Who owns forbetterlife.org?
"forbetterlife.org" is registered by Anschutz Corp, which has the address: 555 17th St., Suite 2400, Denver, Colorado, 80209. As it turns out, that's the Anschutz Exploration Corporation (AEC), which is "active in North American exploration for oil and gas" in Louisiana, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming and is looking into "concessions in Italy, Denmark, Bulgaria, Tunisia, Morocco, South Africa and New Zealand". AEC is a member of the National Petroleum Council, which describes itself as "An Oil and Natural Gas Advisory Committee to the Secretary of Energy". In other words, a K Street lobbying group with deep pockets that works to funnel a corporate agenda into the right ears on Capitol Hill. And with success, as we shall see below. Philip Anschutz
AEC is owned by billionaire Philip Anschutz. According to the Guardian newspaper (19 December 2001), Anschutz made his fortune through "oil exploration in the 60s, gas in the 70s and railways in the 80s", has also invested in entertainment and sports, and is a "regular churchgoer" who "rises each day at 4:30am". In a profile of "America's 16th richest man", BBC News (18 December 2001) mentions Anschutz's ownership of majority stock in Qwest, "a beef-to-grape agribusiness", "the property firm which owns the Staples Center" (in Los Angeles, where the Democrats held their 2000 national convention), and "US and European ice-hockey teams, including the Los Angeles Kings and London Knights". BBC also saw fit to note his "reputation as one of the hungriest of US corporate vultures". Anschutz's political contributions
Anschutz is also a heavy contributor to the Republican party and Republican candidates. Federal Election Commission filings available from the Center for Responsive Politics (at opensecrets.org) reveal that, during the 2000 election cycle, Anschutz personally gave $39,465, his corporation $104,000, and his wife $38,000. According to the High Country News (14 April 1997), their total personal contributions in 1996 to the Republican Party totalled $363,750. Rep. Scott McInnis & Craig Rosebraugh
One of the politicians who has recieved their money is Colorado Representative Scott McInnis. McInnis is a friend of the far right, and has led a charge demanding that environmental groups disavow "eco-terrorism". Salon (26 November 2001) has called McInnis the "self-styled czar of the war against eco-terror". An Indymedia post describes McInnis as treating the Feb. 12 "Eco-terrorism" hearing where Craig Rosebraugh was questioned as "his own little grandstand". Rosebraugh, former spokesperson for the North Amerian Earth Liberation Front, is a resident of Portland, and so a story that began with a billboard on Hawthorne circles back to the Rose City! Railroads
In a case of history repeating itself, Anschutz has gained a great deal of power through controlling railroads. He started in 1984 by buying the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad. Using that, he took control of Southern Pacific Railroad in 1988. In 1995, he spun Qwest Communications out of Southern Pacific. In 1996, he sold Southern Pacific to Union Pacific for $5.4 billion, which made it the largest railway in the country. According to the High Country News (14 April 1997), "Anschutz's political clout may have been instrumental in getting approval of the 1996 merger.... The members of the Interstate Commerce Commission (now the Surface Transportation Board) would not have been eager to displease the then Senate Majority Leader, Bob Dole, a long-time beneficiary of Anschutz political and financial support. The BBC (18 December 2001), notes that Anschutz "retained the right to lay telecoms lines along the tracks" after this sale. Movie theaters
Anschutz also owns and the United Artists Theater, Edwards Theatres Circuit, and Regal Cinemas movie-house chains, which adds up to a total of 6600 theaters, almost 20% of the nation's total. The Movies 12 at the Springfield Mall where the Foundation for a Better Life commercial is shown before every film is a Regal Cinema Theater. I don't know if Anschutz is having his propaganda shown at all the theaters he owns, but that's a very large potential audience. The Atlanta Business Chronicle (6 September 2001) tells the story of how Anshutz took over Regal when it was about to go bankrupt, and Box Office Online calls Anschutz a "corporate raider" in an article on his grab-up of the industry. What is his interest in theaters? Says Box Office Online: "two words: digital delivery.... With digital delivery to theatres, economies of scale at the 6,000-screen level and above might finally be possible. Freight and projector maintenance costs are eliminated, as is the job of film splicer and, for all practical purposes, projectionist." A perfect propaganda network
See how useful it is for Anschutz to own those thousands of miles of right-of-way for digitial cables along the railroad tracks? But it doesn't end there. Quoting Box Office Online again: "Qwest Communications spawned a division last year, Qwest Digital Media, which teamed with Twentieth Century Fox -- whose owner, Rupert Murdoch, is a co-owner along with Anschutz of the Los Angeles Kings -- to present digital screenings of the studio's animated release 'Titan A.E.'" A network of production, distribution and point-of-sale that is under the control of one person or corporation like this is called a vertical monopoly. Standard Oil was broken up at the beginning of the last century for taking over its industry in this way. But with Anschutz's friends in such high places, it seems doubtful that he will be challenged by the government. So, it appears that Anschutz is trying to make a movie business -- and an America -- in which we will all have to watch his version of "a better life". Let's pass on it, shall we?
| Destruction of Native American sacred site
(Excerpts from an article by Stephen R. Miller for the Environmental News Network, 7 December 2001) Southwest of Billings, Montana, is a canyon known as the Valley of the Chiefs to Native Americans, and Weatherman's Draw to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). In the canyon is "one of the largest collections of Native American rock drawings in the high plains. They are estimated to be 1,000 years old, and the land is sacred to 10 of the largest Indian tribes in America.... [I]n 1994, Anschutz Exploration (AE) bought a drilling lease on the land. Since at least 1999, the company has vigorously pursued its right to drill on this sacred and historic land... "However, the Bureau of Land Management designated Weatherman Draw an Area of Critical Environmental Concern and called it 'an important part of our national heritage.' The designation is meant to prevent development of sites with significant historical value, but contradictorily, the designation also has a grandfather clause that honors leases predating the designation. Since AE's lease predates the designation in Weatherman Draw, the company's lease is valid, a fact that it has reiterated numerous times when confronted with the land's historic value. "The legality of AE's lease holds little weight with the tribes who have used this valley continuously for religious ceremonies over the past millenium. They call it the 'Valley of the Chiefs,' and the Crow, Blackfeet, Comanche, Apache, Navajo, and Sioux tribes visit on religious pilgrimages they call vision quests. "Even with a valid lease, AE still needed a final OK from the BLM to begin exploration on the land. Under the Clinton administration, the BLM buried the lease in red tape. That changed when George W. Bush was elected president.... Twelve days after Bush's inauguration, Anschutz received permission to start drilling on the land in June.... "In June, the Blackfeet tribe, located in western Montana, offered a unique compromise: In return for leaving Weatherman Draw alone, the Blackfeet invited Anschutz Exploration the chance to drill on its reservation. The Blackfeet Indian Reservation, 200 miles northwest of Weatherman Draw, sits atop 2 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and has been trying to attract jobs to alleviate an unemployment rate that tops 60 percent.... The BLM suspended drilling in the valley until January 2002 to give Anschutz and the tribes time to strike a deal. "The future of Weatherman Draw hangs in the balance.... The next few months will decide whether negotiations and proposals are enough to save the valley, or if Anschutz's long, tenacious fight to drill on the land will win out." [I couldn't find any up-to-date information on how this situation turned out. Does anyone know? Please add a comment below if you do! -jds] |
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This is a GREAT feature, man. Well researched, well written, inciteful and very important right now. I hope people realize how much you put into things. You rock! Good to have you back around town.
I hope you were able to see the great "culture jam" somebody slapped upside that sign last week before it came down. Thanks to whoever... Keep them coming, PDX!
Droo