They told you the tax cuts were to return your money to you even though they were tax cuts for the wealthy.
Maybe you believed.
They told you tax cuts for the wealthy created jobs....Trickle Down they said.
Maybe you believed.
They told you deficits didn't matter.
Maybe you believed.
They told you nuclear energy was safe.
Did you believe? Did residents surrounding Fukishima believe?
Did they tell you nuclear energy was 100% taxpayer subsidized? Did they tell you the nuclear power plants are unprepared for Global Warming Extreme Weather?
What else did they tell you on Fox News?
Problems at Five
Nuclear Plants - Hurricane Sandy 30
Oct 2012 The nation's oldest nuclear plant declared an alert and a second plant
just 40 miles from New York City was forced to shut down power as five different
nuke plants in Hurricane Sandy's path experienced problems during the storm.
Indian Point in Buchanan, New York, on the Hudson River north of New York City,
automatically shut power to its unit 3 on Monday night "as a result of an
electrical grid disturbance," according to Entergy, the plant's operator...
Operators also declared an alert at the nation's oldest nuclear plant, Oyster
Creek in Lacey Township, New Jersey, on Monday evening after the center of Sandy
made landfall, "due to water exceeding certain high water level criteria in the
plant's water intake structure." The plant also lost power, which is
critical to keep spent fuel rods from overheating, but "the station's
two backup diesel generators activated immediately," Exelon said.
NJ nuclear plant on
alert as state struggles to cope with Sandy's surge 30 Oct 2012 America’s oldest nuclear power plant is on alert
after waters from a colossal storm reached high levels. Oyster Creek in Lacey
Township, New Jersey, was already offline for regular maintenance before Sandy,
a superstorm downgraded Monday night from a hurricane, slammed the East Coast.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says an "unusual event" was declared around 7
p.m. when water reached a high level. The situation was upgraded less than two
hours later to an "alert," the second-lowest in a four-tiered warning
system.
Japan-Style Nuclear
Safety Errors Abound, Regulator Warns 30 Oct 2012 Japan's nuclear safety failures that led to last year's
disaster at Fukushima are being repeated in other countries that operate atomic
reactors, according to France's top regulator. Nuclear safety focuses too much
on technology and not enough on the human side of preventing accidents,
Andre-Claude Lacoste, 70, the outgoing head of the French Autorite de Surete
Nucleaire, said in an interview. Regulators in some countries, which he declined
to name, lack enough independence from industry and government to be able to
identify nuclear safety shortfalls, Lacoste said.
Sandy's mammoth wake:
46 dead, millions without power, transit --Storm's impact to widen as it disperses north to Canada,
south to Tennessee 31 Oct 2012 The sweep of devastation from Superstorm
Sandy became heartbreakingly clear Tuesday: At least 46 people are dead, and
authorities face the unimaginable task of restoring power and transit for
millions of others. "We have not seen damage like this in a generation," New
York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, assessing the scope of a hurricane that swept homes into
the ocean, flooded large swaths of coastal areas, left millions of people
without power and crippled transportation, told NBC News.
First an electricity
blackout and now CELL PHONE coverage is down as users in Manhattan battle signal
failures --Many people
are virtually cut off and have no way of calling for help if there are further
emergencies 30 Oct 2012 Thousands of people in Manhattan woke to find
they had no cell phone coverage this morning after Superstorm Sandy battered the
city's phone masts. Cell phone users in large swathes of Lower Manhattan
suffered the signal failures after 24 hours of devastating weather. For many it
means they are virtually cut off and have no way of contacting friends or family
or calling for help if there are further emergencies.
Transformer explosion
at 14th St Con Edison building 30
Oct 2012 A transformer reportedly exploded last night as Hurricane Sandy slammed
the city, shortly before power was lost throughout much of lower Manhattan. A
power failure struck the Con Edison command center near Union Square around 8pm,
according to the Wall Street Journal, following a substation failure that is
reportedly responsible for loss of power in Greenwich Village and Lower
Manhattan. Con Ed had preemptively cut power to residents south of the Brooklyn
Bridge in Manhattan to protect underground equipment from water damage, in a
move described as unprecedented.
Former FEMA Director Michael Brown offered criticism of President Obama’s early responses to Hurricane Sandy yesterday, including a dig at the administration’s response to last month’s attack in Libya.
Yesterday, ahead of the storm’s pummeling of the eastern seaboard, Brown gave an interview to the local alternative paper, the Denver Westword, on how he believed the Obama administration was responding to Sandy too quickly and that Obama had spoken to the press about Sandy’s potential effect too early.
Brown turned then to a reliable right-wing attack on the President’s response to the attack on a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi that killed four Americans:
“One thing he’s gonna be asked is, why did he jump on [the hurricane] so quickly and go back to D.C. so quickly when in…Benghazi, he went to Las Vegas?” Brown says. “Why was this so quick?… At some point, somebody’s going to ask that question…. This is like the inverse of Benghazi.”
Conservatives have been hitting Obama for weeks on his attendance at a fundraiser in Nevada following the assault in Benghazi, claiming at alternate times that the President either cared more about politics than lives lost or that he was trying to downplay the attack’s significance. Now the critique has mutated into a belief that Obama is currently “playing President” to score points during disaster relief in the run-up to the election, in contrast to his actions in September.
Brown is not the only one making the insinuation that Obama and his administration are responding too quickly to Sandy only for political reasons. He’s joined in his accusations by such prominent right-wing commentators as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and columnist Charles Krauthammer.
However, Brown’s comments carry a special irony due to the role he played during the Hurricane Katrina debacle in 2005. As director of FEMA during the legendarily botched response, Brown, famously dubbed “Brownie” by President Bush, was in the center of criticism from both sides of the aisle that the Bush administration was too slow to respond. An internal review by the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector-General following the disaster concluded, “Much of the criticism is warranted.” Brown resigned from his position as director less than two weeks after Katrina hit.
When Romney first went into business his company paid investors back an absurd 173% return on their investment. Mitt refuses to show these records because if he does, there will be evidence of fraud.
Obvious Fraud: Mitt Romney's company paid better returns than Bernie Madoff
Our Founding Fathers crafted a brilliant document that has withstood assaults and challenges.
Within that document, the creators recognize the importance of an independent PRESS - clearly, now more broadly defined as MEDIA.
Americans have remained silent as the FCC has eliminated controls, Big Corporations have consolidated the media and control not only what you hear, but elections.
We have allowed the 'Fair and Balanced' joke of a station to misinform and mislead, along with the inflammatory hate speech.
We have closed our eyes to bribery [Foreign Corrupt Practices Act], illegal wiretaps and an arrogant media outlet convinced in control, not merely dissemination of information.
Journalistic standards are a mere vague hint.
Frontline has offered a series of documentaries about the behavior of the Murdoch media empire-
It goes beyond that to compromised partisan hacks at the FCC willing to sacrifice what little control is left.
This purchase would further invade American markets --
News Corp. and Tribune Co. have
existing business ties. Tribune owns 23 television
stations,
including nine that carry the programming of News Corp.'s two broadcast
networks. Tribune stations in San Diego, Sacramento and five other markets are
Fox network affiliates.
The rules were changed to accommodate Murdoch's entry into the American market, yet this further erosion is ominous given the corrupt history --
Federal Communications Commission
rules prevent owners from owning a newspaper and TV stations in the same market.
News Corp. owns two Fox stations in L.A. and two in
Chicago.
The FCC has been considering eliminating the
rule, ....
Before you continue to believe, consider the source of your information and news.
Palm Beach County Screws Up Another Presidential Election [Source: Adam Weinstein at Mother Jones]
Just in case 2012 hasn't filled you with Bush-Gore-repeat nightmares yet, there's bad news from the South Florida epicenter of the 2000 debacle: Election officials in Palm Beach County say they screwed up at least 60,000 absentee ballots and have to perform a recount.
That's right: The county that gave you the butterfly ballot is back. An error by the county's printer caused ballots to go out to absentee voters with a typo, and as completed votes roll back into the supervisor's office by mail, volunteer workers have to copy the votes by hand onto new ballots to ensure they're counted by the county's tabulation machines...
The typo affected 60,000 total ballots, but officials estimate they only have to copy about 27,000 by hand to make them count.
For anyone who is still undecided (though to be honest, if you still can't figure out what's what, I say don't bother voting, you obviously had a mental disorder)...three days from now we are going to see the destruction from Hurricane Sandy and we are going to hear the Republican Party try to use it to make the President look bad, but we need to all remember, during the GOP debates they all denounced FEMA...because as we all know, giving money to help others (just like helping educate kids) is a waste of money and Socialism, but having the largest military in the world is where we need to focus our 'christian values' in America. - vince
New Report Finds Shadowy Donors Trust Hides Millions in Anti-Science Funds From Koch Bros and Friends
Posted: 10/29/2012
A new report released last week on DeSmogBlog unravels a scheme that funnels money from the notorious Koch Brothers and the reclusive Chicago industrialist Barre Seid through a third party organization, which in turn makes anonymous donations in the millions to right-wing policy think-tanks.
In a nutshell, the 200+ page report by Silicon valley scientist Dr. John Mashey shows in great detail how the Koch brothers and Barre Seid flow money through two organizations called Donor Trust and Donors Capital Fund, which in turn passes that money on to major right-wing think-tanks like the American Enterprise Institute, Heartland Institute and Americans for Prosperity.
This money is then used for coordinated efforts to fight things like environmental regulations and the scientific realities of climate change.
In total over $311 million has been put through the Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund with much of that coming from David and Charles Koch and Barre Seid.
Here's a summary of findings:
- The report presents evidence that confirms the speculation that Chicago Industrialist Barre Seid has pumped millions into the Heartland Institute's "global warming projects" to boost their efforts to fight climate change science [page 57].
- Money from Barre Seid was pushed through Donors Trust to funded a major expansion of the Heartland Institute to help in their public relations efforts to deny the realities of climate change.
- Shows how the majority of the Donors Capital Board is made up of right wing think tanks heads that also were heavily involved in the fight for Big Tobacco in the 1990's
- Exposes another philanthropic vehicle established by the Koch Brothers called the "Knowledge and Progress Fund" - this fund has moved over $7m through Donors Trust [page 71].
- All funds that go through Donors Trust become tax deductions for the donors with much of that money going to political causes and policy fights.
- Other major recipients of Donors Trust money are: Americans for Prosperity, American Enterprise Institute, Acton Institute, Cato Institute, Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy and the Media Research Center.
With Hurricane Sandy bearing down on the entire east coast, it's worth remembering back to when Mitt Romney was in his severely conservative primary phase. He told CNN's John King during the June 13, 2011 Republican presidential primary debate that federal disaster relief was "immoral" because deficit. Watch:
Here's a transcript of the snip.
KING: What else, Governor Romney? You’ve been a chief executive of a state. I was just in Joplin, Missouri. I’ve been in Mississippi and Louisiana and Tennessee and other communities dealing with whether it’s the tornadoes, the flooding, and worse. FEMA is about to run out of money, and there are some people who say do it on a case-by-case basis and some people who say, you know, maybe we’re learning a lesson here that the states should take on more of this role. How do you deal with something like that?ROMNEY: Absolutely. Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that’s the right direction. And if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that’s even better.
Instead of thinking in the federal budget, what we should cut—we should ask ourselves the opposite question. What should we keep? We should take all of what we’re doing at the federal level and say, what are the things we’re doing that we don’t have to do? And those things we’ve got to stop doing, because we’re borrowing $1.6 trillion more this year than we’re taking in. We cannot…
KING: Including disaster relief, though?
ROMNEY: We cannot—we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids. It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids, knowing full well that we’ll all be dead and gone before it’s paid off. It makes no sense at all. [emphasis added]
Severely conservative Mitt also picked severely conservative Paul Ryan for his running mate, the guy who attempted to cut a new disaster aid fund that "budgets help for victims of hurricanes, tornadoes and floods before they occur." Luckily for the entire east coast this week, party leadership nixed that idea.
But what happens with the next monster storm under Romney/Ryan? The Ryan budget, fully embraced by Romney, would make such deep cuts in federal funding that disaster relief would have to be passed on to states and localities. Romney,which is specifically what he is saying should happen in that clip. But funding for states and localities is also so sharply curtailed that they'll be hard pressed to respond to disasters. Which, as he made clear at the debate, is exactly what will force his ultimate goal: privatizing disaster relief.
Huffington Post asked Romney about this issue on Sunday, and a campaign official basically reaffirmed Romney's position that it's all up to the states:
"Gov. Romney wants to ensure states, who are the first responders and are in the best position to aid impacted individuals and communities, have the resources and assistance they need to cope with natural disasters," the Romney official said.
WASHINGTON -- The Mitt Romney campaign is defending its controversial ad that misleads viewers into thinking that under President Barack Obama's watch, Chrysler is moving production of Jeeps to China.
The ad, which has sparked a torrent of complaints and fact checking, was initially caught being aired in the Toledo, Ohio, television market, though the Romney campaign had not announced it publicly. The television tracking service TVEyes shows that it is now airing in Youngstown, Ohio, as well.
A Democratic ad buy source, speaking on condition of anonymity to reveal private data, said that the Romney campaign is spending $360,000 on television ads in Toledo between Oct. 27 and Nov. 1, 35 percent of which is being used to air the Jeep ad. It is spending $138,000 in Youngstown over the same time period, 50 percent of which is going to the Jeep ad.
The campaign is doing all of this without mounting a substantive defense of the ad's content. The spot states that Obama took the auto companies through bankruptcy, without acknowledging that that was Romney's plan as well. It says that the Detroit News endorsed Romney, without noting that the endorsement included a criticism of Romney's position on the auto bailout. It states that Romney has a "plan to help the auto industry," though as Politico's Ben White noted, the Romney campaign hasn't offered reporters any such plan. Finally, it cites a debunked report from Bloomberg to suggest that Chrysler will be returning Jeep production to China, without explaining that the company is doing so to cater to a growing Chinese market and isn't moving any U.S. jobs there to accommodate that demand.
"Obama took GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy and sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China. Mitt Romney will fight for every American job," the ad says.
And yet, the Romney campaign has refused to back off the ad. At first, aides refused to actually comment on it. By Monday, however, they were a bit more defiant about its content.
"What's in there that's false? Are they building Jeeps in China or not?" an aide asked BuzzFeed. "I think a lot of Ohioans are wondering why we can't make Jeeps here and ship them to China, just like they are wondering why we can't make — insert product here — in this country and export them to China."
This is a defense by technicality. The exact language of the ad may fall within the boundaries of truth, but the message it imparts is fanciful and misleading. The Huffington Post asked the Romney campaign for an explanation beyond the one it provided anonymously to BuzzFeed. The campaign did not respond.
The Obama campaign, in contrast, was more than happy to tee off on the ad, calling it an illustration of weakness from a Romney campaign unable to gain traction in Ohio.
"Romney, of course, is getting desperate," campaign manager Jim Messina told a conference call of reporters. "So what did he do? He released an ad in Toledo that everyone in America knows is flat-out false. It reeks of desperation because that's what it is."
On a conference call a few hours later, Steve Rattner, who oversaw the auto bailout for Obama, added that he had personally been in touch with officials at Chrysler to get an honest sense of the story. The company, he said, was simply increasing production in China to meet a growing demand there.
"It obviously makes sense to manufacture some or all of those cars closer to the customer rather than shipping them across the world," he said.
Obama campaign Press Secretary Ben LaBolt, meanwhile, told reporters on that same conference call that the campaign would be producing a response ad soon.
Get a load of this new desperate Mitt Romney ad. He's actually trying to pretend that Barack Obama drove the auto industry into bankruptcy and he continues to claim Chrysler is shipping their Jeep autoworkers jobs to Italy. Chrysler is mad as hell! Does Mitt actually think people who work in the industry are buying this?
Price said a persistent myth about wind power was that it could not be used for baseload electricity generation because the wind did not blow all the time.
Cape Town - Wind is the now the cheapest form of electricity generation, with an average price of 89c a kilowatt hour compared to 97c/kWh for Eskom’s new coal-fired power stations.
This was said by Roger Price, chief executive officer of Windlab, an international wind energy company that is investing in wind energy in South Africa.
“The costs are unlikely to go up because, unlike coal, there are no input costs as wind is free,” Price said.
When comparing the prices of electricity generation for wind and coal, one had to compare the price of electricity generation by new power stations, not that by those whose construction costs were paid off decades ago.
This would mean comparing wind power with Eskom’s new Medupi and Kusile coal-fired power stations.
“Eskom said to Parliament that electricity from Medupi and Kusile would be 97c/kWh,” Price said.
“The University of Pretoria did a study which says it could be 120c/kWh.
“In the second round of bids for wind energy the average price was 89c/kWh.
“So wind is already cheaper than new-build coal.”
Of the 16 percent annual price increases that Eskom has asked for over the next five years, three percent would go to support independent power producers in the renewable energy sector, which would provide 10 percent of the generation capacity.
Price said a persistent myth about wind power was that it could not be used for baseload electricity generation because the wind did not blow all the time.
“So what? It doesn’t blow all the time where one wind turbine is, but South Africa is a very big country.”
“The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s wind atlas shows that South Africa has fantastic wind resources, one of the top five countries in the world.
“Overall we say the capacity of wind generation should amount to 25 percent of generating capacity by 2030.”
The way it would work would be to have a network of wind turbines in different areas across the country, and when the wind was not blowing in one area it would be blowing in others. Wind would be part of the electricity mix.
“Wind could easily sustain 25 percent of the grid’s capacity with no strain.”
Another problem with wind power was that the turbines killed birds and bats.
“Sadly that’s true,” Price said.
“About 20 000 birds are killed by turbines in the US a year. However, domestic cats kill 100 million birds, transmission lines kill 175 000 and building windows kill one billion.
“One stray cat can kill between 10 and 100 more birds than one wind turbine.”
Price said the government had laid down requirements for wind power producers that included having 45 percent local content, 40 percent local ownership and 1.5 percent of income to generate local economic development.
Secrets and lies are these two men's campaign staple.
Back in July, David Axelrod, senior campaign adviser for the Obama campaign, called Mitt Romney "the most secretive candidate we've seen probably since Richard Nixon."
Pretty scary considering what we do know. Romney has, of course, only released two years of tax returns, won't talk about the details of his time at Bain and Bain Capital, his dealings with China or his Swiss and Cayman bank accounts. Most of all he won't explain what he really has in mind when it comes to spending or taxing or how it all fits together logically and logistically.
Then there are the secrets kept concealed by the relentless lying. Romney even lies about his lying.
Brian Beutler writes:
“I think the comparison to Nixon is not a very good one, because … Nixon may have been a shadier character in some respects—the Southern strategy, laundering campaign money—but he abided by the norms of the time in terms of disclosure,” said Norm Ornstein, a political scientist at the American Enterprise Institute. [...]“I think there’s nobody like Romney,” [said] Ornstein. “Romney is like the Michael Phelps of presidential candidates. if you’re looking for gold medals in terms of audacious lying, and adamant refusal to turn over personal information, nobody comes close. I’m sure others would’ve liked to have done it, but the culture in the past was one where lying attracted some level of approbation and shame.”
Other historians cited by Beutler don't think Romney is that far out of the ordinary at some levels.
For instance, presidential historian H.W. Brands the University of Texas-Austin notes that we know far more about Romney's personal life than we did about Jack Kennedy's 52 years ago when the Massachusetts senator was a candidate.
But, although Kennedy played the politicians' usual games with campaign trickery like the non-existent "missile gap" and his personal life had, let us say, some major moral lapses, there was never much doubt where he stood on the issues of the day. Romney, on the other hand, has made himself into an enigma by taking a stand on just about every side of every issue over the past decade.
Whether it's gay rights, abortion, immigration, health care, renewable energy, environmental regulations ... the list is interminable.
Two things about Romney, however, are not secret. He will do what it takes to make money the lazy man's way—by demolishing other people's jobs. And he will pretend to be whatever the latest audience wants him to be in order to squirm his way into the White House. If he gets there, the secrets he will keep will be far more consequential than whatever he's hiding in those unreleased tax returns.
BOCA RATON, FLA – The SuperPAC disease on the American body politic isn’t just for big national funders like the Kochs. Poorer cousin, tall-hat, no cattle types with an axe to grind, particularly in swing states, are getting into the act too.
Best known recently for Mitt Romney’s 47% debacle, Boca Raton is no longer just the home of hedge funder and Romney pal Mark Leder’s infamous party that showcased Williard’s withering view of the American electorate.
The final presidential debate turned it into the epicenter of a mini SuperPAC’s billboard distortion curve.
Floridians driving the I-95 corridor between Martin on the North, and Miami-Dade county 35 miles to the South, are being visually assaulted by at least 30 bright yellow anti-Obama or pro Allen West billboards, many of which feature a President Obama-like figure bowing before an Arab king with gas prices showing Obama’s first day as $1.89/gal, and today at $3.89.
Quickly, to shred that bit of propaganda, energy expert Frank Verrastro in a CNN.com op-ed debunks that myth:
“Critics of the administration are quick to note that when Barack Obama took office, gasoline prices were $1.95 a gallon. But they neglect to note the U.S. economy was in a virtual depression. For purposes of comparison, when President George W. Bush took office in 2001, gasoline sold for an average of $1.55 a gallon. In the summer of 2008, his last year in office, prices exceeded $4.25. In reality, presidents have little to do with near-term fluctuations in gas prices.”
AP SuperPAC took out a smaller number of ”Friends Don’t Let Friends Get Nuked” ads aimed at the large South Florida population of Jewish voters, more than 80% of whom support Obama.
The opinion expressed by the billboard is more commonplace in extremist-Right and more racist circles of that community, that gossip about Obama and Muslim Brotherhood conspiracy theories, in spite of numerous prominent Israelis and Middle East analysts calling President Obama’s positions in line with those of past administrations and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s July comment that the Obama administration had done “more than anything I can remember in the past” to defend Israel’s security.
The topper, though, mostly only found in the more rural and Northern parts of Palm Beach and Martin Counties, are their Rep. Allen West billboards, which label him, with unattributed quotes, the “Most Common Sense Congressman.”
This would be the same flame-throwing Congressman West who was held at arm’s length by the GOP caucus after making the outrageous claim that 81 members of the Democratic Party were secret or actual communists.
Politico potboils down West’s greatest hits, including his flaming of Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Shultz, whom he tagged from the House floor as ““the most vile, unprofessional, and despicable” member of that body; His collaborative challenge to the President and the Democratic leadership to “get the hell out of the United States of America;” and his broad-minded thinking in his remark: “I must confess, when I see anyone with an Obama 2012 bumper sticker, I recognize them as a threat to the gene pool.”
This is what American Principles claims passes for common sense:
The group announced Sunday that they will also be taking out newspaper ads in key battleground states in ten newspapers.
Nancy Watkins
Who is American Principles SuperPAC, which has spent $232,565.50 to date opposing President Obama, and a little under $20,000 to re-elect West?[1]
“Nancy Watkins’ accounting office on a leafy street in Tampa may be one of the scariest addresses in Florida — for Democrats.
“Inside, Watkins guides millions of dollars in fundraising and spending that flow through dozens of murkypolitical committees backing Republican candidates and causes.”
Who are the people who back this PAC? Its spokesman, Eytan Laor, said that most of the donors are pro-Israel Republicans [2].
Its biggest givers, with $75,000 to the SuperPAC and $10,000 to the American Principles PAC are Daniel and Renee Kaufman from Lighthouse Point, FL.
Mr. Kaufman is the owner of a Republican-themed cellphone company, aptly monickered for the GOP Jesus as “Reagan Wireless,” currently of Deerfield Beach, Florida.
The company, which sports a “We Built This Business Without Government Help,” red-white-and-blue website, currently receives an “F” rating from the Better Business Bureau. In 2006, the company, then based in nearby Pompano Beach, plead guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.
As part of a plea agreement, Reagan Wireless paid out $5M to the United States Treasury to the Treasury Forfeiture Fund, after they resold cell phones that they had been contracted to destroy, and had sent proof of the destruction to the companies contracting them. A Treasury circular describes the deal:
“The $5,000,000 forfeiture is pursuant to a plea agreement between Reagan Wireless Corporation and the United States Attorneys Office whereby Reagan Wireless agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering and forfeit $5,000,000 to the United States.”
“Common Sense” congressman Allen West visited the company in Mid-September, 2012, as an example of a “green” company that did not take any government money.
Daniel Kaufman gave $50,000 to American Principles Super PAC. Wife Renee Kaufman gave $25,000, according to giving records and OpenSecrets.org. Mrs. Kaufman lists herself as “Homemaker.”
This is not the Kaufmans’ first foray into PAC and SuperPAC slush funding. In 2010, they gave at least $101,800 to far Right politicians and PACs.
$84,000 made them the largest contributors to pre-Citizens United anti-Democratic Party, Obama-hating group called We Love USA PAC, discredited by Politfact, which helped elect Allen West in 2010. Their conspicuous giving to this regionally-focused PAC groups even caught the notice of the Washington Post.
The Kaufmans also gave $6,200 to West in 2010, and they’ve given thousands to Romney, and embattled Republican candidates Scott Brown of Massachusetts and newbie Teahadi Josh Mandel running against Sherrod Brown in Ohio. [3][4] “Retired” Boca multi-millionaire Marc Goldman, a friend of Sheldon Adelson and a contributor to both APSuperPac and the American Principles PAC, is another of the key funders of the billboard campaigns according to recent FEC filings.
Goldman has dropped $250,000 on Republican candidates, PACs, and Super PACs in this election cycle. He’s been a big giver to the two American Principle slush funds, with $75,000 into theSuperPAC in 2012 and $5,000 to the PAC in 2011 and 2012.[5]
Goldman sold his family-owned Farmland Dairies in New Jersey to Parmalat and, while he lists himself as “retired,” he appears to be making a play in alternative energy.
According to Sourcewatch.org, Goldman spent $150,000 on D.C. Lobbyist Artemis Strategies [3] to back a bill called the Open Fuel Standard Act of 2011, known in the House as H.R. 1687 sponsored by Rep. John Shimkus [R-IL19] and in the Senate as S. 1603 sponsored by Sen. Maria Cantwell [D-WA]. [6][7][8]
The bill calls for fast-tracking alternative energy sources like ethanol and natural gas-based methanol.
It requires all vehicles to be flex-fuel capable to enable fuel competition.
Goldman was also a smaller donor in 2010 to We Love USA, and he gave $5,000 to Tea Party whack-job Michelle Bachmann during the Republican primaries.
When the Boca debate drew attention to the billboards, the Palm Beach Post reported Goldman’s beef with the Presdient:
“Goldman says Obama has been too friendly with the Muslim Brotherhood and groups who are hostile to Israel. He faults Obama for making overtures to the Muslim world in 2009 but not visiting Israel — a criticism leveled by Mitt Romney in the last presidential debate.”
The Joint Action Committee, a Jewish affairs group, though, debunks and roundly condemns the remarks of Mr. Goldman and others like him for being gross distortions of fact.
Chipping in another $25,000 is Florida Pain & Rehabilitation Associates, PA, a six unit pain clinic run and co-owned by Dr. Jeffrey Zipper.
Zipper, in other political lobbying, is opposing the government crack-down on the infamous pain pill mills of South Florida. Zipper is suing the state to overturn the law set up to prevent the rampant drug dealing that has made Florida the epicenter of prescription drug abuse. He is also working with state Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R- Fort Lauderdale. Bogdanoff, according to Florida State campaign finance records Bogdanoff is a darling of health care and big pharma.
Dr. Paul Tartell, a physician who owns a chain of South Florida allergy clinics, gave $25,000 to the American Principles Super PAC and $10,000 to the American Principles PAC.
Stan Weinstein, an investment advisor with Global Trend Alert of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, gave $1,000 to the billboard SuperPAC and $300.00 to American Principles PAC.
Americans have an inalienable right to free speech, to say what they will. They can even lie on a billboard, if they choose. What has been more difficult, throughout the long presidential campaign cycle, has been getting up-to-date information on these astroturf groups run by a handful of the well-heeled that pose as much larger groups of outraged citizens, rather than the small and well-heeled few that can afford to buy billboards in four counties of Florida.
We have an equal right to know who is speaking, evaluate the truth of their words, and their credibility and standing in the community based upon their past acts, good, bad or otherwise.
When religious zealots convince themselves that they are connected to God's words and pass judgement on others, nothing more is accomplished than perpetuating ignorance.
That these money changers have an audience defines the poor educational system in the US that sorely needs improvement.
Religious spokespeople have frequently tried to draw bizarre connections between natural disasters and the LGBT community. Last year, the American Family Association’s Buster Wilson similarly claimed that Hurricane Isaac was punishment for the Southern Decadence LGBT festival.Rick Joyner had the same to say about Hurricane Katrina, claiming that “[God]‘s not gonna put up with perversion anymore.” Pat Robertson has long believed that acceptance of homosexuality could result in hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, terrorist bombs, and “possibly a meteor.”
It’s likely that McTernan will not be the only religious figure to draw such allusions from this devastating storm.
Hurricane Sandy will be arriving on the East Coast in a matter of hours, so we're re-posting this.
Sandy is now the largest Atlantic hurricane by width ever measured. Storm surges are already higher than in last year's Hurricane Irene.
That's after the hottest summer in North American history, a massive drought and record Arctic melting. This is not a coincidence.
From the album: Timeline Photos
By 350.org
A storm unlike any that meteorologists have ever seen is heading for the East Coast of the United States. We're hoping that it won't be so bad, but if it is, we'll know why.
The media is not doing a good job reporting this part of the story -- SHARE this and connect the dots between climate change and extreme weather, even if they won't!
Bill McKibben joined meteorologist Jeff Masters and Climate Scientist Greg Jones this morning to discuss the connections between stronger storms and climate change. Do yourself a favor and listen all the way through--fascinating stuff.
A big crowd of volunteers joined 350.org in Times Square this afternoon to unfurl a giant parachute with the message “End Climate Silence” and an image of a hurricane.
"Meteorologists have called this 'the biggest storm ever to hit the U.S. mainland,' which is a reminder of how odd our weather has been in this hottest year in American history,” said 350.org founder Bill McKibben. “But mainly it's a reminder of how much we need to take care of each other when disaster strikes--we hope everyone will pitch in with the Red Cross, and with local relief efforts. Community is our greatest source of energy, and our cleanest!"
Photo: Adam Welz
As Hurricane Sandy barrels down on the East Coast, scientists are connecting the dots between increasingly extreme weather and global warming. Yet for most of this year’s presidential election, the words “climate change” have gone unmentioned. The issue was not raised in a presidential debate for the first time since 1988.
Scientists warn that climate change is loading the dice for extreme weather events like Hurricane Sandy. The Earth’s average global temperature has risen between 1.5 and 2 degrees Fahrenheit over the past century and the warmer temperatures mean that the atmosphere holds about 4% more moisture than it did in 1970, leading to greater rainfall.
Photo: Adam Welz
According to leading hurricane tracker and weatherman Jeff Masters, water temperature in the mid-Atlantic this year is 5°F warmer than average, allowing hurricanes to travel farther north and contributing to “an unusually large amount of water vapor available to make heavy rain.”
The recent string of extreme weather events -- especially the drought, heat wave, and wildfires that ravaged much of the United States this summer -- is making Americans more concerned about climate change. According to a recent report by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communications, 70% of Americans now say they believe global warming is a reality, the highest level since 2008.
This November 7, 350.org is launching a 20-city nationwide tour called “Do The Math” to connect the dots between extreme weather, climate change, and the fossil fuel industry, which is not only driving climate change but blocking the clean energy solutions that could solve the crisis. More information is available at math.350.org.
[Video includes Mitt Romney's buffoonery at the Republican Convention which does nothing beyond perpetuating ignorance.]
![an important message from @[124530161004606:274:The Message]. - james](https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/s480x480/548328_463943610324839_1698814555_n.jpg)
![Palm Beach County Screws Up Another Presidential Election
[Source: Adam Weinstein at Mother Jones]
Just in case 2012 hasn't filled you with Bush-Gore-repeat nightmares yet, there's bad news from the South Florida epicenter of the 2000 debacle: Election officials in Palm Beach County say they screwed up at least 60,000 absentee ballots and have to perform a recount.
That's right: The county that gave you the butterfly ballot is back. An error by the county's printer caused ballots to go out to absentee voters with a typo, and as completed votes roll back into the supervisor's office by mail, volunteer workers have to copy the votes by hand onto new ballots to ensure they're counted by the county's tabulation machines...
The typo affected 60,000 total ballots, but officials estimate they only have to copy about 27,000 by hand to make them count.
Read the full story here: http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/10/palm-beach-county-screws-another-presidential-election#13515430167671&action=collapse_widget&id=6394731](https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/s480x480/487146_10151227238117128_1946544208_n.jpg)
![Via: @[360781383974396:274:The Everlasting GOP Stoppers]](https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/s480x480/317234_551506841541498_1888212898_n.png)
“Retired” Boca multi-millionaire Marc Goldman, 
