The Pickens Plan: For those who would like to become an active participant in a solution for our nations energy needs I urge you to join with T.Boone Pickens in his quest for a cleaner planet through alternative energy.
Also see Green Wave Energy: Green Wave was founded by Mark Holmes and was formulated for viable alternative energy solutions. Green Wave Energy is promoting state-of-the-art energy-saving products and services throughout the country.
Green Wave Energy understands alternative energy technology will become “main stream” when
Call 949.645.1701 for information on how Green Wave Energy can help you save the planet.
Alternative EnergySource: David Apperson
url: http://veterans.barackobama.com/page/community/tag/alternative-energy
Today I attended an Obama campaign event featuring Obama campaign surrogate, Sen. Ben Cardin. The United States senator from Maryland spoke to a Port St. Lucie, Fl., audience about issues related to retirement, social security and health care. Sen. Cardin explained Sen. Obama's positions and then took questions from the audience.
Unlike the presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, Sen. Obama wishes to maintain the integrity of the social security system, create universal health care, and assure that retirees have income not only from social security, but also from pension plans and personal savings.
Hi 1,000,000 Americans for Obama (and all other groups I belong to).
Senator Barack Obama has proven, more then anyone else in recent history how individual Americans working together as a group, giving small donations, can make a huge difference.
Let's help him make that point.
Donate $1 each to Steve Sulkin's Fundraising Page and we CAN make a difference.
WE CAN RAISE $1,000,000.
BELIEVE IT - this can work, we can together raise $1,000,000
And here’s the bonus beyond the $1,000,000:
It will give Senator Obama tremendous press, as it will be the “Sound Byte of the Month” that epitomizes the fact that indeed, average Americans, not special interest groups and lobbyists, $1 at a time, are backing Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States.
This is a simple, doable project - let's do it! I'll keep you all apprised.
- Steve Sulkin
Introductory Note: With 40 years of consistent shopping for organic food items, I have for quite some time objected to this merger as monopolistic, speaking from personal experience here in Santa Fe. I strongly commend the FTC for hanging in there and the Appeals Court for seeing the errors in the lower court’s hasty ruling. I also appreciate the prior insights of Reuters journalists and Dow Jones Reporting in compiling this article.
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A federal appeals court Tuesday said a trial judge improperly dismissed the Federal Trade Commission's challenge to the 2007 merger between Whole Foods Markets Inc. and Wild Oats Markets Inc. The ruling brings back to life legal proceedings over the merger and gives the FTC a chance to force Whole Foods to sell part of its operations to meet competitive concerns raised by the merger. The two companies merged in a $565 million transaction after a federal trial court rejected the FTC's challenge. The 2-1 ruling, issued by the Washington-based U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said the trial judge handling the case made mistakes when he expedited review of the agency's challenge.
"We appreciate that the district court expedited the proceeding as a courtesy to the defendants. But the court should have taken whatever time it needed to consider the FTC's evidence fully." The ruling added that the trial judge improperly analyzed data and incorrectly concluded the FTC had little chance of prevailing in its challenge to the merger. "We reverse the district court's conclusion that the FTC showed no likelihood of success," the panel's majority said. The trial judge must now take a fresh look at the strength of the government's case.
The FTC argued earlier this year in a legal brief filed with the appeals court that the full integration of the two companies would take several years to complete. The commission asked for the court to stop Whole Foods from rebranding or closing the remaining Wild Oats stores "to preserve the possibility of reconstituting Wild Oats as an independent competitor." The appeals court did not rule on the FTC's request, choosing instead to leave that decision to the trial judge.
Whole Foods and Wild Oats agreed to merge in February, 2007. The FTC challenged the combination in June, resulting in legal activity ending in August, 2007 after the federal court refused to delay the merger. Whole Foods is the largest natural and organic foods retailer and Wild Oats was a smaller rival. The companies argued they faced competition from traditional grocery retailers while the FTC has maintained the merger would reduce competition in the natural and organic foods market.
U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman "underestimated the FTC's likelihood of success on the merits" when he denied the agency's request, the three-judge appeals court panel said in its ruling. One of the judges dissented from the opinion. The appeals court remanded the case back to Friedman for further proceedings.
Whole Foods issued a statement saying it was disappointed by the decision and that it might ask for a review by the full appeals court, and that it would carry on "business as usual."
Rating agency Standard & Poor's said in a statement it did not see the ruling changing Whole Foods' daily operations or its continued integration of Wild Oats stores. Wild Oats had been effectively "deconstructed" since the acquisition.
Judge Friedman denied the FTC's request to block the deal in August of last year, concluding that the FTC had failed to prove the merger would hurt competition. The agency then asked the D.C. appeals court to stop the merger, but was turned down. The companies went ahead with their deal that same month. The appeals court on Tuesday rejected Whole Foods' argument that the FTC appeal is irrelevant because the agency does not have the authority to undo a completed merger. Federal courts "have the power to grant relief on the FTC's complaint, despite the merger's having taken place," the court said. The FTC had said the combination of Whole Foods and Wild Oats raised antitrust concerns in 21 geographical areas where the two chains were each other's closest competitors. Whole Foods argued that its stores compete in a broader market against all supermarkets, not just organic grocery stores. The FTC disagreed, saying they competed in the premium organic market. The FTC is seeking an administrative trial before the agency's five commissioners.
The director of the FTC's competition bureau, Jeffrey Schmidt, issued a statement on Tuesday saying agency officials looked forward to future proceedings before the district court, leading to a full trial on the merits before the commission. However, Whole Foods said the decision "provides a roadmap for Friedman to once again deny the FTC's request for a preliminary injunction. The appeals judges agreed with the FTC that judge Friedman had misconstrued a key legal point used to define the market at issue in the case. They said Friedman's error led him to ignore key evidence and the FTC's main argument: that Whole Foods and Wild Oats were in a battle of their own over a distinct market for "core" organic grocery customers.
Howard University law professor Andrew Gavil said it could take a long time for the FTC to get an injunction because of legal procedures, giving Whole Foods even more time to integrate the two companies." Given where things are in this case it's going to be very hard to really undo the merger and come up with an effective remedy”; Gavin said the ruling would be important for the FTC as it sets a precedent strengthening the agency's hand in seeking a preliminary injunction in future cases.
The FTC had said the combination of Whole Foods and Wild Oats raised antitrust concerns in 21 geographical areas where the two chains were each other's closest competitors. Whole Foods argued that its stores compete in a broader market against all supermarkets, not just organic grocery stores. The FTC disagreed, saying they compete in the premium, organic niche market.
``The court should have taken whatever time it needed to consider the FTC's evidence fully,'' Judge Janice Rogers Brown wrote for the divided court. ``The district court must independently exercise its discretion considering the circumstances of the case, including the fact that the merger has taken place.''
``The court of appeals' decision provides a roadmap for Judge Friedman to once again deny the FTC's request for a preliminary injunction,'' spokeswoman Libba Letton said in an e-mailed statement. ``We await the U.S. District Court's response so this issue can be resolved.'' While the district court is unlikely to block the merger, it may decide to order the sale of as many as 18 stores where the combined companies face little or no competition, said Jane Willis, an antitrust lawyer with Ropes & Gray in Boston. ``It's difficult to unscramble the egg, but there are other various remedies,'' Willis said in an interview. ``If Whole Foods does not want to continue paying high litigation fees, they might even go to the FTC and propose a divestiture plan.
Stephen Fox
stephen@santafefineart.com
www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=52631&ret=AccountDtl.aspx
http://www.prlog.org/10096609-federal-appeals-court-revives-ftc-objections-to-whole-foodwild-oats-merger.html
The company I work for, XPLANE, is a visual communication company that typically works with Fortune 500 companies to explain their complex processes with visuals. We thought it would be interesting to create a graphic to show how Barack Obama, a virtal unknown a couple of years ago, was able to tap into the power of social networking to support his campaign for change. <img>http://www.xplane.com/obama/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Leu7GBt-8hs
DOWNLOAD THE MUSIC on iTUNES
http://www.songcastmusic.com/profiles/mypoojan A very catchy Music Video, which makes the whole America rock. The beauty of the song is that it brings the fulfillment of every American to become Obama..............Obama's winning is also Clinton's winning...! America's winning and the World's winning...!
Make this music video reach every corner of America and the world across by forwarding this youtube video. WE WANT A BETTER WORLD..!
EACH OF YOU BE A PROUD OBAMA...!
ME THE OBAMA, YOU THE OBAMA, WHOLE WORLD OBAMA.......! Watch the video on youtube - here is the link
http://www.songcastmusic.com/profiles/mypoojan A very catchy song, which will make the whole America rock. The beauty of the song is that it brings the fulfillment of every American to become Obama..............Obama's winning is also Clinton's winning...! America's winning and the World's winning...!
Please check out the song album link as below, (you need to have iTunes software downloaded on your computer. Its free on http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/ site) please forward it to as many people as possible and ask your friends also to forward. With your and your friends little support we can built the wave of "Obama...! I wanna be Obama..! Thank you,Warm Regards,Manish Shahmony_shah@hotmail.com
WHY IS SHE TRY TO BROKE AMERICAN WITH HER PLAN IF SHE GET PRESIDENT INDIANA YOU NEED TO LOOK AND LISTEN TO WHAT SHE WAS SAYING SHE WAS GOING TO DO.THE POOR AND MEDIUM CLASS,PEOPLE WE WILL BE LEFT OUT NO AFFORTABLE HEALTH CARE, NO MEDICAL INSURANCE WE CAN PAY FOR NOT ENOUG MONEY TO PAY BILLS IF SHE IS PRESIDENT MRS.CLINTON YOU NEED YOU NED TO STOP.
WHY DO WE JUDGE HIM FOR WHAT SOMEONE ELSE SAID, YOU SEE MR.WRIGHT IS ON CLINTON SIDE NOW?
WHY DID HE DO THAT? ASK YOURSELF
WHY IS CLINTON AND WRIGHT IS TOGETHER NOW HM? THINK FOR A MINUTE
WHY IS ALL OF THIS COMING OUT NOW? WHEN OBAMA HAD A BIG LED,NOW THAT THE DAMAGE HAS BEEN DONE,NOW YOU ARE WITH HIM,IS IT A PLOT?
WHY DON'T YOU JUDGE HIM FOR YOUR SELF AND NOT THE MR.WRIGHT THING?
WHY IS SHE TALKING ABOUT FIXING SOMETHING WHEN SHE CAN'T GET ANY BILLS TO PAST,?
WHAT ABOUT TIME FOR CHANGE IT IS TIME NOW TO VOTE FOR OBAMA INDIANA YOU ARE DOING A GOOD JOB.
WHY IS THE PRESS ON THE WRIGHT STORY AND NOT ON ALL THE LIES THE SHE TOLD AND PLAN TO DO LATER.
HOW WELL DO WE KNOW THE PEOPLE WE TALK TO, FRIENDS, PRESS,PASTOR,LAWYER AND FAMILY,WE WANT TO SAY THAT THEY ARE GOOD PEOPLE,BUT CAN YOU BE SURE SOMETIME THEY WILL DO YOU WRONG.
WHY WOULD THEY HURT YOU WHEN YOU NEED THEM THE MOST?
THE BIBLE TELL US NOT TO JUDGE AND HE WHO IS WITH OUT SIN LET HIM CAST THE FRIST STONE.
WE ALL HAVE MADE SOME BAD CHOOSE IN LIFE AND ASK A SECOND CHANGE THE MAN IS ONLY HUMAN,WE ALL HAVE SIN.
INDIANAYOU NEED TO BE SURE ABOUT IT (OREALLY FACTOR ) LOOK AND LISTEN CAREFULLY AND SEE WHO IS GOING TO GET THE SHAFT WITH HER IN OFFICE.YOUR BETTER OF WITH OBAMA.
Yes, to answer the question. He KNEW. He (and Michelle and everyone around them) KNEW there would be mornings like this when they started this campaign. There would be mornings that they'd have to work 3 times as hard and be even more open when the eyes of others would be even more suspicious.
They knew that there would be mornings that the questions would be about 'spin' and 'impact' and 'media cycles'. They simply knew that there would be mornings that the spotlight would be on them twisting something that they would not be able to untwist with a 10 second sound bite.
They knew sometime fairly recently that their approach to grassroots campaigning was working... and so when a crisis would come to pass, to maintain their transparency and communication since the media didn't do such a good job in getting the entire message out (time being the biggest crunch) they would have to turn to this army of volunteers.
In his video regarding Rev. Wright, Obama is clear about this. He asks us to help him. Will you? What can you do?
Talk - commit to talk to at least 100 people. Wear an Obama Tshirt, put up a sign and a bumper sticker on your car. Chat with people at the store and the park and the library. Buy his books and loan them to people around you. Write postcards to send to a group in Ohio (contact me and I will forward the info to you) to be forwarded to homes in PA. Phone bank. TALK to people.
Help end the misinformation about all of this distraction.
If someone questions you about Obama's religion... answer them proudly and then ask them what church does Hillary attend? Or McCain? That despite their long years in politics, you've never heard that aspect of their lives scrutinized.
I've not been inclined to believe that this campaign is all about race but when I consider that question. That people are so worried about Obama and his 'beliefs' while blindly accepting Hillary's and McCain's... well?
It was a wonderful event. The rally in NJ was great. The thing was that I was a little concerned by the turnout. I've had experience with Newark Politics for over 25 years now and the turnout should have better. It is important that we get with the local district leaders and people in our neighborhood to influnce local leaders to get behind Obama.
I was glad that I was able to record the event and I posted it on my webpage on Black Business Space. One person said it was the best stump speech he ever heard. I told him it is only going to get better.
FIRED UP. READY TO GO.
Clarence Coggins 973-943-4073 Jersey City, NJ
