The Blogfather

Write us a letter

cctoday wants to hear from you

While we now have forty local, blogs on this site, we still haven't heard from YOU.

If you are reading these words you are online and have access to email, and now you can write as easily as our bloggers do without maintaining your own blog.

Just send a Letter to the Editors

If any local matter concerns you,  or you have thoughts you wish to share with our surfers, send an email today with the word "letters" in the subject line to jbrooks@eCape.com 

Of course you can also add coimments to any of your blogs, but we'd like to feature your letter more prominently as well.

(Just don't write to me for the next 3 weeks as I'm typing this in the S.F. airport waiting to leave for Cambodia. Walter)

On a side note, our "What's  Hot!" continues to sizzle. Here's the latest rankings of our forty "Cape Blogs" and I didn't even make the Top Ten:

10 most popular blogs

 1. RappCity - (13,947 references)
 2. Citizens for Open Government - (8,148 references)
 3. Media Watch - (7,547 references)
 4. Cape Cod Living - (7,328 references)
 5. Dead Bloggers Society - (6,869 references)
 6. Wind Farmer's Almanac - (5,551 references)
 7. Peter Porcupine - (4,599 references)
 8. Massachusetts Democrant - (3,339 references)
 9. Boston Cod - (3,197 references)
 10. Cape Cod Crusader - (2,928 references)

Mass. GOP Help Wanted Ad

The Massachusetts Republican party should run this Classified Ad: 

Help wanted: Six-year contract, part-time position, paid health insurance, unlimited expense account and franking privileges if hired for this job.

Candidate must be able to wage a long-shot campaign against an entrenched and mystical 73-year-old,  43-year incumbent. Candidate must be willing to spend a large hunk of  own personal fortune to  get the job with minimal financial support from National and State GOP.

Benefits:

• Possible launching pad statewide office even if candidate doesn't get this job. (One recent candidate became Governor, one became State Treasurer (on right) and another was and is under a dark cloud.)
  
• National media exposure.
• Use of Rest Room in the U.S. Senate office building.
• Lunch with Tom Delay and/or Dick Cheney, whichever one is still at large.
  

The ad will probably not run, at least not in Boston Globe, so the Democratic candidate for the job, Ted Kennedy, has a $7,700,000 campaign chest and no decernable opponent for an eighth six-year term in the U.S. Senate and is the odds-on favorite to continue the Camelot Myth ad nauseum, ad infinitum. As Tim O'Brien, the state Republican party's executive director, said last January, he and other GOP leaders are actively looking for a candidate to run against Kennedy, but admitted they are not having much luck so far. "Finding someone to run against a Kennedy in Massachusetts is a difficult task," he said. To date the only applicant for Ted's job is a one-term Selectman from Wakefield.

The ideal GOP candidate would resemble Joseph Malone, who ran against Ted in 1988 and set himself up for winning the state treasurer's office in 1990. Joe remained Treasurer until 1998 when he gave up the post to run for governor, but lost the Republican nomination to Paul Cellucci. During Malone's term a number of Treasury employees, some of them his friends, defraudedthe Commonwealth. Nothing tied Malone to the crime directly, but his privatizing policies and protection of ranking aides did make the scam easier to pull off.)

Then Mitt Romney run against Kennedy in 1994. The campaign gave him the experience and exposure to run a successful campaign for governor eight years later.

Romney spent $6,000,000 of his own money attempting to oust Kennedy and received national attention when polls showed him running even or slightly ahead of Kennedy at one point in the race.

Then in 2000 the GOP ran Jack E. Robinson whose checkered background got him dropped from the ticket, and this year he was in trouble again for attempting to hide his yacht from a Cape Cod town treasurer.

Maybe next election the state GOP will find a black Morman with a big nose who is loaded. 

As John Ullman of The Cape Codder used to say, "a fool and my money are soon parted."

And the Champion Blogger is...

 RappCity by a landslide.

If you click the "What's Hot" button in the top, left of the cctoday homepage, you can see which "Cape Blogger" gets the most traffic and even which individual "post" is Numero Uno. This page also ranks the most read and commented upon stories and the most popular links.  The lists below rank differently, the first counts "referrers" while the second counts each "comment" posted. In either case, it's a huge win for everyone because thousands or Cape Codders are reading and commenting on our new "Cape Blogs".  Greg O'Brien deserves a smiley face since both his blogs made the list below in as #6 and #10. Gary Lopez got 136 comments on his "Stupid is forever, igprance can be fixed" post on COG. Can you imagine any newspaper editorial ever receiving than many response? Since his post is a tad "in your face", we'll give him this face and our heartfelt thanks for building much needed  fires in Barnstable.

10 most popular blogs
 1. RappCity - (10,899 references)
 2. Dead Bloggers Society - (6,481 references)
 3. Media Watch - (5,025 references)
 4. Citizens for Open Government - (4,719 references)
 5. Cape Cod Living - (4,207 references)
 6. Codfish Press - (2,603 references)
 7. Peter Porcupine - (2,310 references)
 8. Cape Cod Crusader - (2,075 references)
 9. Cape Fine Diner - (2,021 references)
 10. Boston Cod - (1,962 references)

10 most commented on blog posts
 1. Stupid is forever, ignorance can be fixed. - (136 Comments)
 2. Barnstable bought 45 miles of asbestos cement pipe - (102 Comments)
 3. How Katrina Turned me Republican - (95 Comments)
 4. Cindy Sheehan's patriotism - (83 Comments)
 5. Barnstable Needs a Government that is Accountable to the People - (74 Comments)
 6. F.A.I.R. is UNFAIR to taxpayers… - (72 Comments)
 7. An Open Letter To The President From A Cape Codder Who Voted For Bush - (70 Comments)
 8. 5,500.000 Reasons the Water Acquisition Should Go to the Grand Jury... - (68 Comments)
 9. See No, Hear No, Speak No Bias: Liberal Bias in the Mainstream Media - (61 Comments)
 10. Vex, Lies, and Videotape - (54 Comments)

Koch's coke, Christie's milk & Kurker's fuel oil

Looking over the recent blog entries on cctoday I was struck with this prescient one which we published on Labor Day by Spyro Mitrokostas wherein he describes the distress some plutocrats have at others making their kind of money;

"Labor Day on Cape Cod"

As I was looking out over Great Island, I heard one of those obnoxious ads by the Alliance (to save the view for the privileged few) on the radio, repeating the lies about the birds, the fish and the air, but mostly hocking their new tactic; Cape Wind stands to make a profit from the project!

So now it's about profits. Isn't it strange that this has come down to the capitalists from Osterville, and may I say uber-capitalists, objecting to the capitalist from Bass River making too much money. Didn't Egan make too much money selling computers? Didn't Koch make too much money selling, well, coke? For that matter, isn't Mihos making too much money selling gas and milk? And how about Kurker (on left) making too much money selling boats?

I think what the capitalists from Osterville object to most, is that the capitalist from Bass River is making too much money in their backyard. I bet that's what grates them the most. It would be better if they were the ones doing the profiting.  To read the rest click  "Labor Day on Cape Cod".

Everything you need to know about Bill Koch...

 ...but were too polite to ask

"That's the reason I came here (Florida) it's tax friendly," said Palm Beach's William Koch, 63. He makes no bones about why he moved Oxbow to Florida after Massachusetts tried to raise his taxes. He said, "If they're going to treat me that way, screw 'em."

Forbes Movers & Shakers 

Koch Relocates In Palm Beach for $5.2 Million
Angela Koch (on right), ex-wife of energy magnate Bill Koch, has just purchased a home in Palm Beach, Fla., for $5.2 million. According to a local broker, the 5,000-square-foot home on a double lot is located "on a nice street, but not the estate section" of Palm Beach. The sellers were Jim and Susan Keenan. (Susan Keenan was formerly married to Barry Goldwater's son.)

Koch arrested on charges of domestic assault

By all accounts, Bill and Angela Koch's four-year marriage was stormy:  Bill was arrested on charges of domestic assault last summer at the couple's Cape Cod home. Angela filed for divorce in September and was granted a $16 million settlement in mid-February.

Bill Koch, the majority owner of Oxbow Corporation, an energy firm headquartered in West Palm Beach, lost a protracted court battle with his two brothers over his stake in the family oil business in 1998. An avid yachtsman, he won the 1992 America's Cup against Italy and sponsored an all-women's America's Cup team in 1995.

Big boys profit on mom-and-pop's tax break

Many of Florida's largest private companies use tax exemptions created forsmall businesses, bypassing any corporate income tax.

Sydney Freedberg & Kitty Bennett, Published ENN.com, December 28, 2003

When Florida enacted a corporate income tax in 1971, the governor and Legislature gave most small businesses a break.

Their goal: Spare mom-and-pop firms while making the state's largest companiespay 90 percent of the tax.

But look at some of the mom-and-pops who don't have to pay today:
# Oil man William Ingraham Koch has a fortune estimated at $650-million, a $24-million mansion and a West Palm Beach energy company, Oxbow Corp., with$450-million in estimated sales last year...  At least 11 of the top 30 private companies based in Florida are structured in ways that allow them to bypass the tax, a St. Petersburg Times survey shows.

"That's the reason I came here -- it's tax friendly," said Palm Beach's Koch, 63. He makes no bones about why he moved Oxbow to Florida after Massachusettstried to raise his taxes.

He said, "If they're going to treat me that way, screw 'em."

"I've done a lot of sailing and, well, the rules aren't fair," said Bill Koch, the oil man. "Well, life ain't fair. You play according to the rules that are given to you."

Koch, son of the founder of the nation's second-largest private conglomerate, is known for his $9-million wine collection, the $68-million he spent to win the America's Cup sailing trophy and his art cache with works by Picasso, Matisse and Renoir.

Left the state to avoid paying our taxes  

He is also known for litigiousness. When Massachusetts denied him an abatement on taxes he paid in a 1983 stock transaction, Koch sued.

He purchased and assigned the stock to Delaware corporations, and Massachusetts argued that he used those corporations simply to avoid taxes,not for any legitimate business purpose.

After a 10-year battle, the courts sided with Koch. He got $46-million - and left Massachusetts.

Koch acknowledges the quality of Florida's public schools is a problem. But he's dead set against making companies like Oxbow pay a Florida income tax.  

"Put it in someone else's backyard", Koch 

Worth a re-visit:The Providence Journal interview last month with this comment about Cape Wind, "I was telling one of my guys when this [wind farm] first came up, 'I wish I'd thought of this!' But as a businessman, I said I wouldn't have put it in my backyard -- I would have put it in someone else's backyard!".  

Colorado group fights (Koch's) coalbed methane wells - Rocky Mountain News

A citizens' group in western Colorado is fighting a proposal to explore for methane gas in nearby underground coal seams, saying the plannedtest drilling could devastate the area's water supplies.

The Grand Mesa Citizens Alliance, an advocacy group, has asked Delta County commissioners to reject a proposal to drill three test wells, a move thatwould set the local government against the state and set the stage for a court battle over what has become one of the biggest environmental issues in the Rocky Mountains.

The county board met on Monday to consider whether to approve a drilling proposal from privately held Gunnison Energy Corp. (owned by William Koch) of West Palm Beach, Florida and has two weeks to reach a decision. Colorado state regulators have already approved the plan.

According to the National Petroleum Council, coalbed methane accounts for some 12 percent of untapped gas reserves in the the region. While reserves in the area are believed smaller than those the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, worries about possible environmental damage have raised concerns among residents about the effects on tourism, ranching and agriculture.

Reserves in the West are seen as key to President George W. Bush's plan to boost domestic methane production, especially since the Senate rejected a drilling exploration plan for environmentally sensitive coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

Environmental activists have lobbied to block the development of coalbed methane in parts of Wyoming and Montana, saying water from the wells may be tainted by salinity. Methane is a clean-burning natural gas found underground. Drilling for thefuel involves pumping large volumes of ground water which holds the gas in thecoal through pressure.

Once the water is removed the gas is freed, but problems can arise because the water, which can contain sodium bicarbonate, is potentially harmful to humans, cattle or crops if it is allowed to run off.

DAMAGES FEARED, RESERVES UNKNOWN

"We just feel the methane coalbed mining has a potential to do a lot of damage," Barbara Heck, co-chair of the Grand Mesa Citizen's Alliance, said. She and her husband operate a vineyard in the area.

Gunnison Energy has leases on 90,000 acres in the North Folk Valley in western Colorado, but reserves are not known, according to Gunnison Energy President Bernard Cherry.

The company wants to test four wells this summer, study the results over thewinter and then go ahead in stages if the project makes economic sense, he said.

The next step would about 15 to 20 wells, he told Reuters. "Any widespread drilling would have to be subject to a full Environmental Impact Statement, state and federal oversight and citizen involvement," he said.

Gunnison Energy is one of several companies owned by William Koch, who won the 1992 Americas Cup and established the Oxbow Group in 1983 after being ousted from the family business, Koch Industries, by his brothers. Lawsuits between the two sides have been settled.  

Rodgers on Koch 

Maybe the best quote about Bill Koch and Christie Mihos is from Mark Rodgers of Cape Wind, '''Bill Koch made his fortune on coal and oil and now he worries about living 6 miles away from a clean, renewable energy project. While most Massachusetts citizens worry about sky-high oil and gas prices, Koch and Mihos worry about the distant view of a clean energy alternative from their large oceanfront homes. "

Seduced bybthe wind: Koch can't keep his mouth shut 

In today's CC Times story Koch is quoted as asying, "I freely admit I don't want to look at (the turbines)," adding that the environmental and cost benefits of wind energy are overblown. Those perceived benefits, Koch said, can be "seductive." He compared it to walking into a strip bar, and falling under the gaze of an exotic dancer. "It's so seductive, but if you go over there you can get in a lot of trouble, and get a lot of diseases."