Virginia Attorney General Cuccinelli Versus the Judiciary of Virginia

By Rich Kozlovich

There are a large number of people who knew from the beginning that this whole Anthropogenic Global Warming scare was bogus. The one thing the warmers and a corrupt media kept pointing to was the Hockey Stick Graph as an absolute confirmation of their claims.

Unfortunately the only people who had access to the data as to how they arrived at these numbers were those who were part and parcel of the scare mongering. When asked why the data wasn't released for open peer review (which is the standard to show the science is accurate) they refused; stating they had worked on this for years and they weren't going to turn it over to people who just wanted to rip it apart.

But that is what peer reviewers are supposed to do. That is what scientists have done forever. That is what peer review is all about. For them to make such a statement is a tacit acknowledgement that what they produced wasn’t science; and when the federal government forced them to release that material it was shown to be junk science.

So, for those who have been following this whole Hockey Stick fraud for many years we relished the idea that this would be tried, not in the left wing media court of opinion, but in an actual court where all the pertinent information could be exposed and the actions of these people could be independently judged without passion, prejudice or pride. The University of Virginia and Mann absolutely are against any form of transparency in this matter. Why?

This ruling is so irrational that one can only assume that the Attorney General will appeal it. However, even if he doesn’t, this isn’t done yet. As one article stated;

“Focus Shifts Inexorably to Canada Court Case - So while we may rue a battle victory to Mann the war goes on. If Cuccinelli fails to resurrect his case in Virginia this will mean supporters of transparency and accountability in climate science will turn their attention to events in the Supreme Court of British Columbia (Vancouver). It is there that Dr. Mann is fairing less well in his libel suit against Canada's ever-popular skeptic climatologist, Tim Ball. Dr. Ball’s legal team is correctly demanding the full disclosure of this very same hidden evidence. As Mann is the complainant - and B.C. jurisdiction provides Ball the right to motion for full disclosure - it is far trickier for Mann to hide his numbers here.

With great confidence that Ball’s jibe that Mann “belongs in the state pen, not Penn State” will be shown to be accurate, some of us have literally bet the farm that Mann will lose. Thus mishaps in Virginia won’t necessarily delay Mann’s ultimate downfall."

Can Mann avoid all of this by dropping his case? I don't know at this point, especially since this is a Canadian court. They may require all cases to be heard for all I know; but even if he is allowed to drop it that will again be one more tacit acknowledgement that they are hiding dirt that needs to be exposed and swept up.

Mann isn't going to be alone either. This will ultimately destroy the careers of a great many 'scientists' who have subscribed to this nonsense. Then I sincerely hope then everyone begins to look at just how much fraudulent research is being foisted on humanity by researchers and universities who are so consumed with greed they will sell their science, their integrity and sell out their fellow man in order to gain more grant money. Someone needs to go to jail! Because they aren't just wrong; they really are evil!

Does evil seem a bit strong to you?

Two posts in Paradigms and Demographics have been hit hundreds of times in the last six to nine months from readers in Slovenia, Finland, Japan and Bulgaria. What posts are they hitting? The first three are hitting posts dealing with the failure of solar energy and Bulgarians are hitting articles supporting fracking. Please don't tell me this isn't a major human rights issue! Let's not forget. People are freezing to death in Europe because they don't have energy resources due to efforts by the greenies and cowardly leaders to prevent more energy development and use. That is an outcome of the fraudulent research of the warmers. That makes it evil! The left isn't just wrong; It really is evil!

What the Cuccinelli Climategate case really means
Mark J. Fitzgibbons

Don't waste your time reading the liberal press about this one. The Virginia Supreme Court issued a decision in the case in which Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli sought emails from the University of Virginia about Michael Mann's "hockey stick" graph, made famous by the Climategate fiasco. Cuccinelli issued a subpoena under the Fraud Against Taxpayers Act (FATA), which authorizes investigations of suspected fraud to obtain taxpayer money.

The court ruled that Cuccinelli could not get the emails. But the decision was not about academic freedom or anything like it, although the liberal press would like you to believe that it was. In fact, the decision highlights one of the many ways that government is allowed to break the law. FATA allows the Attorney General to investigate suspected fraud used to obtain state funds. The Attorney General may issue a civil investigation demand, which is essentially a subpoena, to any "person" suspected of using fraud to obtain state funds. Any "person" includes any corporation. The University of Virginia is incorporated.....

Here are some comments by readers that I think are worth reading. RK

Schmutzli

This court's decision is absurd. At some point there needs to be a realization that selective enforcement of the law at the whim of judges is not a legal system that can or should be respected. Somehow courts still manage to maintain an image of trustworthiness that simply does not exist. When the left figured out that packing the courts with corrupt and activist judges was the key to tyranny, the momentum of the battle for liberty shifted. When rino and conservative legislators began accepting and confirming the appointment of these activists, it was tantamount to surrender in the battle for liberty. For years "slam-dunk" logical court cases such as this one have increasingly been decided purely on political ideology, which runs completely contrary to the concept of equal protection under the law. That so many people accept this does not bode well for the future.

DaveOregon

By the way - does this mean the AG of the state can't investigate fraud in State agencies? I mean, 99% of all state agency money is tax payer money - so how do not investigate fraudulent money use within a state agency - say supposed illegal paying departmental heads and supervisors vacations, or use of state vehicels , or fraudulent reimbursements, etc? It almost gives them all carte blanche to rip the State treasury off without recompense. Can't the supposed "genius" lawyers on the SC understand the can of worms they just opened??????

tonymarini

In the United States, the government, any government, is the property of the people. The Constitution provides no means for preferential treatment for government...no means for this tool of organized society to be exempt from the law...or any person or group of persons. If there exists such preferential treatment, then it is blatantly unconstitutional. How and why do we allow those we entrust to follow the law of the land to grossly distort, ignore, or interpret with caprice these laws to satisfy a personal or ideological goal. That's the outrage here. The ruling of this judge underscores why we the people need a recourse or remedy to rid ourselves of this misapplication of justice that is clearly evident even to those of us who don't wear black robes or possess law degrees. Whatever this remedy is, it must be swift and discourage future abuses. We have allowed the practice of law to interfere with the honest application of the law. And as the owners of this corrupt mess, we don't have any way to stop this insult to our liberties.

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Zone of Reality: Castro Notes

This first appeared on October 9, 2009. RK

Che Guevara's Whacking -- A Glorious Anniversary
By Humberto Fontova

Forty two years ago today, Ernesto "Che" Guevara got a major dose of his own medicine. Without trial he was declared a murderer, stood against a wall and shot. Historically speaking, justice has rarely been better served. If the saying "What goes around comes around" ever fit, it's here.

"When you saw the beaming look on Che's face as the victims were tied to the stake and blasted apart by the firing squad,” ..”you saw there was something seriously, seriously wrong with Che Guevara." …Che often shattered the skull of the condemned man (or boy) by firing the coup de grace himself. When other duties tore him away from his beloved execution yard, he consoled himself by viewing the slaughter.

A Rumanian journalist named Stefan Bacie…. got there just in time to hear the command of FUEGO!....Rigoberto Hernandez was 17 when Che's soldiers dragged him from his cell in La Cabana, jerked his head back to gag him, and started dragging him to the stake. Little "Rigo" pleaded his innocence to the very bloody end. But his pleas were garbled and difficult to understand. His struggles while being gagged and bound to the stake were also awkward. The boy had been a janitor in a Havana high school and was mentally retarded. His single mother had pleaded his case with hysterical sobs. She had begged, beseeched and finally proven to his "prosecutors" that it was a case of mistaken identity. Her only son, a boy in such a condition, couldn't possibly have been "a CIA agent planting bombs."

"FUEGO!" and the firing squad volley shattered Rigo's little bent body as he moaned and struggled awkwardly against his bounds, blindfold and gag. Remember the gallant Che Guevara's instructions to his revolutionary courts: "judicial evidence is an archaic bourgeois detail." And remember Harvard Law School's invitation and rollicking ovation to Fidel Castro during the very midst of this appalling bloodbath......

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Zone of Reality: Castro Notes

By Rich Kozlovich

As you read this you must come to the conclusion that a whole lot of important and influential people are completely insane. Here is a guy who planned blowing up Macy's and Gimbles on the day after Thanksgiving, blowing up the Statue of Liberty, insisted that the Russians launch a nuclear strike at the U.S. in the fifty's and even as recently as the Reagan administration pushed the Soviets again to launch a nuclear strike. Only after their explanation that Cuba would suffer serious ecological damage did he relent. Yet we find the glitterati, with clenched fists raised in the air toasting him; Viva Fidel, Viva Fidel! I guess it really is true. You can't fix stupid! What then can we possibly do with stupid and insane?

Advice from Fidel Castro for Ahmadinejad and Gadhafi
By Humberto Fontova
This first appeared in September 25, 2009.

Ahmadinejad and Gadhafi got many New York doors slammed in their face this week. The Helmsley Hotels hurriedly hung "No Vacancy!" signs and Gotham Hall canceled Ahmadinejad's reservation for the site as a speech and banquet hall. Gadhafi was finally reduced to sleeping on the couch of the Libyan UN ambassador's Manhattan apartment. Then 11 members of the General Assembly stormed out during Ahmadinejad's UN speech……."I'll have you know when I visited New York in 1995 for the UN's 50th Anniversary bash, not only did I get the loudest and longest ovation from the General Assembly, but Time magazine hailed me as "The Toast of Manhattan!" and Newsweek as "The Hottest Ticket in Manhattan!" In the same week's issues!.....

And one thing you can say about the UN, it's consistent. To wit: just three weeks ago the UN declared Fidel Castro a "World Hero of Solidarity." The reasons cited for the award were: "Fidel Castro embodies virtues and values worth emulation by all of us." The award came only after "extensive consultation among representatives of the General Assembly's member countries," explained current UN General Assembly President and former Sandinista foreign minister, Miguel D'Escoto,

Zone of Reality: Castro Notes

By Rich Kozlovich

I realized today that we have a clear theme for this week's posts.

"There is No Such Thing as a Conspiracy Week!"

For years one of my favorite lines has been; "everything really IS a conspiracy!" Natually I get rolled eyes, snickers and outright laughter...and that's from my friends. That's ok, because as the years have gone by...I'm quoted by those friends. Anyone who believes there is no such thing as a conspiracy hasn't ever read a history book and is completely clueless about what is actually going on in the world.

I have been posting past works by Mr. Fontova's every day. I posted one this morning, but I didn't realize there was a new one. Here is his latest work on this subject. After reading this please tell me there isn't any such thing as a conspiracy! That will make everyone feel sooooo much better. It will be a lie of course, ...but then.... when has that ever stopped a conspiracy?

Could Breitbart, Limbaugh and the New Media Have Saved Cuba By Vetting Fidel Castro And His MSM Champions?
By Humberto Fontova

"In all essentials, Castro's battle for Cuba was a media public relations campaign, fought in New York and Washington." (Paul Johnson, Modern Times......"It would be a great mistake even to intimate that Castro's Cuba has any real prospect of becoming a Soviet satellite." (Walter Lippmann, Washington Post July, 1959)

Arthur Gardner and Earl Smith were the two U.S. ambassadors to Cuba who warned about Castro’s covert Communism (and thus lost their jobs.) In 1960 they testified under oath to the Media/State Department collusion and campaign that brought Castro to power:……..

Senator Dodd: (in preparation for his post) your successor as Ambassador to Cuba, Earl Smith was actually (sent by his State Dept. superiors) to be briefed by New York Times' Herbert Matthews?
Mr. GARDNER. "Yes, that is right."

Senator Eastland: "Mr Smith, you had been warning the State Department that Castro was a Marxist?'
Mr. Smith: "Yes, sir....

Senator Eastland: "Would you say that the American Government then, including all of its agencies, was largely responsible for bringing Castro to power?"

Mr Smith: "The State Department played a large part in bringing Castro to power. The press, and other Government agencies (CIA), members of Congress are also responsible..”

Logical Fallacy of the Week, Week 26: Equivocation

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Equivocation - It is the misleading use of a term with more than one meaning or sense (by glossing over which meaning is intended at a particular time). It generally occurs with polysemic words. It is often confused with amphibology (amphiboly); however, equivocation is ambiguity arising from the misleading use of a word and amphiboly is ambiguity arising from the misleading use of punctuation or syntax….(follow the link for the explanation)

Green is a Perfectly Nice Color

By Rich Kozlovich

I have been telling everyone in the pest control industry for years that green is the combination of blue and yellow. That is the only definition that will stand the test of time. Any other definition is a corruption of a perfectly nice color. It is not viable as anything else, whether it involves pest control, automobiles or energy production. Green was a failure during the Carter years and I knew it was going to be a failure now. We need to start paying attention to history folks.

Green energy is an insane concept and millions of taxpayer dollars have been wasted promoting this insanity. Why insanity? Simple….we don’t need it so any public expenditures on this experimental foolishness is insane. The whole reason for promoting this was based on two false premises. Carbon dioxide was causing catastrophic global warming and we were running out of fossil fuels. Both premises are blatantly false and there were many courageous people who said so.

"Here are a few of the latest companies to join the growing list of "green" "sustainable energy" failures that have been supported by the current Administration’s deficit "stimulus" spending. All this financing has been done using your tax dollars…well, actually tax dollars to be paid in the future by your grandchildren and great grandchildren to China. Plus interest.

Evergreen Energy-Which has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, saying it’s "impossible to maintain operations" due to funding shortfalls. This announcement comes after the company received $5.3 million in "stimulus" funds.

Amonix Inc.- will lay off about 200 employees only seven months after opening a factory in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s home State of Nevada.
Beacon Power Corp-Sought bankruptcy protection last year after they received a $43 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy."

"When you total up the costs to taxpayers for just these five companies, it comes to $707.7 million… And that’s just the tip of the iceberg."

Then we have “Ener1, which makes electric car batteries, filed for bankruptcy protection.... citing the failure of one of its top buyers, [an] electric car manufacturer.  Ener1 got a $118 million grant from the federal government in 2009. But it also got extensive aid from the Indiana Republican governor”. It seems that even the so-called conservatives supported this idiocy, and I don't buy into the idea that they just didn't know. We have history and we have experts on technology, both of which these people have access to that the average person doesn't. There was no excuse for not knowing this would be a boobdoggle. Let's try and get this....If it was viable some businessman would have already done it and wouldn't have needed or waited for government grant money, stimulus money, tax breaks or anything else they waste on this. That should have been a no brainer.

Then we have Abound Solar joining this growing list. It isn’t just energy companies that are green failures either. We know that the Tesla Roadster has problems with their batteries. If you let it die….it is dead and it can’t be recharged, it has to be replaced. It has been called the Tesla Brick because you can’t even push it if the battery dies. No big deal though. It only costs $40,000 to get a new battery for this $100,000 car. Now we have the failure of Volt, which is “temporarily” shutting down production.

It is clear the Democrats will put more money into this boondoggle, and will be interesting to see how much more money the government will waste on this. It couldn’t even pass the insane emission laws of California….a state that should be allowed to secede. That way we can re-conquer it and impose sanity.

It isn’t just big green stuff that is failing either.Five green technologies that tried but failed, solar powered clothes, solar gadgets, air powered cars, fuel cell powered laptops and eco friendly airplanes; all failures!Worse yet, there may have been as much as ten billion dollars spent on these ‘green’ job projects.

Even the government can't make this work. In this article, Obama's Federal Green-Car Fleet Promises Fall Flat the author says;

"Well, color me surprised: yet another of the Obama administration's renewable-energy promises, borne of wishful green thinking and populist political appeal, meeting with resistance from that darn inconvenience that some might call reality"…"So, they're scaling back on the hybrid and electric cars, because -- gasp -- they're just not that practical. But, the Obama administration does include vehicles that can use both E85 ethanol-based fuels and gasoline in it's definition of alternative-fuel vehicles... except, the special ethanol fuel isn't really practical, either."...The way this administration is experimenting on green energy projects with taxpayer dollars, you'd think we had money to burn instead of a more than one hundred percent debt-to-GDP ratio. And you know something -- I bet they would, literally, burn taxpayer dollars, if they thought they'd release less carbon than traditional gasoline."

Green is still a perfectly nice color. And that is it! We really do need to get that!

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Zone of Reality: Castro Notes

This first appeared on October 17, 2009

Rush, Jesse, and Fidel
By Humberto Fontova

Jesse Jackson's ( public) objections to Rush Limbaugh's NFL ownership plan ran roughly as follows: "Rush Limbaugh made his wealth appealing to the fears of whites with an unending line of insults against blacks and other minorities...the National Football League has set high standards for racial justice and inclusion."

"Viva Fidel!" bellowed Rev. Jesse Jackson during his speech at the University of Havana in June 1984, while trailing a 300 person entourage that included Rev. Jeremiah Wright. "Viva Che Guevara!" he yelled again with fists raised high. "Long Live our cry of freedom!"

"He (Jesse Jackson) is a great personality," reciprocated a beaming Fidel Castro, "a brilliant man. Jackson's main characteristic is honesty. He is sincere and there is no hint of demagoguery in his speech."

As mentioned, this was summer of 1984, so at the time, the world's longest-suffering black political prisoner suffered his incarceration and tortures in stoic defiance. "Nigger!" taunted his jailers between tortures. "We pulled you down from the trees and cut off your tail!"

I do not refer to Nelson Mandela. No, this prisoner was being tortured a few miles away from the Revs. Jackson, Wright and their entourage of black American luminaries. The prisoner was a black Cuban named Eusebio Penalver and he was being tortured by Reverend Jackson's gracious hosts. Mr Penalver's incarceration and tortures stretched to 29 years which makes him the longest-suffering black political prisoner in modern history, surpassing Nelson Mandela's record in time behind bars and probably doubling the horrors suffered by Mandela during this period.


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Federalist Number 3

Many times it is difficult to understand what they mean and why they are saying these things because we may not understand the context, so I have added an explanation link is at the end. My sources for this are the Library of Congress and Wikipedia. RK

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Federalist No. 3

The Same Subject Continued: Concerning Dangers From Foreign Force and Influence

Author: John Jay

To the People of the State of New York:

IT IS not a new observation that the people of any country (if, like the Americans, intelligent and well informed) seldom adopt and steadily persevere for many years in an erroneous opinion respecting their interests. That consideration naturally tends to create great respect for the high opinion which the people of America have so long and uniformly entertained of the importance of their continuing firmly united under one federal government, vested with sufficient powers for all general and national purposes.

The more attentively I consider and investigate the reasons which appear to have given birth to this opinion, the more I become convinced that they are cogent and conclusive.

Among the many objects to which a wise and free people find it necessary to direct their attention, that of providing for their SAFETY seems to be the first. The SAFETY of the people doubtless has relation to a great variety of circumstances and considerations, and consequently affords great latitude to those who wish to define it precisely and comprehensively.

At present I mean only to consider it as it respects security for the preservation of peace and tranquillity, as well as against dangers from FOREIGN ARMS AND INFLUENCE, as from dangers of the LIKE KIND arising from domestic causes. As the former of these comes first in order, it is proper it should be the first discussed. Let us therefore proceed to examine whether the people are not right in their opinion that a cordial Union, under an efficient national government, affords them the best security that can be devised against HOSTILITIES from abroad.

The number of wars which have happened or will happen in the world will always be found to be in proportion to the number and weight of the causes, whether REAL or PRETENDED, which PROVOKE or INVITE them. If this remark be just, it becomes useful to inquire whether so many JUST causes of war are likely to be given by UNITED AMERICA as by DISUNITED America; for if it should turn out that United America will probably give the fewest, then it will follow that in this respect the Union tends most to preserve the people in a state of peace with other nations.

The JUST causes of war, for the most part, arise either from violation of treaties or from direct violence. America has already formed treaties with no less than six foreign nations, and all of them, except Prussia, are maritime, and therefore able to annoy and injure us. She has also extensive commerce with Portugal, Spain, and Britain, and, with respect to the two latter, has, in addition, the circumstance of neighborhood to attend to.

It is of high importance to the peace of America that she observe the laws of nations towards all these powers, and to me it appears evident that this will be more perfectly and punctually done by one national government than it could be either by thirteen separate States or by three or four distinct confederacies.

Because when once an efficient national government is established, the best men in the country will not only consent to serve, but also will generally be appointed to manage it; for, although town or country, or other contracted influence, may place men in State assemblies, or senates, or courts of justice, or executive departments, yet more general and extensive reputation for talents and other qualifications will be necessary to recommend men to offices under the national government,--especially as it will have the widest field for choice, and never experience that want of proper persons which is not uncommon in some of the States. Hence, it will result that the administration, the political counsels, and the judicial decisions of the national government will be more wise, systematical, and judicious than those of individual States, and consequently more satisfactory with respect to other nations, as well as more SAFE with respect to us.

Because, under the national government, treaties and articles of treaties, as well as the laws of nations, will always be expounded in one sense and executed in the same manner,--whereas, adjudications on the same points and questions, in thirteen States, or in three or four confederacies, will not always accord or be consistent; and that, as well from the variety of independent courts and judges appointed by different and independent governments, as from the different local laws and interests which may affect and influence them. The wisdom of the convention, in committing such questions to the jurisdiction and judgment of courts appointed by and responsible only to one national government, cannot be too much commended.

Because the prospect of present loss or advantage may often tempt the governing party in one or two States to swerve from good faith and justice; but those temptations, not reaching the other States, and consequently having little or no influence on the national government, the temptation will be fruitless, and good faith and justice be preserved. The case of the treaty of peace with Britain adds great weight to this reasoning.

Because, even if the governing party in a State should be disposed to resist such temptations, yet as such temptations may, and commonly do, result from circumstances peculiar to the State, and may affect a great number of the inhabitants, the governing party may not always be able, if willing, to prevent the injustice meditated, or to punish the aggressors. But the national government, not being affected by those local circumstances, will neither be induced to commit the wrong themselves, nor want power or inclination to prevent or punish its commission by others.

So far, therefore, as either designed or accidental violations of treaties and the laws of nations afford JUST causes of war, they are less to be apprehended under one general government than under several lesser ones, and in that respect the former most favors the SAFETY of the people.

As to those just causes of war which proceed from direct and unlawful violence, it appears equally clear to me that one good national government affords vastly more security against dangers of that sort than can be derived from any other quarter.

Because such violences are more frequently caused by the passions and interests of a part than of the whole; of one or two States than of the Union. Not a single Indian war has yet been occasioned by aggressions of the present federal government, feeble as it is; but there are several instances of Indian hostilities having been provoked by the improper conduct of individual States, who, either unable or unwilling to restrain or punish offenses, have given occasion to the slaughter of many innocent inhabitants.

The neighborhood of Spanish and British territories, bordering on some States and not on others, naturally confines the causes of quarrel more immediately to the borderers. The bordering States, if any, will be those who, under the impulse of sudden irritation, and a quick sense of apparent interest or injury, will be most likely, by direct violence, to excite war with these nations; and nothing can so effectually obviate that danger as a national government, whose wisdom and prudence will not be diminished by the passions which actuate the parties immediately interested.

But not only fewer just causes of war will be given by the national government, but it will also be more in their power to accommodate and settle them amicably. They will be more temperate and cool, and in that respect, as well as in others, will be more in capacity to act advisedly than the offending State. The pride of states, as well as of men, naturally disposes them to justify all their actions, and opposes their acknowledging, correcting, or repairing their errors and offenses. The national government, in such cases, will not be affected by this pride, but will proceed with moderation and candor to consider and decide on the means most proper to extricate them from the difficulties which threaten them.

Besides, it is well known that acknowledgments, explanations, and compensations are often accepted as satisfactory from a strong united nation, which would be rejected as unsatisfactory if offered by a State or confederacy of little consideration or power.

In the year 1685, the state of Genoa having offended Louis XIV., endeavored to appease him. He demanded that they should send their Doge, or chief magistrate, accompanied by four of their senators, to FRANCE, to ask his pardon and receive his terms. They were obliged to submit to it for the sake of peace. Would he on any occasion either have demanded or have received the like humiliation from Spain, or Britain, or any other POWERFUL nation?

Explanation

Federalist No. 3 is an essay by John Jay, the third of the Federalist Papers. It was published on November 3, 1787 under the pseudonym Publius, the name under which all the Federalist Papers were published. This is the second of four essays by Jay on the utility of the Union in protecting Americans against foreign aggression and meddling. It is titled "The Same Subject Continued: Concerning Dangers from Foreign Force and Influence." Jay had earlier acted as ambassador to Spain and Secretary for Foreign Affairs, leading to his focus on international relations......

Zone of Reality: Castro Notes

This first appeared on October 23, 2009 RK.

Could Rush and Fox News Have Helped Save Cuba?
By Humberto Fontova

White House Communications Director Anita Dunn accuses Fox News of serving as either "the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party."

Yet back in the bad old Republican days, I was unaware of any Republican officials getting their briefings on vital foreign policy matters from Fox News personnel. On the other hand, we have sworn Congressional testimony that Democratic State Dept. officials (Roy Rubottom, William Wieland) used a crony New York Times reporter (Herbert Matthews) as their briefer/orientation "expert" for U.S. diplomats heading to Cuba in the late 50's.

"Fidel Castro has strong ideas of liberty, democracy, social justice," wrote Matthews on the front pages of the New York Times in Feb. 1957, "and the need to restore Cuba's Constitution....this amounts to a new deal for Cuba, radical, democratic and therefore anti-Communist." ....

Fracking is a Human Rights Issue!

By Rich Kozlovich

One of the things we really do need to get....inexpensive energy is absolutely essential for an advanced society. It is absolutely necessary to save lives. As you see this first video you will understand why people in Serbia and other areas of central Europe are freezing to death.

We here in Ohio have the local media showing a film where a water facet explodes into flames over and over again. Even if they don't say it is absolutely caused by fracking that is the only conclusion you are left with. No different than Rachel Carson in her book Silent Spring. She said she didn't want DDT banned, but that is the only conclusion one could come to if you read and believed what she was saying.

Those of us who have talked to the people involved in this issue in Ohio have repeatedly stated to us that the depth of these fracking operations makes this seemingly impossible. We later heard that this was all a hoax! Now we know why and how this hoax was perpetrated. Why didn't the local media find this out before they broadcast these lies? Because they aren't hired for their knowledge, scientific understanding or intelligence. They are hired to be pleasant looking and pleasant sounding talking heads. It makes you wonder why they are so arrogant when you meet them. Dumb as dirt and proud of it.

Pro-Fracking Film Laps Anti-Death Penalty Project on Crowdsourcing Site
Right-leaning documentaries rarely get the chance to go head to head with their liberal-minded competition. When was the last time a conservative documentary ended up battling it out for the Best Documentary Oscar?



Fox News Interviews Filmmaker Who Takes on Anti-Fraking Movement
Takes on claims gas-extraction process causes tap water to ignite. After exposing anti-fracking activist moviemaker’s deception, filmmaker’s expose was removed from YouTube under pressure from New York lawyers. I think this is absolutely essential to understand what is actually going on….and more importantly; why did it take this independent journalist to expose this? The MSM, the EPA and the Green Movement are in collusion. Please follow the headline link to this Fox News video.

New Ohio energy strategy to deal with expected fracking boom
When Gov. John Kasich unveils his new energy policy next week, it will contain a mix of new taxes, fees and regulations for what could grow into a $5 billion-a-year fracking industry for the state......In addition to new "severance" taxes on oil, natural gas and wet gases drawn through horizontal fracking, the proposal is likely to include an impact fee -- money companies would pay to fix the roads their heavy trucks and equipment damage in Ohio's rural and small towns. Pennsylvania and West Virginia, Ohio's closest competitors in this industry, are already assessing such fees, and Ohio has taken notice.

Study tags 65,000 jobs, $4.9B boost to Ohio shale
An academic team enlisted by Ohio's business sector released a study Tuesday that finds oil and gas drilling will mean more than 65,000 jobs and an almost $4.9 billion investment in the state's economy by 2014. Findings of the eight-month study were released to the media and members of the Ohio Shale Coalition, a partnership of energy interests spearheaded by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. The group commissioned the study in hopes of displaying the benefits to Ohio's ailing economy of a boom in shale drilling, including the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. A team of economics, energy and geology experts from Cleveland State University, Ohio State University and Marietta College's Department of Petroleum put together the report.

EPA chief vows ‘strong science’ on hydraulic fracturing
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson is defending the rigor of the agency’s study of potential water contamination linked to the controversial natural-gas drilling method hydraulic fracturing.

Editors Note: Below are some comments I have condensed and organized from the readers of this article. Not all were in support, but I didn't include them for three reasons. One; they're wrong because they disagree with me. Two; mostly because they have nothing to offer except supposition, lies, logical fallacies and unsubstantiated attacks on the character of anyone involved in this. Three; I wish to impress on everyone with how many people are willing step to up to confront all of the lies of the green movement. Even five years ago those of my ilk would have been standing virtually alone. Amazing how quickly the internet can change things.

"Strong Science is not believable when the Government is involved and paying for the results they want to see. EPA stopped doing anything that resembles science 20 years ago when Carol Browner took over. They say the science is "strong'... my question is it true? Lisa Jackson does not understand science. Nor is she or Obama interested in scientific truth. They already have their minds made up - fracking is to be banned. They are just pretending to be `studying' the issue until after the November election when they will release their predetermined conclusion.

This administration will see to it that no fossil fuel survives. Period! The future belongs to nukes and, yes, unicorns like the vast solar panel farms. I don't trust the EPA to do anything based on science. They are nothing but an arm of the Democrat party - 100% left-wing political agenda, 100% of the time. They outlived their usefulness long ago.

This is just another stall tactic used by the EPA. They always claim that they need more time to produce their fact finding. This is such a blatant lie, they don't want it, when it could be a boon to this Country as alternative energy & jobs. Ms Jackson doesn't care about that at all. She should be replaced along with Energy Secretary Steve Chu. What a waste.

If Jackson is as adept at making decisions on fracking as she is on permitting applications, I guess we can look forward to getting a ruling around 2019. These clowns are a total joke, and someone ought to recommend that they return their salaries for incompetence.

Hydraulic fracturing has been going on for 60 years and is only considered "controversial" by environmentalists attempting to shut down all hydrocarbon production. In over 60 years there has been no large contamination reported. Can there be small amounts of contamination occasionally? Of course nothing is perfect but if the casing as the standard integrity and the cement jobs are properly done, there is no problem. Various states have been regulating this and are capable of doing so appropriately. In addition, most fracked wells are approximately a mile below the water table and unlikely to migrate that distance. I think it’s time for greenies to move on to something else."

I am only in partial agreement with that last statement. I think they need to be prosecuted for crimes against humanity.


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Observations From the Back Row

By Rich Kozlovich

I think everyone will find this first article to be a fascinating. One of the great things about being an autodidact is that you learn how to think, not what to think. The downturn to being an autodidact is that you can only be exposed to new frontiers as you stumble upon them. As an example; I never heard of a logical fallacy until I read a book by Thomas Sowell on economics wherein he states that he was only going to focus on three logical fallacies. Only three logical fallacies? I thought, what is a logical fallacy and just how many logical fallacies are there and what are they? There are a lot of them and I have spent an inordinate amout of time reading and studying them. Some are, in my opinion, beyond comprehension, even to the originators. However, this was one of the most worthwhile endeavors I have undertaken.

You know that commercial showing old people saying what they want to do when they grow up; well when I grow up I think I may take a logic course.

At any rate, this extremely well known, brilliant writer, was completely unknown to me; much to my chagrin. Clearly he had much to say that was worth listening to and I missed it.

I have said, and believed for a large part of my life, that everything isn't really as complicated as it all appears.

Rule number 6- Problem solving is about “the basics”. “See things in their simplest possible terms. Focus on the root of the problem. All problems are simple and have simple solutions. It’s the ancillary problems that keep getting attached to the primary problem that make it seem complicated. Destroy the basic root problem and the tree dies. The ancillary problems fall to the ground and take root as separate problems, which can then be easily overcome. Don’t let your ego get in the way of the mission. Leave your personal problems out of it.”

All human activities have foundational justifications and if we can understand ‘the basics’ everything else will fall into place. However....even if we are willing to come to "understanding'; it still takes effort and courage to stand up and be counted.

Rule Number 163. - "Life is all about tides. There are those who catch the tide and those who row against the tide. Those rowing against the tide will always go in that direction no matter which way the tide is moving. The rest have no direction and will simply follow the tide. Those who row against the tide are in better shape than those who go with the tide. Not only physically, but intellectually, emotionally and psychologically. When the tide changes direction, and it will, guess who will be in the lead?"

This man's work proves it.  The parts I have reproduced here are hardly adequate to explain what he is saying. I merely hope to tickle your interest. Please read the entire article.

James Q. Wilson, 1931-2012, R.I.P.
One of the more puzzling paradoxes of the current economic downturn is that crime rates have continued to fall, reaching a 40-year low in 2010, even as the economy has been mired in an extended recession……So what explains the continued drop in crime?...... Thus, a building with a broken window that is not repaired will soon have all of its windows broken……. “Broken windows,” as it came to be known, was not simply an academic theory…..The key lesson was that by tolerating minor crimes – graffiti, littering, turnstile jumping in subways, aggressive panhandling –cities invited more violent crimes. Wilson understood that to understand politics one first had to understand the culture from which it emerged and the character and values of the people who made up that culture……Wilson’s [expressed] exasperation that Americans lacked the language, though not the interest, to discuss….issues openly and intelligently. Even as the country has become more secular, it has remained fixated with questions of morality and values… rather than defining and defending moral values, Americans retreated from the discussion, falling back on a default relativism that refused to distinguish between good and bad, right and wrong, virtue and evil.

Wilson….. upbraided people for refusing to pass moral judgment and for claiming that there was no moral standard by which to measure their society or others….[he] scolded [that] people “would oppose infanticide only if it involved their own child. This is sometimes called tolerance. I think a better name would be brutality.”

Oxford’s Nazi Scientists
In my teenage years, I was a devout fan of science fiction… I don’t know how many science-fiction novels and stories I devoured during that time….. But there was…. no story that had a more powerful impact on me than...“The Pre-Persons,” which I read.. in October 1974, the month I turned eighteen. The story takes place in a time in the near future when abortion is not only legal, but has been redefined in such a way that parents may “abort” their children up until age twelve. The opening image has stayed with me ever since: a boy who is out playing in the park sees the “abortion truck” heading for some home in his neighborhood and, fearing it is coming for him, sequesters himself in some bushes until he realizes, to his relief, that the “abortion” victim in question is someone other than himself…..it was making a slippery-slope argument about abortion: if it’s acceptable to kill a fetus, why not a newborn? If not a newborn, why not a child of two, or four, or eight, or ten? Where to draw the line?.....[this]..enraged..fellow science-fiction writer Joanna Russ. ….“The Pre-Persons” caused him to incur “the absolute hate of Joanna Russ who wrote me the nastiest letter I’ve ever received; at one point she said she usually offered to beat up people (she didn’t use the word ‘people’) who expressed opinions such as this.”....


Editor's Note: I was recently asked by Mary Grabar to join her LinkedIn network. Usually I always look at their information because on most occasions I don't have a clue who they are. They all seem to be very interesting people with very interesting careers. I always accept their invitations, though I often wonder...why do they want to know me?

So I naturally assume it is because they have heard of my work on Paradigms and Demographics and are impressed! Right? Makes sense to me! Can anyone think of any other reason? Of course not! However, just in case they accidently failed to tune in one day I send all of them a monthly alert to remind them all to read this month’s offerings. Even though I rarely hear back from them; I have no doubt they are very appreciative.

Mary, it turns out, was a special case. I went to see who she was and found out that she writes worthwhile articles. I will be linking Mary's work from time to time. Here are her two latest pieces. RK

Georgia State "Teach-In" for Lobbying
By Mary Grabar.

On February 4, 2012, I attended a “Teach-In on Tucson,” at Georgia State University College of Education, which was advertised as being free and open to the public. Dean Randy Kamphaus welcomed 170 participants. According to the College of Education’s website, the purpose of the Teach-In was to “facilitate discussion of curriculum and censorship.” But the discussion focused specifically on lobbying against legislation in the Georgia General Assembly. The event was attended by professors, teachers, students, and professional activists.

Two-Minute Hate
By Mary Grabar

"'I don't want to be friends with someone who is a member of the tea party or is a Newt Gingrich Republican. We are not the same. I equate their political views with thoughtlessness, intolerance and narcissism.'" So begins today's Townhall column by history professor Brian Birdnow, who quotes from novelist Diana Waldman in the Los Angeles Times. Read it here. It's difficult to tell entirely what happened at this little social function (we after all do not get an op-ed by a Tea Party member in the Los Angeles Times!), but apparently an interracial couple involved in the Tea Party is not evidence enough to California liberals that the Tea Party is not racist.

Putin For Life?
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin coasted to a third presidential term in elections held on Sunday amid widespread accusations of voter fraud. He previously served two terms as president from 2000 to 2008 but was barred by law from seeking a third consecutive term. Incumbent President Dmitry Medvedev is already slated to serve as prime minister — a deal made with Putin during last year’s United Russia party congress.

My Take – This is a cultural problem that can only be solved with great effort followed by terrible tragedy. There will be a lot of blood lost before this is over. The Russians want the same kind of freedoms that exist in the U.S. That is perfectly understandable....however at this point; can’t happen! The United States is totally unique in the history of the world. It was built from the bottom up. It was created by the states to serve the needs of the states in union. Individualism is the very foundation of Americanism based on the absolute right of private ownership of the land and anything else people chose to purchase…but primarily on the right of private property, although this has been under serious attack in the U.S. since 1972 with the beginning of all the environmental regulations and then the infamous Kelo decision by SCOTUS. That must be overturned.

The rule of law is based in the idea of the right of ownership. Otherwise …who needs laws? It is clear the Russians don’t have a rule of law society. Why? Because, as I understand it; there is no right to own private property. My understanding is that the government still owns all the land in the country. If that is true then that must be the first thing to change. Everything else will then begin to fall into place. Until then…does it really matter which thug is running everything?

Split Court Decision for Michael Mann in Global Warming Legal Battle
Virginia Supreme Court renders a verdict that permits continued suppression of evidence in the Michael Mann ‘hockey stick’ graph controversy – but only just. One dissenting judge scuppers the climatologist’s hopes of yet another global warming whitewash and skeptics remain upbeat…..

Focus Shifts Inexorably to Canada Court Case - So while we may rue a battle victory to Mann the war goes on. If Cuccinelli fails to resurrect his case in Virginia this will mean supporters of transparency and accountability in climate science will turn their attention to events in the Supreme Court of British Columbia (Vancouver). It is there that Dr. Mann is fairing less well in his libel suit against Canada's ever-popular skeptic climatologist, Tim Ball. Dr. Ball’s legal team is correctly demanding the full disclosure of this very same hidden evidence. As Mann is the complainant - and B.C. jurisdiction provides Ball the right to motion for full disclosure - it is far trickier for Mann to hide his numbers here.

With great confidence that Ball’s jibe that Mann “belongs in the state pen, not Penn State” will be shown to be accurate, some of us have literally bet the farm that Mann will lose. Thus mishaps in Virginia won’t necessarily delay Mann’s ultimate downfall. So please donate to Tim Ball’s legal fund today.

Giant Jurassic Fleas Packed a Mean Mouth
Scientists have discovered the world’s oldest fleas to date — bloodsuckers that lived among (and possibly on) dinosaurs.

Anti-Bullying Entrepreneurs on the Job After School Shooting
Their "solutions" may be adding to the problem. No sooner had the school shooting in Chardon, Ohio, occurred than producers started dialing up P.R. people working for a number of anti-bullying entrepreneurs. Joining together, they presented, as early as that evening’s news, the narrative that began with the 1999 Columbine shooting, which was then applied to the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting and other similar incidents: the shooter was a victim of bullying.

The Real Point of the Left’s Uproar over Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh has got the progressives pitching a fit over some remarks on his radio show about a Georgetown University law student named Sandra Fluke. Fluke had made the preposterous claim, while addressing House Democrats over President Obama’s rule forcing Catholic institutions to pay for contraception, that the cost of birth control was prohibitive for Georgetown law students. Limbaugh responded by calling Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” who is “having so much sex, she can’t afford the contraception; she wants you and me – the taxpayers – to pay her.”….. Sexual freedom now trumps political freedom, and sexual pleasure is the honey that sweetens the bitter poison of diminished freedom. Hence the progressive’s elevation of contraception and abortion into “rights,” which puts the necessary discussion of the obvious destructive consequences of sexual promiscuity out of bounds. But these “rights” have nothing to do with “women’s health” and everything to do with the progressive government’s aim of consolidating and increasing its power at the expense of other authorities, like churches, that might have something to say about the personally and socially destructive price of those “rights.” That’s the real significance of the uproar Rush Limbaugh caused: not his crudity or insensitivity, but calling attention to the centrality of sexual libertinism to the progressive agenda of increasing government power at the expense of individual freedom.


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Zone of Reality: Castro Notes

This first appeared on October 31, 2009. Has anything really changed with the Main Stream Media? RK

When Fidel Castro Dictated to the Old U.S. Media
By Humberto Fontova

We cannot for a second abandon propaganda. Propaganda is vital -- propaganda is the heart of all struggles. (Fidel Castro in a letter to a revolutionary colleague in 1954)

A foreign reporter -- preferably American -- was much more valuable to us at that time (1957) than any military victory. Much more valuable than rural recruits for our guerrilla force, were American media recruits to export our propaganda. (Ernesto "Che" Guevara in his diaries.)

In all essentials Castro's battle for Cuba was a public relations campaign fought in New York and Washington. (British historian Hugh Thomas)

Fought and handily won, I might add, as already explained here.

But even after the victory, Castro's U.S. public relations auxiliaries remained on call and primed for duty. By the time of Castro's delirious, deafening, foot-stomping reception at Harvard Law School and Washington, D.C.'s National Press Club (most of whose members oppose capital punishment) in April 1959, Castro's firing squads had slaughtered 1,168 men -- and boys, some as young as fifteen. And for months, Fidel, Raul, and Che had been repairing to their respective stolen mansions nightly to meet with Soviet G.R.U agents and button down the Stalinization of Cuba....But as Diaz-Lanz warned, when outing Communists, their denial is only half the story. The truth-teller must also be slandered, smeared, defamed, and his character assassinated -- as surely as the hundreds of men and boys then being physically assassinated by Che Guevara's firing squads. Not to worry...the U.S. media of the time was eminently worthy of the task....

For those of us who are older and remember about the Pulitzer Prize winning Walter Lippman you will see that the left wing media has always been where it is currently. Now that they have been exposed they are even more virulent than ever. As Fontova says in this article; "In wistful moments, I imagine Rush, Beck, Hannity, etc. on the U.S. media roster when Pedro Diaz-Lanz burst upon the U.S. political scene with some pretty important revelations." RK

There is No Such Thing as a Conspiracy!

By Rich Kozlovich

Recently there was all of this talk by Rush Limbaugh over a girl by the name of Sandra Fluke who claims that she and her friends at college need to have their contraception costs paid for by society. Rush called her a slut and a prostitute. Isn't that a bit strong; even for Rush? Even though I agree with Rush on most things he says, I can’t stand to listen to him because he is arrogant and rude; and if I find him so difficult to listen to it makes me wonder how all the lefties know what he is saying. Having said that I do have to acknowledge that he really knows how to stir up the manure and get things started, so let’s see where this takes us!

I was curious as to what in the world this girl and her friends were doing so that it cost her classmates over three thousand dollars a year for contraception, so I did some analysis. Since she wasn’t clear about how much over three thousand dollars a year they spent, I calculated everything at $3000.00 and $4000.00. You can fill in the rest yourself. I looked up some information and here is what I found.

Birth control pills can run between $15.00 and $50.00 a month. That translates to between $180.00 and $600.00 per year, and I am given to believe there are implants that cost under $200.00 and last for three years. Those figures are immaterial as to how much intercourse she or her friends are having but that is clearly a far cry from the figures she cites. However there are aspects to contraception that will require some calculations based on how much sexual activity goes on.

Male condoms cost between $.50 and $1.00 a piece. Female condoms cost between $2.00 and $4.00 a piece. Fifty cent male condoms @ $3.000 a year would translate to having intercourse 16.438 times a day. At $4.000 it would translate to 21.917 times a day. For $1.00 condoms that would still translate to 8.219 and 10.958 times a day respectively. Remarkable!

Female condoms are a bit more expensive. They run between $2.00 and $4.00 a piece. At $3.000 would translate to 4.109 sexual encounters a day using the lower $2.00 price condoms. For the higher priced $4.00 condoms she would be having an encounter 2.54 times a day. At $4000.00 it would be 5.479 or 2.739 times a day respectively.

That is every day; seven days a week; three hundred and sixty five days a year. These Georgetown Jesuit law school (does that seem a bit Twilight Zonish to anyone but me?) girls are really busy girls! Even at the lower numbers I wonder how long it is going to take them to get through law school at that rate.

My first thought was….well….those numbers certainly seem to indicate a group of women suffering from serious mass sexual addiction problems. Can this possible be true? Does it seem likely that all the women in the nation with sexual addiction problems go to Georgetown? That doesn't seem likely! Then I realized the answer.

Let’s make an unsubstantiated assumption that they are really only having intercourse two to three times a week. At the higher numbers of one dollar male condoms that would only translate to either $105.00 a year for twice a week or $156.00 a year for three times a week. For female condoms at four dollar each it would cost either $416.00 or $624.00 a year. So what is the other two or three thousand for? Flowers, dinner, dancing and romancing the lady before intercourse. And since they want this to be covered in the women’s health care coverage the “ladies” are in effect paying for all of this, including the sex. So then, we must conclude that Rush is wrong, at least partially; they aren’t prostitutes; they are Johns…or is that Janes in the case of women?

So now....did I understand this story properly? Well....actually....no! And almost no one else understood this whole story properly either. I think we can dismiss the idea that Georgetown is filled with women with deep and damaging psychological problems, so then we have to ask; is it possible that all the women with sexual addiction problems who are going to college in the nation have chosen her as their representative to speak for them? That just doesn't seem likely either!

It appears that this seemingly demure well spoken and well presented young woman is in reality a plant. Everyone was under the impression that she was what she claimed to be; a 23 year old Georgetown law student who, after reviewing their insurance policy, enrolled at the university to battle their policy regarding contraception. Which seems to be a bit Twilight Zonish to me also, by the way! Then magically, at the same time Congress is debating the forced coverage of contraception, she appears and is even brought to Capitol Hill to testify. This morning, in an interview with Matt Lauer on the Today show, it was revealed that she is 30 years old, NOT the 23 that had been reported all along. In other words, folks, you are being played. She has been an activist all along and the Dems were just waiting for the appropriate time to play her.

It turns out this really is a Twilight Zone drama "to take the attention off of Barack Obama's assault on religious freedom." It gets better. It turns out she has been an activist for some years fighting against domestic violence and human trafficking, for which she should be commended. But she is no unknown 23 year old neophyte who just dropped in one day at a Congressional hearing to promote forced contraception payments by groups that disagree with this on religious grounds. We already know that she is no mathematician, and we now know that she was a plant.

So perhaps Rush was right after all? But no matter....let's never....never.....ever forget this one all consuming fact. There is no such thing as a conspiracy! Is there?
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Observations From the Back Row

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More Americans now believe in global warming
After several years of finding that fewer and fewer Americans believed in man-made climate change, pollsters are now finding that belief is on the uptick.  The newest study from the National Survey of American Public Opinion on Climate Change, which is a biannual survey taken since fall 2008 and organized by the Brookings Institute, shows that 62% of Americans now believe that man-made climate change is occurring, and 26% do not. The others are unsure.

My Take – Steve Milloy of JunkScience.com posted the original link to this article. Here are some comments made by a few his readers that I felt worth repeating.

1. Eric Baumholer - The data used come from the National Survey of American Public Opinion on Climate Change and the National Survey of Canadian Public Opinion on Climate Change. They were compiled by three political scientists associated with the Brookings Institution. Since you can pre-determine the outcome of any poll by how you phrase the questions, I went looking for those used in this poll. Noodling around the Brookings website, I found the ‘full paper’ behind the poll findings. The 13-pp. pdf can be found [here] *interpretation* of findings, but no mention — not even in the ‘methodology’ section — of what the questions actually were. Without knowing the questions posed, the LA Times article, and the Brookings report, should be rejected as unfounded.

2. DP - A large percentage of Americans believe in ghosts. That doesn’t mean that they want the Feral Government to regulate them.

3. MJBinNM - If the question really was worded as shown in the screencap, then this proves nothing. It only asks if it’s been getting warmer, nothing about what people may believe is causing it.

4. AFPhys - I have been researching and arguing against CAGW for about 15 years now – Yet I would have answered the survey in such a manner that they would interpret “I believe in global warming” It is a totally meaningless survey.

Well, what about this? "As far as “belief” in AGW is concerned, how many people that study the climate believe? About 97%."

Steve Milloy replied - Let me start you off with a link or two regarding [this] 97% - Doran, P. T., and M. Kendall Zimmerman (2009), Examining the Scientific Consensus on Climate Change, Eos Trans. AGU, 90(3) Did you know that 97% refers to a subset of just 77 of 10,257 surveyed Earth scientists? 75 of the 77 could be said to agree with the survey authors positions, thus 97% but, in reality, just 0.73% of the surveyed pool. Here’s a story about it: Lawrence Solomon: 97% cooked stats and you can see dissection of the thesis here.

Rep. Frank: We Can Reduce Dependence on Oil and Lower Gas Prices at Same Time
When asked whether he agreed with Energy Secretary Steven Chu that the Obama administration's goal was to reduce dependence on foreign oil and not to lower gas prices, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said yes but that both goals could be achieved, that they are not mutually exclusive……In 2008, Secretary Chu drew criticism for a comment he made related to rising gas prices. Chu had told the Wall Street Journal, “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels of Europe.”….. Moreover, President Barack Obama told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2008 that under his plan to implement cap and trade, “electricity prices will necessarily skyrocket.” “Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it -- whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.”

The Lust For Power
Exclusive: Patrice Lewis spotlights government officials' ability to coerce the rest of us
It was nothing more than a random headline my husband read out loud off the Internet this week, something about how Hillary Clinton wants to be the new president of the World Bank. “You know,” I commented as I stirred a pot on the stove, “I simply do not understand why people don’t long for a quiet simple life, with a job they can leave behind at the end of the day and a warm and loving family life they can come home to.” That’s the way most of us are wired, after all. Naturally we have plans and ambitions, but for most people, the family they come home to at the end of the day is the thing that really counts.

Side Bar: As some of you know I really enjoy reading Patrice Lewis’s commentaries http://www.wnd.com/author/plewis/ including looking over his personal blog occasionally…which gets quite detailed about farm life. I really like Patrice because she is all about ‘the basics’. She overheard her daughters taking one day saying;

OD: "Oooh, you know who liberals would hate?”
YD: “Who?"
OD: “Spock and Commander Data.”
YD: “Why?”
OD: “Logic logic logic.”

Patrice is publishing a new book called, The Simplicity Primer. I thought I would give her a plug. You may wish to review her blog, Rural Revolution.

Government Doesn’t Work!
Exclusive: Patrice Lewis rips politicians of both parties for violating their oaths of office
Lately I’ve been feeling quite depressed about the state of our nation. I guess I’m suffering from political burnout. That’s an amazing thing when you consider I haven’t exactly immersed myself in politics. We don’t have television reception, and so I haven’t seen any televised debates. Nor have I made any real effort to listen to any of the candidates. It’s gotten to the point where I just don’t care. This week I’ve been re-reading portions of Harry Browne’s excellent book “Why Government Doesn’t Work.” Harry Browne was the Libertarian Party candidate for president in 1996 and 2000. Naturally he never even got close to winning because he had the audacity to suggest that government, in its current incarnation, doesn’t work. Sheesh, no wonder he was never elected.

Media finally paying attention to eligibility?
See which major networks plan on covering Cold Case Posse results
PHOENIX, Ariz. – Poll after poll in recent months has indicated that Americans have a high level of concern over Barack Obama’s eligibility to be president, with one poll showing fully half of the nation wants Congress to investigate the question.  But reporters for the traditional media – networks, major newspapers, major news corporations and conglomerates – mostly have giggled when talk turns to the serious question of just what the U.S. Constitution requires of presidents. Nevertheless, media organizations from all political persuasions are seeking admittance to a news conference to be held by Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz. The event is Thursday, March 1, at 1 p.m. Mountain Standard Time in Phoenix, 3 p.m. Eastern, and will be live-streamed by WND.

My Take - You know….When this whole thing started about three years ago I thought it was a load of horsepucky. Then I noticed that great efforts were being made to prevent anyone from looking into any aspect of his previous life. Why? If there is nothing to hide why hide it? The media demanded this of McCain and he produced the necessary paper work immediately.

Then I asked myself; why are the major media outlets, that demand every scrap of paper about every aspect of every conservative candidate’s personal and public life, completely ignoring this? It is clear that something is wrong. It is clear that when someone becomes famous those who went to the same school at the same time will claim they were well acquainted with that person. Those who were acquainted then claim that they were close friends. Close friends with then claim that they were his personal favorites. And all of them remember deep discussions with that person that clearly impacted future thinking.

But Obama has no one doing this. No close personal friends at college; and some have no recollections of him at all…and in small classes he was supposed to have attended. Where was he all of this time? Everyone has ex-friends and ex-girl friends; admittedly, not always complimentary past experiences, but they at least existed. But not Obama! Why? Where was he and who was he involved with. No one really knows. It seems to me that he is a good husband and a good father, but that isn’t a requirement to be President of the United States.

 Senate to Vote Thursday on 'Respect for Rights of Conscience'
The U.S. Senate plans to vote Thursday on a Republican-sponsored amendment that would restore "conscience rights" to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  The amendment -- sponsored by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and attached to an unrelated transportation bill -- would remove "inflexible mandates" that prevent individuals from exercising their rights of conscience and that impede their ability to freely participate in the health care marketplace

New N. Korea Nuclear Deal Follows Years of Cheating and Non-Compliance
News that North Korea has pledged to suspend uranium enrichment and nuclear and long-range missile tests in return for U.S. food aid is drawing a cautious – and skeptical – reaction, given Pyongyang’s record of breaching previous such agreements. “Throw another North Korea nuclear promise onto the pile,” ran the headline on a Republican Policy Committee blog post…… “If you’re hearing a little bit of snark in my tone, it’s because we’ve been on this road trip before with N.K.” commented Danielle Pletka, vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. “They’ve never abided by, no joke, a single agreement. But they’ve pulled the wool over the eyes of successive administrations … said Ros-Lehtinen. “Pyongyang will likely continue its clandestine nuclear weapons program right under our noses.”

Czar of the Day

Jeffrey Crowley
AIDS Czar
Radical Homosexual.. A Gay Rights activist. Believes in Gay Marriage and especially, a Special Status for homosexuals only, including complete free health care for gays.


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Zone of Reality: Castro Notes

This first appeared on December 2, 2009

Castro's Berlin Wall -- Alive and Kicking
By Humberto Fontova

OK, a decent interval has passed since Freedom-Week, so I'm no party-pooper. The fall of the Berlin Wall certainly merited all the festivities. Its construction eventually whacked many of the "enlightened" on the head, grabbed them by the ears, and shoved their faces in for a close-up of an enclosure that had gone up fourteen years earlier: the Iron Curtain……All that barbed wire, those minefields, and those machine guns were not ornamental. Those big, steely-eyed dogs were not trained to beg and roll over, but to rip apart anyone seeking freedom. The Berlin Wall (FINALLY!) bellowed high-decibel proof, even to the deafest leftist, that Communism was pure slavery (but obviously not for the slavemasters)…..Between two and three hundred people died trying to breach the Berlin Wall (i.e., the "anti-fascist protection barrier," as dubbed by the Reds and as probably thought of by the type of people who believe Cuba has free and exquisite health care and who pay to see Michael Moore movies).    Between sixty-five and eighty thousand people (men, women, and children, entire families at a time) have died trying to escape Castro's Cuba. The former is now happily torn asunder. The latter is alive and kicking and glorified by everyone from the Congressional Black Caucus to Michael Moore and lavished with economic succor by many of the same governments who celebrated the collapse of East German Communism two weeks ago.


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Logical Fallacy of the Week; Week 26: Suppressed Correlative

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Suppressed correlative

The fallacy of suppressed correlative is a type of argument that tries to redefine a correlative (one of two mutually exclusive options) so that one alternative encompasses the other, i.e. making one

Description

A conceptual example:

Person 1: "All things are either X or not X." (The correlatives: X–not X.)
Person 2: "I define X such that all things that you claim are not X are included in X."

(The suppressed correlative: not X.)

Alternatively Person 2 can redefine X in way that instead concludes all things are not X.
A simple example based on one by Alexander Bain.

Person 1: "Things are either mysterious or not mysterious. Exactly when an earthquake will strike is still a mystery, but how blood circulates in the body is not."

Person 2: "Everything is mysterious. There are still things to be learned about how blood circulates."

There is more by way of explanation, follow the link.  RK


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Federalist Number 2

Many times it is difficult to understand what they mean and why they are saying these things because we may not understand the context, so I have added an explanation link is at the end. My sources for this are the Library of Congress and Wikipedia. RK


Federalist No. 2
Concerning Dangers from Foreign Force and Influence
For the Independent Journal.
Author: John Jay
To the People of the State of New York:

WHEN the people of America reflect that they are now called upon to decide a question, which, in its consequences, must prove one of the most important that ever engaged their attention, the propriety of their taking a very comprehensive, as well as a very serious, view of it, will be evident.

Nothing is more certain than the indispensable necessity of government, and it is equally undeniable, that whenever and however it is instituted, the people must cede to it some of their natural rights in order to vest it with requisite powers. It is well worthy of consideration therefore, whether it would conduce more to the interest of the people of America that they should, to all general purposes, be one nation, under one federal government, or that they should divide themselves into separate confederacies, and give to the head of each the same kind of powers which they are advised to place in one national government.

It has until lately been a received and uncontradicted opinion that the prosperity of the people of America depended on their continuing firmly united, and the wishes, prayers, and efforts of our best and wisest citizens have been constantly directed to that object. But politicians now appear, who insist that this opinion is erroneous, and that instead of looking for safety and happiness in union, we ought to seek it in a division of the States into distinct confederacies or sovereignties. However extraordinary this new doctrine may appear, it nevertheless has its advocates; and certain characters who were much opposed to it formerly, are at present of the number. Whatever may be the arguments or inducements which have wrought this change in the sentiments and declarations of these gentlemen, it certainly would not be wise in the people at large to adopt these new political tenets without being fully convinced that they are founded in truth and sound policy.

It has often given me pleasure to observe that independent America was not composed of detached and distant territories, but that one connected, fertile, widespreading country was the portion of our western sons of liberty. Providence has in a particular manner blessed it with a variety of soils and productions, and watered it with innumerable streams, for the delight and accommodation of its inhabitants. A succession of navigable waters forms a kind of chain round its borders, as if to bind it together; while the most noble rivers in the world, running at convenient distances, present them with highways for the easy communication of friendly aids, and the mutual transportation and exchange of their various commodities.

With equal pleasure I have as often taken notice that Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people--a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs, and who, by their joint counsels, arms, and efforts, fighting side by side throughout a long and bloody war, have nobly established general liberty and independence.

This country and this people seem to have been made for each other, and it appears as if it was the design of Providence, that an inheritance so proper and convenient for a band of brethren, united to each other by the strongest ties, should never be split into a number of unsocial, jealous, and alien sovereignties.

Similar sentiments have hitherto prevailed among all orders and denominations of men among us. To all general purposes we have uniformly been one people each individual citizen everywhere enjoying the same national rights, privileges, and protection. As a nation we have made peace and war; as a nation we have vanquished our common enemies; as a nation we have formed alliances, and made treaties, and entered into various compacts and conventions with foreign states.

A strong sense of the value and blessings of union induced the people, at a very early period, to institute a federal government to preserve and perpetuate it. They formed it almost as soon as they had a political existence; nay, at a time when their habitations were in flames, when many of their citizens were bleeding, and when the progress of hostility and desolation left little room for those calm and mature inquiries and reflections which must ever precede the formation of a wise and well balanced government for a free people. It is not to be wondered at, that a government instituted in times so inauspicious, should on experiment be found greatly deficient and inadequate to the purpose it was intended to answer.

This intelligent people perceived and regretted these defects. Still continuing no less attached to union than enamored of liberty, they observed the danger which immediately threatened the former and more remotely the latter; and being pursuaded that ample security for both could only be found in a national government more wisely framed, they as with one voice, convened the late convention at Philadelphia, to take that important subject under consideration.

This convention composed of men who possessed the confidence of the people, and many of whom had become highly distinguished by their patriotism, virtue and wisdom, in times which tried the minds and hearts of men, undertook the arduous task. In the mild season of peace, with minds unoccupied by other subjects, they passed many months in cool, uninterrupted, and daily consultation; and finally, without having been awed by power, or influenced by any passions except love for their country, they presented and recommended to the people the plan produced by their joint and very unanimous councils.

Admit, for so is the fact, that this plan is only RECOMMENDED, not imposed, yet let it be remembered that it is neither recommended to BLIND approbation, nor to BLIND reprobation; but to that sedate and candid consideration which the magnitude and importance of the subject demand, and which it certainly ought to receive. But this (as was remarked in the foregoing number of this paper) is more to be wished than expected, that it may be so considered and examined. Experience on a former occasion teaches us not to be too sanguine in such hopes. It is not yet forgotten that well-grounded apprehensions of imminent danger induced the people of America to form the memorable Congress of 1774. That body recommended certain measures to their constituents, and the event proved their wisdom; yet it is fresh in our memories how soon the press began to teem with pamphlets and weekly papers against those very measures. Not only many of the officers of government, who obeyed the dictates of personal interest, but others, from a mistaken estimate of consequences, or the undue influence of former attachments, or whose ambition aimed at objects which did not correspond with the public good, were indefatigable in their efforts to pursuade the people to reject the advice of that patriotic Congress. Many, indeed, were deceived and deluded, but the great majority of the people reasoned and decided judiciously; and happy they are in reflecting that they did so.

They considered that the Congress was composed of many wise and experienced men. That, being convened from different parts of the country, they brought with them and communicated to each other a variety of useful information. That, in the course of the time they passed together in inquiring into and discussing the true interests of their country, they must have acquired very accurate knowledge on that head. That they were individually interested in the public liberty and prosperity, and therefore that it was not less their inclination than their duty to recommend only such measures as, after the most mature deliberation, they really thought prudent and advisable.

These and similar considerations then induced the people to rely greatly on the judgment and integrity of the Congress; and they took their advice, notwithstanding the various arts and endeavors used to deter them from it. But if the people at large had reason to confide in the men of that Congress, few of whom had been fully tried or generally known, still greater reason have they now to respect the judgment and advice of the convention, for it is well known that some of the most distinguished members of that Congress, who have been since tried and justly approved for patriotism and abilities, and who have grown old in acquiring political information, were also members of this convention, and carried into it their accumulated knowledge and experience.

It is worthy of remark that not only the first, but every succeeding Congress, as well as the late convention, have invariably joined with the people in thinking that the prosperity of America depended on its Union. To preserve and perpetuate it was the great object of the people in forming that convention, and it is also the great object of the plan which the convention has advised them to adopt. With what propriety, therefore, or for what good purposes, are attempts at this particular period made by some men to depreciate the importance of the Union? Or why is it suggested that three or four confederacies would be better than one? I am persuaded in my own mind that the people have always thought right on this subject, and that their universal and uniform attachment to the cause of the Union rests on great and weighty reasons, which I shall endeavor to develop and explain in some ensuing papers. They who promote the idea of substituting a number of distinct confederacies in the room of the plan of the convention, seem clearly to foresee that the rejection of it would put the continuance of the Union in the utmost jeopardy. That certainly would be the case, and I sincerely wish that it may be as clearly foreseen by every good citizen, that whenever the dissolution of the Union arrives, America will have reason to exclaim, in the words of the poet:
"FAREWELL! A LONG FAREWELL TO ALL MY GREATNESS."


EXPLANATION

Zone of Reality: Castro Notes

By Rich Kozlovich

I hope everyone has been following this series because I am still waiting to hear someone tell me when ‘civil rights activists’, like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are going to call Congressmen and women on the carpet for supporting Castro. Oh…wait…. I forgot they think Castro is the cat’s pajamas, along with Maxine Waters and Charlie Rangel.

Does anyone remember when “Rep. Marcia Fudge returned today from a five-day Congressional Black Caucus trip to Cuba… organized by Black Caucus Chair Barbara Lee of California, who said she organized it to explore lifting the U.S. embargo on Cuba. Fidel Castro met with Lee, along with Illinois Rep. Bobby Rush and California Rep. Laura Richardson…[proclaiming] "He is really a very intelligent, a very engaging, entertaining guy, actually," Fudge said of the Cuban leader, who told childhood stories about his exploits with brother, Fidel, during a meeting that stretched into dinner.”’ I guess it really isn’t about civil rights for blacks after all. However, I think it might be a worthwhile effort to explore what they really are all about.

Don’t you?

There is one more point I would like to make. It is silly of me of course, but did anyone notice the year that the Congressional Black Caucus members met with the Castros? No? It was in 2009! In what year did Castro's boys murder the civil rights activist Orlando Zapata-Tamayo? The year was 2010! Wow! They really impressed those "very intelligent, a very engaging, entertaining', Castro boys....didn't they?


Black Civil Rights Activist Murdered by Castro Regime
By Humberto Fontova

Originally published on February 27, 2010

On Feb 23, black human rights activist Orlando Zapata-Tamayo died after an 83-day hunger strike and a series of savage beatings by his Castroite jailers/torturers.

Some background: Shortly after Jimmy Carter (famous for his "human rights"-flavored foreign policy as president) visited Castro in 2002, played baseball with him, and returned home proclaiming Castro "a committed egalitarian who despises any system in which one class or group of people lives much better than another," Zapata-Tamayo was beaten and arrested by Castro's police for the crime of "disobedience." Castro's KGB/STASI-trained secret police had a point. Tamayo, a humble rural plumber and bricklayer, had studied the (smuggled) works of Martin Luther King and Mohandas Gandhi and had attempted some "civil disobedience" to protest the Stalinism imposed on Cuba by the Castro brothers, Che Guevara, and their Soviet puppeteers.

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Observations From the Back Row

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What Kids Now Learn in College
As high school seniors throughout America will be receiving acceptance letters to colleges within the next month, it would be nice for parents to meditate on what they are getting for the $20–$50,000 they will pay each year.

Gas Prices Versus Oil Prices
O’Reilly, Gas Prices and Reality - I’m normally a fan of Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, but he is not a fan of oil companies. This is where he loses me.  It’s not that I’m a big fan of oil companies, or any particular company, really, except maybe Apple (can we get the new iPad already?). I rarely think about companies, let alone whole industries. But Bill does. I don’t know O’Reilly’s politics, mostly because he’s all over the place. But his anger toward oil companies is misdirected and he ultimately misleads his audience.

Socialist Sanders’ Hot Air on Gas
The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is $3.72. This is more than double what Americans paid for it on Barack Obama’s inauguration day.  Exploding fuel prices, along with unemployment stubbornly hovering above 8 percent for the last three years and the national debt increasing by more than $5 trillion during that same period, is one of those metrics that inevitably shapes the public’s opinion of the president. Being an election year, the president’s supporters naturally seek to deflect charges that he has anything to do with the escalating prices at the pump.

Editor's Note: I saw both of these interviews and the problem isn't just the views these two espouse. One has to expect people to tell their story their way. The job of the moderator, or interviewer, is to know both side of the argument as well or better than the proponent of those views. After that their job is to know what is spin, what is accurate, what is an outright lie and what are logical fallacies; and then call them on it. But when one proponent in one interview is the interviewer and the other is an outright socialist why would anyone expect to hear the truth. Especially since these people never allow anyone who disagrees with them to speak without interruption long enough to lay foundation for their views. I still think O'Reilly is a phony. At least Sanders is an open book, albeit a very unpleasant read, at least you absolutely know where he stands on almost every issue long before he opens his mouth. Who really knows what is going on in O'Reilly's head?

Feds: Fresh milk 150 times more dangerous than pasteurized dairy
The federal government said Tuesday that fresh milk is 150 times more dangerous than pasteurized milk — a finding that bolsters the government’s argument as it goes after farmers who sell unpasteurized milk across state lines. After a 13-year review, the taxpayer-funded Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said states where so-called “raw milk” is available had twice the rate of dairy-related disease outbreaks as states where those sales are banned.

Ecologists against the Jews
“The desert is groaning”, declares Cornerstone magazine, the Palestinian Sabeel Theology Center’s publication. “The Israeli army and settlers have polluted the Palestinian areas,” writes Reverend Naim Ateek, who heads the notorious anti-Jewish Christian center. Despite the fact that Israel is the only country to enter the 21st century with a net gain in forest growth, Green activists today are among the most virulently anti-Jewish. The Green Party mayor of Aachen, Hilde Scheidt, has just waged a media campaign against Israel. Prominent German author Henryk Broder called her a “Green anti-Semite,” after she defended a cartoon depicting a man sporting a Star of David on his bib as he devours a young Palestinian.

My Take - I do find this amazing! The left eating their own children! American Jews have consistently been on the left, even during the Eisenhower years they supported Adlai Stevenson over Dwight D. Eisenhower in spite of the fact that Stevenson wasn't a big supporter of Israel and Ike really was. Why? Because leftism was more important to them than Israel! I wonder how long this can go on. How much does it take for intelligent leftists to see that leftism is insanity? I have breakfast with a Jewish car dealer on an irregular basis and we discussed this yesterday. He wonders what goes on in the minds of his fellow Jews in their support of the people on the left. People who have a history of anti-Semitism! I do find this amazing! Then again...perhaps when we begin to understand that Leftism, and all of its components such as environmentalism are a pseudo-religious movement....it is completely understandable.

Czar of the Day
Ed Montgomery
Auto recovery Czar
Black radical anti business activist who supports affirmative action and job preference for blacks. University of Maryland Business School Dean who teaches US business has caused world poverty. ACORN board member. Communist DuBois Club member. Resigned in 2010.