Bobby Thompson passed away yesterday and with him goes a whole host of childhood memories of my youth. As a kid I was a die-hard Brooklyn Dodgers fan and for the decade 1947-1957, I was pretty spoiled. The Dodgers won 6 National League (NL) pennants in that time and should have won 8. In 1950 they lost in the last game of the season to the Phillies and in 1951 Bobby Thompson hit a 3-run homer in the 9th inning with the Dodgers ahead 4-2 in the last game of a 3- game play-off because the season had ended in a tie.
The interesting thing about that 1951 season was that the Dodgers were 13 ½ games ahead of the second place Giants in August and still the season ended in a tie. I thought how could we lose? All we needed was to play .500 baseball for the rest of the year and we’re a shoo-in. Well, the Giants hardy lost a game from mid-August to October. They won 37 of their final 44 games. Quite a feat in baseball!
I hated the Giants! The rivalry with the Dodgers was one of the most intense in the NL, as it is today between Los Angeles and San Francisco, but not quite the same, since they are not in the same city now. Even though the Dodgers dominated the league in that decade, the Giants always managed to give them a tough battle no matter how bad a team they had. To top matters, my best friend and eventually the best man at my wedding was an avid Giant fan and he finally had his moment that dim day in October, 1951.
The Yankees went on to beat the Giants in 5 games in the World Series and over the years Ralph Branca (the Dodger pitcher who gave up the homer) and Thompson became good friends and appeared together at many functions when their playing days were over. I grew up to appreciate both of them over the years as good competitors who managed to etch their names into baseball history, even though neither made it to the Hall of Fame.
An interesting footnote to this story is that Yogi Berra, the famous Yankee catcher, attended that famous game with some teammates, eager to see which team they would face in the Series. After the Dodgers scored three times in the eighth inning to lead 4-1, Berra decided he had seen enough and left the ballpark to beat the traffic. That’s when he developed one of his most famous “Yogi-isms” which many of us still use today and will be indelibly engrained in our lexicon, “it ain’t over till it’s over”.
Don’t worry Bobby, you won’t be forgotten and they’ll still talk about your historic feat long after we’re gone. It still ain’t over.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
The Gulf Spill - Where Did All the Oil Go?
Although we are not out of the woods yet, it would appear that the Deepwater Horizon blow-out is under control after 100+ days and oil is no longer spewing into the Gulf of Mexico. Also, you should note that all sorts of scientists, environmentalists, and government agencies are out there in planes and ships looking for the oil but can’t seem to find it, except for some disconnected patches. However, you don’t see much of this reported in the media. Some 40-60,000 barrels of oil per day were released for almost 100 days, where did it all go?
Well, a small amount did find its way to the Louisiana shore line and wetlands, and maybe some tainted the beaches in Pensacola, and unfortunately some pelicans and turtles may have been lost but not many relative to their population. Some of the oil was burned, mostly at the site of the blow-out, some of the lighter components were evaporated by the warm temperatures in the Gulf, and most of the rest has been and is being broken up and bio-degraded by the many organisms that inhabit the ocean. How can this happen so fast? Simply, the use of the dispersant, COREXIT 9500™.
The COREXIT™ Story
COREXIT™ has been the go –to dispersant in the oil industry for decades, it was developed by Exxon Production Research (EPR) and Exxon Chemicals, and yours truly speaks with some knowledge about this, since I had a part to play in its development and application in major oil spills. Its inventor was a microbiologist named Dr. Gordon Lindblom, a friend and co-worker I met at (EPR) in 1962. No matter what you read in the press, COREXIT™ is not Dawn™ or Joy™ dishwasher soap. The media love to use this over simplification. It is a unique class of chemical that is particularly effective at dispersing crude oil, which is different from most of the refined and natural oils that you and I come across in our daily lives.
Since the chemical was not patentable itself, Gordon was able to obtain a “use” patent for this class of chemicals for use in oil spills, which gave Exxon exclusive rights for these applications for 17 years. When I transferred to Exxon Chemical I encouraged Gordon to join our research organization and added COREXIT™ to our product line and encouraged him to develop better application techniques for offshore spills. He proceeded to become the world’s expert on aerial spray applications, designing specific equipment for aircraft used in these applications.
In the meantime, we contracted long-term toxicity studies to determine the effect of the dispersant on fish and other sea creatures, as well as evaluate its impact on the food-chain. No significant long-term toxic effects have ever been proven or illustrated, plenty have been speculated.
The Ixtoc 1 Blow-Out
In 1979, when the Mexican oil company, PEMEX, had a blow –out on the IXTOC 1 platform off the coast of Cuidad del Carmen in the southern Gulf of Mexico, I was in charge of the chemical division involved with the COREXIT™ product and spent may weeks and trips to Mexico convincing the authorities in charge of the clean-up that COREXIT™ would prevent environmental damage to their beaches and resort areas. As the spill moved north towards the Texas coastline, the EPA would not permit us to use the dispersants to prevent damage to the U.S. coastline at Padre Island. The Mexicans made the right decision and not one drop of oil ever hit the Mexican coast, while Padre Island resorts were basically closed for many weeks while the manual work of clean-up went on. The IXTOC spill went on for 10 months although it was only in 100 ft. of water, but was worse than the BP spill in terms of volume.
BP’s Handling of the Clean-Up
I believe that the key to minimizing environmental damage in the case of BP was the sub-surface application of the dispersant directly at the well head, combined with the aerial application. This technology did not exist at the time of the IXTOC spill.
We are now hearing rumblings from legislators how BP and the U.S. Coast Guard ignored President Obama’s executive order and the EPA to terminate the use of dispersants early in the process. Thank God, they did or our Gulf beaches would be badly contaminated, our fishing and resort industries would be in shambles, and a lot more pelicans would have died.
So that’s where all the oil went, and now I await a rebuttal from some of my environmentalist friends who are trying to protect us in their well meaning but misguided way.
A Footnote
P.S. Exxon sold its Specialty Chemicals business and the COREXIT™ technology to Nalco Chemicals in the early 90’s and Nalco was the vendor to BP for the spill. To my knowledge no change was made in the formula and Exxon was not involved other than offering counsel in its oil spill expertise. Exxon was not permitted by the government to use COREXIT™in the Valdez tanker spill.
Well, a small amount did find its way to the Louisiana shore line and wetlands, and maybe some tainted the beaches in Pensacola, and unfortunately some pelicans and turtles may have been lost but not many relative to their population. Some of the oil was burned, mostly at the site of the blow-out, some of the lighter components were evaporated by the warm temperatures in the Gulf, and most of the rest has been and is being broken up and bio-degraded by the many organisms that inhabit the ocean. How can this happen so fast? Simply, the use of the dispersant, COREXIT 9500™.
The COREXIT™ Story
COREXIT™ has been the go –to dispersant in the oil industry for decades, it was developed by Exxon Production Research (EPR) and Exxon Chemicals, and yours truly speaks with some knowledge about this, since I had a part to play in its development and application in major oil spills. Its inventor was a microbiologist named Dr. Gordon Lindblom, a friend and co-worker I met at (EPR) in 1962. No matter what you read in the press, COREXIT™ is not Dawn™ or Joy™ dishwasher soap. The media love to use this over simplification. It is a unique class of chemical that is particularly effective at dispersing crude oil, which is different from most of the refined and natural oils that you and I come across in our daily lives.
Since the chemical was not patentable itself, Gordon was able to obtain a “use” patent for this class of chemicals for use in oil spills, which gave Exxon exclusive rights for these applications for 17 years. When I transferred to Exxon Chemical I encouraged Gordon to join our research organization and added COREXIT™ to our product line and encouraged him to develop better application techniques for offshore spills. He proceeded to become the world’s expert on aerial spray applications, designing specific equipment for aircraft used in these applications.
In the meantime, we contracted long-term toxicity studies to determine the effect of the dispersant on fish and other sea creatures, as well as evaluate its impact on the food-chain. No significant long-term toxic effects have ever been proven or illustrated, plenty have been speculated.
The Ixtoc 1 Blow-Out
In 1979, when the Mexican oil company, PEMEX, had a blow –out on the IXTOC 1 platform off the coast of Cuidad del Carmen in the southern Gulf of Mexico, I was in charge of the chemical division involved with the COREXIT™ product and spent may weeks and trips to Mexico convincing the authorities in charge of the clean-up that COREXIT™ would prevent environmental damage to their beaches and resort areas. As the spill moved north towards the Texas coastline, the EPA would not permit us to use the dispersants to prevent damage to the U.S. coastline at Padre Island. The Mexicans made the right decision and not one drop of oil ever hit the Mexican coast, while Padre Island resorts were basically closed for many weeks while the manual work of clean-up went on. The IXTOC spill went on for 10 months although it was only in 100 ft. of water, but was worse than the BP spill in terms of volume.
BP’s Handling of the Clean-Up
I believe that the key to minimizing environmental damage in the case of BP was the sub-surface application of the dispersant directly at the well head, combined with the aerial application. This technology did not exist at the time of the IXTOC spill.
We are now hearing rumblings from legislators how BP and the U.S. Coast Guard ignored President Obama’s executive order and the EPA to terminate the use of dispersants early in the process. Thank God, they did or our Gulf beaches would be badly contaminated, our fishing and resort industries would be in shambles, and a lot more pelicans would have died.
So that’s where all the oil went, and now I await a rebuttal from some of my environmentalist friends who are trying to protect us in their well meaning but misguided way.
A Footnote
P.S. Exxon sold its Specialty Chemicals business and the COREXIT™ technology to Nalco Chemicals in the early 90’s and Nalco was the vendor to BP for the spill. To my knowledge no change was made in the formula and Exxon was not involved other than offering counsel in its oil spill expertise. Exxon was not permitted by the government to use COREXIT™in the Valdez tanker spill.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Welfare or Unemployment Benefits?
This corner has been quiet for several weeks as I sit on the sidelines and view the utterly incomprehensible and inept decisions and statements made every day by the Administration. This is covered daily by both sides of the blogosphere and the cable network adversaries. If I were making a living at this, there would be enough grist to write an article every day. So why the silence?
Well, first of all I don’t want to sound like a right wing nut, or another Obama basher. Frankly, there is nothing I could write in recent weeks that would give this President a fair shake and, therefore, I would be just another member of the chorus. Poor leadership and an uncontrolled propensity for deception, political maneuvering, race baiting, contradictions, and hypocrisy, characterize this man from the Gulf oil spill, to foreign policy, national security, and a worsening economy.
To make matters worse, early this week he paraded out three unemployed people in the Rose Garden to announce another “great accomplishment”, the eighth extension of the unemployment benefits program since the recession began. He also criticized those “evil” Republicans who opposed this great achievement and attempted to block it because they merely wanted to offset the cost ($30B) by cutting some expenditures or taking it out of unspent TARP or Stimulus monies. What a terrible idea! Why this is a mere drop in the bucket, what’s $30B to this year’s $1.4 trillion deficit?
Tell me,at what point does 2 years of unemployment benefits become a welfare program? When will these extensions run out? This exercise is a testament to a failed Stimulus package and a contradiction to the “summer of recovery” touted by our totally clueless Vice President. A record 6.7 million Americans have been out of work for at least 6 months, that’s 45.5% of the total jobless, close to the highest ever recorded. The number was 23.4% in February, 2009. How’s that for recovery?
These results confrm several recent studies which conclude that extended unemployment benefits actually raises unemployment rates. If you pay people not to work, they tend to delay looking or get more selective and pass up jobs to wait for the right one, which never comes along. None of us want to deprive our citizens of support in times like this, but if you’re going to extend benefits you ought to make it deficit neutral because the action will stimulate unemployment rather than the economy.
So the beat goes on and this President, his economic advisors, and this bumbling Congress, continue to make the wrong moves that run counter to getting us out of this rut. I keep watching, trying to say something positive about this Administration, and counting the days until November.
Well, first of all I don’t want to sound like a right wing nut, or another Obama basher. Frankly, there is nothing I could write in recent weeks that would give this President a fair shake and, therefore, I would be just another member of the chorus. Poor leadership and an uncontrolled propensity for deception, political maneuvering, race baiting, contradictions, and hypocrisy, characterize this man from the Gulf oil spill, to foreign policy, national security, and a worsening economy.
To make matters worse, early this week he paraded out three unemployed people in the Rose Garden to announce another “great accomplishment”, the eighth extension of the unemployment benefits program since the recession began. He also criticized those “evil” Republicans who opposed this great achievement and attempted to block it because they merely wanted to offset the cost ($30B) by cutting some expenditures or taking it out of unspent TARP or Stimulus monies. What a terrible idea! Why this is a mere drop in the bucket, what’s $30B to this year’s $1.4 trillion deficit?
Tell me,at what point does 2 years of unemployment benefits become a welfare program? When will these extensions run out? This exercise is a testament to a failed Stimulus package and a contradiction to the “summer of recovery” touted by our totally clueless Vice President. A record 6.7 million Americans have been out of work for at least 6 months, that’s 45.5% of the total jobless, close to the highest ever recorded. The number was 23.4% in February, 2009. How’s that for recovery?
These results confrm several recent studies which conclude that extended unemployment benefits actually raises unemployment rates. If you pay people not to work, they tend to delay looking or get more selective and pass up jobs to wait for the right one, which never comes along. None of us want to deprive our citizens of support in times like this, but if you’re going to extend benefits you ought to make it deficit neutral because the action will stimulate unemployment rather than the economy.
So the beat goes on and this President, his economic advisors, and this bumbling Congress, continue to make the wrong moves that run counter to getting us out of this rut. I keep watching, trying to say something positive about this Administration, and counting the days until November.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Leadership 101 - Obama Needs the Course
Earlier this year on these pages, http://conservativesideas.blogspot.com/2010/01/economic-or-leadership-crisis.html, I wrote an article about leadership, where I described the traits of true leaders in certain circumstances. I then went on to illustrate President Obama’s actual actions in those types of situations to make the point that he is not a leader. He is nothing more than an ideologue whose friends and associates are cut from the same cloth. Academics, politicians, and bureaucrats who have no experience in the private sector and when a crisis arises always look for someone to blame or criticize rather than take charge.
Here again , we see in the Gulf oil spill the same kind of response that I illustrated in that article, which usually comes from someone who has no operational experience, has never run anything, and whom 53% of us have given the most difficult job in the world. Heaven help us!
If you recall the actions of some our past Presidents or political leaders you will see what I mean. JFK in the Cuban missile crisis, Ronald Reagan in the Iran hostage crisis, George Bush, Sr. in the Gulf War, George Bush, Jr. after 9/11, and Rudy Giuliani during and after the 9/11 attack. These men illustrated leadership, compassion, and a determination that gave you the sense that they were in charge and will take care of the problem.
Contrast Mr. Obama, who 52 days into the crisis has yet to talk or meet with the CEO of BP to go over their clean-up plan and make sure that they are using all the best minds in the industry to focus on this problem. Instead, his first move is to send his Attorney General down to Louisiana to make sure we have someone to blame and pay for the damages (as if anyone thought BP was going to skip town), plus his Homeland Security advisor who knows nothing about off-shore drilling, his Climate Control Chief, who will check on whether this will affect the climate (as if we care at this point), the Secretary of Energy who advised that he will “keep his boot on the neck of BP” (which was very comforting), and Mr. Obama goes on the Today Show to let us know that he will “kick ass” for all those who are at fault and then tells us that his administration was “on this from day one”, which is a total fabrication.
Leaders don’t have to tell you repeatedly that they are in charge of the situation. You know it, usually by their actions not their words. Unfortunately, we are finding out the hard way that what we really have is a leadership crisis. Let’s all pray that we don’t face an international or terror event in the next two years. Heaven knows that Iran, North Korea, the European economic situation, Venezuela, and many other hot beds over the world can erupt at any moment.
Let’s try to get Obama into a Leadership 101 course within the next two years and then elect a real leader in 2012.
Here again , we see in the Gulf oil spill the same kind of response that I illustrated in that article, which usually comes from someone who has no operational experience, has never run anything, and whom 53% of us have given the most difficult job in the world. Heaven help us!
If you recall the actions of some our past Presidents or political leaders you will see what I mean. JFK in the Cuban missile crisis, Ronald Reagan in the Iran hostage crisis, George Bush, Sr. in the Gulf War, George Bush, Jr. after 9/11, and Rudy Giuliani during and after the 9/11 attack. These men illustrated leadership, compassion, and a determination that gave you the sense that they were in charge and will take care of the problem.
Contrast Mr. Obama, who 52 days into the crisis has yet to talk or meet with the CEO of BP to go over their clean-up plan and make sure that they are using all the best minds in the industry to focus on this problem. Instead, his first move is to send his Attorney General down to Louisiana to make sure we have someone to blame and pay for the damages (as if anyone thought BP was going to skip town), plus his Homeland Security advisor who knows nothing about off-shore drilling, his Climate Control Chief, who will check on whether this will affect the climate (as if we care at this point), the Secretary of Energy who advised that he will “keep his boot on the neck of BP” (which was very comforting), and Mr. Obama goes on the Today Show to let us know that he will “kick ass” for all those who are at fault and then tells us that his administration was “on this from day one”, which is a total fabrication.
Leaders don’t have to tell you repeatedly that they are in charge of the situation. You know it, usually by their actions not their words. Unfortunately, we are finding out the hard way that what we really have is a leadership crisis. Let’s all pray that we don’t face an international or terror event in the next two years. Heaven knows that Iran, North Korea, the European economic situation, Venezuela, and many other hot beds over the world can erupt at any moment.
Let’s try to get Obama into a Leadership 101 course within the next two years and then elect a real leader in 2012.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Obamacare - The More You Know It The Less You Like It
It’s beginning to be apparent that all we said about Obamacare was true. Nancy Pelosi said, “Let’s pass this bill first, and then we find out what’s in it”. Mr. Obama said “those who like their current coverage will be able to keep it” (not true), and “your coverage and quality of care will remain unchanged”, again (not true).
Soon millions of American workers will discover that they no longer have employer-provided health insurance because employers now realize that it is cheaper to pay government fines than to insure their employees. According to the House Energy and Commerce Committee several major companies have made internal calculations to determine how much can be saved by dropping their employer-provided insurance, paying a $2,000 fine for each employee, and leave their employees the option of buying government subsidized insurance in the newly created private health insurance exchange created by Obamacare.
Well, if the answer is what AT&T just came up with, you can kiss the 50+ year system of employer-sponsored health insurance, goodbye. Last year, AT&T paid $2.4B to cover the medical costs of its 283,000 active employees. By dropping its health plan and paying the annual fine for each uninsured worker, the cost will total $600M, leaving AT&T with a handsome profit of $1.8B. That may be better than the deal they got with Apple on the iPhone! A new income stream compliments of Obamacare.
The unfortunate thing is now that cost will be subsided by the government (or the U.S. taxpayer) across all income levels by those who pay tax. The problem is that with this new set up, low income employees (i.e. $30,000/yr) paying no income tax get an annual subsidy in the new insurance exchange of about $19,400, almost $17,000 more than the current employer-sponsored system as the government pays almost all the premium and most of the out-of-pocket costs. The employees making $100,000/yr get no subsidy in the insurance exchange.
In Massachusetts, people who get subsidized insurance from an exchange are put in health plans that pay health providers Medicaid rates plus 10%. That’s less than Medicare pays, and significantly less than rates paid in private plans. So now that we pushed 32 million more people into the system with Obamacare, and employers will eventually push millions more into subsidized health plans, and no one is doing much about adding new doctors, it looks like people with low reimbursement rates will have to get in the rear of the line.
My doctor just told me that her income went down by 1/3 last year and it may be 1/2 this year. If you have a government subsidized plan, how long will you wait until she gets to you? And how much time will she spend with you? So, Mr. Obama said this will lowers costs, with no change in the quality of your care. Do you believe it?
Soon millions of American workers will discover that they no longer have employer-provided health insurance because employers now realize that it is cheaper to pay government fines than to insure their employees. According to the House Energy and Commerce Committee several major companies have made internal calculations to determine how much can be saved by dropping their employer-provided insurance, paying a $2,000 fine for each employee, and leave their employees the option of buying government subsidized insurance in the newly created private health insurance exchange created by Obamacare.
Well, if the answer is what AT&T just came up with, you can kiss the 50+ year system of employer-sponsored health insurance, goodbye. Last year, AT&T paid $2.4B to cover the medical costs of its 283,000 active employees. By dropping its health plan and paying the annual fine for each uninsured worker, the cost will total $600M, leaving AT&T with a handsome profit of $1.8B. That may be better than the deal they got with Apple on the iPhone! A new income stream compliments of Obamacare.
The unfortunate thing is now that cost will be subsided by the government (or the U.S. taxpayer) across all income levels by those who pay tax. The problem is that with this new set up, low income employees (i.e. $30,000/yr) paying no income tax get an annual subsidy in the new insurance exchange of about $19,400, almost $17,000 more than the current employer-sponsored system as the government pays almost all the premium and most of the out-of-pocket costs. The employees making $100,000/yr get no subsidy in the insurance exchange.
In Massachusetts, people who get subsidized insurance from an exchange are put in health plans that pay health providers Medicaid rates plus 10%. That’s less than Medicare pays, and significantly less than rates paid in private plans. So now that we pushed 32 million more people into the system with Obamacare, and employers will eventually push millions more into subsidized health plans, and no one is doing much about adding new doctors, it looks like people with low reimbursement rates will have to get in the rear of the line.
My doctor just told me that her income went down by 1/3 last year and it may be 1/2 this year. If you have a government subsidized plan, how long will you wait until she gets to you? And how much time will she spend with you? So, Mr. Obama said this will lowers costs, with no change in the quality of your care. Do you believe it?
Saturday, May 8, 2010
The Cap & Trade Heist - Part III
Thus far you’ve seen how the same clique of people is planning to benefit from Cap & Trade legislation. Former discredited executives from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, investors in CCX from the Joyce Foundation, the Tides Foundation, GIM, the Center for American Progress, and the Apollo Alliance, the group that actually wrote the $780B Stimulus Bill for Congress, and the 24 Czars who will be running all this from inside this administration.
Mind you, less than six percent of the people in this administration have had private business experience, most of them are socialist organization leaders, union thugs and bosses,evironmentalists, and academics. So now the stage is set to pass this misguided legislation that has already been shown in Europe to be a disaster. Spain adopted it and, like Greece, is on the verge of bankruptcy and will need to be “bailed-out” by the European Union and/or the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for which the U.S. has a 17% liability, 3x as much as any country who participates in it.
Remember the Cap & Trade (or Climate) bill passed the house in June 2009 as Nancy Pelosi hustled it through by a slim 7 vote margin. She was actually able to get 7 Republicans to vote for it, and then it quickly went on the shelf as it was apparent that it wouldn’t get by the Senate, so the emphasis went to Obamacare. Obama would love to get this passed in order to generate the estimated $600B/yr it would provide for the government coffers and help offset the $2+ trillion that Obamacare will eventually cost. This is in addition to the money in increased energy prices that you will bear.
The Progressives need Cap & Trade to complete their transformational agenda and they need to get it done before the November election when they will lose control of the House. The public does not want this bill, but that does not concern this Congress. Therefore, the stage is set for a fight that will eventually break the back of the Obama presidency. They have the investors the technology, and the cover in place, all those no-name individuals who lurk behind the scenes. What is lacking is the law that will open the way to make it happen.
Mind you, less than six percent of the people in this administration have had private business experience, most of them are socialist organization leaders, union thugs and bosses,evironmentalists, and academics. So now the stage is set to pass this misguided legislation that has already been shown in Europe to be a disaster. Spain adopted it and, like Greece, is on the verge of bankruptcy and will need to be “bailed-out” by the European Union and/or the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for which the U.S. has a 17% liability, 3x as much as any country who participates in it.
Remember the Cap & Trade (or Climate) bill passed the house in June 2009 as Nancy Pelosi hustled it through by a slim 7 vote margin. She was actually able to get 7 Republicans to vote for it, and then it quickly went on the shelf as it was apparent that it wouldn’t get by the Senate, so the emphasis went to Obamacare. Obama would love to get this passed in order to generate the estimated $600B/yr it would provide for the government coffers and help offset the $2+ trillion that Obamacare will eventually cost. This is in addition to the money in increased energy prices that you will bear.
The Progressives need Cap & Trade to complete their transformational agenda and they need to get it done before the November election when they will lose control of the House. The public does not want this bill, but that does not concern this Congress. Therefore, the stage is set for a fight that will eventually break the back of the Obama presidency. They have the investors the technology, and the cover in place, all those no-name individuals who lurk behind the scenes. What is lacking is the law that will open the way to make it happen.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
The Cap & Trade Heist - Part II
The people who established the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) claim that when it is fully operational it will be trading carbon emissions valued at $10 trillion/yr. To put that in perspective the New York Stock Exchange trades securities valued at about $14 trillion/yr. Wow! This global warming thing is really going to be good! Sounds like marketing to me.
One of the investors in this is the Joyce Foundation of Chicago. This foundation was established in 1948 by the Joyce family who generated their wealth in the lumber mills and retail building materials market in the Midwest and Louisiana. Its original mission was with religious, charitable, scientific, literary, and educational endeavors, but when the sole heir died the foundation was taken over by a liberal-minded Board which now emphasizes programs for welfare oriented causes, the environment, gun violence, money, and politics.
When State Senator Obama and his friend Valerie Jarret got on the Board, grants were provided that went to the establishment of CCX and other programs for entitlements in the in the South Chicago area for education and gun violence. Since the State is now considering bringing in the National Guard to stem the tide of violence in South Chicago this year and the fact that the schools are still among the worse in the country, these funds don’t seem to have been used effectively.
After Joyce, some of the other usual suspects surfaced to put money in the CCX. The Tides Foundation, which is chaired by Wade Rathke (ACORN) gets money from George Soros and the Center for American Progress. At the end of 2006 the Tides Foundation and Center had assets of $185M and passes money along to many radical and even Communist organizations so that it is “laundered” and donors can avoid a paper trail. More investors have surfaced for the CCX. Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management, LLC (GIM) is a London based management investment firm that focuses on the green revolution and various global warming projects. The Managing Partner is David Blood, former Goldman Sachs executive, so obviously money from credible organizations goes to GIM, since they don’t want to appear to be negative about all these money-losing green projects.
Now that the investors are on board we must have the technology for the CCX, so right after the Democrats took control of Congress during Bush’s second term, the infamous Franklin Raines, a Clinton appointee who was presiding over Fannie Mae (FM) used FM money to secure a patent for the U.S. CCX idea. You remember Raines, the housing bust can be laid in his lap for his sub-prime mortgage policies, and he eventually was discredited and exiled to the woodwork, but not after he pocketed $90M ($52M in bonuses) because FM results were so good during this fiasco. He now is a Board member of Enterprise Community Properties an organization dedicated to good housing for all deserving people. It’s trying to undo the mess he created, so I guess that’s why he is on the Board!
Well, we now have the investors and the technology. In the finale, Part III, let’s look at the law and the cover.
One of the investors in this is the Joyce Foundation of Chicago. This foundation was established in 1948 by the Joyce family who generated their wealth in the lumber mills and retail building materials market in the Midwest and Louisiana. Its original mission was with religious, charitable, scientific, literary, and educational endeavors, but when the sole heir died the foundation was taken over by a liberal-minded Board which now emphasizes programs for welfare oriented causes, the environment, gun violence, money, and politics.
When State Senator Obama and his friend Valerie Jarret got on the Board, grants were provided that went to the establishment of CCX and other programs for entitlements in the in the South Chicago area for education and gun violence. Since the State is now considering bringing in the National Guard to stem the tide of violence in South Chicago this year and the fact that the schools are still among the worse in the country, these funds don’t seem to have been used effectively.
After Joyce, some of the other usual suspects surfaced to put money in the CCX. The Tides Foundation, which is chaired by Wade Rathke (ACORN) gets money from George Soros and the Center for American Progress. At the end of 2006 the Tides Foundation and Center had assets of $185M and passes money along to many radical and even Communist organizations so that it is “laundered” and donors can avoid a paper trail. More investors have surfaced for the CCX. Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management, LLC (GIM) is a London based management investment firm that focuses on the green revolution and various global warming projects. The Managing Partner is David Blood, former Goldman Sachs executive, so obviously money from credible organizations goes to GIM, since they don’t want to appear to be negative about all these money-losing green projects.
Now that the investors are on board we must have the technology for the CCX, so right after the Democrats took control of Congress during Bush’s second term, the infamous Franklin Raines, a Clinton appointee who was presiding over Fannie Mae (FM) used FM money to secure a patent for the U.S. CCX idea. You remember Raines, the housing bust can be laid in his lap for his sub-prime mortgage policies, and he eventually was discredited and exiled to the woodwork, but not after he pocketed $90M ($52M in bonuses) because FM results were so good during this fiasco. He now is a Board member of Enterprise Community Properties an organization dedicated to good housing for all deserving people. It’s trying to undo the mess he created, so I guess that’s why he is on the Board!
Well, we now have the investors and the technology. In the finale, Part III, let’s look at the law and the cover.
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