David Koch: Cancer Survivor, Spreading Cancer

Literally:



David Koch is a cancer survivor. He also knows that one of his factories is giving cancer to an entire town, and the EPA (thanks in no small part to his own lavish campaign of lies) is too weak to stop it. What kind of person does this? Someone for whom there is a special place in hell, if only such a place existed. David Koch can re-join Ayn Rand there.

Koch Industries caught paying bribes to win contracts, engaging in possibly-illegal trade with Iran, price fixing, ignoring environmental regulations

Very Much Alive and Growing: Day 14 of Occupy Wall Street

• The testimonials on http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/ keep coming, and they are downright heart-breaking.

• There is a new central hub for all the protests springing up in each state, here: http://www.occupytogether.org/

• From a great article in The Guardian:

But the ultimate failure here is of imagination. What we are witnessing can also be seen as a demand to finally have a conversation we were all supposed to have back in 2008. There was a moment, after the near-collapse of the world's financial architecture, when anything seemed possible.

Everything we'd been told for the last decade turned out to be a lie. Markets did not run themselves; creators of financial instruments were not infallible geniuses; and debts did not really need to be repaid – in fact, money itself was revealed to be a political instrument, trillions of dollars of which could be whisked in or out of existence overnight if governments or central banks required it. Even the Economist was running headlines like "Capitalism: Was it a Good Idea?"

It seemed the time had come to rethink everything: the very nature of markets, money, debt; to ask what an "economy" is actually for. This lasted perhaps two weeks. Then, in one of the most colossal failures of nerve in history, we all collectively clapped our hands over our ears and tried to put things back as close as possible to the way they'd been before.

Perhaps, it's not surprising. It's becoming increasingly obvious that the real priority of those running the world for the last few decades has not been creating a viable form of capitalism, but rather, convincing us all that the current form of capitalism is the only conceivable economic system, so its flaws are irrelevant. As a result, we're all sitting around dumbfounded as the whole apparatus falls apart.

What we've learned now is that the economic crisis of the 1970s never really went away. It was fobbed off by cheap credit at home and massive plunder abroad – the latter, in the name of the "third world debt crisis". But the global south fought back. The "alter-globalisation movement", was in the end, successful: the IMF has been driven out of East Asia and Latin America, just as it is now being driven from the Middle East. As a result, the debt crisis has come home to Europe and North America, replete with the exact same approach: declare a financial crisis, appoint supposedly neutral technocrats to manage it, and then engage in an orgy of plunder in the name of "austerity".

The form of resistance that has emerged looks remarkably similar to the old global justice movement, too: we see the rejection of old-fashioned party politics, the same embrace of radical diversity, the same emphasis on inventing new forms of democracy from below. What's different is largely the target: where in 2000, it was directed at the power of unprecedented new planetary bureaucracies (the WTO, IMF, World Bank, Nafta), institutions with no democratic accountability, which existed only to serve the interests of transnational capital; now, it is at the entire political classes of countries like Greece, Spain and, now, the US – for exactly the same reason. This is why protesters are often hesitant even to issue formal demands, since that might imply recognising the legitimacy of the politicians against whom they are ranged....

• Last but not least, check out the dedicated You-Tube channel

Solidarity.

Obama's last chance to earn any volunteer work from me

It's bad enough Barack Obama is actively working to help cover up and grant immunity to financial industry crimes, [UPDATE: more about which here], but if he fails to heed the largest environmental protests of recent times and block the Keystone XL pipeline, then he's clearly just a one-term anti-environmental putz.

• Jim Hansen's now-famous "game over" letter is here.

• The facts about the proposed Keystone XL pipeline are available here, and include:

1. For every barrel of tar sand oil produced, six barrels of freshwater from the Athabasca River are polluted and stored in 30 square mile toxic ponds that sit adjacent to the river.
2. These ponds are already leaking over 3 million gallons of toxic water into the Athabasca River every day.

3. The pipeline is set to cross over the Ogalalla Aquifer which irrigates one-third of all crops in the Midwest and provides eight states with drinking water.

4. Producing a barrel of Tar Sand oil emits three times more greenhouse gases than producing a barrel of conventional oil.

5. Extraction of the Tar Sands requires permanently disturbing one of the largest, intact old-growth forests left on Earth. The destruction of this forest will destroy habitat and prevent the boreal forest from providing ecosystem services that at present moment are catching and storing carbon from our climate.

6. If this pipeline and current development of the tar sands continues as planned, it will release twice as many greenhouse gases as are currently produced by all the cars and trucks in Canada.

7. Scientific research predicts that more than 166 million birds will die from habitat loss and drowning in the toxic pools over the next 30-50 years if development continues as planned.

8. Large game species are exhibiting tumors and mutations as a result of consuming toxic water. Nearby moose have been found to have over 33 times the safe amount of arsenic in their meat, a staple for indigenous populations.

9. Communities downstream from the tar sands are already exhibiting respiratory problems, rare forms of cancer, and cardiovascular diseases.

10. The Koch Brothers, the same corporation dedicated to spreading lies about climate change and funding the tea party, is set to be the primary profiteer from building this pipeline.

David Koch, Charles Koch, Racism and Segregation in North Carolina Public Schools

UPDATE: The Koch "Tea Party" PR-machine is in high gear denying their involvement. Shameless lies, as usual.


Next time you see that Americans For Prosperity bumper sticker, be sure to thank the driver/(probably unwitting) tool of Queen of the Night monopulent white trash David Koch and Charles Koch for their wonderful work re-instituting racism and segregation, among other vile things:







More here, in case you missed it...or below.

Fred, David and Charles Koch, Inc.

Update: And then there's this...

Seriously, what a bunch of weirdos, signifying everything that is most wrong with America.

Shamelessly dishonest, self-important extremist mediocrities with their deluded self-serving Ayn Rand sound-bot psuedo-philosophy and more blood money than is healthy for any democracy to let fester in private hands.

I mean, it sure seems to me anyway, that once a corporation is allowed by law to intimidate its employees into voting for whoever the bosses say, especially when it is for some batshit crazy, fundamentalist politician who will turn around and cut their wages even more and hurt their families, then this is not a country worth living in anymore. Certainly it is antithetical to any "freedom-loving democracy."

In light of which barbaric mediocrity, may the Koch brothers' losing continue.

“Now, companies like Koch Industries are free to send out newsletters persuading their employees how to vote. They can even intimidate their employees into voting for their candidates.” Secunda adds, “It’s a very troubling situation.”

[...]

Further into the company newsletter is an article headlined “What’s a Business to Do?” It portrays corporate titans like the Kochs [net worth over $44 Billion] as freedom-fighting underdogs, modern-day Sakharovs and Mandelas targeted for repression by Big Government statists: “Citizens who are openly critical of the European Union bureaucracy in Brussels or the out-of-control government of the United States are being shouted down by politicians, government officials and their media and other allies.”

In this scenario, Big Government wants to muzzle the Kochs before they can spread their message to the people. That message comes down to preaching the benefits of lower wages.

[...]

Travis McKinney, an employee at a Portland Georgia-Pacific distribution center, says, “They drill into your head things like ‘The 10 Guiding Principles of Koch Industries.’ They even stamp the ten principles on your time card.”

McKinney, a fourth-generation employee of Georgia-Pacific, says relations have sharply deteriorated since Koch Industries bought the company in late 2005. He and fellow employees at three Georgia-Pacific distribution centers are locked in a yearlong contract battle with the new Koch Industries management. Workers there, members of the Inlandboatmen’s Union of the Pacific (an affiliate of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union) recently voted unanimously to reject management’s contract and voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if management continues to try to impose cuts in benefits and job security in the new contracts. (read the whole thing)

One Down, Seven Scott Walker Republicans To Go

This movement is still growing. Keep the pressure on.

Recall the Wisonsin Republicans–Make Them Pay

The movement grows against these greedy, lying, worthless scumbags.

We just contributed what we can, every month for the next five months. So should you.

The hell is Obama thinking. Coward.

General Strike!

Think you're immune? This is not just about Wisconsin.


(image via)

It's time.

Rethuglicans aren't even pretending that it's about the budget anymore. They think they can just screw working families with impunity. Democracy and "The People" aren't even in their vocabulary.

Fast forward to the 6:45 mark...



Somebody, perhaps PCCC or DFA, needs to produce a recall ad campaign, not just one tv ad in one state, right now. And someone with deep pockets needs to drop a couple million dollars into it. Just consider it back-taxes. Moveon, I suppose, can still run their tweets, and raise money from the yuppies.

Meanwhile, Robert Greenwald has launched a new battle in the war against the Koch brothers' pollution (to the tune of $324 million in dirty money) of the democratic process, here.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

America is not broke

Keep fighting the anti-democratic Koch brothers, right here. Update: and now here!

After spending over $324 million on an extremist political agenda that is devastating to the lives of 98% of Americans, despoiling what was once a potentially good planet for everyone while they personally prosper to the tune of $43 billion, David Koch and Charles Koch are finally getting the sort of embarrassing attention they deserve, as every freedom-loving, hard-working American should be glad to see.

And remember, even though a self-employed woodworker in North Carolina pays over three times as much in property taxes as Tom Cruise, and on a (far less desirable) fraction of the acreage, has no health insurance, and still owes tens of thousands in college loans well over a decade after graduating even though he went tuition free, "class war" is still a dangerous fiction invented by elitist poor people to subvert Jesus (link, or something).



• The hell is Obama thinking.

• This is the reality.

• Also, to hell with polite progressive groups like Moveon.org (especially the absolutely boring local Asheville chapter). Those folks lost their critical exigency years ago, and have resigned themselves to knocking on doors in the projects, once every four years. A good summary of the Wisconsin fight is here (via Jodi Dean).

Scott Walker has lost the war

So sayeth Forbes magazine.

Also:

The Wall Street Journal reports -- "Conservatives in Wisconsin are getting nervous that three Republican state senators may defect on the collective-bargaining reform vote."

NBC news in Wisconsin reports -- "four moderate Republicans are wavering and could break with the GOP and vote against Walker's budget repair bill."

The New York Times reports -- "Billionaire Brothers' Money Plays Role in Wisconsin Dispute."

And Talking Points Memo reports on a brand new poll by a Republican leaning pollster -- "Rasmussen Poll: Almost Six In Ten Wisconsin Voters Disapprove Of Gov. Walker."

Do your part. Fight the greedy bastards, here.



Update:

Democracy yet to come?

To the defining disease of our time, caused by fundamentalist economic hubris: meet your cure. (More here.)

Scott Walker must resign

Walker incriminates himself, admits to having considered bringing in thugs to taint protests with violence. This is priceless:

http://www.buffalobeast.com/?p=5045

via The Other 98%, Mother Jones, FDL, etc. etc.

What's most amusing is Walker's utter lack of surprise at the shit "David Koch" is saying. The conversation is at once less overtly offensive than you might expect and more offensive than ever in the mundanity of the cozy relationships of power it reveals. Also, Walker is unbelievably stupid.

But then that sort of goes without saying for anyone who's been hand-picked for the job of neo-Stalinist Reaganbot.

What's happening in Wisconsin

• In NYTimes-speak.

• In you-tube:

(and more)

• In Kossack

• In teh facebook

• In blog

• Meanwhile...

Obama's Budget: "Shared Sacrifice" My Ass

How insulting to everyone's intelligence. The most obvious take-away from Obama's budget is that the poor and middle class have just lost another in a long streak of losing battles in the ongoing class war of the last several decades. And politicians like Obama still have (or rather pretend to have) the naïveté to wonder, why it is so hard to convince the vast majority of our citizens that "big government" isn't the problem, and isn't just another extension of big international greed. The logical explanation for team Obama's political idiocy is to follow the money for 2012, but there is probably a deeper psychological, or biographical element at work as well. Obama is beating himself up to prove a point to the nation, and to Republicans about real sacrifice. He is clearly Jesus, and we just aren't willing to hear him.

Meanwhile John Boehner, Prince of Pork, is still getting his $456 million earmark. And the Rethuglicans still won't be happy until not only are people literally freezing in their houses but their Social Security and Medicare are gambled away just like their mortgages. Congratulations, David and Charles Koch...the America you want is coming to pass. And congratulations to Obama, for holding on to that precious moral high ground.

nb. Keep your eyes on Wisconsin.

Storyteller-in-Chief...Failure

Dean Baker is spot on. Obama can do better.
Update: And more and more and more and more...

Will the wave of democracy in the Middle East ever reach US shores?

Obama today, quoted from DailyKos:

So Brenda and her husband know what they can do without. But they also know what investments are too important to sacrifice. Their daughter, Rachel, is a sophomore in college with a 4.0 grade point average. The tuition is a big expense. But it’s worth it, because it will give her the chance to achieve her dreams. In fact, Brenda is looking for a second job to ensure, as she told me, “the money is there to help Rachel with her future.”

Really? This is where we've landed? In a place where a special-ed teacher from Missouri, with a husband on a half-pay pension, is considering taking on a second job to pay for the tuition of her 4.0 GPA daughter? And the president of the United States is holding this up as a good model? [link added]

Where is the federal student aid for a family like this?

Why isn't investing in our young people up there with investing in all the broadband, clean energy and research? In fact, how can you be investing in research for the future without investing in educating future researchers?

Still, this address today will probably score well with most audiences. Families are struggling, and belt-tightening by government will be welcomed. And at least the president is continuing to push the investment angle, which is certainly not a message that's going to be trumpeted at CPAC or on Fox News this week.

Bob Herbert today:

When the game is rigged in your favor, you win. So despite the worst economic downturn since the Depression, the big corporations are sitting on mountains of cash, the stock markets are up and all is well among the plutocrats. The endlessly egregious Koch brothers, David and Charles, are worth an estimated $35 billion. Yet they seem to feel as though society has treated them unfairly.

As Jane Mayer pointed out in her celebrated New Yorker article, “The Kochs are longtime libertarians who believe in drastically lower personal and corporate taxes, minimal social services for the needy, and much less oversight of industry — especially environmental regulation.” (A good hard look at their air-pollution record would make you sick.)

It’s a perversion of democracy, indeed, when individuals like the Kochs have so much clout while the many millions of ordinary Americans have so little. What the Kochs want is coming to pass. Extend the tax cuts for the rich? No problem. Cut services to the poor, the sick, the young and the disabled? Check. Can we get you anything else, gentlemen?

The Egyptians want to establish a viable democracy, and that’s a long, hard road. Americans are in the mind-bogglingly self-destructive process of letting a real democracy slip away.

Speaking of the need for protest...

The uncomfortable truth about Egyptian dictatorship and corruption, widespread poverty, inflation and income inequality is of course that Egypt was simultaneously being applauded and praised by the IMF and World Bank as an "economic miracle"...forced privatization, subsidy cuts, "opening-up" of markets, forced structural adjustment...same new story of macro economics and corporate profits masking real world suffering...people literally dying while waiting for days in "bread queus"...Anyone expressing solidarity with Egyptians' right to freedom from tyranny should understand the origins of the familiar scam that propped up Mubarak:



Meanwhile, the same class warfare is being openly waged by Rethuglicans (propped up by their multi-billionaire ideologue sponsors like David and Charles Koch, along with what amounts to Democratic complicity) in the US right now, and has been for decades (beginning in earnest with Reagan, the first outright bankers' politician).

The bottom line for anyone connecting the dots is: Americans should absolutely be in the streets of their own country right now too.

Last word on the 2010 BP Macondo Well Blowout Gulf of Mexico Atrocity

The Spill airs this evening on PBS. After which BP will need to buy some more face-saving ads.

...Proof having surfaced recently that just like The Koch brothers and Home Depot, BP is all up in the same mix funding climate change-denying Tea Baggers.

It's a Political Corporation Not a Party

Digby has been all over this story from the beginning:

...Tea Partiers [are just] "end users." They are being sold a product using some very sophisticated marketing methods.

If you are not scared for the future, or taking these evil people seriously yet, you certainly should be.

This morning Matt Taibbi talks with this (sadly insufferable) fellow:




As should be no surprise for a billionaire-funded "movement" with deep historical roots in hatred and bigotry, freedom of speech for some Rand Paul supporters is apparently anything but a universal right. Still waiting for Rand Paul's own personal denunciation of such unwarranted violence...and police are still trying to identify these two men:






Update: As digby says, there is something of a "common mentality" among Rand Paul fans, but don't expect the MSM to be investigating it, these days...

Update II: The man is facing a criminal summons, and it turns out the attack on the Moveon member was premeditated. Also, Tim Profitt is not just some random tea bagger, but a close friend of Rand Paul's campaign (as I suspected, looking at that fancy shirt and "working man" uniform, complete with sticker-covered tape measure...self-important "crowd control" Chief Tape Measure may need to learn some anger management...right after court):



Update: It happens again.

Incidentally, there's a cure for curb-stomping.