Oil money

#Occupy & 350.org Stage "Human Oil Spill" at John Boehner's Office

Hundreds of 350.org climate activists and Occupy Wall Street protesters flocked to Speaker of the House John Boehner's Ohio office today, and proceeded to stage a "human oil spill". The action was intended to draw attention to the GOP's efforts to attach a provision to a popular payroll tax cut bill that would clear the way for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. Garbed in black, the activists acted out a scene in which the pipeline ruptured and spread oil across a pristine Midwestern environment.
“The House brings shame on itself when its members take tens of millions in big oil money and then do the industry's bidding. Keystone XL creates no net jobs and pours carbon into the atmosphere. That’s why millions across the country opposed it. Its only beneficiaries are the fossil fuel industry and the politicians they support,” Bill McKibben, 350.org founder and environmental author, said in a statement.

When O's decision to simply postpone a pipeline decision was made i knew that the war wasn't over.  But putting it in the tax bill was a quicker move than I expected.
The payola must be really BIG!

Hope from Washington

Putting Farmland On A Fertilizer Diet

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a document yesterday that got no attention on the nightly news, or almost anywhere, really. Its title, I'm sure you'll agree, is a snooze: National Nutrient Management Standard.
Yet this document represents the agency's best attempt to solve one of the country's — and the world's — really huge environmental problems: The nitrogen and phosphorus that pollute waterways.
Essentially, it involves putting farmland on a sensible diet. Only feed the land as much as it really needs. And don't apply fertilizer, including manure, when the crops don't need it. Also, try to capture and store any excess nutrients. For instance, grow wintertime "cover crops" that can trap free nitrogen before it leaches into groundwater.

A move in the right direction.

Scary and crazy Luntz

A 'frightened to death' Frank Luntz offers Republicans advice on Occupy Wall Street

So Republican doublespeak strategist Frank Luntz went to a Republican Governors Association meeting to tell them how to talk about the economy in the age of Occupy Wall Street, which he's "frightened to death" of. He had a lot of advice that was standard Luntzian stuff—find the worst-sounding way to describe a basic function of government and run with it, like rather than "taxing the rich," describe it as "taking from the rich," as if taxes were jargon that needed translation. But a few were particularly rich sources of humor.

3. Republicans should forget about winning the battle over the 'middle class.' Call them 'hardworking taxpayers.'

How telling is it that the big Republican messaging advance is to try to get people to forget about the middle class? Of course we know that their policies are about eradicating the middle class, but I hadn't realized they thought that project was far enough along to stop talking about it altogether.

4. Don't talk about 'jobs.' Talk about 'careers.'

"Everyone in this room talks about 'jobs,'" Luntz said. "Watch this."
He then asked everyone to raise their hand if they want a "job." Few hands went up. Then he asked who wants a "career." Almost every hand was raised.
"So why are we talking about jobs?"
This is the kind of thing you say when you're so insulated from today's economy that you spend your entire life talking to employed political staffers. They have jobs. They probably have careers, even if they'd like better ones. But there are tens of millions of unemployed and underemployed people in this country who just want a damn job. And that's not even getting into the tens of millions more people who feel lucky to have a job, who have family or friends who don't have a job, who themselves recently didn't have a job. Ultimately, a lot of those people would love to have careers. But looking down your nose at the idea of having a plain old job—that's a luxury.

7. The three most important words you can say to an Occupier: 'I get it.' "First off, here are three words for you all: 'I get it.' . . . 'I get that you're angry. I get that you've seen inequality. I get that you want to fix the system."

Then, he instructed, offer Republican solutions to the problem.
"I get that you're angry. I get that you've seen inequality. I get that you want to fix the system. Here's my plan to make sure that the 1 percent gets even more of this country's wealth."

"Frightened to death?"  Come on Frank. Frightened that your wallet may be a little lighter.
Wonder if he has consulted with the mayors and police chief when they talk about evicting occupiers because they are concerned about occupiers' own safety.