Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Global Cooling Confirmed

Remember back a while when I said that "global warming is a myth"? Well, I have also been reading on other science and learning about AWG (as the progressives and liberals call it), and how it fits into Climate Change...
Well, there is way too much information to go into in a single post here, but you can search and read the posts I have made...
Here is one of the latest fiascos in the Climate Change debate:

The Mystery of Global Warming's Missing Heat

Some 3,000 scientific robots that are plying the ocean have sent home a puzzling message. These diving instruments suggest that the oceans have not warmed up at all over the past four or five years.
Really? According to the IPCC this shouldn't be happening.

"There has been a very slight cooling, but not anything really significant," Willis says. So the buildup of heat on Earth may be on a brief hiatus. "Global warming doesn't mean every year will be warmer than the last. And it may be that we are in a period of less rapid warming."
This is just as good as the other excuses I have heard; "just because we have 'global warming' doesn't mean the earth actually gets warmer!"
He even contradicts himself, "THERE HAS BEEN A VERY SLIGHT COOLING" and "LESS RAPID WARMING"? It is either one or the other.

ANyway, I am sure we will get more information as time goes on...but I thought you would like to see that science isn't something you get by "consensus", you get it by testing and observations.

Bail-Outs and the Money Machine

If you though to yourself, "Self, these bail-outs seem too good to be true...and what is it with this 'too big to fail thing'?"

Then you aren't alone.

Take a look at who is making the money off your tax dollars, not just in the "bail-out" gifts, but in the resulting "financial disaster"...

Friday, June 25, 2010

Obama, a Dictator?

Some say it is impossible, and no one in the Government would seriously consider something so radical, but consider for a moment, what some people are saying...

Lets start with Woody Allen, yes, the Actor/Director.
“I am pleased with Obama. I think he’s brilliant. The Republican Party should get out of his way and stop trying to hurt him.”
"it would be good…if he could be a dictator for a few years because he could do a lot of good things quickly."

Or how about Rosey O'Donnell?
“Seize their assets today. Take over the country, I don’t care. Issue and executive order. Say BP guess what…call it socialism, call it communism, call it anything you want. Lets watch Rush Limbaugh explode…on TV when he talks….SEIZE THE ASSETS, take over BP.”

Hmmm. If we have "normal people" talking about making Obama into a dictator, what are some of the Media Pundits saying?
How about Ed Schultz at MSNBC?
“Mr. President, I want to see the boot on the neck of BP tonight. I want to see some finger-pointing whether it's in your personality or not and it's OK tonight to act kind of like a dictator and call the shots saying this is the way it's going to be. BP has lied to the citizens of this country long enough. It's been one misstep after another. One lie, one half-truth after another. It's time for the President of the United States to lay it out there in full force for the citizens of the United States and make it very clear that BP is going to make us whole, whole again and whole for a long time.”
“Don't you think this is a moment where President Obama has to make sure that he lets everybody know that he's calling the shots, and almost in words of maybe a dictator, that this is the way we're going to do it? And when I hear reported today by Chuck Todd here on MSNBC that the Obama administration is negotiating with BP over a third independent party as to whether they're going to oversee the claims process, it just makes me think that BP is calling the shots and not the American people.”

Ouch. Are there any in the Political arena that support or think of Obama as a Dictator?
Lets ask Representative Sam Johnson (R-Tex.), a member of the Ways and Means Committee, who broke up the House decorum by speaking the truth. He denounced President Obama as a "fascist dictator," something that, previously, only Lyndon LaRouche had the balls to say in public. It is all becoming that obvious! Johnson's remarks were delivered during a tumultuous mark-up and were heard by an LPAC representative who was in the hearing.

Maybe I should describe to you what constitutes a "Dictator", the following is from Wikipedia
"A dictator is a ruler (e.g. absolutist or autocratic) who assumes sole and absolute power (sometimes but not always with military control) but without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship. The word originated as the title of a magistrate in ancient Rome appointed by the Senate to rule the republic in times of emergency (see Roman dictator and justitium)."
"The term 'dictator' is comparable to, but not synonymous with, the ancient concept of a tyrant; initially 'tyrant', like 'dictator', did not carry negative connotations. A wide variety of leaders coming to power in a number of different kinds of regimes, such as military juntas, single-party states and civilian governments under personal rule, have been described as dictators. For example, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Kim Jong-il."
We have a process in this country for making laws and setting policies. This process is specifically designed to prevent a Dictatorship or Tyranny. It is supported by our "separation of powers" which means that one man, the President, or any one group, the House, Senate or SCOTUS, cannot "dictate" law.
Yet, Obama is circumventing this process with things like "executive orders" and flat out "abuses of power", see the following examples:

1) EO 13524 ammends EO 12425, Dec 16, 2009, whereby an international police ‘Force’ is authorized to act within the U.S. that is no longer subject to 4th Amendment Search and Seizure (expanding the ‘Force’ and disarming Americans).

2) "The use of executive power came to a head this week when Mr. Obama confronted Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, about nominations held up in the Senate. In a meeting with Congressional leaders at the White House on Tuesday, Mr. Obama turned to Mr. McConnell and vowed to use his power to appoint officials during Senate recesses if his nominations were not cleared."

3) "Several Senators have learned of a possible plan by the Obama Administration that would provide a mass Amnesty for the nation's 11-18 million illegal aliens. Led by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), eight Senators addressed a letter to the President asking for answers to questions about a plan that would allow DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano to provide an amnesty if they can't secure enough votes for a bill in the Senate."


For Obama to take upon himself the sole responsibility of making these changes makes him a Dictator. Even if he does not accomplish anything by it, he would be a Dictator in word and desire, if not in actuality.

Not only that, but he has lied about several things related to the abuse of power:
"Already, Mr. Obama has had to reconcile his campaign-trail criticism of Mr. Bush for excessive use of so-called signing statements to bypass parts of legislation with his own use of such tactics. After a bipartisan furor in Congress last year, Mr. Obama stopped issuing such signing statements, but aides said last month that he still reserves the right to ignore sections of bills he considers unconstitutional if objections have been lodged previously by the executive branch."

If you remember, he said he wouldn't do it, it was an abuse of power...but now...the student has become the master.

Similar in severity is Obama's promise to not have any lobbyists in his White House...and recently, in the state of the union address he said:
"[W]e’ve excluded lobbyists from policymaking jobs or seats on federal boards and commissions."
Well, the truth is much scarier. One of the hallmarks of a corrupt government is to put "your people" into positions of power. Look at the (and growing) list of Policy Makers that have been lobbyists within the CURRENT White House:

Eric Holder, attorney general nominee, was registered to lobby until 2004 on behalf of clients including Global Crossing, a bankrupt telecommunications firm [now confirmed].

Tom Vilsack, secretary of agriculture nominee, was registered to lobby as recently as last year on behalf of the National Education Association.

William Lynn, deputy defense secretary nominee, was registered to lobby as recently as last year for defense contractor Raytheon, where he was a top executive.

William Corr, deputy health and human services secretary nominee, was registered to lobby until last year for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a non-profit that pushes to limit tobacco use.

David Hayes, deputy interior secretary nominee, was registered to lobby until 2006 for clients, including the regional utility San Diego Gas & Electric.

Mark Patterson, chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, was registered to lobby as recently as last year for financial giant Goldman Sachs.

Ron Klain, chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, was registered to lobby until 2005 for clients, including the Coalition for Asbestos Resolution, U.S. Airways, Airborne Express and drug-maker ImClone.

Mona Sutphen, deputy White House chief of staff, was registered to lobby for clients, including Angliss International in 2003.

Melody Barnes, domestic policy council director, lobbied in 2003 and 2004 for liberal advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the American Constitution Society and the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Cecilia Munoz, White House director of intergovernmental affairs, was a lobbyist as recently as last year for the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy group.

Patrick Gaspard, White House political affairs director, was a lobbyist for the Service Employees International Union.

Michael Strautmanis, chief of staff to the president's assistant for intergovernmental relations, lobbied for the American Association of Justice from 2001 until 2005.

Jocelyn Frye, who used to lobby on employment and gender discrimination, became director of policy and projects for Michelle Obama

He is now being called out by several people on "the hill" for what he is, a liar:
When he makes the statement in the State of the Union Address;
"With all due deference to separation of powers, last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests, including foreign corporations, to spend without limit in our elections. I don't think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests or, worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people. And I urge Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps correct some of these problems."
Judge Alito says, "Not True".
And we all remember the "You Lie" shout out during a speech by Obama in which he said the new Health Care bill would not subsidize illegal immigrants. Here are some concerns at the time Sen. Wilson made his remark:
"Critics say there is no way to enforce the ban on subsidies for undocumented workers, since the Democratic majority in the House turned back a Republican effort to explicitly stiffen citizenship checks."
"Some Republicans argue that the measure has left a loophole for undocumented relatives of legal residents to be covered. But Treadwell disputes that, telling CNN that based on her reading of the bills, "There is no loophole currently."
The fact of the matter is, if an illegal immigrant steps into an emergency room at any hospital and receives care that they then do not pay for, YOU AND I GET STUCK WITH THE BILL. Hospitals CANNOT turn away anyone needing care.
Read the references below, but understand that Sen. Wilson was responding truthfully at the time; right after the Dems killed the amendments that would have prevented illegals from sucking the system. It was later corrected, but at the time, he was correct, the President had lied:
http://www.factcheck.org/2010/01/obamas-state-of-the-union-address/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/27/alito-not-true_n_439672.html
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/10/obama.heckled.speech/index.html
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/08/27/cnn-truth-squad-will-health-bill-pay-for-illegal-immigrants-an-update/?fbid=UbVmYZ9KoK5
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Obamacare-wont-cover-illegal-immigrants--55021087.html

Now, back to one of my original assertions about a Dictator;
another individual, Rep. Barney Frank, clearly states that there is no such thing as "too much regulation". What do you think, America? Can we have too much regulation? How does "no such thing as too much regulation" fit within a FREE society?

Then there is the power he continues to ascribe to himself, via Congress. He can now decide, all by himself, to shut down access to the internet. Shouldn't that be left up to the workings of Congress? Why would we give one man such powers?
The same thing is happening with Cap&Trade, Offshore Drilling Ban, and other bits of legislation. If he continues down this road, the next president could continue the practice, and so on, till we have no use of a Congress, the president will simply have all the power, i.e. he will be a dictator.

And don't forget, more circumvention of the system, with secret appointments of people...
Obama Bypasses Senate to Install Controversial “Rationing Czar” at Medicare Center
Hmmm... didn't the conservatives say that Rationing would happen? They called them "death panels", but they did say there wouldn't be enough money, so someone would have to choose who gets service and who does not.
Score one for the good guys...but because there is NOTHING to stop the Bad Guys (with that super majority and all) it doesn't mean much now...

These are scary times, and we should be vigilant in our watch of the Government. With so many people wanting to regulate us and control us and circumvent the process...it is only a matter of time before we fall under that list of infamous Dictators...

Friday, June 18, 2010

Ideas actually can make a difference

I have been conversing with people on several discussion boards, some full of liberals who don't seem to have any idea how to make changes. They come up with a single idea, regardless of how bad it is, or how obviously it will fail.
I keep encouraging people to come up with new ideas, and one person did. They suggested that maybe, to save some money, to improve our social services, we should require drug testing for people using the social services.

Of course, the liberals cried about that idea. The bleeding hearts...

I took a lot of these ideas and passed them along. I tried to give credit, but with names like they are on the internet, I am afraid I couldn't be very accurate.
Or, because I do encourage people to put their ideas in the hands of those that can make change, they may have sent it in themselves. It really doesn't matter, it was a good idea and, well, read on...

The better news is, the Tea Party is having an effect, people in Washington seem to be doing some listening...

Hatch proposes drug testing for welfare, unemployment recipients

We should support this idea. It would help.

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

How bad at math can one be?

Have you ever wondered how the RIAA and the MPAA and the other orgs come up with those numbers on piracy?
How someone who downloads 1000 songs (songs that sell for $0.99 each) can suddenly owe $250,000 or several millions of dollars in damages?
There is definitely something wrong with their math...well, the DOJ and GOA are wondering the same thing:

Study Claims $41.5 Billion In Portable Game Piracy Losses Over Five Years

Feds raise questions about big media's piracy claims

EU Piracy Estimates — Just How Inaccurate?

Feds hampered by incomplete MPAA piracy data

What I don't understand is how the win some of the cases, with math that is so obviously flawed.

Friday, June 04, 2010

Made in China

You would have thought that after the LEAD in the paint on children's toys and in dinnerware was well above LEGAL tolerance, we would have stopped importing crap from China.
However, I guess we haven't learned our lesson...
McDonalds, Cadmium, and Thermo Electron Niton Guns

So just remember, when you want cheap crap, you get what you pay for!

This world is falling apart

Literally...

In the last little while there have been some fantastic things happen...like earth quakes (Haiti and Chile), flooding, odd weather, harsh winters, and more...
Take a look at this one:
Giant Guatemalan 'Sinkhole' Is Worse Than We Thought

Not only are things bad, but the Governments aren't telling us just how bad...
With the Oil leaking into the Gulf, it makes you wonder just how bad it really is, what with Obama on vacation and all...maybe it isn't as bad as he would like us to think?
Or is it worse?

Watch or Economy Fail

There are 2 things here:
#1 - Obama keeps telling us that things are improving, yet all we see is how things are getting worse...
First, the new taxes on small businesses to support Obamacare
Second, joblessness continues to increase, yet funding for those families is being cut
Third, the stock market continues to decline
Fourth, the government is still making bad decisions
Fifth, the dollar continues to lose value

#2 - To top it all off, investors are saying that a "safe investment" is T-Bonds and Notes?

Sorry people! If you want your investments SAFE you need to start investing in hard investments like Gold and other precious metals. Or real-estate. Or any number of other things. But your investments should be more diverse or you will go down with the sinking ship.
I am worried about my retirement investments...they have been doing ok, but if the economy keeps going in this direction, it will be worthless within the next ten years.

Immigration v. Illegal Immigration and the LDS

Some Latino Mormons Say Church Should Take A Stand On Immigration

"Some Utah Latinos, who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, are calling for President Thomas S. Monson to take an official, public position on immigration."

The LDS Church already has, in the 12th Article of Faith:
"We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law."

And in the 13th Article of Faith:
"We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men..."

The article continues:
“The church needs to have a position in favor or opposed to Latinos,”

Huh? The Church takes no stand for or against any ethnic group or nationality. They take a position for all people, or it wouldn't be a GLOBAL Church.
The only position the Church CAN take is to support, honor, and obey the LAW of the LAND in which the Church is operating.
It has nothing to do with being in favor of or opposed to Latinos.
All are welcome into the LDS Church. But if people are here illegally, and if they are using stolen identities and working illegally in the US THEN there is an issue that needs to be discussed within the Church: maybe the Church should remind these people that if they break the law, they can lose their Church membership, or at a minimum, their temple recommend.

The LDS Church will always side with "what is true and right", not with what someone wants to be right, when it clearly isn't.

Conservativism is back

It seems that Texas isn't the only place tired of the Godless Liberals...

Time to start to rethink some strategy, liberals...progressivism isn't the path that people want.

Intelligent design to be taught in Queensland schools under national curriculum

The dawn of the Conservative is at hand.

Giving in ...

Seems that Freedom of Speech is no longer a thing on the internet...you can only say what doesn't offend someone.
Please tell me that Political Correctness hasn't infested our digital world...but alas...

Pakistan Lifts Ban After Facebook Deletes Offending Page

I wonder if they would remove the pages that offend Mormons, Catholics, and anyone else that might be offended by their content.

If not, then it is discrimination. Pure and simple.

Litigatin on the brains

Our society is truly lost...
When people believe they can sue and make a fortune...I just don't get it. I believe in personal responsibility...but I seem to be "behind the times" on that.

In the following story, a woman was following Google Maps, a pedestrian pathway, that was a bit wrong. Apearently, her eyes and brain don't work, so she followed the path onto a highway and got hit by a car.
Seriously, if I saw a "path" leading into a bubbling volcano, I wouldn't follow the path into it, I would use my brain and figure out a way to avoid getting burned.
I guess the saying is true, "You cannot fix stupid".

Pedestrian Follows Google Map, Gets Run Over, Sues

Calif. woman sues Google following Park City accident

Cell Phone Radiation

In my last posting on this topic, I showed several studies that showed no problems from cell phones, and some that showed problems with cell phones...
Seems they follow eachother...
But it seems I was right, there is no problem with using cell phones...

10-Year Cell Phone / Cancer Study Is Inconclusive

Now, wait until the next study...

Hypochondria

Hypochondria / Googleitis?
One in the same...

Doctors Seeing a Rise In "Google-itis"

Seems people want to be sick...

Gas Prices

In Ogden the past while, the Gas Prices kept going up and up. They said it went up $0.08 in a week.
Sad part is, we went to Yellowstone, and deep in the heart of the park, the gas prices are the same as in Ogden.
Gas was cheaper in West Yellowstone, and in Bozeman, than in Utah.

Good thing I don't use much any more, but come on, why does Utah always get the shaft on Gas Prices? We have the refineries! It should be cheaper!
I hate gas companies...

Industry insiders report to lawmakers about rising gas prices

Did I say, I hate gas companies?

One Government gets smarter, the other dumber

UK Home Office Set To Scrap National ID Cards

While we keep the idea around and have the states stand against the Government on this one...

Meanwhile, in the USA:
House Votes To Expand National DNA Arrest Database

Well, the rest of the world wants everyone in their DNA database, why not us too...
I think it is a bad idea...

And why do we continue to let the Government take power that it clearly wasn't meant to have?

Bill Gives Feds "Emergency" Powers To Secure Civilian Nets

What's next? The Government taking control of our Food Supplies?

Global Warming Science

In one of my last Global Warming posts, I asked some questions about why we aren't looking into more science that is being studied, specifically, in how the SUN is affecting our weather.

The Sun's Odd Behavior

Maybe this would explain why the weather was warming, and is now on a cooling trend?