-=> Richard Webb wrote to Dave Drum <=-   
      
    RW>    
    DD> Probably because a union some where/when negotiated a   
    DD> living wage.   
      
    BK>  A point I have made over and over.   
      
    RW> Indeed, as have I.   
      
   Isn't it amazing that people who actually think get that point?    
       
    RW> Trying to combine some replies here.   
      
    RW> FIrst, for Discussion between BK and LL:   
      
    RW> Ascap and BMI are not unions for musicians.  They are   
    RW> associations or entities of a corporate nature that are the   
    RW> collection agents for songwriter royalties from   
    RW> performances, etc.   
      
   They are like the RIAA only for musicians rather than "entertainment"   
   corp-rats.   
       
    RW> Musicians were/are represented by the AFM, American   
    RW> Federation of Musicians, which used to be quite good.  One   
    RW> reason musicians are compensated at all for recorded   
    RW> performances that are essentially for hire is the AFM   
    RW> recording strike of over half a century ago.   
    RW> The afm doesn't have near the weight it used to have   
    RW> however.   
      
   AFM is currently headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canadia   
      
    DD> And that is why China-Mart is so terrified that unions will gain a   
    DD> toehold in their stores. They have been butt-humping their serfs for   
    DD> so long and so hard that to unionise would force them to remove that   
    DD> "Always lower prices - always" from their adverts and make them   
    DD> compete on quality and actual service grounds. Subjects with which   
    DD> they are patently unfamiliar.   
      
    RW> Some folks say old Sam must be spinning in his hole, but i   
    RW> doubt it.  Sam knew where the game was going.  Chinamart   
    RW> used to advertise American made products too.  Go figure>   
      
   I actually met and had dinner with Sam Walton - back in the 80s. I didn't know   
   that he was the head cheese of the whole Wal-Mart operation. He was dressed in   
   Oshkosh B'Gosh bib overalls and driving a ratty red Chevy pick up -- just like   
   a lot of people in NW Arkansas at that time. I, and my fellow drivers, thought   
   he was a foreman or something from the distribution centre where we were   
   getting loads to haul to various Wally World stores. I am pretty sure that his   
   vision for Wal-Mart was nothing like what the "profits at all costs" assholes   
   have made it into.   
      
   ... A lot of people mistake a short memory for a clear consicience. Doug Larson   
   --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.49   
    * Origin: Outpost BBS / Johnson City, TN / outpost.slyip.net (1:18/200)