LAY CONVICTED, BUSH WALKS

Wednesday May 24, 2006
by Greg Palast

Don't kid yourself. If you think the conviction of Ken Lay means that George Bush is serious about going after corporate bad guys, think again.

First, Lay got away with murder -- or at least grand larceny. Like Al Capone convicted of failing to file his taxes, Ken Lay, though found guilty of stock fraud, is totally off the hook for his BIG crime: taking down California and Texas consumers for billions through fraud on the power markets.

Lay, co-convict Jeff Skilling and Enron did not act alone. They connived with half a dozen other power companies and a dozen investment banks to manipulate both the stock market and the electricity market. And though their co-conspirators have now paid $3 billion to settle civil claims, the executives of these other corporations and banks get a walk on criminal charges.

Unexpected warming in Antarctica

By Jonathan Fildes
BBC News science reporter

Winter air temperatures over Antarctica have risen by more than 2C in the last 30 years, a new study shows.
Research published in the US journal Science says the warming is seen across the whole of the continent and much of the Southern Ocean.

The study questions the reliability of current climate models that fail to simulate the temperature rise.

Global warming risk 'much higher'

By Richard Black
Environment Correspondent, BBC News website

Global temperatures will rise further in the future than previous studies have indicated, according to new research from two scientific teams.

They both used historical records to calculate the likely amplification of warming as higher temperatures induce release of CO2 from ecosystems.

They both conclude that current estimates of warming are too low, by anything up to 75%.

Their conclusion is backed up by a new report from the Australian government.

The Australian Greenhouse Office says current estimates of temperature rise are "being challenged" by new research.

The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World’s Most Powerful Company Really Works—and How It’s Transforming the American Economy

By Marian Kester Coombs, reviewing Charles Fishman
Republished from The American Conservative

Sam Walton had a dream: find out what people want and sell it to them for less. His dream was a variant of Adam Smith’s assertion in The Wealth of Nations: “The sole purpose of all production is to provide the best possible goods to the consumer at the lowest possible price.” The variation stems from the qualifier “best possible”: Walton’s obsessive quest never extended to quality. And in the 230 years since Smith penned those famous words, society has learned to question his narrow vision of “the sole purpose of all production.”
As books like this demonstrate, Wal-Mart is the elephant in the room that no one is ignoring. Like the blind men who tried to assay the elephant in the fable, many have touched on different aspects of the mega-retailer. Business journalist Charles Fishman’s purpose is to synthesize all the critiques into one overarching analysis of “the Wal-Mart effect,” that is, how the company “gets those low prices, and what impact the low prices have far beyond Wal-Mart’s shelves and beyond our own wallets: the cost of low prices to the companies that supply Wal-Mart, and to the people who work for those companies.”

Deep-Sea Fish 'Plundered' to Extinction by Trawling

One for The Mother:
BB

by Ian Herbert

Fish stocks in international waters are being plundered to the point of extinction because governments are failing to protect them, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has warned.

Species including tuna and the orange roughy are among those under threat by illegal fishing and the notorious practice of bottom-trawling, by which heavy rollers are dragged over the ocean floor, trapping fish and mammals and destroying entire ecosystems.

Motorcycle awareness month..

I just read this on Craigslist and I post it hear for all me fellow brothers and sisters in the wind.
Fact: 70 % of all motorcycle accidents are caused by car drivers.
BB

Subject: May Is Motorcycle Awareness Month
> i saw you.....
> Body: I saw you, hug your purse closer to you in the grocery store line.
> But, you didn't see me, put an extra $10.00 in the collection plate last
Sunday.
> I saw you, pull your child closer when we passed each other on the sidewalk.
> But, you didn't see me, playing Santa at the local mall.
> I saw you, change your mind about going into the restaurant.
> But, you didn't see me, attending a meeting to raise more money for the
hurricane relief.
> I saw you, roll up your window and shake your head when I drove by.
> But, you didn't see me, driving behind you when you flicked your cigarette
butt out the car window.
> I saw you, frown at me when I smiled at your children.
> But, you didn't see me,when I took time off from work to run toys to the
homeless.
> I saw you, stare at my long hair.
> But, you didn't see me, and my friends cut ten inches off for Locks of Love.
> I saw you, roll your eyes at our leather coats and gloves.
> But, you didn't see me, and my brothers donate our old coats and gloves to
those that had none.
> I saw you, look in fright at my tattoos.
> But, you didn't see me, cry as my children were born and have their names
written over and in my heart.
> I saw you, change lanes while rushing off to go somewhere.
> But, you didn't see me, going home to be with my family.
> I saw you, complain about how loud and noisy our bikes can be.
> But, you didn't see me, when you were changing the CD and drifted into my
lane.
> I saw you, yelling at your kids in the car.
> But, you didn't see me, pat my child's hands, knowing he was safe behind me.
> I saw you, reading the newspaper or map as you drove down the road.
> But, you didn't see me, squeeze my wife's leg when she told me to take the
next turn.
> I saw you, race down the road in the rain.
> But, you didn't see me, get soaked to the skin so my son could have the car to
go on his date.
> I saw you, run the yellow light just to save a few minutes of time.
> But, you didn't see me, trying to turn right.
> I saw you, cut me off because you needed to be in the lane I was in.
> But, you didn't see me, leave the road.
> I saw you, waiting impatiently for my friends to pass.
> But, you didn't see me. I wasn't there.
> I saw you, go home to your family.
> But, you didn't see me. Because, I died that day you cut me off.
> I was just a biker,..... A person with friends and a family.
> But, you didn't see me.
> MAY IS MOTORCYCLE AWARENESS MONTH.
> PLEASE PASS THIS ON FOR YOUR FRIENDS WHO RIDE, OR WHO MAY HAVE KNOWN SOMEONE
WHO DIED WHILE RIDING.
> OR SIMPLY TO MAKE OTHERS AWARE THAT WE EXIST TO HOPEFULLY REDUCE THE NUMBER OF
US INJURED OR KILLED IN THE FUTURE!

Big Oil Launches Attack On Al Gore

Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) will unveil two 60-second TV ads focusing on what it calls “global warming alarmism and the call by some environmental groups and politicians to reduce fossil fuel and carbon dioxide emissions.” The ad, which will be aired in more than a dozen cities across the country, is being released just a week before the May 24th opening (in LA and NYC) of Al Gore’s new movie on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth.

Who is CEI? The Washington Post explains:

The Competitive Enterprise Institute, which widely publicizes its belief that the earth is not warming cataclysmically because of the burning of coal and oil, says Exxon Mobil Corp. is a “major donor” largely as a result of its effort to push that position.

House ignoring pledge over pet projects

Kind of like asking all the thieves to find honor.

BB

ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

WASHINGTON -- Just two weeks after the House passed a reform bill requiring lawmakers to attach their names to pet projects, GOP leaders are advancing spending bills containing billions of dollars in such parochial "earmarks" whose sponsors remain anonymous.

Most lawmakers, like Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., who obtained $11 million for a child development center at Eglin Air Force Base in Pensacola, are happy to take credit for their earmarks when asked. Others, like Martin Sabo, D-Minn., immediately put out news releases trumpeting hometown projects like a $1 million sewer system upgrade for Minneapolis.

Former GOP official sentenced to 10 months for phone-jamming

Sorry it's been a while since I have posted. do not fret. Just 'cause I may not be posting, the Republicans are still commiting felonies.
Heres the latest.
BB
By Anne Saunders, Associated Press Writer | May 17, 2006
CONCORD, N.H. --Former Republican National Committee official James Tobin was sentenced to 10 months in prison Wednesday for his role in an Election Day phone-jamming plot against New Hampshire Democrats.