Short Story: “Bank Shot” December 12, 2007
Posted by gznork26 in Bank Shot Blogger, Business, Fiction, Politics, Short Stories.Tags: 9/11, astroturfers, corporate incarceration, corporate personhood, corporate rights, credit, federal reserve, free speech, international bankers, mainstream media, mortgage, murder, parole officer, prison, protest, repugnican, subversive, terrorism suspect, union, World Trade Center, WTC
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“Whatever you do may seem insignificant to you, but it is most important that you do it.” — Mohandas K. Gandhi. (This sequence started in the story, “Logical Conclusion“)
“Bank Shot”
Part 10 of a series
by P. Orin Zack
(12/07/07)
“Did you hear? The ‘Bank-Shot’ blogger’s here tonight!”
Leovar Agrolkin turned to the stranger seated beside him in the union hall, a trucker, judging from the logos on his jacket. “Who?”
“John Frachetti… the guy in those pictures with the company’s parole officer. You know, the one who started all the talk about taking the bankers down a notch. They say he had something to do with Reese’s murder.”
Edward Reese had been the CEO of Fremont-Wayfarer before he was found shot to death in one of the chain’s dingy motel rooms. He was also responsible for turning the FW Diners into faux prison chow halls, complete with bright yellow jumpsuits for the servers. Leo hated yellow.
“Sure. I know him. I was there.”
This was Leo’s first union meeting. The graying waiter had managed to reach fifty without ever taking a job that required it, this one included. But then the company was sentenced to a three-year imprisonment for a massive theft orchestrated by the executives, and Judge Clary wanted a union rep on the reformulated board of directors. Only thing was, it wasn’t a union shop. So they went and formed one, signed everyone up, no questions asked. Which was fine with Leo. His background wasn’t something he was too thrilled letting folks know about. After all, who wanted an accused terrorist in their midst? (more…)
Short Story: “The Tallysheet Bankers” December 7, 2007
Posted by gznork26 in Bank Shot Blogger, Business, Fiction, Politics, Short Stories.Tags: blogger, boardroom, corporate incarceration, corporate rights, fiat money, Frank Capra, George Bailey, Henry Potter, international bankers, SEC, stocks and bonds, union
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Unexamined assumptions can illuminate old stories in new ways. (This sequence started in the story, “Logical Conclusion“)
“The Tallysheet Bankers”
Part 9 of a series
by P. Orin Zack
(12/03/07)
John Frachetti stood in the hallway, contemplating a door. Not the one he’d just shrunk from opening, the formidable walnut-stained entrance to the executive conference room on the top floor of Fremont-Wayfarer’s corporate headquarters, nor the figurative ingress of a chamber that might serve as his access to the world stage, but rather, a more private one, the door to the inner sanctum of his soul.
Happenstance had tangled the thin cry of his blogger’s rant against the tallysheet bankers with the anti-corporate rage being husbanded in the prison-bedecked dining rooms of the company’s restaurants. Persons unknown had murdered Edward Reese, its Chief Executive, and left him, a message still to be read, in the motel room where he’d turned down the chance to avert the trial that had ultimately imprisoned the corporation itself. And now, John had been summoned to speak before what remained of its Board, to defend the call to action which had so galvanized the chain’s employees and patrons alike, and which had driven the talking heads to demand the shuttering of thousands of doors, and the diners behind them.
He closed his eyes and took a calming breath. The hot flame that warmed his soul and illuminated his world seemed to crackle, casting an otherworldly blue glow through the insubstantial aural cloak that surrounded his inner self, protecting him from the destructive impulses of those nearby. At peace with himself, he opened his eyes, reached out and opened the door.
“There he is,” a grating voice boomed, “the sorry little cretin responsible for trashing this business.” (more…)
Short Story: “Serving Time” November 7, 2007
Posted by gznork26 in Business, Fiction, Politics, Short Stories.Tags: corporate rights, incarceration, prison, reframing, union
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Job got you down? Imagine if you worked here. (This sequence started in the story, “Logical Conclusion“)
“Serving Time”
Part 5 of a series
by P. Orin Zack
(11/06/2007)
Leon Jackson glared at the FW Diner’s new sign as he pulled into the parking lot. Its familiar curved roadway design had been replaced with a stylized ball-and-chain. “That’s disgusting,” he grumbled, glancing at his wife.
“Could have been worse,” Francine said, wincing. “They might have used a hanging tree, except the company was imprisoned. Maybe they should have shot it.”
Fremont-Wayfarer’s high-profile trial and conviction for stealing from its own employees had been the second case following the Supreme Court’s momentous decision to grant full citizenship to corporations. The first had ended in a death sentence, dissolving the company and throwing thousands of people out of work. This one marked the end of unbridled corporate behavior, for the court had imposed severe restrictions, replaced its board of directors, and assigned a new kind of parole officer to oversee its three-year sentence. The CEO was doing his best to make a buck off it. (more…)
