tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78357623230213236452024-02-06T19:45:50.322-08:00By the BooksellerThoughts of an independent online fiction bookseller.Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-84271135211843254192010-12-19T17:51:00.000-08:002010-12-19T17:56:37.944-08:00For Firebaggers, When the Unicorn is EnoughTHE ZAX by DR. SEUSS<div><br />One day, making tracks </div><div>In the prairie of Prax, </div><div>Came a North-Going Zax </div><div>And a South-Going Zax.</div><div>And it happened that both of them came to a place </div><div>Where they bumped. </div><div>There they stood. </div><div>Foot to foot. </div><div>Face to face.</div><div>"Look here, now!" the North-Going Zax said, </div><div>"I say! You are blocking my path. </div><div>You are right in my way. </div><div>I'm a North-Going Zax and I always go north.</div><div>Get out of my way, now, and let me go forth!" </div><div>"Who's in whose way?" snapped the South-Going Zax. </div><div>"I always go south, making south-going tracks. </div><div>So you're in MY way! </div><div>And I ask you to move And let me go south in my south-going groove." </div><div>Then the North-Going Zax puffed his chest up with pride. </div><div>"I never," he said, "take a step to one side. </div><div>And I'll prove to you that I won't change my ways </div><div>If I have to keep standing here fifty-nine days!" </div><div>"And I'll prove to YOU," yelled the South-Going Zax, </div><div>"That I can stand here in the prairie of Prax </div><div>For fifty-nine years! </div><div>For I live by a rule </div><div>That I learned as a boy back in South-Going School. </div><div>Never budge! That's my rule. </div><div> Never budge in the least! </div><div>Not an inch to the west! </div><div> Not an inch to the east! </div><div>I'll stay here, not budging! </div><div>I can and I will If it makes you and me and the whole world stand still!" </div><div><br /></div><div>Well... Of course the world didn't stand still. </div><div>The world grew. </div><div>In a couple of years, the new highway came through </div><div>And they built it right over those two stubborn Zax </div><div>And left them there, standing un-budged in their tracks.</div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-25132331893372956342010-12-11T07:21:00.000-08:002010-12-12T12:14:32.311-08:00The Fork in the RoadFlint, MI is a town of about 39 square miles, much of which is abandoned. In some suburban neighborhoods, one or two residents remain, surrounded by houses going to seed, harboring rats and criminals. The federal government's plan is to build new pocket communities around the best and most populated housing stock, in some cases moving people from isolated run down areas to where they can become part of a tighter, newer community. The rest of the structures will be razed and the land returned to nature. <div><br /></div><div>Flint is particularly hard hit, but there are many towns across America that have suffered shrinkage. Flint is considered an experiment. If successful, other towns will be tackled this way.</div><div><br /></div><div>If I'm a greedy corporate executive from a multi-industry conglomerate (let's say GE), what do I hear in this news story? Opportunity.</div><div><br /></div><div>Federal government, I would say, show me one of these towns. Don't spend your resources destroying salvageable housing stock. Give us the whole town and let us reanimate it. It will be a grand experiment in total privatization. We will run the schools, utilities, parks, all the things that used to be public. </div><div><br /></div><div>We will also employ people and give them a reason to live here and money to spend here. Our diverse line of businesses and the businesses that spring up to serve our employees will give whole families employment opportunities. Welcome back to the middle class. It will be in our corporate interest to keep this American town and its citizens thriving because its $gain is our $gain.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sounds pretty good, doesn't it?</div><div><br /></div><div>How does this play out? If you know the story of company towns of a hundred years ago, you have some idea. It's not just Jack Welch Community Park, though it's that, too. </div><div><br /></div><div>All the businesses in an isolated company town enter the town and continue to exist there at the pleasure of the dominant employer/landowner and probably pay a fee to GE. This is not like taxes paid to a local government. A government is us, it exists to benefit everyone. GE does not. </div><div><br /></div><div>GE directly determines your rent and cost of utilities and strongly influences your other costs. In old company towns, the company didn't allow any other businesses in, but today's model will have chain stores just like other towns. To pay fees to GE, stores raise their prices. As in the original company towns, average residents find that their money doesn't go very far. You may even go into debt just to keep up. Did you know that one of GE's most profitable companies has been the one offering credit?</div><div><br /></div><div>The town is so isolated that it is impractical to rely on other towns for daily needs. Gas is expensive, too; many will give up their cars since they have short commutes, further restricting their options.</div><div><br /></div><div>Homeownership is not an option since GE owns all the land. GE will build barracks for the minimum wage workers who serve the town executives.</div><div><br /></div><div>School curriculum, local news, and TV service will all have an undercurrent supporting consumerism and corporatism.....oh, wait. Well, there's always the free and neutral internet.</div><div><br /></div><div>GE will offer college scholarships to the brightest kids in return for a promise to work for GE after graduation. Few others will be able to afford college.</div><div><br /></div><div>You will be required to have medical checkups as a condition of employment. This is perfectly legal. Basic medical services will be offered by company doctors, and there are no secrets. Failing health will be a reason for dismissal.</div><div><br /></div><div>There will be no mayor, town council, or civic betterment groups. There will be only customer service. And a long wait. Unless you are an executive, your creature comforts are not a high priority. Be glad you have a job.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nobody in this town sues GE or its top executives. No lawyer for miles would take the case. You've heard the expression "the company owns the law in this town." In this town, the company IS the local law.</div><div><br /></div><div>Discharge from GE, whether by firing or retiring, means you are expected to leave town and everyone you know. Or if you run a supporting business, GE may evict you from your business premises. You will have no home equity, maybe no car. If you are lucky, you won't be in debt to GE, but you likely won't have a lot of savings. </div><div><br /></div><div>You are an itinerant worker. You are like a knight or craftsman offering services to whichever feudal lord will have you. You don't have many choices in your life.</div><div><br /></div><div>To recap:</div><div>GE offers to reclaim a dying town, takes over ownership of all the land at no cost, offers bare services to people who live there, runs the town to benefit itself, and takes no responsibility for people once they no longer work there.</div><div><br /></div><div>Still sound good?</div><div><br /></div><div>Now imagine a different scenario. I'm one in a network of rich community-minded philanthropists. Maybe I'm George Soros. Maybe I'm one of <a href="http://givingpledge.org/#enter">these people</a>. What do I hear in the story of Flint? Opportunity.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Federal government, I would say, show us one of these towns. Don't spend your resources destroying salvageable housing stock. Give us the whole town and let us reanimate it. It will be a grand experiment in democracy. The community will run the schools, utilities, parks, libraries, city hall, and other public functions. </div><div><br /></div><div>Democracy-minded companies will want to locate here for the quality of people it attracts and the quality of life that is possible for all employees. We will encourage and celebrate local entrepreneurship and innovation, encourage local ownership and exchanging ideas. In this community, we are all producers and all consumers. Welcome back to the middle class. It will be in our interest to keep this American town and its citizens thriving because its gain is our gain, not just in a material sense but also quality of life.</div><div><br /></div><div>How does this play out? Quite differently. The town will be designed from the ground up to be livable, energy efficient, modern, economically integrated, and to encourage community interaction. There will be no gated communities.</div><div><br /></div><div>Businesses in this town all agree to abide by rules of good corporate citizenship, including promoting green operation and local products. Large companies that want a subsidy to come into the town are turned away. Without big chain stores there are some inconveniences at first, but local residents step in to fill the gaps. </div><div><br /></div><div>Utilities and other public services are priced based on cost, with extra cost charged for being inefficient and bonuses for superefficiency.</div><div><br /></div><div>The town will use taxes to pay for operating expenses and a reserve, aka a rainy day/investment fund. </div><div><br /></div><div>Because the town is isolated, the community will organize van pool trips to popular destinations. Riders will be charged a fee, which may be subsidized in whole or in part based on income.</div><div><br /></div><div>A community bank will handle the gradual transfer of ownership of homes from the municipality to citizens. The profits from the sale of land will be used to modernize the town, put in parks, walking and riding paths, a community college and community hospital if new ones are needed, and anything else required. Low-cost housing will be scattered among other housing.</div><div><br /></div><div>The community will offer college scholarships to deserving kids in return for a promise to work for the community after graduation. Everyone will be able to afford at least the community college.</div><div><br /></div><div>Citizens will pay a flat fee for health care as part of their taxes. Doctors will work for the community hospital, and their records will be private.</div><div><br /></div><div>There will be a mayor, town council, and school board elected from among residents, plus public police, fire, and judicial departments. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you are unemployed and want to stay in town, you will be able to search a central community hiring board and post your resume there (if you still have a job and want to post your resume anonymously, you can do that too). In the meantime, you may choose a part-time volunteer job to get you out of the house. If you are unemployed or partially disabled, you can get a local business scholarship toward job retraining to get you into a new career. The community bank will temporarily reduce or freeze your mortgage with no penalty, and other subsidies will be available for living expenses if UI runs out.</div><div><br /></div><div>There will be a neighborhood with a concentration of wheelchair-accessible homes, and there will be regular transportation and other services concentrated here. Anyone may live here, but preference will be given to people who will benefit most from these features.</div><div><br /></div><div>You are a member of a community. You matter. Your community provides support for those who need it but mainly focuses on maintaining a good quality of life. This is not socialism, but if there is more government involvement than you want, don't live here. You have a choice.</div><div><br /></div><div>To recap:</div><div>A democratic philanthropy offers to reclaim a dying town, takes over ownership of all the land at no cost, transitions it to the people who live there, uses the proceeds to build up community infrastructure, includes all kinds of people, even those not contributing economically, and supports local businesses.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>This is the fork in the road, people. Which way are we going?</div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-80028970720235460872010-12-09T08:47:00.000-08:002010-12-09T09:38:42.368-08:00Why Is the GOP Acting Like Terrorists?<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Part 2 in an ongoing effort to reclaim the narrative and put the GOP on the defensive.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">President Obama and the Republicans in Congress just did some tough negotiating. When both sides were pushed to the wall, this is what they fought for the hardest:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Obama: extension of UI, tax cuts for poor and middle class, tax credits for job creation<br />Republicans: tax cuts for richest 2%, estate plan benefits for the richest 1/2 of 1% (not reducing the deficit, as they claim)<br /><br />The public consistently does not want tax cuts for the rich, but the GOP clearly does not care what the public wants. <b>Its true constituency is fatcats</b> and no one else, and it is willing to hold every man, woman, and child in America and the financial health of America itself hostage to get even more money for fatcats. Even though they already have most of America's wealth and income, a gift from the tax code.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> This is what was happening a week ago: </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Dateline December 2010,<b> America Held Hostage,</b> Day 4 </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>A band of 42 terrorists is shutting down the legislative branch</b> of the federal government until taxpayers agree to pay a 700 billion dollar ransom in large, unmarked tax cuts to the few million wealthiest people in the country. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">At stake include benefits to the poorest few million people-- the unemployed, children, and the elderly—and the START treaty.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Some of the millionaire beneficiaries of this ransom have made a public appeal to the terrorists to give up this dangerous game. So far the terrorists have not budged except to go out to nice meals and home to their comfortable beds while the rest of the country waits." </span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>What more do these terrorists want? The rest of us need government to tackle START, the debt ceiling, and try to undo the damage caused by years of sending money to the rich. What more will the terrorists want for the rich in return for allowing government to function? </b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here's another thought: Where did the national debt come from? Where did it go? <b>As the national debt grew, the wealth of the richest few grew. </b> This is not a coincidence. The GOP likes to point out the direct disbursement of tax money to the poor and middle class in the form of UI and tax benefits, but look who has the money. Pennies thrown to the bottom is chicken feed next to the enormous wealth that has shifted to the top. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The only party really serious about reducing the national debt is Democratic. History has borne this out. The GOP has just shown, once again, that its number one allegiance is to the wealthy, and <b>the rest of us are concessions they give to get what they want for the rich</b>. </span></p>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-37603151025893342782010-11-30T08:55:00.000-08:002010-12-12T11:30:36.392-08:00Stuck in the Middle<div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">We look at China with its slave wages and rampant pollution and cheap products and wonder how we can compete and still avoid sinking to their level. We must, we think, only trade with countries who maintain the same high wage and environmental standards that we do. That way, cheap Chinese goods will not be a temptation (except via smuggling).</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Well guess what? Over in the EU, they are already discussing us the way we discuss China--as a problem dragging them down.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">This week, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin went to Germany to propose that Russia and EU form a multi-continent free trade zone. This seems sensible for both the EU and Russia. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; font-size: 12px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.eeas.europa.eu/russia/index_en.htm">Russia is the EU’s third-biggest trade partner</a>. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://ec.europa.eu/trade/creating-opportunities/bilateral-relations/countries/russia/">The EU is by far Russia's main trading partner, accounting for 52.3% of its overall trade turnover in 2008</a> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; font-size: 12px; "><span class="Apple-style-span">T</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span">rade between the two economies was accelerating until the economic crash.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span">But a big appeal for everyone concerned and why Putin delivered his message in Germany, with whom we have a large trading deficit, is that forming a trade union would allow them to discard the US dollar as reserve currency. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span">Why should US currency be a big issue now? 600 billion reasons, namely the quantitative easing that will devalue the dollar and make our exports cheaper in Germany. Germany is not wild about that. Nor is China, but that was the point. Yet we can't affect one without affecting the other. We are stuck in the middle.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span">Here is another way we are stuck in the middle. We look at Asia and congratulate ourselves for our labor and environmental practices. But here is what the rest of the world sees when they look at our labor practices.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVbh1SwmexOd8tHsI5IR_dmXjiDq7G6xJXMLcTomSWiDNb4JxZ2Q9HfBIw0fQmFGNem4U0hrVNDNIAk9njJvzKeHQDyn3n33SBbeVVC4pESWSWCZmS0MoZQyjvudG-UnyZcGVIB7UteEYG/s1600/Paid_Sick_Leave_Chart.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVbh1SwmexOd8tHsI5IR_dmXjiDq7G6xJXMLcTomSWiDNb4JxZ2Q9HfBIw0fQmFGNem4U0hrVNDNIAk9njJvzKeHQDyn3n33SBbeVVC4pESWSWCZmS0MoZQyjvudG-UnyZcGVIB7UteEYG/s320/Paid_Sick_Leave_Chart.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545458465137402146" /></a>We give average workers no paid sick leave and no paid long-term illness leave. In other countries these are matters of right, as well as health care and more generous unemployment and retirement benefits. <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/11/29/923787/-Death-of-American-dream,-60-million-no-sick-leave,-132-million-no-dental,-59-million-without-medical">English media says more</a> than our own media about how US workers have a raw deal and how our media enables our condition. But fewer benefits also gives the US a competitive advantage that Europe views much the way we view China's: they don't want to be dragged down to our level.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span">Right now we are stuck in the middle between prosperity and poverty, but the middle will not hold forever. We have to choose sides. Right now we still have a choice. And we can talk all we want about noble ideals, but the rest of the world is going to look at what we do, not at what we say. And as Vladimir Putin has shown, if we don't choose where we want to be, the rest of the world will choose for us.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 18px; "><i>By the way, my first source for the Putin news was not CNN or WaPo or even Rachel Maddow, but a blog called www.creditwritedowns.com. Check it out and follow @edwardnh on Twitter.</i></span></div><div></div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-84097714211509627932010-11-19T15:04:00.000-08:002010-11-21T13:48:36.743-08:00Why Has the GOP Turned Unpatriotic?<div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Most liberal bloggers, including me, preach to the choir. We share information, but we don't have to explain the language of liberalism to each other. If we ever want true egalitarian democracy to grow beyond a niche, we have to learn how to make arguments that independents and misled conservatives will recognize and relate to before we can ever hope to win them over. We also have to stop being defensive and put the greedy SOB corporatists on the defensive--but again, in a way that is familiar to their base and can potentially put a wedge between them and their base. We have to change the narrative. Here is a start. I chose words and spin for specific impact:</span></span></span></i></div></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It's not what Americans expect to see. Conventional wisdom is that the right is all about military, fiscal responsibility, and patriotism. But the right has turned into something alien that true conservatives don't recognize anymore. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">MILITARY</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell was willing to throw our troops under the bus for party political gain</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Senior senator John McCain is still willing to undermine the military against the advice of top military leaders </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Bryan Fischer criticized recent war heroes. Fischer is Director of Issues Analysis for the conservative American Family Association and spoke at the far-right Values Voter summit.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The military budget under the stewardship of the GOP has become a sticky web of corrupt contracts that do not benefit the nation or the troops. During the last decade, spending ballooned and defense contractors got rich while troops on the ground lacked basic protection.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The GOP favors hiring disreputable mercenaries who have hurt our image, our credibility, and our own troops overseas and overcharged us at home. We need soldiers who serve our country, not a thug squad for hire.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Glenn Beck, of right-wing Fox News, accused Iraq and <span class="Apple-style-span">A</span>fghanistan Veterans for America, the nation's<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"> largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization for veterans of the wars of the past decade</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana; line-height: 18px; ">,</span> of being communists and a political front group.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">EACH of the GOP presidents of the last 30 years have added to the deficit more than Democrats Carter and Clinton.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">George W. Bush continued to irresponsibly overspend when the economy was good instead of setting reserves aside for a rainy day. When the rainy day came, we were already deep in debt.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A high GOP priority continues to be tax cuts for the wealthy, which raise the deficit by $700 billion and have not helped the economy. Put another way, if you told a farmer downstream that a dam upstream would give him more water, he'd look around for what you hit your head on. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Under GOP urging, the military budget has nearly tripled since 1997. Our military is larger than the next 11 countries combined, including China. (Got enough dynamite, there, Butch?) Part of why Europe enjoys a more leisurely lifestyle is that we are guarding it.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The GOP lied about the financial effects of the health care bill. The bill that passed actually reduces the budget deficit. Both the public option and single payer plans would have reduced the deficit even more.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">PATRIOTISM</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Bush administration (likely Karl Rove) deliberately compromised an active undercover member of the CIA, resulting in lives lost.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Senator Jim De Mint traveled abroad and urged foreign leaders not to deal in good faith with the United States government.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The right used to tell us to trust government beyond what was reasonable given human nature. Today, opinion leaders on the right from bloggers up to senators say we must never trust the government. Both extremes are impractical, but never trusting the government prevents the government from serving the people.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">George W. Bush ordered inferior (and illegal) interrogation methods that damaged our anti-terrorist efforts.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">There was a day when Republicans would have led the charge to try people like this for treason. Who will stand up for America today?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">From other sources:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><a href="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_11/026737.php">GOP Economic Sabotage</a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><br /></div></div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-42880887703585124182010-11-18T16:01:00.000-08:002010-11-19T12:41:17.196-08:00Grow Up AlreadyI am so sick of hearing:<div><br /></div><div>I don't have kids. Why should I pay for schools when I get no benefit?</div><div> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255); ">I didn't get the carpet dirty. Why should I vacuum it?</span></div><div>Why should I pay for museums I don't go to?</div><div> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255); ">Why do I have to go?</span></div><div>I don't want biodegradable chip bags! They're too noisy!</div><div> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255); ">Because the trash can is way over therrrre!</span></div><div>Why do I have to subsidize sick, disabled, and unemployed people? </div><div> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255); ">Why do I have to be around old people? They smell funny.</span></div><div>Taxes are tyranny! </div><div> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255); ">I have to use my own money????</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div>My two kids are in high school. At one time or another, each one has said (whined) the things in blue. They wouldn't dare say any of those things today. They know better. We have taught them the principles of taking care of themselves, paying their own way, and helping those less fortunate. </div><div><br /></div><div>We don't have any greater "sense of community" in our lives than other suburbanites--probably less because we don't attend church. And yet my teens are already better citizens than the greedy and immature people whose miserly sense of worthiness stops at their own front gate.</div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-43245454822114091292010-11-11T08:01:00.000-08:002010-11-17T08:15:57.390-08:00Open Letter to President Obama<div>Dear Mr. President:</div><div><br /></div><div>You are a brilliant and disciplined man, and I'm glad you are president. However, I'm concerned about how you see your role in the current economic fight between a wealthy few and the rest of the nation.</div><div><br /></div><div>Your insistence on bipartisanship and compromise that is not reciprocated hark back to the passive protests of Gandhi and Martin Luther King. You seem to want to be a role model of peace and persistence. They were great men, but you are not called upon to play that role.</div><div><br /></div><div>Dignity and passive resistance was an effective tool for civil rights in the 1960s because there were powerful people in the government (Harry Truman, JFK, LBJ, the Supreme Court) willing to stand up for the oppressed. As President, you need to step up and be the champion that the middle class has been waiting for. </div><div><br /></div><div>You have already moved some wealth through the Stimulus and extensions of unemployment, but the wealth redistribution was positioned as other things. Health care was also helpful, but it did not change the fundamental problem. Wealth distribution is an ideological and moral issue--in this it is like Civil Rights--and in our current state of inequality, redistribution is a worthy end in itself. You need to change your language to reflect this.</div><div><br /></div><div>Studies show that average people think our wealth distribution is closer to Sweden's than what it really is. As Champion, you must bust that myth and decry the economic inequality that exists here today (and do it frequently). You must take advantage of the easy opportunities to put things right and build momentum.</div><div><br /></div><div>1. Let the tax cuts for the rich expire. The public supports this, and even favors letting all Bush tax cuts expire.</div><div><br /></div><div>2. Add a greed tax to the large bonuses given to bank employees and the incomes of hedge fund managers. Hedge fund managers have wangled a capped tax that has to go.</div><div><br /></div><div>3. Don't be afraid to shame Congressmen. Who in Congress would stand up for banker perks if they knew they would be publicly branded for it? I know the media is not your friend, and you have found clever ways to deal with this, but some of them are only after a juicy story. If you can give it to them, they'll switch sides easily enough.</div><div><br /></div><div>There is one fundamental difference between Civil Rights and the current economic fight. Granting the same human rights to everyone lifts everyone. In contrast, there is only so much money to go around. Giving it to some means taking it from others. More wealth equality does lift the whole economy, but greedy people will never see it that way.</div><div><br /></div><div>But not everyone is greedy. Warren Buffett has already spoken out against the unfairness of his own low tax rate. There are <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/opinion/06hastings.html?_r=1">more millionaires</a> who would be willing to say the same. Use them to spread the word. </div><div><br /></div><div>It is not enough to stand against something. You need to stand for something the way you stood for health care. You have the power to change how we talk about wealth distribution in this country and to start to undo 30 years of propaganda by conservatives. </div><div><br /></div><div>Start by refusing to extend tax cuts to the wealthy. This is not negotiable. Bail on this, and you signal that the wealthy own you.</div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-11343132009214822992010-11-07T11:52:00.000-08:002010-11-07T14:04:00.916-08:00Why It is Still Bush's FaultIn the building meme to give President George Bush a better place in history than he deserves, the first shot fired across the bow was, "How can you say the economy is still Bush's fault after Obama has been in charge for two years?"<div><br /></div><div>Well, let's take a look at how that works.</div><div><br /></div><div>The responsibility for causing a problem is not the same thing as the responsibility for solving a problem. Calvin Coolidge was POTUS for most of the 1920s. He overspent, he let the balance of wealth get tipped, he oversaw the accumulation of unsupported paper wealth, and a lot of other familiar things. The Wall Street crash that launched the Depression happened less than a year after he left office. Thus, Coolidge is blamed for eight years of policies that led to the Crash. </div><div><br /></div><div>His successor, Herbert Hoover, completely underestimated the scope of the problem left to him. He called on volunteers to help with economic problems. He let banks and other businesses go out of business, contributing to public fear and instability. He did not put more money into circulation after the crash sucked out a substantial portion of the money supply (though in fairness, the gold standard and Coolidge's overspending limited how much he could have added). Over three years, his policies turned a recession into a Great Depression, and he gets the historical blame for the Depression.</div><div><br /></div><div>Franklin Roosevelt spent a lot longer dealing with the Depression than did Hoover: almost a decade of high unemployment, anemic economic conditions, and false recoveries. And yet, at no time did it ever change from Hoover's Depression to Roosevelt's Depression. </div><div><br /></div><div>That's because the responsibility for causing a problem is not the same thing as the responsibility for solving a problem. Causation is fixed in the past, and the past does not change. Coolidge gets blame for the 1929 Crash even though Hoover was President at the time of the actual crash. Hoover made the economy worse, and he gets the blame for that. Roosevelt spent much longer bringing the economy back, but overall his policies caused steady economic improvement, so he gets credit for that.</div><div><br /></div><div>Though the economic trends that led to the recent crash had built for decades, George Bush was President for the last eight critical years when the worst damage could have been prevented. Even preventing wealth siphoning starting in 2006 and limiting subprime real estate loans starting in 2007 could have turned a crash into a simple real estate slump. He absolutely deserves the blame for the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, and time won't change that.</div><div><br /></div><div>However, just to make the contrast clear, President Obama's policies have helped the economy. After the 1929 Wall Street crash, the economy went on a four-year slide. President Obama came into office less than a year after the 2008 crash. Within months, his policies were producing measurable improvements. Had the timing been different, it could have been much worse for us.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, it is still Bush's fault, it will ALWAYS be Bush's fault, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.</div><div> </div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-73732564316083504002010-10-31T09:26:00.001-07:002010-11-02T15:13:59.510-07:00The Rally to Restore BalanceThroughout history, countries have tried to manage tensions between the few wealthy and the many other. It's not been true of every culture, but enough to call it a trend. <div><br /></div><div>The U.S. has existed this way from its inception. For all their talk of freedom and liberty, the founding fathers created an underclass with fewer rights than they had. Even as more classes of people gained full citizenship rights, there has always been a vulnerable underclass.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our politics has been characterized by tension between business/haves and labor/have nots. Haves are few in number but have always had more money and more resources to push their agenda. Have Nots don't have money or resources, but they are far more numerous. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm intentionally not saying Democrats and Republicans because these are labels that can change meaning over time. It's not about the history of a party, it's about the history of wealth trying to cement its hold on power.</div><div><br /></div><div>When our politics are balanced, the rich don't have enough wealth to shut out the public, and the public is not organized enough to shut out the wealthy. Our economy is the most effective and prosperous then.</div><div><br /></div><div>When the economy has shifted too far toward wealth, as it has now, the rest of the people need to come together to oppose wealth and push a more public agenda. The wealthy know this, and so they have set out to prevent this from happening. </div><div><br /></div><div>The propaganda of the wealthy has pitted demographic group against demographic group. They have discouraged voting. They have portrayed the opposition government, the traditional champion of public rights against the excesses of the wealthy, as the enemy of the people. The mainstream media, that other traditional champion of public rights, has been meekly lured to support the wealthy through the combination of pressure from the Fox machine, the lure of business advertising dollars, and the additional lure of post-Citizens United campaign dollars. Anyone who dares disagree with the house spin on events is painted as biased, extremist, and unpatriotic.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is the world in 2010: a world in which the wealthy have taken power and used the lessons of history to prevent a restoration of balance, even when that balance would benefit them as well. <b>Before we can rebalance the economy, we need to do two very different things. We need to speak up and make the truth heard, and we need to join with our brainwashed brethren until we have a critical mass that can topple the wealthy. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>These are two very different movements that should not be led by the same people. One is about confrontation and the other is about harmony. One shames the opposition, and the other makes it possible for members of both sides to save face.</div><div><br /></div><div>To shout down the false propagandists, we have people like @shoq and @keitholbermann. They are passionate, they are angry, occasionally they are hyperbolic, but they are always right. Through them, I met more polite people like Rachel @maddow, @ezraklein, @karoli, @cdashiell, @StrandedWind, and more. But it's the leaders who inspire others to get involved and get the word out, and they take the heat for being in front.</div><div><br /></div><div>Creating a critical mass of public unity is as essential as getting the truth out. Yet what major public figure other than President Obama have you heard calling for unity between sniping political groups? Who is out there building a bridge and creating a forum allowing people to work together who currently can't even listen to each other?</div><div><br /></div><div>Jon Stewart has stepped in to fill the role of neutral unifier. He brought a quarter of a million people together in person and more watching at home. His primary message was that we're all pretty good people, we already get along and work together every day, and we can work out politics too. This is a great message and the first step to creating a critical mass of the electorate to oppose the wealthy. Positioning this message right before the election reminds voters not to be taken in by the divisive ads, which mostly come from the right.</div><div><br /></div><div>I loved the traffic analogy. We are all anonymous in traffic, with little accountability to each other, and yet we cooperate. After creating that sense of commonality, he then reminded us that the real enemies are the jerks who cut in (the closest he came to demonizing any anonymous group).</div><div><br /></div><div>Did Stewart completely ignore the fact that there are bad people out there who are doing terrible things to the public? Except for the traffic assholes, yes. However, <i>it is not the place of the unifier to point this out, </i>at least not at this stage. That is the place of the confrontational people. And they do a great job; may there be more of them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Did Stewart completely strain credibility with false equivalencies between the confrontational people spreading truth and the propagandists spreading lies? Absolutely. Did he have to do this to get the brainwashed people to feel included? So they could save face? Perhaps, but I'd bet that at least Stewart felt he had to do this. And I think that Olbermann understands the purpose behind the slap, though a slap is never pleasant (and ok, the Scott Brown comment that Stewart used was hyperbolic and KO already apologized for that).</div><div><br /></div><div>It's a gamble for Stewart to position himself as a unifier. He won't stop needling politicians who do dumb things, and right now the easiest political targets are all tea partiers. It will be difficult to move the people who seem proud to be "out of the fray" toward civic participation, which must happen to support real progress. He has laid the groundwork with talk of responsibility and doing what we have to do even when we don't want to.</div><div><br /></div><div>We need a way for ordinary people to put aside their differences while saving face, come together, and trust each other enough to fight our common enemy. It won't happen in a confrontational environment. I don't know if Jon Stewart will be able to pull it off, but kudos to him for trying.</div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-35675900691364287472010-10-20T13:52:00.000-07:002010-10-21T09:30:39.571-07:00We Have Met The Enemy...thanks to a leak to ThinkProgress and support by RawStory re the list of invitees to a secret strategy meeting last June called by the infamous Koch brothers to plan GOP strategy for the 2010 midterms and 2012 election. <div><br /></div><div>The <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/10/memo-exposes-secret-list-conservative-donors-plotting-campaign-democrats-climate-change/">original list</a> is in alphabetical order by person. For those of you who want to steer your consumer dollars away from these businesses, here is the list sorted by industry:</div><div><br /></div><div>FINANCIAL SERVICES</div><div><br /></div><div><table class="MsoNormalTable" border="1" cellpadding="0" width="433" style="width:325.05pt; mso-cellspacing:1.5pt;mso-yfti-tbllook:1184;mso-padding-alt:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-irow:0;mso-yfti-firstrow:yes;mso-row-margin-right:.25pt"> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Name(s)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Industry<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Notes<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Jack and Rose Marie Anderson<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Financial Advisor<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Culver Corp, Rose Marie and Jack R. Anderson Foundation- Financial Advisor<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Nate and Lynda Bachman<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Financial Advisor<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">The Bachman Group-Financial Advisor<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Ken and Frayda Levy<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Investment Mgmt<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">JLM Investment Mgmt<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Cliff Asness<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Investment<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">AQR Capital Management <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Fred and Marlene Malek<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Investment Mgmt<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Thayer Capital Partners<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Jerry and Caroline Milbank<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Investment Mgmt<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">CEO/Principal, Milbank Winthrop & Co.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;border-bottom:outset 1.0pt" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Peter Schiff and Martha O’Brien<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Investment Mgmt<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="150" colspan="2" style="width:112.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Schiff: Euro Pacific Capital Inc.,<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Scott Kirkpatrick<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Investment<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Teton Capital<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Jerry and Caroline Milbank<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Investment Management<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">CEO/Principal, Milbank Winthrop & Co.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;border-bottom:outset 1.0pt" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Steve and Christine Schwarzman<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Financial Services<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="150" colspan="2" style="width:112.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">CEO/founder, Blackstone Group<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Earl Wright<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Finance<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">AMG National Trust<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Cliff and Susan Yonce<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Investment Banking<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Goldman Sachs<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Frank and Kathy Baxter<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Banking<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Ambassador Frank E. Baxter is Chairman Emeritus of Jefferies and Company, Inc., a global investment bank focusing on mid-cap companies.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Bill Cooper and Kristin Tollefson<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Finance/Banking<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">CEO of TCF Financial<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Tom Petrie<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Banking<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Co-founder of BofA Merrill Lynch Petrie Divestiture Advisors<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Dennis Kuester<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Banking<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Retired CEO of M&I Bank<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Jerry and Nanette Finger<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Banking<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Managing Partner, Finger Interests LTD<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Charlie and Kaye Lynn Fote<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Finance<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Fotec Group LLC<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;border-bottom:outset 1.0pt" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Dick Strong<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Investment Services<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="150" colspan="2" style="width:112.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Strong/Corneliuson Capital Mgmt<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Michael Sullivan<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Investment Services<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="150" colspan="2" style="width:112.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">CR Intrinsic Investors<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Lynn Tilton<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Investment Management<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="150" colspan="2" style="width:112.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">CEO, Patriarch Partners LLC<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Neil Anderson and Amy Fisher-Smith<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Runs Rose Marie and Jack R. Anderson Foundation<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Dan and Kellie Peters<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Not-for Profit<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Daniel S. Peters is president of the Ruth and Lovett Peters Foundation in Cincinnati, Ohio<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Foster Friess<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Investment<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Mr. Foster Stephen Friess is the Founder and Chairman of Friess Associates, LLC<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Andre Lacy<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Investment<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Chairman, Lacy Diversified Industries<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Bill and Sarah Walton<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Real Estate<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Allied Capital Corp<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Dick Weekley<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Real Estate<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Weekley Properties<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p 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style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Annie Dickerson<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Real Estate<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">CBRE analyst<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Nestor Weigand and Darcy Buehler<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Real Estate<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 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Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Real Estate<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Win Win Enterprises<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Patrick and Paula Broe<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Real Estate<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Founder and CEO of Denver-based real estate asset management firm, The Broe Group<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Mike and Beth Kasser<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Real Estate<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">President, Holualoa Inc<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Dick and Mary Beth Weiss<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Life Insurance<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Wells Fargo, Hawthorne Rances<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Howard and Rhonda Wilkins<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Insurance<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Diversified Insurance<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:36;mso-yfti-lastrow:yes;mso-row-margin-right:.25pt"> <td width="133" style="width:99.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">John Childs<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="143" style="width:107.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Insurance<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="147" style="width:110.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Chairman and CEO of J.W. Childs and Associates</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div><div>Of course there are the usual suspects--Goldman, Merrill, Blackstone. But remember Peter Schiff? He was the "it" fund manager of 2008 for predicting the 2008 crash. He wasn't right about the result (he predicted investors would flock to foreign companies like the ones in his fund; instead they flocked to U.S. treasuries), but he got a lot of points for calling the fall. </div><div><br /></div><div>Cliff Asness at AQR straddles the worlds of retail and academic finance. The Q in AQR is Quantitative, as in the long-term, growth-oriented, academically based investing that benefits both the economy and investors--the opposite of short-term speculative investment that evaporates money from the economy into bankers' pockets. And yet here is Asness included in the speculators' club. Hmmm.</div><div><br /></div><div>What you have here is people who can not only influence thought about the economy, particularly the market, but manipulate the market to make it conform to their predictions.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>RETAIL</div><div><br /></div><div><table class="MsoNormalTable" border="1" cellpadding="0" style="mso-cellspacing:1.5pt; mso-yfti-tbllook:1184;mso-padding-alt:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-irow:0;mso-yfti-firstrow:yes"> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Name(s)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Industry<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> </td> <td width="181" style="width:135.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Notes<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Rich and Helen DeVos<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Retail<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="181" style="width:135.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Founder and CEO of Amway<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Ron and Kris Erickson<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Retail<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="181" style="width:135.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Holiday Companies<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Dick and Ethie Haworth<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Retail<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="181" style="width:135.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Head of Haworth Furniture, Multi-national corporation, 3rd largest corporate furniture company in US<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Ken and Elaine Langone<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Retail<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="181" style="width:135.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Invemed, Home Depot<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Tom Love<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Retail<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="181" style="width:135.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">CEO, President, Love’s Country Stores<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Jack and Goldie Miller<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Retail<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="181" style="width:135.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">CEO/President, Quill Corp., the largest mail-order office supply retailer in the United States with revenues of $1.3B per year and EBITDA of over 20%<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Rick and Sherry Sharp<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Retail<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="181" style="width:135.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Former CEO, Circuit City<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Gerry and Kathryn Kingen<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Retail<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="181" style="width:135.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Red Robin restaurants, Happy Guests Int’l<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Mike and Lin Simmonds<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Retail<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="181" style="width:135.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">CEO, Simmonds Restaurant Mgmt<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:10;mso-yfti-lastrow:yes"> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Steve and Regina Hennessy<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Retail<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="181" style="width:135.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Auto Sales</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>GOVERNMENT & OTHER</div><div><br /></div><div><table class="MsoNormalTable" border="1" cellpadding="0" style="mso-cellspacing:1.5pt; mso-table-layout-alt:fixed;mso-yfti-tbllook:1184;mso-padding-alt:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-irow:0;mso-yfti-firstrow:yes"> <td width="134" colspan="2" style="width:100.4pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Name(s)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> </td> <td width="88" style="width:66.1pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Industry<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> </td> <td width="162" colspan="2" style="width:121.75pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Notes<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:1;mso-row-margin-right:.25pt"> <td width="132" style="width:98.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Robin and Barbara Hayes<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="90" colspan="2" style="width:67.6pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Government<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="160" style="width:120.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Former NC Congressman<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:2;mso-row-margin-right:.25pt"> <td width="132" style="width:98.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">John and Joan Hotchkis<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="90" colspan="2" style="width:67.6pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Education<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="160" style="width:120.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Board of Directors for Teach for America UC Berkeley<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:3;mso-row-margin-right:.25pt"> <td width="132" style="width:98.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Ken and Randy Kendrick<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="90" colspan="2" style="width:67.6pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Education/Technology<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="160" style="width:120.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Founder, Chairman, co-owner Datatel, pvt co providing software pkg for higher ed. <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:4;mso-row-margin-right:.25pt"> <td width="132" style="width:98.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Don and Deede Meyers<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="90" colspan="2" style="width:67.6pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Attorney<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="160" style="width:120.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Self Employed<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:5;mso-yfti-lastrow:yes;mso-row-margin-right:.25pt"> <td width="132" style="width:98.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Russ Roberts<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="90" colspan="2" style="width:67.6pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Attorney<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="160" style="width:120.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Roberts, Ashby & Parrish<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="mso-cell-special:placeholder;border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in" width="0"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></td> </tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div>Teach for America is a well-respected organization that sends young college grads to teach in the most challenging public schools--a model of public service. I can't quite imagine what that org is doing on this list. Perhaps toward privatization of education?</div><div><br /></div><div>I think the researchers who identified these people were in a bit of a hurry because some of the notes are incomplete or outdated. I added on to a few, but be on notice as you look at these.</div><div><br /></div><div>MEDIA</div><div><br /></div><div><table class="MsoNormalTable" border="1" cellpadding="0" width="419" style="width:314.25pt; mso-cellspacing:1.5pt;mso-yfti-tbllook:1184;mso-padding-alt:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-irow:0;mso-yfti-firstrow:yes"> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Name(s)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Industry<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Notes<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Stan and Karen Hubbard<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Media<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Executive Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Phil and Nancy Anschutz<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Media<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Industrialist, Owner, Weekly Standard, Examiner newspapers<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Kurt and Nancy Pfotenhauer<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="109" colspan="6" style="width:81.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Media<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="174" style="width:130.8pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">President of MediaSpeak Strategies/former political commentator on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC and former Senior Policy Advisor and National Spokesperson with the 2008 John McCain presidential campaign<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Steve Moore<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Media<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Ramesh Ponnuru<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Media<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">National Review magazine<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Michael Barone<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Media<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Fox News<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Glenn Beck<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Media<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Fox News<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Tim Carney<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Media<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Political Columnist, Washington Examiner<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="4" style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Glen and Diane Meakem<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Media<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="180" colspan="4" style="width:135.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Radio talk host and technology multimillionaire<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Tim O’Shaughnessy<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td colspan="3" style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Media<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="178" colspan="3" style="width:133.8pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Hungry Machine, Inc., doing business as LivingSocial.com, is a social discovery and cataloging network.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Susie Coelho<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="109" colspan="6" style="width:81.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Media<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="174" style="width:130.8pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">founder and CEO of Susie Coelho Enterprises Inc.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Bob and Mary Sue Hawk<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" colspan="7" style="width:82.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Communications<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="174" style="width:130.8pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">President of Hawk Communications<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Karl and Stevie Eller<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Advertising<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Karl Crow<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Think Tank<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Policy Analyst Capital Research Center<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Veronique de Rugy<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Think Tank<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Arthur Brooks<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Think Tank<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">President, American Enterprise Institute<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Peter Wallison<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Think Tank<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Fellow, American Enterprise Institute<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Ed Meese<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Think Tank<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Heritage Foundation<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">David and Ann Brown<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Think Tank<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Heritage Foundation<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Susan Gore<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Think Tank<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Founder, Wyoming Liberty Group<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">James and Heather Higgins<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Think Tank<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Independent Women’s Forum<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Ethelmae Humphreys<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Think Tank<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Cato Institute<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Tim Phillips<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Front Group<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">president, Americans for Prosperity<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Phil and Joanna Kerpen<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Front Group<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">VP of Policy, Americans for Prosperity<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Jeff Crank<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Front Group/Media<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Radio Pundit and Americans For Prosperity State Director<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Sean Noble<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Front Group<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Americans for Prosperity<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Eric O’Keefe<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Front Group<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Sam Adams Alliance<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Teresa Oelke<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Front Group<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">State Director of Americans for Prosperity, <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Mark Mix<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Advocacy Group<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">President, National Right to Work Committee<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">David Chavern<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Lobbyist<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Executive Vice President and COO at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Steve Twist<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Consultant<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Rose & Allyn PR Consultants<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Manley and Mary Johnson<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Political Consultant<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Andrew Kupersmith<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Consultant<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">MD, Cardiology Consultants<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:34;mso-yfti-lastrow:yes"> <td width="128" colspan="2" style="width:96.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Whitney Ball<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="5" style="width:79.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Consultant<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="176" colspan="2" style="width:132.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Owner of a firm that helps corporations give anonymous gifts to front groups (Money Launderer)</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div>I love how they identify Amer for Prosperity as a front group. The "money launderer" description is mine. The Fox News people are less surprising, but the WSJ editorial board member is a clear signal (if its content wasn't clear enough) that the WSJ is no longer unbiased and no longer deserves to be respected.</div><div><br /></div><div>ENERGY</div><div><br /></div><div><table class="MsoNormalTable" border="1" cellpadding="0" style="mso-cellspacing:1.5pt; mso-yfti-tbllook:1184;mso-padding-alt:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-irow:0;mso-yfti-firstrow:yes"> <td colspan="3" style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span class="Apple-style-span">Name(s)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> </td> <td colspan="2" style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Industry<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Notes<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">David Murfin<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td colspan="2" style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Energy<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">President, Murfin Drilling Co.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Larry and Polly Nichols<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td colspan="2" style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Energy<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Executive Chairman, Devon Energy Corp<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Karen Wright <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td colspan="2" style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Energy/Manufacturing<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Ariel CEO<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Tom Rastin<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td colspan="2" style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Energy/Manufacturing<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">vice president of marketing and engineering, Ariel Corp<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Shelby and Nell Bush<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="129" colspan="3" style="width:96.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Energy<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Vice President, Legal and Administration – Hillwood Energy<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Corbin and Barbara Robertson<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="131" colspan="4" style="width:98.15pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Energy<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">President, Quintana Minerals Corp<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Alex Cranberg<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="129" colspan="3" style="width:96.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Energy<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Aspect Holdings, LLC – Chairman<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Richard Fink<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="131" colspan="4" style="width:98.15pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Koch Industries<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Director of Georgia-Pacific, EVP of Koch Industries<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Charles and Liz Koch<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="131" colspan="4" style="width:98.15pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Koch Industries<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Chase and Annie Koch<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="131" colspan="4" style="width:98.15pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Koch Industries<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">David and Julia Koch<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="131" colspan="4" style="width:98.15pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Koch Industries<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Elizabeth Koch<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="131" colspan="4" style="width:98.15pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Koch Industries<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Bob and Cindy Koch<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="131" colspan="4" style="width:98.15pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Koch Industries<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Joe and Mary Moeller<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="131" colspan="4" style="width:98.15pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Koch Industries<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Vice Chairman<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Richard and Leslie Gilliam<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="131" colspan="4" style="width:98.15pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Coal<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">President of Cumberland Resources Corporation <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="172" colspan="2" style="width:128.7pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Joe Craft<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="129" colspan="3" style="width:96.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Coal<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">president, chief executive officer and director of Alliance Resource Partners LP<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Kevin Crutchfield<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="131" colspan="4" style="width:98.15pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Coal<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Chief Executive Officer of Alpha Coal Sales Co., LLC.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="172" colspan="2" style="width:128.7pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Bob and Martha Buford<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="129" colspan="3" style="width:96.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Oil<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">President and owner of Zenith Drilling Corporation<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="172" colspan="2" style="width:128.7pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Alan and Lisa Boeckmann<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="129" colspan="3" style="width:96.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Oil<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">CEO Fluor Corporation<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Jim and Dorothy Patterson<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="131" colspan="4" style="width:98.15pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Oil<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Gulf Stream Petroleum<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="172" colspan="2" style="width:128.7pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Fred and Jane Hamilton<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="129" colspan="3" style="width:96.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Oil<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of BHP Petroleum, Hamilton Oil Company and various Hamilton Oil Corporation subsid/affiliates<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="174" colspan="3" style="width:130.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Dave and Melanie True<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="127" colspan="2" style="width:95.15pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Oil<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Partner<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="174" colspan="3" style="width:130.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Lew and Myra Ward<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="127" colspan="2" style="width:95.15pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Oil<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Ward Petroleum Corporation engages in oil and gas exploration and production. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="174" colspan="3" style="width:130.2pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Don and Sue Wills<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="127" colspan="2" style="width:95.15pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Oil<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="176" colspan="4" style="width:131.7pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Randy and Jean Foutch<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="125" style="width:93.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Oil<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Laredo Petroleum, Inc.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="4" style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Paul Hill<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="125" style="width:93.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Oil<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Chief Executive Officer and President of Harvard Developments Inc. since 1978. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="4" style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Gerry and Priscilla O’Shaughnessy<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="125" style="width:93.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Oil<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Co-founded Geopark Holding Limited in 2002.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="176" colspan="4" style="width:131.7pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Jerry and Leah Fullinwider<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="125" style="width:93.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Energy/<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Petroleum<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Vice Chairman, Hillwood International Energy, L.P.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="176" colspan="4" style="width:131.7pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Jim and Zibbie Ferrell<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="125" style="width:93.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Fuel Oil<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Ferrellgas Partners, L.P. engages in the distribution and sale of propane and related equipment primarily in US<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="176" colspan="4" style="width:131.7pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Melvyn and Suellen Estrin<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="125" style="width:93.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Natural Gas<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Director of WGL Holdings INC<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="176" colspan="4" style="width:131.7pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Dave Fettig<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="125" style="width:93.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Natural Gas<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Tank Craft, Duracraft Fuel energy<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="176" colspan="4" style="width:131.7pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Bob Fettig<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="125" style="width:93.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Natural Gas<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Tank Craft, Duracraft Fuel energy<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:33;mso-yfti-lastrow:yes"> <td width="176" colspan="4" style="width:131.7pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Steve Fettig<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="125" style="width:93.65pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Natural Gas<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="111" style="width:82.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Tank Craft, Duracraft Fuel energy</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>GENERAL BUSINESS</div><div><br /></div><div><table class="MsoNormalTable" border="1" cellpadding="0" style="mso-cellspacing:1.5pt; mso-yfti-tbllook:1184;mso-padding-alt:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-irow:0;mso-yfti-firstrow:yes"> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Name(s)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> </td> <td width="105" style="width:78.8pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Industry<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> </td> <td width="148" colspan="3" style="width:110.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Notes<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Peter Smith<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="105" style="width:78.8pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Business Conglomerate<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="148" colspan="3" style="width:110.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">CEO, Services Group of America<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Bernard and Margaret Blasingame<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="105" style="width:78.8pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Manufacturing<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="148" colspan="3" style="width:110.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">President and owner of Aqua Dynamics Systems, Inc<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Budd and Lauri Florkiewicz<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="2" style="width:80.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Manufacturing<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="146" colspan="2" style="width:109.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Foam Fabricators<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Dan and Carolyn Heard<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="2" style="width:80.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Manufacturing<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="146" colspan="2" style="width:109.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Executive Officer of John H. Carter Co.,<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Allan and Kathy Hubbard<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="109" colspan="3" style="width:81.8pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Chemicals and Manufacturing<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="144" style="width:107.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Founder and Chief Executive Officer, E & A Industries, Inc.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Michael O’Shaunessy<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="109" colspan="3" style="width:81.8pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Mfg Technology<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="144" style="width:107.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Petters Consumer Brands, LLC develops consumer electronics and appliances.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Diane Hendricks<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="2" style="width:80.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Manufacturing<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="146" colspan="2" style="width:109.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Husband of Ken Hendricks<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Steve and Betty Bechtel<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="105" style="width:78.8pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Engineering<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="148" colspan="3" style="width:110.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Owns the Bechtel Group (Corporation), Largest engineering company in United States<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Jim and Shirley Dannenbaum<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="105" style="width:78.8pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Engineering<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="148" colspan="3" style="width:110.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Mr. Dannenbaum, Chairman of Dannenbaum Engineering Corporation<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Tim Oelke<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="105" style="width:78.8pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Construction<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="148" colspan="3" style="width:110.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Crossland Construction Corp<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Boysie Bollinger<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="105" style="width:78.8pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Shipping/Commerce<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="148" colspan="3" style="width:110.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Bollinger Shipyards<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Eric Crown and Isabella King<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="105" style="width:78.8pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Technology Sales<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="148" colspan="3" style="width:110.95pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Sell Technology Equipment<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:13;mso-yfti-lastrow:yes"> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Dixon and Carol Doll<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="107" colspan="2" style="width:80.3pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Technology<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="146" colspan="2" style="width:109.45pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Co-Founder and General Partner of DCM</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><table class="MsoNormalTable" border="1" cellpadding="0" style="mso-cellspacing:1.5pt; mso-yfti-tbllook:1184;mso-padding-alt:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-irow:0;mso-yfti-firstrow:yes"> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Name(s)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> </td> <td width="121" style="width:90.85pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Industry<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> </td> <td width="132" colspan="2" style="width:98.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Notes<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:1"> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Bob Kohlhepp<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="121" style="width:90.85pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Manufacturing/Services<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="132" colspan="2" style="width:98.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Vice Chairman, Cintas Corp. </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; "><span class="Apple-style-span">Revenue in 2007 was $3.7 billion and net income was $335 million</span></span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Bob Luddy<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="121" style="width:90.85pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Manufacturing<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="132" colspan="2" style="width:98.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">President, Captive Aire Systems<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Ray and Ladeline Thompson<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="121" style="width:90.85pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Manufacturing<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="132" colspan="2" style="width:98.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">President/CEO, Semitool</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; "><span class="Apple-style-span">world leader in the design, development, manufacture and support of high performance, precision chemical processing equipment.</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; "><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Rick and Debra Waller<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="121" style="width:90.85pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Manufacturing<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="132" colspan="2" style="width:98.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Owner, Rollmeister Inc<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Durk Rorie<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="121" style="width:90.85pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Manufacturing<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="132" colspan="2" style="width:98.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">United Air Specialists<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Pierce Marshall<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="121" style="width:90.85pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Administrative Management<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="132" colspan="2" style="width:98.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">MAROPCO<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Art and Kathy Pope<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="121" style="width:90.85pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Goods/Services<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="132" colspan="2" style="width:98.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Senior Exec, Variety Wholesaler<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Lew and Suzy Meibergen<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="121" style="width:90.85pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Food production<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="132" colspan="2" style="width:98.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">President, Johnston Enterprises/WG Johnston Grain Co<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Chris Rufer<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="121" style="width:90.85pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Food production<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="132" colspan="2" style="width:98.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Morningstar Company, Ag processor <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Gary and Kathleen Rogers<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="121" style="width:90.85pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Food production<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="132" colspan="2" style="width:98.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Former CEO, Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Richard Roder and Karin Hsu<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="121" style="width:90.85pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Construction Management<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="132" colspan="2" style="width:98.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">CEO, Cmt-Construction Management<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Jim and Gayla Von Ehr<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="121" style="width:90.85pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Research/Development<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="132" colspan="2" style="width:98.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">CEO, Zyvex Corp<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Jay and Sally Lapeyre<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="121" style="width:90.85pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Services<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="132" colspan="2" style="width:98.9pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Laitram Corp<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:14;mso-yfti-lastrow:yes"> <td width="122" style="width:91.5pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Fred and Sandra Young<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="123" colspan="2" style="width:92.35pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Services<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> </td> <td width="130" style="width:97.4pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span">Diversified Search, LLC provides senior-level executive and corporate board search services in the United States and internationally. It provides recruitment services for various organizations in consumer and industrial, education, not-for-profit, arts and culture, financial and professional services, business, healthcare and human services, life sciences, media and entertainment, sports and leisure, energy and utilities, private equity, retail, and technology and communications industries.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>HEALTH CARE</div><div><br /></div><div><table class="MsoNormalTable" border="1" cellpadding="0" style="mso-cellspacing:1.5pt; mso-yfti-tbllook:1184;mso-padding-alt:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-irow:0;mso-yfti-firstrow:yes"> <td width="104" style="width:78.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Name(s)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> </td> <td width="100" colspan="2" style="width:75.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Industry<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> </td> <td width="171" style="width:128.25pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Notes<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:1"> <td width="104" style="width:78.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Oliver and Carolyn Grace Jr.<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="100" colspan="2" style="width:75.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Med and Telecom<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="171" style="width:128.25pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">President and chief executive officer of Anderson Group, Inc.,<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:2"> <td width="104" style="width:78.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Judson and Joyce Green<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="100" colspan="2" style="width:75.0pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Energy and Med<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="171" style="width:128.25pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Mr. Judson C. Green is the President and Chief Executive Officer of NAVTEQ Corp.<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:3"> <td colspan="2" style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Peter Farrell<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="57" style="width:43.05pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Biomed<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="171" style="width:128.25pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Founder of Resmed<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:4;mso-yfti-lastrow:yes"> <td colspan="2" style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Bill Mayer<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="57" style="width:43.05pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Health Care<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="171" style="width:128.25pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">MD, Mayer & Cope Family Practice<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>UNIDENTIFIED</div><div><br /></div><div><table class="MsoNormalTable" border="1" cellpadding="0" style="mso-cellspacing:1.5pt; mso-yfti-tbllook:1184;mso-padding-alt:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-irow:0;mso-yfti-firstrow:yes"> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Name(s)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"></td> <td width="227" style="width:170.05pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Notes<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:1"> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Charlies and Marla Chandler<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="227" style="width:170.05pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:2"> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Paul and Lea Clifton<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="227" style="width:170.05pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Runs Robert and Marie Hansen Family Foundation<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:3"> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Joe Woodford<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="227" style="width:170.05pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:4"> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Walter and Suzette Negley<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="227" style="width:170.05pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:5"> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Mina Nguyen<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="227" style="width:170.05pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:6"> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Preston Marshall<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="227" style="width:170.05pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:7"> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Elaine Marshall<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="227" style="width:170.05pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Homemaker<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:8"> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Ned and Nancy Diefenthal<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="227" style="width:170.05pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:9"> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Tim Busch<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="227" style="width:170.05pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:10"> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Dino and Joan Cortopassi<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="227" style="width:170.05pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:11"> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Ravenell and Beth Curry<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="227" style="width:170.05pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:12"> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Marshall Johnson<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="227" style="width:170.05pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:13"> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Kyle and Kirsten Johnstone<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="227" style="width:170.05pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:14"> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Merritt Johnson<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="227" style="width:170.05pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:15"> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Gretchen Hamel<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="227" style="width:170.05pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:16"> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Steve and Polly Friess<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="227" style="width:170.05pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"></td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:17"> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">Dick Farmer<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="227" style="width:170.05pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:18;mso-yfti-lastrow:yes"> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"">John Bryan<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td width="227" style="width:170.05pt;padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-88085776875311200602010-10-18T21:51:00.000-07:002010-10-18T22:05:31.833-07:0010 Minutes of Animation are Worth Several Chapters of a Book At Least<div>I've been trying to explain to people, especially libertarians, that our economy works because of built-in tension between liberal and conservative, labor and capital, whatever you want to label the opposing forces. It's not a question of right and wrong, it's a question of balance. Swing too far in either direction, and the system risks collapse. From now on, I'm going to direct people to this video to make that point. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><object width="400" height="244"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qOP2V_np2c0&hl=en_US&feature=player_detailpage&version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qOP2V_np2c0&hl=en_US&feature=player_detailpage&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="244"></embed></object>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-38500789902918504002010-10-18T14:53:00.000-07:002010-10-18T15:05:09.495-07:00Blast From the PastDateline fall 2008.<div><br /></div><div>Republicans accuse candidate Obama of poor judgment and insensitivity for soliciting donations as the economy slides into what would be the worst downturn since the Great Depression. Obama received more in donations than McCain overall.</div><div><br /></div><div>Dateline fall 2010</div><div><br /></div><div>Following Citizens United, Republican private organizations solicit anonymous campaign money from billionaires and spend 7x Democrats nationwide. The economic downturn, which has put millions out of work and exacerbated the distance between rich and poor, has reduced the ability of non-rich people to contribute to political campaigns, but no one is talking about that.</div><div><br /></div><div>What have we learned, kids?</div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-90371261329454020732010-09-23T07:55:00.000-07:002010-09-23T14:35:53.973-07:00Why E-Bay Sellers Hate Meg Whitman--And You Should Too<div>If you are interested in the California governor's race, you may have already read about Meg Whitman's tenure at e-bay. If not, go <a href="http://www.baycitizen.org/meg-whitman/story/ebays-lost-years/">here</a>. I'm here to give another perspective, that of an e-bay seller.</div><div><br /></div>The original mission statement of e-bay was to create a community for people to sell their stuff online. E-bay treated these small sellers as partners in growth--all could prosper together. <div><br /></div><div>I joined e-bay in September 2004 and started selling a few months later. I opened a store in May 2005 selling books. By this time, the worst of the bugginess of the e-bay system was past. Sellers were grumbling about e-bay rate hikes and a few had left, but there was no mass exodus.</div><div><br /></div><div>As a seller, I followed a pretty standard path, first getting some auction items together to sell one weekend a month, then moving up to a combination of store and auction. The first month I had a store, I had less than $100 in gross sales. I was excited just to make a profit. E-bay fees were low enough that a new seller had room to ramp up. For a marketing person like me, e-bay also allowed store and listing customization to create an "experience" for buyers.</div><div><br /></div><div>When I opened my store in May 2005, there were still people with stores with only a dozen items listed for $1 or $2 each. In other words, there were people with no business sense that were paying out of pocket to play on e-bay. There were one or two sellers with over 100,000 books, but after that, it dropped off fast. If you had 1000 books listed, you were a big seller. It really was a community for small sellers.</div><div><br /></div><div>While I was an ebay seller, my sales grew and so did e-bay pricing for sellers. Many sellers who had built a good following left in disgust, but I reworked my inventory to stay profitable (for example bundling paperback books into lots to create higher per-item prices). It wasn't what customers preferred, but they adapted, so I did too.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then e-bay introduced the PowerSeller program to reward high-volume sellers. By this time, my volume qualified for the bronze level. I got 15-20% of my e-bay fees rebated each month, depending on my customer service scores that month. Silver and gold members (later platinum was added) received even more rebates. </div><div><br /></div><div>Without the rebate, I would have quit right then because it would not have been profitable. That, of course, means that true dilettante sellers were being priced out. Thus e-bay, the original birthplace for small business, created barriers to entry.</div><div><br /></div><div>E-bay argued that the market demanded more seller accountability. However, the market also demanded better policing of gray goods and knockoffs from Asia, and that didn't happen.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think the last of e-bay's original fans left then, and they were very angry about the promise broken and the community taken away from them. E-bay had gotten its start through the efforts of the original sellers, and now e-bay was trading up to large Asian sellers.</div><div><br /></div><div>The original sellers argued, and correctly, that e-bay could make plenty of money following its original vision. It could have been the cozy community that it once promised to draw in small sellers. </div><div><br /></div><div>E-bay under Meg Whitman made a choice to put profits ahead of people, just as so many other companies do, and that is why I don't want Meg Whitman anywhere near the governor's chair. Of all the things that should not be run for profit first, government heads the list.</div><div><br /></div><div>My last straw with e-bay came when it announced in 2008 that in 2009, it would begin charging fees based on type of item. The sale fees for books nearly doubled, while fees for some categories, like electronics, actually went down. I was still making a profit, but now e-bay was making more on my sales than I was, and I found that unacceptable. And I was a bronze PowerSeller. </div><div><br /></div><div>E-bay also announced measures to homogenize the site and reduce store customization, thus reducing the last visual signs of community on a site that community members had already left.</div><div><br /></div><div>So let's recap. During Meg Whitman's tenure, e-bay</div><div><br /></div><div>1. Nurtured small sellers to establish itself</div><div>2. Advertised itself as an incubator for small businesses--and was for a while</div><div>3. Drove away the successful small businesses it helped to create.</div><div>4. Drove away budding local entrepreneurs</div><div>5. Completely sold out its original vision of community for even more profit</div><div>6. Welcomed cheap overseas sellers with goods of questionable origin</div><div><br /></div><div>Just say Hell No to Meg Whitman. </div><div><br /></div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-33711303587444266102010-09-19T10:00:00.000-07:002010-09-19T16:08:48.181-07:00Some Economic Suggestions:PREAMBLE<div>The government is in a unique position to influence the economy through its actions. Nudging the interest rate nudges the economy. Large tax and spending changes create more substantial impact. These are essential functions.<div><br /><div> <div>During the Bush years, the government went into debt to give money to taxpayers at the expense of the overall community and at a time when the economy did not need the stimulation. This contributed significantly to turning an ordinary real estate downturn into an economic meltdown.*</div><div><br /></div><div>During the last decade, money flowed up to the rich as both tax breaks and big bonuses. When worthless investments disappeared from the economy, jobs and a substantial portion of the nation's wealth disappeared as well. The proportion of wealth held by the rich increased, and money at the poor end started drying up completely. This inequality is bad for the majority of citizens and bad per se for the health of the economy.</div><div><br /></div><div>SPENDING: </div></div><div>Use the power of government to continue to send money to the bottom 90% of the economy now. Unemployment insurance. Public works jobs. Payment for previously volunteer jobs. Open up poverty programs like food stamps to those with minimal incomes even if they have assets. We want to reward saving and preserve the assets of the bottom 90%, not force them to sell off their retirement.</div><div><br /></div><div>INVESTING: </div><div>Investing bubbles in real estate derivatives, dotcom startups, and junk bonds have been responsible for the last few recessions. One common thread among these is too much risk for the entire market to bear. There needs to be a mechanism to limit the quantity of high-risk investments in the market. </div><div><br /></div><div>Another related common thread is investing in speculation rather than in growth. Investing in companies contributes to economic growth. Speculating on which way prices will go skims money off the economy and hurts long-term growth investment. Thus, it should not be treated the same as growth investment. Speculation investment should be limited and burdened with a surcharge. This is not as cut and dried as I have made it sound. For example, you can use foreign currency as a hedge against foreign stocks to eliminate currency risk. This should not be surcharged. Or you can speculate in foreign currency on its own, and this should be surcharged. The professionals have the knowledge to sort it out.</div><div><br /></div><div>High-frequency traders have been gaming the market with bazillions of bids and asks. Easy solution for this is a ha'penny tax on each bid and ask whether or not it goes through. Long-term traders won't notice the difference because they (should) trade infrequently.</div><div><br /></div><div>TAXING:</div><div> Use taxation to get money back from the superwealthy. </div><div> Temporarily apply a high estate tax with a $1.5 million exemption</div><div> Charge a higher CG tax on speculation (derivatives, etc.) and disallow losses.</div><div> Introduce tiered CG tax for growth investments that ties in with income tax. If a retired person is living on $25K in investment income annually, he shouldn't be taxed the same as a person who has $25K investment income on top of a $2MM salary.</div><div><br /></div><div>Mandatory retirement contribution from salary</div><div><br /></div><div>Change tax laws so as not to penalize those who are withdrawing retirement funds to live on. Ideally, these people should not have to live on their IRAs or 401ks before retirement at all. </div><div><br /></div><div>Add annual tax for those who own residential property but don't live in it.</div><div>Offer tax credits for landlords who are renting property on a rent-to-own basis. England has had a formal rent-to-own program for years. </div><div><br /></div><div>Offer tax credits for bringing jobs into the US and for converting location-fixed US jobs to telecommuting US jobs. Telecommuting offers new employment opportunities for people in areas where jobs are scarce and allows them to stay in their homes (which are probably underwater).</div><div><br /></div><div>*since this isn't about the causes of the meltdown, I'm only touching lightly here</div><div><br /></div></div></div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-59360405456579786922010-08-31T21:26:00.000-07:002010-09-01T09:56:52.149-07:00An Opportunity MissedSo literally the last tweet I made before the President's speech tonight was:<div><br /></div><div><span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content"><blockquote>I think we can all agree that this administration has been crap at promoting its accomplishments even w/o Fox Noise.</blockquote></span></span></span></div><div><span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content">And then President Obama started telling us all about how all the fighting troops have left Iraq (which happened last week, where was he then?), how much the war has cost us, and how we need to buckle down to fixing the nation.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content">He spoke of fixing the nation as if, now that we were free of the cost of the Iraq war, we were finally free to do so. And in saying this, he completely dismissed the last 19 months of real progress that he helped to drive and for which he will be held accountable. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content">The flow would have been perfect. Celebrating one achievement, ending war in Iraq, naturally segues to a reminder of the long list of previous achievements. This naturally segues to saying that we still have a long way to go, that we are economically lighter without the burden of a second war, and then the inspirational message about striving for better things.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content">I liked the frontal assault of coming out for hope instead of fear--take that, fearmongers. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content">I liked making a point of the economic cost of Iraq. It felt like sniper fire (direct but subtle) into the Bush tax cut renewal debate.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content">But wow, there was a big gaping hole where a bragfest should have been. It didn't have to be a laundry list, but at a bare minimum, it had to change the spin from "start improving" to "continue improving."</span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content"></span></span></span>Mr. President, do you, like Robert Gibbs, wonder why you aren't given the credit you are due?</div><div><br /></div><div>Here is Exhibit A.</div><div><span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content"><br /></span></span></span></div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-33075668759188510182010-08-28T12:50:00.000-07:002010-08-28T13:42:18.091-07:00More DNC Commercials<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And a few scare commercials:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Commercial 2</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Visual: pix of Armey and Beck</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">VO:Former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey has said that </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 24px; font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Glenn Beck is the instructional arm of their political movement, yet his message is so offensive that these companies have withdrawn advertising from his show:</span></span></div></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">[scrolling list]</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">VO: The Republicans don't care about representing you. Vote [Democrat]</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 24px; font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Commercial 3</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 24px; font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 24px; font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Visual [scrolling list]</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 24px; font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">VO: Most or all Republicans voted against these measures that have helped the economy</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 24px; font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Visual [scrolling list]</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">VO: Republicans blocked these bills that would have helped Americans</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Visual [scrolling list]</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">VO: Republicans have supported these measures that favor the wealthiest 2% of Americans. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 24px; font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Republicans don't care about the majority of Americans. Vote [Democrat]</span></span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 24px; font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 24px; font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Commercial 4</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 24px; font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Visual: GW Bush</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">VO: How do the Republicans really feel about Americans?</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Montage of video clips of Republican candidates insulting different groups intercut with still photos of those groups as smiling Americans. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Visual: John of Orange</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">VO: What would the Republicans do if they controlled Congress?</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Montage of video clips of Republican candidates saying they would undo SS, Medicare, HCR, etc., not do any proactive legislation, but instead spend all their time bringing charge after charge against everyone in the admin. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Republicans don't care about the majority of Americans. Vote [Democrat]</span></span></span></div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-86642544456683400152010-08-28T07:41:00.000-07:002010-08-28T12:38:57.596-07:00DNC CommercialsDemocratic commercials are playing in my head, so this is a brain dump of one of them. Please feel free to use any or all ideas here to support Democratic candidates. This is one way to promote "it could have been worse:"<div><br /></div><div>1</div><div>Visual: 1930s breadlines</div><div>VO: The stock market crash of 1929 left the country devastated. During the Great Depression that consumed the next decade, there was 20% unemployment.</div><div><br /></div><div>2</div><div>Visual: juxtaposition of George Bush and a chart showing stock market from 1925 to 2008 with lines for first and second standard deviations below average. This chart will show 1929 and 2008 both below the second standard deviation and no other year remotely close.</div><div>VO: In 2008, George W. Bush left the country in a state of economic devastation not seen since the crash of 1929. We all feared another Great Depression.</div><div><br /></div><div>3</div><div>Visual: Obama juxtaposed with chart comparing economy with ARRA and projected arc without ARRA</div><div>VO: President Obama's economic recovery act prevented another Great Depression by creating jobs and putting money directly into the economy just when it was most needed. </div><div><br /></div><div>4</div><div>Visual: from the recent celebration of profit in the auto industry</div><div>VO: Thanks to our federal government, Detroit is stronger than ever and paying us back with interest. Thousands of jobs were saved.</div><div><br /></div><div>5</div><div>Visual: teacher in classroom juxtaposed with firefighter</div><div>VO: Thanks to Democrats in Congress, thousands of state jobs were saved, protecting our safety and our children's education</div><div><br /></div><div>6</div><div>Visual: montage of ribbon cutting ceremonies featuring Congressional Dems</div><div>VO: From California to Maine, from Alaska to Florida, we're all better off because of Democratic economic policies to put money into the economy. We can't recover overnight, but....</div><div><br /></div><div>Visual: dissolve to gear shift knob shifted forward</div><div>VO...we know we're going the right direction</div><div><br /></div><div>7</div><div>Video of Obama doing the "D to move forward, R to Reverse" speech, quick shift to candidate pic. <br />Text over: Keep us moving forward. Vote for [candidate]</div><div><br /></div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-47297997784731185032010-08-18T11:24:00.000-07:002010-11-17T10:59:48.016-08:00System FailureEarly in his term during the dark heart of the meltdown, President Obama said he didn't categorically blame business or even banks for America's woes. These are good people, he said, caught in a system that rewards them for doing things that end up harming the economy. Change the system, change the incentive, and you change the outcome.<div><br /></div><div>I'm not sure everyone heard the message beyond not blaming banks, but as a business consultant who used systems to change behavior, and as a student of law and investing, it made perfect sense. It also tied off perfectly with the large systemic reforms we needed in finance, health care, immigration, environmental management, and more.</div><div><br /></div><div>Public corporations have no moral compass and no soul. Their motivation is short-term profit. Not a lot of nuance there. Show them the money, and they'll do what you want.</div><div><br /></div><div>At least that's how it ought to work. The trouble is, when you describe the ideal environment for corporate profit, it looks like the opposite of what humans need to thrive. That's a lot to overcome with a few carrots. </div><div><br /></div><div>For example, unfettered corporations would like to:</div><div><br /></div><div>--Drive down the worldwide cost of human capital. Indentured servitude would be nice.</div><div>--Drive down the <i>value</i> of human capital. Zero value means the elimination of wrongful death as a cause of action. It also means the elimination of most medical care and all but the most basic education for most people.</div><div>--Ban unions and anyone else who does not support corporate objectives.</div><div>--Make all property private property with no public input on how it is used (up). </div><div>--Turn everything possible into a profit center:</div><div>----Pay wages in company scrip so that workers are forced to spend with the company. </div><div>----Overcharge for everything so that workers are forced to borrow from the company to survive. </div><div>----Force children to inherit a parent's debt at death.</div><div>----Charge for things like fresh water if the company has contaminated the local supply</div><div>--Reduce all expenses possible</div><div>----No corp taxes, employee benefits, safety precautions, vacations, leisure time</div><div>----Longer work hours (fewer workers reduces training cost)</div><div><br /></div><div>Think it could never happen? Google: Company Town</div><div><br /></div><div>Think it could never happen again? Consider what is happening right now in western New York at the Mott's Applesauce plant, as <a href="http://rwdsu.info/files/RottenApples,CoreValues.pdf">reported in The Nation</a>. Some excerpts:</div><div><br /></div><div><div></div><blockquote><div>Until 2008, Mott's was owned by Cadbury Schweppes, and as workers explained, there had been a family atmosphere at the plant for decades. Management gave workers hams at Easter and held an annual Christmas party. If workers exceeded production goals, managers organized hot dog roasts as a reward. And the union and management had an active work-safety committee. Local 220 secured pay increases in good times and made concessions when the company was in a crunch, veteran workers said.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then Cadbury spun off the Plano, Texas–based Dr Pepper Snapple Group, which took the Mott's brand with it. From then on, everything changed at the Williamson facility. No more company parties, and safety committee meetings ended. Managers over-enforced work rules to the point of absurdity; one worker who had previously been the <b>union local's president</b> said he was fired for keeping a knife in his locker, even though he needed it during his shift to open boxes.</div></blockquote><div></div></div><div>(all emphasis mine)</div><div><br /></div><div>Then later...</div><div><div></div><blockquote><div>At no point did its representatives say the company was in trouble and needed to cut operational costs to survive. Far from it—DPS posted a $555 million profit last year. So why was the company driving such a hard bargain? The way the union's bargaining committee saw it, the company knew unemployment in western New York was high, so it wanted to <b>cash in on the suffering</b>.</div><div><br /></div><div>"They said that if we can't meet our finances on the contract they're offering us, then we need to sell our houses," said label operator and union bargaining committee member Bruce Beal, adding that a company official said that workers needed to <b>think of themselves as commodities</b>, like "soybeans or oil," and that as supply rises, the price goes down.</div></blockquote><div></div></div><div> After this, the workers went on their first strike. The company responded that it was just doing what companies are supposed to do.</div><div><div><blockquote>In a statement, DPS said, "The union contends that a profitable company shouldn't seek concessions from its workers. This argument ignores the fact that, as a public company, Dr Pepper Snapple Group has a <b>fiduciary responsibility</b> to operate in the best interests of all of its constituents, recognizing that a profitable business attracts investment, generates jobs and builds communities."</blockquote>Though one wonders what kind of communities are built when everyone has to sell their homes because of wage cuts.</div></div><div><div></div></div><blockquote><div><div>But the wage issue is a diversion, workers said, because the union agreed to a wage freeze on the condition that benefits also stayed untouched. It was a reduction in benefits, they said, that would have <b>pushed them out of the middle class</b>....</div></div><div><br /></div><div>...in a country where private-sector union membership has hit historic lows and strikes have become rare, the picketers here in western New York say it's not just their jobs that are on the line. If DPS can get away with this, they believe, all other blue-collar workers in the middle class will be sitting ducks for what the strikers call "<b>corporate greed</b>."...</div><div><br /></div><div><div>...Dozens of strikers said that if a profitable company can extract unlivable concessions from workers, it would encourage a new offensive on middle-class workers across the country. "America has just gotten to be where <b>they want us to be like China and come down to these wages</b>, and it's not going to happen."</div></div><div></div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>Any mainstream economic or political system can work in the abstract. Communism, Socialism, Democracy, Monarchy, Capitalism, even Theocracy all sound lovely on paper. It's those darn people that muck it up in practice. It's not systems that implode. It's people, usually greedy people, who push systems to degrade. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's one thing to create a business system that rewards workers for keeping good records, cleaning the work area, and bringing in potential clients. It's another thing entirely to create a system that can somehow channel the rampage of human greed in socially productive directions. </div><div><br /></div><div>Here's what I take away from Mott's. Profit may be the corporate manifesto, but corporations are run by people. The management of Cadbury Schweppes chose to run the Mott's factory in a family atmosphere. The management of Dr Pepper Snapple chose to take advantage of its workers. </div><div><br /></div><div>Corporate managers are not forced by some law of corporate physics to screw people. That's a choice that people make. Yes, corporations make more money when they treat people badly, but some people still choose not to screw over their fellow humans.</div><div><br /></div><div>So perhaps a public corporation is like other abstract systems that work great on paper and even work fine when humanists are running them but become unsustainable in the hands of greedy people. </div><div><br /></div><div>Can we create a system that discourages greed? That rewards individuals for group accomplishments? That rewards individuals for creating sustainability? That punishes individuals for creating inequitability and corruption? That can adapt itself to attempts to circumvent it? That's the real challenge. </div><div><br /></div><div><div><br /></div></div><div>A few days after I wrote this, Neal Gabler wrote <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-gabler-greed-20100822,0,7111323.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+latimes%2Fmostviewed+%28L.A.+Times+-+Most+Viewed+Stories%29">this piece</a> arguing that tax rates are better than regulations to modulate greed.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.dylanratigan.com/2010/11/17/david-cay-johnston-on-radio-free-dylan/">See also</a> Free Lunch by David Cay Johnston</div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-54275687713949379242010-08-10T21:20:00.000-07:002010-08-15T17:03:59.677-07:00Imagining the Future Through Google's EyesGoogle and Verizon want to sever the handling of wire-based communication and wireless communication, with wire-based regulated and wireless unregulated. They want wireless communication unregulated so they can be "unfettered" to develop it. The Internet that we all know would remain neutral. The wireless cloud would not.<div><br /></div><div>Consumer protection groups are strongly opposed to an unregulated wireless world, but actual consumers haven't said much about it, possibly because the idea hasn't gotten around yet, but more likely because it's hard to understand what we might be losing. How can you miss what doesn't exist yet?</div><div><br /></div><div>Google is one of the best companies (along with Apple) at envisioning the future and creating it. It built the <a href="http://books.google.com/googlebooks/history.html">Google Books</a> project for years before it occurred to the rest of us that maybe one company shouldn't control all the content in every book ever written. It was months after authors received very one-sided release forms that the media and the government finally got involved. </div><div><br /></div><div>This alone makes me think Google has envisioned a wireless future, and it's not in our best interests to let Google own it. Remember what happened when Bill Gates understood the future better than IBM? <a href="http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa033099.htm">Microsoft</a> happened. Google is already a megacompany. What could it become with a good running start?</div><div><br /></div><div>Imagine 3-D computing as seen in Iron Man. This is the carrot they hold out. But...</div><div>Imagine a reliable, high-quality video conferencing network that many businesses will have to have to stay competitive. Now imagine there is no competition and no regulation for this service, and businesses must pass its cost on to its customers (us).</div><div>Imagine having to listen to a commercial before your cell call goes through.</div><div>Imagine unregulated satellite TV (hey, there's always cable).</div><div>Imagine unregulated monthly service fees for iPad and Kindle like you now pay for TV and telephone.</div><div><br /></div><div>Imagine paying for access to wireless content like you now pay for TV channels. Let me be clear, I don't object to content developers getting paid for content; they should. </div><div><br /></div><div>--I object to a gate fee to all content equivalent to a gate fee on a library. </div><div><br /></div><div>--I object to bundling content that either forces you to view content you don't want or provides a disincentive to access a broad range of content. </div><div><br /></div><div><div>We assume that the Internet as we know it will stay the way it is, but why? Why shouldn't Google move its operations to the more profitable wireless network? And what would be left of the wired web without:</div><div>-Google search, the dominant search utility</div><div>-Google merchant services and shopping listings, essential to Internet sellers</div><div>-Google maps </div><div>-the aforementioned Google books</div><div>-G-mail</div><div>-Google blogs (like this one)</div><div><br /></div><div>And who will follow Google to the unregulated frontier? If there's an app for that, it becomes part of the unregulated world. The better question is, what's left in the wirebound zone?</div></div><div><br /></div><div>---WSJ already has a pay wall. If WSJ, NYT, LAT and Financial Times got together and offered themselves as a bundle behind a single paywall, that would be fine. That would be the equivalent of paying extra for HBO. If the top 200 major news sites around the world bundled themselves, you're now looking at something like a toll gate on a library--having to pay to access any news. Not a problem if news is available on the wired web, but what if these sites go wireless-only, too?</div><div><br /></div><div>----Now think of the flip side: no access to sites except the bundle you pay for--the cable TV model. There are a limited number of cable channels, but there are an infinite number of web sites. All those blogs and pages that have connected political activists would become out of sight, out of mind, consigned to the wired gutter that is getting less and less traffic.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is the future that consumer groups can imagine all too well.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/2010/08/a-paper-trail-of-betrayal-googles-net-neutrality-collapse.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss">This post</a> from ARSTechnica discusses Google's change in position away from net neutrality.</div><div><a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/154042/what-if-we-google-democracy-and-get-oligarchy">This post</a> by John Nichols at The Nation also describes a potential divide between the corporate sponsored information superhighway and the winding dirt road address the rest of us will have.</div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-73557301538314063132010-08-10T10:56:00.000-07:002010-08-13T07:30:50.923-07:00Fair is Fair<blockquote>Whenever you have truth it must be given with love, or the message and the messenger will be rejected. ~ Mahatma Gandhi</blockquote><div><br /></div><div>Liberals and conservatives have enough conflict without inventing more. It's hard to compromise. What makes it harder is when either side mischaracterizes the position of the other and makes fun of the extreme characterization as if it were what was really at issue.<div><br /></div><div>Every country with the means does something to define its borders and regulate who comes in and out and who stays. U.S. immigration laws have procedures for people wishing to become citizens, and we prioritize based on who we'd like to see come in. </div><div><br /></div><div>Conservatives see anchor babies as a circumvention of our immigration laws. By an application of the 14th amendment that wasn't an issue when it was passed, non-citizens who could not themselves become citizens can force the U.S. to accept their children as citizens by giving birth here. Then, because their children are entitled to rights as citizens, the parents get to raise the children here, citizens or not. After 18 years, the child is grown, but it doesn't seem right to deport the parents who have built a life here. Thus, the child is the "anchor" for the family.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sensible conservatives (yes, they do exist, though maybe not in Congress) are not afraid that these children will grow into terror babies. Maybe some of the tinfoil hat crowd is, but as far as I can see, sensible conservatives don't like 1) seeing this back door access to life in the U.S. exploited 2)by people who could not get in the front door. They view this back door as letting in unskilled workers who have come from poor areas and are probably bringing communicable health problems with them.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Is our immigration system a good system? Not really. Is it due for an overhaul? Most definitely. This is something on which we can all agree.</div><div><br /></div><div>Work from that starting point by at least acknowledging their real concerns. Data would be great. How many are coming in this way? What % is this of total undocumented residents? Where do these parents settle? Do they get jobs? Pay taxes? Carry diseases? This is what conservatives (like my parents) want to know. Some conservatives are incurably racist, but some are just going by stereotypes and are willing to be educated. We owe it to them and to ourselves to address their concerns and break the stereotype.</div><div><br /></div><div>My point is, if you want to work something out that conservative voters can support, don't ridicule them for being afraid of babies. Conservatives will assume--and not unreasonably--that you'd rather ridicule them than discuss actual issues, and that you're trying to change the subject because you like the open back door. Like the term "death panels," the term "terror babies" shows you're really not here to debate the merits, you're here to stir up emotions (and insult the voters).</div></div></div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-2183944363382900722010-08-01T13:00:00.000-07:002010-08-04T04:42:15.049-07:00The Rich Get Richer<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">The time period of the economic meltdown and its ongoing aftermath have the potential to move even more money upstream to the wealthiest Americans than happened in the previous decade. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';">As part of the Bush tax bills, high-income earners have the limited opportunity this year and next to roll their traditional IRAs into Roth IRAs. This move is for long-term wealthy who do not anticipate needing the money for a long time, if ever.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">--In a traditional IRA, you deposit money before tax, the money grows without tax, but you pay tax on the entire balance as you withdraw it in retirement. The assumption is that your tax bracket will be lower after retirement, so you will pay less overall. After age 70, you must start withdrawing an amount based on a formula determined by your age and your total balance.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">--In a Roth IRA, you deposit after-tax money and never pay tax again. There is no minimum withdrawal ever. Until this year, contribution to a Roth IRA was limited by income. The modified adjusted growth income (MAGI) limits for 2009 were $105,000 - $120,000 for those filing single and $166,000-$176,000 for those filing married. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Contributions to IRAs are limited, but other nonqualified accounts can be rolled into IRAs and then into Roth IRAs, which can increase the total substantially. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size:12.0pt;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">If you elect to convert, you pay tax on the balance at the time of conversion (over a 2-yr period), no tax on further growth, and no tax on withdrawal. Thus, you want to convert when the market looks bad (say, June 30). Once you convert, that money is essentially taken out of the taxable stream. No one will ever pay tax on its earnings.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">The government has known for years that this conversion window would be a boon to revenue--all those rich people paying taxes on retirement balances at the same time. But by doing this, it is also frontloading tax revenue--taking some revenue now instead of more over time later.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">The big factor determining whether a person ought to convert is how soon he will need the money. Obviously it doesn't make sense for someone to pay a big tiered tax bill now if he had been planning to start withdrawals soon at a lower rate. But if he has many years of earnings ahead--and doesn't want to be forced to take withdrawals at age 70--converting makes a lot of sense. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Adding to the incentive to convert, the rich currently enjoy low tax rates--rates that will rise. It may be better to pay a lump sum tax at known rates now than incremental tax in some unknown future at a rate that might be higher even after retirement.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Add to that:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">--The rich have the opportunity to add to their wealth now by acquisition of assets--real estate and business--at depressed prices.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">--The millions of unemployed and underemployed are draining their own wealth. And all that money withdrawn from qualified retirement savings before retirement generates penalty income to the government.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">--The longer the recovery is dragged out, the more people will be sucked under--and their assets delivered up to the wealthy. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">And it's clear we still have a long way to go to stop the gravy train for the rich, let alone reverse it.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-89901879289486761132010-07-24T11:09:00.000-07:002010-07-25T10:16:58.587-07:00P2 Meme: MathRepublicans are bad at math:<div><br /></div><div><div>They claim that the Stimulus Bill did not provide economic benefit when it did</div><div>They claim that Social Security is going broke when it is not</div><div>They favor unpaid tax cuts while claiming to want to reduce the deficit</div></div><div>They oppose measures that actually would reduce the deficit (see previous post)</div><div>They oppose unemployment benefits based on cost when unemployment benefits generate more economic benefit than cost</div><div>They wrote a budget with no numbers in it</div><div>They claim that 1000 attendance at RO10 is more than 2100 at NN10</div><div>(add your own here)</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>It's one thing for Republicans to try to rewrite history, but math is not subjective. The Republican tendency to make up a new story when the facts don't suit them is disastrous when applied to math and economics, as we saw when the economy crashed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Democrats are willing and able to work with what the numbers really are, and that is the only way to rebuild the nation's economy. Despite well-organized and well-financed conservative opposition, the Democrats have improved the economy, especially for the middle class.</div><div><br /></div><div>DO THE MATH</div><div><br /></div><div>Vote Democratic in November to continue the progress or don't vote and watch the country go back to fantasy economics thanks to conservatives who can't--or won't--do the math.</div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-26490761502906617852010-07-22T15:05:00.000-07:002010-07-22T15:07:47.305-07:00Know the Facts: Health Care Costs<p class="sub-head" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:6.0pt; margin-left:0in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow', sans-serif; ">The Congressional Budget Office estimates that adding these provisions to our national health care program would <b>save</b> the following amounts</span></p> <p class="sub-head" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol;color:black"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; color:black">Medicare drug price negotiation ($300 billion)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="sub-head" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol;color:black"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; color:black">Public Option ($25-$110 billion) <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="sub-head" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol;color:black"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; color:black">Drug reimportation ($19 billion) <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="sub-head" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:6.0pt; margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol;color:black"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; color:black">Shorter pathway to generic biologics ($71 billion) <o:p></o:p></span></p>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-50768956179400384002010-07-21T14:06:00.000-07:002010-07-21T14:22:18.047-07:00To the White House re Shirley Sherrod1. Print this out, cut it out, tape it to your bathroom mirror, and read it to yourself every morning:<div></div><blockquote><div>Fool me once, shame on you</div><div>Fool me twice, shame on me</div></blockquote><div></div><div>2. It took the collective hive mind a few hours to sort out that the Sherrod video was edited to create a false impression. You could have waited. Better yet, you could have initiated the process. When you insist that your small team of experts do everything alone, you cut yourself off from resources like the hive mind that want to help you get to the truth. Even if you are smarter than anybody on the planet, you're not smarter than everybody.</div><div><br /></div><div>3. The next time Brietbart attacks, it's not likely to have his name on it, but he will take credit eventually because the guy has an ego the size of Montana. Use that knowledge. Use his history against the right wing media. Be prepared for the next time because there will be a next time.</div><div><br /></div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7835762323021323645.post-15132900981460886082010-07-19T09:33:00.000-07:002010-07-19T09:44:53.695-07:00The Economics of Exploitation<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3366FF;">Posted to Daily Beast in response to commenters lamenting the rapid advances China is making while we seem stuck in political muck:</span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div>China is advancing rapidly because it is exploiting its workers or allowing others to. A few get rich, but most have as much chance of advancing from worker to magnate as they do of winning the lottery. It is no coincidence that the marketing hook is the same for both: maybe it will be me.</div><div><br /></div><div>The US also accomplished great feats via exploiting labor and continues to exploit labor today. It's a poor argument to say that being exploited here is still better than the life they left behind. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's a better argument to say that the 1800s and early 1900s were raw and uncivilized times for much of the U.S. But we're no longer uncivilized, and we have a choice. Are we willing to throw the most powerless among us under the bus to elevate our own standard of living? </div><div><br /></div><div>If so, we have competition. Plenty of countries around the world are willing to exploit their citizens, and the corporations of the world are in the position to pick and choose which country is willing to sacrifice the most.</div><div><br /></div><div>But if we can see beyond the short term, we can see that the only sustainable way to hold on to some quality of life--for ourselves and our children and grandchildren--is not to compete in the gutter but to lift the rest of the world up.</div><div><br /></div><div>Imagine what a world with an international minimum wage would look like. Reduced poverty, reduced health issues, and billions of customers for corporate goods and services. Studies have shown that nations with a plutonomy (few wealthy, many poor, no middle class) sacrifice total national wealth compared to nations with a broad middle class. </div><div><br /></div><div>Obviously those in power pursue plutonomy anyway because some people would rather be super-rich even at the expense of the nation. They either don't realize they will only be able to enjoy their wealth behind guarded walls, or they don't care.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the way, unions are not the enemy. Unions are what allow people to band together and resist exploitation. Allowing workers to combine their labor into an entity with economic leverage is the only way I can see that the world can break out of our current downward spiral of exploitation. </div><div><br /></div><div>The most important economic challenge we face today is to create a model of sustainable worldwide economic balance and to sell that model to the worldwide public. </div><div><br /></div><div>Sustainable models like that exist, but there has been no campaign to make the public aware of them, let alone move toward them. Who would finance such a campaign? Those with the money don't want things to change.</div><div><br /></div><div>Or do they? There is a lot of money going to feed and educate the poor, make micro loans, and generally promote long-term economic improvement. Can some of this money go toward a worldwide education campaign so that we can all be pulling in the same direction? </div><div><br /></div><div>Labor is not the only thing that can be exploited. Ignorance can also be exploited, and right now, it's being exploited very successfully.</div>Cassandra Verthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288396111560625064noreply@blogger.com0