Paradigms and Demographics: My Posts

My Posts

By Rich Kozlovich February 16, 2014

Tell me this child's name, how old he was when he was killed, who killed him and why?

Since the media never seemed to be concerned I must believe they didn't want to know, or worse yet, didn't want you to know. So in order that we may not forget, this Saturday, November 23, 2013 article, "Tell Me Their Names?", has all the answers.

DDT and The Magic Study Machine!

By Rich Kozlovich February 15, 2014

In December 2011 I wrote an article that was entitled, DDT - Lets Have Another 10,000 Studies!, saying; “There have been thousands of studies regarding the effects of DDT on the environment, people and wildlife, and most of them were junk science….. conclusions in search of data. A number of years ago…..Dr. Rutledge Taylor...produced a film documentary about DDT called 3 Billion and Counting. …..At one point he had received almost 100 studies from one of the anti-DDT groups that claimed all sorts of things. He sent them to me and asked me to look them over…..

As I went through the first ten, very carefully outlining and taking notes on what was clearly wrong with those studies, I found out that they were filled with claptrap; speculation, weasel words, logical fallacies and weak associations. I went through the next ten just as carefully, without taking notes this time, and found the exact same pattern in all of them. I skipped to every fifth study only to find the same pattern over and over again. In short, these studies were nothing more than “academic welfare”!

You know what welfare is; pay without work; work being the operative word for producing something of value. And in these cases the ‘academic welfare’ produced preconceived conclusions. Conclusions in search of data! And everyone one of these studies was produced after DDT was banned! Why?”

Well, there is one thing we know for sure. Anti-DDT ‘studies’ will generate grant money, and the holy grail of science is grant money, and that’s what makes them ‘magic’. They’re magic because anti-DDT studies produce gold out of nothing. This kind of reminds me of that old Grimm brother’s fairy tale about Rumpelstiltskin and spinning straw into gold, and spinning is the operative word, because they're still desperately attempting to prove the ban really has some scientific basis instead of the political decision it really was. …..

Colony Collapse Disorder: An Excuse, Not a Reason!

By Rich Kozlovich Thursday, February 13, 2014

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is the term used to describe unexplained die-off of honey bee colonies. This has generated a great deal of speculation that was, and is, erroneous. Fortunately, information outlining how fallacious and unscientific are these claims by green activists, and their drive to ban neonicotinoids, is coming to the fore as more writers expose the lies behind this scaremongering. Paul Driessen recently wrote, To Bee or Not to Bee, Alan Caruba published , Another Environmental Lie Exposed: Bees are Thriving and Jon Entine, Bee Deaths Reversal: As Evidence Points Away From Neonics As Driver, Pressure Builds To Rethink Ban.

Neonicotinoids is a classification of pesticides used extensively in agriculture to provide protection against insects that would destroy our food supply, and we need to get over this silly mantra - “we don’t need pesticides” - from the green movement, because that would really lead to the starvation they claim to be so concerned about.

All this irrational speculation would almost make one want to laugh, except the consequences for listening to these loony ideas is so dangerous. For years the world’s media inundated us with scaremongering articles about CCD with headlines such as, “Are GM Crops Killing Bees?”; “As Bees Go Missing”; “Why the Honey Bee Decline?”; “Who Killed the Honey Bees?”; “Bees Vanish, and Scientists Race for Reasons!”

Reading these biased and unscientific pronouncements from the media would naturally generate a serious level of concern in society. There’s only one problem. It’s all wrong! …….

More evidence of Global Warming? What We Need is Clarity! By Rich Kozlovich Wednesday February 12, 2014

For those of us who have been following this from the beginning it has been obvious there is a double standard for what is perceived as ‘real’ evidence regarding Anthropogenic Climate Change - or as it used to be known before the warming stopped about 17 years ago -Anthropogenic Global Warming.

To the Warmists, every drought, flood, heat wave, forest fire, or ice breakup in the Antarctic was glowing evidence of Global Warming. When there's an ice storm, blizzard, or extended cold and snow; that's merely weather, and doesn’t count because climate is far more complex. Well, actually I agree with that assessment, climate is far more complex than 'mere' weather, but shouldn't it work both ways?

There are two things in which I think we need clarity. First, weather is what makes up climate, and we really don't seem to be able to predict weather very accurately four days out. Secondly, climate really is infinitely more complex, and yet we are now expected to believe these AGW "Chicken Littles" can predict it out 150 or even 50 years. Does anyone besides me think this is irrational? What's even more irrational are claims by the Warmists that everything - and I mean everything - is a sign of global warming, including freezing and record cold, snow and any blizzard that happens to occur….…….

Who Cares What Charles Says?

By Rich Kozlovich Saturday, February 1, 2014

Recently it was reported that Prince Charles took a shot at 'climate deniers', claiming it's "baffling ... that in our modern world we have such blind trust in science and technology that we all accept what science tells us about everything - until, that is, it comes to climate science." He went on to call these presumably "powerful groups of deniers" of mounting "a barrage of sheer intimidation" against opponents, calling them a 'headless chicken brigade'.

First of all, I would like to know exactly what "climate science" he's referring to - the fraudlent claims and speculations by warmers - or the real world climate being reported on by the "headless chicken brigade? Second, there is no one who knows anything about science who has a 'blind trust in science and technology'. Only the ignorant and foolish accept that premise. Third, if we accept his basic premise it would mean an abandonment of all that makes science possible, a large successful industrial society. Does anyone besides me detect a bit of cognitive dissonance in the Prince? Well, actually no.

The green movement, a secular religion, will use any argument to promote its goals, including name calling, intimidation, irrational logic, emotional appeals and then blames the other side for doing it. The Prince is the perfect greenie. Arrogant, self righteous, detached from reality and the consequences of green policies, presents arguments full of logical fallacies, corrupt in his thinking, and living a life style he claims is destroying the world………

The Golden Goose Versus the Golden Fleece, Part I

By Rich Kozlovich Saturday, January 25, 2014

Recently Dan Moreland of Pest Control Technology published an article on September 26th, 2013, declaring, “Scientists Deserve Our Respect, Not Our Ridicule”! The truth is there are so many logical fallacies in this article I can’t list them all, but I’ll do my best.

Dan goes on to tell us about a scientist by the name of Dr. John Eng, who received the ‘Golden Goose Award’ because of his research to help diabetics. Anyone who knows someone who suffers from this affliction has to be grateful for his efforts, because these people truly suffer as they age. He and his associates “discovered that the venom of some animals can impact the human pancreas”. In the end the work he and his colleagues did with the saliva of Gila allowed them to develop a compound that stimulated the pancreas, helping to prevent those “debilitating health problems from blindness and nerve damage to kidney failure and heart disease.” And they should be commended! He clearly deserved the recognition he received. So what’s fallacious about that? Nothing, if that was all there was to the article. Let’s explore this……

So What’s the Problem? Just Dump the Mandates!

By Rich Kozlovich Monday, January 13, 2014

On December 17, 2013 I read an article by Bonner R. Cohen, a senior fellow with the National Center for Public Policy Research, entitled, “Ohio Legislature Considers Softening Renewable Mandates”. He goes on to inform his readers that Ohio legislators are deciding what to do about Ohio’s renewable power mandates

Briefly outlining Ohio’s history with energy mandates he points out; “Ohio’s utilities are required to produce 12.5 percent of their power from renewable sources, such as wind, solar, and hydropower, by 2025. Another 12.5 percent must come from so-called “advanced energy,” "such as clean coal or state-of-the-art nuclear generators. In Ohio, this is known as the 25 by 25 standard."

There’s a problem though. Ohio’s electricity costs have unnecessarily risen 9% as a result –“triple the 3 percent rise in U.S. electricity prices.” Promoters of so-called ‘renewable’ energy promised quick development that would be cost effective. Really? Where did they get the figures to demonstrate that? Or perhaps this was merely more green speculation!

Renewable energy ideas have been failures since the Carter administration, and there have been no technological advancements so great so as to make anyone believe solar, wind, or even bio-fuels, could ever deliver anywhere near the energy value generated by traditional energy producers……

Carthage Must Be Destroyed!
By Rich Kozlovich Wednesday, January 8, 2014

In 2013 the United States Congress was criticized for not getting things done. The Congress “only” passed 65 new laws. Of course we have to understand that one year they passed over three hundred new laws.

What is really important to understand is when new laws are passed the baton of power is passed to the permanent bureaucracies, whose function is to make even more laws called – “rules”! In 2013 there was an average of 56 new regulations resulting from each law passed totaling 3659 new laws called – “rules”! That multiplier has been as low as 12 per new law, but that was in 2006 when Congress passed 321 new laws. If you average out the multipliers over the last ten years the average multiplier is 25.36.

So what’s the rest of the story? Last year the states passed over 40,000 new laws. If we make a broad assumption that the average multiplier applies to the states we now have a potential of 1,014,400 new laws called – “rules!” Rules created by unaccountable bureaucrats, with their own agendas and views of reality, and who, generally speaking, went to college and then into government.

During the first five years of the Obama administration regulatory costs increased by $500 billion dollars, “with $112 billion in regulatory compliance costs in 2013 alone, and predicted that the burden would continue to increase this year to as much as $143 billion”. The federal registry, where all the regulations are listed, contain 80,224 pages this year alone. It’s estimated that in ten years at the current rate of regulatory growth there will generate approximately 900,000 new pages of regulations, which will be on top of the approximately 800,000 pages of regulations passed in the previous ten years.

All of these regulations do one thing for sure - create jobs – for non-productive bureaucrats. It took government employees 10.38 billion hours to do “the paperwork for the federal government in 2013, and will take 78,000 full-time employees to complete the additional paperwork.”

We also have to look at who benefits from laws and the regulations they generate. In this kind of hyper-regulatory, high tax economy many of these laws and regulations are promoted by businesses that want to make it harder for companies that will be, or are, competitors. As a result “all aspects of business, entrepreneurship degenerates into “bribery and diplomacy.” Instead of focusing on creating value for customers, entrepreneurs spend their time lobbying for favors or to avoid penalties, trying to discern the government’s next move, anticipating or adapting to the newest regulations.” ……

Shall Every Knee Bow?
By Rich Kozlovich

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas it is presumed our thoughts turn to issues of faith, so for the last two years between Thanksgiving and Christmas I have published this article, and will continue to do so each year, with additions expanding on the logic and factual foundation. This is a recap and expansion of those commentaries. RK

There was an article I came across entitled, “Many atheist scientists take their kids to church”! The article went on to say; “about one in five atheist scientists with children involve their families with religious institutions even if they do not agree with the teachings, according to a study done by Rice University and the University at Buffalo.” The article pointed out “The findings surrounding atheists shouldn't be too surprising, since the Pew Forum Religious Survey taken back in 2008 that showed 21 percent of self-described atheists responded that they believe in God.”

Does everyone really find this to be all that extraordinary? Anthropologists have noted that in every culture in the world, and in all of human history, religion has played an important role in people’s lives. There was one prominent atheist, Antony Flew who claimed at the end of his life he was now a believer. Why? Is it true‘ there are no atheists in foxholes’? Of course the explanation was that he had lost his mind; yet even Albert Einstein, who was not a religious person in any sense, had absolutely rejected the idea of a personal God, rejected the idea of atheism.......

Tell Me Their Names?

By Rich Kozlovich Saturday, November 23, 2013

For the readers of Paradigms and Demographics this won’t be anything new, but (kudos to Fox) recently Fox News has been running features on a growing problem in the black community called “knockout”. According to black youths its 'just a game’. Interesting game! They pick out a person who is alone or seeming incapable of standing against a young violent thug…or thugs….and beat them senseless. The goal is to do it with one punch, but often times they just beat them to death. Men or women, it doesn’t matter, just so long as they are white.

These punks are nothing but cowardly curs, but they’re all black cowardly curs, so the mainstream media says nothing. Big mouths like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, the NAACP leadership, and all the trash talking Hollywood crowd who just thought it was terrible that a thug like Trayvon Martin (whom idiots like Richard Dreyfus started calling ‘a child’) was killed are saying nothing. They are just as silent now as they were when that 13 month old baby was murdered by two black ‘children’ aged 17 and 14. Apparently black ‘children’ really are that dangerous.

By the way - without looking it up - what was that 13 month old child’s name? You don’t know it do you? You know Trayvon Martin’s name, why don’t you know that child’s name? Martin was a criminal and a thug, but you all know his name, and it was presented in such a way to generate sympathy for him. That 13 month old baby really was innocent. He never did one bit of harm to anyone. He wasn’t a criminal, he wasn’t a thug, but most importantly, he was a white baby deliberately murdered by black ‘children’, so little was made of it by the media. If it wasn’t for the internet no one would know about this tragedy. For those who disagree with me, tell me, please – what was that poor child’s name? ......

Crimes Against Humanity Are Only For Losers!
By Rich Kozlovich Monday, September 30, 2013

An article titled; "Universal jurisdiction raises as many problems as it solves", was published by Hussein Ibish on September 28, 2013. He points out;

“Universal jurisdiction arises out of the post-Second World War environment, the first real applications of it being trials by the victors against Nazi and Japanese officials, among others. They created, in effect, a set of ex post facto crimes that were morally unimpeachable but raised significant legal problems. The magnitude of the evil, however, properly offset such qualms and new international legal norms were established.

However, he states just before this;

“It must also contend with even more knotty moral realities – which are usually ignored in the academic and theoretical conversation on the subject – and multiple examples wherein the greater good may well be served by not pursuing even heinous war criminals for various ethically persuasive reasons.

In short; war crimes are for losers! Stalin butchered tens of millions of his own people. Why wasn't he tried at Nuremburg? Castro killed as many or more per ratio than even Stalin. Why didn't Britain and Spain attempt to try him at the ICC as hard as they attempted to try Pinochet? Some time back I wrote an article titled; "What Constitutes A Crime Against Humanity?" I think it’s worth republishing now………

Just a Thought or Two!
By Rich Kozlovich Monday, September 16, 2013

For some time I have said that the EPA is out of control and the only way to fix it is to abolish it. Everyone says that will never happen! Even those prominent in opposing the junk science promoted by the EPA! Well, my answer is always the same. The Soviet Union collapsed almost overnight and no one saw that coming. The EPA is small potatoes compared to the USSR.

I received an interesting e-mail from my friend Dave Deitz with quotes by experts that were.......REALLY wrong. I will run a few a day.

· "Man will never reach the moon regardless of all future scientific advances."--Dr. Lee DeForest, "Father of Radio & Grandfather of Television."

· "The bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert in explosives."- - Admiral William Leahy , US Atomic Bomb Project

· "There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom."-- Robert Millikan, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1923

· "Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."-- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 194

· "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."-- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

Abolish the EPA!

The Common Core: What We Need is a History Lesson!

By Rich Kozlovich

On September 6, 2013, Marilyn Assenheim wrote an article titled, “The Common Core Curriculum: Education’s Final Frontier”. She starts out saying; “Do you know what the Common Core Curriculum is? Whether you have children or not, unless you live in Alaska, Texas, Nebraska or Virginia, it behooves you to become familiar with it before it kicks in, full-bore, in 2014.”

She notes that “forty five states have adopted the entire Common Core Curriculum”, and then asks why that’s “so dangerous”. After all, Federal standards have been with us for decades, ever since Jimmy Carter created the Department of Education in the 1970’s. So how is this different?

“Simply put, Common Core is the federal government’s takeover of education. As defined, Common Core “standardizes English and Mathematics for grades K-12.” New, national testing occurs in grades 3-8 and again in grade 10 or 11; that has yet to be determined. But what does all that mean? It means that the federal government now decides what children learn. Neither parents nor local school districts will have any say in what is being taught. Education is being nationalized.” And that’s bad why?

Phony Studies Will Not Rid Us of Lyme Disease!

Thursday, September 5, 2013

This morning I received my e-newletter from the National Pest Management Association which linked an article titled, Lyme activist questions federal study of pesticides in private yards, quoting "A leading local advocate in the fight against Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases is calling a recent study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “junk research” and a waste of taxpayer money.”

Auerbach is absolutely correct in her assessment. That money spent on this study was wasted research. It is also clear to me that this study must been conducted by those who really didn't understand how important widespread pesticide use is in order to impact pests, or this was a case of "pre-conceptual science", where you reach a conclusion before doing the research and then dismiss anything that disagrees with the conclusion. Therefore by ignoring anything that shows their conclusion is wrong they can then logically claim they're must be right.

However - in the real world - making isolated pesticide applications will not resolve any pest problem if the surrounding areas are still filled with the target pest.

Prediction – Especially About The Future - Is Really Hard!

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Today I received my e-newsletter from PMP called the PMP Buzz online. The thing I found most interesting was a well done article by Seth Jones titled, “RISE meeting looks to the future” where he quotes Jack Uldrich, who he describes as a “futurist”, best-selling author and keynote speaker at the Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment (RISE), as saying we must “Be prepared to unlearn basic things you know, because the future is here … and with it will come leaps in such things as nanotechnology, robotics, gene sequencing and computer processing power”. Those are broad generalizations that are largely true. So what?

Seth reports that;

“Uldrich’s talk centered on the advancement of technology, much of his discussion circled back to how it could affect the business of pesticides. From an app that can detect chemical residue on foods, to farms and lawns that can directly communicate with farmers and homeowners, this was not the stuff of science fiction but a very real near future.”

Plain Dealer: Example of Worldwide Editorial Disgrace!

August 25, 2013

On August 23, 2013 the Editorial Board of the Plain Dealer published an editorial titled, Time to stop dragging our feet on climatechange and acknowledge the imperative of international cooperation, citing a United Nations report saying, “Climate change is real and it's our fault”. I would like to know exactly what climate change are they talking about? Is “Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW)”the change they are discussing? Clearly that can’t be the case because the Earth stopped warming over 15 years ago.

Perhaps they are unaware that atmospheric temperature readings never supported the AGW position from the beginning, and the ground readings were so corrupted by placement and equipment failures that those readings became scientifically worthless. That makes this statement - "human influence on climate caused more than half of the observed increase in global average surface temperature from 1951 to 2010,” by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change meaningless. Let’s take a look at this anyway.

Problem: EPA Is Out of Control! Answer: Time to Abolish EPA!

August 24, 2013

This isn’t a new thought, but it is becoming more acceptable to far more people now than even just five years ago. We recently saw an article titled, “FormerEPA official charged with stealing nearly $900K”, published on August 23, 2013 stating that; “John C. Beale, a former deputy assistant administrator in the Office of Air and Radiation, is accused of stealing a total of $886,186 between 2000 and April of this year…” and he accomplished this “by collecting bonuses and extra salary.”And who was his boss? Gina McCarthy!

McCarthy was the administrator of the office of Air and Radiation and Beale was the deputy assistant administrator in that office; one of her top aides. He wasn’t just another one of EPA’s faceless myrmidons, he was a close associate of a woman that never noticed anything was wrong and was rewarded by being made EPA administrator.

The Left Hijacks Language to Promote the Unspeakable

Aug 18, 2013

The Left Hijacks Language to Promote the Unspeakable. By Rich Kozlovich. Over the years I have marveled at the ability of the left to hijack language in order to promote the most contemptible things, such as abortion, always ...

Islam: What We Need Is Clarity!

August 22, 2013

As I watch the news and listen to the talking heads...or even better yet.....read articles posted in Real Clear World, I often wonder if it is possible these people are insane. Real Clear World isn’t your typical news source. They link articles that promote all views - rational and othewise - on any given subject. Real Clear World isn’t for the mentally and intellectually unprepared. You have to know something about everything before you go there and you must have a value system of your own, or you will be washed back and forth like waves crashing against the rocks. But I love it because that is where I find important issues that no one else is talking about.

The Challenge of Our Time

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Generally speaking society has the tendency to accept whatever appears on the news, or the newspapers, regarding scientific or environmental issues. It’s a mentality that’s kind of like that commercial where the really pretty girl says they aren’t allowed to lie on the internet, as the “French” boyfriend she met on the internet comes to pick her up….who is not only ugly….he clearly isn’t French. But she’s just as happy as a clam; because “they can’t lie on the internet”.The green activists understand that’s how people live their lives and view reality. Winston Churchill said;

“The Bolsheviks have discovered that truth does not matter so long as there is reiteration. They have no difficulty whatever in countering a fact by a lie which, if repeated often enough and loudly enough, becomes accepted by the people.”

Illogical you say? Sure, but so what? It’s also reality; and that’s the challenge of our time.

At 13 Months Old I Was Killed By Two Black “Children”? What’s My Name?

Sunday, July 21, 2013

I haven’t posted much about the Zimmerman trial and all the surrounding noise being made by the race baiters, leftists and a president who is a disgrace. A president who takes a 100 million dollar vacation to Africa with his family to try and take focus off of himself and all the scandals in his administration. He then comes home and declares the Zimmerman verdict an indictment of white America; telling everyone how hard it was to be an un-trusted black man in America in his youth. Poor baby - he then became president and now we know why he shouldn’t have been trusted. I haven’t posted much because I didn’t need to. However, this “child” scenario the left is painting has gotten under my skin.

What is it With the Swedes?

Thursday, June 20, 2013

What is it with Scandinavians? Are they trying to make up for having been Vikings? If so, they need to get over it, because that was a long, long time ago, and I really don't think the rest of us care, but that is the only explanation I can come up with to explain their strange views. On June 20, 2013 Bruce Bawer posted an article titled, “Crime and Non-Punishment in Sweden” discussing rape in Europe, and specifically Sweden because it has become rampant there. He discusses the gang rape of a fifteen year old girl by six minor Muslims. Most of us would consider this a heinous sex crime deserving serious treatment by the criminal justice system--that is unless you live in Sweden.

Unnecessary Regulations: The Vanguard to Dystopia

July 10, 2013

On July 9, 2013 Ryan Young published an article titled, Regulatory Inflation, starting out saying that; “Turns out bad regulations have a rather large side effect.” He goes on to explain the reality of regulations, which also explains why increased taxes of the ‘rich’, and the ‘corporations’is in reality a hidden tax on the least able to afford increases in the things they buy. He says:

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Is it Inalienable Rights? - Or - Is it Unalienable Rights?

One of the things that always drove me crazy were those who quote the Declaration of Independence saying ‘that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights”. For years I would get all huffy over that. All through my early years I always heard ‘inalienable rights’, not ‘unalienable’. This "change" to unalienable really irritated me since I thought it was a modern affectation. So what is it? Is it “inalienable” or “unalienable as modernists have insisted on?

Thursday, July 4, 2013

The Challenge of Our Time

Generally speaking society has the tendency to accept whatever appears on the news, or the newspapers, regarding scientific or environmental issues. It’s a mentality that’s kind of like that commercial where the really pretty girl says they aren’t allowed to lie on the internet, as the “French” boyfriend she met on the internet comes to pick her up….who is not only ugly….he clearly isn’t French. But she’s just as happy as a clam; because “they can’t lie on the internet”. The green activists understand that’s how people live their lives and view reality. Winston Churchill said;

Thought for the Day

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Consensus isn’t a scientific concept; it’s a political concept. It’s merely what everyone believes; however, it isn’t necessarily factual. Truth is fact based. Ideology is consensus based.

We are told there was a time when the consensus was the world was flat. That was wrong! There was a time when the consensus was that the Piltdown Man was scientific proof of evolution. That was fraud! There was a time when the consensus was that eugenics was the answer to preventing genetically inferior people from breeding and became the cause célèbre for people like the founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, and....Adolph Hitler. That generated crimes against humanity! There were recent times when the consensus was we were heading into another catastrophic Ice Age. That was wrong! The scientific consensus regarding the world's total proven oil reserves in 1947 was 68 billion barrels, generating fear we would soon run out. That was wrong! We have used hundreds of billions barrels of oil since then and it appears we have unlimited amounts yet available! There was consensus that we would soon run out of food and millions would be dying in the streets by the 1980's or 90's. That was wrong! There was consensus we were destroying the world’s forests. That was a lie!

Consensus isn’t a scientific concept; it’s a political concept and that’s why the misfits of environmentalism tout ‘consensus’ as their defining argument for global warming versus the reality commonly known as provable fact. Facts are what they are. Consensus can be manufactured by a really great public relations campaign, but that still doesn’t make ‘consensus' factual, and so very often has left devastation in its wake. The consensus that socialism would create a utopian world was not only wrong, it killed over 100 million people and left hundreds of millions to be enslaved by tyrannical governments that imposed on their citizens hunger, squalor, misery, suffering, disease and early death! The consensus was that socialism would create utopia; the reality was dystopia!

Why Doesn't The Precautionary Principle Apply Here?

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Precautionary double standards - Wind turbines kill birds and harm people. Why doesn’t the “precautionary principle” apply?

Jessica Marszelek, federal politics reporter for Australia’s News Limited Network, recently posted an article titled, “Australia: Wind power 'terrorising' rural communities.” Some 150 people turned up for a three-hour rally at Canberra’s Parliament House, she reported, to express their concern about the health effects of wind turbines.

The residents from small towns around the country complain that the giant turbines cause “a constant rumbling and pulsing in their heads and a feeling of oppressive anxiety,” she noted. “Everyday farmers” are upset over growing numbers of turbines in their communities.

“Retired Naval electronics engineering officer and beef farmer” David Mortimer receives Aus$12,000 a year to allow these avian Cuisinarts on his land, and 17 more are planned. However, Mr. Mortimer says he now “suffers night-time panic attacks, acute anxiety, heart palpitations, tinnitus, earaches, headaches and angina-like pains, and his wife has dizzy spells.”

Go Green: It Will Make You Better Than You Really Are!

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Watching TV with my wife I saw a movie with the tool man, Tim Allen. In the movie he was fast asleep on the couch with a commercial on the television about some pharmaceutical product that was to “Make You Better Than You Really Are!” The commercial did the thing they always do with pharmaceuticals and listed all the caveats about the potential side effects running the gamut from fatigue, muscle spasms, dry mouth, lockjaw to ‘and in rare cases may cause death’. Followed by an admonition to take their product because it will, “Make You Better Than You Really Are!” Naturally I laughed, but just then I had a Shazam moment. What if we did a commercial promoting ‘going green’ and listed all the potential harmful effects ‘going green’ can impart.

Royko’s People When Radical Becomes Mainstream

Saturday, June 8, 2013

For those who aren’t old enough to remember Mike Royko let me tell you about him. Mike Royko was a syndicated columnist out of Chicago, where he grew up. Royko was an ethnic kid of Polish/Ukrainian origin. Royko was the voice of “everyman Chicago”. He was sarcastic, caustic, and totally skeptical of elitists and their thinking. Royko took the stand that; as Studs Terkel pointed out; “somebody’s up against it”! Royko wanted to make sure there was someone who would do something about it. Him! A healthy attitude in my opinion!

It was clear that Royko had very little respect for politicians and hated political correctness. He hated hypocrisy, special privileges for special people, and was all about basic fair play. Everything had become about superficial imagery and money and he hated it. But, Mike’s gone now and the problems he was so concerned about have only become exacerbated by time. So where does that leave "Royko's people"?

Student Loans: The Chickens Are Coming Home to Roost

Sunday, May 26, 2013

On May 25, 2013 Daniel Doherty wrote an article titled, Last Dance With Sallie Mae, saying; “A new study shows that roughly 33% of millennials wish they never went to college.” He goes on to point out why; “Plainly put, since more than 50 percent of college students finance their educations with student loans -- graduating, on average, about $28,000 in the proverbial hole -- it’s easy to see why a plurality of young people wish, in retrospect, they had never attended college in the first place.” He points out the reason why. “Here’s an indication of how burdensome student loans have become:

Is This A Crime Against Humanity or Not? Is This a Crime?

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

These links are from Steve Milloy's Junkscience.com.

The question that I keep asking myself, is this: When is someone going to be charged with a crime? No matter what anyone tries to claim, a crime against humanity has been committed. And it has been committed by authorities at the Environmental Protection Agency and the researchers they hired. They cannot claim they were just following orders. That excuse has been dealt with and rejected ever since Captain Henry Wirz was tried and hung for what happened at Andersonville prison during the American Civil War. It was once again rejected at the Trials at Nuremberg. Are these events anywhere near as serious? In their effect and impact; no! In principle; yes!

Silent Spring: 50 Years of Junk Science, Part IV: The Legacy

“Truth would very patiently wait for us”. Benjamin Franklin

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Carson became the visionary for modern environmental activism, in spite of the fact that Carson was “neither profound nor original” in her thinking. Carson’s “core message was very much in line with the content of previous’ ‘books and articles published in widely circulated magazines and newspapers.” In reality the “ideological core of modern environmentalism can be traced back to ideas that have been around for centuries and in some cases millennia.”

So why did she have such much of a larger impact on society than the writers before her? Carson wrote differently than her predecessors. Their writings were so obviously misanthropic that they made little impact with anyone outside their circle of like thinkers. Carson wrote claiming there were serious health hazards from chemicals to humanity, especially DDT, and that was her message, a plea for the good of humanity. Make no mistake; it was her claims regarding chemicals and cancer that really struck a chord with the public.

She claimed that DDT was a serious carcinogenic agent that with continued use would eventually impact almost 100% of the population. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

The Value of Sequester

Friday, May 3, 2013

Recently I was in Washington as part of the National Pest Management Association Legislative Day initiative. Having had my knees replaced recently I was still having difficulties walking and needed a cane. I was delusional in thinking I was in better shape than I was…..I should have stayed home. It’s good to have understanding friends with you in those circumstances. At any rate, we were scheduled to go to the Senate offices and the lines were around the block. Why? Apparently this was part of the ‘sequester’ cuts.

A couple of things happened that day I have thought about and chuckled about ever since. First, let me tell you that artificial knees set bells of on the scanners. I said to the guards, smilingly, as I pointed to my legs….”knees”. I also said it all three times they made me walk through the scanner…… without my cane…..smiling. Finally one of the guards smiled and asked; ‘both knees’? I said yes and he used a hand scanner. Then we both chuckled and said smilingly, “knees”. I thanked them, we all smiled and I move on.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

A Few Thoughts on the Arab Winter and the Media!

By Rich Kozlovich

The New Republic was and still is a leftist organ originally "founded by Herbert Croly and Walter Lippmann through the financial backing of heiress Dorothy Payne Whitney and her husband, Willard Straight, who maintained majority ownership.” All of whom were either communists, Soviet agents or fellow travelers calling themselves ‘liberals’. Eventually Straight’s son, Michael, became an editor at the New Republic. While attending that famous cesspool noted for generating Soviet spies, Cambridge University in England, he met those infamous English Soviet spies, Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean and Anthony Blunt, all communists and all secret Soviet spies, one of which he also became. The problem with the left is a lack of consistency. They demand war today and then condemn that war tomorrow. The problem with the left’s lack of consistency is the total lack of moral foundation. Their views are based on shifting sand. Whatever works that day must be right. The New Republic is clearly a ‘liberal’ rag that is pushing for ….dare I say it….. war! Note this article:

Friday, April 19, 2013

The Gosnell Outrage

By Rich Kozlovich

Is your heart broken yet by what you have heard. If not....try this; Gosnell Trial Witness: Baby Abortion Survivor Was 'Swimming' in Toilet 'Trying to Get Out'. How can someone read something like this and not have tears in their eyes and a sick feeling in their stomach?
As more information is revealed it becomes apparent that there are many in positions of responsibility who have failed in their duties and, by any measure, in basic human morality.There is only one reason to be for abortion and that is because you don’t believe its murder, and there is only one reason to be opposed to abortion and that is because you do believe it is murder. If it is murder on any day then it is murder on every other day.

There is a difference between traditional wisdom and conventional wisdom. Traditional wisdom has stood the test of time. Conventional wisdom is the latest philosophical flavor of the day and may not last past supper time and we are abandoning all traditional values for what? What is the outcome of such thinking?......

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

The Definiton of Rights is the Real Issue!

By Rich Kozlovich

Recently I wrote the article about gun control titled, Rights Are Not Grantings To Be Given or Taken Away!, explaining that this issue of gun rights isn’t really about guns at all, and even those who don’t own guns, don’t like guns, and don’t want guns in their homes have to understand the foundational issue. It about the definition of rights – not about guns. That makes this "gun rights" issue so much deeper and more profound.

Today I received an e-mail from a friend outlining the consequences of "gun control" and what rights are left when “gun control” leads to “government control”. After that there will be no need to be able to define “rights” because they will cease to exist…….

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

The Falklands: The Middle East of the South Atlantic

By Rich Kozlovich

An article by Neil Tweedie, titled, “Falkland islands referendum: who were the three 'No' votes? discussing the issues surrounding the Falklands, including the fact that three Falklanders voted “No to the Falkland Islands remaining as an overseas territory of the United Kingdom.”

There are three large islands and almost 800 smaller islands that make up the Falklands, with a population of approximately 2,900. Of 1,518 votes cast during the two-day poll, 1,513 came out in favor of maintaining the islands' current political status, representing 99.8 per cent of the vote. One ballot paper was rejected and one remained unaccounted for after the count on Monday night. That left three people who desire either immediate independence from Britain or a transfer of sovereignty, presumably to Argentina, which claims the islands as its own.

This isn't going away and I think it would be important to come to some kind of understanding about the Falklands through an historical lens……

Sunday, April 7, 2013

After Bankruptcy Then What?

By Rich Kozlovich

On Friday Wynton Hall posted an article titled, “BOOMTOWN 2: Taxpayers Have Spent $15 Trillion on 'War on Poverty'. He starts out saying; “since President Lyndon Baines Johnson declared “war on poverty,” U.S. taxpayers have spent $15 trillion on so-called anti-poverty programs—a figure slightly less than the national debt.”

He notes that in 1969, just 2.8 million Americans received food stamps. Today he notes that over 47 million Americans are on food stamps, and some of the biggest supporters of these programs are big business, which he describes as “crony capitalism”. And now the “U.S. Census Bureau revealed that nearly 50 million Americans live below the federal poverty line. “

When Johnson was president in 1966 the nation had a population of 196,560,338. By 1969 there were 2, 700,000 recipients on food stamps, presumably mostly families. Which translates to approximately 1.4% of the population. Let's suppose we had given every family on food stamps a million dollars and said....that's it....we're done....you're on your own now forever. What would have happened?

Presumably we would have ended poverty and we would have saved twelve trillion three hundred billion dollars. ……

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Rights Are Not Grantings To Be Given or Taken Away!

By Rich Kozlovich

I have written about this before but so much is in the news that obfuscates the truth I felt compelled to write about it again. If we want understanding we must first have clarity. History is the clarifying agent.

On April 4th Ben Shapiro wrote an article titled, Obama: Constitution 'Constrains' Me. He points out that Obama, “In his pursuit of overarching gun control legislation in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook massacre, President Barack Obama has been dogged. He's been relentless. He's been demagogic, too, whether flanking himself with schoolchildren (the implication being that his political opponents don't care about dead kids) or suggesting that if just one life can be saved by his legislation, we ought to buy into it wholeheartedly (a proposition that would justify almost any sort of government overreach).” He continues by saying; “on Wednesday, President Obama took his gun control push a step further: He admitted that only the Constitution stands between him and full gun confiscation”

He further points out that, “Government is not us. Government is a group of people elected by us, who then use their own judgment”, however he points out, “the founders stated that rights descend not from government — not from "us," as Obama would have it — but from God or nature.” Quite frankly it seems a worthwhile effort, considering the wider ramifications of this kind of thinking, to lay some historical foundation regarding gun ownership rights in America in order to understand this argument properly. First of all; the Second Amendment is what it says, nothing more and nothing less, yet at one point Attorney General Holder claimed "We have no right to possess guns!"………

I Have Found Another Million Green Jobs! Or Not?

By Rich Kozlovich

I posted this article today; BLS Releases Another Phony 'Green Jobs' Report. The author outlines how this administration has presented a "chock full of charts claiming millions of new "green" jobs being produced by President Obama's efforts to heal the planet and lower the rising seas." The problem lies in how one defines a green job. Here is a paraphrased definition based on this article.

A "green" job is any job that is of benefit to the environment, or is capable of conserving natural resources. Any job in which a workers' duties involve making their establishment's production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources.

It would seem to me that a "green" job would be job that didn't exist before we adopted "green" alternatives to something that already existed, and unlike 'all' these green initiatives existed effectively I might add. However, that isn’t the case……

Friday, March 22, 2013

NPMA Legislative Day: A Few Thoughts

By Rich Kozlovich

This year was tough on an old man with two new knees. Although the weather was beautiful on Tuesday when everyone went to the Capitol, the lines into the Senate offices were around the block, and that was brutal on my knees. It is good to have understanding friends in that kind of situation…..thanks to all who helped me. I clearly should have stayed home this year, but in spite of it all, I enjoyed this event, and the food was really good.

What I enjoy most are the talks by prominent politicos or news commentators, since I generally try to make some point or at the very least ask pointed questions. On Monday we saw a debate between former Democratic Senator from North Dakota Byron Dorgan and Grover Norquist, founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform.

March 20, 2013
Poor Kieth Olbermann Can't Find a Job: Imagine That!

Yesterday this article, “Out-of-work, liberal news anchor 'seeks sympathy' -Report: Leftist host has tough time getting another job", was posted by Joe Kovacs. As I read this post I had to chuckle since Olbermann has never been a person for which one easily feels sympathetic. When he was fired by Current TV I posted this article, "Olbermann: Imagine That!" on Saturday, March 31, 2012. After reading Kovac’s post I thought it might be worthwhile to repost it below. There has got to be a comedy skit somewhere in this whole story for Saturday Night Live. I certainly find it humorous…..

Friday, March 1, 2013

If It Turns Green It Isn’t Gold

By Rich Kozlovich

In years gone by you would hear about some girl who had been given a ring that looked like gold but left a green residue on the finger. Well, there were a couple of things that were clear to everyone. The ring wasn’t gold and the guy who gave it to her was a cheap phony. Those promoting green initiatives in power generation, automotive enterprises, and who knows how many other things, fall into that category, but unfortunately, they aren’t cheap. They are sticking the taxpayers with debts to the tune of billions of dollars for so-called green investments. Those investments are going down the rat hole and there is no end in sight.

I subscribe to the e-newsletter from Environment and Climate news. I received their latest edition for March yesterday which listed some economically green disasters for which the American taxpayer is on the hook. As you read this you begin to wonder what is wrong with the minds of those who promote this stuff. It certainly can’t be ignorance because we have historical foundation to show that all these ‘green’ initiatives are economically disastrous. They were failures when promoted by Jimmy Carter, and they are still economically disastrous. The only difference is Carter could be excused for promoting these ‘alternative’ schemes because no one really knew if these were good ideas or not, and society had been prepped by circumstances for just such an effort. ….

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Silent Spring: Fifty Years of Junk Science, Part III

By Rich Kozlovich

Rachel Carson is commonly known as the mother of the environmental movement due to the publication of her book Silent Spring. Why did this book have such an impact? First of all, she was an exceptional writer. Her writing skills placed her beyond the works of others of her time discussing many of the same subjects. Originally her major in college was English, which she later changed to biology, but first and foremost she considered herself a writer. Although classified as a scientist, she wasn’t a practicing scientist. While “working for the U.S. Bureau of Fish and Wildlife Services in the Commerce Department, her job there was as a writer, summarizing then popularizing the work of scientists in the lab and in the field.”

Before she wrote Silent Spring she was already well known for her books about the ocean. Her personal research included “a brief and shallow dive clinging to a boat’s ladder”. She never claimed to have been where she had not, but she wrote with a technique “guiding the reader in narrative form, observing as if with her own eyes- or the readers.” …….

What is the News Worth Knowing and Why Don't We Know It?

Thursday, January 31, 2012

Get Out of Debt Card!

Wednesday, January 30, 2012

Book Review: Silent Spring at 50

Sunday, January 27, 2013

The Lady is a Hag
Monday, November 12, 2012

The Stench of Systemic Corruption

Saturday, November 10, 2012