Category Archives: Vintage

This Texas Democrat Could Be the Future of Her Party—And Her Name Isn’t Wendy Davis

by AaronLampungmei Posted on March 5, 2014

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

Minutes before midnight last June 25, after state Sen. Wendy Davis concluded her 12-and-a-half-hour filibuster of a bill to severely limit abortion access in Texas, a colleague of Davis’ took the mike. Angered that the Republican leadership seemed to be ignoring female senators like herself, state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte asked, “At what point must a female senator raise her hand or her voice to be recognized over the male colleagues in the room?” The Davis supporters who’d filled the gallery suddenly erupted in applause, a roar that only got louder as order turned to chaos, midnight came and went, and the infamous SB 5 legislation was, for the time being, defeated.

Today, 59-year-old Van de Putte once again finds herself alongside Davis, who’s running for governor. She is the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor of Texas and will face either incumbent David Dewhurst or hard-right conservative state Sen. Dan Patrick in November. (Dewhurst and Patrick will compete in a May 27 runoff to pick the GOP nominee.) Right now, Davis is the talk of Texas politics, grabbing all the headlines and raising eye-popping sums of money. But Van de Putte may figure larger in the future of her state. Latina, progressive, and a sixth-generation Texan, she has a serious chance of winning, especially if a fire-breather like Patrick wins the runoff, and she is the type of candidate Democrats need as they try to capitalize on the state’s growing Latino population and turn Texas blue.

Every schoolchild, the saying goes, learns that the most powerful politician in Texas is the lieutenant governor. If the governor of Texas dies, the lieutenant governor assumes the top spot. If the governor leaves the state even for a few days, the lieutenant governor becomes sitting governor. The lieutenant governor appoints the powerful committee chairmanships in the state Senate, picks which committee bills are sent to, and decides when a bill comes up for a vote and when someone is recognized on the floor of the state Senate.

In other words, if Van de Putte wins, instead of asking for permission to speak, as she did last June, she’d be giving it. While she may be an underdog—any Texas Democrat running for statewide office is—she’s no long shot. A recent University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll showed her trailing Patrick by 9 percentage points—2 less than Davis’ deficit against her Republican rival, Attorney General Greg Abbott—and Dewhurst by 12. If Van de Putte did pull off an upset—and Davis fell short—it would still be the biggest win for state Democrats since Ann Richards won the governorship in 1990.

Davis and Van de Putte share the top of the ballot, but in many ways they couldn’t be more different. Davis is composed, lawyerly, and on-message; Van de Putte (whose maiden name is San Miguel) practically preaches from the dais, her speeches peppered with one-liners and zingers and folksy wisdom. At one event last year, a copy of her prepared remarks given to reporters included the disclaimer: “**Please note that the Senator frequently diverges from her prepared remarks**”

On a recent Sunday morning, Van de Putte didn’t appear to have any prepared remarks as she addressed a Texas AFL-CIO convention at a downtown Austin hotel. “My journey here was not an easy one,” she said. In the past year, her six-month-old grandson, 82-year-old father, a beloved employee of her husband’s company, and her husband’s mother had all died. Grief stricken, Van de Putte said she wouldn’t have thought about running for lieutenant governor but for her friend Becky Moeller, the president of the Texas AFL-CIO. Moeller gently nagged her about running, and gave her polling data showing a narrow path to victory. Van de Putte and her family prayed on the decision. Ultimately, seeing the direction her state was headed, she couldn’t say no. She told the convention attendees, “You know, Mama ain’t happy. And if your family’s like my family, Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.'” Pause. “And if Grandma’s not happy, run! And so I am.”

Van de Putte’s 20-minute speech veered from the tragic (her family’s recent losses) to the euphoric to the hard-hitting. She singled out Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for “throwing a temper tantrum” that shut down the federal government. Yet as any politician worth her salt knows, Texans don’t take kindly to criticism of their beloved state, and Van de Putte’s speech deftly walked the line between touting the so-called Texas miracle (“It’s because of Texas families that we’re succeeding”) and slamming her Republican counterparts for not investing in public schools and infrastructure.

Throughout her speech, Van de Putte hit on a populist theme: “I know who you are. I know where you’ve been. I know where you’re going.” She used that line to appeal to the teachers, tradesmen, communication workers, and others gathered in the ballroom, and she urged them to remember the words of Martin Luther King Jr.: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?” That populist message could play well should the GOP nominee be Dewhurst, a wealthy businessman who spent about $25 million of his own money on a losing US Senate campaign in 2012. Dewhurst has said this will be his last run for office; Dewhurst, who was worth at least $200 million heading into his Senate run, recently told the Associated Press he needs to “go back to the private sector and earn some money.” Patrick, the other GOP hopeful, has come under fire for his overheated rhetoric, such as describing the flow of immigrants from Mexico to Texas as an “illegal invasion.”

Of course, Van de Putte will need a lot more than her friends in the labor movement to win in November. But as local and national Democrats pour money, manpower, and technology into their quest of turning Texas blue, Leticia Van de Putte is a name you can expect to hear a lot more often.

View original –

This Texas Democrat Could Be the Future of Her Party—And Her Name Isn’t Wendy Davis

Posted in alo, Anchor, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, Radius, Uncategorized, Venta, Vintage | Tagged attorney, democratic, democrats, lai, leticia, president, senator, state, texas, university, venta, vintage | Comments Off

Get off my lawn! Organic farmers just can’t get along with GMO-growing neighbors

by vserko45 Posted on March 5, 2014

Get off my lawn! Organic farmers just can’t get along with GMO-growing neighbors

By Eve Andrews

Shutterstock

Another day, another bunch of old, white guys complaining about their neighbors screwing up their property – except this time, it’s quite warranted.

A new survey from Food & Water Watch has found that over 80 percent of organic farmers across the country are worried about how genetically modified crops in nearby fields are affecting their own. These farmers have incurred significant financial losses due to GMO contamination and the measures taken in attempts to prevent it.

It turns out that keeping organic crops and GMOs sufficiently separate is not cheap. To create a “buffer zone” around their fields, as required by USDA organic standards, the farmers surveyed said they set aside a median of five acres at a median cost of $2,500 per year. In some instances, the cost was more than $20,000 per year.

Organic farmers have also begun to delay planting, so that their crops won’t pollinate at the same time as neighboring GMOs and risk having their gene pool sullied. This results in further losses of about $5,300 a year for corn crops, and $3,300 for soybeans.

And even with these precautions, one-third of farmers are still seeing problems caused by GMO contamination, with more than half of them reporting that they’ve had crops rejected by buyers because of it. The median cost of each rejected load, which contains approximately 1,000 bushels, is $4,500.

To the typical organic farmer, these losses are no heirloom fingerling potatoes. They’re a significant percentage of their incomes.

It’s not all about the Benjamins, either. Animosity between organic and conventional farmers has noticeably mounted. The report notes:

The survey asked farmers if they had any non-monetary costs from the threat of GMO contamination. Several responses described strain between GMO and non-GMO farmers. One farmer wrote that, “…every time I walk into the local co-op they grit their teeth.” Others wrote that “conventional farming neighbors do not respect us,” that non-organic “neighbors feel that our farm is a thorn in their sides or a nuisance,” and that they “are considered to be a problem to them because we are not GMO like the rest of them.” Some relationships have gotten so strained that “neighbors get bent out of shape” when approached about GMO issues, and “some neighbors will no longer tell us what they plant.”

Food & Water Watch was inspired to conduct its survey after sustainable agriculture advocates across the country were disappointed by a 2012 report on the same topic from a USDA biotech advisory committee. That group, which was heavily loaded with Big Ag interests, declined to make any policy recommendations that would help stop GMO contamination of non-GMO fields and was widely attacked by organic farming groups.

“Can’t we all just get along?” is proving to be an unrealistic approach for an increasingly divided farming sector. Here’s hoping the USDA catches on to that soon.

Eve Andrews is a Grist fellow and new Seattle transplant via the mean streets of Chicago, Poughkeepsie, and Pittsburgh, respectively and in order of meanness. Follow her on Twitter.Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Business & Technology

Food

View original article:

Get off my lawn! Organic farmers just can’t get along with GMO-growing neighbors

Posted in alo, Anchor, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, ONA, organic, Uncategorized, Vintage | Tagged business & technology, gene, gmo, pittsburgh, property, seattle, several, vintage, water-watch, work | Comments Off

The State Department Is Actively Trolling Terrorists on Twitter

by BlondellTregurt Posted on March 5, 2014

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

Here’s one way the US government is trying to combat terrorism without the use of controversial explosions. A tiny portion of your tax dollars—just a few million dollars annually—is funding the State Department’s trolling of jihadists on Twitter.

One of the State Department’s official (and verified) Twitter accounts, called “Think AgainTurn Away” and going by the handle @ThinkAgain_DOS, is devoted to speaking “some truths about terrorism” online. If you follow the account, you’ll notice that this truth often manifests itself in the form of the State Department directly tweeting at Islamists and their supporters in English, and countering their beliefs.

This kind of thing isn’t unusual for the State Department. The Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications was established in 2010 to coordinate messaging to target violent extremism on the internet, especially that of Al Qaeda and affiliates. CSCC (an interagency center that is housed at State) initially focused on non-English online forums where the State Department saw jihadists attempting to recruit and raise money (message boards, comments on Al Jazeera Talk, etc.) Late last year, CSCC made a move into English-language websites, with the small team of analysts and microbloggers expanding their fight on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and elsewhere, under the banner of the US State Department. @ThinkAgain_DOS is just one of their tools in this digital-outreach turf war. (CSCC has used the phrase “Think again. Turn away” on other online posts.) Here’s a sample:

.@NasserJan2 You can best show your sincerity by not murdering women and children with suicide bombers #thinkagainturnaway

— Think AgainTurn Away (@ThinkAgain_DOS)

February 27, 2014

.@s7bhijratain teaching small, innocent children how to kill & get killed isn’t Jihad. Where is your moral judgment? #thinkagainturnaway

— Think AgainTurn Away (@ThinkAgain_DOS)

February 21, 2014

.@AlNusrah Do they know why #alqaeda is killing them while selling oil to #Assad? #thinkagainturnaway

— Think AgainTurn Away (@ThinkAgain_DOS)

March 3, 2014

(Here is the context for the Al Qaeda-Assad oil accusations.)

Continue Reading »

See original article here:

The State Department Is Actively Trolling Terrorists on Twitter

Posted in Anchor, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, PUR, Radius, Uncategorized, Venta, Vintage | Tagged english, institution, internet, lai, Ona, public, pur, qaeda, radius, state, twitter | Comments Off

Media Adviser to Hillary Clinton in 1999: "Be Careful to Be Real"

by JoellenPr Posted on February 28, 2014

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

In 1999, as former First Lady Hillary Clinton was preparing to run for US Senator in New York, she was coached by Mandy Grunwald, a public relations consultant who also served as media adviser for Clinton’s subsequent presidential campaign, before a speech. Back then, Grunwald had some words of wisdom for Clinton, who is now considered front runner for the Democrat’s 2016 presidential nomination: “Be careful to be real.” This is one of eight pieces of advice included in a July 1999 letter released today as part of a trove of documents from the Bill Clinton Administration.

Some of these tips could still be applicable for Clinton in 2016, if she chooses to run: “Don’t assume anyone knows anything about you…New Yorkers generally know about healthcare, your work for children, and then a lot of tabloid junk.” Here are the other tips:

More here –

Media Adviser to Hillary Clinton in 1999: "Be Careful to Be Real"

Posted in Anchor, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, Oster, Radius, Uncategorized, Venta, Vintage | Tagged anchor, clinton, democrat, first, lady, mandy, media-adviser, Ona, radius, served-as-media, vintage, work | Comments Off

Millions of dolphins could be hurt as oil industry blasts along East Coast

by BillieMcmichael Posted on February 28, 2014

Millions of dolphins could be hurt as oil industry blasts along East Coast

By John Upton

Simon du Vintage

The Obama administration tentatively gave its environmental blessing to oil industry plans to look for new deposits in the Atlantic Ocean off the East Coast. Recommendations outlined Thursday in a long-awaited environmental report by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management came as music to the ears of drilling companies.

But the air guns that the industry plans to use in its hunt for underwater oil fields won’t sound so sweet to the staggering numbers of dolphins and whales that could end up being maimed.

The oil industry wants to drill along the East Coast, but the last surveys of oil deposits in coastal Atlantic areas were conducted in the 1970s and 1980s using technology that’s now obsolete. So now industry wants to survey with more modern techniques, which McClatchy news service describes this way: “The seismic tests involve vessels towing an array of air guns that blast compressed air underwater, sending intense sound waves to the bottom of the ocean. The booms are repeated every 10 seconds or so for days or weeks.”

Thirty-four marine mammal species, which use sound to navigate, could be harmed by the seismic testing, and some of the animals could be killed. “By failing to consider relevant science, the Obama administration’s decision could be a death sentence for many marine mammals, needlessly turning the Atlantic Ocean into a blast zone,” said Jacqueline Savitz with the nonprofit Oceana. “In its rush to finalize this proposal, the Obama administration is failing to consider the cumulative impacts that these repeated dynamite-like blasts will have on vital behaviors like mating, feeding, breathing, communicating and navigating.”

The government’s new environmental assessment warns that more than a million bottlenose dolphins could be hurt every year by the acoustic blasts, which would extend from the shoreline to as far as 400 miles offshore, from Delaware down to Florida. More than 600,000 short-beaked common dolphins and more than 500,000 Atlantic spotted dolphins could also be affected, along with humpback whales, baleen whales, and other endangered species.

Estimating the damage that could be caused by the air guns is a difficult task, and the report states that its figures are “based on acoustic and impact models that are by their very nature conservative and complex.” The report also includes estimates that would see far fewer whales and dolphins harmed. And some outside experts say threats are not that dire: “There’s no argument that some of these sounds can harm animals, but it’s blown out of proportion,” Arthur N. Popper, head of the University of Maryland’s laboratory of aquatic bioacoustics, told The New York Times.

The report is part of a long administrative process required to move forward with surveys and the easing of a long ban on drilling the Atlantic seafloor. The New York Times explains what’s next:

Actual drilling of test wells could not begin until a White House ban on production in the Atlantic expires in 2017, and even then, only after the government agrees to lease ocean tracts to oil companies, an issue officials have barely begun to study.

The petroleum industry has sunk 51 wells off the East Coast — none of them successful enough to begin production — in decades past. But the Interior Department said in 2011 that 3.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 312 trillion cubic feet of natural gas could lie in the exploration area, and nine companies have already applied for permits to begin surveys.

Much of the controversy around Thursday’s report has focused on largely invisible impacts on charismatic sea life, but the report warns of another obvious risk associated with an exploration and drilling spree: oil spills.

Those can have bad impacts on sea life too. Just ask fishermen along the Gulf of Mexico.

Source
Feds Sentence East Coast to Dynamite-Like Blasts for Big Oil, Oceana
U.S. Moves Toward Atlantic Oil Exploration, Stirring Debate Over Sea Life, The New York Times
Feds support air gun blasts to find Atlantic oil, gas, McClatchy

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Business & Technology

Climate & Energy

Politics

Link:

Millions of dolphins could be hurt as oil industry blasts along East Coast

Posted in alo, Anchor, Dolphin, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, Paradise, The Atlantic, Uncategorized, Vintage | Tagged climate, climate & energy, delaware, department, dolphin, florida, house, lai, maryland, politics, university, white | Comments Off

Liam Neeson is "Pissed Off" at Bill de Blasio Over Horses

by Jaqueline2060 Posted on February 27, 2014

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

On Wednesday night’s episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Liam Neeson (star of the Taken movies, Schindler’s List, and Battleship) revealed why he was a little “pissed off” at New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. The 61-year-old actor and New York resident wasn’t mad at the new mayor for his socialist past or his leadership during winter storms. Neeson was upset over horses.

“He wants to close this horse and carriage industry in New York,” Neeson said, referring to the mayor’s goal to replace “inhumane” carriage horses with “vintage tourist-friendly vehicles in parks.” Neeson also accused animal rights groups for spreading “false information” about the treatment of the horses in the city. (Neeson, whose close friend is a New York horse and carriage owner, previously wrote an intensely punctuated open letter to de Blasio on how he was “appalled to learn of de Blasio’s intent to obliterate one of the most deep rooted icons of our city!”)

Horse-drawn carriages have attracted controversy due to accusations of excessive harm to the animals. Carriage drivers of course vowed to fight a ban. Here is a clip of Stewart and Neeson’s mini-debate, via TMZ:

Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.

This isn’t the only cause Neeson is passionate about. The actor—recently famous for playing a good-natured CIA torturer who massacres ethnic stereotypes who kidnap his daughter—has a long history of working with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), including his work as a Goodwill Ambassador and his participation in a campaign to combat violence against children. And he once stripped almost completely naked to raise money for breast cancer research.

But of all his causes, this one might be getting him the most press. For years, Neeson has been vocal on the issue of New York’s horse-drawn carriages, to the point that the Daily Caller asked in January, “Will Liam Neeson stand in the way of Bill de Blasio’s horse carriage ban?” PETA has slammed Neeson over this. “Liam Neeson…has PETA wondering if one of his horses might have kicked him in the head,” the organization wrote. In 2009, he issued a letter to city officials to rage against the “coordinated attempt by animal activists and a certain Queens council member to ban the industry from the city.” Here’s part of the letter, which you can read while keeping Neeson’s voice in mind:

As a horse lover and rider, I am deeply disturbed by the unnecessary and misguided political and extreme rhetoric against the horse-drawn carriage industry and feel obliged to counter this action.

The horse-drawn carriage business is an iconic part of this city, employing hundreds of dedicated, hard-working men and women, caring for well-bred, well-trained horses and attracting tourists to New York City for over 100 years.

As a proud New York resident, I have personally enjoyed the beauty of Central Park on a daily basis for many years, and these horses are an undeniable integral part of that experience. The notion that a well-nourished horse pulling a carriage through Central Park is considered cruelty may fit in with animal activists’ extremist view, but not with the rest of us. Surely we have a responsibility to protect commerce, especially one with such history, and one I truly feel helps define this city. May pragmatism prevail.

In 2009, Neeson made another appearance on The Daily Show—and discussed horses and carriages:

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook

Neeson was also the star of the 2012 film The Grey, which was criticized by animal rights activists for smearing wolves as brutal and ravenous human-killers.

Mayor de Blasio’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, perhaps out of fear of Liam Neeson.

See more here –

Liam Neeson is "Pissed Off" at Bill de Blasio Over Horses

Posted in Anchor, ATTRA, Citizen, FF, GE, Gotham, LAI, LG, ONA, Radius, Uncategorized, Venta, Vintage | Tagged animals, blasio, central, daily-show, episode, horses, taken, vintage | Comments Off

The Koch Brothers Left a Confidential Document at Their Last Donor Conference—Read It Here

by mklabs1234 Posted on February 5, 2014

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

There’s one main rule at the conservative donor conclaves held twice a year by Charles and David Koch at luxury resorts: What happens there stays there.

The billionaire industrialists and their political operatives strive to ensure the anonymity of the wealthy conservatives who fund their sprawling political operation—which funneled more than $400 million into the 2012 elections—and to keep their plans private. Attendees of these summits are warned that the seminars, where the Kochs and their allies hatch strategies for electing Republicans and advancing conservative initiatives on the state and national levels, are strictly confidential; they are cautioned to keep a close eye on their meeting notes and materials. But last week, following the Kochs’ first donor gathering of 2014, one attendee left behind a sensitive document at the Renaissance Esmeralda resort outside of Palm Springs, California, where the Kochs and their comrades had spent three days focused on winning the 2014 midterm elections and more. The document lists VIP donors—including John Schnatter, the founder of the Papa John’s pizza chain—who were scheduled for one-on-one meetings with representatives of the political, corporate, and philanthropic wings of Kochworld. The one-page document, provided to Mother Jones by a hotel guest who discovered it, offers a fascinating glimpse into the Kochs’ political machine and shows how closely intertwined it is with Koch Industries, their $115 billion conglomerate.

The more than 40 donors courted by the Kochs include hedge fund and private-equity billionaires, real estate tycoons, and executives of top corporations, including Jockey International and TRT Holdings, owner of Omni Hotels and Gold’s Gym. A number of them have never been identified as members of the Koch donor network, including Schnatter, one of the more prominent names on the list. An outspoken opponent of the Affordable Care Act, he is a longtime Republican donor who hosted a fundraiser for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. The document notes that the pizza mogul was scheduled to meet with Ryan Stowers, the director of higher education at the Charles G. Koch Foundation. (Schnatter did not respond to requests for comment.)

Another top conservative contributor on the list is TRT Holdings’ cofounder Robert Rowling, whose net worth is estimated at $4.9 billion. During the 2012 election, Rowling directed $3.5 million to American Crossroads, the super-PAC spearheaded by Karl Rove, and he cut a $100,000 check to the pro-Romney super-PAC Restore Our Future. According to the document, Rowling was scheduled to sit down with Charles Koch at the “Koch residence”—presumably a reference to the Wichita businessman’s vacation home at the Vintage Club, a short drive from the resort where the donor conference was held. Top Koch operatives were expected to participate in this session, including Kevin Gentry, the Koch brothers’ fundraising guru; Daniel Garza, the director of the Libre Initiative, a Koch-funded organization dedicated to Latino outreach; and Marc Short, who runs Freedom Partners, the centerpiece of the Kochs’ political network, which distributes donor funds to a large web of conservative nonprofit groups. (Rowling did not respond to requests for comment.)

Other heavy hitters slated for meetings with the Koch brothers or their representatives included Carl Berg, a Silicon Valley real estate tycoon worth $1.1 billion; Ken Griffin, who founded the hedge fund Citadel and clocks in at No. 103 on the Forbes 400 (net worth, $4.4 billion); John W. Childs, a top private-equity investor; and Fred Klipsch, the chairman of the headphone and speaker company Klipsch Group.

The meeting list illustrates the interwoven nature of the Koch brothers’ corporate, political, and philanthropic activities. The donor meetings featured various senior Koch Industries executives, including the company’s chief financial officer, Steve Feilmeier. He was scheduled to join Charles Koch for a sit down with Berg. Charles Koch’s 36-year-old son, Chase, the president of Koch Fertilizer, was also scheduled to take part in a meeting with a donor named George Gibbs. (Koch Industries spokesman Rob Tappan would not comment on the conference document, only confirming that company employees attend the donor summits. Freedom Partners spokesman James Davis said he was “uncertain” about the document and did not respond to further questions.)

At least half of the one-on-one sessions involved representatives of Americans for Prosperity, the political advocacy group founded by the Koch brothers and their top political adviser and strategist, Richard Fink, a Koch Industries executive vice president and board member. The AFP officials called to duty for these discussions included AFP’s president Tim Phillips, chief operating officer Luke Hilgemann, vice president for state operations Teresa Oelke, and vice president for development Chris Fink (Richard Fink’s son). The state directors for AFP’s Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Florida chapters were also slated for tête-à-têtes during the Koch summit. (AFP spokesman Levi Russell declined to comment on the meeting document.)

In the past, Koch Industries has distanced itself from AFP and its political activities. The company has said the group is just one of “hundreds of organizations” that receive funding from the Kochs and that it operates “independently” of Koch Industries. But the document suggests a close collaboration between officials of Koch Industries, AFP, and Freedom Partners, whose staff and board are stacked with numerous current and former Koch Industries employees. Michael Lanzara and Jeff Noble, who transitioned over to Freedom Partners from Koch Companies Public Sector—the company’s legal, lobbying, and public affairs branch—were scheduled to meet with donors alongside AFP staffers. The Koch brothers and Richard Fink were also listed as taking part in some of these sessions. (Fink, a man of many hats within the Koch firmament, is also an AFP board member; David Koch chairs the board of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation.)

Heading into the midterm elections, AFP has emerged as one of the right’s most active and well-financed political outfits. In recent months, it has spent more than $20 million on ads clobbering congressional Democrats for supporting Obamacare. And the group is merely one piece of the Kochs’ massive political operation, which in size, scope, and fundraising prowess has come to resemble a political party in its own right. During the 2012 election cycle, in fact, the Koch network managed to raise as much as the Republican National Committee itself.

After the brothers and their allies failed to win the Senate or unseat Obama in 2012, David Koch told Forbes that this setback would do little to deter them: “We’re going to fight the battle as long as we breathe.” At the Palm Springs conference, as the left-behind-list of VIP meetings shows, the Kochs are lining up serious financial firepower for the political fights of 2014 and beyond.

Read the meeting list, along with a guide to the participants in them, below.

DV.load(“//www.documentcloud.org/documents/1011574-koch-donor-conference-meeetings.js”,
width: 630,
height: 820,
sidebar: false,
container: “#DV-viewer-1011574-koch-donor-conference-meeetings”
);

Koch Donor Conference Meetings (PDF)

Koch Donor Conference Meetings (Text)

DONORS

Carl Berg: Ranking No. 308 on the Forbes 400, Berg is a Silicon Valley real estate titan with an estimated fortune of $1.1 billion.

Ronnie Cameron: He runs agribusiness giant Mountaire Corporation. During a meeting of the Kochs’ donor network in 2011, Charles Koch recognized Cameron (and other donors) for donating at least $1 million to their cause.

Charles Chandler: Based in the Kochs’ hometown of Wichita, Kansas, Chandler is the CEO of Intrust Bank.

John Childs: He runs the Boston-based private equity firm J.W. Childs & Associates.

Jamie Coulter: Haling from Wichita, Coulter is the former CEO of the Lone Star Steakhouse and Saloon restaurant chain.

Bob and Steve Fettig: The Fettigs run the metal fabrication company Tankcraft, based in Darien, Wisconsin. Steve is the company’s CFO; Bob is CEO.

Richard and Leslie Gilliam: Richard founded Virginia-based coal mining company Cumberland Resources Corporation, which he sold to Massey Energy for nearly a billion dollars in 2010.

Ken Griffin: A major conservative donor, the Chicago-based businessman founded the hedge fund Citadel and is worth an estimated $4.4 billion.

John Griffin: He’s the founder of Blue Ridge Capital, a New York hedge fund.

Dick Haworth: He’s the chairman emeritus of Holland, Michigan-based office furniture company Haworth.

Richard “Ric” Kayne: He’s the founder and chairman of Los Angeles-based investment firm Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors.

Dan Kirby: He’s president of Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Kirby Financial.

Fred Klipsch: He’s the chairman of Klipsch Group, a speaker and headphone manufacturer.

Frank Kozel: He’s the principal of Pittsburgh-based Keystone Energy Oil & Gas Inc.

Francis “Franc” Lee: He’s the president and CEO of Flowood, Mississippi-based lender First Tower, LLC.

Robert “Bob” Luddy: He’s president of CativeAire Systems Inc. in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Hugh Maclellan: He’s the executive chairman of Chattanooga, Tennessee’s Maclellan Foundation, which make grants to Christian causes.

Cecil O’Brate: He’s the CEO of Garden City, Kansas-based Palmer Manufacturing & Tank.

Verl Purdy: He’s the chairman and CEO of Charlotte, North Carolina-based AGDATA Inc.

Tom Rastin: He’s a director and vice chairman of the Mount Vernon, Ohio-based Ariel Foundation, started by his wife, Karen Buchwald Wright, the CEO of Ariel Corporation. Rastin is the company’s vice president of engineering, sales, and marketing.

George Records: A member of the Hoover Institution’s board of overseers, Records is the retired chairman of Oklahoma City’s Midland Group.

Robert Rowling: Ranking No. 93 on the Forbes 400 with an estimated fortune of $4.9 billion, Rowling is the cofounder of TRT Holdings, which owns Gold’s Gym and Omni Hotels.

John Schnatter: He’s the founder and CEO of Papa John’s International.

Tina and Craig Snider: They are the children of Ed Snider, a founding contributor of the Ayn Rand Institute and chairman of Comcast Spectacor, a sports and entertainment company that owns the Philadelphia Flyers.

Dian Stai: Based in Texas, Stai cofounded Owen Healthcare Inc. with her late husband. She’s a top conservative donor who gave $125,000 to the pro-Mitt Romney super-PAC Restore Our Future during the 2012 election cycle.

Jim Stephenson: He’s the president and CEO of Georgia-based Yancey Bros. Co., “which provides Caterpillar, AGCO, and Blue Bird Bus Co. products and services throughout the state of Georgia.” Stephenson is also an Americans for Prosperity board member.

Jim Von Ehr: He’s the CEO and founder of Richardson, Texas-based Zyvex Labs.

Debra Waller: Since 2001, she’s been the chairman and CEO of Jockey International Inc.

Lew Ward: He’s the founder of Oklahoma-based Ward Petroleum Corporation.

Dick Weiss: He’s the Core Equity senior portfolio manager at Wells Capital Management.

Karen Wright: She’s the founder and CEO of the Ariel Foundation, a private philanthropy group based in Mount Vernon, Ohio. She’s also CEO of the Ariel Corporation, a natural gas compression company.

*Mother Jones was unable to confirm the identities of some donors on the list, including Steve Clark, Paul Foster, George Gibbs, George Jenkins, Jerry Hayden, Kent McCarthy, Andrew Miller, Ted Saunders, Tom Smith, Jaime Snider, and Dean Williams.

“PLAYERS”

Charles Koch: He’s the chairman and CEO of Koch Industries.

David Koch: He’s Koch Industries’ executive vice president and a board member.

Michael Lanzara: A former director for special projects at Koch Companies Public Sector, Lanzara now works for Freedom Partners.

Steve Feilmeier: He’s chief financial officer and executive vice president of Koch Industries.

Kevin Gentry: A vice president at Koch Companies Public Sector, Gentry is the Koch brothers’ top fundraiser. He also serves on the board of Freedom Partners.

Jeff Noble: A former senior development associate at Koch Companies Public Sector, Noble currently works for Freedom Partners.

Tim Phillips: He’s the president of Americans for Prosperity, the political advocacy group founded by the Koch brothers and Richard Fink.

Chris Fink: He’s Americans for Prosperity’s vice president of development and the son of Richard Fink.

Teresa Oelke: She’s Americans for Prosperity’s vice president for state operations.

David Fladeboe: He’s the state director for Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin.

Brett Hinkey: A former senior development associate at Koch Companies Public Sector, Hinkey now works for Freedom Partners.

Daniel Garza: He’s the executive director of the Libre Initiative, a Koch-funded nonprofit focused on Hispanic outreach.

Chase Koch: He’s Charles’ son and the president of Koch Fertilizer.

Richard Fink: He’s the chairman and CEO of Koch Companies Public Sector and a board member of Koch Industries. A founder of the Mercatus Center and Americans for Prosperity, Fink is the Koch’ top strategist and political adviser.

Ryan Stowers: He’s the director for higher education at the Charles G. Koch Foundation.

Brian Hooks: He’s the executive director and chief operating officer of the Mercatus Center.

Marc Short: Short heads Freedom Partners, the centerpiece of the Koch brothers’ political operation. Short is a former chief of staff of the House Republican Conference.

Scott Hagerstrom: He’s the state director of Americans for Prosperity-Michigan.

Jennifer Stefano: She’s the state director for Americans for Prosperity-Pennsylvania.

Tommy Von der Heydt: He’s a former regional development officer for Americans for Prosperity.

Corey Lewandowski: He’s the East Coast regional director for Americans for Prosperity.

Slade O’Brien: He’s state director of Americans for Prosperity-Florida.

John Hardin: He’s a program manager at the Charles G. Koch Foundation.

Michael Palmer: He is the president of i360, which bills itself as the “leading data and technology resource for the pro-free-market political and advocacy community.” Palmer’s firm has worked closely with the Kochs’ voter microtargeting operation, Themis.

Derek Johnson: He’s a program officer for higher education at the Charles G. Koch Foundation.

Nathan Nascimento: He’s an employee of Freedom Partners.

James Davis: He’s the vice president of strategic communications at Freedom Partners.

Luke Hilgemann: He’s Americans for Prosperity’s chief operating officer.

Read this article –

The Koch Brothers Left a Confidential Document at Their Last Donor Conference—Read It Here

Posted in alo, Anchor, Citadel, FF, GE, LG, ONA, Oster, oven, PUR, Radius, Uncategorized, Venta, Vintage | Tagged afp, ceo, elections, Foundation, officer, Oster, politics, radius, sector | Comments Off

A Closer Look at Cold Snaps and Global Warming

by Myrna Posted on January 8, 2014

A closer look at cold snaps in a warming climate. View post: A Closer Look at Cold Snaps and Global Warming ; ;Related ArticlesIn One Image: Cold Snaps In Global ContextDot Earth Blog: In One Image: Cold Snaps In Global ContextStill Stuck in a Climate Argument ;

Original post –

A Closer Look at Cold Snaps and Global Warming

Posted in alo, alternative energy, Citadel, eco-friendly, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, Monterey, ONA, solar, solar power, Uncategorized, Vintage | Tagged alternative energy, arctic regions, clean-water, climate, edition, environmental policy, solar, store, winter (season) | Comments Off

Cuomo, Joined by Biden, Details Disaster Aid Plans

by DomingaHooley Posted on January 7, 2014

green4us

How to Raise the Perfect Dog – Cesar Millan & Melissa Jo Peltier

From the bestselling author and star of National Geographic Channel’s Dog Whisperer , the only resource you’ll need for raising a happy, healthy dog. For the millions of people every year who consider bringing a puppy into their lives–as well as those who have already brought a dog home–Cesar Millan, the preeminent dog behavior expert, says, “Yes, […]

iTunes Store
Cat Sense – John Bradshaw

Cats have been popular household pets for thousands of years, and their numbers only continue to rise. Today there are three cats for every dog on the planet, and yet cats remain more mysterious, even to their most adoring owners. In Cat Sense , renowned anthrozoologist John Bradshaw takes us further into the mind of the domestic cat than ever before, using […]

iTunes Store
Decoding Your Dog – American College of Veterinary Behaviorists

More than ninety percent of dog owners consider their pets to be members of their family. But often, despite our best intentions, we are letting our dogs down by not giving them the guidance and direction they need. Unwanted behavior is the number-one reason dogs are relinquished to shelters and rescue groups. The key to training dog […]

iTunes Store
What the Dog Did – Emily Yoffe

Dave Barry meets The Secret Lives of Dogs in Emily Yoffe’s funny and insightful look at all things canine. Filled with adventures of heroic dogs, lovable and lazy dogs, malodorous dogs, phlegmatic and incontinent dogs, What the Dog Did delivers some of the most outlandish and certainly the funniest dog stories on record.

iTunes Store
Codex: Tyranids (Enhanced Edition) – Games Workshop

From the cold darkness of the intergalactic void comes a race of ravenous aliens known as the Tyranids, a numberless horde of super-predators governed only by the instincts to hunt, kill and feed. Each Tyranid is a living weapon, perfectly adapted to its designated function, but each creature is no more than a single cell in a vast gestalt entity controlled […]

iTunes Store
Inside of a Dog – Alexandra Horowitz

The bestselling book that asks what dogs know and how they think, now in paperback. The answers will surprise and delight you as Alexandra Horowitz, a cognitive scientist, explains how dogs perceive their daily worlds, each other, and that other quirky animal, the human. Horowitz introduces the reader to dogs’ perceptual and cognitive abilities and then draw […]

iTunes Store
Penny Saving Household Helper – Rebecca DiLiberto

This handy guide resurrects the fine art of frugal housekeeping with over 500 tips on saving money throughout the home and garden. Learn creative ways to cut back, pinch pennies, reduce, recycle, and re-use. Want to save on the grocery bill? Buy the whole chicken rather than individual cuts. Get more wear out of your wardrobe? Add a dash of salt to the washe […]

iTunes Store
The Art of Raising a Puppy (Revised Edition) – Monks of New Skete

For more than thirty years the Monks of New Skete have been among America’s most trusted authorities on dog training, canine behavior, and the animal/human bond. In their two now-classic bestsellers, How to be Your Dog’s Best Friend and The Art of Raising a Puppy, the Monks draw on their experience as long-time breeders of German shepherds and as t […]

iTunes Store
Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team (Interactive Edition) – Games Workshop

Not all battles in the 41st Millennium are massed engagements between lumbering armies and towering war machines. In the shadows of these epic conflicts, squads of elite soldiers clash – their missions no less vital, their foes no less deadly. Designated as Kill Teams by the Imperium, or by a myriad of different names for their alien and daemonic counterpart […]

iTunes Store
Warhammer 40,000 Altar of War: Tyranids – Games Workshop

The Tyranids are a deadly race of intergalactic monstrosities, bent upon devouring the galaxy’s many worlds and leaving nothing but airless wastelands in their wake. To fight the Tyranid swarm is an experience utterly unlike any other battle a general may face, for these terrifying aliens seek not to conquer or to raid, but to consume all life in their path. […]

iTunes Store

View post:

Cuomo, Joined by Biden, Details Disaster Aid Plans