alec

The Gates Foundation Is Done Funding ALEC

Portland Action Lab

It’s been a rough week or two for the American Legislative Exchange Council, the corporate-backed group that writes model legislation for state legislators on everything from voter ID to privatizing public schools to curbing workers’ rights. since the GOP’s massive gains at the state level in the 2010 elections, liberal activists have sought to expose ALEC by publishing its model bills and listing its legislative and corporate members. the pressure is having an effect. last week, Kraft, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi all announced they would cut ties with ALEC. on Monday, another big name ALEC funder joined the list of defectors: the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The foundation, which boasts an endowment of $33.5 billion, had given ALEC $375,000 in the past two years to provide "information to "ALEC-affiliated state legislators on teacher effectiveness and school finance," a spokesman told Roll Call. but no more. the spokesman, Chris Williams, said the Gates Foundation would finish its existing grant but discontinue future ALEC funding.

Here’s more from Roll Call:

Last week, Kraft Foods Inc., Coca-Cola Co., and Intuit Inc. each said they would withdraw support. the announcements came after months of behind-the-scenes pressure from another liberal group, Color of Change, an African-American advocacy group.

Color of Change went public today with demands that AT&T Corp., one of ALEC’s 21 corporate board members, also sever ties with the organization. Over the past year, the group has reached out to 15 consumer product companies that back ALEC, highlighting the organization’s connections to voter ID laws passed in at least a half-dozen states.

Civil rights activists say the laws disproportionately target minority, student and elderly voters, who tend to vote Democratic, and could bar up to 5 million voters from the polls this fall. In recent weeks, other liberal groups have joined the effort.

Color of Change Executive Director Rashad Robinson said the group is using Internet appeals to pressure companies that have made explicit efforts to build a strong relationship with African-American customers.

Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said in a statement that "the dominoes are falling and the curtain is closing for ALEC. People power has worked and this is a major step in the right direction." An ALEC spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Alec Baldwin – Satellite TV’s Funniest Man Alive?

Alec Baldwin was born Alexander Rae Baldwin III to a Long Island family of Irish roots in April of 1958, eventually becoming the oldest of four brothers – Stephen, William, and Daniel. All of the Baldwin brother went into acting, but Alec has had the most successful career. most actors – male and female – usually take on a certain kind of role, either dramatic or comedic. can you imagine Kate Winslet doing a romantic comedy? What about Seth Rogan in a dramatic, period piece? Usually, when these attempts to cross over between genres are made, they are not received as well as the actors making them would have hoped. Daniel Day-Lewis, for example, received lukewarm reviews when he started as Guido Contini in the movie version of the Broadway musical Nine, despite the all-star cast (including Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Kate Hudson, and Judy Dench). It was just hard to imagine the same man who starred in there will be Blood, the Departed, and the last of the Mohicans as a smooth-talking, suave Italian director, sinking songs about how he likes to mess around with different women.

But Alec Baldwin may be one of the only actors around who is able to break through this kind of obstacle with poise and constant success.. Perhaps this is because he never did what so many actors do, which is stick with one genre they are comfortable in for years, and then suddenly try to make a switch after the movie-going and satellite TV-watching public is already comfortable with seeing them in one certain light. You can look back to the beginnings of Alec Baldwin’s career in the late 1980s to see a man of diverse talents. he starred in comedic roles in movies like Married to the Mob and Beetle Juice, right alongside more serious acting parts in films like the Hunt For Red October and a satellite TV version of a Streetcar Named Desire. he even narrated the kids’ favorite Thomas the Tank Engine Series. indeed, looking at the filmography on his resume, it becomes apparent that Alec Baldwin has done just about every kind of role imaginable to an actor Once he made it big in movies, he never turned down a part just because he thought it was below him, like so many actors do.

In fact, those who have satellite TV subscriptions will know that one of his most recent roles has been as the smooth-talking CEO Jack Donaghy opposite Tina Fey’s underappreciated boss Liz Lemon in the hit NBC comedy 30 Rock, about the production of a Saturday Night Live-style comedy show. In this role, Alec Baldwin has won a whole new generation of young, satellite TV-watching fans, showing that he has a knack for both comedic timing and impersonations (for proof of this, watch the episode in which he acts out a family therapy session for Tracy Morgan’s character, Tracy Jordan). Jack Donaghy has uttered some of the best one-liners in modern day satellite TV as well, such as Never go to a second location with a hippie.

In short: ALEC helps corporations pass laws in their interests.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), is funded through annual memberships from large corporations.  In return, these corporations are provided access to ALEC’s legislative writing ability and ALEC sponsored politicians.  ALEC writes “model bills” the corporations want, and they pass them to the politicians in many states to have them passed.  Many laws are adopted by state legislatures word-for-word, giving complete power to corporations to control the democratic process.

Occupy Hartford stands against ALEC as they seek to undermine democracy guided by the people in favor of corporate control.  Corporations are not people, and should not have a louder voice in legislation than the citizens of the United States.

Specifically, ALEC undermines statements 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, and 12 of Occupy Hartford’s stated platform.

Examples of laws passed by ALEC include:

• “Stand your Ground” – Law written by ALEC and the NRA and at the core of the Treyvon Martin killing.
• “Living Wage Mandate Preemption Act” - Bans local and city governments from setting their own minimum wage laws
• “Voter ID” - This legislation requires any citizen desiring to vote in a state to provide proof of identity at the polls, called a method to protect the vote, but actually a way of making sure poor and minority votes are decreased.
• Ending Collective Bargaining – The act that sparked the recall efforts of Gov. Scott Walker.

ALEC is not a lobby; it is not a front group. it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, behind closed doors, corporations hand state legislators the changes to the law they desire that directly benefit their bottom line. along with legislators, corporations have membership in ALEC. Corporations sit on all nine ALEC task forces and vote with legislators to approve “model” bills. They have their own corporate governing board which meets jointly with the legislative board. (ALEC says that corporations do not vote on the board.) Corporations fund almost all of ALEC’s operations. Participating legislators, overwhelmingly conservative Republicans, then bring those proposals home and introduce them in statehouses across the land as their own brilliant ideas and important public policy innovations—without disclosing that corporations crafted and voted on the bills. ALEC boasts that it has over 1,000 of these bills introduced by legislative members every year, with one in every five of them enacted into law. ALEC describes itself as a “unique,” “unparalleled” and “unmatched” organization. We agree. it is as if a state legislature had been reconstituted, yet corporations had pushed the people out the door.

More than 98% of ALEC’s revenues come from sources other than legislative dues, such as corporations, corporate trade groups, and corporate foundations. Each corporate member pays an annual fee of between $7,000 and $25,000 a year, and if a corporation participates in any of the nine task forces, additional fees apply, from $2,500 to $10,000 each year. ALEC also receives direct grants from corporations, such as $1.4 million from ExxonMobil from 1998-2009. it has also received grants from some of the biggest foundations funded by corporate CEOs in the country, such as: the Koch family Charles G. Koch Foundation, the Koch-managed Claude R. Lambe Foundation, theScaife family Allegheny Foundation, the Coors family Castle Rock Foundation, to name a few. less than 2% of ALEC’s funding comes from “Membership Dues” of $50 per year paid by state legislators, a steeply discounted price that may run afoul of state gift bans.

ALEC describes itself as a non-partisan, non-profit organization. The facts show that it currently has one Democrat out of 104 legislators in leadership positions. ALEC members, speakers, alumni, and award winners are a “who’s who” of the extreme right. ALEC has given awards to: Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, George H.W. Bush, Charles and David Koch, Richard de Vos, Tommy Thompson, Gov. John Kasich, Gov. Rick Perry, Congressman mark Foley (intern sex scandal), and Congressman Billy Tauzin. ALEC alumni include: Speaker of the House John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Congressman Joe Wilson, (who called President Obama a “liar” during the State of the Union address), former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, former House Speaker Tom DeLay, Andrew Card, Donald Rumsfeld (1985 Chair of ALEC’s Business Policy Board), Governor Scott Walker, Governor Jan Brewer, and more. Featured speakers have included: Milton Friedman, Newt Gingrich, Dick Cheney, Dan Quayle, George Allen, Jessie Helms, Pete Coors, Governor Mitch Daniels and more.

The organization boasts 2,000 legislative members and 300 or more corporate members. The unelected corporate representatives (often registered lobbyists) sit as equals with elected representatives on nine task forces where they have a “voice and a vote” on model legislation. Corporations on ALEC task forces VOTE on the “model” bills and resolutions, and sit as equals with legislators voting on the ALEC task forces and various working groups. Corporate and legislative governing boards also meet jointly each year. (ALEC says only the legislators have a final say on all model bills. ALEC has previously said that “The policies are debated and voted on by all members. Public and private members vote separately on policy. it is important to note that laws are not passed, debated or adopted during this process and therefor no lobbying takes place. that process is done at the state legislature.”) The long-term representation of Koch Industries on the governing board means that Koch has had influence over an untold number of ALEC bills. due to the questionable nature of this partnership with corporations, legislators rarely discuss the origins of the model legislation they bring home. Though thousands of ALEC-approved model bills have been publicly introduced across the country, ALEC’s role facilitating the language in the bills and the corporate vote for them is not well known.

(ALEC legislators sometimes compare the organization to the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL), yet the two organizations could not be more different. NCSL has zero corporate members. it is funded largely by state government appropriations and conference fees; it has a truly bipartisan governance structure, and there is a large role for nonpartisan professional staff; it does not vote on or promote model legislation; meetings are public and so are any agreed upon documents. Corporations do sponsor receptions at NCSL events through a separate foundation. For more information, see the document ALEC & NCSL.)

Although ALEC claims to take an ideological stance (of supposedly “Jeffersonian principles of free markets, limited government, federalism, and individual liberty”), many of the model bills benefit the corporations whose agents write them, shape them, and/or vote to approve them. These are just a few such measures:

Why would a legislator be interested in advancing cookie-cutter bills that are corporate give-aways for global firms located outside of their district? ALEC’s appeal rests largely on the fact that legislators receive an all-expenses-paid trip that provides many part-time legislators with vacations that they could not afford on their own, along with the opportunity to rub shoulders with wealthy captains of industry (major prospective out-of-state donors to their political campaigns). for a few hours of work on a task force and a couple of indoctrination sessions by ALEC experts, part-time legislators can bring the whole family to ALEC’s annual convention, work for a few hours, then stay in swank hotels, attend cool parties — even strip clubs– and raise funds for the campaign coffer, all heavily subsidized by the corporate till. in 2009, ALEC spent $251,873 on childcare so mom and dad could have fun.

In most ordinary people’s view, handing bills to legislators so they can introduce them is the very definition of lobbying. ALEC says “no lobbying takes place.” The current chairman of ALEC’s corporate board is W. Preston Baldwin III, until recently a lobbyist and the Vice President of State Government Affairs at UST Inc., a tobacco firm now owned by Altria/Phillip Morris USA. Altria is advancing a very short, specific bill to change the way moist tobacco products (such as fruit flavored “snus”) are taxed– to make it cheaper and more attractive to young tobacco users according to health experts. in fact, 20 of the 24 corporate representatives on ALEC’s “Private Enterprise Board” are lobbyists representing major firms such as Koch Industries, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, Wal-Mart and Johnson and Johnson.

ALEC makes old-fashioned lobbying obsolete. Once legislators return to their state with corporate-sponsored ALEC legislation in hand, the legislators themselves become “super-lobbyists” for ALEC’s corporate agenda, cutting out the middleman. Yet ALEC enjoys a 501(c)(3) classification, which allows it to keep its tax-exempt status while accepting grants from foundations, corporations, and other donors. in our view, the activities that corporate members engage in should be considered lobbying by the IRS, and the entity that facilitates that effort to influence state law, ALEC, should also be considered to be engaged predominantly in lobby-related activities, not simply “educational” activities. Re-classifying ALEC as primarily engaged in lobbying facilitation would mean that donations to it would not count as tax-deductible for businesses and foundations. Common Cause filed a complaint with the IRS on July 14, 2011, setting forth evidence supporting its complaint that ALEC is engaged in lobbying despite its claims to do no lobbying.

ALEC’s operating model raises many ethical and legal concerns. Each state has a different set of ethics laws or rules. The presence of lobbyists alone may cause ethics problems for some state legislators. Wisconsin, for instance, generally requires legislators who go to events with registered lobbyists to pay on their own dime, yet in many states, legislators use public funds to attend ALEC meetings. According to one study, $3 million in public funds was spent to attend ALEC meetings in one year. Some legislators use their personal funds and are reimbursed by ALEC. Such “scholarships” may be disclosed if gifts are required to be reported. But should the legislators be allowed to accept this money when lobbyists are present at the meeting? still other legislators use their campaign funds to go and are again reimbursed by ALEC; in some states, campaign funds are only allowed to be used to attend campaign events.

In short, many state ethics codes might consider the free vacation, steeply discounted membership fees, free day care or travel scholarships to be “gifts” that should be disallowed or disclosed.

Minnesota

Alec Baldwin — Alleged Stalker Arrested Outside NYC Apartment

Breaking News

A 40-year-old woman accused of stalking Alec Baldwin was arrested outside the actor’s NYC  apartment last night … the 3rd time she’s allegedly attempted to confront the actor in the past 2 weeks. Law enforcement tells TMZ … Genevieve Sabourin, a Canadian actress, appeared at Baldwin’s Manhattan pad Sunday night and asked the doorman to buzz the actor. the doorman called Baldwin — who was at his OTHER home in the Hamptons at the time — but the actor instantly recognized her name. according to the NY Post, Sabourin had allegedly tracked Baldwin down at his home in the Hamptons on March 31 … and then followed him to an event at the Lincoln Center a few days later … and frankly, Baldwin was concerned. We’re told Baldwin felt Sabourin had been stalking him to a point where he and his fiancee felt threatened. We’re told Baldwin told his doorman NOT to allow the woman inside his building … and then he notified police. Cops swooped in … and arrested Sabourin at the building for aggravated harassment and stalking at 7:45 PM. Sabourin reportedly met Baldwin while working on “The Adventures of Pluto Nash” back in 2002 … but recently began bombarding Alec with emails and text messages saying she wanted to have his baby. She also asked to borrow money. Alec’s rep, Matthew Hiltzik, tells TMZ, “As you know, stalking is a serious issue, so we’ve turned  this matter over to the New York Police Department.”

As Coca-Cola and PepsiCo ditch ALEC, Jesse Jackson calls for Wal-Mart and Exxon Mobil to follow suit

“Viewpoint” host Eliot Spitzer and Jesse Jackson, political activist and founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, analyze the meaning of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo severing ties with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an advocacy group funded by the Koch Brothers and corporate sponsors, including Wal-Mart. Jackson criticizes ALEC’s efforts to suppress voting rights by promoting voter ID laws. “All we want as Americans — let the winner win and the loser lose, but make voting accessible and open and fair,” says Jackson. “As we travel around the world to judge democracies, it’s are they open, are they fair and are they free? those principles should apply here at home.”

Watch “Viewpoint with Eliot Spitzer” weeknights at 8/7c on Current TV.

(Photo: Getty Images)

ALEC’s secret influence on state laws, legislators

ALEC — the American Legislative Exchange Council — is a corporate-funded organization based in Washington that provides training, support and other services to conservative state legislators all over the country.

One of its prime functions is to draft business-friendly “model legislation” that is then disseminated to state legislators around the country to be introduced and enacted. when you see a spate of similar bills suddenly pop up almost simultaneously in legislatures around the country, ALEC is almost always behind it.

For example, an increasing number of businesses are trying to get around minimum-wage, workers’ comp and overtime requirements by reclassifying their employees as “franchisees” — independent contractors with a business relationship to the larger company.

It’s a particularly popular approach in the janitorial-services industry. instead of thousands of janitors on its payroll, a company will have thousands of “independent contractors” who supposedly operate as franchisees. Suddenly, none of the workplace laws apply, and workers are stripped of most of the legal protections they would otherwise enjoy.

ALEC is now championing passage of state laws that would make it hard if not impossible to legally challenge claims that workers are “independent contractors” or franchisees. Eearlier this year, with passage of House bill 548, Georgia became the first state in the country to pass ALEC-drafted legislation on the issue, much to the glee of the International Franchise Association.

This year, Georgia legislators also spent what seemed to be an inordinate amount of time and energy congratulating themselves for passing a bill that put new restrictions on the scrap-metal recycling industry. but after reading the bill and comparing it to ALEC’s model legislation, their excitement became a little more understandable. (By the way, state Sen. Chip Rogers, the Senate majority leader, is national treasurer for ALEC.)

For years, ALEC operated below the radar and in relative secrecy, but more recently its efforts have begun to draw more publicity. An investigation by a New Jersey newspaper, for example, has documented that many of the education bills championed by Gov. Chris Christie bear an uncanny likeness to model legislation written by ALEC. (Christie’s spokesmen say that is a coincidence). The spate of voter-suppression bills popping up around the country — many of them ALEC-driven — have further raised the group’s profile and created controversy. ALEC also championed many of the “stand-your-ground” gun laws passed in recent years.

As an apparent result of that controversy, Atlanta-based Coca-Cola announced this week that it was ending its relationship with ALEC. “We have a longstanding policy of not taking positions on issues that don’t have a direct bearing on our company or on our industry,” a company spokesman said. Coke’s main rival, Pepsico, had already announced it was breaking ties with ALEC after 10 years.

It’s important to note that there’s nothing illegal about ALEC’s actions. however, the secrecy with which it operates and the influence that it wields so quietly are cause for alarm. its meetings of state legislators are closed to the public, as are its list of donors and members and its database of model legislation (last year a whistleblower released some 800 of those bills, which is how we know what little we know.)

Lobbyists and lawyers who help write ALEC’s model legislation in Washington know the issues quite well; they know all the little ways in which the law can be twisted to their clients’ advantage. Those bills are then taken back home and introduced in state legislatures with no warning of where they originated or who is really behind them. (There are exceptions, of course. last year a Florida state representative introduced a resolution calling for lower corporate income taxes, but forgot to strip out language indicating it had been written by ALEC.)

The result is a system in which a centralized core of special interests, based in Washington, exert a strong and often untraceable influence on state laws and legislators, many of whom frankly don’t understand or in some cases don’t care how they’re being used.

In our own case, it produces laws drafted not to respond to Georgia problems or to protect Georgia citizens, but to secretly benefit interests that really don’t give a whit about the state.

Prep roundup: Hylton's Alec Bettinger and Joe King combine on shutout

Hylton High School pitchers Alec Bettinger and Joe King combined to shut out Harrisonburg High School Wednesday 13-0.

Bettinger started the game and went five innings. He allowed one hit and two walks and struck out nine in improving to 2-1. King finished up, pitching two innings and striking out five. He did not allow a hit or a walk.

Offensively for the Bulldogs (7-1), Justin Sneed went 3 for 5 with two RBI, two runs scored and one stolen base, Bettinger went 2 for 4 with a triple, two runs scored and one stolen base, Keith Frantz went 1 for 2 with two RBI and a double and Andre Scrubb went 2 for 5 with two runs scored, three RBI and one stolen base.

BATTLEFIELD GOES 2-2 AT LET’S PLAY TWO TOURNAMENT

In the first game Saturday for the Bobcats, they beat R.E. Lee 5-3. The winning pitcher was John Agnos. Derek Evans and Blaine Varley each had two hits and Evans and J.T. Belotti stole two bases. Chris Moylan had two RBI and Steve Kraft and Nick Feight each had one RBI.

In the second game Saturday, Battlefield lost to Forest Park 5-1. Freshman Josh Flaherty hit his first varsity home run. Zach Harris took the loss on the mound. 

On Monday, the Bobcats lost to Woodbridge 5-2. The losing pitcher was Matt Honkus. Belotti had a double and Dillon Porterfield had two RBI.

On Tuesday, Battlefield beat Robinson 4-3.  Matt Conway was the winning pitcher and Harris got the save. Evans had two hits, including a double, and stole a base. Honkus provided the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly. Flaherty, Moylan and Daniel Tavenner had RBIs.

Battlefield is now 4-3 overall.

OSBOURN PARK 10, UNIVERSITY 0: Erica Field tossed her first no-hitter as the Yellow Jackets won Wednesday at the Grand Strand Softball Classic in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. 

Osbourn Park was led offensively by Lauren Eckley, who was 2 for 2 with 3 RBI and a sacrifice bunt, Hannah Garner who added a hit and two RBI and Devon Paysour who had a hit and an RBI in three at-bats.

Field struck out two and walked two while allowing only four base runners.  The Yellow Jackets are 2 and 1 for the week and 4 and 1 overall.

STONEWALL JACKSON 9, MCLEAN 8:  The Raiders won a hard-fought, back-and-forth match against the Highlanders at the Woodgrove Spring Break Tournament Wednesday night.

Strong performances by Raider goalies Matt Caron and Tom Stack allowed the Raiders to win their third one-goal-game of the season and second of the tournament.

Senior John Ross led the team in goal scoring overall while sophomore Cameron Beavers’ three-goal performance led the team for the night. The Raiders are now 3-1 with their first district game coming this Monday at home vs. Battlefield.

NBA Draft 2011: Alec Burks and 10 Prospects For the Golden State Warriors

Now that the NBA Finals are over and the Dallas Mavericks have prevailed over LeBron James and the evil empire, the NBA Draft can start to heat up. but with just over one week left until the big day, there is still no set order to the draft outside of the top four picks.

We can speculate all we want, but in this next week it will become a little clearer as to who will be picked where.

With the no. 11 pick in the NBA Draft, the Golden State Warriors may have an idea who will be available, but there are several players that have the possibility of their draft stock rising and falling within the next nine days.

The Warriors know this much: They need a backcourt defender and a big man during this draft. but who they ultimately choose with the no. 11 pick may just be the best available player, given the current circumstances.

Here are several prospects that have the possibility to be available at the no. 11 pick and would fit nicely into the Golden State system.

Position: SG
Height: 6-6
Weight: 193
Age: 19
School: Colorado

Burks’ draft stock has been rising as of late, but how could it not?

Teams that know this draft may be a tad bit shallow in the talent department cannot pass up one of the most athletic players in this draft.

He is a born scorer, averaging 17 PPG and 20 PPG in his freshman and sophomore seasons at Colorado. He also displays terrific leadership for being just 19-years-old.

The downside is his game may take awhile to translate to the NBA, but his athletic build and ability will not take long to make this prospect into a bonified scorer.

If the Warriors choose to trade Monta Ellis, which does not seem likely now with Mark Jackson’s comments, Burks could fit well right along side Stephen Curry in the backcourt. Either way, he may be the bets available player at no. 11.

Position: SF
Height: 6’9
Weight: 230
Age: 21
School: Florida State

Alongside Burks, Singleton will be one of the best available players when the Warriors get their turn on June 23.

Singlton fits into the Warriors’ system a glove. He has every intangible that Golden State needs and wants.

What stands out to most is his defense, which the Warriors will make a key focus in this draft, and through assistant coach Mike Malone during the season. Singleton can guard anyone from a guard to a power forward, making him extremely versatile on the floor.

His length has other teams drooling, as well.

On the Warriors, Singleton can immediately contribute with his length and size. at 6’9, the small forward could impact the Warriors in that he gives them immediate size, which is another key focus for Golden State this offseason.

Did I mention he is NBA-ready?

Position: SF
Height: 6’9
Weight: 229
Age: 20
School: Texas

Hamilton can score, we all saw that in this past college basketball season. but can he score at the next level?

Good question. hence the question mark for Hamilton as a worthy top-15 pick.

What the University of Texas stud can do is have a really good workout in front of NBA scouts.

Hamilton has impressed in the offseason workouts so far, showing his shooting ability and range, which could be essential with his 6’9 frame.

With his size at the small forward position, Hamilton could fit very nice in the Warriors’ system.

Position: PF
Height: 6’9
Weight: 230
Age: 21
School: Kansas

This seems to be everyone’s consensus as to who the Warriors should pick at no. 11.

Morris has size, which Golden State needs, and good shooting range to complement.

What worries most is that he could be just another undersized power forward, which is the likeliest scenario if you are asking me.

Morris does not have the physical skills to blow away an NBA forward, nor does anything really stand out, other than he could help the Warriors on the boards.

Although I feel the Warriors could do much better than pick Morris at no. 11, the Warriors could solidify a decent frontcourt with the Kansas alumnus under the rim.

Position: PG
Height: 6’7
Weight: 206
Age: 21
School: Washington St.

If you have not noticed, Thompson’s stock is as high as anyone in this draft right now.

It may have a little to do with the fact that he is 6’7 with one of the better ball-handling skills in this draft.

In the NBA, Thompson will be switching between the point guard and shooting guard roles, but teams will be drafting him for his versatility and raw shooting ability.

In his junior season at Washington State, Thompson averaged 21 PPG, while shooting 43 percent from long-range.

He will be right in the Warriors’ wheelhouse at no. 11, whether he will be a reach at that point is yet to be decided.

Did I mention Jerry West may have a thing for him?

Position: PF
Height: 6’8
Weight: 225
Age: 21
School: Morehead State

Yes, Faried is a reach for the Warriors at no. 11, that does not take away from his ability to be a decent player in the NBA one day.

He is a born rebounder with energy through the roof.

The comparison has been made to the San Antonio Spurs’ DeJuan Blair, who is also a little undersized for his position but had a very productive rookie season despite that.

Sure, the Warriors could use him, but he is not worth taking at no. 11. Chad Ford has him going to the Portland Trailblazers at no. 21.

Position: PF
Height: 6’9
Weight: 228
Age: 20
School: Texas

Thompson is intriguing if you are the Warriors. He will most likely be available at no. 11 and exudes potential with his 6’9 lanky body and natural offensive awareness.

The 20-year-old can play both the 3 and 4 in the NBA, but will have a tough time getting used to the NBA game, given that he may not match-up well with other 3′s and 4′s until he beefs up.

If he does develop physically, Thompson can be a star in the NBA, which is why he is so intriguing to some teams.

Position: PF
Height: 6’9
Weight: 243
Age: 18
Country: Congo

Biyombo is all about his freakish physical build. at 6’9 with a wingspan of 7’7, he can reach 9’3 into the air standing still.

Those characteristics alone put Biyombo into the top-10 of an extremely shallow draft, but the fact that he is so raw has teams worrying.

Not much is known about Biyombo besides the fact he is God’s gift to the rim. Although he is a little undersized for his position, his wingspan allows him to play much bigger, and his age exudes potential when he hits an NBA court.

Position: PF
Height: 6’10
Weight: 230
Age: 19
Country: Lithuania

Arguably the most talented European player in this draft, Valanciunas is another player that exudes potential.

The 6’10 and only 19-years-old, he has the ability to be developed into a fine player at the power forward position.

He may be a project for a couple years, which is why teams may pass on him early in this draft. Given the opportunity, the Warriors will not be one of those teams, as he is a steal at no. 11.

Position: PF
Height: 6’11
Weight: 240
Age: 21
Country: Czech Republic

The most athletic player in this draft comes from the Czech Republic and he is ready to play now.

There is much debate as to where Vesely will eventually land, as he has been predicted anywhere from the fifth pick to the 12th pick. whoever picks him, that team gets a jolt of energy from their new length SF/PF with potential through roof.

For now, Vesely lives above the rim, but his jump shot is coming along and could do some damage a few years down the road.

If Vesely’s undecided draft stock does plunge him to no. 11 on June 23, the Warriors’ franchise will take a giant leap forward.

iOwnTheWorld.com » Blog Archive » WAR ON WOMEN: ALEC BALDWIN CALLS REPORTER ‘NUTTY BITCH’

WAR ON WOMEN: ALEC BALDWIN CALLS REPORTER ‘NUTTY BITCH’

Alec BaldwinNutty  fat pig

Big Hollywood

Apparently, Baldwin is upset because a couple of reporters from the “Daily News” crashed the yoga class his new fiancee, Hilaria Thomas, attended or was teaching. He explained his outrage over four tweets on Twitter:

Read the rest HERE