Bill Williams: International Man of Misery

Bill Williams, President of Gogebic Taconite (GTAC), is a very unpleasant fellow.  His disposition appears to be one of an assaultive nature.

He assaulted Wisconsin's democracy and legislative process by buying off State Representative Mark

Honadel and the other Teapublicans in order to get a mining bill, which is company wrote, passed despite the overwhelming opposition to it.  I would be remiss if I also did not bring up the matter of the armed mercernaries that Williams hired to threaten and intimidate Wisconsinites who might approach the area.  I should also remind the gentle reader that these Penokee Pinkertons were here illegally.

During the process, Williams is accused of assaulting an opponent to the mine:

An opponent of the proposed Gogebic Taconite (GTAC) mine in Ashland and Iron counties has filed a report with City of Ashland Police, alleging he was assaulted by GTAC President Bill Williams on Thursday at the Ashland County Courthouse after the Ashland County Board overwhelmingly approved a pair of mining-related ordinances.

David Joe Bates, a Bad River Tribal member from Odanah, said Williams snatched a cellphone he was using to record a conversation between Williams and Ashland County Administrator Jeff Beirl following the meeting.

“Bill Williams was angry with the passage of the zoning ordinance and he took his rage out on me,” Bates said in an email to The Daily Press. “By the way, I have been diagnosed with a hyperextended shoulder as a direct result of this assault. I’ll be lawyering up!”

Bates asserted on a Facebook posting that Williams “ripped the cell phone right out of my hand.”

As it turns out, it appears that Wisconsin isn't the only place where Williams has wrought his mayhem.

In the past few days, it has come out that there is a great likelihood that Williams will be facing charges in Spain for damaging the ecology near a copper mine and injecting arsenic-rich water into the groundwater, as reported by Barbara With at Wisconsin Citizens Media Cooperative:

In breaking news yesterday, a federation of over 300 environmental groups in Spain called Ecologists in Action (EIA) announced that Gogebic Taconite (GTac) President Bill Williams is facing criminal trial in Spain for multiple environmental violations committed while he was director of the Cobre Las Cruces (CLC) copper mine in Seville Province. Charges include the illegal pumping of arsenic-contaminated water into the local aquifer and other criminal damage to public property. Also being charged are François Fleury and Paz Cosmen, also employees of CLC.

Williams previously denied any involvement with the environmental problems at Cobre Las Cruces, claiming that he left the mine before the damage was done. On July 19, 2011 Williams addressed a crowd at the Deep Water Grill (see video below), citing Cobre Las Cruces as an example of a successful application of the “dry stacking” technology GTac claims would eliminate toxic runoff from waste rock at its proposed Penokee Hills iron mine. The Spanish court case, however, makes it clear that operations at Cobre Las Cruces caused significant environmental damage and that this damage occurred on Williams’ watch.

According to an article in No A La Mina, in 2008 EIA requested an outside hydrologist be brought in to monitor the water management system of the Cobre Las Cruces mine. At that time they also requested that judicial proceedings be opened against CLC for alleged crimes against the environment.

I would strongly suggest that the gentle reader also read the reports by Tony Stella at Stella Reports, who feels that it is all but a matter of time before Williams gets charged. Stella also provides a concise summary of the situation:

The court has concluded a preliminary period of investigation which included written responses from Bill Williams and others. It was determined that sufficient evidence exists to proceed with charges against three of the defendants, including Mr. Williams. One defendant was found to have joined the company after the violations took place, and he was dismissed from the proceeding.

The defendants subsequently appealed. A panel of judges has denied that appeal, finding enough evidence or "reasonable suspicion" to proceed, and no further appeals are allowed at this stage, meaning the prosecutor and Ecologists in Action have the green light to proceed with the charging documents. The court is now merely awaiting the charging documents, similar to our "information" or "indictment," and a trial will take place based on those charging documents, according to the individual quoted above, who has been closely involved in the case.

Mr. Williams will be subpoenaed to appear at the trial, but extradition is not guaranteed in this case, and it is possible he could be tried in his absence if the court so decides. The initially stated charges do carry the possibility of prison sentences.

Via Stella, there is also a link to an Spanish news article on the subject (which is poorly translated).

I would also recommend that the gentle reader follow Woods Person who is also following the story very closely.

No matter which way you look at it, the story is the same.  Williams is a soulless, greedy thug that is only concerned with increasing his wealth through corruption and exploitation.  He is a poor steward of natural resources and is selling the state a maleficent bill of wares which will leave our environment in ruins and the state to pay for the mess he is being allowed to cause.

How Scott Walker Killed 600 Jobs And Will Kill Many More

This story is three months old, but there is something that I think keeps it very relevant today.

Back in October, it was announced that they were going to close the nuclear power plant in Kewaunee. The closing would mean that the state is losing another 600 high paying jobs, which is going to devastate the entire region.

Scott Walker immediately blamed the EPA and regulations:

The proposed closing at the Kewaunee Power Station highlights the need to decrease unnecessary federal regulations slowing the process for companies, like Dominion, to take advantage of economies of scale and keep their businesses profitable and open.

Twice last year, we reached out to the federal government to encourage them to get cumbersome EPA regulations out of the way of job creators. I will continue to push for changes that can protect jobs.

In March 2011, Governor Walker joined 16 other governors to send a letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget about the proposed rule of section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act on cooling water intake structures. The governors expressed concern about the potential unnecessary cost imposed on facilities resulting from this rule, as well as the potential impact of these costs on consumers.

In July 2011, Governor Walker followed up with a letter directly to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asking them to again review section 316(b), in order to find a better balance between implementation costs and environmental benefits that would best serve Wisconsin.

If there is one thing that I've learned in my years of blogging and just from life in general is that you can talk to the boss or you can talk to who knows what's going on.

Fortunately, the reporter of this story, Thomas Content, did more than just take Walker's word for it. He asked someone who knows what's going on. In this case, it was a senior vice president at Dominion, the company that owns the power plant (emphasis mine):

Daniel Stoddard, senior vice president of nuclear operations at Dominion, declined to provide details about the negotiations toward a possible sale of Kewaunee.

The prospect of increased regulations, while a concern, wasn’t the main factor in the decision to permanently close Kewaunee.

“Certainly anything that impacts cost or increases costs doesn’t help the situation by any means,” said Stoddard. “But I can’t say that’s the primary driver.”

The plant has become uneconomical because of low natural gas prices, and the boom in domestic natural gas production tied to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

Those low natural gas prices have prompted other utilities to shift more of their power generation fleets to natural gas from coal.

I'm sure the gentle reader is fully aware that the Scott Walker and the Republicans have sold out our state to the out of state mining companies who have already moved in to start raping the land and polluting our waters.

And they could open up the state even more with the upcoming legislation.

Now some squawk radio sheeple might come along and say it creates soooooo many jobs.  Well, it might or might not, but past practice says it's not that many and then they are going to out-of-state folks already employed by the out-of-state mining companies.  And they are doing nothing to pay the bills, legal and otherwise, they are creating for the taxpayers of our state.

I have recently learned that they want to open a fracking mine about ten miles from the castle, so now it's done gotten personal and thus moved up to a front burner. I'm not paying much higher taxes so some out of state contributor to Walker's campaign can poison any more of our water.

Expect a lot more of this in the near future, John Doe willing.

Another Way To Die

From a tip from a friend - "Another Way to Die" by Disturbed



Lyrics.

The Walker Agenda Is Still Working! Part CLVI

Remember how Scott Walker said that the key to creating jobs was to remove all those hindering regulations? And how he said that business would regulate themselves?

Then we saw the state lose tens of thousand of jobs and have companies like Heer Environmental spray three times the legal amount of human waste near people's drinking wells and then try to cover it up.

Now we have another grand example of how well businesses regulate themselves:

As part of a settlement with the Wisconsin Attorney General’s office, BelGioioso Cheese Inc. has committed to build an estimated $1.5 million wastewater treatment plant at its Glenmore-Denmark facility and pay $45,000 in fines for violations of Wisconsin water pollution laws in Manitowoc and Oconto counties.

The settlement was announced Wednesday morning.

The state contended the cheesemaker spread industrial dairy waste too close to — and into — a drainage way; spread on saturated soils; that waste product ran into a wetland; winter spreading was done on sites not approved for the winter months; and the company failed to report noncompliance.

Boy, it makes it so you just can't wait until he and his Republican cronies ram through the mining bill, written by the mining companies for the mining companies. I'm sure that'll protect the environment too.

But This Time He Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Means It

It shouldn't be surprising, and it would be laughable if it wasn't so damn disgusting, but Scott Walker again has taken the express route to hypocrisy.

On Thursday, while we were celebrating President Barack Obama's reelection and Tammy Baldwin's historical victory to become the first openly gay Senator, not to mention the first female senator from Wisconsin, Walker was giving his spiel at his "small business summit."

Even the term "small business summit" is laughable since Walker won't hesitate to sell these people out to the big business donors who bought the governor's seat for him.

But I digress.

If I didn't know better, I'd have sworn that instead of speaking to a bunch of small business owners, he was practicing his routine for the Burlington Liars Club's annual competition.

Right off the bat, Walker brings up the fallacy that there will be bipartisanship, as if he really was seeking that.

This is the same guy that went in front of a congressional panel, and under oath, testified about his true feelings towards bipartisanship:

"Sometimes," the Republican governor told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, "bipartisanship is not so good."

And if his false claim of hope for bipartisanship sounds familiar, it should. He said the same thing after the 2011 recalls and again after the 2012 recalls.

One might cite his recent refusal to set up health care exchanges before the elections as another sign of him just wanting to get along with the other guys.

Then again, Walker might just be able to make that claim on technical grounds. Not only is there Senator Tim Cullen, who is little more than a Republican running as a Democrat, but now he can also claim newly elected Robb Kahl, the imposter who appeared at Walker's recall victory party. Y'know, the fact that he is on the board for a bank, a history with the realtors and the executive director for the Construction Business Group might have been a dead giveaway during the primaries.

Oh, but Walker's funnies didn't stop there.

He also said that he saw the mining bill being passed with little or no controversy. Nope, not at all. Just because the environmental groups will be slapping the state with lawsuits before Walker's signature is dry, and with good cause, doesn't mean it'll be controversial.

Another line of Walker's false sincerity also had to do with the environment:

Though he said small business owners value clean air, clean land and clean water as much as anyone, Walker said “all too often the regulations don’t pass the common-sense test.”

Walker said he’s working to change the culture of the DNR and to put more carrot and less stick into regulatory enforcement. Doing so is not only easier for businesses, he said, but cheaper for the state.

I dare Walker to back up his words. I want to see him go to the Town of Concord and have some of their nice well water. You know, the water that his administration allowed to be contaminated by a campaign donor who spread illegal amounts of human effluence on nearby fields.

But it wasn't Walker's string of one lie after another that left me shaking my head. I'm used to that from him.

What got to me came at the very end of the article:

Jim Freeman is the president of Helicopter Specialties, a 12-year-old Janesville company that specializes in medical helicopters. After creating 30 jobs over the past decade, he was concerned about the prospect of his local technical college shutting down its aviation program.

After nearly two decades of seeing how Paul Ryan betrayed his community and helped drive the country to the brink of financial ruin, and after nearly two years of Walker doing the same thing to the state, Mr. Freeman is only now becoming "concerned."

If he had been paying attention like the rest of us, he'd be bloody terrified.

Or maybe it's just that he hopes that this time, Walker really, really means it, unlike all of those other times.

But just in case, maybe someone should've checked to see if Walker had his fingers crossed behind his back during his speech.

On Valentine's Day, Walker Promises To Give Away Wisconsin In Sweetheart Deals

In Milwaukee County, there is was a piece of land known locally simply as the "county grounds."  It was an unique section of the county, as it was the last undeveloped and ungroomed piece of land where nature ruled.  It was also unique for the historic Eschweiller Buildings.  But the most amazing factor to this ground was the Monarch Trail, one of the rare areas where migrating Monarch butterflies found a completely natural stopping point in their annual migration.

Some days, I think the thing that Scott Walker likes best about being in a position of authority is how he can use the public's money and property to forward his political career, or as in recent days, desperately cling to the position he currently has.

When Walker took office as Milwaukee County Executive, he promised that he would continue the long standing tradition to let no development happen on the grounds and that the only thing he might do is have it made into a state park.

That promise didn't last long and in a few short years, he was working on back door deals to get the land sold to a group of wealthy land developers that had been, shall we say, very supportive of him.   Not only did he renege on his promise not to let the land be developed, but he sold the land at a fraction of its worth, threw in the building that the Parks Department is housed in (with an agreement to keep the department there and pay rent and a specialized bus line.  As I wrote at the time, he gave them everything but a vac with the deal:

So, let me get this straight. We are selling the county grounds at an absurdly low price, in a no bid deal, only to turn around and pay them rent for a building that we had owned and paid a lot of money to fix up. Then we are going to take some of the money from the sale, and more money that we got from the feds, and using it to buy them a special bus route? 

That would be the equivalent of you fixing up your house and then selling it at about a third of its value. Then you take the proceeds from the sale and rent the house from the people you just sold it to. You also take some of the money (if there's any left after paying the rent on the house you just owned until recently) and a large inheritance from your Uncle Sam, and buy them a chauffeured limo. Meanwhile, you have a patch of land (like the Park East corridor) that is only good for building an engineering campus on, but you won't even try to sell that.

The Friends of the Monarch Trail are still fighting to protect the natural domain for the butterflies, made all the harder because "the authorities" refused to include legal language to protect the trail.

That pattern of giving away sweetheart deals to political supporters is riddled throughout his lifelong political career.

The most recent is the Penokee iron mine that Walker is trying to get rammed through the legislature.  To get this done, Walker is willing to offend Native American tribes, federal laws honoring tribal sovereignty, ruin the environment and pollute the pristine waters of northern Wisconsin.  The bill is so foul and evil that no one will even admit ownership of it (also because it was written by the mining company that wants to rape the land).

On Tuesday, February 14, St. Valentine's Day, Walker is going to take all of the worst of these behaviors to announce his latest gimmick to give away sweetheart land deals to his donors to promote job growth in Wisconsin.

It's a stunt that his handlers are calling "Ready, Set, Build." ( 6 page pdf on scribd format)

In a secret email sent from Walker staffer Andrew Davis, they laid out the talking points for this (Note - The email was altered to present it in a less jumbled format.  All spelling and grammatical errors are his):

From: "Davis, Andrew - GOV"
Date: February 13, 2012 6:09:39 PM CST
To: "Davis, Andrew - GOV"
Subject: Ready, Set, Build!

Tomorrow afternoon the Governor will be publicly announcing his “Ready, Set, Build!”  Please contact me directly if there are any questions or concerns.  Please embargo any press releases or supportive statements until 2pm tomorrow.

Ready, Set, Build!

Program Highlights:

• Up to 10 different site locations (minimum site size=50 acres) throughout Wisconsin will be identified annually for each of the 3 subsequent years as shovel-ready for economic development
  a) Includes comprehensive information on available sites, buildings, and demographic data
• These identified sites will be reviewed and approved for pre-certification by the certifying agency (if site meets criteria)
• Once a site is identified and pre-certified, the site location will be certified-ready for job creators looking to build or relocate in Wisconsin

Key Messages:

This action is another example of how Governor Walker’s Administration and the WEDC, through its Economic and Community Development Division, is pro-actively providing the economic development tools Wisconsin needs to accelerate business start-ups and growth.

•  One of the keys in encouraging existing Wisconsin businesses to choose Wisconsin as the site for significant expansion, or in attracting new businesses to locate in Wisconsin, is the ready availability of developable properties that have also been pre-certified by regulators.
• The “Ready, Set, Build!” program will make it easier for entrepreneurs to start a business and for existing businesses to expand by allowing job creators in Wisconsin and around the world to find the perfect pre-certified site location for expansion knowing they can begin building immediately.
• No time wasted.  No money lost.  It is a win for our economy, a win for our families and a win for our environment.
• Certified site selection, “Ready, Set, Build!”, (to be implemented in spring) will eliminate critical stumbling blocks for industries – particularly manufacturers – that are looking to expand or locate in Wisconsin.
• o The site certification program will eliminate many of the delays associated with environmental and other state and local permitting processes.

Andrew Davis | Office of Governor Scott Walker
Director of External Communications
(o) 608-267.3839 | (e) andrew.davis@wisconsin.gov

What this really means is that the state will take up prime real estate, and Walker will use his concentrated administrative authorities given to him in his power grab last year to override any environmental, fiscal or other considerations that have been used to protect Wisconsin and its citizens for decades.

I bet one of the first areas that will be targeted will be Janesville, where you have job-starved people that would be willing to take unsafe, low-paying jobs they wouldn't normally if they weren't in such dire straits and has easy access to railroad service by Watco Transportation Services, the company that caters to the Koch Brothers and wants to buy out Southern & Wisconsin Railroad, the company that was headed by Walkergate figure and convict William E. Gardner.

And don't let them kid you, just like with the mines, Walker doesn't give two hoots about creating jobs for Wisconsinites.  He is only interested in appeasing the big moneyed special interests that would benefit from his sweetheart gifts.  While most Wisconsinites will be less than thrilled to hear about this plan of Walker's, I bet that the commercial realtors are really going to love this plan.

Walker Recall Proves To Be Even More One Helluva Bargain

I pointed out over the weekend that the recall of Scott Walker would be one helluva bargain for the people of Wisconsin.

Today, the price that tax payers will be stuck with for Walker puckering up to the mining companies shows that it would be even more of a helluva bargain that previously thought:

A Republican bill designed to kick-start an iron mine in far northwestern Wisconsin could mean additional costs for the state Department of Natural Resources ranging from $550,000 to $3.8 million per year, according to a DNR analysis.

The 183-page bill would make a number of broad changes, including placing time limits on the DNR to approve or deny an iron-mine application. It also caps at $1.1 million the amount that a mining company could be asked to reimburse the DNR for costs associated with the application approval process.

Those factors could lead to higher expenses and lower revenue, the agency found.

The DNR conducted a fiscal analysis to estimate the financial impact of the legislation. While acknowledging the analysis was based on assumptions and uncertainties, the agency concluded that its overall costs could increase by millions of dollars per year.

And that doesn't include the cost to clean up whatever toxic crap they spew into the air and the rivers.

But with just the mining-related costs given, the Walker recall would pay for itself in three short years.

Add all the other costs that Walker has foisted upon us and the recalls could be paid for in just months.

Koch Brothers Investment In Walker Pays Off...

...in phosphorous green.

No Matter Who Wins, We Lose

I, for one, welcome our new aquatic overlords.

Coming soon, no doubt.

Cause And Effect

WISGOP had their state convention here in Milwaukee over the weekend. That meant that a lot of Republican politicians, activists and bloggers were in one building, spewing their vitriol out into the air.

The convention ended Sunday, but they left behind a memento of their time here:

A HOT, STAGNANT, INCREASINGLY HUMID AIR MASS WILL STRENGTHEN IN
THE LAKE MICHIGAN REGION FOR MONDAY...THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT
OZONE CONCENTRATIONS WILL REACH UNHEALTHY LEVELS FOR PERSONS IN
SENSITIVE GROUPS IN THE WATCH AREA.

DUE TO POSSIBLE ELEVATED LEVELS OF OZONE IN THE REGION...THE
WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES HAS ISSUED AN AIR
QUALITY WATCH FOR MONDAY. THIS WATCH WILL EXPIRE AT MIDNIGHT
MONDAY EVENING.

THE AIR QUALITY WATCH AFFECTS PEOPLE LIVING IN THE WISCONSIN
COUNTIES OF SHEBOYGAN...OZAUKEE... MILWAUKEE...RACINE...AND
KENOSHA.

TO HELP PREVENT POLLUTION FROM REACHING UNHEALTHY LEVELS...
PEOPLE IN THE WATCH AREA ARE ENCOURAGED TO HELP DECREASE AIR
POLLUTION BY REDUCING DRIVING WHEN POSSIBLE...AVOID BURNING
LEAVES...GRASS...BRUSH ...OR WOOD...MINIMIZE VEHICLE ENGINE
IDLING...POSTPONE USING SMALL GAS OR DIESEL POWERED OUTDOOR
EQUIPMENT...AND PRACTICE ENERGY CONSERVATION.

So, the Weather Service says we should reduce driving or other activities that could worsen the air condition. Guess who decides to go on an around-the-state campaign jaunt (like the tax payer funded one wasn't enough).

Happy Earth Day

Instead of a long spiel, I'll leave it as "Yeah, what he said."

But do enjoy the snark from the conservatives that try to go for the snark/shock value because they're not in the spotlight today. Their attention-seeking is rather funny.

Project Clean And Green

I saw this from Mayor Tom Barrett's weekly report:

Dear Friends,

I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know about a valuable City program that allows you to get rid of excess household clutter and debris at no cost. It’s called Project Clean & Green and it begins April 12th and runs through June 1st. During this time, Department of Public Works crews will target one area of the City each week collecting extra items left at the garbage collection point on the scheduled day. Residents will receive a tag on their garbage cart two weeks prior to their collection week. You can also visit the DPW Web site to find your Project Clean & Green collection date.

Residents within the targeted zone can place unwanted furniture, mattresses, household items, brush, up to five tires and extra recyclables at the collection point on their scheduled collection day.

I’m also pleased to let you know most recycling carts will now be collected every three weeks, versus every four weeks, from April 12th to November 24th. Residents without alleys should place carts at the curb for collection on designated dates. Affected households will receive a tag on the recycling cart stating the scheduled summer collection dates.

Both of these initiatives are designed to make life easier for residents to keep their homes and neighborhoods clean and green. I hope you’ll take advantage of them.

Sincerely,

Mayor, City of Milwaukee

This is the first I've ever heard of such a program. This is an absolutely wonderful way to help keep people from illegally their garbage in empty fields or other people's or companies' dumpsters to avoid the charges normally associated with taking them to the dump.

Keep up the good work, Mayor! Just make sure Scott Walker doesn't try to put any of his courthouse cornice debris in there for free.

Public Transit Can Help Save Money And The Environment

From Milwaukee County First:

A new, first of its kind study, confirms that the single most effective way to address the impact of transportation on climate change is not a singular approach at all. Expanded public transit strategies coordinated with combining travel activity, land use development, operational efficiencies can reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) by 24 percent, according to the study entitled Moving Cooler. It estimates that the annual savings in vehicle costs to consumers exceed the cost of enacting these strategies by as much as $112 billion.

Read the rest, including the things that Milwaukee County has already done to help shore up the failing transit system, and what needs to be done to keep it from getting worse.

And while you're there, don't forget to sign up for the emailers.