Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Patriot Coal Seeks Trust to Limit Retiree Health Costs - WSJ.com

Patriot Coal Seeks Trust to Limit Retiree Health Costs - WSJ.com:

'click link

snip


Retiree health costs are expected to reach $73.8 million in 2013, nearly double the maximum proposed funding this year, according to the documents.
Patriot declined to comment.
A VEBA is a trust set up to manage investments to pay for employee benefits. The Partiot VEBA would apply to all beneficiaries in company retiree health plans.
Patriot assumed the majority of its legacy liabilities when it was spun off fromPeabody Energy Inc., BTU -4.07% the nation's biggest coal producer, in 2007. Patriot also acquired retiree liabilities when it purchased Magnum Coal in 2008. Magnum, made up of former assets of Arch Coal Inc., ACI -3.39% the nation's No. 2 coal producer, was owned by a private-equity firm at the time.
As a result, 90% of retirees listed as Patriot's obligation today never worked for Patriot, but were once employed by Peabody or Arch.
The fight over retiree health benefits is pitting the greatly diminished mine workers union against two of the nation's most powerful coal producers—over an issue that has been a source of strife for decades, especially in an industry where workers often suffer medical problems later in life.
Today, the UMWA represents about 25% of the nation's coal miners and has far more retired members than active ones, after decades of automation streamlined operations and reduced mining jobs.

10 arrested as hundreds of mine workers protest coal company in St. Louis : Stltoday

10 arrested as hundreds of mine workers protest coal company in St. Louis : Stltoday

click link

snip

 
The mine workers say the protest is a bid to save health care and pension benefits at risk of being stripped away during the Chapter 11 proceeding. They are trying to put public pressure on Peabody Energy, but the St. Louis company said it has lived up to its obligations. Any dispute is between workers and Patriot Coal, according to Peabody Energy, and should be decided in bankruptcy court.

About 800 mine workers and supporters rallied outside the federal courthouse four blocks away from Peabody Energy headquarters, then marched to the coal company's offices at 701 Market Street.
United Mine Workers of America president Cecil E. Roberts and nine other union members took places sitting on the pavement on 7th Street. Police officers lined the street.

After prayers, and the singing of Amazing Grace by the protesters, a police lieutenant moved in and told Roberts and the others they had to disperse. When they didn't, they were handcuffed with plastic ties and moved to waiting police vans. They were held for failure to disperse, an ordinance violation.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

UMWA miners protest against Patriot Coal bankruptcy; 10 arrested.

ArcelorMittal workers clash with police over Belgium closures | euronews, world news

ArcelorMittal workers clash with police over Belgium closures | euronews, world news:

'click link

snip


A protest against planned job losses at ArcelorMittal has led to clashes between riot police and workers in Belgium’s Wallonian capital of Namur.
Water cannon were used to drive back protestors who were throwing small items at the police.
The world’s leading steel and mine company has decided to close a plant in Liège and six production lines in Belgium, putting 1,300 jobs at risk.
Workers have the backing of Belgium’s prime minister Elio Di Rupo, who said he supports efforts to find an industrial solution after meeting with ArcelorMittal union leaders.
The world’s biggest steel maker, headed by Lakshmi Mittal, is blaming the closures on a fall in demand of up to nine percent last year.


United Mine Workers president among union members arrested at St. Louis protest » The Commercial Appeal

United Mine Workers president among union members arrested at St. Louis protest » The Commercial Appeal:

click link

snip


MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The president of the United Mine Workers of America and nine other union members were arrested Tuesday while protesting outside the St. Louis headquarters of Peabody Energy, one of the companies the union accuses of orchestrating business deals that bankrupted Patriot Coal.
That Chapter 11 bankruptcy has jeopardized pension and health care benefits for some 10,000 retirees and another 10,000 dependents, mostly in West Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.
More than 750 current and former miners from those states and their families rallied outside the federal building in St. Louis, where a bankruptcy hearing was being held, before marching through the city streets to Peabody's building.
Neither Peabody nor Patriot immediately commented, but the union posted an hourlong video of the event online, with union president Cecil Roberts leading the crowd in repeatedly chanting "Unions!" as police lined the federal courthouse steps behind them.

United Mine Workers to protest Patriot hearing | ksdk.com

United Mine Workers to protest Patriot hearing | ksdk.com:

click link for story.  several soar folks there from both sides of river

 

GOP Takes on Big Bank CEOS?!

Monday, January 28, 2013

peabody protest jobs with justice

CBTU co-sponsors Mineworkers Rally Against Peabody Tuesday, January 29, 10am Peabody Energy created Patriot Corporation in 2007, shedding health benefits it promised to thousands of coal miners who gave a lifetime of hard work. This allowed Peabody to wash its hands of its obligations, and now Patriot is using bankruptcy to wipe out the retirees' health care benefits. That means thousands of current and retired miners will be left to cope with black lung, cancer and crippling injuries on their own. Coalition of Black Trade Unionists - St. Louis has co-sponsored the United Mine Workers' Rally this Tuesday. Patriot Coal's bankruptcy hearings start this week, and hundreds of miners are coming in town to demand Peabody be held accountable for the retiree health benefits they promised. Join them tomorrow, Tuesday January 29, at 10am in downtown St. Louis at the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse, 111 South 10th Street, St. Louis, MO 63102. For more information, or to RSVP, contact St. Louis Organizer Aaron Burnett at Aaron@stl-jwj.org. ------- steelworkers meeting at kiener plaza at 9 am

Sunday, January 27, 2013

MWA to protest in St Louis over Patriot

MWA to protest in St Louis over Patriot:

click link

note:  some usw folks will be there too.  Kiener plaza at 9 AM, downtown
tuesday

snip

 The United Mine Workers of America is bussing active and retired miners from across the eastern United States to St Louis on January 29 to protest what it alleges were an attempt to shun obligations to miners and retirees.

The UMWA claims that Patriot Coal was spun from Peabody Energy and Arch Coal and allowed to wither into bankruptcy taking retiree and other miner obligations with it. Patriot, Peabody and Arch have contested those claims, saying market conditions had more to do with Patriot's failure.

Though the company is attempting to come out from under Chapter 11 reorganization, it could potentially use the bankruptcy process to eliminate employee obligations. The UMWA has vehemently fought against this since the bankruptcy was announced.

During the January 29 protest, the group will march to the federal building in St Louis and outside of Peabody Energy's headquarters. 

Saturday, January 26, 2013

UMWA to protest in St. Louis over Patriot - Business, Government Legal News from throughout WV

UMWA to protest in St. Louis over Patriot - Business, Government Legal News from throughout WV

click link

note:  demonstration this coming tuesday is about legacy costs. Peabody intends to dump retirement health promises.  USW folks from both sides of river intend to be there.
9:00 AM at Kiener Plaza, downtown this tuesday morning.

enviromental issues seperate, but folks welcome that care

snip

The United Mine Workers of America is bussing active and retired miners from across the eastern United States to St. Louis on Jan. 29 to protest what it alleges were an attempt to shun obligations to miners and retirees.
The UMWA claims that Patriot Coal was spun from Peabody Energy and Arch Coal and allowed to wither into bankruptcy — taking retiree and other miner obligations with it. Patriot, Peabody and Arch have contested those claims, saying market conditions had more to do with Patriot's failure.
Though the company is attempting to come out from under Chapter 11 reorganization, it could potentially use the bankruptcy process to eliminate employee obligations. The UMWA has vehemently fought against this since the bankruptcy was announced.
During the Jan. 29 protest, the group will march to the federal building in St. Louis and outside of Peabody Energy's headquarters. 
"What we have here is a company reneging on its promises," said UMWA President Cecil E. Roberts, referring to Peabody. "We're not going to take it. We will fight for our members and their families in the courts, in the coalfields and in the streets of St. Louis. Patriot and Peabody have a moral obligation to those who mined their coal."
There are more than 2,000 active UMWA members working at Patriot operations in West Virginia and Kentucky. Additionally, more than 10,000 retirees receive health care benefits from the company.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Judges slap down Obama 'recess appointments.' Case headed to Supreme Court? - CSMonitor.com

Judges slap down Obama 'recess appointments.' Case headed to Supreme Court? - CSMonitor.com:

click link

snip

 The three judges ruling unanimously Friday are Republican appointees.

Obama is pushing the NLRB in a pro-union direction, Republicans contend. Democrats say that’s just a corrective to the pro-business bent of the NLRB under President George W. Bush. The NLRB is an independent agency that conducts elections for labor-union representation and investigates unfair labor practices.

North Korea Says New Nuclear Test Will Be Aimed At The United States

"This Is A Sick Joke On ALL Of Us!" Obama Nominates Wall Street Protecto...

Jesse Ventura on why we realy fight wars. All wars-false flag.

"RON PAUL KILLED HIS EMPLOYEE!"---healthcare

Embarrassing Fake Youtube Views Exposed

What’s the point of the Senate?

What’s the point of the Senate?

click link

 snip

 
President Obama won widespread praise from the left for his inaugural address on Monday, offering a vigorous defense of the safety net, social equality, and liberal values in general. But Thursday produced a reminder of just how difficult it will be for the president to match his rhetoric with substantive second-term achievements.

Presented with demands from progressive activists – and more than a few members of the chamber – that they use a simple majority vote to overhaul the Senate’s filibuster rules, Democratic leaders balked and settled instead for a compromise that will produce, at best, cosmetic changes to the way the Senate does business. It was enough to prompt Iowa’s Tom Harkin, a veteran senator and outspoken advocate for major filibuster reform, to say that Obama “might as well take a four-year vacation.”

Harkin surely spoke those words in haste, but his frustration is understandable. Republicans have used the filibuster to turn the Senate into a de facto 60-vote body. It was the key tool they deployed in 2009 and 2010 to stall and water down Obama’s agenda, back when Democrats enjoyed robust majorities in both legislative chambers but (except for a few months) fell short of the magic 60-vote mark in the Senate. With Republicans grabbing control of the House in 2010 and retaining it last fall, the filibuster itself is no longer as essential to Republican obstruction efforts, but they continue to use it at record levels

-------
did the democrats win or not?  .

Thursday, January 24, 2013

MLK Shares Holiday with Robert E. Lee in Deep South

HUGE Oil Deposit In Australia?

"Obama's nickname is The Establishment" - Cenk Uygur

Debt Ceiling Caves in on Republicans

Disastrous Idea - Arm School Children, Says Lawmaker

AP Analysis: Technology Kills Middle Class Jobs

Is Hillary sick of this yet?

Is Hillary sick of this yet?

click link above

snip


John McCain praised her for her outstanding and dedicated” service to the nation, the very sort of bipartisan warmth that has propelled Hillary Clinton’s popularity to uncharted heights these past four years. But then he switched gears and told the secretary of state that “the answers, frankly, that you’ve given this morning are not satisfactory to me.”

This is how it went for Clinton on Wednesday, when the role she’s played in the Republican Party’s first-term Obama narrative gave way to the role she’ll play for the next four years –unless, of course, she decides to withdraw her name out of the 2016 mix.

In hours of testimony before separate Senate and House committees, Republicans took turns leveling accusatory questions and insinuations about how she and the Obama administration handled the Benghazi attack and whether some sort of cover-up might have been – or might still be – afoot. Rand Paul told her that if her were president, “I would have relieved you of your duties.” Ron Johnson got into a heated exchange with her, then accused her of deciding “to describe emotionally the four dead Americans, the heroes, and use that as her trump card.” South Carolina Rep. Jeff Duncan told her that her gross negligence” had turned the American diplomatic installation in Benghazi into “a deathtrap.”

It was a partisan pile-on nearly five years in the making. The right’s treatment of both Clintons, Hillary and Bill, can be divided into two distinct phases in the time they’ve been on the national stage.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Debt-B-Gone mark fiore

Disturbing Report: Both Parties In Bed With Amgen

ttelephone conference alliance retired americans ja

Dear Alliance Friend and Activist, We sent thousands of letters to Congress, made hundreds of phone calls and held hundreds of events around the country to generate the grassroots support it took to protect retirement security for all Americans. Because of the actions of Alliance folks like you—calling and writing Congress, attending in-district actions, writing your local newspapers—the recent January deal to detour spending cuts did not include any cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. Unfortunately, as you know, our work is not done; we are only safe until March 1st. Some members of Congress continue to press for cuts to the programs seniors depend on. Please join us for an important conversation about what the Alliance and our members friends like you can do to continue to protect Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid during the next round of negotiations in D.C. Click: http://afl.salsalabs.com/o/4055/signup_page/teleconf?tag=state for an exclusive conference call on January 24th at 2pm at Central Standard Time. The January 24th call will include a legislative briefing on: 1. What is in the recent budget deal that passed 2. What it means for seniors 3. What's at stake in the new Congress Most importantly, it will be an opportunity for activists like you from across the country to continue a conversation with us and among one another about how we can protect retirement security for all Americans. Hope you'll join us! Sincerely, Missouri Alliance for Retired Americans

Republicans Outraged Obama Is Liberal

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Monday, January 21, 2013

Obama Not 'Friendly' Enough to Republicans?

President Obama takes the Oath of Office

voting was down in Missouri last election. why? too bad we really had little choice last election. Obama is further right than Richard Nixon and the other guy was a rich guy from another planet. Senate: one a brazen loonie and the other?

Saturday, January 19, 2013

The American Navy In Vietnam (1967)

SMALL BOAT NAVY, THE

for some of the vets of soar 11-3

HBO Films: Too Big To Fail: Opening The Vault On The Financial Crisis (HBO)

Top 50 World Universities

a bit skeptical of this list, but shows a continued lessening of United State college ratings.

Friday, January 18, 2013

this is Hormel 1956

Saint Louis plant of american can company made cans for Hormel. ran more than a few on the coaters myself

National Popular Vote by Tom Golisano

watch skeptically. presidential voting for electoral votes is by state--winner take all. changing to "congressional districts" which have been gerrymandered would have had a President Romney. Missouri house is for the most part for this sort of election. gopers some in Illinois for this as well. amazing gopers as well

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Britain's Unions Bring London to a Standstill

Why Couldn't Unions Defeat Michigan Anti Union Bill

Satanists Applaud Gov's 'Prayer in Schools' Law

Rand Paul 2016! No, really

Rand Paul 2016! No, really

click link

 snip


Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul made a stop at the GOP’s fourth branch of government, Fox News, to unveil his plans to “nullify” President Obama’s 23 executive orders on guns. Having declared “I’m against having a king” on Monday, Paul made his first move to be the Tea Party favorite for president in 2016 with his assault on Obama’s guns agenda.

In a “Hannity exclusive” breathlessly titled “Standing Up to the King,” Paul declared his intention to stand up to our newly re-elected president. “I’m afraid that President Obama may have this king complex sort of developing, “ he told a worshipful Sean Hannity. And we all remember what Americans do to kings…

Like all Tea Partiers, Paul swaddled himself in his juvenile notion of what the “founders” wanted. “Our founding fathers were very concerned about having a separation of powers, they didn’t want to let the president to become a king,” he told Hannity. “They wanted to say that Congress was the one to legislate, not the president…We will nullify anything the president does that smacks of legislation.”
Hannity repeatedly gave Paul the opportunity to explain the legislation he was supposedly “unveiling” Wednesday night. But Paul didn’t have any details about what he’d do, except to say that “several” of the president’s executive orders “appear as if he’s writing new law.” It seemed the appearance was booked exclusively so the Kentucky senator could say the words “nullify” and “king.”

Unions and US Politics--Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky 4 of 4

Dick DeVos on Unions, Right-to-Work

Terrence The Pterodactyl Definition of Middle Class

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Triangle fire pbs

Watch Triangle Fire on PBS. See more from American Experience.

- The Daily An innovative container changes the way Americans drink beer

- The Daily:

click link

snip


The American Can Company had long been interested in developing a canned version of suds. The company had been formed in 1901 after Daniel Gray Reid, the “Tin Plate King,” purchased a controlling interest in several smaller can manufacturers. Its first president, William T. Graham, was no stranger to good fortune: His wife and daughter had been rescued from the foundering Titanic in 1912. American Can, which in its first decade produced 85 percent of America’s tin cans forpreserving food, would experience similar good fortune in later years.

In 1909, Leopold Schmidt, a German immigrant and brewmaster, requested that American Can look into canning beer for his Olympia Brewing Company in Washington state. Cans were — in theory, at least — superior to bottles in several ways: They were easier to stack, and thus to transport; they didn’t break as easily; they were lighter; and they didn’t expose beer to sunlight the way bottles did. (Sunlight can damage the flavor of beer, leaving it sour and spoiled-tasting, or “skunky.”) The problem, however, was that, unlike beans, corn and tomatoes, beer produced pressure as it carbonated — and the outgassing tended to burst the flimsy tin cans of the time. Though American Can struggled mightily with the problem between 1909 and 1920, the onset of Prohibition slowed the project and the U.S. brewing industry ground to a virtual halt.

www.Keglined.com - The Beer Can's First Days: 1909 through 1935

www.Keglined.com - The Beer Can's First Days: 1909 through 1935:

click link

St louis made many a three piece beer cans, both continental can and american can.  Pevely operation of American can company made two piece cans for the mid 70s thru 96i

Saint Louis made many a pop-top lid for the containers.

Ethos 2011 Full Woody Harrelson Presents: Ethos (2011) Director: Pete Mc...

great flick and be skeptical of this and all docs

Obama 'elitist hypocrite' NRA's new ad

I was member of NRA (in fact at one time a safety trainer in the 70s), but garbage like this is why I quit

Hospital Survival Guide | Hospital Safety - Consumer Reports

Hospital Survival Guide | Hospital Safety - Consumer Reports:
click link

snip


For most of us, a trip to the hospital is like being thrust into a foreign country without a guidebook. We don't speak the language, and find ourselves dependent on strangers for our basic needs. With much of our energy directed toward healing, we might simply cede control to medical professionals and hope for the best.
But planning for a hospital stay can lead to better care and a faster recovery. In fact, your involvement is critical. That's because you—or a designated friend or family member—are often the best defense against drug mix-ups, hospital-acquired infections, surgical mistakes, and other errors or adverse events. Those errors affect one in four hospitalized patients, according to recent estimates. One study found that the most serious ones contribute to the deaths of some 180,000 patients 65 and older a year.
"The best advice I can give is to be your own advocate," says Peter Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., director of adult critical-care medicine and a patient-safety researcher at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. "Question, question, question until things are explained in a way you understand. A health-care system that doesn't address your concerns is a risky one."
Here's our advice for a safe hospital stay, from check-in to discharge. We assume you'll be staying overnight, but much of our advice applies to outpatient visits, too.

Court continues order targeting voter intimidation

Court continues order targeting voter intimidation

click link

snip

 
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has turned down an effort by the Republican National Committee to end a 30-year-old court order aimed at preventing intimidation of minority voters.
The justices did not comment Monday in rejecting an appeal of lower court decisions that left the order in place at least until 2017.

The order stems from a lawsuit filed by Democrats in New Jersey in 1981 that objected to a “ballot security” program the RNC ran in minority neighborhoods.

Republicans said the order hampers efforts to combat voter fraud, but U.S. District Judge Dickinson Debevoise said voter intimidation remains a threat and preventing it outweighs the potential danger of fraud.

The court action is unrelated to legal challenges to Republican-inspired voter identification laws in the 2012 campaign.

Is John Boehner hitting the bottle?

Is John Boehner hitting the bottle?

click link

snip

 
No one with any credibility has come out and said that Boehner is an alcoholic. The Fix contacted a large number of politicians, former colleagues and opponents for input, including former Speaker Dennis Hastert, outspoken freshman Republican Representatives Steve Sutherland of Florida and Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, even well-known Republican pollster and message strategist Frank Luntz, but none wanted to speak on the subject. But all these jokes and allusions are dancing around the topic. And there are plenty of people who admire Boehner for having the courage of his transgressions. Unlike President Obama, who never wanted to be photographed smoking before he finally quit in August, Boehner has smoked and sipped his wine in public. He also doesn’t hide his crying, which in other realms of public and private life is reason for enlightened praise. Feminists have come to his defense, asking why the double standard over crying?

Boehner has consistently swatted away the worst speculation and criticism about his appetites. But in contrast to his party’s Young Guns—as the three conservatives nipping at his heels, Cantor, McCarthy and Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee Chairman, dubbed themselves 
in a 2010 book-cum-manifesto of the same name—he is sorely behind these sobered up times. The book alludes to the weakness of the old guard, of which Boehner is a major figure, noting, “We lost our way when we were in the majority.” The authors distance themselves from that generation, by explaining, “We had a majority of people who came here to do something, and we atrophied into a majority of people who came here to be something.” Indeed, Ryan and his hardline followers favor P90X workouts and ripped abs over flabby sentimentality, some pledging to live like monks in their offices rather than waste taxpayer money on housing (the most coveted being the closest to the House gym.)

Texas Congressman Steve Stockman Threatens to Impeach Obama over Gun Con...

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Joke's On Sup Ct: Man & Corporation Ride In Carpool Lane As 2 "People" | The Daily Dolt

Joke's On Sup Ct: Man & Corporation Ride In Carpool Lane As 2 "People" | The Daily Dolt:

click link


 snip

 A hearty congratulations this morning to one Jonathan Frieman of San Rafael, California. We realize it’s only January but as far as we’re concerned this Frieman guy has already won the entire year of 2013 for executing a rather brilliant prank on the textualist wing of the Supreme Court. 

His plan was as simple as it was brilliant: Frieman  just drove around in one of California’s carpool lanes by himself until he eventually was stopped by police for not having an additional person in the car. (Sidenote: Apparently carpool laws are enforced rather loosely in California. It took Frieman over 10 years of driving around like that before he was finally ticketed.)
Once Frieman was finally pulled over, he handed the officer a certificate of incorporation and voila!!  According to the Supreme Court’s own precedent, Frieman suddenly had two “people” in his vehicle. Obviously, the officer still gave him the $481 ticket, so today Frieman is heading to traffic court to argue his case.

more

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Bailout Backlash: Insurance Company AIG Considering Lawsuit Against Gove...

Sandy Victims Twice Ripped Off by Insurance Company

union busting---which side are you on

Insurance Companies Seek To Bypass Obamacare To Make Americans Pay More For Their Coverage

Insurance Companies Seek To Bypass Obamacare To Make Americans Pay More For Their Coverage: pMany Obamacare provisions are intended to protect Americans from the private insurance industry, such as measures to prevent insurers from denying coverage to Americans with pre-existing conditions and to keep rising insurance premium rates in check. Nevertheless, as the New York Times reports, some of America’s largest insurers are exploiting a lack of stringent oversight [...]/p

click link

snip

 
While Obamacare does require state regulators to review any rate increase request above 10 percent, it does not endow those regulators with any meaningful veto power. Such rate-setting policies are left to states’ discretion, and although 37 states may currently negotiate or reject insurers’ desired hikes, some states with large markets — such as California — do not have this ability.

Large insurers claim that the hikes are necessary in order to keep up with general medical inflation. But since medical inflation has actually been relatively low in recent years, this claim falls flat. Insurers may actually be raising their rates in an attempt to counteract other Obamacare consumer protection measures such as the “80/20 rule” that requires insurance companies to spend at least 80 percent of the premiums they charge on actual care rather than their profits or overhead. In 2014, Obamacare will also end the practice of medical “underwriting” — taking a consumer’s current health into consideration when setting his or her premium rates — so insurance companies may be trying to lock in higher rates on sicker Americans while they still can.

Fortunately, the 80/20 rule — which has already put over $1.5 billion in insurance rebates back in consumers’ pockets — will help ensure that Americans are refunded some of their money if the latest round of rate hikes are excessive. But the only way to ensure that Americans are not held hostage to the whims of private insurers is to expand state regulators’ ability to negotiate and control premium rates.

And lawmakers are quite aware of the discrepancy. Three years ago, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced the Health Insurance Rate Authority Act of 2010 in an effort to give regulators more control over insurance rate hikes, but the bill died in committee. President Obama has also called for greater federal oversight of insurance rates.

Mitch McConnell is Dead Wrong

The Real Questions Aren't Being Asked About Our Nation's Debt and Deficit

Money for nothing - Counting the Cost - Al Jazeera English

Money for nothing - Counting the Cost - Al Jazeera English

click link for story

 

Monday, January 7, 2013

Just Who Won The Fiscal Cliff Fight?

Eugene Robinson: Our clown-around Congress : Stltoday

Eugene Robinson: Our clown-around Congress : Stltoday


click link

snip


To say that Congress looked like a clown show last week is an insult to self-respecting clowns.
Painful though it may be, let’s review what just happened. Our august legislators — aided and abetted by President Obama — manufactured a fake crisis. They then proceeded to handle it so incompetently that they turned it into a real one.

The bogus “fiscal cliff” — and please, let’s never, ever use those words again — was designed as a doomsday mechanism to force Congress and the president to make tough decisions. But resistance to the very concept of decision-making was so fierce that our leaders could only manage to avoid hurtling to their doom, and ours, by deciding not to decide much of anything.

Fiscal Cliff: Not Time For Dems to Celebrate

The Richest Family In America Is Getting Welfare

old one talks about walmart folks--waltons

How Fiscal Cliff Deal Cost Us Trillions

The Story of Medicare: A Timeline


Saturday, January 5, 2013

Friday, January 4, 2013

pipeline breaks floooding

APNewsBreak: US blames 16 pipeline leaks on floods


click link

 snip


Ap

BILLINGS, Montana (AP) Pipeline spills caused by flooding dumped 2.4 million gallons of crude oil and other hazardous liquids into U.S. waterways over the past two decades, according to a new report from federal regulators.

The Department of Transportation report to Congress comes in response to a 2011 spill into Montana's Yellowstone River. The spill highlighted gaps in federal pipeline rules that require lines to be buried just 4 feet (1.2 meters) below riverbeds scant cover that can quickly be scoured away by floodwaters.
The Associated Press obtained the report before its public release.

Regulators found 16 flood-related pipeline spills since 1993 in California, Texas, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Kentucky. Of the 2.4 million gallons of oil, gasoline, propane and other hazardous liquids released, less than 300,000 gallons were recovered.

Although those accidents account for fewer than 1 percent of the total number of pipeline accidents, the consequences of a release in water can be much more severe because of the threats to drinking water supplies and the heightened potential for environmental damage.

The most recent accidents came during flooding in 2011 throughout the Missouri River Basin.
Those include the Yellowstone River Spill, in which a severed Exxon Mobil Corp. pipeline released 63,000 gallons, as well as a 4,200-gallon anhydrous ammonia spill into the Missouri River in Nebraska and a 28,350-gallon gasoline spill into the Missouri River in Iowa.

U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, who requested the report with fellow Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, said the results reveal "some pretty clear holes in pipeline oversight when it comes to flooding."
But Baucus said the report leaves unanswered basic questions about what steps can be taken to prevent future accidents

Transportation Department officials will next evaluate whether pipeline crossing rules such as the 4-foot depth requirement are sufficient, said Jeannie Layson, communications director for the agency's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

The agency must deliver another report to Congress within the next year to update lawmakers on its plans.
Pipeline companies are required to inspect crossings under navigable waterways at least once every five years.

An industry representative cautioned against imposing stringent new regulations. Such rules could force companies to divert money from other safety initiatives, such as reducing accidents caused by corrosion or excavation damage, said John Stoody, of the Association of Oil Pipe Lines.

There are at least 2,841 locations across the U.S. where hazardous liquid pipeline cross rivers and other bodies of water, according to the report.

In recent years, many pipeline companies have voluntarily buried their lines deeper than federal rules require. Using a technique called horizontal directional drilling, pipelines can be installed deeper beneath riverbeds, minimizing the chances they could be exposed to damaging floodwaters and debris.
The technique can cost millions of dollars for a single water crossing.
--------
good thing proposed pipeline from Canada so well designed.  a bust from proposed pipeline would be billions or more

'Go F— Yourself!' - Fake Fiscal Cliff Drama==bipartisan moment

GOP Civil War? Republican Congress Skips Sandy Relief

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

How It's Made 210: Gummies - Aluminum Cans - Fish Farming - Bronze Sculp...

folks from Pevely closed facility would recognize can process

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

KETC | Living St. Louis | Bank Robbery

The St. Louis Bank Robbery (1959) [Film Noir] [Crime]

american can company was right down the street from the filming. union hall of uswa 3628 was in one of the buildings shown

Trumka Statement on the Senate 'Fiscal Cliff' Agreement

Trumka Statement on the Senate 'Fiscal Cliff' Agreement

click link

house did pass just moments ago

snip

 The agreement passed by the Senate last night is a breakthrough in beginning to restore tax fairness and achieves some key goals of working families.  It does not cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits. It raises more than $700 billion over 10 years, including interest savings, by ending the Bush income tax cuts for families making more than $450,000 a year. And in recognition of the continuing jobs crisis, it extends unemployment benefits for a year.  A strong message from voters and a relentless echo from grassroots activists over the last six weeks helped get us this far.
But lawmakers should have listened even better.  The deal extends the Bush tax cuts for families earning between $250,000 and $450,000 a year and makes permanent Bush estate tax cuts exempting estates valued up to $5 million from any tax. These concessions amount to over $200 billion in additional tax cuts for the 2%.
And because of Republican hostage taking, the deal simply postpones the $1.2 trillion sequester for only two months and does not address the debt ceiling, setting the stage for more fiscal blackmail at the expense of the middle class.
Instead of moving to address our nation’s real jobs and public investment crisis, our leaders will be debating a prolonged artificial fiscal crisis.  In the weeks to come, as the confrontation over the economic direction of our country continues, the working men and women of the AFL-CIO will continue to fight to keep poor and middle class families from giving more so rich people can continue paying less.  That means a fairer, more progressive tax system, an end to Bush tax rates for the 2% and protection of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid from benefit cuts
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far as I am concerned, dems could have made far better deal.   really think if gop won big they would have done anything  remotely bipartisan?

bipartisanship is a myth and except for war and some resolutions, rare historically speaking.

AFL vs. CIO split in 1935

Prescott Bush Interview (1953)----grandfather of gw

this senator was named in congressional hearing about overthrow of US during FDR times mentioned in previous post and one below from bbc radio

Propaganda , Narrated by Scourby!--huey long and othersmore

let's not forget business wished overthrow of nation in depression