tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39173559556024786962024-03-13T12:44:10.796-04:00completelybakedcompletelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.comBlogger224125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-20701942778391154962020-10-06T19:31:00.001-04:002020-10-08T07:56:18.484-04:00Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017--40 Reasons Not To Like It<script type="text/javascript"><!--
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Facts culled from the "<i><b>Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017</b></i>" <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Cuts_and_Jobs_Act_of_2017" target="_blank">Wikipedia page</a> which draws from multiple sources: (<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Cuts_and_Jobs_Act_of_2017">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Cuts_and_Jobs_Act_of_2017</a>)
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<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/1-Distribution_of_Impact_per_Taxpayer_v1.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/1-Distribution_of_Impact_per_Taxpayer_v1.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <br />
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"The <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/53333" target="_blank">CBO</a> estimates that implementing the Act would add an estimated $2.289 trillion to the national debt over ten years, or <i><b>about $1.891 trillion</b></i> after taking into account macroeconomic feedback effects..." <br /><br />
"The individual and pass-through tax cuts <i><b>fade over time</b></i> and become net tax increases starting in 2027 while the <i><b>corporate tax cuts are permanent</b></i>." <br /><br />
"Most individual income taxes are reduced, until 2025. The number of income tax brackets remain at seven, but the income ranges in several brackets have been changed and each new bracket has lower rates." <br /><br />
"A different inflation measure (<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Chained_Consumer_Price_Index" target="_blank">Chained CPI or C-CPI</a>) will be applied to the brackets instead of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), so the brackets increase more slowly. This is <i><b>effectively a tax increase over time</b></i>, as people move more quickly into higher brackets as their income rises; this element is permanent." <br /><br />
"Fewer people will pay the Alternative minimum tax because the act increases the exemption level from $84,500 to $109,400 for married taxpayers filing jointly and from $54,300 to $70,300 for single taxpayers." <br /><br />
"For deaths occurring between 2018 and 2025, estates that exceed $11.2 million are subject to a 40% estate tax at time of death, increased from $5.6 million previously." <br /><br />
"The corporate tax rate was lowered from 35% to 21%, while some related business deductions and credits were reduced or eliminated." <br /><br />
"The Act contains provisions that would open 1.5 million acres (6,100 km2) in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling." [This was done to secure a vote from Senator Lisa Murkowski.]<br /><br />
"The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation also estimated that the GDP level would be <i><b>0.7% higher (in aggregate, not per annum)</b></i> during the 2018–2027 period relative to the CBO baseline forecast, employment level would be 0.6% higher and personal consumption level would be 0.6% higher during the 2018–2027 period on average due to the Act." <br /><br />
"These are higher levels, <i><b>not higher annual growth rates</b></i>, so these are relatively <i><b>minor economic impacts over 10 years</b></i>." <br /><br />
"During 2019, income groups earning under $20,000 (about 23% of taxpayers) would contribute to deficit reduction (i.e. incur a cost), mainly by receiving fewer subsidies due to the repeal of the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act."
"Other groups would contribute to deficit increases (i.e. receive a benefit), mainly due to tax cuts."<br /><br />
"During 2021, 2023 and 2025, income groups earning under $40,000 (about 43% of taxpayers) would contribute to deficit reduction (tax increases), while income groups above $40,000 would contribute to deficit increases."<br /><br />"During 2027, income groups earning under $75,000 (about 76% of taxpayers) would contribute to deficit reduction while income groups above $75,000 would contribute to deficit increases"<br /><br />"The Tax Policy Center (TPC) estimated that the bottom <i><b>80% of taxpayers</b></i> (income under $149,400)<i><b> would receive 35% of the benefit in 2018, 34% in 2025 and none of the benefit in 2027</b></i>, with some groups incurring costs."<br /><br />"Bloomberg reported (based on an analysis of 51 S&P 500 companies) that an estimated <i><b>60% of corporate tax savings was going to shareholders, while 15% was going to employees</b></i>."<br /><br />"The law also impacts healthcare by repealing the ACA individual mandate, resulting in projections of <i><b>up to 13 million fewer persons covered by health insurance</b></i> as some younger, healthier persons will likely choose not to participate."<br /><br />"Those in the remaining less healthy pool will pay higher insurance costs on the ACA exchanges, which will result in additional persons dropping coverage."<br />
"The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) summarized several studies that indicated a boost to annual <i><b>GDP growth rates would be about 0.1% each year rather than the Administration's claims of 0.4% per year</b></i>."<br /><br />"CBO reported that the <i><b>budget deficit</b></i> was $779 billion in fiscal year 2018, <i><b>up $113 billion or 17% from 2017</b></i>."<br /><br />"The Tax Policy Center (TPC) reported its distributional estimates for the Act. This analysis excludes the impact from <i><b>repealing the ACA individual mandate, which would apply significant costs primarily to income groups below $40,000</b></i>."<br /><br />"Compared to current law, 5% of taxpayers would pay more in 2018, 9% in 2025, and <b><i>53% in 2027</i></b>."<br /><br />"The top 1% of taxpayers (income over $732,800) would receive 8% of the benefit in 2018, 25% in 2025, and <i><b>83% in 2027</b></i>."<br /><br />"The top 5% (income over $307,900) would receive 43% of the benefit in 2018, 47% in 2025, and <b><i>99% in 2027</i></b>."<br /><br />"The top 20% (income over $149,400) would receive 65% of the benefit in 2018, 66% in 2025 and <i><b>all of the benefit in 2027</b></i>."<br /><br />"<i><b>The bottom 80%</b></i> (income under $149,400) would receive 35% of the benefit in 2018, 34% in 2025 and <i><b>none of the benefit in 2027</b></i>, with some groups incurring costs."<br /><br />"The third quintile (taxpayers in the 40th to 60th percentile with income between $48,600 and $86,100, a proxy for the "<i><b>middle class</b></i>") <b><i>would receive 11% of the benefit in 2018 and 2025, but would incur a net cost in 2027</i></b>."<br /><br />"After taxes and transfers, the <b><i>income of the top 1% would grow more than other income groups</i></b>, continuing previous trends."<br />
"The <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/gini-index.asp" target="_blank">Gini Index</a> would rise, indicating <i><b>increasing inequality</b></i>, reversing a trend from the latter part of the Obama administration."<br /><br />
"According to the CBO, under the Senate version of the bill, <i><b>businesses</b></i> receive a $890 billion benefit or <i><b>63%</b></i>, <i><b>individuals</b></i> $441 billion or <i><b>31%</b></i>, and <i><b>estates</b></i> $83 billion or <i><b>6%</b></i>."<br /><br />"Later in 2019, the Economic Policy Institute analyzed the data on business investment from the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis and concluded that, '<b>if the TCJA’s corporate rate cuts were working, we would be seeing a permanent rise in investment. Instead, investment growth is cratering</b>.'"<br /><br />"The analysis also found that since the tax cut <i><b>firms increased dividends and stock buybacks by nearly three times as much as they increased capital investments</b></i>." (38/)<br /><br />"A January 2018 study from the firm Willis Towers Watson found that <i><b>80% of companies were not "considering giving raises at all.'</b></i>"<br /><br />"In 2027, if the tax cuts are paid for by spending cuts borne evenly by all families, <i><b>after-tax income</b></i> would be 3.0% higher for the top 0.1%, 1.5% higher for the top 10%, <i><b>-0.6% for the middle 40% (30th to 70th percentile) and -2.0% for the bottom 50%.</b></i>"
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/1-Distribution_of_Impact_per_Taxpayer_v1.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/1-Distribution_of_Impact_per_Taxpayer_v1.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/sites/default/files/styles/original_optimized/public/fig1_howard.png?itok=qG9Mr1C5" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="720" height="258" src="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/sites/default/files/styles/original_optimized/public/fig1_howard.png?itok=qG9Mr1C5" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/TCJA_Tax_rate_changes_by_year.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/TCJA_Tax_rate_changes_by_year.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Tax_Cuts_and_Jobs_Act_GDP_and_Deficit_Changes.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Tax_Cuts_and_Jobs_Act_GDP_and_Deficit_Changes.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />
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completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-4002944416960786592013-03-23T15:36:00.001-04:002013-03-23T15:46:21.747-04:00Why Detroiters Might Be Skeptics<script type="text/javascript"><!--
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.belleisleconservancy.org/files/cache/875bda092a21cff18dfb16261551972a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="182" src="http://www.belleisleconservancy.org/files/cache/875bda092a21cff18dfb16261551972a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Belle Isle, Detroit<br />
photo: <a href="http://www.belleisleconservancy.org/">Belle Isle Conservancy</a></td></tr>
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This post originated as a comment on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CraigFahleShow?fref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook page of WDET reporter and talk-show host, Craig Fahle</a>. The state of Michigan, under Governor Rick Snyder, tendered an offer to lease Belle Isle for 99 years and take over operation of it. The offer, if implemented as proposed, included an entrance fee for access to the island, which comprises the largest (982-acres), most scenic, and wide open park in the city. Belle Isle rests in the middle of the Detroit River, just east of downtown, and is accessed via the MacArthur Bridge. The city purchased Belle Isle in 1879, and the plan for the island was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed Central Park in New York City. For over 130 years, Belle Isle has provided city residents free refuge from the congestion and turbulence of urban life.<br />
<br />
See my note below to Craig which applies, I think, equally to city residents' opposition to the expected appointment of an Emergency Manager by Governor Snyder. The governor contends that a "financial emergency" exists in Detroit that requires dismissal of the Mayor and City Council. Some residents, including the accountant and former mayoral candidate, Tom Barlow, refute the notion that such an emergency exists. Read his <a href="http://www.seiu517m.org/2013/03/06/detroit-officials-meet-with-treasurer-dillion-on-efm/" target="_blank">press release</a>, or <a href="https://soundcloud.com/wdet/long-time-detroit-activist-and" target="_blank">listen to him</a> on the Craig Fahle Show to get a sense of how some sensible people might doubt the need for an emergency manager.<br />
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My comments on Craig's Facebook page:<br />
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Hey Craig, I just heard the discussion you hosted about Belle Isle. I know you are really well informed about Detroit, and things in general, so I know you've carefully considered the pros and cons of allowing the state to run Belle Isle. I get the impression you are in favor of it, perhaps as a result of the absence of any better proposals. I agree the island needs some major refurbishing. I love the botanical garden, but always feel really sad when I go in there and see rust eating through major structural supports. I remember my uncle, a farmer, always walking around with a can of paint in one hand and a brush in the other, and when I was a kid I thought he just liked the smell of paint, but now I understand what he was up to: preventive maintenance. Not much of that seems to happen on Belle Isle, or at a lot of other dilapidated historic sites in Detroit (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Wayne_%28Detroit%29" target="_blank">Fort Wayne</a> springs to mind).<br />
<br />
You repeatedly mentioned that people seem to base their opposition to a state takeover of Belle Isle purely on an emotional level. I guess I'm not really sure what you mean by the term "emotional" in that context, but I'm guessing you mean sort of reflexive, and not based in fact.
Well, I kind of think opposition often stems from a defensive reflex to resist intrusion by people who are not city residents offering "solutions" to city problems, but the reflex is definitely based in fact.<br />
<br />
As you know, black people constitute a majority of the population in Detroit, and as you also probably know, the municipal, state, and federal governments have not been particularly kind to them over the years. Sure, since the Civil Rights Era, black citizens have been treated less egregiously bad by government, but they also haven't been afforded wage or education equality despite doing comparable work and paying comparable taxes. Jobs have moved away from where they live, while they lack the economic mobility to chase jobs into the suburbs (where residents are typically less than welcoming); city schools attended by poor people rarely share the same resources as suburban schools.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://info.detnews.com/dn/history/paradise/images/gothamafter.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="296" src="http://info.detnews.com/dn/history/paradise/images/gothamafter.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">from: "<a href="http://apps.detnews.com/apps/history/index.php?id=174" target="_blank">Paradise Valley and Black Bottom</a>"<br />
By Vivian Baulch / The Detroit News</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But you know all this. I don't think you would dispute those assertions.
The big thing I wanted to mention that's just got to stick in the minds of black Detroiters -- and I'm not trying to speak for anyone here -- is the destruction of the Hastings Street, Paradise Valley, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Bottom,_Detroit" target="_blank">Black Bottom</a> neighborhoods to create housing projects and put a freeway through. Honestly, that one thing in this city, if it were done to affluent, white people -- and it never, ever would be -- cries of "Genocide!" would echo through the land. But in came the government architects and engineers, who said, "Trust us."<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/White_sign_racial_hatred..jpg/751px-White_sign_racial_hatred..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="255" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/White_sign_racial_hatred..jpg/751px-White_sign_racial_hatred..jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sign in response to proposed<br />
Sojourner Truth Housing Project, February 1942<br />
photo: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Race_Riot_%281943%29">Wikipedia</a></td></tr>
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And look what happened. Vibrant, <a href="http://apps.detnews.com/apps/history/index.php?id=174" target="_blank">thriving neighborhoods</a> where destroyed -- for a freeway (I-75) and a housing project (Lafayette Park).<br />
<br />
Then there's the <a href="http://apps.detnews.com/apps/history/index.php?id=185" target="_blank">1943 Sojourner Truth "riot"</a> which wasn't really a riot at all, despite the fact that black people got shafted when they were told they couldn't move into the new projects ostensibly built to alleviate <i>their </i>housing shortage. The "riot" began as roving bands of white thugs beat innocent black people senseless while police watched.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blackpast.org/files/blackpast_images/detroit_race_riot_1943.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.blackpast.org/files/blackpast_images/detroit_race_riot_1943.jpg" width="217" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pulling a Man Off a Streetcar, Detroit Riot, 1943<br />
<a href="http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/detroit-race-riot-1943">BlackPast.org</a></td></tr>
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And then there's the <a href="http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/detroit/detroit.html" target="_blank">“riot” of 1863</a>. On the basis of an alleged but unproven rape by black man of two white girls in a tavern, a white mob beat numerous black residents (in one case, if I recall correctly from a history I read a while back, the mob beat a father nearly to death in front of his wife and children as his business [blacksmith?] was burned. As it turned out, the "black" man accused of raping the girls was in fact Mexican, but bigotry is never particularly clear eyed. (The violence and destruction occurred in Black Bottom, I think, and black people were making a pretty good go of it in Detroit back then despite every effort of white people to throw up barriers and exploit their second class status in Detroit. This northern city remained a relative haven compared to slavery in the south.) <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Lafayette_Park_Detroit_redevelopment_over_Black_Bottom.jpg/320px-Lafayette_Park_Detroit_redevelopment_over_Black_Bottom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Lafayette_Park_Detroit_redevelopment_over_Black_Bottom.jpg/320px-Lafayette_Park_Detroit_redevelopment_over_Black_Bottom.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black Bottom, a center of the black community,<br />
replaced by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafayette_Park,_Detroit">Lafayette Park</a>,<br />
built between 1958 and 1960<br />
photo: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Detroit_riot#Housing_and_neighborhoods">Wikipedia</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In the 1960's, black-owned businesses that were victims of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Detroit_riot#Housing_and_neighborhoods" target="_blank">"slum-clearing/urban renewal" of Black Bottom</a> moved over to 12th street. In the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Detroit_riot#Housing_and_neighborhoods" target="_blank">'67 riot</a>, these businesses were burned and looted along with white-owned businesses, finishing off many once prosperous black business owners. Despite the narrative that prevails in the suburbs, white people were not the only <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Detroit_riot#Deaths" target="_blank">victims in 1967</a>.<br />
<br />
So maybe folks do react emotionally, but they bring a lot of dark history to back up that emotion. I think opponents to a state takeover of Belle Isle (or an emergency manager of Detroit) -- white, black, or whomever -- are right to be very, very skeptical when rich, white, opportunistic people from the government say, "Trust us."
(Sorry for posting a novel on your page, but I think we too often [willfully?] forget the past in this town.)<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://timelifeblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/03_00986173.jpg?w=1072" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="291" src="http://timelifeblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/03_00986173.jpg?w=1072" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://life.time.com/history/detroit-is-burning-photos-from-the-1967-riots/" target="_blank">Detroit Burning:</a><br />
<a href="http://life.time.com/history/detroit-is-burning-photos-from-the-1967-riots/" target="_blank">Photos From the 1967 Riot</a><br />
-- Life Magazine</td></tr>
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completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-4363302023398108812012-09-17T08:18:00.000-04:002012-09-17T08:22:55.422-04:00Build Baby, Build! Rewewable energy brings cheaper electricity & more jobs<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://new.rmi.org/Content/Images/KnowledgeCenter/RFGraph/2050_generation_by_case.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="384" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ohmOB5g5bT4/UFcPWlquvwI/AAAAAAAAAfA/98s4ubJIDhk/s400/RMI_2050_generation_by_case.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1720785366">2050 Power Generation Scenarios</a><br />
<a href="http://rmi.org/">RMI.org</a></td></tr>
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The utilities don't want it to happen.<br />
<br />
They make their money when they build big, centralized power plants powered by coal, natural gas, or uranium. They take a mark up on the cost of the plant as profit. That's what most state regulations mandate: states allow utilities to mark up the cost of the plant by a fixed percentage to insure that utilities do not gouge customers. But the rule that protects customers also hurts them: utilities are guaranteed that fixed percentage on the cost of the plant as profit. How many other businesses can guarantee shareholders a profit? And the more expensive the plant, the bigger the profit.<br />
<br />
But the state giveth, and the state can taketh away.<br />
<br />
Distributed renewables are a lot smarter way to provide power. That means small, local, combined heat and power generators fueled by natural gas set up alongside rooftop photovoltaics, small windmills scattered about, and biomass gas generation facilities that turn food and animal (including human?) waste into natural gas and compost. Such infrastructure requires lots of components that we could manufacture locally and employ local people to install and maintain. Distributed renewables utilize existing technology and cost less to install and maintain, and once installed require no fuel source (except for biomass, which consumes waste).<br />
<br />
Meeting demand is no problem. Distributed renewables combine different power sources that generate best at different times, use gas generators for peak loads,implement energy storage via pumped water (been around for over a hundred years), pressurized underground air, or batteries. Distributed renewables meet demand even more easily when combined with improved consumption efficiency that easily cuts household and industrial electricity use by 50%, and in many cases up to 80 % . Improving efficiency more than pays for itself and employes lots of people. (see negawatts at RMI.org)<br />
<br />
Distributed renewables are more reliable, too. When you have lots of little power sources, if one fails, the impact is small. When a large centralized plant is shut down, the impact is large and for longer duration -- nuclear power plants are often shut down for months or years when faults are discovered.<br />
<br />
But utilities hate this idea. If we distribute power generation, utilities lose their cut. They lose control of a monopoly with a guaranteed profit. Hence, they prefer to rip us off and poison us.<br />
<br />
Ponder it.completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-59257964498498656582012-09-15T15:17:00.000-04:002013-11-11T17:45:01.574-05:00Michigan Hydro-Fracturing: Gassed Politicians Sell Out Residents<script type="text/javascript">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">One of the three State Excelsior wells<br />
on Sunset Trail in Mackinaw State Forest, Kalkaska County, MI<br />
Photo by LuAnne Kozma, <a href="http://banmichiganfracking.org/">Ban Michigan Fracking</a></td></tr>
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"Michigan is perfectly safe and we have safeguards in place," Horn said. "This does not mean won't look for improvements in public safety." -- Rep. Ken Horn, R-Saginaw<br />
<br />
"'Because there is more money to be made, especially with high oil prices now, legislators will want to move forward' and lease more land to operators, mostly in the northern half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan." -- Steve Chester, the former director of the state Department of Environmental Quality and now an attorney representing gas companies.<br />
<br />
"...chemicals found in the frack water include benzene, toluene, xylene, and ethylbenzene."<br />
<br />
Above are some lines from "<a href="http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20110527/STAFFBLOG10/110529913/fracking-in-michigan-appears-on-the-upswing" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Fracking in Michigan appears on the upswing</i></a>," by Jay Greene in Crain's Detroit Business.<br />
<br />
Everything's gonna be fine...<br />
<br />
OK, I should qualify that. Everything's gonna be fine if you're a rig operator, or a Michigan state legislator, who does not draw drinking water from an aquifer punctured by one of these wells. Likely then, you'll be fine, especially the state legislator who will tip-toe through the revolving door at the end of his term, and into the glorious corporate realm where money grows on trees.<br />
<br />
Those gas companies intend to shaft the rest of us, though.<br />
<br />
While it is true that gas companies drilled for gas in Michigan over the last 50 or 60 years, as the article states, these were shallow wells, under 2500 feet, that required <i>only</i> 50,000 gallons of water to fracture. The new wells will use <i>deep </i>hydraulic fracturing, and require 3 million to 5 million gallons of water. Actually, what goes in these wells they do not call water. They refer to it as <i>slickwater</i>.<br />
<br />
Slickwater is water mixed with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_additives_for_hydraulic_fracturing" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">very, very toxic chemicals</a>; the sort of chemicals that, when you buy them in the hardware store for cleaning paintbrushes, or prepping materials for painting, the manufacturer puts that Jolly Roger skull and crossbones on the side of the can.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wATpg4Rs-YI/UFSdI-kCqMI/AAAAAAAAAek/Sdjd1SAxnq4/s1600/JollyRoger_Skull&CrossBones_500px-Flag_of_Edward_England.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wATpg4Rs-YI/UFSdI-kCqMI/AAAAAAAAAek/Sdjd1SAxnq4/s320/JollyRoger_Skull&CrossBones_500px-Flag_of_Edward_England.svg.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jolly_Roger" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Smelling this stuff causes cancer. Drink it? Are you nuts? Well, gas drillers say no worries, you can drink water contaminated with benzene, it won't hurt you. That's why our leaders in Congress omitted fracking fluids from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Water_Act" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Clean Water Act</a> back in 2005. Because these chemicals are safe to drink. Go ahead, drink them Congress. (Just kidding Congress, don't drink them -- they would kill you. But it's fine if your constituents drink them, right? As long as the campaign contributions from gas company lobbyists flow like... like slickwater.) And if you thought the organic compound cocktail was bad enough, wait there's more. Drillers also pump radioactive isotopes like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobalt-60" title="Cobalt-60">Cobalt-60</a>, with a half-life of 5.27 years, into their wells "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fracturing_fluid" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">to determine the injection profile and location of fractures created by hydraulic fracturing</a>."<br />
<br />
But I'm blowing the whole toxic groundwater thing way out of proportion. These guys, these politicians and well-drillers know what they're doing. They line these wells with <a href="http://www.naturalgas.org/naturalgas/well_completion.asp">steel casings held in place by concrete</a> -- special concrete -- triple-walled down to a point below the punctured aquifer. All that steel and concrete, you see, prevents the toxic slickwater from seeping into the aquifer where our drinking water resides. But there are seams in the steel -- they insert it in sections, and join the sections. Seams in pipes fail. Especially when jammed into rock and pumped full of nasty chemicals at high pressure. Thousands of feet of layered bedrock, under the pressure of its own weight, surely impose uneven forces on well-casing seams. Surely many of the hundreds of thousands of expected wells will experience failures of these seams, and many of these will propagate contamination upward toward aquifers. And don't forget the concrete used to hold the casings in place near the surface, like the stuff made by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halliburton" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Halliburton</a> that famously plugged the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Deepwater Horizon Macondo</a> well in the Gulf of Mexico. That's the one were the concrete from Halliburton failed, the well blew, eleven men were killed, and 5 million barrels of oil were spilled into the Gulf, trashing shrimp and tuna fishereries, killing untold numbers of porpoise, sea turtles, and birds. More to the point, <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-big-fracking-bubble-the-scam-behind-the-gas-boom-20120301?page=3" target="_blank">a well-head at a fracking site in Pennsylvania failed</a> -- a blow out -- and streamed 10,000 gallons of chemical laden water across hillsides and into streams.<br />
<br />
These guys know what they are doing, you see. There won't be any mistakes in Michigan. That concrete from Halliburton will not fail. As Rep. Horn said, "Michigan is perfectly safe and we have safeguards in place..."<br />
<br />
And yet, tales of mistakes made abound. Really. Have a look at ProPublica's ongoing series on hydraulic fracturing: "<i><a href="http://www.propublica.org/series/fracking" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fracking: Gas Drilling's Environmental Threat</a>."</i> Or, you can Google "<i>hydraulic fracturing lawsuits</i>" and watch the cases scroll by. All over the country, fracking destroyed groundwater and people are pissed. <a href="http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/newsroom/14287?id=15595&typeid=1" target="_blank">Gas companies might pay some damages</a>, but they won't pick up the entire tab. It will be residents forced to add elaborate filtering mechanisms to their municipal and residential wells. And that's to deal with the drinking water contamination. When drilling rig well-heads and <a href="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/bmordick/blm_proposed_fracking_rules_do.html" target="_blank">containment ponds fail</a> and contaminate streams, creeks and rivers with <i>millions</i> of gallons of "slickwater" drillers will likely be fined, but little or no remediation will be performed. How do you extract millions of gallons of toxic slickwater from a mountain stream. You don't. The fish die, the stream dies, and people downstream drink the stuff, now diluted but still there when municipalities pump it into homes.<br />
<br />
The safety claims of drillers are a canard. You can not drill through aquifers and force toxic chemicals down the well at high pressure, and then pump those chemicals out and dispose of them without contaminating groundwater and the surrounding environment. You can not guarantee that a concrete or steel lining of a well extending 500 or 1000 feet below the surface will not fail and allow chemicals pumped in at high pressure to seep into surrounding aquifers. You can not guarantee that chemicals pumped into a well that extends horizontally 10,000 or 15,000 feet will not be compromised by cracks that allow <a href="http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/cgc/pnas2011.pdf" target="_blank">methane (natural gas) and fracking fluids at high pressure to seep upward and contaminate groundwater</a>. In fact, such <a href="http://www.geol.ucsb.edu/faculty/jfclark/" target="_blank">seepage of gas occurs naturally</a>. That is the explanation gas companies give when methane does contaminate groundwater and they seek to repudiate <a href="http://articles.philly.com/2011-12-02/news/30467569_1_drinking-water-water-resources-methane" target="_blank">peer-reviewed scientific studies</a> with <a href="http://www.energyindepth.org/tag/marcellus-shale/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">sneering, specious argument</a>. (Several links here are borrowed from "<a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/rolling-stone-responds-to-chesapeake-energy-on-the-fracking-bubble-20120306" target="_blank"><i>Rolling Stone Responds to Chesapeake Energy on 'The Fracking Bubble'</i></a>" -- a worthwhile read.)<br />
<br />
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<br />
<a href="fracking:%20The%20Dilemma%20of%20a%20New%20Gas%20Boom" target="_blank">"The Fuss Over Fracking: The Dilemma of a New Gas Boom" -- Time</a><br />
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Further, the gas that seeps into groundwater is not the only problem caused by methane leaks. Methane, or natural gas, when leaked into the air, causes global warming at 21 times the rate caused by carbon dioxide. And <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/the-big-question-mark-on-fracking/2012/02/28/gIQAebfXgR_blog.html" target="_blank">fracking leaks a lot of gas</a> during the drilling and extraction process. Extracting and burning gas from shale might actually be worse in global-warming terms than burning coal for power generation. You can find a rundown of those effects in "<a href="http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/howarth/Howarth%20et%20al.%20--%20National%20Climate%20Assessment.pdf" target="_blank">Methane Emissions from Natural Gas Systems</a>." (Thanks again, <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/rolling-stone-responds-to-chesapeake-energy-on-the-fracking-bubble-20120306" target="_blank">Rolling Stone</a>.")<br />
<br />
The problem with the "naturally occurring" explanation is that existing seepage in un-fractured ground occurs minimally and in isolated locations, not widely and at levels that contaminate groundwater to such a degree that groundwater becomes "carbonated" with methane to the extent that tap water will ignite when exposed to a flame. In fact, the only guarantee with fracking is that well casings will eventually fail, and that containment ponds will breach their boundaries, and taxpayers will be left holding the tab. And nearby residents will be left dying of preventable illness, and living in a ruined environment amidst a broken ecosystem incapable of sustaining itself any longer. Gas companies will extract gas, make piles of money, pay off politicians, and then leave residents sick and stuck in a wasteland no one wants to inhabit. The jobs will be gone too.<br />
<br />
Sadly, the jobs that supposedly justify the destruction and risk of drilling might disappear a lot sooner than most people think. <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/future_tense/2011/12/is_there_really_100_years_worth_of_natural_gas_beneath_the_united_states_.html" target="_blank">Recent studies</a> have shown that gas yields from deep hydro-fracturing wells peak much earlier than expected and then trail off precipitously -- like in 11 years. Gas companies will descend on ill-informed communities, abetted by ill-informed, bribed politicians, pump out what little gas they can get, and take the money and run.<br />
<br />
We are being fooled, done-to, fleeced, reamed, shafted, and screwed by the gas companies and their payed-off political shills. The gas will eventually be depleted, the well-casings will erode and fail, and cracks underground will propagate toxic chemicals and methane into our drinking water, our wildlife will be driven off by the noise, lights and toxic spills, hunters, hikers, and recreation seekers of every other stripe will flee, and rural communities will be left unemployed in a ruined wasteland that was once pristine forestland. Ecosystems that took thousands of years to establish a sustainable existence will collapse and die. And the gas companies and politicians will be long gone, sitting on a beach in the Cayman Islands counting their money and laughing at the saps that gave it to them.<br />
<br />
A far better solution is to seek improved energy efficiency and to develop local, <a href="http://www.rmi.org/keysolutionselectricity1" target="_blank">distributed renewable energy sources</a> that can provide more, better-paid, jobs with little or no environmental degradation. Read my post, "<a href="http://completelybaked.blogspot.com/2010/08/keep-doing-what-we-been-doing-destroy.html">Keep Doing What We've Been Doing, Destroy the World...</a>" and check out the study detailing the good work we could do in pursuit of healthy, sustainable alternatives to oil, coal, and gas.</div>completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-45050138148183373902012-09-12T08:26:00.001-04:002012-09-16T11:05:09.855-04:00Don Siegelman: An American Political Prisoner<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qaC_2u9v1eM/UFB1Q6qlShI/AAAAAAAAAdo/xmYvdUYKtdw/s1600/don_seigelman_anniston_star-95x106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qaC_2u9v1eM/UFB1Q6qlShI/AAAAAAAAAdo/xmYvdUYKtdw/s1600/don_seigelman_anniston_star-95x106.jpg" /></a></div>
This guy got screwed big time. He reported to jail in Alabama yesterday (11-Sep-2012).<br />
<br />
He tried to pass a referendum guaranteeing free college education to impoverished students in Alabama... Karl Rove & Co threw him in jail so his opponent in his campaign for governor would win.<br />
<br />
They convicted Siegelman of taking a bribe, but the charge is unfounded and unprecedented in terms of overreaching. Lots of people who know, say so. No matter, his opponent's wife was the federal prosecutor. This case has gone on for years, Siegelman spent nine months in jail, and his life is pretty much ruined. And then the Supreme Court turned down his appeal.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I never thought this prosecution would be at this point. I am at <br />
the end of my rope and you are my last hope for freedom.<br />
<br />
I thought Karl Rove’s involvement and the fact that my <br />
prosecutor’s husband was running my opponent’s campaign <br />
would have ended this. -- Don Seigelman </blockquote>
<br />
When I grew up, teachers told us about this sort of persecution happening in the Soviet Union and banana republics and I felt glad to be an American. Can we feel glad if this conviction stands?<br />
<br />
If you sympathize at all, and do not believe the US should imprison people for political opposition, please sign the petition.<br />
<br />
Visit his page, <a href="http://donsiegelman.org/action_home.html" target="_blank">DonSeigelman.org</a>, or go straight to the petition at <a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/president-obama-please-pardon-my-dad" target="_blank">Change.org</a>completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-78771965328501641622012-08-18T19:01:00.001-04:002012-08-18T20:10:15.816-04:00Early Warning: Climate Change Action is Not Hopeless<a href="http://earlywarn.blogspot.it/2012/08/climate-change-action-is-not-hopeless.html">Early Warning: Climate Change Action is Not Hopeless</a><br />
<br />completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-14545990632452056332012-08-14T12:25:00.000-04:002012-08-14T12:56:41.531-04:00Belle Isle: Sold!<script type="text/javascript"><!--
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zHksKRhTYKs/UCpzGs3jwcI/AAAAAAAAAcc/kY4tJW5d-N0/s1600/Belle+Isle+--+Main+Canal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="381" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zHksKRhTYKs/UCpzGs3jwcI/AAAAAAAAAcc/kY4tJW5d-N0/s640/Belle+Isle+--+Main+Canal.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/det1994001852/PP/" target="_blank">Belle Isle Main Canal -- 1900-1920</a> (Library of Congress)</td></tr>
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Governor Snyder's office announced
a deal today to sell <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_Isle_Park" target="_blank">Belle Isle</a> to Grand Rapids based property developer, Grand
Luxury Estates. A spokesperson for the governor, Hal Itocis noted that under
the current consent agreement an appointed financial management team in Detroit
holds the authority to sell city assets to meet financial obligations. The
<a href="http://www.michigan.gov/documents/detroitcantwait/C4186488313_379446_7.pdf" target="_blank">consent agreement</a> resulted from efforts between the city and state to forestall
the <a href="http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2011-2012/publicact/htm/2011-PA-0004.htm" target="_blank">Public Act 4</a> appointment of an emergency manager to run the city. Also,
Itocis emphasized the city's current budget shortfall, and the grave
implications of a municipal bankruptcy filing.</div>
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When asked about the rational for
disposing of one of Detroit's prize assets without prior notice or bidding from
other potential buyers, a member of the city's financial management team
appointed by the governor, Neo Conservatorio, replied, "Belle Isle as it
stands... or just sits there really... Belle Isle is nothing but a big vacant
lot sitting out there in the river. There are very few improvements worth
noting, and the only thing that makes it an 'Isle' is the fact that it's
stranded out there. There's really nothing 'Belle' about it. Basically."</div>
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In addition to city operating
expenses, the city's financial obligations include <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/muniland/2012/03/24/its-michigan-versus-wall-street-in-the-battle-over-detroits-future/" target="_blank">debt servicing on municipal bonds</a> issued for capital improvements and "financial stabilization."
The outstanding principal on these bonds amounts to $5.6 billion (about 3.3
times the annual $1.7 billion city budget). Interest payments and derivative
expenses amount to about $132 million per year. Principal payments come to $88
million, for a total debt cost per year of $220.4 million, which makes
debt-servicing the second largest item on the <a href="http://emma.msrb.org/ER548817-ER425535-ER827698.pdf">city budget</a>.</div>
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"Bankruptcy is not an
option," Conservatorio said, "It's not just the police, fire, trash
collection and all that city stuff we're talking about here."</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Conservatorio explained that
bankruptcy would mean default on principal and interest payments for the city's
bonds. Underwritten by banks such as Citigroup, JPMorgan, Loop Capital, Morgan
Stanley, SBS and UBS, a bond default would mean these banks face diminished
profits. Of course, credit default swaps purchased by the city will likely
prevent default on the bond payments -- the issuer of the credit default swaps,
in essence an insurer of the bonds, will make the principal and interest
payments should the city default, but under that eventuality, the insurer
requires the city to make accelerated, lump sum payments -- similar to a
mortgage balloon payment. </div>
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"That would be the worst case
scenario." Hal Itocis said. "In that case the banks just won't get
paid, they will lose money, and then all hell breaks loose. Basically."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Itocis described the scenario this
way: if the city defaults on its bond payments, the city's credit rating will
be downgraded, possibly to junk bond status, which would require the city to
pay elevated interest rates on future bond issues. In addition, if the city
fails to make its accelerated, lump-sum payment then the insurer might tumble
(remember AIG?), and there will be no firewall to protect underwriters -- banks
such as Citigroup, JPMorgan, Loop Capital, Morgan Stanley, SBS and UBS. If no
one pays the banks, they will take a hit to their balance sheets and
ultimately face diminished employee bonuses. That is a scenario that neither
Hal Itocis nor Neo Conservatorio was willing to comment on. Given the close
ties between bankers and politicians fostered by generous campaign
contributions and revolving door employment opportunities offered to
"retired" politicians, most lawmakers consider pleasing bankers one
of the foremost obligations of their office.</div>
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The deal to transfer Belle Isle to
private ownership will conclude this week when Governor Snyder, Mayor Dave
Bing, and the CEO of Grand Luxury Estates, Peter B. Small, meet in Lansing to
seal the deal, and share a fancy meal with French wine and delicate pastries at
the "<i>The Palm</i>" steakhouse in Lansing. The parties to the deal
did not invite members of the press to the deal closing, but urged reporters to
attend the dinner at "<i>The Palm</i>" if they can cover the cost of
a meal, including French wine and fancy pastries. Most news organizations
declined this invitation, but several Fox News reporters will attend. They
expect to enjoy the French wine and fancy pastries paid for by Rupert Murdoch.
Fox promised to share their fair and balanced report of the meal, and to offer
unsubstantiated assertions about the benefits of the deal for Detroit and
buyers of luxury estates at large.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Grand Luxury Estates expects to
break ground on development of Belle Isle immediately. "There's no point
in waiting around to transform that big vacant lot into value for the
city," CEO Small said. "The motto of our brave Governor Rick Snyder
is '<a href="http://www.michigan.gov/snyder/0,4668,7-277-57577_59873-258632--,00.html">relentless positive action</a>' and Grand Luxury Estates echoes that sentiment.
We believe that free enterprise, universally applied will transform the city of
Detroit in ways most residents can not even imagine," Small declared,
adding with a hop in the air and a click of his heals, "Just wait,
Detroit!"<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3HldpsK39tQ/UCp5fsphhyI/AAAAAAAAAc4/IMQeLYEZLHo/s1600/BelleIsle_estate.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="312" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3HldpsK39tQ/UCp5fsphhyI/AAAAAAAAAc4/IMQeLYEZLHo/s640/BelleIsle_estate.png" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artist rendering of a proposed estate on Belle Isle <br />
(photo: Grand Luxury Estates)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In a press release, Grand Luxury
Estates said the planned development of Belle Isle will include 200 estates,
each 4800 square feet or more, with private pools, tennis courts, and assault
rifle ready shooting ranges featuring the Canadian shoreline as a backdrop.
Amenities will include a P.G.A. level 18-hole golf course to replace the
existing "travesty of a course;" several new marinas with
accommodations for yachts as large as 180 feet; and three helipads for
commuting residents.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To sweeten the deal for
cash-strapped estate buyers, a ten-year property tax abatement will be offered,
and after ten years Belle Isle will be ceded from the city and transferred to
the Grosse Pointe tax roles to save administrative costs for already
overburdened Detroit. The governor expects this move will save the city over
$10,000 dollars.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The press release also noted that
the developer intends to install twelve-foot titanium-clad steel gates and an
armor-reinforced guardhouse at the base of the Douglas McArthur Bridge, and
patrols will circle the island continuously in boats capable of hitting speeds
of 80 knots. The animals who reside at the Nature Zoo will be set free in Hart
Plaza, the release indicated, but hunters will have access to the former zoo
animals via special automatic weapon permits, available at City Hall, thus
minimizing potential danger to pedestrians from the animals.</div>
</div>
completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-71903625146218915282012-08-03T15:54:00.000-04:002012-09-16T11:06:02.218-04:00The Superfluous Class<script type="text/javascript"><!--
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<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
For a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic">republic</a> <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/3518560">founded</a> by proponents of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meritocracy">meritocracy</a>, dedicated to
"<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life,_liberty_and_the_pursuit_of_happiness">life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness</a>," it seems we stray from our
mission a little. European style inherited royalty and persistent aristocracy
represent the antithesis of our founders' ideals: life, liberty, and pursuit of
happiness. Those founders supposed happiness and prosperity would accrue to
those who earned it, not those who belonged to the right church, club,
political party, or corporate board (race and sex were omitted from that list).</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
Now, reversion from the
meritocratic ideal infects our culture. Few take offense at the cultivation of
a crass ruling-class in our midst. With obscene piles of cash, our
self-appointed aristocracy insulate themselves from the endemic sickness,
poverty, and inadequate opportunity to learn and earn that plague the vast
majority of us. Few objected while those who profited most over the last three
decades decreed they should contribute the least. Toward that goal, the rich
mastered a strategy to retain wealth; that is, to minimize their taxes. Equally
insidious, they elevated their social status and esteem via the media outlets
they own: movies, television shows, and magazine articles that celebrate riches
but ignore the method of acquiring those riches. Not only do they extract
wealth from us -- the vast un-wealthy majority -- but they extract our praise
and admiration, too. They seize their pound of flesh, and expect us to applaud
as they lop it off.</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
Our praise and admiration yields
more than icing on the cake. Praise serves an essential purpose. Our collective
fawning over the rich erects in our minds psychological barriers to the
creation of laws that would impede retention of filthy lucre. We want so much
to be like them we defy egalitarian attempts to inhibit unjust concentration of
wealth. We fear friction on the upward flow of wealth will prevent our own
acquisition of fabulous excess. In addition, our universal admiration of wealth
grants the overfed an unassailable bully pulpit.<br />
<br />
Of course, the rich do not
risk climbing the towering pulpit themselves, their loyal designees do:
politicians. Politicians financed by the wealthy eagerly and often reel off the
virtues of their benefactors. And, like artists blessed with a devoted patron,
the art tends to fit the taste of the sponsor. Bought politicians remind us,
falsely: the rich create jobs for the rest of us. That sounds logical. It
sounds inevitable. But it is not true. The vast majority of the rich are not
business operators, but passive investors. They do not hire anyone. They seek
maximum gain on investment. They are part of the constituency corporate CEO's
and boards swear their allegiance to: investing shareholders (mutual and
pension fund managers form the remaining bulk of that constituency).</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
Maximizing returns for shareholders
does not require facilitating prosperity for domestic wage earners. On the
contrary, with laws passed over the last thirty years by presidents and
legislatures beholden to the rich, most corporations find it easier to exploit
"free" trade rules and create wealth overseas. Overseas labor comes
cheap. Overseas workplaces profitably omit modern standards for worker safety,
health, and pensions, not to mention environmental protection. If free markets
existed, this would not be the case. Impoverishing, poisoning and maiming your
employees and rendering your environment toxic imposes costs. In a free market,
violators would logically pay the assessed cost of worker and environmental
abuse. Consumers would reject purely on a price basis products from companies
that incur the highest overhead for worker injuries, workplace induced
ill-health, and environmental degradation.
<br />
<br />
Besides pure cost consideration,
would you buy a product from someone you knew poisoned your wife and then fired
her, or lopped off the hand of your cousin and then fired him, or spilled
mercury in your drinking water and ignored your plea for cleanup? Not likely.
Not if you had a choice. A free, fully transparent market reveals such realities.</div>
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But our markets usually fail to assess the cost of transgressions against
workers and our environment. Big-business lobbies hard against worker and
environmental protection both here and abroad. In fact, society often
subsidizes businesses that destroy the environment with ridiculously low lease
rates for mining land, tax abatements for toxic factories, and tax deductions
for job exporting. And society subsidizes businesses that do not protect the
health and safety of workers when the absence of a better alternative compels
society to pick up the tab for emergency room visits, or citizens rendered
unable to work and dependent on the state. If you knew a company poisoned your
drinking water, yet paid nothing to rectify the situation, you would be angry,
right? Or, if they dumped sickened and injured workers on the street for
taxpayers to tend to, you would demand compensation, right?
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
But when companies find a way to
keep such offenses secret, or find compliant and credible defenders to deny
offenses on their behalf, everything changes. The market no longer operates
transparently; it is no longer free. Yet, if paid defenders insist otherwise;
if they incessantly cite phony evidence of transparency, and phony evidence of
myriad benefits bestowed on us by the "free" market, then most -- or
enough -- continue to believe free markets exist.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
These days, the voice of the rich,
those behind the bully pulpit, hail mostly from the Republican Party. Once, the
Republican Party stood for fiscal restraint and social moderation. Republicans
resisted destructive political and economic practices like imperialism,
war-profiteering, and vicious exploitation of labor. Republicans led the charge
to free the slaves based on moral imperative, or so they insist (some say it
was so northern labor markets would be flooded with eager workers and drive
down wages). Teddy Roosevelt busted the trusts (enterprises colluding to fix
prices), and <i>General</i> Eisenhower warned of the pernicious effects of the
military industrial complex. Some Republicans acted in the long-term interest
of their constituents. They put their country first. At least, they did so
often enough that domestic manufacturing flourished while unions took hold in
the labor market, broad prosperity eventually prevailed, and millions migrated
into the middle-class.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
Now politicians in Congress and
state legislatures from both parties do not represent constituents' interests.
They represent the interests of those who bought their elections; bought their
offices; bought their souls. The buyers are rich, capitalized investors, not
poor or middle class wage earners. The politicians that rich capitalized
investors prefer to purchase lean mostly to the right toward reactionary
conservatism; toward folks who do not rock the boat -- mostly Republican. Or
more accurately, Republicans are the most lavishly financed bought politicians.
They tend toward greater compliance with patrons' goals, so corporations shower
more money on them. Despite their "family values," they act unburdened
by moral or ethical obstacles that stand in the way of faithful execution of
their patrons' demands.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
Democratic politicians are no less
bought, but Democrats tend to follow a more academic, underdog line. Democrats
attract donations from labor unions that advocate broad prosperity;
well-meaning environmentalists; empathetic college professors; and law firms
employed by unions, environmentalists, and academics. Democrats tend to take
the high road; they tend to advocate rational argument over the feverish
exhortation and invocation of God hurled forth by Republicans. Democrats tend
to exhibit unsteady loyalty when fate exposes their moneyed alliances.
Democrats tend to offer less convincing denials. Soft spoken, fair minded, and
not so good at lying, they tend to lose arguments with Republicans. Hence, they
attract less filthy lucre from corporate benefactors.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
Broad prosperity, fostered by
flourishing domestic commerce and manufacturing built on a union backed labor
movement, took almost two centuries to reach its pinnacle in the 1960's. At
that point, big-business felt pinched. The moneyed class bristled at a <a href="http://completelybaked.blogspot.com/2011/07/truth-us-top-margin-capital-gains.html">marginal
tax rate of around 90%</a> during most of the 1950's and 1960's (when we were
at our most prosperous).
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
And then Ronald Reagan came along.
Ronald Reagan initiated the evaporation of the middle-class. I feel sad for our
republic when I suggest it, but Reagan was too dumb to appreciate the dire
implications of the destructive social forces set in motion by his acolytes'
policy initiatives. Reagan was a fool who believed his own campaign slogans;
slogans based on nothing but enthusiasm, utterly devoid of factual
underpinning. Reagan was a blowhard, and a tool of the capitalized rich. He was
"George W. Bush 1.0," owned and operated by the US Chamber of
Commerce, and everyone who derived their incomes from investments. Ronald
Reagan was no "Tricky Dick Nixon." Gone were days of nefarious
malefactions committed by bumbling burglars. Ronald Reagan was the marionette
designated by the rich to lead the charge toward lasting social change they
could believe in: the implosion of the middle-class and creation of a
permanent, impoverished, disordered mob eager to work for pennies and ask no
questions. Unions would crumble; environmentalists would dry up and blow away.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
Reagan, if sincerity motivated any
of his expressed aspirations for Americans, failed to recognize manufacturing
and the unionized labor who manufactured things as essential components of our
economy. Without both, the middle class dissolves. Labor unions, viciously
resisted by corporations and the capitalized class throughout American history,
provide the basis for wages adequate to live on, worker safety provisions,
health coverage, and pensions. Unions negotiated these concessions. Unions
organized wage earners to stand up to employers. Unions gained the trust of
workers and the power to shut down plants when management defied their demands.
Despite misinformation propagated by opponents, nine times out of ten, unions
demand only fair, uniform wages and benefits. Instances of union excess are few
and virtually eliminated these days, but corporate mouthpieces still exaggerate
and perpetually recite overblown stories of gross excess. The highest wage of
any union wage earner anywhere, gold-plated health insurance and Great Gatsby
pension included, does not even come close to CEO wages and benefits, averaging
on the order of a thousand times those of their lowest paid workers. Not to
mention the legions of sub-CEO management who bring home lavish wages and
benefits in the $200K plus range. Stories of union excess are irrelevant
footnotes to the fact that without unions, very few Americans would have been
born into, or achieved the lifestyles and education so many Americans take for
granted -- or, did. Unions created the broad prosperity and tax base necessary
for a civilized and healthy society. If you doubt this, visit factory workers
in Shanghai or Hyderabad. Visit Detroit, or Gary, Indiana and see what happens
when corporations crush unions and offshore manufacturing.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
None of this corporate-induced
hardship matters to the capitalized class. Retention of wealth matters to them.
They never earned their wealth through direct labor; they possess no skills to
gain wealth through direct labor; they lack the capacity to do what they insist
the poor should do: pull themselves up by their bootstraps. So, the capitalized
class lives in luxury, but also in fear. They perpetually plot and scheme to
retain the wealth they possess. They know if they lose it, they can never
recover it. So they fight relentlessly and mercilessly to hang onto their
money. They invest in compliant politicians. Ronald Reagan and the band of
Republicans elected to Congress alongside him were some of the most compliant.
To further the aims of their wealthy handlers, Reagan's minions devised a plan
they called, "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starve_the_beast#History">Starve The Beast</a>."
The idea is that excessive tax cuts lead to fiscal crises that force government
program cuts, and hence retention of wealth for the rich. When the knives come
out, the slashing falls on programs that benefit the ignored and
underrepresented poor; cuts to things like public education and food stamps.
(Pain imposed on civil servant and teacher unions by these cuts are an added
bonus.) Of course, defense looms as the real beast in the budget, more than 50%
of it, but Reagan boosted defense spending to unprecedented levels, and drove
the federal deficit to unprecedented levels. Despite glaring reality,
Republicans still refer proudly and falsely to themselves as fiscal
conservatives. Starve the Beast was never about fiscal restraint, of course, it
was about bringing wage-earners to their knees. Unnecessary tax cuts, and
overblown defense spending enriched shareholders and management of defense
contracting companies, while at the same time unfairly burdening wage-earners
with a larger share of taxes, and bought politicians supported it.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
Not to worry. The working poor and
middle class who contribute a disproportionate share of their wages to taxes
will pay down record deficits -- or not -- it does not matter. <a href="http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dick_Cheney">Deficits do not matter</a>,
according to Dick Cheney. Additional permanent burden on the working poor
serves the aims of the capitalized rich: bring wage-earners to their knees so
they will accept whatever wages and benefits are offered. Consumed with
anxiety, embattled wage-earners will ignore the dissolution of education and
social programs that benefit them; they will be too busy to notice
environmental disasters they will pay for with ill-health, shortened lives, and
anxiety over their and their children's diminished sense of well-being.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
To further the oligarchic aims of
the rich, Reagan set a fearsome example in 1981 when he invoked the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taft%E2%80%93Hartley_Act" title="Taft–Hartley Act">Taft–Hartley Act</a> and fired striking air traffic
controllers. With his "supply-side," tax cuts for the rich,
Reaganomics and harsh treatment of unionized air traffic controllers, Reagan
sent a clear message to union members and the middle-class: your needs are
secondary to demands of the investing capitalized class.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
Then along came Grover Norquist
with his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_for_Tax_Reform" title="Americans for Tax Reform">Americans for Tax Reform</a> (ATR) in 1985,
and his insistence that Republican politicians sign a pledge to never raise
taxes -- never -- no matter the circumstances. With his benighted notions of
fiscal restraint, Norquist embodies Republican duplicity, sort of like
Victorian notions of sexual restraint -- all the sins moved behind closed doors.
Except, unlike the Victorians who just wanted to have sex, Norquist wants to
have sex and be a disease-infected whore, too. He eagerly sells himself to any
corporate john who comes along, who then infects the rest of us with his
disease.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
After Norquist, born-again
"Hot Tub" <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_DeLay">Tom Delay</a>,
one-time exterminator from Texas, blessed American democracy with his
self-righteous and criminally self-aggrandizing presence. Besides "Hot
Tub," a nickname he earned for adultery, Tom Delay earned another
nickname, "The Hammer." In Congress, his colleagues came to fear him
because, as House Minority Whip, he regulated the flow of bundled corporate
campaign contributions. He insisted Congressmen go home every weekend (long
weekends: leaving Thursday afternoon and returning Tuesday morning) to round up
more contributions. This had two regrettable effects: it increased the
influence of money in Congressional politics and it isolated members of
Congress -- they no longer spent much time with their political opponents and
so they never formed friendships with them, as was previously standard
practice. Gone were weekend sports, card games, and drinking binges with
inhabitants of the other side of the aisle. With friendships eliminated,
respect and civility dissipated, too.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
Before he was accused (and later
convicted) of money-laundering in 2005, Delay worked with Grover Norquist to
force lobbying firms paid to advocate Republican issues to hire only
Republicans. This further polarized the political climate. Delay also ran the
Clinton impeachment hearings despite his own confession of adultery. With his
two-bit meddling and personal profiteering, Delay rendered real trust and
compromise between parties impossible. He blithely ushered out the days of
honest political debate and deal making; he strangled comity.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
Following the free spending, budget
and deficit inflating Reagan years, George Herbert Walker Bush, Bush I, took
office. George H.W. Bush gave us Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal
Reserve, avid reader of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged," the
laissez-faire, phony individualist, libertarian bible of hard-core Republicans.
True to Ayn Rand's fictional principles, Alan Greenspan stood by as the Savings
and Loan debacle erupted and cost taxpayers billions in bailouts. This act of
negligence was a nickel and dime rehearsal for his greatest laissez-fair,
Rand-ian, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_%28Ayn_Rand%29">objectivist</a>
moment: the sub-prime mortgage bubble, which he denied existed until long after
it catastrophically deflated, engulfing him in a cloud of ignominious chagrin.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
During G.H.W. Bush's term, the
economy predictably tanked under the pressure of wildly excessive Republican
tax cuts and defense spending. George Bush bumbled along, pretending the
trickle-down economy Reagan created would fix itself. With false promises of
domestic economic growth, he advocated the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Free_Trade_Agreement">North
American Free Trade Agreement</a> (NAFTA) to placate his corporate handlers who
sought cheap labor and lax worker safety and environmental standards in Mexico.
The hapless G.H.W. Bush sealed his fate with his self-contradicted pledge,
"Read my lips, no new taxes." He raised taxes (to his credit), but as
the presidential election rolled around, Alan Greenspan re-surfaced with his
laissez-faire, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Friedman">Friedman</a>-esque
cowardice, and helped lose the election for Bush I when he refused to cut
interest rates to stimulate economic growth. (He finally did cut them, after
Bill Clinton took office and Greenspan realized his days as czar were numbered
if he did not act.)
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newt_Gingrich">Newt Gingrich</a> served in
Congress between 1979 and 1999, when he resigned under pressure due to
Republican House losses in the 1998 election. Nevertheless, the 1994 elections
offered Gingrich his big moment, when he and other Republicans regained control
of the House with their duplicitous "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract_with_America">Contract for America</a>"
after four decades of Democratic control. The "Contract for America"
itemized the bloodless, mean-spirited, starve-the-beast agenda of the
capitalized class. It advocated cuts to social programs, education, and the
capital gains tax -- the taxes paid on income earned from investments, the main
source of income for the capitalized class. This last bit, the capital gains cut,
Gingrich referred to in typical Orwellian Republican double-speak as "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract_with_America#The_Job_Creation_and_Wage_Enhancement_Ac">The
Job Creation and Wage Enhancement Act</a>." The "Contract for America"
was not about rugged individualism; it was not about picking yourself up by
your bootstraps; it was not a contract <u>for</u> America. It was a contract,
in the mob sense, <u>on</u> America. Gingrich sought to facilitate the goals of
his corporate benefactors, not serve the needs of his true constituency:
wage-earners.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
After the two Clinton terms
humiliated Republicans and repudiated their phony supply-side economic claims,
the capitalized class decided not to fool around any more with Republican
"statesmen" like G.H.W. Bush, or Hollywood hucksters like Reagan, but
instead decided to elect themselves a truly mindless marionette: G.W. Bush.
Someone shameless they could trust to unflinchingly advance their interests, no
matter how extreme. Extremism became their tactic. Karl Rove grasped the
propaganda virtues of extremism: advance outlandish ideas repeatedly, until the
absurdity wears off, and then compromise a little, and you end with a
victorious and vigorous shift to the right that appears to a memory-challenged
electorate as a shift to the left. Voila! The appearance of compromise while in
fact the other side compromised. Relentlessly impose such incremental moves on
municipal, state, and federal levels, and the political center shifts to the
right. After G.W. Bush got his tax cuts for the rich, he moved on to
privatizing Social Security, another windfall for stock exchanges and brokers.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
Privatized social security, i.e.
elimination of social security, proved too extreme -- it became the straw man
for the next phony Republican compromise. That would be Medicare Part D: a
windfall for pharmaceutical companies and a vast liability for wage-earning
taxpayers. Education followed a similar pattern. W's right-wing handlers wanted
to do away with public education outright and proposed vouchers to siphon off
money intended for public schools and pump it into private
"educational" enterprises. Bush "compromised" a little and
instead poisoned public education slowly with standardized testing and voucher
funded "charter" schools.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
Bush's corporate benefactors saw
opportunities to profit from surveillance of phone conversations and e-mail
traffic, so Bush gave us the Patriot Act -- they only get to eavesdrop on
foreigners, and Americans who communicate with foreigners, and make piles of
money doing it via government contracts providing electronic network traffic
sniffing hardware and software, and consulting services. All these initiatives
led to incremental but woefully destructive shifts to the right that erode
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for wage-earners.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
Shortly after G.W. Bush and his
merry pranksters persuaded the Supreme Court to steal the 2000 election for
him, Dick Cheney kicked off his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Task_Force">Energy Task Force</a>,
which issued a <a href="http://www.wtrg.com/EnergyReport/National-Energy-Policy.pdf">report</a>
in May 2001 detailing Cheney's vision of the nation's intended energy policy.
In formulating that policy, Dick Cheney, former CEO of Halliburton, the drilling
equipment and "oilfield services" company, met with representatives
of all the major oil, gas, and coal extraction companies, along with the
electric utilities. Together, they determined that the nation needs more (wait
for it) oil, gas, and coal -- and nuclear electric generation -- at any cost. <a href="http://www.rmi.org/Knowledge-Center/Library/E05-15_MightyMice">Cheaper,
safer, and more reliable efficiency and renewable energy</a> sources (the link
focuses on a comparison between distributed renewables and nuclear power, but
applies equally well to fossil sources) were included in their view of the
future, but not for the bulk of our energy needs. Cheney and the fossil men
downplayed the potential role of improved energy efficiency, mass transit, and
distributed renewables for one reason: control. Cheney's chums like to maintain
control over energy sources. Control means the profit goes to them, not some
little nickel and dime operators who do weatherizing, or install rooftop
photovoltaics, battery systems, wind turbines, solar hot water heaters; or
companies that manufacture, sell and install mass transit rail and bus systems.
Yielding to these small operators would mean that millions of well-paid,
possibly unionized, domestic jobs would be created, and thousands of new
products could be designed and built profitably in the US -- but Cheney's crew
would lose control of our antiquated, toxic, insecure energy supply.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
The capitalized investor class --
the ones with the most money -- oil, gas, coal, and nuclear energy providers,
decided that would not happen on their watch. Not while the president, vice
president, and Congress were bought and paid for. So we continue to offshore
trillions of dollars a year to oil exporters (Canada, Saudi Arabia, Angola,
Venezuela), and send billions into the coffers of gas and coal extractors who
destroy our landscapes and poison our drinking water at no cost to them.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
If Cheney and his crew had instead
focused on what is best for the nation, not a handful of corporations and their
investors, we could instead gainfully use the hundreds of billions we send to
other countries or spend here to destroy our environment to create millions of
jobs. We could <a href="http://completelybaked.blogspot.com/2010/08/keep-doing-what-we-been-doing-destroy.html">create
millions of jobs</a> dedicated to the implementation of <a href="http://completelybaked.blogspot.com/2009/02/renewables-intermittency-reliability.html">proven,
clean, reliable, secure domestic energy sources</a> that perpetually renew
themselves (we're not talking about far-off, blue-sky technology here, this
stuff has been around for decades -- but suppressed by taxpayer subsidized
fossil and nuclear power industries). Meanwhile, we fast approach climate
tipping points where it will be impossible to roll back the catastrophic
effects of fossil fuel induced global warming, and <a href="http://completelybaked.blogspot.com/2011/06/sixth-and-last.html">50% or
more of the species that inhabit this planet will be wiped out forever</a> in
the service of Dick Cheney's greed and the greed of people like him. Nice
planet we leave to the kids.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
Once that far seeing energy policy
fell into place, securing profits for fossil fuel and nuclear power providers,
and guaranteeing environmental destruction (along with most cities as sea
levels rise), Dick Cheney decided it would be good for business if we went to
war, and he focused on Iraq, which happens to be steeped in oil. And then the
towers fell, and off to war we went. Off to war to fight for opium in <span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">Afghanistan, and</span> oil in Iraq
(oil everywhere, actually). At least, that seems to be the way G.W. Bush's
nation building, shock and awe for the oppressed and destitute turned out.
Private companies like Xe, nee Blackwater, who provide overseas security
personnel made out like bandits of course. And they often behaved like bandits,
too. In the Republican zeal to privatize, we now privatize our wars, and that
comes with the same high ethical standards demonstrated by the rest of our free
market aficionados who run our multi-national corporations here in the
homeland, but Blackwater's employees roam around with assault rifles.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
Along the way, Cheney and Bush
convinced Congress and many Americans they must give up their Constitutional liberties
in the name of "homeland security." Liberties like free and fair
elections, the right to assemble, the right to communicate privately. Instead,
our faces are scanned, our voices are monitored, our e-mails are trolled, and
our pockets are picked, and our bodies x-rayed and rendered nude at airports.
And when we gather to peacefully protest, body-armored, baton and zip cuff
wielding centurions surround us, beat us into submission, and haul us off to
jail. We never were, nor are we now that insecure. This is about intimidation
and, of course, profit for "security" providers, who ironically
render us less secure.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
Knowing, of course, that ultimate
power in this nation rests in the hands of the electorate, corporations who buy
politicians also buy votes from the electorate. Not explicitly, of course, the
days of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammany_Hall">Tammany Hall and
Boss Tweed</a> are long gone. And long gone are the days when "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_politics_is_local">all politics is local</a>"
as former U.S. Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill once said. Now, with exception
of pork barrel spending targeted at corporate interests, politicians stay on
message, and the message comes from national party headquarters and corporate
boardrooms. When G.W. Bush signed the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipartisan_Campaign_Reform_Act">Bipartisan
Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA, McCain–Feingold Act)</a>" in 2002,
Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky immediately filed suit. He
claimed the act violated our right to free speech.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
McConnell's real motivation was to
protect "soft money" ads and the 527 organizations who run them --
these are ads financed by groups "independently" of candidates, and
not subject to campaign finance rules. McConnell sought to enhance the
influence of his corporate benefactors in our election of representatives.
McConnell mostly lost <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McConnell_v._FEC" title="McConnell v. FEC">McConnell v. FEC</a>,</i> but the corporate trolls
were not finished. After that Supreme Court ruling, the court then heard <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._Federal_Election_Commission" title="Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission">Citizens United v.
Federal Election Commission</a></i> to determine if a documentary smearing
Hillary Clinton could be termed a political ad. In its ruling, where it struck
down provisions of McCain-Feingold, the court stated: "If the First
Amendment has any force, it prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens,
or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech." The
key point here is that the court indicated corporations were citizens, and thus
shared the same rights. Corporations could now dump all the money they wanted
into ads to sway public opinion on any issue that affected their interests. The
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_pac#Super_PACs">Super PAC</a> was
born, an entity entitled to collect and spend all the money it can without ever
disclosing where the money comes from -- including from overseas. As we swing
and swerve into the 2012 presidential election, Mitt Romney the corporate
puppet finds his position very well supported indeed.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
Corporations, while they spend
lavishly to buy politicians and elections, and keep their lobbyists well fed,
they distinctly do not like paying taxes to the nation that fostered them. They
lobby hard for reduced taxes. They also conjure up new ways to dodge them.
These days, corporations go to great lengths to set up shell corporations
overseas where there are little or no corporate taxes, or they bury their
profits in domestic entities for which they can claim phony losses to negate
their tax burden. The most famous approach, invented at the ever inventive
Apple Computer, is now known sneeringly as "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Irish_arrangement">Double Irish With
A Dutch Sandwich</a>."
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
As a result, corporations feel no
allegiance to their home country. Their only allegiance it to their own
interests and their shareholders. Another result is that the cost of
maintaining our immense <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_spending_by_country">defense budget</a>,
bigger than the next 25 countries combined, falls on wage-earners. However,
these tax-dodging corporations would never hesitate to call in the cavalry when
their interests feel threatened overseas. But, most likely they will not need
to, not with our heavy-handed military presence around the globe, like in the
Middle East where we maintain carrier groups ready to defend oil and gas fields
run by these corporations at a moments notice. When you spend more than the
next 25 nations combined on defense, your "interests" are not often
threatened. But you do piss a lot of people off with your support of dictators
and suppression of nascent democracy movements, hence the "war on
terrorism." And you do bankrupt your own nation. How do our noble
corporate enterprises thank their homeland? Most, after offshoring profits and
other clever accounting tricks, give back less than 3% of their profits in
taxes, and pay the <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/07/05/260535/graph-corporate-tax-second-lowest/?mobile=nc">second
lowest rate</a> in the developed world.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
US of A, you've been had; you've
been done to; you've been scammed. If you believe the nonsense you hear coming
from Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, and Mitt Romney about the virtues of
lowering taxes for rich "job creators," and proportionally boosting tax
rates for the working poor and the now dilapidated middle-class, you are a
naïve dupe. Democrats have done little to prevent the disaster visited on us by
Republicans, and many have profited from it, so I will not defend them.
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
Look around and ask yourself if all
this free-market, free-trade, pro-business, anti-worker policy really serves
yours or the nation's long term interests. Look at our crumbling roads; our
pathetic rail system; our woeful education system (outside of rich suburbs --
and even there we are not educating kids that well); our ridiculous costs for
higher education that leaves graduates indentured servants to banks; our
overpriced, insecure, and toxic energy policy --- both for humans and every
other species on the planet; our factory farm industry that feeds us unhealthy
food and destroys our environment with CAFO's, unsustainable land stewardship,
and genetically modified crops; or our rationed, inadequate health-care system
that under-serves us and overcharges us so executives can extract immense
salaries from your premiums. Is this the nation your kids sing for when they
sing "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmiUloNblaY">This Land Is
Your Land</a>?"
</div>
<div style="padding: 12px 0;">
A superfluous class bought our
nation. They contribute nothing to our long-term prosperity, to our life,
liberty or pursuit of happiness. They bring no useful skills to the table. They
are clever, and know tricks for influencing people and exploiting weakness in
our political system. They live off investments made with money they either conjured
through nefarious back room deals, or inherited from parents who actually
worked for a living and created industries that benefited everyone. We do not
need these people for our nation to prosper. They do not create the jobs we
need, or share their wealth to help build our nation. They are fatal parasites.
Demand the superfluous class pay their share, and share in re-building the once
great nation their greed destroyed.
</div>
</div>
completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-63472228893498740522012-07-05T13:38:00.000-04:002012-09-16T11:06:49.762-04:00Yucca. Pinnacle of Waste?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N8SwCTufeBc/T_XCGkKDrZI/AAAAAAAAAb0/HTr-Mo01grE/s1600/Yucca_Mountain_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N8SwCTufeBc/T_XCGkKDrZI/AAAAAAAAAb0/HTr-Mo01grE/s400/Yucca_Mountain_2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="font-size: 10pt; margin: 0 0; text-align: center;">
Yucca Mountain, Nevada<br />
photo: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Yucca_Mountain_2.jpg">Wikipedia</a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>UPDATE: 7-Aug-2012:</b><br />
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/04/science/earth/court-weighs-an-order-on-yucca-mountain.html?_r=2&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y" target="_blank">Court Weighs an Order on Nuclear Waste Site in Nevada (NY Times)</a><br />
<br />
According to the federal appeals court in Washington DC, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission must make a determination on the fitness of Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste storage facility unless Congress rules by December 14th that the NRC should abandon the evaluation. Despite President Obama's 2010 stop work order on the site, Congress failed to suspend the commission's work, while at the same time failing to fund further study by the commission.<br />
<br />
<b>Original story:</b><br />
<b> </b> <br />
On 5-July-2012, The New York Times ran the following editorial: "<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/opinion/remember-yucca-mountain.html" target="_blank">Remember Yucca Mountain?</a>" The article describes the intended use for the underground facility at Yucca Mountain, Nevada; the dire need to dispose of spent fuel rods from nuclear power plants; and goes on to say: "It would be easier to monitor and inspect the rods and cheaper to guard them in a central location."<br />
<br />
Respectfully, I disagree with that assessment.<br />
<br />
When calamity, either human-induced or nature-induced, visits a designated central storage site, you can be sure human errors and technical failures will pop up like mushrooms, just as they did at Fukushima, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and Fermi I.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dKPiDtPlWN0/T_XOuBwDp2I/AAAAAAAAAcM/hCWq8-wR3GQ/s1600/Fermi+1_We+Almost+Lost+Detroit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dKPiDtPlWN0/T_XOuBwDp2I/AAAAAAAAAcM/hCWq8-wR3GQ/s400/Fermi+1_We+Almost+Lost+Detroit.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="font-size: 10pt; margin: 0 0; text-align: center;">
Fermi I, topic of "We Almost Lost Detroit"<br />
photo: <a href="http://www.beyondnuclear.org/">Beyond Nuclear</a></div>
<br />
<br />
Fermi I, the first (and only) breeder reactor to operate commercially in the US -- the great promise of a reactor that runs practically forever on teaspoons of fuel -- failed and suffered a partial meltdown shortly after it began operation. Fermi II, operated off and on since 1988 on the same site (near Monroe, Michigan), houses tons of spent fuel rods in an unshielded pool five stories above the reactor containment vessel. The contractor who installed a crane for moving the rods from the pool executed numerous welds improperly. Packed in to twice design capacity (with NRC approval), the rods were impossible to move due to a gimped crane. Those welds have been fixed, we are assured, and the rods can be moved. But now, the plant awaits seismic analysis before proceeding with a "dry" run test of the crane -- designers of the plant did not consider the possibility of a temblor. They are not unheard of in the Midwest. One destroyed New Madrid, Missouri about a century ago.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kIpzfSmTnZU/T_XLQjvsiKI/AAAAAAAAAcA/8ycGPYAkVl4/s1600/New+Madrid_earthquake_Phenomena-earthquake-central-631.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kIpzfSmTnZU/T_XLQjvsiKI/AAAAAAAAAcA/8ycGPYAkVl4/s400/New+Madrid_earthquake_Phenomena-earthquake-central-631.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="font-size: 10pt; margin: 0 0; text-align: center;">
New Madrid, Missouri, December 16, 1811<br />
photo: <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Great-Midwest-Earthquake-of-1811.html">Smithsonian Magazine</a></div>
<br />
<br />
The nuclear power industry has been a bungled, subsidy dependent, clown show since its inception with no tangible benefit for the society that naively supported it. We are stuck with overpriced, unreliable (shutdowns of months or years are common) sources of electricity. Now the plan is to move spent fuel at Fermi II and other plants to shielded "dry casks" and store it on site. That, according to many, is the safest plan: keep it on site in comparatively small quantities. Moving it presents even greater danger. Pack it in low volume, stable, hardened containers, build walls around it, and pay guards to watch it you hope you can trust. If utilities transport the spent fuel to a central location, state and federal forces insist on militarizing roads, rails, and rivers -- demanding ID from travelers, detaining anyone "suspicious" -- to protect against terrorists. Utilities can not guarantee the fuel will not fall off a truck or train or barge due to mechanical failure (ill-maintained bridge collapse?). If that happens, we'll have a disaster in an unforeseen, possibly well-populated, location with no evacuation plan (no one could design a credible evacuation plan for every inch of the route between say upstate New York and Yucca Mountain). Once the disaster occurs, of course, crews will have thousands of years to contemplate clean up -- that's how long some of the isotopes in spent fuel rods hang around in toxic concentration. Keep the spent fuel where it is, and create no more. Efficiency improvements and distributed renewables are cheaper and more reliable.<br />
<br />
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...
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completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-53622326089373629622012-06-15T09:17:00.000-04:002012-07-02T13:37:07.975-04:00Krystal Crittendon Demonstrates Courage of Her Conviction<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NQ-diIjtbbw/T9sumLHW5gI/AAAAAAAAAbo/wr-_lTquhzI/s1600/krystalcrittendon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NQ-diIjtbbw/T9sumLHW5gI/AAAAAAAAAbo/wr-_lTquhzI/s320/krystalcrittendon.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo:
<a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20120612/NEWS01/206120409/Detroit-council-won-t-drop-challenge-to-consent-deal-with-state-despite-plea-from-Bing">Detroit
Free Press</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b>Update 29-JUN-12: </b><a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20120629/NEWS01/120629020/Crittendon-lawsuit-meritless-according-to-letter-from-Schuette-chief?odyssey=nav%7Chead" target="_blank">Crittendon silent on whether she will drop legal challenge; $28 million in jeopardy (Detroit Free Press)</a><br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>Update 22-JUN-12: </b>
<a href="http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012206220386" target="_blank">Detroit attorney Krystal Crittendon expected to survive City Council vote today on her firing (Detroit Free Press)</a>:
Mayor Bing asked the City Council to fire her. The council will vote later.. A two-thirds vote is required to pass Bing's request. At the moment, it appears unlikely to pass, according to Charles Pugh, Council President.<br />
<br />
Keep in mind, Bing initially supported Crittendon's lawsuit, apparently until it complicated his life too much, and then he cravenly turned his back on her. Keep in mind, too: Crittendon opposed the new provision in the revised city Charter that allows corporation counsel to independently pursue lawsuits. According to the Free Press, "<i>Crittendon argued against the changes, foreseeing that the extraordinary
powers could force actions that put the mayor's trust of the city's top
lawyer at risk.</i>" <br />
<br />
<b>Update 13-JUN-12: </b><a href="http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012206140568" target="_blank">Ingham County Circuit Judge William Collette dismissed Crittendon's lawsuit</a>. Cheers for Krystal Crittendon for sticking with it until the bitter end, where she faced the feckless Mayor, all lawyer-ed up with private counsel, in court.<br />
<br />
Here is the letter she wrote to her staff before Collette dismissed her lawsuit: <a href="http://www.freep.com/assets/freep/pdf/C4189435517.PDF">http://www.freep.com/assets/freep/pdf/C4189435517.PDF</a><br />
<br />
Crittendon should stand her ground. Krystal Crittendon, corporation counsel for the City of Detroit filed a lawsuit that asserts the <a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20120603/NEWS01/120603006" target="_blank">Consent Agreement</a> with the state, agreed to by Mayor Bing and five members of the City Council, is unenforceable because the agreement was made with an entity in default: the State of Michigan. Crittendon contends that the state is in arrears on its <a href="http://michigantruthsquad.com/why-cities-matter/" target="_blank">sales tax revenue sharing obligation</a> to the city -- an obligation agreed to by former Governor John Engler and former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer back in 1997. According to Crittendon, the city, <a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20120606/NEWS01/206060421" target="_blank">per city charter restrictions</a>, has no authority to enter into further agreements with the state while the state remains in default on these obligations, which amount to <a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20120607/NEWS01/120607050/Detroit-consent-agreement-lawsuit-80-million-bond-payments" target="_blank">$224 million by Crittendon's account</a>.<br />
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Mayor Bing and Governor Snyder devised the consent agreement as an alternative to Snyder's invocation of Public Act 4, the Emergency Manager Law, which would give a manager appointed by Snyder governing control of the city including the option of dissolving collective bargaining agreements with municipal unions. City Council, the Mayor, municipal employees, and city residents voiced passionate opposition to Public Act 4. The consent agreement, by avoiding the imposition of Public Act 4 on the largest black-governed city in the U.S., would prevent the symbolic worst-case scenario of displacing black elected officials with a state-appointed disciplinarian. Governor Snyder, state treasurer Thomas Saxton, and the state legislature contend that the pending fiscal insolvency brought about by poor city management necessitate the consent agreement -- or the imposition of an emergency manager -- to put the city back in fiscal order. But the optics, not to mention the ethics, of a crowd of highly paid white technocrats displacing an elected black city government would surely be undesirable. And possibly provocative, especially at a time when urban economies around the nation suffer from anemic employment rates and sagging general prosperity. Even Michigan's hyper-conservative legislature appears to recognize the hazard of awakening the beast they eagerly starve.<br />
<br />
In contrast to the Governor's view that malfeasance is the cause of what ails Detroit, many local officials and residents contend that Detroit's fiscal disorder stems from failure by the state to live up to commitments made to the city. Further, the other half of that 1997 sales tax revenue sharing agreement (<a href="http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20120403/FREE/120409970/detroit-city-council-puts-off-vote-on-consent-agreement-raises-corporate-income-tax-to-2-percent" target="_blank">Public Act 500</a>) between Engler and Archer <a href="http://michigancitizen.com/state-owes-detroit-m-p6099-1.htm" target="_blank">required the city to cut income taxes by 0.1% per year for ten years and to eliminate city business taxes</a>. If the city lived up to its half of the deal, the state promised the city about $340 million per year -- an amount that would diminish only when state sales tax revenue diminished, and only proportionally. If sales tax revenue falls 1%, revenue sharing will fall 1%. But in 2002, <a href="http://michigancitizen.com/city-tells-granholm-pay-up-p3077-1.htm" target="_blank">Governor Engler imposed a 3.5% revenue sharing cut</a>, thus violating the contract with the city. Three years later, the city suspended incremental income tax cuts <a href="http://www.crcmich.org/column/?p=207" target="_blank">as the revenue sharing law permits [good analysis here]</a>, and held the rate at 2.5%. Since then, the state fell short on revenue sharing payments. Crittendon's office calculates the state now owes the city $224 million in back payments (<a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20120606/NEWS06/206060419" target="_blank">plus various smaller fees imposed by the city on the state for services</a>).<br />
<br />
So, says Crittendon <a href="http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/05/14/no-consent-not-one-cent-cancel-the-debt-detroiters-say-on-boa-day/" target="_blank">and others</a>, (<a href="http://www.freedetroit.org/p/declaration.html" target="_blank">and others</a>), if the state met its obligations (or released the city from its reduced income tax obligations, combined with the <a href="http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20120403/FREE/120409970/detroit-city-council-puts-off-vote-on-consent-agreement-raises-corporate-income-tax-to-2-percent" target="_blank">new corporate tax rate, back at 2%</a>), fiscal chaos would not have descended on the city. Some of these critics suggest that takeover efforts devised and sanctioned by Republican governors (Engler & Snyder), and the Republican-led state legislature, mean to "<a href="http://completelybaked.blogspot.com/2011/02/starve-beast-are-we-hungry-enough-yet.html" target="_blank">Starve the Beast</a>" and impose crisis on the city via "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shock_Doctrine" target="_blank">Shock Doctrine</a>" principles. With the city enfolded in crisis, conditions then justify takeover by white, corporate marionettes seeking to create corridors of economic vitality walled off from vastly more extensive tracts of black (and other minority) poverty.<br />
<br />
If one extrapolates current motives from past behavior, the evidence may support such fears. Behavior such as irrational mass violence against blacks in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_riots" target="_blank">1863 & 1943 Riots</a>, callous obliteration of once prosperous black neighborhoods by freeway construction in the early 1960's, followed by white flight and flight of most economic activity.<br />
<br />
Among those obliterated black neighborhoods were <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Bottom,_Detroit" target="_blank">Paradise Valley; and Black Bottom</a>, along Hastings Street, a street that no longer exists except for <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Hastings+Street,+Detroit,+MI&hl=en&ll=42.372083,-83.060482&spn=0.011937,0.016351&sll=42.322414,-83.116636&sspn=0.023893,0.032701&oq=HastingsDetroit&hnear=Hastings+St,+Detroit,+Wayne,+Michigan&t=m&z=16" target="_blank">a stub just south of Grand Blvd, south of Hamtramck</a>. Notably, many of the businesses that once provided Black Bottom its economic vibrancy, moved to 12th Street (Rosa Parks Blvd), but looting destroyed most transplanted business during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Detroit_riot" target="_blank">1967 riots</a> (and what looters missed, rapid economic decline that paralleled decline of the auto industry finished off).<br />
<br />
Black residents came to Detroit to escape the national injustice of southern slavery, worked hard to create relatively prosperous lives, did so, and yet white establishment confounds them at every turn. The Emergency Manager law and the consent agreement are two more examples of venal, conservative forces aligning against relatively powerless minorities. Crittendon is right to call Governor Snyder and treasurer Saxton's bluff. Detroit inhabits more stable ground than those who would undertake a coup d'etat of city government appreciate. Detroit holds the position of righteousness in opposition to morally and ethically corrupt politicians and business interests who reside in the dark corners of ancient privilege. Detroit can, and should, shame the state into doing the right thing. And after the state does the right thing, the nation might too, and address the issues of regressive taxation and the wealth inequality regressive taxation leads to. Only then will impoverished cities like Detroit find their way back to the vibrant and resilient economic prosperity they once were recognized for.<br />
<br /></div>completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-49199404386571639092012-05-30T16:06:00.000-04:002012-05-30T16:06:42.055-04:00Memorial Day 2012<script type="text/javascript">
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Memorial Day in Ferndale Michigan is a big deal. Flocks of residents show up for the parade. The route must be almost a mile, and folks stand shoulder to shoulder all along. Others bring chairs and sit back in shady spots, baby strollers parked here and there. Dogs wear Old Glory bandanas and mingle sociably with one another. Kids push toys around on the sidewalk and cry when the confusion and din are too much for them.<br />
<br />
The moment is all-American. I feel honored to witness the veterans marching by, old and young, stoic and resolute. I wave to the firemen and police, decked out in their parade uniforms. I feel proud to be a part of it.<br />
<br />
After the parade, a solemn ceremony with a rendition of the national anthem and "You're A Grand Old Flag" by the high school marching band; speeches from the mayor, organizers, and local veterans; a twenty one gun salute, flag raising, and "Taps" played by members of the high school marching band wrap up the events.<br />
<br />
A local Vietnam veteran, Captain Ken Richardson, US Army, Retired spoke of his service and those he served with. He said, "We do not honor war, we honor those who sacrifice for our country." (I paraphrase the second part, the first part is right, though.) I felt privileged and inspired to hear him speak of his recollections with such equanimity and humility. <br />
<br />
Helen Weber, a longtime organizer of the event, read the Honor Roll, which includes the names of Ferndale soldiers lost in conflicts dating back to WW I (I think some are from WW I, the tradition of the Memorial Day ceremony in Ferndale began 94 years ago.)<br />
<br />
Here's some pics if you missed the parade in your town:<br />
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<br />
In case you are wondering, some amongst our political class does not seem to hold veterans in such high regard:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.c-span.org/Events/C-SPAN-Event/10737430927/" target="_blank">Senate Hearing Investigates Long Wait Times in Veterans' Disability Program</a><br />
<a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/budget-approriations/229691-sen-murray-lawmakers-werent-prepared-to-deal-with-veterans-issues" target="_blank">Sen. Murray: Lawmakers ‘weren’t prepared’ to deal with veterans’ issues</a><br />
<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-24/veterans-face-ruin-awaiting-benefits-as-wounded-swamp-va.html" target="_blank">Veterans Face Ruin Awaiting Benefits as Wounded Swamp VA</a>
</div>completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-19185813428297714072012-03-20T09:33:00.000-04:002012-03-20T09:50:47.625-04:00Chevron Leak In Brazil: Charges Focus On Safety<script type="text/javascript">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K0tUwTCp_IE/T2iF9tlYckI/AAAAAAAAAVo/pVTxRtTNLfA/s1600/chevron-tahiti_offshore_rig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="285" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K0tUwTCp_IE/T2iF9tlYckI/AAAAAAAAAVo/pVTxRtTNLfA/s320/chevron-tahiti_offshore_rig.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-43043387/chevrons-spending-spree-with-profit-down-a-move-to-exploit-high-priced-crude/">Chevron's Spending Spree:<br />
With Profit Down, a Move to Exploit High-Priced Crude<br />
By Kirsten Korosec (CBS Money Watch)</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The prosecutor, Santos de Oliveira, said the ongoing leaks provide
evidence of irreversible damage. "There's no way to stop this leak until
the reservoir is depleted," he said on Monday. "The seal was cracked
and oil will leak until it's gone." Chevron spokesman Kurt Glaubitz said
the company responded to the incident responsibly and dealt
transparently with all authorities. "The flow of oil from the source was
stopped within four days and the company continues to make significant
progress in containing any residual oil," </i></blockquote>
Lately, I haven't posted much here -- been too busy seeking filthy lucre to pay my bills. But this report from Reuters on the Chevron spill in Brazil snapped me out my labor-induced fugue state. I don't usually re-post stories, but Reuters gives a clear, concise review of events to date worth revisiting. So, see below.<br />
<br />
The report reinforces my assumption that these oil guys will do <u>anything</u> to save a buck and get at oil that they should have left alone in the first place. Technology always fails, and if you operate near the margins, it fails sooner and more often. Case in point:
<br />
<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/20/us-chevron-brazil-idUSBRE82I0SD20120320" target="_blank">Brazil Chevron oil leak charges to focus on safety</a> <br />
<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/20/us-chevron-brazil-idUSBRE82I0SD20120320" target="_blank">03/19/2012 09:56 PM EDT Copyright 2012 Reuters (link is for updated story)</a></blockquote>
<blockquote>
*Police report alleges Chevron cut safety margins * Chevron says it followed industry drilling norms * Some see charges as unfair, say gov't shares blame By Jeb Blount RIO DE JANEIRO, March 19 (Reuters) - A Brazilian prosecutor plans to allege this week that Chevron and Transocean should not have drilled a deep-water well that leaked in November, legal documents showed, giving a glimpse into expected criminal charges that could slow the rush to develop Brazil's vast offshore oil wealth. The accident cracked geological structures in the reservoir and oil will continue leaking from the field until it is emptied, the prosecutor Eduardo Santos de Oliveira told Reuters in a telephone interview on Monday. The prosecutor's comments expanded on his investigations and police reports being used to assemble criminal indictments against U.S. oil company Chevron, drill-rig operator Transocean, and 17 of their executives and employees. The documents, obtained by Reuters, provided the most detailed look yet at possible causes of the oil leak off Brazil's southern coast. They also outline why prosecutors are seeking criminal charges for what industry watchers note is a relatively small spill at a well that was approved for drilling by Brazilian regulators. "We are in uncharted territory," said Cleveland Jones, a Brazilian oil geologist at the State University of Rio de Janeiro. "Do we want better environmental standards? Yes. Did the environment get really hurt? No. If you applied the same standards to the whole industry, you'd probably have to shut it down, and we aren't applying the same standards to others." </blockquote>
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Authorities on Saturday ordered Chevron's Brazil chief George Buck and 16 others to surrender their passports and remain in the country. Criminal charges could be filed by Wednesday, a spokesman for the prosecutor said. A Brazilian judge will then determine whether to proceed with formal indictments. The pending criminal case, along with a record $11 billion environmental lawsuit the prosecutor launched against Chevron in November, show heightened concern over the safety of Brazil's offshore oil boom in the wake of the 2010 BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The Chevron leak was less than 0.1 percent of BP's massive spill and no oil reached shore, raising concern from Chevron and others that the charges may be politically motivated or unfair. Much larger and more damaging spills by Brazilian state-run energy giant Petrobras, which owns 30 percent of the Frade field operated by Chevron where the leak happened, have not led to criminal charges against Petrobras or its executives. Chevron, which says it followed accepted industry practice, sought and received permission last week to shut down production at Frade after finding small, unexplained new leaks in the field that had been producing 61,500 barrels a day. That was down from about 80,000 bpd before the November spill. Brazil's oil regulator, ANP, said on Monday it was studying the new leaks but had found no evidence they were growing in volume. The prosecutor, Santos de Oliveira, said the ongoing leaks provide evidence of irreversible damage. "There's no way to stop this leak until the reservoir is depleted," he said on Monday. "The seal was cracked and oil will leak until it's gone." Chevron spokesman Kurt Glaubitz said the company responded to the incident responsibly and dealt transparently with all authorities. "The flow of oil from the source was stopped within four days and the company continues to make significant progress in containing any residual oil," Glaubitz wrote in an email. Chevron said on Thursday they have no indication that recent leaks in the Frade field are related to the November accident. Natural seeps of oil are common in the Campos Basin, home to the Frade field, and are one of the reasons that oil was discovered in the region, Jones said. The basin is the source of about 80 percent of Brazil's oil. A Transocean spokesman said the company had no immediate comment on the documents. On Saturday, the company said it "has always cooperated with the authorities and will also continue to vigorously defend its people." If the charges are filed as expected, the companies and officials probably face years of legal action. Lawyers have had travel bans lifted while similar cases were being litigated, and few individuals or companies have ever been convicted of environmental crimes in Brazil and fewer have gone to jail. Reuters reported Jan. 26 that Santos de Oliveira was preparing charges. The planned indictments wer e based in part on an investigation by Fabio Scliar, head of the Brazilian Federal Police's Environmental Division in Rio. The well that led to the November leak "should not have been drilled," the report signed by Scliar says. When Chevron drilled into an undersea reservoir, high-pressure oil was able to "kick" and surge into the well. A safety valve on the sea floor prevented the oil from shooting up to the Transocean drill rig on the surface, which would have caused a gusher. Failure at such a valve, known as a blow-out preventer, or BOP, led to the BP disaster. The blow-out preventer trapped the kick pressure in the well, cracking the bare rock of the well bore hundreds of meters below the seabed. Oil seeped through the breech into porous rock and cracks then migrated to the sea floor and up to the surface. This should not have surprised Chevron, Scliar's report said. RECKLESS DRILLING OR MISCALCULATION? Chevron's drilling policy is and environmental licensing documents required it to use a substance known as drilling mud at pressures sufficient to "overbalance" reservoir pressure kicks. Mud removes debris upward and holds oil down during drilling. In the 18 previous wells drilled in Frade, maximum reservoir pressure was between 8.4 and 8.6 pounds per gallon, Scliar said, citing interrogations of Chevron and Transocean officials. Those wells used mud at pressure of 9.2 pounds per gallon, giving the company a 0.4 to 0.6 pounds per gallon "mud window," or safety margin, the police report alleges. In the well that leaked in November, Chevron expected maximum pressure of 9.4 pounds per gallon and used mud with 9.5 pounds per gallon of pressure, the report said. This provided a mud window or overbalance of only 0.1 pound per gallon, a safety margin only a quarter to a sixth of those used in the previous wells, Scliar said in the report. Scliar alleged that this shows Chevron k new the pressure was higher than normal, and used mud with less protection. Chevron used the lower safety margin in the last well because heavier mud might have exerted enough pressure to crack the well bore on its own, according to the report. This, Scliar alleged, shows Chevron was aware of the higher pressure and weaker-than-normal rock but drilled anyway. Buck said Nov. 24 that Chevron acted responsibly. The cracking of the well wall was an unfortunate miscalculation of reservoir pressure and rock strength, a not-uncommon occurrence in a business that works in places inaccessible to humans and beneath thousands of meters of ocean and rock. Paul Bommer, a petroleum engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said Chevron faced a "classic well-design problem." "Normally what happens when the mud window gets this close is people will think of stopping and cementing the well to strengthen it," he said. "This is an area where you have to b e very careful." Cementing would have reinforced the bare rock of the well bore against the pressure from the kick and might have prevented the leak, but it would have cost money and time, Bommer said. Chevron's environmental licenses say the company is supposed to store liquids that can close a problem well aboard platforms. Buck has said it took four days to get mud heavy enough to kill the well from shore because storms made work dangerous. Some say Chevron is not the only one to blame for the leak. Petrobras and Japanese group Frade Japan are minority partners in the field, and Brazil's government approved drilling plans. "I wouldn't be surprised if Chevron is found to have done a bad job," said Ildo Sauer, an oil and gas expert at the University of S達o Paulo and Petrobras' former natural gas chief. "But Chevron got approval for its work at every step. It's a farce to attack on Chevron and let the government, with its bigger responsibility, off the hook."
</blockquote></div>completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-50486631941286721402012-01-27T17:38:00.000-05:002012-03-31T15:19:39.307-04:00Private Equity? Where's the equity?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2IVCjx1jw6U/TyMkLM7DqdI/AAAAAAAAAVU/ic5fzIS9aYU/s1600/vultures.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="342" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2IVCjx1jw6U/TyMkLM7DqdI/AAAAAAAAAVU/ic5fzIS9aYU/s320/vultures.jpg" width="520" /></a></div>
credit: <a href="http://www.african-safari-pictures.com/vulture-pictures.html">African Safari Pictures</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="hw">eq·ui·ty</span> <span class="pron">(<img align="absbottom" src="http://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/ebreve.gif" />k<img align="absbottom" src="http://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/prime.gif" />w<img align="absbottom" src="http://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/ibreve.gif" />-t<img align="absbottom" src="http://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/emacr.gif" />)</span><br />
<div class="pseg">
<i>n.</i> <i>pl.</i> <b>eq·ui·ties</b> <br />
<div class="ds-list">
<b>1. </b> The state, quality, or ideal of being just, impartial, and fair.</div>
<div class="ds-list">
<b>2. </b> Something that is just, impartial, and fair.</div>
<div class="ds-list">
<b>3. </b> <i>Law</i> <br />
<div class="sds-list">
<b>a. </b> Justice applied in circumstances covered by law yet influenced by principles of ethics and fairness.</div>
<div class="sds-list">
<b>b. </b> A system of jurisprudence supplementing and serving to modify the rigor of common law.</div>
<div class="sds-list">
<b>c. </b> An equitable right or claim.</div>
<div class="sds-list">
<b>d. </b> Equity of redemption.</div>
</div>
<div class="ds-list">
<b>4. </b> The residual value of a business or property beyond any mortgage thereon and liability therein.</div>
<div class="ds-list">
<b>5. </b><br />
<div class="sds-list">
<b>a. </b> The market value of securities less any debt incurred.</div>
<div class="sds-list">
<b>b. </b> Common stock and preferred stock.</div>
</div>
<div class="ds-list">
<b>6. </b> Funds provided to a business by the sale of stock.</div>
</div>
via <a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/equity">freedictionary.com</a>
</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_private_equity_and_venture_capital#The_first_private_equity_boom_.281982.E2.80.931993.29" target="_blank">Private equity funds</a> inflict injury on the companies they acquire. <br />
<br />
Why? Because private equity funds (launched by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_equity_firm" target="_blank">private equity firms</a>) finance their buyouts with money borrowed from investors. Then, the purchased company must pay back that debt to investors, plus interest. So, a company finds itself unnecessarily burdened with debt that serves no purpose but to pay off vultures who acquired the company. The payoff to investors -- the borrowed money plus <a href="http://www.dallasfed.org/research/er/1998/er9803c.pdf" target="_blank">about 8% interest</a> -- imposes drag on the growth of the company: the debt limits opportunity to invest in productivity improvements; to purchase new equipment; to offer healthcare and pensions to employees; to hire more employees. And all of that 8% interest expense -- plus a 2% "management fee" paid to the private equity firm -- is deducted from the company's tax liability, forcing taxpayers to <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-23/private-equity-s-public-subsidy-is-a-tragedy-william-d-cohan.html" target="_blank">subsidize the profits to investors</a>.<br />
<br />
By the above definition, there is no equity -- fairness -- for employees of companies that endure a private equity fund leveraged buyout. Instantly, the company finds itself at a disadvantage relative to its competitors. And if it was not in good shape to begin with, it must then sell off assets or fire employees to pay down its debt. This puts the company at further disadvantage; hurls it into a spiral of diminishing returns. Either way, whether the company was solvent and debt-free prior to the leverage buyout, or on the ropes, after the leveraged buyout, the company is at a disadvantage relative to its competitors due to the unproductive debt imposed on it -- debt that does nothing but pad bank accounts of investors. And taxpayers subsidize all of this bad karma when the company writes off the interest paid to investors.<br />
<br />
But the vultures don't care. Through the magic of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carried_interest" target="_blank">carried interest</a> (also called, ironically, "performance fees"), private equity fund managers suck their pound of flesh out of the company -- about 20% of the gain in "value" realized by the company as a result of the buyout -- and move on to the next victim. (The value is increased because the vultures cut operating expenses [number of employees, investment in new equipment, etc.], crippling the company in the long-term, but increasing short-term profits.) The private equity fund managers walk away with millions in profit, and pay only 15% long-term capital-gains tax on those profits. The magic of carried interest. But it is not magic. It is more like voodoo. It turns the victims of private equity funds into zombies. Sometimes they recover, sometimes they don't.<br />
<br />
Private equity fund managers will argue that their "investment" in the company, and subsequent takeover of its management, allows it to trim away the "fat" and "dead wood" and force the company to focus on its core competency. But most companies don't have all that much fat and dead wood. They do have capital assets and employees. Most are vital to productivity, of course. But these assets and employees are what the fund managers -- and new owners of the company -- will respectively sell off and lay off to repay their investors -- including 8% interest, plus the private equity fund management fee, another couple of percent. And once they've done that, once they meet the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_acceptable_rate_of_return" target="_blank">hurdle rate</a>" -- that 8% paid to investors -- they suck out their "performance" fee: usually 20% of the increase in "value" of the company -- remember, this short-term gain in value generally comes at the expense of long-term viability. All told, these buyouts usually yield about <a href="http://www.dallasfed.org/research/er/1998/er9803c.pdf" target="_blank">28% return on investment</a> to the private equity firm. That's a lot. In fact, it's astronomical.<br />
<br />
The fund managers will tell you they earned that money through diligent application of their hard won expertise and superior intellects; that they must be compensated for their risk; that now the purchased company is "leaner and meaner." But lean and mean are not necessarily good. If the company lacks capital, it can't grow, it can't adapt -- leaner -- and it can't take very good care of its employees -- meaner. So the company contracts, struggles to survive wounds inflicted by the private equity fund attack, and may or may not return to sustainable profitability. But the employees of a leaner, meaner company, the ones that aren't fired, won't be working for the same people or the same company, and they will likely look elsewhere for better opportunities -- if they can find them.<br />
<br />
No, don't buy the private equity fund snake oil. It is the worst kind of voodoo, and it only benefits the private equity fund and its investors, and it burdens taxpayers who pick up the tab for those interest expense write offs.<br />
<br />
Here's one story (among many) of a colossal failure of a private equity fund buyout (failure for the victim, the fund and its investors got their money, of course). Give it a read, it will deflate the over-inflated rhetoric you've been hearing about the benefits sown by private equity funds:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/business/economy/05simmons.html?dbk=&adxnnlx=1303740456-v0GQMhqQBxYzx/jHNr5Tzg&pagewanted=all" target="_blank">Profits for Buyout Firms as Company Debt Soared </a></div>
<br />
And then, visit the NY Times Topic: <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/private_equity/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" target="_blank">Private Equity</a><br />
to find out whats going on right now, and see interviews with the self-serving purveyors of doom.<br />
<br />
And don't confuse <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_capital" target="_blank">venture capitalists</a> with vulture capitalists -- two very different animals.completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-56801518915954831462012-01-26T10:32:00.001-05:002012-01-26T10:33:25.473-05:00Bacteria, CAFO's and What's For Dinner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ao6OBJiD2zU/TyFtnOxivVI/AAAAAAAAAUk/dKXPKF5tFWA/s1600/CAFO_Hog_confinement_barn_interior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ao6OBJiD2zU/TyFtnOxivVI/AAAAAAAAAUk/dKXPKF5tFWA/s400/CAFO_Hog_confinement_barn_interior.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
I stumbled onto a tweet suggesting I comment on a new FDA ruling prohibiting "<i>extralabel uses of cephalosporin
antimicrobial drugs in certain food-producing animals</i>."<br />
<br />
The whole ruling sort of struck me as Orwellian absurd.<br />
<br />
<br />
Here is my comment:
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Packing animals into CAFO's and then "curing" their ills with antibiotics -- either as prophylactic or post-infection -- is irresponsible and inhumane. So, it seems pointless to comment on particular "off-label" uses of cephalosporin. Are we arranging deck chairs on the Titanic? End the use of antibiotics in feedlots entirely, and prevent animal infection by attacking the cause, not the symptoms: toxic CAFO's.
</blockquote>
<br />
Here is the FDA's summary of ruling (FDA-2008-N-0326-0177):
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA, the Agency) is issuing
an order prohibiting certain extralabel uses of cephalosporin
antimicrobial drugs in certain food-producing animals. We are issuing
this order based on evidence that certain extralabel uses of these
drugs in these animals will likely cause an adverse event in humans
and, therefore, present a risk to the public health.</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Here is an excerpt from the ruling:
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
At this time, FDA is concerned that certain extralabel uses of
cephalosporins in food-producing major species are likely to lead to
the emergence and dissemination of cephalosporin-resistant strains of
foodborne bacterial pathogens. If these drug-resistant bacterial
strains infect humans, it is likely that cephalosporins will no longer
be effective for treating disease in those people. The Agency is
particularly concerned about the extralabel use of cephalosporin drugs
that are not approved for use in food-producing major species because
very little is known about their microbiological or toxicological
effects when used in food-producing animals. Therefore, FDA is issuing
an order prohibiting, with limited exceptions, the extralabel use of
cephalosporins in food-producing major species because, as discussed in
this document, the Agency has determined that such extralabel use
likely will cause an adverse event and, therefore, presents a risk to
the public health.</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Isn't this horse out of the barn, so to speak? Should not the FDA issue a ruling restricting the (inhumane) use of CAFO's? Should they not the ban the sale of toxic meet crawling with bacteria (<a href="http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/processing/" target="_blank">various bacteria infect a large proportion of what you buy and eat</a>) and saturated with antibiotics?<br />
<br />
If you eat meat, try to eat less. And try to buy the stuff that does not pass through CAFO's -- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentrated_Animal_Feeding_Operations">concentrated animal feeding operations</a>.<br />
<br />
Submit your comment to the FDA, by March 6, 2012, here: <br />
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov/#%21documentDetail;D=FDA-2008-N-0326-0177" target="_blank">New Animal Drugs; Cephalosporin Drugs; Extralabel Animal Drug Use; Order of Prohibition</a><br />
<br />completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-12208237378578149552012-01-02T16:56:00.000-05:002012-04-03T15:46:32.632-04:00~ Fermi III ~ Impact of A Nuke ~<script type="text/javascript">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3eC0cLCfMZs/TwIsDwpcEUI/AAAAAAAAAT0/sFmtmb5-SWU/s1600/Fermi+II+Shadow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="403" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3eC0cLCfMZs/TwIsDwpcEUI/AAAAAAAAAT0/sFmtmb5-SWU/s640/Fermi+II+Shadow.jpg" width="520" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fermi II Cooling Towers -- Monroe, MI<br />
photo: <a href="http://www.thenewsherald.com/articles/2011/03/21/news/doc4d83b013e1896928359352.txt" target="_blank">thenewsherald.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="294" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/m41k9-7wnPg" width="520"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0 5px; width: 510px;">
Mike Keegan, representing <i>Don't Waste Michigan</i> & the <i>Coalition for a Nuclear Free Great Lakes</i>, makes a convincing argument against nuclear power generally, and Fermi III specifically at the International Roundtable on "Nuclear Threats to the Great Lakes and Transition to Clean Safe Energy" on May 14, 2011, in Dearborn, Michigan (USA)
</div>
<br />
<b>UPDATE 03-APR-12: </b>The comment period on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Fermi III is long passed. Now we wait for the NRC to revise and release the final draft. No doubt, most of the comments will be dismissed as irrelevant, but note below some of the details of how Detroit Edison intends to force ratepayers to <a href="http://completelybaked.blogspot.com/2012/01/fermi-iii-environmental-impact-of-new.html#PSCR_descr">finance this thing </a>(in lieu of cheaper alternatives such as distributed renewables, which Detroit Edison no doubt disfavor due to the fact that anyone can own and operate them -- Detroit Edison looses control of the electricity franchise if we choose cheaper, safer alternatives that provide more domestic employment).<br />
<br />
The environmental impact statement drafted by the NRC, and eligible for public comment until <b>January 11, 2012</b>:
<a href="http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr2105/v1/index.html" target="_blank"><b><i>Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Combined License (COL) for Enrico Fermi Unit 3 (NUREG-2105, Volume 1)</i></b></a>
<br />
<br />
Detroit Edison hopes to bless the residents of southeast Michigan with a brand new <a href="http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/design-cert/esbwr.html" target="_blank">Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) designed by GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas, LLC (GEH)</a><br />
<br />
This new reactor will be a fine conduit for ratepayer cash to flow into the pockets of Detroit Edison's executives and shareholders. Or, out of taxpayers' pockets and into the pockets of bankers (via Congressionally-mandated loan guarantees) if Detroit Edison should go bankrupt building this <i>new, unproven design</i> in a field strewn with the corpses of the clanking behemoth's predecessors. And the road to that field is paved with the squandered treasure of American taxpayers.<br />
<br />
Until the deadline on January 11, 2012, you have the opportunity to post your comments on the above draft environmental impact study. I encourage all to do so -- read a chapter or two, and pick a favorite topic to sound off on.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4_7jD1vS6W8/TwIwY3fI8FI/AAAAAAAAAUA/7RK7k4c1Uec/s1600/Fermi+II+Towers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="346" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4_7jD1vS6W8/TwIwY3fI8FI/AAAAAAAAAUA/7RK7k4c1Uec/s320/Fermi+II+Towers.jpg" width="520" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fermi II<br />
photo: <a href="http://www.scoop.it/t/nuclear-news-what-the-physics" target="_blank">Nuclear News / What the physics?</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Here are my remarks:<br />
<br />
<br />
Comment on:<br />
Draft Environmental Impact<br />
Statement for Combined License (COL)<br />
for Enrico Fermi Unit 3<br />
<br />
Draft Report for Comment<br />
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission<br />
<br />
Office of New Reactors<br />
Washington, DC 20555-0001<br />
<br />
Regulatory Office<br />
Permit Evaluation, Eastern Branch<br />
U.S. Army Engineer District, Detroit<br />
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers<br />
Detroit, MI 48226<br />
<br />
<br />
I am opposed to the construction and operation of Fermi III. I have restricted my comments to Chapters 6-8 (document: sr2105v1-chp6-chp8.pdf).<br />
<br />
The premise of the the NRC's environmental impact statement is to assess the environmental effects of building, and operating Fermi III (for up to 60 years). If it were true that the construction and operation of Fermi III were essential to the well-being of Southeast Michigan's residents, then the conclusions drawn by the NRC review team might seem plausible, even reasonable. But Fermi III is not an essential future element of Southeast Michigan's electricity supply, and thus any environmental impact of Fermi III, not to mention negative economic impact, is detrimental to the well-being of Southeast Michigan's residents. <br />
<br />
The residents of Southeast Michigan would be better off from an environmental perspective, health-perspective, and economic perspective if Fermi III were never built. The cost of nuclear power is exorbitant, cost overruns of several multiples are standard, construction delays are endemic, and fuel costs are unpredictable, and waste disposal costs are unknown. It will take decades for ratepayers to repay the loans for Fermi III. <br />
<br />
Alternatively, Detroit Edison could invest in efficiency gains and distributed renewable energy, and instead of burdening ratepayers and the environment of Southeast Michigan, benefit ratepayers with long-term, well-paid jobs and clean, non-toxic, terrorism-proof energy, and protect their environment from the inevitable and potentially catastrophic environmental impact Fermi III will impose. Yet, rather than doing well by doing good, Detroit Edison would build an overpriced, toxic, national health and security risk in our backyard, which in the event of catastrophic failure, will force the permanent evacuation of Monroe, the Detroit and Toledo metro areas, and render Lake Erie permanently toxic. <br />
<br />
Risk permanent evacuation (hundreds of years, at least). Why? Not to provide us with essential electricity, because it has been shown in California and other states that demand for the foreseeable future can be met with efficiency improvements and distributed renewables at lower cost and better reliability (<a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/solutions/big_picture_solutions/do-we-need-coal-and-nuclear-power.html">http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/solutions/big_picture_solutions/do-we-need-coal-and-nuclear-power.html</a>, <a href="http://www.completelybaked.blogspot.com/2009/02/renewables-intermittency-reliability.html">http://www.completelybaked.blogspot.com/2009/02/renewables-intermittency-reliability.html</a>). <br />
<br />
No, Detroit Edison is not building Fermi III to provide Southeast Michigan with an inexpensive, reliable source of energy -- nuclear power is anything but that -- they are building Fermi III to provide their shareholders with profit. There are two reasons nuclear power offers a good return to shareholders -- neither of which has anything to do with the economis of nuclear power. The first reason is that taxpayers are compelled by law to guarantee necessary construction loans ($4 or $5 billion dollars) in the event Detroit Edison defaults, thus indemnifying Detroit Edison's shareholders and executives against loss. The second reason why Fermi III benefits shareholders and executives is that while electric utilities are currently de-regulated and subject to competition, utilities can petition the state to allow them to add surcharges to their published rates to recoup "power supply" costs (via Michigan Power Supply Cost Recovery (PSCR) plans submitted each year for state approval, the 2011 plan can be found here: <a href="http://efile.mpsc.state.mi.us/efile/docs/16434/0001.pdf">http://efile.mpsc.state.mi.us/efile/docs/16434/0001.pdf</a>; PSCR is defined here: <a href="http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mpsc/electric_residential_bill_charges_final_318312_7.pdf" name="PSCR_descr">http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mpsc/electric_residential_bill_charges_final_318312_7.pdf</a>, <a href="http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mpsc/mpsc-ca_understandingyourelectricbilll_329339_7.pdf">http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mpsc/mpsc-ca_understandingyourelectricbilll_329339_7.pdf</a>). In the future, these surcharges will be used to cover the cost of building and operating Fermi III without impacting Detroit Edison's bottom line or their published, "competitive" rates (which if these surcharges were included in their published rates, their rates would no longer be competitive -- so much for free-markets and de-regulation). Thus, all of the revenue derived from the sale of Fermi III electricity represents profit to shareholders and executives. <br />
<br />
Improved efficiency and distributed renewables, while cheaper and healthier to ratepayers, would most likely be sold by companies other than Detroit Edison in a true free-market, and therefore are less desirable options to Detroit Edison executives and shareholders. Also, efficiency improvements and renewables create more jobs. But these jobs will most likely be provided by companies other than Detroit Edison, which surely offers Detroit Edison's executives and shareholders no benefit. On the other hand, Fermi III is capital intensive, meaning it costs a lot to build, but creates few long-term jobs. This is undoubtedly preferable to Detroit Edison shareholders and executives, as it easier to manage money and add surcharges to customers' bills than it is to manage employees, especially unionized employees fanned out across the state implementing efficiency improvements and distributed renewables, which ultimately cut revenue to Detroit Edision. And that last point is very important to keep in mind when contemplating why Detroit Edison prefers big, toxic, expensive, capital-intensive generating plants over small, distributed, clean, cheap, job-intensive efficiency and distributed renewables -- Detroit Edison will be subject to real competition in the sale of efficiency and renewables, and likely will fail in a true free-market arena. Thus ratepayers get stuck with a toxic behemoth they don't need, but must pay for.<br />
<br />
And make no mistake, Fermi III is toxic. The NRC environmental impact statement makes this clear: look at the list of toxic emissions enumerated in Table 6-1. The NRC often makes comparisons of these emissions to background levels of these toxins, or the quantity of toxins emitted by coal-fired plants of equal capacity to Fermi III. But those are irrational comparisons. It is like a drunk saying, "Well, I'm already drunk, so what's the difference if I have one more drink?" or a gambler saying, "Well, I'm already broke, so why not play another hand." The point is, these emissions are bad, and more of them makes things worse, and more people and ecosystems dead, even if by comparison to deadlier coal-fired plants, Fermi III emits less. We are already drunk with toxins, so what's the harm in adding a little more? We are already environmentally impoverished, so what's the harm in taking another gamble? Well, if we absolutely needed this electricity, if we had no other choice, maybe the NRC's comparisons and conclusions would be valid. But we do not need the power that Fermi III will provide (<a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/solutions/big_picture_solutions/do-we-need-coal-and-nuclear-power.html">http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/solutions/big_picture_solutions/do-we-need-coal-and-nuclear-power.html</a>). Further, if we did need the electricity, we derive more bang for the buck -- power-wise, job-wise, and safe-wise -- if we choose other alternatives, namely end-use efficiency improvements and distributed renewables (see Amory Lovins: <a href="http://www.completelybaked.blogspot.com/search/label/Energy">http://www.completelybaked.blogspot.com/search/label/Energy</a>, <a href="http://www.rmi.org/">www.rmi.org</a>). End use efficiency improvements and renewables will also help prevent catastrophic global warming because they can be implemented quickly using existing technology. Fermi III -- or any new nuclear power plant -- will do nothing to prevent catastrophic climate change because they take too long to build and will come on line too late to do any good -- the catastrophic climate change will already be upon us when Fermi III comes on line (if it ever does) with overpriced, unneeded electricity from unproven technology.<br />
<br />
Once we stipulate that the power Fermi III will provide is unnecessary -- and it is -- then it becomes eminently clear that any environmental impact from Fermi III is unacceptable -- it is unacceptable to throw away acres of essential wetlands, unacceptable to pollute our air and groundwater with radionuclides and other shorter-lived toxins (via mining, processing, plant operation, and waste disposal); unacceptable to draw billions of gallons of water from Lake Erie and kill millions of adult fish, fish eggs, and larvae; amphibian adults, eggs, and larvae; adult insects, insect eggs and larvae that go with that intake water, along with the wildlife that depend on these animals and insects; unacceptable to dump billions of BTU's of heat into the air and water, and tons of atmosphere-heating water vapor from cooling towers. These environmental impacts are not now and never will be benign. (<a href="http://www.eoearth.org/article/Thermal_pollution?topic=49471">http://www.eoearth.org/article/Thermal_pollution?topic=49471</a>) And there are always longs lists of unintended consequences that come after the fact -- and are irreparable -- when we pollute and tweak environmental systems the way Fermi III will (in conjuction with Fermi II and other thermal power plants along the western shore of Lake Erie). And for no good reason. We don't need the power Fermi III will provide -- we can get electricity elsewhere for less cost, with more and better jobs, and with with catastrophic global warming mitigation. (<a href="http://www.ases.org/climatejobs">http://www.ases.org/climatejobs</a>)<br />
<br />
On a personal note, I want to remind the NRC review team that they, to quote a character in the TV drama, The West Wing, "are supposed to be the good guys -- act like it." I know there are a lot of smart, caring, well-meaning folks on the NRC review team. I know that you don't want to turn the Detroit metro area into an uninhabitable wasteland. I also know that many on the NRC team would be willing to concede that not everyone in opposition to this thing is a radical, misinformed, tree-hugging, hippie who wants to send us all back to the Dark Ages. But you folks work for the taxpayers, not the nuclear power industry, and even if you hope one day to work for the nuclear power industry where the pay might be better and respect more forthcoming, you must also be willing to concede the possibility of cognitive capture on the part of at least some of the folks at the NRC. There are better options to nuclear power, I am sure of that, and I am a decent, well-meaning, tree-hugging, hippie -- at least according to some (my wife included). Give alternative views a chance. Consider that the industry might be going in the wrong direction. And remember it is your job to keep the industry from taking the rest of us with them when they do go in the wrong direction.<br />
<br />
Thanks for your efforts! You have my respect and admiration for doing a difficult job in the absence of sufficient praise and appreciation.<br />
<br />
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p. 6-5 <br />
-- (Table 6-1): Effluents - thermal 4063 billion BTU's / yr<br />
<br />
This is roughly the equivalent of 4638 100K BTUH home heating furnaces running 365 days a year, 24 hours a day for the life of the plant. All of this heat is dumped into the atmosphere and Lake Erie in a concentrated area adjacent to the plant. I do not think the effect of this heat on local plants and wildlife can be accurately predicted, and I challenge the NRC to prove it can be predicted. If nothing else, it contributes a lot of water vapor to the air, and water vapor traps atmospheric heat in greater quantities than CO2. At any rate, it is terrificly wasteful. And wastefulness is never rewarded, and inevitably punished.<br />
<br />
-- See table notes for Radon-222 and Technetium-99, i.e. litigation potential because risks not assessed<br />
<br />
11 The following assessment of the environmental impacts of the fuel cycle as related to the<br />
12 operation of the proposed project is based on the values given in Table S-3 (Table 6-1) and the<br />
13 NRC staff’s analysis of the radiological impact from radon-222 and technetium-99.<br />
<br />
NRC staff’s analysis? Is that enough? Why not independent analysis? Would that not enhance credibility? Is the NRC analysis published and subject to peer review? <br />
<br />
p. 6-6<br />
12 Table 6-1). For simplicity and added conservatism in its review and evaluation of the<br />
13 environmental impacts of the fuel cycle, the NRC staff multiplied the impact values in Table S-3<br />
14 by a factor of 2, rather than 1.79, thus scaling the impacts upward to account for the increased<br />
15 electric generation of the proposed unit.<br />
<br />
Isn't that a little hokey? Why not 3, or 4? If they don't know the exact figure for every item, the table is useless?<br />
<br />
p. 6-7<br />
1 Recent changes in the fuel cycle may have some bearing on environmental impacts; however,<br />
2 as discussed below, the NRC staff is confident that the contemporary fuel cycle impacts are<br />
3 below those identified in Table S-3. This is especially true in light of the following recent fuel<br />
4 cycle trends in the United States:<br />
<br />
And what if those trends reverse? Is past performance not an unreliable indicator of future performance?<br />
<br />
21...The NRC staff recognizes that many of<br />
22 the fuel cycle parameters and interactions vary in small ways from the estimates in Table S-3;<br />
23 the staff concludes that these variations would have no impacts on the Table S-3 calculations.<br />
<br />
Isn't that a little hokey? How much do they vary? Quantify "small ways," please? Concludes based on what?<br />
<br />
p. 6-8<br />
7 Another change supporting the bounding nature of the Table S-3 assumptions is the elimination<br />
8 of U.S. restrictions on the importation of foreign uranium. Until recently, the economic<br />
9 conditions in the uranium market favored utilization of foreign uranium at the expense of the<br />
10 domestic uranium industry.<br />
<br />
Does the US (or Detroit Edison) enforce domestic mining, processing, and environmental standards overseas? (No.) Is it not possible then, that overseas mines consume more land, water, and energy; and produce more pollution? Do we ignore overseas production inefficiencies and pollution because it is out of "scope" of this EIS? Isn't that kind of stupid?<br />
<br />
17 ... The majority of these applications are<br />
18 expected to be for in situ leach solution mining that does not produce tailings. Factoring in<br />
19 changes to the fuel cycle suggests that the environmental impacts of mining and tail millings<br />
20 could drop to levels below those given in Table S-3; however, Table S-3 estimates remain<br />
21 bounding for the proposed unit.<br />
<br />
"Are expected," "could drop;" what if these assumptions are wrong? Should we not run parallel calculations based on the alternative scenarios? Wouldn't that make more sense than simply concluding the assumptions might be correct, and if not, oh well, c'est la vie (mort)?<br />
<br />
36 ... In comparison, a coal-fired power plant using the same MW(e) output as<br />
37 the LWR-scaled model and using strip-mined coal requires the disturbance of about 360 ac/yr<br />
1 for fuel alone.<br />
<br />
Why make the convenient comparison to a coal-fired power plant? Why not compare to distributed renewables? Less convenient comparison? Less favorable comparison? Why not do both?<br />
<br />
p. 6-9<br />
13 ... The maximum<br />
14 consumptive water use (assuming that all plants supplying electrical energy to the nuclear fuel<br />
15 cycle use cooling towers) would be about 4 percent of the 1000-MW(e) LWR-scaled model<br />
16 using cooling towers. Under this condition, thermal effluents would be negligible. The NRC staff<br />
17 concludes that the impacts on water use for these combinations of thermal loadings and water<br />
18 consumption would be SMALL.<br />
<br />
Again, the assumptions, and "under this condition" -- why make assumptions? Why not calculate various scenarios, and select the worst-case?<br />
<br />
21 The electric energy is usually produced by the combustion of fossil fuel at conventional power<br />
22 plants. Electric energy associated with the fuel cycle represents about 5 percent of the annual<br />
23 electric power production of the reference 1000-MW(e) LWR. Process heat is generated<br />
24 primarily by the combustion of natural gas. This gas consumption, if used to generate<br />
25 electricity, would be less than 0.4 percent of the electrical output from the model plant.<br />
<br />
Again, the assumptions, and "is usually produced" -- why make assumptions? Why not calculate various scenarios, and select the worst-case? If process heat comes from natural gas, do we include the environmental impact of sourcing the natural gas? Via what process? Deep hydro-fracking? Do we know the environmental impacts of that? What if process heat comes from hydrogen gas created by electrolysis, or less likely but possible, thermolysis? Where does that process electricity come from? Nuclear power plants? Do we know the impacts of that scenario? (What if fossil fuels become prohibitively expensive due to proposed cap and trade rules, and we use renewable energy to process uranium? Will the cost change? Will the environmental impact change?)<br />
<br />
29 The largest use of electricity in the fuel cycle comes from the enrichment process. It appears<br />
30 that GC technology is likely to eventually replace GD technology for uranium enrichment in the<br />
31 United States. The same amount of enrichment from a GC facility uses less electricity and<br />
32 therefore results in lower amounts of air emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO2) than a GD<br />
33 facility. Therefore, the NRC staff concludes that the values for electricity use and air emissions<br />
34 in Table S-3 continue to be appropriately bounding values.<br />
<br />
Again, the assumptions, and "is likely to eventually replace" -- what if it doesn't? What if the fuel comes from overseas? Do the assumptions hold then? For how long? Under what circumstances?<br />
<br />
<br />
p. 6-10<br />
5 ... The CO2 emissions from the fuel cycle are about 5 percent of the CO2<br />
6 emissions from an equivalent fossil-fuel-fired plant.<br />
<br />
Again, why compare to "equivalent fossil-fuel-fired plant" -- why not compare to distributed renewables or efficiency improvements?<br />
<br />
7 In Appendix L, the NRC staff estimates that the carbon footprint of the fuel cycle to support a<br />
8 reference 1000-MW(e) LWR operating at an 80 percent capacity factor for a 40-year plant life is<br />
9 on the order of 17,000,000 MT of CO2, including a very small contribution from other<br />
10 greenhouse gases (GHG's). Scaling this footprint to the power level of Fermi 3 using the scaling<br />
11 factor of 2 discussed earlier, the NRC staff estimates the carbon footprint for 40 years of fuel<br />
12 cycle emissions to be 34,000,000 MT of CO2 (average annual emissions rate of 850,000 MT,<br />
13 averaged over the period of operation) as compared to a total United States annual emission<br />
14 rate of 5.5 billion MT of CO2 (EPA 2011).<br />
<br />
Why compare to a static assumption of "total United States annual emission rate of 5.5 billion MT of CO2 (EPA 2011)?" It is a favorable comparison, but irrelevant. CO2 emissions are additive and cumulative, and more is bad, less is good, period. Why not compare these emissions to those from distributed renewables as a substitute for construction of a nuclear reactor, or to GHG emission reductions from efficiency improvements for the same financial investment? <br />
<br />
In the words of Amory Lovins from the Rocky Mountain Institute, in a paper titled "Mighty Mice:" (<a href="http://www.rmi.org/cms/Download.aspx?id=1171&file=E05-15_MightyMice.pdf">http://www.rmi.org/cms/Download.aspx?id=1171&file=E05-15_MightyMice.pdf</a>)<br />
<br />
Buying a costlier option, like nuclear power, instead of a cheaper one, like ‘negawatts’ and micropower, displaces less carbon per dollar spent. This opportunity cost of not following the least-cost investment sequence – the order of economic and environmental priority – complicates climate protection. The indicative costs in Figure 3 (neglecting any differences in the energy embodied in manufacturing and supporting the technologies) imply that we could displace coal-fired electricity’s carbon emissions by spending $0.10 to deliver any of the following:<br />
<br />
1.0kWh of new nuclear electricity at its 2004 US subsidy levels and costs.<br />
1.2-1.7kWh of dispatchable windpower at zero to actual 2004 US subsidies and at 2004-2012 costs.<br />
0.9-1.7kWh of gas-fired industrial cogeneration or ~2.2-6.5kWh of building-scale trigeneration (both adjusted for their carbon emissions), or 2.4-8.9kWh of waste-heat cogeneration burning no incremental fossil fuel (more if credited for burning less fuel).<br />
From several to at least 10kWh of end-use efficiency.<br />
<br />
The ratio of net carbon savings per dollar to that of nuclear power is the reciprocal of their relative cost, corrected for gas-fired CHP’s carbon emissions (assumed here to be threefold lower than those of the coal-fired power plant and fossil-fuelled boiler displaced). As Bill Keepin and Greg Kats put it in Energy Policy (December 1988), based on their still-reasonable estimate that efficient use could save about seven times as much carbon per dollar as nuclear power, “every $100 invested in nuclear power would effectively release an additional tonne of carbon into the atmosphere” – so, counting that opportunity cost, “the effective carbon intensity of nuclear power is nearly six times greater than the direct carbon intensity of coal fired power.” Whatever the exact ratio, their finding remains qualitatively robust even if nuclear power becomes far cheaper and its competitors don’t. <br />
<br />
Speed matters too: if nuclear investments are also inherently slower to deploy, as market behaviour indicates, then they don’t only reduce but also retard carbon displacement. If climate matters, we must invest judiciously, not indiscriminately, to procure the most climate solution per dollar and per year. Empirically, on both criteria, nuclear power seems less effective than other abundant options on offer. The case for new nuclear build as a means of climate protection thus requires reexamination.<br />
<br />
22 ... Table S-3 states that the fuel cycle<br />
23 for the reference 1000-MW(e) LWR requires 323,000 MW-hr of electricity. The fuel cycle for the<br />
24 1000-MW(e) LWR-scaled model would therefore require 6.5 × 105 MW-hr of electricity, or<br />
25 0.016 percent of the 4.1 billion MW-hr of electricity generated in the United States in 2008<br />
26 (DOE/EIA 2009). Therefore, the gaseous and particulate emissions would add about<br />
27 0.016 percent to the national gaseous and particulate chemical effluents for electricity<br />
28 generation.<br />
<br />
Another pointless comparison. Gaseous and particulate effluents are additive, cumulative, and bad. More is worse, less is better. Why compare to how bad things already are? This is like a nihilist saying, "I'm already deeply and hopeless indebted, so why not borrow a little more?" <br />
<br />
29 Liquid chemical effluents produced in fuel cycle processes are related to fuel enrichment and<br />
30 fabrication and may be released to receiving waters. These effluents are usually present in<br />
31 dilute concentrations, such that only small amounts of dilution water are required to reach levels<br />
32 of concentration that are within established standards.<br />
<br />
Same as above: another faulty comparison. Why assume more additive, cumulative emissions are OK because they fall within established standards? Why compare these emissions to those from efficiency improvements or distributed renewables? Or, better scrubbing processes? And what if the fuel comes from overseas? Is there any guarantee the source nation will adhere to US standards? Do we ignore toxic emissions if they occur outside our borders? What if they occur in Canada and pollute the Great Lakes? What if the polluted water is shipped to the US and dumped here under a free trade agreement?<br />
<br />
p. 6-11<br />
20 Currently, the radiological impacts associated with radon-222 and technetium-99 releases are<br />
21 not addressed in Table S-3. Principal radon releases occur during mining and milling<br />
22 operations and as emissions from mill tailings, whereas principal technetium-99 releases occur<br />
23 from GD facilities. Detroit Edison provided an assessment of radon-222 and technetium-99 in<br />
24 its Environmental Review (ER) (Detroit Edison 2011). This evaluation relied on the information<br />
25 discussed in NUREG-1437 (NRC 1996).<br />
<br />
I object to relying on Detroit Edison's assessment due to obvious conflict of interest. Could we not have an independent study? Detroit Edison relied on NUREG-1437 [NRC 1996] -- to what extent? What does "relied on" mean?<br />
<br />
p. 6-12<br />
32 The nominal probability coefficient was multiplied by the sum of the estimated whole body<br />
33 population doses from gaseous effluents, liquid effluents, radon-222, and technetium-99<br />
34 discussed above (approximately 3300 person-rem/yr) to calculate that the U.S. population<br />
35 would incur a total of approximately 1.9 fatal cancers, nonfatal cancers, and severe hereditary<br />
36 effects annually.<br />
<br />
This assumes the radiation will distributed evenly, like background radiation, across the entire US population. Is that a fair assumption? Cancer and birth defects are often localized around point sources, aren't they? (<a href="http://www.radiation.org/reading/technical.html">http://www.radiation.org/reading/technical.html</a>)<br />
<br />
p. 6-12<br />
37 Radon-222 releases from tailings are indistinguishable from background radiation levels at a<br />
38 few miles distance from the tailings pile (at less than 0.6 mi in some cases) (NRC 1996).<br />
<br />
Why assume that no one (of importance?), and no wildlife (that we care about) will approach closer than 0.6 mi? That seems like a specious argument. It's like when you tell the doctor, "It hurts when I do this." And the doctor replies, "Don't do that." The tailings, where they reside, are toxic to both humans and wildlife (some of which may be migratory), and will be for a long time.<br />
<br />
p. 6-14<br />
6 Detroit Edison can currently ship Class A LLW to the Energy Solutions site in Clive, Utah;<br />
7 however, it cannot dispose of Class B and C LLW at the Energy Solutions site in Barnwell,<br />
8 South Carolina. The Waste Control Specialists, LLC, site in Andrews County, Texas, is licensed<br />
9 to accept Class A, B, and C LLW from the Texas Compact (Texas and Vermont). As of May<br />
10 2011, Waste Control Specialists, LLC, may accept Class A, B, and C LLW from outside the<br />
11 Texas Compact for disposal, subject to established criteria, conditions, and approval processes.<br />
12 Michigan is not currently affiliated with any compact. Other disposal sites may also be available<br />
13 by the time Fermi 3 could become operational.<br />
<br />
27 Detroit Edison has proposed a Solid Waste Management System for Fermi 3 that provides<br />
28 enough storage space to hold the total combined volume of 3 months of packaged Class A and<br />
29 10 years of packaged Class B and Class C LLW generated during plant operations. If additional<br />
30 storage capacity for Class B and C LLW is required, Detroit Edison could elect to construct<br />
31 additional temporary storage facilities. Detroit Edison could also enter into an agreement with a<br />
32 third-party contractor to process, store, own, and ultimately dispose of LLW from Fermi 3.<br />
33 The NRC staff anticipates that licensees would temporarily store Class B and C LLW on site until<br />
34 offsite storage locations are available. Several operating nuclear power plants have successfully<br />
35 increased onsite storage capacity in the past in accordance with existing NRC regulations. This<br />
36 extended waste storage onsite resulted in no significant increase in dose to the public.<br />
<br />
There are a whole lot of "may" and "could" in there. Would it not be worthwhile (and fiscally prudent) to nail waste disposal details down. Will they, or won't they ship waste to Texas? Will it be be Class A, B, or C? Or, all three? How much? When? How? What if a waste carrying truck crashes or hijackers seize and dump it? (I know, section 6.2 "covers" transportation.) What if they dump the waste in a public reservoir, or where it can contaminate ground water? More of this stuff stored somewhere and then shipped means more chances for it to escape the disposal process and create unanticipated disasters. Are such scenarios considered? I bet our Department of Homeland Security does. If not considered by the NRC as potential environmental impacts, shouldn't they be.<br />
<br />
p. 6-15<br />
5 In most circumstances, the NRC’s regulations (10 CFR 50.59) allow licensees operating nuclear<br />
6 power plants to construct and operate additional onsite LLW storage facilities without seeking<br />
7 approval from the NRC.<br />
<br />
Is that meant to reassure? No approval required? So, oversight won't occur until after an accident or theft has occurred. And then insignificant fines will be levied, but the harm to groundwater and "biota" will be done and irreversible. Right?<br />
<br />
p. 6-16<br />
16 fuel generated in any reactor when necessary.” In addition, 10 CFR 51.23(b) applies the<br />
17 generic determination in Section 51.23(a) to provide that “no discussion of any environmental<br />
18 impact of spent fuel storage in reactor facility storage pools or independent spent fuel storage<br />
19 installations (ISFSI) for the period following the term of the [. . .] reactor combined license or<br />
20 amendment [. . .] is required in any [. . .] environmental impact statement [. . .] prepared in<br />
21 connection with [. . .] the issuance or amendment of a combined license for a nuclear power<br />
22 reactors under parts 52 or 54 of this chapter.”<br />
<br />
That's pretty rich: "reactor facility storage pools or independent spent fuel storage<br />
installations" can not be discussed? Because they are most likely to create a permanent environmental disaster if an unforeseen "event" breaches one of these facilities and permits the fuel to overheat and escape into surrounding air and water. (Fukushima?) Why would we want to discuss that in an EIS? (We do. I was being sarcastic, sorry.)<br />
<br />
23 In early 2010, the Secretary of Energy announced the formation of the Blue Ribbon Commission<br />
24 on America’s Nuclear Future (BRC). The BRC’s charter was to provide recommendations for<br />
25 developing a safe, long-term solution to managing the Nation's used nuclear fuel and nuclear<br />
26 waste. The BRC began releasing draft subcommittee reports in May 2011, and issued a draft<br />
27 report dated July 29, 2011, to the Secretary of Energy. The draft reports acknowledge that the<br />
28 methods of currently storing spent fuel at nuclear power plants are safe, but to ensure safety in<br />
29 the long term, the BRC recommends development of centralized interim spent fuel storage<br />
30 facilities and geologic repositories for ultimate disposal of spent fuel and high-level radioactive<br />
31 waste.<br />
<br />
A Blue Ribbon Commission? And they concluded everything is fine, right? That's rich, too. No further comment on that mass hysteria.<br />
<br />
24 In its ER (Detroit Edison 2011), Detroit Edison provided a full description and detailed analyses<br />
25 of transportation impacts. In these analyses, radiological impacts of transporting fuel and waste<br />
26 to and from the Fermi site and alternative sites were calculated by Detroit Edison using the<br />
27 RADTRAN 5.6 computer code (Weiner et al. 2008). For this EIS, the NRC staff estimated the<br />
28 radiological impacts of transporting fuel and waste to and from the Fermi site and alternative<br />
29 sites using the RADTRAN 5.6 computer code. RADTRAN 5.6 is the most commonly used<br />
30 transportation impact analysis computer code in the nuclear industry, and the NRC staff<br />
31 concludes that the code is an acceptable analysis method.<br />
<br />
Has RADTRAN 5.6 been verified empirically? I love computers. I write software for a living. But I don't trust models unless they are verified in the real world. Is this too "difficult" or expensive? Tough. Real life will inject all sorts of "anomalies" and unforeseen "events" -- that's why Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima were not minor dust ups. The situations unraveled due to poor planning and poor execution of plans, things that humans are famous for and always will be. Why expect things to operate smoothly, and a according to industry computer models when they never do in the real world? One reason: a lot of industry money is at stake, and models contain all that sloppy reality.<br />
<br />
p. 6-28<br />
1 Table 6-6. Nonradiological Impacts of Transporting Unirradiated Fuel to the Proposed Fermi<br />
2 Site and Alternative Sites, Normalized to Reference LWR<br />
<br />
Table 6-6 is informative as far as personal injury is concerned, but what about the environmental impact of these hypothetical truck "impacts?" What is the probability that the casks will survive the crash? What if one is ruptured? Is there a chance land or water will be contaminated? How badly? For how long?<br />
<br />
p. 6-29<br />
1 The NRC staff calculated the radiological impacts of transportation of spent fuel using the<br />
2 RADTRAN 5.6 computer code (Weiner et al. 2008). Routing and population data used in<br />
3 RADTRAN 5.6 for truck shipments were obtained from the Transportation Routing Analysis<br />
4 Geographic Information System (TRAGIS) routing code (Johnson and Michelhaugh 2003).<br />
<br />
There's that modeling software again.<br />
<br />
22 Shipping casks have not been designed for the spent fuel from advanced reactor designs such<br />
23 as the ESBWR. Information in Early Site Permit Environmental Report Sections and Supporting<br />
24 Documentation (INEEL 2003) indicated that advanced LWR fuel designs would not be<br />
25 significantly different from existing LWR designs; therefore, current shipping cask designs were<br />
26 used for the analysis of ESBWR spent fuel shipments. The NRC staff assumed that the<br />
27 capacity of a truck shipment of ESBWR spent fuel was 0.5 MTU/shipment, the same capacity as<br />
28 that used in WASH-1238 (AEC 1972). In its ER (Detroit Edison 2011), Detroit Edison assumed<br />
29 a shipping cask capacity of 0.5 MTU/shipment.<br />
<br />
p. 6-32<br />
8 route (persons living near the highway). Shipping schedules for spent fuel generated by Fermi 3<br />
9 have not been determined. The NRC staff concluded it to be reasonable to calculate annual<br />
10 doses assuming the annual number of spent fuel shipments is equivalent to the annual refueling<br />
11 requirements. Each refuel cycle is anticipated to reload 68.2 MTU of fresh fuel (Detroit<br />
12 Edison 2011) every 2 yr. It was assumed that the same corresponding amount of spent fuel<br />
13 was to be removed from the reactor and sent to a spent fuel storage facility or repository.<br />
<br />
Cask type is unknown (p. 6-29, line 22, above), shipping schedules are unknown, and thus per shipment quantities of radioactive material are unknown, so all of the information in section 6.2 is academic and irrelevant, right? Why bother with this charade of studying transportation and storage when it is all still subject to a raft of unknowns?<br />
<br />
p. 6-34<br />
8 Subpart B). Most spent fuel would have cooled for much longer than 5 years before being<br />
9 shipped to a possible geologic repository. Shipments from the Fermi site and alternative<br />
10 sites are also expected to be cooled for longer than 5 years. Consequently, the estimated<br />
11 population doses in Table 6-9 could be further reduced if more realistic dose rate projections<br />
12 and shipping cask capacities are used.<br />
<br />
Shipments "are also expected to be cooled for longer than 5 years." What if the industry decides it is expedient to ship them sooner? Say, one year? Or, the minimum, 120 days? Then the dosages and risk increase, right? Why not run simulations based on that assumption?<br />
<br />
p. 6-37<br />
23 For this assessment, release fractions for current-generation LWR fuel designs<br />
24 (Sprung et al. 2000) were used to approximate the impacts from the ESBWR spent fuel<br />
25 shipments. This assumes that the fuel materials and containment systems (i.e., cladding, fuel<br />
26 coatings) behave similarly to current LWR fuel under applied mechanical and thermal<br />
27 conditions.<br />
<br />
More assumptions about the containment systems. Also, the cooling period is assumed here to exceed five years, correct? Too many assumptions. Suspend this study until these precarious assumptions are removed.<br />
<br />
p. 6-38<br />
25 ... This risk is<br />
26 very minute compared to the estimated 1.6 × 105 person-rem that the same population along<br />
27 the route from the proposed Fermi site to the proposed geologic HLW repository at Yucca<br />
28 Mountain would incur annually from exposure to natural sources of radiation.<br />
<br />
OK, so we evaluate "accidents" using modeling software, and conclude there is no risk from the expected dispersion of radioactive material. What if the dispersion follows an unexpected pattern? What if a cask comes unmoored due to a high speed impact (from another vehicle? a train? a plane?), flies off the truck, lands in the middle of a an oil refinery, starts a high-temperature, gasoline-fed fire that burns for days, and propels -- via explosions of fuel pipes and containers -- radioactive material into a populated shopping mall, hospital, or school? Not so far fetched, I think. What if that happens?<br />
<br />
p. 6-40, 41<br />
19 ... For example, if all of the dry active waste,<br />
20 approximately 12,827 ft3 of the 15,859 ft3/yr LLRW projected (GEH 2010) were to be shipped in<br />
21 standard 20-ft Sealand containers (1,000 ft3, 1 container per truck), approximately 50 shipments<br />
22 per year to a disposal site would be required, assuming a shipment capacity of 2.34 m3 of waste<br />
1 per shipment for the remaining waste as was assumed in WASH-1238. For comparison to the<br />
2 46 annual shipments of radioactive waste for the reference reactor, the normalized number of<br />
3 shipments required for Fermi 3 radioactive waste would then be 30 shipments rather than the<br />
4 114 shipments identified in Table 6-13.<br />
<br />
And we assume all of these many, less-guarded shipments arrive at their intended destinations. Has the possibility of hijacking been considered? What if one of these containers is driven into a city and exploded or burned? Would that not have a grave environmental impact? What if the container is dumped into a drinking water reservoir and no one knows it is there until two years later when radiation happens to be detected in someone's drinking/bathing water?<br />
<br />
p. 6-42<br />
1 Because of the conservative approaches and data used to calculate impacts, the actual<br />
2 environmental effects are not likely to exceed those calculated in this EIS. Thus, the NRC staff<br />
3 concludes that the environmental impacts of transportation of fuel and radioactive wastes to and<br />
4 from the Fermi site and alternative sites would be SMALL, and would be consistent with the<br />
5 environmental impacts associated with transportation of fuel and radioactive wastes to and from<br />
6 current-generation reactors presented in Table S-4 of 10 CFR 51.52.<br />
<br />
Yet, NRC's conclusion is based on assumptions that will not necessarily apply, so it is MEANINGLESS, no?<br />
<br />
13 ...The distance from the Fermi site or any of the<br />
12 alternate sites to any new planned repository in the contiguous United States would be no more<br />
13 than double the distance from the Michigan site to Yucca Mountain. Doubling the environmental<br />
14 impact estimates from the transportation of spent reactor fuel, as presented in this section,<br />
15 would provide a reasonable bounding estimate of the impacts for NEPA purposes. The NRC<br />
16 staff concludes that the environmental impacts of these doubled estimates would still be<br />
17 SMALL.<br />
<br />
What if the spent fuel is sent to China, Africa, or Russia. Then the distance is more than doubled, and transportation modes will vary more, right? And could we rely on other nations to adhere to our standards for disposal and security? Or, might they just toss this stuff in a landfill, and let it come back to us in "dirty" bombs?<br />
<br />
25 An applicant for a COL is required to certify that sufficient funds will be available to provide for<br />
26 radiological decommissioning at the end of power operations. As part of its COL application for<br />
27 the Fermi 3 on the Fermi site, Detroit Edison included a Decommissioning Funding Assurance<br />
28 Report in its COL Application Part 1 (Detroit Edison 2010), which stated that Detroit Edison<br />
29 would establish an external sinking funds account to accumulate funds for decommissioning.<br />
<br />
Can a corporation, answerable to shareholders be counted on to maintain this fund? What if Detroit Edison goes bankrupt building an unnecessary nuclear reactor? Will taxpayers be on the hook for decommissioning? Will the industry form a separate fund for such bankruptcy scenarios to protect taxpayers? Will corners be cut if there are insufficient funds to decommission properly?<br />
<br />
p. 6-43<br />
3 Based on a DOE study (DOE 2004), it is expected that the ESBWR design<br />
4 would have lower physical plant inventories, less accumulated radioactivity, and fewer disposal<br />
5 and transportation costs than current operating reactors. Therefore, the NRC staff concludes<br />
6 that the impacts discussed in GEIS-DECOM remain bounding for reactors deployed after 2002,<br />
7 including the ESBWR.<br />
<br />
What if these expectations are wrong?<br />
<br />
34 6. Ecological impacts of decommissioning are expected to be negligible.<br />
<br />
Unless there is an unforeseen mishap, right? "Expected" is nice, but not conclusive.<br />
<br />
pg. 7-9<br />
10 As described in Section 5.2.2.1, the review team determined that the annual consumptive use of<br />
11 surface water from the operation of Fermi 3 would not be significant compared to the relative<br />
12 volume of water in Lake Erie (0.006 percent), and it would also remain a small portion of the<br />
13 average annual consumptive water use of all users in the Lake Erie basin (4.1 percent).<br />
<br />
Does it really make sense to compare Fermi's water use to total volume and total consumption? Is it not more important to note the effect these intakes will have on local marine life, such as injesting fish, insect, and amphibian eggs; fish, amphibian, and insect larvae, and adult fish, amphibians, and insects? In addition, it should be noted that water will be discharged to the lake at a much higher temperature than surrounding lake water, which will surely have deleterious effects on marine life, as well as other animals that depend on marine life for subsistence.<br />
<br />
p. 7-11<br />
4 ... A MODERATE<br />
5 impact would be expected under the highest-emissions scenario (CO2 air concentration of 940 ppm by 2100 [about four times pre-industrial levels]), which is expected to produce<br />
6 the highest increases in air and water temperatures. These increases in air and water<br />
7 temperature could noticeably alter water levels but would not do so to the point that the<br />
8 resource and surrounding environment become destabilized.<br />
<br />
Really? I believe there are studies that indicate a radical alteration of Michigan's environment if C02 levels reach 940ppm. Might not the shoreline recede substantially? Have studies of shoreline topography been done that examine how much the shoreline will recede as lake levels drop? Will canals need to be dug for water inlet and outlets (or pipelines run, which offer a lot more cost and flow resistance than canals, and so are likely less desirable). Will not the discharge of hot water (and overhead steam and water vapor) have even more deleterious effects in warmer air and lake water (such a higher probability of death for insects, amphibians, and fish; their eggs and larvae; as well as the animals that feed on them)? (revised predictions of global warming impact: <a href="http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20070509/">http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20070509/</a>, <a href="http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/briefs/druyan_07/">http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/briefs/druyan_07/</a>)<br />
<br />
p. 7-12<br />
24 Given that (1) the proposed Fermi 3 would not use groundwater for operations, (2) there would<br />
25 be no discharges to groundwater from Fermi 3, and (3) temporary dewatering operations during<br />
26 preconstruction and construction activities would have limited spatial effect and would not affect<br />
27 the overall productivity of the Bass Islands Group aquifer, the review team determined that the<br />
28 potential impacts on groundwater use from building and operating Fermi 3 would be minimal. In<br />
29 addition, the review team concluded that the cumulative groundwater use impacts would be<br />
30 SMALL. The incremental impacts from NRC-authorized activities would be SMALL, and no<br />
31 further mitigation would be warranted.<br />
<br />
Unless, of course, the reactor containment were to fail, or spent fuel storage pools were to leak, in which case the impact of Fermi III on groundwater would be LARGE and PERMANENT. But that will never happen, right? Unless, maybe, a tsunami caused by an earthquake in Western Pennsylvania rolled across the lake and into Fermi III and lots of unexpected things happened. But that will never happen, right?<br />
<br />
p. 7-14,15<br />
35 Surface water quality impacts include sediment loading, and thermal and chemical discharges<br />
36 from the proposed Fermi 3. Thermal and chemical (i.e., biocides, metal and organic<br />
37 compounds) discharges from Fermi 3 would be required to meet applicable NPDES permit<br />
38 requirements, health standards, regulations, and total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) mandated<br />
...<br />
1 by MDEQ and EPA (Detroit Edison 2011a). On the basis of its evaluation, the review team<br />
2 concluded that the cumulative impacts on surface water quality would be MODERATE;<br />
3 however, the cumulative impacts of building and operating Fermi 3 would not contribute<br />
4 significantly to the overall cumulative impacts in the geographical area of interest. Therefore,<br />
5 the incremental impacts from NRC-authorized activities would be SMALL, and no further<br />
6 mitigation would be warranted.<br />
<br />
Further mitigation? It sounds like no mitigation at all beyond meeting minimum water quality standards. If the impact is moderate, should not the NRC require some mitigation? Why is it acceptable that meeting "applicable NPDES permit requirements, health standards, regulations, and total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) mandated by MDEQ and EPA (Detroit Edison 2011a)" is sufficient, when other energy sources (efficiency and renewables) would have far less impact?<br />
<br />
p. 7-18<br />
28 ... Building Fermi 3 would permanently<br />
29 fill approximately 8.3 ac of wetland and temporarily affect 23.7 ac of wetland (Detroit<br />
30 Edison 2011b ). The temporarily impacted wetlands would be restored. See Section 4.3.1 for<br />
31 additional discussion of wetlands impacts and mitigation.<br />
<br />
Why is this acceptable when improved end-use efficiency, and renewable generating sources would have no such impact (and lower cost to ratepayers)? Wetlands can never be restored to their original state -- it is a conceit to think they will be.<br />
<br />
p. 7-20, 21<br />
34 ... The<br />
35 wetland impacts described in Section 4.3.1 would be mitigated by restoration of temporarily<br />
36 disturbed wetlands, restoration and enhancement of approximately 82 ac of wetlands in the<br />
37 coastal zone of western Lake Erie, and restoration of approximately 21 ac of wetlands located<br />
...<br />
1 onsite (Detroit Edison 2011b). The review team assumes that it is unlikely that the USACE and<br />
2 MDEQ would issue permits allowing extensive disturbance of coastal wetlands along western<br />
3 Lake Erie.<br />
<br />
What do "restoration" and "enhancement" mean, exactly? Does anyone believe that wetlands can be restored to a primordial state? How can they be enhanced? Is it really sensible to allow such alteration of wetlands (essential to fisheries and wildlife), when other less costly options exist (improved electricity end-use efficiency and distributed renewable energy sources [<a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/solutions/big_picture_solutions/do-we-need-coal-and-nuclear-power.html">http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/solutions/big_picture_solutions/do-we-need-coal-and-nuclear-power.html</a>])?<br />
<br />
p. 7-23, 24, 25<br />
34 As described for Fermi 3 in Section 5.3.2, withdrawing cooling water has a potential to affect<br />
35 aquatic organisms through impingement and entrainment. If the organisms being entrained or<br />
36 impinged at different power plants are members of the same populations, the impacts on those<br />
37 populations would be cumulative. Because the water intakes for Fermi 2 and Fermi 3 would be<br />
38 located in close proximity within the intake bay, it is estimated that the combined operation of<br />
...<br />
1 the Fermi 2 and Fermi 3 facilities would effectively double the water intake and would likely<br />
2 increase entrainment and impingement rates of aquatic organisms in the immediate vicinity of<br />
3 the intake bay as compared to the operation of Fermi 2 alone (Detroit Edison 2011a). The<br />
4 mean daily entrainment of the larvae of four species of fish that are common in Lake Erie’s<br />
5 western basin – gizzard shad (Dorsoma cepedianum), white bass (Morone chrysops), walleye<br />
6 (Sander vitreus), and freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens) – at four power plants (i.e., the<br />
7 once-through Bayshore, Monroe, Acme [no longer operational], and Whiting) averaged over<br />
8 three seasons of production (1975–1977) ranged from nearly zero to approximately 8 percent of<br />
9 the larvae present within nearshore areas (Patterson 1987) and is considered to be detectable.<br />
10 The study suggested that the numbers of larvae surviving to reach older life stages for these<br />
11 species would increase substantially if the effects of power plant entrainment were removed<br />
12 (Patterson and Smith 1982; Patterson 1987). Cooling water intake rates for each of the four<br />
13 facilities (Patterson and Smith 1982; Patterson 1987) were estimated to be 4 to 15 times higher<br />
14 than the cooling water intake rates for the Fermi 2 facility and for the proposed Fermi 3 facility<br />
15 (Detroit Edison 2011a). The larval fish entrainment rates for these facilities are expected to be<br />
16 higher than for Fermi 3. Therefore, even though the estimated impingement and entrainment<br />
17 rates for Fermi 3 would be considerably lower than that reported for most of the other power<br />
18 stations within the western basin (Detroit Edison 2011a, Section 5.3.1.2.3.2) and individually<br />
19 would represent a minor incremental impact to aquatic resources (as described in Section 5.3.2<br />
20 of this EIS), the cumulative impacts of impingement and entrainment from all power stations on<br />
21 fish populations within the western basin could have a significant impact on some aquatic<br />
22 species.<br />
23 In addition to mortality of fish from impingement and entrainment at power plants, millions of<br />
24 pounds of fish are harvested annually from the western basin through recreational and<br />
25 commercial fishing activities (see Section 2.4.2.3), thereby contributing to cumulative mortality<br />
26 impacts on fish populations. The status of fish populations in the western basin are monitored<br />
27 by the MDNR, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and the Ontario Ministry of Natural<br />
28 Resources, and regulations and annual harvest limits for important target species are<br />
29 periodically adjusted by those agencies to prevent overfishing and to maintain suitable<br />
30 population levels. The Great Lakes Fisheries Commission, which coordinates fisheries<br />
31 research and facilitates cooperative fishery management among the State, Provincial, Tribal,<br />
32 and Federal agencies that manage fishery resources within the Great Lakes, has established a<br />
33 Lake Erie Committee that considers issues pertinent to Lake Erie. Therefore, the management<br />
34 and control of cumulative impacts on populations of harvested fish species are partially<br />
35 addressed through the actions of these agencies.<br />
36 As described in Section 5.3.2, discharge of heated cooling water from other power plants also<br />
37 has the potential to affect survival and growth of organisms by altering ambient water<br />
38 temperatures. In most cases, thermal plumes from power plants discharging into Lake Erie<br />
39 would be expected to affect relatively small areas, and the plumes from Fermi 3 and the existing<br />
...<br />
1 power plants in the western basin are not expected to overlap. Although many of the aquatic<br />
2 species that could be affected by the thermal plumes from different power plants are likely to<br />
3 belong to the same populations, the numbers of individuals that could be affected by cold shock<br />
4 or heat stress are expected to be small relative to the overall numbers of individuals within<br />
5 populations. As a consequence, the cumulative effect of thermal discharges from existing<br />
6 power plants and the proposed Fermi 3 on aquatic resources within the western basin of Lake<br />
7 Erie would be minor, and the incremental contribution of Fermi 3 would be insignificant.<br />
<br />
<br />
The impact of impingement on aquatic species will have "a significant impact", as stated above, and I suspect the impact of the heat plumes, at best, is unknown. The NRC seems to assume that fish are distributed uniformly across the lake, and since the thermal plumes cover a small section of the lake, they will have minimal impact. What if the section of the lake covered by the plumes overlaps an essential migratory or breeding zone? Is the NRC review team sure this is not the case now, and never will be? If it were true that the plume intersected essential migratory or breeding zones, then the impact of Fermi III could be much more substantial. Should we not find out for sure?<br />
<br />
p. 7-31<br />
1 ... The environmental justice impacts from NRC-authorized activities would be<br />
2 SMALL, and no further mitigation would be warranted.<br />
<br />
Electricity from Fermi III will cost substantially more than it would if obtained from improved end-use efficiency, or distributed renewable energy sources (<a href="http://www.rmi.org/cms/Download.aspx?id=1171&file=E05-15_MightyMice.pdf">http://www.rmi.org/cms/Download.aspx?id=1171&file=E05-15_MightyMice.pdf</a>, <a href="http://www.rmi.org/images/PDFs/Energy/E08-01_AmbioNucIllusion.pdf">http://www.rmi.org/images/PDFs/Energy/E08-01_AmbioNucIllusion.pdf</a>). Since electricity costs affect the poor as a greater percentage of their income, and since minorities are disproportionately subject to poverty, it seems that Fermi III presents a social justice issue if not an environmental justice issue. And since the environmental burdens of Fermi III will be borne equally by minorities, it seems unreasonable to also expect them to pay a larger portion of their incomes for the electricity provided by Fermi III, especially in light of the fact that improved end-use efficiency, and distributed renewable energy sources would provide electricity to them at lower cost, and provide them more and better job opportunities than Fermi III.<br />
<br />
p. 7-32<br />
11 Historic and cultural resources are nonrenewable; therefore, the impacts on historic and cultural<br />
12 resources within the APEs are cumulative. Section 4.6 described how building activities for<br />
13 Fermi 3 would result in the demolition of one onsite property (Fermi 1) that is eligible for listing in<br />
14 the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and located within the associated APEs.<br />
<br />
It is nice to see the NRC acknowledge that historic and cultural resources are "nonrenewable" -- unlike wetlands, which can be restored and enhanced. The part about Fermi I being eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places is just funny. Nice to see the NRC review team has a sense of humor (and irony, and perspective).<br />
<br />
p. 7-36<br />
7 ... The national and worldwide cumulative impacts of GHG emissions are noticeable<br />
8 but not destabilizing. The review team concludes that the cumulative impacts would be<br />
9 noticeable but not destabilizing with or without the GHG emissions from Fermi 3. The review<br />
10 team concludes that cumulative impacts from other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable<br />
11 future actions on air quality resources in the geographic areas of interest would be SMALL for<br />
12 criteria pollutants and MODERATE for GHGs.<br />
<br />
The NRC review team states that the effects of global warming will be "noticeable but not destabilizing." I guess I would like to see their definition of destabilizing. If you live on Tuvalu, or Manhattan for that matter, then a sea level rise of couple of feet will be quite "destabilizing" -- to the extent that your home might well be washed away forever (for sure in Tuvalu, possibly, but more likely, in Manhattan via storm surge). If the American farming bread basket becomes a dust bowl due to drought, I bet local residents would call that "destabilizing." So, this is a question of semantics, I guess. How about defining destabilizing? (impacts of global warming: <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg2/en/ch6.html">http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg2/en/ch6.html</a>, <a href="http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/futuretc.html">http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/futuretc.html</a>)<br />
<br />
p. 7-38<br />
17 ...The review team concludes that cumulative impacts on the nonradiological health of<br />
18 the public and workers would be SMALL, and that mitigation beyond what is discussed in<br />
19 Sections 4.8 and 5.8 would not be warranted.<br />
<br />
If the review team were willing to stipulate that Fermi III is overpriced and unnecessary, then they might concede that the misuse of ratepayers' resources presents an opportunity-cost that would quite likely affect both the quality of life, and the health of those ratepayers. If ratepayers miss the opportunity to hold well-paid jobs in the efficiency improvement and distributed renewable energy sector, then those ratepayers might well have to make do with minimum wage, service sector jobs that do not offer health insurance. A lack of health insurance will, in turn, have grave impacts on the health of Detroit Edison's ratepayers.<br />
<br />
p. 7-39<br />
9 ... As described in Section 2.11, sporadic and<br />
10 variable trace quantities of tritium were detected in a few shallow groundwater wells downwind<br />
11 from the Fermi 2 stack as a result of the recapturing of tritium in precipitation from the plant’s<br />
12 gaseous effluent.<br />
<br />
And we should overlook that? The health effects are unknown, right? But it was just a "few" wells...<br />
<br />
p. 7-41<br />
7 ... Each reactor at the Fermi site is<br />
8 expected to produce about 0.5 m3 per year of mixed waste. Detroit Edison anticipates that the<br />
9 Fermi 3 would claim a low-level mixed waste exemption from the State of Michigan (Fermi 2<br />
10 currently operates under this exemption).<br />
<br />
So, the exemption from Michigan renders this stuff (waste that has both hazardous and radioactive characteristics) harmless? Only half a cubic meter, right? But does the low volume make this stuff safe? What if we build 500 more nuclear power plants? Is it still safe? What does that exemption from Michigan mean? Exempt from regulation? Is that a good idea? If they dumped this stuff in my driveway, I would not be happy or amused, nor I think would anyone on the NRC review team. So why act like it is meaningless?<br />
<br />
p. 7-42<br />
9 The estimated population dose risk for the<br />
10 proposed ESBWR at the Fermi site is well below the mean and median values for current<br />
11 generation reactors. In addition, as discussed in Section 5.11.2, estimates of average individual<br />
12 early fatality and latent cancer fatality risks are well below the Commission’s safety goals<br />
13 (51 FR 30028). For existing plants within the geographic area of interest (i.e., Fermi 2 and<br />
14 Davis-Besse), the Commission has determined that the probability-weighted consequences of<br />
15 severe accidents are small (10 CFR Part 51, Appendix B, Table B-1). It is expected that risks<br />
16 for any new reactors at any other locations within the geographic area of interest of the Fermi<br />
17 site would be well below risks for current-generation reactors and meet the Commission’s safety<br />
18 goals. The risk of severe accident attributable to any particular nuclear power plant becomes<br />
19 smaller as the distance from that plant increases. However, the combined risk at any location<br />
20 within 50 mi of the Fermi site would be bounded by the sum of risks for all these operating<br />
21 nuclear power plants. Even though two or more nuclear power plants could be included in the<br />
22 combined risk, it would still be low.<br />
<br />
OK. This is just nuts. Especially post-Fukushima. All this language does is obfuscate facts and ignore reality. If there is a severe accident at one of these plants, past events have proven that everything that can go wrong will, and no reactor design will protect surrounding populations from radiation exposure, or the environment from loss of vital habitat. We'll have firemen carrying buckets of water to dump on the spent fuel pile, and sacrificing their lives -- for no good reason. It is pure arrogance to think humans can indefinitely manage all of these reactors (especially the old, rusty ones with irresponsibly extended licenses), distributed around the country, without ever having a severe accident. It will happen, and all sorts of embarrassing and deadly "unforeseen" events will occur -- I refer you the Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, Fukushima -- or, Fermi I and Davis Besse which both had serious near-misses.<br />
<br />
p. 7-45<br />
The NRC review team makes numerous assertions that current improvements to reactor design render existing tables and standards obsolete. In that case, why not re-write those tables and standards based on the new designs rather than making bland statement that things will be much better (without any real indication of how much better).<br />
<br />
p. 8-9<br />
12 Data used as inputs to the planning process were provided by the Michigan utilities whose<br />
13 representatives also comprised the members of the Plan’s various working groups. Strategist, a<br />
14 proprietary computer software program developed by NewEnergy Associates, LLC, was used in<br />
15 data processing.<br />
<br />
OK. So, we're back to modeling. That's fine. But you know the old adage, garbage-in, garbage-out? Perhaps not. At any rate, it is mentioned above that the data for the model came from Michigan utilities. And they intend to profit from Fermi III, right? Is that not a conflict of interest? Or do we just trust them? Like self-regulation in the derivatives industry? Better if an independent analysis were done, and things like the the cost-effectiveness of improved end-use efficiency and distributed renewables (not to mention the job opportunities for these options) were factored in. With these two components it very likely that baseload consumption could be reduced 50%, and the need for new power plants would be obviated -- we could even shut several coal plant down. This approach has worked in California and several other states, where new power plants have not been built in decades. Here's a link to a model run by the Union of Concerned Scientists that supports my efficiency and renewable energy claims: <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/solutions/big_picture_solutions/do-we-need-coal-and-nuclear-power.html">http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/solutions/big_picture_solutions/do-we-need-coal-and-nuclear-power.html</a><br />
<br />
p. 8-15<br />
24 If pursued and successfully executed, energy efficiency and energy conservation programs<br />
25 would result in meaningful energy savings and reductions in electricity demand. However, even<br />
26 if comprehensively structured and aggressively implemented and enforced, energy efficiency<br />
27 programs would have only a limited influence on the rate of growth of Michigan’s need for<br />
28 power.<br />
<br />
That is a fairly broad assertion, and one that is incorrect. I know I am guilty of broad assertions, too, but I'm pretty sure I can site reliable sources (see above hyperlink to UCS). Could you, please?<br />
<br /></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1746534027" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="396" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QHx7Sphc1q8/TwR0eynSpmI/AAAAAAAAAUM/eDP7TV8I5kA/s400/nuke_times_25mi_plume_fermi-25mi.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo: 25 mi radiation plume from Fermi II courtesy: <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1746534027" target="_blank">Nuke Times</a><a href="http://www.nuclearpowerdanger.com/plume-maps/fermi-radiation-plume-map.php" target="_blank"><br /></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-83551921043006852152011-12-19T20:18:00.001-05:002012-01-25T12:22:39.595-05:00Michigan Legislature Offers More Fiscal Destruction<div style="text-align: left;">
I heard on <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2F170millionamericans.org%2F&ei=vubvTuHEOcWvgweB05nsCQ&usg=AFQjCNHY1cLDJwHmnZaALiNrwziMPwBVLg&sig2=wGVPk6zTAc7koVjE29xaLw" target="_blank"><b>NPR</b></a> this morning that the Republican held <a href="http://www.legislature.mi.gov/%28S%28tegk13z51dzgha55zvblybfc%29%29/mileg.aspx?page=Calendars" target="_blank">Michigan Legislature</a> snuck a bundle of legislative uglies onto the calendar for the Wednesday right after Christmas, when they figure no one pays attention. Probably, they are correct that fewer eyes will scrutinize their misdealings. But, the evil that lurks on that calendar in various stages of the law making process might sadden even the most cynical observer. It's worth a look.<br />
<br />
Most of the lawmaking seeks to screw wage-earning people out their hard-earned money, and funneling the filthy lucre to the corporations who own Michigan Republican representatives and keep the revolving door money-go-round spinning. (Bust unions, privatize government functions, bankrupt public education to replace it with for-profit schools, cut business taxes, eliminate environmental regulation -- do all that, and you're sure to find a corporate or lobbyist sinecure waiting for you when you term-limit out of state government) Hoo-rah! Read up. Be informed. Maybe "we" won't vote for them next time. Maybe...<br />
<br />
Have a look at <a href="http://www.followthemoney.org/database/state_overview.phtml?s=MI&y=2010" target="_blank">Follow The Money</a>, a site devoted to state campaign finance information. See where your representatives get the juice for their campaigns. And who they owe favors to.<br />
<br />
And give some thought to the Republican devised <a href="http://www.completelybaked.blogspot.com/2011/02/starve-beast-are-we-hungry-enough-yet.html" target="_blank">Starve The Beast</a> approach to governance.<br />
<br />
The list is long, so I give you my favorites:<br />
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER">
<b>No. 103</b></div>
<div align="CENTER">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_455616530"><b>MICHIGAN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES</b></a></div>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_455616530">
</a><br />
<div align="CENTER">
<a href="http://www.legislature.mi.gov/%28S%284szor2nmpdhfey45mxclgx3y%29%29/documents/2011-2012/Calendar/House/htm/2011-HC-12-28-103.htm" target="_blank"><b>DAILY CALENDAR</b></a></div>
<div align="CENTER">
<b>Wednesday, December 28, 2011</b></div>
<div align="CENTER">
<b>11:30 A.M.</b></div>
<div align="CENTER">
<b>MOTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS</b></div>
<div align="CENTER">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.legislature.mi.gov/%28S%28ixfiez55pkipzz55qteu2q45%29%29/mileg.aspx?page=smartlink&objectname=2011-HB-4445" target="_blank">HB 4445</a> Rep. Moss<br />Appropriations; supplemental; school aid supplemental; provide for fiscal year 2010-2011.<br />Amends secs. 11, 11m, 22a, 22b, 51a, 51c & 74 of 1979 PA 94 (MCL 388.1611 et seq.).<br />(Returned from Senate with Senate substitute (S-1) and immediate effect; laid over 1 day November 10, 2011.)<br />(I.E. House April 13, 2011.)<br />(For Senate substitute (S-1), see Session Website.)</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The 2011/2012 education appropriation bill cuts about $200 million from public education (<a href="http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2011-2012/billanalysis/House/pdf/2011-HLA-4445-1.pdf" target="_blank">analysis/breakdown</a>). I know a lot of this stuff is mandated by law, and I know this was a done deal months ago, but laws and deals can be changed, and for example, reducing education spending because homeowner property value assessments decreased seems short-sighted (the cost of education didn't decrease, so those homeowners' children will receive less "education)." Further, about $30 million was saved in reduced borrowing costs (due to reduced interest rates), but was cut from the budget instead of re-directed to education needs. Seriously. Our "need" for education did not diminish by $200 million in one year, so is it not logical to find the money for something as important as education?</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And lo, these cuts comes at the same time that our illustrious governor eliminated corporate taxes on all but C corporations. The governor suggests corporate tax cuts translate into more jobs. They don't. And if we are less well-educated, we are less able to secure what jobs there are.</blockquote>
<b><a href="http://www.legislature.mi.gov/%28S%28ixfiez55pkipzz55qteu2q45%29%29/mileg.aspx?page=smartlink&objectname=2011-SJR-C" target="_blank">SJR C</a> Sen. Jansen<br />Labor; civil service employment; health benefits of public employees and officers; allow legislature to regulate.<br />Amends the state constitution by adding sec. 9 to art. XI.<br />(Reported by the Committee on Oversight, Reform, and Ethics.)<br />(Not adopted; motion to reconsider postponed temporarily June 30, 2011.)<br />(Reconsidered; passed for day August 24, 2011.)<br />(For House substitute (H-2), see Session Website.)<br />(Requires 2/3 vote for adoption, Const. 1963, Art. 4, Sec. 43.)</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This bill prevents public employee unions from negotiating health insurance plans -- the legislature, helpfully, intends to do it for them.</blockquote>
<b><br /><a href="http://www.legislature.mi.gov/%28S%28ixfiez55pkipzz55qteu2q45%29%29/mileg.aspx?page=smartlink&objectname=2011-HB-4466" target="_blank">HB 4466</a> Rep. Scott<br />Labor; public service employment; changes in provisions concerning teacher strikes; provide for.<br />Amends secs. 2a & 6 of 1947 PA 336 (MCL 423.202a & 423.206).<br />(Reported by the Committee on Education.)<br />(For proposed House substitute (H-2), see Session Website.)</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This law means to prevent teachers from going on strike, or if it fails to that, it will fine teachers a day's pay for every day they are on strike, and threaten them with revocation of their license to teach. It will also fine their union $5,000 / day on strike. And I thought Republicans hated intrusive laws.</blockquote>
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<b><a href="http://www.legislature.mi.gov/%28S%28ixfiez55pkipzz55qteu2q45%29%29/mileg.aspx?page=smartlink&objectname=2011-HB-4777" target="_blank">HB 4777</a> Rep. Opsommer<br />Labor; collective bargaining; the decision to consolidate services with other public employers; exempt from collective bargaining requirements.<br />Amends sec. 15 of 1947 PA 336 (MCL 423.215).<br />(Reported by the Committee on Local, Intergovernmental, and Regional Affairs.)</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This inspired new law would prevent public employees from re-negotiating their contracts when municipalities merge public services, such as fire or police departments. But, it does give employers the right to re-negotiate those contracts.</blockquote>
<b><a href="http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2011-2012/billanalysis/House/htm/2011-HLA-4052-1.htm" target="_blank">HB 4052</a> Rep. Pscholka<br />Labor; collective bargaining; use of taxpayer-funded equipment, supplies, and facilities for union or political activities; prohibit.<br />Amends sec. 9 of 1947 PA 336 (MCL 423.209).<br />(Reported by the Committee on Oversight, Reform, and Ethics.)<br />(For proposed House substitute (H-1), see Session Website.)</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The bill would prohibit a public employee or collective
bargaining organization from using publicly owned property, facilities, or
services, including an electronic mail system, for (1) political activities,
(2) political fundraising, (3) campaigning for office of a collective
bargaining organization, (4) collective bargaining organizing activities, or
(5) solicitation of employees for membership in a collective bargaining
organization.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Fair enough, right? But how do you organize a union in a workplace, if such discussions are prohibited in the workplace? Ipso facto: no more new public unions, or prompt redress of union member complaints if they must track down a union representative after hours. </blockquote>
<b><a href="http://www.legislature.mi.gov/%28S%28ixfiez55pkipzz55qteu2q45%29%29/mileg.aspx?page=smartlink&objectname=2011-HB-4936" target="_blank">HB 4936</a> Rep. Lund<br />Insurance; no-fault; coverage and benefits; make miscellaneous changes.<br />Amends secs. 3101, 3104, 3107, 3113, 3114, 3115, 3135, 3157, 3163 & 3172 of 1956 PA 218 (MCL 500.3101 et seq.) & adds secs. 1245, 3107c & 3178.<br />(Reported by the Committee on Insurance.)<br />(For proposed House substitute (H-2), see Session Website.)</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3917355955602478696" name="StartText"></a>The bill would make numerous amendments
to the No-Fault Auto Insurance statute within the Insurance Code.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
These changes diminish liability coverage for most drivers. Not so good for drivers. Great for insurance companies.</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://www.legislature.mi.gov/%28S%28mdyzai45e1vhlerxe34snpvf%29%29/mileg.aspx?page=GetObject&objectName=2011-HB-4658" target="_blank">HB 4658</a> Rep. Forlini <br />Sales tax; exemptions; prisoner purchases; eliminate exemption.<br />Amends sec. 4a of 1933 PA 167 (MCL 205.54a).<br />(Reported by the Committee on Tax Policy.)</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The bill would amend the General Sales
Tax Act to eliminate the exemption provided for the sale of tangible personal
property to inmates in a penal or correctional institution purchased with scrip
(or its equivalent) issued and redeemed by the correctional institution.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Predicted revenue: $500,000</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This is just mean, Cool Hand Luke kinda mean. Jeez. Kick 'em when they're down. </blockquote>
<b><a href="http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2011-2012/billanalysis/House/htm/2011-HLA-4601-1.htm" target="_blank">HB 4601</a> Rep. Haveman<br />Torts; product liability; liability of successor corporation for asbestos claims; enact limits.<br />Amends 1961 PA 236 (MCL 600.101 - 600.9947) by adding ch. 30.<br />(Reported by the Committee on Judiciary.)<br />(For proposed House amendment, see House Journal No. 96, page 0 or Session Website.)</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The bill would limit the
liability of a successor corporation that acquired or merged – before 1972 –
with a predecessor corporation that had engaged in asbestos-related activities.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
So, if you're dying of asbestos-related lung cancer, and the company you worked for got bought or merged -- before 1972 -- tough. No redress.</blockquote>
<b><br /><a href="http://www.legislature.mi.gov/%28S%28ixfiez55pkipzz55qteu2q45%29%29/mileg.aspx?page=smartlink&objectname=2011-HB-4668" target="_blank">HB 4668</a> Rep. Foster<br />Property tax; assessments; assessment of real property; revise for certain summer resort and assembly corporations.<br />Amends 1897 PA 230 (MCL 455.1 - 455.24) & adds sec. 16a.<br />(Reported by the Committee on Tax Policy.)<br />(For proposed House substitute (H-2), see Session Website.)</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I think this one lets corporations that own resorts distribute the property tax liability amongst lessee residents. When they sell the business/property the property does not get re-assessed like it does for normal people because the tax liability is distributed amongst the lessees, so the purchasing business/lessees save a ton of money. But the state gets screwed. Oh, well. Prisoners are paying sales tax now, anyway. That'll fix it.</blockquote>
<b><a href="http://www.legislature.mi.gov/%28S%28ixfiez55pkipzz55qteu2q45%29%29/mileg.aspx?page=smartlink&objectname=2011-HB-5174" target="_blank">HB 5174</a> Rep. Bumstead<br />Corrections; other; use of a certain youth correctional facility to house adult inmates; provide for.<br />Amends secs. 20g & 20i of 1953 PA 232 (MCL 791.220g & 791.220i).<br />(Reported by the Committee on Appropriations.)<br />(For proposed House substitute (H-2), see Session Website.)</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The bills allow the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) to contract with the operator<br />
of the privately-owned correctional facility in Webber Township, Lake County or with any other public or private correctional facility service provider for the housing and management of<br />
MDOC prisoners at that facility if the contract will result in an annual cost savings of at least<br />
10%.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Great. Except this is about privatizing prisons, which almost never results in real savings, and creates the perverse incentive for lobbyist-bough politicians to create more mandatory sentencing laws and send more poor people go to prison. And the politicians get more money from their prison industrial complex benefactors. Yea! </blockquote>
<b><br />HB 5177 Rep. Haveman<br />Corrections; other; use of a certain youth correctional facility to house adult inmates; provide for.<br />Amends secs. 29, 63, 63a, 69a & 70 of 1953 PA 232 (MCL 791.229 et seq.).<br />(Reported by the Committee on Appropriations.)</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Related to above. Allows adult prisoners to be housed at a former youth facility. I think...</blockquote>
</div>
</div> <!-- END: read more... -->completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-37626625472563640912011-12-04T14:42:00.001-05:002011-12-04T14:49:54.732-05:00I'd Like To Buy The Koch's A World<br />
<br />
An uplifting video for when you're feeling defeated by the right-wing f**knuts.<br />
<br />
Enjoy, it's the real thing:<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="280" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MbykzqJ6ens" width="500"></iframe>completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-20261048711917134372011-12-02T19:12:00.001-05:002011-12-05T18:43:49.087-05:00Empathy -- One Thing The 1% LacksWe always hear about the haves and have-nots, and we know to "have" means to possess financial security -- or at least the illusion of it. Most Americans have no such illusion of financial security. The vast majority lives hand to mouth, and stands one paycheck from ruin. But, there are those who rise to the pinnacle of affluence, they are a minority but they dominate American society. In fact, through corporate sponsorship of politicians, they own our government and dictate the conditions under which the rest of us subsist.<br />
<br />
Wikipedia defines empathy as follows: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Empathy is the capacity to recognize and, to some extent, share feelings (such as sadness or happiness) that are being experienced by another sapient or semi-sapient being. Someone may need to have a certain amount of empathy before they are able to feel compassion. The English word was coined in 1909 by E.B. Titchener as an attempt to translate the German word "Einfühlungsvermögen", a new phenomenon explored at the end of 19th century mainly by Theodor Lipps. It was later re-translated into the German language (Germanized) into "Empathie," and is still in use there.</blockquote>
How many of us have worked for sleazy martinets who repeatedly make astonishingly unsympathetic demands of employees. How many times have we heard the pleas of employers who insist a minimum wage intrudes unfairly on the free-market, who insist collective bargaining impairs competitiveness, who insist taxes on business profits impede job creation. And while the chiefs ardently make their pleas for unfettered, Darwinist capitalism, they extract from the same ostensibly suffering business salaries and bonuses that reach many multiples of the least well paid in their organization, multiples that exceed in some cases more than 10,000 times the wage of their lowest paid staff, i.e. $20,000 vs. $200,000,000 per year. <br />
<br />
How do these crass entrepreneurs, these venal captains of industry justify such incomes for themselves while at the same time justify meager pay and benefits, meager financial security, for the least compensated? The simple formula derives from the fact that the best paid feel a sense of entitlement to such largess derived from an over-inflated sense of self worth, while they feel absolutely nothing for those whose labor enables their compensation. They feel no sense of obligation, much less shame when they take so much, and give so little. <br />
<br />
How is that possible? How is it possible to accrue so much to oneself, and to feel no compulsion to share collectively attained profits with the staff, the nation, the culture that created the conditions for generating that wealth? The answer derives from one condition: those who freely exploit exist unburdened by empathy. Empathy is the force that holds the majority back, prevents them from demanding -- from taking -- that which is rightfully theirs. As the empathy-bound majority stills their hand from justifiable action, a tiny majority who feels no compunction to share wealth -- wealth created by the majority -- grab as much as they can and declare themselves righteous victors. And then they smile and say, "To the victor goes the spoils." In their eyes, after all, life is a battle, and since they feel nothing for their victims, no empathy whatsoever, they are the perfect free-market soldiers.<br />
<br />
For an egregious example of the empathy-less, perfect free-market soldier, consider the folks who invented Pay-Day loans with interest rates that exceed 400%, loans made to the least capable of enduring such usury; people who earn minimum-wage, with no health insurance, and no savings to buffer them against day to day exigencies; the most vulnerable, marginal workers in our economy. Yet, the Pay-Day loan-makers see only a source of profit in the wages of kitchen staff, motel housekeepers, nursing home orderlies, farm workers, convenience store clerks. The Pay-Day loaners claim to provide a valuable service. They truly believe that line. They lack empathy.<br />
<br />
Consider the profiteers who dreamed up sub-prime loans with ballooning interest rates they knew perfectly well their clients could never sustain. The underwriters laugh at clients put on the street while surrounding home values plummet and millions lose the life savings invested in their homes. They laugh at deceived 401K investors who saw their retirement accounts evaporate when they bought securities derived from bundles of these worthless mortgages; securities rated AAA by ratings agencies. Yet, the underwriters feel no sense of responsibility for the pain they inflicted on homeowners and middle-class investors. They lack empathy.<br />
<br />
Consider investment bankers who execute proprietary trades to bet against the securities they sell to deliberately deceived pension fund managers. The pensions of thousands evaporated while the bankers took home immense windfalls. Yet, the bankers feel no shame. They are proud of their market acumen. They boast of their domination of the witless. They lack empathy.<br />
<br />
Consider weapon vendors who sell overpriced weapons to our government with the implicit threat that not buying such weapons consigns our nation to destruction by invisible but implacable forces of evil, that politicians who object to such excessive expenditures of our national treasure are complicit with forces of evil. After they shame politicians -- and bribe politicians -- into compliance, they lobby those politicians to provoke hostilities with other nations. This insures they will sell even more weapons, while unjustifiable war wreaks havoc on millions of innocent civilians. Yet, the politicians and war profiteers feel no shame, no guilt, no sense of obligation to those whose lives they ruin. They lack empathy.<br />
<br />
Even amongst the exploited, amongst the indebted, wage-earning majority there are multitudes who lack empathy, and hope one day to do the exploiting for a change. They are not evil. But they lack empathy. Consequently, they lead hollow, empty lives, and grow angry because they never get the material compensation they feel owed. Among them, it seems, are observers who insist they do not "get" Occupy Wall Street. Surely, most of the obtuse who claim the point of the occupy protests escapes them are well and truly part of the 99% -- likely even the bottom half of the 99% -- they have at least one thing in common with the exploitative, venal 1%: they are incapable of empathy.<br />
<br />
Who possesses empathy and puts it to good use? Think of those who sacrifice what little free time and spare change they have to the public good; to leave the world a better place; to give more than they take: environmental activists, animal rights activists, child-welfare advocates, human-rights advocates, anti-war protesters, labor activists, government accountability activists, progressive taxation activists, etc, etc. Gnawing, relentless empathy drives them to act. Those who lack empathy condemn the activists amongst us as simple-minded do-gooders, as busybodies, as tree-huggers, as smelly hippies, as -- wait for it -- socialists. <br />
<br />
Those who lack empathy do not understand the urge that compels the empathetic to upend the status quo. The notion frightens them into self-induced rigor mortis. Think of the activists who founded this country. They had empathy. Think what the status quo-ers of our society -- the Fox News bloviators and their minions -- would do with them. Empathy must prevail. It will.completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-63593210255714856742011-11-06T16:36:00.000-05:002011-11-14T19:14:22.074-05:00Labor Joins Occupy Detroit In Solidarity MarchI joined a march through Detroit today, along with several labor unions, and the protesters from Occupy Detroit. (<a href="http://michigancitizen.com/unions-rally-with-occupy-detroit-p10466-1.htm">see: Unions rally with Occupy Detroit</a>) It was the first time I did a march. It felt a little surreal to chant the slogans I had heard so many times on LiveStream. It was like stepping through the fourth wall. But it felt good. And it felt sad, too -- so many good people, hard-working people, the people who build and maintain our society are on their knees, brought low by a regressive tax system, and offshoring of jobs under the spectre of free trade, which is anything but free. Free-trade cost Detroit its prosperity. Free-trade, offshoring, and bad tax policy cost the United states its broad, inclusive prosperity. That and corrupt government bought by incompetent, criminally venal corporate management.<br />
<br />
Things will change, though. They have to. Folks are getting up off their knees, and they are angry. The question is, how much worse will the economy and the environment get before the country -- the entire country -- stands up and boots corporations and corrupt politicians out of our government. <br />
<br />
Here's some pics:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U0KoNpG-3ng/TsGOyvYw15I/AAAAAAAAARA/17FaJfsjVqw/s1600/100_3145.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U0KoNpG-3ng/TsGOyvYw15I/AAAAAAAAARA/17FaJfsjVqw/s400/100_3145.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The labor march -- union members, occupiers, sympathetic citizens -- arrives at Grand Circus Park, Detroit</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b8iyAZVyKlA/TsGO3hlxeRI/AAAAAAAAARI/stU1exD1krc/s1600/100_3146.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b8iyAZVyKlA/TsGO3hlxeRI/AAAAAAAAARI/stU1exD1krc/s320/100_3146.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Marchers gather at the base of the Hazen Pingree statue to hear speeches from labor leaders and occupiers.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mlaDFmmdY8I/TsGPR3XSxqI/AAAAAAAAARw/pQMZTM4wlUw/s1600/100_3153.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mlaDFmmdY8I/TsGPR3XSxqI/AAAAAAAAARw/pQMZTM4wlUw/s1600/100_3153.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Occupier Art</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MHiZb0qS_y8/TsGPcCLMqSI/AAAAAAAAASA/XCiImHakCak/s1600/100_3155.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MHiZb0qS_y8/TsGPcCLMqSI/AAAAAAAAASA/XCiImHakCak/s320/100_3155.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sandwiches prepared by volunteers and given to anyone who was hungry.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EdaAsQpcuN0/TsGPm-wi8LI/AAAAAAAAASQ/-jTFJctGVkI/s1600/100_3162.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EdaAsQpcuN0/TsGPm-wi8LI/AAAAAAAAASQ/-jTFJctGVkI/s1600/100_3162.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A quote from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazen_S._Pingree">Hazen Pingree</a>, a visionary, progressive, four-term Detroit mayor and twice Michigan governor. He was one of the first to warn against unfettered corporate influence in the public sphere. A plaque on <a href="http://historicdetroit.org/building/hazen-s-pingree-monument/">a statue of Pingree</a> in Grand Circus Park, where the occupiers are camped reads: “The citizens of Michigan erect this monument to the cherished memory of
Hazen S. Pingree. A gallant soldier, an enterprising and successful
citizen, four times elected mayor of Detroit, twice governor of
Michigan. He was the first to warn the people of the great danger
threatened by powerful private corporations. And the first to awake to
the great inequalities in taxation and to initiate steps for reform. The
idol of the people. He died June 18, MDCCCI, aged 60 years.”</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3l6J-z-ILQE/TsGPr0sx-tI/AAAAAAAAASY/f-VPF3-UGno/s1600/100_3164.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3l6J-z-ILQE/TsGPr0sx-tI/AAAAAAAAASY/f-VPF3-UGno/s1600/100_3164.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Signs left behind by marchers, and preserved near the fountain.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cb-4iC-Q4o4/TsGPxHVfdfI/AAAAAAAAASg/cpQ88oQH5e0/s1600/100_3169.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cb-4iC-Q4o4/TsGPxHVfdfI/AAAAAAAAASg/cpQ88oQH5e0/s1600/100_3169.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The campsite.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YT37xLjFQCg/TsGP671nbxI/AAAAAAAAASw/2CHSUf7XLmU/s1600/100_3172.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YT37xLjFQCg/TsGP671nbxI/AAAAAAAAASw/2CHSUf7XLmU/s320/100_3172.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Comfort" -- protesters provide food, blankets & clothing to homeless as well as occupiers.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N0iF7BxTc8s/TsGP_kIPKGI/AAAAAAAAAS4/PIxN1xYOvIU/s1600/100_3173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N0iF7BxTc8s/TsGP_kIPKGI/AAAAAAAAAS4/PIxN1xYOvIU/s1600/100_3173.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">"This is what peaceful revolution looks like."</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QcbwfnhYTdU/TsGQEl9hsZI/AAAAAAAAATA/8XFsd36fjn4/s1600/100_3174.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QcbwfnhYTdU/TsGQEl9hsZI/AAAAAAAAATA/8XFsd36fjn4/s320/100_3174.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Chalked on the fountain: "Superman never made any money saving the world from Solomon Grundy"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com0Grand Circus Park, Detroit, MI 48226, USA42.33724 -83.05096442.335773 -83.053431499999988 42.338707 -83.0484965tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-87092403225236899602011-11-06T16:23:00.000-05:002011-11-14T19:13:07.545-05:00One Occupier<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sYCl3h-1slw/TsGI8DtxvlI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/yIAxXSfzHoI/s1600/100_3173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sYCl3h-1slw/TsGI8DtxvlI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/yIAxXSfzHoI/s640/100_3173.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
I met an occupier named Martin (not his real name -- he deserves a little privacy). He camps at OccupyDetroit. He always liked camping, he said. Now maybe he doesn't have a choice. I did not ask a lot of questions, but he told me a few things. Martin has lived in many places: Alaska, California, Florida, North Carolina, and now Michigan. He looked young and fit. I would be surprised if he was over thirty. He struck me as smart and personable.<br />
<br />
He spoke of family members who died of unfortunate afflictions. He seemed to flinch a little at their recollection, as though the memories sting. These deaths affected the stability of the family he grew up in. His father disappeared and he and his mother moved into an uncle's place. The uncle was one of a set of triplets, two of whom subsequently died. <br />
<br />
He told me he does not drink. He can't. He did and it did not work out for him, and now he doesn't. He's seen a lot ugly things in his life. He's seen people fall down and stay down -- people close to him. And my impression was that he does not want to be one of them. He said he'd like a job; that he lost his identification documents; that he is trying to reacquire these documents so he can get a job. For now, he is a camper at OccupyDetroit.<br />
<br />
Martin stands as one of the troops, peacefully -- quietly -- breaking down the barricades of injustice for the rest of us. He shivers in the dark through cold nights, he shakes off the rain when the wind blows it in his face and there is nothing to do but duck, and he waits for the sun to shine again, and bring a little warmth into his external existence. Martin is not lost -- he is young, and vigorous, and sharp -- but the rest of us will be lost if we do not create a society that offers a guy like Martin a little help to get on his feet. I think if help were offered, he would take it and thrive. And probably return the favor. We need that society now.<br />
<br />completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com0Grand Circus Park, Detroit, MI 48226, USA42.33724 -83.05096442.335773 -83.053431499999988 42.338707 -83.0484965tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-68420594552060615402011-10-06T19:55:00.001-04:002011-10-07T09:32:04.468-04:00Severn Suzuki Speaks Truth To Power<b>(UN Earth Summit, 1992)</b><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Give this speech a listen. </b><br />
<b>It's a child's perspective on a dying planet.</b><br />
<b>If it doesn't give you chills, or make you cry, </b><br />
<b>you are already dead...</b><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uZsDliXzyAY" width="420"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Now, do something...</b><br />
<ul>
<li><b>Inform others: acquire and share knowledge</b></li>
<li><b>Inspire others: live cleaner and smaller</b></li>
<li><b>Create better government: support real leaders</b></li>
<li><b>Shame poor government: protest peacefully, persistently, loudly</b></li>
</ul>
completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-13502803321669606642011-10-03T19:05:00.000-04:002011-10-06T19:58:32.398-04:00Right-Wing Reactionaries Lie, Then and Now<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1470147857" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S4pmfwwba-Q/ToopMROe4XI/AAAAAAAAAQY/IOMMPIXvc5s/s1600/SI9Img15AnneMarie.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Situationist leaflet in Denmark.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-72">[73]</sup><br />
(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SI9Img15AnneMarie.jpg">Wikipedia</a>) </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Back in the 1950's, following the insanity of WWII, and influenced by Dadaism and Surrealism, the French filmmaker and political theorist, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Debord" title="Guy Debord">Guy Debord</a>, (<i><a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Howls_for_Sade&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Howls for Sade (page does not exist)">Howls for Sade</a></i> [1952], and <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Society_of_the_Spectacle_%28film%29" title="The Society of the Spectacle (film)">Society of the Spectacle</a></i> [1972]) initiated a movement called, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#Origins_.281945-1955.29">Situationist International</a>, which is outlined in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#Origins_.281945-1955.29">wikipedia here</a>.<br />
<br />
Below, I excerpt some passages from that Wikipedia entry I think are relevant to current complaints against modern Western society enumerated by participants in the "<a href="https://occupywallst.org/">occupy wall street</a>" movement. (Go ahead, take a swipe at wikipedia, and me for using it, now -- let's get that out of the way).<br />
<br />
I am certain the references to Marx will make the right wingers who stumble errantly on this page wither with rage. That's not my intention, but it can't be helped, reactionaries will be reactionary, after all.<br />
<br />
Anyway, here are the excerpts:<br />
<blockquote>
With their ideas rooted in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism" title="Marxism">Marxism</a> and the 20th century European artistic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avant-garde" title="Avant-garde">avant-gardes</a>, they advocated experiences of life being alternative to those admitted by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism" title="Capitalism">capitalist order</a>,
for the fulfillment of human primitive desires and the pursuing of a
superior passional quality. For this purpose they suggested and
experimented with the <i>construction of situations</i>, namely the
setting up of environments favorable for the fulfillment of such
desires. Using methods drawn from the arts, they developed a series of
experimental fields of study for the construction of such situations,
like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_urbanism" title="Unitary urbanism">unitary urbanism</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychogeography" title="Psychogeography">psychogeography</a>. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
They fought against the main obstacle to the fulfillment of such superior passionate living, identified by them in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_capitalism" title="Advanced capitalism">advanced capitalism</a>. Their theoretical work peaked with the highly influential book <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Society_of_the_Spectacle" title="The Society of the Spectacle">The Society of the Spectacle</a></i> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Debord" title="Guy Debord">Guy Debord</a>. Debord argued in 1967 that spectacular features like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_media" title="Mass media">mass media</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising" title="Advertising">advertising</a> have a central role in an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_capitalism" title="Advanced capitalism">advanced capitalist society</a>, which is to show a fake reality in order to mask the real capitalist degradation of human life. To <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coup_d%27%C3%A9tat" title="Coup d'état">overthrow</a> such a system, the Situationist International supported the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_1968_in_France" title="May 1968 in France">May '68 revolts</a>, and asked the workers to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_for_Maintaining_the_Occupations" title="Council for Maintaining the Occupations">occupy the factories</a> and to run them with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_democracy" title="Direct democracy">direct democracy</a>, through <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workers%27_councils" title="Workers' councils">workers' councils</a> composed by instantly revocable delegates. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
... </blockquote>
<blockquote>
The Situationists played a preponderant role in the May 1968 (Paris) uprisings,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ClarkAndNSWinter97_40-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-ClarkAndNSWinter97-40">[41]</a></sup> and to some extent their political perspective and ideas fueled such crisis,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ClarkAndNSWinter97_40-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-ClarkAndNSWinter97-40">[41]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lasn2000_41-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-Lasn2000-41">[42]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-BandiniImpactAndBoycott_42-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-BandiniImpactAndBoycott-42">[43]</a></sup> providing a central theoretic foundation.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Rivarol1984_43-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-Rivarol1984-43">[44]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Pr.C3.A9sent1984_44-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-Pr.C3.A9sent1984-44">[45]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-BabronskiEtAl1984_45-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-BabronskiEtAl1984-45">[46]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-WordsAndBullets1984_46-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-WordsAndBullets1984-46">[47]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20AnsJune68_47-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-20AnsJune68-47">[48]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Rivarol3May1968_48-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-Rivarol3May1968-48">[49]</a></sup>
While the SI's member count had been steadily falling for the preceding
several years, the ones that remained were able to fill revolutionary
roles for which they had patiently anticipated and prepared for.
Incredible as it may seem, the active ideologists (“enragés” and
Situationists) behind the revolutionary events in Strasbourg, Nanterre
and Paris, numbered only about one or two dozen persons.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Atkins1977_49-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-Atkins1977-49">[50]</a></sup> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
... </blockquote>
<blockquote>
The situationist theory of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectacle_%28critical_theory%29" title="Spectacle (critical theory)">spectacle</a> is a development and application of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism" title="Marxism">Marxist</a> concepts of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodification" title="Commodification">commodification</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reification_%28Marxism%29" title="Reification (Marxism)">reification</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx%27s_theory_of_alienation" title="Marx's theory of alienation">alienation</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Debord1967SocietyI_61-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-Debord1967SocietyI-61">[62]</a></sup> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
... </blockquote>
<blockquote>
The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectacle_%28critical_theory%29" title="Spectacle (critical theory)">spectacle</a> is the unified, ever-increasing mass of image-objects and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodification" title="Commodification">commodified</a>
experience detached from every aspect of life, fused in a common stream
in which the unity of this life can no longer be reestablished.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Debord1967SocietyI_61-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-Debord1967SocietyI-61">[62]</a></sup></blockquote>
<blockquote>
... </blockquote>
<blockquote>
To survive, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectacle_%28critical_theory%29" title="Spectacle (critical theory)">spectacle</a> must maintain <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_control" title="Social control">social control</a> and effectively handle all threats to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_order" title="Social order">social order</a>. <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recuperation_%28sociology%29" title="Recuperation (sociology)">Recuperation</a>, a concept first proposed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Debord" title="Guy Debord">Guy Debord</a>,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Chasse1969Faces_64-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-Chasse1969Faces-64">[65]</a></sup> is the process by which the spectacle intercepts <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_radicalism" title="Political radicalism">socially and politically radical</a> ideas and images, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodification" title="Commodification">commodifies</a> them, and safely incorporates them back within mainstream society.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Chasse1969Faces_64-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-Chasse1969Faces-64">[65]</a></sup> More broadly, it may refer to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_appropriation" title="Cultural appropriation">appropriation</a> or co-opting of any subversive works or ideas by mainstream media. It is the opposite of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9tournement" title="Détournement">détournement</a>, in which conventional ideas and images are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodification" title="Commodification">commodified</a> with radical intentions.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Chasse1969Faces_64-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-Chasse1969Faces-64">[65]</a></sup> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
... </blockquote>
<blockquote>
The situationists observed that the worker of advanced capitalism
still only functions with the goal of survival. In a world where
technological efficiency has increased production exponentially, by
tenfold, the workers of society still dedicate the whole of their lives
to survival, by way of production. The purpose for which advanced
capitalism is organized isn't luxury, happiness, or freedom, but
production. The production of commodities is an end to itself; and
production by way of survival. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
The theorists of the Situationist International regarded the current
paradigm of work in advanced capitalist society as increasingly absurd.
As technology progresses, and work becomes exponentially efficient, the
work itself becomes exponentially more trivial. The spectacle’s social
function is the concrete manufacture of alienation. Economic expansion
consists primarily of the expansion of this particular sector of
industrial production. The “growth” generated by an economy developing
for its own sake can be nothing other than a growth of the very
alienation that was at its origin.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
... </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Debord argues that in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_capitalism" title="Advanced capitalism">advanced capitalism</a>,
life is reduced to an immense accumulation of spectacles, a triumph of
mere appearance where "all that once was directly lived has become mere
representation".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-84"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-84">[85]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-85"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-85">[86]</a></sup> The spectacle, which according to Debord is the core feature of the advanced capitalist societies,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-86"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-86">[87]</a></sup> has its "most glaring superficial manifestation" in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising" title="Advertising">advertising</a>-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_media" title="Mass media">mass media</a>-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing" title="Marketing">marketing</a> complex.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-87"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-87">[88]</a></sup></blockquote>
<blockquote>
... </blockquote>
<blockquote>
By 1972, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianfranco_Sanguinetti" title="Gianfranco Sanguinetti">Gianfranco Sanguinetti</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Debord" title="Guy Debord">Guy Debord</a> were the only two remaining members of the SI. Working with Debord, in August 1975, Sanguinetti wrote a pamphlet titled <i>Rapporto veridico sulle ultime opportunità di salvare il capitalismo in Italia</i> (English: <span lang="en"><i>The Real Report on the Last Chance to Save Capitalism in Italy</i></span>),<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-59"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-59">[60]</a></sup> which (inspired by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Bauer" title="Bruno Bauer">Bruno Bauer</a>) proported to be the cynical writing of "Censor", a powerful <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrialist" title="Industrialist">industrialist</a>. The pamphlet argued that the ruling class of Italy supported the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_Fontana_bombing" title="Piazza Fontana bombing">Piazza Fontana bombing</a> and other covert, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_flag" title="False flag">false flag</a>
mass slaughter for the higher goal of defending the capitalist status
quo from communist influence. The pamphlet was mailed to 520 of Italy's
most powerful individuals. It was received as genuine and powerful
politicians, industrialists and journalists praised its content. After
reprinting the tract as a small book, Sanguinetti revealed himself to be
the true author. In the outcry that ensued <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-60"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International#cite_note-60">[61]</a></sup> and under pressure from Italian authorities Sanguinetti left Italy in February 1976, and was denied entry to France. </blockquote>
Worth a ponder, at least, right? I found out about this movement by chance while doing a little research for another endeavor related to contemporary art. I stumbled on a link to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International">Situationist International</a> in an entry that describes "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_jamming">Culture Jamming</a>," which I arrived at via "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_art">Contemporary Art</a>." A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_attractor#Strange_attractor">strange attractor</a> kind of serendipity going on there I think.<br />
<br />
It appears the Situationists had the whole media advertising, broadcast TV, disinformation funnel figured out. And they figured it out sixty years ago. Corporations in the US, and politicians owned by corporations for that matter, do take provocative, unsettling imagery, and wash away with money all of the negative impact -- think of mountaintop removal, deep ocean drilling, hydro-fracking, global warming, corporate campaign contributions, and religion trumping science in schools with creationism. And then think of how these topics are laundered for popular consumption: clean coal, energy independence, domestic jobs, natural climate change, First Amendment guaranteed free speech, an equally valid, competing scientific theory. Bullshit. Not one of these things bring any good at all. And the crazy Situationists saw it coming. We are being manipulated. And not for the better. Not for our better, anyway. We are being manipulated so we lie down and go to sleep while corporate thugs steal our money and futures, and destroy our planet.<br />
<br />
Beware though, the Situationist International page has the word "Communism" on it, which pretty much rules it out as a contributor to modern US political dialectic. If you dare to mention <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism">Marxism</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCcQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FCommunism&rct=j&q=communism%20wiki&ei=okGKTuHwK8f5sQKlh9WaDw&usg=AFQjCNFoONrE6bZB666E4A-C8liwxEX2EQ&sig2=gN4j6xAMDvnRc4YdARJw-g&cad=rja">Communism</a>, or even <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism">Socialism</a> -- maybe especially <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism">Socialism</a> -- the right-wing, reactionary, pseudo-libertarians will turn red, scream, and blow you down with gobs of spit sprayed at you along with their epithets, including parabolic references to Hitler and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism">Fascism</a>; references which the uninitiated will find baffling and unintelligible. You need a secret decoder ring to figure out what the hell these automatons are talking about. Their logic always tunnels through the disinformation sewer back to Nazi Germany, though...or Stalinism, or Castro's Cuba (all bad places and times). And when your eyes glaze over with confusion and dismay, your screeching interlocutor will insist you learn your history, Pal. They always throw in a patronizing diminutive like, "Pal," just to unnerve you a bit. Or, is that an unconscious tick of hot-tempered, Hitler-loving reactionaries everywhere? I am not sure. Maybe you can tell me. Learn your history, Pal.<br />
<br />
For the record, I am too old and cynical to think Communism could ever deliver a fair and equitable society, but I do think Marx and Engels were pretty smart -- smarter than me, anyway. They had a lot of seemingly prescient ideas. Finally, I don't think Socialism is as bad as the US right-wing corporatists would have one believe, nor do I think it is executed flawlessly anywhere. But where Socialism is practiced, or more precisely, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_democracy">social democracy</a> is practiced, I think it delivers a more <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_justice">socially just</a> version of capitalism where people are not kicked to the curb and left to die if they are too old, sick, or mentally unraveled to earn a decent, living wage -- or, if economic conditions induced by the incompetence of corporate leadership precludes the possibility of earning a living wage. And social democracy, where it's been practiced so far at least, delivers societies where 99% of the wealth is not controlled by a corrupt 1% of the population.<br />
<br />
So, you right-wing, reactionary, corporatist flunky, before you start calling me silly names like fascist, communist, socialist, Marxist, or even social democrat -- I'm not. Yet. I still believe <i>fair and honest</i> competition -- real capitalism -- works best for everyone. But take out the fair and honest, and you lose me, and a lot of other folks. The Situationists are back.<br />
<br />
Peace & Love.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GFVlFxSYk18/ToonnRSq2GI/AAAAAAAAAQU/W7YyxYaYulo/s1600/Debord_SocietyofSpectacle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GFVlFxSYk18/ToonnRSq2GI/AAAAAAAAAQU/W7YyxYaYulo/s640/Debord_SocietyofSpectacle.jpg" width="404" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cover of film <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Society_of_the_Spectacle_%28film%29" title="The Society of the Spectacle (film)">The Society of the Spectacle</a></i>, by Guy Debord, 1973<br />
(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Debord_SocietyofSpectacle.jpg">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-61978578958988060402011-09-27T15:40:00.000-04:002012-01-27T09:43:35.476-05:00Look out. A Goldman Economist Offers A Plan To "Fix" the Economy<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i7tURsPXxUk/ToIlsmI79GI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/7xG9HD_yseg/s1600/Sven+Jari+Stehn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i7tURsPXxUk/ToIlsmI79GI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/7xG9HD_yseg/s1600/Sven+Jari+Stehn.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sven Jari Stehn</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
A Goldman Sachs economist, Sven Jari Stehn, has definitely jumped the shark, or expects the US to. The audacity of this plan is exceeded only by the insanity of it. And guess who picks up the tab, via increased cost of living and devaluation of savings? You guessed it: the same wage-earners who picked up the tab for the financial industry's previous boondoggles and extortion of the middle class. Increased inflation wacks the working hardest because they expend more of their income on commodities like food and fuel, and because they lack sophisticated investments to hedge against inflation. Cheers, Sven. I hope this brilliant plan works out for you. And I hope you never have to work for a living.<br />
<blockquote>
But with an overload of pessimism already in the market, <a href="http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=11js776v7/EXP=1318359353/**http%3A//www.cnbc.com/id/44614459">the Fed's "Twist" announced last week</a>-in
which it plans to swap out $400 billion of short-term government debt
on its $2.8 trillion balance sheet and buy-longer-duration
Treasurys-also has dampened enthusiasm for fundamental economic growth. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
The
Treasury market is sending the message that inflation, in particular
the healthy kind that comes from growth, is dead for now as the central
bank commits to a zero-interest rate policy for at least the next two
years. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
"One source of inflation is a healthy economy running at
full tilt and companies exercising pricing power over the consumers of
their goods and services," Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at
ConvergEx in New York, wrote in his daily market analysis. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
"A
10-year note yielding less than 2 percent signals that Treasury buyers
do not think such a scenario will play out until 2021 at the earliest,"
he continued. "That means little domestic earnings growth through the
cycle and even less in the way of a recovery in domestic labor markets.
Hard assumptions to justify owning equities, to be sure." </blockquote>
<blockquote>
That
idea of generating positive inflation has gained prominence recently as
forecasts for gross domestic product growth come down and the Fed
advances its idea to drive down borrowing costs from already near-record
lows. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Over the weekend, Goldman Sachs economist Sven Jari Stehn
released a bold proposal that would entail a joint effort between the
Fed and Congress. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Washington, under Stehn's plan, would embark on
an aggressive stimulus program using government debt. The Fed then would
crank up the printing presses and simply monetize the debt away once
growth has reached a desired level. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
It's a dangerous plan that
risks inflation, particularly when the headline rate is at 3.6 percent
and the core rate-stripping out food and energy-is at 1.8 percent, near
the Fed's desired range of 2 percent. The controlling of inflation is
half of the central bank's dual mandate, so the idea is representative
of how desperate the market is of creating growth. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
"Combining
fiscal stimulus with a change in the Fed's targeting regime and further
purchases of Treasury securities would be a powerful device to enhance
the credibility of the Fed's commitment to push up prices," Stehn wrote
in a research note. "Such cooperation would be a radical but highly
effective tool: fiscal policy would accumulate additional public debt
and the Fed would inflate it away."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Feds-Twist-Pulling-Down-Bond-cnbc-1742643966.html;_ylt=AtIed6zkCCpX4dPY.MTzjQO7YWsA;_ylu=X3oDMTE1OGsyNmNzBHBvcwM0BHNlYwN0b3BTdG9yaWVzBHNsawNmZWRzdHdpc3RwdWw-?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=1&asset=&ccode=">Fed's 'Twist' Pulling Down Bond Yields-Are Stocks Next?</a></blockquote>
<br />completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-82259016797761214562011-09-22T09:34:00.000-04:002012-01-28T14:54:08.348-05:00Jobs, You Say, Mr. President?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K0LTrXN8jdo/Tns0eVVgS4I/AAAAAAAAAQI/bjOp7mV1WPA/s1600/tarsands-beforeafter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="286" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K0LTrXN8jdo/Tns0eVVgS4I/AAAAAAAAAQI/bjOp7mV1WPA/s400/tarsands-beforeafter.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://watchdogprogressive.com/2011/04/tarsands-what-is-keystone-xl-can-you-say-koch/">Land in Alberta Befor and After Tar Sand Oil Extraction</a> photo: <a href="http://watchdogprogressive.com/about-watchdog-progressive/">Watchdog Progressive</a></td></tr>
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The president will approve the <a href="http://watchdogprogressive.com/2011/04/tarsands-what-is-keystone-xl-can-you-say-koch/">Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline</a>, planet be damned (current "<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/19/us-usa-campaign-obama-ad-idUSTRE80I1LC20120119" target="_blank">cancellation</a>" not withstanding), I know it. I feel it. Or, maybe he has turned Republican too many times already, so I am conditioned to expect the worst. I think he fears Republican politicians, and so-called business "leaders" (who should really be called "rich-folk-leaders") calling him a "job-killer." It isn't environmental regulations (<a href="http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/whats-the-evidence-that-regulations-kill-jobs">quite the contrary</a>, <a href="http://completelybaked.blogspot.com/2010/08/keep-doing-what-we-been-doing-destroy.html">such regulations create jobs</a>), and it isn't uncertainty (business in predicated on uncertainty -- hence competition, profits, and loss!) that prevents the creation of jobs. It is impoverishment of the middle-class. And that is due solely to Republican <a href="http://completelybaked.blogspot.com/2011/02/starve-beast-are-we-hungry-enough-yet.html">Starve the Beast</a> policy, and the craven and callous short term greed of "business leaders" who sold off our manufacturing base for pennies on the dollar, and became importers.<br />
<br />
Anyway, here is a letter I have sent to the President about ten times (the XL part, the <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/solutions/renewable_energy_solutions/national-renewable-electricity-campaign.html">Renewable Energy Standard [RES]</a> part I added today). You might want to send something similar, or identical. Feel free. In fact, do it right now. Here is the link to the White House: <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact">http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact</a><br />
<br />
<blockquote>
Dear Mr. President,<br />
<br />
I urge you to deny a permit to the Keystone XL pipeline. Tar sand oil extraction is a colossal environmental disaster. If you permit this pipeline, you will be giving the nod to the immediate destruction of vast tracts of Alberta, and ultimately to our oceans, forests, and thousands of species... not to mention the renewable energy job opportunities lost through opportunity cost and the economic impacts of a ruined US environment and reputation. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Jim Hansen, a renowned climate scientist at NASA, condensed the message well: "Tar sands production is game over for global warming mitigation." If you stand up for nothing else during your presidency, stand up for this; stop Keystone XL, and be remembered as the only president who stood up to Big Oil. Thanks.<br />
<br />
Incidentally, if you are interested in creating good, long-term, domestic jobs, A Renewable Energy Standard of at least 15% (how about 25% by 2025, still an embarrassingly modest goal -- ask Mr. Chu) provides essential motivation for utilities to replace existing inefficient, toxic, capital intensive electricity generators with efficient, cost-effective, labor-intensive renewable energy.<br />
<br />
Replacing coal with renewable energy -- a plausible, cost-effective plan -- <a href="http://completelybaked.blogspot.com/2010/08/keep-doing-what-we-been-doing-destroy.html">would create 4.5 million net jobs, and generate $4.3 trillion in job-creating economic activity</a>. (<a href="http://completelybaked.blogspot.com/2010/08/keep-doing-what-we-been-doing-destroy.html">http://completelybaked.blogspot.com/2010/08/keep-doing-what-we-been-doing-destroy.html</a>)<br />
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So why not support an RES (i.e. <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:S.559.IS:/">S.559.IS</a>, as well as the REC bill, <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:S.1291:">S.1291</a>)? Because you fear energy industry propagandists will attack you. Fear. That's the only reason not to vigorously promote renewable energy. Fear that you will not be re-elected.<br />
<br />
Please find the courage to act in the best interest of your constituents and promote renewable energy with all the enthusiasm you can muster. It is our only hope for a viable economic and environmental future.<br />
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Thanks, again. <br />
Sincerely,<br />
Jim Welke</blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iXmbIiMooN8/Tns3oOZQjPI/AAAAAAAAAQM/WVeqiGJU6HI/s1600/solar_richmond.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iXmbIiMooN8/Tns3oOZQjPI/AAAAAAAAAQM/WVeqiGJU6HI/s400/solar_richmond.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://climatelab.org/Green_Collar_Jobs">Green Collar Jobs, via climatelab</a> photo: <a href="http://www.solarrichmond.org/">Solar Richmond</a></td></tr>
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<br />completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917355955602478696.post-49881975736472162212011-09-19T10:09:00.000-04:002011-10-29T18:32:20.758-04:00#takewallstreet #occupywallstreetSome say occupywallstreet has not articulated their complaints
clearly enough. I disagree. If you listen to what occupiers talk about
in their live feed, or read what is on their website, <a href="https://occupywallst.org/">occupywallst.org</a>, or on the <a href="http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/occupywallstreet">adbusters page devoted to occupywallstreet</a>, or on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=144937025580428">Facebook page</a>, or the <a href="http://nycga.cc/">NYC General Assembly page</a>, the motives of occupywallstreet become eminently clear.
Those who don't understand, need to <a href="http://bible.cc/acts/9-18.htm">clear the scales from their eyes</a>, as one old book put it.
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It may be presumptuous of me, but here are a few
ideas I think -- or have gathered -- the occupywallstreet protesters
are sacrificing their time, and risking their safety for: <br />
<ul>
<li>It's about greed-blinded corporatism, not genuine, free-market commerce</li>
<li>It's about free-market capitalism, not unlawfully-fixed-market capitalism</li>
<li>It's about fair trade, not job-stealing, free-trade empty promises of prosperity</li>
<li>It's about outsourcing jobs and offshoring profits and de-unionizing wage earners</li>
<li>It's about no healthcare for working poor, but bailouts for the rich -- cheers</li>
<li>It's about tax-free private-equity takeover and liquidation of mfg jobs & knowhow</li>
<li>It's about 15% cap gain regressive tax rewards for selling out the middle class</li>
<li>It's about regressive tax law that concentrate wealth among those who destroy us</li>
<li>It's about privatizing profit for 1% and socializing loss at the expense of 99%</li>
<li>It's about trading broad, tolerant prosperity for narrow, hateful oligarchy</li>
<li>It's about commodity speculation imposing de facto taxes on trampled wage-earners</li>
<li>It's about a securities transaction tax to quench speculation and fund prosperity</li>
<li>It's about a securities transaction tax to diminish speculation induced inflation</li>
<li>It's about educating the duped who don't know they've been duped</li>
<li>It's about saving agriculture from corporatist monoculture and toxic GMO's</li>
<li>It's about squandering more on defense than the next 18 big spenders combined</li>
<li>It's about Congress, the Executive, and Judiciary bought by corporate lobbyists</li>
<li>* It's about Constitution trampling, police-state, "Patriot" Act surveillance</li>
<li>It's about the impossibility of repaying usurious student loans if no jobs exist </li>
<li>It's about Constitution trampling, police-state, surveillance of citizens</li>
<li>It's about austerity measures during a depression leading to trickle down disaster</li>
<li>It's about gambling with and losing other people's money, then demanding charity</li>
<li>It's about people who drink corporatist Kool-Aid, and the rest of US get hungover</li>
<li>It's about lazy laggards who cling to lobbied-for-and-obediently-legislated-filthy-stolen-lucre </li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>A modest demand</b>: before the 99% votes for them, let's insist politicians register as independents & refuse corporate $$$<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://completelybaked.blogspot.com/search/label/economic%20crisis">Read more about this artificially concocted "economic crisis."</a><br />
Peace.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Update 10-Oct</b>:<br />
Former Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) concisely summarizes what he thinks Occupy Wall Street is all about (I think he is right, and I suspect most protesters would agree):<br />
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<b>Update 3-Oct</b>: I don't know what to call this except a big can of whoop-ass opened up on Fox News by a guy with some serious interview game. Hoo-rah for the man on the street. I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take it any-f-ing more!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="252" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6yrT-0Xbrn4" width="450"></iframe>
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<br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="273" scrolling="no" src="http://cdn.livestream.com/embed/globalrevolution?layout=4&height=273&width=450&autoplay=false" style="border: 0; outline: 0;" width="450"></iframe><br />
<div style="font-size: 11px; padding-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 450px;">
Watch <a href="http://www.livestream.com/?utm_source=lsplayer&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=footerlinks" title="live streaming video">live streaming video</a> from <a href="http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution?utm_source=lsplayer&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=footerlinks" title="Watch globalrevolution at livestream.com">globalrevolution</a> at livestream.com </div>
<br />From Flux, Media Center, OccupyWallStreet, Zucotti Park -- give it a look, it's impressive:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tLEIVMki0D8" width="560"></iframe>completelybakedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09938001015943655138noreply@blogger.com8