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"The difference between fact and fiction is that fiction must be believable."--Mark Twain
In This Issue
The showdown over the WTO was NOT about stopping trade
The seattle tea party
Also in this issue:
- Bill clinton's anti-trust meow
- Cell phone alert
- On-the-job drug testing a bust
- "intelligent" vending machines
- Clean clothes in bangor
- Membership has its privileges
Do Something!
September's Lowdown
Corporate kings grab our tax subsidies but create no new jobs. Obama fiddles.
By gollies, when the economic going gets tough for America's workaday people, you can always count on our tough-minded political leaders to get going! Get going, as in: rush like hell to find some gimmick to make it look like they're doing something without actually, you know, doing anything.
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"intelligent" vending machines
Douglas Ivestor, the CEO of the Coca-Cola Company unexpectedly stepped down the other day. The rumors are flying about what sort of internecine struggles led the chief cola nut to give up his multi-million dollar cushy job, but I've been thinking about the diabolical legacy that Ivestor is leaving behind.
One of last innovations Mr. Ivestor unveiled before his departure is a sinister contraption: a vending machine that automatically raises the price on a can of Coke as the weather gets hotter. Ivestor said summer heat can increase one's desire for a cold drink, so "it is fair that it should be more expensive."
Surely there's a hot place in hell reserved for Douglas Ivestor and the marketing people who thought up this one. And if there's any justice, they'll be a nickel short when they stumble upon one of those "intelligent" vending machines down there