Monthly Archives: January 2011

Increasing Domestic Energy Production Will Improve Economy

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If you read National Review, you would read this today:

The objective case for developing our oil and gas wealth is pretty straightforward. With the exception of climate change, pretty much everything the Obama administration considers a major problem would be improved by opening the floodgates to new exploration.

The deficit? The oil industry already pays the U.S. treasury more than $95 million a day in taxes, rent, royalties, and the like. If you expand exploration, you expand revenues. According to estimates, if America unlocked its oil and gas reserves, the government could take in somewhere between $1 trillion and $2 trillion in additional revenue over the coming years. And that’s not counting the increased revenues from the stimulus of lower fuel and energy costs.

Trade imbalances? Domestic oil and gas is, by definition, not imported. The more we produce here, the less we import, or the more we can sell overseas. Either way, the trade deficit goes down and GDP goes up.

Jobs? You can’t drill for American oil or natural gas in China, Saudi Arabia, or anyplace other than America. Oil- and gas-exploration jobs pay more than twice the national average.

If you read motorcitytimes.com, you would’ve read about this subject more than a month ago:

Real energy (not the wind or solar nonsense) and raw material production are the foundation of a strong economy. Obama’s latest oil drilling ban is not only going to destroy all the direct and indirect jobs in the effected areas, this ban will spread higher prices for virtually everything across the entire economy, causing further economic damage.

I’m glad the crew at NRO are finally coming around.

Further reading on the subject @ MCT:

Oil Spill Is Now An Excuse For Democrats Green Energy Agenda

CNN: The Solution To Rising Number Of Electrical Blackouts Is Not Increasing Power Supply

MCT Category Archives: Green Energy

Friday Night Quick Hits: The 2012 Ferrari FF Edition

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A four passenger Ferrari hatchback?

The specs:

0-62 in 3.7 seconds (a third quicker than the 612) and a top speed of 208 mph (about nine mph faster than the 612). Credit that bit to the all-new, direct-injection, 6.3-liter V12 and its 651 horsepower and 504 lb-ft of torque.

A great summary of the House of Rep’s vote to repeal ObamaCare

Did the Rhetoric of the Abortion-Absolutist Left Encourage Kermitt Gosnell?

America Derangement Syndrome:

The only thing for which we are responsible is our own personal actions in life. We make our own decisions, and we live with the consequences. The only problem is, we are allowing our government to exceedingly relieve of us of those consequences. And that is what is killing us. If no one is responsible for anything, then we can all act and do whatever we like. Or, we can do nothing, and the government will take care of us. This mentality must stop.

The Robot is back: Hu’s Your Daddy!

Why all the statism?

Will “Centrist” Obama Win?

If the Republican Party wimp out and embraces a moderate agenda, trying to meet him in the middle, Obama will succeed and will be with us for six more years. But if the GOP defines itself in stark contrasts and pushes conservative policies, we will beat him. The key is to test Obama’s centrism by confronting him with bold demands to rollback health reform, undo his massive spending, deregulate community banks, enable state bankruptcies, and block pending executive orders to impose carbon taxes, card check unionization, and FCC regulation of talk radio and the Internet.

We have got to make the gentile and lulling waves of Obama’s new-found moderation crash up against the rocks of Republican demands. Then the leftist rib tide that lurks underneath the seemingly calm waters will be exposed and, in the ensuing surf, he will flounder

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan Has Jury Duty?

Video: Monster Rocket Blasts Spy Satellite Into Space

MTTM: Mackinac Center State Of State Rankings

Cynical Synapse: Back to the Future: Transit Returning to Detroit

DHS orders Border Patrol to pick up trash!

Obama will deliver the State of the Union address in just 4 days. I won’t waste my time listening. Rather, I thought I would revisit a much more inspiring, and much more relevant speech. That would be the inaugural speech delivered by Ronald Reagan 30 years ago. It is really amazing just how relevant it is.

Iranium – Raising The Stakes Between Canada And Iran

CFL bulbs: Reality can’t match the hype

Pundette: WaPo drain-circling picks up speed

Gary Peters D-MI: Repeal Of ObamaCare Will Raise Taxes On Small Businesses

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His words, not mine:

The repeal legislation (H.R. 2), which Rep. Peters opposed, would fully eliminate the new small business health care tax credits that went into effect last year. More than 126,000 small businesses in Michigan qualify for the tax credits.

“The health care tax credits are making a real difference for small businesses here in Michigan and helping to ease the burden of rising health care costs,” said Representative Peters. “With unemployment at nearly twelve percent in Michigan, the last thing small businesses need are more taxes and higher health care costs, but that’s exactly what this bill would deliver.”

So, what exactly are the 16,500 newly minted IRS agents that ObamaCare created going to do? Pass out tax refunds?

Get real.

Joining Gary Peters in doubling down in their support for the Democrats Unconstitutional and overreaching legislation are the balance of Michigan’s House Democrats:

  • John Dingell
  • Dale Kildee
  • John Conyers
  • Sander Levin
  • Hansen Clarke

Every last one of these Representatives need to be voted out of office on November 6th, 2012 (657 days from today).

80′s Politics Were More Civil?

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The one-hundredth year anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth is coming up. Yeah, it is. And the Drive-Bys and the Democrats, you’ll see it popping up, “Oh, what a wonderful time the eighties was. Tip O’Neill and Ronaldus Magnus, yeah, they mighta gone at it tooth and nail in the daytime, but then they went out and had a beer after work.” That never happened. Reagan never left the White House for a beer. The 1980s were just as vitriolic as they are today. Reagan was called a Nazi, just like Bush was. Nothing’s different. Folks, if you weren’t alive then or if you weren’t old enough to be paying attention, do not doubt me. The hatred for Ronald Reagan was universal in the Democrat Party and throughout the media.

Rush Limbaugh

The left will begin calling for ‘bipartisanship’ and ‘civility’ whenever they begin to feel that they are losing the debate on the issues. For the left, it is Standard Operating Procedure.

Recently, the left is adding a new (and unbelievable) twist. The left is now claiming President Ronald Reagan ‘reset’ relations with Democrats in Congress, helping secure his signature tax cuts.

Reagan may have tried to reset his relations with the Democrats and the left in America. The left, in turn, savaged Reagan for the entire duration of his Presidency.

click for larger version

Just as today’s left is excoriating Sarah Palin at every turn, they did the same thing to President Reagan during the 80′s.

Remember, politics in America have never been civil.

Monday Night Quick Hits: The Guardian Goes Full Orwell Edition

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I love the title: The Guardian Goes Full Orwell. Via Public Secrets:

Therefore, of course, we need “reasonable regulation” (including the Fairness Doctrine, with terms set by wise men such as Jenkins) of free speech in order to save free speech, because we can’t handle free speech.

And black is white.

And down is up.

And all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

Just amazing.

An Ode to GOP RINO’s and Fox News – Our Lips Are Sealed

Seriously, McCain and Sarah Palin split on Obama? This is because McCain is a flaming RINO.

What happens when you have a liberal president, liberal congress and liberal senate? Answer: The Military Leadership Diversity Commission. Sounds nice and liberal doesn’t it?

Your next Honda?

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Extra big tip O’ the hat to theCL

Speaking of theCL:

Ben Bernanke can inflate the currency to infinity, the purchasing power of your dollar will remain intact. Well … unless you eat that is, or like to keep your house warm …

The more the people learn about Sarah Palin……………..

James Madison—Father of the Constitution?

Civility = Bipartisanship?

Modern Ruins, they are not just found in Detroit.

CH2.0: Resource Links: Tucson Shooting Propaganda vs. the Truth

Brett Reese – Damaging The 2nd Amendment In Colorado

The Key to Defeating the Progressives:

The effort here is to control, from the earliest possible age, the beliefs and thoughts of the child. Education is a secondary concern, if it is even a concern at all. Knowledge and facts are secondary to that of the intended ideology. If knowledge is indeed the currency of freedom, socialists must therefore carefully control what is taught, and competing opinions should be banished, and their proponents marginalized and punished. Therefore, in any socialist or fascist state, education was among the first institutions to receive a complete conversion.

Funny: Journalist’s Guide To Firearms Identification

Build a better Nerf Gun.

The Cult: She Sells Sanctuary Live

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Live at The Ritz 1985… 80′s music is great:

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*I wish the audio was better on this clip.

Attorney General & The Justice Department Are Making Environmental Justice A Priority

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Every federal agency should be responsible for integrating EJ as part their missions and ensuring that their programs address disproportionately high and adverse effects of their programs actions on minority, low–income, and indigenous populations. For example, all federal agencies are responsible for considering environmental justice issues in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental impact assessments and enforcing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

EPA Environmental Justice Plan EJ 2014

Attorney General Eric Holder, speaking at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Program, stated that his agency is making the EPA’s Environmental Justice plan a top priority:

That’s why the Justice Department has integrated our environmental justice goals into all of our enforcement efforts and comprehensive strategic plans. And that’s why we are seeking out and seizing new opportunities to collaborate more effectively with our EPA partners.

Several recent efforts reflect our agencies’ renewed, and strategic, focus on environmental justice issues – including our work in re-establishing the Federal Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice, in co-hosting last month’s listening session in Atlanta, and in coordinating and strengthening our outreach to environmental justice leaders and experts.

Today, together, we are approaching environmental justice as what it is- a civil rights issue. By examining environmental requirements in conjunction with our civil rights laws, I am confident that we can do a better job of assuring fairness and advancing justice.

I want you to know that – at every level of the Justice Department, just like here at the EPA – this work is a top priority. And, for me, it is also a personal calling.

The Environmental Justice movement is now in possession of some serious teeth within the federal government. With these new legal and regulatory teeth, bureaucrats and their supporters are planning to use their authority, that will in turn, hamper economic activity in the name of Environmental Justice. Costing even more jobs.

All paid for by our own tax dollars.

Oh, and by the way, the EPA recently awarded a $7 million grant to fund “cumulative human health risk assessment research.”

Via the EPA:

Scientists around the country will study a combination of harmful factors affecting human health, including research on poor and underserved communities with extensive pollution-based problems. This ground-breaking research will focus on environments where people are exposed to multiple stressors such as chemicals, anxiety, and poor nutrition. When these stressors are combined, they can lead to a much higher risk of health issues.

“EPA made a public commitment in 2010 to take action to address contributors to disproportionate environmental health impacts,” said Dr. Paul Anastas, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “This research could pave the way for more interdisciplinary work that is responsive to community concerns and environmental justice.”

All that money, down the drain…

More Discussion of China’s Economic Bubble

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Via ASI:

I’m always a little surprised to hear free market economists waxing lyrical about China. True, China has taken some extraordinary steps forward since they began to liberalize their economy, and many people have been lifted out of poverty as a result. But we should not lose sight of the fact that China is still dominated by the state and run by central planners, and that all of the failings of socialism remain present and correct. Indeed, there is a strong case for arguing that much of what we are witnessing in China now is not real growth at all, but rather a bubble driven by easy credit, with resources being misallocated on a grand scale.

Of course, if you are a regular reader of motorcitytimes.com, you would’ve read about this issue months ago. Nine months ago to be exact.

Friday Night Quick Hits: The Super Computer 1, Humans 0 Edition

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IBM’s new SuperComputer kicked Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter collective butts in a practice round of Jeopardy:

So, in February IBM’s Watson will be in an official Jeopardy tournament-style competition with titans of trivia Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. That competition will be taped starting tomorrow, but hopefully we’ll get to know if a computer really can take down the greatest Jeopardy players of all time in “real time” as the show airs. It will be a historic event on par with Deep Blue vs. Garry Kasparov, and we’ll absolutely be glued to our seats. Today IBM and Jeopardy offered a quick teaser of that match, with the three contestants knocking out three categories at lightning speed. Not a single question was answered wrongly, and at the end of the match Watson, who answers questions with a cold computer voice, telegraphing his certainty with simple color changes on his “avatar,” was ahead with $4,400, Ken had $3,400, and Brad had $1,200.

Can you say SkyNet?

The costs of war

The Municipal Bond Crisis Is About to Begin

Individual Needs

In Nuclear Silos, Death Wears a Snuggie

Though tedious, missile duty is not without perks. The uniform regulations are relaxed, though not by design. Once the blast door thuds shut and a crew is free from the prying eyes of the public or enlisted personnel topside, out come the pajamas and hooded sweatshirts.

In a favorite missileer uniform patch (right), the Grim Reaper sits at an ICBM console, dressed in bunny slippers. In the real world, death wears a campus T-shirt, JCrew bottoms and the ubiquitous Snuggie. The silly blanket-robe hybrid is suited to the missile force, keeping an officer toasty while allowing him to interact with the weapons console unobstructed.

This patch would fit in nicely with these

JENNERATIONX- Weekly Round-up of Energy News

Iran rounds up Christians in crackdown

Snowpocalypse 2011

As of a couple days ago, snow is present on the ground for 69.4% of the lower 48 US states. More than two-thirds of the country is snow-covered. It’s not too late. We could still meet last February’s snow in all 50 states.

MTTM: Comparing Headlines

Obscure full moon names. Here are two:

Jul. 15, 2:40 a.m. EDT – Full Buck Moon: when the new antlers of buck deer push out from their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, thunderstorms being now most frequent. Sometimes it’s also called the Full Hay Moon.

Aug. 13, 2:57 p.m. EDT – Full Sturgeon Moon: When this large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water like Lake Champlain is most readily caught. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because when the moon rises it looks reddish through sultry haze, or the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.

Don’t be a “Dupnik”

Douchebag Bill Maher Confirms His Idiocy

Tweeting with a telegraph key