Something to remember in 2010 and 2012

This AP article on the UN climate summit in Copenhagen has this tidbit:

A $30 billion fund over the next three years, scaling up to $100 billion a year by 2020, was a key element of the deal brokered by President Barack Obama with the leaders of China and other major developing countries at the 193-nation conference that ended last weekend.

By now, it should be painfully apparent the whole UN climate change thing is more about redistribution of wealth than it is about melting ice caps. Furthermore, it is wealth that O doesn't have.

This is just one more example of the Democrats' fiscal irresponsibility. They can expect to be held responsible in the upcoming election cycles.

On the climate change discussion

The AP recently published an interview with Frank Euredi of Kent University. In it, Euredi basically lamented the state of the climate debate; various groups "knowledgeable or oblivious" shouting back and forth, in his view, with the Internet playing an enabling role. Then he makes this irksome observation:

Democracy in action? That’s one way of seeing it. But is something deeper afoot? As the amplification of human opinion becomes more democratic, is the suspicion of the expert and the intellectual — a long-held trope in American society — going globally viral?

A long-held trope? Oh, my. Oh, the condescension.  Where to start?

To take the current debate and generalize on the American character is to show a lack of understanding of both.  Whereas Euredi's characterization of the latter is more of a cheap shot, I shall instead address the former.

The current debate is mostly about wealth transfer between the haves and the have-nots at the expense of the public purse.  That fact alone, not to mention the numerous questions raised about the underlying data and climate models, makes this debate everyman's concern.

I can understand how Euredi would like the discussion be limited to the science community and the rest of us to just shut up and sit down.  And, the rest of us would most likely do just that if this whole climate discussion was limited to science.  But, the climate discussion is not now, if it ever was, about pure science and Euredi needs to accept the involvement of those other affected groups as legitimate.

O is out of the country?

Quick! Change the locks!

More CO2 regulation nonsence

There now is much ado over 1) O cannot sign a treaty at COP15 limiting CO2 emissions without concurrence of the Senate (true) and, 2) O is holding the upper hand because of the threat that the EPA will take over CO2 emissions in a "command and control" mode (false).

Congress has the authority to take climate change and CO2 emissions off the plate of not only the EPA but also the Supreme Court which ruled on CO2 emissions. All that is required is a Senate with the will to stand up against this abrogation of our national sovereignty.

More evidence of climate change chicanery

A number of sources are quoting a statement by Russia's Institute for Ecomomic Analysis claiming that temperature data from Russia may have been tampered with.  According to the RIA Novosti article entitled Russia affected by Climategate

On Tuesday, the Moscow-based Institute of Economic Analysis (IEA) issued a report claiming that the Hadley Center for Climate Change based at the headquarters of the British Meteorological Office in Exeter (Devon, England) had probably tampered with Russian-climate data.

The IEA believes that Russian meteorological-station data did not substantiate the anthropogenic global-warming theory.

The summary went on to say data from only 25% of Russian stations was used eliminating data from 40% of Russian territory.

SA. 2837 to SA 2786 to H.R. 3590 Healthcare

At the request of Sen. Coburn, Sen. Sanders' amendment 2837 is being read aloud on the Senate floor.

By my count, Sander's amendment has 366 pages. The reading began around 17:00GMT. At 18:37GMT, the clerk has reached page 46.

There is a plum in the amendment to Section 1304 concerning community organizations:

(B) ASSISTANCE.--Each State Health Security Advisory Council shall provide assistance and technical support to community organizations and public and private non-profit agencies submitting applications for funding under appropriate State and Federal public health programs, with particular emphasis placed on assisting those applicants with broad consumer representation.

Check the last clause. Can you spell ACORN?

I suspect Sen. Sanders did not wish for this reading to happen.

Fat cats

On December 13, 2009, O opened his mouth and uttered these words:

"I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat-cat bankers on Wall Street," Obama said in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes.

That description would fit George Soros. So, is O planning on cutting the ties to his patron?

It's not the prison walls...

Well, it finally happened. The terrorists at Guantanamo Bay are going to a prison at Thomson, Illinois. In the words of Rep. Donald Manzullo (IL-16), "Gitmo is not being closed. They're just moving it..."

A lot has been said about how no one has ever escaped from a supermax prison such as Thomson will be. But, that's not even an issue. I believe these terrorists are not going to be able to tunnel out.

The real issue is, by moving these guys to the mainland, their custody moves from the military to the purview of the civilian courts. And, I am not sure our court system is able to deal with the situation.

So, rather than finding a way to break out, some of these terrorists may be invited to walk out through the front gate.

The real meaning of Copenhagen

New climate draft has gaping holes at UN talks

Here is the essence of climate talks at Copenhagen:

…European Union leaders agreed in Brussels to commit euro2.4 billion ($3.6 billion) a year until 2012 to a short-term fund to help poor countries cope with climate change.

Forget all the hype over rising sea levels and melting ice caps.  It’s about the money.  Mainly, how much wealth can be transferred from the ‘haves’ to the ‘have-nots-but-want-some-of-yours’.

Assume, for the moment, the ‘poor’ countries get the money mentioned.  What do you suppose they would do with it?  Help their people achieve a better standard of living?  Or, will the insiders merely enrich themselves.  Will there be an accounting required of the recipients?  Or, will it be ‘none of your business’.

The real meaning of Copenhagen?  Wealth transfer on a global scale.

Update: There was an offer of US$10B per annum but the 'needy' are holding out for US$100B per annum.

Can you spell ḥuṣpāh.

From biggovernment.com

Found on Big Government:



More cool [sic] videos at M4GW.

Things a little tense over at the White House?

Gibbs: Poll like a six-year-old

A Gallup poll on Tuesday reported O’s approval rating has dropped to 47 percent.  With the possible exception of Bill Clinton, this is the lowest value in recent times for a president at this point in his first term. [link]

When questioned, White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, had this to say:

"I tell you, if I was a heart patient and Gallup was my EKG, I'd visit my doctor," Gibbs said. "If you look back, I think five days ago, there was an 11-point spread, now there's a 1-point spread. I mean, I'm sure a 6-year-old with a crayon could do something not unlike that. I don't put a lot of stake in, never have, in the EKG that is the daily Gallup trend."

Seems like the boys over at the White House are a little tense these days.

One would think these results would be taken as a hint that a change of course was in order.  After all, Gallup has a seventy-year history behind them.  But, I doubt that such a thought has, or will, cross the mind of this president.

More ‘climate change’ humbug

Louisianans Watches Native Land Sinking Into Sea

The Biloxi-Chitimacha living on Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana will need to move because their land is being inundated by the Gulf of Mexico.  The tribal Chief is calling for the remaining tribe members to move to higher ground.

This is how ABC News characterized these events:

In the process they will become some of America's first climate refugees, fleeing for higher ground and leaving their ancestral home behind.

Characterizing what is happening to Isle de Jean Charles  as a ‘climate’ event and the tribe as ‘climate refugees’ is bald-faced humbug.

The reason the Biloxi-Chitimacha’s land is disappearing is because of the Corps of Engineer’s levee system which cut off the monsoonal floods and accompanying silting; hardly a ‘climate’ process.

But, the leftist media, along with the internationalist progressives in O’s administration, will do anything, say anything to advance the global warming/climate change meme.

What a crock…

Our President and the Emperor

Our young President's naiveté is showing.

And, I would be surprised to hear the Emperor and Empress were not a little bemused as well.

Recommended Reading

Health Care: Missing the Forest for the Trees

The linked article by Janet M. Orient, MD, has a number of perceptive observations about the health care legislation bills currently active in Congress.

Definitely worth reading.

Adm. Mullen sailing the PC seas

Navy SEALs accused of punching accused Falluja plotter

There is something bad wrong with the Navy admiralty.  In my mind, it began with Adm. Zumwalt who began tearing down two centuries of naval tradition. 

Now, we have three valiant Navy Seals up on charges.  And, for what?

Three U.S. Navy SEALs face criminal charges after the alleged mastermind of one of the most notorious crimes against Americans in Iraq [Ahmed Hashim Abed] accused them of punching him after his capture, the military said Wednesday.

Abed was punched?  So he says.  But, Abed watches the news from this country.  He knows our government is PC to a fault.  He knows he can cause a lot of trouble for his captors just by making the statement.

Adm. Zumwalt started the Navy's decline and Adm. Mullen—by allowing this travesty on his watch—is protracting it.

Proof of Global Warming Chicanery

The widely suspect and now debunked 'hockey stick' graph, published by the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, has been exposed through a series of e-mails between researchers.

Other news sources (e.g., Reuters) are maintaining this revelation is merely 'awkward but not a game changer' as the evidence for global warming is overwhelming.

Overwhelming? Yeah, sure. Just like the 'rigorous' reindeer study or the 'proof' that the entire Antarctic continent underwent warming. [link]

Perhaps those same writers ought to stop and consider whether the so-called 'evidence of global warming' is rather 'proof of global chicanery.'

Hot Air in Copenhagen?

Irwin M. Stelzer of the Hudson Institute has an opinion piece in the Weekly Standard¹ analyzing the activities leading up to Copenhagen 2009.  You know; the U.N. sponsored fraud aimed at transferring wealth from the Developed Nations—mostly the U.S.—to the Rest of the World.

Stelzer was doing pretty good until he inserted the following clinker near the end of the article:

Too bad the Copenhagen delegates won’t consider an alternative to centralized U.N. control: private sector investment, backed by carbon taxes or an effective trading scheme that puts a price on carbon and thereby levels the playing field between carbon-free technologies and carbon-intensive ones.

What Stelzer seems to have a blind spot for is:  If  using carbon-free technology was inherently advantageous, it would attract private sector investment  on its own.  Free market dynamics would ensure it.  Instead, Stelzer falls back on the Socialist idea of using government intervention to force an outcome.

What a bummer.

¹Hot Air in Copenhagen, Stelzer, Irwin M., The Weekly Standard, November 23, 2009, pp. 14-16.

The Obama Administration

Obama the candidate told us we could see what his administration would be like by looking at the people he surrounds himself with.

It is plain to see he was truthful about that.

But, not much else.

Just one year since being elected Obama has visited twenty countries.  More than any other President at this time in office.

So, how can a President take so much time away?  How can a President be so detached from the business of governing?  Who is doing the work of the Executive branch?

Could it be the thirty-two Marxist czars he has surrounded himself with?  Could it be the President is merely the front man for certain Unions and Marxist-Socialist organizations?

Non sequitur

Feds move to seize 4 mosques, tower linked to Iran

This action is non sequitur given the recent news.  Shias are not perpetrating suicidal jihad.

First, we have a shooting at Fort Hood.  Next, we have our President showing up at an Indian affairs meeting where he gives an Oh, by the way.   There was a shooting.  Now, this.

What are we to think?  Does our government have their eye on the ball?

Lindsey Graham—Wrong as wrong can be

GOP's Graham steps out on a limb on climate change

"If I can create legislation that would allow this country to stop buying so much foreign oil and make us safer — plus find a solution to the carbon pollution hurting our planet — that would be a good use of my time, " Graham told McClatchy . "If that costs me my job, it would be well worth it."

The first part of Graham’s statement is fine.  The part about carbon—a reference to the farcical meme perpetrated by a small cadre of U.N. strap-hangers—is as wrong as wrong can be.

Graham added: "But I don't think it will cost me my job."

Don’t be so sure.

H. R. 3200 Unconstitutional

H. R. 3200 and similar legislation, if enacted into law, will very likely be declared unconstitutional. 

Simply stated, legislation of this type amounts to Congress establishing the Federal government as a national health insurance regulator; an authority nowhere granted to Congress by the Constitution.

That said, it does not mean Congress has no role to play in the current health insurance reform debate.

Currently, purchase of health insurance is subject to anti-competitive barriers erected by the several in states; such purchases being limited to those policies licensed within the purchaser’s state by that state’s insurance commissioner.  No other policy may be sold in any given state.

It is here that Congress has a role to play.  And, it is simple and straightforward:  The framers of the Constitution intended for Congress to eliminate trade barriers between the states when they wrote Article I, Section 8; the ‘commerce’ clause.  And, the restrictions on which policy may be sold in any given state meets that criteria.

So, Congress should scrap H. R. 3200 and instead enact legislation that will prevent states from using licensing laws as barrier to out-of-state insurers.  Simple, straightforward and, most importantly, constitutional.

Technorati Tags: H. R. 3200,  health insurance reform

Trackbacked to:  Rosemary's Thoughts,  Right Truth,  The World According to Carl,  Pink Flamingo

Update:   HR 3200 has been replaced by HR 3269 introduced 10/29/2009.  It is made of the same stuff as the former bill except it now consumes four reams of paper.

Another Spurious Global Warming Claim

Statistics experts reject global cooling claims

According to this AP report, the AP commissioned “independent statisticians” to examine some “global temperature” data and render a judgment as to whether or not the Earth is currently undergoing a cooling period.

The statisticians, reviewing two sets of temperature data, found no trend of falling temperatures over time.

The statisticians involved and the data source were not identified.
News reports such as this need to be regarded with a healthy dose of skepticism.  The result of any analysis of this type depends on the data.  And, if the data are inappropriate or faulty—a not unlikely scenario—any conclusions drawn will be wrong.

Update:  Checking the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory logs shows the sun is in a very quiet phase when it should be well into an active phase.  This same behavior signaled the beginning of the Maunder Minimum spanning 1645 to 1715 and ushered in the mini-ice age.

Technorati Tags: Climate Change,  Global Warming, Global Cooling

Nancy the Pelosiosaur

Does the government fear us? Or do we fear the government? When the people fear the government, tyranny has found victory. The federal government is our servant, not our master!  —Thos. Jefferson

Pelosi worried about angry health care rhetoric

WASHINGTON – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that the anti-government rhetoric over President Barack Obama's health care reform effort is troubling because it reminds her of the violent debate over gay rights that roiled San Francisco in the 1970s.

As usual, The Nancy’s fears are misplaced.  But, what else could you expect of a kook from the Left Coast?  For someone that has led the House down the wrong path, fear of being voted out would be more to the point and justified.  Not that the thought will cross her mind.  Like the dinosaurs that came before, Pelosiosaur will plod along unaware that times have changed.

Technorati Tags: Pelosi,  Health Care Reform

Who let Jimmy out?

Jimmy Carter: Wilson comments 'based on racism'

ATLANTA – Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst to President Barack Obama during a speech to Congress last week was an act "based on racism" and rooted in fears of a black president.

"I think it's based on racism," Carter said in response to an audience question at a town hall held at his presidential center in Atlanta. "There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president."

Oh, my.  Poor Jimmy.  It appears he has lost his grip on reality.  Worse, he’s wandered away from the Home, again.  He really shouldn't be out alone.

Technorati Tags: Joe Wilson,  Jimmy Carter,  You Lie

The chastising of Joe Wilson

This is how The System that our Congress has become attempts to silence non-conformist views:[link]

"There was a violation of the rules of the House," said Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly. "It needs to be resolved by an apology or a resolution."
A Democrat will introduce a "resolution of disapproval" Monday or Tuesday unless Wilson formally apologizes on the House floor…

Of course, this is a political game the Democrats should not try to play:

With apologies to to George Lucas: “You can’t win, Nancy.  Strike me down and I shall become more powerful than you can imagine”.

Joe Wilson will join ranks with the other icon of ‘speaking truth to power’:  Joe the Plumber.

Technorati Tags: Joe Wilson,  Joe the Plumber,  Pelosi

Words, words and…

Obama kept up a steady weekend drumbeat of cheerleading for his health care plan in a campaign-style rally, on the radio and Internet, and on network television. He planned to continue the pace with more events designed to seize control of the health care debate following his address to Congress last week in which he urged Democrats and Republicans to come together. [link]

…more words.  That is all the President’s pronouncements are.  The only thing that counts is a bill.  Let’s see the bill and give us time to digest it.

Technorati Tags: Health Care,  Obama Speech,  H. R. 3200

ACORN 0, American People 1

After two exposés by Fox News, the Census Bureau reportedly cut relations with ACORN.

ACORN was slated to do neighborhood canvassing for the 2010 census.

After ACORN’s shameful performance in the last national election, where boxes full of ACORN voter registration forms had to be set aside by local election officials, this news cannot come too soon.

Technorati Tags: ACORN

On the decline of Congressional independence

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) created quite a stir last night when he yelled ‘you lie’ to O during O’s speech to the joint session of Congress.

Everyone, including his Republican colleagues, chastised Rep. Wilson for his outburst.  Wilson himself felt compelled to call the W/H and apologize.

Well, I have news for Congress and the media:  Being elected to the Presidency does not confer royal prerogative on the President.  And, Congress is not the inferior House in our American republic.

While some may consider Rep. Wilson’s outburst rude it certainly does not rise to a breach of some high protocol.

Our Congress, probably since FDR, has for all practical purposes become the legislative arm of the Executive.  This has to stop.  And, if it takes more Congressmen like Rep. Wilson, so be it.

Technorati Tags: healthcare address,  Rep. Wilson,  You Lie

O’s health care plan: What he isn’t saying

FACT CHECK: Obama drops iffy line on health plan

I’ve criticized the AP for their lack of balance in their reporting.  A notable exception is their ‘Fact Check’ reports on O’s healthcare plan.  This is a ‘must read’ if you want to be informed on what H. R. 3200 really means to you and your ability to obtain insurance.

Technorati Tags: health care,  H. R. 3200,  Obama

On the health care debate

I think this whole discussion about a ‘public option’ versus ‘co-ops’ has gotten totally wrapped around the axle.

A co-op, when considered in its historical context, should not be some sort of national government sponsored enterprise. But, this is the way the idea of a co-op is being put forward under the health care reform debate. With the Government putting forth the seed money, it is for all practical purposes a GSE.

Instead, it should be a mechanism where small businesses can form a group to buy insurance coverage for their employees. And, historically, the seed money is raised by the co-op (e.g., by selling shares to the members).

Additionally, the co-ops should be able to shop for insurance nation-wide.  In other words, the individual States must not be allowed to use anti-competitive licensing laws to restrict which insurer is allowed to sell policies to any given State’s residents.

O wants to increase insurance coverage without increasing cost to taxpayers?  This is the way to do it.

Technorati Tags: Insurance reform,  health care

You think the AP is fair and balanced?

Think again.

YES! Over 10,000 turn out!!

WOW!!! We just completed our rally in New Lenox/Joliet, IL outside of Barack Obama's bastion of Chicago.  And guess what - we had by far the largest crowd yet!  To those of you in the cities where we are going to visit over the next few days you have your work cut out for you!

Nothing about it from the AP or the MSM.  A local managed this screed.

So, O still has his attack dogs out there.

Technorati Tags: Tea Party Express,  Obama,  AP

Goodbye, Good Riddance

So, Van Jones thinks he was a victim of a vicious smear campaign?  Lies and distortions?

So, is bringing his own speeches to light a lie?  A distortion?  He was brought down by his own words.

As they say, “If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.”

Technorati Tags: Van Jones

It’s not the speech, Stupid

O’s speech to the school children has created quite a dust-up around the country.  Here is Gibbs’ take:

"I think we've reached a little bit of the silly season when the president of the United States can't tell kids in school to study hard and stay in school," presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters. "I think both political parties agree that the dropout rate is something that threatens our long-term economic success."

I think Gibbs’ dismissive attitude indicates the WH does not grasp how much distrust O has generated across the country.

This goes deeper than one speech.  It’s O’s whole agenda and his trying to ram it through Congress.  People simply don’t trust him and the furor over this speech is just a symptom.

Technorati Tags: School Speech,  Obama

All the news that fits

Robert Gates protests AP decision as 'appalling'

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is objecting “in the strongest terms” to an Associated Press decision to transmit a photograph showing a mortally wounded 21-year-old Marine in his final moments of life, calling the decision “appalling” and a breach of “common decency.”

The AP response:

‘AP journalists document world events every day. Afghanistan is no exception. We feel it is our journalistic duty to show the reality of the war there, however unpleasant and brutal that sometimes is,’ said Santiago Lyon, the director of photography for AP.

As far as I am concerned, the AP reportage is hardly what one would consider fair and balanced.  If it were, they would have written about some of the non-combat successes by our military.  But we don’t see that because, from the AP’s viewpoint, such things don’t ‘fit.’  The photo in question does.

Technorati Tags: Afghanistan,  Robert  Gates

Politics of the Left

Key Democrat suggests party moderates 'brain dead'

Moderate Blue Dog Democrats "just want to cause trouble," said Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., who heads the health subcommittee on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.

"They're for the most part, I hate to say, brain dead, but they're just looking to raise money from insurance companies and promote a right-wing agenda that is not really very useful in this whole process," Stark told reporters on a conference call.

This dismissive attitude exhibited by Rep. Stark seems to be a common attribute of leftists towards people that disagree with them.

Technorati Tags: Blue Dog Democrats,  Leftist Democrat

The leftist media is at it again

First it was Iraq.  Now it’s Afghanistan.

Obama facing hard choices on Afghanistan war plans

WASHINGTON – As public support for the war in Afghanistan erodes…

Since when did public support start waning?  When Obama’s handmaidens in the media said so?

I really believe the mainstream media—the A.P. and the three broadcast outlets plus their affiliates on cable—amount to a fifth column.

Technorati Tags: Fifth column,  isolationists,  mainstream media,  Obama

Still more climate change fearmongering

Beetles, wildfire: Double threat in warming world

The warmers are at it again.  Where to begin.  Bark beetles killing conifers.  Fires in the dead conifers.  Permafrost thawing. And…and, oh the CO2 emissions.   The world as we know it is ending.  Woe is us.

Or is it?

There is no evidence that the beetle infestation would not have happened anyway.  Nevertheless, why should we get wee weed  about it?  Once the firs and spruce have burned off, aspen and birch will take over.

Is that so bad?

To the warmers, it’s irrelevant because it doesn’t coincide with their world view.

And it has less to do with the environment than you might guess.

Technorati Tags: Global warming,  permafrost,  bark beetle

More climate change fearmongering

In hot water: World sets ocean temperature record

WASHINGTON — Steve Kramer spent an hour and a half swimming in the ocean this week — in Maine.

The water temperature was 72 degrees — more like Ocean City, Md., this time of year. And Ocean City's water temp hit 88 degrees, toasty even by Miami Beach standards.

This is bad news?

The U.N. gloom-and-doomers have be predicting the Arctic ice melt will cut off the Gulf current and plunge Europe into another ice age.

It didn't happen.

So, take a deep breath, ignore the doomers and enjoy the swimming.

Tags: Climate Change

If you like your healthcare plan…

…you can keep your healthcare plan.  So says the President.  For the purposes of H. R. 32oo as introduced in the House, these plans are defined as grandfathered plans (Sec. 102(a)).

So, this means the Feds are not going to take over health care in this Country.  Or, does it really?

Section 102(a)(1)—LIMITATION ON NEW ENROLLMENT—has the provision in (A) that no new enrollments in such plans shall be made after the AAHC Act becomes law.

Further down, Section 102(c)—LIMITATION ON INDIVIDUAL HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE—subsection (1) has the provision that individual coverage may only be issued through the Federal Health Insurance Exchange.

The effect of limitation on new enrollments will be the pool of insured under those plans will shrink because of attrition due to a variety of reasons.  Eventually, those plans will become infeasible to maintain due to costs to the insured.  And, because of 102(c)(1), there will be no place to go except to Federally defined plans.

So, it is true:  If you like your plan, you can keep your plan.

What is not being said is your plan will eventually wither away and there will be no recourse but to go into the Federal defined plans.

Slick, huh?

Technorati Tags: H. R. 3200,  Health Care Reform

Trackback: Israpundit,  Americana83,  Millard Fillmore's Bathtub

Ezekiel Emanuel: Caught with pants down

Ezekiel Emanuel, Rahm's brother, fights death panel health care smears

Heh.  I suppose the Left’s smears are America’s truth-telling.  Here is what’s being written:

WASHINGTON -- Ezekiel Emanuel is a noted oncologist, bioethicist, older brother of White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, an Obama administration health policy adviser -- and the target of smears by Sarah Palin and other critics of Democratic health care legislation. He's now fighting back.

Emanuel is no "Dr. Death," though he has published a lot on end-of-life issues. He is an opponent of legalizing euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.

Contrary to the article, no one is accusing him of advocating pulling the plug on the very young or the old.

Ezekiel Emanuel is the brother of Obama chief-of-staff, Rahm (can you spell cronyism?).

His protestations should be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism. His record is clear: He is the author of an article published in The Lancet, explaining how healthcare should be rationed amongst the population in the event of a national emergency (e.g., a Federal budget shortfall?).

My take on Dr. Emanuel’s proposal is this:  The lives of the very young and of the elderly would not be considered valuable enough to have public funds expended on them. Euthanasia is not a part of the plan.

Instead, the government-run healthcare system would simply deny these people benefits leaving you on your own.  Indeed, the President, at a recent town hall, in effect said the same:  If my grandmother was in need I would pay out of my own pocket.

This is a very noble sentiment and I am sure most of us would do the same.

But, more to the point, after paying into a system for all our working lives, can we accept that unelected persons will be deciding who will get benefits and who won’t? Especially if the likes of Dr. Zeke has a hand in it?

Technorati Tags: Ezekiel Emanuel,  death Panels

Trackbacks: The Pink Flamingo,  The World According To Carl,  Rosemary's Thoughts,  Right Truth

Chicago machine politics on display

Palin stands by 'death panel' claim on health bill

The Chicago Machine (AKA, the Obama administration), along with their minions in the mainstream press, are attacking on all fronts:

WASHINGTON — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin refused to retreat from her debunked claim that a proposed health care overhaul would create "death panels," as the growing furor over end-of-life consultations forced a key group of senators to abandon the idea in their bill.

Debunked claim?  More like, they retracted the end-of-life provision.  And, with good reason.

The public, along with Gov. Palin, were reacting to the ‘end of life’ consultation in H. R. 3200.

So, what is this ‘consultation?’  Who knows for sure because the legislation will most likely be ‘silent’ on the content.

But, because of the lack of specificity, it will be up to the ‘Health Care Benefits Advisory Council’ to define.  And, given that Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel—brother of Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel—is in a position to influence the Council, the result cannot be good for the young and the elderly in the winter of their life.

Dr. Emanuel is the author of ‘Complete Lives System’ published in The Lancet (registration required).  The thrust of his proposal is that a scarce commodity—such as healtcare in a national emergency—should not be squandered on the very young or the elderly.  Nice, right?

Referring to the Health Benefits Advisory Council as a ‘Death Panel’ probably is a little more sensational than it needs to be.

Nevertheless, Gov. Palin’s characterization is not off the mark.  There is reason to be concerned, especially if you are very young or elderly, because the sum and substance of the ‘consultation’ would be ‘we are withdrawing benefits because you are (very young|old).’

It’s a cruel world out there.  And, our President is not helping.

Technorati Tags: Health care reform,  Obama,  Death Panels,  H.R. 3200,  Palin

This is getting tiresome

Vast expanses of Arctic ice melt in summer heat

Once again the global-warming fearmongers are at work.  This time it’s about the unusual melt of the Arctic ice:

Global average temperatures rose 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.6 degree Celsius) in the past century, but Arctic temperatures rose twice as much or even faster, almost certainly in good part because of manmade greenhouse gases, researchers say.

Yeah.  Right.

The northwest passage through the Arctic has been ice-free three times during the twentieth century:  1903—1905, 1940—1942 and 1944; well before the period claimed to have had an upswing in manmade greenhouse gas emissions.

As anyone whose been paying attention knows, this year’s Arctic warming was due to an unusual static configuration of the jet stream which funneled tropical heat along the west continental coast all the way to the Arctic.

Ice cap melt caused by human activities?  Humbug!

Technorati Tags: climate change,  Arctic ice cap,  IPCC,  COP15,  Copenhagen 2009

ABC News: Objectivity?

In the case of the main stream media, truth depends on whose ox is being gored.  One man’s vox populi is another’s organized protest.

Charles Gibson on ABC News tonight:

The House of Representatives are already back in their districts on summer recess; most holding town hall meetings to find out what’s on their voters minds.  And, what they are hearing is criticism over health care reform.  And, some of that criticism appears to be orchestrated causing the White House to push back.

The operative phrase is appears to be orchestrated.

Of course, the President, being a disciple of Saul Alinsky, knows the action is in the reaction.  Except, this time, he is doing the reacting.

I don’t know if someone took a page out of Obama’s own community organizer's manual but this has the feel of a true grass roots revolt.  It’s as if the Nation suddenly discovered Obama the President is not the same Obama the orator they elected. 

ABC News?  There is no objective reason for them to categorize these town-hall revolts as being orchestrated. But, such comments are par for the course; ABC News—NBC and CBS included—being water-carriers for the Leftist Establishment.

Update:  A poisonous attitude has spread throughout the White House.   Messages from the White House asking for addresses of fishy emails.   Citizens at town-hall meetings referred to as mobs.   This Greta Van Susteren clip explains...

Technorati Tags: health care reform,  Saul Alinsky,  ABC News,  Citizens are mobs

Climate Change: A Sensible Response

Bangladesh plans to fight climate change

Bangladesh is a low-lying country prone to flooding during typhoons. If sea levels rise, this problem is expected to be exacerbated.

So, what is the Bangladeshi government doing about it?  Instituting carbon cap and trade regimes?  Imposing tariffs on imports from “carbon polluters?”

Not a chance.  Their government has budgeted a large sum to adapt:

The money would be spent on building and raising embankments and roads, constructing thousands of shelters, dredging major rivers, planting trees along the coastal belts and reclaiming land from the sea," [Environment minister Mustafizur Rahman] said.

This is an entirely sensible response to a potential global warming era.  And, the money will not have been wasted if the unlikely scenarios the UN IPCC scaremongers have propagated never come to pass.

Technorati Tags: Bangladesh,global warming,climate change

The President a deadbeat?

'Scofflaw' Obama Grudge Against Cambridge Police?

According to the NewsMax story referenced above, our President amassed seventeen  parking tickets while attending Harvard and living in Cambridge.

According to a 2007 Associated Press story, Obama was a parking ticket deadbeat for more than a decade — and felt the need to pay the 15 outstanding parking tickets only as his presidential campaign began in earnest in 2007.

So, it seems, the problem of outstanding legal issues wasn’t limited only to the President’s appointees.

But, as we have all become aware, there are elitist circles where one is allowed to rise above such petty details.

Technorati Tags: Obama,scofflaw,priveleged elite

Happy Fathers' Day

Happy Fathers' Day to fathers everywhere.

President fires IGs. Questions remain

Obama promised his administration would be open and transparent.  Yet, he has fired three Inspectors General; the very people that are the facilitators of openness.

Especially troubling is the dismissal of Gerald Walpin, Inspector General for the CNSC; a part of which is AmeriCorps.  AmeriCorps has links to ACORN;  the latter being affiliated with Obama.

So, what's going on here?  Why are IGs—the very bane of people with something to hide—being fired?  Is the President showing us how business is done in Chicago?

Technorati Tags: Walpin,White House,inspectors general fired,ACORN

Trackposted to Rosemary's Thoughts, Nuke Gingrich, Woman Honor Thyself, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

An example of Obama's puffery

And a rebuke

The President (and his spokesman, Gibbs) have become fond of this counter argument:

I think we've had a debate about individual policies.  We had that [Guantanamo] debate in particular -- we kept score last November and we won.

Such puffery.  What Gibbs and the President aren't taking into account is who they ran against.

The GOP had an excellent field of candidates.  But, by the time of the election, the 'conservative' shouting heads managed to decimate the GOP ranks until there was only one left standing.  And, not much of a choice at that.

Had it not been for Limbaugh, Robertson, Hannity, et al,  Gibbs—along with the President—would not have that podium today.

Technorati Tags: GOP,Obama,politics,Gibbs,White House briefing

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UN? Tough? It is to laugh

UN imposes tough new sanctions on NKorea

UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. Security Council imposed punishing new sanctions on North Korea Friday, toughening an arms embargo and authorizing ship searches on the high seas...

Authorized ship searches?!  What a joke.  The resolution is more like 'Captain, may I?'

U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, who shepherded the resolution through two weeks of complex and sometimes difficult negotiations, told reporters in Washington that the administration was "very pleased" with the council's "unprecedented" and "innovative" action.

Says a lot about the current administration, doesn't it?

The UN is a joke in itself.  Why anyone pays attention is beyond comprehension.  NK's Dear Leader certainly is not.

Technorati Tags: UN,North Korea,sanctions,UN hissy fit

More climate change propaganda

Reindeer & Caribou Populations Plunge

More alarmist propaganda intended to scare people into accepting the bogus IPCC report's gloom and doom scenarios.

"Reindeer and caribou numbers worldwide have plunged nearly 60 percent in the last three decades...", the article breathlessly proclaims.

Then comes this admission:

Exact numbers for the creatures are not known, because not enough study has been done. But for those populations that have been studies [sic], the average decline in numbers is 57 percent.

In other words, "Not enough studies have been done so we will extrapolate a limited sample."  Yeah, right.

This sounds a lot like the largely discredited report that based their claims—that the entire Antarctic continent was warming—on extrapolation of limited and faulty temperature data.

And, as we know, the results from extending a data set beyond it's endpoints is iffy at best and may be dead wrong.

Technorati Tags: climate change,caribou,reindeer,global warming

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Kofi Annan: Feckless still

Climate change is already killing 300,000 a year, report claims

Annan's group released a report pointing to the problems a segment of the world's population has in eking out a decent life.

“As this report shows, the first hit and worst affected are the world’s poorest groups, and yet they have done least to cause the problem.”

Ah, yes.   The gratuitous laying on of the guilt trip.

So, what are the big three problems facing these distressed populations?  They are malnutrition, malaria and dysentery.  Problems that have been around for a long time.

What is Annan's recommended solution?  You probably guessed it:

“Copenhagen needs to be the most ambitious international agreement ever reached,” he said. “As this report shows, the alternative is greater risk of starvation, migration and sickness on a massive scale.”

What nonsense.  What happened to the idea of facing the three plagues directly?  How about working to change the local political and cultural conditions that are at the root of these problems?  Conditions that have long thwarted the best efforts of aid organizations.

Nah, that would be too much like work.  They would rather gather the Club together in some posh surroundings and emit a lot of CO2-laden hot air whilst sipping a fine chardonnay.

Kofi Annan?  Feckless still.

Technorati Tags: Kofi Annan,climate change,Copenhagen

Trackposted to Leaning Straight Up, Nuke Gingrich, Woman Honor Thyself, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Commonsense from the UN

UN report: Nature best controls climate gases

Who could have predicted?  This report has good ideas; unusual for a UN document:

The report said better management of forests, more careful agricultural practices and the restoration of peatlands could soak up significant amounts of carbon dioxide, the most common of the gases blamed for global warming.

Global warming aside, such measures are sure to mitigate a number of ills plaguing man:  Desertification due to deforestation and famine due to low crop yields to name two.

Technorati Tags: UN,climate change,agriculture

You are simply another form of ape

So says those forever questing after the 'missing link.'

According to the article, tickling a primate will, as it does in humans, evoke laughter; or,at least, something akin to the human equivalent.

The 'experts' did as they are wont to do in these situations and released a statement of glowing praise:

Experts praised the work. It gives very strong evidence that ape and human laughter are related through evolution...

Well, dogs smile.  Humans smile.  I wonder what the 'experts' make of that.

Technorati Tags: evolution theory,laughter

Trackposted to The World According to Carl, and Woman Honor Thyself, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Climate Change: The GOP 'Gets it'

GOP belittles Democrats' climate change proposal

The GOP understands the futility surrounding turning back climate change. 

Unfortunately, it appears expecting the Democrats to achieve similar enlightenment would itself be an exercise in futility.  Perhaps The Nancy should take the House Dems down to the seaside and familiarize themselve's with King Knute's task.

Note:  The GOP is not 'belittling' anything.  That choice of wording for the headline reflects the AP's editorial bias.

Technorati Tags: climate change,H.R. 2454,global warming

Trackposted to Rosemary's Thoughts, third world county, and DragonLady's World, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

More scare tactics ahead of COP15

Climate health costs: bug-borne ills, killer heat

Tree munching beetles, malaria carrying mosquitoes, killer heat; the article is a veritable description of apocalypse.  The only thing missing was an outright invocation of the Four Horsemen.

This article is an exaggeration of conditions mankind is already living with and successfully mitigating the worst effects of.

Warnings of killer heat waves fly in the face of the fact that cold weather routinely kills more people than heat and that it is easier to adapt to heat than cold.  And, it totally ignores the fact that speciation of flora and fauna is richer in hot climates than cold.

It is not hard to conclude all this media hype is designed to move public opinion to accept the regulations that will come out of domestic legislation (e.g., H. R. 2454) and COP15.

Technorati Tags: COP15,climate change,H.R. 2454

Trackbacks: omniclimate, Woman Honor Thyself, The World According to Carl, Nuke Gingrich

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Alarming news from Copenhagen

Global CEOs back greenhouse gas cuts, carbon caps

The article headline says it all.  Businesses lining up to receive new, international regulations?  Or, are they really?

This article—World Business Summit on Climate Change falls short in delivering what is needed - Oxfam—gives reason for hope.  One of the speakers at Copenhagen—Executive Director Jeremy Hobbs of Oxfam—summed up the results as follows:

“It’s a mystery how such influential and passionate voices could demand more urgency and specific commitments from the global business community - from Ban Ki-Moon, to Al Gore, to progressive businesses - only to be ignored in the final statement,” he said. “It is ironic that Prime Minister Rassmussen’s remarks at the end were clearer on targets for CO2 emissions cuts than the Summit was able to make to him.”

So, what is up with the first headline?  Overstatement of the support for regulation similar to the overstatement of consensus on global warming?  It would be interesting to see how many CEOs really backed these regulations during the summit.

Technorati Tags: World Business Summit,climate change,Copenhagen

Trackposted to The Pink Flamingo, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Call for action: H.R.2454

The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES) has been introduced in the House as H.R.2454.  There are three major sections (titles) in this bill:

1. Title I--Clean Energy
2. Title II--Energy Efficiency
3. Title III--Reducing Global Warming Pollution

Title III,  is the real clunker in this bill.

Title III calls for designation of certain gases, including CO2, as 'pollution' requiring extensive regulation of their emissions.  These regulations, one of which is the 'carbon cap and trade' regime, promise to levy an onerous burden on American commerce; the cost of which will certainly be passed along to American consumers.

Worse, the entire premise of this section--global warming--is highly debatable.[Link]  We should not be taking the rash actions called for by Title III that easily could turn out to be futile if not misdirected.

So, now is the time for your Representatives and Senators to hear from you.   Encourage them to vote No on any version of H.R.2454 that includes Title III.

Technorati Tags: H.R.2454,ACES,American Clean Energy and Security Act,global warming,climate change

Trackposted to Leaning Straight Up, The Pink Flamingo, Stageleft, and DragonLady's World, Nuke Gingrich, and Woman Honor Thyself, Rosemary's Thoughts thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

If the facts are against you...

...try laying on a guilt trip.

Global Warming Biggest Health Threat of 21st Century, Experts Say

In a tome jointly published by The Lancet journal and the Institute for Global Health at University College London there appears this gem:

Climate change raises an important issue of intergenerational justice, that we are setting up a world for our children and grandchildren that may be extremely frightening and turbulent.

The author, Anthony Costello, is a professor and director of the Institute for Global Health at University College London.

Kirby Donnelly, head of environmental and occupational health at Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health chimed in with

The vast majority of experts, 95 percent, maybe even 99 percent, agree that global warming is taking place...

All of this flies in the face of the facts:  a) warming has stalled for the last decade or so, and b) cold routinely kills more people than heat. [link]

So, what's happening here?  Why are intelligent people making such statements?  It's obvious to me:  Given their position in their organizations, they are shamelessly going where the money is.  Thirty years ago, during the 'coming ice age' scare, their story would have been just the opposite.

Technorati Tags: climate change,global warming,news

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EPA criticized for rule-making effort

White House memo challenges EPA finding on warming

The EPA recently issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) proposing to regulate six greenhouse gases (GHG)  to counter global warming.  The White House responded with a critique that basically pokes holes in the NPRM and the Technical Supporting Document (TSD).

The White House document is a good read because it lays out (perhaps unintentionally) all the reasons we should not be taking the UN/IPCC alarmist hype over climate change seriously.

There is a bit of a puzzle here, though.  The authors of the White House memorandum, like the EPA, are part of the executive branch of the government.  And, the administration speaks with one voice, right?  So, the Obama administration's pursuit of caps on GHGs while, at the same time, issuing a memo that undercuts the reasons for having such caps seems non sequitur.

Technorati Tags: EPA finds,Obama,climate change

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Associated Press back to it's old tricks

Warning: Sunspot cycle beginning to rise

The article that followed the scare mongering headline attempted to make a mountain out of a molehill and failed.  Interspersed amongst speculations over a world crisis precipitated by violent sunspot activity was the truth:  The sun is the quietest it has ever been.

By normal reckoning, the sun should be well into the upswing of the eleven-year sunspot cycle.   The fact is, the sun went quiet around May, 2006 and that quiet period persists to this day.  As an example, the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory report for April 9, 2009 shows a typical placid sun.

So, why the obfuscation over sunspot activity?  Could it be that  the current quiescent sun has been cited as the reason for the recent global cooling?

Technorati Tags: Climate change,Associated Press

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Countering piracy: A difference of opinion

Maersk captain testifies before Congress

Captain Philips, captain of the Maersk Alabama, testified before Congress that armed parties aboard ship under command of the ship's captain are necessary to protect ship and crew.

The chairman of Maersk Inc., on the other hand, in effect claimed arming the crews would create an arms race with the pirates, a race the crews could not win.

So-called 'witnesses' testified that the problem must be solved with diplomacy and cooperation between governments, shippers and seamen's unions.

So, of the three opinions, whose would you rely on:  The person who commands a ship?  The person who commands a desk?  Or, the anonymous kibitzers?

I'll go with Captain Philips any day.

Technorati Tags: Maersk Alabama,Somali pirates,Captain Philips

Trackposted to Nuke's, third world county, Woman Honor Thyself, and The World According to Carl, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Extra! AP Fact-Check Article

FACT CHECK: Obama disowns deficit he helped shape

Has fair and balanced reportage set in at the Associated Press?  The referenced article counters Obama's 100-day assessment (e.g.; Deficit:  It wasn't me.) with facts from the public record.

If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it.  It's a 'must read.'

Technorati Tags: Associated Press,100-day assessment

History repeating itself

Ammonia-based refrigeration coming back

Ammonia was one of the early chemicals used in household refrigeration that was eliminated because of health and safety issues.  We went to safe CFC's around the 1930's, but that was destroying the ozone layer.  So, the Montreal Protocol of 1990 had us all switch to HFC's.

But, now, the Obama Administration is pushing to replace HFC's with "natural" chemicals including ammonia!

Here is OSHA's hazard write-up for ammonia in the workplace:

More... Ammonia is considered a high health hazard because it is corrosive to the skin, eyes, and lungs. Exposure to 300 ppm is immediately dangerous to life and health. Ammonia is also flammable at concentrations of approximately 15% to 28% by volume in air. When mixed with lubricating oils, its flammable concentration range is increased. It can explode if released in an enclosed space with a source of ignition present, or if a vessel containing anhydrous ammonia is exposed to fire. Fortunately, ammonia has a low odor threshold (20 ppm), so most people will seek relief at much lower concentrations.

This change is being done in the name of "global warming."  I suppose HAZMAT labels on the fridge door will be required.  Is this crazy, or what!?

Technorati Tags: Global warming,ammonia refrigeration,hazmat

Trackposted to The Pink Flamingo, Rosemary's Thoughts, third world county, and Woman Honor Thyself, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Obama: No Nukes?

Obama calls for new era of energy exploration

The President has been pushing for new sources of energy; touting the advantages of wind, solar and (even) clean coal.  Curiously, the cheapest source for electricity, that also meets the dubious no-CO2-emissions goal, has not been mentioned:   Nuclear power.

The Weekly Standard has an article by Halbert Fischel that walks us through the economics associated with the various options including nuclear power.  Given the President's choice of energy alternatives, one  has to wonder if his Administration has yet to make similar calculations.

Technorati Tags: energy independence,climate change,cap and trade

Obama ordering a 'witch hunt'?

Obama open to prosecution, probe of interrogations

The President has said CIA operatives that carried out interrogations of al Qa'ida prisoners would not be subject to prosecutions.  He was quite clear on this.

But, now, President Obama is saying that those in the Justice Department that worked on researching the law and wrote the opinion concerning the interrogation methods will be investigated and are subject to prosecution.

The President's clever dodge was to leave it up to the Attorney General, thus washing his hands of any repercussions.  Of course, the AG is the President's appointee and serves at his pleasure.

At the White House press conference today Gibbs, the press secretary, squirmed and squiggled in trying to spin this change in policy.

Technorati Tags: CIA,enhanced interrogation,Obama,attorney general

Trackposted to The Pink Flamingo, and The World According to Carl, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Rumors of global warming premature?

There was a period of cold temperatures--referred to as 'the little ice age'--in the mid 17th century. [1]  At the same time, the sun  had became exceptionally quiet in terms of sunspot activity.  Known as the "Maunder Minimum", the number of sunspots observed over a 70-year period were reduced by three orders of magnitude. [2]

Now we are again observing what may become a protracted quiet period for the sun.  In May, 2006, sunspot activity had fallen to a exceptionally low level. [2]   This period, marked by sporadic or no activity, has persisted into April of this year. [3, 4, 5]

So, with the current solar cycle off to a slow start and the next cycle forecasted to be weaker yet [6] , it seems the prudent course of action vis-a-vis global warming is to sit tight and do nothing rash.

Technorati Tags: global warming,climate change,solar activity

Trackposted to The Pink Flamingo, and third world county, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Now is the time...

The following are the contents of an email to the EPA contact person about the recent EPA ruling:

"...these high levels are very likely the cause of the increase in average temperatures and other changes in our climate."

Re: EPA News Release

Cathy Milbourn,

The operative phrase in the above quote from the referenced EPA news release is "are very likely"  which is a far cry from  "is certainly".

The gases mentioned in the news release exist in trace amounts compared to argon, another greenhouse gas that is a natural component of the earth's atmosphere, casting doubt on the the role of those gases as the sole (or even significant) cause of global warming.

In the EPA studies, how much consideration was given to other causes of warming; e.g., cyclical solar activity?

Also, given the consequences of warming listed in the news release, how much consideration was given to the fact that cold kills more people than warmth?  That the (warm) tropical zones of the planet are richer in flora and fauna than the (cold) polar zones?  That the warming has stalled over the last decade despite ever increasing human activity?

And, finally, how much consideration was given to the idea that the consequences of warming listed in the news release are conjecture as opposed to demonstrable fact?

Alright, people.  Now is the time to act.  Get to it!  Contact the EPA and your Representative.

Technorati Tags: EPA finds,climate change

Trackposted to Nuke's, Blog @ MoreWhat.com,Woman Honor Thyself, The World According to Carl, The Pink Flamingo, and Leaning Straight Up, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Update: Comments open up after the proposed regulation (Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0171) is published in the Federal Register; probably on Monday, April 20, 2009. A summary of the proposed regulation may be found here. Instructions for composing comments can be found here. Comments may be submitted by email or by using the Web interface at Regulations.gov.