skippy the bush kangaroo

this is the story of a blood feud, a battle between brothers. as we told you when we first reported this story last november, the koch family of wichita, kansas is among the richest in the united states, worth billions of dollars. their oil company, koch industries, is bigger than Intel, dupont or prudential Insurance, and they own it lock stock and barrel. the trouble is a former employee says the brother who controls the company grew rich through fraud and theft, stealing from the taxpayers of the united states.

unfortunately, for koch industries, that disgruntled former employee was bill koch, one of the koch brothers. blood and oil has destroyed more than one american family. the question is: was bill koch a renegade out to ruin his brother, or did koch industries really operate the way he says? scott pelley reports.

koch says that koch industries engaged in "(o)rganized crime. and management driven from the top down."

"it was – was my family company. i was out of it," he says. "but that’s what appalled me so much... i did not want my family, my legacy, my father’s legacy to be based upon organized crime."

over drinks at a bar on a dreary, snowy night in washington this past month, a former senate investigator laughed as he polished off his beer.


"everything's fucked up, and nobody goes to jail," he said. "that's your whole story right there. hell, you don't even have to write the rest of it. Just write that."

....not a single executive who ran the companies that cooked up and cashed in on the phony financial boom — an industrywide scam that involved the mass sale of mismarked, fraudulent mortgage-backed securities — has ever been convicted. their names by now are familiar to even the most casual middle american news consumer: companies like aig, goldman sachs, lehman brothers, jp morgan chase, bank of america and morgan stanley. most of these firms were directly involved in elaborate fraud and theft. lehman brothers hid billions in loans from its investors. bank of america lied about billions in bonuses. goldman sachs failed to tell clients how it put together the born-to-lose toxic mortgage deals it was selling. what's more, many of these companies had corporate chieftains whose actions cost investors billions — from aig derivatives chief joe cassano, who assured investors they would not lose even "one dollar" just months before his unit imploded, to the $263 million in compensation that former lehman chief dick "the gorilla" fuld conveniently failed to disclose. yet not one of them has faced time behind bars. - rolling stone

harry reid: ‘the time has come for us to outlaw prostitution’ - las vegas sun

"it's just a scene of utter devestation, it's just so vastly different from the last earthquake where, yes, there were some horrifying scenes but this is central city at a very, very busy time where you've had a massive earthquake.

"it's been violent shaking on probably what was very weakened infrastructure." - new zealand herald

while you probably can't precisely equate the overthrow of whole regimes in the mideast to the budget standoff happening at the wisconsin state capitol, the two actions have some things in common, not the least of which is a mass occupation of public space.

and when that many people get together, they're going to need to eat at some point. apparently, someone in egypt decided the folks in madison, wisc., need pizza.

politico reports that ian's on state street - part of a regional pizza chain - has received hundreds of donations for free pies for the wisconsin protesters from all over the world, including egypt. and yes, donors in the u.s. have chipped in, too.

the store began getting international orders last week and noted it on its facebook page. that appears to have kicked off a flood of calls from overseas. - sfgate

hello,

i'm unemployed over two years now, a 99er without any benefits for three months. i followed unemployed friends almost from its start, never posted until now, but am grateful for my time with you all. i did as asked with calls and e-mails, etc. i've a confession to make to you all. i'm a criminal.

i've obeyed the 10 commandments and all laws except: i'm unemployed and that's now a crime, i'm poor and that's a crime, i'm worthless surplus population and that's a crime, i'm a main street american citizen born and raised in the usa and that's now a crime, and I'm euthanizing myself as i write this note -- so arrest my corpse. this isn't a call for help, the deed is done, it's not what i wanted. death is my best available option. it's not just that my bank account is $4, that I've not eaten in a week, not because hunger pangs are agonizing (i'm a wimp), not because i live in physical and mental anguish, not because the landlady is banging on the door non-stop and i face eviction, not that congress and president have sent a strong message they no longer help the unemployed. it's because i'm a law abiding though worthless, long-term unemployed older man who is surplus population. had i used my college education to rip people off and steal from the elderly, poor, disabled and main street americans i would be wearing different shoes now -- a petty king. hard work, honesty, loving kindness, charity and mercy, and becoming unemployed and destitute unable to pay your bills are all considered foolishness and high crimes in america now. whereas stealing and lying and cheating and being greedy to excess and destroying the fabric of america is rewarded and protected -- even making such people petty king and petty queens among us.

the proximate spark was an unemployed college graduate who was assaulted by the police for selling fruits and vegetables without having paid the proper protection money. they confiscated his fruit cart and stock, the one and only thing he had in order to struggle to support his family and try to preserve some shred of human dignity. that’s the exact kind of extortion and confiscation the us government’s recently passed food tyranny bill intends to impose on every kind of fruit cart here. in despair, he publicly burned himself alive.

 

this sparked escalating demonstrations. at first the police responded with violence and repression. they shot protestors and carried out mass arrests. as the protests and street fighting escalated, the now frightened thug ali promised reforms.

...wikileaks may have played a role in bringing anger to a flash point. tunisians were outraged to read cynical us state department cables which frankly discussed the tunisian regime as a vile tinpot despotism the us must nevertheless prop up. (so remember that the next time you see some corporate liberal scoffing at how wikileaks can’t make any difference anyway.) - volitility



the rebellion, referred to by the media as the jasmine revolution, was sparked by a single, unemployed, university graduate mohammad bouazizi. the 22-year-old bouazizi made his living with an unlicensed vending cart on a market street in the town of sidi bouzid, a place described as "hard scrabble," and is 190 miles south of the country's capital of tunis.

bouazizi was roughed up by the police and his cart was confiscated. angry and upset, the young man did a dramatic protest. with a message that he "can't live without food anyway," bouazizi set himself on fire and died. self-immolation has been used throughout many countries as a form of protest.

bouazizi's dramatic action sparked mass protests throughout the country. tunisians were fed-up with the mass unemployment and government corruption. - people's world

“what gov. walker is doing is a direct assault on wisconsin history and wisconsin traditions and wisconsin rules of fair play. it is one of the least wisconsin-like things i’ve ever seen anyone do.”

 .....“it’s been a fantasy of the right and the corporate powers in this country” to destroy unions and collective bargaining.

“the notion this is about the budget is a complete sham … this is about an agenda of destroying unions,” .....  “this is a template that is being attempted by the right and the corporate interests to see if it can work elsewhere." - russ feingold (aka former senator mcdreamy)

tension over a wisconsin bill to end collective bargaining rights for state employees continued to rise today, with democratic lawmakers blocking a vote on the bill by reportedly leaving the state. tens of thousands of people stormed the capitol in madison for a third day of protests. - sacbee

present and former members of the green bay packers, all members of the national football league players association, have signed a letter in support of the afl-cio's efforts to derail gov. scott walker's plan to cut some union bargaining rights.

the letter was signed by curtis fuller, chris jackie, charles jordan, bob long, steve okoniewski, brady poppinga and jason spitz.

the statements reads: "we know that it is teamwork on and off the field that makes the packers and wisconsin great. as a publicly owned team we wouldn't have been able to win the super bowl without the support of our fans.

"it is the same dedication of our public workers every day that makes wisconsin run. they are the teachers, nurses and child care workers who take care of us and our families. but now in an unprecedented political attack governor walker is trying to take away their right to have a voice and bargain at work.

"the right to negotiate wages and benefits is a fundamental underpinning of our middle class. when workers join together it serves as a check on corporate power and helps all workers by raising community standards. wisconsin's long standing tradition of allowing public sector workers to have a voice on the job has worked for the state since the 1930s. it has created greater consistency in the relationship between labor and management and a shared approach to public work.

"these public workers are wisconsin's champions every single day and we urge the governor and the state legislature to not take away their rights." - jsonline

the defector who convinced the white house that iraq had a secret biological weapons programme has admitted for the first time that he lied about his story, then watched in shock as it was used to justify the war. - the guardian

on friday, feb. 11, the day egyptian president hosni mubarak stepped down, cbs chief foreign correspondent lara logan was covering the jubilation in tahrir square for a "60 minutes" story when she and her team and their security were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration. It was a mob of more than 200 people whipped into frenzy.

in the crush of the mob, she was separated from her crew. she was surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 egyptian soldiers - cbs news

flame retardants found in butter. - for about a decade, scientists have known that most americans have minute quantities of flame retardants called pbdes, in their bodies, but they were not sure how they got there. now a study has found what the authors say is the first documented case of serious pbde contamination of food in the united states - nytimes

asked what most viewers and observers of fox news would be surprised to learn about the controversial cable channel, a former insider from the world of rupert murdoch was quick with a response: “idon’t think people would believe it’s as concocted as it is; that stuff is just made up.”

...“it is their m.o. to undermine the administration and to undermine democrats,” says the source.
“they’re a propaganda outfit but they call themselves news.”

and that’s the word from inside fox news. - media matters

u.s. senator jon tester joined with several other lawmakers to introduce the "ending unemployment payments to millionaires act" in congress on tuesday.

tester said in a press release that it's time to put an end to making taxpayers foot the bill for people with seven-figure trust funds.

he explained, "millionaires shouldn't be able to claim an unemployment check. this is common sense legislation that will save taxpayers dollars and make sure that people who need unemployment compensation are able to get it."

according to a report published at thehill.com, as many as 2,840 households who have reported an income of $1 million or more on their tax returns were paid a total of $18.6 million in unemployment benefits in 2008, according to internal revenue service figures.

this included more than 800 earning over $2 million and 17 with incomes exceeding $10 million. - krtv

the parent company of the new york stock exchange revealed wednesday that it is in advanced talks to be purchased by the owner of the german stock exchange -- meaning that the citadel of american capitalism soon could be foreign-owned. - latte times

rep. lee first republican to create job opening

....hey bloggers, don't expect to make any money from your writing just because the company got bought for $315 million. - the atlantic

...that's borne out by a memo from aol chief executive officer tim armstrong on where his company's journalism is going. it's fairly chilling reading, ordering the company's editors to evaluate all future stories on the basis of "traffic potential, revenue potential, edit quality and turnaround time." all stories, it stressed, are to be evaluated according to their "profitability consideration." all aol's journalistic employees will be required to produce "five to 10 stories per day."

note all the things that come before the quality of the work or its contribution to the public interest and you've arrived at an essential difference between journalism and content. it may start with exploiting reporters and editors, but it inevitably ends up exploiting its audience. - latte times

no emergency medical worker associated with a half marathon held in golden gate park on sunday attended to a dying runner during the 22 minutes it took for a city ambulance to reach him, a fire department official said tuesday.

peter hass of orinda, 36, died at the end of the kaiser permanente san francisco half marathon and 5k run, which attracted 10,000 people.

hass collapsed near the finish line after running the half marathon in just under two hours. bystanders, including three city firefighters who also ran in the race, tried to resuscitate him as they waited for proper life-saving equipment and emergency transportation to arrive, said mindy talmadge, a spokeswoman for the fire department.

the firefighters were "appalled" that the event had no medical staff or basic equipment available near the finish line on south fork drive at the west end of the park, talmadge said. - sfgate

wikileaks cables: saudi arabia cannot pump enough oil to keep a lid on prices

us diplomat convinced by saudi expert that reserves of world's biggest oil exporter have been overstated by nearly 40%. - the guardian

keith olbermann, the former top-rated host of “countdown” on the news channel msnbc, will announce his next television home on tuesday, and people familiar with his plans pointed monday to a possible deal with the public affairs channel current tv.

neither mr. olbermann, his representatives, or executives from current tv would comment on the move, but they did not deny that the channel, which counts former vice president al gore as one of its founders, will become at least one partner in mr. olbermann’s future media plans. - media decoder nytimes