Back to Basics

Given the massive news coverage of News Corp’s recent donation to the Republican Governor’s Association, you might think that this would get some attention:

Senior executives, on-air personalities, producers, reporters, editors, writers and other self-identifying employees of ABC, CBS and NBC contributed more than $1 million to Democratic candidates and campaign committees in 2008, according to an analysis by The Examiner of data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
The Democratic total of $1,020,816 was given by 1,160 employees of the three major broadcast television networks, with an average contribution of $880.
By contrast, only 193 of the employees contributed to Republican candidates and campaign committees, for a total of $142,863. The average Republican contribution was $744.
Disclosure of the heavily Democratic contributions by influential employees of the three major broadcast networks follows on the heels of controversy last week when it was learned that media baron Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. contributed $1 million to the Republican Governors Association. . . .

Sensing the political failure of the Left’s environmental whacko agenda of raising energy costs to cap emissions of a gas we all exhale and that plants need to thrive — carbon dioxide — President Barack Obama has instructed his Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to rewrite its Clean Air Act and give itself authority it doesn’t have.

Thankfully, one state is resisting: Texas.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Chairman Bryan W. Shaw call the EPA’s actions an illegal power grab and in a letter to the EPA they wrote:

“In order to deter challenges to your plan for centralized control of industrial development through the issuance of permits for greenhouse gases, you have called upon each state to declare its allegiance to the Environmental Protection Agency’s recently enacted greenhouse gas regulations — regulations that are plainly contrary to U.S. laws… To encourage acquiescence with your unsupported findings you threaten to usurp state enforcement authority and to federalize the permitting program of any state that fails to pledge their fealty to the Environmental Protection Agency. On behalf of the State of Texas, we write to inform you that Texas has neither the authority nor the intention of interpreting, ignoring or amending its laws in order to compel the permitting of greenhouse gas emissions.”

In an Op-Ed piece in today’s The Washington Times, Texas state director of Americans for Prosperity Peggy Venable writes that:

Federalist principles have allowed Texas to become the strongest state in the union. The Lone Star State leads the nation in job creation, is the top state for business relocation and has more Fortune 500 companies than any other state and is the top state for wind generation. President Obama said he wants to double U.S. exports in five years; he could look to Texas, as we are the top exporting state in the country. The Obama administration could learn a lot from Texas.

Instead, it is attempting to ride roughshod over Texas, and it goes beyond the greenhouse-gas issue.

After 16 years of allowing Texas to run its own permitting program to meet Federal air-quality standards, in May the EPA announced the state was not in compliance with Federal regulations. This despite the fact that Texas had met or exceeded its clean air obligations the entire time.

The Obama administration’s agenda is simple: Grab more and more power from the States and consolidate it under the Federal government. Thankfully, Texas will have no part of it.

If only the other 49 States will follow Texas’ lead.

“I think the media now has to…tell the American people who’s getting money for poisoning the millions of people in the Gulf.” – Hugh Kaufman, senior EPA analyst, admits millions have been poisoned in the Gulf states.

A biochemical bomb went off in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010—a bomb that was as dangerous and destructive as a nuclear blast.

An atom bomb’s death and destruction can be measured immediately after detonation while BP’s unintentional biochemical bomb is a slow-motion explosion that is driving a disaster that continues even now.

Lingering death, however, occurs with both types of explosions.

Millions exposed to uncontrolled hemorrhaging, lesions, cancers

Recently, enraged scientists have presented strong evidence that millions of Gulf area residents have been poisoned by the BP Gulf disaster. Worse, millions more could be exposed to long term poisoning from benzene contamination. Benzene exposure leads to cancers.

Yet other than those furious scientists few seemed to care.

Not a day goes by without our being told that something is going to kill us. Much of what kills people is genetic; little time bombs in our DNA that determine the state of our health.

Anyone who reads the daily obituaries knows that Americans are living longer than any previous generation. Most of the population is dying of nothing more sinister than old age.

The diseases that kill Americans have been quantified and known for decades. At the top of the list is heart disease, followed by a variety of different kinds of cancers. Third in line are strokes. Chronic lower respiratory diseases such as asthma are next, but nothing more than accidents kill as many people.

The remaining factors include diabetes, Alzheimer’s, pneumonia, nephritis (kidney diseases), and septicemia, a disease of the blood.

What do Americans really die from? Genetic dispositions to illness. Accidents. Poor diets. And bad lifestyle choices that include smoking, drinking, and taking illegal drugs.

With the exception of asthma that affects about seven percent of the population none of this has anything to do with air quality. Indeed, the causes of asthma remain somewhat shrouded in mystery even if the symptoms do not.

None of this empirical knowledge and data has the slightest effect, however, on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the American Lung Association that profits greatly from any claims about air quality. Both are inclined to making wild claims.

Ominous reports are leaking past the BP Gulf salvage operation news blackout that the disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico may be about to reach biblical proportions.

251 million years ago a mammoth undersea methane bubble caused massive explosions, poisoned the atmosphere and destroyed more than 96 percent of all life on Earth. [1] Experts agree that what is known as the Permian extinction event was the greatest mass extinction event in the history of the world. [2]

55 million years later another methane bubble ruptured causing more mass extinctions during the Late Paleocene Thermal Maximum (LPTM).

The LPTM lasted 100,000 years. [3]

Those subterranean seas of methane virtually reshaped the planet when they explosively blew from deep beneath the waters of what is today called the Gulf of Mexico.

Now, worried scientists are increasingly concerned the same series of catastrophic events that led to worldwide death back then may be happening again-and no known technology can stop it.

The bottom line: BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling operation may have triggered an irreversible, cascading geological Apocalypse that will culminate with the first mass extinction of life on Earth in many millions of years.

What began as pilotless, robot aircraft for the military has graduated to a program designed to explore the feasibility of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) sharing airspace with piloted civilian planes.

Recently, a Boeing subsidiary called Insitu was commissioned along with the New Jersey Air National Guard to explore the ways that UAVs could successfully share civilian skies.

Aviation experts see this as the first step towards the automated airliners of tomorrow-a feature of some speculative pulp fiction of the 1920s and the popular dream of many 20th Century futurists.

Across the pond, the UK has also embarked on a program researching the possibility of crewless commercial aircraft. Led by BAE Systems and EADS (the owner of European aircraft conglomerate Airbus), Astraea 2 seeks its own pathway to a pilotless future.

Currently, airspace over North America and Europe is cleared for special UAV flights. The goal of the American and UK project is to eliminate the need to clear certain altitudes and vectors to accommodate pilotless craft.

According to the FAA and aircraft control officials, the ability of UAVs to fly without special restrictions will free up time and allow more frequent flights.

Expediency, however, is not taking a back seat to safety. The UAVs will have to be ‘smart’ aircraft with the ability to sense other planes, change altitude, speed and direction if needed, and execute evasive maneuvers if another aircraft approaches too closely.

With the US economy still tottering and the European economy in shambles, some economists are predicting a double-dip recession in early 2011.

Few economists, however, are predicting a collapse into another ‘Great Depression’ such as that experienced by the US during the late 19th Century and the 1930s.

One economist—Paul Krugman—does warn of an extended severe downturn, though, and paints a picture that is more than bleak.

Yet no economists have taken the sun into their economic forecasts.

The sun? Yes, the sun.

The activity of the sun not only drives the weather, but to a great extent also drives the world’s economy: Farming, fishing, horticulture, solar industries, even the chemical industry and animal husbandry depend on a quiet, predictable sun.

But when the sun acts up, all hell can break loose. It has happened before and it can happen again.

With temperatures soaring quicker than Obama’s disapproval ratings, why is it that the Marxist trio of Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid have failed to provide all of us the people with a basic human right and one specifically guaranteed, in plain English, in our hallowed Constitution?

That would be the right to universal air conditioning, an absolute must for anyone pursuing happiness during the months of May through mid-October, give or take a month or so depending on location.

Universal air conditioning might cost a few trillion dollars to begin with, but the benefits would be overwhelmingly positive.

For example, health care costs would drop quicker than Congressional approval ratings as millions of people who would normally suffer heat strokes, heart attacks and other deadly health conditions in 90-110 degree ovens would remain cool and safe in homes protected by government-funded universal AC.

Furthermore, when the unwashed masses are hot and humid for long periods, the result is a spike in fights, riots, domestic violence and other social unrest which strains law enforcement and endangers law-abiding citizenry.
“Heat Rage”

The cost of dealing with “heat rage” must be in the hundreds of billions, especially in areas where the low-income and disadvantaged are forced to live.

People exposed to unbearable heat and humidity also tend to consume copious amounts of beer, ice cream, and other high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods, which cause obesity which in turn leads to heart disease and diabetes.

“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is carrying out one of the biggest power grabs in American history. The agency has positioned itself to regulate fuel economy, set climate policy for the nation and amend the Clean Air Act—powers never delegated to it by Congress. It has done this by declaring greenhouse gas emissions a danger to public health and welfare, in a proceeding known as the ‘endangerment finding.’”

So wrote George Allen and Marlo Lewis in a recent Forbes commentary. Allen is a former U.S. Senator and Governor from Virginia. Lewis is a senior fellow in environmental policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

The Senate is scheduled to vote June 10 on the Murkowski Resolution, S.J. Res. 26. If passed it will stop the out-of-control Environmental Protection Agency’s global warming rampage. The resolution has 41 sponsors, but needs 51 votes to pass. There will be no filibusters and no second chance to reverse the worst attack on the U.S. economy and the freedom of Americans to utilize energy for business and personal use.

“If allowed to stand,” wrote Allen and Lewis, “the EPA’s endangerment finding will trigger a regulatory cascade through multiple provisions of the Act. America could be burdened with a regulatory regime more costly than any climate bill Congress has rejected or declined to pass, yet without the people’s representatives ever voting on it.”

Americans have witnessed the spending of billions in stimulus bills that have not reversed or slowed the worst unemployment rate since the Great Depression.

They have witnessed the take-over of General Motors by the federal government.

They have watched this Democrat-controlled Congress ram through a healthcare “reform” bill that takes over one-sixth of the nation’s economy and a Cap-and-Trade Act, renamed a “climate” bill, is waiting for a vote.

Okay, it got your attention.  You were expecting an article on Obama, Bush and possibly Quayle.  And that is just what the government has been doing.  They have been using misleading bill titles and descriptions of legislation to get people to think it is doing one thing when it actually does the opposite or another.  If this type of advertising was used in the free market it would be deemed “bait and switch” advertising or just plain fraud.

We are at an important crossroads in our history.  If every day people do not start paying attention to what is going on, transformations in our government will take place right before our eyes and you won’t even know what happened.  Democrat, Republican, Independent – it doesn’t matter.  The protections we embrace as citizens are being destroyed from all parties – they are all guilty.  We, as people, need to stop blaming this president or that one.  The problems we face today started many president’s back and with every successor they add just a little more regulation and took away a little more freedom.  They all said it is for the “good of the people” but that is like the shifty used car salesman telling you “trust me.”  Yeah, I think I’ll pass.

The first was Health Care Reform.  Sounded good, the government was going to work on a bill that would make health care accessible and available to everyone.  Why would anyone oppose making sure everyone had health care.  The problem was, it had nothing to do with actual care of your health.  It had everything to do with the government taking control of 1/6^th of the economy, controlling what services will or will not be available to you, and it made it mandatory for everyone to PURCHASE health insurance.  They claimed it would reduce the deficit, lower medical costs, and make insurance affordable for everyone.  Then AFTER the bill is passed the reality comes out – it will actually increase insurance premiums, medical costs will go up, rationing of medical services is very likely, and it will not decrease the deficit but will increase it.  You also can expect to see higher taxes.  Doctors are already not accepting new Medicare or Medicaid patients and some have cut off services to those they already have.  Many doctors will be closing their doors before the bill finally takes full effect.  People are saying “but this isn’t what we wanted, this isn’t what we were told.”  You are correct – if you listened to the party in charge and only mainstream media you were duped.  If you got involved, listened to the other side or actually tried to read the bill you were very much aware of the scam taking place.  People were screaming it wasn’t constitutional, but the party in charge didn’t want to discuss that, so we have to wait and see when the lawsuits get filed.

The vote on Puerto Rico seemed harmless – it was a non-binding agreement that would allow Puerto Rico to decide if they wanted to be a state.  What’s the harm in that?  Well, if the vote were straightforward and initiated by the Puerto Rican people there would be no problem.  But this was once again a backdoor into getting something passed.  It requires a two-part vote with the first question deciding if the 2^nd vote will take place.  If the people vote for change, then remaining as they are is no longer an option and will leave only 3 options left, with statehood being one of them.  They will also let the people who were born Puerto Rican but living in the U.S. vote.  The last four elections on the issue of statehood have failed.  Why is this backdoor approach being used if the people of Puerto Rico really want to become a state?  Should the vote not be straight-forward?  If they want to become a state, why have they not initiated the process instead of our current Congress?

Cap and Trade is another proposal having nothing to do with controlling greenhouse gas emissions, this is all about power and money.  With the science behind “climate change” being in question, why would you continue to be so insistent that Cap and Trade is necessary?  What it does do is regulate a whole lot about light bulbs and provides for inspections of homes to be sure they are energy efficient and requires you to make improvements.  You would think if you installed solar power that would be a good thing in going green.  But the government is going to tax you, the consumer, of that power since you are now producing your own power.  Green is not the goal here – it’s money.  The topper is, in order to decrease these harmful emissions, they are going to give businesses pollution credits.  If a business expects to exceed their greenhouse gas emissions they can buy credits from a company that isn’t going to use all of theirs through an exchange.  If we compare two companies and they both have 10 credits; if company A expects to need 15 credits this year and company B is only going to use 5 credits, company B can sell their credits through this exchange process to company A.  This in NO WAY reduces greenhouse gas emissions – you are still producing the same amount.  What is does allow is the exchange of air for money.  Who would buy air?  But the government is going to force the exchange of air to reduce greenhouse gas.  The result; consumers get hit up even more as energy prices are expected to sore.  How many of us already pay way too much for energy?  Expect it to double or triple if this bill is passed.

Be careful of “Immigration Reform.”  With the passage of the Arizona law, Congress is trying to decide what to do.  They didn’t want to address illegal immigration before the election but Arizona pushed the issue.  But immigration reform is nothing about reform, it’s all about amnesty.  We don’t need another amnesty program – we need enforcement of the laws already in place.  What you need to be aware of other than granting amnesty to 10-20 million illegals, is that hidden in one of the bills is the biometric identity chip that we all will be required to have if we, as citizens, want to work in our own country.  A device that will have all of your personal information and what else…could that be the medical information in health care reform and the financial information in the Wall Street bill.  Yes, you will be tracked by the federal government.  This won’t reduce the number of illegals still entering the country, nor will it track them.  They aren’t going to be tagged with this device because they are off the radar!  Who will be affected – U.S. Citizens.  This is another violation of our civil rights but no one is watching.

And while all the focus is on illegal immigration, with special interests, unions and anti-LEGAL immigration people out protesting, the Senate is up to yet another deceptive bill to strip away more of our civil rights – the “Financial Reform” bill.  This bill is being sold as a way to protect America from the big, bad companies on Wall Street that caused the housing crisis and banking crisis.  They promise it will make sure these companies don’t get “too big to fail” again.  It does just the opposite.  It actually establishes a permanent bailout fund, so when they act irresponsibly again, taxpayer dollars are just waiting to be paid out quickly to bail them out once again.  It specifically exempts Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac from these regulations, the two that were major players in the housing collapse.  Other big businesses are getting in on this trying to negotiate their exemptions – and yes they will get them.  It does nothing to control the problem.  So what does it do?  I was SHOCKED!  It puts control of the Internet into the hands of the government.  This is something they’ve been trying to get.  The last means of uncensored communication will go to the government.  A new agency will be established to oversee banking transactions.  This agency basically establishes it’s own rules and then plays judge and jury in enforcement.  All financial transactions will have to be reported to this agency – yes, your banking records and transactions will be reported to the federal government.  We are still reading this bill, but contacted our representatives to be sure we were interpreting this correctly and they confirmed our fears.  This bill is all about losing our rights under the constitution and under the 1^st amendment.