Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’.
—Bob Dylan, “The Times They Are A-Changin'”
Utopia 19: A Long Way Home
Jack held Andy’s hand and stroked his forehead gently. Andy opened his eyes. He had regained consciousness in the night and Barney had been giving him morphine to blunt his pain and make him sleep again. Now it made him foggy and Jack hoped he would understand. “The helicopter is here for you, Andy.” He signed.
Andy lifted his hands with some jerkiness and signed, “Will you go with me?”
Jack frowned. He desperately wanted to go with Andy. To comfort and protect him. “I can’t go with you. I have to drive the rest of the class back home.” He signed.
Andy’s eyes filled with water but did not spill there lids. Jack felt fresh misery well in his chest. But what could he do? He had driven the entire class into the Desert and he was the only one who could drive them back out. Jack was lost in Andy’s eyes for a moment. The same eyes that had brought him to Corona in the first place…
Ms. Grant had done more than come to Jack while he was in his final year at Sacramento. She had insisted on introducing him to the boy in question. She had taken him to the play group his parents used.
Jack met Andrew’s mother. A soft spoken women, with delicate features named Kate. She led Jack and Ms. Grant to the back yard of the play area. Here 30 children of various ages below 6 years toddled about playing with toys, splashing in a small shallow pool, or with the older ones playing on a small slide. The children were giggling and squealing with joy as they walked, ran, waddled or crawled about. The scene was a delight of chaos and Jack had no choice but to smile. He had still not accepted the job that Ms. Grant had offered him and he doubted that he would. But he loved seeing the children and could not wait until he had his own class of unruly 6 year olds.
Kate led them through the chaos to her son. In the back corner was a boy facing away from his playmates and ignored by the rest. He was playing with tinker toys and Jack had to admit that the house like structure Andrew had built was impressive for his age.
His mother touched the boy on his shoulder and his head whipped around to look up at her. His hands went protectively to his construction. She spoke as she signed for Jack’s benefit. “Andrew, this is your new educator, Mr. Randall.”
Jack was about to correct her when Andy did something Jack had never seen in a child of this age in all the years he had worked with children at university. Andy looked up and down Jack, taking his measure. Judging Jack’s worth. He ended his gaze on Jack’s eyes. Andy’s eyes were a faded blue color of worn denim and they held a brightness that hinted at the intellect behind them.
Then he looked at his mother and his hands flew in their language.
“He in concerned that you do not speak sign language.” Kate interpreted.
Jack kneeled down and stared back into Andy’s bright eyes trying to measure up to Andrew’s expectations. Andy’s eyes pierced his heart and he knew Ms. Grant had won. She had been wise to bring him here. She must have guessed that meeting Andy would make it impossible for Jack to say no. She was right.
“Tell him that I will learn sign before school starts, but he must promise me that later he will learn to speak.”
Andy’s eyes drifted up to see his mother’s hands and then they locked on Jack again. For a moment he sat there staring at Jack. Finally, Andy nodded and then turned back to his tinker toys as though he had dismissed Jack and was no longer concerned with his presence.
Jack stood and Ms. Grant smiled at him and then led him from the yard…
“No! I want you to come.” Andy signed with more energy.
Will, who had never left Andy’s side, touched his shoulder. “I will go with you.” He signed. Jack had intended to send Connie with Andy and had not anticipated Will’s offer. Andy smiled at him wanly and Jack had little choice but to allow the boy to accompany his friend.
Jack signed, “I will be there as soon as I can. It won’t be long.”
Andy’s lower lip quivered but he nodded slowly.
A commotion could be heard in the hall. A large group of people burst into the room led by Svana. In their midst a cot on wheels rolled into the room led by two people dressed in dark green jump suits with the emblem of the national health care system on their left chests.
“Hi there.” The first crew member greeted them cheerfully. He was an older gentleman with a muscular build and salt and pepper hair that was getting rather thin on top. “Are you the fellow that had the argument with a rattler? I hear the rattler won the first round.”
Will translated the man’s words and Andy smiled and nodded. Jack got up to introduce himself.
“Well you must be one brave man to face down a rattler.” The medic continued, undaunted by the need to translate his jokes. The other medic was a young woman in her twenties and she tilted her head with some curiosity toward Andy.
Andy gave her a weak smile as well.
Jack stepped aside after shaking the medics’ hands. The older nurse came forward to examine Andy’s wound. After a couple of seconds he looked at Jack and said, “Nice work. Good field work. He’ll need antidote though. We will need to get him to the hospital.”
Andy dug his fingers into Jack’s arm. Jack’s heart filled with lead. Andy needed him and he could not go. He looked down at Andy. “I’ll see you as soon as we get back to Reno.”
Andy scowled but did not sign anything.
“I’ll be with you. I’ll stay right with you until Educant Randall gets there.” Will signed gently. Andy trembled but smiled at Will.
“You’ll come as soon as you can?” he signed to Jack.
“I promise.”
Andy allowed himself to be picked up by the Air Evac Nurse and placed on the gurney. Will took up Andy’s hand and walked to Andy’s left as the Air Evac Team pushed the gurney out of the infirmary to the waiting helicopter. Jack tagged along behind them.
As they got to the helicopter the crew wheeled Andy around so he would go head first into the bay. Andy was now facing Jack again. The gurney collapsed on itself as soon as it hit the passenger bay and rolled easily into place. The crew member who had spoken to Andy helped Will into the seat next to Andy. As Andy realized that he was about to leave Jack tears began to flow down his cheeks but he did not cry out or protest. It was all Jack could do to stop himself from climbing into the helicopter.
He touched Andy’s good leg and signed, “I promise. I’ll be there.”
The lead crew member turned to Jack and put a hand on his shoulder. “He’ll be fine. We see this all the time. The hospital will get him fixed right up.” Then he walked Jack to a safe distance and went back to his helicopter. He ducked low as the helicopter engine roared to life and the blades began to beat. He climbed in the door and closed it behind him. A few seconds later the helicopter with Andy and Will were in the air.
Jack stood with the rest looking at the great machine as it rose into the air. Jack felt worn out. He hoped he had the energy to drive them all back. Farid asked Jack in a slightly cracked voice, “Is Andy going to be alright?”
“Yes. He’ll be fine. He just needs to see a doctor sooner than I could get him to a doctor with the buggy.”
“Can I go with you to the hospital?” Jack looked down into his pleading face. He knew better than to make this promise though. He did not know what Andy would be like when he got there.
“No not yet. Maybe later.”
Jack and his two chaperones herded the children into the rail. Barney crawled into a huge machine that was to travel in front of them plowing the sand off the road so they could find their way back.
The trip home was a somber affair and what speaking was done was in hushed and subdued tones.
Dale Sr. was waiting at the bay doors when Jack pulled up. He had shuttles ready for them when they arrived.
Dale smiled at Jack, “Rough go, huh?”
Despite Jack’s gloomy mood he could not help but appreciate Dale. “Yeah. Got Andy just below the knee. His whole leg is a mess. I got to go see him.”
“Do ya want a shuttle to the hospital from here?”
Jack looked at Connie. She looked as exhausted as Jack felt but relieved to be out of the vehicle. “I can take them tonight. It’s OK. Andy needs to see you. Rhonda will help me until you get there.”
Jack nodded.
The children and the chaperones climbed into the shuttles and were off to the hotel for a well deserved rest. Dale punched a few buttons on the shuttle bay’s controls and a few minutes later a single shuttle arrived.
Jack thanked Dale for all his help and climbed in. He was now thoroughly exhausted and despite his worry, he slept until he reached the hospital.
The Concept behind the Fiction:
1.) Feeling B of A’s Bite
I know. Late again. I am going down to Arizona to pack the last of my things and return to the State of Jefferson permanently so I am quite busy right now.
However, I have also had quite a problem with corporations this week. Perhaps they read my last entry. It seems that corporations are making up for their losses by fraudulently charging their customers. I caught three of these frauds just the other day. And each time it sucks my time and energy to deal with the “mistake”. Funny, none of these errors were in my favor.
One I actually wanted to tell you about, as I believe that I am not the only one. I still own a home in Arizona and the mortgage has been acquired by Bank of America. This year the escrow account went up by $150 a month. Since taxes and insurance did not jump by that amount I called to find out what is going on. B of A had decided to charge me extra money and hold it in my escrow account every month. They said that this money was being held in case I did not make a payment; something that had never happened in the 5 years I have had the loan. Additionally, I have been forced to pay mortgage insurance to the tune of $123 a month for the life of the loan for just such an eventuality so there is really no reason for them to take another $75 other than if I had not caught it, it would have been an interest free loan to them.
Of course I asked for the money to come off of the escrow and for a complete accounting of the life of the loan. This was met with some resistance until I mentioned that my next call was going to be to the DA and the Comptroller. (You would do well to remember this threat yourself if you have unpleasant dealings with any bank. Also if you have a local news channel that makes a habit of going after businesses that have wronged consumers mention them too.) The mood of the bank changed at that moment and they agreed to take off the $75 a month reserve and to send me the account statements.
I mention this because many of you may have loans with B of A or one of the other giants. I encourage you to look very carefully at any escrow account this year and to examine the principal on your accounts carefully. You should have gotten an end of the year escrow statement. I doubt that I am the only one so abused by B of A and most likely the other major mortgage companies are just as guilty.
In conclusion, these are the things you should look for:
*Are there any new fees on your escrow account?
*Is last year’s principal higher than this year’s? (That’s a whole other story with me and B of A.)
*Does the principal go down every month?
*Are there any new fees for being late when you are not late? (Yes, another personal experience with B of A.)
*Call your insurance company and your tax accessor and make sure that these fees have gone up as much as the bank says they have.
2.) Feelin’ the Love
So clearly I am in a mood to rail on corporations today. My last entry discussed a plan to reclaim our democracy one state at a time. The elements of the plan as discussed in the prior blog are:
1.) The state must find a way to curtail the corporate right to “personhood” within its boundaries.
2.) The state would require some restrictions on media broadcasts within its boundaries similar to the FCC rules that existed in the 1980s.
3.) The state would collect income tax. The individual income tax for the persons within the state would be collected by the state and the state legislator would then decide what percentage of tax will be allocated to the federal government and for what purposes.
For a more complete description of the plan see the previous entry. Today I wish to talk about corporate personhood in more detail.
3.) A Brief Word about Immortals
No I am not going to talk about Greek gods or Tolkien’s Elves. I am going to talk about the citizens of our nation that neither breathe nor have a heart beat but live forever.
Ok that’s close.
I am actually talking about corporations.
The 5th Amendment states that the federal government shall not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without the due process of law; nor deny any person equal protections under the law. The 14th Amendment states the states are also prohibited from the above acts. This was done to redefine freed slaves and make them people under the law. Sounds good doesn’t it. The problem is that the Supreme Court (not a law creating body mind you) has made corporations “people” and so they deserve the same rights and priveledges as people.
But corporations aren’t human. They live forever, can change their identity at whim, split off parts of themselves, merge with others of their own kind, create children at a moments notice, own slaves, need not fear water or air that is not pure, and can be in two places at once. Their wealth is the shared wealth of many human people. Worst of all, if they commit a crime you can not put them in jail. Terminator and borg pix.
This equal protection of a being which in many ways is not equal to us puts us human/people at a disadvantage.
I am not the first to consider how to take away the corporate right to personhood. This is a battle that has been waging on the mean street of Transylvania Pennsylvania for some time now.
4.) A Steak in the Heart
The first people to consider putting a steak in the heart of a corporation was Porter Township in Pennsylvania. That’s right; those radical anarchists near the Mississippi beat me to the punch.
It all started in 2002 when Synagro, a company specializing in sewage, wanted to dump sewage sludge onto fields where crops that you and I eat. The good folks of Porter Township in Clarion Co, PA. did not want to eat food grown in industrial waste so they passed township ordinances against such practices. (It is at this point that you must realize that this is common practice and may want to reconsider what I’ve said in the past about organic food and growing your own food.
Synagro sued the township, as is the custom in the US when a company wants to despoil our land and we don’t want them to. They claimed that the township was not providing equal protection to their corporation/person and favoring human/people. Synagro pressured local law makers at the state level to pass laws stipping local communities from using their own self government to control how the land about them is used. EPA was called upon to pressure the township to back down. Another sewage company, Alcosan, joined the fight and instructed the courts to vindicate their claimed losses do to the laws passed by Porter. Yes, they can do that. Instead, Porter passed a law revoking corporate personhood within its boundaries.
5.) Since Porter the Vampire Slayer
Since Porter Township several other local communities have gotten the courage to take up the steak. Here is a brief list of slayers:
Arcata, CA-Limited “Big Box” and chain store corporations coming to their town 2002
Licking Township, PA-revoked corporate personhood for similar reasons 2003
Point Arena, CA-Revoked corporate personhood 2004
Wayne and Thompson Township, PA-corporations with a history of breaking the law were prohibitied from doing business in the area. 1998
Shasta Co, CA-corporations that break the law 10 times have their charter dissolved (The 10 strikes your out law.)
Boulder, CO-3 stikes your dissolved law, 1998
California State-3 strikes you dissolved law, 2003
9 States in the Bread basket-banned non-family owned factory farming 1982-1998
San Francisco, Berkley, Willits, Arcata, Ukiah (all in CA)-Abolished corporate personhood 2005
Humboldt County, CA-Non local corporations can not contribute to local elections.2004
Unfortunately, all of these measures have been struck down. You see they all do not provide corporate persons equal protections under state law. This is despite the fact that in almost every case complying with the 14th Amendment is in direct conflict with the state constitution. It was the states who initially controlled corporations so their laws initially addressed how corporations and people should behave. The federal government was mostly mute on this issue due to the fact that it was a state’s affair. For example this is what California’s Constitution says:
“All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for their protection, security, and benefit and they have the right to alter or reform it when the public good may require.” Article II Section I
Or
“…the exercise of the police power of the State shall never be so abridged or construed as to permit corporations to conduct their business in such a manner as to infringe the rights of individuals or the general well-being of the state.” Article XII Section 8 until 1972
6.) Picking up the Steak
So how can we get to where we clearly need to be? Well we could get an Amendment to the Constitution stating that human are the only people with rights. That would be difficult but not impossible given we have done it 27 times before.
It would require that 2/3 of the House and 2/3 of the Senate vote in favor of such an Amendment. Given that most of our federal representation has been bought and paid for by corporations, I think it unlikely that this will occur.
But those authors of the Constitution were sly devils. They foresaw the federal government getting out of hand and gave the states a way to slip one in if they wanted to. We have never used it, but it is still valid and it is called a Constitutional Convention. Two thirds of states (33 states) can create and ratify an Amendment. The Amendment then becomes law when ¾ of state legislatures (38 states) ratify it.
Other measures to curtail corporate powers would involve thinking out side the box. For example how about making a law that no “person” in the state can own another “person” without paying a very high tax or if both “people” voluntarily give up their rights as “people”. This could be enforced equally as most people do not actually own anyone any more, but most large corporations do own subsidiary “people”.
Or a person can only do business in the state if they reside within the state. That would put a charter for each corporation within the state for the state to decide if said charter should be granted or not.
Could laws initially designed to discriminate against undocumented aliens within our borders be turned to discriminate against foreign owned corporations? For example a foreign owned corporation with a criminal history could be prevented from entering the state, as many foreign born citizens have been prevented in the past.
For more about fighting corporate personhood check out:
Move to Amend the Constitution –sign the petition here
Abolishing Corporate Personhood
Model Resolution for your Town
Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County
Cathartic Action against Health Insurance Companies: