According to George Kukla, respected former professor of paleoclimatology at Columbia University and researcher at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, forget global warming and prepare for the new ice age.
As he points out correctly, geological record shows that earth's history has been dominated by ice ages (mini or prolonged ones), with occasional, brief warming periods. The article is worth reading.
My favorite quote of his: "The only thing to worry about global warming is the damage that can be done by worrying. Why are some scientists worried? Perhaps because they feel that to stop worrying may mean to stop being paid."
Thursday, March 31, 2011
EU Takes Another Step Towards Totalitarianism
As U.K. Telegraph reports, "cars will be banned from London and all other cities across Europe under a draconian EU master plan to cut CO2 emissions by 60 per cent over the next 40 years".
Once public right (at least in the cities) to move around independently is taken away, then it becomes easier than herding a flock of sheep to manipulate the masses.
Why do you think the left here has long been pushing for hair-brained ideas like rapid rail, etc. despite geographic and cultural reasons that render them worthless? The answer is the same whether you are talking about transportation, single-payer healthcare, energy usage, or a myriad of other areas: CONTROL OVER POPULATION.
That is Totalitarianism 101 for those not familiar with Lenin.
Once public right (at least in the cities) to move around independently is taken away, then it becomes easier than herding a flock of sheep to manipulate the masses.
Why do you think the left here has long been pushing for hair-brained ideas like rapid rail, etc. despite geographic and cultural reasons that render them worthless? The answer is the same whether you are talking about transportation, single-payer healthcare, energy usage, or a myriad of other areas: CONTROL OVER POPULATION.
That is Totalitarianism 101 for those not familiar with Lenin.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Man Made Disaster Jamie Gorelick To Be Nominated As FBI Chief
At the heels of the news that socialist Heather Higginbottom was nominated to head the OMB, we now learn that Jamie Gorelick is reportedly about to be nominated to head the FBI by Obama.
Suffice it to say that this is akin to putting the fox in charge of guarding the hen house.
Here is a short refresher of her 'proud' past:
As Deputy Attorney General under Bill Clinton from 1994 to 1997 Jamie Gorelick wrote the memo that created the now infamous “Gorelick Wall.” (Justice Dept. was put in charge of all anti-terror efforts by the Clinton Administration)
Okay, to be perfectly fair, she arguably placed the last few bricks and cemented the wall with her memorandum which explicitly stated that they would “go beyond what is legally required, [to] prevent any risk of creating an unwarranted appearance that FISA is being used to avoid procedural safeguards which would apply in a criminal investigation.” The Clinton Administration's near obsession to treat terrorism as a law enforcement issue was arguably the thrust behind this memo. Consequently, the "Gorelick Wall" barred anti-terror investigators from accessing the computer of Zacarias Moussaoui, the 20th hijacker, already in custody on an immigration violation, before the attacks occurred.
Despite attempts by the left to dismiss the role of the Gorelick Wall in not being able to discover the 9/11 plot in time to prevent it, some in the FBI certainly foresaw what could happen as an enraged FBI investigator wrote just a few months before 9/11 "Whatever has happened to this — someday someone will die — and wall or not — the public will not understand why we were not more effective in throwing every resource we had at certain problems…..especially since the biggest threat to us UBL [Usama bin Laden], is getting the most protection."
Following her role as Deputy A.G. under Clinton, Gorelick moved where many Democrats eventually moved to as a reward (to get rich) for their service. Even though she had no previous training nor experience in finance, Gorelick was appointed Vice Chairman of Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) from 1997 to 2003. She served alongside former Clinton Administration official Franklin Raines (another scandal ridden Democrat). During her tenure, Fannie Mae developed a $10 billion accounting scandal when bogus tranactions helped FNMA hit earnings targets for 1998, which triggered bonuses for top executives including nearly $800,000 to Gorelick.
Also, during Gorelick’s tenure Fannie Mae began to bundle CRA fueled subprime loans, which she was instrumental in pushing, into securitized financial instruments. Securities made from bundles of guaranteed mortgages were to contribute to the economic collapse in 2008.
“Fannie Mae will buy CRA loans from lenders’ portfolios; we’ll package them into securities; we’ll purchase CRA mortgages at the point of origination; and we’ll create customized CRA-targeted securities,” she said in 2001. “This expanded approach has improved liquidity in the secondary market for CRA product, and has helped our lenders leverage even more CRA lending. Lenders now have the flexibility to use their own, customized loan products.”
In remarks before the American Bankers Association on Oct. 30, 2000, Gorelick explained explicitly how the process would work and what Fannie Mae would do to make it feasible for banks to lend to low-income applicants.
“We will take CRA loans off your hands–we will buy them from your portfolios, or package them into securities–so you have fresh cash to make more CRA loans,” she said. “Some people have assumed we don’t buy tough loans. Let me correct that misimpression right now. We want your CRA loans because they help us meet our housing goals.”
Oh, and on the criminal front, lets not forget her involvement in the "Friends of Angelo" sweetheart loans affair while still at Fannie Mae. Yes, along with Senator Dodd and other prominent mostly Democrat politicians, she also received one of those low interest loans from Countrywide that you and I could not have.
In summary, Gorelick not only helped to close (did not necessarily cause because Clinton foreign policy was even more culpable for that) America’s eyes to the coming of the 9/11 attacks, but served on Fannie Mae Board during scandalous times all the while working towards ends that would eventually help bring the housing market down. These affairs, together, cost the U.S. economy several trillions of dollars.
I am not alleging that Mrs. Gorelick is a Marxist like so many of Obama's appointees are. She belongs to the camp of the rest of Obama appointees: the incompetent crony capitalists.
There goes the FBI. The dismantling continues.
Suffice it to say that this is akin to putting the fox in charge of guarding the hen house.
Here is a short refresher of her 'proud' past:
As Deputy Attorney General under Bill Clinton from 1994 to 1997 Jamie Gorelick wrote the memo that created the now infamous “Gorelick Wall.” (Justice Dept. was put in charge of all anti-terror efforts by the Clinton Administration)
Okay, to be perfectly fair, she arguably placed the last few bricks and cemented the wall with her memorandum which explicitly stated that they would “go beyond what is legally required, [to] prevent any risk of creating an unwarranted appearance that FISA is being used to avoid procedural safeguards which would apply in a criminal investigation.” The Clinton Administration's near obsession to treat terrorism as a law enforcement issue was arguably the thrust behind this memo. Consequently, the "Gorelick Wall" barred anti-terror investigators from accessing the computer of Zacarias Moussaoui, the 20th hijacker, already in custody on an immigration violation, before the attacks occurred.
Despite attempts by the left to dismiss the role of the Gorelick Wall in not being able to discover the 9/11 plot in time to prevent it, some in the FBI certainly foresaw what could happen as an enraged FBI investigator wrote just a few months before 9/11 "Whatever has happened to this — someday someone will die — and wall or not — the public will not understand why we were not more effective in throwing every resource we had at certain problems…..especially since the biggest threat to us UBL [Usama bin Laden], is getting the most protection."
Following her role as Deputy A.G. under Clinton, Gorelick moved where many Democrats eventually moved to as a reward (to get rich) for their service. Even though she had no previous training nor experience in finance, Gorelick was appointed Vice Chairman of Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) from 1997 to 2003. She served alongside former Clinton Administration official Franklin Raines (another scandal ridden Democrat). During her tenure, Fannie Mae developed a $10 billion accounting scandal when bogus tranactions helped FNMA hit earnings targets for 1998, which triggered bonuses for top executives including nearly $800,000 to Gorelick.
Also, during Gorelick’s tenure Fannie Mae began to bundle CRA fueled subprime loans, which she was instrumental in pushing, into securitized financial instruments. Securities made from bundles of guaranteed mortgages were to contribute to the economic collapse in 2008.
“Fannie Mae will buy CRA loans from lenders’ portfolios; we’ll package them into securities; we’ll purchase CRA mortgages at the point of origination; and we’ll create customized CRA-targeted securities,” she said in 2001. “This expanded approach has improved liquidity in the secondary market for CRA product, and has helped our lenders leverage even more CRA lending. Lenders now have the flexibility to use their own, customized loan products.”
In remarks before the American Bankers Association on Oct. 30, 2000, Gorelick explained explicitly how the process would work and what Fannie Mae would do to make it feasible for banks to lend to low-income applicants.
“We will take CRA loans off your hands–we will buy them from your portfolios, or package them into securities–so you have fresh cash to make more CRA loans,” she said. “Some people have assumed we don’t buy tough loans. Let me correct that misimpression right now. We want your CRA loans because they help us meet our housing goals.”
Oh, and on the criminal front, lets not forget her involvement in the "Friends of Angelo" sweetheart loans affair while still at Fannie Mae. Yes, along with Senator Dodd and other prominent mostly Democrat politicians, she also received one of those low interest loans from Countrywide that you and I could not have.
In summary, Gorelick not only helped to close (did not necessarily cause because Clinton foreign policy was even more culpable for that) America’s eyes to the coming of the 9/11 attacks, but served on Fannie Mae Board during scandalous times all the while working towards ends that would eventually help bring the housing market down. These affairs, together, cost the U.S. economy several trillions of dollars.
I am not alleging that Mrs. Gorelick is a Marxist like so many of Obama's appointees are. She belongs to the camp of the rest of Obama appointees: the incompetent crony capitalists.
There goes the FBI. The dismantling continues.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Green Movement As Explained By Van Jones (Video)
Leave it to the former Green Jobs Czar Van Jones to explain what even the German social democrats figured out years ago: Green is the new red!
The Mystery Of The FCC Chief's Visits To The W.H.
Rep. Darrell Issa wants to know why the top FCC (Federal Communications Commission) Chairman Julius Genachowski visited the White House 81 times in less than two years and whether the back door alternative to the Fairness Act - aka Net Neutrality - was discussed while the commission was formulating its net-neutrality rules, which were passed in December.
Think about this folks: Likes of FCC Chair visits the White House 81 times in about that many weeks while the President has no time to meet with half of his Cabinet members even once? The other frequent guests were Andy Stern of SEIU fame (over two dozen times) and other radical, communist minded (in other words like minded) fellow travelers of the President.
What Rep. Issa may uncover will be of no shock value to many of us who are already on to this President. I wish the G.O.P. also was.
Think about this folks: Likes of FCC Chair visits the White House 81 times in about that many weeks while the President has no time to meet with half of his Cabinet members even once? The other frequent guests were Andy Stern of SEIU fame (over two dozen times) and other radical, communist minded (in other words like minded) fellow travelers of the President.
What Rep. Issa may uncover will be of no shock value to many of us who are already on to this President. I wish the G.O.P. also was.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
EPA At War With Republicans
Can you imagine a rogue governmental agency being at war with one of the political parties? Well, don't strain yourself too much because we have several, Environmental Protection Agency being at the forefront. Some of the others, FYI, are Consumer Product Safety Commission, CPB (or PBS), NEA and NEH, FCC, and National Labor Relations Board among less significant ones.
As hard as it is to believe, EPA (a powerful government agency that should ethically be non political) uses tax payer money to actively campaign against Republicans through American Lung Association, amongst other parties, and the latest victim is Rep. Fred Upton of Illinois. Working against tax payer interest is nothing new to the EPA.
First the background: American Lung Association is bought-and-paid-for by the EPA. In the last 10 years, the EPA has given the ALA $20,405,655, according to EPA records.
The master-servant relationship between the EPA and ALA extends back to at least the early 1990s. As John Merline reported in Investors Business Daily (Jan. 28, 1997), between 1990 and 1995, the EPA gave the American Lung Association $5 million — even though the ALA was suing the EPA at the time. Although not many grantors give grants to organizations that sue them, at least in the regular world, the EPA likes to be sued by its buddies because such lawsuits invariably expand the agency’s powers. I know it is convoluted but such is the power structure inside the Beltway.
Lately, the House has been in mark-up session of the Upton-Inhofe bill to strip EPA of its authority to regulate greenhouse gases. This is a critical bill that will probably go nowhere - unfortunately! The progressive green activists masquerading as Democrats have increasingly been using the EPA to accomplish what they cannot through legitimate means in the Congress.
It is about time we put an end to roque government agencies making what effectively are laws. It is unconstitutional and this practice has been abused under both political parties in the past, though any previous Republican Administration's transgressions have been a walk in the park compared to gross abuses by progressive Democrat Administrations - especially the current one.
So, not being able to play politics openly, EPA has the ALA go after Rep. Upton with billboards like this:
Whether it is the labor unions supporting the Democrats with their forced dues (regardless of the party affiliation of their membership) or your tax dollars being spent against your own principles by the likes of EPA or the NLRB, the left always makes sure that you are shafted with your own money.
And, that my fellow patriots, is your tax dollars at work!
As hard as it is to believe, EPA (a powerful government agency that should ethically be non political) uses tax payer money to actively campaign against Republicans through American Lung Association, amongst other parties, and the latest victim is Rep. Fred Upton of Illinois. Working against tax payer interest is nothing new to the EPA.
First the background: American Lung Association is bought-and-paid-for by the EPA. In the last 10 years, the EPA has given the ALA $20,405,655, according to EPA records.
The master-servant relationship between the EPA and ALA extends back to at least the early 1990s. As John Merline reported in Investors Business Daily (Jan. 28, 1997), between 1990 and 1995, the EPA gave the American Lung Association $5 million — even though the ALA was suing the EPA at the time. Although not many grantors give grants to organizations that sue them, at least in the regular world, the EPA likes to be sued by its buddies because such lawsuits invariably expand the agency’s powers. I know it is convoluted but such is the power structure inside the Beltway.
Lately, the House has been in mark-up session of the Upton-Inhofe bill to strip EPA of its authority to regulate greenhouse gases. This is a critical bill that will probably go nowhere - unfortunately! The progressive green activists masquerading as Democrats have increasingly been using the EPA to accomplish what they cannot through legitimate means in the Congress.
It is about time we put an end to roque government agencies making what effectively are laws. It is unconstitutional and this practice has been abused under both political parties in the past, though any previous Republican Administration's transgressions have been a walk in the park compared to gross abuses by progressive Democrat Administrations - especially the current one.
So, not being able to play politics openly, EPA has the ALA go after Rep. Upton with billboards like this:
Whether it is the labor unions supporting the Democrats with their forced dues (regardless of the party affiliation of their membership) or your tax dollars being spent against your own principles by the likes of EPA or the NLRB, the left always makes sure that you are shafted with your own money.
And, that my fellow patriots, is your tax dollars at work!
Future Replacement For Robert Byrd?
In Florida, a former KKK Grand Dragon is running for mayor as the Democrat candidate. Must be the future replacement for the recently departed Democrat Senator Robert Byrd.
Reuter's Political Correctness Reaching Absurdity
Jeffrey Goldberg, national correspondent for The Atlantic, had a witty comment about a Reuter's article about the recent bombing in Jerusalem that included: "Police said it was a "terrorist attack" -- Israel's term for a Palestinian strike. It was the first time Jerusalem had been hit by such a bomb since 2004."
He adds: Those Israelis and their crazy terms! I mean, referring to a fatal bombing of civilians as a "terrorist attack"? Who are they kidding? Everyone knows that a fatal bombing of Israeli civilians should be referred to as a "teachable moment." Or as a "venting of certain frustrations." Or as "an understandable reaction to Jewish perfidy." Or perhaps as "a very special episode of 'Cheers.'" Anything but "a terrorist attack." I suppose Reuters will mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11 by referring to the attacks as "an exercise in urban renewal."
It takes such light-hearted wit to portray such imbecilic level of political correctness on the part of the left.
He adds: Those Israelis and their crazy terms! I mean, referring to a fatal bombing of civilians as a "terrorist attack"? Who are they kidding? Everyone knows that a fatal bombing of Israeli civilians should be referred to as a "teachable moment." Or as a "venting of certain frustrations." Or as "an understandable reaction to Jewish perfidy." Or perhaps as "a very special episode of 'Cheers.'" Anything but "a terrorist attack." I suppose Reuters will mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11 by referring to the attacks as "an exercise in urban renewal."
It takes such light-hearted wit to portray such imbecilic level of political correctness on the part of the left.
Whitewash By The White House
Whitewash, or concealment of failures, is a SOP (standard operating procedure) for this White House. After all, that is what those lacking ethics and competence usually do to cover their tracks.
Here is a report by the Republican Joint Economic Committee (U.S. Senate) that points out some Obama Administration deceptions in their Annual Report that they released at the end of last month.
The report criticizes the undeserved "pat in the back" the Administration gives itself for instituting the economic policies that have supposedly succeeded whereas, in reality, they have been miserable failures.
One example the report cites is in the area of job creation, where the Administration conveniently hides figures from previous recessions that would reveal their policies to be total failures:
The report is short and to the point. I recommend taking a few minutes to read it.
Here is a report by the Republican Joint Economic Committee (U.S. Senate) that points out some Obama Administration deceptions in their Annual Report that they released at the end of last month.
The report criticizes the undeserved "pat in the back" the Administration gives itself for instituting the economic policies that have supposedly succeeded whereas, in reality, they have been miserable failures.
One example the report cites is in the area of job creation, where the Administration conveniently hides figures from previous recessions that would reveal their policies to be total failures:
What? The Quake An Economic Bonanza For Japan?
Yes, as previously in the case of Kyoto earth quake and hurricane Katrina, we have been hearing from crackpots like Nathan Gardels, Lawrence Summers, and Paul Krugman that the $300 billion plus catastrophe that befell Japan will actually help its troubled economy.
Mr. Gardel's current L.A. Times article includes the following passage: "The need to rebuild a large swath of Japan will create huge opportunities for domestic economic growth, particularly in energy-efficient technologies, while also stimulating global demand and hastening the integration of East Asia. ... By taking Japan's mature economy down a notch, Mother Nature has accomplished what fiscal policy and the central bank could not."
This is lunacy to put it mildly.
As Frederic Bastiat famously said: "There is only one difference between a bad economist and a good one: The bad economist confines himself to the visible effect; the good economist takes into account both the effect that can be seen and those effects that must be foreseen."
Apparently, those unforeseen effects is the achilles heel of all progressive Keynesian type economists.
As Bastiat further elaborated in his "Broken Window Fallacy" parable, in Japan's case, the opportunity cost of the $300 billion in physical damage plus the currently incalculable other economic costs of rebuilding will be far greater than the stimulus provided by rebuilding the damaged structures.
Capital not spent on innovating, or otherwise increasing productivity, is capital wasted. It is too bad that such a simple, and historically demonstrable, concept is also so foreign to some economists.
If the Keynesians were correct, by the same ridiculous token, why don't we bomb our cities so that a real recovery can take place?
Mr. Gardel's current L.A. Times article includes the following passage: "The need to rebuild a large swath of Japan will create huge opportunities for domestic economic growth, particularly in energy-efficient technologies, while also stimulating global demand and hastening the integration of East Asia. ... By taking Japan's mature economy down a notch, Mother Nature has accomplished what fiscal policy and the central bank could not."
This is lunacy to put it mildly.
As Frederic Bastiat famously said: "There is only one difference between a bad economist and a good one: The bad economist confines himself to the visible effect; the good economist takes into account both the effect that can be seen and those effects that must be foreseen."
Apparently, those unforeseen effects is the achilles heel of all progressive Keynesian type economists.
As Bastiat further elaborated in his "Broken Window Fallacy" parable, in Japan's case, the opportunity cost of the $300 billion in physical damage plus the currently incalculable other economic costs of rebuilding will be far greater than the stimulus provided by rebuilding the damaged structures.
Capital not spent on innovating, or otherwise increasing productivity, is capital wasted. It is too bad that such a simple, and historically demonstrable, concept is also so foreign to some economists.
If the Keynesians were correct, by the same ridiculous token, why don't we bomb our cities so that a real recovery can take place?
Quick Take On Obama's Libya Justification
President Obama said that he justifies our bombing of Libya on humanitarian grounds.
Ehem..., excuse me but where were you, Mr. President, when - god knows how many - were murdered in Teheran (and elsewhere in Iran) in 2009 (not to mention missing a golden and rare opportunity to take down the mullahs)? Where were you as 800,000 were massacred in Darfur? Or countless others in all sorts of hell holes around the world?
By your justification, the Iranian blood of murdered protesters as well as that of all victims killed by tyrants around the globe while you watched are on your hands!
But we have you figured out. It is not humanitarianism or, as it should be, our national interests that guide you (as we have none in Libya), but rather your self absorbed, self aggrandized image of yourself that compelled you to undertake this foolish action after amateurishly waffling for days.
And for that, you will go down in history as absolutely the most pathetic foreign policy president this great nation has had the misfortune of having.
Ehem..., excuse me but where were you, Mr. President, when - god knows how many - were murdered in Teheran (and elsewhere in Iran) in 2009 (not to mention missing a golden and rare opportunity to take down the mullahs)? Where were you as 800,000 were massacred in Darfur? Or countless others in all sorts of hell holes around the world?
By your justification, the Iranian blood of murdered protesters as well as that of all victims killed by tyrants around the globe while you watched are on your hands!
But we have you figured out. It is not humanitarianism or, as it should be, our national interests that guide you (as we have none in Libya), but rather your self absorbed, self aggrandized image of yourself that compelled you to undertake this foolish action after amateurishly waffling for days.
And for that, you will go down in history as absolutely the most pathetic foreign policy president this great nation has had the misfortune of having.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Will The V.P. Now Advocate Impeaching The President?
Here are two videos of then Senator Biden (both saying essentially the same thing) from 2007 where he makes it clear that starting a war against any country without congressional approval is an impeachable offense. Of course, that is if the country is not Libya and the President in power not one of his own kind!
Perhaps the silliest argument I have heard why this war is okay to fight without congressional approval is that it is being waged under a U.N. resolution. Since when has the U.S. surrendered its sovereignty to the international community? Moreover, any temporary latitude given to the Executive Branch deals with U.S. security being threatened as a result of inaction. This clearly is not the case.
And the 'humanitarian' reasons the President mentioned? Tell that to the relatives of the thousands of massacred Iranians in 2009 when there was at least an argument for U.S. national security (Iran being the prime exporter and financier of terror in Iraq and elsewhere today).
Enjoy the hypocrisy.
h/t eyeblast.tv
Perhaps the silliest argument I have heard why this war is okay to fight without congressional approval is that it is being waged under a U.N. resolution. Since when has the U.S. surrendered its sovereignty to the international community? Moreover, any temporary latitude given to the Executive Branch deals with U.S. security being threatened as a result of inaction. This clearly is not the case.
And the 'humanitarian' reasons the President mentioned? Tell that to the relatives of the thousands of massacred Iranians in 2009 when there was at least an argument for U.S. national security (Iran being the prime exporter and financier of terror in Iraq and elsewhere today).
Enjoy the hypocrisy.
h/t eyeblast.tv
Is What Is Good For The Goose, Good For The Gander?
Obama, who just ended his highly criticized vacation in Brazil with his Marxist bedfellow (a former guerilla), has made his way to Chile where he praised the economic success of the country as a model to be followed for everyone else. He said: "The Chilean experience, and more particularly its successful democratic transition and sustained economic growth, is a model for the region and the world. ... It is also a powerful example of how the opportunities of today can and must be seized."
Following the disasterous socialist/collectivist policies of Salvador Allende, Pinochet took over in 1974 and his University of Chicago trained advisors implemented a series of drastic free market policies that allowed Chile to become the shining city on the hill of South America.
The reforms were concentrated mainly in three areas: fiscal control (ended government subsidies, cut the size of government by 20%, and made the central bank an independent body), privatized the country's retirement system to help balance the budget (the new voluntary system which 97% of Chileans switched to outperformed the state system by a factor of ten), and institutes free trade policies (making Chile the country with the most free-trade pacts signed in the world).
The end result of these reforms is indisputable: Chilean economy, that was a basket case prior to 1974, grew by 32% between 1974 and 1977. Today, GDP per capita has risen to $14,400, firmly placing the country among the top three on the continent, and on the top spot for Gross National Income ahead of Uruguay and Brazil.
Absent other questions from the adoring media that are sorely in need for an answer, such as what was the President doing vacationing in Brazil when U.S. started hostilities in Libya, what are our national interests, and why his administration sought a U.N. resolution (permission) but he never consulted with congressional leaders ahead of the action, someone needs to ask his highness why what is good for the goose is not good for the gander?
Following the disasterous socialist/collectivist policies of Salvador Allende, Pinochet took over in 1974 and his University of Chicago trained advisors implemented a series of drastic free market policies that allowed Chile to become the shining city on the hill of South America.
The reforms were concentrated mainly in three areas: fiscal control (ended government subsidies, cut the size of government by 20%, and made the central bank an independent body), privatized the country's retirement system to help balance the budget (the new voluntary system which 97% of Chileans switched to outperformed the state system by a factor of ten), and institutes free trade policies (making Chile the country with the most free-trade pacts signed in the world).
The end result of these reforms is indisputable: Chilean economy, that was a basket case prior to 1974, grew by 32% between 1974 and 1977. Today, GDP per capita has risen to $14,400, firmly placing the country among the top three on the continent, and on the top spot for Gross National Income ahead of Uruguay and Brazil.
Absent other questions from the adoring media that are sorely in need for an answer, such as what was the President doing vacationing in Brazil when U.S. started hostilities in Libya, what are our national interests, and why his administration sought a U.N. resolution (permission) but he never consulted with congressional leaders ahead of the action, someone needs to ask his highness why what is good for the goose is not good for the gander?
Damn The U.S.; Help Brazil Says The Prez.
"We want to help you with the technology and support to develop these oil reserves safely. And when you're ready to start selling, we want to be one of your best customers."
Those were Obama's words to the Brazilians and it should come as no surprise.
Remember when we supported the U.S. Export-Import Bank's plan to lend $2 billion to Brazil's state-run Petrobras with the promise of more to follow while the President was railing against tax incentives for U.S. oil companies?
His administration is even stalling on plans to build a pipeline to deliver oil from Canada's tar sands to the U.S. market because it crosses an international border, on the grounds that it needs further environmental review. Shipping oil by tanker from Brazil is safer and more secure?
Let the Brazilians, Chinese, Cubans, Russians, etc. drill off our coasts (and elsewhere) - even with our financial support -, but drilling off Virginia or California (or the ANWAR for that matter) is of course a no-no.
A simple incoherence in policy? No, in light of all the anti-growth, anti-energy independence policies of his Administration I am alleging a calculated policy of destroying American superiority.
Those were Obama's words to the Brazilians and it should come as no surprise.
Remember when we supported the U.S. Export-Import Bank's plan to lend $2 billion to Brazil's state-run Petrobras with the promise of more to follow while the President was railing against tax incentives for U.S. oil companies?
His administration is even stalling on plans to build a pipeline to deliver oil from Canada's tar sands to the U.S. market because it crosses an international border, on the grounds that it needs further environmental review. Shipping oil by tanker from Brazil is safer and more secure?
Let the Brazilians, Chinese, Cubans, Russians, etc. drill off our coasts (and elsewhere) - even with our financial support -, but drilling off Virginia or California (or the ANWAR for that matter) is of course a no-no.
A simple incoherence in policy? No, in light of all the anti-growth, anti-energy independence policies of his Administration I am alleging a calculated policy of destroying American superiority.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Meet Heather Higginbottom: The Latest Socialist Addition To The Administration
Who is Heather Higginbottom? She is Obama's nominee for Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget who is currently going through confirmation process in the U.S. Senate.
Knowing that she was nominated by the annointed one, I was not surprised a bit at her socialist/Marxist connections. I hope Republicans at the Senate confirmation hearings have the guts to ask her what she was doing addressing an October 30, 2001, Boston Democratic Socialists of America organized forum on "Welfare, Children and Families: The Impact of Welfare Reform", with William Julius Wilson, Dottie Stevens, Jack Clark and Bob Haynes.
William Julius Wilson and Jack Clark were confirmed D.S.A. Marxists. Bob Haynes is a long time Boston D.S.A. affiliate - at least. The panelists were all known socialist affiliates: Toni Preckwinkle, Alderman of Chicago's 4th Ward, Barack Obama, candidate for the 13th Illinois Senate District, Professor William Julius Wilson, Center for the Study of Urban Inequality at the University of Chicago, Professor Michael Dawson, University of Chicago, and Professor Joseph Schwartz, Temple University and a member of D.S.A.'s National Political Committee.
Despite its relatively innocuous name, Democratic Socialists of America is a radical Marxist organization that believes, according to Democratic Left, Spring 2007, page 9:
Our goal as socialists is to abolish private ownership of the means of production.
DSAers work closely with the Communist Party USA and the pro North Korean/Cuban Workers World Party. One former D.S.A. leader, Kurt Stand is still serving seventeen and a half years in jail, for spying for the former German Democratic Republic and the Soviet Union.
Only naive lemmings would believe that a non-Marxist would address a group of rabid Marxists. Then again, I wonder just how many non-Marxists are there in this Administration? I am willing to bet, very few.
---
H/T New Zeal
Knowing that she was nominated by the annointed one, I was not surprised a bit at her socialist/Marxist connections. I hope Republicans at the Senate confirmation hearings have the guts to ask her what she was doing addressing an October 30, 2001, Boston Democratic Socialists of America organized forum on "Welfare, Children and Families: The Impact of Welfare Reform", with William Julius Wilson, Dottie Stevens, Jack Clark and Bob Haynes.
William Julius Wilson and Jack Clark were confirmed D.S.A. Marxists. Bob Haynes is a long time Boston D.S.A. affiliate - at least. The panelists were all known socialist affiliates: Toni Preckwinkle, Alderman of Chicago's 4th Ward, Barack Obama, candidate for the 13th Illinois Senate District, Professor William Julius Wilson, Center for the Study of Urban Inequality at the University of Chicago, Professor Michael Dawson, University of Chicago, and Professor Joseph Schwartz, Temple University and a member of D.S.A.'s National Political Committee.
Despite its relatively innocuous name, Democratic Socialists of America is a radical Marxist organization that believes, according to Democratic Left, Spring 2007, page 9:
Our goal as socialists is to abolish private ownership of the means of production.
DSAers work closely with the Communist Party USA and the pro North Korean/Cuban Workers World Party. One former D.S.A. leader, Kurt Stand is still serving seventeen and a half years in jail, for spying for the former German Democratic Republic and the Soviet Union.
Only naive lemmings would believe that a non-Marxist would address a group of rabid Marxists. Then again, I wonder just how many non-Marxists are there in this Administration? I am willing to bet, very few.
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H/T New Zeal
Friday, March 18, 2011
Taxpayers = The Barbarians
According to our village idiot Vice President, you and I are the barbarians and the unions are the only force for good standing in the way of all sorts of social injustice.
...And to think that I've still got friends who would argue incessantly there is nothing radical about this Administration!
...And to think that I've still got friends who would argue incessantly there is nothing radical about this Administration!
Just Wondering....
Between 1970 and 2010, there were 73 fatalities associated with wind turbines in the United States from 1970 through 2010.
Nuclear energy, by contrast, did not kill a single American during that time frame. The meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979 did not kill or injure anyone, since the power plant's cement containment apparatus did its job - the safety measures put in place were effective.
Apparently the safety measures associated with wind energy are not adequate to prevent loss of life compared to the track record of the nuclear alternative.
Question to those green chicken littles out there: When will you hypocrites start demanding an end to wind power?
Nuclear energy, by contrast, did not kill a single American during that time frame. The meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979 did not kill or injure anyone, since the power plant's cement containment apparatus did its job - the safety measures put in place were effective.
Apparently the safety measures associated with wind energy are not adequate to prevent loss of life compared to the track record of the nuclear alternative.
Question to those green chicken littles out there: When will you hypocrites start demanding an end to wind power?
Will Union Thuggery Ever End?
I am getting tired of writing about the usual leftist thuggery on display in Wisconsin and elsewhere. The sample below is the latest threat made to blogger, U. of Wisconsin professor Ann Althouse. The poor grammar and multitudenous four letter words clearly expose that author for who his kind really are and that they have heeded their community organizer, Chicago corrupt President's words to "get in their faces" and "bring a gun to the fight":
"We will picket on public property as close to your house as we can every day. We will harrass the ever loving shit out of you all the time. Campus is OCCUPIED. State street is OCCUPIED. The Square is OCCUPIED. Vilas, Schenk's Corners, Atwood, Willy Street – Occupied, Occupied, Occupied, Occupied. Did you really think it was all about the Capitol? Fuck the Capitol, we are the CITY... We have the numbers and we don't back down from anyone. We all know each other. We all know each other. We know each other from Service Industry Night at the Orpheum, because we're regulars at the same coffee shops, restaurants and bars, we know each other from the co-ops, we know each other because we've had a million jobs each (and we all worked at CapTel at least once), because we live in every shitty townie house in ever-changing groups of 2 – 7 people, because we are young and horny and screw each other incessantly, because we're all on facebook, and because we aren't anti-social, life-denying, world-sterilizing pieces of human garbage like the two of you. WE WILL FUCK YOU UP. We will throw our baseballs in your lawn, you cranky old pieces of shit, and then we will come get them back. What are you gonna do? Shoot us? Get Wausau Tea Patriots to form an ad hoc militia on your front lawn? That would be fucking HILAROUS to us. You could get to know the assholes on your side in real fucking life instead of sponging off the civil society we provide for you every single day you draw breath."
The current regime is the kind of government the left wants, run by radicals and mental midgets, using other mentally defective operatives to stalk those who oppose their selfish extortion of our rights. This is pure anarchy, folks!
"We will picket on public property as close to your house as we can every day. We will harrass the ever loving shit out of you all the time. Campus is OCCUPIED. State street is OCCUPIED. The Square is OCCUPIED. Vilas, Schenk's Corners, Atwood, Willy Street – Occupied, Occupied, Occupied, Occupied. Did you really think it was all about the Capitol? Fuck the Capitol, we are the CITY... We have the numbers and we don't back down from anyone. We all know each other. We all know each other. We know each other from Service Industry Night at the Orpheum, because we're regulars at the same coffee shops, restaurants and bars, we know each other from the co-ops, we know each other because we've had a million jobs each (and we all worked at CapTel at least once), because we live in every shitty townie house in ever-changing groups of 2 – 7 people, because we are young and horny and screw each other incessantly, because we're all on facebook, and because we aren't anti-social, life-denying, world-sterilizing pieces of human garbage like the two of you. WE WILL FUCK YOU UP. We will throw our baseballs in your lawn, you cranky old pieces of shit, and then we will come get them back. What are you gonna do? Shoot us? Get Wausau Tea Patriots to form an ad hoc militia on your front lawn? That would be fucking HILAROUS to us. You could get to know the assholes on your side in real fucking life instead of sponging off the civil society we provide for you every single day you draw breath."
The current regime is the kind of government the left wants, run by radicals and mental midgets, using other mentally defective operatives to stalk those who oppose their selfish extortion of our rights. This is pure anarchy, folks!
Secretary Chu Getting His Wish
With the barrel of oil hovering around $100 and the turmoil in the Middle East threatening higher prices, somewhere in Washington D.C., energy secretary Steven Chu must be feeling awful good about the developments.
Back in September of 2008, Dr. Chu, who was then the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, said "Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe," in an interview to Wall Street Journal.
In the same year, then candidate Senator Obama said "we've been consuming energy as if it's infinite." When asked if gas prices, which had briefly spiked under President Bush, would help reduce demand, Obama replied: "I think that I would have preferred a gradual adjustment." He didn't object to higher prices, only to the fact that we use too much energy.
The concerted effort to nudge energy prices up have more recently included (perhaps) deliberately following a foreign policy that encourages turmoil in the critical regions of the world, and imposing a drilling ban that was based on tampered with, deceitful reports.
As a result of his de facto moratorium, a large drilling company was forced to declare bankruptcy, the economy of the region has been hobbled and at least seven rigs moved out of the Gulf area to other parts of the world while many others remain idle.
Consequently, production in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to fall by 240,000 barrels a day. Yet in his recent press conference, Obama falsely claimed oil "production from federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico reached an all-time-high." All time high? That would be despite EPA and DOE throwing roadblock after roadblock to drilling in places like Alaska and Virginia, and we all know that that is false!
As Steve Everley at American Solutions points out, there's also the matter of 800 billion barrels of oil locked up in shale in Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. These shale reserves are triple the proven reserves of Saudi Arabia, proving Obama's press-conference claim that the U.S. has only 2% of the world's oil to be blatantly false.
Tidbits like universal health care, controlled academia and media, and sky high energy and food prices are cornerstones of socialism. The idea is to make life difficult so that dependency on the state becomes inevitable for most.
With likes of the President, Carol Browner, Lisa Jackson, and Dr. Chu, who needs enemies? We are sleeping with them!
Back in September of 2008, Dr. Chu, who was then the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, said "Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe," in an interview to Wall Street Journal.
In the same year, then candidate Senator Obama said "we've been consuming energy as if it's infinite." When asked if gas prices, which had briefly spiked under President Bush, would help reduce demand, Obama replied: "I think that I would have preferred a gradual adjustment." He didn't object to higher prices, only to the fact that we use too much energy.
The concerted effort to nudge energy prices up have more recently included (perhaps) deliberately following a foreign policy that encourages turmoil in the critical regions of the world, and imposing a drilling ban that was based on tampered with, deceitful reports.
As a result of his de facto moratorium, a large drilling company was forced to declare bankruptcy, the economy of the region has been hobbled and at least seven rigs moved out of the Gulf area to other parts of the world while many others remain idle.
Consequently, production in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to fall by 240,000 barrels a day. Yet in his recent press conference, Obama falsely claimed oil "production from federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico reached an all-time-high." All time high? That would be despite EPA and DOE throwing roadblock after roadblock to drilling in places like Alaska and Virginia, and we all know that that is false!
As Steve Everley at American Solutions points out, there's also the matter of 800 billion barrels of oil locked up in shale in Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. These shale reserves are triple the proven reserves of Saudi Arabia, proving Obama's press-conference claim that the U.S. has only 2% of the world's oil to be blatantly false.
Tidbits like universal health care, controlled academia and media, and sky high energy and food prices are cornerstones of socialism. The idea is to make life difficult so that dependency on the state becomes inevitable for most.
With likes of the President, Carol Browner, Lisa Jackson, and Dr. Chu, who needs enemies? We are sleeping with them!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Thuggery In Wisconsin Continues
The nation watched (at least on alternative media and FNC) while the union thugs protested, threatened, and assaulted those trying to protect the tax payers of Wisconsin for several weeks. Finally, the Republicans out-manouvered the pro-union Democrats but that was not the end of the thuggery.
As a result of defeat, the thugs and their supporters in the Democrat party have been intimidating businesses and citizens who are conducting a recall effort against some of the 14 AWOL Democrats who clearly skirted their duties as elected officials. Here is an excrept of the most recent events at a recall rally:
You've got to ask yourselves folks, is this still America? Is there no decency left that millions are not on the streets demanding this administration, who are the enablers behind the thugs, be tarred and feathered?
As a result of defeat, the thugs and their supporters in the Democrat party have been intimidating businesses and citizens who are conducting a recall effort against some of the 14 AWOL Democrats who clearly skirted their duties as elected officials. Here is an excrept of the most recent events at a recall rally:
The petition rally was originally scheduled at a local Merrill restaurant but was relocated after the proprietors received many phone calls and felt they needed to back out. The committee then set up in front of the Lincoln County Courthouse to offer citizens an opportunity to sign their names to the petition. Over 1,000 calls had been sent out the previous day notifying area residents of the petition rally.
Upon arrival, members of the recall committee were encircled by union protesters carrying signs and a leader with a mega phone who began chanting and ranting loudly. They packed in tightly around the petition collection table so as to prevent those attempting to sign from doing so. At one point, a pro union protester, pretending to be interested in signing the petition, wrote profanity across a partially collected petition form, than began ripping up the completed petitions that were in close proximity.
The policemen who were there, and who were standing in close proximity to these events as they unfolded, did nothing to assist those collecting the petitions as they were being destroyed, despite such an action being a Felony under Wisconsin law. Police also did nothing to clear the walk way for citizens that wanted to sign the petitions. Recall Committee members received many phone calls the following day from Merill area citizens who stated that they showed up to sign the petition, but were too afraid to get out of their vehicles and approach the recall table.
You've got to ask yourselves folks, is this still America? Is there no decency left that millions are not on the streets demanding this administration, who are the enablers behind the thugs, be tarred and feathered?
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
DSA: More Successful Than In Their Wildest Dreams
"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism, but under the name of liberalism they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program until one day America will be a socialist nation without ever knowing how it happened." – Norman Thomas, American socialist and presidential candidate
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DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) is the largest socialist organization outside of the CPUSA (Communist Party U.S.A.) honest enough not to be masquerading as something other than what they are.
In 1997 DSA goals to attain by 2017 included:
A U.S. President from the Progressive Caucus, a 50 member socialist caucus in Congress, successful programs of the likes of universal health care, progressive taxation, social provision and campaign finance reform.
Little could they have known that almost a decade before their deadline, they would have practically achieved every one of their stated goals.
Their not-so-secret plan to achieve these goals was to take over the Democrat party, which they accomplished as apparent from the current crop of Democrats and the demise of the conservative, true "blue dogs" like former Democrat Senator Zell Miller (GA), whose book 'A National Party No More' is a must read for every American who cares to inform themselves about the transformation of the Democrat party. The CPUSA also joined the DSA in this goal as far back as the 1970s and admits that their members run for political office under the banner of the Democrat party.
In fact, the CPC (Congressional Progressive Caucus), with its 83 declared members, openly espouse the principles of socialism and publicly had signed onto the agenda of the Democratic Socialists of America. It was organized by the DSA per DSA's own admission. Like Obama with his seemingly multitudinous radical associations, the current estimated number of Democrats who were active in DSA (or had very close associations with likes of DSA or CPUSA), is well above their 1997 goal of 50 congressional members.
As our radical-in-chief likes to say, this is a teachable moment for those of us who still cherish the principles our great constitutional republic was founded upon. The most important lesson is that there is nothing that cannot be accomplished with dogged determination. Conservatives must stop playing by the rules of Marquis de Queensbury and understand that the road back to a truly constitutional republic will be long and at times frustrating. After all, it took the left better part of a century to erode the institutions that made America what it is. Only total commitment and willingness to get down and dirty will successfully counteract the radical goals the left has been patiently working towards for decades. The lesson that DSA teaches us must be heeded if we hope to get back and preserve an America that our founding fathers would be proud of.
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DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) is the largest socialist organization outside of the CPUSA (Communist Party U.S.A.) honest enough not to be masquerading as something other than what they are.
In 1997 DSA goals to attain by 2017 included:
A U.S. President from the Progressive Caucus, a 50 member socialist caucus in Congress, successful programs of the likes of universal health care, progressive taxation, social provision and campaign finance reform.
Little could they have known that almost a decade before their deadline, they would have practically achieved every one of their stated goals.
Their not-so-secret plan to achieve these goals was to take over the Democrat party, which they accomplished as apparent from the current crop of Democrats and the demise of the conservative, true "blue dogs" like former Democrat Senator Zell Miller (GA), whose book 'A National Party No More' is a must read for every American who cares to inform themselves about the transformation of the Democrat party. The CPUSA also joined the DSA in this goal as far back as the 1970s and admits that their members run for political office under the banner of the Democrat party.
In fact, the CPC (Congressional Progressive Caucus), with its 83 declared members, openly espouse the principles of socialism and publicly had signed onto the agenda of the Democratic Socialists of America. It was organized by the DSA per DSA's own admission. Like Obama with his seemingly multitudinous radical associations, the current estimated number of Democrats who were active in DSA (or had very close associations with likes of DSA or CPUSA), is well above their 1997 goal of 50 congressional members.
As our radical-in-chief likes to say, this is a teachable moment for those of us who still cherish the principles our great constitutional republic was founded upon. The most important lesson is that there is nothing that cannot be accomplished with dogged determination. Conservatives must stop playing by the rules of Marquis de Queensbury and understand that the road back to a truly constitutional republic will be long and at times frustrating. After all, it took the left better part of a century to erode the institutions that made America what it is. Only total commitment and willingness to get down and dirty will successfully counteract the radical goals the left has been patiently working towards for decades. The lesson that DSA teaches us must be heeded if we hope to get back and preserve an America that our founding fathers would be proud of.
Some Thoughts
"We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it." - Fmr. Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Fast forward to March 2011: Hey, look here! We found $105 billion in hidden Obamacare funding!
Boy, these socialists never tell a lie, that is if you are willing to listen to them attentively. It is just that the opposition is nothing but ostriches with their heads safely dug in ground. Moreover, they are neo-statists themselves as they once again proved it by passing the 3-week continuing resolution instead of defunding Obamacare - the same one that was found to be unconstitutional by a federal judge, which is being openly defied by the Administration.
Sometimes I feel like I am living in the twilight zone. Where are we? The U.S.A or some third rate banana republic?
Fast forward to March 2011: Hey, look here! We found $105 billion in hidden Obamacare funding!
Boy, these socialists never tell a lie, that is if you are willing to listen to them attentively. It is just that the opposition is nothing but ostriches with their heads safely dug in ground. Moreover, they are neo-statists themselves as they once again proved it by passing the 3-week continuing resolution instead of defunding Obamacare - the same one that was found to be unconstitutional by a federal judge, which is being openly defied by the Administration.
Sometimes I feel like I am living in the twilight zone. Where are we? The U.S.A or some third rate banana republic?
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Food For Thought
According to a Reuters report, the estimated cost of the Japanese disaster, with all its mind blowing devastation, is estimated at $180 billion.
We found out last week that the February 2011 deficit alone was nearly $223 billion.
In other words, following simple math, we out spend the entire cost of the Japanese devastation in just 24 days.
...And that is our deficit put in to perspective for you.
Now go back to your work, workers. Uncle Sam needs the fruits of your hard labor so that those in power can stay in power.
We found out last week that the February 2011 deficit alone was nearly $223 billion.
In other words, following simple math, we out spend the entire cost of the Japanese devastation in just 24 days.
...And that is our deficit put in to perspective for you.
Now go back to your work, workers. Uncle Sam needs the fruits of your hard labor so that those in power can stay in power.
Monday, March 14, 2011
What Is Next? Stop Air Travel?
All sorts of commentators and politicians alike are calling for a moratorium on nuclear energy because of the mishap at a 40-year old nuclear power plant following last weeks tragic earth quake and tsunami in Japan. Similar misplaced calls for moratorium were heard, and heeded by the Administration, after the B.P. Gulf spill. What is it with knee jerk reactions when incredibly rare disasters take place?
The answer lies in the progressive goal of dismantling the free market system that they despise so deeply. Energy is the life blood of a free market economy, which in turn is the mortal enemy of utopian visions of social justice achieved by collectivist methods such as socialism. Despite the fact that in a meritocracy the only possible path to 'justice' is through an unhindered free market system that preserves liberty, the left is determined to starve the free market beast by depriving it of cheap and abundant sources of energy.
The problem in Japan is not that nuclear power is unsafe - it is the location of the island nation on one of the most active fault lines in the world that makes it highly vulnerable to earth quakes. Same safety statement goes with deep sea drilling - a perfectly safe activity that had resulted in no major accident in decades.
The intellectual dishonesty is mind numbing. What does building nuclear power plants in 80% of the U.S. that are not on significant fault lines have to do with accidents that should have been foreseen due to the riskiness of a location almost 10,000 miles away?
Countries like Japan and France use nuclear power for clear majority of their energy needs, and safely so. An 8.9 earth quake and a 31 foot tsunami are inevitable and devastating enough to destroy anything - just like a plane falling out of the sky. What is next? Are they going to talk about banning commercial flight?
The answer lies in the progressive goal of dismantling the free market system that they despise so deeply. Energy is the life blood of a free market economy, which in turn is the mortal enemy of utopian visions of social justice achieved by collectivist methods such as socialism. Despite the fact that in a meritocracy the only possible path to 'justice' is through an unhindered free market system that preserves liberty, the left is determined to starve the free market beast by depriving it of cheap and abundant sources of energy.
The problem in Japan is not that nuclear power is unsafe - it is the location of the island nation on one of the most active fault lines in the world that makes it highly vulnerable to earth quakes. Same safety statement goes with deep sea drilling - a perfectly safe activity that had resulted in no major accident in decades.
The intellectual dishonesty is mind numbing. What does building nuclear power plants in 80% of the U.S. that are not on significant fault lines have to do with accidents that should have been foreseen due to the riskiness of a location almost 10,000 miles away?
Countries like Japan and France use nuclear power for clear majority of their energy needs, and safely so. An 8.9 earth quake and a 31 foot tsunami are inevitable and devastating enough to destroy anything - just like a plane falling out of the sky. What is next? Are they going to talk about banning commercial flight?
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Liar-In-Chief In Action On The Energy Front
In yesterday's press conference, the serial and pathological liar, Barack Obama, once again made demonstrably false claims regarding the drilling activity and remaining reserves of oil in the U.S. Does he honestly think that he can fool most of the people all the time, or is he delusional enough that he should be institutionalized? You decide.
Here is an excellent article from yesterday's American Thinker. It makes perfect sense when you consider that, despite the jobless recovery, this bunch is willing to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of jobs and cheaper energy for sake of their Marxist ideologies:
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Clearing-Up Today's Obama Energy Lies
by Jeff Dunetz
This afternoon the President of the United States tried one again to mislead the public about domestic oil production and how much untapped oil is left in the ground. He said that domestic oil production is at the highest level in seven years and he indicated that American reserves are not adequate to help the US reduced its dependence on foreign oil. If Congressman Wilson was in the audience he might have repeated his famous shout “You Lie.”
Domestic Oil Production
Obama commented that US oil production was at its highest point in seven years. That was both incorrect and misleading. Daily average production of oil last year 5,361,000 barrels/day the best since 2005’s 5,419,000/day. The real misleading fact about his statement, is that neither year is even close to levels seen only ten years before when production was 20% higher.
The President mentioned 35 offshore contracts were awarded, hiding the fact that off shore oil production has been way down since 2005, and that production took a big drop as soon as Obama took office (even before BP)
Source for both charts above the US Energy Information Administration.
Domestic Supply
The President grossly undersold America’s oil supply saying that we only have 2% of the worlds supply. OK he didn’t undersell, he lied big time. The number is America’s proven reserves where we are already drilling. It does not include the 10 billion barrels available in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It does not include most of the 86 billion barrels available offshore in the Outer Continental Shelf, most of which President Obama has placed under an executive drilling ban. And it does not include the 800 billion barrels of oil we have locked in shale in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. Those shale resources alone are actually three times larger than the proven reserves of Saudi Arabia, so the claim that the U.S. only has 2% of the world’s oil is clearly false.
A 2009 study by the non partisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) sheds light on America’s energy resources. It shows show the U.S. supply of recoverable oil to be 167 billion barrels of oil, the equivalent of replacing America’s current imports from OPEC countries for more than 75 years. And that’s just the oil, when you include gas and coal, the U.S. has energy reserves the equivalent of 1.3 trillion barrels.
On top of that there is more Oil to find. For example, in 2008 the US Geological Survey announced that the Arctic holds about 90 BILLION barrels of Oil, more than Nigeria, Kazakhstan and Mexico combined about one third of the reserves are in Alaskan waters. In the graph below the darker the blue the better the probability of Oil. In the map below the darker the green the more oil. The Dark green area between five and six o’clock is in Alaska territory, which is just under 30 Billion Barrels of Oil. And just like anything else in this world, politics will play a huge part in how soon we can get to it
Oil Companies Are Not Using The Leases They Have.
The President said the “Industry holds leases on tens of millions of acres both offshore and on land where they aren’t producing a thing.” and he said he wants to “encourage companies to produce [on] the leases they hold.”
If Obama is telling the truth, those oil companies must be run by idiots, paying for leases but not getting the product out of the ground so they can make money. Thankfully for those who hold stock in big oil, it isn’t that the oil companies are run by idiots its that the President thinks the American people are idiots and will believe that particular pack of lies.
A lease is for exploration and production, not just production, and because oil is not equally distributed across the globe, one parcel of leased acreage may not hold any oil. Moreover, due to government red-tape, which has gotten more complected under the Obama administration, it can take years for companies who own a lease to complete their exploration activities. To get to the production phase, it could take as long as ten years. Ironically, President Obama wants to tax companies for not producing on their leases, even if the federal government’s refusal to grant permits is the reason why those companies are not drilling.
The truth is, ever since Barack Obama took office the President has been making it more difficult to exploit our own energy resources, one of his first actions was having the Secretary of the Interior cancel leases to exploit our shale oil reserves in Utah. It seems as if President Obama’s energy policy consists of making America more dependent on foreign oil.
Here is an excellent article from yesterday's American Thinker. It makes perfect sense when you consider that, despite the jobless recovery, this bunch is willing to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of jobs and cheaper energy for sake of their Marxist ideologies:
-----
Clearing-Up Today's Obama Energy Lies
by Jeff Dunetz
This afternoon the President of the United States tried one again to mislead the public about domestic oil production and how much untapped oil is left in the ground. He said that domestic oil production is at the highest level in seven years and he indicated that American reserves are not adequate to help the US reduced its dependence on foreign oil. If Congressman Wilson was in the audience he might have repeated his famous shout “You Lie.”
Domestic Oil Production
Obama commented that US oil production was at its highest point in seven years. That was both incorrect and misleading. Daily average production of oil last year 5,361,000 barrels/day the best since 2005’s 5,419,000/day. The real misleading fact about his statement, is that neither year is even close to levels seen only ten years before when production was 20% higher.
The President mentioned 35 offshore contracts were awarded, hiding the fact that off shore oil production has been way down since 2005, and that production took a big drop as soon as Obama took office (even before BP)
Source for both charts above the US Energy Information Administration.
Domestic Supply
The President grossly undersold America’s oil supply saying that we only have 2% of the worlds supply. OK he didn’t undersell, he lied big time. The number is America’s proven reserves where we are already drilling. It does not include the 10 billion barrels available in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It does not include most of the 86 billion barrels available offshore in the Outer Continental Shelf, most of which President Obama has placed under an executive drilling ban. And it does not include the 800 billion barrels of oil we have locked in shale in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. Those shale resources alone are actually three times larger than the proven reserves of Saudi Arabia, so the claim that the U.S. only has 2% of the world’s oil is clearly false.
A 2009 study by the non partisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) sheds light on America’s energy resources. It shows show the U.S. supply of recoverable oil to be 167 billion barrels of oil, the equivalent of replacing America’s current imports from OPEC countries for more than 75 years. And that’s just the oil, when you include gas and coal, the U.S. has energy reserves the equivalent of 1.3 trillion barrels.
On top of that there is more Oil to find. For example, in 2008 the US Geological Survey announced that the Arctic holds about 90 BILLION barrels of Oil, more than Nigeria, Kazakhstan and Mexico combined about one third of the reserves are in Alaskan waters. In the graph below the darker the blue the better the probability of Oil. In the map below the darker the green the more oil. The Dark green area between five and six o’clock is in Alaska territory, which is just under 30 Billion Barrels of Oil. And just like anything else in this world, politics will play a huge part in how soon we can get to it
Oil Companies Are Not Using The Leases They Have.
The President said the “Industry holds leases on tens of millions of acres both offshore and on land where they aren’t producing a thing.” and he said he wants to “encourage companies to produce [on] the leases they hold.”
If Obama is telling the truth, those oil companies must be run by idiots, paying for leases but not getting the product out of the ground so they can make money. Thankfully for those who hold stock in big oil, it isn’t that the oil companies are run by idiots its that the President thinks the American people are idiots and will believe that particular pack of lies.
A lease is for exploration and production, not just production, and because oil is not equally distributed across the globe, one parcel of leased acreage may not hold any oil. Moreover, due to government red-tape, which has gotten more complected under the Obama administration, it can take years for companies who own a lease to complete their exploration activities. To get to the production phase, it could take as long as ten years. Ironically, President Obama wants to tax companies for not producing on their leases, even if the federal government’s refusal to grant permits is the reason why those companies are not drilling.
The truth is, ever since Barack Obama took office the President has been making it more difficult to exploit our own energy resources, one of his first actions was having the Secretary of the Interior cancel leases to exploit our shale oil reserves in Utah. It seems as if President Obama’s energy policy consists of making America more dependent on foreign oil.
Dismantling of the American Economy
On Friday, I recieved an e-mail from Bill Miller of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce:
Dear Kerem,
Yesterday, the U.S. Chamber released a landmark study on the state specific impact of stalled energy projects in 49 of the 50 states. In Virginia, 10 stalled energy projects are costing the state's economy $34.4 billion in GDP and 46,000 jobs a year that could be created during the construction phase of these projects alone.
To read more about the specific projects in Virginia and to read the full report, click here.
We'll continue to keep you updated on this important initiative and ways you can help remove obstacles to get our communities and nation working again.
Best,
Bill
----
The study estimates the potential loss of investment and jobs in the 351 proposed renewable, coal, natural gas, nuclear, and transmission projects in 49 states that have been delayed or cancelled due to EPA and environmental activism, a broken permitting process, and a system that allows for limitless lawsuits by opponents. The study features a state-by-state analysis that details the economic output and jobs that could be created by acting on these stagnant projects.
Among the notable findings of the study is the fact that almost half of the projects identified in the study are renewable energy projects. Other highlights include:
Investment Phase—Planning and construction of the study's projects would generate $577 billion in direct investment and would result in an approximately $1.1 trillion increase in U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP). An estimated 1.9 million jobs would be required during each year of construction.
Operations Phase—Operation of the study's projects would generate $99 billion in direct annual output and would yield $145 billion in increased GDP annually. An estimated average of 791,200 jobs would be created per year of operation.
Total Benefits—If constructed and operated for twenty years, the study estimates a total benefit of $3.4 trillion in GDP, including $1.4 trillion in employment earnings and an additional one million jobs per year.
And that is the sad story of the dismantling of the American economy, folks! Did anyone think they were kidding when Obama, Chu, etal said energy costs would necessarily have to increase exponentially (in Secretary Chu's case, gasoline prices of up to $10 per gallon) under their scheme? They were telling the truth all along. It was the media and most Americans who were asleep at the switch.
Dear Kerem,
Yesterday, the U.S. Chamber released a landmark study on the state specific impact of stalled energy projects in 49 of the 50 states. In Virginia, 10 stalled energy projects are costing the state's economy $34.4 billion in GDP and 46,000 jobs a year that could be created during the construction phase of these projects alone.
To read more about the specific projects in Virginia and to read the full report, click here.
We'll continue to keep you updated on this important initiative and ways you can help remove obstacles to get our communities and nation working again.
Best,
Bill
----
The study estimates the potential loss of investment and jobs in the 351 proposed renewable, coal, natural gas, nuclear, and transmission projects in 49 states that have been delayed or cancelled due to EPA and environmental activism, a broken permitting process, and a system that allows for limitless lawsuits by opponents. The study features a state-by-state analysis that details the economic output and jobs that could be created by acting on these stagnant projects.
Among the notable findings of the study is the fact that almost half of the projects identified in the study are renewable energy projects. Other highlights include:
Investment Phase—Planning and construction of the study's projects would generate $577 billion in direct investment and would result in an approximately $1.1 trillion increase in U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP). An estimated 1.9 million jobs would be required during each year of construction.
Operations Phase—Operation of the study's projects would generate $99 billion in direct annual output and would yield $145 billion in increased GDP annually. An estimated average of 791,200 jobs would be created per year of operation.
Total Benefits—If constructed and operated for twenty years, the study estimates a total benefit of $3.4 trillion in GDP, including $1.4 trillion in employment earnings and an additional one million jobs per year.
And that is the sad story of the dismantling of the American economy, folks! Did anyone think they were kidding when Obama, Chu, etal said energy costs would necessarily have to increase exponentially (in Secretary Chu's case, gasoline prices of up to $10 per gallon) under their scheme? They were telling the truth all along. It was the media and most Americans who were asleep at the switch.
Friday, March 11, 2011
More On The Future Of Our Healthcare
According to a recent story in Daily Mail, "babies born after just 23 weeks of pregnancy or earlier should be left to die", said Dr. Daphne Austin, a leading NHS official.
According to this progressive modern day eugenicist do-gooder (like Ezekiel Emmanuel, Obama's advisor), despite millions being spent on specialized treatments, very few of these children survive as their tiny bodies are too underdeveloped.
In other words, there is no need to waste money on human life deemed not viable by bureaucrats. Sounds an awful like our shameful President who voted no six times on Born Alive Infant Protection Act in Illinois State Senate despite powerful testimony from nurses who recounted slow death of babies born alive as result of botched abortions. Here is the video that should put all truly humane people who voted for this disgrace of a president in shame:
To heck with parents wishes in the U.K., the all-knowing state can make more humane decisions than anyone else. And, in the case of the U.S., even if it is the parent's wish to abandon the child to die, to heck with compassion and humanity that would save an innocent soul lucky enough to survive the abortionist butcher.
Welcome to the future of U.S. healthcare under Obamacare.
According to this progressive modern day eugenicist do-gooder (like Ezekiel Emmanuel, Obama's advisor), despite millions being spent on specialized treatments, very few of these children survive as their tiny bodies are too underdeveloped.
In other words, there is no need to waste money on human life deemed not viable by bureaucrats. Sounds an awful like our shameful President who voted no six times on Born Alive Infant Protection Act in Illinois State Senate despite powerful testimony from nurses who recounted slow death of babies born alive as result of botched abortions. Here is the video that should put all truly humane people who voted for this disgrace of a president in shame:
To heck with parents wishes in the U.K., the all-knowing state can make more humane decisions than anyone else. And, in the case of the U.S., even if it is the parent's wish to abandon the child to die, to heck with compassion and humanity that would save an innocent soul lucky enough to survive the abortionist butcher.
Welcome to the future of U.S. healthcare under Obamacare.
Progressive Hypocrisy On Collective Bargaining
According to AP, the White House is denouncing a vote by the Wisconsin Senate to strip nearly all collective bargaining rights from government workers, calling it an assault on public employees.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said President Barack Obama believes it is wrong for Wisconsin to use its budget troubles "to denigrate or vilify public sector employees."
If there is any journalistic integrity left, I guess we should expect reporters to ask the Obama Administration why no federal employee has collective bargaining rights while also asking labor union leaders why they are not protesting the federal government for not granting them their "civil rights" as they see it.
But since honest journalism died a while back, we should expect no such intellectual integrity from the media to ask the appropriate questions or the Administration and the unions to answer them.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said President Barack Obama believes it is wrong for Wisconsin to use its budget troubles "to denigrate or vilify public sector employees."
If there is any journalistic integrity left, I guess we should expect reporters to ask the Obama Administration why no federal employee has collective bargaining rights while also asking labor union leaders why they are not protesting the federal government for not granting them their "civil rights" as they see it.
But since honest journalism died a while back, we should expect no such intellectual integrity from the media to ask the appropriate questions or the Administration and the unions to answer them.
The "Civil" Left In Action
The same left that shouted from the roof tops about civility in the Tuscon shooting case (which turned out to be one of their own, once again) is strangely silent from the President on down.
The union violence in Wisconsin has been well documented by many a blogger and citizen journalists. The reports from the state capitol in the aftermath of Wednesday's vote read like some report from a European capital:
Death threats to conservatives - from Wisconsin legislature to Rep.s Bachman, King, etal. - have been rampant without a word from either the President or the media. The violent tactics, from Lenin to Alinsky, have been demonstrably adopted by today's progressives. You see it in Greece, London, Paris, San Francisco, and anywhere else the left protests liberty and freedom.
Remember, this is all because the proposal in Wisconsin would give state workers slightly more rights than federal workers currently enjoy. Their pay is not being cut. No one will be laid off. But, they will have to contribute something (that is much less than just about any other employee in America) to the health and retirement benefits. How unfair! That surely deserves setting dumpsters on fire and throwing Molotov cocktails, doesn't it?
Do you still doubt Glenn Beck, who last year predicted that Athens would be coming to the United States in 2011?
The union violence in Wisconsin has been well documented by many a blogger and citizen journalists. The reports from the state capitol in the aftermath of Wednesday's vote read like some report from a European capital:
"We have almost completely lost control of the Capitol building. We now only control the 3rd and 4th floors. Teachers Unions are sending out robo calls and emails to all their members, asking them to get to the capitol NOW. We know this as a fact. Democrat Senators are opening windows and letting protesters in. Door’s have been ripped off their hinges. Next 6-8 hours will determine who controls the capitol. If we lose control, the assembly can’t meet tomorrow. Quasi-military forces are the only option to win back control of building. They are very close to being called in. Law enforcement are leaking legislators whereabouts to protesters. No one is safe. Today they escorted State Senators across the street via an underground tunnel. It’s top secret, but protesters were waiting for them. National Guard may be called in….plans have been set. We are running out of options."
Death threats to conservatives - from Wisconsin legislature to Rep.s Bachman, King, etal. - have been rampant without a word from either the President or the media. The violent tactics, from Lenin to Alinsky, have been demonstrably adopted by today's progressives. You see it in Greece, London, Paris, San Francisco, and anywhere else the left protests liberty and freedom.
Remember, this is all because the proposal in Wisconsin would give state workers slightly more rights than federal workers currently enjoy. Their pay is not being cut. No one will be laid off. But, they will have to contribute something (that is much less than just about any other employee in America) to the health and retirement benefits. How unfair! That surely deserves setting dumpsters on fire and throwing Molotov cocktails, doesn't it?
Do you still doubt Glenn Beck, who last year predicted that Athens would be coming to the United States in 2011?
Where Is The Warming, Mr. Hansen?
Among all the craziness of the past few months, I have had no time to concentrate on the sham that is AGW (man caused global warming). Although there have been many articles filled with evidence exposing the actors in this sham (which has led the whole movement to shift and go silent for the time being) in my favorite sites like The Climate Depot and Watts Up With That, I felt that there were more pressing issues endangering our Republic.
Having said that, Lubos Motl, a Czech physicist who crusades against the new 'red movement' masquarading as the 'green movement', recently pointed out James Hansen's own words from a decade and a half ago. One of his main targets has been James Hansen of NASA who was caught red handed last year altering temperature data in order to maintain credibility.
According to all the data sets except for GISS (Goddard Institute for Space Studies - and try to guess who is the boss of GISS), the 2001-2010 decade saw a very slight cooling trend.
In 1988, James Hansen gave a testimony in front of the U.S. Congress in which he overestimated the warming trend for the next 20 years by a factor of 5 or so. His graphs were somewhat chaotic. They disagreed with the actual temperature record and some people have disputed that his prediction was this bad.
Here is a newspaper article that removes all doubt:
In 1986, James Hansen was already predicting a man-made global warming doomsday, and among lots of other utter nonsense, he comprehensibly articulated the following prediction for the temperature change during the first decade of this century:
Hansen said that the global temperature would rise by 2 to 4 degrees in the following decade (after 2000).
Wow. Today, we know that the actual temperature change (from linear regression) was minus 0.1 Fahrenheit degrees or something of this kind, depending on the dataset. For James Hansen, once again, the trend should have been plus 2-4 °F per decade. That's 20-40 °F per century which is 11-22 °C per century.
No kidding. The exaggeration is at least by a factor of 10 or so.
Everyone who believes in the explanation that James Hansen has become senile has been proved wrong. At least since 1918 or so, Jehovah's Witnesses were much more sensible and careful about the end of the world. Why would a sane person declare that the temperature change will suddenly jump by a factor of 10 or 20?
The article also explicitly predicts a doubling of CO2 to 560 ppm by 2040 (in reality, it will likely be around 2080) and a warming by 8 degrees by the 2030s. ;-) It's kind of amazing that a self-evident crackpot of this caliber who has been discredited so thoroughly and irreversibly has the chutzpah to show up in the public or even in NASA.
Come to think about it, he fits in perfectly with the incompetent fools that run Washington these days.
Having said that, Lubos Motl, a Czech physicist who crusades against the new 'red movement' masquarading as the 'green movement', recently pointed out James Hansen's own words from a decade and a half ago. One of his main targets has been James Hansen of NASA who was caught red handed last year altering temperature data in order to maintain credibility.
According to all the data sets except for GISS (Goddard Institute for Space Studies - and try to guess who is the boss of GISS), the 2001-2010 decade saw a very slight cooling trend.
In 1988, James Hansen gave a testimony in front of the U.S. Congress in which he overestimated the warming trend for the next 20 years by a factor of 5 or so. His graphs were somewhat chaotic. They disagreed with the actual temperature record and some people have disputed that his prediction was this bad.
Here is a newspaper article that removes all doubt:
In 1986, James Hansen was already predicting a man-made global warming doomsday, and among lots of other utter nonsense, he comprehensibly articulated the following prediction for the temperature change during the first decade of this century:
Hansen said that the global temperature would rise by 2 to 4 degrees in the following decade (after 2000).
Wow. Today, we know that the actual temperature change (from linear regression) was minus 0.1 Fahrenheit degrees or something of this kind, depending on the dataset. For James Hansen, once again, the trend should have been plus 2-4 °F per decade. That's 20-40 °F per century which is 11-22 °C per century.
No kidding. The exaggeration is at least by a factor of 10 or so.
Everyone who believes in the explanation that James Hansen has become senile has been proved wrong. At least since 1918 or so, Jehovah's Witnesses were much more sensible and careful about the end of the world. Why would a sane person declare that the temperature change will suddenly jump by a factor of 10 or 20?
The article also explicitly predicts a doubling of CO2 to 560 ppm by 2040 (in reality, it will likely be around 2080) and a warming by 8 degrees by the 2030s. ;-) It's kind of amazing that a self-evident crackpot of this caliber who has been discredited so thoroughly and irreversibly has the chutzpah to show up in the public or even in NASA.
Come to think about it, he fits in perfectly with the incompetent fools that run Washington these days.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Hypocritical Quote Of The Year (So Far)
As AP puts it, "protesters camped outside the Wisconsin state Assembly chamber on Thursday in anticipation of a final vote on explosive anti-union rights legislation that whisked through the Senate after Republicans outmaneuvered their missing Democratic counterparts and brought a three-week stalemate to its unexpected end."
Perhaps the most amazing part of the story is the quote from Wisconsin Senate Minority Leader, Mark Miller. Miller said: "In 30 minutes, 18 state senators undid 50 years of civil rights in Wisconsin. Their disrespect for the people of Wisconsin and their rights is an outrage that will never be forgotten. Tonight, 18 Senate Republicans conspired to take government away from the people."
Excuse me sir, but who is subverting democracy here? Just who are the 14 legislators who ran away from the state in the middle of the night like thieves in order to stop democracy dead on its tracks? How is it that collective bargaining is now considered a civil right? How is it democratic to force union members to pay dues, which go 98% to the Democrat party, which in turn returns the favor by voting for unrealistic union benefits that are bankrupting state after state? Do you even know the meaning of the words you utter without a scintilla of thought? And one more thing, just who is acting like the mob (as they always do): the tax payers of Wisconsin or your puppet masters -the unions?
You have a bright future in the Democrat party. Maybe as a cabinet secretary to the President?
Perhaps the most amazing part of the story is the quote from Wisconsin Senate Minority Leader, Mark Miller. Miller said: "In 30 minutes, 18 state senators undid 50 years of civil rights in Wisconsin. Their disrespect for the people of Wisconsin and their rights is an outrage that will never be forgotten. Tonight, 18 Senate Republicans conspired to take government away from the people."
Excuse me sir, but who is subverting democracy here? Just who are the 14 legislators who ran away from the state in the middle of the night like thieves in order to stop democracy dead on its tracks? How is it that collective bargaining is now considered a civil right? How is it democratic to force union members to pay dues, which go 98% to the Democrat party, which in turn returns the favor by voting for unrealistic union benefits that are bankrupting state after state? Do you even know the meaning of the words you utter without a scintilla of thought? And one more thing, just who is acting like the mob (as they always do): the tax payers of Wisconsin or your puppet masters -the unions?
You have a bright future in the Democrat party. Maybe as a cabinet secretary to the President?
Here Come The Lies
Fasten your seat belts, ladies and gentlemen. Democrats, who are obviously intent on bankrupting the U.S. have started their spin machine in earnest, aided by the shameless left wing media.
The Administration (HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius) said yesterday that millions of seniors could could see their Medicare payments blocked under the House GOP plan that shaves a measly $57 billion from this years budget (which amounts to be a spit in the ocean!). However, no words were uttered as to the fate that awaits seniors under Obamacare by the same party which will be cutting half a trillion dollars from Medicare and force millions of seniors on to Medicaid, or welfare to be blunt.
Mrs. Sebelius also did not deny that the $500 billion cut from Medicare could not both "save" Medicare and fund ObamaCare at the same time. Then again, this type of smoke and mirrors is what this Administration is all about.
The Administration also alluded to the fallacy that Social Security check could be delayed should the Republicans force a government shutdown. This fallacy has been put out by the willing media as well, however the cold hard fact of the matter is that 2/3 of the federal budget is on automatic pilot. Services like Medicare and Social Security checks are not affected by any government shut-down, which I am praying for.
The Administration (HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius) said yesterday that millions of seniors could could see their Medicare payments blocked under the House GOP plan that shaves a measly $57 billion from this years budget (which amounts to be a spit in the ocean!). However, no words were uttered as to the fate that awaits seniors under Obamacare by the same party which will be cutting half a trillion dollars from Medicare and force millions of seniors on to Medicaid, or welfare to be blunt.
Mrs. Sebelius also did not deny that the $500 billion cut from Medicare could not both "save" Medicare and fund ObamaCare at the same time. Then again, this type of smoke and mirrors is what this Administration is all about.
The Administration also alluded to the fallacy that Social Security check could be delayed should the Republicans force a government shutdown. This fallacy has been put out by the willing media as well, however the cold hard fact of the matter is that 2/3 of the federal budget is on automatic pilot. Services like Medicare and Social Security checks are not affected by any government shut-down, which I am praying for.
World's Largest Bond Fund Manager Heads For The Lifeboat
By: Tom Suhadolnik
American Thinker
March 10, 2011
Bill Gross manages the world's largest bond fund. If you own bonds in your retirement, either through his PIMCO fund or some other branded variant, there is a good chance he manages some of your money. Yesterday he announced he has abandoned the US bond market in his largest fund. As of January 2009, his $237 billion Total Return Fund held zero government related debt.
People expecting a stampede from the US bond market are going to be disappointed. Bond holders are not a herd of animals who follow each other blindly. Bond holders are a mass of individuals with differing opinions and levels of sophistication. If the US bond market collapses it will be more subtle.
The US bond market is akin to the Titanic. Bill Gross is a first class passenger who sensed the danger after the collision and acted on it. He didn't run for the lifeboats screaming. He casually made his way out of the ballroom; all the while smiling and engaging in cocktail party banter. He has donned his lifejacket and taken his seat in a lifeboat long before most passengers and crew realized they were in mortal danger.
Last night most of the other fund managers were still in the ballroom drinking and laughing as the crew and captain assured them all is well. The poor retail investors were locked in steerage mostly unaware of their impending fate. This morning the folks in first class will notice Bill Gross has left the party and the mood will subtly change. The crowd will soon start to drift towards the exits.
But even if more of the passengers are now aware of the danger they all face one immutable fact. There are simply are not enough lifeboats to save everyone.
American Thinker
March 10, 2011
Bill Gross manages the world's largest bond fund. If you own bonds in your retirement, either through his PIMCO fund or some other branded variant, there is a good chance he manages some of your money. Yesterday he announced he has abandoned the US bond market in his largest fund. As of January 2009, his $237 billion Total Return Fund held zero government related debt.
People expecting a stampede from the US bond market are going to be disappointed. Bond holders are not a herd of animals who follow each other blindly. Bond holders are a mass of individuals with differing opinions and levels of sophistication. If the US bond market collapses it will be more subtle.
The US bond market is akin to the Titanic. Bill Gross is a first class passenger who sensed the danger after the collision and acted on it. He didn't run for the lifeboats screaming. He casually made his way out of the ballroom; all the while smiling and engaging in cocktail party banter. He has donned his lifejacket and taken his seat in a lifeboat long before most passengers and crew realized they were in mortal danger.
Last night most of the other fund managers were still in the ballroom drinking and laughing as the crew and captain assured them all is well. The poor retail investors were locked in steerage mostly unaware of their impending fate. This morning the folks in first class will notice Bill Gross has left the party and the mood will subtly change. The crowd will soon start to drift towards the exits.
But even if more of the passengers are now aware of the danger they all face one immutable fact. There are simply are not enough lifeboats to save everyone.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Letters From Wisconsin
Sounds a bit like a novel, but in reality, this letter from the state Senate Majority Leader to the AWOL Minority Leader shows the humor in the Democrat proposal to meet at the state border (reminiscent of a cold war spy novel). I especially liked the recipient's address:
0307fitzgeraldresponse -
0307fitzgeraldresponse -
Time To Destroy The U.S. Military?
Here is an AP headline: Report says too many whites, men leading military
"The U.S. military is too white and too male at the top and needs to change recruiting and promotion policies and lift its ban on women in combat, an independent report for Congress said Monday."
Affirmative action policies have seriously dented American exceptionalism over the past forty or so years. Now, these guys are intent on destroying the U.S. military? It is only the logical next step in accomplishing their goal of bringing down America!
"The U.S. military is too white and too male at the top and needs to change recruiting and promotion policies and lift its ban on women in combat, an independent report for Congress said Monday."
Affirmative action policies have seriously dented American exceptionalism over the past forty or so years. Now, these guys are intent on destroying the U.S. military? It is only the logical next step in accomplishing their goal of bringing down America!
Amazing Level Of Incompetency On Display (Video)
Gina McCarthy, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency's office of air and radiation made the point for the umpteenth time again that the Obama Administration is not only the most corrupt but the least competent administration in U.S. history.
She admitted during a House hearing on Tuesday that she doesn't know how much carbon dioxide is in the atmosphere. How can someone so ignorant have such an important job? Sadly, it has been demonstrated to be the norm in this administration.
She admitted during a House hearing on Tuesday that she doesn't know how much carbon dioxide is in the atmosphere. How can someone so ignorant have such an important job? Sadly, it has been demonstrated to be the norm in this administration.
Monday, March 7, 2011
The Incestous Relationship Between Google And The Administration Deepens
It is no secret that the CEO Eric Schmidt of Google is a big Obama supporter. It is also becoming a well established fact that Google, along with companies like G.E. and Progressive, is increasingly getting cozier with the Obama Administration.
In the case of Google, this is worrisome not only because of the significance of Google as a disseminator of information over the web but also the company's apparent willingness to become an unofficial arm of the Obama White House.
Recently, Glenn Beck spent time documenting bothersome facts about Google. The facts that he pointed out are all independently verifiable from mainstream sources and unsettling when you consider that a private company is so actively involved in U.S. as well as geopolitics, no matter what the reasons are.
Here are just some of the highlights over the past couple of years:
Last week Big Government reported on a startlingly pro-union Google ad being placed by the union-controlled National Labor Relations Board that stated:
A day later, on Friday, the National Labor Relations Board posted what appears to be its first-ever “Fact Check” that stated the following:
Fact Check
This feature encourages accuracy in the media by correcting common misperceptions and errors of fact when they are brought to our attention.
Google Ads
It has been reported that the NLRB spent Agency funds on Google ads. An initial review indicates that the ads were provided at no charge beginning in 2008 by Google. The Agency has decided to discontinue them.
Here are some more disturbing questions (other than the one about why is a supposed mediation agency promoting unions!):
In the case of Google, this is worrisome not only because of the significance of Google as a disseminator of information over the web but also the company's apparent willingness to become an unofficial arm of the Obama White House.
Recently, Glenn Beck spent time documenting bothersome facts about Google. The facts that he pointed out are all independently verifiable from mainstream sources and unsettling when you consider that a private company is so actively involved in U.S. as well as geopolitics, no matter what the reasons are.
Here are just some of the highlights over the past couple of years:
- CEO Schmidt's unwavering support for Obama and progressive policies including net neutrality. Schmidt is also an unofficial economic advisor to the President. Company's political activism has even been on display recently in Egypt and rest of the Middle East as even the Russians apparently agree. Presumably, what lies under this activism are motivations of acquiring unparalleled riches through cronyism as well as furtherance of progressive policies throughout the globe.
- Top Google policy executive Andrew McLaughlin joins the Obama Administration.
- Katie Stanton, a former business development executive at Google who has helped with Google's election campaign projects as well as Google Finance and Google News, heads a new, undefined position in the Obama Administration called the "Director of Citizen Participation."
- Google claims to have the right to organize all of the world's electronic data for commercial purposes. The Internet giant is now also mapping much of the federal government's data.
- Google's close relationship with the Obama administration has allowed the search giant inappropriate benefits such as access to a NASA airfield and lowered scrutiny on its private practices, according to a detailed and disturbing report from Consumer Watchdog.
- A major Pentagon contract with the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) landed in 2010 amidst media reports of favoritism charges.
- Again in 2010, company outmaneuvers more established rivals in cloud computing area to secure federal certification for its Apps for Government software, which led to a lucrative GSA contract. Again, questions of preferential treatment were raised.
- Questions remain about the limits of Google's 'cooperation' with the National Security Agency in sharing personal information. Schmidt has made it clear in the past that he has no qualms about protecting privacy!
- In 2010, Google banned all sales through its shopping merchant of a DVD critical of the Obama administration (Fall of the Republic) under the terms of its program policy which bars any material deemed to be “advocating against a protected group”. Apparently, Google considers the government to be a “protected group,” and immune from criticism.
Last week Big Government reported on a startlingly pro-union Google ad being placed by the union-controlled National Labor Relations Board that stated:
A day later, on Friday, the National Labor Relations Board posted what appears to be its first-ever “Fact Check” that stated the following:
Fact Check
This feature encourages accuracy in the media by correcting common misperceptions and errors of fact when they are brought to our attention.
Google Ads
It has been reported that the NLRB spent Agency funds on Google ads. An initial review indicates that the ads were provided at no charge beginning in 2008 by Google. The Agency has decided to discontinue them.
Here are some more disturbing questions (other than the one about why is a supposed mediation agency promoting unions!):
- Why is Google giving free advertising to NLRB when it charges a bundle to anyone else?
- Can a private-sector company like Google legally provide free ads to an agency of the federal government, or whether it is permitted for an agency of the federal government to accept free services without violating a certain law? (especially when there is such a 'tight' relationship between the company and the Administration)
- Who wrote the ad on “How to Start a Union”
- What the total value of the free advertising was
- When the NLRB began accepting free advertising from Google
- How many other agencies are getting free advertising from Google
- Whether Google is getting any other form of recompense or favorable treatment for its free advertising
Then And Now: The National Deficit Edition
Fiscal 2007: $160 billion (for the WHOLE year)
versus
February 2011: $263 billion (for ONE month alone!)
In other words, FY 2007 annual deficit was approximately 38% less than the deficit government ran last month alone.
...And Democrats are out in force accusing Republican cuts (the measly $63 billion) as being too radical (with the help of the main stream media, needless to say).
May god help us all!
versus
February 2011: $263 billion (for ONE month alone!)
In other words, FY 2007 annual deficit was approximately 38% less than the deficit government ran last month alone.
...And Democrats are out in force accusing Republican cuts (the measly $63 billion) as being too radical (with the help of the main stream media, needless to say).
May god help us all!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Add One More To The List Of Incompetencies Bordering On Criminality
The list of incompetencies displayed by the Obama Administration is very long and embarassing to say the least. Now you can add this to it:
For 48 days and nights, the Deepwater Horizon well spewed oil into the Gulf of Mexico, when it could have been shut down.
As the final report of The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling states: "It is very likely that if the top kill had been designed to deliver more than 109 bpm of 16.4 ppg drilling fluid below the BOP stack for a sustained period, the Macondo blowout could have been stopped between May 26-28, 2010. Given that the well was successfully shut-in with the capping stack in July, and that the subsequent bullhead (static) kill was successful, certainly a higher rate top kill would have been successful at that time."
The New York Times reported that Energy Secretary Steven Chu was responsible for stopping the effort against BP's wishes. The contentious nature of the relationship between the National Incident Command (headed by Chu) and BP became such that BP was excluded from the press conference by the Secretary on June 1, 2009.
That is an unnecessary, extra 48 days that the well spew oil in to the Gulf due to the criminal negligence of the Obama Administration folks; and that is your government in action!
For 48 days and nights, the Deepwater Horizon well spewed oil into the Gulf of Mexico, when it could have been shut down.
As the final report of The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling states: "It is very likely that if the top kill had been designed to deliver more than 109 bpm of 16.4 ppg drilling fluid below the BOP stack for a sustained period, the Macondo blowout could have been stopped between May 26-28, 2010. Given that the well was successfully shut-in with the capping stack in July, and that the subsequent bullhead (static) kill was successful, certainly a higher rate top kill would have been successful at that time."
The New York Times reported that Energy Secretary Steven Chu was responsible for stopping the effort against BP's wishes. The contentious nature of the relationship between the National Incident Command (headed by Chu) and BP became such that BP was excluded from the press conference by the Secretary on June 1, 2009.
That is an unnecessary, extra 48 days that the well spew oil in to the Gulf due to the criminal negligence of the Obama Administration folks; and that is your government in action!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
So, What Is The Real Unemployment Rate?
It seems that the U3 unemployment rate has finally cracked the 9% rate for the first time in well over 2 years, or has it?
The official unemployment rate for February was reported by BLS to be 8.9% on Friday Morning. From the reaction of the liberal media and the Administration, you would have thought that we just attained full employment.
I hate to rain on their parade, but wait just a minute!
According to Gallup, which surveyed 19,000 people with a margin of error <0.7%, the U3 unemployment rate for February stands at 10.3%, with the all encompassing U6 standing at 19.9%!
The difference? Gallup does not seasonally adjust its rate (using a straight forward sampling of persons who are or would like to be in the labor force) whereas the BLS uses a black box and 'birth death' adjustments that no one, probably including people currently at the BLS, knows the workings of. Here is a recent post with relevant data for those interested in delving further in to the matter. Good luck, and if you do find out the workings of the black box, I am sure Dr. Steven Hawking has a theoretical physics mystery or two for you to solve.
Contrary to common misconception, the BLS data also consists of a survey (in other words, is no more reliable than Gallup methodology) and the mysterious adjustments it uses are suspect to say the least, especially when seasonal norms they rely on are not as consistent during turbulent economic times and can yield false rosy picture of unemployment.
Take it for what it is worth. Common sense should tell you that job creation picture will remain shaky as long as an anti-business, pro-union crusader who is hell bent on attaining 'redistributive justice' at any cost occupies the White House.
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P.S. By the way, what is it with deviousness of bureaucrats creating models no one can figure out? See the parallels between the 'black box' BLS uses and the intricate models that NASA and IPCC use to predict man caused global warming (which they have admitted are faulty)?
The official unemployment rate for February was reported by BLS to be 8.9% on Friday Morning. From the reaction of the liberal media and the Administration, you would have thought that we just attained full employment.
I hate to rain on their parade, but wait just a minute!
According to Gallup, which surveyed 19,000 people with a margin of error <0.7%, the U3 unemployment rate for February stands at 10.3%, with the all encompassing U6 standing at 19.9%!
The difference? Gallup does not seasonally adjust its rate (using a straight forward sampling of persons who are or would like to be in the labor force) whereas the BLS uses a black box and 'birth death' adjustments that no one, probably including people currently at the BLS, knows the workings of. Here is a recent post with relevant data for those interested in delving further in to the matter. Good luck, and if you do find out the workings of the black box, I am sure Dr. Steven Hawking has a theoretical physics mystery or two for you to solve.
Contrary to common misconception, the BLS data also consists of a survey (in other words, is no more reliable than Gallup methodology) and the mysterious adjustments it uses are suspect to say the least, especially when seasonal norms they rely on are not as consistent during turbulent economic times and can yield false rosy picture of unemployment.
Take it for what it is worth. Common sense should tell you that job creation picture will remain shaky as long as an anti-business, pro-union crusader who is hell bent on attaining 'redistributive justice' at any cost occupies the White House.
-------
P.S. By the way, what is it with deviousness of bureaucrats creating models no one can figure out? See the parallels between the 'black box' BLS uses and the intricate models that NASA and IPCC use to predict man caused global warming (which they have admitted are faulty)?
Friday, March 4, 2011
Consequences Of Green Socialism
When it comes to state socialism as represented by green energy policies run amok, the U.K. is well ahead of the U.S.
According to the Daily Telegraph, Steve Holliday, the CEO of the National Grid in the U.K., said days of permanent electricity availability are over and Britons will have to learn to consume electricity when it is available.
That is green progress for you. Coming soon to a state near you if progressives in the U.S. have their way!
According to the Daily Telegraph, Steve Holliday, the CEO of the National Grid in the U.K., said days of permanent electricity availability are over and Britons will have to learn to consume electricity when it is available.
That is green progress for you. Coming soon to a state near you if progressives in the U.S. have their way!
The Forgotten Civility
So what exactly happened to the "new tone" of civility declared by President Obama and the Democrats after the Arizona shooting?
Well in Wisconsin, Unions traded in their "new tone" of civility for picket signs with gun targets and pictures of Hitler, accompanied by vitriolic threats and hate filled speech directed at Governor Scott Walker and the Republican Party.
And based on President Obama's non-condemnation of Union actions and behavior in Wisconsin, he has obviously granted Unions an exemption from his "new tone" mandate.
President Obama clearly understands that Unions have a long standing tradition of being uncompromising, unapologetic and uncivil when it comes to doing whatever it takes to get their way.
We should expect nothing less from a President who respects and honors such rich American traditions. Afterall, he has had infinitely more contact with union bosses than his own cabinet members over the past two years.
Well in Wisconsin, Unions traded in their "new tone" of civility for picket signs with gun targets and pictures of Hitler, accompanied by vitriolic threats and hate filled speech directed at Governor Scott Walker and the Republican Party.
And based on President Obama's non-condemnation of Union actions and behavior in Wisconsin, he has obviously granted Unions an exemption from his "new tone" mandate.
President Obama clearly understands that Unions have a long standing tradition of being uncompromising, unapologetic and uncivil when it comes to doing whatever it takes to get their way.
We should expect nothing less from a President who respects and honors such rich American traditions. Afterall, he has had infinitely more contact with union bosses than his own cabinet members over the past two years.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Wonder What Your Kids Are Learning In School?
Wonder no more! If your child's school system is using Building Fluency Through Practice and Performance - a program that qualifies for a variety of federal funding initiatives - which is geared towards 'disadvantaged' kids, here is the 'revised' preamble to the U.S. Constitution:
I bet that you did not know that the promise of America is... socialism!
I bet that you did not know that the promise of America is... socialism!
Disguised as a reading exercise, the Preamble has been turned into a five page choral project with commentary worthy of the NEA and the AFT communists planted inside this very simple sentence.
TCM sells ‘The Promise of America’ to thousands of school districts all across the country as well as over 100 countries around the world. I suggest you make sure your school system is wise enough to stay clear off such indoctrination.
...And This Passes As Mainstream View In Hollywood!
This is exactly why I have not seen a movie in years! I simply will not give a penny to these bastards.
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