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In the 1970s, Lily Tomlin developed an iconic comic character she named Ernestine--a telephone clerk who took perverse pleasure from hectoring customers. Her character was a perfect portrayal of the arrogance of AT&T, the monopolistic telephone giant of that day. In one skit on on the TV show, Laugh-In, Tomlin had Ernestine delivering a TV pitch for the corporation:

"A gracious hello," she cheerfully began, speaking directly into the camera. "Here at the Phone Company, we handle 84 billion calls a year. So, we realize that every so often, you can't get an operator, or for no apparent reason your phone goes out of order, or perhaps you get charged for a call you didn't make. We don't care!"

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Very sticky business

By Jim Hightower - Wed., 6/28/06

When the Bushites issued their absurd recommendation last month that Americans buy duct tape and plastic to “protect” our families against a chemical or biological terrorist attack, were they returning a political favor?
Nearly half the duct tape sold in America is made by Manco, Inc. The family that owns Manco gave about $125,000 to Bush and the GOP for the 2000 and 2002 elections. These loyal donors are thrilled to report that, since the Bush team issued its Orange Alert, “We’re seeing a doubling and tripling of our sales.”

July's Lowdown

Big biz wants to own the information superhighway while We the People bump along the backroads