tagged w/ Koch Industries
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This is what Stew readers came up when asked for one word to describe the Koch Brothers...
(click on the link to participate in our next "Stew Word Storm" on gay marriage)
http://veracitystew.com/?p=35634This is what Stew readers came up when asked for one word to describe the Koch... more
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Campaign Manager Ms. Cutter says to "share" this so I am - hope you enjoy and it helps when you see inaccuracies on Facebook, etc.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101725784
"I agree with Stephanie Cutter and think we all need to share this information, so I Hope you folks will do just that!!!" =)Campaign Manager Ms. Cutter says to "share" this so I am - hope you enjoy... more
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KB723
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29 days ago
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By Kenneth Quinnell
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) released ads against his top two Democratic rivals in his recall election, blaming them for job losses that are much more likely the fault of his own policies and the national policies of his party before Barack Obama came to office. During his tenure, Wisconsin has the worst record of job creation of any state, yet Walker is blaming Tom Barrett and Kathleen Falk for their records in Milwaukee and Dane County, respectively. It's difficult to see how those local governments would've been able to create jobs in the wake of Walker's terrible policies on the job front, but that's the approach the governor has taken.
"For Scott Walker to attack anyone on jobs loss is not just shamelessly hypocritical, it's comically absurd," Barrett's communications director, Phil Walzak, responded in a statement. "Under Walker's failed leadership, Wisconsin lost more jobs last year than any other state in the nation."
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Falk's communications director, Scot Ross, called the ad "desperate," saying in a statement, "Under Gov. Scott Walker, Wisconsin lost more jobs than any state in the nation last year. In contrast, Kathleen Falk balanced 14 straight budgets with a self-imposed landmark spending cap and during her tenure, her county grew nearly 30,000 jobs -- the most in the state. Kathleen’s unmatched record of bringing people together, finding solutions and getting the job done is why Scott Walker has resorted to attacking and distorting her record."
Read More: http://crooksandliars.com/kenneth-quinnell/scott-walker-releases-ads-blaming
"This whole Bait and Switch from the GOP is beyond Obvious, in fact it's Sickening!!!" =(By Kenneth Quinnell
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) released ads against his top... more
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KB723
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1 month ago
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Or maybe you will...
Found on BraveNewFoundation’s YouTube channel
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101721385
"Wow, can you imagine being so Rich and not having to pay taxes will allow you to do with your money???" Outrageous!!! =(Or maybe you will...
Found on BraveNewFoundation’s YouTube channel... more
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KB723
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1 month ago
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In the wake of the Trayvon Martin murder, the Koch Brothers sought to distance themselves from the ensuing controversy by releasing a statement saying that they had nothing to do with it. This is an utter lie. Michael Morgan of Koch Industries has sat on ALEC’s Private Enterprise Board for 10 years, is the Kansas State Corporate Co-Chair, and was the ‘Vice Chairman’ level sponsor of the 2011 ALEC Annual Conference.
http://veracitystew.com/?p=33313In the wake of the Trayvon Martin murder, the Koch Brothers sought to distance... more
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By Kenneth Quinnell
In advance of his upcoming recall election and possible legal trouble, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has become even more extreme, ramping up the rhetoric and taking actions that are troubling, to say the least. Most importantly, he signed a repeal of the state's Equal Pay Enforcement Act:
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who is facing a recall election, quietly repealed a state law making it easier for pay discrimination victims to seek justice. Amanda Terkel reports in The Huffington Post that Walker signed into law a bill passed in party-line votes by Republicans in the state legislature that rolls back the 2009 Equal Pay Enforcement Act. The act had allowed workers to challenge pay discrimination in state rather than just federal courts.
The act was only one part of Walker's assault on women:
Among them were four highly controversial measures focused on women's health care and sexual education:
A repeal of the state's Equal Pay law, which allowed victim's of wage discrimination to collect damages of between $50,000 and $300,000, and a repeal of the Healthy Youth Act, which had provided requirements to schools that comprehensive and scientifically accurate information about everything from abstinence to contraception be taught at an age-appropriate level.
Walker also signed into law a ban on abortion coverage through policies as part of a health insurance exchange to be created under the federal health care reform law starting in 2014 (the only exceptions would be in cases of rape, incest or medical necessity); and a bill requiring women seeking abortions to undergo a physical exam and consult with a doctor alone, away from her friends and family, in order to make sure she isn't "being pressured into the decision." Doctors who break the law could be charged with a felony.
As usual, working families were a target for Walker as well:
I know that collective bargaining is not a right; it's an expensive entitlement. It's about time somebody stood up for the hardworking taxpayers of our state.
The problem is, of course, that collective bargaining is a right.
Walker has also been railing about how state workers can't be the "haves" while everyone else is a "have not." The state worker he used in an ad to that effect, it turns out is actually one of the have-nots, making only $25,227 a year, certainly not a massive salary by any standards.
In an interview with CBN, Walker made a series of more and more strange claims:
"Any human being, if we're honest about it, you don't want to be hated by anybody, you want everybody to love you," he said. "But I was asked last December, somebody asked me, a supporter, asked me a very interesting question at dinner. He said, 'Did you ever stop and think that maybe if you hadn't gone so far, that you wouldn't be facing a recall?' I said, 'Yeah, sure, but if I hadn't taken the steps I took, we wouldn't have fixed things.' And I said, 'For my kids and their generation I don't want them to inherit a Wisconsin that is not at least as great if not greater than the one I inherited. And you don't get that by not fixing things.' "
"And, to me, that's one of our problems. You can't be afraid to lose," Walker said. "You shouldn't plan on it, but you should make decisions that are ultimately about what's right and what's just and what's best - not just for yourself but for the next wave of young people who are going to inherit our states and our country and not be afraid to lose along the way."
"Why?" he asked. "Because their guys are back to work, they're working again. Unlike my predecessor, who made it very difficult for people building infrastructure, building roads and bridges and rail and things of that nature, we put money back in that had been raided there."
Walker told Brody that he had heard his opponents would spend $70 million to $80 million in the recall race.
Probably most frightening was a final quote:
"We realize that all this is just a temporary thing and God's got a plan for us that, who knows where it might be, beyond just serving as governor of this state, but if we stay true to that, there's always comfort," he said. "And God's grace is always abundant no matter what you do."
Walker for president in 2016?
http://crooksandliars.com/kenneth-quinnell/scott-walker-ramps-extremism
"Knowing that we have had a POTUS who was convicted of DUI and Cocaine abuse, I guess anything is Possible!!!" =(By Kenneth Quinnell
In advance of his upcoming recall election and possible legal... more
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In “At Any Cost” we expose the lies used by fossil fuel industry lackeys to push back against climate change legislation and public understanding. Just when it seemed as though we were getting somewhere on this issue, lobbyists, economists and others posing as climate change “experts” amped up their arguments on media shows hosted by Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and others. You don’t tune them in? Unfortunately, millions do, and they believe what they hear.
Finally, the court of public opinion has its chance to hear from the very people who have been attacked by these oil and coal industry lackeys. Climate scientists Ben Santer, Michael Mann, Michael Oppenheimer, Ray Bradley and others speak out about the real dangers of unabated fossil fuel use, and about the attacks they’ve been subjected to by “experts” like Fred Singer, Steve Milloy, Senator James Inhofe, and others.
More at the link
Documentary was released in 2011. This was the description from the site.In “At Any Cost” we expose the lies used by fossil fuel industry lackeys... more
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By Yasha Levine
The Kochs Give a Big Enron F_ck You to America
Last week, I wrote that Kochs Industries’ recent fight against financial regulation and aggressive defense of unregulated derivatives via the “Enron Loophole” was a clear sign that the company was using its position as a large-scale marketer of oil and other energy commodities to manipulate prices.
Well, thanks to recent reporting by Lee Fang, we now know this for a fact. Traders working for Koch Industries not only gave PowerPoint presentations outlining their plans to drive up the price of oil, but openly boasted about gaming the market in the business press.
http://exiledonline.com/koch-industries-lackeys-admit-to-manipulating-oil-prices-and-gloat-about-it-too/By Yasha Levine
The Kochs Give a Big Enron F_ck You to America
Last week, I... more
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To read Liberal media and their description of the Koch Brothers one would think they are worse than al Qaeda. An example of this unhealthy obsession may be found in a recent headline by The New Yorker titled: Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama.
Sounds vaguely evil, doesn’t it?
The Koch brothers are white, in their 70s, involved in oil and gas, paper cups, and even stain resistant carpet, their company earns about $100 billion per year, and they donate to charity and political causes. In short, they are the perfect Liberal Boogeymen throwing levers behind the scenes (perhaps in smoking jackets) working for some type of conspiratorial plan to wrest control of the nation away from the majority.
Nonsense they are yet another in a long line of political “donors” who use their money to help shape the debate in Washington. For 2010 Koch Industries gave $2.8 million to mostly Republican candidates, placing them #41 on the list of largest donors to political parties in America. By comparison, ActBlue (a Democratic special interest group) gave $29 million, all of it to Democrats making them #1 on the list of donors. In fact, Democrats took the top 3 spots for largest campaign money (about $48 million).
As Matt over at Conservative Hideout has written, the Koch Brothers obsession stems from the “Useful Idiots” of the Democratic Party who don’t really know fact from fiction but serve the purpose of parroting the party message even though their knowledge is 10 miles wide but 0.1 inches deep.
Hot Air has an article responding to Liberal writer Richard Esko at HuffPo wondering why oh why the Tea Party seems to be winning the war of ideas. Predictably, the Koch Brothers are raised as a key reason:
Why did Tea Partiers win such a major victory? Money, for starters. The Tea Party’s generously funded by billionaires like the Koch Brothers.
As we pointed out recently, Democrats never or rarely mention the role their own special interests play in their defeats because a lot of money goes to their party from them:
By focusing on the Koch Brothers, what Democratic writers and activists do is create a massive blind spot regarding why their party never seems to do very well overall in elections. The percentage of Americans in unions has been dropping quickly for decades and the public has shown an increasing dislike for them. Wisconsin might have been the first state to put the hammer to Big Union but many states are making plans to follow this path.
Big Union and groups like ActBlue (of which George Soros is a huge donor) push Democrats to the extreme Left, a position the American public has steadfastly rejected time after time.
If Liberals are aghast by the influence they claim the Koch brothers have why are they also not upset by how much more money flows into their party than to the Republicans by ActBlue, SEIU, and the American Federation of Teachers?
Because their money helps them get the right message out, that’s why.
http://capitolcommentary.com/2011/04/12/liberals-unhealthy-fascination-with-the-koch-brothers/To read Liberal media and their description of the Koch Brothers one would think they... more
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"By September of that year, the researchers had found evidence of improper payments to secure contracts in six countries dating back to 2002, authorized by the business director of the company’s Koch-Glitsch affiliate in France.
“Those activities constitute violations of criminal law,” Koch Industries wrote in a Dec. 8, 2008, letter giving details of its findings. The letter was made public in a civil court ruling in France in September 2010; the document has never before been reported by the media.
Egorova-Farines wasn’t rewarded for bringing the illicit payments to the company’s attention. Her superiors removed her from the inquiry in August 2008 and fired her in June 2009, calling her incompetent, even after Koch’s investigators substantiated her findings. She sued Koch-Glitsch in France for wrongful termination."
http://tinyurl.com/6doxrfz"By September of that year, the researchers had found evidence of improper... more
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LOrion
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7 months ago
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By Lee Fang on Sep 15, 2011 at 11:30 am
Last month, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) leaked confidential data about oil speculation to a number of media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal. Ordinarily, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the regulatory body that oversees futures trading, does not provide identities of speculators to the public. However, the data leaked by Sanders provides a rare snapshot into the trading volumes by major speculators right before the oil price spike in the summer of 2008.
As experts from Stanford University, Rice University, the University of Massachusetts, and authorities have concluded, rampant oil speculation was the prime driver of the record high prices for crude oil three years ago.
To view a copy of the data, click here for documents leaked by Sanders. To view an organized spreadsheet, click here.
Notably, the top speculators are noncommercial players, meaning they are companies that simply and buy and sell crude contracts with no interest in actually refining and selling the product. Each contract in the list represents 1,000 barrels of oil. The documents show the total volume of trades made on one specific day shortly before the record high price of $148 per barrel.
The data, though revealing, still does not give a complete picture of trading strategies. Speculators invest in multiple private exchanges, and trading tactics can shift from day to day. Moreover physical plays, such as buying up large quantities of actual oil and storing it on tankers or in large containers, are still largely hidden from public view.
Tyson Slocum, an oil speculation expert at Public Citizen, reviewed the documents and spoke with ThinkProgress. He said that this data is important because it shows who the “big players are” and underscores the need for transparency and regulation in these so-called dark markets:
SLOCUM: What this tells us is who the big players are, because volume equates market share in a way, if you are driving volume, and if your volume is at a significant enough amount you become a price setter or at least a price trender where you’re going to have the effect of unilaterally influencing prices and that’s very significant. And you’ve got sort of a cascading effect, and the smaller traders are going to follow Goldman Sach and others will chase the leader, which is why Dodd Frank said Congress shall set position limits in these markets. Position limits would limit the market share, limit the positions banks could take. Dodd Frank recognizes the danger that one or two traders can have when they dominate the positions in a given market.
Professor Michael Greenberger, a former CFTC official, told ThinkProgress that the “short” positions outlined by the document might cause confusion because in many cases banks act simply as intermediaries for their clients. Critics will note the net short positions and assume incorrectly that many of these players were simply betting on prices to go down, not up. Greenberger explained that if you look closer at the data, the trading shows banks and other speculators were actually pushing the price up:
GREENBERGER: When you look at it carefully, the speculative money has all been heavily weighted in the favor of buying in the direction of the price going up. […] They go in and buy long in the regular futures market, which sends a long signal to the market, that there’s a supply problem that really doesn’t exist. To keep their long bets in place, they have to do something called the “Goldman Roll,” which is these contracts don’t go on forever. They expire. So what they have to do is sell short to get out of the contract when the expiration takes place, then roll around and buy long again to keep the long bet on the books. So the long bets are predicated on intermediate short bets, that are canceled out within three or four days of each other.
Regardless of the actual trading strategies, the volume makes clear that not only were Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, as well as pension and sovereign wealth funds, among the top participants in the oil speculation bubble, but so were politically connected hedge funds. Elliott Management, one of the top hedge funds revealed by the documents, is led by Paul Singer, a billionaire investor and a major donor to Karl Rove’s network of attack groups and to Republicans on the Financial Services Committee.
As we have discussed on this blog, “all the major oil companies (Shell, BP, Occidental, etc) operate like Wall Street investment banks and use their privileged position in the oil market to make speculative bets on the price of oil.” An accidental leak of private Chevron data two months ago confirmed that the company relied on sophisticated speculation strategies, just as much as drilling and refining oil, to make a profit. This data seems to confirms that Koch Industries — a conglomerate that has admitted that it is among the top five oil speculators in the world — participates in the oil speculation market on the level of big banks.
The Dodd-Frank law passed last year contains a mandate that the CFTC crack down on rampant oil speculation by imposing position limits to curb the number of contracts held by participants in this market. As lobbying firms have spent months fighting these new rules, it is instructive to note that the biggest players 2008 oil price spike have also flooded campaign coffers of DC politicians, potentially hoping for influence in shaping these rules or weakening the CFTC’s hand (through budget cuts and other limitations). MapLight has compiled the campaign donations for some of the largest speculators revealed by Sanders’ leak, which can be viewed on this spreadsheet.
For more on Koch Industries’ role in deregulating the oil speculation market, carving out the infamous loopholes, and actually inventing the first oil derivatives, view our report here.By Lee Fang on Sep 15, 2011 at 11:30 am
Last month, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)... more
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Koch Industries is lobbying to prevent tougher counter-terrorism standards for its facilities that use hazardous toxic chemicals. A terrorist attack or accident at Koch’s oil, chemical, paper and fertilizer plants, an iWatch News investigation revealed, could put tens of thousands of people and their homes, schools, hospitals, day care centers, factories and offices at risk.
Koch maintains that existing federal and state regulations are adequate to protect nearby residents.
Here is a list of the 10 Koch facilities, and the toxic chemicals they use, that put the most Americans in potential danger in the event of an accident or attack:
More at the linkKoch Industries is lobbying to prevent tougher counter-terrorism standards for its... more
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The Michigan chapter of the Koch-backed conservative activist group Americans For Prosperity (AFP) has been campaigning against a new bridge project called the New International Trade Crossing (NITC) that the state is considering. While there may be some merit to some of the arguments against the NITC project, the tactics AFP has just been found to be using in campaigning against it are revolting.
Yesterday, numerous residents in the Delray area of Detroit came back to their homes to find eviction notices. The problem was that these notices were not authorized by any sort of local government authorities. Rather, they were mocked up by AFP to look like actual eviction notices. The “notices” sensationally claimed to homeowners that their property may be seized if the NITC is constructed. Some residents, particularly elderly ones, were physically shaken by the tactic:
Residents and a state legislator lambasted the circulars, saying they were a scare tactic by opponents of the bridge. Dolores Toth, 81, who has heart problems, began to shake after reading the notice, said her son, Steve. “How low can you go?” Steve Toth said. “This isn’t something you do, I don’t care who you are.”
“It was meant to startle people,” said AFP Michigan director Scott Hagerstrom, defending the notices. “We really wanted people to take notice. This is the time that their opinions need to be heard. We wanted people to read it.” The Detroit Free Press put together a video report covering AFP’s scare tactics and the local area’s response.
AFP’s tactics are bad enough by themselves, but they are even worse when you consider where the fake eviction notices were delivered. Michigan has the country’s highest foreclosure rate, and Detroit in particular is perhaps the epicenter of the foreclosure crisis.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/06/07/238832/americans-for-prosperity-detroit/The Michigan chapter of the Koch-backed conservative activist group Americans For... more
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We're taking a daily look at some of the most popular stories from the Current community, and we've rounded up some highlights to share. Check them out and add your two cents:
Judge dismisses Koch lawsuit against climate activistsSubmitted by JanforGore
A Utah district court judge shut down an attempt from Koch Industries to reveal the names of climate activiests who spoofed the companies website.
Unamused, Koch sued for a variety of claims, including infringement of trademark, unfair competition and cybersquatting, among others. Koch had also sought to serve subpoenas on the company that hosted the sham website in order to obtain the identities of the activists.
The defendants, represented by the advocacy group Public Citizen, sought to have the subpoenas quashed, the activists' identities protected and the lawsuit -- along with all of its claims -- dismissed.
Sexual orientation is a choice, says BC Conservative leadership candidateSubmitted by KB723
A conservative leader candidate in British Columbia, John Cummins, has suggested that sexual orientation is a choice, and does not require specific protection under Canada's Human Rights Act.
“I'm pro-life, I'm pro-traditional marriage, that's my view, I'm not a scientist,” he told the Times Colonist. “I'm not going to discuss that, they're personal issues, private issues.”
Exclusive: Pornography found in bin Laden hideout: officialsSubmitted by Crystalman
Although he railed against Western culture and defended Islamic piety, U.S. officials found, among other materials, an extensive stash of pornography in Osama bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan.
The pornography recovered in bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, consists of modern, electronically recorded video and is fairly extensive, according to the officials, who discussed the discovery with Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Join the discussion -- or head over to the News group for more popular stories from the community.We're taking a daily look at some of the most popular stories from the... more
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Charles and David Koch are worth $42 billion and make $13 million every day while vulnerable Americans struggle to afford shelter and groceries. Meet three Florida seniors who rely on Social Security and are fighting back against the Koch brothers attempt to make them homeless. They told the Kochs what's on their minds. What would you tell the Kochs? Have your say at http://kochbrothersexposed.com/kochmansionsCharles and David Koch are worth $42 billion and make $13 million every day while... more
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The billionaire Koch brothers have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to gain political influence and change America. Vote on the worst thing they have done - oil spills, anti-worker, anti-healthcare, anti-immigration, or got a better one? Write it in. Check it out: http://goo.gl/Lua4tThe billionaire Koch brothers have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to gain... more
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There was nothing terribly sophisticated about the denial of service attack executed by the activist hackers at Anonymous to temporarily knock out the website of Americans for Prosperity, the conservative advocacy group backed by billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch.
But the senior execs at Georgia Pacific and other corporate holdings controlled by the Koch brothers ought to be very nervous. Anonymous, best known for similarly crippling websites of firms hostile to WikiLeaks, says it has begun actively probing for network weaknesses in Georgia Pacific and other Koch brothers' holdings.
Should the activist hackers succeed in cracking into any of the Koch brothers' corporate networks, Anonymous could solidify its emerging persona as a digital-age Robin Hood, says Josh Shaul, Chief Technology Officer of network security company Application Security.
"These guys have so much attitude and spunk," says Shaul. "Anonymous is coming out of its shell and seems to be saying, 'Hey, we'll be the voice of the people, we'll be the Robin Hood fighting for the poor against the powerful.' "
In this statement, Anonymous accuses the Koch brothers of "fabricating grassroots organizations and advertising campaigns to sway voters based on their falsehoods." The statement concludes:
Anonymous hears the voice of the downtrodden American people, whose rights and liberties are being systematically removed one by one, even when their own government refuses to listen or worse - is complicit in these attacks. We are actively seeking vulnerabilities, but in the mean time we are calling for all supporters of true Democracy, and Freedom of The People, to boycott all Koch Industries' paper products. We welcome unions across the globe to join us in this boycott to show that you will not allow big business to dictate your freedom.
The group's highest profile hack to date shows what it is capable of. On Feb. 5, a group of five elite hackers gained deep access into data intelligence firm HBGary, defaced and damaged most if its systems, and stole 77,000 e-mails from the Google Enterprise cloud-based service used by the company.
Upon being made public on the Internet, the stolen e-mails were pored over by reporters and activists; they revealed stunning details of how high-stakes, corporate-backed disinformation campaigns get birthed.
Click here to read about the pivotal role a 16-year-old girl played in that hack. The lightning rod in that caper -- HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr -- on Monday announced his resignation. Barr will go down in tech history as the disinformation expert who stirred Anonymous into a higher gear -- by bragging that he had identified the group's leaders and planning to expose them on Valentines Day at the B-Sides Security Conference in San Francisco.
Though corporations have spent billions shoring up network perimeter defenses, determined hackers routinely gain deep access into corporate systems. They do so by combining simple social-engineering trickery with proven hacking tools.
We recently published this news story about how one cybergang stole more than $50 million by setting up an elaborate series of stings of European companies participating in Europe's carbon-credits exchange. Another gang got deep into Nasdaq's Directors Desk cloud collabartion tool for senior executives, where they lurked for more than a year before recently being detected.
The activist hackers at Anonymyous have demonstrated knowledge and skills of the techniques used by top hacking groups that concentrate on breaking into corporate networks for profit.
"They better be concerned," Shaul says of the Koch brothers. "What Anonymous is saying is 'we're getting ready to execute whatever attack we can, so you better be worried; in the meantime, we're going to be a big pain.' "
Update: 5:50 p.m Eastern. A Michael Goldfarb called Technology Live and identified himself as a spokeman for Koch Industries. Goldfarb requested to go off the record for a "substantive discussion." We declined. The caller declined to comment on the Anonymous attack.
GO TO STORY:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2011/03/anonymous-actively-probing-koch-brothers-corporate-networks-/1There was nothing terribly sophisticated about the denial of service attack executed... more
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America's most powerful new nobleman Charles G. Koch's has issued his instructions to his retainers in the Congress and the States, and to all of his bands of peasant inquisitors. Koch's instructions were relayed through the nobility's favorite broadsheet the Wall Street Journal.
Why Koch Industries Is Speaking Out
MARCH 1, 2011
"By CHARLES G. KOCH
Years of tremendous overspending by federal, state and local governments have brought us face-to-face with an economic crisis."
Charles resents that the government provides services that he and his companies have no need for, and wost of all that the government has the effrontery to expect him and his companies to help pay for those services.
"For many years, I, my family and our company have contributed to a variety of intellectual and political causes working to solve these problems. Because of our activism, we've been vilified by various groups. Despite this criticism, we're determined to keep contributing and standing up for those politicians, like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who are taking these challenges seriously."
Yes he and his brother are determined to roll the clock of our government back 100 years, before socialist evils like the income tax, unions, and modern climate science. Walker is one of Charles' loyal retainers as Walker demonstrated when he was Punked.
Charles rails at length against government budget shortfalls, but any thought that he or his brother should sacrifice anything more to help solve the problem is unthinkable, and excluded from any consideration.
"Government spending on business only aggravates the problem. Too many businesses have successfully lobbied for special favors and treatment by seeking mandates for their products, subsidies (in the form of cash payments from the government), and regulations or tariffs to keep more efficient competitors at bay.
Crony capitalism is much easier than competing in an open market. But it erodes our overall standard of living and stifles entrepreneurs by rewarding the politically favored rather than those who provide what consumers want."
I see that the concept of irony is unknown to Charles Koch. But then he tries to justify his being very successful at gaming the system with an"everybody does it" argument.
"Because every other company in a given industry is accepting market-distorting programs, Koch companies have had little option but to do so as well, simply to remain competitive and help sustain our 50,000 U.S.-based jobs."
Then Charles instructs his retainers in the Congress and Provincial Capitals on what nature country he and his companies would like to see America become, with almost all of the nation's resources in private hands (preferably with the lion's share in the hands of a clique of like minded Plutocrats).
"Our elected officials would do well to remember that the most prosperous countries are those that allow consumers—not governments—to direct the use of resources. Allowing the government to pick winners and losers hurts almost everyone, especially our poorest citizens."
No Charles, the most prosperous countries invest their resources in their human assets, as well as curbing unbridled corporate power.
2010 Human Development Index
#1 Norway 0.938 (steady)
#2 Australia 0.937 (steady)
#3 New Zealand 0.907 (increase 17)
#4 United States 0.902 (increase 9)
More from Charles
"Even though it affects our business, as a matter of principle our company has been outspoken in defense of economic freedom. This country would be much better off if every company would do the same. Instead, we see far too many businesses that paint their tails white and run with the antelope."
This part is gratifying. Charles is admitting that pushing their libertarian politics so forcefully has made them unpopular and hurt business. He wants other corporate leaders to join him in his unpopular stands and take the heat off of Koch Industries.
We're doing good!
Keep up the boycott. We're striking at their hearts
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/01/951272/-Charles-Koch-issues-his-instructions-to-the-peasants-America's most powerful new nobleman Charles G. Koch's has issued his... more
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The DIGNITY of the American Worker IS NOT FOR SALE!
How often have you heard, “‘We can’t tax big business more, they’ll just pass the costs on to the consumer?”
Some people seem to be willing to accept that must be helpless slaves to big business. They may have bought the Tea Party and the Wisconsin Governor, but NOT me! I say…they CAN’T pass the costs on to ME if I don’t buy their products.
This is America, not China! Workers don’t need to give up their rights and the middle-class doesn’t have to BOW TO THE PLUTOCRACY ANYMORE!
Until BIG BUSINESS IS ASKED TO SACRIFICE THEIR FAIR SHARE…A BOYCOTT IS IN ORDER.
I’m STARTING with Koch Ind.
Here’s WHY. http://www.theawl.com/2011/02/the-selling-of-wisconsin-enter-koch-brothers-bag-man-jeffrey-schoepke If as the Governors agrees, Wisconsin is the first domino, we need to STOP IT IN IT’S TRACKS THERE!
The damning phone call is HERE: http://dancody.org/archives/uncensored-prank-call-of-gov-walker-recording-talking-to-david-koch.html/
Cowards like Governor Walker are afraid to negotiate the collective bargaining rights of the Teachers and Nurses unions. Only weak leaders fear tough negotiations. Strong leaders view them as opportunities for sustainable solutions with buy-in from all stake holders.
Cowards and bullies and union busters aren’t going to solve this country’s big problems by themselves in ANY meaningful and sustainable way.
The POWER is with the People and their WALLETS!
Koch Ind doesn’t care about anything other than the bottom line. We can significantly SHRINK it by attacking the TOP line,The DIGNITY of the American Worker IS NOT FOR SALE!
How often have you heard,... more
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