I will make the people at DU a deal. Get 100,000 people to call GE.

[liberaldemocrat7]

and if that does not get GE to end the war and get Bush and Cheney to resign, I will shut up about boycotts to end the Iraq war here forever. As I see it at least 1,000 people actively use this board. Each person has at least 100 friends or family members or aquaintances or members of a democratic club or green party club or citizens that they can tell to call GE to end this war.

Get 100,000 people to call GE and if it doesn't work, then I will shut up about boycotts to end the war in Iraq here forever.

How will I know how many people called? Have each person on DU send me an email to [e-mail] with the subject antiwar. Each person can tally up the calls of their friends, family, etc and place a number of calls made to GE in the body of the message. So at the most I will get 1,000 emails with a number of calls their friends, family, etc. had made. This way if 100,000 people call and if GE doesn't fold then I will have given this my best and I will shut up about this Iraq antiwar action forever.

You have 3 months to accomplish these number of calls. Use the following text when you make the call.


Call GOP contributor and war contractor General Electric Corporation at 203 373 2211 and ask for the public relations department. Tell the person in public relations that you want the GE CEO to get Bush to end the war in Iraq and then Bush resign with Cheney and until that happens you will not buy any GE products and that you will tell your friends about this.

[calimary]

1. Kicking this!

Cool! Hey, it's worth a try. Paul Begala once said that 100 paper letters (urging a different side of the on-air slant) would change the course of a news program.

[liberaldemocrat7]

2. Thank you Mary.

Yes you notice that the effort also demands Bush and Cheney resign.

I'm willing to put this to a test and if it doesn't work I will not mention the Iraq war boycott of GE again.

This way both I and my detractors can put up or shut up.

[KharmaTrain]

3. I've Boycotted GE Products For Decades...

This goes back to the money they threw at Nixon during Vietnam...and they're still going strong today. Calling GE to end the war is like calling the Vatican and asking the Pope to convert to Islam. 100,000 people threatening not to buy toasters is trumped by the next no-bid contract they get for engines for the next jet fighter.

I heard your call yesterday and wish you luck, but boycotting a multi-national corporation like GE covers a lot of ground. If you're serious, you then need to boycott the entire company...every subsidiary and make people aware of those subsidiaries. It's like boycotting Pepsi, yet still going to Pizza Hut...Pepsi still got our money.

100,000 phone calls or letters won't have the impact as opposed to 100,000 faces outside their corporate office doors or picket lines at their factories or a massive multi-million dollar education campaign to educate people on ALL the tenacles GE has in spreading death and destruction around the world.

Personally, I'd rather shine the light on businesses that put their money behind Progressive and Liberal causes. For example, I read that the Pritzker family are donating MoveOn...which means on my next business trip, I'll be looking for a Hyatt to stay in vs. a Holiday Inn.

BTW...here's just a few of the GE holdings:

http://cjrarchives.org/tools/owners/ge.asp

NBC Universal (80%-owned by GE, 20% controlled by Vivendi Universal)

Television
NBC Stations:

WNBC - New York
KNBC - Los Angeles
WMAQ - Chicago
WCAU - Philadelphia
KNTV - San Jose/San Francisco
KXAS - Dallas/Fort Worth
WRC - Washington
WTVJ - Miami
KNSD - San Diego
WVIT - Hartford
WNCN - Raleigh
WCMH - Columbus
WVTM - Birmingham
WJAR - Providence

Telemundo Stations:

KVEA/KWHY - Los Angeles
WNJU - New York
WSCV - Miami
KTMD - Houston
WSNS - Chicago
KXTX - Dallas/Fort Worth
KVDA - San Antonio
KSTS - San Jose/San Francisco
KDRX - Phoenix
KNSO - Fresno
KMAS - Denver
WNEU - Boston/Merrimack
KHRR - Tucson
WKAQ - Puerto Rico

NBC Universal Television Studio
NBC Universal Television Distribution

CNBC
MSNBC
Bravo
Mun2TV
Sci-Fi
Trio
USA

Film
Universal Pictures
Parks
Universal Parks & Resorts
Other
Paxson Communications (30%)
Other General Electric Businesses
GE Aircraft Engines

GE Commercial Finance

GE Consumer Products

GE Industrial Systems

GE Insurance

GE Medical Systems

GE Plastics

GE Power Systems

GE Specialty Materials

GE Transportation Systems

Good luck...I hope you're able to make mountains move...

Cheers...

[liberaldemocrat7]

5. That includes no ovens, dishwashers, tvs, stereo systems and

alot more than just light bulbs and no this involves 100,000 phone calls.

[terip64]

4. Ok, ok, I will call Monday. Kick and recommend. Bookmarking this page! n/t

[zeemike]

6. I don't want you to shut up for any reason

But i will tell you why such a campaign against GE will not work.
First of all GE does not make much money from consumers. Most of there money comes from government contracts for war material like jet engines for the aircraft and such things as running ships that cover the sea with radar and other war related stuff..
Even there consumer items like appliances and not marketed direct to the public but through large contracts like too Mobil home manufactures and apartment houses.
They do not depend on the good will of the public bot on control of politicians and the mover and shakers.

[liberaldemocrat7]

7. Just as I said, I will shut up if this doesn't work.

I want to see how many who can call GE.

[liberaldemocrat7]

8. kick

kick

[truedelphi]

9. Only prolem is, GE makes so much more money on the war that our puny boycott of purchases of

Light bulbs etc might not have any noticeable difference


They also are one of the top Homeland Security Contractors.

They probably don't need the public.


From CorpsWatch, General Electric
CEO: Jeffrey R. Immelt
Military contracts 2005: $2.2 billion
Defense-related contributions in the 2004 election cycle: $220,950*

The world’s largest company by market share, General Electric’s revenues in 2003 totaled $134.2 billion. GE was run until 2001 by “Neutron” Jack Welch, who made it a matter of principle to lay off 10% of his workers per year.

General Electric makes household appliances, plastics, water treatment systems, lighting, medical equipment, and commercial financial services. It also makes aircraft engines and nuclear reactors, and keeps criticism at bay with its ownership of media giants NBC, CNBC, Telemundo, Bravo, and, in partnership with Microsoft, msnbc.com. GE’s recent partnership with Vivendi added Universal Studios, USA, Trio and Sci-fi cable channels to its $43 billion media empire.

General Electric is one of the world’s top three producers of jet engines, supplying Boeing, Lockheed Martin and other military aircraft makers for the powering of airplanes and helicopters.

The “war on terrorism” has seen GE’s military contracts rise substantially. But the company’s “defense” side has been doing well for a while. GE and other military contractors got a big boost under the Clinton administration from Presidential Directive 41 which stated that it was the job of US diplomats to promote arms sales abroad in order to safeguard American jobs; this directive tied the promotions of diplomats to how effectively they hocked US armaments.

GE has designed 91 nuclear power plants in 11 countries, yet its nuclear reactors around the world have a fatal flaw. In the event of a nuclear meltdown, there is a 90 percent chance that radiation from GE-designed reactors would be discharged directly into the atmosphere. While the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is aware of the problem, it continues to license GE nuclear reactors

[liberaldemocrat7]

10. kick

kick

[truedelphi]

28. BTW I did K & R Although I continue to cynically wonder

Would one hundred thousand callers do much good?

It might throw their PR people into action so that a whole series of ads is designed - Film dissolves to show pristine emerald meadow with fluffy white bunnies.

Narrator's soothing voice: "When the rare pure white rabbits of Amarilla Texas were first realized to be poised on the brink of extinction, General Electric set up an entire sytem of rabbit friendly eco-environments. No expense was spared to save these gorgeous fluffy bunnies. They now drink from streams of the purest spring water, and eat clover that GE has ensured has been fertilized with flakes of pure gold. The rabbit colony is thriving. Some say that Corporate America is cold and uncaring.

We say,'You only need to watch the wag of the small fluffy bunny's tail to see that those critics are wrong. We at GE are with the Fluffy Bunnies all the way.' "

Close up shot of tail wagging of one alabaster white rabbit shagging her cute little behind. Dissolve to GE CORPORATE LOGO. (Meanwhile multi subliminals have been ingested by the audience: Perpetual war is good. Bunnies are pointless. Children are worth nothing. And remember next time you are at a Big Box store, pick up some GE lightbulbs, each bulb encased in 42 ounces of thermonuclear proof plastic. The arm you saw off while trying to retrieve said light bulb will not be our problem.)

[liberaldemocrat7]

11. kick

kick

[liberaldemocrat7]

12. kick

kick

[liberaldemocrat7]

13. another kick

another kick

[EFerrari]

14. You are SO on! Great idea. I'm in.

:kick:

[MonkeyFunk]

15. OK

I just got 100,000 people to call. It didn't work.

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MonkeyFunk]

17. Now now....

you know that's against the rules.

I find your idea silly and with zero chance to succeed.

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MonkeyFunk]

20. and how are you going to know how many people call?

[liberaldemocrat7]

21. Welcome to my ignore list. I'm not going to argue with you any more.

I leave you to the desert, walk and find your way. You're not going to get in my way again.

[MonkeyFunk]

22. LOL

it was a simple question! Good luck with your campaign.

[EFerrari]

18. Kick

[graywarrior]

23. And picket their plants.

There are two in MA, in fact two plants in Lynn.

[liberaldemocrat7]

24. If you want to get Code Pink to picket in MA and CT do so peacefully.

Thank you. This will draw attention to a boycott.

[graywarrior]

25. OK, here is what GE is involved in now, so they may not give a shit about what we do

GE project reflects growing interest in water desalination
July 2005
U.S. Water News Online

STAMFORD, Conn. -- General Electric Co. plans to help build what would be one of the world's largest water desalination plants, part of a growing interest in projects to address global water shortages.

GE, one of the world's largest companies by market value, has invested more than $3 billion into its nearly three-year-old water treatment business. The $270 million plant in Algeria is the company's first major drinking-water project.

"I think it pleases the research community that a large corporation has stepped up and has the vision to see out 20 years," said Ron Linsky, executive director of the National Water Research Institute. "Desalination of sea water is an important option that the world has. The recognition of the value of water is increasingly on the radar of people around the world."

Nearly 100 desalination projects are in the development stages in the United States, but environmental permitting and other issues need to be resolved, Linsky said.

With water scarcity a growing global problem, GE says desalination is the wave of the future.

"The technology is getting better and the cost is getting lower so it's really becoming a viable solution," said Colin Sabol, chief marketing officer for GE Infrastructure, Water & Process Technologies.

One in five people in the world lack access to fresh water and that number is expected to double in the next decade, Sabol said. More than 1.1 billion people around the world lack safe water and 2.4 billion have no access to sanitation, according to the United Nations, which says the problem results in three million deaths every year.

The cost of desalination has dropped from $20 to $3.50 per 1,000 gallons over the past 15 years, Sabol said.

Water desalination has its critics. The California Coastal Commission warned two years ago that allowing desalination plants to proliferate could threaten marine life and turn what has long been considered a common good -- the ocean -- into a commodity.

A pioneering desalination plant in Tampa, Fla., has run into problems, such as salt filters clogging too quickly.

Linsky denied the plants are harmful to marine life. He attributed the problems in Tampa to growing pains. Desalination has not been widely used in the United States even though plants have long operated in the Middle East, he said.

GE, based in Fairfield, says the projects provide desperately needed drinking water.

The plant in Algeria will provide drinking water to 25 percent of the capital city, Algiers. Because of a scarcity of water, the residents of Algiers only receive water every third day, GE officials said.

GE will own 70 percent of the plant, while state-owned Algerian Energy Co. will own 30 percent.

The project is the first by GE since it acquired the water treatment company Ionics Inc. for $1.1 billion in cash last year. Construction is expected to begin next month and last two years.

GE expects to build three or four major desalination projects annually. Desalination is a $5 billion market that is growing about 15 percent annually, company officials said.

[liberaldemocrat7]

26. So what.

.

[graywarrior]

27. So. Water is the next oil.

Just adding info. Not here to argue.

[truedelphi]

29. But the Fluffy Bunnies will never be without water.

To see what I mean check out
http://tinyurl.com/2hj58b



Your post sheds light on the power of the multi nationals. They don't need Mr and Mrs Middle Class America any more. If they did, they would not be putting all the middle class jobs overseas. (As has happened with chemists, botanists, zoologists, pharmaceutical researchers - who now need to move to places like Taipei and Singapore if they want their jobs. Hopefully they speak the language of their new home!)
Did you know that water was privatized in Bolivia and not until the nation took to the streets with people ending up being shot dead did the peopel of Bolivia get their water back!!

[liberaldemocrat7]

30. kicking until Monday at 9am when GE opens in Connecticut.

.