From left, Raytheon CEO Tom Kennedy, former Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, and Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson wait for the arrival of President Donald Trump to an event at the White House on March 22, 2018.
Credit: Evan Vucci/AP
Defense executives from around the country crowded into Goldman Sachs’ glimmering tower in downtown Manhattan in mid-May, eager to present before a conference of bankers and financial analysts.
While much of the world was on edge over simmering tension in the Middle East, as the U.S. and its allies have stoked tensions with Iran, the businessmen at the conference talked of opportunity.
Eric DeMarco, the president of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, addressed the conference, arguing that his company is “very well-aligned” for the shift in the military budget away from asymmetrical fighting toward nation-state warfare.
The rising threat of war with Iran, Russia, and China, DeMarco continued, could threaten U.S. naval power, which could require ballistic missile threat upgrades, the type of systems Kratos Defense specializes in.
Large arms manufacturers from across the industry have similarly told investors that […]
Stephan: "Molecules of Freedom, and Freedom Gas." One of the hallmarks of Trumpism is its Orwellian reconfiguration of the English language. Take this as an example.
U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry speaks to reporters during a briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., June 27, 2017.
Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
As head of the Department of Energy, former Texas Governor Rick Perry oversees natural gas exports.
On Tuesday, the Department announced that a Texas company called Freeport LNG—located on Texas’ Quintana Island—would get approval to export natural gas to foreign countries, reports Business Insider.
In the press release announcing the deal, the Energy Department got lyrical about the natural energy source, calling natural gas ‘freedom gas.’
“Increasing export capacity from the Freeport LNG project is critical to spreading freedom gas throughout the world by giving America’s allies a diverse and affordable source of clean energy,” Under Secretary of Energy Mark Menezes said in a statement included in the release.
Steven Winberg, who serves as the Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy, called the gas “molecules of freedom.”
“With the U.S. in another year of record-setting natural gas production, I am pleased that the Department of Energy is doing what it can to promote […]
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Wednesday, May 29th, 2019
Julia Conley, Common Dreams Editorial Staff - EcoWatch
Stephan: Several years ago I was asked to speak in Oklahoma, where after my presentation they had a dinner, and I was seated next to a Republican city councilman from another town.
There had recently been a devastating tornado in that town and, to make conversation I asked him what he thought of climate change. He looked at me and said, he thought it was a hoax created by scientists who wanted to find new ways to get funding. I could hardly keep my face from revealing my reaction. Then he volunteered that there was one thing he did believe in and I asked him what it was?
He said what he believed was that tornadoes were getting worse, nothing to do with climate change, but a weather cycle, and that he was fearful there might come a time when his town and others would be faced with a tough choice. I asked him what the tough choice would be? He said, How many times do you rebuild a town? I thought of that when I read this report. And I think it is going to become an important question.
A tornado in the Oklahoma City suburb of El Reno left at least two people dead after it flattened a motel and caused widespread damage to a mobile home park on May 25.
Credit: CBC News
As the death toll in Oklahoma rose to six Monday amid an outbreak of nearly 200 tornadoes across the Midwest in recent days — as well as in areas far less accustomed to them — climate scientists said such patterns may carry warnings about the climate crisis and its many implications for extreme weather events.
In Oklahoma, tornadoes touched down in at least two cities, including El Reno and Sapulpa, over the weekend, injuring dozens and leveling a number of homes. The tornado that hit El Reno, a suburb of Oklahoma City, was given an EF3 rating, with wind speeds up to 165 miles per hour. Only about five percent of tornadoes are given an EF3 rating or higher.
The tornadoes hit after much of the state endured severe flooding last […]
6 Comments
Wednesday, May 29th, 2019
E.A. CRUNDEN, - Think Progress
Stephan: My wife and I live surrounded by a forest, and we have friends whose homes and properties have been threatened by fire. Not surprisingly we care about and support fire fighters, and this latest policy change by Trump has the potential to radically alter our lives, and the lives of millions who live in the Blue value West Coast states.
The failure of the Democrats to get a spine quit calculating and stand up for the Constitution is really beginning to irritate me. We need to get the loathsome Trump out of office, before he damages the country so badly it can't be fixed. He should go to prison, but that has never happened in more than two centuries so I'll settle for just getting him out of office.
Kimberly Spainhower (L) and her husband Ryan Spainhower (R) weep while searching through the ashes of their burned home in Paradise, California on November 18, 2018. – The family lost a home in the same spot to a fire 10 years prior.
Credit: Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty
The Trump administration is planning to cut over a thousand jobs — including many wildland firefighting jobs — in what’s thought to be the largest federal jobs cut in a decade. The move comes ahead of another wildfire season and amid threatened halts to financial assistance following deadly fires last year.
The latest attempt in what appears to undermine wildfire preparedness includes ending a federal program that trains young people for jobs including wildfire fighting, while at the same time withholding wildfire reimbursements California officials say are owed from last year. All of this serves to deepen the feud between President Donald Trump and West Coast states over disaster assistance. Meanwhile, multiple states are preparing for another brutal wildfire season based on current […]
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