Free Republic

Green Jobs Are a National ScandalMore bankruptcies are to come. Solargate is just the tip of the iceberg.This cliché within a mixed metaphor reflects the madness of President Obama’s obsession with “green jobs.� It would be bad enough if this disaster were limited to possible criminality at Solyndra — the solar-panel maker that Obama stimulated with loan guarantees, despite repeated warnings about its rickety finances.“The true engine of economic growth will always be companies like Solyndra,� Obama proclaimed at its Fremont, Calif., headquarters on May 26, 2010. Not quite. Solyndra’s August 31 bankruptcy transformed 1,100 green jobs into pink slips...

An Illinois liquidation firm has been named to handle the auction of former Evergreen Solar plants in Massachusetts and Michigan. Hilco Industrial said in a statement Monday that it had been appointed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to take bids on the Evergreen facilities in Devens, Mass., and Midland, Mich., including all related assets housed in the plants. The solar energy company closed the Devens plant in January and moved manufacturing operations to China. It had previously received more than $20 million in grants and $11 million in tax and lease initiatives from Massachusetts.

Solyndra, the solar panel company whose highly publicized failure and consequent investigation by federal authorities has flashed across headlines recently, isn't the only business to go belly up after benefiting from a piece of the $800 billion economic stimulus package passed in 2009. At least four other companies have received stimulus funding only to later file for bankruptcy, and two of those were working on alternative energy. Evergreen Solar Inc., indirectly received $5.3 million through a state grant to open a $450 million facility in 2007 that employed roughly 800 people. The company, once a rock star in the solar...

Solyndra, the solar panel company whose highly publicized failure and consequent investigation by federal authorities has flashed across headlines recently, isn't the only business to go belly up after benefiting from a piece of the $800 billion economic stimulus package passed in 2009. At least four other companies have received stimulus funding only to later file for bankruptcy, and two of those were working on alternative energy.

Solyndra, the solar panel company whose highly publicized failure and consequent investigation by federal authorities has flashed across headlines recently, isn't the only business to go belly up after benefiting from a piece of the $800 billion economic stimulus package passed in 2009. At least four other companies have received stimulus funding only to later file for bankruptcy, and two of those were working on alternative energy. Evergreen Solar Inc., indirectly received $5.3 million through a state grant to open a $450 million facility in 2007 that employed roughly 800 people. The company, once a rock star in the solar...

Bay State start-up 1366 Technologies Inc. has steered clear of the dark clouds shrouding the nation’s solar industry. The Lexington company yesterday finalized a $150 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy — the same day FBI agents raided bankrupt Solyndra, a DOE-backed California solar panel maker that’s become a symbol of “green” government investment gone wrong. “There are a lot of taxpayer protections in here,” 1366 spokesman Craig Lund said. “If we deliver on certain milestones then we’ve got certainty of funding, and on the flip side I think the government has very strong conditions in there.”...

Failed Policy: The Obama administration's jobs plan was based on a greening of the economy. But the green jobs aren't materializing, a fact driven home by the recent bankruptcy of a solar power company. During the 2008 campaign, candidate Barack Obama said he would create 5 million well-paying "green" jobs within 10 years. Politico has reported that "he's spent considerable time since entering the White House trying to make that happen." Indeed he has, though there has been no payoff. Yet he refuses give up on his quixotic quest. Last week Obama toured to much fanfare a Johnson Controls plant...

Evergreen Solar Inc., the Marlboro clean-energy company that received millions in state subsidies to build an ill-fated Bay State factory, has filed for bankruptcy. Evergreen, which closed its taxpayer-supported Devens factory in March and cut 800 jobs, has been trying to rework its debt for months. The company announced today it is seeking a reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware and also reached a deal with certain note holders to restructure its debt and sell off certain assets. Evergreen secured a $58 million financial aid package from the Patrick administration to help build the $450 million Devens factory. The...

Iranian Press TV reports that a conference is to be held in Tehran today, March 14, to mark the anniversary of the 2003 death of American activist Rachel Corrie. The conference is titled "Which rights, which human, which American?" The report quotes Mehdi Foroutan, the director of the Enqelab Eslami (Islamic Revolution) Cultural Center, as saying that the conference will include representatives from 30 NGOs who are gathering "to condemn the inhumane killing of the American peace activist at the hands of the Israeli regime."

Reporting from Shepherdstown, W.Va. - Still growing somewhere here on Eric and Gloria Sundback's 100-acre tree farm is the two-story fir that will stand resplendent in the Blue Room of the White House this Christmas. This is because the Sundbacks -- he's 82, she's 83 -- have just turned out a grand champion Christmas tree for a record fourth time, a feat they once mistakenly assumed they were too old to pull off. Now the Sundbacks will once again watch a tree they nurtured from seed, fed and pruned, cast as the glittery showstopper at almost nightly holiday parties, then...

I'm up with relatives in the Walla Walla, WA. area and ventured over to the Walla Walla Fair and Frontier Days Parade. I've been to it before and it seemed bigger than usual this year. As the entries went by one by one, it all lead up to the grand finale' which resulted in the ultimate in patriotism. First, a group of Tea Party Patriots marched by and they received a warm response from the spectators along the parade route. Following the Patriots was the first half of the motorcycle club called the Combat Veterans of America. They too received...

Anti-war protests have returned to the Port of Olympia with the unloading of a military ship bearing Army gear from a Stryker Brigade that recently returned to nearby Fort Lewis from Iraq. According to an initial news release Sunday from Olympia Port Militarization Resistance, the group at first did not plan to try to block cargo from being sent from the port to the Army post ... Late Monday, however, after the arrival of 950-foot roll-on, roll-off cargo vessel, group leaders said a series of votes and discussions resulted in a change in strategy. "As long as the war in...

Colorado is under attack by Anti-War protesters all across the state. Eagles have been stepping up and counter protesting these "mis-informed" citizens, and we have been very successful. As you can tell by visiting our national GatheringofEagles page, local Eagle activities around the country have been picking up.

It's time to cast your vote! Yesterday we proposed an initial list of America's most annoying liberal arts colleges. After perusing all your comments and emails, we've come up with a much-refined initial group of contenders for you to vote on. We've also selected the best description of each college from the voluminous correspondence we received on this endlessly fascinating subject. No more write-ins please—sorry, Skidmore!—this is our list and we're sticking to it. To get you started, we turn to the immortal words of commenter LOLCait, who helpfully defined liberal arts colleges for us: "In the form it's being...

In a second case growing out of the City Hall "pay-to-play" corruption scandal, a former Hahn administration commissioner faced charges Wednesday of bribery, conflict of interest, perjury and embezzlement. The most significant of 20 counts against Leland Wong, 49, of San Marino centers on charges that he got $100,000 in 2002 from an executive of the Taiwanese firm Evergreen Shipping. Wong served on the Airport Commission at the time and voted on a contract for the firm. "The indictment ... is a significant step in rooting out corrupt public officials and exposing corruption within public institutions," District Attorney Steve Cooley...

To quote the old Mercedes Benz airbag commercial: “Some things in life are too important not to share.” The National Education Association’s national convention begins today at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. Outside, the Evergreen Freedom Foundation (a Washington State think tank) is parking a truck with a billboard highlighting some of the expenditures the NEA listed on its 2004 federal financial disclosure forms. The billboard is too important (and good) not to share:

A 16-year-old boy was arrested Wednesday after postings on the popular Web site MySpace.com allegedly showed him holding handguns, authorities said. The teen was being held at a juvenile detention center facing three misdemeanor charges of juvenile possession of a handgun, said district attorney spokeswoman Pam Russell. He is due in court Feb. 27. Police searched the boy's home after receiving a tip from Evergreen High School on Feb. 10, the same day he was suspended, officials said. School spokesman Rick Kaufman said parents were calling with concerns and some kept their children home after photographs posted on the boy's...

Enjoy those $6.59 cigarette packs for the next 19 days. Starting March 1, they'll cost $7.59. By a 10-7 vote, Cook County Board members voted Thursday to double the county tax on a pack of cigarettes from $1 to $2. A pack of Marlboro Lights that cost $6.59 at a downtown Walgreens Thursday will be $7.59 next month. The same pack costs $4.45 at a White Hen in the DuPage County city of Elmhurst, and it costs $3.76 at a Hammond, Ind... Commissioners voting against the tax hike said shoppers will increasingly hop borders, hurting Cook County businesses. With the...

Will this work for a state thread?

The frustrating story of Evergreen State College student Rachel Corrie, who was killed in Gaza after stepping in front of an Israeli bulldozer, is one that continues to ignite passions on both sides. Two years after her sad death, Corrie's parents have left no doubt as to their real agenda- working for the Palestinian cause. Is this really the best way to honor their daughter's memory? First, background on this complicated tale, including personal memories:

The family of Rachel Corrie, a pro-Palestinian activist killed by an Israel Defense Forces bulldozer in Rafah two years ago, sued the State of Israel and the IDF for damages in the Haifa District Court on Tuesday. The 24-year-old Corrie was killed on March 16, 2003 when she tried to block an IDF bulldozer from destroying a Palestinian house near the Philadelphi Route, the strip of land in the Gaza Strip bordering Egypt. An IDF investigation ruled the incident was an accident and that the driver did not see Corrie, and the military prosecutor's office decided not to press charges...

House votes to end need for 60% on school levies By Andrew Garber Seattle Times Olympia bureau OLYMPIA — The state House of Representatives yesterday passed legislation, for the third year in a row, that could make it easier for school districts to get property-tax levies approved by voters. The constitutional amendment now goes to the state Senate, where it has died in past years. It would allow school levies to be approved by a simple majority of voters instead of a 60 percent supermajority. The amendment would go before voters in November if approved by a two-thirds majority in...

OLYMPIA,WA – The Evergreen Freedom Foundation filed an ethics complaint against Governor Gary Locke last Friday for his role in soliciting contributions from businesses with state contracts for July's National Governors Association (NGA) meeting in Seattle. The Ethics Board previously warned Governor Locke in a February 2003 staff analysis not to directly solicit contributions from business and to entirely avoid any soliciting of companies with state contracts. As reported by the News Tribune (Tacoma), Governor Locke ignored the Ethics Board's warning. Eighteen companies, holding 155 state contracts worth about $206 million, contributed at least $720,000 to the NGA meeting. Since...

The venerated title "human shield" has become a 21st century euphemism for "protecting evil." This morally confusing term most often applies to individuals who defend evil dictators such as Saddam Hussein or Yasser Arafat. Rachel Corrie´s wasted life ended as a result of throwing herself in front of an Israeli bulldozer to protect the "property" of a terrorist, something so senseless that even terrorist relatives never attempt it. Due to the unfortunate circumstances surrounding this incident, the media has portrayed Ms. Corrie as a compassionate, innocent, young American student fighting for a just cause. Beautiful photographs taken from her graduation,...

Seventeen students from The Evergreen State College who were studying in Mexico this academic term have been expelled from the country, along with their professor, for allegedly violating a ban on political activities by foreign tourists. The students, ranging in age from 19 to 36, have all returned to the United States, school officials said. U.S. citizens, wearing green T-shirts, wave machetes as they march in a May Day parade in Mexico City in support of farmers’ protesting a government effort to impound land for an airport. Images of the Americans were broadcast on Mexican TV. Professor Dan Leahy said...