MooPig Billionaire-diot Department :: "Make the Bible a Textbook in Schools"

[Picture LINK]

Ego of Billionaires is Implausible
Data Remix by Pat Darnell  |  March Madness 23, 2015  |  Bryan TX

Not to worry. Billionaires are too far out of the loop to ever get their way. HA! Who talks to them after their first fortune? Only people trying to stroke the ego's of billionaires remain in the loop. To be in the Wilk's entourage, we imagine one would have to take a lot of abuse.

So where did they manage to make all their b-b-b-billions?

"...Last year, [2013] the Wilkses added about 12,380 acres to their Fergus County holdings alone, where they now hold title to about 91,450 acres – about 143 square miles. In nearby Golden Valley County to the south, the Wilks brothers added more than 8,700 acres to their holdings in 2013, boosting their property there to about 43,750 acres. In adjacent Musselshell County, their holdings held steady at 64,000 acres, land that encompasses the Pronghorn Ranch previously owned by Earl Holding of Sinclair Oil fame.
As of 2012, the brothers owned 276,000 acres in seven Montana counties, not counting their holdings in other states.
The Wilks brothers acquired their fortune from selling their interest in Frac Tech in 2011, a deal that was reportedly worth $3.2 billion. Frac Tech was an oil fracking business, the same technology that’s being used to fuel North Dakota’s Bakken oil shale boom (BRETT FRENCH Billings Gazette. Mar 1, 2014. LINK)..."

If you want to make big bucks in this country, 'guess you have to own lots of land and all its mineral rights. I am not making any friends by looking down on robber baron's largess ... if I were a person with position and/or power, as a person who has something to lose, I might profess a totally different cause for this tirade. But for now I am in a dither about the wasting of our land.

"...A scam is a fraudulent business scheme, or a swindle, and a deliberate ploy to defraud ignorant, naïve, and stupid people out of their money or assets.  There are many reasons idiots fall for obviously dubious “deals,” and stupidity aside, greed is often the culprit. But fear of losing something certainly plays a role. Republicans have had a thirty year run convincing stupid poor people looking to get rich, and morons terrified of other Americans taking their “stuff,” that giving up everything they have to the wealthy will magically transform a dirt-poor imbecile into a billionaire, save Americans’ liberty in the process, and teach the government who’s boss.(Rmuse. Sunday, March, 22nd, 2015. LINK)..."

This all started with this article:
Meet the Billionaire Brothers You Never Heard of Who Fund the Religious Right: "The fracking boom has produced a surge in wealthy Texans. The fracking boom has produced a surge in wealthy Texans. In 2002, the Wilks brothers created Frac Tech, which produced equipment used in fracking, or in industry parlance, “well stimulation services.”  In May 2011, Dan and Farris sold Frac Tech to a group of investors led by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund for $3.5 billion. Their share was reportedly 68 percent of that total, and they showed up on the 2011 Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans with an estimated net worth of $1.4 billion each.  The most recent Forbes list put their estimated wealth at $1.5 billion each. (In our gilded age, that puts them near the bottom of the Forbes 400, and barely gets them into the top 40 in Texas. But you can still do an awful lot with $3 billion.)"

And, why are billionaires always "moralists?"
"...CBN’s Brody reported: “The Wilks brothers worry that America’s declining morals will especially hurt the younger generation, so they’re using the riches that the Lord has blessed them with to back specific goals.” One of those goals may be David Lane’s insistence that politicians make the Bible a primary textbook in public schools (ibid. ) ..."
'via Blog this'

Small fish need not join this ring of fire. [At this point in time I am having second thoughts about the simplest thing, re-financing my little house and property.] You see, Timmy, when you are dealing out there, and you are a high roller, very few legal actions are followed. Most of the robber land barons depend on loopholes, stealth, extortion, and any other means to achieve their objective to own "land." Citizen groups usually find out about a shady land deal two to three years after it has been developed. Then the local politicians are just a bunch of "small fish" barking at the moon.

In land deals it takes about ten to twelve years to realize the returns on investment. Holding large parcels of land can be paid for by divvying up small parts of the whole and selling off to developers.

CONCLUSION
My bonnie lies over the ocean ... my bonnie lies over the sea ... this ditty is just like a land deal. The meaning is unclear, the outcome is based on some sort of shielded loyalty, it depends on a minority largess in heaps, and just doesn't quell the angry spirit of the excluded class. You see, the bonnie is not a girl at all, it is 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' (Y ikki peed ya. LINK).

And we often say we are going to quit writing about billionaires, and kings, and hucksters, but we still find them as good contrast to the middle class that reads us as we go along. Here is a Boy Scout version of 'Bring Back ...'

My mother makes beer in the bathtub,
My father makes synthetic gin,
My sister makes fudge for a quarter,
Wouldja believe how the money rolls in?

My mother, she drowned in the bathtub,
My father, he died from his gin,
My sister choked on her chocolate,
My stars, what a fix I am in.

SOUR GRAPES
This post made me: __feel better, __feel good, __feel like middle class, __feel poor, __feel like opening my Bible, __feel like vomiting...


__________________________Reference
http://prospect.org/article/meet-billionaire-brothers-you-never-heard-who-fund-religious-right
http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/petition-asks-to-halt-montana-land-exchange-with-billionaire-wilks/article_61736ede-a1ca-11e3-88e0-0019bb2963f4.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Bonnie_Lies_over_the_Ocean
http://www.politicususa.com/2015/03/22/real-economist-krugman-calls-gop-budget-trillion-dollar-con-job.html

MooPig's Site Review :: "This Modern World, by Tom Tomorrow"

This is a Very Cool Blog
Retrieved by Pat Darnell | Jan 23, 2012 | Bryan TX

MooPig loves the ridicule of despots, the implosion of bombasts... so apparently does Tom Tomorrow.

This Modern World:
January 22, 2012
Tom Tomorrow:  Scenes from the class war
EXCERPT  |  " ... I would have assumed that the rich get certain amenities in hospitals — larger, private rooms, more attentive doctors, etc. But this would never have occurred to me:

The bed linens were by Frette, Italian purveyors of high-thread-count sheets to popes and princes. The bathroom gleamed with polished marble. Huge windows displayed panoramic East River views. And in the hush of her $2,400 suite, a man in a black vest and tie proffered an elaborate menu and told her, “I’ll be your butler.”(NINA BERNSTEIN. Published: January 21, 2012. HERE)

The punchline, buried deep in the article, comes after an anecdote about the Saudi King taking up an entire floor at another hospital:

The hospital said in a statement: “NewYork-Presbyterian is dedicated to providing a single standard of high quality care to all of our patients.”

But never mind the absurd disparity between first class hospital accommodations and what the rest of us are likely to experience back in steerage. Here’s the bit that’s likely to go viral in the wingnut zombie-lie media:

But even the rainmakers — doctors who bring in such patients — can sometimes resent the tilt toward luxury.

“The one misgiving is patients with Medicare, which pays physicians almost nothing,” said Dr. Brian Katz, 59, a laparoscopic surgeon in scrubs who took a break in the same library later. “Yet those patients will come up here and pay to enjoy five-star comfort.”

The doctor is complaining that rich patients on Medicare can pay for the accommodations while he himself makes no profit. But watch for that to be distorted by Sean Hannity et al. into a story about welfare patients receiving luxury treatment on your tax dollars.

And speaking of the gilded age, here’s a fascinating little article about our plutocrat overlords, and how they behave when they think no one is watching. ... "

posted by Tom Tomorrow at 10:21 AM
'via Blog this'

______________________Reference
http://thismodernworld.com/archives/6622
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/nyregion/chefs-butlers-and-marble-baths-not-your-average-hospital-room.html?_r=2&hp

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MooPig's Archaeology Corner :: MAYANS

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Gulf of Mexico Oil Disaster 2010

Shrimp nets are so slippery those fellas are just passing right through.... 

Brad Pitt's Houses

Celebrity Endorsed Low-cost Housing
Retrieved by Pat Darnell, Bob Villa, and the Ghost of Louis Sullivan


Hey, Brad old boy; I promise not to say anything NEGATIVE about your housebuilding efforts, if you will come down here and pay off my mortgage, and build me an addition? Fair enough?

And, if you find time to do that, I promise to give you free publicity in my middle-ground-rooted, third-coast, blog-site MooPig Wisdom.

Besides, I lost everything in a flood once; during Hurricane Allison. Do I qualify?

Right now, we are thinking that you might want to provide more Moo and less Pig in your efforts to be a land developer tycoon. Here's to looking forward to hearing from you soon. We think we and you would make another perfect marriage.

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Story that follows: A Method by which Philanderers can become Philanthropists ::
[SOURCE]

Brad Pitt gives Katrina update at Clinton meeting
Sept. 24, 2009, 6:39 PM EST
NEW YORK (AP) -- The average electric bill for one of the energy-efficient homes built in New Orleans by Brad Pitt's Make It Right foundation is $35 a month, the actor said Thursday during an update on the project at the Clinton Global Initiative.

The cost of building the homes also is dropping. And by the time all 150 promised homes are completed, the cost will be comparable to standard buildings, Pitt said.

"I don't know how we build any other way anywhere else," he said. "We can no longer tell ourselves that implementing this technology is too complex a problem because it's just been proven on this little spot on the map."

Pitt started the foundation in 2007. The program focuses home construction in a section of New Orleans heavily damaged when Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005. The homes are being built with features including rooftop solar panels and energy-efficient appliances to help reduce electricity consumption.

The Clinton Global Initiative, an annual event started by former President Bill Clinton, brings together the public and private sector to discuss solutions to problems in four areas — climate change, poverty, global health and education.

At an afternoon panel discussing education, Queen Rania of Jordan said it was an evergreen subject in political campaigns but one that loses priority once politicians are in office because there often isn't any immediate political gain.

"The benefits of education sometimes don't fit in with the political cycle because you reap the benefits way down the line," she [Queen Rania of Jordan] said. "What we need to do is realize that sense of urgency when it comes to education, because education is a matter of life and death."

She [Queen Rania of Jordan] also emphasized the importance of the quality of education, saying that while educational enrollment was high in the Middle East, there hasn't been enough focus on teaching young people the skills to get them through life.

"Take young people who are opportunity starved, and there is political conflict around them, and that makes a very dangerous social mix. As you all know, what happens in the Middle East, does not stay in the Middle East," she [Queen Rania of Jordan] said. "Critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, those kinds of skills are extremely important to empower our young people."

Among those joining the queen on the panel was U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, who referred to her own history as the first in her family to go to college in talking about the need for both government and private investment in expanding educational opportunities.

"I was the first one to go to college and it wasn't because my parents could afford it, it was because we have the Pell grant program, we have programs that help to provide assistance," Solis said. "Those programs work and it's a good investment in our young people."

Attendees at the
Clinton Global Initiative are expected to commit to steps they will take to work on global problems. Those who don't follow through on their commitments won't be allowed to return to subsequent events.

Summary:
Brad Pitt gives Katrina update at Clinton meeting
Sept. 24, 2009, 8:46 AM EST
Brad Pitt gives Katrina update at Clinton Global Initiative; other panels focus on education
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Note to Brad: Now see how nice I can be? So remember my little offer if you bring your philanthropic self here, you will be compensated by how you changed peoples' lives.

Here's a taste of how it goes down if you ignore us Middle-Americans MooPigsters:

"In effort to redeem some social value in his dull and misguided life... Brad Pitt sides with Bill Clinton to make a difference in a place where seldom is provided clear title to any parcel of land. Yet this team can "git 'er done" by some freakish loophole in World Government tactics held together by some sort of comical glue made by United Nations in session ... huh?

... Loopholes that allow philanthropists' claim to suburban lots in states-of-disrepair within New Orleans' wards ?... by politicians for some sort of extravagant, builder's-fest ..."

... Houses that in the next hurricane on the Third-Coast [we predict] all felled like Second-Pig's house of sticks "because some idiot forgot the wind-bracing when they were framing the walls out... and solar panels flew off the structures like deadly wings of airliners crashing into nuclear electric power plants ..." [etcetra, etcetra, etcetra]
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WHAT's YOUR VERDICT?

You get my drift, Brad, eh? All it really takes is a camera, and a girl in a dress, nothing fancy. [pdaf]