US citizens pay for “solar school” foolishness

By Steve Goreham Originally published in The Washington Times

Solar systems are being installed at hundreds of schools across the United States. Educators use solar panels to teach students about the “miracle” of energy sourced from the sun. But a closer look at these projects shows poor economics and a big bill for citizens.

Earlier this month, the National Resources Defense Fund (NRDC) launched its “Solar Schools” campaign, an effort to raise $54,000 to help “three to five to-be-determined schools move forward with solar rooftop projects.” The NRDC wants to “help every school in the country go solar.” The campaign uses a cute video featuring kids talking about how we’re “polluting the Earth with gas and coal” and how we can save the planet with solar…..Keep reading →

Twenty-Six States Pave the Road to Freedom

October 24, 2013

In early September, the COS Project began searching the country for citizens who recognized the brokenness of D.C. and were ready to be a part of the solution. Since the release of its Volunteer Leadership Application, the Grassroots Team has reviewed hundreds of names. Each application highlights a common desire to serve the nation and defend its freedoms for future generations.

We are excited to announce that twenty-six states now have active leadership in place.

One recently-appointed leader explained, “I don’t want to take the chance of sitting aside thinking that perhaps someone else will jump in and do it – and then not have it happen. So I am putting myself out there and am offering my time and my talents to help get this going.” Every day, citizens, no longer willing to sit on the sidelines, stand up and take tangible steps to return rightful power back to the states…..To Read More…. 

 Editor's Note:  This was in an e-mail from Patriot Update.  "In Federalist Number 57, James Madison wrote that Congress "can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as on the great mass of the society."  As wise an idea as this was, Madison and the other Framers failed to expressly incorporate such a limit on government within the Constitution itself.   With lawmakers today passing laws while exempting themselves, their families, and their friends - think: Obamacare - it's clear that we need to codify the principle of Federalist No. 57 into law."

Personally I believe that repealing the 16th and 17th amendments is the simplest way.  Once that happens all else will fall into place. 

1851 Center for Constitutional Law Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 31, 2013

MEDIA CONTACT
Maurice A . Thompson
MThompson@OhioConstitution.org
(614) 340-9817

High Court to Hear Medicaid Expansion Lawsuit on Expedited Basis Columbus, OH - The Ohio Supreme Court today granted the 1851 Center's Motion to Expedite its lawsuit challenging administrative Obamacare Medicaid Expansion in Ohio, setting a briefing schedule that will have the merits of the case submitted to the Court by no later than December 1.   The Motion granted asserts that the action is likely to prevail, and that dire budgetary consequences could ensue should the case not be decided prior to January 1, 2014.   The October 22 legal action is filed on behalf of State Representatives Matt Lynch, Ron Young, Andy Thompson, Ron Maag, John Becker, and Ron Hood, and Cleveland Right to Life and Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati. These representatives and groups combine to represent nearly 1 million Ohioans.   The action asserts that in accepting jurisdiction over and passing the Governor's proposed Medicaid spending, the Controlling Board exceeded its legal authority by acting inconsistently with the intent of the Ohio General Assembly. Specifically: R.C. 127.17 states: "The Controlling Board shall take no action which does not carry out the legislative intent of the general assembly regarding program goals and levels of support of state agencies as expressed in the prevailing appropriation acts of the general assembly." The Ohio General Assembly first removed Governor Kasich's proposed expansion of Medicaid spending from the state budget bill, and then inserted a prohibition against the expansion and spending. Article II of the Ohio Constitution requires that the legislature, rather than administrative boards such as the Controlling Board, make major policy decisions. In a 1980 challenge to the Controlling Board, the Ohio Supreme Court held that the Controlling Board's authority is only constitutional because it must adhere to the intentions of the General Assembly, and because of "the availability of mandamus relief" through the High Court. Read the Complaint HERE.

The Environmental Enemies of Energy

By Alan Caruba

This appeared here and I would like to thank Alan for allowing me to publish his work. RK

While Americans grapple with the Obamacare debacle and 90 million are officially unemployed according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is another threat to our future as environmental groups like the Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth continue their assault on the provision of electrical energy, the lifeblood of the nation’s economy and our ability to function at home and on the job.

Recently, Sierra Club members were told that they, “supporters, partners, and allies have worked tirelessly to retire 150 coal-fired power plants since January 2010—a significant number in the campaign to move the country beyond dirty and outdated fossil fuels.”

Coal, oil and natural gas are labeled “dirty” for propaganda purposes, but what the Sierra Club and others do not tell you and will never tell you is that they account for most of the electricity generated in America, along with nuclear and hydropower. Wind and solar power provide approximately 3% of the electricity and require government subsidies and mandates to exist. Their required use drives up the cost of electricity to consumers.

Among the many ongoing lawsuits that the Sierra Club is pursuing is one against Navajo coal mining, the Keystone XL pipeline, one seeking penalties for “ongoing violations” at Montana’s Colstrip power plant. They filed a suit against the power rate increase for Mississippi’s Kemper County coal plant.

In early October, The Wall Street Journal published an article, “Mississippi Plant Shows the Cost of ‘Clean Coal’.” It is testimony to the nonsense about “clean coal.” The plant, the reporters note, was meant to demonstrate that Mississippi Power Company’s Kemper County plant was “meant to showcase technology for generating clean energy from low-quality coal” but it “ranks as one of the most expensive U.S. fossil fuel projects ever—at $4.7 billion and rising.”

“Mississippi Power’s 186,000 customers, who live in one of the poorest region of the country, are reeling from double-digit rate increases,” adding that “the plant hasn’t generated a single kilowatt for customers…”

Seven power plants in Pennsylvania are under attack by the Sierra Club and EarthJustice which have filed a federal lawsuit. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has exposed this common practice by environmental groups to “sue and settle.”

“It works like this. Environmental and consumer advocacy groups file a lawsuit claiming that the federal government has failed to meet a deadline or has not satisfied some regulatory requirement. The agency can then either choose to defend itself against the lawsuit or settle it. Often times, it settles by putting in place a ‘court-ordered’ regulation desired by the advocacy group, thus circumventing the proper rulemaking channels and basic transparency and accountability standards.”

High on the list of government agencies that engage in this is the Environmental Protection Agency, but others include Transportation, Agriculture, and Defense, along with the Fish & Wildlife Service, and the Army Corps of Engineers. One recent victory touted by Friends of the Earth is an EPA air pollution regulation is one that affects ships navigating along the coasts of the United States and Canada, out to 200 nautical miles, to “significantly reduce their emissions.”

Like the touted benefits of wind and solar power, “clean coal” is another environmental myth that is costing billions. Recently, the Global Warming Foundation reported that “The world invested almost a billion dollars a day in limiting global warming last year, but the total figure--$359 billion—was slightly down on last year, and barely half the $700 billion per year that the World Economic Forum has said is needed to tackle climate change.” The report cited was generated by the Climate Policy Initiative.

The problem with this is that there is NO global warming. The Earth is in a perfectly natural cooling cycle and has been for 15 to 16 years at this point. The notion of spending any money on “climate change” is insanity. The climate is largely determined by the Sun and other natural factors over which mankind has no control. The claim that carbon dioxide is a contributing factor to climate has been decisively debunked despite the years of lies emanating from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Indeed, during the current cooling cycle, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen!

For all their caterwauling about fossil fuels, environmental groups have resisted the expansion of the use of nuclear power that emits no so-called “greenhouse gas” emissions. The Friends of the Earth recently declared that “The quickest way to end our costly fossil fuel dependency is through energy efficiency and renewable power, not new (nuclear) reactors that will suck up precious investment and take years to complete.”

The Obama administration’s record of bad loans to companies providing renewable power—wind and solar—is testimony to the waste of billions of taxpayer dollars. In September, the Department of Energy made $66 million in green-energy subsidies to 33 companies, half of it to companies by a single venture capital firm with close ties to the White House.

The continued loss of coal-fired plants has reduced their provision of electricity from over 50% to around 47%. The resistance to the construction of nuclear facilities slows the replacement of their loss, but plants utilizing natural gas have benefitted greatly from the discovery of billions of cubic feet through the use of hydraulic fracking technology holds the promise of maintaining the nation’s needs. Need it be said that “fracking” has become a target of environmental organizations?

Environmental organizations are the enemies of energy in America and worldwide. Without its provision third world nations cannot develop and the ability to provide the energy America needs is put in jeopardy.

© Alan Caruba, 2013

My Advice to Californians; Get Out Now

By Alan Caruba

This appeared here and I would like to thank Alan for allowing me to publish his work. RK

If you live in California, I have a bit of advice. Get out now while you can afford the gas to load up the van and head north or east. You won’t be alone.

According to “Crazifornia: How California is Destroying Itself and Why It Matters to America”, about 150,000 Californians have been fleeing the state each year of late. “In fact,” wrote Laer Pearce, “Los Angeles alone has lost more households than New York, Miami, and, incredibly, the economically decimated city of Detroit…combined.”

The tide of traffic leaving the state is likely to increase. According to a news release from Earthjustice, one of the innumerable environmental organizations bent on destroying every form of energy that has fueled the growth of the American economy, the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has “finalized a groundbreaking decision to build innovative high-tech energy storage systems that will lead California toward a future of clean, renewable energy and away from dependence on fossil fuels.”

You remember fossil fuels, oil, natural gas, and coal. The “clean, renewable” energies are wind and solar because, of course, the sun shines all the time and the wind blows all the time. Or not.

By definition, energy “storage systems” can use mechanical, chemical, or thermal processes to store energy; these processes range from battery technologies to energy storage within compressed air or molten salt. If that sounds bizarre, it is.

According to Will Rostov, an Earthjustice attorney, “Clean, renewable energy sources will shape our future, whether the dirty antiquated fossil fuels industry likes it or not, so it’s excellent to see California getting there first. It took years by environmental advocates and state regulators to reach this point.”

Actually, Europe has been there for some time now. In England’s Yorkshire Dales, they’re tearing down four wind turbines that have been around for twenty years and “have not worked in years.” Indeed, across Europe there is a lot of buyer’s remorse for having embraced wind and solar. As Marc Morano, the editor of ClimateDepot.com, noted in an October 17 article, “Wind and solar mandates are breaking Europe’s electric utilities.”

“Last week the CEOs of Europe’s ten largest utilities finally cried uncle and called for a halt to wind and solar subsidies. Short of that, they want subsidies of their own. They want to be paid, in essence, not to produce power.” Thanks to mandates to use electricity from wind and solar Europe’s energy costs increased 17% for consumers and 21% for industry in the last four years.

California, in addition to requiring comparable use of wind and solar power while pushing to close coal-fired plants and keep some nuclear plants shuttered, will require its utilities to purchase 1.3 megawatts of “energy storage” power by 2020.

The San Jose Mercury News reported that “The first-in-a-nation mandate is expected to spur innovation in emerging storage technologies, from batteries to flywheels. Once large quantities of energy can be stored, the electric grid can make better use of solar, wind and other technologies that generate sporadically rather than in a steady flow, and can better manage disruptions from unpredictable events such as storms and wildfires.”

This is another very expensive Green pipedream that, like other California initiatives, would prove impossible to achieve and will be abandoned or ignored.

Since neither wind nor solar produce electricity in a steady, predictable fashion that enables utilities to ensure a flow of electricity to consumers, “energy storage” is the new, idiotic, alternative way of providing electricity that has been in effect since Edison first invented the turbines to produce it.

There is, simply put, no reason to require “energy storage” if “dirty, antiquated fossil fuels” were used. Wind and solar provide just over 3% of the electricity used in the U.S.

According to the Western Region Deputy Director of the Sierra Club, Evan Gillespie, “Fossil fuels like natural gas are a dead end for the people of California, the power companies, and the entire planet.” If you listened to Strela Cervas, Coordinator at the California Environmental Justice Alliance, fossil fuel use is a conspiracy against “low income communities and communities of color overburdened by pollution, in particular from power plants. California does not need any new gas-fired power plants.”

Those low income communities might not agree, along with all the rest of the Californians, in the wake of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. While California strives to save the state from a warming that has not been occurring for more than 15 years, the new mandate that 33% of the state’s energy come from wind and solar is estimated to cost $114 billion, all of which will come out of the pockets of energy consumers.

According to Pearce, “Legislators, regulators, lawyers and environmentalists have driven up the cost of doing business in the Golden State until it has become 30% greater than in the neighboring states.” The result of 40 years of anti-business (and anti-energy) policy has caused a decline in the state’s standard of living. “California’s median household income plummeted by 9%--nearly twice the national average between 2006 and 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.”

This is the kind of environmental insanity that has been at work at the federal level since Obama was elected in 2008. Billions have been lost in loans to wind and solar companies that went bankrupt within months and years. Think Solyndra. Now apply that same insanity to the whole of the nation as the administration continues its “war on coal” and actually laments the growing access to natural gas and oil due to hydraulic fracking technology.

The U.S. will produce more oil than Saudi Arabia this year. It has several centuries’ worth of affordable coal, scads of natural gas, and could expand its nuclear power generation if it wanted.

California is leading the way as it drives out its citizens and businesses, leaving behind only those too poor to leave; those dependent on a range of welfare programs that “redistribute” money from “the rich” and the middle class. They are turning the entire state into Detroit.

It is a war on the provision of electricity; the lifeblood of the nation’s capacity to function.

© Alan Caruba, 2013

Trainwreck: Kathleen Sebelius' Top Ten Testimony Fails

Guy Benson | Oct 30, 2013

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius "totally blew it," during today's testimony, in Buzzfeed's estimation. We agree. Here are ten reasons why: (1) Despite calling Obamacare's roll-out a "debacle" (over which she's presided), Sebelius still attempted happy talk:....To Read More...

 

Blocking access to survivors of Benghazi attack

By Catherine Herridge October 31, 2013

The Justice and State departments are now citing a year-old FBI investigation and a future criminal prosecution to block access to survivors of last year’s Benghazi terror attack. In an Oct. 28 letter to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.,the State Department’s Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, Julia Frifield, refers to "significant risks" and "serious concerns about having the survivors of the attack submit to additional interviews."

Graham has been asking since last year for the FBI’s transcripts of interviews with State Department and CIA survivors who were evacuated to Germany after the Sep.11 attack on the U.S. consulate.  He and other Republicans believe the transcripts will show the survivors told the FBI it was a terrorist attack and made no mention of a video or anti-U.S. demonstration at the consulate.

This intelligence was likely available to the president, his national security team and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, who five days after the assault blamed it on an anti-U.S. demonstration and inflammatory video.  "You can't hide behind a criminal investigation," Graham told reporters during a news conference on Capitol Hill. "That's not a good reason to deny the Congress witness statements 48 hours after the attack.”….To Read More….

Kerry ‘Amazed’ That Some Americans Still Don’t Grasp Urgency of Global Warming

October 30, 2013 - By Patrick Goodenough

Secretary of State John Kerry expressed his frustration Tuesday with the fact that even in the United States, “a very educated country,” there are those who do not recognize the urgency of combating global warming. Addressing the D.C. Greening Embassies Forum, which encourages the “greening” of foreign mission in Washington, Kerry took aim at those who challenge the notion that the science is settled when it comes to climate change.

“I am amazed after all these years that we’re still struggling here in a very educated country to get a lot of people to embrace and understand why this is not a matter of theory, a matter of mere policy, but a matter of urgency for life itself on the planet as we know it.”

Kerry said that 6,000 peer-reviewed reports say that “we [human beings] are responsible for what is happening, we are contributing to it very significantly through human choices.” “Zero – zero peer-reviewed reports say no, or contribute to the theory of denial,” he added....To Read More....

My Take – Well…I have to agree with the statement that some Americans still don’t grasp the urgency of Global Warming, and they’re the stupid and corrupt still touting this nonsense. Kerry is soon to be 70 years old, and most likely has less than 20 years left, but he has been contemptible his entire life and nothing he says or does indicates he will finish out his years being anything different.

From Benny Peiser's Global Warming Policy Foundation

Growing Risk Of A Maunder Minimum 'Little Ice Age'?

Solar Activity Drops To 100-Year Low, Puzzling Scientists

A leading British climate scientist claims the current rate of decline in solar activity is such that there is now a real risk of a ‘Little Ice Age’. The severe cold went hand in hand with an exceptionally inactive sun, and was called the Maunder solar minimum. Now a leading scientist from Reading University has told me that the current rate of decline in solar activity is such that there’s a real risk of seeing a return of such conditions. Following analysis of the data, Professor Lockwood believes solar activity is now falling more rapidly than at any time in the last 10,000 years. Based on his findings he’s raised the risk of a new Maunder minimum from less than 10% just a few years ago to 25-30%. --Paul Hudson, BBC Weather, 28 October 2013

The sun is ‘quietening’ really rapidly. We think it is actually quietening more rapidly than at any time in the last 10,000 years. So this is a major change. We think lower solar activity does seem to tie up with more cold winters in central Europe and the UK. –- Professor Michael Lockwood, BBC TV 28 October 2013

Britain faces a new mini-Ice Age with decades of severe Siberian winters and washout summers, an expert has warned. Professor Mike Lockwood, of Reading University, said erratic and extreme weather patterns could be the norm in 20 years. He said the risk of harsh winters and wet miserable summers has gone up to 25 to 30 per cent compared with 10 per cent a few years ago. Weakening sunspot activity is to blame for a “major change” in the UK’s weather he told BBC TV. Climatologist Dr Dennis Wheeler from Sunderland University, said: “When we have had periods where the sun has been quieter than usual we tend to get these much harsher winters.” --Nathan Rao, Daily Express, 28 October 2013

The previous lengthy period of low solar activity was the so-called Maunder Minimum that occurred between about 1640 and 1710. This was coincident with a cold climatic spell called the Little Ice Age. This was once thought to be confined to North West Europe, then the Northern Hemisphere. However recent research is showing this cold spell to be a global phenomenon. It would be fair to say that no one knows why the Little Ice Age took place... It may be no coincidence that estimates of the turn-around in solar activity from grand maximum to decline might have occurred between 1985 – 95, and that global annual average surface temperatures have been flat since 1997. --David Whitehouse, The Global Warming Policy Foundation, 30 October 2013

Predictions that 2013 would see an upsurge in solar activity and geomagnetic storms disrupting power grids and communications systems have proved to be a false alarm. Instead, the current peak in the solar cycle is the weakest for a century. Subdued solar activity has prompted controversial comparisons with the Maunder Minimum, which occurred between 1645 and 1715, when a prolonged absence of sunspots and other indicators of solar activity coincided with the coldest period in the last millennium. The comparisons have sparked a furious exchange of views between observers who believe the planet could be on the brink of another period of cooling, and scientists who insist there is no evidence that temperatures are about to fall. In all fairness, Russian scientists have warned over a decade ago that the Earth will enter a mini ice age period. --MINA News, 19 September 2013

The sun is acting bizarrely and scientists have no idea why. Solar activity is in gradual decline, a change from the norm which in the past triggered a 300-year-long mini ice age. The fall-off in sunspot activity still has the potential to affect our weather for the worse, Dr Elliott said. Research by Prof Mike Lockwood at the University of Reading showed how low solar activity could alter the position of the jet stream over the north Atlantic, causing severe cold during winter months. This was likely the cause of the very cold and snowy winters during 2009 and 2010, Dr Elliott said. “It all points to perhaps another little ice age,” he said. “It seems likely we are going to enter a period of very low solar activity and could mean we are in for very cold winters.” -- Dick Ahlstrom, The Irish Times, 12 July 2013

The Little Ice Age appears to have affected the climate powerfully. IPCC-leaning scientists, however, say that the Little Ice Age couldn't have been caused by solar variability - not even solar variability combined with sky-darkening volcanic eruptions - as the effects would have been too weak. A Swiss team of researchers now say that in fact the Little Ice Age most certainly could have been triggered by variations in the Sun. --Lewis Page, The Register, 1 October 2013

Five Ways to Create a Monopoly

Mises Daily: Thursday, October 31, 2013 by Brian LaSorsa

It’s hard to maintain monopoly status in a free market when you have to deal with all that competition and whatnot.

Between other companies’ low prices and new, updated products entering the market each day, it’s almost like Rich Uncle Pennybags is a thing of the past. But fret not!

The politicians of the world would like to offer anyone dead set on controlling an entire industry the chance to shine. So come one, come all — government agencies, cronies, and all their friends — as we present the five best ways to create a monopoly and to ensure you never have to compete again.1. Regulations….2. Subsidies….3. Nationalization….4. Tariffs…..5. Intellectual property…..To Read More…

Fairy Tales and Astroturf

by David Silvers on October 30, 2013  

Senators Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Robert Menendez, D-N.J., want us to believe a simple progressive fairy tale that we have been hearing ad naseum for years now: the government couldn’t possibly abuse its power to silence political opponents.

On Wednesday afternoon, Sens. Menendez and Warren are holding a press conference to encourage the Securities and Exchange Commission to require disclosure of all political activity from publicly traded companies. Currently, public corporations aren’t required to disclose any “non-material” political activity.

In reality, this is a push to discourage corporations from exercising their right of free speech and political association. After all, since corporations are already banned from making direct contributions to federal candidates, the proposed measure forces corporations to publicly disclose their support to non-profit organizations such as trade associations and 501(c)(4)s…..To Read More…..

Jane Brody’s Uninformed Attack on Cars and Suburbia

by Marc Scribner on October 30, 2013  

While at a conference where participants discussed the wannabe social engineers cum urbanists’ war on automobility and housing affordability, Jane Brody’s broadside against Americans’ “dependence on automobiles” and suburban living was published by the New York Times. Brody, unlike her Times colleague Michael Pollan, isn’t a complete and total kook when it comes to agricultural biotechnology, and she is one of the more thoughtful nutrition writers in America. Unfortunately, Brody has fallen for one of the popular but incorrect urban elitist tropes about cars and the suburbs.

Long commutes are killing us! Urban cores are healthier than the suburbs! Low-density living is just fattening us up for self-slaughter!

Scary stuff, just in time for Halloween! But the “evidence” supporting such fear mongering ranges from flimsy to nonexistent…..To Read More…..

My Take - In the course of my 67 years I have watched coffee go from terrible to wonderful and back again.  Most of every scare or outrage you read about is claptrap.  Here is the definitive answer.  In 1946 the world's population was approximately 2 billion people, and it took thousands of years to get to that number.  In less than 75 years the world's population has soared to 7 billion, and more of those people are living longer than ever in history. 

ObamaCare Requires Stealing to Operate

Gary DeMar

Tax cheat[1] New York Democrat Charles Rangel claimed that no Republican voted for Social Security legislation when it came up for a vote in 1935:  “It should give you some small comfort to know that, historically, the Republican Party always fought vigorously against these types of programs,” Rangel said. “I don't think that one Republican voted for the Social Security Act.”  Rangel was trying to make the case that Republican opposition to ObamaCare is similar to opposition to Social Security when it was proposed.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) corrected the aging congressman. “In fact, the 1935 law establishing Social Security passed out of the House with the support of 81 Republicans. Just 15 opposed it. On the Senate side, 16 Republicans voted for it, and five voted against.”

When Social Security was first implemented, more than 30 people paid into the system for every person receiving a benefit. The ratio is now around 3 to 1. These types of wealth transfer programs cannot be sustained. Socialism works until you run out of other people's money.  There were good reasons to oppose Social Security. If the law had mandated that people should be forced to save a certain amount of their income for retirement, that would have been one thing. It would have been wrong, but it would be much different from the system we have today. Social Security was more than just a forced savings plan……To Read More…..

 

Bill and Hill: An Analysis Worth Reading!

by Dick Morris, former political advisor to President Bill Clinton

If you happen to see the Bill Clinton five minute TV ad for Hillary in which he introduces the commercial by saying that he wants to share some things we may not know about Hillary's background . .beware!  As I was there for most of their presidency and know them better than just about anyone, I offer a few corrections;…..To Read More…..

My Take - Normally I'm not fond of linking anything Morris says. I have found two things about Morris that I think are largely true. His predictions turn out to be a load of HooHaw a big part of the time, and secondly, he seems to be accurate about the events he lived. I'm inclined to think this is one such occurrence, and worth the time.

Racial Preferences in Obamacare, and Discrimination, Too, Based on Weird Ideology

by Hans Bader on October 29, 2013

The Daily Caller has an interesting story about race-conscious provisions and racial preferences contained in Obamacare. It’s a subject that has received remarkably little attention, even though the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights concluded back in 2009 that the healthcare bill was racially discriminatory, in two ways. First, the law is filled with “sections that factor in race when awarding billions in contracts, scholarships and grants” and give “preferential treatment to minority students for scholarships.” Second, as an African-American member of the Commission noted, it ”creates separate and unequal operating standards for long-term care facilities that serve racial and ethnic minorities.” By granting HHS “the discretion to waive substantial penalties . . . for failing to report elder abuse and other crimes committed against residents of long-term care facilities that serve racial and ethnic minorities,” it ”could increase the probability that residents of such facilities won’t receive the same level of protection as residents of nursing homes that serve non-minority populations.”…….To Read More….

From CNS News

Brave New World

By Patrick J. Buchanan

What kind of camaraderie, cooperation or friendship can endure in an environment where constant snooping on one's closest friends is accepted practice?

My Take – The logical foundation for his arguments are based on the assumption that no one out there is doing harm….they’re our friends.  America has no friends, merely temporary associates working toward some goal or other.  Tomorrow they could just as well be ….well….. France! 

One of the things I find interesting are those who decry the use of spying, but demand to know why the FBI, CIA, or NSA didn’t warn society of some eminent threat.  Spying is now, and has always been,  about bad manners and inappropriate moral conduct.  Reading other people’s mail, stealing their secrets….and far worse.  You can’t have it both ways; good moral conduct and good intelligence.

That’s what spies do! They deal in dirt, and anyone who involves themself in such activity must know that in order to be successful at ‘dealing in dirt’.  Dealing in dirt requires one to detach themself from the normal morality they live by in their daily lives. But…you can’t have it both ways; good moral conduct and good intelligence.

One more thing!  The mentality of all security people is singular in this way.  If someone has a secret it must be important.  If it’s important enough to them to make it a secret, we want to know what it is.  It might be important to us.    So, now what exactly is it you want from them? Only spy on those who deserve it!  Well, that could be anyone.

One more, one more thing!  Is there any person in the world who believes these hypocrites whining about being monitored would pass up the opportunity to listen in on Obama’s phone conversations? If you want to find fault with these spies for being bad Christians, then there’s no argument against that.  However, if you want to find fault with them for being good spies, then you have a problem in logic.

Gentlemen's Mail

By Rich Galen

Has the information gathered through the NSA wiretaps been worth the loss of trust and prestige that the rest of the world has had in the President of the United States?

Is There a Way Out?

By Walter E. Williams

Between two-thirds and three-quarters of federal spending, in contravention of the U.S. Constitution, can be described as Congress taking the earnings or property of one American to give to another, to whom it does not belong. Let's look at a few of these entitlements.

Santorum on Cruz: In the End, He Did More Harm My Take - Santorum's conservative credentials and personal integrity were clearly outlined when, for political expediency, he supported Arlen Spector over conservative Pat Toomey for the Senate. Santorum's values are apparently malleable.

Sean Penn: 'Good Idea' to Have Ted Cruz Committed for Mental Health Problems My Take - I do so love it when a certifiable loon insists others have mental problems.

Slaughter of the Innocents

Bob Medinger Oct 29, 2013

The slaughter of twenty-some innocents at Sandy Hook sent shock waves through the nation. The thought of these young lives snuffed out by a “crazy man” was more than the nation’s conscience could bear. A national outcry was heard to protect our young children. The media went into overdrive to ferret out every detail of the killer’s life, the victims’ lives, and the mother of the shooter’s life and to start the blame game.

However, in the year since this hideous crime, there has been a more horrendous crime going on every day. There have been approximately 1.2 million innocents slaughtered and you don’t hear a word on the news or any protests about it. That is the number of abortions in an average year in America. Think of it, 1.2 million innocents who haven’t even had a chance to be born are slaughtered for “convenience”. Where is the compassion for these tiny lives being snuffed out even before they take their first breath? Are they “less human” because they haven’t been born yet? I don’t think so. They carry the same genetic code as all of us do. Even if they cannot live outside their mother’s womb, they still share our humanity. Is it morally acceptable to trade their lives for our “pleasure”? Read more at

Blast From the Past: Another Stake Through The Heart Of Phthalate Fears

By Michael D. Shaw, Contributing Columnist - HealthNewsDigest.com Jul 19, 2009

Some good news has just come out about phthalates, but let's delve into a bit of history first.

Interest in studying the possible deleterious effects of phthalates—and many other compounds—was heightened in light of the so-called Wingspread Consensus Statement, issued in July, 1991. This statement was the highlight of a three-day conference in which a multidisciplinary group of scientists met to discuss the impact of many chemicals (man-made and otherwise) on wildlife populations as well as on humans.

"Wingspread" comes from the name of the conference center, which hosted the meeting, in Racine, Wisconsin. It was at this conference that the term "Endocrine Disruptor" was introduced.

The most widely accepted definition of this term came out of a 1996 European workshop, held in the beach town of Weymouth, England: "An endocrine disruptor is an exogenous substance that causes adverse health effects in an intact organism, or its progeny, secondary to changes in endocrine function."

Based on the ready availability of research funding (EPA's Office of Research and Development alone has spent approximately $80 million on endocrine research since 1999) thousands of studies related to endocrine disruptors (ED) have appeared in the last ten years. And, owing to the relatively recent concept of science by press release, certain sensationalistic findings were touted by an over-eager mainstream media, and fast-tracked into government policy.

For example, many scientists argued that the high dosages of ED compounds used in lab studies were not representative of environmental levels, and thus violated the basic concept "The dose makes the poison." ED proponents posited that a synergistic effect (the whole being greater than the sum of its parts) based on numerous ED compounds in the environment would make low doses far more significant. Thus, ED synergism became their holy grail.

In 1996, Arnold et al. published a paper in Science entitled "Synergistic activation of estrogen receptor with combinations of environmental chemicals," that seemed to prove this concept, and was a big factor behind the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996. Stirring the pot was millions of dollars from the W. Alton Jones Foundation, which helped promote the book Our Stolen Future: Are We Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence, and Survival?, an early advocate of Endocrine Disruptor Armageddon.

Steven Arnold's findings were surely dramatic. His work proclaimed that certain environmental chemicals that have a weak estrogenic activity when acting alone were up to 1,000 times more potent in mimicking estrogen when tested in combination.

However, there was one little problem with his results. No one else could replicate them. He was staunchly defended at first by the paper's senior author John McLachlan, but by August 1997, the paper was retracted.

According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Research Integrity, Arnold intentionally falsified the research results reported in the Science paper, and later provided falsified and fabricated materials to investigating officials. Arnold entered into a voluntary agreement with the U.S. Public Health Service in which he agreed to exclude himself, for a period of five years, from involvement in any government research. During discussions about the agreement, Arnold conceded that there were no original data or other corroborating evidence to support the conclusions reported in the Science paper.

Based on the Arnold travesty and other related scientific miscues, which seem to plague this area of research, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry stated in a November, 2002 symposium...

Failures in the past to provide full and complete data sets for scientific expert panel analysis cannot be perpetuated, because such actions impact the integrity and credibility of the research. Furthermore, the risk management implications of low dose effects are potentially substantial and warrant careful scientific replication. Although the human and ecological consequences of ED may not be as universal as some have feared, there are sufficient examples and biological plausibility to leave little basis for complacency in the research community.

Of course, the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996, and untold billions spent in questionable testing and regulatory activity are still with us.

Getting back to phthalates, researcher Robert Benson—in a breakthrough study published in Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology—examined animal data and reconciled that with human exposure figures, to come up with a true human risk assessment. That is, he looked at human exposure (in the US and Germany) to all the phthalates that have been implicated in bad rodent effects to see how this stacks up with EPA guidelines—replete with their enormous built-in safety factors.

Benson concludes:

A Hazard Index of less than 1 means that there is little probability that an adverse effect might be observed from the exposure to the chemicals. As can be seen from the results...the Hazard Index for the median, 95 percentile, and maximum exposed individual are equal to or less than 1. Thus, it is unlikely that humans are suffering adverse developmental effects from current environmental exposure to these phthalate esters.

Given that phthalates have been used for decades with no apparent ill effects on a cohort of hundreds of millions of humans, mere observation might have brought us to the same point. That's why many scientists mock endocrine disruptor fears as a conclusion in search of data.

We’re the Next Greece

By Rachel Alexander on Oct 28, 2013

What has been going on in Greece over the past six years since they ran out of money to borrow. We're headed there next; this is how bad it is going to get!  The country of Greece is in catastrophic economic chaos due to a history of irresponsible spending. This is where the U.S. will be in few years unless drastic changes are made. The question is no longer if, but when. At some point, there will no longer be any low-interest credit available to continue letting Santa Claus run the U.S.; the interest owed on existing debt will exceed tax revenues…..To ReadMore…..

Michael Pollan Promotes 'Denialist' Anti-GMO Junk Science, Says He Manipulates New York Times' Editors

Jon Entine, 10/24/2013

This is a disturbing story about the abuse of the power of journalism and the trust of the public by one of the most, if not the most, influential food writers in the world.

Michael Pollan is a big deal, arguably more influential on agriculture policy than the Secretary of Agriculture. He is the author of five books, all best sellers, professor of journalism at the University of California-Berkeley and one of the most cited commentators on food related issues in the world, with more than 330,000 followers on Twitter, many of whom consider him a hero. Although the public perception of him is just the opposite, he is not a reputable science journalist or—by his own admission—an objective reporter—on organics or agriculture. Even more startling, Pollan admits—brags even—that he manipulates high profile stories on organics and crop biotechnology, particularly at the New York Times—and that the papers editors are willing dupes.

These are strong allegations, but they are not mine; they are Pollan’s own words. Read on......To Read More..... 

The Dutch Don’t Care About Marriage

Americans can learn a lot from their indifference.

By Katie Roiphe

I was in Amsterdam for probably three hours when I began to see that having children and not being married was not a big deal there. In fact, marriage itself is not a big deal there. I was there to talk about my book In Praise of Messy Lives, which was coming out in Dutch, but what passes in America for a messy life is in Amsterdam just, well, how things go.

The Dutch attitude, which I like, is that marriage is not for everyone; it is a personal choice, an option, a pleasant possibility, but not marrying is not a failure, a great blot on your achievements in life, a critical rite of passage you have missed. Sometimes people get around to getting married, and sometimes they don’t. Several Dutch women in their 40s, with children and rich romantic histories, tell me about marriage, “It just wasn’t something that mattered to me.”….To Read More…. 

My Take – This woman is a blithering idiot….over educated – under smart.  Marriage and family is the absolutely most profound foundation for a stable society.  Its no wonder the EU is doomed….this is another reason….and we don’t need help from the Dutch when it comes to being stupid….we have plenty of our own blithering idiots….she’s one of them.  I wonder if the boys who stormed the beaches of Normandy would have done so if they could have seen the future?

10 reasons why François Hollande has flopped in France

Agnès Poirier theguardian.com, Tuesday 29 October 2013 15.11 EDT

His approval ratings were already disastrous, but François Hollande is now confirmed as the most unpopular president on record. A survey on Monday put his personal approval ratings at 26%, the first time a president has dropped below 30% since presidential popularity began to be measured by BVI polling agency. For voters across the political spectrum it seems, poor Hollande can do no right. Here are 10 possible reasons why it's all gone pear-shaped for the president.

1. The 75% tax trap - 2. He has perfected the art of putting the cart before the horse (otherwise known as getting his priorities wrong) - 3. Hating conflict is not ideal when you're the president of France. - 4. He is indecisive. - 5. He doesn't seem able to rein in his party factions.  6. - He's too normal - 7. He has a weak prime minister - 8. He lacks communication skills. - 9. He has stopped being himself. - 10. He hasn't eased our existentialist angst.....To Read More...

My Take – Most of this is a load of hogwash.  He’s failing because he’s a leftist.   All the rest said here is an attempt to find someone to blame other than blaming the French people themselves.  They wanted a leftist that was going to take them farther left than they were already, and then were stunned when he acted like a leftist.  Now he’s just not fun anymore.  Baloney!  Another reason why the EU is doomed!

Anti-Semitism Now Mainstream in France

By Guy Milliere October 30, 2013

A few weeks ago, when French Jewish actor Elie Semoun was a prime-time guest on one of the main French television channels, Canal Plus, the words of Sebastian Thoen, a standup comedian who introduced him may have been meant to be to be laudatory, but took quite a different turn: "You never plunged into communitarianism [Jewish activism] ... You could have posted yourself in the street selling jeans and diamonds from the back of a minivan, saying 'Israel is always right, f*** Palestine, wallala.' You show that it is possible to be of the Jewish faith without being completely disgusting.

Semoun was obviously ill-at-ease, but did not react. A couple hours after the show, the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) issued a statement denouncing a "dangerous trivialization of anti-Semitism." The President of the TV channel responded by saying that the Jewish community had "no sense of humor." The incident occurred, however, in a context where the French Jewish community has no reason to have a sense of humor.

At the end of 2012, Jewish France was republished. The book is a tirade of extreme anti-Semitism, originally published in 1886 by the author Edouard Drumont, and reprinted repeatedly until after World War II and the fall of the Vichy regime…...Seven decades after Auschwitz, the oldest hatred is slowly regaining its place on the continent, and it is no laughing matter...…To Read More…

My Take - Another reason why the EU is doomed. Its level of self righteous, and arrogant hypocrisy!  Leftists slugs are the same the world over.  Here we call them 'journalists'. 

Italy: The Nation That Crushes Its Young

By BEPPE SEVERGNINI October 30, 2013

My son Antonio just turned 21 years old, and I’m worried. Not only is his generation of young Italians grappling with the longest economic slump in modern times, but they also have to deal with us, their fathers and mothers.

I’ve taken to calling us the Generazione Pitone, the Python Generation. We refuse to give ground, and instead slither forward and ingest everything in our path. We have stamina. We are selfish. We have a soundtrack (that’s why Bruce Springsteen is still touring). And now that we’re getting old and retiring, we cost plenty.

America’s baby boomers are not alone in the world. Every Western country produced a substantial postwar generation that has no intention of stepping aside. But Italy is special. Old-age pensions swallow 14 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and 57 percent of all social spending. No other country in Europe spends so much on making its past comfortable……To Read More…. 

My Take – Another reason why the EU is doomed.