Gibson Guitars Under Attack By U.S. Justice Department

Source: Daily Markets

Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz was a guest yesterday on The Dana Show and explained what led to the raid this week at two Gibson facilities where armed federal agents seized guitars, wood and company records, forcing Gibson to send hundreds of workers home. Due to the disruption in production at four factories, the company lost $1 million this week.
In the radio interview, the Gibson CEO first pointed out that this is not the first time the company has been subjected to a government raid. In 2009, the government seized $500,000 of Gibson’s property, but the company was never charged with any offenses and Gibson is now suing the government to get its property back.

The current allegation is that Gibson has obtained illegal, partially finished, wooden guitar fingerboard blanks from India. Under Indian law, wood products have to meet certain minimum “India content” requirements before they can be certified for export. Then the exported wood and documentation from India has to be cleared by U.S. Customs. In this case, all of the legal requirements by the Indian government were met, legal paperwork accompanied the wood to the U.S., and the materials and accompanying paperwork were then approved by the U.S. government before delivery to Gibson.

But now the government is apparently claiming that according to its peculiar interpretation of Indian law, Gibson’s fingerboard blanks don’t have sufficient “Indian content,” and the guitarmaker is in violation of Indian law.

Read more: http://www.dailymarkets.com/economy/2011/08/27/gibson-under-attack-by-u-s-justice-department/

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WTF?

:sarcasm:

If they moved offshore, I would really think about trying my hand at building my own guitars.

Since this is a multi-nation product, multi-nation laws come into play.

They're made at the old Gibson plant in Kalamazoo, which former Gibson employees purchased when the company moved to Memphis. They're nice guitars, but I can't afford one.

these days some are built in Canada and are generally regarded as being pants.

I've got Bozeman MT EC20 Starburst and L140 models. Keep meaning to learn how to play.

In need of a hobby, I started building a bass guitar this summer. It is challenging but incredibly fun. If you're interested, I say give it a shot. :)

Bought the neck (and the hardware, obviously) but I built the body, finished the body and neck, wired the electronics, and did all the setup work myself. The body is made from salvaged pine.

I plan on building the tooling to make necks soon. Granted, Fender style builds are easier because its all screwed together and tolerances are looser. Once my skills are down pat from building a few Tele's I plan do doing a Les Paul Jr.

For what vintage '59/'60 Jr.'s are going for, I'll probably have less money invested in my entire workshop of tools to build one than it'd cost to buy one.

American employer and trashed a bunch more good paying American jobs.

Should they only enforce laws when we're exploiting, or what?

stands for.

Damn GLOBALISTS! :rofl:

tropical species like Mahogany and Rosewood (the 2 woods Gibson is most famous for) in 49 of our 50 states. And a lot of the figured maple probably comes from Canada. Maple is pretty common, but grain patterns like this are not:



But even in using lumber of foreign origin, there are American jobs at the shipyards, sawmills, and lumber yards that unload, process and sell the stuff.

My gaudiest guitar is my 660/12, which looks a lot like this:



No real figure to the maple. Doesn't need it.

sort of stuff I'm into. I am building my latest one with a flamed maple top and 2 pickups now though, mostly for the learning experience of it all and I know it'll be easier to sell than a single pickup Tele, lol.

is AWESOME! Well done sir!

:crazy:

The Lacey Act isn't mentioned as a rationale.

Watch the video, at the 1:05 mark, and you'll clearly hear that the search warrant affidavit claims that a shipment of wood received by Gibson was mislabeled when it cleared customs.
http://www.newschannel5.com/story/15334425/gibson-ceo-says-wood-is-properly-imported
Got it?

Apparently such Lacey Act Violations are not unheard of.

FAQs regarding the Lacey act ...
http://www.eia-global.org/lacey/P6.EIA.LaceyReport.pdf

6. What are some examples of a potential Lacey Act violation?
• A company in California imports a shipment of wood flooring from country X, made from timber that had been harvested without valid permits in country Y where it was cut.
• An exporter purposefully mislabels a shipment to the U.S. as less valuable species to avoid higher tariffs.
• A paper company uses pulp sourced from illegal logging practices and exports finished paper product to the United States.
• A veneer importer does not identify the correct country (or potential countries) of harvest origin for the species used in his importation.

-Feds investigate Gibson for Lacey Act violations-
http://blogs.wvgazette.com/johnmccoy/2011/08/26/feds-investigate-gibson-for-lacey-act-violations/

"Apparently some Indian ebony fretboard blanks the company had imported were mislabeled as veneer sheets. Other alleged violations were investigated as well. "

Obviously that's not the spin Gibson gave the press.

"Most of us hunters and anglers recognize the Lacey Act as the federal law that prevents illegally taken wildlife from being taken across state lines."

Then again the Feds may not be telling Gibson everything about the investigation.

and what the "journalist" is claiming that the government is claiming. What the hell does the government is "apparently claiming" mean? Sounds like another shitty AP writer.

My sympathy lies with Gibson at this point, but there needs to be more information than what's in this article to know for sure what the hell is going on.

I expect our government to work with friendly nations to enforce our country's respective trade laws and international conventions (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species comes to mind.)

At the same time I deplore the practices and ethics of many transnational corporations.

It's a complicated issue.

Friday. It's Obama trying to control the world.

as well. Anything to go after this administration about "overregulation" is catnip for the rightwing. Surprising that so many "liberals", in this thread, have adopted the same ideology, and don't mind a little blackmarket hanky panky if it impacts them personally. :crazy: Richard Gere has just put up his entire collection for Charity auction.

Let's just get rid of all regulations, even the ones that keep us safe, because someone might lose his job, or can't play another guitar? The logic is breathtaking. This plays right into the rightwing's hands. :eyes:

of regulations. We've seen so many other blatant trade violations that the Justice Department doesn't say boo at.

So the WTF comment from the OP seems appropriate to me.

This is the kind of sh*t that makes me think we should replace everyone in government - includig all the bureaucrats.

I'd bet I know more about how guitars are constructed than the asshat responsible for this decision.

DeBa'athification. How did that work. You get rid of everybody in government you have chaos and then someone fills the vacuum. You may not like what you get.

As a guitarist, Gibson has undergone some dirty dealings since the current CEO has been running things. Prices have increased, quality has DECREASED, they've been involved in dirty dealings with this whole wood fiasco (which has been an ongoing issue in the guitar community for some time now, I suggest reading MyLesPaul.com's forums sometime), they're rated near the bottom as far as top companies to work for (#1 as far as this 09 HufPo survey goes http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/21/worst-companies-to-work-f_n_397565.html?slidenumber=GhuKdx%2BZ1Wg%3D&slideshow#slide_image).

Orville Gibson would be ashamed of what has gone on in his once prosperous company.

I knew their guitars were not what they once were, but I didn't know they were using foreign made components and mistreating their craftspeople.

for your musical enjoyment shouldn't fall into the realm of politics. The responses here are quite disturbing as DU used to be concerned about the environment. At least they pretended to be during the oil spill, and when the terror from Alaska was hanging out of helicopters shooting innocent animals. Should we only enforce the laws that impact you personally? :shrug:

That's what politics has to do with it. While there are exceptions, I think liberal led corporations are less likely to do this kind of illegal and/or immoral/unethical stuff. And, this is relatively new -- the guitars I have were long before this kind of stuff. But, we don't really know what's involved yet.

I hope they enforce this law, if Gibson did something wrong. Trees are important to me. Less important, but fortuitous would be that my old wood guitars will be worth more when the cart me off to the nursing home where I can no longer sing "This land is your land, this land is my land" . . . . . .on a Gibson, almost like Woody Guthrie's.

Well said. As you point out, the "whole wood fiasco" has been around for quite some time now - I recall it going back to at least the 70s.

After all, WE are a Nation of Cowards.

Seriously--beyond the spin off the repuke Henry Juszkiewicz, there's a real story here about importing illegal goods.

Full frontal assault Go AHEAD, with its famine-GM crops and seeds.

The companies that are not Obama and Holden favorites can go Bite Themselves.

In the banking world, AIG and Goldman Sachs have approval.

In the pesticide and GM world, that means Monsanto.

And always, always, always, the needs of the MIC and DoD, and Big Financial concerns trump the needs of the fifty states, 38 of which have huge deficits.

And why would Eric Holder be handling Siegelman's case personally? Do you know how many Justice Dept lawyers there are? Your implication seems to be that Siegelman's case should be placed above all others? And what makes you think his conviction would be overturned? Siegelman claims that his conviction was political. Do you even know what the evidence in this case is? Are you suggesting that this Justice Dept should also use politics in overturning convictions of people we like? If that's what you're suggesting, I must say that I don't find much comfort in tit for tat justice, and it doesn't inspire much confidence in our blind legal system.

"I'm just as corrupt as others, so this is political" is not a solution, it's a way of telling us that more folks need to go to prison, and Siegelman was just the tip of the iceberg.

That being said, this isn't about guitars, it's about fucking up precious wood sources and laundering them through India, while claiming they're "Indian" in origin.

The courts convicted Seigleman for appointing a donor (Scrushy) to a non-paid position (head of the medical licensing board) who had been appointed to the same position twice before under Republican gov's.

The prosecution who all had ties to radical right-wing causes and KKKarl Rove brought literally 100 charges against the two with the intention of confusing the jury. They based their case on the testimony of a known criminal who got a reduced sentence if he agreed to testify, and later evidence showed he couldn't have possibly heard the conversation he claimed to have heard. Normally, the two would have had separate trials, but since this would confuse the jury less, the trials were held together.

Then there's the sentencing. A few years prior, Republican Guy Hunt just pocketed 200 thousand in campaign funds and got . . . probation. Seigleman was convicted of a much lesser crime and got SEVEN YEARS.

Meanwhile, the SOB right-wing judge who's been brought up on other ethics violations continues to serve at the President's leisure down there in Alabama.

We hired Obama to go after travesties of justice committed by the Bush administration for political gain and he has FAILED as miserably as can be imagined.

Seigalman was found guilty of seven:
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2006/June/06_crm_409.html

The "non-paid" position stood to benefit the appointee in the multi-million dollar range, as he was appointing a (possibly corrupt) healthcare CEO to watch over medical licensing. As far as the sentencing goes, if they threw the book at him, his multiple convictions could have gotten him 45 years.

Holder has no stomach for taking on anything politically difficult. This will be a nice distraction for him from the war crime trials he should have been prosecuting.

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If they haven't done anything materially wrong, they'll be fine. They are a corporation and we too often bend over for them in this country. Lots of people and companies get investigated with no real consequences other than PR, legal fees, heads rolling, years of uncertainty, and probably some worse things.

If what they did is materially wrong -- legally, ethically or morally -- then they deserve to be penalized.

Despite not having any charges stick.

While I understand this article has pro-Gibson spin, that really does sound like abusive behavior by the FBI.

illegal, even if they decline to file charges on it.

For example...you order $50 of illegal or mislabeled meds from Canada. You paid, but shipment is intercepted at the border. The Feds cant figure out who did what wrong, or otherwise, decide they arent going to prosecute....they keep the meds, you don't get your money back.

if I were a large company dealing with years of certainly ahead of me? Shut down US operations and move overseas where US law couldn't touch my company.
The justice department goes after people for a variety of things. There is the potential for a great deal of abuse. Personally, I care more about the people that are at risk of losing their jobs than I do about Indian law or whatever is at stake here. There are so many laws, and they can be interpreted in so many ways that it's almost not possible to own a business or live without violating some obscure clause somewhere.

I guess taxes can only provide so much revenue for the government. I guess they have to trap businesses and force them to pay fines. It's despicable behavior by the justice department.

I need to read/think more. I'm not for anything that ruins forests, etc. But, I'm not sure the demand for this wood for guitars is enough to do that. It's a pretty thin strip. But then, there might not be that many of these trees left. Then, there are the other issues.

The idea corporations might move overseas is very disturbing. Similar to predictions in that awful, dreary, POS book, "Atlas Shrugged." If that is where we are, it is the end times.

live with that kind of uncertainty? Could you go to work every day knowing that today or tomorrow the Feds might come raid you again and take millions of dollars of stuff from you?
A lot of people here don't really care about profits. But profits are how the company pays its employees. Especially a company like Gibson, which employs artisans. Trained people that do exacting work. These are skilled people that are probably going to be tossed out on their ears if worse comes to worse.
I'm not saying that regulation is bad, but I know that if it were me, I wouldn't want to be sitting there on food stamps saying "Well, at least that tree in India is safe now."

The odds are high Gibson executives knew they were dealing with dirty tropical wood dealers.

Certainly, "innocent until proven guilty," but something here stinks.

Sharia Law! Hell, if we've got OUR lawmen enforcing INDIAN LAW!!!!! :crazy:

And yet the creeps and crooks of BushCo. run free?

The priorities in this country are screwed up.

Anything below their 500 series has plastic/epoxy fingerboards and bridges (that look like ebony).

I love my Martin DC-16!

That's probably they're cheapest models, but I don't know. I personally don't know of any Martin model with a plastic fretboard.

if it is stamped "Made in America"?

Labor vs. environmentalist---one of the classic divisions under the Dem umbrella. Guess I better pop some corn.

:popcorn:

n/t

as long as it provides jobs? I'll bet the Massey Mine owners, and the BP fatcats will be glad to hear that "liberals" have undergone such a transformation. This is what mindless Obama bashing has wrought. Liberals have gone so far around the bend, thanks to ODS, they're now making teabagger arguments? Nevermind that Gibson is importing illegal & possibly endangered woods from outside the country, as long as it provides jobs? Is that the argument?
:rofl:

I wonder what DU's resident "environmentalists" think of this new rationale? :shrug:

:puke:

It's an amazing, but sad, phenomenon to watch. :hi:

I didn't know the Lacey Act angle.

that didn't stop them from piling on. It only takes a headline these days, no need for further research. Liberals used to be much smarter. :hi:

Some are even less apt to attacking others in a caustic manner.

Especially considering that there are numerous US guitar makers who haven't been involved in two legal cases involving illegally imported wood in as many years.

uses the same kind of wood in their guitars as Gibson does. But they aren't subject to DOJ raids. Maybe because they are Union. It's not about some law that is being broken. It's just attacking a non-Union shop. Simple as that. Gibson is being punished for being in a Right to work state. This is a political prosecution.

Fact is that all the paperwork from India was correct. They had the go ahead from customs. They are being prosecuted "for an interpretation of Indian law." Since when are we subject to the laws of foreign countries? Are we not an independant country? Should we refrain from speaking bad about Kim Jong Il? Are we still allowed to wear non-modest clothing? Those things are illegal in their respective countries.

I don't believe him, and I don't believe you. It's the Unions' fault? Is that the argument? If it's as simple as you say, then Gibson should be able to prove bias in a court of law, no? And they'll get their chance. Remember, Rupert Murdoch and News of the World said they were innocent too. ;)

This is not about enforcing other countries laws, but I'm sure you & Gibson will attempt to have the public believe that. But there are numerous posts in this thread that point to clear violations of the Lacey Act. So, I'm not at all impressed with your pseudo-legal non-argument. :hi:

Yes, that's what it's all about, Union Shops.

The DOJ doesn't raid companies because they are union, or non-union, they raid them because THEY BROKE THE LAW.

would rather enforce foreign laws then to
enforce US laws.

Why not arrest the War criminals, bankers, War Profiteers,
...? (Add to the list if you want)

And it's not made any easier to take seriously by the fact that the government has investigated them previously, found both no evidence of lawbreaking and well-kept records, and still treated them like criminals (i.e. haven't yet returned confiscated material, and not merely the 'suspected illegal' material.

Since no charges have been filed yet, and Gibson has been up and running since the first such confiscations I'm not worrying too much for Gibson. They might not even be an accused party, but the recipient of fraudulently labeled products and part of the investigation. But I've posted up thread a link to a news report that states that F&W sources have said the search warrant affidavit claims that Gibson received some mislabeled wood stock.

And, apparently such Lacey Act Violations are not unheard of, as this FAQ demonstrates...



So, it might be a tariff violation due to mislabeling (to cheat on the tariffs).
It might be related to the first violation investigation.

At this point we don't know, so there's not point in going apeshit with OxyRush's talking points.

that have been committed and are currently being committed,
yet the DOJ does nothing to bring those criminals to justice.

They go after multi-million $$$ companies like Gibson Guitars,
yet the multi-billion $$$ companies get off without being charged.

You want to tell me what else the DOJ should be doing....

they were initially approved by the Indian Government then exported.
Approved by US Customs then imported. Finally shipped to Gibson.

"... Under Indian law, wood products have to meet certain minimum “India content” requirements
before they can be certified for export. Then the exported wood and documentation from India
has to be cleared by U.S. Customs. In this case, all of the legal requirements by the Indian
government were met, legal paperwork accompanied the wood to the U.S., and the materials and
accompanying paperwork were then approved by the U.S. government before delivery to Gibson.

But now the government is apparently claiming that according to its peculiar interpretation
of Indian law, Gibson’s fingerboard blanks don’t have sufficient “Indian content,” and the
guitar-maker is in violation of Indian law. ..."


So now the DOJ knows Indian Law better then the Indian Government!

Why doesn't the DOJ arrest the War criminals, banksters, War Profiteers,
Election Fraud, Illegal Wiretaping ...?

The list goes on

In customs, something can 'clear customs paperwork' but not inspection.

For example, if I fill out paperwork for 'x' it will get conditional approval unless and until inspection reveals that the stuff is actually "x-."


Further, in a criminal investigation, it is permissible for the government to allow goods to be shipped to their destination, before seizure and further investigation.

'59 Gretsch Double Anniverisary and a '71 Guild Starfire IV.

That's still my favorite brand, though I like Teisco Del Ray's basses

...that such intolerable behavior by the idiots in this administration no longer surprises me. What does surprise me however, are those who continue to defend this blatantly illegal shit and the assholes who perpetrate it.

- What the fuck are they smoking????

K&R

Gibson is whining because they got caught.

If you are not offended by "wood smuggling", substitute an issue you care about...

It's still smuggling, be it women, money, whale blubber, wood, or uranium.

...I should be thankful it's not a medical cannabis establishment they're raiding.

- Done.

It looks as if Gibson has been busted importing illegally harvested rosewood.

If the goddamned guitar industry is helping to drive the destruction of Brazilian, Indian, and Malagasy rainforests, against international agreements and everything decent, then they need to be stopped.

This CEO is simply trying to get ahead of the scandal by playing on the sensibilities of his company's loyal but not terribly worldly following. That support will evaporate once the extent of the crime is better revealed.

The Obama administration seems to be okay with letting torture go without investigation (Geneva convention be damned), except for two cases where the person actually died.

They even squelched Spain's investigation.

Maybe they could move on to other important things, like actually enforcing the order for ES&S to divest its current monopoly on vote counting machines. Alas, that would require looking backward.

But illegal wood smuggling for guitars? Well, that's priority one. (Probably the result of extensive lobbying by Fender, no doubt.)

Speaking of smuggling, I remember reading long ago about Blackwater smuggling weapons in bags of dog food, presumably to sell to the insurgents we were fighting. Whatever happened with that, and why are we still giving Blackwater big contracts?

The DOJ is fiddling while Rome burns.

but that doesn't make it bad that they go after wood smugglers. And it's not because they're going after the wood smugglers that they're not going after the torturers... it's because they're political weaklings who care more about being bipartisan with fascists than they do about the law. But that's no reason not to uphold other laws.

However, a government which selectively enforces its laws to allow political and corporate elites to commit the most heinous crimes with impunity while punishing others for lesser crimes, creates the impression that one need only sufficiently bribe/toe the line with respect to the desires of TPTB to get away with anything.

That's more damaging than smuggling.

It's the actual situation they create... it really is true that all you need is a certain amount of money and access and you're above the law

I understand and totally share in the outrage over the performance of the Justice Department in other areas, but I don't understand why people are upset about this. My understanding is that this is an environmental issue?

Warriors in the perpetual Gibson/Fender, Ford/Chevy, PC/Mac, etc. battles?

Full disclosure: I owned a '84 Gibson The Paul for about 20 years, so I'm a little biased, but not so much to think Gibson couldn't break laws.

Just like the way I feel about the Democratic party.

I can remember when you were innocent until proven guilty. Now with the Lacey Act, it seems you have to properly fill out the forms, with documentation to prove you're telling the truth, or you're guilty until you can prove you are innocent.

This is the RICO act run amok. Prove you got this legally, or we'll seize it. Asinine simply asinine. Due process has been perverted to amazing new levels.

Just take the nice companies' word for it?

"That ivory is only from elephants that died from old age after a long and happy life."

That rainforest wood? We just found it laying on the ground over there."

I had read this story earlier. From the damned WSJ site. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904787404576530520471223268.html

There was never any question that the instruments were old enough to have grandfathered ivory keys. But Mr. Vieillard didn't have his paperwork straight when two-dozen federal agents came calling.

Facing criminal charges that might have put him in prison for years, Mr. Vieillard pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of violating the Lacey Act, and was handed a $17,500 fine and three years probation.

Imagine our response, proper response mind you, if Repugs if they win in 2012 made immigration enforceable the same way. You have to be able to prove where you were born, or else. If you make a mistake on the form, you're guilty and you're going to jail anyway, even if you were born in America.

I'm not a musician, and I don't have any rare wood anything. This won't affect me at all, except that it is inevitably going to be used as a foundation to branch the idea of guilty until proven innocent into other areas. We used to believe in due process. I still do.

Oh noes!l, the death of the principles of jurisprudence!

products from India. In fact, any other guitar maker should follow suit as well...close their industry down, in fact, every nation should do this, just don't buy their product, find other sources.

Feels as though there is more to this than meets the eye.

larger law breakers too. Like the financiers who crashed the world market and are threatening to do it again. I am glad to see that they are enforcing some regulations but I do have a suspicion that if Gibson payed graft

money to the "right" politico's then they would have nothing to worry about. We have become a nation of graft, not laws.

How about going after the Murdoch crime family and it's hacking allegations in this country? No. Go after a guitar maker for petty crap like Indian wood content on it's products. F*cking amazing. Now, we see where the Obama administrations priorities are. Never attack the conservanazi power for fear that they will continue to lie about you in their media outlets. If that's the case, Obama's team is right on course......... pleasing the conservanazis. I'm getting fed up with this sh!t.

isn't there anything else that these people can do that would make sense?

They are a sweat shop.

Another thing is, Tennessee is a right to work state.

From having read this thread I have concluded that the bane of this once great company is its current corporate leadership, not the US Justice Department. Maybe Gibson can come back from the brink. Harley Davidson did.

Generally I'd rather have a Martin if we're talking flat tops. A new Martin D-28 (pretty much their basic guitar) lists for $3,000. Martin's factory has been in Nazareth, PA since 1839.

Gibson's new flat tops are selling in pretty much the same price range. Gibson does make a cheaper brand called Epliphone, however.

My point is, Gibson doesn't have to pull this shit to survive.

The nitro-cellulose finish Gibson uses creates massive amounts of waste. Tenn. is more than happy to allow that waste to be offloaded in its streams and rivers.

Today I would definitely go for a Martin instead of a Gibson, if we're talking flat top acoustics. My dream guitar would be a new Martin HD-28 with a factory installed pickup. It lists for about $3,500 but you have to pay extra to get the pickup put in.

of the way it sounds has to do with the Brazilian Rosewood back and sides (custom ordered by my great uncle who he inherited it from along with parallelogram inlays in the late '40's I think). You just can't get Brazilian Rosewood legally anymore.

Dad's a bluegrass player and I think he always wanted a Martin for their bright, clear sound. The Gibson was just a little too "rock n' roll" for his taste.

Cause an American employer to lose 1 million in revenue in a week. Send home hundreds of American workers. Is this a war against American independent business? However, on edit, reading some of the posts by guitarists, apparently there is more to this story.

Ironic that the DOJ doesn't raid any corrupt financial institutions, however. No, the treasury just buys up their toxic debt and transfers it to the taxpayer.

"Gibson is one the of the most respected guitar manufacturers in the world - they wouldn't fuck around with something like this. "

:eyes:

And I changed my original post, btw.

"Everybody's doing it!" :eyes:

What makes you think Gibson, a company known for shitty labor and environmental practices, shouldn't follow the law like everybody else?

Did Gibson guitars cause our current Greatest Depression?

Is Gibson guitars responsible for putting millions of Americans underwater on the home loans by selling them adjustable rate mortgages while hiding from these homeowners the fact that their monthly payments would explode 2 years later and the value of their homes would decline?

Is Gibson responsible for the economic crises which is causing thousands of business to foreclose and putting ten of thousands of Americans out of work and at the same time causing those Americans to lose their health insurance coverage?

Are you capable of judging relative evil, or is it BLACK AND WHITE - GOOD AND BAD, with no shades of gray gumming up the works in your personal world-view?

Can you at least tell me exactly WHO ELSE is this 'somebody' who is FOLLOWING THE LAW?

Is it you, Romulux? Really? On EVERYTHING? You get a gold star. :headbang:

Turning their attention to multinational corporations that are violating international environmental law is a WELCOME change.

"Is Gibson guitars responsible (yada, yada, yada...)"

Gibson guitars is responsible to respect US environmental protection laws. All of that crap you wrote could be used to defend ANY crime.

"So I raped somebody. Am I responsible for the economic crises which is causing thousands of business to foreclose and putting housands of Americans out of work and at the same time causing those Americans to lose their health insurance coverage???? No? Then why waste time with me? I rest my case."

It's the Gibson folks who are bankrupting the county, apparently.



If you didn't recognize this as sarcasm, wake up.

have to have the proper htc code when you import. That would have provided customs and border with accurate information to collect accurate tariffs. I'd bet someone at Gibson thought they would be cute and ignore requests from customs for clarification. Feds don't seize if you play the game when they CALL you.

This seems to be a Michelle Malkin/Human Events mainly story. (google it yourself and see). The best I could find is a Wall Street Journal (hardly a completely unbiased outlook itself, but at least "mainstream") story, in which it is stated:



Why does DU jump at every titillating, scare-tactic story that might prove the administration is up to no good? I, myself, am all for enforcing bans on endangered species and other regulations. Let's investigate this story further rather than jumping on Michelle Malkin's bandwagon.

The braintrust at DU seems to think that this somehow effects other government work. Is this true?

Henry Juszkiewicz is the CEO of Gibson.

Google this asshole, and then come back here and wonder if Gibson isn't yanking your chain.

Juszkiewicz was an acquaintance of mine in high school, and he was one laid-back pseudo-hippie. Wonder what happened to him.

:shrug:

Such rotten karma.

it looks like there is more to the story here. I hope the Justice Dept. hires more investigators and prosecuters because outfits like Gibson are only the vapor above the scum in this swamp. Let's see some action on the investment banks, hedge funds and other so called venture capital marketers as well as the slaughterhouses, factory farms and paper mills that are committing crimes as well. I'd love to see these shipments coming from China impounded as well before they are poisoning us with their baby formula, heparin, drywall, lead painted toys and now... honey.

The other day I had a patient with the most horrible lesions all over his body from using towels shipped from India--- his wife didn't prewash them before he used them. What horrible chemicals did they spray on those before they shipped?

Nevermind the raping of rainforests for someone's guitar collection fetish.

I don't think we should ignore one crime investigation over another in this country. Personally I think all companies should have to internalize all these externalized costs they shove out. It seems the bigger one is, the more able they are to externalize pollution and exploitation.

I would like BP pursued for their destruction. They need to be rebating the gulf region a portion of their profits every quarter. Part of that money should be used to pay for higher lever, closer oversight on safety in drilling.