out of this attack on progressive institutions before more of them are caught in the vortex that sank ACORN and has rolled Planned Parenthood over the last year.

Put a ribbon around that, and I’ll wear it!

Update:  Victory, Komen Foundation Restores Funds to Planned Parenthood.  Way to go in stopping the rightwing!

New Orleans  The combined meetings and negotiations with Comcast representatives about their “internet essentials” program to provide low cost access and computers to lower income families seems to have finally provoked the company into putting out some numbers on their performance.  That’s the good news.   Reading the numbers is the bad news.

No wonder our ally, ACTION United in Pennsylvania, when surveying lower income families couldn’t find any who knew about Comcast program or had gotten Internet through the program.  It turns out only about 450 families (according to Comcast figures) were enrolled in the entire city of Philadelphia.

In Harris County where Houston is located, Local 100’s survey of Head Start workers and parents who were eligible even under the restrictive guidelines Comcast had established had also produced a big fat zero.  It goes without saying that Houston is among the largest cities in the country and there are a lot of lower income families, but there the program claims to have only been able to muster a bit over 2000 enrollees.

Our experience with our members in Houston trying to enroll this week not only puts a lie to some of the public relations claims to the Comcast “launch report,” but also proves why it may be easier for a rich man to get to heaven than for a poor family to access the Comcast program that is supposedly designed to lower the digital divide.

We monitored some of these calls and helped the families file complaints to the FCC on what happened, but here are some of the highlights.  One woman was told that they did not have a $9.95 program but she could sign up for $29.99 basic.   When she kept pressing they referred her to an 855 number which is the national Internet Essentials number.   At that number they also claimed ignorance when it got to the computer issue and gave her the Dell computer number in Austin, Texas.  Dell said they didn’t know anything about a $150 computer but they had a $450 job, but it would take a credit or debit card to acquire.

You think that’s wild.  Listen to this one.  Another fellow from Houston called to Comcast Internet Essentials at its 713 Houston area code and was answered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  They asked him for his name, address, zip, and phone.  Then they told him that there was no program for $9.95, the lowest was for $29.99.  Sound familiar?  Stay with me!  Pushing for Internet Essentials they then produced an 800#.  Five minutes later they offered an Internet Essentials 855#.   They said they had a $149.99 computer.  When he asked about taxes or shipping, he then heard about debit and credit cards, like all food stamp eligible families have VISA cards or American Express!  They then gave him an 800# which turned out to be to Dell Computer in Austin.  When he asked Dell for the Internet Essentials computer deal with Comcast, he was informed in no uncertain terms that there was no longer an Internet Essentials program, and that program had been stopped two months ago because Comcast didn’t renew the contract with Dell.  Needless to say the end of this conversation involved a $400+ computer!

David Cohen, the Comcast VP, identified with the “launch report” and much of this dissembling seems not to have a clue about what is happening on city streets or on the phone lines within Comcast or at the computer sources.  All of this seems to be shaping up as a crude hoax being perpetrated on the poor!  Is this a shell game or what?

Meanwhile reading Cohen’s overview on their website and his remarks to the press, he seems to believe that “outreach” to the poor is hundreds of meetings and lunches with politicians and public officials around the country.  Back slapping is not the same as lowering the digital divide and Cohen, once a much touted Philly city official, actually should know that better than most.  The outreach from their report seems to be to get schools to shill for the program, which they are ill equipped to do or in one very intriguing “reform” in the report they want “community partners” to somehow buy the Internet Essentials program in bulk.  I’m not sure to do what?  Re-sell?  Preposterous!

Equally rich to read is the fact that Cohen and Comcast are pretending that this is all just so much do-good work by the company and therefore they should not be judged by results, metrics, or whether or not the much promoted program actually lowers the digital divide. They want applause, but not accountability.

Maybe Cohen didn’t get the memo from his bosses at Comcast on this, but it’s a matter of public record with the FCC.  The Internet Essentials program was required by the 2011 Memorandum Opinion and Order from the FCC regarding the merger of Comcast and NBC Universal. In the agreement, FCC requires that Comcast “substantially increase broadband adoption in low income homes throughout Comcast’s service area” (pg. 143).

I’m not sure why city officials, federal bureaucrats and the entire tech savvy community is not up in arms about the Comcast shell game around the digital divide.  Maybe it’s a Mitt Romney “don’t worry about the poor” kinda deal, where Comcast just assumes that no one cares if they deliver on this or not.

Yo, Comcast, our coalition of groups cares.  Come on, man!

]]> http://chieforganizer.org/2012/02/02/comcast-cya-doesn%e2%80%99t-mask-contradictions-and-poor-outreach/feed/ 0 http://chieforganizer.org/2012/02/01/shame-on-komen-foundation-craven-cave-in-on-planned-parenthood/ http://chieforganizer.org/2012/02/01/shame-on-komen-foundation-craven-cave-in-on-planned-parenthood/#comments Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:11:05 +0000 Mariehurt http://chieforganizer.org/?p=6147 New Orleans   It was shocking today to read that the Komen Foundation, well known for its ubiquitous “pink” crusade against breast cancer, in the most craven way caved into right-wing pressure and unilaterally defunded Planned Parenthood.  Komen has been increasingly controversial in the anti-cancer health movement for emphasizing marketing and branding over research and cures, [...]]]> New Orleans   It was shocking today to read that the Komen Foundation, well known for its ubiquitous “pink” crusade against breast cancer, in the most craven way caved into right-wing pressure and unilaterally defunded Planned Parenthood.  Komen has been increasingly controversial in the anti-cancer health movement for emphasizing marketing and branding over research and cures, but to hammer Planned Parenthood on such specious “ACORN” grounds is really indefensible.

Spokespeople and statements for Komen claimed that they had created a new policy rule which disqualified Planned Parenthood:

A spokeswoman for the Komen foundation, Leslie Aun, told The Associated Press that the main factor in the decision was a new rule adopted by Komen that prohibits grants to organizations being investigated by local, state or federal authorities. Ms. Aun told The A.P. that Planned Parenthood was therefore disqualified from financing because of an inquiry being conducted by Representative Cliff Stearns, Republican of Florida, who is looking at how Planned Parenthood spends and reports its money.

On its face the so-called “rule” is ridiculous.  Virtually any organization at any time anywhere within this definition could be experiencing some kind of investigation “by local, state or federal authorities.”  Think about it.  The simplest charge before the EEOC, NLRB, DOL Wage and Hour Division, EPA, or OSHA, as well as any of the various levels of health departments required to do routine inspections and certifications of clinics, and on and on and on all could be used to claim a disqualification of an agency from support by the Komen Foundation.  Frankly, when the IRS routinely investigates the tax exempt status of Komen, technically, they shouldn’t be able to fund themselves.

The whole notion of such a rule is absurd, which inevitably lends credibility to PPA’s President and CEO Cecile Richards’ claim that they folded like a cheap skirt because of “bullying by right wing groups.”  Who will do the breast exams for poor women and others offered by Planned Parenthood under this assault?   No one, not that Komen seems to care.  The Komen operation’s sister whose own cancer supposedly inspired the organization of this pink parade would be rolling over, unfortunately, in her grave!

Further the Times seems to have a lead on the “smoking gun” leading to this attack:

…in December, LifeWay Christian Resources, which is owned by the Southern Baptist Convention, said it was recalling a pink Bible it was selling at Walmart and other stores because a dollar per copy was going to the Komen foundation and the foundation supported Planned Parenthood.

This is hateration pure and simple.

Thank goodness for Cecile standing up and shouting out.  $700,000 plus won’t cripple Planned Parenthood, but on the other hand this decision should point all of the rest of us who care about health needs and the tragedy of breast cancer some other direction than the Komen Foundation if we really care about women.

The Times reported the following:

The company’s collectors also failed to inform consumers that paying [...]]]> New Orleans    The Federal Trade Commission stepped up to the play in behalf of citizens/consumers yesterday and finally put a boot on the butt of scumbag, lying debt collection operations with a $2.5 million fine levied on Asset Acceptance of Warren, Michigan.

The Times reported the following:

The company’s collectors also failed to inform consumers that paying even a small portion of the amount owed would revive the debt — in other words, making a payment would extend the amount of time the collector could legally sue.

Among other things, the complaint also contended that the company reported inaccurate information about the consumers to the credit reporting agencies.  It also said that Asset Acceptance failed to conduct a reasonable investigation when it was notified by one of the credit agencies that a debt was being disputed. Moreover, the complaint says that the company used illegal collection practices and that it continued to try to collect debts that consumers disputed even though the company failed to verify that the debt was valid.

The proposed settlement with Asset Acceptance requires the company to tell consumers whose debt may be too old to be collected that it will not sue.  It also requires the company to investigate disputed debts and to ensure it has a reasonable basis for its claims before going after the consumer.  It is also barred from placing debt on credit reports without notifying the consumer.

We’ve discussed this before.  These are citizen wealth issues.

Debt expires and becomes uncollectable in some states as early as 2 years and in others after 15 years.  If you live in a state which has a long timeline for debt (like I do – Louisiana can run 10 years!), then it’s worth thinking about moving!  According to the CreditInfoCenter.com:

The Midwest is some rough country but there’s definitely not much love for someone with more mouth than money in Kentucky, South Carolina, or Louisiana!

The point is when the needle goes past the limitations, collection companies cannot come after you or threaten to sue.  Hear, hear!  I mean it!

Now did you realize that if you even cough up a partial payment, you then extend the time for them to come after you?   Talk about no good deed going unpunished!  Seems the only sure fired protection if you are in a jam is:  HANG UP!

New Orleans     There is no way that anything I can write would do complete justice to the life and work of Barbara Bowen, my friend and comrade for over 40 years, but luckily I don’t really need to because her life and [...]]]>

Barbara smiling in Melbourne next to the head of the Australian Labor Federation

New Orleans     There is no way that anything I can write would do complete justice to the life and work of Barbara Bowen, my friend and comrade for over 40 years, but luckily I don’t really need to because her life and work was about justice and she lived it exactly that way from beginning to end.

My path first crossed Barbara’s in mid-October of 1969.  I used to hear her tell the story of being sent from Boston where she was working with Massachusetts Welfare Rights Organization to Springfield, where I was working, to see if she could help out in some way during a large action demanding winter clothing for adults that was hitting its climax on the same day as the Vietnam Moratorium.  The short story is that we didn’t win and all hell broke loose, but Barbara used to tell the story of breaking clear of the riot and finding a telephone booth in the middle of the chaos to put a collect call into Boston for whatever reinforcements might be available to get me and others out of jail and do whatever it might take.

In 1970 when I moved to Boston as head organizer, I lived on Rutland Square in the South End one or two units above Barbara and my other old friend and comrade over all of these years, Mark Splain, who she married around the same time.  Over the many decades our paths would always be interwoven and crisscross continually.

After I left to move to Arkansas and found ACORN, she and Mark and others ended up in Chelsea founding Massachusetts Fair Share, a landmark organization in the 1970’s.  When she and Mark left Fair Share, they worked in various capacities with ACORN.  We all worked on jobs campaigns.  We founded the United Labor Unions together, with Mark and Barbara in Boston, me and Danny Cantor, Kirk Adams, and Cecile Richards in New Orleans, Keith Kelleher in Detroit and then Chicago, and Mike Gallagher a little bit of everywhere along with many others.  Barbara did stints with SEIU and the AFL-CIO.  Around 2000, I convinced her to join me at the Organizers’ Forum where she worked for a decade as its coordinator until she retired at the end of 2008, as she told me then, “…because she could.”

Barbara in Moscow assembling the troops before we head to the next stop in Red Square

The other day talking to Mark about a list of email addresses, I asked him if he wanted me to edit the list and make up a shorter one, and he replied that it didn’t matter, “Barbara doesn’t have an enemy in the world.”  That phrase stuck with me.  It was precisely correct.   People loved Barbara.  She was a sweetheart.  Leading delegations around the world with the Organizers’ Forum she was always willing to go the last inch of the last mile to make sure it worked, that people were taken care of, and that it all came together.

But, if that conjures up an image of a laid back, California girl who was in the first avant garde women’s class at Pitzer College outside of Los Angeles, and a “helping hand” VISTA volunteer, all of which she also was, you didn’t know Barbara Bowen or at least you didn’t know enough about Barbara Bowen.  The Barbara Bowen I knew and worked with all of these years was a stickler for details with a thousand questions, both large and small.  My first day on the job as her boss in Boston in 1970, she asked me to look at a flyer she had made for a meeting, something she had probably done a couple of hundred times at the point.  I remember telling her she should probably be showing me how to make the flyer, rather than the other way around!

But whether it was details on the menu in Kolkata or the rooming arrangements in Jakarta, she always included me and wanted input.  If she had a question you heard about it, and she forced the plans to be crystal clear so there was alignment of my big picture, “it’ll all work out world,” and her details, planning, and preparation.  It was easy to appreciate why on all the houses that Mark and Barbara built in Boston, Washington, and then finally in Stinson Beach how Mark might be architect and master builder, but Barbara would be permits, general contractor, bookkeeper, and finish painter and punch list person.  On the three international dialogues I have done since Barbara’s retirement in Thailand, Vietnam, and Egypt, I’ve always warned people in the first orientation that they were going to miss experiencing the trip that they would have had if Barbara had been with us….

My point is not that she was just a details person or a meticulous note taker, planner, and so forth, because that was not the core of the woman.  At the heart of the woman was character and courage.  Once she was convinced of the plan, had it clear, and committed to it, she was fearless and unstoppable.   Once she was in, she was all the way in.

In the late 1970’s and early1980’s, US Air had something called “Liberty Fares.”  For $700 for 14 days a passenger could fly anywhere throughout the US Air system from Boston or Providence to New Orleans or Phoenix or Memphis or whatever.  It often meant circling back to the Pittsburgh or the Philly hub.  Obviously USAir meant the ticket to work with one flyer, but as a fledgling union and community organization, we were “up in the air” and could keep various folks flying from place to place endlessly during that period just by passing them off to our fellow travelers in the hubs or wherever the connections aligned.  You can imagine the stories, but the best and boldest often featured Barbara.  In the post-9/11 world this is unimaginable, but Barbara would talk her way onto one flight after another with nothing but moxie despite the fact that the ticket seemed to be in a man’s name and often with little or no ID.  She had the ticket, and for her it was a ticket to ride, and if she had a problem with one flight, she would walk away and jump another one.

Anyone who underestimated Barbara or her toughness did so at their peril!   Like I said, you had to be careful with Barbara.  If you asked her to go through a wall on an action, once she was clear where the wall stood, how it worked, and that it was important, then that wall was going down, one way or another.  Barbara had your back, front, and sideways!  I hate to think about the number of times she went on unemployment to do the work, including once with the Organizers’ Forum.  I can’t even imagine the times she maxed out credit cards or whatever.   I loved that woman.  There was no quit or whine to her.  Ever!

It took me forever to realize that almost all of our international dialogues were too close to her daughter’s birthday and often had her doing crazy things to get home in time or in at least one case, missing the event entirely.  She was an elected member of the school board in her community for years, but it took me almost that long to hear her mention it and talk about it.  She was never going to put herself ahead of the program, even when it was just the two of us figuring it out.

I’m glad on the back end, especially now, that she and some of the women in Kolkata moved to a better hotel after our wild experience at the Great Eastern (now torn down!) and that she took an extra day to go to Agra when in Delhi and a couple more to see the Iguazu Falls at the border of Brazil and Argentina.   For all of the times I may have taken her for granted for 30 years as a friend and colleague, I was glad that in the 10 years with the Organizers’ Forum for the most part I could feel like, I did right by her.  People loved her and could appreciate her contribution at every level.  She saw the world in India, Indonesia, Brazil, Turkey, Russia, South Africa, and Australia, and like all of us it made us better organizers and better people.  We all became clearer about the larger community where we live and work.  We had great experiences together.  She was fun, and she had some fun.

Thank goodness!

In Sydney I had noticed her walking uncharacteristically slowly up a stairway near the harbor.  I asked her about it then, and she just said she was being careful.    The next year when she called me to say she was having some health issues, she reminded me of that conversation and how even then is seemed there were starting to be coordination problems.

Luckily she and Mark got to do some traveling in Europe and Hawaii.  They visited with friends.  She got to her college reunion.   When I saw her last fall she was still fawning over Tera’s children and delighted over Manuel’s pending wedding.

She was a great organizer.  She was a wonderful woman.  She was friend, mother, wife, comrade, and sister.   She had a great life, just not enough of it.

My life is better for having known her and all she did with and for me in large and small ways over 40 years.  Like so many others, I will carry the flame forward for her into the future and spend the rest of my life time and work time paying back her loyalty, faith, and trust.

Over recent years Barbara and I learned together how to say and understand “hello,” “thank you,” “democracy,” “union,” “justice,” and “freedom” in many of the world’s languages.  Her life and legacy has meaning in all of those words and every time they are spoken in the struggle of people everywhere.  And, anywhere those words are spoken, sung, or shouted, the heart and soul of Barbara Bowen will still stand strong.

Barbara admiring the fresco in the cathedral in St. Petersburg

In Shreveport as [...]]]> New Orleans    Another day, another dollar in Comcast land where it turns out in their view of the world, no promises need be kept, customers should pay and not be heard, government is only for them, not for the people, and if they say it’s good, then, damn, it must be good:  Comcast-in-wonderland!

In Shreveport as Local 100 United Labor Union members pushed Comcast for action and access to the Internet for our Head Start parents, TV cameras were rolling and they were “not happy” as one of our members reported.

In Philadelphia where they had promised that there would be a detailed response to demands that our partner, ACTION United had brought forward in behalf of our coalition two weeks previously, yesterday came and went with no response from the company.   Houston Local 100 members got the same response from two Comcast governmental relations guys in their meeting on Friday.  Little Rock is waiting for its meeting soon.  We are on a “need to know” basis!

In Philly and Pittsburgh, members of ACTION United are taking the Comcast issue forward with a “baloney” sandwich picnic in their honor today.

City staffers in Pittsburgh sympathetic to our demands that Comcast lower the digital divide forwarded us an email from the local Comcast executive which is priceless in its arrogance and, frankly, lack of good sense about the basics involved in a democracy including the freedom of speech for folks like us who want to really see their Internet program work.  Somehow, Pittsburgh Comcast’s “Frank” seems to believe that if Comcast says “internet essentials” is a “great program,” then that ought to be enough said without worrying about the fact that no one is getting the Internet and virtually no one knows about the program.  Ol’ Frank wants to pretend that’s all on the shoulders of the Pittsburgh School System, because they haven’t “reported any complaints.”

Frank, ol’ buddy, first it’s not the job of the public schools to shill your so-called “internet essentials” program for you, and, secondly, if virtually no one has heard of your so-called “great” program, how would they complain?  And, who would they complain to?  Well, Frank, they would do exactly what they are doing and complain to people and organizations just like us who are committed to making sure that Comcast delivers on their program to provide low cost internet access.  And, despite your request to the Pittsburgh City Council members that they simply “not listen” to us as you indicated in your email, we’ve got news for you, they actually believe that it’s important to listen and respond to citizens (you might call them customers if you cared to actually really provide lower income families with internet!).

Don’t take my word for it.  Listen to Frank’s own words drawn from his email:

I have communicated with the Pgh Public Schools yesterday and they told me they have not received any complaints about the program.  We [Comcast?] ask that you do not [Frank’s bold!] engage with this group [ACTION United] and if any questions need to be answered please follow up with me.  Internet Essentials is a great program and benefits all families whose children are on the Free lunch program whether they are a Comcast customer or not.

The whole email is a classic, and, personally, I would simply love [my emphasis!] to know how Frank believes that this program currently benefits “all families…whether they are a Comcast customer or not.”

But, answers to those questions are unlikely to be available today in Pittsburgh even to members of ACTION United; since Frank also made it clear he was not going to actually show up at the City Council meeting.  Oh, no, not Frank, he’s a cable guy with Comcast.  He signed off saying, he’ll “watch on TV.”

Hello, Comcast!  Let us introduce you to America.  It’s a different country than you imagined it might be!  Live up to your word.  Provide real access to the internet for the poor, and agree to be accountable to your promises.  Hear our demands and “engage” with us directly!

In the recent deification of Apple and its co-founder Steven Jobs, there has been unstinting praise for Apple and its high priced, sleek products as a great American success story.  The [...]]]> New Orleans   As improbable as it may sound; sweatshops seem to have a lot of high placed advocates who simply swear by them.  Yes, sweatshops!

In the recent deification of Apple and its co-founder Steven Jobs, there has been unstinting praise for Apple and its high priced, sleek products as a great American success story.  The credible allegations and proofs of how much of Apple’s manufacturing operation rested on the backs of sweatshop labor, particularly at huge manufacturers like FoxConn, were sometimes mentioned in passing, but largely swept under the rug.  Not surprisingly a front page article on the death and demise of American manufacturing featuring both Jobs and Apple prominently also tried to bury the sweatshop reality on which so much of this manufacturing “miracle” exists in a few paragraphs of the very long story.

The reporter and others marveled at how on a whim 8000 workers could be pulled out of bed in company owned and run dormitories and put to work on a last minute changeover.  Wow, the article and others seemed to say, that couldn’t happen here in America.

Well, that’s wrong.  It could happened here in America, but Apple would have to pay for it, and that’s still the real difference.

One fool asked where you could find some thousands of workers in the United States, who would be ready to roll to work.  Hey, just about anywhere, jerkwater!  Has word of the recession gotten to none of these folks?

Even in the pages of the New York Times, if they were interested they can read about the skilled workers by the thousands that have trucked themselves into North Dakota (of all places!) to live in, yes, bunks, trailers, and all manner of man-caves in order to work in the oil industry on the plains.  But, whoops, once again, I should add that they are doing so, because they get paid, and paid pretty damned well to do so!  We saw thousands of workers flood into New Orleans to help on the recovery, but once again they did so on their own dime, because they thought they could make a dollar.  In all of these cases these are workers with crazy, mad skills, too.

The article seemed to say Apple employed 700,000 workers in manufacturing around the world, oh, and 40,000 or so in the USA.  Their spokesperson wanted to make sure all of us knew that the American economy is not “their problem.”  Their problem is only “making a good product.”  Life and business is not that simple, and the responsibilities go much deeper.

This seems to be a problem throughout much of the Times.  Nicholas Kristof did a column that I had to read because it was about Olly Neal from Arkansas, who I had worked with in the 1970’s when he was running the Lee County Clinic.  Posting the article, more than one of my buddies reminded me how they too had to hold their noses to read anything Kristof wrote because he is such a relentless apologist for sweatshops.

Good news that we are really talking about manufacturing.  Bad news that the ideology underpinning the conversation is that there can only be manufacturing at the expense of workers’ rights and wages in sweatshop conditions.

Shame on Apple, the Times, and the rest of the tribe that makes these rationalizations!

Force-placed insurance appears to be the dirty little secret of the mortgage [...]]]> New Orleans  I find no joy in reading about forced-placed insurance, but I take great satisfaction in seeing the farce and fraud of such anti-consumer insurance coming to light.  Quoting Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of Financial Services from Gretchen Morgenson’s “Fair Game” column in the Times,

Force-placed insurance appears to be the dirty little secret of the mortgage industry.  It is a silent killer harming both consumer and investors while enriching the banks and their affiliates.

I was particularly drawn to the comments of Mark Rodgers who was flaking for CitiMortgage and claimed,

CitiMortgage does not sell homeowner’s insurance to consumers.  If a homeowner does not provide an insurance policy, CitiMortgage secures a policy to protect the interest of the investor.  Whenever the homeowner submits proof they have obtained insurance on their own, the lender-placed insurance is canceled.

Makes it all seem simple and straightforward doesn’t it?  Well, reality with CitiMortgage, not surprisingly is a whole different thing!

Unfortunately, I know because we owned a small, beaten up and dearly loved fishing camp in the marsh and bayou abutting the Big Branch National Wildlife Refuge just 35 minutes from our home in the 9^th Ward of New Orleans.  We still own 2 acres of marsh with some protruding pilings there and hopes and dreams for the future some day, but for now it is a fond memory of life before Hurricane Katrina six years ago.  I think of the camp every month as I pay CitiMortgage for the memory and what is left of the place.  These days that is a simple process of them sending me a notice and me trying to get them a check, but thanks to force-placed insurance that was not always so.

Even after Katrina, I never missed a payment on the camp, but within months I started having problems with CitiMortgage that continued annually for quite a spell.  First they imposed homeowners insurance on the camp at great cost, even though any notion of a “home” had been flooded and flown to smithereens.  I would call and explain Katrina, and they would insist on more and more documentation for me to prove that there was no longer a structure on the property.  After months of payments and contention they would temporarily yield, issue a refund, and then it would start up again the next year.

And, then they would demand and force-place flood insurance.  No small amount of irony here, since flood insurance wasn’t available on the camp before the storm, much less after the storm.  Either way, there was nothing left to flood.

I almost wished that Citi had sold homeowner’s insurance, because at least I would have gotten kissed first.  They would have at least had to ask before they demanded, assessed and coerced the payments from me, rubbing raw the open sores of already deep discontent in the wake of the loss.

They have a scheme around insurance, but they have no system.

This “dirty little secret” needs to not only be exposed, but solved!