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    Utility Found Guilty of Bribing Legislators to Get $ Billions and Stop Renewable Energy

    Link

    "a federal jury largely affirmed those allegations, finding Householder and ex-Ohio Republican Party chair Matt Borges guilty of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise involving bribery and money laundering. The two men face up to 20 years in prison and will be sentenced in the coming months. 

    “Larry Householder illegally sold the statehouse, and thus he ultimately betrayed the great people of Ohio he was elected to serve,” said U.S. Attorney"

     

    The utility company also bribed the Chair of the Public Utilities Commission.
    The utility gave $60 million in bribes and got  House Bill 6, which gave the utility over $1.7 billion in bailouts for coal power plants. 
    " House Bill 6. It was touted as an effort to improve air quality, but it mostly included bailouts for coal and nuclear power. At the same time, it scaled back energy efficiency measures and added bureaucratic hurdles to prevent the growth of wind power. The bill was eventually signed into law. An independent analysis found that it would cost Ohioans $2 billion in excess utility bills and $7 billion in healthcare costs (due to worsening pollution) over nine years. "

    Amendments to the Constitution

    link NPR 1A podcast on need for new amendments and changes to the judicial system:  stop the shadow docket, push the ERA amendment, make ethics apply to judges and the Supreme Court, mandatory retirement, term limits,  make ratification depend on population,(not on states); a voting rights act, no citizen rights for corporations (overturn citizens united), limit access to  automatic weapons,  require background checks, require red flag laws,  prevent judges from radically changing the laws,  and limit corporations and wealthy individuals from packing the courts.     Leonard Leo led the Federalist Society "to influence elections, judicial appointments and policy battles" and " helped select judges to nominate to the Supreme Court and directed multimillion dollar media campaigns to confirm them.")  He recently received $1.6 billion  to continue to push thru his pro-business changes in the law.  link 

    Private Equity Hedge Funds Bankrupt Companies

    Mother Jones article  They take over  a company using the company's assets to have the company sign up to owe large debt, then they collect high fees, avoid paying taxes, lay off employees,  sell off the assets either for high profits or a at low price to their themselves and their friends, cut back on pensions, declare bankruptcy, close the company, convert the land to development,.....

    Surveillance Capitalism Book

    Book    Review

     FB, Google, Amazon, etc. gather information about us , so they can predict and modify our behavior.  Then companies and political campaigns pay Google, FB, and Amazon for the predictions, so that they can modify our purchases, opinions, and votes.   They can get us to vote for particular candidates. They can make us conform.  Countries spy on their citizens,  journalists, and opponents, and sometimes harass, beat, jail, or kill them.  

    Electric Utilities Bribe Legislators and Regulators with Dark Money

    Electric Utility Corruption  they are paying $200 million fines for bribery etc. 

    The 8-3-20 NYT editorial, “When Utility Money Talks”, illustrates the corrupt side of electric utilities.

    “citizens are getting a clearer picture of what they are up against. They are not just fighting dirty energy — they are also fighting the dirty money in politics that keeps it alive.”


    " in Illinois, Commonwealth Edison, admitted in federal court to bribing political figures in that state and agreed to pay a $200 million fine”

    “in Ohio “operating a $60 million political slush fund to elect their candidates, with the money coming from one of the state’s largest electricity companies”

    “In New Orleans, the utility Entergy was caught hiring actors to show up at City Hall and pretend to be citizens in favor of a controversial gas-fired power plant; the company was fined $5 million. A big Arizona utility, Arizona Public Service, has become embroiled in repeated political scandals, including pumping millions in dark money into a campaign to stack the state regulatory board with its lackeys.”

    “the big message from all these scandals is that you cannot assume your state government is working in the public interest as it oversees the energy transition.”

    Bacigalupi Thrillers about Drought, Rising Seas, & Loss of Biodiversity

    Here is one interview.

    The Water Knife is a detective thriller set amidst drought refugees and physical battles between cities over water.  It has romance, murder, gangs, chases, and journalists.

    The Windup Girl is about a future of GMOs, rising sea levels, hunger, loss of species of food crops,  racial blaming, and hunger after terminator genes wipe out many food varieties.  Oil is gone.  It is a very violent.

    Another interview.

    Drowned Cities and Ship Breaker are about societies where the oil based energy system is gone, and people struggle in gangs over the spoils or else move on to wind-powered ships.

    Zombie Baseball Beatdown is about middle schoolers battling GMO mad cows from a slaughter house.  It also touches on bullying, discrimination against  immigrants, corporate power over local government, and friendship.  

    The Doubt Factory  is about radicals protesting against toxic products .  It focuses on a high school girl’s relationship to her father, who is doing the fake pr for tobacco, pesticide, drug,  and  oil companies.  She is attracted to rebellious radicals who want to expose the corporate PR.

    Posted on September 22, 2015