RSN: Koch Brother Resigns From Museum Board After Calls From Scientists, Death Toll: Will the US Tolerate More Civilian Casualties in Its Bid to Vanquish ISIS?, David Brooks Proposes a Kinder, Gentler Republican Party

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Matt Taibbi | David Brooks Proposes a Kinder, Gentler Republican Party 
 
Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone 
Taibbi writes: "This is the author of aristocrat fan fiction classics like Bobos in Paradise suddenly advocating government policies to stimulate 'social mobility at the bottom.' Could this election season get any weirder?" 
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Bernie Sanders Surges Ahead of Hillary Clinton in New Iowa Poll 
Katie Reilly, TIME 
Reilly writes: "Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is now beating Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton in Iowa, according to a new poll, just over a week away from the Iowa caucuses." 
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Koch Brother Resigns From Museum Board After Calls From Scientists 
Katie Herzog, Grist 
Herzog writes: "For 23 years, David Koch, the billionaire industrialist who made a fortune off fossil fuels, ranching, fertilizers, and other environmental nightmares, served on the board at the American Museum of Natural History." 
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David Koch. (photo: AP)

or 23 years, David Koch, the billionaire industrialist who made a fortune off fossil fuels, ranching, fertilizers, and other environmental nightmares, has served on the board at the American Museum of Natural History. Koch’s position on the board is controversial, not least because of his position on climate change: The Koch family has spent millions funding climate change denier groups and disinformation campaigns, and scientists around the country have called for Koch to be removed from the museum board. Well, they finally got what they wanted — the American Museum of Natural History announced Koch’s resignation this week.

A museum spokeswoman said Koch’s departure is unrelated to the calls for his dismissal, but, asThe New York Times reports, a letter sent to museums of science and history last year and signed by dozens of scientists stated:

David Koch is a major donor, exhibit sponsor and trustee on the Board of Directors at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, and the American Museum of Natural History. David Koch’s oil and manufacturing conglomerate Koch Industries is one of the greatest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Mr. Koch also funds a large network of climate-change-denying organizations, spending over $67 million since 1997 to fund groups denying climate change science.

When some of the biggest contributors to climate change and funders of misinformation on climate science sponsor exhibitions in museums of science and natural history, they undermine public confidence in the validity of the institutions responsible for transmitting scientific knowledge. This corporate philanthropy comes at too high a cost.

Drawing on both our scientific expertise and personal care for our planet and people, we believe that the only ethical way forward for our museums is to cut all ties with the fossil fuel industry and funders of climate science obfuscation.

SO NOW THE DIRTY ENERGY & MAJOR POLLUTERS KOCHS ARE GOING TO HARASS THE SCIENTISTS:  

The letter was signed by prominent climate scientists James Hansen and Michael Mann, among others. The Natural History Museum, the organization that sponsored the letter, noted that Koch’s reaction was swift: Within 24 hours, “a lawyer with apparent ties to the Koch brothers filed OPRA requests (similar to FOIA) at public universities where several scientists who signed the letter are employed,” wrote the Natural History Museum’s Beka Economopoulos in a press release. “The requests called on the universities to turn over all emails in the scientists’ accounts with ‘Koch’ in the subject or body.”

The American Museum of Natural History isn’t the only museum with ties to the Kochs: David Koch also sits on the advisory board of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History — and he apparently holds a lot of sway. ThinkProgress reported last year about a Smithsonian exhibit that “thoroughly whitewashes the dangers of modern-day climate change.” The exhibit was made possible by a $15 million grant from none other than David Koch.

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/34751-koch-brother-resigns-from-museum-board-after-calls-from-scientists

Serial Rapist Cop Daniel Holtzclaw Gets 263 Years 
Patty Santos, KOCO 
Santos writes: "Former Oklahoma city police officer Daniel Holtzclaw learned Thursday he will spend the rest of his life in prison. For the victims, detectives and attorneys who were behind the case for a year and half, the 263-year prison term handed out to Holtzclaw brings relief." 
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EPA Administrator Quits Amid Flint Water Crisis 
Lisa Riordan Seville and Phil Helsel, NBC News 
Excerpt: "The Environmental Protection Agency director overseeing a region that includes Flint, Michigan, is stepping down after contaminated water in that city exposed residents to lead poisoning." 
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Death Toll: Will the US Tolerate More Civilian Casualties in Its Bid to Vanquish ISIS? 
Neta C. Crawford, Cognoscenti 
Crawford writes: "The U.S. is now prepared to risk many more civilians in military operations - as many as 50 in a single attack - against ISIS than during the war and occupation of Iraq and during the war in Afghanistan." 
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Leo DiCaprio Wins Climate Award, Pledges $15 Million to the Planet 
Kate Yoder, Grist 
Yoder writes: "On Tuesday, Leonardo DiCaprio received yet another award and pledged $15 million to environmental groups. The award was for his leadership in confronting the climate crisis and was presented at the World Economic Forum's Crystal Awards in Davos, Switzerland." 
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