Month: May 2014

BusinessInsider:

People are apparently leaving fliers on Tesla cars in San Francisco, warning drivers that owning a Tesla means they are involved in “organized crime.”

The flier accuses Tesla of “manipulating Congress” and questions the safety of lithium ion batteries.

“Lithium ion batteries blow up if they get wet or bumped,” the flier reads. “They have already burned planes, cars, homes & children. There have been tens of thousands of lithium ion battery fires & explosions. Tesla’s (sic) have over 7000 “non-automotive designed” batteries in each car, that means over 7000 chances of having a catastrophic fire.”

The flier also speculates that Google is a “silent partner” of Tesla’s.

“Tesla audio and location tracking can be remotely monitored with two clicks of a mouse,” the flier reads. “Google hushes up bad news about Tesla. By driving a Tesla you are supporting spying.”

It’s not clear who is behind this, but the flier ultimately urges Tesla owners to give the car back. Check it out here.

 

 

Don’t think that this is just going to happen in the Dakota’s.

This is what the Koch Brothers have in mind for much of America – an extractive economy of boom and bust, fractured communities, broken families, trailer park “man camps”, isolation, greed, and desperation.

Joe Bast is CEO of the climate denying right wing “think” tank, the Heartland Institute.

I’ve posted in the past about Bast and his slavish devotion to the Tobacco agenda, a template for his climate denial advocacy of the last decade.

Desmogblog:

Before the Heartland Institute became famous for its leading role in climate change denial, the group spent many years working to defend the tobacco industry. Just as the group is now known for its over the top attacks onclimate scientists, Heartland once played a large role in criticizing public health experts and others calling attention to the dangers of cigarette smoking.

At a mining conference in Denver earlier this month, Republic Reportspoke to the Heartland president Joe Bast about his past support for the tobacco industry. In an opinion column titled “Five Lies About Tobacco,” Bast once repeatedly claimed that health concerns regarding cigarette smoking were overblown and worth ignoring. At first, Bast denied that he had ever dismissed concerns about smoking and disputed the quote we read to him.

“In 1998, you wrote in a Heartland op-ed that smoking cigarettes has little to no adverse health effects,” we noted. “Do you stand by that?”

“No, I never wrote that,” replied Bast. “Why would I have written something like that?” Bast asked to see the op-ed, and promised to “contest” it.

Later, Republic Report returned and read Bast’s op-ed to him.

Continue reading “Right Wing MasterMind Joe Bast: Climate Change, Cigarettes, Not so Bad.”