The Anatomy of Public Corruption

2403. Hobbs Act -- Extortion By Force, Violence, Or Fear

2403. Hobbs Act -- Extortion By Force, Violence, Or Fear


The Deadwitness.com
In Civil Litigation
Near
Pete Bennett



In order to prove a violation of Hobbs Act extortion by the wrongful use of actual or threatened force, violence, or fear, the following questions must be answered affirmatively:
  1. Did the defendant induce or attempt to induce the victim to give up property or property rights? "Property" has been held to be "any valuable right considered as a source of wealth." United States v. Tropiano, 418 F.2d 1069, 1075 (2d Cir. 1969) (the right to solicit garbage collection customers). "Property" includes the right of commercial victims to conduct their businesses. See United States v. Zemek, 634 F.3d 1159, 1174 (9th Cir. 1980) (the right to make business decisions and to solicit business free from wrongful coercion) and cited cases). It also includes the statutory right of union members to democratically participate in union affairs. See United States v. Debs, 949 F.2d 199, 201 (6th Cir. 1991) (the right to support candidates for union office); United States v. Teamsters Local 560, 550 F. Supp. 511, 513-14 (D.N.J. 1982), aff'd, 780 F.2d 267 (3rd Cir. 1985) (rights guaranteed union members by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, 29 U.S.C. §  411).
  2. Did the defendant use or attempt to use the victim's reasonable fear of physical injury or economic harm in order to induce the victim's consent to give up property? A defendant need not create the fear of injury or harm which he exploits to induce the victim to give up property. See United States v. Duhon, 565 F.2d 345, 349 and 351 (5th Cir. 1978) (offer by employer to pay union official for labor peace held to be "simply planning for inevitable demand for money" by the union official under the circumstances); United States v. Gigante, 39 F.3d 42, 49 (2d Cir. 1994), vacated on other grounds and superseded in part on denial of reh'g, 94 F.3d 53 (2d Cir. 1996) (causing some businesses to refuse operations with the victim sufficiently induced the victim's consent to give up property, consisting of a right to contract freely with other businesses, as long as there were other businesses beyond defendants' control with whom the victim could do business).
    Moreover, attempted extortion may include an attempt to instill fear in a federal agent conducting a covert investigation or a defendant "made of unusually stern stuff." See United States v. Gambino, 566 F.2d 414, 419 (2d Cir. 1977) (argument that FBI agent pretending to be extortion victim could not be placed in fear is not a defense to attempted extortion of the agent); see also United States v. Ward, 914 F.2d 1340, 1347 (9th Cir. 1990) (an attempt to instill fear included a demand for money from a victim who knew that the defendant was only pretending to be a federal undercover agent when he threatened the victim with prosecution unless money was paid).
    However, the payment of money in response to a commercial bribe solicitation, that is, under circumstances where the defendant does not threaten the victim with economic harm, but only offers economic assistance in return for payment to which the defendant is not entitled, is not sufficient to prove extortion by fear of economic loss. United States v. Capo, 817 F.2d 947, 951-52 (2d Cir. 1987) (solicitation of money from job applicants by persons having no decisionmaking authority in return for favorable influence with employment counselors was insufficient evidence of inducement by fear); but see United States v. Blanton, 793 F.2d 1553, 1558 (11th Cir. 1986) (inducement by fear was proven by the defendant's solicitation of a labor consulting contract, to help employer stop outside union organizing, when the solicitation was accompanied by defendant's threat to form another union and begin organizing employees if the consulting contract was not accepted).
  3. Did the defendant's conduct actually or potentially obstruct, delay, or affect interstate or foreign commerce in any (realistic) way or degree? The Hobbs Act regulates extortion and robbery, which Congress has determined have a substantial effect on interstate and foreign commerce by reason of their repetition and aggregate effect on the economy. Therefore, the proscribed offenses fall within the category of crimes based on the Commerce Clause whose "de minimis character of individual instances arising under [the] statute is of no consequence." United States v. Bolton, 68 F.3d 396, 399 (10th Cir. 1995) (upholding Hobbs Act convictions for robberies whose proceeds the defendant would have used to purchase products in interstate commerce), quoting, United States v. Lopez, --- U.S. ---, 115 S.Ct. 1624, 1630 (1995); material in brackets added; see also United States v. Atcheson, 94 F.3d 1237, 1243 (9th Cir. 1996) (robbery of out-of-state credit and ATM cards); United States v. Farmer, 73 F.3d 836, 843 (8th Cir. 1996) (robbery of commercial business); United States v. Stillo, 57 F.3d 553, 558 n.2 (7th Cir. 1995).
    Hobbs Act violations may be supported by proof of a direct effect on the channels or instrumentalities of interstate or foreign commerce, as for example, where the threatened conduct would result in the interruption of the interstate movement of goods or labor. See United States v. Taylor, 92 F.3d 1313, 1333 (2d Cir. 1996) (extortion of money, unwanted labor, and subcontracts on construction projects by threatened shutdowns and labor unrest); United States v. Hanigan, 681 F.2d 1127, 1130-31 (9th Cir. 1982) (robbery of three undocumented alien farm workers while they were traveling from Mexico to the United States in search of work); United States v. Capo, 791 F.2d 1054, 1067-68 (2d Cir. 1986), vacated on other grounds, 817 F.2d 947 (2d Cir. 1987) (scheme to extort local job applicants had a potential effect on interstate applicants who might otherwise be hired).
    Indirect effects on such commerce are also sufficient, as for example, where the obtaining of property and resulting depletion of the victim's assets decreases the victim's ability to make future expenditures for items in interstate commerce. Taylor, supra (depletion of contractors' assets). However, the Seventh Circuit has distinguished Hobbs Act cases involving depletion of a business' assets from those involving the depletion of an individual employee's assets which, the court has ruled, are not as likely to satisfy the jurisdictional requirement of the Hobbs Act. United States v. Mattson, 671 F.2d 1020 (7th Cir. 1982); United States v. Boulahanis, 677 F.2d 586, 590 (7th Cir. 1982). Other circuits have agreed where the extortion or robbery of an individual has only an "attenuated" or "speculative" effect on some entity or group of individuals engaged in interstate commerce thereby diminishing the "realistic probability" that such commerce will be affected. See United States v. Collins, 40 F.3d 95, 100 (5th Cir. 1994) (conviction for robbery of a computer company employee reversed on grounds that theft of victim's automobile with cellular phone had an insufficient effect on his employer's business); United States v. Quigley, 53 F.3d 909 (8th Cir. 1995) (upholding the acquittal, following guilty verdict, of defendants who beat and robbed two individuals in route to buy beer at a liquor store).
  4. Was the defendant's actual or threatened use of force, violence or fear wrongful? Generally, the extortionate obtaining of property by the wrongful use of actual or threatened force or violence in a commercial dispute requires proof of a defendant's intent to induce the victim to give up property. No additional proof is required that the defendant was not entitled to such property or that he knew he had no claim to the property which he sought to obtain. See United States v. Agnes, 581 F.Supp. 462 (E.D. Pa. 1984), aff'd, 753 F.2d 293, 297-300 (3d Cir. 1985) (rejecting claim of right defense to defendant's use of violence to withdraw property from a business partnership).
    However, the Supreme Court has recognized a claim-of-right defense to Hobbs Act extortion in labor-management disputes. In a 1973 decision, the Court reversed the conviction of union-member defendants who had used violence against an employer's property, during an otherwise legitimate economic labor strike, in order "to achieve legitimate union objectives, such as higher wages in return for genuine services which the employer seeks." United States v. Enmons, 410 U.S. 396, 400 (1973). The Court reasoned that the legislative history of the Hobbs Act disclosed that Congress had been concerned with attempts by union officials to extort wages for unwanted and fictitious labor, to which employees were not entitled, as contrasted with the policing of legitimate labor strikes in general. Therefore, the Court concluded that the union members' use of violence during the strike was not "wrongful" for purposes of Hobbs Act extortion. The Supreme Court also made a broadly worded statement that
    "wrongful" has meaning in the Act only if it limits the statute's coverage to those instances where the obtaining of the property would itself be "wrongful" because the alleged extortionist has no lawful claim to that property.
Id.
In its labor-management context, the claim-of-right defense is not applicable where defendants do not have legitimate labor objectives. The labor claim-of-right defense has been held not to excuse the following kinds of coercive demands:
  • payoffs to union officials and employee representatives in violation of the federal labor laws (29 U.S.C. § 186); United States v. Quinn, 514 F.2d 1250, 1259 (5th Cir. 1975) (solicitation of church donation in return for removal of labor pickets); United States v. Gibson, 726 F.2d 869 (1st Cir. 1984) (request for payoff to remove pickets);
  • sham fees which labor unions are not entitled to collect under the labor laws; United States v. Wilford, 710 F.2d 439, 444 (8th Cir. 1983) (economic coercion of dues and initiation fees from truck drivers who were self-employed or who were told they would receive no member benefits);
  • employee payments which violate existing labor contracts; United States v. Russo, 708 F.2d 209, 215 (6th Cir. 1983) (under threat of job loss, employees' payment of health and pension contributions which labor contract required employer to pay);
  • employer payments to labor unions which are not included in existing labor contracts; United States v. Traitz, 871 F.2d 368, 381-82 (3d Cir. 1989) (violence used to collect fines on employers for non-compliance with union rules which were not made part of the labor contract);
  • demands that a non-union employer cease business operations during a sham union organizing campaign; United States v. Edgar Jones, 766 F.2d 994, 1002-03 (6th Cir. 1985) (violent campaign by union officials and union-represented competitor to drive the non-union employer out of business under the pretext of persuading employees to join the union and enforce area wage standards);
  • employer payments for labor consulting to establish a bogus "sweetheart union" and thereby discourage legitimate organizing by other unions; United States v. Blanton, 793 F.2d 1553 (11th Cir. 1986).
  • construction contractors' payments of money, wages for unwanted and superfluous employees, and subcontracts with employee representatives which were unrelated to the hiring of employees. United States v. Taylor, 92 F.3d 1313, 1319 and 1333 (2d Cir. 1996) (extortion of contractors by leaders of minority labor coalitions).
Several courts of appeals have limited the claim-of-right defense to the context of labor-management disputes by refusing to extend the defense to extortionate violence and economic fear in commercial disputes and public corruption cases. United States v. Debs, 949 F.2d 199, 201 (6th Cir. 1991) (violence against union members in retaliation for support of opposition candidate for union office); United States v. Castor, 937 F.2d 293, 299 (7th Cir. 1991) (violent threats to obtain consent to enter into business arrangement); United States v. Zappola, 677 F.2d 264, 269 (2d Cir. 1982) (beating of debtor to coerce repayment of purported debt); United States v. Porcaro, 648 F.2d 753, 760 (1st Cir. 1981) (franchisor's violence to compel franchisee to vacate premises); United States v. French, 628 F.2d 1069, 1075 (8th Cir.1980) (public official's kickbacks on bail bond settlements); United States v. Cerilli, 603 F.2d 415, 419 (3d Cir. 1979) (solicitation of political contributions); United States v. Warledo, 557 F.2d 721, 729-730 (10th Cir. 1977) (violence by Native Americans to compel railroad to pay reparations for tribal lands).However, other courts have held that the extortionate use of fear of economic harm in commercial disputes is subject to a claim-of-right defense on the grounds that, unlike violence, the use of economic fear is not inherently "wrongful." See United States v. Kattar, 840 F.2d 118, 123-24 (1st Cir. 1988) (threat to expose church to litigation unless purported "award" for information was paid to defendant was not a legitimate use of economic fear where the information was false and defamatory); United States v. Clemente, 640 F.2d 1069, 1077-78 (2d Cir. 1981) (extortion of bogus consulting payments from subcontractor coerced by the threat of labor unrest against the subcontractor's principal).Where the claim-of-right defense applies, courts have generally held that the Government must prove that the defendant knew that he was not entitled to receive the property which he sought to obtain. United States v. Arambasich, 597 F.2d 609, 611 (7th Cir. 1979) (demand by labor union official on employer that the official and others be hired for no-show employment using threat of labor unrest); United States v. Sturm, 870 F.2d 769, 774 (1st Cir. 1989) (in prosecution involving debtor's withholding of property from a creditor-bank, "the term 'wrongful' requires the government to prove, in cases involving extortion based on economic fear, that the defendant knew that he was not legally entitled to the property that he received."); United States v. Dischner, 974 F.2d 1502, 1515 (9th Cir. 1992) (failure to instruct that defendant must know he had no entitlement to property he sought by use of economic fear did not rise to the level of plain error; but "knowledge of the extortion encompasses knowledge of the lack of lawful claim to the property.").
[cited in USAM 9-131.010]



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2402. Hobbs Act -- Generally

2402. Hobbs Act -- Generally



The Hobbs Act prohibits actual or attempted robbery or extortion affecting interstate or foreign commerce "in any way or degree." Section 1951 also proscribes conspiracy to commit robbery or extortion without reference to the conspiracy statute at 18 U.S.C. § 371. The statutory prohibition of "physical violence to any person or property in furtherance of a plan or purpose to do anything in violation of this section" is confined to violence for the purpose of committing robbery or extortion. United States v. Franks, 511 F.2d 25, 31 (6th Cir. 1975) (rejecting the view that the statute proscribes all physical violence obstructing, delaying, or affecting commerce as contrasted with violence designed to culminate in robbery or extortion).

The extortion offense reaches both the obtaining of property "under color of official right" by public officials and the obtaining of property by private actors with the victim's "consent, induced by wrongful use of actual or threatened force, violence, or fear," including fear of economic harm. See this Manual at 2405 and Evans v. United States, 504 U.S. 255, 265, 112 S.Ct. 1181, 1188 (1992) (only a private individual's extortion of property by the wrongful use of force, violence, or fear requires that the victim's consent be induced by these means; extortion of property under color of official right does not require that a public official take steps to induce the extortionate payment).

Although the Hobbs Act was enacted in 1946 to combat racketeering in labor-management disputes, the extortion statute is frequently used in connection with cases involving public corruption, commercial disputes, and corruption directed at members of labor unions. Proof of "racketeering" as an element of Hobbs Act offenses is not required. United States v. Culbert, 435 U.S. 371, 98 S.Ct. 1112 (1978). However, a violation of the Hobbs Act may be part of a "pattern of racketeering activity" for purposes of prosecution under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute (18 U.S.C. §  1961, et seq.).
[cited in USAM 9-131.010]
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G4S - The mercenaries and snipers among us

Their superior firepower beyond obvious and with the deaths in Orlando it's time to ask real questions about G4S with their expansive footprint. 
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SFSU President's Medal

061--November 29, 1999; FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Merrik Bush-Pirkle
phone: 415/338-1665
e-mail: pubcom@sfsu.edu


Senator Diane Feinstein to receive SFSU President's Medal


SAN FRANCISCO, November 29, 1999---At the final event celebrating its 100th anniversary, San Francisco State University will honor U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein with the prestigious President's Medal, the highest honor a California State University president can bestow upon an individual.
On Thursday, December 2, during the university's Centennial Gala at San Francisco City Hall, SFSU President Robert A. Corrigan will present Feinstein with the medal to honor her exemplary career, longstanding service to SFSU and continuing support of higher education.
"Those who are cynical about politicians and the value of a life spent in public service should look at Senator Dianne Feinstein," said Corrigan. "She reminds us of what a dedicated, principled person can achieve for the common good. She is an inspiration and a splendid model for those who are willing to work actively to make this a better, fairer nation."

Through Sen. Feinstein's efforts, SFSU was awarded $9.6 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to demolish Verducci Hall, an on-campus residence hall that suffered irreparable damage during the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. The funds will also help the university move forward on a $48 million plan to build a state-of-the-art student residential/services complex that is scheduled to open in August 2000.

Sen. Feinstein will join SFSU alumna Annette Bening in receiving a President's Medal on Thursday. In addition, 10 living alumni will be recognized for their significant contributions to their fields. They include: Mayor Willie Brown, Jr.; State Senator John Burton; astronaut Yvonne Cagle; author Ernest Gaines; actor Danny Glover; businessman George Marcus; singer Johnny Mathis; poet Janice Mirikitani; music director Kent Nagano; and actor/comedian Ronnie Schell.
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The FICO Connnection - Open Letter to Will Lansing


US Attorney Thomas C. Wales brother of Richard Wales Fair Issac Tools Programmer.  Killed a month after the deadly World Trade Center Bombings but more important is the Cyber-terrorism event launched from SBCGlobal on September 18, 2001 which was the same day the Anthrax Virus emerged.   

OPEN LETTER

Will Lansing President
Fair Issac
200 Smith Ranch Road
San Rafael, CA 94903 USA

Dear Mr. Lansing,

This my second email in regards to my personal story and economic downfall in part facilitated by tactical to disrupt my business, destroy my legal remedies and by whatever means remove me from the media. 

In my first email a few facts were unknown to me specifically the connections to Richard Blum and Diane Feinstein, their respective connections to my ongoing misery. 

The power couple sleep in a mansion whereas I sleep on a sheet of plywood but your investors lead to a 2004 attempted murders.  A CBRE SVP knows about the incidents and murder attempts.

One of Mr. Blum's holdings leads to Telepacific who purchased ATG in Santa Rosa CA.  I was one of their salespeople who was given the corporate haircut.  That event was costly, it affected my family and forced us to get free food. 

So I live under deplorable conditions and for several years have reached out to Senator Feinstein's office for constituent services and received none, just like my paycheck nothing.

When you get a chance ask Mr. Blum where in the California Labor Code does it allow not to pay employees or even better, ask the Senator.

Plain and simple, I was ripped off and would like to be paid as after all it's the debtor is the Husband of U. S. Senator with a net worth of likely over 1 billion, his firm and hedge fund probably burned the sales crew upwards of 500,000.   I am researching the ATG Sale to TPG seeking details on who authorized the very low-ball asset valuation. 

Next is CBRE
One person within CBRE organization has my trust documents where I lost my originals to East Bay Mormons who are suspects in my 2004 Arson fire.  It's attempted murder case and has been with the FBI when someone torched offices at 1776 Ygnacio Valley Road where my attorneys offices contained legal files lost in claims against SBC Global, Seeno Construction and smaller skirmish. 

Zombie Debt Collection Case Chicago 2004
Once I got on TV a slew of collection activities were aimed at me, morning, noon and night.   During that time I was TV with the Senator.  

Today with your organizations connection to Richard Blum and my grassroots efforts against the Senator its kind of odd, that I've been arrested, jailed, beaten and set of fire.   That personal life has been in danger for as long I've been on TV perhaps longer. 

What I've determined is my credit was targeted,  my ability to get work disrupted and my close relatives murdered.

This is how the circle travels to from the UC System to CBRE to my family.  This business belongs to Cobb Bennett who is my brother. 

Business Credit Information
Toll Free:   1.415.861.4224
Email:         bcicreditreport@2bci.net .
Address:    251 Rhode Island, Suite 112  San Francisco, CA  94103, USA

http://www.alumnilocators.com/

Mr. Blum a regent, my brother works with UC Alumni

This link is the forged Leslie Milne Bennett trust and you'll quickly realize I'm telling you truth.

Your data is used against me to steal my trust documents.  With your tools you can easily link the real estate sold in secret, the property sold with the forged document and that forged document was on my trailer and placed in the Truck owner by Russ Darby who knows Mormon Bishop who works for Blum. 

There is another back story with a murder case near this BOD

http://ir.blackhawknetwork.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=251638&p=irol-govcommcomp

This is how big your problem is:  This family lived next door but also won a fat settlement without ever filing a case.   Friends of the Bishop who work the Power Couple who allow a vendor steal trust files , file forged papers and stand back when my truck explodes. 
http://contracostawatch.blogspot.com/2013/12/california-bus-crash-sends-nine.html
------
http://cnetscandal.blogspot.com/2014/09/wills-trust-and-estates-good-will.html

Putting your analytical prowess for good - the bus accident and the law firms are one in the same.


http://contracostawatch.blogspot.com/2013/11/twa-flight-800-1989-thefts-from-san.html

The Bishops kids attended Green Valley Elem, then Los Cerros, then Monte Vista. 

Several of the victims on this page are well known to the Bishop, who knows your BOD, who also knows Lennar who controls most of Mare Island where once again we've got arson. 

http://contracostawatch.blogspot.com/2013/06/obituary-nathaniel-james-greenan-mormon.html

Mr. Blum's wife is stonewalling me for basic constituent services while I endure homelessness, assaults, arson and legal setbacks over and over. 

Accenture, BRAC, PG&E, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Bishop Lyon's former Accenture Executive who mysteriously dies on the Pacific Coast Trail. 

The CBRE Bishop knows this Bishop, my roommate murdered in the county jail by deputies lived to a different Mormon Bishop. 

You are smart to follow this and start your own investigation.  I clearly suspect these attacks over 30 years lead into 9/11 and the Accenture Federal Services. 

Your credit databases will reveal if Accenture has anything to do the missing Hellcat Missile as once they're all over DOS, DLA and BRAC.

My analysis is heading for the FBI on top of everything else that's happened and to the DOJ in DC.   In 2014, I begged the FBI for witness protection for me, my family and sons.  

The Strack Murders and Russ Darby (Mormon)
http://cnetscandal.blogspot.com/2015/09/case-civmsc14-01974-dodge-vs-rrs.html

Russ Darby has the missing trust, the CBRE Bishop knows this.  The trust leads to this allegation posted in 2014, sent to the FBI in 2011 after the Mormon Chief of Police refused to investigate, the same chief that knew murder victims Ernie Scherer and his wife. 

If you took the time with vast portfolio of information you identify the real killers and numerous arsonists, including my theory about the FedEx truck accident that killed.

Your data provides proximity information.  Smash every transaction from Sac to Redding or from LVNV to La Brea and Pleasaton you'll learn what I suspect which is Ernie Scherer III was framed, like Scott Dyleski who Horowitz is connected to 500 La Gonda Way Litigation who could easily see my truck explode. 

Your data could free men from prison, reveal who has been trying to kill me and possibly solve 9/11. 

It's not everyday that a person close to your BOD is close to a person who took 10M from the Bin Laden Family who are connected to Bechtel who once had a 100 year relationship with Bechtel. 

You know and I know that Bechtel is Cheney, and Lynne Cheney is Mormon and one of their premier vendors was John Ramsey. 

You work at Board Level and no sane BOD would pass on meeting a vendor doing nearly a billion per year. 

It's all in the timeline and that connects to my stint at Wells Fargo when the programmer jumped. 

http://cnetscandal.blogspot.com/2015/10/danville-stake-mormonmurders.html
http://cnetscandal.blogspot.com/2016/01/accenture-ceo-pierre-nanterme-feinstein.html




CC: Board Of Directors
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OBIT: Ex-inspector general @potus @KattenLaw @fbi @chp_hq @orlando @Orrick @nixonpeabody @OrlandoPolice @walnutcreekpd @JudicialWatch

Ex-inspector general fired by Obama over 2009 Americorps probe dies at 84

Gerald Walpin, a former inspector general for the federal AmeriCorps program who was fired by President Barack Obama over his handling of an investigation into a California mayor and Obama supporter, has died. He was 84.


Walpin was killed Friday morning after being struck by a sport utility vehicle in New York, his son-in-law, Allan Tananbaum, said.


The New York Police Department said Walpin was crossing a street on the Upper East Side when he was struck by the vehicle. He suffered serious head injuries and died at a local hospital. The investigation is ongoing and no arrests had been made by Friday evening, a police spokesman said.

Walpin was fired in 2009 as the inspector general who investigates AmeriCorps and other national service programs following an investigation into Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and his nonprofit group, which received hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal grants from the corporation that runs AmeriCorps.


Walpin's probe found Johnson used AmeriCorps grants to pay volunteers to engage in school-board political activities and run personal errands for Johnson. Johnson, a former all-star point guard who played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns, had supported Obama during his first campaign.


Walpin referred the matter to the local U.S. attorney's office, which said Walpin's conclusions seemed overstated and didn't accurately reflect all the information gathered in the investigation. The U.S. attorney's office later reached a settlement in the case.


Obama said he removed Walpin from his position after he lost confidence in him.

Walpin was sworn into office in 2007 after being nominated by then-President George W. Bush. Walpin graduated from College of the City of New York in 1952 and received a law degree in 1955 from Yale Law School. He was a partner with the New York City law firm Katten Muchin and Rosenman LLP for more than 40 years

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Amid Romney's rise, Bay Area Mormons hope for more acceptance


One in 10 U.S. Mormons lives in California, giving the state the largest Mormon population outside Utah. The Bay Area is a Mormon hub, home to an estimated 100,000 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and one of its oldest operating temples.
The East Bay had a burgeoning Mormon congregation in 1924, when a prophet and former church president is said to have looked over the bay from a San Francisco hotel and envisioned a "great white temple of the Lord" in the Oakland hills.

 dd Dedicated in 1964, the five-spire Oakland Temple remains a regional center of Mormon life.
"I love the Bay Area for its tolerance and respect of all types of people. In many respects, this is the ideal environment, not only for Mormons but people of any faith, or nonfaith," said Richard Kopf, a corporate attorney from Alamo who converted to Mormonism in the 1960s and is the church's regional spokesman.

At a 6 a.m. class Wednesday in central Hayward, Carol Welch stood in front of a map of the Holy Land, a King James Bible in her hand and eight tired teenagers in front of her.

The class, known as seminary, meets every weekday, and this year the focus is on the Old Testament. In another year, if they haven't already, the teenagers will get to the New Testament and the Book of Mormon, the document that adherents believe was written by ancient prophets and translated by Joseph Smith in the early 19th century.

Growing up Episcopalian in Alameda, Welch converted to Mormonism in the late 1980s. She wanted to raise her children in a religious tradition but wasn't sure which one until two suited missionaries appeared on her Fremont doorstep.

"I was the world's biggest skeptic," Welch said. "When friends found out I was joining the Mormon church, they were shocked."

The 63-year-old said she is regularly countering misconceptions. Mormons are nearly unanimous in describing themselves as Christian and believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, according to the Pew study, but Welch said many people still think Mormons aren't Christian.

"There are so many religions that have been ridiculed over time," she said.

Far more socially and politically conservative than the public, according to the Pew survey, some Mormons clashed with Bay Area gays and lesbians during the battle over Proposition 8, the ban on same-sex marriage passed by voters in 2008.

Hawker, who teaches critical thinking and argumentation at San Jose State, stayed out of the fray.
"I don't think Mormons are being singled out any more than any other group, but Prop. 8 did not help many people's perceptions of Mormons," she said.

A political moderate, Hawker prefers former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, a Mormon, over front-runner Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts and also a Mormon.
About 86 percent of all Mormon voters view Romney favorably, and even Mormon Democrats approve of Romney as much as the average Republican voter, says the Pew study.

  • 94 percent of Mormons believe that God and Jesus Christ are separate, physical beings
  • 94 percent believe that the president of the church is a prophet of God
  • 95 percent believe families can be bound together eternally in temple ceremonies
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    Walnut Creek / Investigators suspect boiler was at fault

    Explosion Rips Through Wells Fargo in Walnut Creek / Investigators suspect boiler was at fault

    Charlie Goodyear, Chronicle Staff Writer
    Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, December 1, 1999
    Note:  Darion Sable –Former Marine Suicide leaves Wells Fargo and jumps from Bay Bridge
    A thunderous blast ripped through a Wells Fargo Bank branch in downtown Walnut Creek yesterday, injuring an employee and a pedestrian struck by flying debris. Authorities termed it an accident.
    Fire investigators were focusing on a second-floor boiler as the likely cause of the blast. Authorities and bank employees said the boiler had been repaired about an hour before the explosion.

    "It was a big boom," said bank manager Nancy Methlie as she stood with a group of Wells Fargo employees not far from the intersection of Bonanza and North Main streets where the bank is located. "It was like you could feel it everywhere in the building."

    The explosion occurred at 3:51 p.m., blowing out windows around the building and throwing a large metal duct grille across Bonanza Street where it struck a man. He was taken to Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Walnut Creek with injuries to his shoulder and knee.

    A bank employee who was in a room adjacent to the boiler at the time of the blast was also taken to the hospital for symptoms of shock. But officials described both victims' injuries as minor.
    Bank patron Alex Utal said the explosion knocked panels off the walls inside the bank. "I thought someone had thrown something against the building," he said.

    Shannon Rogers, an employee at Athletic Outpost across from the bank, felt the explosion shake the building while she was working.

    "It reeked of gas," she said. "A big metal piece flew off and hit the piano store across the street."
    Other bank employees said the building quickly filled with heavy steam or smoke but officials said there was no fire inside following the blast.

    Damage was heaviest on the second floor where the suspect boiler was located.

    ''Earlier in the day, repairs were being made to the boiler," said Contra Costa Fire Capt. Larry Thude. "The repair crew left around 2 or 2:30 p.m."

    Authorities said only about 10 people, including employees and patrons, were in the bank when the explosion occurred. A gas line to the bank was immediately shut off but several neighboring businesses were evacuated as a precaution.
    Police cordoned off a four-block area around the bank, snarling traffic in the already heavily congested downtown area.
    Wells Fargo was planning to send its own security people to the scene to secure the bank, said bank market president Andrew Mastorakis.
    Mastorakis said there had been no threats made against the bank and that all evidence pointed to an explosion in the boiler. Fire officials and police were expected to remain at the scene to establish an official cause of the blast. Engineers from the bank and the city were assessing structural damage to the building last night.
    Lance Berg, a Wells Fargo spokesman in San Francisco, said customers in Walnut Creek should use Wells Fargo's branch on South Broadway until the branch on North Main reopens.















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    "Exporting America" May 22, 2003 LOU DOBBS, CNNfn ANCHOR, LOU DOBBS




     Lou Dobbs CNN Moneyline
    "Exporting America" May 22, 2003
    LOU DOBBS, CNNfn ANCHOR, LOU DOBBS
    MONEYLINE: Good evening, everyone. Tonight, we continue our series of special reports, "Exporting America." This country's unemployment rate rose to six percent last month matching an eight-year high. Nearly nine million Americans are out of work. Many are bitter because their jobs are going to foreign workers who came to this country on special visas called H1-B. Kitty Pilgrim reports.

    KITTY PILGRIM, CNNfn CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mike Roberts was laid off from his technology consultant job in California. He sold his house and is living in a hotel room with his family and plans to leave California for good when his daughter finishes the school year. He says the company he worked for brought in a wave of foreign workers on H1-B visas. He eventually was replaced.

    MICHAEL ROBERTS, TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANT: They were bringing in consultants like one, two, three every week, all H1-Bs, so you start asking and then you start discovering they're all coming through just one or two agencies and you realize they're not even considering American citizens at all.

    PILGRIM: Thirty-year-old Daniel Soong was making $160,000 a year but no longer. He lost his job to an H1-B visa worker. The former consultant now can't find a job and lives with his parents. He talks about a recent job interview that went nowhere. [Daniel Soong contacted ZaZona.com with a clarification: CNN made a mistake, he was making $60,000 a year, not $160,000.]
    DANIEL SOONG, TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANT: They were just interviewing me in order to satisfy the equal opportunity requirements of the state so they wouldn't be discriminating against American citizens, but in reality they had no intentions of hiring me and they wanted to hire an H1-B visa candidate.
    PILGRIM: The H1-B visa was born in the tech room of the early 1990s. There were not enough American workers, so employers asked for a special visa to bring in college educated workers from overseas to fill specialized jobs.
    In 1992, the H1-B visa let in a maximum number of 65,000 workers, but by the end of the decade that number jumped to 195,000 every year and that doesn't count visa renewals. For example, in 2001, 342,000 people renewed their H1-B visa.
    RON HIRA, IEEE-USA CHAIR: Usually in the technology area that you would bring an H1-B worker in temporarily. Unfortunately, the program has changed into instead of being a last resort the H1-Bs have become in some cases, you know, a first choice.
    PILGRIM: Peter Bennett started a Web site complaining about the H1-B visas. Then it gets 1,500 hits a week on his Web site.
    PETE BENNETT, NOMOREH1B.COM: Across the country, workers are being displaced wholesale. Entire teams are brought in to replace American workers and where they're being forced to train their replacements.
    PILGRIM: Charles Corry did consultant work in Colorado Springs with many high tech firms that use the H1-B visa. He says to him it's clear that companies give preference to the H1-B applicants because the workers are willing to put in longer hours for less money, anything to keep their job in the states.
    CHARLES CORRY, TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANT: They're a modern version of indentured servitude, the hours, the salaries typically much lower. I was probably getting twice what the H1-B visa people were.
    (END VIDEOTAPE)
    PILGRIM: And the General Accounting Office is looking into whether the H1-B visa workers are moving American workers out of their jobs. They expect to come up with a report by mid-September, and that timing is critical because Congress decides on the limits on the number of visas the following month - - Lou.
    DOBBS: They're studying whether H1-B visa employees are taking away jobs from Americans?
    PILGRIM: They want to make a study, everything.
    DOBBS: It seems like as they say a no-brainer.
    PILGRIM: Yes. It pretty much is industry knowledge that they are but they have to make a study of it -- Lou.
    DOBBS: How many are there now, H1-B visa holders in this country?
    PILGRIM: There's no real clear number because some people go back. Some people stay. Some people stay without the status.
    DOBBS: What's the best estimate?
    PILGRIM: But they think about a million.
    DOBBS: A million?
    PILGRIM: About a million and the problem is that you can reapply. You can stay in the country for three years and then renew it and stay for six, so you can stay for a long time on this visa.
    DOBBS: Kitty, thank you very much, fascinating, Kitty Pilgrim. Still ahead here tonight our "Quote of the Day" on a much needed boost for the economy. Then, we'll be talking with Congressman Peter DeFazio on why free trade is to blame for some of the problems our economy is experiencing and why free trade may be a misnomer.
    Also tonight, Saudi Arabia the target of terror, Saudi Foreign Policy Advisor Adel al-Jubeir will join us to talk about his country's new approach. Stay with us.
    (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
    DOBBS: This week we're focusing in our special series of reports on "Exporting America" on the reasons for the loss of jobs abroad. Democratic Congressman Peter DeFazio blames the loss of American jobs on poorly written trade agreements. The Congressman says one way to turn around that situation is to create a non-partisan congressional trade office. He says it would write smarter agreements that could uphold labor and environmental standards.
    Congressman Peter DeFazio joins us now from Washington, D.C., Congressman, good to have you here.
    REP. PETER DEFAZIO (D), OREGON: Thanks, Lou, appreciate being on the show.
    DOBBS: The issue of free trade, membership in the W.T.O, (unintelligible), all of these agreements ostensibly a level playing field for lesser developed nations as well as industrialized. Why do you find it's not working?
    DEFAZIO: Well, actually if you look back to NAFTA, the whole intent of NAFTA was to make the export of capital safe because the appropriations earlier in the last century in Mexico. So, it was really set up to protect capital exports, capacity exports by U.S. manufacturers and the other agreements are modeled on that.
    They don't protect labor rights. They don't protect environmental standards, and they don't create a level playing field in any way. I mean U.S. workers can't compete with Mexican workers let alone China and others that they're being forced to compete with in this agreements.
    DOBBS: As you know, Congressman, one of the facts is that jobs that were lost in this country to Mexico have subsequently been, at least a portion of them, lost to China which are now being lost to Vietnam. At what point does this Congress and this White House deal with the issue of real imbalances that are creating job losses and the exportation not only of capital and jobs but intellectual capital?
    DEFAZIO: Well, we're hollowing out our economy, both our industrial strength and now our service sector, intellectual strength, and high technology which was supposed to be where the displaced industrial workers went. It is an extraordinary threat to the future of our productivity and I believe our national security. When does Congress wake up? I don't know. The American people have woken up. Even Alan Greenspan is speaking out strongly about the potential problems here.
    The International Monetary Fund, controlled by the United States has said our trade deficit isn't sustainable. But inside the Beltway here there's this head in the sand attitude.
    You know when we renewed the H1-B which your last segment talked about here in Congress, they lied to us. It was controversial when they renewed it even when the economy was booming. They did it after hours. They told us there would be no more recorded votes. People left and the Republican leadership brought it up and jammed it through and, of course, the Clinton administration was complicit in that.
    DOBBS: The Clinton administration, you mean Democrats and Republicans alike lied to you, Congressman?
    DEFAZIO: Well, I'm not sure what the Democratic leadership knew or didn't now but the Republicans did for sure because they told us no more votes. I left among others and no more bills coming up and they brought that through, passed it on a voice vote. So, it's not going to happen this time we would hope with the scrutiny that's now starting to come on this problem and this issue.
    DOBBS: Well, the fact of the matter is that in the ten years since the H1-B visa was created, it has brought in a huge number of visa holders that are taking jobs whether one -- and as Kitty Pilgrim reported a study is underway. It doesn't seem to me to require a lot of studying to figure out that jobs have been lost to H1-B visa holders. What are you going to do about it?
    DEFAZIO: Well, the conflict that Congress feels, and obviously this administration feels is that there are certain corporations that have done very well under this and they're putting counter pressure on against American workers and the American workforce.
    I'm hoping that this will be a time when we're going to do one for the future of our country and for our workers and we can create enough inertia. They can't ignore this problem anymore. I mean all those displaced industrial workers were supposed to get retrained for high tech. Well, guess what, we brought in people to do your work and now we're starting to export it.
    I mean the other thing, and I'm not sure she touched on it, is that a lot of times these people are brought in, trained in teams, and then sent back to India where they can pay them even less than here. Here they're paid less than American workers but over there they're paid less than half.
    DOBBS: And is it your sense that anything will be done about this or is it -- because you talk about the corporations doing very well. The fact is whether one looks at this in terms of men and women, working men and women in this country who are simply being screwed, or whether one looks at it in terms of corporations who are benefiting, the fact is it is certainly not helping the American economy. Shouldn't Congress be taking a serious look at the interests of this country?
    DEFAZIO: Well, absolutely, and I'm hoping to engage some of the Republicans, like Duncan Hunter on Armed Services. We're now -- the Chinese are within half a generation of us in high tech computer technology and chips. We're supposed to by national policy maintain a two generation lead. That happened because of U.S. exports of technology to China under their demands. I mean they demand. We export the technology there and then they'll provide the cheap labor.
    This is an extraordinary threat to the future of this country and, you know, there certainly should be a national security concern. If people aren't concerned about our workers they got to be concerned about our national security.
    DOBBS: Congressman DeFazio we thank you very much and we wish you luck as you move forward with your advocacy of a congressional trade office. Thank you, sir.
    DEFAZIO: Thanks, Lou. Thanks for shining a light on this.
    DOBBS: Tomorrow on this broadcast we continue our series, "Exporting America." We'll take a look at the tremendous pressure faced by U.S. companies that try to keep their operations in this country, and we'll show you what businesses and governments are doing to at least try to encourage them to stay. And we'll try to find out precisely what the trade policy is of this country on this important issue.
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    Mayor Newsome - the Witness

    PG_mcfaddenAsk Newsom Go Long and Homeless

    Date: Oct. 2010 
    Event: Approaching Newsome
    Where: Market Street HQ for BOS Candidate
    Results: Call Garr Homeless Advocate

    Newsom walked away when I asked about SFPD Lt. David Oberhoffer

    Walnut Creek at 17 Koala Ct. connects him to Benny Chetcuti Jr. (Prison) (find title records yourself) leads to CNET Scandal and Chris Butler. 
    Here is the new problem for Nancy McFadden
    Judge Golub - my neighbor who was well informed about my F-250 Explosion in August 2004, he knew about the Gary Vinson Collins incident in Sept 2004 - he's dead, I was in his court room getting screwed over on my first ticket.
    Since we met and I am sure glad I approached you as it's a very important milestone in the PG&E as is Bing Lapus which in my eyes is no different than the 250K reward YOU SIGNED to encourage citizens to come forward
    Everywhere I look I see public officials taking and using the public prowess to run over others rights. 
    There is LGBT jumper in Walnut Creek that used to sing in the gay bar where I'd sing as I'm gay friendly - everyone is the same. 
    Too bad in my situation no one cares too much about Pete Bennett or his family.
    In June 2005 these people operator tried to kill my sons on 680.
    The Great Lt. Governor and his side kick Jerry?  Pete who? Why is his so fucked up ? Why is he getting beaten, why does he thyroid disease? He was sure lucjky that Lt. Oberhoffer didn't kill him. 
    The only way you'll ever be responsive and/or perhaps responsible. The court filing is coming soon - your a witness that's different than a defendant.
    I want to know why Sen. Feinstein's and Blum's SVP Greg Smyth are so close to the deaths near me. 


    BING LAPUS
    STATIONARY ENGINEER, SEWAGE PLANT
    Regular pay:    $83,790.30
    Overtime pay:    $980.88
    Other pay:    $6,123.15
    Total pay:    $90,894.33
    Total benefits:    Not provided
    Total pay & benefits:    $90,894.33
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    Big “Al” Seeno We screw everyone



    This long settled case portrays the connection between City Attorney Mark Coon and Nathaniel Greenan who both dead.  

    The discussion of two murders

    • Greenan is Mormon at Alamo 1st
    • Coon was Concord City Attorney who committed suicide

    Albert D. Seeno and Bennett

    This oddity is posted so the IRS, FBI and SAG might pursue Seeno on new charges.
    Without question this was a setup project as my little tiny software company suffered a 20K loss with Seeno with emphasis that I would be buried in court.  Seeno deliberately failed to pay and today I suspect that Alamo 1st Mormons coupled with James Greenan's law firm.

    James Greenan a licensed Attorney fully aware of Bennett's Arson, the Police Stop in 2004 with the potential of ending Bennett's life.  In 2011 that officer was indicted by Federal Grand Jury in his role contents of site.  

    Deputy Sheriff

    Michael Robert Foley
    Alameda County Sheriff's Office, California

    End of Watch: Thursday, February 23, 2017 

    To understand his link to CNET all you need to read in this story, is SWAT, ATF, CNET or Fire Protection.  In most police stories there is a Chinese wall between agencies but the East Bay is a simmering story of nepotism and cronyism.  


    Foley History

    Foley likely as a Concord Police Officer likely targeted me while working with Concord Police Chief Livingston.   My position on Foley is he's part of growing list of murdered police officers. 

    The perfect place to kill anyone while using California Prison Laws in the jail.   


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    East Bay Incident Map–Mapbox Sample


    Mapbox Examples integrated into Blogger

    This is a very rough rendition of incidents located from Walnut Creek to Danville.
    The time range is from 2001 to 2016. It's a bucket list of tragedies where officers have used me like some as their personal gladiators in a dangerous game akin to the street game known as knockout

    The mental anguish of Abuse of Authority of Color of Law is akin to being locked in a cage for 30 years.


    Pete Bennett

    Founder, Adviser and Former CEO/President
    of Authentic Technologies Walnut Creek, California started
    in the business world in the 1970s where he emulated later.







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    OBIT: Mark Coon - Former City Attorney for Concord CA

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    BRIGHTSOURCE ENERGY OFFERED NEARLY $1.4 BILLION IN LOAN GUARANTEES FROM THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

    payme 

    February 22, 2010
    (OAKLAND, CA) February 22, 2010 – BrightSource Energy, Inc., developer of utility-scale solar thermal power plants, announced today that the U.S. Department of Energy has conditionally committed to provide $1.37 billion in loan guarantees to support the financing of BrightSource’s Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System.
    The commitment to provide loan guarantees marks a key milestone in the development of the Ivanpah project, California’s first large-scale commercial solar thermal power plant in nearly two decades. When constructed, Ivanpah will be the world’s largest solar energy project, nearly doubling the amount of solar thermal electricity produced in the US today.
    “This clean-energy investment will help create up to 1,000 construction jobs in California,” said California Senator Barbara Boxer. “In these tough times, we need investments like this to create good clean-energy jobs for Californians, increase our energy independence, protect our children from pollution and ensure American leadership in the clean energy economy.”
    “As home to some of the world’s best solar fields and the nation’s largest green economy, it is no surprise the world’s largest solar energy project would choose California,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “Our ambitious environmental policies are promoting the growth of clean, reliable energy in our communities and growing green jobs up and down the state. And, it is projects like this one that will help us meet our long-term energy and climate change goals while creating jobs and moving us towards a cleaner more sustainable future.”
    "I am very happy to see utility-scale solar projects like this one moving forward with strong Administration support, and I am hopeful that this project will serve as a cornerstone of the clean energy economy in the Southwestern U.S.,” said Nevada Senator Harry Reid. “I look forward to BrightSource and other solar companies putting more Nevadans to work by building major
    projects like this in Nevada very soon."
    “The loan guarantee commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy serves as a tremendous validation of our technology, the BrightSource team’s ability to execute, and the Ivanpah project’s role in meeting our nation’s large-scale renewable energy needs,” said John Woolard, CEO of BrightSource Energy. “We’re truly humbled by the opportunity to help build our nation’s green energy economy by creating good jobs for local communities. We look forward to beginning construction on the Ivanpah project, making a real and substantive impact on climate change, and creating a model for environmentally-responsible energy projects.”
    The loan guarantee is made possible by the Department of Energy’s Title XVII loan guarantee program, which was started in 2005 under the Energy Policy Act to support commercially proven technology in addition to innovative renewable energy technology. Under Section 1703 of the program, the Department of Energy issues a conditional commitment to guarantee loans to be provided by the U.S. Treasury’s Federal Financing Bank. Execution of the final loan guarantees is subject to the satisfaction of various conditions specified in the conditional commitment.
    The Ivanpah Project: Clean Energy, Union Jobs, Environmentally-Responsible Design
    The Ivanpah project, located in southeastern California, is an approximately 400 megawatt solar power facility consisting of three separate solar thermal power plants. When constructed, the project will produce enough clean energy to power 140,000 homes and nearly double the amount of solar thermal energy produced in the U.S. today.
    The power generated from these solar plants will be sold under separate contracts with Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE). PG&E will purchase approximately two-thirds of the power generated at Ivanpah and SCE will purchase approximately one-third. In all, BrightSource has contracted with PG&E and SCE to deliver more than 2,600 megawatts of electric power.
    "In today’s challenging economy, the conditional loan guarantee commitment from the DOE for the Ivanpah project provides vital support for building California’s first utility-scale solar thermal project in nearly two decades," said Peter A. Darbee, PG&E Corporation Chairman, CEO and President. "We’re thrilled to be a part of this historic project, which will deliver additional clean energy to our customers and help advance California's renewable energy and economic development goals."
    “The conditional loan guarantee commitment from the DOE for the Ivanpah project illustrates the important role that utility-scale solar must play in meeting our state’s clean energy and economic goals,” said Pedro Pizarro, executive vice president of Power Operations for Southern California Edison. “Addressing climate change and building our economy requires that we bring innovative technologies to market that can reliably deliver competitively priced clean energy at scale.”
    Ivanpah: Creating Union Jobs
    BrightSource and Bechtel, the engineering and construction contractor for the Ivanpah project, estimate that construction of the Ivanpah project will require approximately four million job hours of work and 1,000 union jobs at the peak of construction. In December 2009, Bechtel signed a project labor agreement with the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California (SBCTC) and the Building & Construction Trades Council of San Bernardino and Riverside counties to ensure that California’s local workforce benefits from the project. The project will also provide $400 million in local and state tax revenues, and produce $650 million in wages, over its first 30-year life.
    “We are pleased that President Obama’s vision of a clean energy economy creating thousands of good jobs is beginning to become a reality” said Bob Balgenorth, President of the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California. “By committing to a union workforce, this project will be training and employing the middle class workers that support our state’s economy.”
    Ivanpah: An Environmentally-Responsible Project
    The Ivanpah project will reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by more than 400,000 tons annually, which is the equivalent of taking more than 70,000 cars off the road. The project is also designed in an environmentally responsible manner. Instead of the extensive land grading and concrete pads employed by other competing solar technologies, BrightSource mounts mirrors on individual poles that are placed directly into the ground, allowing the solar field to be built around the natural contours of the land and avoid areas of sensitive plant species.
    In order to conserve precious desert water, the Ivanpah project will employ an air-cooling system to convert the steam back into water in a closed-loop cycle. By using dry-cooling, the project will use only 100 acre feet of water per year; less than ten percent of the water used by the adjacent golf course and 25 times less water than competing solar thermal technologies that use wet-cooling.
    In addition to employing an environmentally low impact technology, the company recently submitted an alternative design for the Ivanpah project, which would further reduce the project’s footprint and significantly minimize any potential environmental impacts. The alternative mitigation proposal and the DOE loan guarantee represent two key steps towards the construction of the Ivanpah project.
    The Ivanpah project is scheduled to begin construction in the second half of 2010 following issuance of permits by the California Energy Commission and the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management. The project has also been identified as a “fast-track” priority by the U.S. Department of Interior for obtaining federal stimulus benefits for California under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
    In September 2009, BrightSource selected Bechtel as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the Ivanpah project. Bechtel Enterprises, the project development and financing arm of the Bechtel organization, has committed to become an equity investor in all of the Ivanpah solar power plants. In December 2008, BrightSource signed an agreement with Siemens for the largest ever solar-powered steam turbine generator, which will be used for the first of the three Ivanpah plants.
    “The DOE Loan Guarantee program serves as a tremendous catalyst for building our clean energy infrastructure,” said Ian Copeland, president of Bechtel Renewables. “The Ivanpah project will usher in a new era of advanced solar power, and help the state and local economies by providing new jobs. We are pleased to not only support BrightSource as the engineering and construction contractor but also as an investor, which reflects our confidence in the project and our commitment to developing clean, renewable power projects.”
    Luz Power Tower 550 (LPT 550) Technology
    The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating Facility will utilize BrightSource Energy’s proven Luz Power Tower 550 technology (LPT 550). The system produces electricity the same way as traditional power plants – by creating high temperature steam to turn a turbine. However, instead of using fossil fuels or nuclear power to create the steam, BrightSource uses sunlight, reflected by thousands of small mirrors called heliostats onto a boiler filled with water that sits atop a tower. When the sunlight hits the boiler, the water inside is heated and creates high temperature steam. The steam is then piped to a conventional turbine which generates electricity. This fully integrated system takes advantage of high operating efficiencies and low capital costs to provide reliable and low-cost carbon-free energy.
    Today, the company’s LPT 550 solar system is employed at the Solar Energy Development Center (SEDC) in Israel’s Negev Desert. Operating over the past year, the SEDC is producing the world’s highest temperature turbine quality steam from solar energy.
    For its technological leadership, BrightSource was selected as a 2009 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum. The only solar company to win the prestigious award in 2009, BrightSource Energy was recognized for helping global utility and industrial customers reduce their dependence on fossil fuels by providing clean, low-cost and reliable solar energy.
    ###
    About BrightSource Energy, Inc.
    BrightSource Energy, Inc. provides clean, reliable and low cost solar energy for utility and industrial companies worldwide. The BrightSource Energy team combines nearly three decades of experience designing, building and operating the world’s largest solar energy plants with world-class project development capabilities. The company now has contracted to sell more than 2.6 gigawatts of power to be generated using its proprietary solar thermal technology. BrightSource Energy’s solar plants are designed to minimize their impact on the environment and help customers reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. Headquartered in Oakland, Calif., BrightSource Energy is a privately held company with operations in the United States, Israel, and Australia. To learn more about BrightSource Energy and solar thermal energy, visit www.brightsourceenergy.com.






















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    NYT: In Silicon Valley Thriller, a Settlement May Preclude the Finale

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    NTSB: Three San Bruno Videos - One points to Domestic Terrorism


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    The Fake H-1b Interview

    Employee Specialty Occupation H-1B Requirements

    Eligibility for H-1B status requires that the employment position qualify as a “specialty occupation.” As a general matter, employment that requires a bachelor’s degree will qualify as a specialty occupation, as will other employment that requires specialized knowledge or experience that is the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree. Professional positions that require graduate work or certification (e.g., doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc.) generally meet the specialty occupation requirement, with an important caveat—the H-1B alien must have any U.S. State license that will be required in the jurisdiction where he or she will work.

    In addition to establishing that the employment position qualifies as a specialty occupation, employers must also demonstrate that the H-1B alien is suitably qualified for that employment. Employers may meet this requirement by providing documentation that the H-1B alien has the type of degree required for the specialty occupation. Typically, the degree must be at least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited U.S. institution or the foreign equivalent of such a degree. In the absence of a degree, it may be possible to meet this requirement by providing evidence of specialized training/experience or other education.

      


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    The Gas Can Man

    About the Gas Can Man



    My role at PG&E has been bizarre as it gets, persons near the explosion apparently are running on overdrive to coverup the explosion.  


    I was hired in Feb 2011 near the arrests of police officers, by summer my sons were kidnapped, my laptop breached and my car totaled, but more important is the deep rooted stonewalling and murders that have become murders of children.  


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    Pierre Omidyar and the H-1b Visa Murders

    Short Note:


    Dear Mr. Omidyar,

    I am the person who appeared on TV in opposition of the H-1b Visa.  I have endured a litany of attacks since taking a position opposing the Clinton's, Bush and President Obama.

    You should really take a second look at the deaths around you and those around your opposing your views.  There is a multi-state investigation underway around the Clinton's.  Your team is under investigation for trying to kill me, your team are the luminaries and elite but on those on my team are dead.

    Your accusations of Mr. Trump are somewhat funny but clearly misguided as if you're a real American who's part of the greatest country in the world, then be concerned about the murders of Ambassador Stevens and Officer Kenyon Youngstrom.

    I met friends of a US Programmer Chris Lacey re-certifying the H-1b visa.  His employer had no intentions of permanent placement as their goal was simple.  Please read The Fake Interview How H-1b Visa Requires Use Two Americans to certify an unqualified programmer.

    The Fake Interview cost the life of an American who served his country.
    The fake visa interview tripped us Chris Lacey, he was spending his last dime traveling between Chico (Butte County) to San Jose.  His alleged employer never hired him they just interviewed him, said he was great and then told him later that someone else was selected.

    I sued a company over an H-1b visa back in 2001, they won when they torched Offices of Don Moats.  I lost three cases over that fire but three years those fine Visa Advocates decided killing me was better to they tried many times.

    The investigation started in 2001, the events creating the visa started farther back with lobbyist Jack Abramoff Scandal 

    Sadly the power couples fail to understand what a huge mess their agenda has created that few can see or care about. 

     



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    Concord Naval Weapons Station (CNWS) / Base Realignment and Closure

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    OBIT: Army Spc. James J. Coon, 22, Walnut Creek; killed by a sniper @dod @cia @army @marines


    Army Spc. James J. Coon, 22, Walnut Creek; killed by a sniper


    April 15, 2007|John M. Glionna | Times Staff Writer

    James J. Coon went to war as a way to better his life, hoping to use his soldier's pay to one day buy a house.






    SPC James Coon

    Step Mom worked at Nordstrom

    Was my tailor

    Knows my sons and ex

    Stracks, Driscolls and Marshalls

    ALL KNOWN TO BENNETT

    Once in Iraq, he was recognized for his heroism after he jumped from his Humvee in an effort to save two fellow soldiers seriously injured in a roadside bomb explosion.

    Then, his family says, a sniper's bullet took his life.

    The 22-year-old Army specialist from the San Francisco Bay Area city of Walnut Creek was killed April 4 while on patrol in Balad, north of Baghdad.

    The Department of Defense initially listed his cause of death as a roadside bomb explosion. But a co lonel in Coon's unit called the family last week from Iraq to explain that their son had been shot in the head.

    Coon's body was returned to his family Thursday.

    The soldier's father, Jim, described his son as an outgoing youth who loved hip-hop music and dancing, and excelled in football and darts. Coon had won a national steel-tip dart championship in 2001 and traveled to England as a 16-year-old to represent the United States. He finished fifth.

    At 6 feet 6, with a size 14 1/2 shoe, Coon also was a punter on his high school and college football teams. His real love, his father said, was popping wheelies on his motorcycle.

    "He was a good athlete as tall as he was," his father said. "He could ride his motorcycle doing a wheelie from one county to the next, even using one hand.

    "He was a happy-go-lucky and free-spirited kid without a care in the world. He made friends very easily. It was uncanny how easily he could do that."

    Pat Lickiss, principal of Las Lomas High School in Walnut Creek, said Coon was a "kid who always had a smile on his face. He was a really nice young man. And you can't say that about all kids these days. But you can about James."

    Coon, who grew up in Walnut Creek, was practical about his future, his father said. He worked as a supermarket clerk and in a paint store and lawnmower shop. He figured that the military would be a good way to save enough money to buy his own home some day.

    He enlisted in September 2005, right after his 21st birthday, and spent six months in Iraq before he was killed.

    Jim Coon said he kept in regular touch with his son through e-mails, which the young soldier used to express his growing frustration with the war effort. In one e-mail, the soldier wrote about fighting what he called an unseen enemy: "Dad, I feel like we're fighting ghosts. There's nobody out here to fight."

    His father offered support. "James didn't like what was going on in Iraq," he said. "He didn't want to be there. But he was a dedicated soldier who did what he was told."

    Last month, Coon attempted a rescue near Baghdad. He was working as a gunner in the hatch of a Humvee on patrol when his unit was struck by a roadside bomb, his father said.

    When several soldiers went to investigate, a second bomb detonated, wounding half a dozen men. "He heard them screaming for help, so James told his driver to hold his gun, and he went out, without cover, to help his fellow buddies," his father said. "One guy was a medic, the other a sergeant. He put tourniquets on them. Both later died."

    Coon was nominated for a Bronze Star but couldn't understand the honor, his father said. "He said, 'Dad, they're calling me a hero, but all I did was what I thought was right. A lot of kids would have done the same thing.' "

    Coon said he had lost his buddies, and that hurt. "He told me, 'The only good thing I had out of this whole thing was taken from me when both those guys passed away,' " his father said.

    In a subsequent e-mail to his family, Coon wrote of a lingering depression. "I wanna come home so bad. I don't wanna play Army anymore," he wrote.

    Jim Coon said he saw his son in February during a military leave. He will remember him as a big, strapping boy who had yet to figure out a direction in life.

    "In his last e-mail, he said he'd die for his brothers, as he called them," his father said. "My boy didn't go down without a fight."

    He said that he recently read an entry on his son's MySpace.com website in which he wrote: "My dad is for sure my hero. He is also my best friend."

    Said his father: "When I saw that, it tore me up."

    In addition to his father, Coon is survived by his stepmother, Marie Coon; two half sisters, Roxanna Coon and Samantha Lares; and his grandparents, Jack and Janet Stahl of Fairfield, Calif.

    john.glionna@latimes.com


    War casualties
    Total U.S. deaths*:
    * In and around Iraq**: 3,292
    * In and around Afghanistan***: 313
    * Other locations***: 61

    Source: Department of Defense* Includes military and Department of Defense-employed civilian personnel killed in action and in nonhostile circumstances
    **As of Friday
    ***As of April 7
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