Ice Cube
Rob Swift
Apples in Stereo
Jurassic 5
Sleater-Kinney
Nirvana
Sonic Youth
Amon Tobin
Dirty Three
Cat Power
Pixies
Fugazi
Frank Black
Breeders
Three Mile Pilot
Mogwai
DJ Shadow
Chuck D
Shipping News
Black Heart Procession
White Stripes
Built To Spill
Los Straitjackets
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

AND MUCH MORE!

"For me, satire is a powerful tool and it's not sufficiently used; it's not just for late-night jokes but really to promote fundamental change. And it's inevitable that when you attempt to change the status quo, you're going to make some people upset. That's the price of change."

"Bush's lame response to North Korea has made it quite clear that all he wants is to invade Iraq again. North Korea may be more dangerous in fact, but there's no oil there, and it simply doesn't figure in the grand eschatological design of Bush's theocratic circle. Pyongyang isn't even in the Bible!"

"It's a done deal. By the end of 2003, Saddam Hussein will either be out of power or out of the realm of the living. So who's next in line for the coveted position of dictator -- uh, leader -- of Iraq, home to the largest supply of crude reserves on Earth? Here's the list of nominees."

"Word comes that brother Cat Stevens refuses to lend his support to our virtuous jihad. May this turncoat's Peace Train be laden with explosives and rammed into the Mountain of Mohammed, peace be upon him. "

"America embodies mimetic relations of rivalry. The ideology of free enterprise makes of them an absolute solution. Effective, but explosive. Competitive relations are excellent if you come out of it the winner. But if the winners are always the same then, one day, the losers overturn the game table."

"'When it comes to learning from its mistakes, corporate America has fallen off the rehab wagon more times than Robert Downey, Jr. A quick glance at last week's papers reveals that it's monkey business as usual on Wall Street."

"'People are more aware of the world that they want to live in, and now they have to realize that they can actually create that world and fight for the things that are worth fighting for and not feel apathetic. We are all going to die. There is no point in holding anything back. ."

"Dubya may not be a rocket scientist, but his handlers learned the lesson from his father: the crisis must stay or you won't. We're at war with Eurasia. We've always been at war with Eurasia."

"What do a toilet bowl and a woman's vagina have in common? They both need to be cleaned with Lysol."

"For white people, it will be different. They will be advised to refer to the U.S. Federal Standard 595B Color Chart (or the Ralph Lauren color chip guide at Home Depot) to determine the range of colors permissible in a potential spouse."

"I think that there's been a lot of difficulty in defining what is American, what is considered American. There's a lot of difficulty with acceptance within our community of foreignness at this time."

"That's an issue I'm dealing with here: what is going to happen with this next generation of kids? What is their culture but media culture? What hasn't been sanitized and homogenized?"

"You can make nicely crafted things, whether they're poems, sculptures, paintings, records, CDs, whatever. But they'll just be that -- nice. They won't be unwieldy as personal expression often can be."

"The music business is run by lawyers and accountants, and they don't really care about the integrity of art."

by CitizenWorks.org

In Washington

Congress

1. Congress, FASB continue to tangle over stock options at hearing
A small but vocal faction in Congress, backed by the powerful high-tech lobby, is trying to keep options unexpensed, despite the fact that the Financial Accounting Standards Board has already said it will require options to be expensed. Last week, Reps. David Dreier (R-Calif.) and Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), members of that minority, used a hearing last week to gain support for their Broad-Based Stock Option Plan Transparency Act (H.R. 1372). Their bill calls for enhanced disclosure of options and a three-year study by the Securities and Exchange, an attempt to delay the expensing of options. Dreier and Eshoo, along with a powerful high-tech lobby, are trying to convince Congress that expensing stock options will hurt entrepreneurship in this country and harm rank-and-file employees. But FASB chair Robert Herz wasn’t buying it. He said at the hearing that he is still convinced as ever that options should be counted as expenses, and that Congressional intervention “would be in direct conflict with the expressed needs and demands of many investors.” According to most analyses, an explosion in the use of stock options as executive compensation fueled in the recent epidemic of corporate fraud and abuse. The possession of huge quantities of options led many greedy executives to do everything they could (including cook the books) to drive the stock price up so they could cash in while the stock was artificially high. For more on the hearings, see “Stock options battle raging State lawmakers aid Silicon Valley” by Carolyn Lockheed of the San Francisco Chronicle.

2. Senators propose amending or overturning new FCC media rules
Several members of the Senate Commerce Committee last week expressed their displeasure at the actions that the Federal Communications Committee took last week to ease limits on media control. “It looks for all the world like you could not or would not stand up to corporate interests,” said Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) Despite the objections of more than 500,000 public comments, the FCC last week voted 3-2 to ease limits on ownership of newspapers, television and radio stations. The rules will likely produce further consolidation of the media industry, allowing fewer giant corporations to control more of what we hear and see, further reducing the diversity of ideas and opinions in mainstream media. Already, five major corporations control the vast majority of media, particularly television. A single company can now own TV stations that reach 45% of U.S. households, as opposed to 35% of U.S. households under previous rules. In response, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) introduced a bill that would cap that percentage at 35%. The bill is supported by conservative Republicans, including Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.). Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) does not support the bill, but he will allow hearings. For more, see “Senators Attack FCC Rules” by Frank Ahrens of the Washington Post.

To show your support for reversing the new FCC rules, click here.

Securities and Exchange Commission

3. Xerox execs settle with SEC for $22 million over accounting probe
Six Xerox executives who were allegedly involved in helping Xerox inflate its revenues by $1.4 billion between 1997 and 2000 agreed to pay a combined $22 million in fines to the Securities and Exchange Commission to end charges of accounting fraud. The biggest fines will be paid by former CEOs Paul Allaire and Richard Thoman, who will pay $8.6 million and $6.9 million respectively. The SEC is also suing Xerox’s auditor, KMPG. For more on the fines, see “Former Xerox execs to pay $22 mln to settle probe” by Peter Ramjug of Reuters.

However, as the New York Times' Gretchen Morgenson notes, it is Xerox’s shareholders who will wind up paying most of the fines, as is often the case.

“Because of so-called indemnification provisions in most companies' bylaws,” Morgenson writes, “shareholders almost always end up paying the penalties to which company officials agree when they settle with regulators. But the provisions can also mean that shareholders cover these costs when companies choose to litigate such cases rather than settle without admitting or denying guilt.”

According to the Times, only $3 million of the penalties will actually be paid by the six executives. See “Shareholders Will Pick Up the Bill This Time, Too”.

4. SEC considers rules for credit-ratings agencies
The Securities and Exchange Commission is considering new rules for credit-ratings agencies, responding to Congressional complaints that the ratings agencies (such as Fitch, Moody’s, and Standard and Poor’s) failed to properly detect financial problems they should have detected at Enron, WorldCom, and other scandal-ridden companies. Critics charge that with so few credit-rating agencies and so many conflicts-of-interest between the agencies and the firms, the credit-rating system is essentially broken. The SEC is exploring various alternatives and regulations, including eliminating the practice of recognizing any agencies, which would make it easier for new agencies to enter the market. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act had asked the SEC to study the rule of credit rating agencies in Enron and other scandals. See the concept release here.

War Profiteering

5. U.S. says WorldCom contract to build wireless phone service in Iraq was proper
The United States General Services Administration last week defended its decision to give WorldCom (now MCI) a contract to build a wireless network in Iraq despite the fact that WorldCom committed the largest accounting fraud in U.S. history - an estimated $11 billion. It has also been fined $500 million by the SEC. The GSA said it had no evidence that the company would not be able to provide the services.

“Throughout this [bankruptcy] period, WorldCom has performed as well or better than before the financial improprieties surfaced. No agencies have determined it to be necessary to move their service from MCI WorldCom during this period,” the GSA wrote in a report.

The report came in response to a letter from Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who expressed concern that taxpayer money was going to a company with a history of financial fraud. Collins has also called for hearings into how the no-bid contract was awarded. See: “U.S. Agency Defends Contracts with MCI” by Reuters.

In other WorldCom news, a 263-report released today by former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh described how former CEO Bernie Ebbers and former CFO Scott Sullivan dominated the corporate culture that produced an $11 billion accounting scandal. The report criticizes the board of directors as a rubber stamp for some of Ebbers’ and Sullivan’s worst decisions. See: Reports Detail WorldCom Execs' Domination, By Matthew Barakat of the Associated Press.

In The States

California

6. Corporate Three Strikes bill strikes out in committee
A bill that would have barred corporations with three felony convictions from conducting business in the state of California was killed last week in committee when it failed to get a majority of support. The bill would have created a framework for the state attorney general to revoke the license of corporations that commit three major felonies in a 10-year period to do business in the state. California activists blamed two Democratic state Senators, Debra Bowen, and Jackie Speier, for failing to support the bill.

“The politicians who killed corporate reform in California betrayed consumers, seniors, and our environment in order to protect corporate felons,” said Carmen Balber, a consumer advocate at the Foundation for Consumer and Taxpayer Rights (FCTR), which supported the bill. “The defeat shows how deep the influence of big business runs in Sacramento.”

The FCTR held a protest outside Bowen’s office last Thursday, holding up posters that said Bowen’s vote against the bill amounted to “excusing corporate crimes against society.” FCTR has also placed a list of corporations with “strikes” or felony convictions on its website.

The legislation -- SB 335 by Sen. Gloria Romero (D) -- also would have required corporations guilty of first- and second-strike felonies to make admissions in full-page newspaper advertisements. Supporters of the bill promise to introduce the legislation again next year.

Massachusetts

7. Corporate Accountability Act moving along
The Massachusetts Corporate Accountability Act (H. 1930), which addresses the issue of corporations concealing and denying the health, safety, and environmental hazards of their products, is gaining momentum. The three-part bill would:

1) Require the state pension fund to avoid investing in companies with potential long-term environmental and safety hazards;
2) Amend the state’s Right to Know laws by establishing new quarterly reporting requirements on known hazards of products or activities. It would also prohibit companies from concealing any information on potential hazards and safer alternatives; and
3) Require public disclosure of all settlements that relate to public hazards.

“The history of asbestos, tobacco, and chemical pollution shows that nondisclosure and deception practiced by corporations has, over and over again, ensured public exposures and led to extensive, unnecessary death and disease,” said attorney Sanford Lewis, who testified recently in support of the bill on behalf of the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow. Parts two and three of the bill have been discharged by committees; the first part is still under consideration by Joint Committee on Public Service.

Around the World

England

8. Department of Trade and Industry looks into curbing excessive executive pay
The British Department of Trade and Industry last week released a report called “Rewards for Failure,” which explores measures to curb excessive executive pay. Among other things, the report proposes giving company boards the right to veto pay packages of failing directors. The report reflects ongoing concern about runaway executive pay in England.

Earlier this year, the British government approved a reform that requires shareholder approval of executive compensation packages. Recently, shareholders at GlaxoSmithKline opposed a proposal that would have guaranteed CEO Jean-Pierre Garnier two years’ salary and bonus at the end of his contract. Last year, he earned $3.9 million plus $2.7 million in stock. Read the “Rewards for Failure” report. The U.K. Guardian has put together an impressive series of articles on CEO Greed, including a profile of the 30 “fattest cats”.

Back in the States, the New York Stock Exchange is awaiting SEC approval on proposed listing standards that would require shareholder approval of equity compensation packages for executives.

In Business

Scandal

9. Martha Stewart indicted in ImClone insider trading case
Federal prosecutors last week charged Martha Stewart with conspiracy, obstruction of justice and securities fraud in connection with about $50,000 worth of ImClone shares she sold right before bad news about the company was publicly released. Stewart has always maintained that she made the sale based on a prior decision to sell once the stock price dipped below $60 a share. But prosecutors claim that sometime after Stewart learned about the SEC inquiry into insider trading charges, her broker Peter Bacanovic scribbled “@60” on worksheets that listed Stewart’s ImClone holdings.

Prosecutors allege that “Peter Bacanovic altered the worksheet, using ink that was…scientifically distinguishable from the ink used elsewhere on the worksheet.” The indictment also says that “Stewart falsely stated that she ‘did not have any nonpublic information regarding ImClone when she sold her ImClone shares.” Stewart had maintained a close friendship with ImClone CEO Samuel Waksal, who has already pled guilty to insider trading charges and will be sentenced this week. For more on Stewart’s indictment, see: “Martha Stewart is Indicted by U.S. on Obstruction” by Constance L. Hays of the New York Times.

Much has been made of the fact that the government prosecutors have gotten a lot of media mileage out of the Martha Stewart indictment, while Enron’s Ken Lay and WorldCom’s Bernie Ebbers have yet to be indicted. Two worthwhile columns explore this subject: “Miss Perfect is Small Potatoes” by Ellis Henican of New York Newsday: “How about some company for Stewart” by David Greising.

10. PNC pays $115 million to settle off-the-books charges
PNC ICLC Corp, the world’s seventh-largest holding company, last week paid $115 million in fines to settle charges that it had violated securities laws by transferring $762 million in loans and investments into off-the-balance-sheet entities. Off-the-balance-sheet entities were made infamous by Enron, which used thousands of these financial devices to deceive investors. Of the fines, $90 million will go to restitution and $25 million will be a penalty to avoid criminal proceedings.

11. SEC looks into accounting at IBM
IBM last week disclosed that the Securities and Exchange Commission was looking into the computer maker’s accounting practices between 2000 and 2001. This investigation is related to a separate SEC investigation into an unnamed customer of the company’s Retail Store Solutions unit, which sells to Kmart, Gap, Pathmark, Lowe’s and other major retailers. In 2000, IBM paid $300,000 to the SEC to settle allegations it had issued bribes in an attempt to win Argentinean government business. See “SEC Again Probes IBM Accounting” By Carrie Johnson of the Washington Post.

12. Rite Aid executive pleads guilty in accounting fraud
One of three top Rite Aid executives accused of falsely inflating Rite Aid’s earnings by $1.6 billion between 1998 and 1999 pleaded guilty last week to participating in the fraud.

“I should have served as gatekeeper on aggressive accounting,” said former Rite Aid CFO Franklyn Bergonzi. “Instead, as the end of fiscal year 1999 approached, I was aggressive and pressured others to be aggressive in finding earnings and omitting expenses in what was ultimately a failed effort...to meet the expectations of Wall Street.”

Bergonzi was named last summer in a 37-count indictment along with Martin L. Grass, the son of the company’s founder and Franklin Brown, the company’s chief counsel and vice chairman. He could face up to five years in jail. See “Former Rite Aid executive pleads guilty to conspiracy” by Mark Scolforo of the Associated Press.

Wall Street

13. Regulators probe bank executives’ role in conflicts of interest
State and federal regulators who orchestrated a $1.4 billion settlement with 10 banks over alleged conflicts of interest are probing deeper. Last week, they issued subpoenas to 12 banks asking for information about 50 current and former executives. Regulators are seeking e-mails, meeting minutes, employee evaluations and other pieces of evidence that would reveal how conflicts of interests played out. They want to know what the executives had to say about the kind of investment advice that analysts were providing clients. Regulators have already documented widespread conflicts of interests where analysts gave investors bad advice on stocks. They did so in order to please investing bankers at the same firm who stood to profit from expanded business from companies whose stocks received favorable ratings.

“There will be an ongoing examination of the supervisory authority as we go forward,” said SEC chairman William Donaldson. Analysts Jack Grubman of Citigroup and Henry Blodgett of Merrill Lynch have already been disciplined for their actions with multi-million fines and lifetime bans, but all other analysts and executives have so far escaped punishment. See “Citigroup, Merrill, Rivals Subpoenaed by Regulators” by Bloomberg News.

14. Judge overseeing Wall St. settlement has questions on taxes and insurance
When regulators and 10 Wall St. banks agreed on a $1.4 billion settlement for alleged conflicts of interests in April, one of the lingering questions was whether firms could write off part of the settlement on their taxes or have part of it covered by insurance. That question has still not been resolved. But now Federal Judge William H. Pauley III wants to know whether fines will be covered by insurance or will be tax-deductible. Pauley’s approval is required in order for the settlement to take effect. See: “Judge Has a Few Questions on Wall Street Settlement” by Landon Thomas Jr. of the New York Times.

15. NYSE adopts reforms for top officers
Facing criticism, the New York Stock Exchange has approved several reforms governing how its own top officers operate. Most notably, the pay of top officers will now be disclosed and top officers can no longer serve on the board of listed companies. That means that Chairman Dick Grasso will have to give up his position on the board of Home Depot and Computer Associates. Grasso’s role as a Computer Associates Director became controversial when he approved a $1.1 billion paycheck to three executives for raising the stock to a certain price -- just two months before the stock fell by nearly 50%. The compensation committee for the NYSE will now be made up of “non-securities industry” directors, instead of the current broker-dealers that are regulated by the NYSE, which creates potential conflicts of interest. For details, click here.

09 June 03

Democrats: Profiles in Spinelessness How can these weaklings honestly expect the U.S. to take them seriously? The hapless George Bush couldn't be more beatable if he painted a giant bullseye on his back. The economy is shot, war profiteering is everywhere, and civil liberties? Forget about it. So what are the so-called Democrats doing about it? Nothing at all . . . . MORE	Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Touch We love it when the GOP's finest open their prejudiced mouths and show their true colors. But why have Rick Santorum's ass-backwards views on gay and lesbian America garnered less attention that Lott's nostalgia for the days of burning crosses and segregated schools? . . . MORE	The Spoils of War Before a bunker buster was launched, the Busheviks had already lined up a few corporations to divvy up the billion-dollar government contracts to rebuild Iraq. But there was no bidding war -- the prizes simply went to fat-cat donors. Does anyone else smell a master plan here? Arianna Huffington does . . . MORE
Corporate America's Most Wanted There are many financial wizards in our world that you should take advice from, but these swindlers are definitely not some of them. Together they've given offshore tax shelters front-page coverage, ruined the lives (and accounts) of millions, and helped rebuild Saddam's Iraq, only to deny it later. Be afraid. Very afraid . . . MORE	Smoke, Mirrors, Blood In a land America couldn't wait to invade to save the world from a nuclear holocaust, kids are dying and the oil is definitely flowing. It was a short time ago that Iraq and its WMD dominated the newscasts of the world. Now it's just an afterthought to be handled by Bechtel and Halliburton. But, remember, we went to war for one good reason: WMD. So where the hell are they? . . . MORE	The Gunfight at the Iraqi Corral With terms like "cowboy" and "outlaw" being thrown America's way from, well, just about everyone, now's the time to pitch the Western that the Bush dynasty has been filming for two decades. After all, you can't trust wimps like "old Europe" to deliver justice at the end of a barrel . . . MORE