Chevron in the White House
Posted on Dec 2, 2008
By Amy Goodman
President-elect Barack Obama introduced his principal national-security Cabinet selections to the world Monday and left no doubt that he intends to start his administration on a war footing. Perhaps the least well known among them is retired Marine Gen. James Jones, Obama’s pick for national security adviser. The position is crucial—think of the power that Henry Kissinger wielded in Richard Nixon’s White House. A look into who James Jones is sheds a little light on the Obama campaign’s promise of “Change We Can Believe In.”
Jones is the former supreme allied commander of NATO. He is president and chief executive of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy. The institute has been criticized by environmental groups for, among other things, calling for the immediate expansion of domestic oil and gas production and issuing reports that challenged the use of the Clean Air Act to combat global warming.
Recently retired from the military, Jones has parlayed his 40-year military career into several corporate directorships. Among them is Cross Match Technologies, which makes biometric identification equipment. More germane to Jones’ forthcoming role in Obama’s inner circle, though, might be Jones’ seat as a director of Boeing, a weapons manufacturer, and as a director of Chevron, an oil giant.
Chevron has already sent one of its directors to the White House: Condoleezza Rice. As a member of that California-based oil giant’s board, she actually had a Chevron oil tanker named after her, the Condoleezza Rice. The tanker’s name was changed, after some embarrassment, when Rice joined the Bush administration as national security adviser. So now Chevron has a new person at the highest level of the executive branch. With Robert Gates also keeping his job as secretary of defense, maybe Obama should change his slogan to “Continuity We Can Believe In.”
But what of a Chevron director high up in the West Wing? Obama’s attacks on John McCain during the campaign included a daily refrain about the massive profits of ExxonMobil, as if that was the only oil company out there. Chevron, too, has posted mammoth profits. Chevron was also a defendant in a federal court case in San Francisco related to the murder, 10 years ago, of two unarmed, peaceful activists in the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria. On May 28, 1998, three Chevron helicopters ferried Nigerian military and police to the remote section of the Delta known as Ilajeland, where protesters had occupied a Chevron offshore drilling platform to protest Chevron’s role in the destruction of the local environment. The troops opened fired on the protesters. Two were killed, others were injured. (Rice was in charge of the Chevron board’s public policy committee when it fought off shareholder resolutions demanding that Chevron improve its human rights and environmental record in Nigeria.)
One of those shot was Larry Bowoto, who, along with the family members of those killed, filed suit in California against Chevron for its role in the attack. Just after Jones was named Obama’s national security adviser Monday, a jury acquitted Chevron. Bowoto told me: “I was disappointed in the judgment by the jury. I believe personally the struggle continues. I believe the attorney representing us will not stay put. He will take the initiative in going to the court of appeals.” I met Bowoto in 1998, just months after he was shot. He showed me his bullet wounds when I interviewed him in the Niger Delta. I also met Omoyele Sowore, who has since come to the U.S. and started the news Web site SaharaReporters.com.
Sowore has followed the case closely. Though disappointed, he said: “We have achieved one major victory: Chevron’s underbelly was exposed in this town. ... Also there is Nigeria: Protesters won’t give up. ... This will not discourage anybody who wants to make sure Chevron gives up violence as a way of doing business. American citizens are increasingly protective of their economy. ... Chevron played into fears of ... the jurors, saying these are people [the Nigerian protesters] who made oil prices go through the roof. This was a pyrrhic victory for Chevron. If I was in their shoes, I wouldn’t be popping champagne.”
Nigerians know well the power of the military-industrial complex in their own country. While Obama was swept into office promising change, his choice of Marine Gen. James Jones as national security adviser probably has U.S. corporate titans breathing easy, leaving the poor of the Niger Delta with the acrid air and oil-slicked water that lie behind Chevron’s profits.
Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.
Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 700 stations in North America. She has been awarded the 2008 Right Livelihood Award, dubbed the “Alternative Nobel” prize, and will receive the award in the Swedish Parliament in December.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Of Philanthropists and Con artists
The Council on Foreign Relations runs a think tank called the David Rockefeller Studies Program. This program was started by David Rockefeller, a patriarch of a strong American family with strong American values. John D. Rockefeller became the richest man in history by building up an oil empire, but he gave some wealth back to the people in the form of foundations, funding for the arts, colleges, and even a private research university. Today you can here his name nearly every day on the "liberal radio station" NPR.
Wait a second, did I say American values? I meant to say, self-serving capitalist values.
Jay Rockefeller (one of John D. Rockefeller's many great-grandsons) personally supports "granting the President new warrantless eavesdropping powers and granting immunity to lawbreaking telecoms" (http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/01/24/rockefeller/).
Keep in mind, this is just one of the richest families in the world. There are several families using their wealth and power in similar ways with the end goal of controlling the US economy and indirectly the people involved in that economy.
The same family worked to pass the Rockefeller Drug Laws in the state of New York (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockefeller_drug_laws) that have increased New York's inmate population by over 400% since their passage. According to drugpolicy.org "As of 2008, approximately 14,000 people are locked up for drug offenses in New York State prisons, representing nearly 38% of the prison population and costing New Yorkers hundreds of millions of dollars every year." (http://www.drugpolicy.org/statebystate/newyork/rockefellerd/)
Philanthropist, indeed.
Wait a second, did I say American values? I meant to say, self-serving capitalist values.
Jay Rockefeller (one of John D. Rockefeller's many great-grandsons) personally supports "granting the President new warrantless eavesdropping powers and granting immunity to lawbreaking telecoms" (http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/01/24/rockefeller/).
Keep in mind, this is just one of the richest families in the world. There are several families using their wealth and power in similar ways with the end goal of controlling the US economy and indirectly the people involved in that economy.
The same family worked to pass the Rockefeller Drug Laws in the state of New York (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockefeller_drug_laws) that have increased New York's inmate population by over 400% since their passage. According to drugpolicy.org "As of 2008, approximately 14,000 people are locked up for drug offenses in New York State prisons, representing nearly 38% of the prison population and costing New Yorkers hundreds of millions of dollars every year." (http://www.drugpolicy.org/statebystate/newyork/rockefellerd/)
Philanthropist, indeed.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Money as Debt.
A friend sent me this on facebook and I haven't had a chance to watch it but the title says all I needed to hear to know this is most likely truth.
Also check out the films Zeitgeist (I & II), The Corporation, and The Last White Hope: the American Drug War.
Also check out the films Zeitgeist (I & II), The Corporation, and The Last White Hope: the American Drug War.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
George Herbert Walker Bush Implicated in Kennedy Assassination
this article makes assertions and presents evidence that George H.W. Bush was directly connected to the assassination of President Kennedy.
President John F. Kennedy has often been lauded as the 20th century's best U.S. president. He was taken down, not by a magic bullet, but by a hired assassin, who was not Oswald.
Could it have been because he proposed a non-debt based currency? Quite possibly.
President John F. Kennedy has often been lauded as the 20th century's best U.S. president. He was taken down, not by a magic bullet, but by a hired assassin, who was not Oswald.
Could it have been because he proposed a non-debt based currency? Quite possibly.
war drums
This country, this nation, this flag
once freedom-founded, truth-based, independence-loving,
now intimidates wage slaves for life blood.
Where people must adapt their sanity to an insane world,
would you imagine those spreading hidden knowledge are crazy?
What are you, insane? That’ll never stand in court.
MK Ultra: never ended, just renamed,
all the stuff’s the same, the media loves to play this game
since corporate interests hand over some riches.
Together, they will crush world currencies, establish four more continental unions!
Goodbye, Operation Paper Clip, hello Operation RFID Chip.
This sounds like a conspiracy theory.
Reported from Sheep on a Mission,
state terror persists sans admission,
as the ones who tell
of the buildings that fell, never say “controlled demolition.”
Those who speak truth are off their handle, out of touch. Loony. Alarmist.
Our government would never work to harm us, they protect our freedoms.
Presidential Candidate number 5 preaches to his flock.
“Their will be other wars than these, say sorry,”
he bleats while blurry blizzards of tv screen snow
cut in with popup ads and subliminal messages
to undermine our confidence leading us to continual consumption.
Didn’t you see the new product x commercial though? That was so cool!
Insanity is presuming America has a protected Democracy,
when our own government threatens Democracy everywhere else.
They instate dictators, falsify two elections, lie our way into warring always,
and we expect all of a sudden they will stop? Concede?
Bush never even apologized, let alone admitted
his lies, laying blame on faulty intelligence. Oops. Heh-heh-heh-heh.
We seek to bring this evidence to light,
that our government is taking us all for a ride
across the Accountant-sea to sell US into slavery
to the banks, the loan sharks, the hedge fund wizards.
It’s time to reclaim our stake in Democracy.
Let the important people make important decisions.
Somehow, still, Americans think withdrawing
our troops and calling halt to the slaughter will paint us yellow head to toe.
“We’re number one!” goes the new Jingo pop/rock anthem.
It’s taking over the charts for an H-bomb hit wonder.
Meanwhile our economy falls in on itself and the House of the Red Shield tightens its grip...
Those events are unrelated! Why do you hate America?
once freedom-founded, truth-based, independence-loving,
now intimidates wage slaves for life blood.
Where people must adapt their sanity to an insane world,
would you imagine those spreading hidden knowledge are crazy?
What are you, insane? That’ll never stand in court.
MK Ultra: never ended, just renamed,
all the stuff’s the same, the media loves to play this game
since corporate interests hand over some riches.
Together, they will crush world currencies, establish four more continental unions!
Goodbye, Operation Paper Clip, hello Operation RFID Chip.
This sounds like a conspiracy theory.
Reported from Sheep on a Mission,
state terror persists sans admission,
as the ones who tell
of the buildings that fell, never say “controlled demolition.”
Those who speak truth are off their handle, out of touch. Loony. Alarmist.
Our government would never work to harm us, they protect our freedoms.
Presidential Candidate number 5 preaches to his flock.
“Their will be other wars than these, say sorry,”
he bleats while blurry blizzards of tv screen snow
cut in with popup ads and subliminal messages
to undermine our confidence leading us to continual consumption.
Didn’t you see the new product x commercial though? That was so cool!
Insanity is presuming America has a protected Democracy,
when our own government threatens Democracy everywhere else.
They instate dictators, falsify two elections, lie our way into warring always,
and we expect all of a sudden they will stop? Concede?
Bush never even apologized, let alone admitted
his lies, laying blame on faulty intelligence. Oops. Heh-heh-heh-heh.
We seek to bring this evidence to light,
that our government is taking us all for a ride
across the Accountant-sea to sell US into slavery
to the banks, the loan sharks, the hedge fund wizards.
It’s time to reclaim our stake in Democracy.
Let the important people make important decisions.
Somehow, still, Americans think withdrawing
our troops and calling halt to the slaughter will paint us yellow head to toe.
“We’re number one!” goes the new Jingo pop/rock anthem.
It’s taking over the charts for an H-bomb hit wonder.
Meanwhile our economy falls in on itself and the House of the Red Shield tightens its grip...
Those events are unrelated! Why do you hate America?
Andrew Lahde, Lahde Capital Management, Letter of Resignation
This has been reposted from The Financial Times. I had to share this with all the readers out there as it truly pinpoints the aspect of our culture that is driven by the code of profit-while-you-can.
We as a people are experiencing a huge disconnect right now between what should be and what is. We dismiss the possibility of creating a better world by ditching the Federal Reserve. We have so far collectively refused action because we are held up by the perceived differences between cultural, racial, and political groups. If a few of us do not pay our taxes, we will be sent to jail. If millions of us across the nation simultaneously refuse to pay our taxes, we can shut this organization down, and rebuild a system that does not have openings for people to rob others legally. We need to take down the CIA and remove people from power in every single government agency, reinstating people with no history of for example supporting MK Ultra (Oliver North), working with the Nazis (Bush), or the CFR (Clintons, Bushes, Obama, Biden, etc.).
I will continue posting information on these findings until I am shut up.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Letter: Andrew Lahde, Lahde Capital Management
By Andrew Lahde
Friday Oct 17 2008 13:15
October 17, 2008
Today I write not to gloat. Given the pain that nearly everyone is experiencing, that would be entirely inappropriate. Nor am I writing to make further predictions, as most of my forecasts in previous letters have unfolded or are in the process of unfolding. Instead, I am writing to say goodbye.
Recently, on the front page of Section C of the Wall Street Journal, a hedge fund manager who was also closing up shop (a $300 million fund), was quoted as saying, "What I have learned about the hedge fund business is that I hate it." I could not agree more with that statement. I was in this game for the money. The low hanging fruit, i.e. idiots whose parents paid for prep school, Yale, and then the Harvard MBA, was there for the taking. These people who were (often) truly not worthy of the education they received (or supposedly received) rose to the top of companies such as AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and all levels of our government. All of this behavior supporting the Aristocracy only ended up making it easier for me to find people stupid enough to take the other side of my trades. God bless America.
There are far too many people for me to sincerely thank for my success. However, I do not want to sound like a Hollywood actor accepting an award. The money was reward enough. Furthermore, the endless list of those deserving thanks know who they are.
I will no longer manage money for other people or institutions. I have enough of my own wealth to manage. Some people, who think they have arrived at a reasonable estimate of my net worth, might be surprised that I would call it quits with such a small war chest. That is fine; I am content with my rewards. Moreover, I will let others try to amass nine, ten or eleven figure net worths. Meanwhile, their lives suck. Appointments back to back, booked solid for the next three months, they lookforward to their two week vacation in January during which they will likely be glued to their Blackberries or other such devices. What is the point? They will all be forgotten in fifty years anyway. Steve Balmer, Steven Cohen, and Larry Ellison will all be forgotten. I do not understand the legacy thing. Nearly everyone will be forgotten. Give up on leaving your mark. Throw the Blackberry away and enjoy life.
So this is it. With all due respect, I am dropping out. Please do not expect any type of reply to emails or voicemails within normal time frames or at all. Andy Springer and his company will be handling the dissolution of the fund. And don't worry about my employees, they were always employed by Mr. Springer's company and only one (who has been well-rewarded) will lose his job.
I have no interest in any deals in which anyone would like me to participate. I truly do not have a strong opinion about any market right now, other than to say that things will continue to get worse for some time, probably years. I am content sitting on the sidelines and waiting. After all, sitting and waiting is how we made money from the subprime debacle. I now have time to repair my health, which was destroyed by the stress I layered onto myself over the past two years, as well as my entire life - where I had to compete for spaces in universities and graduate schools, jobs and assets under management - with those who had all the advantages (rich parents) that I did not. May meritocracy be part of a new form of government, which needs to be established.
On the issue of the U.S. Government, I would like to make a modest proposal. First, I point out the obvious flaws, whereby legislation was repeatedly brought forth to Congress over the past eight years, which would have reigned in the predatory lending practices of now mostly defunct institutions. These institutions regularly filled the coffers of both parties in return for voting down all of this legislation designed to protect the common citizen. This is an outrage, yet no one seems to know or care about it. Since Thomas Jefferson and Adam Smith passed, I would argue that there has been a dearth of worthy philosophers in this country, at least ones focused on improving government. Capitalism worked for two hundred years, but times change, and systems become corrupt. George Soros, a man of staggering wealth, has stated that he would like to be remembered as a philosopher. My suggestion is that this great man start and sponsor a forum for great minds to come together to create a new system of government that truly represents the common man's interest, while at the same time creating rewards great enough to attract the best and brightest minds to serve in government roles without having to rely on corruption to further their interests or lifestyles. This forum could be similar to the one used to create the operating system, Linux, which competes with Microsoft's near monopoly. I believe there is an answer, but for now the system is clearly broken.
Lastly, while I still have an audience, I would like to bring attention to an alternative food and energy source. You won't see it included in BP's, "Feel good. We are working on sustainable solutions," television commercials, nor is it mentioned in ADM's similar commercials. But hemp has been used for at least 5,000 years for cloth and food, as well as just about everything that is produced from petroleum products. Hemp is not marijuana and vice versa. Hemp is the male plant and it grows like a weed, hence the slang term. The original American flag was made of hemp fiber and our Constitution was printed on paper made of hemp. It was used as recently as World War II by the U.S. Government, and then promptly made illegal after the war was won. At a time when rhetoric is flying about becoming more self-sufficient in terms of energy, why is it illegal to grow this plant in this country? Ah, the female. The evil female plant - marijuana. It gets you high, it makes you laugh, it does not produce a hangover. Unlike alcohol, it does not result in bar fights or wife beating. So, why is this innocuous plant illegal? Is it a gateway drug? No, that would be alcohol, which is so heavily advertised in this country. My only conclusion as to why it is illegal, is that Corporate America, which owns Congress, would rather sell you Paxil, Zoloft, Xanax and other addictive drugs, than allow you to grow a plant in your home without some of the profits going into their coffers. This policy is ludicrous. It has surely contributed to our dependency on foreign energy sources. Our policies have other countries literally laughing at our stupidity, most notably Canada, as well as several European nations (both Eastern and Western). You would not know this by paying attention to U.S. media sources though, as they tend not to elaborate on who is laughing at the United States this week. Please people, let's stop the rhetoric and start thinking about how we can truly become self-sufficient.
With that I say goodbye and good luck.
All the best,
Andrew Lahde
We as a people are experiencing a huge disconnect right now between what should be and what is. We dismiss the possibility of creating a better world by ditching the Federal Reserve. We have so far collectively refused action because we are held up by the perceived differences between cultural, racial, and political groups. If a few of us do not pay our taxes, we will be sent to jail. If millions of us across the nation simultaneously refuse to pay our taxes, we can shut this organization down, and rebuild a system that does not have openings for people to rob others legally. We need to take down the CIA and remove people from power in every single government agency, reinstating people with no history of for example supporting MK Ultra (Oliver North), working with the Nazis (Bush), or the CFR (Clintons, Bushes, Obama, Biden, etc.).
I will continue posting information on these findings until I am shut up.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Letter: Andrew Lahde, Lahde Capital Management
By Andrew Lahde
Friday Oct 17 2008 13:15
October 17, 2008
Today I write not to gloat. Given the pain that nearly everyone is experiencing, that would be entirely inappropriate. Nor am I writing to make further predictions, as most of my forecasts in previous letters have unfolded or are in the process of unfolding. Instead, I am writing to say goodbye.
Recently, on the front page of Section C of the Wall Street Journal, a hedge fund manager who was also closing up shop (a $300 million fund), was quoted as saying, "What I have learned about the hedge fund business is that I hate it." I could not agree more with that statement. I was in this game for the money. The low hanging fruit, i.e. idiots whose parents paid for prep school, Yale, and then the Harvard MBA, was there for the taking. These people who were (often) truly not worthy of the education they received (or supposedly received) rose to the top of companies such as AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and all levels of our government. All of this behavior supporting the Aristocracy only ended up making it easier for me to find people stupid enough to take the other side of my trades. God bless America.
There are far too many people for me to sincerely thank for my success. However, I do not want to sound like a Hollywood actor accepting an award. The money was reward enough. Furthermore, the endless list of those deserving thanks know who they are.
I will no longer manage money for other people or institutions. I have enough of my own wealth to manage. Some people, who think they have arrived at a reasonable estimate of my net worth, might be surprised that I would call it quits with such a small war chest. That is fine; I am content with my rewards. Moreover, I will let others try to amass nine, ten or eleven figure net worths. Meanwhile, their lives suck. Appointments back to back, booked solid for the next three months, they lookforward to their two week vacation in January during which they will likely be glued to their Blackberries or other such devices. What is the point? They will all be forgotten in fifty years anyway. Steve Balmer, Steven Cohen, and Larry Ellison will all be forgotten. I do not understand the legacy thing. Nearly everyone will be forgotten. Give up on leaving your mark. Throw the Blackberry away and enjoy life.
So this is it. With all due respect, I am dropping out. Please do not expect any type of reply to emails or voicemails within normal time frames or at all. Andy Springer and his company will be handling the dissolution of the fund. And don't worry about my employees, they were always employed by Mr. Springer's company and only one (who has been well-rewarded) will lose his job.
I have no interest in any deals in which anyone would like me to participate. I truly do not have a strong opinion about any market right now, other than to say that things will continue to get worse for some time, probably years. I am content sitting on the sidelines and waiting. After all, sitting and waiting is how we made money from the subprime debacle. I now have time to repair my health, which was destroyed by the stress I layered onto myself over the past two years, as well as my entire life - where I had to compete for spaces in universities and graduate schools, jobs and assets under management - with those who had all the advantages (rich parents) that I did not. May meritocracy be part of a new form of government, which needs to be established.
On the issue of the U.S. Government, I would like to make a modest proposal. First, I point out the obvious flaws, whereby legislation was repeatedly brought forth to Congress over the past eight years, which would have reigned in the predatory lending practices of now mostly defunct institutions. These institutions regularly filled the coffers of both parties in return for voting down all of this legislation designed to protect the common citizen. This is an outrage, yet no one seems to know or care about it. Since Thomas Jefferson and Adam Smith passed, I would argue that there has been a dearth of worthy philosophers in this country, at least ones focused on improving government. Capitalism worked for two hundred years, but times change, and systems become corrupt. George Soros, a man of staggering wealth, has stated that he would like to be remembered as a philosopher. My suggestion is that this great man start and sponsor a forum for great minds to come together to create a new system of government that truly represents the common man's interest, while at the same time creating rewards great enough to attract the best and brightest minds to serve in government roles without having to rely on corruption to further their interests or lifestyles. This forum could be similar to the one used to create the operating system, Linux, which competes with Microsoft's near monopoly. I believe there is an answer, but for now the system is clearly broken.
Lastly, while I still have an audience, I would like to bring attention to an alternative food and energy source. You won't see it included in BP's, "Feel good. We are working on sustainable solutions," television commercials, nor is it mentioned in ADM's similar commercials. But hemp has been used for at least 5,000 years for cloth and food, as well as just about everything that is produced from petroleum products. Hemp is not marijuana and vice versa. Hemp is the male plant and it grows like a weed, hence the slang term. The original American flag was made of hemp fiber and our Constitution was printed on paper made of hemp. It was used as recently as World War II by the U.S. Government, and then promptly made illegal after the war was won. At a time when rhetoric is flying about becoming more self-sufficient in terms of energy, why is it illegal to grow this plant in this country? Ah, the female. The evil female plant - marijuana. It gets you high, it makes you laugh, it does not produce a hangover. Unlike alcohol, it does not result in bar fights or wife beating. So, why is this innocuous plant illegal? Is it a gateway drug? No, that would be alcohol, which is so heavily advertised in this country. My only conclusion as to why it is illegal, is that Corporate America, which owns Congress, would rather sell you Paxil, Zoloft, Xanax and other addictive drugs, than allow you to grow a plant in your home without some of the profits going into their coffers. This policy is ludicrous. It has surely contributed to our dependency on foreign energy sources. Our policies have other countries literally laughing at our stupidity, most notably Canada, as well as several European nations (both Eastern and Western). You would not know this by paying attention to U.S. media sources though, as they tend not to elaborate on who is laughing at the United States this week. Please people, let's stop the rhetoric and start thinking about how we can truly become self-sufficient.
With that I say goodbye and good luck.
All the best,
Andrew Lahde
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