"We're under some gross misconception that we're a good species, going somewhere important, and that at the last minute we'll correct our errors and God will smile on us. It's delusion."
"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
Monday, November 17, 2014
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Chamber of the 1% demands that Salem raise taxes, ignore risks
Characteristically, rather than support the most sensible option for response, Salem's sprawl lobby, led by the Chamber of the 1%, says that we should squander hundreds of millions more than the upgrade would cost by building a gargantuan new 3rd Bridge a mile north of the existing two bridges, which are at the only logical spot in the river, where it narrows to its minimum distance.
Worst of all, this Bridgasaurus Boondogglus would be much more costly than upgrades to existing bridges because it would one of the longest spans in Oregon, passing through zones where the soils will have the consistency of chocolate milk during the big quake. That's why it would take hundreds of dollars a year from every Salem household for decades to fund this absurdity.
The bottom line is that the Chamber has completely discredited itself on any fiscal matters, proving that their only measuring stick for ideas is how much money their members can make on them.
"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
>
> It's official. ODOT predicts that in the magnitude 9.0 Cascadia megaquake, the Marion and Center Street bridges will collapse.
>
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Thursday, Nov. 13, 7 p.m. Be there! Grand Theatre, High St at Court St
Thursday, November 13th --7 PM
"Citizen Koch" With the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling opening the floodgates for unlimited political spending, it's now easier than ever to buy an election. But what happens when the voters realize that the billionaires and corporations doing the buying do not have the people's best interests at heart? This question is at the core of CITIZEN KOCH, the new documentary from the Academy Award®-nominated directors of Trouble the Water, Carl Deal and Tia Lessin.
The filmmakers break down the politically-motivated maneuvering behind the Supreme Court case that changed the way our democracy works, making way for the 2010 midterm elections that ushered in a new wave of ultraconservative Tea Party politicians. The Tea Party positioned itself as a citizen-powered, homegrown movement borne from sheer patriotism, but was actually one of the most well-funded and corporately-orchestrated political operations in history. Republicans capitalized on this new era with huge gains not just in Washington, DC, but across the country.
Trailer: http://www.citizenkoch.com/page/content/trailer
Guest Speakers:
David Delk President, Alliance for Democracy
Kate Titus Executive Director, Common Cause, Oregon http://www.commoncause.org/states/oregon/
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"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
Monday, November 10, 2014
For those near Portland on Nov. 11
Why Warnings on Climate Spark Aggressive Denials [feedly]
Why Warnings on Climate Spark Aggressive Denials
http://www.resilience.org/stories/2014-11-10/why-warnings-on-climate-spark-aggressive-denials
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"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Why environmentalists should oppose the Oregon "clean fuels" nonsense
A big story below, showing yet again that biofuels are expensive tax-wasting lies, aimed at propping up the liquid fuels paradigm and extending the reign of Big Oil.
Contrary to the nonsense peddled by the captive "green" groups (who accuse anyone who notices that Emperor Biofuels is stark naked of being in the pocket of Big Oil) the reality is that Big Oil LOVES biofuels because they are useful to keep people fantasizing about the continuation of auto dominance a while longer, which helps keep people from realizing that the auto age is ending, which gives Big Oil even more time to milk the suckers before they all go broke.
Biofuels have no energetic advantage, no carbon advantage, and are basically just a system for laundering fossil fuels through a greenwash propaganda system fueled by insane public funds giveaways and tax subsidies.
Morally biofuels are even worse than fossil fuels -- since biofuels combine all the environmental costs of fossil fuels plus the moral obscenity of making hungry people watch while land is taken out of food production use and turned over to agribusiness for production of motor fuel ... A fuel that is only really a phony fuel, since the net energy return over the fossil fuel inputs is infinitesimal.
The one downside to the Democratic victories in Oregon is that the Kitzhaber administration has been totally bamboozled or bought off by the biofuel propaganda and thinks they are worth pouring money into. Which explains why mainstream Oregon green groups are terrible on biofuels, ignoring science when it suits them just as the Rs do habitually.
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KiOR in Default on Loan
// R-Squared Energy Blog
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KiOR in Default on Loan
// R-Squared Energy Blog
Update 4:30 PM PST: This afternoon KiOR filed a Form 8-K with the SEC. This form is used to notify investors of important material events. In the report, KiOR indicated that they had received a Notice of Default and Acceleration from the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) notifying KiOR that all obligations are now due and payable within three (3) business days from November 3, 2014. This default accelerates KiOR's other loan obligations. In addition to the $78.6 million now payable to the MDA, KiOR says this default "accelerates the Company's obligations under the following debt agreements:"
- Loan and Security Agreement, dated January 26, 2012, among the Company and each of 1538731 Alberta Ltd. as agent and lender, 1538716 Alberta Ltd. and KFT Trust, as amended on March 17, 2013, October 21, 2013 and March 31, 2014. As of November 3, 2014, an aggregate amount of approximately $127.8 million is immediately due and payable. As a result of the MDA Notice, the loan accrues an additional four percent (4%) per annum default interest rate.
- Senior Secured Convertible Promissory Note Purchase Agreement, dated October 18, 2013, among the Company, KiOR Columbus, KV III, KFT Trust and VNK Management, LLC and KV III in its capacity as agent, as amended on October 20, 2013 and on March 31, 2014. As of November 3, 2014, an aggregate amount of approximately $95.7 million is immediately due and payable.
- Senior Secured Convertible Promissory Note Purchase Agreement, dated March 31, 2014, as amended on July 3, 2014, among the Company, KiOR Columbus and KFT Trust and KFT Trust in its capacity as agent. As of November 3, 2014, an aggregate amount of approximately $10.4 million is immediately due and payable.
So KiOR now owes, immediately due and payable, over $312 million. On the plus side, the 8-K notes "KFT Trust made a Protective Advance to KiOR in the aggregate principal amount of $1,102,691." That is such a specific amount that I wonder if that might be the bill from the investment bank that has been shopping KiOR during the forbearance period.
My guess is that this now triggers a bankruptcy declaration next week.
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During the administration of former Republican Governor Haley Barbour, the state of Mississippi provided a $75 million no-interest loan to advanced biofuel company KiOR (OTCMKTS: KIOR) to build a plant in that state. Last Friday KiOR was supposed to make a $1.875 million payment on the loan. The loan payment had been due at the end of June, but KiOR paid $250,000 for a 120-day reprieve to give them more time to explore options on selling or merging the company, which has had its plant in Mississippi idled all year. The loan originated with the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA), and they confirmed for me this morning that KiOR missed the October 31st deadline, and a three-day grace period on the loan had ended on Wednesday, November 5th with no payment. I spoke with the MDA this morning, and afterward they sent me the following written statement:
"As of today (November 7, 2014), KiOR has not made its loan payment. MDA is working closely with its counsel and financial advisors to evaluate all options with the intent of finding the best solutions for the state in regard to the KiOR Columbus project. MDA continues to assess any and all rights and remedies it has available and will provide updates once next steps are fully determined." -Marlo Dorsey, Chief Marketing Officer, Mississippi Development Authority
So what does this mean? It means that KiOR is now in default on the loan, and the MDA can legally seize the plant and demand the remaining balance of $69.4 million on the loan. This would allow KiOR's other lenders to demand immediate payment of the $250 million it owes them. KiOR acknowledged in their most recent Quarterly Report to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that this action would likely force the company to declare bankruptcy:
In the event of an acceleration of amounts due under its debt instruments as a result of an event of default, the Company will not have sufficient funds and does not expect to be able to arrange for additional financing to repay its indebtedness or to make any accelerated payments, and the lenders could seek to enforce their security interests in the collateral securing such indebtedness, in which case the Company will likely be forced to voluntarily seek protection under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
Where does this leave the state of Mississippi? The ball is in their court, but the state is in a difficult position. Their best option was for the company to find a buyer so the loan from the state could be repaid. But KiOR presently owes $250 million, lists assets of only $58 million (and $50 million of that is for the plant that isn't running), and a market capitalization of under $5 million. It is also facing another $1.875 million payment at the end of next month. It is not surprising that in that financial condition the company didn't find a buyer during their 120-day forbearance. But if the state exercises their right to seize the plant, they are then in the position of trying to find a buyer or of selling the plant for scrap value (which will be less than $50 million).
The most recent precedent for this type of outcome is in the Range Fuels bankruptcy. Following more than $160 million in venture capital, a $76 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, a $6.25 million grant from Georgia, and an $80 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Range Fuels was still unable to produce transportation fuel. They were forced to declare bankruptcy, and the plant was auctioned off to pay for part of its debts. The plant ultimately sold at auction for $5.1 million.
By defaulting and failing to negotiate additional time with the state of Mississippi — and allowing themselves to be delisted from the NASDAQ without a fight — it appears that KiOR is resigned to its fate. That fate presently lies in the hands of the state of Mississippi, which will seek the best possible outcome for taxpayers while trying to manage the political fallout which is sure to come.
What do I believe will happen? I still think bankruptcy is the most likely outcome given the company's relative debts and assets, and considering that the plant hasn't run all year and most of the employees have been let go. At this point they appear to have given up stalling for more time, and they would need to be extremely creative to craft a scenario in which they manage to avoid bankruptcy. Their only hope at this point is with the MDA deciding that forcing them into bankruptcy isn't the best scenario for Mississippi taxpayers.
Link to Original Article: KiOR in Default on Loan
By Robert Rapier. You can find me on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook.
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"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
Minnesota judges say we must admit "we have a problem with race" in the criminal justice system [feedly]
Will Oregon follow suit? Other states?
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Minnesota judges say we must admit "we have a problem with race" in the criminal justice system
// Sentencing Law and Policy
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Minnesota judges say we must admit "we have a problem with race" in the criminal justice system
// Sentencing Law and Policy
Kevin Burke, a Minnesota county district judge, has authored this provocative new commentary which was signed on to by a number of fellow judges. The piece is headlined "On race and justice system, we're still in denial," and here are excerpts:
Repeatedly, we have been confronted with compelling evidence that our community has a serious problem with racial disparity in its justice system. Repeatedly, we have either said, "We can stop," or we get defensive and attack the messenger. The time has come for us to change our response.
The recent report by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota (ACLU) on the racial disparities of arrests comes as no particular surprise ("ACLU: Blacks arrested more for minor crimes," Oct. 29). Sure, you could write off the ACLU as some leftist organization — except that its report is based on hard data. The ACLU's data and its analysis replicate numerous studies dating back decades about the problem of racial disparity in the justice system in our community....
[I]n 2007, the Minneapolis-based Council on Crime on Justice issued a report that found that "[t]he racial disparity in Minnesota's justice system is exceptionally high compared to other states. From arrest to imprisonment, the disparity is over twice the national average." Since 2000, the report said, the Council on Crime and Justice "has undertaken seventeen separate studies in a comprehensive effort to understand 'why' such a large disparity exists here, in Minnesota."...
We need to accept we have a problem. All of us have a right to be safe, but protecting the public and being racially fair are not mutually exclusive. The ACLU report is interesting, in part, because it is not focused on "serious" or "violent" crime. There is no legitimate reason why there is a vastly disproportionate arrest rate for young black people for possession of small amounts of marijuana or for loitering.
The justice system desperately needs the trust of the public. Community policing is premised upon community support. But before you conclude that this is a problem with the Minneapolis police — stop. All of the police, prosecutors, defenders, corrections officials and the community at large own a piece of the mess. And yes, so do the elected officials — including judges. Every one of us in the justice system bears responsibility for this problem....
There is a connection between racial disparity in the justice system and what is happening in our community. Child protection failures, racial disparity in low-level offenses, achievement gaps in school, and yes, even violent crime and gang problems are all related. The beginning of an end to these issues starts with a collective admission that we have a problem with race.
The solutions to our problem of racial disparity in the justice system may be as intractable as our failure to acknowledge the existence of the problem, but we have no choice other than to act. At a minimum, we need to acknowledge the cumulative nature of racial disparities. Racial disparity often builds at each stage of the justice continuum, from arrest through release from prison. And even then it does not stop. Employment opportunities for ex-offenders are limited. Hennepin County has a history of very good dialogue among the justice system participants, but in order to combat racial disparity, everyone needs to commit to a systematic approach. Without a systemic approach to the problem, gains in one area may be offset by reversals in another....
Given the persistence of the problem of racial disparity in the justice system, however, a very good case can be made that reasoned experiments to find solutions are a better alternative than continually repeating what we are presently doing — and hoping for a different result.
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"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
The Myth of Chinese Super Schools by Diane Ravitch | The New York Review of Books
Salem and Oregon seem to have fallen into the foolish "If you can test for success, then the more you test, the more your success" abyss, alas.
It's cargo cults everywhere you look these days, it seems -- people who never really understood the forces at work that produced the magical amounts of wealth in the first place, now madly seeking to replicate the symbols (effects) of that wealth that they confuse with its causes.
Diane Ravitch is a real gem.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/nov/20/myth-chinese-super-schools/?utm_source=11-9&utm_campaign=7%2F13%2F2014&utm_medium=email
"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
It's cargo cults everywhere you look these days, it seems -- people who never really understood the forces at work that produced the magical amounts of wealth in the first place, now madly seeking to replicate the symbols (effects) of that wealth that they confuse with its causes.
Diane Ravitch is a real gem.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/nov/20/myth-chinese-super-schools/?utm_source=11-9&utm_campaign=7%2F13%2F2014&utm_medium=email
"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
Thursday, November 6, 2014
What better voting systems mean: Oakland mayoral race - "no big expenditures.. almost no negative ads"
We can have better elections in Oregon easily!
Ranked Choice Voting is already expressly ALLOWED in the Oregon Constitution!
"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
Outside Money Absent in Mayor's Race
A recap of campaign spending shows that, unlike 2010, this year's mayoral election in Oakland was marked by no big expenditures by special interests and almost no negative ads.
By Robert Gammonclick to enlarge
- Oakland Mayor-elect Libby Schaaf.
The 2010 Oakland mayoral campaign was awash in special interest money and big expenditures by outside groups attempting to influence the election. Two outside groups, also known as independent expenditure committees, spent more than $350,000 in total on behalf of then-candidates Don Perata and Rebecca Kaplan. Perata himself also spent nearly $900,000 trying to win the mayor's office — a record in Oakland politics. But 2014 was a completely different story in the city, with almost no large expenditures by outside groups. In fact, the only major special-interest spending occurred in two city council races and the city's school board contests.
The two candidates who received the most financial help from outside groups were Abel Guillen and Annie Campbell Washington, who were both seeking election to the Oakland City Council and were backed strongly by organized labor. Outside spending on behalf of Guillen totaled $108,928 prior to the election, and for Campbell Washington, it was $99,392. All of that money came from unions.
The big spending stemmed from the fact that both Guillen and Campbell Washington had trailed badly in the pre-election polls behind two candidates who were viewed as being unfriendly to labor. The polls showed Guillen well behind ex-TV anchor Dana King, while Campbell Washington was being trounced by Jill Broadhurst, who runs a landlords' group. Early in the campaign, both King and Broadhurst also enjoyed better name recognition among voters than Guillen and Campbell Washington — a fact that also raised serious concerns among union activists in Oakland.
The Alameda Labor Council, an umbrella organization that includes numerous East Bay unions, reported spending $89,107 each on Guillen and Campbell Washington in the campaign. The Oakland police officers union reported $10,285 worth of expenditures on behalf of Campbell Washington, while the Oakland firefighters union and the Teamsters joined together to spend $14,191 trying to elect Guillen. In addition, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) reported spending $5,000 on Guillen's behalf. King and Broadhurst, by contrast, received no help from outside groups, which was a bit of a surprise because both had been endorsed by the Oakland Chamber of Commerce, which has a history of big spending in Oakland elections.
The large expenditures by labor also meant that Guillen and Campbell Washington were effectively able to outspend their opponents by a margin of more than 2-1. In their own campaigns, Guillen raised $100,444 compared to King's $85,098. And Campbell Washington received $103,022 compared to Broadhurst's $83,271.
The other big outside spending in the 2014 Oakland election occurred in the city's school board races. A political committee run by the nonprofit group Great Oakland Public Schools reported expenditures of nearly $100,000 on behalf of its three favored candidates: Renato Almanzor ($53,559), Nina Senn ($21,689), and Saleem Shakir-Gilmore ($21,666). The committee received much of its funds from charter school backers.
The Oakland mayor's race, by contrast, saw only a few small expenditures by outside groups this year, and almost no negative campaigning — a dramatic turnaround from 2010. The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund reported spending $10,000 on behalf of Kaplan this year, while the IBEW reported spending $5,000 trying to reelect Mayor Jean Quan. The chamber, meanwhile, reported spending $10,446 on behalf of Bryan Parker.
A small group of donors calling themselves Citizens for Oakland reported spending a total of $34,000 attempting to elect Parker and fellow candidates Libby Schaaf and Joe Tuman, and to defeat Quan and Kaplan. It was the only outside spending on negative ads (against Quan and Kaplan) in the mayoral campaign. And finally, a group of marijuana-legalization supporters reported spending $1,330 each on behalf of Kaplan and Schaaf, who were viewed as being the two most pot-friendly mayoral candidates.
The 2010 campaign, by contrast, included huge amounts of spending on attack ads by an outside group called Coalition for a Safer California. The organization had strong links to Perata and spent a total of $137,000 in that campaign, mostly on hit pieces against Quan and Kaplan. The other big outside expenditure in that campaign came from the California Nurses Association and then-Hollywood producer Bryan Zuriff, who spent $214,000 on Kaplan's behalf.
The 2014 race was mostly a candidate-financed affair. Schaaf led all mayoral candidates, receiving a total of $422,248 in donations, followed closely by Quan, who raised $419,285 (Quan pumped $32,000 into her campaign in the final week). Parker raised the third highest amount of money among the major candidates in the race, totaling $392,902 (he injected $45,000 of his own money in the final days of the campaign). Tuman was next with $266,615, followed by Siegel with $206,784, and Ruby with $150,555. Lower-tier candidate Saied Karamooz loaned his own campaign $401,000, but then spent none of the money, according to his last pre-election campaign statement.
The relative lack of outside expenditures this year in Oakland's election also came in stark contrast to the huge amounts of money spent by Big Oil and Big Soda in Richmond and Berkeley, respectively. Chevron spent at least $3 million trying to elect its favored mayoral and council candidates (Nat Bates, Charles Ramsey, Donna Powers, and Al Martinez) and defeat the three progressive environmentalists (Gayle McLaughlin, Jovanka Beckles, and Eduardo Martinez) who were running for office. And in Berkeley, beverage companies spent at least $2.4 million trying to defeat Measure D, the soda tax.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob Richie
Executive Director, FairVote
6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 610
Takoma Park, MD 20912
rr@fairvote.org (301) 270-4616 http://www.fairvote.orgFirst Million Campaign Thank you for considering a tax-deductible donation to support FairVote's Reform2020.com vision. (Combined Federal Campaign number is 10132.)
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