Monthly Archives: December 2010

Tuesday Night Quick Hits: The Global Warming Causes Record Snow Edition

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Freak pattern brings Europe record cold & snow: Same pattern supporting cold in eastern U.S.

You know the greens are loosing it when they are now calling 2010 “the Valley Forge of climate activism.” The following is an excerpt of the rambling and incoherent post:

Two Thousand Ten may well be looked back upon as the year US climate activists and published climate scientists lost their metaphorical Battle of Brandywine, and as the year in which it sunk in that recycling and frugal lifestyles and better design could not hold the lines, as a new class of broadcast media and internet-based Inquisitors overran them on several fronts. Still in retreat, climate continentals have as yet found no Valley Forge in which to encamp and no Von Steuben to help with training. It might now seem that only a leader of heroic military or religious stature would be capable of leading the United States from cable TV-induced stupor. I have a different thesis.

It took a decade or more for broadcast and print media to mislead the citizenry about climate science – whether by intent or by general lameness hardly matters – and the fix can only come from the same source: mass media.

How about trying some, you know, actual research and not cherry-picking data to fit your Socialist agenda.

Most Common Passwords of Website Users Revealed (video)

EPA: “We really don’t care if you think the data is confidential… This is global warming we are talking about”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing actions under the greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting program to address issues about the public availability of certain data that some businesses may consider to be confidential. The total emissions for each facility is still required to be reported to EPA and released to the public.

In July 2010, EPA proposed to determine that information included in emissions equations are “emissions data” and cannot be protected as confidential business information under the Clean Air Act. Under the proposed determination, EPA would have to make these data available to the public once they are submitted to the agency.

And people wonder why business in the United States are leaving.

First day of winter and Minneapolis sets record with 5th snow emergency of the year.

Michael Moore Defends WikiLeaks and Attacks the Right for “Lies” about “Sicko”

FCC to Circumvent Congress – Rule 5 in Danger!

Another example of the failure known as the ’green economy’: Retrained for green jobs, but still waiting on work

Just when you thought the leftists in our country couldn’t get more pathetic- The Toy Gun Bash:

Dominic joined dozens of children yesterday at the annual Toy Gun Bash in the gymnasium of Pleasant View Elementary School. There, they lined up to toss their toy guns, from dainty purple water guns to camouflage-painted pistols, inside the Bash-O-Matic, a large black, foam creature with churning metal teeth and the shape of a cockroach spliced with a frog.

You know it’s bad California when green companies move out of Berkeley

Unions look to get another win with NLRB proposed rule on membership

The math.. just do the math I say!

Arnold Schwarzenegger Trying To Muscle In On Jennifer Granholms’ Next Gig

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The second worst (or maybe third) Governor in America is trying to steal Jennifer Granholms‘ next gig working for Obama:

Schwarzenegger, who counts legislation combating global warming as one of his signature achievements in office, suggested he might be interested in a post dealing with energy or the environment.

“I’m a big believer in environmental issues,” Schwarzenegger said, who added that he wanted a post where he could use his “celebrity power … knowledge and experience” to impact public policy. “I’ve traveled the world. … I’m very familiar with the world.”

It’s not a far-fetched idea. Obama has often mentioned Schwarzenegger as someone he’s like to have in the Cabinet, citing his work on climate change. For months, there have been rumors in Washington that the former action star might join the administration as a climate change czar or as an adviser on energy and the environment. The White House has repeatedly declined to comment on personnel issues.

I don’t think the worst Governor in America is going to be happy reading this. Remember  what Granholm said in July of this year:

“Everything he [Obama] says about clean energy are words that I could have said,” she said with a chuckle. “I shouldn’t say that. He’s says them so much more eloquently than I do.”

It will be interesting to see what happens next.

Wishing all Druids, Democrats, Pagans, Progressives, Liberals and Environmentalists Happy Winter Solstice

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Its funny, the author says Christmas is everywhere this time of year yet all I ever hear or see is a generic ‘Holiday.’

Although all things Christmas seem to be anywhere you turn at this time of the year, not everyone participates, as pointed out by advisers to the New Age Circle Club at Genesee Community College.

“Not everyone celebrates Christmas. We celebrate Yule in my house,” said Nichola Lerczak, adviser to the New Age Circle club as she held a broomstick pen and looked through books like “A Witch’s Bible” to find an illustration of the calendar holidays celebrated by pagans.

“Yule is much like Christmas because most of the Christan holidays have some sort of pagan underlay. It’s based on the Winter Solstice, which is a couple of days before,” she said, pointing to the circular calendar. This year, the Winter Solstice falls on Dec. 21.

“It’s all about the return of the sun, and some research links that to Jesus, the Son. The Christmas tree itself is arguably pagan because it is nature and some pagans were even tree celebraters.”

The New Age Circle club aims to spread awareness of alternative religions, especially paganism. Generally speaking, paganism is a spirituality that is based on nature with holidays and rituals that coincide with the changing seasons. There are many subsets of paganism, just as there are many different ways to follow Christianity, Lerczak explained .

Sometimes, during Pagan meetings, the discussion turns to the ‘omnipresence‘ of Christmas:

Lerczak, Librarian of Instructional Services at the college, agreed to head up the small group and now hosts meetings to discuss the many “flavors” of paganism. While attendance varies, the club usually has anywhere from five to 10 members. Sometimes, meetings turn into discussions of the omnipresence of Christmas.

Here is wishing all Druids, Democrats, Pagans, Progressives, Liberals and Environmentalists a very Happy Winter Solstice!


Sunday Night Quick Hits: The “Your tax dollars at work” Edition

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Your tax dollars at work:

Type in a search of “ObamaCare” into Google — the world’s most popular search engine — and the results may surprise you. According to Politico’s Ben Smith, the Obama administration has purchased top billing to divert internet surfers away from antagonist websites to a new “sponsored link” — the Department of Health and Human Service’s (HHS) healthcare.gov

Adam Smith Institute: Tax and spend destroys living standards

Most market sympathisers know that lower are overall taxes, the smaller is government and the higher are living standards, but for support they concentrate on statistical evidence such as the adverse relationship between economic growth and the level of overall taxes. This evidence is very strong, but an underlying theory showing WHY this is the case would make it far stronger.

Naturally such a theory exists, but it is little known nowadays outside Adam Smith aficionados and the Austrian School of Economics to which both Ludwig von Mises and F. A. Hayek belonged. Even then, I have yet to see a simple and arresting explanation. In The Constitution of Liberty, Hayek refers to the effects of taxation, including “the frequent restriction or reduction of the division of labour”. The Institute of Directors’ Graeme Leach refers to the “deadweight loss” as the loss of output that would have occurred in the absence of the tax – a loss of economic welfare above and beyond the tax revenues collected.

These observations are absolutely correct, but it is probably fair to say that they do not describe in layman’s terms the simple mechanism at work. We must remember what we are up against in the shape of government and the public sector in general (including many schoolteachers and lecturers); the last thing they want is to have their cover blown.

It is nothing short of a scandal that generally respected commentators can still promote government spending as a major plank in getting out of the current recession when (in addition to the fact that such spending was a major plank in creating the recession) it will inevitably reduce output even further. Such a level of ignorance could not possibly exist were it not for the state’s iron grip on the education system via a nationalised school system including a national curriculum. And you certainly won’t find a mention of the topic on the website of the “National School of Government”, the Civil Service training college.

What Would The Founders Think? Federalist No. 11

Cynical Synapse: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Is History

Remember the saying about chickens, counting and hatching:

The population continues to shift from Democratic-leaning Rust Belt states to Republican-leaning Sun Belt states, a trend the Census Bureau will detail in its once-a-decade report to the president. Political clout shifts, too, because the nation must reapportion the 435 House districts to make them roughly equal in population, based on the latest census figures.

The biggest gainer will be Texas, a GOP-dominated state expected to gain up to four new House seats, for a total of 36. The chief losers – New York and Ohio, each projected by nongovernment analysts to lose two seats – were carried by Obama in 2008 and are typical of states in the Northeast and Midwest that are declining in political influence.

Democrats’ problems don’t end there.

November’s elections put Republicans in control of dozens of state legislatures and governorships, just as states prepare to redraw their congressional and legislative district maps. It’s often a brutally partisan process, and Republicans’ control in those states will enable them to create new districts to their liking.

I’m sure there is a joke about liberals in here somewhere.

CLASSIFIED MOTO XS650

Why we still fight in Afghanistan

Another theory that has been around since the start of the war has been economic gain. This seems more plausible to me the more I look into this issue. The reason behind it is China. The wars of the future are not only going to be due to the old stalwarts like land and religion, they are going to be fought over food, water and raw materials. Raw materials, in particular precious metals, is where China has the upper hand. Currently, China mines more than 95% of all rare earth minerals. Yes, over 95%! These minerals are key in the future production of automobiles, computers, energy, medical, and military technology just to name a few. Plans are already in the works to at least extremely limit China’s exports of these highly in demand precious minerals. They claim they need them to meet their own demand. Maybe that’s true, but regardless, it means shortages and skyrocketing prices for the rest of the world.

Wireless carriers openly considering charging per service

FCBZ: Bill O’Reilly Speaks Out Against Those Who Want to Kill Christmas: “A Very Liberal Christmas”

The DHS Mission Creep: Battling Climate Change as Homeland Security Issue

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The Department Of Homeland Security is ‘teaming up’ with the EPA to combat the effects of the hoax known as global warming or climate change (depending on the weather).

Via CNSN:

At an all-day White House conference on “environmental justice,” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that her department is creating a new task force to battle the effects of climate change on domestic security operations.

Speaking at the first White House Forum on Environmental Justice on Thursday, Napolitano discussed the initial findings of the department’s recently created “Climate Change and Adaptation Task Force.”

Napolitano explained that the task force was charged with “identifying and assessing the impact that climate change could have on the missions and operations of the Department of Homeland Security.”

According to the former Arizona governor, the task force would address specific questions, including:

“How will FEMA work with state and local partners to plan for increased flooding or wildfire or hurricane activity that is more serious than we’ve seen before? What assistance can the Coast Guard bring to bear to assist remote villages in, for example, Alaska which already have been negatively affected by changes up in the Arctic?”

The Department of Homeland Security, like the EPA, will use any excuse to infringe upon our freedom.

Democrats wonder why they have difficulty finding support among Religious voters.

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“But it should also include — it should also include other, you know, information about contraception because, look, I’ve got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old,” he added.

“I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby,” Obama said.

Barrack Obama, April 2008

Democrats wonder why they have difficulty finding support among Religious voters.

But, in just two short years, the left has become sluggish in its courtship of religious voters, significantly scaling back its faith-outreach programs. While many factors—primarily the economy—doomed the Democrats this fall, the consequences of this abdication nevertheless seem to be severe. In the recent midterm elections, House Democrats lost white evangelical voters in greater numbers than they did in 2004, when “values voters” flocked to George W. Bush. Reversing their Democratic allegiance from the past two elections, Catholics—nearly a quarter of all voters—favored the GOP 54 to 44 percent. Compared to 2008, the drop-offs were steep: a 20-point decline with Catholics, a 14-point decline with white evangelicals, and a 10-point decline with white Protestants. How and why did this happen?

“How and why did this happen?”

Are they serious?

Apparently, Democrats can’t wrap their minds around the idea that when your core beliefs (as much as Liberal Democrats have core beliefs) revolve around things that are the opposite of  the vast majority of religious doctrine you are going to have difficulty gaining support from Religious groups.

Issue by issue, the Democrat agenda is openly hostile toward religion: Abortion on demand, harvesting unborn children for failed ‘scientific’ experiments, defining marriage as anything the left wants at any time,  euthanasia and wiping God from every corner of the Republic.

Its astounding that Democrats have any support from religious voters.

Going Green Without Thinking It Through: Bicycle Powered Battery Recharging Device

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There are several ways you could create a mini generator on a bicycle.

This is not one of them.

And, in case you didn’t notice, it really is ‘green.’

Tapered forks? No problems here.  Spoke to generator “mesh?” Should work like a charm. Hit a small bump? The friction fit will keep the generator in place.

Why reinvent the wheel?

Friday Night Quick Hits: The Boozing Buddies Edition

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If you find yourself in the Ukraine and don’t want to drink alone:

It’s cheap at the price — for 14 euros, a Ukrainian firm hires out drinking buddies to help while away the evenings in the industrial town of Dniprodzerzhynsk. The service is proving very popular.

A firm in eastern Ukraine has come up with a promising business idea — hiring out drinking buddies with whom clients can shoot the breeze on long evenings out in the industrial town of Dniprodzerzhynsk, presumably over a bottle or two of vodka.

For a fee of around €14 ($18), a company called “Kind Fairy” provides “a pleasant companion who can enliven a boring evening,” manager Yulia Peyeva told AFP.

Another example of how the automotive industry is one of the most heavily  regulated industries in America

Poll concludes the government is always right, and dissenters are mislead

John Bolton eyes 2012 presidential run.

Bolton, the fiery, archconservative former United Nations ambassador, sees an opening in the 2012 Republican field. And his case, while far-fetched, is not altogether implausible.

“As I survey the situation, I think the Republican field is wide open,” Bolton told POLITICO. “I don’t think the party’s anywhere close to a decision. And stranger things have happened. For example, inexperienced senators from Illinois have gotten presidential nominations.”

I like John Bolton… And I love that quote.

Inflation In History

Governments fund themselves through three ways. They can either – tax, borrow or inflate. The last option is preferred, as it is the method least likely to anger the public. However, inflation is associated with large-scale wars and great social and economic upheavals.

Invasion of the Mexican Drones!

America, Are You Ready? Part II – The Road Less Traveled

The definition of insanity: Left Leaning Group Pressures HUD to Increase Bad Mortgages

Earmarks And Pork – One And The Same Or Not?

Want to See What Pork Your Senator or Congressman Requested for 2011?

The Porsche Bobsled?

Americans Will Need DHS Approval for Private Sector Jobs:

TWIC is short for Transportation Worker Identification Credential and SWAC stands for Secure Worker Access Consortium.

TWIC “is a biometric credential that ensures only vetted workers are eligible to enter a secure construction site, unescorted,” Ironworkers Local 361 in Ozone Park, New York, explains. “Before issuing a TWIC, TSA must conduct a security threat assessment on the TWIC applicant. An applicant who, as a result of the assessment, is determined to not pose a security threat, will be issued a TWIC card.”

In other words, construction workers in New York will need permission from the TSA and DHS in order to practice their profession and earn a living.

The Definition Of “Frivolous Law Suit”

5etester @ Spellchek: Happy days are here again

Progressives v. Conservatives on Christianity