Emma Berry

Emma Berry –Independent Candidate for the 32nd US Congressional District of Texas.

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I stand for expanding the American Dream by Building Employee Owned Companies in the 32nd district Now!  Not some day!  Not “when I am elected. . .”  Now and with your assistance.

Beginning in July, after I have obtained all the necessary signatures to get my name on the ballot in November, I will be inviting people from the 32nd district to meet in my home in groups of 20 to 25 for the sole purpose of brainstorming and setting into motion plans to create no less than four employee-owned corporations in the 32nd district by the end of December 2012.

We have over 600,000 people in our district.  That’s a lot of assets and brainpower.  We can harness that for the good of all the people in our district.  We don’t have to wait for Washington to throw us crumbs.  We can make our own difference right here right now with the wealth that we already possess.

And speaking of waiting, you’ll be in for a lot more of that if you expect Pete Sessions to invite you to his home, or to involve you in a job creation plan for our 32nd district.

Pete Sessions, an incumbent entrenched in Congress since 1996, has been representing special interests to the exclusion of the majority in Dallas County.  Pete is more interested in increasing his own personal wealth and power than he is in representing the people of his district.  We have over 200,000 children in the city of Dallas alone who live below the poverty line.  Instead of working to create jobs that pay the parents of these children a living wage, Pete holds fund raisers in fancy ski resorts in Park City Utah and votes along with other Republicans and Democrats to pass unbalanced trade agreements–trade agreements that will ship even more US jobs overseas.  Yet Pete Sessions has the audacity to claim that such trade agreements create jobs in Texas.

Elected officials like Pete Sessions voted for the Korean Trade Agreement to approve sending 159,000 American jobs overseas and to raise the deficit $16 billion dollars.  Furthermore Sessions and all of Congress including the Democrats who voted for this trade agreement had this information before they cast their votes.  They knew what they were doing and they didn’t give a damn.  They did it because, as Wall Street investors, this trade agreement means more money in their pockets.  The Economic Policy Institute (a source a great deal more reliable than the Chamber of Commerce) estimates that the agreement with Korea, which is expected to be the largest trade deal since NAFTA, will increase the US trade deficit by $16.7 billion and displace 159,000 US jobs within the first seven years after it takes effect.

Fiscal responsibility?  Please!  In 1996, when Pete Sessions was first elected to Congress, the federal debt was $6.2 trilliion. Today it stands in excess of $17 trillion as a result of decisions Sessions endorsed and voted for.  He and the majority of Congress need to be sent home instead of being sent back to Washington or being replaced by more of the same.

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Make sure that you are registered to vote. Unless you exercise your right to participate in Democracy as an informed citizen, America the Possible for the Majority may not be realized.  Here is information for Residents in Texas

You may fill out a voter registration application online, print it and mail it to the voter registrar in your county of residence. You are not registered until you have filled out the online application, printed it, and mailed it to your local County Voter Registrar. The County Voter Registrar’s address can be found at the top of the online  voter registration application once you have submitted your information from the fill-in-the blanks screen.

Informal Online
Voter Registration Application

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How can Emma Berry win?  Only with your active participation in my campaign built on the strategy of 4x4x4x4.

4x4x4x4 = My Winning Strategy

If 1000 people who sign my ballot petition convince 4 other people, then 4000 people will vote for Emma Berry
If those 4,000 people tell just 4 other people about me, then 16,000 people will vote for Emma Berry.
If those 16,000 people tell only 4 people abut me, then 64,000 people will vote for Emma Berry.
If those 64,000 people tell only 4 people about me, then 256,000 people will vote for Emma Berry.

In 2008, the last presidential election year, Pete Sessions won his Congressional race with 116,165 votes.

My plan provides a victory for me with a margin of error of over 100,000 votes.  Yes I can with–without taking a dime from anyone–but only if the people in my district are willing to participate in the process.

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Job Creation in the 32nd district and any district in the USA will only happen when the people in the various Congressional Districts in the USA start talking with one another under the leadership of Representatives who realize that we must have more than the global Wall Street Business model for our economy.

I will focus on job creation in the 32^nd district. Our healing as a nation must begin at home, right here in our own district.  We can’t afford to wait for a few crumbs to fall from the banquet table in Washington DC.  In the city of Dallas over 200,000 children are living below the poverty level—enough to fill the Cowboy stadium  to capacity more than twice.  That is a disgrace. The solutions are here now.  We need to start talking to one another to find out how we can create jobs that pay living wages for the parents of those children.  After June 29 when I obtain my 1000 signatures, I will begin by inviting people from my list of names to my home.  The goal for each one of these meetings will be to form a core group to seed the creation of an employee owned corporation right here, right now in the 32nd district.

What can YOU do?

Start using your brain now.  You may be the one with a great solution.  Think of products that people in the 32nd District buy–even in this economy.  Then think of what it would take to set up a plant to manufacture those goods right here in the 32nd district.  Ideally as many of the materials to manufacture the product as possible should come from nearby.

If you like, you can send your job creation ideas to me at eebemma@yahoo.com on or before July 1, 2012.   I will provide the place (my home) and the people.  You can present your plan and we will spend two hours working on it together.  From that meeting, that group of 10 to 20 people will carry on.  I will stay in touch with the leaders of all groups and report on the progress at this site.  I have no doubt that among the 1000 people I talk to in getting signatures for my ballot petition, we will  be able to have the creation of at least three employee owned corporations by the end of December 2012.

Cook up success for the 32^nd District with Emma Berry—a candidate who not only can stand the heat in the kitchen, but who likes it.    [This post is also available as a PDF download --See According to Emma column.]

Stone Soup Industries – Job Creation NOW in the 32^nd U.S. Congressional District Texas

I will be the facilitator for the economic success of the people in my 32^nd district.  As I’ve mentioned, I will be inviting those who sign my ballot petition into my home in groups of 25 beginning in July.  The purpose of each meeting will be to introduce the people to one another and plant the seed for the establishment of a new business enterprise in my 32^nd district.

My role is similar to that of the peddler who comes into a village with a stone telling the hungry villagers that he has a “magic” stone that makes soup.  Then little by little the peddler convinces the people of the village to add enhancements to the soup.  First a villager supplies the pot, next another the water.  With the peddler’s enticements:  “A carrot would really add some flavor, etc.   .  .  .“ –the people of the village eventually, by their contributions, create a wonderful soup.

Like the peddler and villagers, all alone I don’t have a lot to offer.  However, together with the people in my 32^nd district, I believe that we can achieve feats that alone we can only dream about.

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Am I afraid?  Yes.  The very act of knocking the doors of over 1000 people in my district and asking them to sign my ballot petition takes more courage than I realized.  And now in just about a month, I will be inviting people I hardly know into my home—and they too will need courage to come and meet 24 other strangers to discuss the possibility of starting a business together. But if we let fear hold us back then it is not likely that any good will come to us.

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The Process for making “Stone Soup” in the 32nd District

1.  Get  the interested people together in groups of 25. (I’ll be holding these meetings in my home beginning in July.]

2.  Create a core group of 10 from the 25 who are excited about a particular idea for a product or service offering.  This number of people is only a guesstimate. It is impossible to predict what will come out of these initial meetings in my home.  However going forward from that first meeting in my home, the group(s) will have to become “stone peddlers” themselves.  The second meeting for that group will be held in one of their homes and they will carry on from there.

3.  Learn about the various forms of Employee- Owned companies.  (Over the coming month I will provide a lot of information on this topic right here on the Emma Berry website.)

4.  Decide what form of employee- owned business that your group wants to establish.

5.  Create a business plan for making your product/service a reality.

6.  Get a lawyer to help you draft the charter for your business.  [Note:  you may have to be creative in these efforts.  For example, you might talk to business and Law professors at SMU and the University of Texas at Dallas.  Instead of  exercises for their classes, they could  get their practice by participating in real case studies from their community. And who knows?  Perhaps a lawyer will be a member of your core group.]

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Already my vision for Job Creation has expanded

A month ago in April when I conceived this notion, my vision was for the creation of four employee- owned companies in the 32^nd U.S. Congressional District by December 31, 2012.

Yesterday one of my constituents questioned the size of my dream.  “Only four?”

The number could be many more than four.  Thanks to the feedback from just one person, I can better see the potential for us all.

Emma Berry Independent Candidate

U.S. Representative 32^nd U.S. Congressional District.

Here is the story of Foothills Connect as told on their website:

As late as the mid-90’s, the textile industry was the major employer in Rutherford County. Globalization soon devastated that economy and left Rutherford County with one of the highest unemployment rates in the State of North Carolina.

Planning for an organization that eventually would become Foothills Connect began with a group of forward looking residents of Rutherford County in June of 2004. This core group of community leaders dedicated over 1200 hours of their own time to hold community meetings, write grants and seek funding for an organization that would encourage, develop and support entrepreneurship through the provision of broadband technology.

In September, 2005 the Foothills Connect Business and Technology Center was funded by a $400,000 grant from the State of NC through e-NC Authority.

By October 2005, the first staff members were hired to provide small business entrepreneurial assistance to a number of potential small business owners. A home was found for Foothills Connect in downtown Rutherfordton in the Woodrow Jones Community Center. The Foothills staff quickly converted the center into a public access Internet site and outfitted it as a hot site for wireless access.

By June, 2006, Foothills Connect was fully staffed and began providing technical support to various non-profit entities in the County and recruiting, supporting, grooming and promoting new entrepreneurs in the County.

Since then, the organization has helped introduce Broadband connectivity throughout Rutherford County, create a network between local farmers and chefs seeking fresh produce in the nearby city of Charlotte, NC through the Farmers Fresh Market Initiative, and most recently set out to instruct aspiring farmers in sustainable, small scale agriculture methodologies to create jobs through farming.

People all over the USA are at last beginning to awaken and forge real solutions that can make a difference.  We now have candidates like me at a local level who are leading our  constituents along the path of self-advocacy and real change–now, even before we are elected.  Instead of talking about ourselves and pretending like we have all the answers, we are forming alliances with the people in our district and working with them to forge new and workable economic solutions for our communities.

Instead of asking my constituents and special interests for money, I am funding my own campaign on a very limited budget of less than $500.  Instead of inviting my constituents to $500 plate dinners where I make speeches about myself, I’m inviting constituents into my home in groups of 25 to seed the formation of no less than 4 employee-owned corporations in my 32nd U.S. Congressional District–now.  I am making things happen now in my district because 1) I know that will give me the most clout and credibility regarding my leadership when it comes to winning votes in November and 2) my model for running a campaign will, by successful example, change the continuation of the status quo in Washington D.C.  If nothing else more people like me will run for office in 2014.

But in addition to Solutions Now!  I am in this race to win in November.

My campaign model is 4x4x4x4. I will obtain the signatures of 1,000 people in my district in order to get my name on the ballot.  If  those 1,000 people tell four more about me, that is 4,000.  If those 4,000 each tell four more people, that is 16,000.  If those 16,000 each tell four more people about me, that is 64,000. If those 64,000 each tell four more about me, that is 256,000.  Yes, of course there will be those who don’t tell four, but that’s OK because my goal overshoots the critical number of votes I need to win the race by 139,000 votes. In the last race involving a presidential election (2008) Pete Sessions won my district with 116,000 votes.  To win my district in 2012, I need only 117,000 votes.  The difference between my strategy and that of the Democrats and Republicans is that I will rarely be more than 2 degrees of separation from the people in my district and that’s a powerful position to beat–even with hate filled robo calls.

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New Ways to Crawl Out of Our Economic Hole Are Showing up Every Day.

We see new and healthier forms of leadership springing up all over the world.  For example, there is a battle raging across the world over who can better feed its people: small-scale farmers practicing sustainable agriculture, or giant agribusinesses using chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

YES magazine reports that the Farmers Fresh Market program run by the Foothills Connect Business and Technology Center in Rutherfordton, North Carolina created a proprietary online system to allow individuals and businesses in nearby cities to order fresh produce from growers local to Rutherfordton. In many cases, the growers pick the food the same day the buyers receive it.

In a town where the economy has largely collapsed, the project of connecting local small food producers with consumers in near-by cities is motivated more by the possibility of job creation than by the pursuit of culinary nirvana. Tim Will, executive director of Foothills Connect and the brains behind the project, said, “It has very little to do with food and everything to do with jobs.”

The prospect of restoring local economies that have been crippled by changing times or damaging recession is as valid and powerful a reason to invest in local food as many of the arguments one hears about food miles, freshness, and saving the family farm.  In Rutherfordton, Foothills Connect has not only designed a way for city dwellers to support the established farmers of the surrounding rural landscape, but is also helping local non-farmers gain income by becoming growers too.

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The Foothills Connect Business and Technology Center is one business model that will be discussed in the very first discussion group of the 25 constituents who meet in my home in July.  This is a model that I think would be easy to adapt for one of the employee-owned companies that I would like for some of the people in my district to build.

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Instead of talking about change in my district, I look forward to meeting with my constituents and assisting in its birth.

You better find out now before it’s too late.  Your town may be up for sale to the highest bidder.

What can you do about it? Visit your city hall. Talk to the city council member who represents your area. Ask what if any plans are out there to privatize certain community services–things like selling utilities to private industry. Make a copy of this guide. Read it and make a copy for your city council person. Tell them that you expect to be kept in the loop. Here is a link to the booklet:Guide to Evaluating Privatization of Public Institutions.

Privatization–selling out public institutions to private interests is NOT the panacea that its Wall Street opportunists present it to be.  There  is no job creation planned for the next few years in the USA and this is intentional planning on the part of the elected officials in Washington.   It will give the rich more opportunity to deregulate industry and choke off federal support for public services.

Cities and states across the nation are selling and leasing everything from airports to zoos — a fire sale that could help plug budget holes now but worsen their financial woes over the long run,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “California is looking to shed state office buildings. Milwaukee has proposed selling its water supply; in Chicago and New Haven, Conn., its parking meters. In Louisiana and Georgia, airports are up for grabs.”

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Citizens are fighting back against privatization and winning!

In 2002, when Citizen Utilities, the small company that ran the water system for Fenton, California  was acquired by American Water Works Co. Its subsidiary, California-American Water (Cal-Am), took over Felton’s water utility. American Water was acquired shortly afterward by London-based Thames Water.

In November 2002, Cal-Am proposed a 74 percent rate increase over three years, subject to approval by the California Public Utilities Commission. Felton residents formed Friends of Locally Owned Water (FLOW), and with legal help from Santa Cruz County, fought the rate increase, which the utilities commission knocked down to 44 percent. But the threat of escalating costs loomed, so FLOW began working on a plan to buy the water system and turn it over to the nearby San Lorenzo Valley Water District (SLVWD), a public utility

Their efforts were successful, and the ballot initiative won with nearly 75 percent of the vote. SLVWD then proposed to buy the water system for $7.6 million, but Cal-Am/RWE refused to sell. So SLVWD pursued eminent domain to force a buyout. Just before the case was to go to jury trial, the company settled with SLVWD. Today, with Felton’s water back in the hands of a public utility, the average resident’s bill has dropped by at least 50 percent. FLOW has calculated that even with the tax increase, most residents are already saving as much as $400 per year

” Fish don’t try to turn sharks into vegetarians.” – Learning from the Octopus . . Rafe Sagarin

Many Americans seem to be following the logic of fish trying to turn sharks into vegetarians when it comes to protesting the behavior of those we send to Washington with our votes.  These elected officials are not going to change.  They have no motivation to change.  Let me repeat that: These people are not going to change.  They have no motivation to change.

While millions of Americans are losing their jobs and hundreds of thousands their homes, the economy is working just fine for the majority of the members of both houses of Congress. For verification, visit  Open Secrets and compare the net worth of your elected officials in Washington DC in 2008 to their net worth of 2010 or 2011.  What you will find is that most of them have increased their net worth from hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions.  Pete Sessions, the current U.S. Congressman for the 32nd U.S. Congressional District in Texas reported a net worth of $3,376,000 in 2008.  In 2009 he reported a net worth of $4,904,000. Thus in a two year time period when over 7 million Americans lost their jobs, Mr. Sessions made $1,528,000 off his Wall Street investment.  Many more in Congress made even more money off their investments and continue to do so.  The economy is working just fine for these people.  They are not going to change it.

How have Wall Street and our elected officials vastly improved their net worth while the majority of Americans have been sliding into an economic abyss?  We know it is not job creation–surely you must admit to that much, regardless how conservative you may be. Wall Street has made money by firing employees and selling off assets–not by job creation.  Living wages for the majority of its employees?  You can forget that as well. Labor to these people is a cost and whatever can be done to reduce that cost is acceptable to these people–whether it is making one employee do the work of two, hiring part-time instead of full time to avoid paying benefits, keeping minimum wage at a less than living wage standard, outsourcing jobs, importing slave labor, etc. they don’t care.  They don’t care.  Until we stop appealing to them and create our own change, we will continue to be as fish trying to talk a shark into becoming a vegetarian. These people are not interested in your well being.  Frankly my dears, they don’t give a damn.

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So what Needs to be Done to Change Our Economy for the Better for the Majority?

1.  First of all you can stop appealing to these people because in case you haven’t noticed, they don’t give a damn–none of them and it does not matter which party they claim. During the Bush years we had ZERO job growth.  The situation has not improved enough to make a difference during the last four years of the Obama administration.  Most of the jobs created have been in the minimum wage category–or the serf category as it would be more appropriately labeled–jobs that do not pay a living wage.

2. Second of all, stop playing by their rules.  This means:

• Stop voting for party candidates
• Stop voting for just about all incumbents
• Stop voting for millionaires who earn their income from their Wall Street investments
• Start voting for candidates who don’t take any money from any one
• Start voting for candidates who offer real solutions now instead of pie in the sky political cliches and promises that are forgotten the day after they are elected

Count a Few of the Ways that Emma Berry is Different from the Rest

• I encourage other Americans to rise up and run for office
• I do not accept money from anyone
• I do not run under a party banner and the control of that party
• Except for homemade signs put in their yards by constituents, there will be no yard signs for Emma Berry
• I would not support any robo calls against other candidates made on my behalf
• I do not offer any of the standard political cliches
• I walk around my district talking with the people one-to-one.
• I don’t make speeches to crowds.  Instead I count on individuals to spread the word about what I am doing.
• Beginning in July, I will invite groups of 10 to twenty into my home to discuss how we can create employee-owned corporations in the 32nd district.  (Three by December 31, 2012)

We must diversify the structure of our economy now.  We must do this at the local level of U.S. Congressional districts.  Our economy is out of balance.  We need employee-owned as well as community owned corporations established at local levels to diversify and stabilize our US economy.  We cannot count on our Congress to do this for us.  They will not.  These people have no motivation to do this.  They are all members of the investor class.  They are not interested in employee-owned companies and they are certainly not interested in USA community owned corporations.  Their personal profit lies in exploiting the global labor market–not in growing the wealth of our nation–not for the majority of us.

In other words, we need to stop trying to make sharks into vegetarians and start building an economy that serves the majority.

Pete Sessions, will return to Congress, yet again if the voters in the 32nd district do nothing.  He does not represent you.  But don’t take my word for it.  Verify the following facts for yourself:

Connections to Abramoff

In late 2001 and early 2002, Sessions cosigned letters to two  Cabinet  members asking them to shut down casinos operated by several Native American  tribes. Within 18 months of sending the letters, Sessions received a total of $20,500 from tribes associated with Jack Abramoff   In response, the Sessions office said he wrote the letters because of his view that gambling is a local issue, falling under his long held support for federalism.

Blimpgate – Obama is not the only one with a Chicago Connection.  Pete Sessions has one too.

In 2008, Sessions added a $1.6 million earmark to an appropriations bill, for dirigible research. The earmark benefitted a Chicago   company, Jim G. Ferguson & Associates, which has no experience in government contracting or dirigible research. A former Sessions aide and convicted felon , Adrian Plesha is a lobbyist for the firm.

In September, Adrian Plesha sued Jim G. Ferguson & Associates for non-payment of fees and expenses connected with his lobbying effort on their behalf. The lawsuits mentions the dirigible research project, saying, “as a direct result of Plesha’s services in 2007 through 2008, Plesha was able to secure a $1.6 million appropriation for defendants in September 2008…”.

Ties to Allen Stanford

Sessions has personal ties to Allen Stanford. Records show that Sessions received over $44,000 in political contributions from Allen Stanford and his associates. Sessions  took multiple trips to the Caribbean  to attend Stanford sponsored events. These trips included private travel for Sessions on Stanford’s fleet of jets and accommodations.

Contributions from Wyly brothers

On July 29, 2010 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission  (SEC) filed fraud charges against brothers Samuel and Charles Wyly. The two brothers were charged with creating phony overseas accounts to illegally trade $750 million in stocks. Both brothers were two of the top Republican   financial contributors in the country, and gave Pete Sessions nearly $30,000 during his time in the United Sates Congress.

Countrywide Financial loan

In January 2012, it was reported that Sessions received a so-called “VIP” or “Friends of Angelo” loan in 2007 from troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial   in which loans were granted at lower interest rates than were available to the public. Former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo created the program to boost the company’s standing with politicians, celebrities and well-connected business figures. The congressman received a $1 million loan from Countrywide at below-market rates, which he never declared in financial disclosures. Sessions as well as names of other legislators who received similar loans were subsequently referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform  as part of an ethics investigation into improper gifts

Take a look and decide for yourself if you want to do away with the EPA and let people like David Koch define dirty.

I know that I don’t want people like Koch and Exxon Mobil in charge of policing themselves.  These people act as if following environmental regulations will break their bank.  Yes, it will cost them more money to keep our environment and especially our water supply safe for generations to come and to protect the lives of people who work for them.  But run them out of business?  Please!  These people make billions, not millions, billions every year.  It is ludicrous for them to suggest that they can’t afford to take precautions to protect water supplies and protect the lives of workers.  If you fall for that line–you are either a sucker or one of them.

Air Force Plant #4(General Dynamics) (PDF, 4 pp, 109K)
Alcoa/Lavaca Bay (PDF, 4 pp, 266K)
Attebury Grain Storage Facility (PDF, 4 pp, 950K)
Bailey Waste Disposal (PDF, 5 pp, 616K)
Bandera Road Groundwater Plume (PDF, 6 pp, 1660K)
Bio-Ecology Systems, Inc. (PDF, 3 pp, 68K)
Brine Service Company (PDF, 5 pp, 81K)
Brio Refining, Inc. (PDF, 3 pp, 575K)
City of Perryton Water Well #2 (PDF, 3 pp, 121K)
Conroe Creosote (PDF, 3 pp, 216K)
Crystal Chemical Co. (PDF, 6 pp, 362K)
Crystal City Airport (PDF, 4 pp, 90K)
Dixie Oil Processors, Inc. (PDF, 2 pp, 77K)
Donna Reservoir and Canal (PDF, 4 pp, 119K)
East 67th Street Ground Water Plume (PDF, 5 pp, 402K)
Falcon Refinery (PDF, 5 pp, 265K)
French, Ltd. (PDF, 5 pp, 605K)
Garland Creosoting (PDF, 4 pp, 75K)
Geneva Industries/Fuhrmann Energy (PDF, 4 pp, 140K)
Gulfco Marine Maintenance (PDF, 4 pp, 80K)
Hart Creosoting Company (PDF, 6 pp, 175K)
Highlands Acid Pit (PDF, 5 pp, 444K)
Jasper Creosoting Company (PDF, 6 pp, 411K)
Jones Road Ground Water Plume (PDF, 3 pp, 268K)
Koppers Co., Inc. (Texarkana Plant) (PDF, 7 pp, 82K)
Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant (PDF, 5 pp, 125K)
Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant (PDF, 6 pp, 900K)
Malone Services Company (PDF, 6 pp, 109K)
Many Diversified Interests, Inc. (PDF, 10 pp, 241K)
Midessa Ground Water Plume (PDF, 6 pp, 517K)
MOTCO, Inc. (PDF, 4 pp, 150K)
North Cavalcade Street (PDF, 6 pp, 380K)
Odessa Chromium #1 (PDF, 4 pp, 65K)
Odessa Chromium #2 (PDF, 4 pp, 57K)
Old ESCO (PDF, 4 pp, 1560K)
Palmer Barge Line (PDF, 3 pp, 89K)
Pantex Plant (USDOE) (PDF, 5 pp, 640K)
Patrick Bayou (PDF, 3 pp, 83K)
Pesses Chemical Co. (PDF, 4 pp, 75K)
Petro-Chemical Systems, Inc. (Turtle Bayou) (PDF, 9 pp 165K)
RSR Corp. (Murph Metals) (PDF, 3 pp, 99K)
Rockwool Industries, Inc. (PDF, 6 pp, 236K)
Sandy Beach Road (PDF, 5 pp, 421K)
San Jacinto River Waste Pits (PDF, 5 pp, 255K)
Sheridan Disposal Services (PDF, 3 pp, 444K)
Sikes Disposal Pits (PDF, 4 pp, 190K)
Sol Lynn/Industrial Transformers (PDF, 4 pp, 260K)
South Cavalcade Street (PDF, 5 pp, 482K)
Sprague Road (PDF, 7 pp, 764K)
Star Lake Canal (PDF, 5 pp, 263K)
State Marine of Port Arthur (PDF, 3 pp, 84K)
State Road 114 Ground Water Plume (PDF, 7 pp, 961K)
Stewco, Inc. (PDF, 3 pp, 82K)
Tex-Tin Corporation (PDF, 3 pp, 81K)
Texarkana Wood Preserving Co. (PDF, 5 pp, 90K)
Triangle Chemical Co. (PDF, 3 pp, 147K)
United Creosoting Co. (PDF, 3 pp, 227K)
West County Road (PDF, 3 pp, 300K)

Der Spiegal reports that the homeless have a new way of earning a living: As tour guides. Perhaps the leaders of the Occupy Movement can learn from their European cousins examples.  I have written to the Occupy Dallas group and sent copies to several other people, in my local community and national, regarding this possibility.

Maybe we could get funding from an organization like Oprah’s to help us.  Part of this program also could be to assist some of the homeless in learning marketable computer/writing/pr skills.  I would like as much as possible for these stories and photographs taken to be done by the homeless.  Others can train them, and we can loan them our cameras but let’s allow the homeless the dignity of telling their own stories.  Let’s don’t steal the thunder of their human potential.

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Here is what some of the homeless in London are doing.

“Wilding, who has strawberry blonde hair and alert eyes, earns money by selling the homeless magazine “Big Issue,” and with tours through the London Bridge area. It is a new type of walking tour, with the homeless explaining the city through their own eyes. Places that the tourists would normally just walk by take on new meaning. Every park bench and every bridge offers up a host of anecdotes. Even the delicacy paradise, the London Borough Market, which every good travel guide recommends, is shown in a new light.

“This is where I used to sleep sometimes,” says Wilding as she points to a corner of the marketplace. “In the morning, the market traders would make me a cup of tea.” A few corners further on, in front of an Asian chain restaurant, she points to waves in the concrete on the floor. “They put them up to stop us sleeping there,” she says. And even the park benches in the Lucy Brown Gardens were retrofitted to keep the homeless away — by putting a third armrest in the center.”

More at Der Spiegal

Public Domain: A chromolithograph of The Dog in the Manger from a McLoughlin Brothers book for children, New York, 1880

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The Investor Class and their Gatekeepers (Mayors, Governors, members of Congress and the White House) are like the proverbial Dog in the Manger:  Even if they can’t use an asset, they don’t want anyone else using it.

In case you are not familiar with this ancient  proverb of the Dog in the Manger:  There was a dog lying in a manger who did not eat the grain but who nevertheless prevented the horse from being able to eat anything either.

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I thought about that old proverb this morning as I read the news about Occupy Oakland.

Oakland police on Saturday fired tear gas and flash grenades at hundreds of Occupy supporters who tried to seize the long-closed Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center as their movement’s new home. Organizers of Occupy Oakland had announced last week that they planned to seize an empty building as their new base and community center, calling the public use of vacant buildings a new direction for the movement. After a brief lunchtime rally Saturday at Frank Ogawa Plaza, more than 1.000 Occupy supporters, accompanied by a small marching band, poured down Broadway, filling the street with banners.

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Here is where the Dog in the Manger Analogy comes into play:

Buildings left vacant tend to decay, lose value, and eventually are torn down.  If the people who owned these buildings and the banks who owned foreclosed properties really cared about their assets, they would make a deal with people to occupy the properties until that point in time when they could be sold.

But selling the properties is not their goal.

They would prefer to see them deteriorate and then write them off as a loss.

Just another example of the destructive investor class in action.  There is no moral justification for their behavior as millions of Americans sleep in the streets every night and children go hungry because of the absolute greed of a few.  And shame on the mayors and leaders of government who allow this and continue to pass legislation at local, state and national levels that protect the investor class at the expense of the majority.