XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.misc, alt.politics.republicans   
   XPost: alt.politics.democrats   
   From: d@ray   
      
   East Palestine, Ohio – As the community of East Palestine recovers   
   following the dreadful Norfolk Southern train derailment, it’s important to   
   examine the important figures behind the now disgraced Railway.   
      
   Who controls Norfolk Southern? What, if anything, did leadership have to do   
   with the disaster unfolding there? It will become apparent that the   
   priorities of Norfolk Southern and its largest shareholders are not to   
   benefit the predominately White working class of the Ohio River Valley.   
   Rather, they benefit their own bottom line.   
      
   In May 2017, Norfolk Southern Railway joined CEO Action for Diversity &   
   Inclusion. According to their statement: “we are proud that Norfolk   
   Southern was the first railroad to make this commitment.” CEO Action—the   
   subject of previous reporting in this series examining the policies of   
   anti-White corporations—is the largest forum of C-level executives in   
   America to take their pledge.   
      
   The consortium was created largely by consulting giant PriceWaterhouse   
   Coopers, which has partnered with the Anti-Defamation League on diversity   
   training guides. There are workshops and summits by which members network   
   and share experiences to better support DEI in corporate America. Over   
   2,000 organizations are members, including:   
      
   > AAA (Marshal Doney), Boston Consulting Group (Joe Davis), Centennial   
   > (Steven Levin), Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum (Mary Pat   
   > Higgans), Etsy (Josh Silverman), Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce   
   > (Robert Duffy), Home Depot (Craig Meanear), Intel Corp. (Bob Swan), KPMG   
   > (Paul Knopp) Liberty Mutual (David Long), Moderna (Stéphane Bancel),   
   > Netflix (Reed Hastings), OhioHeath (Dr. Stephen Markovich), PayPal (Dan   
   > Schulman), Queens College CUNY (Frank Wu), Royal Caribbean Group (Richard   
   > Fain), S&P Global (Douglas Peterson), Toledo Museum of Art (Adam Levine),   
   > Union Pacific (Lanc Fritz), VISA (Alfred Kelly Jr.), Wynn Resorts (Matt   
   > Maddox), Xerox (John Visentin), Yum! Bands (David Gibbs), Zurich North   
   > America (Kristof Teryn).   
      
   Choosing just one company per letter is highly instructive.   
      
   Managers at Norfolk Southern are required to sit through an online   
   “implicit bias” training course. Training of this kind began in February of   
   2017 with the Atlanta “Inspire! Summit.” Conducted by D&I councils who   
   spread the message at local offices, the railway intends to expand these   
   struggle sessions to the entire staff in the near term.   
      
   Norfolk Southern also promotes diverse suppliers. Like many large corporate   
   purchasing departments, they prioritize certified racial minority, LGBTQ,   
   and women-owned businesses, sourcing everything from parts to   
   telecommunications. In 2021, Norfolk Southern spent $122 million on   
   so-called diverse suppliers.   
      
   > At Norfolk Southern, we strongly believe that our strength is in our   
   > diversity. We recognize that inclusive sourcing practices create   
   > long-term term value for our customers, shareholders and the communities   
   > that we serve. We will therefore remain unwavering in our commitment to   
   > maximizing sourcing opportunities and creating mutually beneficial   
   > business relationships with qualified and innovative small and diverse firms.   
      
   > President & CEO, Alan H. Shaw   
      
   In 2022, Norfolk Southern declared record quarterly dividends to   
   shareholders. But, on the 21st of February, Norfolk Southern is set to   
   exceed that figure by 9 percent. At $1.35 per share, BlackRock, which holds   
   approximately 10.4 million shares, could see $14 million just from Quarter   
   one dividends (depending on levels of common or preferred stock.) That’s on   
   top of $4.23 billion in their own stock buy-backs in 2022.   
      
   Yet, Norfolk Southern has only pledged $1.7 million to the residents of   
   East Palestine, plus $25,000 to The Red Cross, Marketwatch reports. That   
   number is expected to rise, however, as local residents are demanding   
   settlements and politicians are placing more pressure. That sum, which   
   includes a $200,000 reimbursement to the local fire departments, appears   
   paltry by comparison.   
      
   Meanwhile, Class I railroads, like Norfolk Southern, have taken advantage   
   of the supply chain crisis to charge extra fees for cargo waiting in ports.   
   The Surface Transport Board, the federal rail regulator, has been unwilling   
   or unable to force freight carriers to reduce these fees, which have added   
   significantly to their operating income.   
      
   So, who is on the receiving end of this dividend? Norfolk Southern’s   
   largest investors, by number of shares outstanding, are:   
      
   - The Vanguard Group   
      
   - BlackRock Institutional Trust Co.   
      
   - State Street Advisors   
      
   - JP Morgan Asset Management   
      
   - Lazard Asset Management   
      
   - Capital International Investors   
      
   - Capital World Investors   
      
   - Goede Capital Management   
      
   - Wells Fargo Advisors   
      
   - Dimensional Fund Advisors   
      
   Readers may already be aware of Larry Fink of BlackRock and Jamie Dimon of   
   JP Morgan. But many often overlook The Vanguard Group, Lazard Asset   
   Management, and Wells Fargo & Co. Vanguard and Blackrock together own   
   One-fifth of State Street Advisors.   
      
   Vanguard of the establishment   
      
   Vanguard’s CEO is Harvard alum, Mortimer Buckley. The board of   
   directors—which doubles as its “diversity & inclusion” committee,   
   includes   
   Jewish Sarah Bloom Raskin. Sarah Raskin served as Dept. Treasury Secretary   
   and a Governor of the Federal Reserve (FED). She was President Biden’s   
   nominee for vice chairwoman of banking supervision at the FED. However,   
   Republicans blocked her nomination on the grounds she was overly focused on   
   climate change and opposed to fossil fuels.   
      
   Raskin helps oversee the Regenerative Crisis Response Committee, a   
   center-left environmentalist institute that provides policy analysis   
   related to decarbonization or “net-zero.” One of their big ideas is   
   so-called green mortgages. Bloom specifically wants to find ways to protect   
   international finance from the alleged impacts of climate change, such as   
   stress testing banks for floods or other natural disasters. Yet, Vanguard   
   has been criticized by Amazon Watch for investing in oil companies   
   currently destroying the Amazon Rainforest.   
      
   Another Vanguard board member is the lesbian Tara Bunch, who oversaw Trust   
   & Safety at Airbnb before joining Vanguard. She previously served on the   
   board of Out & Equal—an LGBT advocacy group. Out & Equal partners “with   
   Fortune 1000 companies, government agencies, and organizations across   
   industries and diverse missions to provide LGBTQ+ executive leadership   
   development, comprehensive [Diversity & Inclusion] training and   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)