Flashbacks of NJ Corruption
Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel
Like a snowball down a mountain, or a carnival balloon
Like a carousel that’s turning running rings around the moon
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face
And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind! ~~~ Windmills of Your Mind (1968)
Solitude in the southwestern mountains allows the mind to wander.
Coupled with the quarantine and constant inescapable news reports of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mind wanders into some bleak terrain.
Yesterday, I flashed back to the political foundations of today’s Trumpers.
Just this morning, I flashed back again to the bad old corrupt NJ days.
Today’s flashback was caused by the NJ Sierra Club’s press release that criticized former Christie DEP Commissioner Bob Martin for joining former NJ Gov. Christie’s consulting firm.
In word searching Wolfenotes for some of the more egregious examples of Martin’s corruption, I immediately came across these two, just 2 among many:
Like Gov. Christie, Bob Martin is an example of a career bathed in Corruption.
Ironically, Martin was personally involved in the Bridgegate scandal that brought Gov. Christie down.
Before joining NJ DEP, Martin spent his private sector career at the consulting firm Accenture, as a vulture capitalist engaged in privatizing and selling off government assets in UK.
Accenture was spun off as result of the Enron scandal.
All that then started me down the corruption rabbit hole, were I came across stuff like this:
1. “Sustainable lies” – The Tale of Walmart and “Eco-Goats” – you can’t make this shit up:
2. The US Air Force needs “clear skies” to conduct pilot training.
So they burn forests to prevent fires, whose smoke reduces their ability to train.
The Pinelands Commisssion OK’s that, while NJ conservation group take money from the military to provide cover for these destructive projects, which increase carbon emissions while at the same time reduce the ability of forest to sequester (store) carbon.
YET:
3. Dupont Dictates NJ DEP’s Chemical Risk Screening Regulatory Methods
The NJ DEP appointed a Dupont corporate hack to serve on their Science Advisory Board (SAB).
The DEP then accepted a SAB Report recommendation to use a Dupont chemical risk screening method for regulatory purposes. For that story, see:
Of course, NONE of this was reported by the NJ press corps or was the target of criticism by NJ environmental groups.
These are just the tip of the iceberg of corruption in NJ that is accepted as business as usual.
I have documented scores of examples of similar corruption.
It’s why I had to get the hell out of that sewer to preserve what’s left of my sanity.
The windmills of your mind, indeed!