Observations From the Back Row: 7-12-11

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Everything we are told should bear some resemblance to what we see going on in reality!
“De Omnibus Dubitandum”

The founding philosopher of the deep green movement was a Nazi
Most of the Green thinkers of Nazism are now forgotten but Heidegger is still honored -- as is his authoritarian proclivities

One of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century, foundational to the academic left and deep ecology of the greens, was committed to Nazism.

The green Nazi/deep ecology connection in the life and works of Martin Heidegger have been routinely given a pass over the years by many western scholars who love his existential philosophy.


Sieg Heil, Stephen Chu!
Steven Chu was a co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997. That he developed methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light does not mean he understands economics, consumer choice, or politics. A Nobel Prize does not even guarantee common sense. Often it guarantees the opposite.  In a Friday conference call with reporters, Chu argued against a House bill that would repeal a 2007 federal law outlawing incandescent bulbs. Many Americans object to being told that must buy the fluorescent, halogen, and LED bulbs starting in January of 2012 as dictated by federal law….. Chu argued the more-efficient bulbs mandated by Congress save consumers money over the bulb’s life even though the up-front price is higher. Chu defended Congress’s right to dictate what kind of light bulb Americans buy because: “We are taking away a choice that continues to let people waste their own money."

What to Do if a Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) Bulb or Fluorescent Tube Light Bulb Breaks in Your Home: Detailed Recommendations

Other Types of Light Bulbs

Follow the recommendations on this page if you've broken another type of mercury-containing light bulb, such as:

Fluorescent bulbs:

• Linear, U-tube and circline fluorescent tubes
• Bug zappers
• Tanning bulbs
• Black lights
• Germicidal bulbs
• High output bulbs, and
• Cold-cathode fluorescent bulbs.

High intensity discharge bulbs:

• Metal halide
• Ceramic metal halide
• High pressure sodium, and mercury vapor.

Mercury short-arc bulbs; and Neon bulbs.

Related Information

• Why is it important to take these steps? Learn more about CFLs and mercury.
• Find out how to recycle and dispose of a CFL after it burns out
• Color brochure: Download and print a two-page brochure on how to safely clean up and recycle compact fluorescent bulbs (869K, about PDF) | en español (876K, about PDF)
• Main CFL page

Disclaimer

This document contains information designed to be useful to the general public. This document:

• does not impose legally binding requirements, nor does it confer legal rights, impose legal obligations, or implement any statutory or regulatory provisions;
• does not change or substitute for any statutory or regulatory provisions;
• presents technical information based on EPA’s current understanding of the potential hazards posed by breakage of mercury-containing fluorescent lamps (light bulbs) in a typical household setting;
• is a living document and may be revised periodically without public notice.
EPA welcomes comments on this document at any time and will consider those comments in any future revisions of this document.
View the most important steps to reduce exposure to mercury vapor from a broken bulb
Note that these steps are precautions and reflect best practices for cleaning up a broken CFL. If you are unable to follow them fully, don't be alarmed. CFLs contain a very small amount of mercury -- less than 1/100th of the amount in a mercury thermometer. However, if you are concerned about the risk to your health from a potential exposure to mercury, consult your physician.

Recommended steps:

• Before cleanup
• Cleanup steps for:

o Hard surfaces
o Carpeting or rugs

• Future cleaning of carpeting or rugs: air out the room during and after vacuuming
• Actions you can take to prevent broken compact fluorescent light bulbs

Before Cleanup

1. Have people and pets leave the room, and avoid the breakage area on the way out.
2. Open a window or door to the outdoors and leave the room for 5-10 minutes.
3. Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning (H&AC) system, if you have one.
4. Collect materials you will need to clean up the broken bulb:

o Stiff paper or cardboard
o Sticky tape (e.g., duct tape)
o Damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes (for hard surfaces)
o Glass jar with a metal lid (such as a canning jar) or a sealable plastic bag(s)

Cleanup Steps for Hard Surfaces

1. Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place debris and paper/cardboard in a glass jar with a metal lid. If a glass jar is not available, use a sealable plastic bag. (NOTE: Since a plastic bag will not prevent the mercury vapor from escaping, remove the plastic bag(s) from the home after cleanup.)
2. Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder. Place the used tape in the glass jar or plastic bag.
3. Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place the towels in the glass jar or plastic bag.
4. Vacuuming of hard surfaces during cleanup is not recommended unless broken glass remains after all other cleanup steps have been taken. [NOTE: It is possible that vacuuming could spread mercury-containing powder or mercury vapor, although available information on this problem is limited.] If vacuuming is needed to ensure removal of all broken glass, keep the following tips in mind:

o Keep a window or door to the outdoors open;
o Vacuum the area where the bulb was broken using the vacuum hose, if available; and
o Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister) and seal the bag/vacuum debris, and any materials used to clean the vacuum, in a plastic bag.
5. Promptly place all bulb debris and cleanup materials, including vacuum cleaner bags, outdoors in a trash container or protected area until materials can be disposed of properly.
o Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your area. Some states and communities require fluorescent bulbs (broken or unbroken) be taken to a local recycling center.

6. Wash your hands with soap and water after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing bulb debris and cleanup materials.
7. Continue to air out the room where the bulb was broken and leave the H&AC system shut off, as practical, for several hours.

Cleanup Steps for Carpeting or Rugs

1. Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place debris and paper/cardboard in a glass jar with a metal lid. If a glass jar is not available, use a sealable plastic bag. (NOTE: Since a plastic bag will not prevent the mercury vapor from escaping, remove the plastic bag(s) from the home after cleanup.)
2. Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder. Place the used tape in the glass jar or plastic bag.
3. Vacuuming of carpeting or rugs during cleanup is not recommended unless broken glass remains after all other cleanup steps have been taken. [NOTE: It is possible that vacuuming could spread mercury-containing powder or mercury vapor, although available information on this problem is limited.] If vacuuming is needed to ensure removal of all broken glass, keep the following tips in mind:

o Keep a window or door to the outdoors open;
o Vacuum the area where the bulb was broken using the vacuum hose, if available, and
o Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister) and seal the bag/vacuum debris, and any materials used to clean the vacuum, in a plastic bag.

4. Promptly place all bulb debris and cleanup materials, including vacuum cleaner bags, outdoors in a trash container or protected area until materials can be disposed of properly.

o Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your area. Some states and communities require fluorescent bulbs (broken or unbroken) be taken to a local recycling center.

5. Wash your hands with soap and water after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing bulb debris and cleanup materials.
6. Continue to air out the room where the bulb was broken and leave the H&AC system shut off, as practical, for several hours

Future Cleaning of Carpeting or Rugs: Air Out the Room During and After Vacuuming

1. The next several times you vacuum the rug or carpet, shut off the H&AC system if you have one, close the doors to other rooms, and open a window or door to the outside before vacuuming. Change the vacuum bag after each use in this area.
2. After vacuuming is completed, keep the H&AC system shut off and the window or door to the outside open, as practical, for several hours.

Actions You Can Take to Prevent Broken Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs
Fluorescent bulbs are made of glass and can break if dropped or roughly handled. To avoid breaking a bulb, follow these general practices:

• Always switch off and allow a working CFL bulb to cool before handling.
• Always handle CFL bulbs carefully to avoid breakage.

o If possible, screw/unscrew the CFL by holding the plastic or ceramic base, not the glass tubing.
o Gently screw in the CFL until snug. Do not over-tighten.
o Never forcefully twist the glass tubing.

• Consider not using CFLs in lamps that can be easily knocked over, in unprotected light fixtures, or in lamps that are incompatible with the spiral or folded shape of many CFLs.
• Do not use CFL bulbs in locations where they can easily be broken, such as play spaces.
• Use CFL bulbs that have a glass or plastic cover over the spiral or folded glass tube, if available. These types of bulbs look more like incandescent bulbs and may be more durable if dropped.
• Consider using a drop cloth (e.g., plastic sheet or beach towel) when changing a fluorescent light bulb in case a breakage should occur. The drop cloth will help prevent mercury contamination of nearby surfaces and can be bundled with the bulb debris for disposal.

Mercury from CFL debris: Above ‘safe’ levels and long-lasting, says study
Of course what these researchers fail to grasp is that the mercury in CFLs is a special non-toxic isotope of mercury called HgPC.

Here’s an excerpt from the study abstract:

This article presents an original study on the releases of mercury (Hg) from broken compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) under various environmental conditions… Hg vapor emission test revealed that the CFLs continuously release Hg vapor once broken and the release can last over 10 weeks. Total amount of Hg vapor released from a broken CFL can exceeds 1.0 mg, which can cause Hg level in a regular room to exceed the safe human exposure limit under poor ventilation conditions.

My Take - OH NO! Say it ain't so Joe. Is it possible? Another stupid greenie solution to another non-problem gone awry?  I guess we should be grateful they have such a monoploy for being wrong.  Otherwise "wrong" would have to be spread out among the rest of society and we might not know who was wrong until it was too late.   This way.....we already know who not to pay attention to.  Now we can just ignore anything they say right from the gitgo. 

"The time has come," the Walrus said,

"To talk of many things:

Of shoes, and ships, and sealing wax -

Of cabbages and kings,

And why the sea is boiling hot,

And whether pigs have wings."

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Green and Problems of Democracy

By Rich Kozlovich

As I link articles dealing with the Endangered Species Act and the actions of the Environmental Protection Agency I find that I am startled at how green issues violate every aspect of what Americanism really is, and how so many fail to grasp this. They violate the Constitution, and they violate the principles outlined in the Declaration of Independence.  I find that it is difficult to explain how dangerously "green" violates our rights if people don't really understand those rights and the foundation thinking that brought them into being. 

In my July 3rd Observations From the Back Row I posted a link to the Declaration of Independence asking if we had actually read it in its entirety. It’s no secret that the vast majority hasn’t; and fewer have read the U.S. Constitution. How many fewer have even heard of the Articles of Confederation or the Federalist Papers let alone read this material. I commented that it disturbs me that schools clearly aren’t teaching history any longer….yet I never read any of that when I was in school and I graduated in 1964, from a state that required a passing grade in a civics course they called Problems of Democracy in order to graduate.

We are, compared to the people of the 1700’s, somewhat illiterate per ratio to the amount of information available. They had little information, the population wasn’t entirely literate and the information wasn’t easliy available to everyone and books were expensive….yet they read what they could get their hands on. We, on the other hand, have access to vast quantities of information via the internet that was never as readily available before.

One writer’s commentary would lead to more commentaries and subsequently generate more interest in issues and topics that you would have had to go to the library to research.  Now you could research it from your desk and if you found the topic really interesting you could order books right online.  After all, articles don't give you all you need, they merely point the way to find the right books.   Yet what do we find? Tens of millions sitting and watching a trial that was being broadcast 24/7 about a mother that allegedly killed her own daughter, wasting intellectual energy and dulling the mind.

Then again, watching Fox's concept of good broadcasting and “fair and balanced” is difficult, and they are probably the better of all the network news stations. That should disturb everyone. All these reality shows diminish humanity.  They are degrading to the people on the shows and the people who watch them. As for their news shows; I consider O’Reilly a big phony, and the worst thing that could have happened to Hannity was that Cone left the show. As a result Hannity is now too cute by half. The panels on all the shows are lame, and Chris Wallace is a waste of time. There is no real in depth coverage on anything. When they interview someone who actually knows something they talk over them so much they don’t really have time to lay foundation for what has to be said, nor is sufficient time allotted to do justice to any topic even if they weren’t interrupted.

Beck did worthwhile indepth foundational work and his historical references were great, but he was amazingly irritating and ...well.... dificult to watch. I couldn't take him after a while. He turned out to be a flash in the pan, which my friend Alan Caruba predicted.

There is no one doing the business of examining these issues properly other than John Stossel, which is worth the time. He actually says what needs to be said and provides the background information to substantiate it. All the rest obfuscate, side step, and avoid offending to the degree that telling the entire truth should offend. And yet the left is outraged at the tiny amount of truth they do offer, which goes to show just how much patty cake goes on between them and the main stream media. It has been so many years since I watched the main news shows that I can’t remember how long it has been. I stopped long before the internet. In fact, I would bet that it has been at least 25 years since I watched 60 Minutes.

So what you might ask? When I was publishing my old Green Notes Newsletter each week I ran a section called Logical Fallacy of the Week, which I intend to re-run. So, I have decided to offer my own Problem on Democracy each week. I intend to start with the Declaration of Independence and work my way through the foundational works I have mentioned. Hopefully I will have the time to do so each week, but it will be an ongoing process.

The question I wish to leave you with in the meantime is; why isn’t this all taught extensively in school? After all, if people don’t understand the foundational rationale for the structure of their society how can they make rational decisions as to what really is Constitutional. Most importantly, why and how the Constitution and the Amendments came into being? Were these men who did all of this work really brilliant? Is the Constitution nothing more than a “dusty old document” as one Supreme Court Justice described it?

I will tell you this; starting in the late 1800’s the goal of education was to make sure that the “apple fell as far away for the tree as possible”; not reading, not writing and not arithmetic. Think about that until next week.

“The halls of the Interior Department are filled with environmental extremists. They will find any type of habitat or creature they can to make a case to stop job creation and use of federal land.”

Rep. Devin Nunes (R.-Calif.)

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UN reveals its master plan for destruction of global economy

By James Delingpole  Last updated: July 7th, 2011

I would like to thank James for allowing me to publish his work. He is, at least in my opinion, one of the brightest of the young writers today. RK

More dangerous than Al Qaeda

Former US secretary to the United Nations John Bolton once famously said: “The [UN] Secretariat building in New York has 38 stories. If it lost ten stories it wouldn’t make a bit of difference.” (H/T Milo)

But I’d say Bolton was being too modest in his aspirations. Far too modest. I’d suggest that if we lost all 38 stories the benefits to mankind would be almost incalculable. Right now, indeed, it’s likely that the United Nations poses a far greater threat to Western Civilisation and the world’s economic future than Al Qaeda does. Have a glance at its latest report World Economic And Social Survey 2011 – and you’ll see what I mean.
The report argues that over the next 40 years our governments must spend an annual minimum of $1.9 trillion – that’s an eyewatering $76 trillion – steering the global economy onto the path of “green growth.”
But “Green growth” – as the report more or less acknowledges – is an oxymoron. That’s why, even though it was supervised by an alleged economist, Dutchman Rob Vos, the report is not at all ashamed to advocate limiting economic growth through rationing, punitive taxation and other forms of government intervention. Why? To combat “Climate Change”, of course.

Here’s the kicker:

“Hence, if, for instance, emission reduction targets cannot be met through accelerated technological progress in energy efficiency and renewable energy generation, it may be necessary to impose caps on energy consumption itself in order to meet climate change mitigation in a timely manner. Proposals to put limits on economic growth can be viewed in this context.” (P.19)

And if shaving off $1.9 trillion from the world economy each year (that’s 3 per cent of the world gross product in 2010) results in further economic stagnation and a lower standard of living for our children and grandchildren, well what the hell. As the report primly tells us, none of us actually needs to earn more than $10,000 a year. Anything more is greedy:

“For example, taking life expectancy as an objective measure of the quality of life, it can be seen that life expectancy does not increase much beyond a per capita income of about $10,000. Similarly…cross-country evidence suggests that there are no significant additional gains in human development (as measured by the human development index) beyond the energy-use level of about 110 gigajoules (GJ) (or two tons of oil equivalent (toe) per capita.”

Are they seriously suggesting that developed economies should ration their people’s energy use? They surely are:

“The Survey estimates that the emissions cap would be equivalent to primary energy consumer consumption of 70 gigajoules per capita per year, which means that the average European would have to cut his or her energy consumption by about half and the average resident of the US by about three quarters.”

So, instead of being able to enjoy a hot shower every day all you Americans, you’ll now confine your warm ablutions to weekends only. Same goes for air-con in summer. And heating in winter. Welcome to the New Green World Order.

What’s amazing about this stuff – and believe me, there’s plenty more where this came from – is the unblushing shamelessness with which it advocates this economic insanity. Here is the world’s most powerful intergovernmental institution essentially arguing for the destruction of the global economy, enforced rationing, Marxist wealth redistribution, greater regulation, the erosion of property rights and global governance by a new world order of technocrats and bureacrats. And being so upfront about it they actually issue press releases, telling us what they’re planning to do and encouraging us to write about it.

This is the thing that amazed while I was researching my book Watermelons. If the global green movement is any kind of conspiracy, then it’s a conspiracy in plain sight. The people in power who are advancing its agenda – be it President Obama’s house eco-activists John Holdren and Carol Browner, Green MP Caroline Lucas, and all those faceless apparatchiks at the UN and the EU – make absolutely no bones about what it is that they want to do to save the world from the peril of “Climate Change”: the end of Industrial Civilisation.

Which might be just about understandable if the crisis we were facing were so great that only the most extreme measures would suffice. But the crisis they describe is non-existent. As I argue in the second half of my book, economic growth and true environmentalism – as opposed to the sick, bastardised, warped, hair-shirt perversion of it currently being dumped on us by the Greenies – go hand in hand.

As economies grow richer, so they have more money to set aside for cleaner rivers, fresher air, as well as to invest in R & D projects for ever more eco-friendly forms of energy. It’s no coincidence that quite the worst environmental damage in the last century was done in those countries behind the Iron Curtain. Free market economies tend naturally to be cleaner and healthier because clean and healthy is what people choose anyway if they can afford it. They don’t need government to step in and take their money in order to spend it inefficiently trying to achieve something which would have happened quite naturally anyway.

What this ludicrous UN report is advocating is the exact opposite of what the world needs if it is to become genuinely greener. All those people in the developing world, if they’re to live healthier, less environmentally damaging lives the very last thing they need is hand-outs from richer economies. What they need is property rights and free trade and the chance to grow their economy to the point where – cf the Kuznets Curve – they can afford the luxury of having to breed fewer children and to heat and light their homes without having to chop down the nearest trees. What they also need for us in the rich West to have thriving economies in order that we can import more of their produce.

Rationing and limits to growth are not the answer. The UN is a menace and we listen to its eco-fascist ravings at our peril.

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American Council on Science and Health, 2011: Week 26

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Twitter & Facebook Us!  Get your ACSH fill this weekend!

The presence of linked articles here are merely a way of showing what is going on, whether I agree or disagree with the positions presented. Rich Kozlovich

Energy

Cuomo’s Jekyll and Hyde act on energy policies
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is having a hard time remaining consistent in his efforts to influence the regulation of energy sources.

Obesity

Sleep, snacking independent risk factors for obesity. Did you say shampoo?
As researchers continue to probe the possible causes of America's ongoing obesity epidemic, Barry Popkin, a professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, says his latest research demonstrates that people are eating more now - by about an extra 600 calories per day - than they did in the 1970s.

Dr. Whelan in Forbes: What’s really causing childhood obesity?
Last week, the influential American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended a ban on "fast" or "junk" food commercials as a means of combating childhood obesity. ... This week, on Forbes.com, ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan calls their bluff.

Cut calories with cash, not labelsWith two-thirds of U.S. adults and one-third of children either obese or overweight, public health officials are scrambling to come up with solutions to this growing problem.

The health impact of irrational fears Neither the chemicals that leach in tiny amounts from plastics, nor the so-called radiation from your cell phone threatens your health as much as the simple act of sitting may.

Tobacco

Dr. Whelan on “Warnings That Don’t Work”
The FDA asserts that graphic warnings will serve public health by terrifying smokers into quitting. But ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, in an op-ed appearing in National Review Online, has her doubts.

General Medicine

Grin and bare it: colonoscopies save lives
A new study reveals that fewer Americans are developing colorectal cancer (CRC).

New study not quite worth its salt
Is it really okay to use the salt shaker again?

Mammogram guidelines: One size does not fit all
How often is it actually useful to have a mammogram?

Massage for much kneaded lower back relief
According to a small study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, massage therapy may be a viable option for those who suffer from lower back pain.

Pharmaceuticals

FDA approval of Xarelto means anticoagulant options not so thin
Those suffering from blood clotting disorders will find welcome relief in the FDA's approval of a new anticoagulant, rivaroxaban, co-developed by Johnson & Johnson and Bayer AG.

Cancer

Get the lead out
Reduced colorectal cancer isn't the only good news reported by the CDC: The latest survey of the CDC's Adult Blood Lead Epidemiology and Surveillance (ABLES) program shows continued declines in the average blood lead levels (BLLs) among U.S. adults.

Genetically Modified Organisms

Very superstitious: GM fears and facts
In welcome news for the people of Kenya, a set of new laws will allow the production and importation of genetically modified (GM) crops.

Europe’s inverted priorities lead to devastation in Africa
Scientifically unfounded fears of biotech innovation too often result in real harm to the countries that most stand to benefit. Richard Tren, Executive Director of Africa Fighting Malaria, knows this all too well.

Clarification
We reported yesterday that the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a summit of the world's food safety regulatory agencies, approved food labeling guidance that would allow countries to label genetically modified foods without infringing upon international free trade laws.

If there is a health scare today, the American Council on Science and Health will most likely have the answer by tomorrow; and for members it will appear in your e-mail. No effort on your part, except to read the answer. All that the ACSH is interested in are the facts and they are prepared to follow them wherever they lead. Who can ask for more?  Please Donate Now!

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Observations From the Back Row: 7-9-11

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Everything we are told should bear some resemblance to what we see going on in reality!

What could be bad about 'sustainability'?
To ordinary people, the word sustainable is an adjective that means the activity the word describes can continue forever. For example, since biblical days, farmers practiced sustainable agriculture by leaving their fields fallow every seventh year. In early America, farmers knew that for agriculture to be sustainable, the same crop could not be planted in the same field year after year. Sustainable agriculture has always been practiced by successful farmers. Farmers who didn't practice sustainable agriculture inevitably failed.

The United Nations has given the word sustainable a new definition. Introduced to the world in "Our Common Future," the report of the 1987 U.N. Commission on Environment and Development, and further defined in the U.N.'s "Agenda 21" at the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development, the term "sustainable" was married to the term "development," and a brand new concept entered the world. The term "sustainable development" means any activity that has economic impact, and is equitable, and has no negative environmental impact. All three elements are required to qualify as "sustainable development." ……... Proponents of sustainable development, inside and outside the government, downplay this fundamental element of sustainable development. Instead, they tout the benefits to the environment of sustainable programs that promote recycling, renewable energy, conservation and the like. And an unknowing public drinks the progressive Kool-Aid.

My Take - I don't know who originated these five sentences, but I would like to thank Gerry for sending this to me, and after you have read the above article please take these five sentences into consideration. This is what green is really about....imposed socialism.

"These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read:

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation

Can you think of a reason for not sharing this? Neither could I......"

Bill would let federal health researchers ban certain chemicals
A new bill could alter the landscape of chemical regulation in the United States by empowering researchers to take swift action against the most potentially harmful chemicals in use today. The bill, to be introduced later this month, would give the director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and a panel of experts selected by the director, the power to ban up to 10 chemicals from commerce each year by categorizing them as being of high concern. Those chemicals would become unlawful to use 24 months after receiving that designation.

..Grizzly bear kills Yellowstone hiker
A female grizzly bear attacked and killed a man who encountered the bruin and her cubs while he was hiking with his wife on Wednesday in Yellowstone National Park, park officials said.  The fatal mauling occurred about a mile and a half from the start of the Wapiti Lake trail, and another group of hikers nearby heard the victim's wife crying out for help and used a cell phone to call park rangers for assistance.  A National Park Service statement said the couple had inadvertently surprised the mother grizzly and her cubs, and in "an attempt to defend a perceived threat to her cubs, the bear attacked and fatally wounded the man.

Environmental Activism
Despite all the talk about energy independence emanating from Washington DC, this government and its allies in the environmental movement do whatever they can to thwart this goal. Based on reliable discoveries in Utah, Arizona and Colorado there may be enough fossil fuel from shale and natural gas to avoid any reliance on foreign oil. Why then is nothing happening to mine these resources and bring them to market?
The answer very simply is that extremist elements in the environmental movement have supplied sufficient pressure to make any drilling and mining impossible in these areas. Using an array of tactics to challenge companies and impose their agenda,......

Activists realize that if you can get government agencies and corporate leaders on your side using propaganda and intimidation as tactics, an effective alliance for environmental positions can be created.
For those who are scientific realists, this propaganda effort is discouraging. Not only does it place the United States in a disadvantageous economic position, not only does it force our government to expend blood and treasure defending foreign oil fields, but it challenges scientific verities and destroys corporate integrity.

Obama plan: 'Spike' energy costs, kill 1.4 million jobs
Industry group blasts White House decision to raise electricity bills now - Even before he was elected president, Barack Obama warned he would "bankrupt" the coal industry if necessary and purposefully spike Americans' utility bills in order to force the nation into using less and cleaner forms of energy. Now, industry partners warn, the White House is making good on that promise by issuing a new rule that will raise some Midwesterners' electricity bills over 23 percent by 2016 and cost an estimated 1.44 million jobs by 2020.


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Observations From the Back Row: 7-8-11

Everything we are told should bear some resemblance to what we see going on in reality!

UN-hinged: United Nations wants $76 trillion for ‘great green technological transformation’A new report from the United Nations claims that natural disasters have quintupled over the past 40 years and that developed countries should spend $1.9 trillion annually through 2050 in a “great green technological transformation.

Green, brown and bloody all over - Much has been written about the Nazis' so-called ecological activism. But were they truly conservationists? And if so, does that change our perception of their crimes?

As you read this please keep this in mind; greenies aren't necessarily conservationists. Most of them are preservationists. Conservation carries a mentality of future use. Preservation carries the connotation of non use....forever. RK

"How Green Were the Nazis? Nature, Environment and Nation in the Third Reich (Ecology and History)" by Franz-Josef Brueggemeier, Mark Cioc and Thomas Zeller, Ohio University Press, 288 pages, $22.95

Nazism and ecology? The Nazi party as a green movement? At first glance such analogies seem ridiculous, absurd, outrageous. In 1985, historian Anna Bramwell published a book in which she claimed outright that the Nazi party was a "green party." She focused on Richard Walther Darre, the agricultural minister of Nazi Germany, and his "Blut und Boden" ("blood and soil") ideology. Darre, wrote Bramwell, was the head of the "green" faction of the Nazi party, which greatly influenced the thinking of leading Nazis, among them Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich. Bramwell called Darre the "father of the greens" for his support of organic agriculture, restrictions on the use of mechanized farming methods, and so on. In its time, if I am not mistaken, the book was quite esoteric.

My Take - I agree that in reality the Nazi's weren't true greenies, although the leadership were subscribers to the philosophy; they were not true believers.

They are similar to the green movement today. Those at the top and those who support them are only fractionally green, and use the green concept to attain other goals, just as did the Nazi's. The Nazi's used 'green' to impose their control over private property and the population as a whole.

So, what'ss the difference between the green movement of Nazi Germany and the worldwide green movement of today? To declare that Nazi Germany was not a green government is erroneous in my opinion. If they imposed greenie policies they are a green government, period.

The fact that they abandoned 'green' because of the war is immaterial. In point of fact; Nazi Germany was the first green government. Please visit The History of Environmentalism.

Merkel´s agenda today: "A dance to the music of the enviro-fundamentalists" - There were great expectations, in Germany and internationally, when Angela Merkel took over as Chancellor of Europe´s most powerful country. However, things did not turn out so well for Frau Merkel: A growing number of Germans - as well as international observers - are frustrated with her lack of leadership. The main source of frustration is probably Merkel´s total cave in to the "green" enviro-fundamentalists, who now appear to have taken over Germany.

Memo to Hal Rogers: ‘Hope’ is not a strategy for dealing with EPA - House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) said that the proposed 18 cuts in the FY2012 budget for EPA “sends a very strong message” to rein in EPA’s actions. Rogers then added, “I am hopeful that these provisions are sufficient to prod EPA in the right direction.”  But we’ve been down this path before. The EPA doesn’t generally respond to such “messages.” The EPA knows that the Democrat-controlled Senate will reject the House budget cuts and the Republicans will then fold like a cheap suit. If Rogers wants to get the EPA’s attention, he’ll need to turn the agency’s lights off for awhile — that will require an Alamo-like stand to deep cuts in the EPA budget.  Rogers may view the proposed 18% budget cuts as deep, but we view them as approving of 82% of what the EPA does.......

Senator Inhofe on the outrage of the year: EPA sending your money to China for global warming propaganda July 8, 2011- WASHINGTON, D.C. – “Outrage of the Year” – that is what U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, is calling the distribution of tax dollars to China by the Obama Administration, through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to promote its climate change agenda. This information comes from a report released by Congressman Fred Upton, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Fred Upton: All talk and no action -No doubt the EPA is trembling (or snickering?) at the sight of House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton’s media release about the EPA’s so-called “Cross-State Air Pollution Rule.”

Samet: No end to EPA air regulation - If Jean-Paul Sartre were still alive he might be induced to update his play “No Exit” to be about Americans locked in a room discussing how EPA air regulation destroyed their standard of living.

EPA’s Shell game -Maybe the EPA is just trying to help Shell explore for oil off the coast of Alaska — or maybe the agency is simply setting up Shell (and the rest of us) for failure.

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Observations From the Back Row: 7-7-11

Weed-Covered, Neglected Solar Park: 20 Acres, $11 Million, Only One And Half Years Old!

 

German solar skeptic website SOLARKRITIK.DE here provides the background on the rundown, weed-covered solar facility in former communist (and now “green”) East Germany.

It’s much worse than we thought. The story behind the above photo and the project itself appears here at the online Leipziger Volkszeitung newspaper. The facility is sprawled over an area of 20 acres. The Leipziger Volkszeitung newspaper wrote just before the facility went into operation:

‘The park is finally realized,’ beams mayor Carina Radon (CDU) nowadays, and praised the 7.5 million Euro investment. 36,300 modules will be installed in the weeks ahead. It will generate an annual amount of 2.7 million kilowatt-hours. The facility will produce a peak amount of 2722 kilowatts.

Wow! With that kind of performance, you’d think the facility would be well-maintained so that it could continue to generate cash – and so save the planet. Letting such investments go to hell is usually the last thing one does with a money making machine like that. The Leipziger Volkszeitung article writes:

“The solar park saves the environment an emission of 34,500 tons of CO2 and one expects it will be in operation 20 years.”

20 years? As the date of the article shows, the park was set up in December, 2009 – much less than two years ago. Now it is already overgrown with weeds and on the verge of being useless. Your subsidies at work, folks. The green economy - Germany’s job engine!

Shortchanged: House GOP proposes mere 18% cut in EPA budget  

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Steve Milloy

 It’s really shocking that the Tea Party-flavored, REPUBLICAN-controlled House is apparently OK with 82% of what the EPA does.  Below is the House Appropriations Committee’s summary of its proposed EPA FY 2012 appropriations bill:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – The EPA has been funded at unparalleled high levels over the past several years, leading to wasteful and unnecessary spending within the agency, as well as contributing to the agency’s regulatory over-reach, which has a detrimental effect on American businesses and the recovering economy.

The EPA is funded at $7.1 billion in the legislation, which is $1.5 billion – or 18% – below last year’s level, and $1.8 billion – or 20% – below the President’s request. In total, this funding level is below the fiscal year 2006 level by $468 million. The bill also caps EPA’s personnel at the 2010 level (the lowest since 1992), and rescinds certain unobligated grant and contract funding. Some of the other EPA cuts include:

§ $967 million cut in the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. These funds received $6 billion in the “stimulus” legislation, and this cut brings these accounts to the fiscal year 2008 level
§ $102 million cut in grants for state implementation of environmental programs
§ $46 million cut in requested funding to regulate greenhouse gases
§ $422 million cut in EPA operations/administration
§ $76 million cut in EPA regulatory programs
§ $49 million cut in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
§ $4 million cut in the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Initiative
§ $8 million cut in the Puget Sound Restoration Initiative
Section 431 of the bill also delays greenhouse gas regulation and prohibits greenhouse gas lawsuits for a mere one year period.

If Republicans can’t get a grip on the EPA now — amid the worst economic conditions in three generations — what will it take? If this is the GOP’s starting position for negotiations, what will the compromise be? Shudder…

Don’t forget to check out Steve Milloy’s related op-ed in today’s Washington Times: Last chance for GOP to stop EPA train wreck

“We are told…that our own representatives Congress will not exercise their powers oppressively; that we shall not enslave ourselves… Who has enslaved France, Spain, Germany, Turkey, and the other countries that groan under tyranny? They have been enslaved by the hands of their own people. If it be so in America, it will be only as it has been every where else.” - Patrick Henry

Finally.... I thought some of you might enjoy this, and I am sure that some may not, however I wish to introduce you to TexasFred.

Cowboy rules for Texas and the rest of the Wild West
Posted on July 5, 2011 by TexasFred

TexasFred has a way with words and a thought or two that he doesn't mind sharing. He describes himself as;

“ a highly opinionated and very Conservative blogger. If you ask for my opinion, I'll let you know exactly what's on my mind. I don't play the PC game, be very careful what you ask for, you might get more than you expect.”

TexasFred isn't boring! RK

Observations From the Back Row: 7-6-11

Fundamental changes needed in approach to species at risk: task force

Increased funding for research, greater consultation and an ecosystem-based management approach are among the recommendations of a government-appointed task force on species at risk released Monday. Committee chair Bruce Fraser, former head of the province's Forest Practices Board, said in an interview that the current system of trying to protect one endangered species at a time is impractical. "Do it by ecosystem, not individual species," he said. "In the south Okanagan, instead of going after yellow-breasted chat today, sage grouse tomorrow and burrowing owl the day after that, put enough intact ecosystem into some form of protection that would deal with a large number of species as a package."……The report cites 1,207 plant species, 390 animal species and 329 "ecological communities" at risk in B.C.

"In such cases, maintaining the key components for sustaining ecosystem and species can be compatible with careful development of economic opportunities."In response, three environmental groups said in a news release that the recommendations are weak and "fall far short" of the legal protection species at risk require. Ecojustice, Sierra Club B.C. and the Wilderness Committee said they are disappointed that instead of calling for a law the committee recommended "tinkering with B.C.'s antiquated patchwork of existing regulations."

My Take – As I started to read this article I thought this seemed like just another greenie scheme to acquire control over more private property. Then I realized the greenies were against it. That was my first inclination that the idea must have merit, especially since they make the point that this will not impact the economy negatively. Although when it is claimed that “1,207 plant species, 390 animal species and 329 ecological communities” are at risk, I don’t see how that would be possible based on what the U.S. government has done in the past in the U.S. In another article they point out that “Despite decades of legislation, the list of threatened species to continues to grow. There are now about 1,900 species listed in B.C.” There is one point that is clear. Every species living today will go extinct at some point in time. Extinction is the rule, not the exception, and I think that they are becoming aware of this and are looking for a way out of all the insanity the greenies promote.

This Falls Under The Category; “We Have Completely Lost Our Minds”! Disorder at the Border

The lives of our border agents are in grave danger because of radical environmental regulations……Because of a pond inhabited by endangered pupfish, Border Patrol officers can use their vehicles to pursue illegal aliens only if the chase stays on the main road. If the pursuit veers into a 42-acre sector near the pond, officers must continue the chase on foot or horseback…….Pupfish aren’t the only critters confounding the Border Patrol. There’s also the Chiricahua leopard frog, Mexican spotted owl, lesser long-nosed bat, Pima pineapple cactus and Sonoran Pronghorn antelope. And then there’s a small cat called the ocelot that some critics say hasn’t even been seen in the area for 15 years……..Border Patrol agents can’t drive vehicles into designated Wilderness areas, as well as certain areas of national parks and monuments…..Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) has committed or spent more than $9.8 million for environmental mitigation and the price tag could go as high as $50 million, according to a document obtained by Human Events……The Border Patrol respects the desire of environmental groups and land managers to protect environmental species…..[but] along the border, national security and public safety ought to trump anything else,”

Environmentalists disagree…..

“The halls of the Interior Department are filled with environmental extremists,” Rep. Devin Nunes (R.-Calif.) said. “They will find any type of habitat or creature they can to make a case to stop job creation and use of federal land.”

My Take – The answer is simple. The National Environmental Policy Act should be repealed. The Endangered Species Act should be repealed. The Environmental Protection Agency should he eliminated, along with the Interior Department and the Wildlife Service. Furthermore, forty percent of the land mass of the U.S. is owned by the federal government. It needs to be sold, including the National Parks, since no one dares go into them anyway, and the federal government can’t afford to maintain them. See…problem solved. And let’s not make any mistake about this. This will not be solved any other way!!!!

Oh, what the heck, while I’m at it…. One More Thing! As a budgetary issue; let’s get rid of the Education Department, Energy Department, Agriculture Department, Commerce Department, Labor Department, Health and Human Services Department, Housing and Urban Development Department, Transportation Department, Veteran Affairs Department and last but not the least…..Home Land Security Department. That leaves the State Department, Defense Department, Treasury Department and the Justice Department. And then that will give everyone time to take a good long look at them to see what serious changes need to be made. After that we will really have time to look at the 80,000 pages of federal regulations to see which of those can be eliminated. . It is estimated that the cost of federal regulations to the American public will be 1.75 trillion…..did you get that….”1.75 trillion” dollars in 2011. That’s trillion with a T. Conceivably we could eliminate 40,000 pages of regulations and save 880 billion a year. In 15 years it would pay the national debt! Not to mention the enormous growth that would follow as a result of all of these cuts.

See….problems all solved ……because less will become more to the economy and cuts alone will not get us out of this mess. And when I say “us’, I mean humanity as a whole because this has become a worldwide problem caused by socialist ideology. And their solution? More of the same.

Is it any wonder I keep seeing and hearing the Einstein quote saying that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is insanity? Just a thought!


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ESA Observations

...

Must Read Article - Enviros 'helped' wolf lose protection

Yet the pro-wolf lawsuits have ended in a colossal strategic failure: Congress has just brushed them aside and passed a bipartisan measure that strips Endangered Species Act protections from most northern Rockies wolves, effective May 5. ... The lawsuit-oriented groups shrugged off any experts who disagreed with their own experts - including Valerius Geist, a widely respected researcher and author who is also a professor emeritus of wildlife biology at the University of Alberta in Calgary. Geist reveres the North American Model of Conservation, a concept dating back to 1842 that prevents private ownership of wildlife while allowing hunting and fishing within the boundaries of laws set, mostly, by the states. It has been, arguably, the most effective wildlife conservation and restoration model in the world.

Geist told me in 2000, while I was researching a story for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation's Bugle magazine, that wolf reintroduction was "a bad idea……..

Environmentalists have an idealistic vision that there is a balance of nature that can be achieved. What you will actually see is quite a depletion in your big-game (herds)." Geist thinks that "those dickybird fellows" - as he calls most environmentalists - do not really care whether the wolves reduce opportunity for big-game hunters, even though the special taxes hunters pay on firearms and their hunting-license fees basically paid for restoring the elk that allowed the wolf recovery: "The enviros have taken a free ride on the money provided by hunters, and they have never paid their share of wildlife costs."…… (As usual, the greenies and the lefties never have to pay for their actions! It is always up to others to pay for their schemes, not to mention that fact that it is everyone else who pay the penalty for their being wrong. RK)

Terri Tew, who with her husband, Tim, manages the LF Ranch near Augusta, Mont., - known for its wildlife and tolerance of predators - once told me, "We're not always sure why we should go through all this with losing calves and staying up all night, just so somebody from back East can come out here for a week and listen to a wolf howl." Kathy Konen of Dillon, Mont., probably felt the same way when she arrived in her family's sheep pasture on private land to find that wolves had killed 120 rams in one night in August 2009. Some ranchers lost priceless breeding stock they'd built up through generations of careful genetic management……

As a horde of Western politicians harnessed the anti-wolf fury, determined to get Congress to intervene, 10 of the groups involved in the fatal lawsuit panicked. Suddenly, they sought to compromise, offering a "settlement" that resembled the partial delisting they had previously sued against. There was no chance Judge Molloy would accept the settlement, because it still enforced the federal law differently in different states and four of the plaintiffs refused to sign it. It was political theater, and Molloy rejected it on April 9.

Within a few days, Congress approved a bipartisan measure - a rider attached to a budget bill with no real debate - that more or less carried out the previous Bush and Obama plans to delist wolf populations in Montana, Idaho, and portions of Utah, Washington and Oregon, while maintaining federal control in Wyoming. The measure also said that the decision cannot be challenged by lawsuits. President Obama signed it, and it was finalized in the Federal Register on May 5. Defenders of Wildlife warns: "This unprecedented action marks the first time in the history of the Endangered Species Act that protections for a specific species will be revoked by Congress. (It) paves the way for other bills that undermine the scientific principles of the Endangered Species Act and put countless other species at risk at the whim of politicians."…… (Is that versus the whim of greenies and judges who are clueless about the concept of separation of powers? RK)

Meanwhile, three Western environmental groups --Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Friends of the Clearwater and WildEarth Guardians - are already suing the feds over the May 5 delisting of most Northern Rockies wolves, charging that it's unconstitutional for Congress to override a judge's ruling. A fourth group that also thrives in court, the Center for Biological Diversity, has filed a separate lawsuit along the same lines. (It would appear that the left really doesn’t understand the simple language of the Constitution. Congress determines the jurisdiction of the courts. It is the job of Congress t pass the laws that the courts are supposed to follow….not the other way around. Although I know that hasn’t been obvious for many years. RK)

Federal wildlife officials passs on more Utah prairie dog protections
Federal wildlife officials on Monday said the Utah prairie dog doesn't warrant stronger protections under the US Endangered Species Act. While state officials praised the decision by the US Fish and Wildlife Service because they say ...

Groups sue Army Corps of Engineers over levee tree-removal policy
The plaintiffs allege the Army Corps policy violates the Endangered Species Act, because the agency did not consult with federal wildlife agencies; and the National Environmental Policy Act, because it didn't prepare an environmental study. ... ..But after Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed numerous levees in New Orleans in 2005, the Corps decided to impose uniform standards nationwide. Failure to comply would make local agencies ineligible for federal funds to recover from flood damage. The Corps argues that trees can blow over in storms, potentially ripping out levee sections. It also says roots provide a path for water to seep through levees. But it offers little scientific evidence for those conclusions.

My Take – Two things. This whole idea of one size fits all is stupid, and if they stop paying people to live in flood plains this problem will go away because they will fix this themselves in some way or the other. The other thing that fascinates me is the idea that you have to show “scientific evidence” that wind will blow trees over and ruin levees, and that roots will allow seepage. Well….duh….why would anyone need “scientific” evidence of that? I would think that a little basic observation of reality would be enough. As for tree roots holding the levee in place; did anyone ever see documentaries showing what happens when massive amounts of water surge through an area? The trees go down, roots and all, taking tons of dirt with them. I mean….just a guess mind you…..but isn’t that why they build levees where they do; because massive amounts of water comes pouring through that area somewhat regularly?

No Endangered Species Designation for Gila Monster
The US Fish and Wildlife Service announced Monday that a petition seeking to protect the Utah population of the Gila monster under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) does not contain substantial scientific information to ...

Look Out for Piping Plovers and Least Terns on the Beach
The North Fork Audubon Society continues to protect piping plovers and least terns — both still endangered species that nest on beaches. By Connie Gillies | Email the author | June 20, 2011 The North Fork once again is home to nesting piping plovers ...

Las Cruces Utilities protects burrowing owls
Some species even have additional protection under federal laws such as Endangered Species Act or under state laws. Even though burrowing owls are not listed as "endangered," they are still a "Species of Concern" according to the US Fish & Wildlife ...

Thousands of Gulf Sea Turtles Killed by Shrimp Trawls
Each of the six sea turtle species found in US waters is listed as either endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act, which means that they may go extinct in the foreseeable future. But did you know that under the Endangered Species Act, ...

Shrimpers await reaction to lawsuit
The groups sent a joint letter to federal and state officials in May announcing their intent to sue under the Endangered Species Act “for actions and inactions related to the management and regulation of the shrimp-trawl fishery that have resulted in ...

Arlington thoroughfare plan, dunes sagebrush lizard, Perry's texting veto
There's a good reason for the Endangered Species Act: so that decisions related to the protection of such species are not left to politicians, industries and other such biased parties. All too often, however, protection of endangered species falls to ...

Final Thoughts

I have always been in a quandary over all of this. I am opposed to placing non-human things over humans. I am also opposed to wholesale wanton eradication of animals. I am also opposed to the irrational idea that every species is absolutely necessary for the survival of all other things, since over 95 percent of all species that has ever lived has gone extinct, and 100 percent of every species alive today will go extinct eventually. I am also opposed to the concept of "pristine" environments. The greenies want preservation, yet conservation is what works, and they are against it. Why? Because conservation is a use based concept.

I also am thoroughly convinced that the ESA is less about saving animals and plants than about eliminating private property rights and controlling the population. The green movement is the step child of socialism; it is also the spear point; and the ESA is the tip of that spear point. There will be no compromise with these people that they will adhere to. As you read the articles you find that they hate each other as much as they hate everyone else. It seems to me that it would be reasonable to revise the ESA, except for one thing. There is no trusting the other side. So how can the ESA be fixed in some other way than to eliminate it? I don’t believe there is one.

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Observations From the Back Row, 7-3-11

Everything we are told should bear some resemblance to what we see going on in reality!

Question for the Week:

Who said this and when? “The national budget must be balanced. The public debt must be reduced; the arrogance of the authorities must be moderated and controlled. Payments to foreign governments must be reduced, if the nation doesn't want to go bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.”

Better Living Through Chemistry (If Permitted)
By Gilbert Ross, M.D.

The overwhelming body of scientific evidence supports the safety of myriad chemicals in use today. A fusillade of recent items by the New York Times, US News, CNN, and others purports to show how certain common pesticides lead to reduced IQs among children of women exposed to these chemicals while pregnant.

Dismayed, I carefully went over the paper that lies at the ground zero of the media frenzy. It is a study of the organophosphate (OP) class of pesticides by a group of researchers based at the University of California at Berkeley and led by Brenda Eskenazi.

California’s Green Jihad
Ideas matter, particularly when colored by religious fanaticism, wreaking havoc even in the most favored of places. Take, for instance, Iran, a country blessed with a rich heritage and enormous physical and human resources, but which, thanks to its theocratic regime, is largely an economic basket case and rogue state.

Then there’s California, rich in everything from oil and food to international trade and technology, but still skimming along the bottom of the national economy. The state’s unemployment rate is now worse than Michigan’s and ahead only of neighboring Nevada. Among the nation’s 20 largest metropolitan regions, four of the six with the highest unemployment numbers are located in the Golden State: Riverside, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. In a recent Forbes survey, California was home to six of the ten regions where the economy is poised to get worse.

The Dutch Ditch Multiculturalism
The land of windmills and tulips grew a pair in June and officially tabled legislation that effectively says to the Religion of Peace, “We are tired of bowing and kissing your Holland-hating-religious-freak ring. So, with all due respect, please assimilate to our particulars or we will shove a wooden shoe up your backside and deport you back to Suckistan.” No offense, of course.

Everyday Outlaws: Black marketers and suburban farmers
"Everything is illegal these days. You know it. You’re lucky if you get through your first cup of coffee without committing a federal felony or three. Your state legislature churns out new offenses targeting you for improper swimming gear or an unlicensed lemonade stand. As we saw yesterday, mere countycrats may already be building a SWAT team to raid your unpermitted garden shed. That sucks, of course. But the silver lining is that when everything is a crime, everybody is an outlaw — and inevitably a gratifying minority of new-minted enemies of the state embrace their status, don their broad-brimmed hats, and become capital-O Outlaws."

The Failure of Al Gore: Part One
It must be as perplexing to his many admirers as it is frustrating to himself that a man of Vice President Gore’s many talents, great skills and strong beliefs is one of the most consistent losers in American politics.

“All political careers end in failure,” said Enoch Powell; Gore has not won an election on his own since his 1990 re-election to the Senate from Tennessee. His 1988 presidential bid ended well short of the nomination. Many observers felt Gore was headed for defeat in a third Senate campaign as the south continued to swing Republican; Clinton’s offer of the vice presidential slot in 1992 gave Gore the opportunity to reach a national audience as his home state cooled. On his own again in 2000, gifted by the departing Clinton with the most bubbliciously expanding economy in American history and a comfortable budget surplus, and insulated from the innuendo and scandal of the Clinton White House by his still-vibrant marriage, he found the elusive road to defeat against a flawed and inexperienced challenger. Tennessee voted for Bush; Florida or no Florida Gore would have gone to the White House if those who knew him longest and best had rallied to his support.

“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.”-Winston Churchill

A formerly free people

When Constitutional scholar Barack Hussein Obama and the assortment legal advisers that surrounds him decided that the Commerce Clause authorized the federal government to force private citizens to purchase a product, freedom vanished from America

Time’s Orwellian Story on U.S. Constitution Refuted
Ken Blackwell

Time magazine’s cover story shows the U.S. Constitution and asks, “Does it still matter?” Reading this story, we kept waiting for Emmanuel Goldstein to show up for the Two Minutes of Hate. It was difficult to discern whether we were reading Time, or Orwells’ 1984. It portrays the Constitution as an outmoded document that we should ignore to whatever extent is expedient to pursue someone’s vision of a better society: “We cannot let the Constitution become an obstacle to a future with a sensible health care system, a globalized economy, and evolving sense of civil and political rights.”

My Take - In George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four,  the Two Minutes of Hate is a daily period in which Party members of the society of Oceania  (1984) must watch a film depicting The Party's enemies (notably Emmanuel Goldstein and his followers and express their hatred for them and their principles of democracy. I had to think about this reference to Emmanuel Goldstein for a minute, but I finally grasped why he used in this article; that is why I loaded my comments with links. I know this doesn’t appear to be a “green only” article, but it falls into line with an article that I am working on that I call, Bed Bug Commissars.

There is one area in this article that I take exception to, and that is the idea that the state can demand that we buy auto insurance because of the police powers of the state. That is erroneous thinking to me. The state can demand that we buy auto insurance because we are driving on their roads. Local and state governments own the roads, and have every right to demand that we meet certain criteria to use their roads. It is just like someone coming to your home and deciding whether or not they have to take their shoes off. When you go into someone else’s home you abide by their rules. When you drive on the governments roads you abide by their rules. A farmer driving all over his property can do so without a driver’s license, a license plate or insurance because it belongs to him.

“There can be no higher law in journalism than to tell the truth and to shame the devil – remain detached from the great”. “A long life in journalism convinced me many presidents ago that there should be a large air space between a journalist and the head of a state.”- Walter Lippman

Climate Change Skeptics Unite At Heartland Conference
Prominent climate change skeptics gathered at the Heartland Institute's sixth international conference on climate change on Friday to take on the body of scientific evidence showing that human emissions are contributing to global warming.

Sen. Jim Inhofe, a famous climate change denier, was set to headline the event's kickoff on Thursday, but canceled when he came down with a cold. Instead the Oklahoma Republican, who has long called climate change a hoax, insisting "we're in a cold spell," sent a statement alleging that while President Obama may have scaled back his speechifying on energy and the….

Leftists hate the way the U.S. constitution hinders their power grabbing
Some clever people today ask whether the United States has really been "exceptional." You couldn't be more exceptional in the 18th century than to create your fundamental document -- the Constitution of the United States -- by opening with the momentous words, "We the people..."

Those three words were a slap in the face to those who thought themselves entitled to rule, and who regarded the people as if they were simply human livestock, destined to be herded and shepherded by their betters. Indeed, to this very day, elites who think that way -- and that includes many among the intelligentsia, as well as political messiahs -- find the Constitution of the United States a real pain because it stands in the way of their imposing their will and their presumptions on the rest of us.

My thoughts

Answer to this week’s question. Cicero in 55 B.C.

All those many years ago when I went to school they taught us in history class that Rome collapsed as a result of moral decay. That was when they actually attempted to teach history by the way. I am always fascinated that almost no one knows who Thomas A Becket or Oliver Cromwell was. They just don’t teach this stuff any longer.

In England a few years ago they did a survey and found that somewhere around 40 percent of the kids thought that Winston Churchill was an astronaut, but they believed that Global Warming was a real threat.

I have been a history buff my whole life and would be considered a generalist. As I read more I learned what the moral practices of the Romans actually were, and I thought; if this is what they practiced how could their moral fiber become any more decayed? The reality is they became lazy. It isn’t entirely their fault. It’s actually Hannibal’s fault!

He roamed the Italian peninsula for over 10 years destroying the farms, bankrupting the small farmers who sold their land to the rich. When the war was over….they had nothing. The rich now had slaves and so there was no work; but they were citizens. So Rome provided bread and circuses. Bread to fill their bellies and circuses to shut their mouths! Did anyone ever wonder how so many people had time to go to all these games in the middle of the day? Rome became a gigantic welfare state, and the Roman Emperor’s had to keep it up because these welfare idiots had rights as Roman citizens and they could vote…at least for their Senators. And if that didn’t work they would riot. Rioting actually could bring a Roman Emperor down. What destroyed the Roman Empire was bankruptcy. Sure, it took many years of continual decay, but the end result was the same. Bankruptcy!

My interest has always been on the whys! Why do people do the things they do? Why do people believe the things they believe? Why do whole people become successful and others never become successful?

Over the last few of years I read “Guns, Germs and Steel” and “Wealth and Poverty of Nations”. The one fact you must come away with is that central planning is always a failure in the long run. Eventually you have a very few people thinking they know more than the rest of society. In small communities such as tribal situations it seems to work fairly well; but as the community grows central planners are too far away from the problems and the solutions. And both the problems and the solutions become too complex for a handful of people to solve on a regular basis, and it doesn’t matter how smart or educated they are. At this point they are dealing with far larger numbers with too many variables. That’s why you keep hearing “it seemed like a good idea at the time”!

As you go through this next week, ask anyone: have you ever read the Declaration of Independence in total? I have listed some highlights that should force us to ask ourselves; did the passage of so many environmental laws, regulations and the formation of so many Cabinet positions, agencies and bureaucracies create many of the same impositions as did the King of England so many years ago. Not the mention the foreign agreements and treaties that directly abrogate Constitutional rights. Treaties take precedence over the Constitution according to the Supreme Court. At any rate….read the highlights, then read the whole thing and learn what drawing a line in the sand means.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

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The American Council on Science and Health, 2011: Week 25

The presence of linked articles here are merely a way of showing what is going on, whether I agree or disagree with the positions presented. Rich Kozlovich

Points to Ponder

Our Dr. Bloom calls attention to America’s disappearing scientists
Writing in today's New York Post, ACSH's Dr. Josh Bloom points out a troubling trend that may be hindering America's ability to compete globally on the scientific front: science jobs are quickly vanishing in the U.S.

Supremes protect generic makers after dissing innovators
The Supreme Court handed down a decision yesterday that represents a significant victory for the pharmaceutical industry.

Activist Scaremongering

Unwarranted chemical fears leach into the delivery room
The precautionary principle has given birth to fears that infants delivered via Cesarean section or with the aid of forceps are at risk of phthalate and bisphenol A (BPA) "contamination."

More on the EWG’s dirty dealings on fruits and veggies
The Environmental Working Group's (EWG) most recent alarmist Dirty Dozen list is meant to scare folks about the trace levels of pesticides on fruits and vegetables - especially apples. Why? See Dr. Joe Schwarcz's smart riposte.

Dr. Nestle takes on the scaremongers of EWG
ACSH staffers were pleasantly surprised to find an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times underlining the scientific illiteracy and irresponsibility of the anti-pesticide scare tactics consistently used by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in their semi-annual Dirty Dozen reports.

Cancer

CT scans may detect lung cancer early enough to help
A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that screening for lung cancer with low-dose spiral computed tomography (CT) does reduce mortality; however, the screening method's high rate of false positives means that it should be used judiciously.

The FDA makes a very difficult (but correct) decision on Avastin
Should the cancer drug Avastin be approved as a treatment for metastatic breast cancer?

Finally we know for sure: sunscreens really do protect against melanoma
In case you're still wondering whether you really need to have someone rub sunscreen on your back at the beach, new evidence for the benefits of sun block have been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Fears High price to pay for late-stage prostate cancer drugs?
In the past 15 months, the FDA has approved three new drugs for the treatment of late-stage prostate cancer. Two of them - Dendreon's Provenge and Johnson & Johnson's Zytiga - were shown in recent clinical trials to add between two and five months to median survival (about a year and a half after using docetaxel, the current standard of care approved in 2004) for men with late-stage cancer. Though some experts are hopeful that we are on the verge of a breakthrough in finding more effective

Breast cancer updates: Screening saves, and so does post-op radiation
On the breast cancer front, new studies are promoting the use of two well known preventive measures.

Diabetes

Disappointing relative benefits for intensive treatment of diabetes
In a recent study of over 3,000 type 2 diabetes patients diagnosed through screening, intensive multifaceted treatment led to a small but statistically significant reduction in risk factors, compared to a usual care treatment group.

For some diabetics, metformin might bring sweeter news
The findings of a study to be presented at Saturday's annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association in San Diego show that people aged 65 or older being treated with metformin for type-2 diabetes face a lower risk of heart problems or stroke compared to individuals taking sulfonylureas to control their blood sugar.

Can surgery cure diabetes? Maybe — for a while, at least.
In other weight loss news, one of the authors of a new study recommends that weight loss surgeries, such as gastric bypass and gastric banding, become front line type 2 diabetes treatments.

Obesity

LA Times replaces soda with potatoes, tongue in cheek
What's next, a tater tax? asks the Los Angeles Times, noting the trend toward "imposing taxes on the culinary villain du jour."

Possibly the worst dietary study ever conducted
Every now and then, a new study turns up warning consumers that diet soda is too good to be true...

News from all over on the obesity front
Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls: there are obesity updates for all.

AAP’s junk stance on fast food ads
Quick, run for cover: junk food ads are out to get your children and make them fat. Or at least that's what the American Academy of Pediatrics'(AAP) is now preaching.

Regulations

Made-up cosmetics concerns
The Safe Cosmetics Act, now in a 2011 edition, is back in Congress - and its claims about cosmetics ingredient safety are about as superficial as the products it's intended to regulate.

STD’S

ACSH’s Dr. Bloom looks at “How Far We’ve Come in the Battle Against AIDS”
In the June 24 issue of Medical Progress Today, ACSH's Dr. Josh Bloom considers how we will one day recognize May 2011 as "a remarkable turning point in the history of the struggle against AIDS."

Prescriptions better than love letters for STDs
Epidemiologically speaking, having your doctor write a prescription for your lover may be preferable to sending a love letter.

Tobacco

Brad Rodu counters prohibitionists’ attacks on smokeless tobacco
"Smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes are being recognized as safer, satisfying cigarette substitutes by increasing numbers of American smokers," writes ACSH advisor and professor of medicine at the University of Louisville Brad Rodu.

Graphic cigarette labels. Is the FDA blowing smoke?
Writing in the Chicago Tribune, columnist Steve Chapman harshly criticizes the FDA's latest mandate requiring cigarette packs to prominently display graphic warning labels.

Tobacco companies contest cigarette plain packaging proposal in Australia
On the heels of the new graphic cigarette warning labels comes a proposed law in Australia that aims to institute plain packaging for all cigarette brands.

Vaccinations

Liz Szabo talks science, finally!
After publishing a consistent stream of fear-mongering, anti-chemical stories for USA Today, we'd like to finally applaud journalist Liz Szabo for her article yesterday on the importance of childhood vaccinations.

If there is a health scare today, the American Council on Science and Health will most likely have the answer by tomorrow; and for members it will appear in your e-mail. No effort on your part, except to read the answer. All that the ACSH is interested in are the facts and they are prepared to follow them wherever they lead. Who can ask for more?  Please Donate Now!

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Frogs, scorpions, greens, lies…

By James Delingpole Last updated: June 27th, 2011

James Delingpole’s website is at http://www.jamesdelingpole.com/. 

Editor's Note: I would like to thank James for allowing me to republish his work.  He is a young guy (he calls me dude) who writes with a mature well organized mind.  Everything the greenies say is a lie.  Either lies of commission or lies of omission.  They thrive on logical fallacies.  Everyone is finally waking up to their schemes, who they are and what they are really about.  Articles such as this clearly exposes them.  RK

Thanks to the miracles of modern technology etc this post comes to you courtesy of an American Airlines flight 30,000 odd feet over the US on my journey to the Soviet Socialist Republic of California. I’m going there to address some of the few remaining sane people there who haven’t yet been driven out by the state’s bonkers fiscal and regulatory regime, or been driven to destitution by measures to protect the Snail Darter de nos jours – an obscure fish called the California Delta Smelt.

I’ll try to keep this a short post because laptops play havoc with my neck. And because of where I’m headed, I thought I’d pay tribute in this one to LA resident Phelim McAleer co-author – with Ann McElhinney – of the Not Evil Just Wrong documentary debunking CAGW. McAleer is kind of the anti-Michael Moore: using similar guerilla video techniques but against the liberal-left rather than in support of it.

His most recent coup was to ambush Josh Fox the documentary-maker responsible for an eco-propaganda movie called Gasland, whose key scene is the one where a man in Colorado turns on his tap, strikes a match, and – lo! – it catches fire. We are invited by the film to believe that this is an unfortunate side-effect of the shale gas process known as “fracking.” It is visual short hand for: shale gas is evil. Problem is, the scene is misleading in the extreme.
You’ll find a pretty good summary of the story here:

Last week, well-known Irish filmmaker Phelim McAleer showed up to a screening of Gasland in Chicago with a couple of straightforward questions for the film’s star, Josh Fox.

In particular, McAleer was interested in Josh’s take on the by-now famous scene in Gasland of Mike Markham lighting his faucet on fire – you remember the one, right? It’s the scene that enabled Fox to sell his film to HBO in the first place. But it’s also one that has been debunked – flatly and frequently – by regulators in Colorado. Heck, these guys even went so far as to issue an official document on official state letterhead tearing the film to shreds, citing Josh’s distorted representation of the Markham well as exhibit A.

So all McAleer wanted to know is whether Fox is aware of the substance of those rebuttals. Is aware that the vertical shaft of Markham’s water well “penetrated at least four different coal beds” before making contact with potable water. Is aware that a 1976 report from the Colorado Division of Water Resources cites “troublesome amounts” of “hydrogen sulfide, methane, iron, fluoride and sodium” in local water wells in this area, well before oil and gas development commenced. That kind of stuff.

Fox’s response? Sure, he’s aware of all that evidence – how can he not be? So why didn’t he include mention of it anywhere in his film? “I don’t care about the report from 1976,” Fox replied. “There are reports from 1936 that people say they can light their water on fire in New York State. But that [has] no bearing on this situation. At all.” According to Josh, the fact that methane was present in water long before oil and gas activity is “not relevant” to the question at hand.

It also reports on the equally significant aftermath which is that, rather than fess up to his – ahem – error, Fox got his lawyers on the case and did his damnedest to keep footage of McAleer’s ambush off the internet.

And the question I want to ask here is: Why? It’s a “why” that applies equally well to almost everything to do with the modern environmental movement. Why, if the science is so “settled” and the case for putting the global economy on a war footing to “combat climate change” so strong, do they keep needing to tweak and exaggerate their message?

Why, as Greenpeace’s former head Gerd Leipold once famously excused his organisation when it was caught out telling porkie pies on the extent of the Greenland ice sheet melt, do they have to “emotionalise the issue”?

After all, surely if the issue is really what they say it is it wouldn’t need “emotionalising” with spin and lies and exaggeration and disingenuous camera footage: it would be plain for all to see and we’d all do something about it.

Let me answer my rhetorical question. In almost every case the facts simply do not support the Green movement’s extravagant claims. When, for example, the Prince of Wales jets in with his entourage to Rio to announce that we have 100 months to save the world from Climate Change, he is talking out of his princely posterior. If no action whatsoever were to be taken to deal with “climate change”, does anyone honestly believe that in 83 months time (if my adding up is correct) the world would not be functioning as well as ever? (Better in fact, because there’d be fewer wind farms and fewer eco-regulations hampering the global economic recovery).

Just recently, in case you missed the good news, carbon prices have tanked on the European exchange: (H/T GWPF)

EU carbon prices have slumped 15% in one week, as a slew of bearish news took its toll on the markets. “It’s just been carnage these last few days,” said a trader at an investment bank in London. “There has been a huge amount of liquidation from funds, banks and utilities.” Mark Lewis, a Paris-based analyst at Deutsche Bank, said he does not expect emissions in the ETS to ever return to their 2008 levels of 2.12 billion tCO2e

And there’s a reason for that: you can fool the public some of the time and you can fool the media an awful lot of the time but what you can’t do for very long is fool the markets. Markets deal, ultimately, with reality. The environmental movement is a religion which deals with anything but.