tagged w/ corporate criminals
-
-
This story is far from the beaten path. SCROTUS are the extreme, activist ideologues on SCOTUS, who care more for millionaires, billionaires, and corporate criminals than for the US Constitution. Once in a while, SCROTUS does something that obviously has to be wrong, and makes absolutely no sense. Then comes the light bulb moment.This story is far from the beaten path. SCROTUS are the extreme, activist ideologues... more
-
-
Most of you will agree that Citizens United is the worst Supreme Court decision since Dred Scott. It was particularly remarkable in that the Court overreached through making decisions on issues that had not even been brought before the Court, essentially legislating from the bench, the epitome of judicial activism. Yesterday I learned of a case in which the Court appears to be doing the very same thing, changing a case to decide issues that were not brought before the court.Most of you will agree that Citizens United is the worst Supreme Court decision since... more
-
-
Since five right-wing activist ideologues ignored the Constitution in Citizens United, deciding that corporations have more rights than people, and that money supersedes speech, federal elections have become dominated by Super PACs. In my research I found an excellent article that describes the ten largest super PAC donors. Here is number one.Since five right-wing activist ideologues ignored the Constitution in Citizens United,... more
-
-
As the stage is set for recall in Fitzwalkerstan, formerly Wisconsin, Fartfuhrer Walker has become all the more dependent on the largesse of the corporate criminals, to whom he sold-out his regime’s tortured subjects, especially the Koch Brothers. However, the Koch Brothers have become so blatant, it appears that they have actually admitted to violating campaign finance laws, as the following article by John Nichols demonstrates. If so, Walker’s Koch may be cut off.As the stage is set for recall in Fitzwalkerstan, formerly Wisconsin, Fartfuhrer... more
-
-
We have heard quite a bit of late about Newt Gingrich’s personal billionaire, Sheldon Adelson, and Santorum’s personal millionaire, Foster Friess, but many may not be aware that Romney hasa a personal billionaire too, and like Romney, his billionaire is also a vulture capitalist.We have heard quite a bit of late about Newt Gingrich’s personal billionaire,... more
-
-
For weeks I have listened to complaints about the Obama’s coming deal with the big banks that was sure to leave main street Americans out in the cold while giving criminal Banksters a get out of jail free card. Today that deal arrived. It is a modest down payment on what the US needs to restore the housing market on main street. Given the Republican Party’s unwillingness to do anything at the federal level to help suffering Americans, it was the best Obama could do, with the help of State Attorneys General from both parties from every state but Oklahoma, whose AG sided with the Banksters. The deal neither leaves main street Americans out in the cold, nor does it give criminal Banksters a get out of jail free card.For weeks I have listened to complaints about the Obama’s coming deal with the... more
-
-
Common wisdom holds that the near collapse 0f 2008 snuck up on us, and that nobody saw it coming. Common wisdom is wrong. Lots of people saw it coming, and I was one of them, so it didn’t take rocket science to figure it out. In 2007 I was discussing how Republicans realized they were on the way out, and they were setting the US up for an economics crisis, so they could blame their successor, and present themselves as the solution. I was wrong about the timing. I expected it to come in the first quarter of 2009, but it did in the last quarter of 2008. I was also wrong about the scope. I did not expect it to be this severe. Republicans are now changing their lies and often saying that Obama is responsible, so I consider it imperative to clear the air so there can be no doubt that this is a Republican Recession.Common wisdom holds that the near collapse 0f 2008 snuck up on us, and that nobody saw... more
-
-
Workers At Walmart contractors win injunction against anti-union practices.
-
-
The world of high finance can be confusing to experts, let alone to folks like me. But presently we have a situation in which US vulture capitalists, are threatening the financial integrity of Europe, and the way in which they are doing so provides us a window into how they operate and into understanding Vulture Capitalism.The world of high finance can be confusing to experts, let alone to folks like me.... more
-
-
On Thursday I published The Return of a Giant about Bill Moyers’ return to television with a new show, Moyers and Company. On Saturday, he aired the first installation of that show: Winner Take All Politics. It’s a long clip, taking almost an hour to watch, but if you missed this on Saturday, it’s well worth the time.On Thursday I published The Return of a Giant about Bill Moyers’ return to... more
-
-
It did not take long for there to be a legal challenge to Barack Obama’s recess appointments. As I anticipated, the challenge comes from a business front group, rather than from the Republican Party, as Republicans have no standing to sue over them. The manner in which the challenge has developed could nor demonstrate more clearly why the appointments were so necessary.It did not take long for there to be a legal challenge to Barack Obama’s recess... more
-
-
In a move that I have strongly recommended, Barack Obama appointed Rick Cordray, Elizabeth Warren’s choice, to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). He also appointed three new members to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Republicans have been obstructing all of those appointments, because they want neither consumers nor labor represented federally despite laws that provide for both. Republicans are furious!In a move that I have strongly recommended, Barack Obama appointed Rick Cordray,... more
-
-
If you miss Bill Moyers’ show on PBS, you’re not alone. He was one of the few commentators that was honest, unbiased, and not afraid to expose propaganda for what it is, putting Republicans at a disadvantage. The following excerpt comes from Bill’s forward to Corporations Are Not People: Why They Have More Rights Than You Do and What You Can Do About It, a new book by Jeffrey Clements.If you miss Bill Moyers’ show on PBS, you’re not alone. He was one of the... more
-
-
Website following trends in executive pay in the USA.
-
-
Appeal from the American United Farm Workers for the DA to not plea bargain over the heat related death of a farm worker.Appeal from the American United Farm Workers for the DA to not plea bargain over the... more
-
-
Bexar County and Texas Red are up to their collective eyeballs in military money of all stripes---just ask their lapdogs in the state legislature and U.S. Congress. These “elected representatives” of the lapdogs are usually all too ready to receive praise for brining jobs to their area. The other shoe dropping is that it also brings millions to the contractors compared to the chump change workers make on the deal. Still I suppose some income is better than no income.Bexar County and Texas Red are up to their collective eyeballs in military money of... more
-
-
Migrant farm workers in Ontario hold wildcat strike for unpaid wages. Employer responds with deportation.Migrant farm workers in Ontario hold wildcat strike for unpaid wages. Employer... more
-
-
Whale sharks, the biggest fish in the sea, may be the latest victims of the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported this week that four of the polka-dotted creatures, stretching about 40 feet long, had been spotted swimming alongside oil in search of food.
Since whale sharks are filter feeders -- scooping up plankton and small fish with their gaping mouths as they swim just beneath the surface -- scientists are concerned they will swallow large amounts of toxic oil and die.
"The problem is that these are surface feeding animals and if they digest the oil they will sink and we will not know how many are dying," said Dr. Eric Hoffmayer, who has studied whales in the northern Gulf for the University of Southern Mississippi.
"I don't think there is any question we're going to lose whale sharks to this oil spill. That's why we need to tag these sharks so that we can determine how they are impacted by the oil," Hoffmayer told Reuters.
Hoffmayer spent three days on the Gulf where he and other researchers discovered an extraordinary gathering of more than 100 feeding whale sharks about 90 miles south of Grand Isle, La.
The site where they were feeding was about 60 miles west of BP Plc's blown-out Macondo well off the Louisiana coast and the gathering of whale sharks was among the largest seen in the northern Gulf of Mexico, Hoffmayer said.
In addition to the danger inherent in swallowing oil, it could cause untold harm to the giant but vulnerable fish when they force the water they feed on, after it is sucked into their mouths, to filter out through their gills.
Hoffmayer and a team of marine scientists came up with a plan Thursday to tag the sharks so they can track their movements and hopefully find out if oil is being digested.
One of the big problems, he said, is that there is no known way of steering the whale sharks away from oil contaminated areas of the Gulf.
Marine scientists in Mississippi are hoping to save other species from the oil, which breached Mississippi's mainland this week for the first time.
http://www.canada.com/technology/environment/Gulf spill threatens world largest fish/3236621/story.html
http://www.canada.com/technology/environment/3236622.bin?size=620x400Whale sharks, the biggest fish in the sea, may be the latest victims of the massive... more
-
-
NEWS link:
___
My comment about the NEWS article:
Oh my how absolutely brilliant! They actually know how to cut a pipe! Getting real tired of these BS maneuvers dragging out this catastrophe. I don't think they want to cap anything, I think they are deliberately stalling to find a way to get at the oil to sell it. Are we now supposed to CHEER BP. Heck, they couldn't even cut it straight!
JUST CAP IT ALREADY.
____
NEWS EXCERPT:
"METAIRIE, La. – One-half of the cut and cap is done. Now comes the hard part — putting a lid on the Gulf oil gusher. BP sliced off the main pipe on the leaking oil well with giant shears Thursday in the latest bid to curtail the worst oil spill in U.S. history, but the cut was jagged, and a looser fitting cap will be needed.
The inverted funnel-like cap slightly wider than the severed pipe will be placed over the spewing oil. A rubber seal on the inside will attempt to keep oil from escaping, though engineers acknowledge some crude will still come out.
"We'll have to see when we get the containment cap on it just how effective it is," said Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point man for the disaster.
BP PLC turned to the giant shears after a diamond-tipped saw became stuck in the pipe halfway through the job, yet another frustrating delay in the six-week-old spill. The cap could be set over the gusher as early as Thursday night.
If the cap can be put on successfully, BP will siphon the oil and gas to a tanker on the surface.
"It's an important milestone, and in some sense, it's just the beginning," BP CEO Tony Hayward said.
This latest attempt is risky because slicing away the section of the 20-inch-wide riser removed a kink in the pipe, and could temporarily increase the flow of oil by as much as 20 percent.
Live video footage showed oil spewing unimpeded from the top of the blowout preventer, but Allen said it was unclear whether the flow had increased.
"I don't think we'll know until the containment cap is seated on there," he said. "We'll have to wait and see."
Crews will also use methanol to try to prevent icylike crystals from forming on the inside of the cap. At this depth a mile underwater, the near-freezing temperatures can cause a buildup up of hydrates, which foiled the company's attempt to place a 100-ton, four-story dome over the leak about a month ago.
Meanwhile, newly disclosed internal Coast Guard documents from the day after the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast indicated that U.S. officials were warning of a leak of 336,000 gallons per day of crude from the well in the event of a complete blowout.
The well didn't have such a failure. But the volume turned out to be much closer to that figure than the 42,000 gallons per day that BP first estimated. Weeks later that was revised to 210,000 gallons. Now, an estimated 500,000 to 1 million gallons of crude is believed to be leaking daily."NEWS link:
___
My comment about the NEWS article:
Oh my how absolutely... more
-
