Creole Economics: Caribbean Cunning under the French Flag

Book Description

"In this innovative work, Browne pierces the silence that has hidden the world of creole economics in the literature on the Antilles. The men's social world of creoleness has been much written about. But the ways that creoleness infuses everyday economic life, the ways that these practices that were built up in resistance (first to slavery, later to colonialism) actually operate, has never before been laid bare. A fine example of how anthropology still has something original to teach us."

—Richard Price, Dittman Professor of American Studies, Anthropology, and History at the College of William & Mary

What do the trickster Rabbit, slave descendants, off-the-books economies, and French citizens have to do with each other? Plenty, says Katherine Browne in her anthropological investigation of the informal economy in the Caribbean island of Martinique. She begins with a question: Why, after more than three hundred years as colonial subjects of France, did the residents of Martinique opt in 1946 to integrate fully with France, the very nation that had enslaved their ancestors? The author suggests that the choice to decline sovereignty reflects the same clear-headed opportunism that defines successful, crafty, and illicit entrepreneurs who work off the books in Martinique today.

Browne draws on a decade of ethnographic fieldwork and interview data from all socioeconomic sectors to question the common understanding of informal economies as culture-free, survival strategies of the poor. Anchoring her own insights to longer historical and literary views, the author shows how adaptations of cunning have been reinforced since the days of plantation slavery. These adaptations occur, not in spite of French economic and political control, but rather because of it. Powered by the "essential tensions" of maintaining French and Creole identities, the practice of creole economics provides both assertion of and refuge from the difficulties of being dark-skinned and French.

This powerful ethnographic study shows how local economic meanings and plural identities help explain work off the books. Like creole language and music, creole economics expresses an irreducibly complex blend of historical, contemporary, and cultural influences.

Creole Economics: Caribbean Cunning Under the French Flag

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Creole Economics: Caribbean Cunning Under the French Flag
Katherine E. Browne
Manufacturer: University of Texas Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORLIOQ

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Creole Economics: Caribbean Cunning under the French Flag
Katherine E. Browne
Manufacturer: University of Texas Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OREWQ2

Book Description

Despite its status as one of the oldest and most enduringly popular sports in history, wrestling has been pushed to the background of the current American sports scene. Most people today would have a hard time even considering wrestling (with some of its modern theatrics) in the same terms as track and field or boxing. But until the 1920s, wrestling stood as a legitimate professional sport in this country, and a widely practiced amateur one as well. Its past respectability may not have endured, but the advent of cable television in the 1980s offered the sport a renewed opportunity to play a determining role in American popular culture. This opportunity was not wasted, and wrestlers now assume places in politics and film at the highest levels. Ringside, the first work to fully examine the history of professional wrestling in this country, provides an illuminating and colorful account of all of the various athletes, entertainers, businessmen, and national outlooks that have determined wrestling's erratic route through American history. This chronological work begins with a brief account of wrestling's global history, and then proceeds to investigate the sport's growth as a specifically American institution. Wrestling has continued to survive in the face of technological developments, scandals, public ridicule, and a lack of centralized control, and today this supremely adaptable entertainment form represents, in sum, an international industry capable of attracting enormous television and pay-per-view audiences, along with massive amounts of advertising and merchandizing revenue. Ringside focuses on the business of wrestling as well as on the performers and their in-ring antics, and offers readers a fully nuanced examination of the development of professional wrestling in America.

Customer Reviews:

Professional Wrestling 101.......2006-10-08

I knew what I was going to get when I read this book before I even started it.When I saw that the author,Scott Beekman was a college professor (Ohio University)I knew Professor Beekman would be treating professional wrestling in somber tones.After all he has to face his esteemed colleagues in department meetings and annual conferences and he couldn't very well write a book on professional wrestling that was, well you know....fun or funny. (tongue firmly in cheek) I'll give one example of where the book fails to entertain.Managers have historically been an important part of professional wrestling and yet are barely mentioned here.Too bad.Any book on professional wrestling could/should have at least a chapter devoted to managers.The book is well-researched no doubt but not once did I laugh or even smile.I did however find myself saying "Hmmm,I never knew that". Entertaining ? Not at all.Informative ? Absolutely.Think of it as a textbook.Don't take it to the beach and don't buy the book,but rather borrow it from a library and read it while sitting in a straight-back chair.Somehow that seems appropriate.

Book Description

A manual on the development and reconstruction of coastal fishing areas. Coverage ranges from design conditions, through use of tidal currents for sea water flow, to improvement of water quality and breeding facilities.

1985 north coastal wild coho broodstock collection project (Progress report / State of Washington, Department of Fisheries)

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1985 north coastal wild coho broodstock collection project (Progress report / State of Washington, Department of Fisheries)
Roger A Mosley
Manufacturer: State of Washington, Dept. of Fisheries
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

An abridged inventory of Atlantic coastal state marine Sport Fish Restoration projects (Special report / Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission)

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An abridged inventory of Atlantic coastal state marine Sport Fish Restoration projects (Special report / Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission)
L. Clark Evans
Manufacturer: The Commission
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Coastal coho production factors: Job final report : fish research project, Oregon (Federal aid progress reports)

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Coastal coho production factors: Job final report : fish research project, Oregon (Federal aid progress reports)
Thomas E Nickelson
Manufacturer: Research and Development Section, Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, Fish Division
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Coastal Fall Chinook Stock Assessment Project (Oregon. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. Research and Development Section. Federal aid progress reports: fisheries)

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Coastal Fall Chinook Stock Assessment Project (Oregon. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. Research and Development Section. Federal aid progress reports: fisheries)
Alan M McGie
Manufacturer: Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006X4TZI

Coastal Salmonids Scale Project (Federal aid progress reports : Fisheries)

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Coastal Salmonids Scale Project (Federal aid progress reports : Fisheries)
Sharon Murphy
Manufacturer: Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, Research [and Development] Section
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006XZF06

Economic data on fisheries of the Gambia River and adjacent coastal waters (Working document / Gambia River Basin Studies, University of Michigan)

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Economic data on fisheries of the Gambia River and adjacent coastal waters (Working document / Gambia River Basin Studies, University of Michigan)
Henri P Josserand
Manufacturer: Harza Engineering Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Economic Policy & Development | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Ecosystems modeling, economic considerations for a Peruvian coastal fishery (AID technical services project)

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Ecosystems modeling, economic considerations for a Peruvian coastal fishery (AID technical services project)
James N Kremer
Manufacturer: International Center for Marine Resource Development, University of Rhode Island
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006E5QKO

Important habitats of coastal New Hampshire: A pilot project for the identification and conservation of regionally significant habitats

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Important habitats of coastal New Hampshire: A pilot project for the identification and conservation of regionally significant habitats
Arnold Banner
Manufacturer: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Gulf of Maine Project?
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Endangered Species | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006RYSU0

Customer Reviews:

Carl Jung fully understood by Harry A. Wilmer.......2001-08-14

Harry is the one who has put the pieces of the puzzle of psychology together with good clarity and understanding. Practical Jung is an apt title. Harry has managed to see through Carl, The Buddha and Lao Tzu. A lot of practical advice here for a otherwise theoretical subject. A Must Read for the serious student of Psychology, Zen and Tao !

Immensely useful and readable for all therapists.........2001-04-12

During the late 1970's and early 80's I was privileged to be one of Dr. Wilmer's psychiatric residents at the University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio. His third-year seminar on Analytical Psychology was one of the most popular of the training program seminars. This volume includes much of the material that he presented there...useful chapters on such topics as the therapeutic relationship, transference and countertransference, dream interpretation. Dr. Wilmer also "demystifies" Jungian psychology and explains such concepts as archetypes, psychological types, and individuation. I highly recommend this book to psychotherapists (social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists) who may not have had much exposure to the work of CG Jung in their own training programs. The book reflects Dr. Wilmer's wisdom, humor, and his empathy for his patients.

Practical Jung. Nuts and Bolts of Jungian Psychotherapy

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Practical Jung. Nuts and Bolts of Jungian Psychotherapy
Harry A. Wilmer
Manufacturer: Chiron Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NUKQ7E

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Practical Jung: Nuts and Bolts of Jungian Psychotherapy
Harry A. Wilmer
Manufacturer: Chiron Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K18650

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Practical Jung: Nuts and Bolts of Jungian Psychotherapy
Harry A. Wilmer
Manufacturer: Chiron
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KX5BCY

Customer Reviews:

Every Music Teacher should own this!.......2006-09-07

This is a fantastic book of African-American Folk Songs. Bessie Jones includes not only the songs, but background information and games/motions to go along with it. I use it religiously in my lesson planning.

Step it Down Games, Plays, Songs, and Stories from the Afro-American Heritage

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Step it Down Games, Plays, Songs, and Stories from the Afro-American Heritage
Bessie & Bess Lomax Hawes Jones
Manufacturer: Harper & Row
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RURUBU

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Step It Down: Games, Plays, Songs, and Stories From the Afro-American Heritage
Bessie And Bess Lomax Hawes Jones
Manufacturer: Harper and Row
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JBYJWK

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STEP IT DOWN GAMES, PLAYS, SONGS, AND STORIES FROM THE AFRO-AMERICAN HERITAGE

Manufacturer: Harper & Row
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000H1WVXQ

Step It Down: Games, Plays, Songs & Stories from the Afro-American Heritage.

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Step It Down: Games, Plays, Songs & Stories from the Afro-American Heritage.
Bessie and Bess Lomax Hawes. Jones
Manufacturer: Univ. of Georgia Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NHZZ3C

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Step it Down: Games, Plays, Songs and Stories from the Afro-American Heritage
Bessie and Bess Lomax Hawes Jones
Manufacturer: Harper & Row
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OA7B4E

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Book Description

* 12 proven designs for building inexpensive, yet effective, audio studios
* Covers basic acoustic theory, construction materials, and applied design
* New chapters on blueprint reading and electrical wiring and grounding methods, expanded coverage of materials and construction methods

Customer Reviews:

Should be for construction engineer.......2007-01-15

I thought it was going to cover the entire aspects of the recording studio including the suitable equipments, unfortunately it was just directed toward the construction. I'm not the construction engineer so why would I care too much on the details. I think basic theory on the construction is enough and more elaboration is needed for the furniture and equipment selection.

Not very helpful.......2004-07-14

This book was a big disappointment. I was hoping for detailed instructions for the construction of a studio, and what I got was a refresher course in Acoustics 101. The book has a lot of theory which could be helpful to someone that doesn't already know about diffusion, absorbtion and reflection of sound waves. What it doesn't have is room dimensions, angles of walls, or decent illustrations. The illustration for a garage multi-track studio was literally a line drawing of a square with a bisecting line across the corner signifying what would be a disfunctional control room. If you're not ready to build a studio and want some good information on room modes and acoustics, this is a good enough book. If you want to apply these principles and actually build a studio, there are better instructions on several free websites.

Thank you for your help.......2004-07-07

I used this book as a reference to build a private studio where I record the CDs for my label. It sounds great, reverberation is under control and low, over the whole spectrum. And it cost me HALF of what I'd expect. I used two regular doors instead of a professional grade studio door (I got this money saving idea in this book), I designed my air condinioning using his ideas (it is quiet and has no sound leakage), the cables go into the recording booth using ideas that I found here. The studio has been in operation for four years and everybody loves the sound. I can't praise it enough. My label's web site is outrosdiscos.com.br in case you want to know what was recorded here.

Not helpful at all........2001-10-09

For example, the only help this book give you as far as treating the acoustic of a project studio is to tell you to buy a certain particular brand, RPG, and get 4 of their bass traps, 4 of their absorbant panels and 2 diffusors, and where to place them. No different option is discussed, no alternative....

And when you find out that this option amounts to around $3,000.00, and the author concludes: "this option represents the very minimum defense against the effects of early reflections, the minimum of bass absorption and the minimum of rear-wall diffusion. Much potential improvements remains."....you start wondering about the "budget" he's talking about in the title.

I wish he'd mention the fact that a couch or a love seat make for a great bass trap, that pannels of 703 or 705 fiberglass covered in burlap fabric make much greater absorbants than foam for much cheaper, and that a cluttered shelve makes for a great diffusor....

The rest of the book is filled with mathematical equations and tables and graphs that lack some clear explanations. The book is discouraging at best, boring and not reflective of it's title.

New edition, good!.......2000-04-29

I own a previous edition. I read it very carefully. The book is very useful, if we understand the word. I mean that if you want to build a Recording Studio, fast cheap and easy, read this book. There were serious incongruences in the previous edition I hope to find renewed in this one. For example, the cutoff frequency value, which in the Master Handbook of Acoustics is set to a certain value, in this book has another value! both books have been authored by Mr. Everest. I will try this new edition and more comments will come up. Anyway, buy the book. If you use the recommendations given by Mr. Everest, you will earn money.

How to Build a Small Budget Recording Studio from Scratch... With 12 Tested Designs, 2/e

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The myths & truths about sound insulation finally explained

How to Build a Small Budget Recording Studio from Scratch... With 12 Tested Designs, 2/e
F. Alton Everest , and Michael Shea
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill/TAB Electronics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0071565477

Book Description

Explains how to build them and treat them acoustically, with emphasis on budget studios suited to the efficient day-to-day production of radio, audiovisual, film, and television recording. No special skills or training are required to use this book-it is of interest to anyone planning to build or remodel a small recording studio. Acoustical principles are explained in the context of real-life projects (with real-life budgets) rather than in terms of esoteric mathematics and ideal circumstances.

Customer Reviews:

The myths & truths about sound insulation finally explained.......2002-01-23

This book is simply bursting with information. From highly technical data and calculations on measuring reverberation time to the most effective way to erect a stud wall for best sound insulation.
I doesn't matter if you're not too keen on the technical stuff as the book in quite readable (and useful) whatever level of information you are looking to acquire.

The 12 case studies are also very useful and the writers have provided a variety of possible solutions in many cases depending on available budget.
p.s. You can stop hoarding egg boxes now!

Book Description

This detailed tell-all of the demise of the former top pro wrestling company World Championship Wrestling explores the colorful personalities and flawed business decisions behind how WCW went from being the highest-rated show on cable television in 1997 to a laughable series that lost 95 percent of its paying audience by 2001. Behind-the-scenes exclusive interviews, rare photographs, and probing questions illustrate with humor and candor how greed, egotism, and bad business shattered the thriving enterprise. Wrestling fans will devour the true story of this fallen empire, which in its heyday spawned superstars such as Sting, Bill Goldberg, and the New World Order.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing book.......2007-08-16

The Death of WCW is an excellent read. Ive read it about six or seven times, its really that good. People might claim that the book is false and the information was ripped from wrestling websites. This book gathers the info in all one book so you dont look the internet for all the facts. An amazing book and I highly recommend this book to wrestling fans who loved WCW.

Masterpiece.......2007-07-23

An extraordinary story, where you'll learn the answers to all your questions concerning WCW, you'll know to what kind of lenghts people will go to stay in the spotlight and how selfish, arrogant certain wrestling legends are. Nobody that call himself or herself a wrestling fan can miss this book.

A good recap of the Monday night wars but thats it........2007-07-13

The Death of WCW had a lot of good points. It had a very good recap of the Monday Night Wars between WWF/E and WCW. It was like I was reliving the Wars all over again. It was arguably the greatest time to be a Wrestling fan. It also gave a brief History of WCW before Hogan and his flunkies came down to WCW. I still regret not watching both promotions prior to Hogan comming down, I stritctly watched WWF. It gave a very good history of the emerging competition between the two Wrestling promotions.

However this book also had a lot of flaws. For one, the author kept on injecting his personal opinions on WCW shows, "This nitro sucked" This ppv sucked, and he kept on posting the buy rates of every Pay Per view that WCW ever produced in the late 90's and early 2000's He also did what seemed an endless ratings recap of every Nitro/Raw that existed in the late 90's "This Nitro drew a 4.54 rating share while Raw only did a 3.0". He could of just used one or two as an example when Nitro was winning the rattings battle. And Vice versa when Raw started to pull ahead. There also was barely any mention of Sting the man who was arguably the franchise of WCW. Maybe an interview with a former WCW wrestler could of made this book better. This book was basically a Monday Morning Quarterback talking about how WCW became the Number 1 promotion in America to nothing.

Overall this book is a pretty good read. If you miss the Monday Night Wars, and want to know the history of the rise and fall of WCW, I reccomend reading this. If you want an Unbiased account and are a fan of Hogan, Nash or Bischoff (if he has any fans) dont bother reading.

Wrestling really has suffered a lot because of the lack of competition.

A Flawed Recounting.......2007-07-02

Researching the epic rise and downfall of World Championship Wrestling has been a hobby of mine for some time; often have I posed the same question to myself as is the tagline for the book - "How could such an over-privileged company, with so much on their side, literally dissapear from the face of the earth?"
I suppose a basic answer (or theory) can be found in several places and publications, but I had yet to stumble upon the one that would dedicate itself to a total and complete retelling of what went wrong, who did it, and why it had the devastating effect that it did. "World Championship Wrestling was not supposed to die", the opening sentence of the prologue states, and aside from reading the varied sides of the story from a collection of sources (wrestler biographies), I was more than eager to become complete in my knowledge about the happenings.

"The Death Of WCW", plainly said, is a most insightful expose to the royal ascension and attitude-driven demise of the once-great federation; it's difficult to name a second source that provides such in-depth information about the happenings, from the personalities involved, to the spiraling booking and repression of mid-card talent (and nonstop pushing of the company's top stars), to the colossal waste of money spent on unnecessary aspects, this book tells it all, and spares no breath - at 240 pages, "Death Of WCW" makes no small comments about anything. Informally written (prepare for a boatload of sarcasm and several four-letter words) and gamely spaced, it's aimed at the crowd of readers of author R.D. Reynold's [...] website (a fancy worst-of site of pro wrestling), it's sure to give anybody the answers they're looking for about the wrestling parallel of the Titanic.

So why do I only give the book three stars?

I'm not sure I would've been as hooked on the book (I finished it in three days) had it been written in a strictly formal manner - meaning a completely unbiassed monotone - and I agree that some personality is better than no personality at all, but that hardly excuses the book for an opinionated and overly-sarcastic work, dotted with incomplete and flawed facts that will spring out at anybody who followed wrestling during the timeline of the book.
Rest assured, Reynold's and Alvarez's sarcasm is not of witty proportions - on the contrary, at least half of it is unprofessional and hardly called for; the authors flat-out contradict themselves when stating that viewers of a wrestling program want to see wrestling (opposed to an endless soap opera), before believing that readers of a book chronicling WCW's downfall want to read of a nonstop stream of sarcastic comments regarding the individuals who hardly need to be called names in order to be villainized.

Add to that the aforementioned incomplete and flawed facts - yes, the bare foundation of what the authors are writing is true, but anybody who's tuned into wrestling for at least some amount of time while the book is taking place is sure to notice a slip-up in the authors' would-be-sound retelling. Take for example, in full, nit-picking rant, the authors fail to recall the outcome of a Sting Vs. Vampiro match, or all of the participants of the 2001 Survivor Series main event; appearing to know everything is the guise that Alvarez and Reynolds hide under, either hoping that nobody will recognize their lack of all-knowing or simply not knowing better.

Weak points, yes, but in addition to their much-to-be-desired account and their unbiassedness, nothing stands as bigger example than their description of Ric Flair.
While we (wrestling fans) know that Flair (the man, not the wrestling persona) had his good and bad points, respectively, "Death Of" would have us idolize the man as a heroic performer who was "screwed" left and right by his superior. I don't deny that he was, but how about mentioning something about his term as WCW's lead booker, and his contributions to the company's growing problems...which included the releasing of to-be superstars Mick Foley and Steve Austin?

The names of the book run together, eventually, like a revolving sphere, again and again, until you're sick of hearing them - Nash, Hall, Nash, Hall, Bischoff, Hogan, Hall, Nash, Hogan, Bischoff, Russo, Hall, Nash... The book eventually only stays readable because of its story, rather than its literary content, which ends with an unbarred bashing of the WWE, and the vocal (or literary) assumption that under Vince McMahon, the WWE can expect the same fate as WCW...no doubt, Reynolds was hoping that the federation would implode only months after his book was released.

And then there's also the question of how the authors could write such an information-heavy book with only a handful of listed sources - a list so pathetic that it might've gotten me a failing grade in citation class, and leads me to wonder about the validity of the unspoken basis.

In all, "The Death Of WCW" is the best collective account of what did in what was once the most powerful wrestling company in the world, in only a few short years, yet it's hardly a study in an engaging literary style. What was obviously hoping to be an attitude-laden publication turns into a remorseless roast of individuals whom the authors deemed unsympathetic enough to dare to do so.
My suggestion is that fans of the subject give the book a try, but be careful not to bend or crease the pages - it'll look cheap when you give it away as a present.

Read Bischoff's book also!!!.......2007-05-25

I just read "The Death of WCW" shortly after reading "Controversy Creates Cash" by Eric Bischoff. The two together provide a good point-counterpoint into the death of WCW. There's plenty of blame to go around, sadly. To hear Bischoff tell it, the Time-Warner/AOL merger that took away a lot of Ted Turner's power was the root cause of the company's demise. In came a bunch of executives who knew or cared nothing about wrestling and thus wouldn't let it continue to prosper. In the "Death of WCW", Jamie Kellner had come in as president of Turner BROADCASTING, and put the final nail in the coffin when he pulled the plug on their TV shows. Of course, leading up to that, many stupid mistakes were made by Bischoff but it seems to me Bischoff might have learned from his mistakes and perhaps was on the verge of coming back in and turning things around as he had found some backers to help him buy out the company until the TV was killed. The addition of "Thunder" probably did nothing to help, incidentally, as it seems a lot of the boneheaded mistakes were the result of having too much TV time to begin with. Bischoff, in his book, admits his mistake of agreeing to produce the additional weekly show in spite of reservations about overexposure. Finally, I am convinced that anybody other than McMahon eventually buying WCW out would have helped tremendously and kept it going to a respectable degree.

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