Saturday, September 5, 2015

General Mills Takes Climate Change Seriously Because You Can’t Make Wheaties Without Wheat

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/08/31/3696953/general-mills-climate-emissions-reduction-plan/
"On Monday, General Mills — the sixth-largest food company in the world — announced plans to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent by 2025.
The announcement comes at a time when a growing number of major food companies are pledging to take more steps to encourage sustainability throughout their businesses. But General Mills’ plan is slightly unique, because it seeks to reduce carbon emissions throughout the company’s entire supply chain, from farm to landfill — a first for major food companies."

Thomas Edison Was Right About Solar Power

On Taking Climate Action, Even Wall Street Asks: 'Why Would You Not?'

On Taking Climate Action, Even Wall Street Asks: 'Why Would You Not?'

"Fortunately, the report finds that taking action to cut carbon pollution and slow global warming by investing in energy efficiency and renewable power generation would result in a positive return on investment, ultimately saving trillions of dollars."

Thanks to Industrial Pollution, 90 Percent of Seabirds Have Plastic in Guts

Thanks to Industrial Pollution, 90 Percent of Seabirds Have Plastic in Guts

"Seabirds are particularly vulnerable to plastic ingestion due to their habits of eating floating particles that they mistake for fish eggs"

Big Bank Says It’s Going To Cost A Lot To Do Nothing On Global Warming

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/08/31/3696952/climate-action-costs-less-than-inaction-citibank-says/
"A new report from Citibank found that acting on climate change by investing in low-carbon energy would save the world $1.8 trillion through 2040, as compared to a business-as-usual scenario. In addition, not acting will cost an additional $44 trillion by 2060 from the “negative effects” of climate change."

Report: Extravagant CEO Pay Packages Are Fostering Planet's Destruction

Report: Extravagant CEO Pay Packages Are Fostering Planet's Destruction

"the complex cycle in which corporate bosses are given "enormous personal financial incentive" to promote the development of fossil fuels, which in turn allows them to donate ever-increasing funds to lobbyists and lawmakers who promote climate denial policies."

How Charles Koch Prevents Clean Energy Businesses From Succeeding

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32615-how-charles-koch-prevents-clean-energy-businesses-from-succeeding
"the Kochs use their political influence and funding for efforts to repeal laws designed to support the deployment of more renewable electricity. Specifically, their political network's agenda includes weakening renewable energy standards, preventing customers from installing solar panels (by charging fees on people that go solar), and protecting the government monopolized electric utilities.
The facts are indisputable."

How Koch Industries IS Undermining Renewables

PERRspectives: Cheney: Congress Should Have No Say in President's Iran Policy

PERRspectives: Cheney: Congress Should Have No Say in President's Iran Policy

"For Cheney, of course, not all presidents are created equal. Once upon a time, he furiously condemned Congressional interference with the President's policy towards Iran. Condemned it, that is, provided the President was not Barack Obama but Ronald Reagan and the issue wasn't limiting Iran's arsenal, but enhancing it."

Tom Cotton’s endless war: What his ongoing crusade against the Iran deal says about the GOP

Tom Cotton’s endless war: What his ongoing crusade against the Iran deal says about the GOP

"This single-mindedness makes him either a dangerous ideologue or the Senate’s equivalent of Mr. Magoo, blindly but confidently stumbling from his own little world into reality over and over and over again, without ever being affected in his attitudes and opinions.

Take his famous letter to the leaders of Iran. Back in March, just two months into his first term in the Senate, Cotton convinced 46 of his Republican colleagues to sign one of the most ill-considered diplomatic correspondences since the Zimmerman telegram. In the letter, Cotton helpfully explained to the Iranian mullahs that there was no point in their agreeing to a nuclear arms control agreement with President Obama because any such deal will get tossed in the garbage as soon as a Republican is back in the White House. And indeed, multiple contenders for the GOP nomination for 2016 have promised to tear up the deal their first day in office, which would be more of a concern if any of them had a prayer in hell of being elected.

Cotton’s letter led to widespread condemnation from the White House, Democrats in Congress, even a few Republicans. Some of the Senators who signed it immediately distanced themselves by saying they had read and signed it in haste, which does not exactly inspire confidence in the World’s Greatest Deliberative Body but does lead one to wonder what else we could fool these guys into signing. Someone please draft the Free Beer for Life for All Americans Act of 2015 and put it in front of the Senate Republicans, chop-chop.

The letter also led to one of the great moments in, as the kids call it, pwning. When the foreign minister of Iran knows more about how America’s Constitution works than you, an elected representative of America, it’s perhaps incumbent on you to examine your life choices.

Which brings us to this week’s trip to Israel and Cotton’s continued very public attempts to undermine the Obama administration as it works to secure Congressional support for the Iran deal. No one disputes that there is a role for Congress in shaping foreign policy. Although particularly in the decision about whether or not to wage war, it is a role that the legislative branch has ceded to the executive more and more over the last few decades. But there is also an old saw that politics stops at the water’s edge, which legislators have long taken to mean that they will not travel overseas to visibly undercut a president’s policies with the leaders of foreign nations. Like so many of the old political norms, it has long since gone out the window in our highly polarized era. And Tom Cotton is the purest distillation of this conflict, a bathtub of the most blindness-inducing moonshine in the national still."

Traitor Cotton To Obama: You’re Not My President, I Take Orders From Netanyahu

http://www.occupydemocrats.com/traitor-cotton-to-obama-youre-not-my-president-i-take-orders-from-netanyahu/
"Cotton, absent of any punishment for his actions, has doubled down, not only conspiring with other lawmakers to sabotage an international peace deal — but now with a foreign power. We have a word for working in collusion with a foreign power to damage the operation of our government — treason."

The Neocon Nuts Are Reemerging -- Where Did These Fools Come From?

Kim Davis Reveals GOP Support For Sharia Law

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/09/03/kim-davis-reveals-gop-support-for-sharia-law/
"America exists under a system of laws, not religious edict. Those laws protect the right to worship, but the beliefs of worshippers don’t have precedence over our laws. Several members of the Republican Party’s presidential field, campaigning for a job that is in many ways the chief law enforcement officer for the United States, and who would nominate Justices to serve on the Supreme Court, have come down on the supremacy of religious beliefs over our written rules of law."

Let Me Explain Religious Freedom to Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis

Let Me Explain Religious Freedom to Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis

"Religious freedom means that, on a personal level, every American is free to follow whatever religion they want. They’re also free to not follow any religion at all. As Americans we are free to attend church seven days a week, 365 days a year – or not at all. If you want to be Christian one year, Muslim the next and an atheist after that, guess what? That’s your right. Heck, if you want to follow some weird hybrid of a whole bunch of different religions combined into one set of spiritual beliefs, go right ahead. Do you know what the best part is? This country is set up so that no law can ever force anyone to adhere to a certain set of religious beliefs or principles. In your private life, or your places of worship, you can be as religious as you want. However... Once you go into work, school or any number of public, non-religious places – your religious rights change. While some are protected, such as observing certain religious holidays or even the right to organize hate-filled religious protests, others are not. For example, a member of the Westboro Baptist Church can protest all they want, but that same person couldn’t go to work at Home Depot wearing a “God Hates F*gs” shirt claiming “religious freedom.”

In other words, religious freedom is not without limits. Especially if you’re a government employee, like Ms. Davis. As an elected official for the State of Kentucky, she swore an oath not to govern based on biblical law, but to uphold the laws of the state – which, again, are bound by our Constitution. I couldn’t care less what she thinks of same-sex marriage, because her job isn’t to determine who should or shouldn’t get married based on her own personal feelings. Just like a county clerk couldn’t have denied her the right to marry for the second, third or fourth time based on their personal religious beliefs concerning divorce – she can’t legally do that to gay couples. Her job is to issue marriage licenses in accordance with the State of Kentucky which is bound to the Constitution of the United States of America. If she wants to become an anti-gay marriage advocate, she needs to quit her job and go join some hate group filled with knuckle-dragging fools like herself. She has no right (nor does any other business owner or government employee) to deny service to anyone based on religious beliefs."

No, Christians, you’re not being “persecuted” — and Kim Davis is not a martyr

No, Christians, you’re not being “persecuted” — and Kim Davis is not a martyr

"Davis was found in contempt for refusing to abide by a federal court order to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. She is being appropriately dealt with for not doing the taxpayer-funded job the citizens of Rowan County elected her to do, for not upholding the Constitution she took an oath to abide by. I know that lots of Christians are used to cherry picking their Bible verses to make their points, but you’re not allowed to be quite so selective with the Constitution."

Jeb Bush Made Millions Giving Investors Billions Of Florida Pension Funds To Lose

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/08/30/jeb-bush-millions-giving-investors-billions-florida-pension-funds-lose.html
"According to a comprehensive International Business Times analysis of Florida government documents, and a list of George W. Bush’s bundlers compiled by Public Citizen, there were no less than 11 firms that received the Jeb Bush pension investments because they were qualified as “Pioneers.” Further analysis of data from the Florida Division of Elections and Political Moneyline determined how much money executives from those firms donated directly to Jeb Bush’s campaigns, George W. Bush’s campaigns, the Republican National Committee and the Republican Party of Florida between 1998 and 2006 while Jeb Bush was in charge.
For example, Lehman Brothers, already recipients of Florida pension largesse courtesy of Jeb Bush donated $499,000 to Bush campaigns and received $175 million in pension money from Bush. Also included in the eleven investment firms was the largest private equity firm in the world, the Carlyle Group, where Bush daddy George H. W. Bush served as senior adviser from 1998 to 2003 during the time all these “Pioneer” transactions were occurring. The Carlyle Group received $275 million of Florida public employees’ pension savings for donating $69,000 to keep George W. Bush in the White House. As one pundit noted, the special relationship between Jeb and giant financial institutions really means that the “quid pro quo was a double windfall for the Bush clan,” and contributed to monumental pension losses for Florida public employees."

Walker Keeps Telling Tales Out Of School

Walker Keeps Telling Tales Out Of School

"On Sunday, Walker appeared with Chuckles the Toad on Meet the Press. Since Chuckles was letting him get away with saying about anything, Walker laid it on thick regarding his record on education in Wisconsin."

The Conservative Media Hi-jacked the GOP

New report examines Kochs' role in Hurricane Katrina damage and slow recovery

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/28/1416301/-New-report-examines-Kochs-role-in-Hurricane-Katrina-damage-and-slow-recovery
"the Kochs' "PR machine" is in full gear, with the Kochs sponsoring all kinds of 10th anniversary events, "using their positive PR effort to distract from their business practices and response ten years ago," once again using "Hurricane Katrina to their own benefit"."

How Jeb! helped his corporate buddies profit off Katrina

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/28/1416355/-How-Jeb-helped-his-corporate-buddies-profit-off-Katrina
"Jeb!'s role in a federally funded post-Katrina boondoggle inspired by high-dollar donors close to his campaign and the GOP."

Bombshell Report Reveals That The Kochs Profited From The Misery Of Katrina Victims

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/08/28/report-documents-kochs-compounded-profited-hurricane-katrina.html
"The Koch brothers see opportunity in natural disasters. In some cases, their actions can intensify the disaster’s impact, but more importantly, after the catastrophe unfolds they can exploit the tragedy to make more money. The Koch brothers are “disaster capitalists” who see in other people’s suffering an opportunity to further enrich themselves."

A Corporatist Peek Behind Trump

Donald Trump humiliates himself on conservative radio: “That is a gotcha question! This is ridiculous!”

Donald Trump humiliates himself on conservative radio: “That is a gotcha question! This is ridiculous!”

"Hewitt wanted to conclude the interview by asking Trump a few questions of the sort he can expect in the upcoming debate, and Trump was amenable — at least, that is, until he realized that he didn’t know how to answer any of the questions, because he fundamentally didn’t know what they were about. For example, Hewitt asked him if he was familiar with General Soleimani, and Trump replied like any panicked student would, saying “Yes, but go ahead, give me a little, go ahead, tell me.”

Hewitt told him he runs the Quds Forces — the Iranian equivalent of the Navy SEALs — and Trump started talking about the Kurds. “No, not the Kurds, the Quds Forces, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Forces,” Hewitt said.

“I thought you said Kurds,” Trump replied, and tried to start talking about them again. Hewitt insisted he talk about the Quds, and an audibly annoyed Trump started speaking generally about “what’s happening with Iran.”

Hewitt allowed him to do so, but shortly thereafter asked him another specific question about the Middle East. “I’m looking for the next commander-in-chief, to know who Hassan Nasrallah is, and Zawahiri, and al-Julani, and al-Baghdadi. Do you know the players without a scorecard, yet, Donald Trump?” he asked.

Trump’s reply was a magisterial defense of the virtues of his ignorance, worthy of quoting it in its entirety:

No, you know, I’ll tell you honestly, I think by the time we get to office, they’ll all be changed. They’ll be all gone. I knew you were going to ask me things like this, and there’s no reason, because number one, I’ll find, I will hopefully find General Douglas MacArthur in the pack. I will find whoever it is that I’ll find, and we’ll, but they’re all changing, Hugh. If, if they’re still there, which is unlikely in many cases, but if they’re still there, I will know them better than I know you.

Hewitt, taken aback, said “I don’t believe in gotcha questions — and I’m not trying to quiz you on who the worst guy in the world is.”

Trump was on a roll though, and replied that that was “a gotcha question, though. I mean, you know, when you’re asking me about who’s running this, this this, that’s not, that is not — I will be so good at the military, your head will spin.”

As if that weren’t enough empty bluster, Trump argued that he doesn’t know who these figures are because he doesn’t have personal relationships with them."

7 Inconvenient Truths for Trump About Immigration @alternet

7 Inconvenient Truths for Trump About Immigration @alternet

"Trump and his followers don’t want their rage disrupted or redirected to the real causes of economic insecurity: how America’s capitalist system, exemplified by selfish strivers like Trump, has made a growing schism of have-nots and haves. Instead, it’s easier to falsely blame some of the most powerless people in America—undocumented immigrants—by fingering a fake threat, undocumented Mexicans, and a fake remedy, a bigger wall."

White Supremacist Jared Taylor Explains Why Trump Is His Guy

White Supremacist Jared Taylor Explains Why Trump Is His Guy

"So we finally come to an understanding of what the strategy is for 2016. Pick off some white supremacists here, some Christian fundies over there -- all white, of course -- and hope to win with white people and white people alone.

Of course, that assumes that all white people, in their heart of hearts, are so afraid of Black and Brown people that they will fall into lockstep with the likes of Jared Taylor.

Good luck with that, GOP."

The GOP’s True Form Has Finally Been Revealed: A Revolting Frankenstein Monster

White Nationalists for Trump: The disturbing truth about The Donald’s base

White Nationalists for Trump: The disturbing truth about The Donald’s base

"In Evan Osnos’ excellent New Yorker piece last week detailing Trump’s emerging support among white nationalists, he found many of his rallies were also populated by supporters casually selling white supremacist merchandise, from books such as “The True Selma Story,” “Authentic History of the Ku Klux Klan” to stickers reading “The Federal Empire Is Killing the American Dream”. Indeed, there is little evidence of Trump ever denouncing white nationalism outright, only vaguely belittling their value to him or acting like he doesn’t know who they are. He recently told Bloomberg News, for example, that he “doesn’t need” or “want” David Duke’s endorsement but when asked if he would repudiate the former KKK Grand Wizard, he glibly said, “sure, if it makes you feel better I will.” This answer was apparently good enough for Mark Halperin who quickly moved on but should outrage any thinking person. One should jump at the chance to distance themselves from the KKK, Trump did so reluctantly and only because it made Halperin “feel better"."

New poll indicates exactly who’s supporting Donald Trump — and the GOP should be worried

New poll indicates exactly who’s supporting Donald Trump — and the GOP should be worried

"By a significant majority, Trump’s supporters consist of the relatives you’ve been forced to block on Facebook because you’d finally seen enough pictures of President Barack Obama’s face superimposed onto the body of a chimpanzee or suicide bomber. Public Policy Polling’s latest national poll found that 66 percent of Trump’s supporters believe Obama is a Muslim, compared to only 12 percent who believe he’s Christian."

Ted Cruz is not a true-believing wingnut — he’s something much more dangerous

Ted Cruz is not a true-believing wingnut — he’s something much more dangerous

"If Ted Cruz swallowed an enema, I’m convinced he’d disappear. The man lies and panders and exaggerates with near-heroic virtuosity. If you’ve watched him in the debates or on the stump, you know exactly what I mean. As I noted a few weeks ago, Cruz delivers every line as though he’s auditioning for “Hamlet.” His flair for the dramatic has kept his name in the headlines, which is all that matters in the Republican Party.

For several months Cruz has positioned himself as the candidate of right-wing theocrats. His only real competition on this front has been Mike Huckabee. Bobby Jindal and Rick Santorum have tried to desperately to appeal to this same constituency, but no one has cared and even fewer have listened. So we’re left, it seems, with Cruz as the savior of the Christian right."

Jeb Bush declares war on American labor: “People should work longer hours”

Jeb Bush declares war on American labor: “People should work longer hours”

"Recent research indicates that U.S. productivity has increased steadily since the 1940s. Through the 1950s and 1960s, hourly compensation rose along with productivity, but in the 1970s this connection severed. Since then, a disproportionate share of earnings has gone to shareholders and upper management rather than to ordinary workers. Instead of having already overworked Americans remain at work longer, a more sensible solution to the country’s economic woes would be to ensure that productivity growth translates into higher wages and to make sure there is continued investments in research and development that lead to innovations. Such investments require vision and risk-taking, but simply squeezing workers harder is not a viable alternative."

Trump: Everyone Likes Me, Even The Klan!

The Rise of Donald Trump Has Cemented the GOP’s Legacy as the Party of Stupid

The Rise of Donald Trump Has Cemented the GOP’s Legacy as the Party of Stupid

"I love it when I hear Republicans try to find excuses as to why Trump has become such a right-wing favorite. They’ll say things like “he’s just telling it how it is” or “he’s just tapping into an anger that many Americans have felt.”

Bullsh*t.

Trump has become a right-wing hero because he’s just saying whatever the hell it is he thinks Republicans want to hear. He doesn’t care if most of what he’s saying is complete nonsense, because he knows conservatives couldn’t care less about facts or truth – they just want someone who tells them what they want to hear. He’s pandering to racism, bigotry and ignorance. If you can do that effectively (which he has) conservatives will love you."

Group behind Planned Parenthood attacks has close ties to extremists

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/31/1417154/-Group-behind-Planned-Parenthood-attacks-has-close-ties-to-extremists#
"The group behind the falsified videos attacking Planned Parenthood calls itself a "group of citizen journalists," but is of course not actually journalists. What the so-called Center for Medical Progress really is is a group of committed anti-abortion activists with close ties to "some of the country's hardest-line anti-abortion extremists," according to the Southern Poverty Law Center."

First prominent Republican politician to endorse Trump is arguably the most racist

First prominent Republican politician to endorse Trump is arguably the most racist

"The endorsement was fitting, because Sessions has been known as one of Congress’ biggest bigots."

Jeb Bush Blatantly Lies About Planned Parenthood in Desperate Attempt to Save His Campaign

Jeb Bush Blatantly Lies About Planned Parenthood in Desperate Attempt to Save His Campaign

"As Jeb Bush’s campaign continues to sink, expect his rhetoric to only get worse and more ridiculous. Because as we’ve seen with Donald Trump’s popularity, conservative voters don’t want to hear the truth – they just want to support the most entertaining clown at the circus."

Ellen Page Confronts Ted Cruz On LGBTQ Rights

Cruz Sends Sermon to Thousands of Pastors in Violation of Fed. Law: How Many Will Read it at Church

Cruz Sends Sermon to Thousands of Pastors in Violation of Fed. Law: How Many Will Read it at Church

"Mindless babble from a mindless conservative, right? Except for the fact that pastors preaching Cruz’s sermon is violating the terms of its 501(c)3 nonprofit status. Churches and religious groups are not permitted to practice politics, this is what provides them with their tax-exempt status."

Ted Cruz Reaches New Low, Uses Tombstones Of Dead Soldiers to Fearmonger About Religious Freedom

Ted Cruz Reaches New Low, Uses Tombstones Of Dead Soldiers to Fearmonger About Religious Freedom

"You see, this is just what Ted Cruz does. He knowingly spreads misinformation and lies because he’s well aware that conservatives are ignorant enough to believe it and get scared."

Evangelical Pastor Claims Giving Him Your Hard-Earned Money Can Cure Brain Tumors (VIDEO)

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/08/28/evangelical-pastor-claims-giving-him-your-hard-earned-money-can-cure-brain-tumors-video/
"It becomes another thing entirely, though, when someone uses their position to steal money from people on false pretenses. Parsley, by all accounts, has used the church over the years for tremendous financial gain. He flies’s around in a personal jet and makes untold amounts of money on the backs of his many followers. Somehow, people still buy this propaganda. It should be illegal."

Before Concert Foo Fighters Troll Demonstrators of the Famous Hate Group Westboro Baptist Church

Before Concert Foo Fighters Troll Demonstrators of the Famous Hate Group Westboro Baptist Church

"Before a concert in Kansas City, the Foo Fighters Rick Rolled protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church. The band cruised by in a pickup truck, blasting Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give Up” much to the enjoyment of the public. This is brilliant."