WELCOME TO OPINIONS BASED ON FACTS (OBOF)
&
THINGS YOU
MAY HAVE MISSED (TYMHM)
YEAR THREE
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Name
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Published
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OVERVIEW
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 14
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Dec 18, 2012
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 15
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Jan. 02, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 16
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Jan. 08, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 16
EXTRA
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Jan. 11, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 17
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Jan. 15, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 18
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Jan. 22, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 19
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Jan. 29, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 20
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Feb. 05, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 21
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Feb. 14, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 22
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Feb. 20, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 23
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Feb. 27, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 23 SPECIAL
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Mar. 06, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 24
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Mar. 07, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 25
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Mar. 12, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 25-EXTRA
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Mar. 14, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 26
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Mar. 19, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 27
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Mar. 26, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 28
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Apr. 02, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 29
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Apr. 08, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 30
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Apr. 17, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 31
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Apr. 23, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 32
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Apr. 30, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 33
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May 07, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 34
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May 18, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 35
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May 21, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 36
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May 30, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 37
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June
05, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 38
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June
11, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 39
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June
18, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 40
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June
25, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 41
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July
02, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 42
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July
09, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 43
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July
16, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 44
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July
23, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 45
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July 30, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 46
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Aug.
06, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 47
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Aug.
14, 2013
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OBOF & TYMHM PART 48
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Aug. 20, 2013
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IN THIS
ISSUE
1. Correction.
2. Some opening thoughts.
3. Corruption a plenty in the pipeline projects.
4. Spying and more on Pipeline Resistance.
CORRECTION
In last week's
posting, which would be part 47, for some reason that I don't know, the last
sentence of the last paragraph of the second item on the agenda, was not
complete. The title of the item was
"What we may expect in the coming months." Therefore, I am printing below the entire
paragraph with the last sentence complete.
If that
happens, it won't take long for Americans to understand that the trust fund is
empty and there is no reserve fund for paying Social Security
benefits. The amount of revenue coming in each month from the payroll tax
is not enough to pay full benefits. If the government does not raise
taxes, or raise the debt ceiling, so the money can borrowed, full Social
Security benefits cannot be paid. If it
comes to that, perhaps the
public
will become more receptive to what I have been saying for the past 13
years.
SOME OPENING
THOUGHTS.
By Floyd Bowman
Publisher "Opinions Based
Facts."
Tuesday, August 20, 2013.
I have been laid up
for the past few months. As a result I
have not been going to church until last Sunday. Now, I am not a Minister, by any means, and I
am not going preach. But the sermon
Sunday was so pointed toward where our country is at the preset time, that it
provides a good jumping off point for this posting.
"Joshua
Fought the Battle of Jericho
We, the People, have a
wall that needs a "Today Joshua" to lead us in Battle
I have not included
much information in the past about the TransCanda Tar Sands Keystone XL
pipeline. Without going back and
searching for it, I think I have only posted one or two articles about it in
the past. However, it is now time to bring
you up to date as this is one of the most corrupt projects in our history. The Walls of the Koch Brothers is deeply
involved in this project and need to come tumbling down.
The two articles that
follow give you up to date developments.
The second one, is reminiscent early and mid 19th century, when the good
guys were after the bad guys on horse back.
Just replace the horses with cars and a little more adventurous people including
undercover agents infiltrating the private meeting of the Great Plains Tar
Sands Resistance camp.
I know for a
fact that the United States Texas
There is
only one reason = = the large sums of money that is going to be given to a
small group of people. Now, read these
two articles and you will be well informed as to what is going on.
~~~
Corruption
in the Pipeline: A Timeline
Of
Keystone XL Misinformation
Caroline Selle
DeSmogBlog / Op-Ed
Published: Sunday 18 August 2013
Though plagued by
corruption, the Keystone XL (KXL) “zombie pipeline” refuses to die. While firsthand accounts from front line
communities in Alberta , Nebraska ,
Oklahoma , and Texas
Listed below is a series of selected controversies as
well as the key dates around which the pipeline permitting process revolves.
2007: Documentation
of health effects of tar sands extraction begins.
2008: TransCanada proposes the Keystone XL Pipeline
extension.
2009: TransCanada
files an application to build the KXL pipeline. Elevated occurrences of cancer are found in residents of the Fort Chipewyan Alberta
2010: The
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) criticizes the first draft of the
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), calling the report “unduly narrow.” The agency recommends the U.S.
August 2011: Over a
thousand peaceful protesters are arrested in front of the White House. The final EIS is released by the State
Department. It does little to address EPA's concerns.
September 2011: The Cornell
University Global Labor Institute releases a report raising questions about TransCanada’s job creation estimates for
the KXL project. The Cornell study finds - contrary to industry
claims - that the KXL pipeline will not be a major source of U.S. jobs, could increase the cost of gas in the
Midwest, and is unlikely to help the U.S.
October 2011:
TransCanada lobbyist Paul Elliot's close ties to Hillary Clinton are documented by DeSmog, as well as those of several
other lobbyists with ties to President Obama and then-secretary-of-state
Hillary Clinton. Meanwhile, TransCanada
is accused of using eminent domain to secure land before
the KXL is officially approved.
November 2011: The
State Department loses thousands of comments from public
hearings about the pipeline. The
department quickly announces it will seek “additional information” and delays the decision until 2013.
December 2011:
Congressional Republicans try to speed up the review process and push the
project through. Pro-Keystone bills,
riders, and amendments continue to be introduced.
January 2012:
President Obama rejects the Keystone XL pipeline, pointing
to, “the rushed and arbitrary deadline insisted on by Congressional
Republicans,” which, “prevented a full assessment of the pipeline’s impact,
especially the health and safety of the American people, as well as our
environment.”
March 2012:
President Obama approves the southern half of KXL. The Tar
Sands Blockade begins planning a series of non-violent civil disobedience
actions in response.
May 2012:
TransCanada submits a new application for the project.
November 2012:
Peaceful Tar Sands Blockade protesters are pepper sprayed by police.
February 2013: The
Canadian government admits the toxins leaking into groundwater from tar sands
tailings ponds are not naturally occurring.
March 2013: Despite
the concerns of scientists, landowners, and local officials, the State
Department releases a new draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) claiming
the proposed KXL project is environmentally sound. Soon, it emerges that “the study was contracted out to firms with tar sands
extraction clientele.” TransCanada hires the ERM Group, a public
relations firm with ties to Big Tobacco.
April 2013: The EPA
finds the State Department’s latest environmental review of the Keystone
XL insufficient. Reports confirm the
EIS contractor greenlighted another faulty “explosive” project.
May 2013: The State
Department’s inspector general launches an investigation into the conflicts of interest in the pipeline review process.
June 2013: Dents are
found in sections of the Southern half of the pipeline, raising safety concerns. Activists crawl inside the pipeline and find light seeping through. Later, a State Department contractor is revealed as an American Petroleum Institute (API) member.
Friends of the Earth and the Checks
& Balances project uncover the fact that Environmental Resources
Management, Inc. (ERM), contracted to write the EIS, lied on its June 2012 contract of interest
filing. ERM claimed to have no current
business ties to TransCanada, contrary to evidence.
July 2013: The
State Department admits it doesn’t know the KXL’s exact route. Former Obama attorney Robert Bauer is revealed
as a member of law firm Perkins Coie LLP, which does legal work for TransCanada. His wife, Anita Dunn, works for a TransCanada
lobbying group. In light of the numerous scandals, public interest groups call
for Secretary Kerry to throw out the State Department’s KXL review.
August 2013: The
State Department initiates an inquiry into the flawed KXL
review process. Days later, hydraulic fracturing - “fracking” - is linked to the KXL. Top players
in the fracking industry and groups pushing for approval of the KXL are both
linked to the ERM group.
The above list is not comprehensive, and it doesn’t
include the majority of the impacts of tar sands extraction and refining. But it should provide a clear indication of
just how broken and corrupt the KXL pipeline review process is. Let's hope the
Inspector General takes note during the ongoing inquiry.
~~~
from http://ecowatch.com
After a week of careful
planning a resistance action camp, a Tar Sands TransCanada Resistance
group in Oklahoma, thought they had the element of surprise—but they would soon
learn that their moves were being closely watched by law enforcement officials.
According to documents
obtained by Earth Island Journal, investigators from the Bryan County
Sherriff’s Department had been spying on a Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance
training camp that took place from March 18 to March 22 and which brought
together local landowners, Indigenous communities and environmental groups
opposed to the pipeline.
On the morning of March
22 activists had planned to block the gates at the company’s strategic oil
reserves in Cushing , OK
“For a small sleepy Oklahoma
Seifert is exactly
right. According to documents obtained
by Earth Island Journal,
investigators from the Bryan County Sherriff’s Department had been spying on a
Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance training camp that took place from March 18
to March 22 and which brought together local landowners, Indigenous communities
and environmental groups opposed to the pipeline.
An excerpt from an
official report on the “Undercover Investigation into the GPTSR Training Camp”
indicates that at least two law enforcement officers from the Bryan County
Sherriff’s Department infiltrated the training camp and drafted a detailed report
about the upcoming protest, internal strategy and the character of the
protesters themselves.
The undercover
investigator who wrote the report put the tar sands opponents into five
different groups:
- Eco-activists who “truly wanted to live off the grid.”
- Occupy members.
- Native American activists “who blamed all forms of
government for the poor state of being that most American Indians are
living in.”
- Anarchists “many wore upside down American flags.”
- Locals from
The undercover agent’s
report was obtained by Douglas Parr, an Oklahoma Bryan
county cases we received material indicating that there had been infiltration
of the Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance camp
by police agents,” Parr says.
At least one of the
undercover investigators attended an “action planning” meeting during which
everyone was asked to put their cell phones or other electronic devices into a
green bucket for security reasons. The
investigator goes on to explain that he was able to obtain sensitive
information regarding the location of the upcoming Cushing protest, which would
mark the culmination of the week of training.“
This investigator was able to obtain an approximate location based off a
question that he asked to the person in charge of media,” he wrote. He then
wryly notes that, “It did not appear … that our phones had been tampered with.”
The memo also states
that organizers at the meeting went to great lengths not to give police any
cause to disrupt the gathering. The
investigator writes: “We were repeatedly told this was a substance free camp. No drug or alcohol use would be permitted on
the premises and always ask permission before touching anyone. Investigators were told that we did not need
to give the police any reason to enter the camp.” They were also given a pamphlet that
instructed any agent of TransCanada, the FBI or other law enforcement agency to
immediately notify the event organizers.
The infiltration of the
Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance action camp
and pre-emption of the Cushing protest is part of a larger pattern of
government surveillance of tar sands protesters. According to other documents
obtained by Earth Island Journal under
an Open Records Act request, Department of Homeland Security staff has been
keeping close tabs on pipeline opponents—and routinely sharing that information
with TransCanada, and vice versa.
In March, TransCanada
gave a briefing on corporate security to a Criminal Intelligence Analyst with
the Oklahoma Information Fusion
Center
Then, in an email to
TransCanada on March 19—the second day of the action camp—Hogue seems to refer
to the undercover investigation taking place.“
Our folks in the area say there are between 120-150 participants,” Hogue
wrote in an email to Nagina. The Oklahoma
Information Fusion
Center
It is unclear if the
information gathered at the training camp was shared directly with TransCanada.
However, the company was given access to
the Fusion Center
In an emailed
statement, TransCanada spokesperson Shawn Howard did not directly address the
Tar Sands Resistance training camp. Howard
described law enforcement as being interested in what the company has done to
prepare for activities designed to “slow approval or construction” of the
pipeline project. “When we are asked to share what we have learned or are
prepared for, we are there to share our experience—not direct law enforcement,”
he wrote.
At least one of the
investigators seemed to have gained the trust of the direct action activists.
The evidence of
heightened cooperation between TransCanada and law enforcement agencies in
Oklahoma and Texas comes just over a month after it was revealed that the company
had given a PowerPoint presentation
on corporate security to the FBI and law enforcement officials in Nebraska.
TransCanada also held an “interactive session” with law enforcement in Oklahoma City Texas and Oklahoma
In addition to
TransCanada’s presentation, a representative of Nebraska ’s
Homeland Security Fusion
Center
The earlier cache of
documents, first released to the press by Bold Nebraska, an environmental
organization opposed to the pipeline, shows that TransCanada has established
close ties with state and federal law enforcement agencies along the proposed
pipeline route. For example, in an
exchange with FBI agents in South
Dakota Nebraska
The new documents also
provide an interesting glimpse into the revolving door between state law
enforcement agencies and the private sector, especially in areas where fracking
and pipeline construction have become big business. One of the individuals providing information
to the Texas Department of Homeland Security’s Intelligence and
Counterterrorism Division is currently the Security Manager at Anadarko
Petroleum, one of the world’s largest independent oil and natural gas
exploration and production companies. In
2011, at a natural gas industry stakeholder relations conference, a
spokesperson for Anadarko compared the anti-drilling movement
to an “insurgency” and suggested that attendees download the US
The infiltration of the
Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance action camp
and pre-emption of the Cushing protest is part of a larger pattern of
government surveillance of tar sands protesters.
LC Wilson, the Anadarko
Security Manager shown by the documents to be providing information to the
Texas Fusion Center, is more than just a friend of law enforcement. From 2009 to 2011 he served as Regional
Commander of the Texas Department of Public Safety, which oversees law
enforcement statewide. Wilson began his
career with the Department of Public Safety in 1979 and was named a Texas
Ranger—an elite law enforcement unit—in 1988, eventually working his way up to
Assistant Chief. Such connections would
be of great value to a corporation like Anadarko, which has invested heavily in
security operations.
In an email to Litto
Paul Bacas, a Critical Infrastructure Planner—and former intelligence
analyst—with Texas Homeland Security, Wilson , using his Anadarko address, writes, “we find no
intel specific for Texas Oklahoma Texas Great Plains
Tar Sands Resistance training camp.
Wilson is not the only
former law enforcement official on Anadarko’s security team; Jeffrey Sweetin,
the company’s Regional Security Manager, was a special agent with the Drug
Enforcement Administration for more than 20 years heading up its Rocky Mountain
Other large oil and gas
companies have recruited local law enforcement to fill high-level security
positions. In 2010, long-time Bradford County
Sheriff Steve Evans resigned to take a position as senior security officer for Chesapeake Energy in Pennsylvania Bradford County
Sheriff’s office have worked for Chesapeake
Of course for corporations like TransCanada and Anadarko having law enforcement on their side—or in their pocket—is more than just a good business move. It gives them access to classified information and valuable intelligence—essential weapons in any counterinsurgency campaign.
Protect
Clean Air, Clean Water, Clean Food
~~~
If the good Lord is
willing and the creek don't rise, I'll talk with you again next Tuesday,
August, 27, 2013
God Bless You All
&
God Bless the United States of America
Floyd
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