March 2012

Not even a year ago many in the Republican Party were pushing for Haley Barbour, aka Boss Hogg, to run for President. Imagine if he did and this came out:

GOP power broker Haley Barbour's lobby shop, BGR Group, represents a Russian bank that has financed a company that helped build Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, according to corporate documents and lobbying disclosure records. The bank is owned by a secretive oligarch, Mikhail Fridman, who has met at least twice with White House officials in the last few years, according to visitor logs.

Barbour, one of the most influential Republicans within the party, considered a bid for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination and has been speculated about as a possible vice-presidential pick. Last year, he called Iran "the number one threat to peace and stability."

So while the GOP beats the war drums against Iran, one of their key players is actually helping Iran gain the reasons for such an attack. Amazing how these Republicans work.

Of course such actions are no stranger to Republicans. In the 90's, when Dick Cheney was running Halliburton and we had numerous sanctions in against Iran, Cheney's company was doing the exact same thing. It must really be a Republican thing; make money from the "enemy" and then send our children in to fight them in a war. These guys make Mr. Scrooge look like Mother Theresa.

Clear Channel is doing some big layoffs here in the Cincinnati market:

Tony Bender, Program Director for 55KRC and ESPN 1530, is gone. He writes "23 years. It was a good run. Tomorrow will be a good day."

Also gone is traffic man Brian Pitts. Another casualty was 700 WLW Promotions Director Sherry Rowland. She tells Local 12 News she was "laid off due to budget cuts." She posted on her Facebook page "ended work at Clear Channel Communications, Inc yesterday as a promotion director for 700WLW, Cincinnati ESPN 1530 and Fox Sports 1360."

Also gone, Mark Bianchi Digital Sales Manager

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But after some Googling it doesn't appear to be limited to Cincinnati:

Word is filtering in from a growing number of CLEAR CHANNEL MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT radio markets of a lot of downsizing taking place.

ALL ACCESS contacted CLEAR CHANNEL, and VP/Marketing & Entertainment ANGEL ARISTONE confirmed the layoffs: "We are constantly evaluating our organization and structure to make sure we are as well positioned as possible to continue to lead in the evolving marketplace.

I just wonder how much of this could be from Rush Limbaugh and the advertisers pulling out from his show? Of course it could also be the fact that Bain Capital owns Clear Channel and we know that Mitt Romney likes firing people.

Looks like a little bit of justice is coming for the families of the 29 miners killed in a West Virginia mine blast in 2010:

The former superintendent of a southern West Virginia mine where an explosion killed 29 workers pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal fraud charge.

Gary May of Bloomingrose, the highest-ranking Massey Energy official charged in connection with the blast, faces up to five years in prison when sentenced Aug. 9.

May pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Irene Berger in Beckley to conspiracy to defraud the federal government. The charge stems from his actions at the Upper Big Branch mine.

Prosecutors said May manipulated the mine ventilation system during inspections to fool safety officials and disabled a methane monitor on a cutting machine a few months before the explosion on April 5, 2010. It wasn’t clear from court papers whether the device was ever fixed.

You may recall that the CEO of Massey Energy, Don Blankenship, is a big Republican backer who opposes any government regulation, so it should come as no shock that one of his people would engage in such an activity. This should really serve as a reminder that government regulations, while a pain at times, do save lives. If they were adhered to in this case then these 29 people would still be alive. Instead Blankenship's company decided to try and run under the very mantra that the GOP constantly pushes - letting business regulate themselves.

Data mining the social and purchasing trend of online users has been a growing practice and one that has a very eerie "big brother" feeling. The FTC has just concluded a report into the practice and is pushing for tougher laws to allow users to opt out of such practices:

The agency, the Federal Trade Commission, called on Congress to enact legislation regulating so-called data brokers, which compile and trade a wide range of personal and financial data about millions of consumers from online and offline sources. The legislation would give consumers access to information collected about them and allow them to correct and update such data.

The agency also sent a cautionary signal to technology and advertising companies regarding a “Do Not Track” mechanism that allows consumers to opt out of having their online behavior monitored and shared. It warned that if companies did not voluntarily provide a satisfactory Do Not Track option, it would support additional laws that mandate it.

The recommendations, part of a sweeping set of guidelines in an F.T.C. report on Monday, represent the government’s latest move to address the issue of consumer privacy.

Hopefully Congress listens to the recommendations and moves to protect the end user, but I'm not very optimistic. We are dealing with an issue where big money will play a vital role, especially through campaign contributions and lobbying. When those forces are put into play the people always end up on the losing end.