Who is the American Chemistry Council?

.... and why are they trying to interfere in South Carolina elections?


The American Chemistry Council has sponsored a snazzy campaign commercial for Republican senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, assuring us that they are CONSERVATIVE LEADERS who will CUT GOVERNMENT SPENDING.

True enough, but what does this have to do with chemistry?

Who are these busybodies?

Curious, I investigated. Which ain't easy. (They don't really want us to know who they are, do they?) The American Chemistry Council web page does not inform us of WHAT they are about, or who they are funded by. They claim to be committed to "sustainability"--which begs the question, why are they endorsing climate-change-deniers like Scott? (Obviously, the word "sustainability" will eventually be as abused as those all-purpose words green and low-fat.)

Okay, so who are the members? Corporations, not people. (Even though Mitt Romney properly schooled us that corporations ARE people, I never believed him.) Hmm, a big-ass alphabetical list. I decided, in light of the sustainability-claim, to look under E, for EXXON.

And bingo, there they are. As is BP, the outfit that blew a hole in the ocean the size of Madagascar.

So. The oil companies, disguised as the pleasantly-neutral sounding AMERICAN CHEMISTRY COUNCIL want us to vote Republican, presumably since the GOP will keep the oil wars going and vote against all (authentically) green initiatives. I think it is also quite fascinating that a good number of these companies are NOT American.

And it isn't just Big Oil, but Big Plastic.

From Our Oregon, I found the agenda of the American Chemistry Council:

Banning plastic grocery sacks has been on the Oregon Legislature’s docket for several years. Since 2009, proponents have made their case across the state – locally and in the legislature. The issue had its first hearing for this year’s legislative session on Tuesday. [this article was first published January 2011]

Enter the Washington, DC-based American Chemistry Council, which isn’t, we were bummed to discover, an association of high school science teachers, but is, in fact, a lobbying group for the plastics industry.

The American Chemistry Council has spent more than $85,000 on lobbying against the plastic bag ban since 2009 (not including the current session), and as reported by Willamette Week donated $1,000 each to 15 key lawmakers from both parties before last year’s election.

Last month, according to the Oregonian, a “mystery poll” was conducted among Oregon residents, seemingly as an attempt to test negative opinions on the ban. Pollsters asked participants questions clearly slanted against the ban, including whether participants would rather the Legislature protect the economy, build jobs or ban plastic bags. Misconceptions such as the “bag police pursuing Oregonians” and the idea that there are harmful contaminates in reusable bags, were also used.

As Benjamin Braddock was famously told on his graduation day: "PLASTICS!"

Big Oil and Big Plastic, cozily disguised as the friendly-named AMERICAN CHEMISTRY COUNCIL, are brazenly interfering in our elections.

Now that elections are up for sale, they aren't wasting any time.

~*~

The entire noxious commercial is below.

Wednesday Linkage

At left: Artisphere mural, more photos here.


Once again, the celebrity golfers have invaded the neighborhood, as they do every year. I have complained about this before (notably here and here) and so I will spare you any extended howling.

But damn, I wish they'd set up their Golf Network tents somewheres else.






Got links! Lots of interesting and timely reading around the intertubes:


[] The main reason capital punishment is wrong is human error. We now know that Texas executed the wrong man, Carlos DeLuna in 1989. Whoops! Sorry about that, DeLuna family!

Carlos, my heart bleeds for you.

[] Special needs teenager in NC, placed in box for punishment.

This made me think of the movie Papillon, in which Steve McQueen is placed in a box... but that film was set in a penal colony in French Guiana in the 30s. Not North Carolina in 2012. (cries)

[] Anti-environmental activist Cal Beisner Warns the 'Depraved' Environmental Movement Models itself after Satan. Trying to save the earth is evil, doncha know, but destroying the atmosphere is Godly. Just for the record.

[] Free the Weed Department: Pro-marijuana policy bloc swings Oregon attorney general primary election: Ellen Rosenblum (champion of marijuana policy reform) is now Democratic nominee for attorney general of the State of Oregon.

Since there is no Republican challenger, Rosenblum’s victory means she will be Oregon's next AG.

[] Special link for those who claim there is no GOP War on Women. Really? How about this: Debbie Wasserman Schultz Depicted In Dog Collar On GOP Candidate's Website.

And the hits just keep on comin, kids.

[] For fans of Bravo network's Inside the Actors Studio, here is James Lipton on Mitt Romney. The piece is tellingly titled: How to Act Human, which I think is a pretty tall order for Mitt.

Money quote:

Perhaps it starts with his laugh, a device he employs at odd moments and in a most peculiar way. (The public thinks that crying is the acid test of the actor, but in fact “laughing” is much harder — and Mr. Romney hasn’t mastered it.)

Listen to his laugh. It resembles the flat “Ha! Ha! Ha!” that appears in comic-strip dialogue balloons. But worse – far worse – it is mirthless. Mr. Romney expects us to be amused, although he himself is not amused. Freeze the frame, cover the bottom of his face with your hand, and study his eyes. There’s no pleasure there, no amusement.

[] Dubya kinda sorta endorses Mitt, as elevator closes. Funny!

[] And again speaking of Mitt, it is time to face the music on Bain: Is Mitt Romney ready for Bain battle?

As the Obama campaign this week began a concerted attack on the presumptive GOP nominee for his tenure at the private equity firm he managed, strategists in both parties say the Republican has yet to give a confident, detailed explanation of his Bain Capital tenure that silences questions about his biography as a businessman.

You don't mean he FIBBED, do you? I am shocked, shocked I tell you!

And I hope your Wednesday is good.

Occupy movement under attack by the Usual Suspects

Photo from our demonstration last night, Occupy the Debate! at the Republican debate in Spartanburg.




Not a single Wall Street thief has been tried for treason for destroying the country's economy. The millions of pensions stolen from old people, are gone. The old people were not bailed out, but the thieves were. When the thieves are tried for outright theft, they are (example) given five years for stealing $278 million. I've known people given stiffer sentences for stealing used cars.

In fact, Herman Cain declares that if people are poor, it is their own fault. He certainly doesn't want any of his rich cronies held accountable. He needs to keep that Koch Brothers money coming in, above all.

And now, I see attacks on the Occupy movement nationwide. Hundreds of arrests, and yet, none of the troublemakers who STARTED this movement, the Wall Street thieves, has faced any jail time. There are no riot police invading Goldman Sachs. Why not? Why are the thieves allowed to continue their business and their luxurious lives, after stealing from us? Oh, right, the theft was declared legal. So that makes it okay, and the police force exists to protect the rich.

I just watched a CNN "news report" about how the police are cracking down on Occupy Portland (Oregon) for a variety of bullshit reasons. The high-tech riot gear I saw those scores of cops decked out in (many of them laughing raucously, so eager are they to crack heads), cost lots more money than the Occupation could EVER cost. This crackdown, this overtime being paid on a Sunday, is costing the city of Portland plenty, but for some reason, those costs never get added in to the "costs of the occupation." After all, that might convince taxpayers that "cracking down" is not really worth it--and it is public money that pays police to dress up in their hyper-expensive, Batman-esque riot get-ups.

During the CNN report, a bunch of government flunkies spoke without interruption, and finally, they deigned to talk to an Occupier. It is notable that the newsreader did not interrupt the flunkies, but was very polite and even let one of them go on for about 5-10 minutes. The Occupier? Did not get even one minute without interruption. He interrupted her (I counted) about a half-dozen times. Then he cut her off and thanked her and moved on.

This is what passes for "objective" news coverage of the Occupy movement.

The Constitution says clearly, that people have the right to freedom of speech and PEACEABLE ASSEMBLY. That means what it says. It doesn't say, "except overnight" or "except in a public park"--no exceptions are delineated. The government is rewriting the constitution, the way they rewrote it for the Civil Rights movement. Just as they invented the right to turn fire hoses on children, they have now invented the right to clear out encampments because there might be a few rats. MY GOD, they are CAMPING ILLEGALLY! Bring in the riot police.

Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for the trials of the Goldman Sachs thieves. I think I'll be waiting quite a long time for that. Instead, they arrest someone giving a speech detailing their crimes, outside their corporate headquarters. Incredible, like something you used to read about the Soviet Union.

As Sinclair Lewis famously said, when fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross. And backed up with riot police, decked out in nothing but the fanciest, best gear. Paid for by us.

JW's tarot reading

Left: I worried the tarot reading would reflect my negativity about JW's imminent relocation, so I did some clearing with sage first. We relaxed and put on a DVD of Bob Marley to get in a mellow and enlightened mindset. (My friend, JW, is in her 20s, and finds it amazing that I actually saw Bob Marley in person, in 1978.)

~*~

A dear friend is moving to the West Coast. The upstate is losing another progressive, another great soul, a Buddhist with no place to practice.

Sometimes I wonder if there is any hope for upstate South Carolina; any way to hold on to the artists, the drifters, the nonconformists, the young idealists. The big-money movers and shakers are here, but the gentle, questing souls move away. This has happened to me so many times; friends leave. It's difficult. I can only hope they remember me fondly, when they recall their times in SC.

I can also try to make the environment more hospitable, personally and politically, so that the "cool people" stick around, instead of beating a hasty retreat.

Meanwhile, I mourn the loss of my friend to the "cool state" of Oregon.

~*~

JW is one of the young people with a more spiritually-advanced soul than I have. We have taken turns counseling each other. Although I had always heard that there were highly-spiritually-evolved young people, I haven't met many that I would assign this designation...except JW. She has proven an age-old truth to me, that age does not necessarily equal wisdom.

Losing this person, as I said, is difficult.

The tarot reading was very mixed, but accurate. We had a long conversation over the cards. Obviously, she has a lot of contempt for the place she is leaving; the constant harassment to seek Jesus, the lack of openness concerning spiritual matters and Buddhism in particular. The Emperor reversed, the nine of swords--her fears of the (complicated) relocation possibly getting all-botched-up, are right out there. (There are other issues, of course, that I know she would not want me to share here.)

But as always, she has The Star in her reading, as befits a spiritually-advanced soul.

I tell her she can always fall back on her practice, her meditation, yoga, centering, spirituality... this is her great strength.

There is never a time I have done JW's reading without encountering The Star.




~*~

As a return gift for my reading, JW arranges stones for the necklace she is making for me. This will be the way I remember her, a lasting spiritual mark of her almost-daily presence in my life. She fiddles with pendulums and various crystals and seashells in the busy, jewelry-making hub of her home. She brings them to me and calibrates their energy.


~*~





Left: JW finally assembles the precise stones and design for my necklace.

We talk about the technicalities of the long-distance move, her daughter, her partner, the work ahead of her. She has about half of their stuff packed up already, but plenty is left to do. It is daunting, but she is very happy to leave our locality, which does sadden me. But I am glad to see their life together finally taking off in the direction that I know will make them happy.


~*~


Left: Time for Jerry.

~*~

And then we relax again, with another DVD and a somewhat more distracted conversation. I tell her how nice it would be to live in a civilized state where I could get medical marijuana for my bad knees and dilapidated shoulder. Apparently, it is embarrassingly easy. Ah, Oregon sounds nice.

She extends the invitation: please come see us anytime.

And finally, I leave, happy yet sad. Shedding tears for my own loss, but happy for their gain.

Vaya con Dios.