Monthly Archives: February 2011

Politician Ditching Global Warming Hoax To Save His Own Job

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Politicians (and Democrats in particular) rarely have few core beliefs beyond getting re-elected to office.  Senator Sherrod Brown (Democrat- Ohio) a big supporter of the global warming hoax provides a perfect illustration of a politician ditching his beliefs and going into survival mode:

In a Feb. 28 letter to the White House, the Ohio lawmaker called for an “assessment of the economic repercussions and potential unintended consequences of the greenhouse gas regulation” currently going into effect.

The concern is not a new one for Brown, who faces a tough reelection campaign in 2012, observes The Hill. “But the new letter could be a political blow to advocates of EPA’s emissions rules,” who are already contending with destroy or delay initiatives from Republicans and even centrist Democrats, The Hill adds.

But, when you pay a visit to Senator Sherrod Brown’s web site, he is still claiming that global warming is real, and we need to do something about it now.

Experts from across the globe and throughout the United States have come to consensus: Global climate change is real. It is our most pressing environmental issue today, and without action, we put at risk the health of our families, the well-being of our coastal areas, the productivity of our farms, forests, and fisheries, and our homeland security.

Climate change cannot be overcome by any one nation; the United States must return to international negotiations to limit greenhouse gas emissions. With active leadership, we can ensure that the costs and benefits of stopping global warming are shared by developed and developing nations alike.

It is in our nation’s best interest to confront global warming, not only to protect our planet, but to break free from dependence on foreign sources of energy.

For far too long, energy policy in the United States has been written by global oil companies with their profits in mind. As a result, gas prices are soaring and global warming continues unchecked. It’s a ticket to disaster.

Ohio can be a leader in the fight to reduce consumption of foreign oil and decrease our carbon emissions if we invest in clean energy development. We can bolster our economy and stimulate our manufacturing industry by developing and utilizing clean energy sources. Ohio’s skilled workers should be building the solar panels, the fuel cells, and the wind turbines that go into the production of alternative energy.

So rather than save the ENTIRE PLANET from the global warming hoax, Senator Sherrod Brown would rater save his job.

“I’m from the government and I’m here to help”

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“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”

President Ronald Reagan

The riots in the middle east are rooted in no small part in the sharp rise in food prices:

But in addition to the apparent revolt against repressive governments, all the experts say the other main cause of unrest is record food prices. For example, former Bush advisor Dan Senor notes that Egypt is the world’s largest wheat importer. Because of skyrocketing prices, Egyptian inflation is now over 10 percent.

So I have to ask this tough question: Is Ben Bernanke’s ultra-easy QE2 money pump-priming partially to blame?

Commodities are priced in dollars, and the Fed has been overproducing dollars for more than two years. Consequently, emerging markets throughout the world — and the food sector in particular — are suffering from rising inflation.

In Dubai’s gulf news, they are pointing out that there is adequate production and the real problem is governmental interference in the markets:

“Global governance is completely adrift, as the outcome of the recent G20 finance ministers meeting in Paris bears out. The French presidency of the G20 has promised to make food price volatility a priority, but one must not raise hopes too much. More likely the G20 will get bogged down in global imbalances and currency issues.

“The problem with food is not production, but distribution and governance.”

While the world’s population has grown by 5 per cent over the last five years or so, production of basic food commodities — rice, wheat, corn, soya, oilseeds, etc. — did so by 10 per cent. But the food crisis, according to Lehmann, emerges mainly from its poor distribution and governance.

“Poor governance means, among many things, that prices are distorted by interventions, subsidies [for ethanol at the expense of corn in the US] and export quotas,” he said. “Yes, we will have more shocks.”

For those in the industry, the food crisis is not even of recent origin. During a trip to Dubai late last year, Frits Van Djik, executive vice-president at Nestle, the world’s largest food company, said: “Since the so-called food crisis started in 2007, all commodities have been impacted at some point or the other.

Whenever government interfere in the markets it is a complete disaster.

Saturday Morning Quick Hits: The DARPA Cheetah-Bot Edition

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Sometimes, it feels like The Terminator movies are getting closer to reality every day. DARPA and Boston Dynamics Cheetah-Bot:

The CHEETAH robot will have four legs, a flexible spine, an articulated head/neck, and possibly a tail. It will run fast: faster than any existing legged robot and faster than the fastest human runners. In addition to top speed, the CHEETAH robot will be designed to make tight turns so it can zigzag to chase or evade, and it will accelerate rapidly, starting and stopping on a dime. Like ATLAS, it will leverage the advanced control software and high-tech mechanical and electrical systems that Boston Dynamics created for previous robots, such as BigDog, PETMAN and others.

Cue the T2 theme music….

Regular readers of MCT probably have noticed blogging has been very light as of late. I’ve been super busy the last few weeks. However, this is no excuse for not saying thanks to Jamie Jeffords @ The Eye of Polyphemus (A.K.A. “The Eye” at MotorCityTimes) for placing MCT in his weekly BlogRoll spotlight.

Speaking of The Eye: A More Perfect Dis-Union

Political Realities: The Realities Of Ethanol

Shape-Shifting John McCain: 2010′s Most “Conservative” Senator. To quote Obama “Winning The Future?”

Tom Nelson: Alaska’s coordinator for endangered species: “Polar bears are at an all-time high of abundance level”

FCBZ: More Snow, Rain, Floods to Hammer Midwest, Northeast US, Canada, UK — Records Will Be Broken This Weekend (video)

Vote early and often: CH2.0′s Useful Idiot of February poll.

It takes a village of useful idiots to fundamentally transform America

The Daley Gator has a great video round-up of union thugs doing what union thugs do.

Here’s a news item I’ll bet the CWA union leaders didn’t want to see in print. They’re offering to pay union members to attend today’s Trenton rally in support of the Wisconsin public workers.

Via The Blaze:

As we’ve reported, former White House green jobs czar Van Jones this week issued a rallying call for the progressive movement to “renew itself and become again a national force with which to be reckoned.” On Saturday, progressive groups and labor unions are reportedly planning to hold marches of solidarity in all 50 states.

Here in Washington, D.C., leftist activists at MoveOn.org are co-hosting a rally Saturday with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). But behind the scenes, The Blaze has exclusively learned the rally has actually been organized by the International Socialist Organization.

How fitting.

Video: US-Israeli Arrow 2 Missile Defense Successful Intercept off California

An Open Letter To Our Unionized Public Servants

Closing out the Terminator / Scary Robot theme, SyFy Channel is going to re-run Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles this spring.

The beauty of this show was that it was the one true production that felt like a natural progression from Terminator and T:2 Judgement Day, you know the good ones. Showrunner Josh Friedman was loved by fans for his gritty take, who understood the need for a dark, morose tone, and nurtured the characters James Cameron created in brave and logical directions. Others were frustrated at the slow pace of the show and lack of action, but to those people, I simply say, “Were you happy with T3: Rise of the Machines and Terminator: Salvation?” I swear, there’s just no love for good, long form dramas with action tastefully worked in–at least on network television.

Here is a preview clip from from the Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles premier:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x20ssn

Team Obama Unilaterally Decides What Laws They Are Going To Enforce

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In Obama’s America, Obama and Eric Holder get to decide what laws they like, and are going to enforce and what laws they are going to ignore.

But Holder said Wednesday that he and President Obama had determined after an extensive review that the law’s key section is unconstitutional. “Given that conclusion, the President has instructed the Department not to defend the statute” in court, Holder said in a statement.

Federal judges tell Obama to lift his unilateral oil drilling ban, Obama ignores it. In Arizona, the state passes an immigration law, because the Federal government isn’t doing it’s job. And what does Obama do? He jumps all over the people of Arizona rather than enforce Federal law.

The United States Is Becoming A “Fine” Nation

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While perusing the news at times it seems like the United States is quickly moving from being a great nation to being a “fine” nation. For an example of what I mean by a “fine” nation, the EPA has recently fined a Massachusetts company $32K for a paperwork violation.

[T]he EPA claims that it failed to file required reports, in violation of the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.

It is not a big dollar amount (in the grand scheme of things). However, to a small business, a $32,000 hit to the bottom line can force you to shut your doors for good. And, its not like the Massachusetts company used in my example was dumping vats of mercury into a river. They simply (according to the EPA) didn’t file the proper paperwork.

For a glimps of how far this trend can go, look no further than Singapore. Sometimes residents of the city state (half jokingly) refer to their home as “the fine city.”

Via The Guardian:

the penalties are nothing compared to the canings, jail terms and public shamings offenders face in Singapore.

Indeed the tiny south-east Asian island republic that is home to four million people has developed such a reputation over the past 30 years for penalising the smallest offences that it is known to many tourists as “Singapore: the fine city”.

One of the most popular souvenirs is a T-shirt with the above slogan on the front and pictures of the offences and penalties on the back.

These include: selling or importing chewing gum S$1,000 (£370), dropping gum or litter S$1,000, dancing in public S$5,000, skateboarding S$500, smoking in most public places S$1,000, hawking without a licence S$500, vandalism S$5,000 and public speaking without a permit S$2,000.

In many ways we in the United States are quickly moving to becoming a “fine” nation. Think about it…

Very soon, we will not be able to purchase a low cost and effective incandescent light-bulbs. We will be forced, by governmental fiat to purchase the more expensive, less reliable mercury filled CFL bulbs or the even more expensive monochromatic LED bulbs. This is effectively a fine, because we will be unable to purchase the lower cost incandescent bulbs.

Thanks to Democrats ramming ObamaCare through Congress, every American now has to purchase government approved health care or face a fine.

I could do a blog post every day pointing out where businesses fail to file one slip of paper, with the government and the EPA is breathing down their necks. In press release after press release from the EPA, you see where the EPA will euphemistically say so-and-so corporation has settled with the EPA. Businesses can’t afford to fight a Federal government that can literally print money out of thin air.

The only people who can stop this are the American voters who need to decide if they want to live in a country where the government will literally fine you for not flushing your toilet, or in a country where people think and take care of themselves.

Finger Eleven: Paralyzer

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Cool tune…

YouTube Preview Image

Saturday Morning Quick Hits: The Vintage Jeep Edition

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Jeep is first domestic automotive brand to reach more than 1 million Facebook fans

Chrysler Group LLC announced today that the Jeep brand is the first domestic automotive brand to reach more than 1 million Facebook fans. By hitting more than 1 million fans on its Facebook page, the Jeep brand exceeds the next closest domestic automotive brand fan’s total by more than 450,000.

The ‘Bot: Government Cheese

BlackFive:

They have called the Governor Hitler, Mubarak and made more eliminationist threats than the entire tea party has in two years. This tantrum is a disgrace, but a welcome one. By completely beclowning themselves and exposing their naked greed and unwillingeness to act in the common good, they have made it much easier to shut their redistributionist asses down. Here is their show of American patriotism. Me, I, mine is their motto.

Is Wisconsin Being Set Up as Republican Governors’ Egypt?

Obama Administration ordered to act on drilling permits

Spellchek: Time is running out for the dependency nation

theCL: End Foreign “Aid” Now!

The Eye: Wisconsin Protests Speak Volumes About Democrats

Nothing quite shows you’re sacrificing for the greater good and getting some of that Obama-mandated “skin in the game” than to flit off and go skiing in Vail, Colorado for the weekend or having a mini-vacation in the Florida Keys, as the Bidens are. Thanks, taxpayers!

The Sentry Journal has a great Friday rant. Be sure to read it all:

Elected officials need to be reminded of who is in charge here. R’s behind your name mean nothing to me now. We can no longer make assumptions based on party alignment. If you don’t sell out for the cause of making REAL entitlement reform, you’re worthless to me. I will send $0 to you, I will not write one positive note about you, I will not argue on your behalf, pass out your buttons and stickers, or walk across the street to see you. In contrast, if you’re willing to lead in the movement to shrink government CONSIDERABLY, then I will do everything in my power to get you elected. Unless you have the testicular fortitude to make Chris Christie look like a eunuch; you’d better look for support elsewhere.

China Censors US Posts on Internet Freedom

Great Moments in Civil Discourse: Wisconsin Union Members Didn’t Get the Memo

Now They Tell Us: CBO Says Repealing ObamaCare Will Save $1.4 Trillion

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We knew this all along. Via Ace:

By repealing those coverage provisions of PPACA and the Reconciliation Act, over the 2012-2021 period H.R. 2 would yield gross savings of $1,390 billion and net savings (after accounting for the offsets just mentioned) of $1,042 billion.

It is amazing what happens when you apply a little common sense to the accounting model.