Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: FJB who wrote (767412)	2/2/2014 11:49:54 AM
From: joseffy	Respond to of 1574750

The Mike Tyson 'rape' charge was obviously phony. The whole court procedure with that was a sham.

To: FJB who wrote (767412)	2/2/2014 12:37:28 PM
From: joseffy	2 Recommendations Recommended By FJB steve harris Respond to of 1574750

Gibson Sticks Thumb in Obama Administration's Eye with 'Government Series' Guitars .................................................................................... Breibart ^ \| feb 1, 2014 \| by Jeffrey Poor In 2011, the Department of Justice raided Gibson Guitar facilities in Memphis and Nashville, alleging a violation of the so-called Lacey Act, a law that bans the importation of certain kinds of wildlife, plants and wood. At the time of the raid, Gibson Guitars CEO Henry Juszkiewicz told Hugh Hewitt on his radio show that the feds confiscated tonewood imported from India for the guitar Gibson manufacturers which would result in a cost of $2 to $3 million for his company. At a great expense in legal fees and time, Juszkiewicz fought the federal government tooth and nail. But in August 2012, he settled with the Department of Justice by agreeing to pay a penalty of $300,000 and a $50,000 community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. At the time, Breitbart News suggested that the federal government targeted Gibson because of the conservative ideological stance it had supported. But according to the Gibson Guitar website, the tonewood was returned and made into the Government Series II Les Paul guitars: Great Gibson electric guitars have long been a means of fighting the establishment, so when the powers that be confiscated stocks of tonewoods from the Gibson factory in Nashville—only to return them once there was a resolution and the investigation ended—it was an event worth celebrating. Introducing the Government Series II Les Paul, a striking new guitar from Gibson USA for 2014 that suitably marks this infamous time in Gibson’s history. Gibson’s line of those guitars start $1,099 and are topped by a pickguard hot-stamped in gold with the “Government Series” graphic, which is a bald eagle hoisting a Gibson guitar neck. “Each Government Series II Les Paul also includes a genuine piece of Gibson USA history in its solid rosewood fingerboard, which is made from wood returned to Gibson by the US government after the resolution,” the website states.

To: FJB who wrote (767412)	2/2/2014 12:59:47 PM
From: joseffy	1 Recommendation Recommended By FJB Respond to of 1574750

What Gibson Guitars Did with the Wood the Government Returned ................................................................................................................ American Thinker ^ \| 2/2/2014 \| Victor Keith In 2011, the Department of Justice conducted raids on the Tennessee facilities of the famed Gibson Guitar company and confiscated large quantities of tonewood that had been imported from India and Madagascar. The action included armed SWAT teams, with automatic weapons, who apparently feared being garroted with a guitar string by an enraged Gibson employee. These raids were conducted due to the Lacey Act, which bans the importing of certain woods. The issue at hand was not that the wood was endangered or illegally harvested, but that it was not of the proper thickness that would have meant that some labor had been performed on it by workers in India and Madagascar. This was the law in Madagascar and India as a nod to the unions in those countries. Gibson, who hand-makes its guitars, cannot guarantee the craftsmanship of its products if a portion of the work is done outside their facilities. What raised many eyebrows about this governmental action was that the countries involved, India and Madagascar, indicated that they were not interested in pursuing the matter when contacted by the Department of Justice. Also, even if Gibson had been guilty, this would have been a civil, not a criminal matter. Finally, this same kind of tonewood is used by other guitar makers such as CF Martin and Company and Fender. Those other companies were not raided. The principle difference seems to be that those companies contributed to Democratic candidates, while Henry Juszkiewicz, the CEO of Gibson, gives openly to Republicans, and Gibson has plants in a right-to-work state. After spending nearly two and half million dollars in legal fees and paying a $300,000 fine, the government has settled with Gibson and has finally returned the confiscated tonewood. Normally that would be the end of the story, with a victory scored for partisan government bullying of political opponents, however, that is not the end. Gibson took that wood and made it into the Government Series II Les Paul. These special edition guitars are hot stamped in gold with the Government Series graphic, which is an American bald eagle holding a Gibson guitar neck. It is an admirable statement of defiance of an abusive government and a refusal of a historic American company to be intimidated. Read more: americanthinker.com

To: FJB who wrote (767412)	2/2/2014 1:02:16 PM
From: joseffy	1 Recommendation Recommended By FJB Respond to of 1574750

As for the guitar, it can't be a government guitar. It works.

To: FJB who wrote (767412)	2/2/2014 1:07:39 PM
From: joseffy	1 Recommendation Recommended By FJB Respond to of 1574750

Fender is the other major marketer of guitars. And, yes, they are a big Demo donor. This was nothing more than Eric Holder doing a number on his big donor's competitor. Crony Capitalism at its worst.