++In my freelance days at Omni magazine, I did a piece on the fusion projects of GE. At that time they were working on fusion reactors that could fit into a garage. The promise of fusion energy has been the fool's gold for decades.
++Today, Lockheed Martin's "Skunk Works" announced its would have a working reactor by the year 2017, which would go commercial in 2020 and then could produce all the world's energy needs by 2050. In light of the recent reports on Global Climate Change, I really hope this could be true and that the fossil fuel industry doesn't kill it.
++Speaking of which, John Cushman in a piece "Keystone and Beyond" argues that the Keystone XL Pipeline is already obsolete. He writes that its was based on the Bush policy to rapidly approve all pipelines so the United States would not import oil from unstable places. With the U.S.' own oil and gas production,the issue is rapidly becoming moot.
++Geological studies are now finding that the pathway for the pipeline is prone to earthquakes.
++Marco Rubio said today that he doesn't believe humans are the cause of climate change, even as Florida faces threats from rising tides earlier than has been expected.
++The Koch-funded ALEC has waged war against alternative energy sources in state capitals. Their latest stunt is in Koch Industries' home state of Kansas, where they are trying to destroy the state's wind turbine industry. The gay Koch Brother has been fighting wind turbines off his vacation home in Massachusetts for years. This is likely to be a personal pique, not solely an ideological one.
++President Obama, our Stealth President, launched a $ 2 billion solar energy initiative this week. I guess he's hoping no one will notice. Some of his best alternative energy initiatives were hidden deep in the stimulus bill.
Showing posts with label ALEC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ALEC. Show all posts
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Friday, May 25, 2012
The Crumbling Conservative Infrastructure
Over the past three years we have seen people like Bruce Bartlett, David Frum and now Michael Fumento abandon the conservative movement because of its increasing anti-science, anti-intellectual and anti-rational approach to political affairs.
Ryan Cooper writes today in Talking Points Memo of the crumbling conservative infrastructure--its institutions have taken a hit these days.
He points to the abandonment of Rush Limbaugh by dozens and dozens of sponsors over the Sandra Fluke affair. El Rushbo is not likely to go under but his program has been downgraded in certain key markets like the Philadelphia and New York area. He has been put on a station in Camden, New Jersey after losing his Philly affiliation out right. And he has been wounded by the exodus of listeners on WABC New York. The ditto heads now are a demographic of white males over 60. Rush is not attracting the desired demographic.
We have the Ari Fleischer failed coup at the Komen Foundation and its attempt to de-fund Planned Parenthood. This almost put Komen under.
ALEC, the Koch-founded legislative group responsible for conservative state legislation including the Stand Your Ground Law, has been shedding sponsors like crazy after an activist campaign started targeting companies who back them. Just today Wendy Gramm has come out of hiding to defend ALEC.
Heartland Institute, who paid for the billboard using the UNABOMBER as an advocate of global warming, is being gutted as its corporate sponsors are abandoning ship in the wake of the controversy. Heartland had to close down its DC operation and let its staff go. Its president posted a notice on their webpage announcing no symposia until further notice.
The Koch Brothers are in a shareholder suit over the CATO Institute, one of the few remaining credible right-wing leaning organizations in Washington.
And then everyone has commented on Norm Ornstein at AEI blasting the Republican Congress for its obstructionism. Norm has been a respectable Republican scholar of government for years.
This all may be a cyclical thing but a lot of the problem was the so-called conservative movement "marketing" itself and simply becoming propaganda organs for corporations and the very wealthy. Once this was done in such large numbers they were subject to the reverse pressures brought by consumers who disagreed or were offended by their positions and statements.
Ryan Cooper writes today in Talking Points Memo of the crumbling conservative infrastructure--its institutions have taken a hit these days.
He points to the abandonment of Rush Limbaugh by dozens and dozens of sponsors over the Sandra Fluke affair. El Rushbo is not likely to go under but his program has been downgraded in certain key markets like the Philadelphia and New York area. He has been put on a station in Camden, New Jersey after losing his Philly affiliation out right. And he has been wounded by the exodus of listeners on WABC New York. The ditto heads now are a demographic of white males over 60. Rush is not attracting the desired demographic.
We have the Ari Fleischer failed coup at the Komen Foundation and its attempt to de-fund Planned Parenthood. This almost put Komen under.
ALEC, the Koch-founded legislative group responsible for conservative state legislation including the Stand Your Ground Law, has been shedding sponsors like crazy after an activist campaign started targeting companies who back them. Just today Wendy Gramm has come out of hiding to defend ALEC.
Heartland Institute, who paid for the billboard using the UNABOMBER as an advocate of global warming, is being gutted as its corporate sponsors are abandoning ship in the wake of the controversy. Heartland had to close down its DC operation and let its staff go. Its president posted a notice on their webpage announcing no symposia until further notice.
The Koch Brothers are in a shareholder suit over the CATO Institute, one of the few remaining credible right-wing leaning organizations in Washington.
And then everyone has commented on Norm Ornstein at AEI blasting the Republican Congress for its obstructionism. Norm has been a respectable Republican scholar of government for years.
This all may be a cyclical thing but a lot of the problem was the so-called conservative movement "marketing" itself and simply becoming propaganda organs for corporations and the very wealthy. Once this was done in such large numbers they were subject to the reverse pressures brought by consumers who disagreed or were offended by their positions and statements.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
The Koch Brothers--the Corporate Welfare Kings
Charles and David Koch appear to be honestly shocked that their activities generate such public hostility. What's so fascinating is the emergence of libertarian opposition to them as "statist interventionists". When you think about it, this makes alot of sense. The Koch Brothers depend on government subsidies for their oil company, special deals for leases, handsome personal tax breaks guaranteed under the Bush and now Obama tax laws,waivers from the new healthcare law, and no bid contracts at a state level and from our own defense department.
In fact, the whole Koch fortune is based on winning favors from the state. Fred's initial fortune was made as a partner with Stalin's regime to build 15 oil refineries and his relationship with Nazi Germany. So much for the free market. Fred's hero "Benito Mussolini" was one of the great theorists that the state should support private corporations. So why did anyone think the sons would be any different? After all, they were at the table at Dick Cheney's secret energy taskforce to map out this country's future energy policy.
Now it seems we are going to have a struggle between the anti-Koch Brother tendencies. Glenn Greenwald and Lee Fang of Thinkprogress are beginning to make documentaries on the various aspects of the Koch Brothers' political activities. Exiledonline is repeating its best hits on the Koch Brothers and are acting a bit miffed that they haven't got the credit for their groundbacking reporting. Some of these guys used to write for Reason magazine. I am sure more Koch critics are going to come out of the woodwork.
It was really the Wisconsin union-busting law by the Koch funded politicians that triggered the intense interest in the Koch Brothers. Their funding of the teaparties and their plans to destroy President Obama seemed more abstract than the tangible, immediate effects of their policies at a state level. And the blowback has been terrific.
ALEC, the Koch-funded think tank that creates model legislation for states, is now busy doing damage control by issuing press releases trying to distance themselves from the disasterous legislation that they sponsor. Previously, ALEC had tweeted about their maazing success until journalists and professors started to zoom in on them.
If you want a sense of the volume of anti-Koch sentiment, just check out the comments at www.KochBrothersExposed.com . Greenwald does a short clip of the various Koch "hits" on America and asks you to vote of them. Unfortunately,the list is too narrow so far but awesome enough.
I found one recurring theme of the comments very interesting. There is a recent myth that the Koch Brothers created the CATO Institute, the Washington-based libertarian think tank. This is repeated by Koch-friendly journalists and the brothers themselves. But commenters on Greenwald's website claim that the Koch brothers hijacked the think tank, kicked Murray Rothbard off the board and has tried to silence libertarians Lew Rockwell and Ron Paul. In short, they hijacked libertarianism.
This episode deserves more exploration because it would also provide an insight into their M.O. in seizing control of the teaparty phenomenon. Remember the first teaparty activities were the creation of Ron Paul's Crusade for Liberty. Then these were replaced by the Freedomworks' astroturf events funded by the Koch Brothers. In short, they acted like communists taking over a popular movement. I would say the same for their efforts in the Republican Party. With the Republican Party, their goal is simply to increase their fortune by being given carte blanche over environmental and regulatory policy.
I wish all the investigative journalists good luck and look forward to seeing the Greenwald documentaries. But as he said, he has had a team researching them for months and coming up with such vast amount of material that he doesn't know how much more there is to discover.
I would also suggest another theme that should be explored is the relationship between Glenn Beck and the Kochs. Tea party populists complained about Beck's Washington rally as being more a religious revival than a protest. Observers of Beck's behavior suggested that his general lunacy had taken him into the realm of religious revivalism. Perhaps, there is a more politically practical aspect of this in that the teabaggers had to be brought into control to do the Kochs' bidding.
But the spotlight on them obviously makes them uncomfortable. Everyone remotely linked to them is now noticed. For instance, the man Governor Walker picked as the head of the state utilities commission is a former Koch employee. You would never had known that before they drew all this attention.
I still say--Focus on Charles Koch. He believes he is another Martin Luther--as in the leader of the reformation. Or as in noted German.
In fact, the whole Koch fortune is based on winning favors from the state. Fred's initial fortune was made as a partner with Stalin's regime to build 15 oil refineries and his relationship with Nazi Germany. So much for the free market. Fred's hero "Benito Mussolini" was one of the great theorists that the state should support private corporations. So why did anyone think the sons would be any different? After all, they were at the table at Dick Cheney's secret energy taskforce to map out this country's future energy policy.
Now it seems we are going to have a struggle between the anti-Koch Brother tendencies. Glenn Greenwald and Lee Fang of Thinkprogress are beginning to make documentaries on the various aspects of the Koch Brothers' political activities. Exiledonline is repeating its best hits on the Koch Brothers and are acting a bit miffed that they haven't got the credit for their groundbacking reporting. Some of these guys used to write for Reason magazine. I am sure more Koch critics are going to come out of the woodwork.
It was really the Wisconsin union-busting law by the Koch funded politicians that triggered the intense interest in the Koch Brothers. Their funding of the teaparties and their plans to destroy President Obama seemed more abstract than the tangible, immediate effects of their policies at a state level. And the blowback has been terrific.
ALEC, the Koch-funded think tank that creates model legislation for states, is now busy doing damage control by issuing press releases trying to distance themselves from the disasterous legislation that they sponsor. Previously, ALEC had tweeted about their maazing success until journalists and professors started to zoom in on them.
If you want a sense of the volume of anti-Koch sentiment, just check out the comments at www.KochBrothersExposed.com . Greenwald does a short clip of the various Koch "hits" on America and asks you to vote of them. Unfortunately,the list is too narrow so far but awesome enough.
I found one recurring theme of the comments very interesting. There is a recent myth that the Koch Brothers created the CATO Institute, the Washington-based libertarian think tank. This is repeated by Koch-friendly journalists and the brothers themselves. But commenters on Greenwald's website claim that the Koch brothers hijacked the think tank, kicked Murray Rothbard off the board and has tried to silence libertarians Lew Rockwell and Ron Paul. In short, they hijacked libertarianism.
This episode deserves more exploration because it would also provide an insight into their M.O. in seizing control of the teaparty phenomenon. Remember the first teaparty activities were the creation of Ron Paul's Crusade for Liberty. Then these were replaced by the Freedomworks' astroturf events funded by the Koch Brothers. In short, they acted like communists taking over a popular movement. I would say the same for their efforts in the Republican Party. With the Republican Party, their goal is simply to increase their fortune by being given carte blanche over environmental and regulatory policy.
I wish all the investigative journalists good luck and look forward to seeing the Greenwald documentaries. But as he said, he has had a team researching them for months and coming up with such vast amount of material that he doesn't know how much more there is to discover.
I would also suggest another theme that should be explored is the relationship between Glenn Beck and the Kochs. Tea party populists complained about Beck's Washington rally as being more a religious revival than a protest. Observers of Beck's behavior suggested that his general lunacy had taken him into the realm of religious revivalism. Perhaps, there is a more politically practical aspect of this in that the teabaggers had to be brought into control to do the Kochs' bidding.
But the spotlight on them obviously makes them uncomfortable. Everyone remotely linked to them is now noticed. For instance, the man Governor Walker picked as the head of the state utilities commission is a former Koch employee. You would never had known that before they drew all this attention.
I still say--Focus on Charles Koch. He believes he is another Martin Luther--as in the leader of the reformation. Or as in noted German.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
The Ides of March in Kochistan
The Koch Brothers, the Hannibel Lecters of Politics, without the class, have been busy scrubbing Wikipedia and Google about their more nefarious activities and past. The two are walking adverisements for high estate taxes and the Rico Act. The good brother, William, referred to his brothers as running a "criminal enterprise". The poor lobbyists for Koch Industries in Madison have been running around state listening to their bosses being invoked in every speech. Apparently, they have been cornering speakers who mention the Brothers asking "Why did you mention them?"
I've come to the conclusion that the Kochs really don't have any ideology. They are sociopaths who want to be able to do anything they desire. The tip-off was David Koch's throw-away comment in the Jane Mayer piece in the New Yorker that he was an "anarchist." You have to feel sorry for people who had their father and came from demon seed. Imagine if you always have to air-brush your father's fervent anti-Americanism and his admiration for Benito Mussolini. But there is no governing philosophy behind them except the desire to act as marauders.
Let's take the staggering fact that they fund all anti-climate change programs in various conservative think tanks and even footed the bill for the anti-carbon emissions referendum in California. You know they don't personally believe this. It's simply because they do not want any regulations on their oil business. The damage this has done is turn the Republican Party, which supported climate change legislation, totally around that they now are all climate change deniers.
I'm convinced that the kerfuffle over their little exclusive retreat with Clarence Thomas and Glenn Beck to plot the downfall of Barack Obama was simply a social attempt for them to pick up some class. They wanted to meet Clarence and Glenn, not vice versa. That's their idea of social climbing. Can you imagine? At least their gay brother Frederick has some style, although collecting nude photos of Yul Brynner is a bit tacky. But he does have a beautiful Modigliani.
Now the Koch-funded think tank ALEC has provided the legislative templates for all the anti-collective bargaining bills throughout the Midwest. Each of the states are implementing their agenda in their own way. I'm surprised that Gov Kasich in Ohio doesn't allow them to frack so that the Cuyhauga River can start burning to the sea again. Would they invite Randy Newman to their next Get The Black Man Party? Then he could sing Sail Way.
You would think with their minions shuffling off into the night through a tunnel that things would be quiet in Wisconsin. But no, the mistress of Poor Randy Hopper had to have her photo and bio scrubbed from the lobby shop she works for. His wife did sign the recall petition after all. His Republican constituency is furious with him because once the story went viral, it turns out he hasn't lived in his district for over a year.
The Democrats are claiming they have reached 45% of the signatures needed to recall 8 of the Republican Senators. Early polling suggests that Democrats will be able to take back the Senate by picking up at least three of these seats, even Hopper's.
Senate Majority Leader Fitzgerald should become an honorary Koch for his utter classlessness. Fitzgerald already took away the Democrats' parking places, their xerox privileges and some of their staff. Now, he has e-mailed that when the legislature is back in session the Democrats will not bbe able to have positions on committees or vote in committee. Classy,heh?
Secretary of State LaFollette, descendent from Fightin' Bob, will not print the anti-union bill until the 21st as is legal. But Governor Walker wanted it done today. Meanwhile, the unions are using the time to secure the contracts they had already negotiated.
Governor Scott Walker, who is considered a dead man walking,showed up to speak at the Lincoln-Reagan Republican dinner and was greeted by several thousand protestors. He now travels around the state with a large police escort. This is a small state. Just to give you a contrast--Maine used to have a Governor Angus King and he would drive around the state on a motorcycle without the need of any security or escorts.
You know the Governors went a bridge too far when the unions joined a rally in rural Wisconsin sponsored by the Sierra Club. The group consciously tagged it Hard Hats and Tree Huggers Together.
Bill O'Reilly of Tiller, Tiller, the Child Killer Fame,said on Fox News that liberals should apologize for the death threats against the Republicans in the state. But the problem is that these threats are coming from Republicans and independents who feel betrayed.
Milwaukee is now complaining that the infrastructure is collapsing. Remember the Governor was the county commissioner until a few months ago.
I wonder if Randy Hopper is going to seek sanctuary from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. He was after all the point man to kill the Child Victim Bill, which protected the Catholic Church from a host of cases against pedophile priests. And Randy did his job--he killed the bill.
The department of the state government that registers retirements reports that the first four days of March they recorded more teacher retirements than the same month last year. Because of the budget cuts for education in Madison, scores of younger teachers are leaving the profession because they can't afford the job. Maybe they should walk down the street to the Koch Brothers' new lobby office and get a job there. The University of Wisconsin is seeing more early retirment of professors and staff because older personnel want to save the pensions and medical benefits they currently have. This is how a very successful educational system gets destroyed.
Now back to Ohio, John Kasich delivered his state of the state address to thousands of protestors. Remember Kasich barely beat Strickland and trumpeted his commitment to transparency. Yesterday he notified the press that he did not want them to disclose his budget. What is he going to do if the Cleveland Plains Dealer does it--waterboard the reporter or detain him like Bradley Manning. This is the same guy who ruled that everything of his plan Jobs for Ohio is secret and that no businesses who received government contracts should be known. It's not coincidence that Kasich has the lowest approval rating of a new Ohio Governor in history.
Perhaps, the best that would come out of this is for President Obama to appoint Gov. Strickland as the new DNC Chair since he will need the state for re-election.
Meanwhile in Michigan, Governor Rick Snyder ran on a platform of bipartisan cooperation and invoked past Republican governors who were moderates. He turned on a dome when elected. You would think that a state which has only seen jobs creating by President Obama through the rescue of the car industry and the development of solar and battery power would want to remain friendly with the people who created the only jobs in 20 years in the state. But no,the Governor decided to cut business taxes dramatically and increase them on the middle class.
But that's really not the issue. Michigan has passed legislation that would allow the Governor to unilaterally declare a locality, town, city or school district a financial emergency and suspend the democratic rule and bid out its management to either a coporation or city manager type. The Democrats, who are in a minority, tried to suggest that whoever or whatever assumed these positions would earn less than the Governor. The motion was defeated. Now the Governor is free to auction off Michigan to private corporations. I think we should demand Koch Industries buy the whole state . Then their subsidiary Georgia-Northern could clear cut all the Michigan forests.
Where does Dixie Cups go for their reputation back? After all they existed before they would bought by the evil brothers.
I've come to the conclusion that the Kochs really don't have any ideology. They are sociopaths who want to be able to do anything they desire. The tip-off was David Koch's throw-away comment in the Jane Mayer piece in the New Yorker that he was an "anarchist." You have to feel sorry for people who had their father and came from demon seed. Imagine if you always have to air-brush your father's fervent anti-Americanism and his admiration for Benito Mussolini. But there is no governing philosophy behind them except the desire to act as marauders.
Let's take the staggering fact that they fund all anti-climate change programs in various conservative think tanks and even footed the bill for the anti-carbon emissions referendum in California. You know they don't personally believe this. It's simply because they do not want any regulations on their oil business. The damage this has done is turn the Republican Party, which supported climate change legislation, totally around that they now are all climate change deniers.
I'm convinced that the kerfuffle over their little exclusive retreat with Clarence Thomas and Glenn Beck to plot the downfall of Barack Obama was simply a social attempt for them to pick up some class. They wanted to meet Clarence and Glenn, not vice versa. That's their idea of social climbing. Can you imagine? At least their gay brother Frederick has some style, although collecting nude photos of Yul Brynner is a bit tacky. But he does have a beautiful Modigliani.
Now the Koch-funded think tank ALEC has provided the legislative templates for all the anti-collective bargaining bills throughout the Midwest. Each of the states are implementing their agenda in their own way. I'm surprised that Gov Kasich in Ohio doesn't allow them to frack so that the Cuyhauga River can start burning to the sea again. Would they invite Randy Newman to their next Get The Black Man Party? Then he could sing Sail Way.
You would think with their minions shuffling off into the night through a tunnel that things would be quiet in Wisconsin. But no, the mistress of Poor Randy Hopper had to have her photo and bio scrubbed from the lobby shop she works for. His wife did sign the recall petition after all. His Republican constituency is furious with him because once the story went viral, it turns out he hasn't lived in his district for over a year.
The Democrats are claiming they have reached 45% of the signatures needed to recall 8 of the Republican Senators. Early polling suggests that Democrats will be able to take back the Senate by picking up at least three of these seats, even Hopper's.
Senate Majority Leader Fitzgerald should become an honorary Koch for his utter classlessness. Fitzgerald already took away the Democrats' parking places, their xerox privileges and some of their staff. Now, he has e-mailed that when the legislature is back in session the Democrats will not bbe able to have positions on committees or vote in committee. Classy,heh?
Secretary of State LaFollette, descendent from Fightin' Bob, will not print the anti-union bill until the 21st as is legal. But Governor Walker wanted it done today. Meanwhile, the unions are using the time to secure the contracts they had already negotiated.
Governor Scott Walker, who is considered a dead man walking,showed up to speak at the Lincoln-Reagan Republican dinner and was greeted by several thousand protestors. He now travels around the state with a large police escort. This is a small state. Just to give you a contrast--Maine used to have a Governor Angus King and he would drive around the state on a motorcycle without the need of any security or escorts.
You know the Governors went a bridge too far when the unions joined a rally in rural Wisconsin sponsored by the Sierra Club. The group consciously tagged it Hard Hats and Tree Huggers Together.
Bill O'Reilly of Tiller, Tiller, the Child Killer Fame,said on Fox News that liberals should apologize for the death threats against the Republicans in the state. But the problem is that these threats are coming from Republicans and independents who feel betrayed.
Milwaukee is now complaining that the infrastructure is collapsing. Remember the Governor was the county commissioner until a few months ago.
I wonder if Randy Hopper is going to seek sanctuary from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. He was after all the point man to kill the Child Victim Bill, which protected the Catholic Church from a host of cases against pedophile priests. And Randy did his job--he killed the bill.
The department of the state government that registers retirements reports that the first four days of March they recorded more teacher retirements than the same month last year. Because of the budget cuts for education in Madison, scores of younger teachers are leaving the profession because they can't afford the job. Maybe they should walk down the street to the Koch Brothers' new lobby office and get a job there. The University of Wisconsin is seeing more early retirment of professors and staff because older personnel want to save the pensions and medical benefits they currently have. This is how a very successful educational system gets destroyed.
Now back to Ohio, John Kasich delivered his state of the state address to thousands of protestors. Remember Kasich barely beat Strickland and trumpeted his commitment to transparency. Yesterday he notified the press that he did not want them to disclose his budget. What is he going to do if the Cleveland Plains Dealer does it--waterboard the reporter or detain him like Bradley Manning. This is the same guy who ruled that everything of his plan Jobs for Ohio is secret and that no businesses who received government contracts should be known. It's not coincidence that Kasich has the lowest approval rating of a new Ohio Governor in history.
Perhaps, the best that would come out of this is for President Obama to appoint Gov. Strickland as the new DNC Chair since he will need the state for re-election.
Meanwhile in Michigan, Governor Rick Snyder ran on a platform of bipartisan cooperation and invoked past Republican governors who were moderates. He turned on a dome when elected. You would think that a state which has only seen jobs creating by President Obama through the rescue of the car industry and the development of solar and battery power would want to remain friendly with the people who created the only jobs in 20 years in the state. But no,the Governor decided to cut business taxes dramatically and increase them on the middle class.
But that's really not the issue. Michigan has passed legislation that would allow the Governor to unilaterally declare a locality, town, city or school district a financial emergency and suspend the democratic rule and bid out its management to either a coporation or city manager type. The Democrats, who are in a minority, tried to suggest that whoever or whatever assumed these positions would earn less than the Governor. The motion was defeated. Now the Governor is free to auction off Michigan to private corporations. I think we should demand Koch Industries buy the whole state . Then their subsidiary Georgia-Northern could clear cut all the Michigan forests.
Where does Dixie Cups go for their reputation back? After all they existed before they would bought by the evil brothers.
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