James Delingpole
James Delingpole is a writer, journalist and broadcaster who is right about everything. He is the author of numerous fantastically entertaining books including 365 Ways to Drive a Liberal Crazy, Welcome To Obamaland: I've Seen Your Future And It Doesn't Work, How To Be Right, and the Coward series of WWII adventure novels. His website is www.jamesdelingpole.com. I would like to thank James for allowing me to publish his works. RK
Your glorious green future!
Sorry, I find Europe so paralysingly depressing I can't possibly blog about it. Instead, here's a piece of investigative journalism to gladden the heart from Norman Rogers – a physicist and senior advisor at the Heartland Institute.
It describes how he cunningly infiltrated his way into the belly of the Green Beast – aka the America's oldest environmental organisation, the Sierra Club – using the brilliantly clever device of paying for membership. Like Greenpeace, like the WWF, the Sierra Club would love you to imagine that it is a plucky little David battling the Goliaths of Big Carbon, Big Industry, Big Pollution, Big Corporate Greed, Big Koch, and so on. In fact – again like Greenpeace, like the WWF – it is enormously well-funded with an $84 million annual budget and 1.4 million members. This would be nice if it didn't use all that money and influence promoting such terrible causes.
As Rogers notes in American Thinker:
The Sierra Club idolizes nature and demonizes man. It glorifies economic parasitism and practices junk science.
The article's fascinating and well worth reading in full, especially for the bit where the Sierra Club's green panelists start squirming over the issue of all the birds that are killed by wind farms. The Sierra Club, of course, is a huge advocate of wind farms.
But the bit that interested me most was Rogers's description of the "linear no threshold hypothesis." It sounds to me rather similar to the "Precautionary Principle" – another of those flimsy, superficially plausible excuses trotted out by the green movement to justify banning pretty much anything that smacks of capitalism, commonsense or scientific progress.
The Sierra Club campaign against coal is motivated by a desire to reduce CO2 emissions to prevent global warming. But since global warming skepticism and global warming fatigue are widespread, the club has opted for a junk science approach to reach its goals. The club tells people that their babies will die, or at least get asthma, if coal plants continue to operate. Although the cause of asthma is not known, it is suspected that it is related to the high levels of cleanliness in advanced countries that denies children and their immune systems exposure to the dirt and filth found in primitive places. This is known as the hygiene hypothesis. The incidence of asthma is about 50 times higher in developed countries compared to rural Africa. For all the Sierra Club knows, coal plants may prevent asthma. Given the hygiene hypothesis, that seems plausible.
With junk science, it is easy to scare people. There are many things that are bad for us that are present at low levels in the environment — for example, mercury, lead, radiation, or tobacco smoke. The junk science approach to trace toxins is to claim that if a high level of the bad thing would cause X people to get sick, then a level 10,000 times smaller must cause 1/10,000 as many people to get sick. Given 300 million people in the country, this math can give you thousands of people getting sick from low levels of mercury, lead, radiation, or secondhand tobacco smoke. This approach is known as the linear no threshold hypothesis.
The Sierra Club and its ally, the Environmental Protection Agency, lean on the small emissions of mercury from burning coal to work up a calculation of deaths from coal. They minimize the fact that much of the mercury falling on the U.S. comes from China, volcanoes, or even from burning dead bodies with mercury-based fillings in their teeth. Mercury pollution becomes an excuse to get rid of coal. Arguing the science behind such claims often degenerates into a paper chase about statistics and what studies are good or bad. From the bureaucratic point of view, the linear no threshold hypothesis is wonderful because it means that problems are never solved and there is always a need for more bureaucratic activity.
I think that of all the things I discovered while researching my book Watermelons, this was the one that shocked me most: the outrageous power wielded by democratically unaccountable environmental NGOs, with the budgets of big corporations and the political philosophy of Marxists. As Donna Laframboise describes in her brilliant book The Delinquent Teenager Who Was Mistaken For The World's Top Climate Expert they've heavily infiltrated the IPCC. And as this terrifying video featuring Friends of the Earth green activist turned Labour peer Bryony Worthington shows, they've also had a grotesquely disproportionate influence on British government policy. Meanwhile we learn from FOIAs by Chris Horner that NASA's chief activist-scientist James Hansen was paid (on top of his federal salary) $250 an hour by a Canadian law firm to testify in a campaign against an Alberta oil sand company.
Worth thinking about, next time you hear a green charity bleating about the evils of all those climate deniers out there lavishly funded by Big Oil. God, I so picked the wrong side to be on: if I'd chosen to join the junk science, eco-fascist climate scam, I wouldn't be so worried about what's happening to the global economy. A) because I'd be so rich it wouldn't matter. And B) because I'd probably be quite pleased it was going down the toilet. After all isn't deindustrialisation, the preservation of "scarce resources" and a return to the bracing, back-breaking misery of the Agrarian age what the Watermelons of Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, the WWF, NASA and Friends of the Earth been campaigning for all along?
###
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Resistance is the Symptom, Not the Problem!
By Rich Kozlovich
Alex Avery of the Hudson Institute, Center for Global Food Issues, posted a comment to my article, Research is Dandy but Silver Bullets are Handy. I think his comments are worth exploring. He asked;
When DDT was first developed we thought we had the final solution to pest problems. What we didn’t know was we had fallen into nature’s pattern of resistance. Trees and plants are chemical factories. The only way they can protect themselves from disease or insect attack is through chemistry that kills, sickens or repels their attackers. As soon as they develop resistance to one chemical; plants will develop another. The only plants that are lost are those that cannot produce new chemistry that will work against what is attacking it. The Dutch elm disease is one example.
This brings us to the primary point. Why are we banning pesticides when it is clear that we need more chemistry with different modes of action; not less? If resistance to a product becomes so great that it won’t work, then no one, including me, will use the product. If products cease to work they disappear from the market place due to lack of efficacy, not by forced removal through junk science claims that promote inappropriate regulations.
We want these products back because they work in ways that other products don’t. They are inexpensive, they are easy to use, and they save lives by preventing diseases, or seriously aid in the production of food necessary to feed the world’s hungry billions.
Who cares about hastening resistance if we are never to use them now when we need them? What are we saving them for? Especially since those who make this argument want them banned anyway? And who cares about resistance if we refuse to allow the development of new products with regulations that are so onerous and expensive that we aren’t successfully developing the new chemistry we need?
Bacteria have developed resistance to many of the antibiotics that we are currently using, and there are some staph infections that are almost uncontrollable. Does that mean we shouldn't use those that still work because it will hasten the level of resistance? If that happened people would die. That would be considered insane! Why then would we use any logic that would be considered insane in another arena as rational in pest control?
Resistance is part of nature, whether it is in plants or bacteria. Elm trees died because they couldn’t defeat the disease attacking it with new chemistry. The difference between humanity and elm trees is that we have the chemistry; we just keep refusing to use it. Elm trees became biologically incompetent. We have chosen incompetence.
###
Alex Avery of the Hudson Institute, Center for Global Food Issues, posted a comment to my article, Research is Dandy but Silver Bullets are Handy. I think his comments are worth exploring. He asked;
“why do we care about the concerns over “herbicide resistance" from folks who never want us to use herbicides to begin with (Greenpeace, etc.)?For those, like Avery, who have been researching and writing about these issues for years, the logical fallacies from the green movement are obvious. The very people who use this argument about resistance are in the forefront of those attempting to ban pesticides. So any argument that is used saying that we shouldn't use certain products because it will hasten resistance is simply a red herring fallacy. What are we saving these products for? The assumption must be that we are saving them for some time when they are necessary. Well then, why isn't this the necessary time? Herbicides are considered a pesticide for those who aren’t aware, as weeds are considered a pest in agricultural or landscaping professions. He went on to ask;
“don't we have enough different active ingredients in pesticides to manage the resistance problem, and if not, don't we need MORE different modes of action, rather than less? Why are we banning pesticides if resistance is a main problem?”Again he points out what should have been obvious to the most casual observer; resistance is only a problem when we stop producing new chemistry or ban chemistry that works. The resistance argument has been the red herring fallacy from the greenies for years, justifying claims that DDT should not be returned in any way because of resistance. That is an illogical argument, especially since they work so hard at banning products that have little or no resistant problems. These people wish to ban pestiicdes and they are willing to use any argument, no matter now illogical, that will work to that end. So then, what is their solution? They propound a whole bunch of public relations stunts and Integrated Pest Mangement, along with larger, more intrusive and expensive layers of bureaucracy that will not kill bed bugs. In short, they have none, and this plague of bed bugs is evidence of that. We are just fortunate that bed bugs aren't believed to be vectors of disease.
When DDT was first developed we thought we had the final solution to pest problems. What we didn’t know was we had fallen into nature’s pattern of resistance. Trees and plants are chemical factories. The only way they can protect themselves from disease or insect attack is through chemistry that kills, sickens or repels their attackers. As soon as they develop resistance to one chemical; plants will develop another. The only plants that are lost are those that cannot produce new chemistry that will work against what is attacking it. The Dutch elm disease is one example.
This brings us to the primary point. Why are we banning pesticides when it is clear that we need more chemistry with different modes of action; not less? If resistance to a product becomes so great that it won’t work, then no one, including me, will use the product. If products cease to work they disappear from the market place due to lack of efficacy, not by forced removal through junk science claims that promote inappropriate regulations.
We want these products back because they work in ways that other products don’t. They are inexpensive, they are easy to use, and they save lives by preventing diseases, or seriously aid in the production of food necessary to feed the world’s hungry billions.
Who cares about hastening resistance if we are never to use them now when we need them? What are we saving them for? Especially since those who make this argument want them banned anyway? And who cares about resistance if we refuse to allow the development of new products with regulations that are so onerous and expensive that we aren’t successfully developing the new chemistry we need?
Bacteria have developed resistance to many of the antibiotics that we are currently using, and there are some staph infections that are almost uncontrollable. Does that mean we shouldn't use those that still work because it will hasten the level of resistance? If that happened people would die. That would be considered insane! Why then would we use any logic that would be considered insane in another arena as rational in pest control?
Resistance is part of nature, whether it is in plants or bacteria. Elm trees died because they couldn’t defeat the disease attacking it with new chemistry. The difference between humanity and elm trees is that we have the chemistry; we just keep refusing to use it. Elm trees became biologically incompetent. We have chosen incompetence.
###
MILLOY: Time to leash Obama’s EPA
Budget cutting isn’t enough — GOP must stop outlaw agency now.
By Steve Milloy
December 13, 2011, Washington Times
Will House Republicans squander an entire year of effort to rein in the Environmental Protection Agency?
Since the 112th Congress began, House Republicans have talked tough about EPA overregulation. They’ve held a multitude of hearings. They’ve passed a number of bills to rein in EPA regulatory excesses, from the TRAIN Act imposing cost-benefit analysis on the agency to the REINS Act requiring congressional approval of regulatory actions costing more than $100 million to votes blocking the EPA from over-regulating coal-fired power plants, industrial boilers and farm dust.
They’ve even sliced a modest amount off the EPA’s operating budget.
But none of these measures have stopped or slowed down the eco-fundamentalist EPA from its campaign to destroy the fossil fuel industry and gain control over the entire American economy.
Sure, President Obama delayed the EPA from further tightening the ground-level ozone standard, but that was a result of pressure from a broad coalition of businesses, political advisers and the looming 2012 elections, not necessarily because of the House GOP.
So here we are in the last throes of the first session of the 112th Congress, and House Republicans have little to show except effort. As Winston Churchill said, “Sometimes doing your best is not good enough. Sometimes you must do what is required.”
Fortunately, there is still time.
Among other legislation, Congress is looking to pass an appropriations bill this week, and then go home for the Christmas recess. A bill must pass, which means that Democrats must vote up or down on the bill, and President Obama must sign or veto it. No passes allowed – unless House Republicans allow it.
The House GOP has three options: First, they could allow Democrats to get off scot-free by passing an appropriations bill that does nothing but reduce EPA’s funding. As the Obama EPA has shrugged off earlier budget cuts, there is no reason to give congressional Democrats a free pass.
Next, the House GOP could skirt the issue by doing what it has in the past to avoid a showdown with Democrats – pass a continuing resolution to fund the federal government for another month or so, thereby putting off the battle until the 2012 election year. Sometimes procrastination is good political strategy, but not when the American economy is withering on the vine.
Finally, the House could accomplish what it has worked hard to do all year: Take a firm stand to rein in the job-killing EPA.
Beyond hampering economic recovery and growth, the EPA is actually for the first time in history threatening electricity reliability – so much so that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency responsible for electricity transmission and reliability – is concerned about this.
What this means is next summer, when there’s a heat wave that requires the electric-utility industry to operate at peak capacity, there is a likelihood that Obama EPA actions to put coal-fired power plants out of business will reduce the availability of air conditioning.
Even the EPA recognizes on its website and in its literature that the No. 1 way to avoid death and sickness during a heat wave is air conditioning. That point was driven home during the 2003 heat wave in Europe, which killed more than 50,000 persons.
The point here is the House GOP has some pretty compelling political arguments for drawing a line in the sand on the EPA.
Aside from jobs and the economy, Senate Democrats like Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Robert P. Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia – all of whom are up for re-election in 2012 – might not want to roll the dice on whether there will be a killer heat wave next summer.
The fight to rein in the EPA now will be ugly. It may run into Christmas. The left-wing media, green groups, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Mr. Obama will falsely attack Republicans as picking polluters over asthmatic children. Their New York Times poll ratings will fall.
Nevertheless, House GOP members were elected to a huge majority in 2010 in order to take such difficult stands.
Steve Milloy publishes JunkScience.com and is author of “Green Hell: How Environmentalists Plan to Control Your Life and What You Can Do to Stop Them” (Regnery, 2009).
I would like to thank Steve for allowing me to republish his work. RK
###
By Steve Milloy
December 13, 2011, Washington Times
Will House Republicans squander an entire year of effort to rein in the Environmental Protection Agency?
Since the 112th Congress began, House Republicans have talked tough about EPA overregulation. They’ve held a multitude of hearings. They’ve passed a number of bills to rein in EPA regulatory excesses, from the TRAIN Act imposing cost-benefit analysis on the agency to the REINS Act requiring congressional approval of regulatory actions costing more than $100 million to votes blocking the EPA from over-regulating coal-fired power plants, industrial boilers and farm dust.
They’ve even sliced a modest amount off the EPA’s operating budget.
But none of these measures have stopped or slowed down the eco-fundamentalist EPA from its campaign to destroy the fossil fuel industry and gain control over the entire American economy.
Sure, President Obama delayed the EPA from further tightening the ground-level ozone standard, but that was a result of pressure from a broad coalition of businesses, political advisers and the looming 2012 elections, not necessarily because of the House GOP.
So here we are in the last throes of the first session of the 112th Congress, and House Republicans have little to show except effort. As Winston Churchill said, “Sometimes doing your best is not good enough. Sometimes you must do what is required.”
Fortunately, there is still time.
Among other legislation, Congress is looking to pass an appropriations bill this week, and then go home for the Christmas recess. A bill must pass, which means that Democrats must vote up or down on the bill, and President Obama must sign or veto it. No passes allowed – unless House Republicans allow it.
The House GOP has three options: First, they could allow Democrats to get off scot-free by passing an appropriations bill that does nothing but reduce EPA’s funding. As the Obama EPA has shrugged off earlier budget cuts, there is no reason to give congressional Democrats a free pass.
Next, the House GOP could skirt the issue by doing what it has in the past to avoid a showdown with Democrats – pass a continuing resolution to fund the federal government for another month or so, thereby putting off the battle until the 2012 election year. Sometimes procrastination is good political strategy, but not when the American economy is withering on the vine.
Finally, the House could accomplish what it has worked hard to do all year: Take a firm stand to rein in the job-killing EPA.
Beyond hampering economic recovery and growth, the EPA is actually for the first time in history threatening electricity reliability – so much so that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency responsible for electricity transmission and reliability – is concerned about this.
What this means is next summer, when there’s a heat wave that requires the electric-utility industry to operate at peak capacity, there is a likelihood that Obama EPA actions to put coal-fired power plants out of business will reduce the availability of air conditioning.
Even the EPA recognizes on its website and in its literature that the No. 1 way to avoid death and sickness during a heat wave is air conditioning. That point was driven home during the 2003 heat wave in Europe, which killed more than 50,000 persons.
The point here is the House GOP has some pretty compelling political arguments for drawing a line in the sand on the EPA.
Aside from jobs and the economy, Senate Democrats like Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Robert P. Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia – all of whom are up for re-election in 2012 – might not want to roll the dice on whether there will be a killer heat wave next summer.
The fight to rein in the EPA now will be ugly. It may run into Christmas. The left-wing media, green groups, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Mr. Obama will falsely attack Republicans as picking polluters over asthmatic children. Their New York Times poll ratings will fall.
Nevertheless, House GOP members were elected to a huge majority in 2010 in order to take such difficult stands.
Steve Milloy publishes JunkScience.com and is author of “Green Hell: How Environmentalists Plan to Control Your Life and What You Can Do to Stop Them” (Regnery, 2009).
I would like to thank Steve for allowing me to republish his work. RK
###
Observations From the Back Row
By Rich Kozlovich
It isn't always possible, but I try to have a theme for my "Observations" posts. Today it was easy! My theme is "Welcome to Oceania"!
It has been years since I read George Orwell's Animal Farm and 1984, and I have repeatedly asked if everyone else has. Oceania is where "newspeak" was the official language and non-consensus thinking is considered a thought crime, where the ruling doctrine is Ingsoc, the newspeak term for English Socialism, "I don't think the vast majority of people have read either one of these books, in spite of the fact that what he wrote about is being played out right now. More subtly perhaps --but nonetheless --it is happening.
The Orwellian American Left
As I heard Barack Obama and his propaganda minister, Jay Carney, endorsing tax cuts as a vehicle for economic growth, I was reminded, again, of George Orwell's "1984" and the striking similarities between his Oceania and the American left's vision for America.
Oceania's Big Brother regime had "four Ministries between which the entire apparatus of government was divided," the Ministry of Truth, the Ministry of Peace, the Ministry of Love and the Ministry of Plenty. Each department was dedicated to the opposite principle suggested by its title. "Truth" disseminated lies. "Peace" promoted war. "Love" enforced uniformity of thought. And "Plenty" manipulated the economy to impoverish the people while enriching the ruling class. God was expelled and absolute truth abolished, while "doublespeak" was promoted...
Some things Obama left out of his speech
In 2007, then-Sen. Barack Obama insisted that the coming presidential primary and general election campaigns "shouldn't be about making each other look bad, they should be about figuring out how we can all do some good for this precious country of ours. That's our mission." "And in this mission," he continued, "our rivals won't be one another, and I would assert it won't even be the other party. It's going to be cynicism that we're fighting against." I guess I missed the moment when Obama hung his "Mission Accomplished" banner. Because from where I'm sitting, it looks more like the president not only lost his battle against cynicism, he defected to the other side.
USPS' Cost-Cutting Plan Shows Need for Privatization
The Postal Service has announced how it plans to fight increased competition for First Class mail — by providing worse service. If the USPS doesn't want to deliver the mail, Congress should let others give it a try…….On the one hand, it's weighed down by unions that control 85% of its workforce, impeding reasonable efficiency improvements. Example: In just the first six months of this year, the Postal Service spent $4.3 million paying postal workers to do literally nothing, thanks to labor agreements that require the service to keep workers on the payroll even when mail volume is low or machinery breaks down.......A Cato Institute report finds the consistent result abroad has been improved productivity and lower costs, without a decline in quality. Selling anything less than privatization as the solution to the Postal Service's problems would constitute mail fraud.
Top 10 Inconvenient Truths about Global Warming
Global warming alarmists are getting a chilly reception these days as the public is starting to catch on to something that we have been yelling about for years: The whole thing is a scam. And here are the reasons why: The Top 10 Inconvenient Truths about Global Warming.
1. Climategate, Part 2:
2. Evidence of natural causes:
3. Skeptical scientists:
4. Flat temperatures:
5. False predictions:
6. Ground station scandal: .
7. Economic impact:
8. Benefits of warmth:
9. Public support drops:
10. Hypocrisy:
Crusade for Fewer People on the Earth Seeks Volunteers
On Oct. 31, the United Nations announced the birth of Planet Earth’s 7 billionth human. Later that day, the United Nations admitted that “no one can know the exact number of people on the globe,” noting that perhaps the 7 billionth human might be born sometime during the next four months. …... 73 members of the U.S. Congress…..signed a letter on Dec. 10, 2009, urging the White House to spend $1 billion on “slowing the [human] population’s rapid growth”…..“one in four Britons…..would like to see the [human] population reduced by up to a third.” ……. If you are a human who believes that there should be fewer human beings on Planet Earth: Fine, you go first.
Pearl Harbor Was FDR’s Back Door to War
Given that today is the anniversary date of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, we’ll no doubt be treated to standard interventionist articles stating what a great thing World War II was…… What a sick and deadly joke that turned out to be. Only 15 years later, Adolf Hitler and the Nazis had assumed power in Germany, and within only a few more years, World War II had broken out. And guess what the major factor was in the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. You guessed it: U.S. intervention in World War I, which led to the total defeat of Germany, rather than a negotiated peace, followed by the vindictive Treaty of Versailles……The American people were overwhelmingly opposed to entry into World War II. That’s not surprising given the consequences of World War I. There was absolutely no reason for the United States to intervene in that war. …… There was one big problem, however: Roosevelt was lying — knowingly, deliberately, and intentionally lying. In actuality, he had every intention of sending America’s boys into foreign wars. He just had to figure out a way to do so.
Hillary to U.N.: No religion trumps 'gay' rights
Says biblical objections to homosexuality like 'justification for honor killings' - In a speech designed to convince the world that “gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said religious objections to homosexuality should not stand in the way of vigorous United Nations action to promote the homosexual rights agenda......Wilson cited her comments as one of several examples that has convinced some observers the Obama administration is waging a “war on religion.”
4th-graders brainwashed with Occupy 'propaganda'
Student's dad complains to Scholastic News publisher - A Connecticut dad has accused an industry giant in education, Scholastic, of delivering Occupy Wall Street propaganda to his 4th grade daughter in her school classroom. The company's response? "We truly appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns with us and I made sure that staff in our corporate headquarters will see your comments. Again, thank you. We truly appreciate your support of Scholastic Book Clubs." The father, Edward, whose last name is being withheld so his daughter is not identified, told WND it was the standard, "We don't care about your opinion" response that he expected…… But he said he grew up in the old Soviet Union, and recalls when an official media there would print the "news," from only one perspective. "When I see something like this it just boggles my mind," he said.
###
It isn't always possible, but I try to have a theme for my "Observations" posts. Today it was easy! My theme is "Welcome to Oceania"!
It has been years since I read George Orwell's Animal Farm and 1984, and I have repeatedly asked if everyone else has. Oceania is where "newspeak" was the official language and non-consensus thinking is considered a thought crime, where the ruling doctrine is Ingsoc, the newspeak term for English Socialism, "I don't think the vast majority of people have read either one of these books, in spite of the fact that what he wrote about is being played out right now. More subtly perhaps --but nonetheless --it is happening.
The Orwellian American Left
As I heard Barack Obama and his propaganda minister, Jay Carney, endorsing tax cuts as a vehicle for economic growth, I was reminded, again, of George Orwell's "1984" and the striking similarities between his Oceania and the American left's vision for America.
Oceania's Big Brother regime had "four Ministries between which the entire apparatus of government was divided," the Ministry of Truth, the Ministry of Peace, the Ministry of Love and the Ministry of Plenty. Each department was dedicated to the opposite principle suggested by its title. "Truth" disseminated lies. "Peace" promoted war. "Love" enforced uniformity of thought. And "Plenty" manipulated the economy to impoverish the people while enriching the ruling class. God was expelled and absolute truth abolished, while "doublespeak" was promoted...
Some things Obama left out of his speech
In 2007, then-Sen. Barack Obama insisted that the coming presidential primary and general election campaigns "shouldn't be about making each other look bad, they should be about figuring out how we can all do some good for this precious country of ours. That's our mission." "And in this mission," he continued, "our rivals won't be one another, and I would assert it won't even be the other party. It's going to be cynicism that we're fighting against." I guess I missed the moment when Obama hung his "Mission Accomplished" banner. Because from where I'm sitting, it looks more like the president not only lost his battle against cynicism, he defected to the other side.
USPS' Cost-Cutting Plan Shows Need for Privatization
The Postal Service has announced how it plans to fight increased competition for First Class mail — by providing worse service. If the USPS doesn't want to deliver the mail, Congress should let others give it a try…….On the one hand, it's weighed down by unions that control 85% of its workforce, impeding reasonable efficiency improvements. Example: In just the first six months of this year, the Postal Service spent $4.3 million paying postal workers to do literally nothing, thanks to labor agreements that require the service to keep workers on the payroll even when mail volume is low or machinery breaks down.......A Cato Institute report finds the consistent result abroad has been improved productivity and lower costs, without a decline in quality. Selling anything less than privatization as the solution to the Postal Service's problems would constitute mail fraud.
Top 10 Inconvenient Truths about Global Warming
Global warming alarmists are getting a chilly reception these days as the public is starting to catch on to something that we have been yelling about for years: The whole thing is a scam. And here are the reasons why: The Top 10 Inconvenient Truths about Global Warming.
1. Climategate, Part 2:
2. Evidence of natural causes:
3. Skeptical scientists:
4. Flat temperatures:
5. False predictions:
6. Ground station scandal: .
7. Economic impact:
8. Benefits of warmth:
9. Public support drops:
10. Hypocrisy:
Crusade for Fewer People on the Earth Seeks Volunteers
On Oct. 31, the United Nations announced the birth of Planet Earth’s 7 billionth human. Later that day, the United Nations admitted that “no one can know the exact number of people on the globe,” noting that perhaps the 7 billionth human might be born sometime during the next four months. …... 73 members of the U.S. Congress…..signed a letter on Dec. 10, 2009, urging the White House to spend $1 billion on “slowing the [human] population’s rapid growth”…..“one in four Britons…..would like to see the [human] population reduced by up to a third.” ……. If you are a human who believes that there should be fewer human beings on Planet Earth: Fine, you go first.
Pearl Harbor Was FDR’s Back Door to War
Given that today is the anniversary date of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, we’ll no doubt be treated to standard interventionist articles stating what a great thing World War II was…… What a sick and deadly joke that turned out to be. Only 15 years later, Adolf Hitler and the Nazis had assumed power in Germany, and within only a few more years, World War II had broken out. And guess what the major factor was in the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. You guessed it: U.S. intervention in World War I, which led to the total defeat of Germany, rather than a negotiated peace, followed by the vindictive Treaty of Versailles……The American people were overwhelmingly opposed to entry into World War II. That’s not surprising given the consequences of World War I. There was absolutely no reason for the United States to intervene in that war. …… There was one big problem, however: Roosevelt was lying — knowingly, deliberately, and intentionally lying. In actuality, he had every intention of sending America’s boys into foreign wars. He just had to figure out a way to do so.
Hillary to U.N.: No religion trumps 'gay' rights
Says biblical objections to homosexuality like 'justification for honor killings' - In a speech designed to convince the world that “gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said religious objections to homosexuality should not stand in the way of vigorous United Nations action to promote the homosexual rights agenda......Wilson cited her comments as one of several examples that has convinced some observers the Obama administration is waging a “war on religion.”
4th-graders brainwashed with Occupy 'propaganda'
Student's dad complains to Scholastic News publisher - A Connecticut dad has accused an industry giant in education, Scholastic, of delivering Occupy Wall Street propaganda to his 4th grade daughter in her school classroom. The company's response? "We truly appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns with us and I made sure that staff in our corporate headquarters will see your comments. Again, thank you. We truly appreciate your support of Scholastic Book Clubs." The father, Edward, whose last name is being withheld so his daughter is not identified, told WND it was the standard, "We don't care about your opinion" response that he expected…… But he said he grew up in the old Soviet Union, and recalls when an official media there would print the "news," from only one perspective. "When I see something like this it just boggles my mind," he said.
###
Monday, December 12, 2011
Observations From the Back Row!
These are my picks for the day. There is some background links to the last post that you may wish to follow. You may be interested to know that the top ten countries to hit Paradigms and Demographics this past week was was the United States, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, France, United Kingdom, Canada, Netherlands, South Korea and Brazil. Thank you for you interest and I hope you will enjoy this week's posts.
A history of scientific alarms There is a long and dismal history of alarming forecasts that were literally too bad to be true. But many people believed these predictions that human actions would harm the environment and thereby cause disaster for people…..The alarms were based on forecasts, but not ones from proper scientific forecasting methods… The media are culpable in promulgating these false alarms… Rational skeptical responses require time and effort to assemble, and don't have the same emotional urgency……Alarmists are often rewarded for their efforts. They typically ask government to ‘do something'…… government research funds and recognition tends to flow to alarmists.
Here then, in brief, is a Top 20 of environmentalist alarms and their outcomes. Please, let's learn from them by not being so gullible! 20 environmentalist alarms:
… EPA asserts it could not delay finalizing the NESHAP rule until after it promulgated a definition of solid waste. EPA insists such a delay would have been harmful to air quality and health. Perhaps. But reasoned decisionmaking is not a dispensable part of the administrative machine that can be blithely discarded even in pursuit of a laudable regulatory goal. “The importance of reasoned decisionmaking in an agency action cannot be over- emphasized. When an agency . . . is vested with discretion to impose restrictions on an entity’s freedom to conduct its business, the agency must exercise that discretion in a well- reasoned, consistent, and evenhanded manner.”
This noteworthy dicta from the D.C. Circuit may very well reflect a court newly skeptical of EPA — a circumstance that may bode well for other ongoing litigation involving the agency, including the greenhouse gas and cross-state air pollution
Six Questions for EPA on Pavillion Draft report from EPA in Denver produces lots more questions than answers; EID poses a few of its own - Call it a sign of the “Times,” let’s say, that less than 24 hours removed from the release of EPA Region 8’s report on groundwater sampling near Pavillion, Wyo., nearly a thousand different news stories have been generated — in 12 different countries, and best we can tell, four different languages. But set aside the breathless headlines for a moment and the triumphant quotes from a small segment of folks committed to ending the responsible development of natural gas, and one’s left with a pretty straightforward question: Is EPA right? And if so, what exactly does that mean moving forward?
Of course, before you can answer the second question, it’d be helpful if you had a good answer for the first. And the truth is, as we sit here today, less than 20 hours A.P. (After Pavillion), we simply don’t. What we do know, however, even at these early stages, is that several of the assertions put forth in EPA’s report yesterday don’t quite square with the facts as they actually exist on the ground out there. Because of that, a number of folks are starting to ask some pretty basic questions about what the agency found and how it went about finding it. Below, a few of the most obvious:
I Just Bet My House on the Outcome of Science Trial of the Century No truer headline will you read. Yesterday this author literally wagered his home, life savings, and all his possessions on the outcome of a crucial global warming lawsuit currently ongoing in Canada. So what is it that drove me to such apparent recklessness endangering not only my own well-being but that of my family?
Well, to me this pivotal lawsuit encapsulates the archetypal 'good versus evil' battle no conscientious parent can ignore. Facing each other is Plaintiff, Dr. Michael Mann (he of ‘hockey stick’ graph infamy) representing so-called UN ‘consensus’ climate science. Mann claims his work proves humans are dangerously warming the planet. Defendant, retired Canadian climatologist, Dr. Timothy Ball believes Mann was a key player in the Climategate scandal and has hidden his dodgy tree-ring data for over 13 years to cover up fakery in the numbers. Mann and his ilk are not only responsible for scaring the bejesus out of our kids but are being used as part of a bigger plot involving population control and wealth re-distribution; none of which is good for your family or mine.......Without experts as principled as Dr. Ball it is very unlikely the general public would be any the wiser about the grotesque billion-dollar fraud called man-made global warming. So please donate what money you can and become part of this force for good.
My Take - I have been following this suit since the beginning and I still wonder what is wrong with Mann's mind. Does he really believe in the work he has pushed onto the public, even after it has been destroyed by other scientists? This trial is going to be in Canada so perhaps they don't have 'discovery' there, but in America 'discovery' means that you have to turn everything over to the other side, including all of those e-mails he has refused to turn over to Atorney General Cuccinelli. I do think this is a bit strange on his part!
However, as I said, I have been following this thing from the beginning and here is the information I posted on the March 28th Observations From the Back Row. You will have to scroll down a bit!
###
A history of scientific alarms There is a long and dismal history of alarming forecasts that were literally too bad to be true. But many people believed these predictions that human actions would harm the environment and thereby cause disaster for people…..The alarms were based on forecasts, but not ones from proper scientific forecasting methods… The media are culpable in promulgating these false alarms… Rational skeptical responses require time and effort to assemble, and don't have the same emotional urgency……Alarmists are often rewarded for their efforts. They typically ask government to ‘do something'…… government research funds and recognition tends to flow to alarmists.
Here then, in brief, is a Top 20 of environmentalist alarms and their outcomes. Please, let's learn from them by not being so gullible! 20 environmentalist alarms:
Population growth and famine, 1798Court: Process more important than EPA health claims So EPA can’t cheat in the name of public health. On Friday the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ordered the Obama EPA to reconsider its rulemaking for emissions from cement kilns (Portland Cement Association v. EPA). EPA defended rushing through the rulemaking without defining a key term on the basis of air quality and public health. The court dismissed this argument as follows:
Timber famine economic threat, 1865
Soil erosion agricultural production threat, 1934
Fluoride in drinking water health effects, 1945
DDT and cancer, 1962
Population growth and famine (Ehrlich), 1968
Global cooling, 1970
Population growth and famine (Meadows), 1972
Industrial production, acid rain and forests, 1974
Electrical wiring and cancer, etc, 1979
CFCs, the ozone hole, and skin cancer etc, 1985
Listeria in cheese, 1985
Radon in homes and lung cancer, 1985
Salmonella in eggs, 1988
Environmental toxins and breat cancer,1990
Mad cow disease (BSE), 1996
Dioxin in Belgian poultry,1999.
Mercury in fish's effect on nervous system development, 2004
Mercury in childhood inoculations and autism, 2005
Mobile phone towers and cancer, 2008
… EPA asserts it could not delay finalizing the NESHAP rule until after it promulgated a definition of solid waste. EPA insists such a delay would have been harmful to air quality and health. Perhaps. But reasoned decisionmaking is not a dispensable part of the administrative machine that can be blithely discarded even in pursuit of a laudable regulatory goal. “The importance of reasoned decisionmaking in an agency action cannot be over- emphasized. When an agency . . . is vested with discretion to impose restrictions on an entity’s freedom to conduct its business, the agency must exercise that discretion in a well- reasoned, consistent, and evenhanded manner.”
This noteworthy dicta from the D.C. Circuit may very well reflect a court newly skeptical of EPA — a circumstance that may bode well for other ongoing litigation involving the agency, including the greenhouse gas and cross-state air pollution
Six Questions for EPA on Pavillion Draft report from EPA in Denver produces lots more questions than answers; EID poses a few of its own - Call it a sign of the “Times,” let’s say, that less than 24 hours removed from the release of EPA Region 8’s report on groundwater sampling near Pavillion, Wyo., nearly a thousand different news stories have been generated — in 12 different countries, and best we can tell, four different languages. But set aside the breathless headlines for a moment and the triumphant quotes from a small segment of folks committed to ending the responsible development of natural gas, and one’s left with a pretty straightforward question: Is EPA right? And if so, what exactly does that mean moving forward?
Of course, before you can answer the second question, it’d be helpful if you had a good answer for the first. And the truth is, as we sit here today, less than 20 hours A.P. (After Pavillion), we simply don’t. What we do know, however, even at these early stages, is that several of the assertions put forth in EPA’s report yesterday don’t quite square with the facts as they actually exist on the ground out there. Because of that, a number of folks are starting to ask some pretty basic questions about what the agency found and how it went about finding it. Below, a few of the most obvious:
I Just Bet My House on the Outcome of Science Trial of the Century No truer headline will you read. Yesterday this author literally wagered his home, life savings, and all his possessions on the outcome of a crucial global warming lawsuit currently ongoing in Canada. So what is it that drove me to such apparent recklessness endangering not only my own well-being but that of my family?
Well, to me this pivotal lawsuit encapsulates the archetypal 'good versus evil' battle no conscientious parent can ignore. Facing each other is Plaintiff, Dr. Michael Mann (he of ‘hockey stick’ graph infamy) representing so-called UN ‘consensus’ climate science. Mann claims his work proves humans are dangerously warming the planet. Defendant, retired Canadian climatologist, Dr. Timothy Ball believes Mann was a key player in the Climategate scandal and has hidden his dodgy tree-ring data for over 13 years to cover up fakery in the numbers. Mann and his ilk are not only responsible for scaring the bejesus out of our kids but are being used as part of a bigger plot involving population control and wealth re-distribution; none of which is good for your family or mine.......Without experts as principled as Dr. Ball it is very unlikely the general public would be any the wiser about the grotesque billion-dollar fraud called man-made global warming. So please donate what money you can and become part of this force for good.
My Take - I have been following this suit since the beginning and I still wonder what is wrong with Mann's mind. Does he really believe in the work he has pushed onto the public, even after it has been destroyed by other scientists? This trial is going to be in Canada so perhaps they don't have 'discovery' there, but in America 'discovery' means that you have to turn everything over to the other side, including all of those e-mails he has refused to turn over to Atorney General Cuccinelli. I do think this is a bit strange on his part!
However, as I said, I have been following this thing from the beginning and here is the information I posted on the March 28th Observations From the Back Row. You will have to scroll down a bit!
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Saturday, December 10, 2011
This Week With Alan Caruba
Alan’s work has a sense of timelessness about it, so anyone perusing these articles in the future will find them equally insightful as they were when originally written. Alan posts daily on his blog, Warning Signs. The right side of this blog is a section called Caruba's Corner: Green Myths and Other Lies where I have been posting links to Alan's articles by topic. For his past works go to The National Anxiety Center. I would also recommend reading his last book, Right Answers.
America's Communist President
In his extraordinary book, “Dupes: How America’s Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century”, the historian, Dr. Paul Kengor, stated in his introduction that “We now know that American Communists and their masters in Moscow were acutely aware that they could never gain the popular support they needed to enlist the support of a much wider coalition that could help them push their private agenda.”
It's Bear and Deer Hunt Season in New Jersey
The last time there was an effort to suspend a bear hunt in New Jersey, Jon Corzine was Governor and Lisa Jackson, the director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was the head of the State’s Department of Environmental Protection. They both opposed the hunt. Corzine served from 2006 to 2010. It was a bad idea because the bear population had surged and became an even larger problem for folks in the northern counties. Gov. Chris Christie had promised to reinstate the bear hunt when he ran for office. Previously there had been bear hunts in 2003 and 2005. A legal challenge thwarted a hunt in 2007.
Looking to the Dollar, Gold, and "Mutti" to Save the World
The most formidable couple in the world during the 1980s was Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher, a conservative and a woman of iron will, must be looking across the Channel with some amusement to see how her German counterpart, Chancellor Angela Merkel, is literally the only person keeping the European economy from collapsing and, it must be said, taking England and America with it.
"What Were They Thinking?"
The thing I fear most right now is having to write a column about the Republican Party in late November 2012 with the title, “What Were They Thinking?” Let’s put it this way. No incumbent President since Jimmy Carter has had worse polling numbers than Barack Hussein Obama. The question—the fear—on the minds of most Republicans these days is whether the Party intends to commit political suicide by choosing the wrong candidate to run against Obama and to add to their present agony, it has a litter of candidates who run the gamut from charisma-challenged to scarily brilliant. Let’s review the choices.
Let’s Start With Alan’s Cartoon Round-up
America's Communist President
In his extraordinary book, “Dupes: How America’s Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century”, the historian, Dr. Paul Kengor, stated in his introduction that “We now know that American Communists and their masters in Moscow were acutely aware that they could never gain the popular support they needed to enlist the support of a much wider coalition that could help them push their private agenda.”
It's Bear and Deer Hunt Season in New Jersey
The last time there was an effort to suspend a bear hunt in New Jersey, Jon Corzine was Governor and Lisa Jackson, the director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was the head of the State’s Department of Environmental Protection. They both opposed the hunt. Corzine served from 2006 to 2010. It was a bad idea because the bear population had surged and became an even larger problem for folks in the northern counties. Gov. Chris Christie had promised to reinstate the bear hunt when he ran for office. Previously there had been bear hunts in 2003 and 2005. A legal challenge thwarted a hunt in 2007.
Looking to the Dollar, Gold, and "Mutti" to Save the World
The most formidable couple in the world during the 1980s was Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher, a conservative and a woman of iron will, must be looking across the Channel with some amusement to see how her German counterpart, Chancellor Angela Merkel, is literally the only person keeping the European economy from collapsing and, it must be said, taking England and America with it.
"What Were They Thinking?"
The thing I fear most right now is having to write a column about the Republican Party in late November 2012 with the title, “What Were They Thinking?” Let’s put it this way. No incumbent President since Jimmy Carter has had worse polling numbers than Barack Hussein Obama. The question—the fear—on the minds of most Republicans these days is whether the Party intends to commit political suicide by choosing the wrong candidate to run against Obama and to add to their present agony, it has a litter of candidates who run the gamut from charisma-challenged to scarily brilliant. Let’s review the choices.
One Final Thought - This Never Happened at a Tea Party
Logical Fallacy of the Week: Week 19, Argument From Ignorance
.
Argument from ignorance,also known as argumentum ad ignorantiam or "appeal to ignorance" (where "ignorance" stands for: "lack of evidence to the contrary"), is a fallacy in informal logic. It asserts that a proposition is true because it has not yet been proven false, it is "generally accepted" (or vice versa). This represents a type of false dichotomy in that it excludes a third option, which is that there is insufficient investigation and therefore insufficient information to prove the proposition satisfactorily to be either true or false. Nor does it allow the admission that the choices may in fact not be two (true or false), but may be as many as four, (1) true, (2) false, (3) unknown between true or false, and (4) being unknowable (among the first three).[1] In debates, appeals to ignorance are sometimes used to shift the burden of proof....
Please follow the link. This is an interesting fallacy and the explanation is longer than most. RK
Argument from ignorance,also known as argumentum ad ignorantiam or "appeal to ignorance" (where "ignorance" stands for: "lack of evidence to the contrary"), is a fallacy in informal logic. It asserts that a proposition is true because it has not yet been proven false, it is "generally accepted" (or vice versa). This represents a type of false dichotomy in that it excludes a third option, which is that there is insufficient investigation and therefore insufficient information to prove the proposition satisfactorily to be either true or false. Nor does it allow the admission that the choices may in fact not be two (true or false), but may be as many as four, (1) true, (2) false, (3) unknown between true or false, and (4) being unknowable (among the first three).[1] In debates, appeals to ignorance are sometimes used to shift the burden of proof....
Please follow the link. This is an interesting fallacy and the explanation is longer than most. RK
Shall Every Knee Bow?
By Rich Kozlovich
Updated on 11/5/2012
There was an article that I came across today that states, “Many atheist scientists take their kids to church”! The article went on to say that; “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 that “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 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 that he was now a believer. Why? Is it true ‘there are no atheists in foxholes’? Of course the explanation was the he had lost his mind. Even Albert Einstein, who was not a religious person in any sense and absolutely rejected the idea of a personal God, rejected the idea of atheism.
For the believers among my readers the explanation is simple; we are designed to believe. For the unbelievers among my readers the explanation is simple also. There is no other logical explanation!
Believing takes on many forms. For some it has to do with a higher power. For others it can take on the worship of oneself and for others it can take on the worship of some philosophy or other; but we all seem to have the desire to look to some higher explanation for existence and human existence in particular. But one thing seems clear; ‘believing’ is inherent to our genetic code. Otherwise how can anyone explain why so many have believed so much over so long a time of human history in so many different cultures? Of course, the problem for the unbelievers among my readers with this explanation is that they would then have to explain how that genetic code was designed in that manner…or designed at all for that matter…. if there is no higher power.
I do find it fascinating how some can believe that Intelligent Design is “a pig that won’t fly”! The design is so complicated that it defies explanation how infinitely small mutations over millions or billions of years could bring us to what we are now. Whether one disagrees or agrees with evolution, I question how anyone can say that there is no designer. Some feel that an intelligent designer used evolution. Some feel evolution is a mistake constantly making more mistakes and changing everything all the time all by accident. I wonder how anyone can explain how this can happen by accident and develop successful organisms since "geneticists estimate that 99 out of 100 mutations are harmful, and about 20 out of the 99 are lethal."
I also have to wonder how any organism could “know” which mutations were beneficial over a million years or so since the complexity of the design would require some kind of organizational planning. Take a woman’s monthly cycle. It is amazingly complex! The right amount of chemicals, hormones and enzymes would have to come into play in exactly the right sequence of time in order to finish the cycle. However, if a woman becomes pregnant during the cycle another whole set of chemical conditions would come into play. How could any organism "know" how to plan for two diametrically opposing end results? Remembering that there are untold species in the world that have cycles unique to themselves. That means that this would have to be done an incalculable number of times in an incalculable number of organisms. We are to believe that this happens through a series of positive accidents that would overcome all of these deadly accidents! Isn't that a form of belief, i.e. faith? It does seem to defy logic...or science as it were!
How would an organism know what chemicals to develop over millions of years; and more importantly; how would these organisms know how to make them? How did the organism know that hormones and enzymes were needed along with other chemicals? How would the organism know how to organize them? How did the organism know which chemicals would work harmoniously together and in conjunction with enzymes and hormones, and how did the organism know what the conclusion would be afterward without some sort of plan?
Which brings me back to the beginning!
If life started in the ocean in some chemical rich soup, through some accidental electrical discharge how did that cell, or group of cells, replicate themselves? Evolutionally thought would require millions of years of mutations before the next step to propagation would come into being. If that is so; how did they replicate? Wouldn’t the presumption be that these cells already had an amazingly complex chemical make-up that would create an end result? If so; doesn’t that imply planning and design? Doesn’t planning and design require intelligence?
Actually, when you think this out correctly the very foundation for the explanation propounded by scientists gets even more complicated and incomprehensible. If such an event really did take place the first order of business would be survival, not propagation. That means this cell or cells would have to have a system that allowed them to recognize the need for nutrition; to recognize what was nutritional and what was not; a means of absorbing this material; a system for digestion and a system for the elimination of waste; then and only then would propagation come into play; and each would absolutely be dependent on the other for this whole scheme presented by atheist scientists to work. How could so many complex systems come into being all at once without some sort of design and an application of the design? And if these events actually did happen, and cells came into existence with all these complicated biological systems in place; what would you call it? Creation?
However, even with a design; how could incredibly small mutations be of value during the whole process of millions of years, and in point of fact it seems reasonable that these mutations would hinder continued existence; not enhance it. But even if you accept the idea of small changes over millions of years the question still remains; how could all of that come into being without intelligence behind it?
I find it interesting that many of the people I respect, communicate with and read regularly are atheists. Funny thing is that I find I enjoy their commentaries. They have a keen understanding of science, are only interested in the truth and are willing to follow it wherever it leads. Why is it that so many of these really bright and courageous people are unwilling to believe?
I can understand anyone’s reason for not subscribing to any religious group. The sanguinary history of the world’s religions has not done much to inspire confidence over human history. So I can understand someone being un-religious, and I can understand why someone would believe that there may be a higher power that doesn’t interfere in the lives of humanity. I can understand why people might not be sure and proclaim to be agnostic…although I consider that to be pragmatic atheism. What I can’t understand is how anyone cannot believe that there must be a planner behind this phenomenally complex reality we call....existence!
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American Council on Science and Health, 2011: Week 49
By Rich Kozlovich.
The presence of linked articles here are merely a way of showing what is going on, whether I agree or disagree with the positions presented. I have found this week's offerings to be particularly worthwhile in disabusing everyone of the junk science behind most of the claims by the greenies. I have highlighted those that I am most fond of. Please pay particular attention to those. In dealing with the greenies you will notice a common pattern. Demand more studies and reject anything that doesn’t fit with that bulwark of junk science and their primary article of faith; the Precautionary Principle.
We must come to understand that everything we are being told should bear some resemblance to what we see going on in reality. In the real world we are exposed to more synthetic chemicals than ever before in human history. Yet, in spite of their claims of human health disasters, people in the real world people are living longer healthier lives than ever before in human history. They make every negative health claim that they can, with little or no evidence, that everything that makes modern life possible is killing us. The reality is that everything they offer as utopia ends up creating dystopia all over the world. We need to get this…..they are irrational and misanthropic. The least insane among them want to rid the world of a mere four or five billion people and the most insane wants mankind eliminated. I would think that it should be obvious to the most casual observer that everything they work toward is a goal of ridding the Earth of humanity; not to preserve and promote humanity.
Their technological alternatives are all failures and the philosophical alternatives would put mankind back into the stone ages with an average lifespan of about 30 years. If that is what they subscribe to why would we think that they really care about our health and longevity? Why don’t we all… and I mean all …..get that? What is so complicated? All that we have to do is use their own actions and words to get that?
ADHD
Evidence of ADHD’s genetic origin, in some
And while Dr. Landrigan may believe that environmental "toxins" are the cause of several neurological disorders, a new study published in Nature Genetics supports the more likely theory that genetics play a much bigger role - specifically for patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
AIDS
HIV immune test cost-effective, but there’s still a price to pay
Viral load tests - which essentially count the number of HIV particles in a patient's circulation - are routinely used to assess the status of an HIV patient.
CANCER
Chemo’s life-saving cred quantified for breast cancer patients
Older chemotherapy drugs from the 1980s reduced breast cancer mortality by nearly a quarter.
Dueling stories in USA Today — but only the science-based one is ight
Environmental chemicals might or might not pose a significant risk to women's breast health, depending on which of two bizarrely conflicting USA Today articles you believe.
Combo therapy for advanced HER-2 breast cancer leads to slower progression
HER-2 positive breast cancer, accounting for approximately 25 to 30 percent of breast cancer patients, is considered to be a more aggressive form of cancer, often associated with poorer outcomes.
DIET
New study tips the scale in favor of weight loss for obese pregnant women
Though some women may use pregnancy as an excuse to indulge a little, some health experts caution that obese pregnant women should be more mindful of their eating habits and perhaps actually strive to lose some extra pounds.
Low HDL a sign, maybe not a cause, of CVD
Contrary to conventional wisdom, lower levels of "good" cholesterol may not actually increase a person's risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Calcium good in bones, bad in hearts
There may be tests beyond a blood pressure reading - beyond even considering standard risk factors such as LDL and HDL cholesterol - that could help assess a patient's risk of cardiovascular disease, suggests a new study. By measuring the burden of calcium in the coronary arteries, say German researchers, it is possible to distinguish between people who have different cardiovascular risk levels - even among those who have similar blood pressure readings.
Feds crack down on crackpot diet product
This past spring, we discussed the dangerously cracked logic of a weight-loss fad centered on the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG).
Doctor, doctor, give me the news
Although about one third of U.S. children are overweight, less than a quarter of these children's parents could recall their doctors telling them that their children were overweight, according to the results of a recent survey.
Let’s get physical to fight obesity
The results of a new nationwide survey reveal conditions that aren't favorable to improving the health of overweight children.
HEART
New reports on omega-3 fatty acids: Not much “there” there
Salmon, mackerel, cod, herring. Younger women can cut their risk of cardiovascular disease in half by eating fish like these that are high in omega-3 fatty acids, Danish researchers have reported.
INTERESTING TWIST!
FDA’s Plan B policy gets an F from HHS’s Sebelius
In an unprecedented move, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has overruled a decision by the FDA to allow emergency contraception - the "morning-after pill" - to be sold over-the-counter to teenagers under 17.
PESTICIDES
Pesticides and Health in D.C.
ACSH's trip to Capitol Hill in D.C. was a big success, report Executive Director Dr. Gilbert Ross and Director of Development and Media Jody Manley.
PHARMA
Two cheers for Drs. Bloom and Ross
In an article for Science Careers, a supplement to the journal Science, reporter Elisabeth Pain interviewed ACSH's Dr. Josh Bloom about his take on the crises in the pharmaceutical sector.
Stop your bellyaching — a new vaccine may be on the way
Norovirus, the cause of the so-called "stomach flu," or "cruise ship virus," is the second most common illness in the U.S. (the common cold is the first), and it's also the leading cause of foodborne illness.
SCARES AND CONSEQUENCES
FearsHospital, heal thyself
Leave it to Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, director of the Children's Environmental Health Center at Mount Sinai, to once again needlessly scare the American public.
FDA to re-examine BPA: A win-win despite NRDC’s exultation
Activists at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) are patting themselves on the back now that the FDA has agreed to respond to their petition demanding a ruling on bisphenol A's (BPA) health risks - or lack thereof.
Something’s rotten in Louisiana, but it’s not the fish
In Louisiana, two U.S. Senators are pushing back against the NRDC's relentless efforts to promote their usual irresponsible, unscientific claims.
SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY
Say goodbye to a Wolfe in sheep’s clothing
While experts are frequently excluded from health and science panels due to "conflicts of interest" that result from concerns about industry funding, the FDA has made an unusual decision: to eject a panel member because of an "intellectual conflict of interest."
My Take - I give all credit to this because of global warming! All of the exposure of fraud in the “science” of climate change has made it abundantly clear that these loons with Ph.D.'s are still loons who cannot be convinced of anything other than their own particular greenie views. Views that can only be categorized as articles of faith to a neo-pseudo-pagan religion! No amount of valid science can disabuse them of their positions, so why bother? This is long overdue and needs to be expanded all throughout government, science and universities. A good start in making that happen is to eliminate government grant money! Since grant money is now the holy grail of science...not truth!.
STROKE
Treating prehypertension reduces risk of stroke
As research in cardiovascular health evolves, experts have carved out a new category for patients who have a blood pressure reading that falls into the gray area between normal and hypertensive.
VACCINATIONS
Delta skids off the runway with anti-vaccine video
Intentionally or not, Delta Airlines has put itself in league with anti-vaccine activists, airing an in-flight video segment that encourages viewers to avoid the flu vaccine.
Delta flies right again
Yesterday we criticized Delta Airlines for airing an in-flight anti-vaccine video.
Shots for everyone: Celebrate National Influenza Vaccination Week
It's National Influenza Vaccination Week
If there is a health scare today, the American Council on Science and Health will most likely have the answer by tomorrow; and for members it will appear in your e-mail. No effort on your part, except to read the answer. All that the ACSH is interested in are the facts and they are prepared to follow them wherever they lead. Who can ask for more? Please Donate Now!
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The presence of linked articles here are merely a way of showing what is going on, whether I agree or disagree with the positions presented. I have found this week's offerings to be particularly worthwhile in disabusing everyone of the junk science behind most of the claims by the greenies. I have highlighted those that I am most fond of. Please pay particular attention to those. In dealing with the greenies you will notice a common pattern. Demand more studies and reject anything that doesn’t fit with that bulwark of junk science and their primary article of faith; the Precautionary Principle.
We must come to understand that everything we are being told should bear some resemblance to what we see going on in reality. In the real world we are exposed to more synthetic chemicals than ever before in human history. Yet, in spite of their claims of human health disasters, people in the real world people are living longer healthier lives than ever before in human history. They make every negative health claim that they can, with little or no evidence, that everything that makes modern life possible is killing us. The reality is that everything they offer as utopia ends up creating dystopia all over the world. We need to get this…..they are irrational and misanthropic. The least insane among them want to rid the world of a mere four or five billion people and the most insane wants mankind eliminated. I would think that it should be obvious to the most casual observer that everything they work toward is a goal of ridding the Earth of humanity; not to preserve and promote humanity.
Their technological alternatives are all failures and the philosophical alternatives would put mankind back into the stone ages with an average lifespan of about 30 years. If that is what they subscribe to why would we think that they really care about our health and longevity? Why don’t we all… and I mean all …..get that? What is so complicated? All that we have to do is use their own actions and words to get that?
ADHD
Evidence of ADHD’s genetic origin, in some
And while Dr. Landrigan may believe that environmental "toxins" are the cause of several neurological disorders, a new study published in Nature Genetics supports the more likely theory that genetics play a much bigger role - specifically for patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
AIDS
HIV immune test cost-effective, but there’s still a price to pay
Viral load tests - which essentially count the number of HIV particles in a patient's circulation - are routinely used to assess the status of an HIV patient.
CANCER
Chemo’s life-saving cred quantified for breast cancer patients
Older chemotherapy drugs from the 1980s reduced breast cancer mortality by nearly a quarter.
Dueling stories in USA Today — but only the science-based one is ight
Environmental chemicals might or might not pose a significant risk to women's breast health, depending on which of two bizarrely conflicting USA Today articles you believe.
Combo therapy for advanced HER-2 breast cancer leads to slower progression
HER-2 positive breast cancer, accounting for approximately 25 to 30 percent of breast cancer patients, is considered to be a more aggressive form of cancer, often associated with poorer outcomes.
DIET
New study tips the scale in favor of weight loss for obese pregnant women
Though some women may use pregnancy as an excuse to indulge a little, some health experts caution that obese pregnant women should be more mindful of their eating habits and perhaps actually strive to lose some extra pounds.
Low HDL a sign, maybe not a cause, of CVD
Contrary to conventional wisdom, lower levels of "good" cholesterol may not actually increase a person's risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Calcium good in bones, bad in hearts
There may be tests beyond a blood pressure reading - beyond even considering standard risk factors such as LDL and HDL cholesterol - that could help assess a patient's risk of cardiovascular disease, suggests a new study. By measuring the burden of calcium in the coronary arteries, say German researchers, it is possible to distinguish between people who have different cardiovascular risk levels - even among those who have similar blood pressure readings.
Feds crack down on crackpot diet product
This past spring, we discussed the dangerously cracked logic of a weight-loss fad centered on the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG).
Doctor, doctor, give me the news
Although about one third of U.S. children are overweight, less than a quarter of these children's parents could recall their doctors telling them that their children were overweight, according to the results of a recent survey.
Let’s get physical to fight obesity
The results of a new nationwide survey reveal conditions that aren't favorable to improving the health of overweight children.
HEART
New reports on omega-3 fatty acids: Not much “there” there
Salmon, mackerel, cod, herring. Younger women can cut their risk of cardiovascular disease in half by eating fish like these that are high in omega-3 fatty acids, Danish researchers have reported.
INTERESTING TWIST!
FDA’s Plan B policy gets an F from HHS’s Sebelius
In an unprecedented move, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has overruled a decision by the FDA to allow emergency contraception - the "morning-after pill" - to be sold over-the-counter to teenagers under 17.
PESTICIDES
Pesticides and Health in D.C.
ACSH's trip to Capitol Hill in D.C. was a big success, report Executive Director Dr. Gilbert Ross and Director of Development and Media Jody Manley.
PHARMA
Two cheers for Drs. Bloom and Ross
In an article for Science Careers, a supplement to the journal Science, reporter Elisabeth Pain interviewed ACSH's Dr. Josh Bloom about his take on the crises in the pharmaceutical sector.
Stop your bellyaching — a new vaccine may be on the way
Norovirus, the cause of the so-called "stomach flu," or "cruise ship virus," is the second most common illness in the U.S. (the common cold is the first), and it's also the leading cause of foodborne illness.
SCARES AND CONSEQUENCES
FearsHospital, heal thyself
Leave it to Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, director of the Children's Environmental Health Center at Mount Sinai, to once again needlessly scare the American public.
FDA to re-examine BPA: A win-win despite NRDC’s exultation
Activists at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) are patting themselves on the back now that the FDA has agreed to respond to their petition demanding a ruling on bisphenol A's (BPA) health risks - or lack thereof.
Something’s rotten in Louisiana, but it’s not the fish
In Louisiana, two U.S. Senators are pushing back against the NRDC's relentless efforts to promote their usual irresponsible, unscientific claims.
SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY
Say goodbye to a Wolfe in sheep’s clothing
While experts are frequently excluded from health and science panels due to "conflicts of interest" that result from concerns about industry funding, the FDA has made an unusual decision: to eject a panel member because of an "intellectual conflict of interest."
My Take - I give all credit to this because of global warming! All of the exposure of fraud in the “science” of climate change has made it abundantly clear that these loons with Ph.D.'s are still loons who cannot be convinced of anything other than their own particular greenie views. Views that can only be categorized as articles of faith to a neo-pseudo-pagan religion! No amount of valid science can disabuse them of their positions, so why bother? This is long overdue and needs to be expanded all throughout government, science and universities. A good start in making that happen is to eliminate government grant money! Since grant money is now the holy grail of science...not truth!.
STROKE
Treating prehypertension reduces risk of stroke
As research in cardiovascular health evolves, experts have carved out a new category for patients who have a blood pressure reading that falls into the gray area between normal and hypertensive.
VACCINATIONS
Delta skids off the runway with anti-vaccine video
Intentionally or not, Delta Airlines has put itself in league with anti-vaccine activists, airing an in-flight video segment that encourages viewers to avoid the flu vaccine.
Delta flies right again
Yesterday we criticized Delta Airlines for airing an in-flight anti-vaccine video.
Shots for everyone: Celebrate National Influenza Vaccination Week
It's National Influenza Vaccination Week
If there is a health scare today, the American Council on Science and Health will most likely have the answer by tomorrow; and for members it will appear in your e-mail. No effort on your part, except to read the answer. All that the ACSH is interested in are the facts and they are prepared to follow them wherever they lead. Who can ask for more? Please Donate Now!
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Thursday, December 8, 2011
Do All the Bugs Die in the Winter?
Quite a few do, but trillions do not!
“Like the Terminator, the message from pest insects during the winter is ‘I’ll be back’”, says Leonard Douglen, the Executive Director of the New Jersey Pest Management Association.
“One of the most common questions pest management professionals hear as the weather turns cold,” says Douglen, “is where to all the insects go? Many do die, but nature has equipped many pest insect and other species with the capacity to survive. For homeowners, termite colonies that have often been there unnoticed for years survive quite well both inside and outside.”
“Termites weather the winter by huddling together. Homes provide the same heat to their indoor colonies as it does to humans,” says Douglen. Those in outdoor colonies, just like ants, huddle together for warmth, usually below the frost line where they have stored food until springtime. Though a colony may have thousands of individual members, they function as a single organism.”
“Homeowners and others are often surprised to find cluster flies on a mild winter day,” says Douglen. “That’s because they sometime hide in the nooks and crannies of a warm house. There are literally thousands of places in a home that provide a place for insects to over-winter and this is true as well for rodents, mice and rats, who move indoors for the same reason.”
Not all pest species survive the winter alive. Mosquitoes, says Douglen, lay their eggs in the summer and the adults die off. The eggs, however, survive throughout the fall and winter months and can even survive freezing. In the spring, the eggs thaw and hatch.
“One way of surviving winter for many insect species is called ‘diapause’ and it affects eggs and pupae. It is a form of hibernation,” says Douglen. “It is a period of little or no activity.”
Near the Artic Circle, some species do the same in a process called torpor. Others, like flightless crickets, can freeze solid and resume activity when they defrost. Other insect species prepare for the cold by making their own antifreeze. During the fall, they produce glycerol that gives the insect’s body “super cooling” ability that allows their body fluids to drop below freezing points without causing ice damage. In the spring, their glycerol levels drop.
Like reptiles, insects are cold-blooded so their body temperature is determined by the weather. “Some insect species migrate to warmer areas,” says Douglen. “The most famous migration is that of Monarch butterflies, but other butterfly species as well as moths, dragonflies, and locusts also migrate.”
“Bed bugs, a widespread pest problem, can live for long periods after taking a blood meal and, since they live off of humans,” says Douglen, “that means they enjoy the same habitat, over-wintering without any problem at all.”
“The lesson,” says Douglen, “is that Mother Nature equips pest insect species will the ability to survive no matter how cold winter may become. Come spring, many homeowners will see the first indication they have a thriving termite colony when winged members take flight to establish new colonies. What they may not also know is that their home also has a carpenter ant colony.”
“These species have been here long before humans, so even if we do not see them during the winter months, you can be sure they will return in the spring.”
Founded in 1941, the New Jersey Pest Management Association celebrated its 70th year in 2011. The Association maintains a website at www.njpma.com.
Contact: Leonard Douglen @ (800) 524-9942
NJPCAssoc@aol.com
Disseminated by The Caruba Organization
Alan Caruba @ (973-763-6392
acaruba@aol.com
Sunday, December 4, 2011
American Council on Science and Health, 2011: Week 48
The presence of linked articles here are merely a way of showing what is going on, whether I agree or disagree with the positions presented. Rich Kozlovich
TOP STORY
Dr. Ross on The Hill
The U.S. Senate is currently considering a call for further tightening of our country's already restrictive - and effective - chemical safety laws. In an op-ed for The Hill, ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross explains how the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), one of the key lobbyists for this unnecessary measure, has based its campaign on misinformation fueled by fear.
CANCER
Family link to breast cancer is questioned
In what comes as a surprise to both scientific thought and conventional wisdom, a recent study suggests that, for women ages 40 to 49, a family history of breast cancer makes no difference in their rates of invasive disease.
DDT
Progress against malaria
Malaria is still one of the leading causes of death in sub-Saharan Africa, but great progress is being made.
DIET
B alert for stealth vitamin deficiency
A deficiency of the vitamin B12 can cause a host of problems, from fatigue to poor memory, that can be misdiagnosed simply as symptoms of aging. Jane Brody's column in The New York Times reports this week on the importance of recognizing how frequently a B12 deficiency can develop as people age, as well as the importance of detecting and treating this problem before it progresses, since B12-deficiency nerve damage can be irreversible.
Americans thinking bigger, getting bigger
Americans are not only heavier than they were two decades ago, but their perceptions of their ideal weight have ballooned as well.
Big Brother for big kids?
Does a severely obese child qualify as a case of parental abuse and neglect? County caseworkers in Ohio say yes.
SCARES AND CONSEQUENCES
One bad apple juice don’t spoil the whole bunch, girl
We thought the arsenic in apple juice scare had ended up in the unfounded scares graveyard, but headlines in today’s news took us by surprise. In a revival of this juice scare, Consumer Reports has announced that about 10 percent of the samples of apple and grape juice that they tested had levels of arsenic exceeding federal standards for drinking water.
This follows on the heels of a widely discredited piece by Dr. Mehmet Oz, host of The Dr. Oz Show, who claimed in September that some apple juice contained excessive levels of arsenic. Scientists quickly pointed out that Dr. Oz had not distinguished between organic and inorganic arsenic — an important distinction, because organic arsenic is considered to be non-toxic. The FDA responded with a statement explaining that most of the arsenic in apple juice comes in the harmless organic form; the agency and other experts called Dr. Oz’s report “irresponsible and misleading” for creating hype and fear around a perfectly safe product…….Dr. Elizabeth Whelan is concerned that the FDA’s sudden reversal may set off needless anxiety among parents; she questions the agency's decision to reverse its initial stance on the basis of what she considers a dubious study.
ACSH’s Dr. Ruth Kava agrees that this small study, which has not been peer-reviewed, has been taken out of context. “They are jumping to a conclusion that will affect millions of people, all based on one non-peer-reviewed study,” she says. As ACSH advisor Dr. Allison Muller points out, “Further analyses of these data are needed before we can say that the amount of inorganic arsenic found in these foods is enough to cause any of the supposed health risks.”
My Take – I have felt for a long time that Dr. Oz is a loon. That doesn’t mean that he isn’t presenting some valid information. However, just because there is something of value there doesn’t give them a pass on stuff in which he has no expertise and being a doctor doesn’t make anyone an expert on everything. All of that is what I call the “He made the trains run on time” fallacy. An old German guy used to tell me that Hitler was a great man because he made the trains run on time. Just because Hitler made the trains run on time didn’t give him a pass on the rest of life. And as far as I am concerned that applies to these TV doctors who can only stay on the air and make all of that lovely, lovely money by maintaining an audience. That means they have to entertain as well as inform. Part of being entertaining is being outrageous, and then they lend themselves to outrageous scare mongering.
SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY
Back pain compounded by wallet pain
In a small but concerning study, researchers report that doctors may not always make MRI recommendations with their patient's best interests in mind. According to the study, presented at the Radiological Society of North America meeting in Chicago, doctors who own an MRI scanner may be more likely to recommend an unnecessary back scan than if they had no financial interest in the procedure.
Don’t drill, baby, drill
New technology in dentistry might seem like an unquestionably good thing. But as dentists are using these technologies more and more often to detect and treat problems that may not need to be treated, patients - and some dentists - are becoming concerned.
PHARMA
For Tylenol, dose and overdose aren’t that different
It's not widely known, but acetaminophen (Tylenol and others) is a significant cause of liver damage when the recommended dosage is exceeded.
A few powerful meds can cause big problems
Four common medications are responsible for the majority of adverse drug reactions in older Americans, a study just published in The New England Journal of Medicine has found.
Pfizer is nursing a fat lip(itor)
Pfizer's exclusive right to sell the blockbuster drug Lipitor (atorvastatin) ended yesterday. With the expiration of Pfizer's patent, the door is now open for generics to enter the market. Given that Lipitor earned $13 billion at its peak, and that 3 million Americans currently take the cholesterol-lowering drug, that market is enormous.
My Take – When I was in NYC for the premiere of 3Billion and Counting I met a number of people there involved in third world health issues. Naturally I had views that I just had to share with them….surprise! My comments started by saying that in this case greed is good. I think that surprised them so much that it gave me time to lay foundation for my views.
One of the things that I discussed was this whole business about patents on life saving pharmaceuticals. There is a big push all around the world to change how things are done in this manner by taking some patent protections away in some areas and not giving patent protections in others. My view was that if patent protections were weakened or eliminated then humanity would suffer far more than now. In point of fact if there is no patent protection; if there is no profit; then there is no product.
Pharmaceutical companies are in business to make money….lots of money, and they need to make tons of money just to build financial reserves for new research. They also want to make a lot of money for themselves….and as a result they devote themselves to discovering new drugs….so….greed is good.
I then went on to point out that the primary reason for patents wasn’t to offer exclusive protection for a limited time in order to get companies to make money. That was a secondary purpose; the primary purpose was to put new products in the market place, whether it was drugs, chemicals or mechanical devices of every kind. Why? Because once out there they would improve life and help create a better economy. Eventually those products would become public domain and everyone and anyone could produce them. That would help create an even bigger economy. In short….what I called greed is in reality enlightened self interest….and that is a good thing all around. It is also why we here in the U.S. produce most of the new pharmacueticals that save so many lives over a broad specturm of afflictions. It isn’t perfect, but in this world the best we can hope for is the best possible imperfection.
TOBACCO
For stopping smoking, practice (plus lozenges) does not make perfect
We're always eager to hear the results of smoking cessation trials, hoping for some rare good news on this subject. But the latest trial of nicotine therapy has us baffled.
VACCINCES
Get your booster vaccine: Whooping cough spreads across Long Island
Today's breaking news is not good: An outbreak of whooping cough (pertussis) that began in one Long Island town in June has spread to more than a dozen districts in Suffolk County.
Don’t play chicken
The chickenpox vaccine doesn't protect only the inoculated child; it also protects infants who are too young to be vaccinated but for whom the disease is especially dangerous.
Doctor knows best and should tell parents so
Speaking of getting your children vaccinated on schedule, a disconcerting trend in some pediatric practices has been reported in a new study: Over half of pediatricians surveyed report that they are willing to alter a child's immunization schedule at a parent's request.
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Saturday, December 3, 2011
Observations From the Back Row
By Rich Kozlovich
There are some things that no matter what we see on the news or read in the newspapers simply aren't so. For those who aren't sure at what I mean....let me outline a few.
Those who advocate green issues, lie. The journalists, who promote green issues, lie. The big corporations, who support them in order to cash in on various green schemes, lie. The bureaucrats, who are their cat’s paws, lie. The politicians who write legislation the greenies support, lie. Everything you read in the newspapers, see on the news is a lie. Not necessarily lies of commission, although they are blatantly guilty of that also, but it is mostly lies of omission. All of these lies build up until we are faced with disasters that should have been perfectly predictable to everyone, and they would have been if everyone had been told the truth.
However, here are some things you can be sure are absolutely true. Green is a neo-pagan secular religion and to be green is to be irrational and misanthropic! We really do need to get that!
I will be keeping Steve Milloy's outline of the e-mails of the global warming "scientists" in the Observations From the Back Row posts since he regularly updates that link as new e-mails come out. As you read them ask yourself...does the word "lie" come to mind?
Here are my picks for the day. Enjoy!
Radical feminists seem to assume that men are hostile to women. But what would they say to the fact that most of the women on the Titanic were saved, and most of the men perished -- due to rules written by men and enforced by men on the sinking ship? Thomas Sowell
Climategate 2.0 is here! (Last updated at 12:10 pm on 12-02)
by Steve Milloy More devastating Climategate e-mails were released today. We’ve covered juicy ones in the posts listed below. More on the way. Read ‘em all. They validate EVERYTHING the skeptics have been saying. Viva les sceptiques
In 2008, I wrote a book called "Liberal Fascism." That title came from H.G. Wells, one of the most important socialist writers in the English language. He believed, as did his fellow Fabian socialists, that Western democratic capitalism had outlived its usefulness.
Too late. The US now has abundant domestic supplies, freeing liquified nat gas cargoes onto the international market where they compete with Russian supplies.
It’s hard to keep up with all the disasters plaguing “clean” technology. We’ve highlighted some of them in previous columns, but now find ourselves overwhelmed with bad news for the green-at-any-cost crowd. So periodically we’ll provide a “renewable roundup,” reading and deconstructing the latest developments so you don’t have to.
• Running on Empty: Electric Cars
• Tilting at Windmills: Subsidized Failure
• Dimming Solar Prospects
• Global Warming Burn Out
Senate Republicans yesterday told President Obama to release his partisan stranglehold on the Keystone XL Pipeline project, and backed up their demands with new legislation to force quick action…….The permitting and approval process has dragged on for three years, and TransCanada has already agreed to 57 special conditions imposed by the State Department, said Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
Ohio Treasurer: Washington Targets Ohio Shale Gas
“Job-killers win, American workers lose.” Ohio treasurer Josh Mandel writes in the Wall Street Journal:
In the Cleveland Plain Dealer: “Republic Steel to add 450 jobs to Lorain as oil and gas exploration booms.” This story reported Republic Steel’s announcement of new jobs in one of Ohio’s hardest-hit counties, to manufacture products in support of the state’s growing oil and gas industry. In the Marion Star: “Ohio national forest halts sale of drilling rights.” This story reported the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to suspend the auction of leases for oil and gas drilling on more than 3,000 acres of federal land in the most economically depressed region of Ohio.
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There are some things that no matter what we see on the news or read in the newspapers simply aren't so. For those who aren't sure at what I mean....let me outline a few.
Those who advocate green issues, lie. The journalists, who promote green issues, lie. The big corporations, who support them in order to cash in on various green schemes, lie. The bureaucrats, who are their cat’s paws, lie. The politicians who write legislation the greenies support, lie. Everything you read in the newspapers, see on the news is a lie. Not necessarily lies of commission, although they are blatantly guilty of that also, but it is mostly lies of omission. All of these lies build up until we are faced with disasters that should have been perfectly predictable to everyone, and they would have been if everyone had been told the truth.
However, here are some things you can be sure are absolutely true. Green is a neo-pagan secular religion and to be green is to be irrational and misanthropic! We really do need to get that!
I will be keeping Steve Milloy's outline of the e-mails of the global warming "scientists" in the Observations From the Back Row posts since he regularly updates that link as new e-mails come out. As you read them ask yourself...does the word "lie" come to mind?
Here are my picks for the day. Enjoy!
Radical feminists seem to assume that men are hostile to women. But what would they say to the fact that most of the women on the Titanic were saved, and most of the men perished -- due to rules written by men and enforced by men on the sinking ship? Thomas Sowell
Climategate 2.0 is here! (Last updated at 12:10 pm on 12-02)
by Steve Milloy More devastating Climategate e-mails were released today. We’ve covered juicy ones in the posts listed below. More on the way. Read ‘em all. They validate EVERYTHING the skeptics have been saying. Viva les sceptiques
In 2008, I wrote a book called "Liberal Fascism." That title came from H.G. Wells, one of the most important socialist writers in the English language. He believed, as did his fellow Fabian socialists, that Western democratic capitalism had outlived its usefulness.
Too late. The US now has abundant domestic supplies, freeing liquified nat gas cargoes onto the international market where they compete with Russian supplies.
It’s hard to keep up with all the disasters plaguing “clean” technology. We’ve highlighted some of them in previous columns, but now find ourselves overwhelmed with bad news for the green-at-any-cost crowd. So periodically we’ll provide a “renewable roundup,” reading and deconstructing the latest developments so you don’t have to.
• Running on Empty: Electric Cars
• Tilting at Windmills: Subsidized Failure
• Dimming Solar Prospects
• Global Warming Burn Out
Senate Republicans yesterday told President Obama to release his partisan stranglehold on the Keystone XL Pipeline project, and backed up their demands with new legislation to force quick action…….The permitting and approval process has dragged on for three years, and TransCanada has already agreed to 57 special conditions imposed by the State Department, said Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
Ohio Treasurer: Washington Targets Ohio Shale Gas
“Job-killers win, American workers lose.” Ohio treasurer Josh Mandel writes in the Wall Street Journal:
In the Cleveland Plain Dealer: “Republic Steel to add 450 jobs to Lorain as oil and gas exploration booms.” This story reported Republic Steel’s announcement of new jobs in one of Ohio’s hardest-hit counties, to manufacture products in support of the state’s growing oil and gas industry. In the Marion Star: “Ohio national forest halts sale of drilling rights.” This story reported the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to suspend the auction of leases for oil and gas drilling on more than 3,000 acres of federal land in the most economically depressed region of Ohio.
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This Week With Alan Caruba
Alan’s work has a sense of timelessness about it, so anyone perusing these articles in the future will find them equally insightful as they were when originally written. Alan posts daily on his blog, Warning Signs. The right side of this blog is a section called Caruba's Corner: Green Myths and Other Lies where I have been posting links to Alan's articles by topic. For his past works go to The National Anxiety Center. I would also recommend reading his last book, Right Answers.
Let's Start With Alan's ----- Cartoon Round Up
Spending More has Never Worked!
Ask any financial advisor what to do when you are drowning in debt and they will tell you to spend less and pay down your debt. This is just common sense. However, if you ask politicians what to do, they will advise that the nation spend more and borrow more.
Eco-Absurdity
There are no lengths and no depths to which Greens—environmentalists—will not go to advance the greatest hoax of the modern era. It used to be called “global warming”, but when that was exposed as based on falsified computer models put out by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the term “climate change” was adopted to mask it.
Paper Money, Real Debt, and Spendthrift Nations.
As the citizens of the United States and the seventeen member-nations of the European Union look on, a great drama regarding the future of the EU and its currency, the Euro, is occurring. The essential problem is that both the U.S. dollar and the Euro are just so much paper, despite the promises and guarantees that they will be honored as real money. The trick has been to keep everyone believing there are sufficient real assets to back up those promises.
Desperate Middle East Regimes
The world hasn’t seen this much turmoil since the years leading up to World War II. By contrast even the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991 did not cause this much uncertainty. The Middle East currently holds the greatest prospect for a hot war as Iran and its close ally, Syria, struggle to maintain control over their populations. Iran’s proxies in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah, and, in the Gaza, Hamas, are being told to get ready for a war on Israel. Meanwhile, the Arab League has turned on Syria and is hostile to Iran. Turkey is stationing troops on its border with Syria.
Pity the Democratic Party
I actually pity the Democratic Party these days even though I think it has brought the nation to ruin because, as Joseph Curl recently noted in a Washington Times commentary, “Democrats must spend, spend, spend, and spend. It’s in their DNA.” It got blown away in 1994 after forty years of control of the U.S. Congress when Newt Gingrich saved the nation from forty more. At the very least then-President Clinton had the political savvy to move to the center, earning a second term for himself…..This is not the case with President Obama who is running against a “do nothing” Congress to which he outsourced the writing of Obamacare, the stimulus programs, the budget, and, the most recent failure, the Super Committee which had been preceded by a blue ribbon commission whose recommendations he ignored.
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Let's Start With Alan's ----- Cartoon Round Up
Spending More has Never Worked!
Ask any financial advisor what to do when you are drowning in debt and they will tell you to spend less and pay down your debt. This is just common sense. However, if you ask politicians what to do, they will advise that the nation spend more and borrow more.
Eco-Absurdity
There are no lengths and no depths to which Greens—environmentalists—will not go to advance the greatest hoax of the modern era. It used to be called “global warming”, but when that was exposed as based on falsified computer models put out by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the term “climate change” was adopted to mask it.
Paper Money, Real Debt, and Spendthrift Nations.
As the citizens of the United States and the seventeen member-nations of the European Union look on, a great drama regarding the future of the EU and its currency, the Euro, is occurring. The essential problem is that both the U.S. dollar and the Euro are just so much paper, despite the promises and guarantees that they will be honored as real money. The trick has been to keep everyone believing there are sufficient real assets to back up those promises.
Desperate Middle East Regimes
The world hasn’t seen this much turmoil since the years leading up to World War II. By contrast even the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991 did not cause this much uncertainty. The Middle East currently holds the greatest prospect for a hot war as Iran and its close ally, Syria, struggle to maintain control over their populations. Iran’s proxies in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah, and, in the Gaza, Hamas, are being told to get ready for a war on Israel. Meanwhile, the Arab League has turned on Syria and is hostile to Iran. Turkey is stationing troops on its border with Syria.
Pity the Democratic Party
I actually pity the Democratic Party these days even though I think it has brought the nation to ruin because, as Joseph Curl recently noted in a Washington Times commentary, “Democrats must spend, spend, spend, and spend. It’s in their DNA.” It got blown away in 1994 after forty years of control of the U.S. Congress when Newt Gingrich saved the nation from forty more. At the very least then-President Clinton had the political savvy to move to the center, earning a second term for himself…..This is not the case with President Obama who is running against a “do nothing” Congress to which he outsourced the writing of Obamacare, the stimulus programs, the budget, and, the most recent failure, the Super Committee which had been preceded by a blue ribbon commission whose recommendations he ignored.
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Friday, December 2, 2011
Mystic Power Plants
By Rich Kozlovich
Earlier in the week I noted that I had seen a show on PBS promoting all sorts of greenie foolishness regarding alternative energy. One stated that if we had continued down that road started by President Carter 30 years ago we would now have all the alternative energy problems solved. Baloney! I said then that it had to have been clear to engineers then that wind power was unworkable as a viable energy source for the country.
We absolutely know there is no technology that will give wind energy the output necessary to overturn the need for conventional power plants. We have history that tells us it won't work; we have engineers that tell us that there is no technology in existence that can make it work; so why are we spending untold billions to insist that everyone "WILL" do it?
In an article entitled, “Wind power truly in the realm of mysticism”, by nuclear physicist, Dr. Kemm notes: “Wind power paranoia has bypassed science logic and is well and truly in the realm of mysticism. Let me state categorically that, as a physicist, I am in favour of wind power that is genuinely economically viable. The problem is that large-scale wind power fed into a national grid is just not viable – either economically or practically – from an engineering stand point." Are we to believe that he is the only one to recognize the engineering impossibility of wind power?
There are lots of positive statements from many sources that are promoting wind energy, including this one from a “South Africa from the wind lobby, which says it is striving for 20% of national demand to be met by wind power by 2025.” You mean the best hope they have is to generate 20% after another 14 years? How many wind farms will that take? How much will that cost? How much will that generate when the wind isn’t blowing?
“A spokesperson of the South African Wind Energy Association was quoted in the media as saying: “Contrary to what most believe, a 30 000 MW wind energy plant would have an average daily minimum power output of 7 000 MW and would displace 6 000 MW of conventional coal or nuclear power base load.”
Ok….if the “average” output is 7000 MW, out of a potential 30,000 MW peak output….what is the lowest output potential. Remember they are saying “average” output. The lowest is zero. When the wind doesn’t blow no energy is produced and we do not have any kind of battery power that would allow for storage when the wind blows that would take care of all of those days with no wind. At a coal, natural gas or nuclear power plant with 30,000 NW of peak power….you can get 30,000 MW of power as long as you need to run the plant at peak performance. As for replacing other energy sources….baloney! Those conventional power plants would have to be built, maintained and kept on line to backup every form of alternative energy that is being considered, whether it is wind or solar, unless they can do it magically with some form of green mystic energy.
Do those who promote alternative sources understand the realities of this? Yes, because he quotes the wind power people as saying; “It will involve close interaction between the private and public sectors to ensure technical parameters and electricity grid designs are appropriate to facilitate it.” In other words they will need tax breaks, subsidies and backup systems so that we will be paying for energy production we aren’t using to promote energy production that we don’t need. It will not be society that reaps the rewards from all of this, it will be these green energy producers who will be feeding on the public through higher rates, higher taxes, reduced availabilty or all three...and all unnecessary.
First it was an argument of finite resources. We were supposedly running out of oil and natural gas. That has been proven to be absolutely false. Then we were told it was to save the planet from global warming based on speculative and fraudulent science. Here is what we really need to get. There is no global warming or cooling or climate changing that is being caused by anything mankind does. There is no need for alternative energy sources since we have enough oil, natural gas and coal to last us for 200 years. So why are we spending billions to find ways of eliminating cheap energy?
It really is time that we put away this mystical delusion of producing alternative energy on a large scale. It is a delusional greenie dream that is turning into an economic and engineering nightmare. Green is a religion based on mysticism. We really do need to get that. The ancient Druids would be very comfortable with today’s green movement.
###
Earlier in the week I noted that I had seen a show on PBS promoting all sorts of greenie foolishness regarding alternative energy. One stated that if we had continued down that road started by President Carter 30 years ago we would now have all the alternative energy problems solved. Baloney! I said then that it had to have been clear to engineers then that wind power was unworkable as a viable energy source for the country.
We absolutely know there is no technology that will give wind energy the output necessary to overturn the need for conventional power plants. We have history that tells us it won't work; we have engineers that tell us that there is no technology in existence that can make it work; so why are we spending untold billions to insist that everyone "WILL" do it?
In an article entitled, “Wind power truly in the realm of mysticism”, by nuclear physicist, Dr. Kemm notes: “Wind power paranoia has bypassed science logic and is well and truly in the realm of mysticism. Let me state categorically that, as a physicist, I am in favour of wind power that is genuinely economically viable. The problem is that large-scale wind power fed into a national grid is just not viable – either economically or practically – from an engineering stand point." Are we to believe that he is the only one to recognize the engineering impossibility of wind power?
There are lots of positive statements from many sources that are promoting wind energy, including this one from a “South Africa from the wind lobby, which says it is striving for 20% of national demand to be met by wind power by 2025.” You mean the best hope they have is to generate 20% after another 14 years? How many wind farms will that take? How much will that cost? How much will that generate when the wind isn’t blowing?
“A spokesperson of the South African Wind Energy Association was quoted in the media as saying: “Contrary to what most believe, a 30 000 MW wind energy plant would have an average daily minimum power output of 7 000 MW and would displace 6 000 MW of conventional coal or nuclear power base load.”
Ok….if the “average” output is 7000 MW, out of a potential 30,000 MW peak output….what is the lowest output potential. Remember they are saying “average” output. The lowest is zero. When the wind doesn’t blow no energy is produced and we do not have any kind of battery power that would allow for storage when the wind blows that would take care of all of those days with no wind. At a coal, natural gas or nuclear power plant with 30,000 NW of peak power….you can get 30,000 MW of power as long as you need to run the plant at peak performance. As for replacing other energy sources….baloney! Those conventional power plants would have to be built, maintained and kept on line to backup every form of alternative energy that is being considered, whether it is wind or solar, unless they can do it magically with some form of green mystic energy.
Do those who promote alternative sources understand the realities of this? Yes, because he quotes the wind power people as saying; “It will involve close interaction between the private and public sectors to ensure technical parameters and electricity grid designs are appropriate to facilitate it.” In other words they will need tax breaks, subsidies and backup systems so that we will be paying for energy production we aren’t using to promote energy production that we don’t need. It will not be society that reaps the rewards from all of this, it will be these green energy producers who will be feeding on the public through higher rates, higher taxes, reduced availabilty or all three...and all unnecessary.
First it was an argument of finite resources. We were supposedly running out of oil and natural gas. That has been proven to be absolutely false. Then we were told it was to save the planet from global warming based on speculative and fraudulent science. Here is what we really need to get. There is no global warming or cooling or climate changing that is being caused by anything mankind does. There is no need for alternative energy sources since we have enough oil, natural gas and coal to last us for 200 years. So why are we spending billions to find ways of eliminating cheap energy?
It really is time that we put away this mystical delusion of producing alternative energy on a large scale. It is a delusional greenie dream that is turning into an economic and engineering nightmare. Green is a religion based on mysticism. We really do need to get that. The ancient Druids would be very comfortable with today’s green movement.
###
Logical Fallacy of the Week: Week 18, Informal Fallacies
________________
Informal fallacies - We will now begin to explore the Informal fallacies – arguments that are fallacious for reasons other than structural (formal) flaws and which usually require examination of the argument's content. An informal fallacy is an argument whose stated premises fail to support their proposed conclusion. The deviation in an informal fallacy often stems from a flaw in the path of reasoning that links the premises to the conclusion. In contrast to a formal fallacy, the error has to do with issues of ratiocination manifest in language used to state the propositions; the range of elements that can be symbolized by language is broader than that which the symbolism of formal logic can represent.
Example:
Informal fallacies of deductive reasoning contain a fundamental disconnect between the premises and the conclusion that renders the argument invalid. This disconnect often stems from the presence of a hidden co-premise that, if presented, would validate the argument.
Inductive informal fallacies are slightly different from their deductive counterparts, as their merit rests in the inductive strength of the premise-conclusion link rather than in the presence of hidden premises. For instance, the fallacy of hasty generalization, can be roughly stated as:
p) A is an X
p) A is also a Y
c) therefore, all Xs are also Ys
If the populations X and Y are both too large to sample completely, then the statement is inductive. In such a case, a hasty generalization occurs when the number of Xs and Ys is insufficient to represent the respective populations. It is important to distinguish between a principle of reasoning (deductive or inductive) and the premise of an argument.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Observations From the Back Row
By Rich Kozlovich
As always I attempt to put a face on the news that clarifies what is happening. There are so many stories out there on every issue you can imagine, and I have the desire to go after each and every issue that confront mankind, each and every story, each and every bit of misdirection, misinformation and propaganda...but I have a job that interferes with my life. So these are my only picks for the day.
How going green goes against the environment
Going green has nasty un-environmental consequences that rank-and-file greenies either don't know or don't care about. For example, those multi-acre wind farms not only kill millions of birds while delivering a mere fraction of the electricity compared to nearly every other power source but 420 of them in Pennsylvania killed 10,000 bats last year….Meanwhile, localities nationwide are banning both paper and plastic bags, forcing grocery shoppers to switch to those reusable cloth bags….according to the Competitive Enterprise Institute (PDF), reusable bags require far more energy and other resources to manufacture, and consume energy and water to wash them, so they must be used 103 times before yielding environmental benefits over paper or plastic bags (studies show they're typically reused 51 times)…….
Watching The Wheels Come Off The Green Machine
The body count continues to rise as the Green Jobs Revolution sputters its way to the end of a disastrous 2011. Few seemed to notice last week when the electric vehicle maker A123 Systems—poster child for successful clean tech investing—“temporarily” laid off 125 workers at its flagship manufacturing plants in Michigan on the eve of the Thanksgiving media break. It also reduced its earnings guidance for 2011 by $45 million, because its anchor customer, Fisker Automotive, “unexpectedly” delayed the production ramp-up for its Karma luxury electric car—again…… [EPA] Overruled Congress? Yes, by declaring carbon dioxide—the stuff you and I breathe out and plants breath in—a pollutant, the EPA seeks to trump Congress’s 2007 CAFE legislation by twisting the 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act beyond all recognition, thereby granting itself authority to enact fuel economy standards where none exists. Meanwhile, it dares a dysfunctional Congress to halt this unconstitutional power grab.
Prepare To Have That Puddle in Your Back Yard Regulated’
Just as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has used the Clean Air Act to broaden the scope of their authority way beyond its original intention with rules like MACT and CSAPR, the Clean Water Act is becoming a tool of overreach by the out of control agency. Barack Obama and the EPA’s Lisa Jackson have made it clear through their actions that they will circumvent the legislature by using regulatory enforcement to enact Obama’s green dreams, and now it seems that circumvention includes the Supreme Court of the United States………… The Barrasso-Heller Amendment, introduced by Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) and Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV), was created to prevent the Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA from incorporating those Obama changes into the regulatory guidelines, which serves the purpose of distinguishing precisely what the Supreme Court had already covered when it established the clear limitations of the Act.
Dump the EPA
Like a bad lover, the EPA is a nagging, beguiling mooch. The EPA unconstitutionally barged into our lives and we need to break free from this destructive relationship; let’s give the EPA a two-letter title beginning with ‘E’ and ending with ‘X.’
President Nixon formed a group called the President’s Advisory Council on Executive Organization to help him sidestep Congress and mold public policy. On April 29, 1970, the Council wrote a memo advising Nixon to establish: “an Environmental Protection Administration, a new independent agency of the Executive Branch. … [and the] Executive Branch should be so structured that a high order of public interest is served in making policy, rather than a narrower advocacy position.”
My Take - I know I ran this the other day, but I love the sentiment and after posting the previous two articles I doubt that there will be any sane people who would disagree.
Sen. Hoeven says EPA not looking to halt fracking
With all due respect, the good Senator ought to wake up and smell up EPA is shoveling his way.
Is transparency bad for science?
We started to take this seriously until we saw that Guardian columnist and Climategate 2.0 character George Monbiot was involved.
Thomas Sowell: Principles over ‘seizing the center'
It used to be common for people to urge us to learn "the lessons of history." But history gets much less attention these days and, if there are any lessons that we are offered, they are more likely to be the lessons from current polls or the lessons of political correctness. Even among those who still invoke the lessons of history, some read those lessons very differently from others. Talk show host Michael Medved, for example, apparently thinks the Republicans need a centrist presidential candidate in 2012. He said, "Most political battles are won by seizing the center." Moreover, he added: "Anyone who believes otherwise ignores the electoral experience of the last 50 years."
Who's the Most Conservative of Them All?
"Newt Gingrich is a bad bet because he will embarrass the Republican Party. He will do so through things he has already said and done and in ways we cannot predict except to be sure -- because character will win out -- that they will happen. No sooner had Republicans, with a huge boost from Gingrich, achieved the long-denied prize of control of the House of Representatives than Gingrich embarrassed the party by signing a $4.5 million book deal. Though an effective, even inspired, backbencher in Congress, Gingrich proved an incompetent and sometimes petulant leader. Gingrich was the only speaker of the House in U.S. history to be removed by his own party. It wasn't a cabal of liberals who forced him out, but Dick Armey, Bill Paxon, Tom DeLay and John Boehner…..
10 Of The Best Economics Quotes From Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman was an extraordinary Nobel Prize-winning economist whose ideas helped underpin modern conservative economic theory. His contributions to economics and the conservative movement cannot be underestimated. Sadly, Milton Friedman passed away a little more than five years ago at the ripe old age of 94. Although Friedman is no longer with us, his words, his ideas, and his legacy live on. In honor of Friedman, here are some of his best quotations.
10) "If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand."…….
Finally...this came in last night from Jeff Stier. I keep wondering what is wrong with the minds of these people. It isn't their job to decide what foods people eat. As for the activists, including the "journalist" and the attorney; for them to be so virulent and obsessed with this I have to believe they must be insane. RK
The Happy Meal Ban Flops
San Francisco's ban on McDonald's Happy Meals goes into effect today. But because the law bans only giving away toys with certain meals, restaurants are set to comply with the law by selling the toys. Now, not only can kids still get toys with their burger and fries, but McDonald's will earn an extra dime per sale and donate the funds to its charity, the Ronald McDonald House. Unsurprisingly, the Occupy McDonald's crowd is furious. The San Francisco Examiner's Joshua Sabatini claims that McDonald's is "skirting" the law, while self-styled public-health lawyer Michele Simon alleges that McDonald's is "exploiting" kids.
###
As always I attempt to put a face on the news that clarifies what is happening. There are so many stories out there on every issue you can imagine, and I have the desire to go after each and every issue that confront mankind, each and every story, each and every bit of misdirection, misinformation and propaganda...but I have a job that interferes with my life. So these are my only picks for the day.
How going green goes against the environment
Going green has nasty un-environmental consequences that rank-and-file greenies either don't know or don't care about. For example, those multi-acre wind farms not only kill millions of birds while delivering a mere fraction of the electricity compared to nearly every other power source but 420 of them in Pennsylvania killed 10,000 bats last year….Meanwhile, localities nationwide are banning both paper and plastic bags, forcing grocery shoppers to switch to those reusable cloth bags….according to the Competitive Enterprise Institute (PDF), reusable bags require far more energy and other resources to manufacture, and consume energy and water to wash them, so they must be used 103 times before yielding environmental benefits over paper or plastic bags (studies show they're typically reused 51 times)…….
Watching The Wheels Come Off The Green Machine
The body count continues to rise as the Green Jobs Revolution sputters its way to the end of a disastrous 2011. Few seemed to notice last week when the electric vehicle maker A123 Systems—poster child for successful clean tech investing—“temporarily” laid off 125 workers at its flagship manufacturing plants in Michigan on the eve of the Thanksgiving media break. It also reduced its earnings guidance for 2011 by $45 million, because its anchor customer, Fisker Automotive, “unexpectedly” delayed the production ramp-up for its Karma luxury electric car—again…… [EPA] Overruled Congress? Yes, by declaring carbon dioxide—the stuff you and I breathe out and plants breath in—a pollutant, the EPA seeks to trump Congress’s 2007 CAFE legislation by twisting the 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act beyond all recognition, thereby granting itself authority to enact fuel economy standards where none exists. Meanwhile, it dares a dysfunctional Congress to halt this unconstitutional power grab.
Prepare To Have That Puddle in Your Back Yard Regulated’
Just as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has used the Clean Air Act to broaden the scope of their authority way beyond its original intention with rules like MACT and CSAPR, the Clean Water Act is becoming a tool of overreach by the out of control agency. Barack Obama and the EPA’s Lisa Jackson have made it clear through their actions that they will circumvent the legislature by using regulatory enforcement to enact Obama’s green dreams, and now it seems that circumvention includes the Supreme Court of the United States………… The Barrasso-Heller Amendment, introduced by Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) and Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV), was created to prevent the Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA from incorporating those Obama changes into the regulatory guidelines, which serves the purpose of distinguishing precisely what the Supreme Court had already covered when it established the clear limitations of the Act.
Dump the EPA
Like a bad lover, the EPA is a nagging, beguiling mooch. The EPA unconstitutionally barged into our lives and we need to break free from this destructive relationship; let’s give the EPA a two-letter title beginning with ‘E’ and ending with ‘X.’
President Nixon formed a group called the President’s Advisory Council on Executive Organization to help him sidestep Congress and mold public policy. On April 29, 1970, the Council wrote a memo advising Nixon to establish: “an Environmental Protection Administration, a new independent agency of the Executive Branch. … [and the] Executive Branch should be so structured that a high order of public interest is served in making policy, rather than a narrower advocacy position.”
My Take - I know I ran this the other day, but I love the sentiment and after posting the previous two articles I doubt that there will be any sane people who would disagree.
Sen. Hoeven says EPA not looking to halt fracking
With all due respect, the good Senator ought to wake up and smell up EPA is shoveling his way.
Is transparency bad for science?
We started to take this seriously until we saw that Guardian columnist and Climategate 2.0 character George Monbiot was involved.
Thomas Sowell: Principles over ‘seizing the center'
It used to be common for people to urge us to learn "the lessons of history." But history gets much less attention these days and, if there are any lessons that we are offered, they are more likely to be the lessons from current polls or the lessons of political correctness. Even among those who still invoke the lessons of history, some read those lessons very differently from others. Talk show host Michael Medved, for example, apparently thinks the Republicans need a centrist presidential candidate in 2012. He said, "Most political battles are won by seizing the center." Moreover, he added: "Anyone who believes otherwise ignores the electoral experience of the last 50 years."
Who's the Most Conservative of Them All?
"Newt Gingrich is a bad bet because he will embarrass the Republican Party. He will do so through things he has already said and done and in ways we cannot predict except to be sure -- because character will win out -- that they will happen. No sooner had Republicans, with a huge boost from Gingrich, achieved the long-denied prize of control of the House of Representatives than Gingrich embarrassed the party by signing a $4.5 million book deal. Though an effective, even inspired, backbencher in Congress, Gingrich proved an incompetent and sometimes petulant leader. Gingrich was the only speaker of the House in U.S. history to be removed by his own party. It wasn't a cabal of liberals who forced him out, but Dick Armey, Bill Paxon, Tom DeLay and John Boehner…..
10 Of The Best Economics Quotes From Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman was an extraordinary Nobel Prize-winning economist whose ideas helped underpin modern conservative economic theory. His contributions to economics and the conservative movement cannot be underestimated. Sadly, Milton Friedman passed away a little more than five years ago at the ripe old age of 94. Although Friedman is no longer with us, his words, his ideas, and his legacy live on. In honor of Friedman, here are some of his best quotations.
10) "If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand."…….
Finally...this came in last night from Jeff Stier. I keep wondering what is wrong with the minds of these people. It isn't their job to decide what foods people eat. As for the activists, including the "journalist" and the attorney; for them to be so virulent and obsessed with this I have to believe they must be insane. RK
The Happy Meal Ban Flops
San Francisco's ban on McDonald's Happy Meals goes into effect today. But because the law bans only giving away toys with certain meals, restaurants are set to comply with the law by selling the toys. Now, not only can kids still get toys with their burger and fries, but McDonald's will earn an extra dime per sale and donate the funds to its charity, the Ronald McDonald House. Unsurprisingly, the Occupy McDonald's crowd is furious. The San Francisco Examiner's Joshua Sabatini claims that McDonald's is "skirting" the law, while self-styled public-health lawyer Michele Simon alleges that McDonald's is "exploiting" kids.
###
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