Learning about billionaire libertarians and their mind boggling perspective of injustice

The Koch Family. Phew. I'm already tired, fam.

The book I am reading right now - Dark Money - is not flattering to the family, particularly the two that at the helm of Koch Industries: Charles and the now deceased David. This book is a dizzying portrait of how some very wealthy people classify government regulations as injustice.

Um. Are you kitten me right meow?

Let's pause. The perspective of the ultra wealthy is surreal and distorted, albeit fascinating, in ways I completely overlooked or underestimated. My mind is blown by the idea that a billionaire has any clue what injustice is, but here we are.

Today, I learned what Charles Koch thinks is not just. This person, just like his father before him, hates government and the regulations the government imposes on companies and business. All of it. He hates taxes. He hates environmental regulations. He hates the idea of being transparent in his business dealings.

Koch Industries has been burned by quite a few lawsuits and settlements. In one case, a guy worked with benzene all the time and the company tested his blood annually. The company was supposed to share the results with employees if there were alarming levels, but Koch Industries didn't tell this guy for like two years. The worker got sick with leukemia, kept going to work, but when he got too weak to work, he was friggin' let go with six months pay (basically his sick bank). The widow thought the company would take care of them. Not even close. Thankfully she fought. The day before they were to go to court, the company settled.

In another case, the company didn't update an aging gas line which resulted in a couple people trying to start their truck and EXPLODING INTO A HUGE FIREBALL. The father of the driver won a $296 million dollar settlement. Instead of addressing the bad pipelines, Koch Industries just sold it. In another case, a whistle blower went to report Koch industries when they reported a completely falsified report on how much pollution was being created by a facility.

Okay, so this guy Charles Koch, the main dude at Koch Industries, is listed ninth on the Bloomberg Billionaires list. His company has annual revenue of $110 BILLION dollars. And this is the person who feels that the government making his company report alarming blood results to coworkers is not just. He doesn't think he should have to worry about bad gas lines his company is profiting off of. This guy's company ripped off Native Americans by purposefully mis-measuring oil taken from indigenous lands. This guy thinks having his pollution-spewing, employee-killing, ethically questionable company regulated is injustice.

This would be laughable if it wasn't straight up terrifying.

A tale of two men...Lech and Warren

Last week was one that I will never forget. One Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010, I met Lech Wałęsa, Poland's past president and Nobel Peace Prize winner. Two days later on Oct. 28, 2010 I helped host Warren Graham, author of Black Belt Librarians and all around library security expert. Whenever a week of complete chaos like this takes hold, I feel such incredible satisfaction afterward. This weekend I reflected on the week's exceptional events. Life happens so fast that by the time the words are out the memory is already faint.

Lech Wałęsa & adventures in solidarity
In the last few weeks I was a nervous wreck, especially when I thought of meeting President Wałęsa. I called my mom with more frequency and visited her for crash courses in proper Polish. I would only have a moment's time with the man, but I didn't want to make some glaring mistake like mixing up genders.

My moment would turn into two as I was asked to interpret for a union leader from Poland. What was supposed to be quick would turn into an invite to a lunch with dignitaries, where I would meet President Wałęsa and hear him speak twice. After lunch, the presidential party disappeared to give the president some privacy. He is still a very charismatic speaker, but the folks I sat with said he was much more tame than back in the early days of Solidarność. Time slows us all down in at some point.

There was about an hour between the lunch and the Solidarność Exhibit opening at the The Walter P. Reuther Library. Before I knew it, I was sitting with union leaders translating all types of automotive business talk to the best of my ability. When union people get together, they want to talk shop no matter the circumstance. By the time we headed over to the Reuther, we were invited to an International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) meeting in Detroit. After some translated discussion about the international reach of unions, we headed to the Reuther for the exhibit opening.

The exhibit opening was excellent and there was a great crowd on hand. I met the president of the second time and took a picture with him. He would speak again, longer the second time. I was in awe of the president's interpreter. While I struggled to remember words throughout the day, she never missed a beat and lost no meaning in translation. She even translated comedy well - it was brilliant. This was the most Polish I had uttered in many years.

Attending the IMF meeting will be exciting, but it does take me away from my work at Wayne State University. Unless I'm on a week-long bike ride, I get a little antsy being away from work, but I've gotten much better.

Black Belt Librarians (and Black Belt WSU Alumni)
The School of Library and Information Science Alumni Association had been rebuilding and this event would be the manifestation of our efforts. We had all the ingredients for a winning program: support from the WSU Alumni Association, the willingness of volunteers to get the word out, people contributing promotional material, people going shopping for refreshments, etc. Even though we all have jobs and we're all busy, everyone pulled together to make the day successful.

Over 40 people joined us to hear Warren Graham, who is nothing short of extraordinary. We gave out evaluations and every last one was a satisfied participant. Warren Graham's strengths are definitely in the fact that he's a very strong speaker and that he provides practical information that people could take back to their libraries immediately. "Awareness doesn't cost a dime," he would say.

I was happy the event turned out well and I'm happy that people are hearing about the SLISAA. I got inspired and tweaked the website a little bit. Finally.

Tired Cops = Bad Idea

From Detroit Free Press: To cut costs, Harper Woods cops could work 24-hour shifts

It hasn't been implemented, but it's being explored. As far as I'm concerned, it has "bad idea" written all over it. I thought Oakland County's 10-hour workweek was questionable, but this is way ridiculous. I have provided two lines of thinking.

Decisions:

• when one is tired, decision-making is not at its peak
• cops must make very quick decisions throughout their day
• sometimes those decisions involve use of weapons
• bad decisions when weapons are involved lead to trouble (read lawsuits)
• bad decisions are more likely when one is tired
  

Moods:

• when one is tired, mood can turn sour
• when mood turns sour, punching someone in the face (or another physical reactions) seems like a good idea
• bad decisions involving punching citizens in face (or other physical reactions) also lead to trouble (read lawsuits)
  

OK, so I understand everyone is strapped for money, but this does NOT sound like it's worth the supposed $150,000 overtime savings. The article mentions how medical interns/residences also have to work through 24-hour shifts, but I think that's absurd, too.

Today's Knowledge: Global Warming and Worker Safety

I don't mean to be a bummer on the Fourth of July, but whether we are hanging out at cookouts and shooting off fireworks or not - there are serious and grave issues that still surround us. Listen to and/or watch this Bill Moyers episode that covers both Global Warming and Worker Safety. Grim - yes. Important - definitely. My hope is that reporting like this will reach and infuriate the masses.

Read, watch and learn more at: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/06272008/watch.html