The author is not responsible for emotional distress caused by these words. Political correctness is not one of his favorite things.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Last post for 2007

Oh yes, regarding global warming. I take a completely neutral stance between the usual extremes of panic and denial, or hoax believers. If it is a problem I can guarantee there are many other problems that pose far greater dangers to humanity and far sooner than does global warming. Just as no one will take a serious look at any data showing global warming not to be the humanity threatening danger that fundamentalist members of the church of global warming “know” it to be, no one will even discuss these other dangerous situations. These are far more menacing, far more immediate, and far more traumatic than the worst global warming scenario the high priest of the church of global warming, Father Gore, could possibly describe.

What are these terribly serious situations? Why, the trials of Britney and Jamie Lynn and the pains of poor little Paris Hilton. Add that to the altercations of Lindsay Lohan and you have real earth-shaking events. Then there are all those bowl games and the NFL playoffs. Consider the trauma, the personal trauma that will befall those fans whose teams lose. It’s enough to bring one to tears of sympathy for those poor, soon to be traumatized souls. The suicide rate will probably multiply amidst the uncontrolled screaming and ranting of those poor losing fans as their teams head for home in disgrace.

So, buck up all you who are or may be facing these traumatic events. You can survive and maybe even escape with minor wounds if you just keep a stiff upper lip. Remember, intellectuals, geniuses and others like them may lose their BSs, their MAs, and even their PhDs, but a fan goes on forever and—there’s always next year or another flake to idolize.

Ho

Last Newsweek of 2007

I’m not a big fan of Newsweek for reasons that should be obvious, but the final copy of 2007 at least displays some items of interest, good and bad.

On the really sick side, their list of celebrities in their “Newsmakers Madness” section had photos of 32 individuals, most of whom are from the entertainment world and even among this nondescript group they truly represent the dregs of humanity. I am happy to say I only recognized a few names. I probably knew them only because their names and faces have been emblazoned across TV and radio news on nearly a daily basis for a number of ridiculous reasons by a fawning media that thrives on repugnant happenings of all kinds. Of the eight individuals whose names I did recognize there was only one that I know anything about beyond hearing their names tied to some completely nonsensical or ridiculous action. That most of these dismal excuses for humans seem to have much in common, at least morally, with the creature from the black lagoon is patently obvious to any sensitive mind. Fanism and celebrity worship seems to be a contagious disease now of epidemic proportions among the mindless boobs currently trying to pass themselves off as adults in our present culture.

On a much more intelligent level was their list of 34 “Famous in Life, Noted in Passing” with tiny bios. (Newsweek was gracious enough not to include any such bios about those on the newsmaker list.) This list of those who died in 2007 was a much broader and more significant group. Though still primarily from the entertainment world, most had at least something of significance in their life even if it was nastiness. Of course, celebrity status is far more apt to be granted those with attributes they were born with, money or prestige they had, often inherited, or fame garnered by outlandish public acts than any demonstration of intellect or excellence. Isn’t it strange that fame is more apt to be gained by those who play-act being another person, that is being a complete fake and lie than by those they pretend to be—even some very ordinary people? Apparently, being a fake is more to be admired and valued than being the real thing. How difficult it must be for those who act to have a genuine original thought of their own without reading a script.

If you get a chance, read George Will’s The Last Word at the very back of the issue. Here’s the first paragraph:

In 2007, CAME THE REVOLUTION, determined to end the war in Iraq and begin the reign of justice in America, Democrats took over Congress and acted on the principal, “ready, fire, aim.” They threatened to tell the Ottoman Empire (deceased 1922) that it should be ashamed of itself (about Armenian genocide) and raised the minimum wage to $5.85, which is worth less than the $5.15 minimum was worth when it was set in 1997. Onward and upward with compassionate liberalism: The Democrat controlled Senate flinched from making hedge fund millionaires pay more than a 15 percent tax rate. (Too many of them on the Democrat side of the aisle in the Senate?) At the year's end, there were more troops in Iraq than there were at the year’s beginning. Although it was not yet possible to say the war was won, it was no longer possible to say the surge wasn’t succeeding. (Harry Reid please note.) The McClatchy Newspapers, with the media’s flair for discerning lead linings on silver clouds, offered this headline: AS VIOLENCE FALLS IN IRAQ, CEMETERY WORKERS FEEL THE PINCH.

George Will continues filling the page with salient bits of news the main stream media usually hides among ads in the back pages, if not completely ignoring them. Among the most significant was this story from in Seattle, USSR:

A Seattle based day-care center banned Lego building blocks because the beastly children “were building their assumptions about ownership and the social power it conveys, assumptions that mirrored those of a class-based, capitalist society.” The center reinstated Legos but allowed the children to build only “public structures” dedicated to “collectivity and consensus.”

Do you suppose maybe old line communist Chinese, driven from their homeland by the new business and profits movement there, have moved to and taken over Seattle? The lead article on China in this issue indicates this could be a possibility. Just a thought.

So all you liberal Democrats out there, READY! FIRE! AIM! or is it, FIRE! AIM! READY!

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Global warming - again!

To all you who put up with my sometimes a bit off the wall rants.

Several years ago I joined a group named The Environmental Defense Fund. Since joining I have found them to be a far left wing organization whose true agenda lies quite remote from that which they profess to support. Most of their effort seems to be to scare people about the imminent effects of global warming so that they donate to the organization. What follows is but one example of exchanges we have had continually since I joined. Interestingly, not one of my emails has ever been answered. Apparently all they are interested in is getting donations for their “cause.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Howard,

2008 could be a turning point in our fight against global warming.
Donate now to double your year end gift and help fight global warming.
Can you feel the tide turning? Last week's historic passage of the Climate Security Act out of a key Senate committee represents a new day for global warming action.
We are now poised to make history in 2008. But we need your help to keep up the pressure.

And to encourage your support, more than 1,000 Environmental Defense members have contributed to a Global Warming Challenge Grant to match your year end gift dollar-for-dollar.

Donate today to our Year-End Global Warming Challenge and double the value of your gift.

Your challengers are everyday people just like you. They care about our future and they helped create the Challenge Grant to help build our campaign to stop global warming.

Here are some of the things these men and woman have had to say:
Environmental Defense goes after the biggest energy problems on earth, working at the highest levels for the most significant changes. Supporting ED's efforts will allow you to have the largest effect possible in the effort to save the earth.
- Kathy R, Cambridge MA

It is our responsibility to do everything we can to save our environment. I always think of the Iroquois proverb, "In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations." What are we leaving behind for our children?
- Marjorie, Iowa City, IA

I am on board with Environmental Defense because I am concerned about my young daughter's future, and because, as a religious leader and person of faith, I can think of no greater sacred responsibility than protecting the future of life on earth. I urge people of all faiths and traditions to join in this holy task.
- Rabbi Steve Folberg, Austin, TX

Contrbuting to Environmental Defense is one of the few ways that an individual can hope to make a difference. If there is any hope to protect our fragile planet from being ravaged by the uncaring and ignorant, Environmental Defense will be in the forefront. We must act as stewards.
- Louise Hodges, Hanford, CA

Donate today to have your gift matched dollar-for-dollar.
In all of my years working on important environmental issues, I cannot recall a mobilization as massive and concerted as the one now underway to fight global warming. And you and I have progress to show for our efforts.

But we can't let up, not for a minute. We can't wait for the results of next year's elections. We can't hope for the sea change within American industries to continue on its own. And we certainly cannot count on Congress to pass an historic cap on global warming pollution without continued grassroots demand.

We now have serious momentum toward the kinds of changes that could lead to major global warming progress.

Please donate today to help us take advantage of this momentum and have your gift matched dollar-for-dollar.

Thanks for all you do.

Sincerely, Fred Krupp
President
Enviromental Defense

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My reply that followed:

Dear Fred:

Global warming as a result of our use of fossil fuels may be a political fact which provides many benefits for those who would control our lives for their own personal benefit, a fact in the news media since it is useful in promoting their agenda, and an economic windfall for many, like yourself, who have jumped on the global warming bandwagon. It is definitely not a scientific fact.

It is a proven fact that there are at least a dozen other causes that could be equally responsible for any global warming caused by the increases of CO2 in the atmosphere. In addition, the continuing destruction of forests, primarily in the undeveloped world, is very possibly responsible for more of the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere than is the combustion of fossil fuels. I would like to see some studies of both how much CO2 is produced by the burning done to clear these forests and the amount of CO2 the destroyed forest no longer removes from the atmosphere. Somewhere I remember reading that a 12% increase in forests in the world would remove all the CO2 produced annually by all the vehicles in the entire world.

I think it unconscionable that the promoters of the "global warming" panic never address these other factors, even those like forest destruction which could be controlled far easier than forcing changes in our vehicles by writing more laws. In spite of this opinion, I have written a book, A Convenient Solution, about how to change our energy system to get us away from fossil fuels and greatly reduce or stop the emission of CO2. It will be published and released within the next few weeks. My reasons for writing the book are about ptoblems and dangers far more challenging than any possible effects of global warming. The overpowering reason is to get us away from dependence on foreign oil and reduce the ponderous drain of billions of dollars presently leaving our country and mostly going to nations that hate us and preach our destruction.

I would even be willing to send you a copy of my book if you would like. Just let me know where. If any of the systems described in my book were to be put in effect the increase of atmospheric CO2 would be stopped and even reversed. These changes would do far more to stop your form of CO2 caused global warming than any of the efforts you are now making no matter how successful are those efforts.

Howard Johnson.

End of email

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PLEASE NOTE: The global warming phenomena is an artificially created, politically motivated mass movement—almost a religion—that will rarely if ever make any serious effort to really solve the problem if there indeed is one. That there are now more climate scientists questioning the CO2 greenhouse effect than are caught up in this religious frenzy is becoming more evident. That the media and global warming fanatics completely ignore all these scientists and their evidence is increasingly evident. The reasons are simple and Fred Krup (who is a fund raiser and not a scientist of any sort) is but one example of people who are making a career out "global warming." Those reasons are simply the desire for power and money along with an antibusiness political agenda on the part of those who would use it to increase taxes and gain political control for themselves. I certainly would welcome a serious effort at objective examinations of data pertaining to all of the plausible global warming (and cooling) causes including the “greenhouse gas” effect of CO2 so dear to the hearts of the left, fund raisers, and the media. The data I have seen thus far show that the greenhouse effect of CO2 is no more the likely cause of global warming than at least a dozen other natural systems that we know quite a bit about.

I wonder just how many organizations like environmentaldefense.com are using global warming as a tool to raise money for themselves and for their political aims. I also wonder why it is these organizations have to use strictly emotional appeals and strong arm tactics to obtain their funds and promote their agendas. They capitalize on the ignorance of both the media (who haven’t a clue as to the facts about “global warming”) and the masses of the public who succumb to their rants of fearsome consequences. Everyone knows how the media feeds on pain and misery and will promote anything that gives them fodder for their “woe is me” attitude. In reality, the billions we spend for oil from nations who preach and plot our destruction are part of a very real and present (and rapidly growing) danger that poses a much bigger and more immediate threat to America than does global warming by even the most convoluted scenario any of the global warming crowd could possibly come up with. That is where we ought to be focusing our efforts and expending our resources and energy.

Business isn’t the villain in this case, it’s an enforced victim that the left and their captive media love to use as a whipping boy. Why else do you think they have made profits into a dirty word. The very profits that generate the money the government confiscates as taxes in order to feed the career bureaucrats’ insatiable appetite for money and power. Global warming is merely the current tool used to obtain that power and money. What are these money grubbers going to do if they succeed in destroying American business enterprises? Where will the steadily increasing funds these bureaucrats need to run their unproductive departments come from when profits cease to exist, tax money ceases to exist, and our economy grinds to a halt?

One of my favorite quotes which fits perfectly into the political scene we are now witnessing comes from a Scottish historian, When the 13 colonies were still part of England, Professor Alexander Tyler, a Scottish historian, wrote about the fall of the Athenian democracy over 2000 years earlier.

“A democracy can not exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves money from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates promising them the most money from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship.”

In other words what is happening is that voters are in the process of killing the geese that lay the golden eggs and politicians, mostly left leaning, are handing them the ax and urging them to use it. Since it is far easier for a mob to destroy than build, that’s what they will do, even though they suffer grievously in the process. They forget that the only way we can all be “equal” is if we all have nothing. As stupid as that is, it seems to be human nature. Eric Hoffer had a real good handle on these individuals and why they do what they do. In one favorite of mine he said.

“Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life. Thus people haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try to find a new content not only by dedicating themselves to a holy cause but also by nursing a fanatical grievance. A mass movement (like global warming) offers them unlimited opportunities for both.”

You can read some of his other pertinent quotes at: http://ehoffer.blogspot.com/

For more real information on possible causes of global warming,
goto http://hjgulfstream.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Liberals, are they geneticly haters?

In the present politically charged atmosphere of the coming Presidential race the candidates seem to be keeping most of their claws retracted under smiling faces and supposed congeniality. Even Hillary seems to be on her best behavior most of the time and that must take a lot of restraint on her part. It has been evident for some time and to virtually everyone that Hillary is an incarnation of the "Wicked Witch of the North." Her hate for all who oppose her were expressed quite accurately by Howard Dean, president of the DNC when he literally screamed, "I hate Republicans. I hate conservatives. I hate Rush Limbaugh."

I just ran across a piece I had downloaded from the Internet nearly two years ago. While reports of the nastiness of Hillary have been circulating for many years, this one comes from people with a record of being in contact with Hillary on a daily basis. I couldn't write a rant with nearly the impact of this report so, here it is:

Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2006 22:15:58

Subject: Presidential Observations by the Secret Service - By Dave Kulow

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We had a neighbor when I lived in DC who was part of the secret service presidential detail for many years. His stories of Kennedy and Johnson were the same as those I heard from the guys who flew the presidents' plane

Yes, Kennedy did have Marilyn Monroe flown in for secret "dates," and LBJ was a typical Texas "good ole boy" womanizer. Nixon, Bush 41, and Carter never cheated on their wives. Clinton cheated, but couldn't match Kennedy or LBJ in style or variety.

The information below is accurate: The elder Bush and current president Bush make it a point to thank and take care of the air crews who fly them around. When the president flies, there are several planes that also go, one carries the armored limo, another the security detail, plus usually a press aircraft. Both Bush's made it a point to stay home on holidays, so the Air Force and security people could have a day with their families.

WHAT WAS: Hillary Clinton was arrogant and orally abusive to her security detail. She forbade her daughter, Chelsea, from exchanging pleasantries with them. Sometimes Chelsea, miffed at her mother's obvious conceit and mean spiritedness ignored her demands and exchanged pleasantries regardless, but never in her mother's presence.

Chelsea really was a nice, kindhearted, and lovely young lady. The consensus opinion was that Chelsea loved her Mom but did not like her. Hillary Clinton was continuously rude and abrasive to those who were charged to protect her life. Her security detail dutifully did their job, as professionals should, but they all loathed her and wanted to be on a different detail. Hillary Clinton was despised by the Secret Service as a whole.

Former President Bill Clinton was much more amiable than his wife. Often the Secret Service would cringe at the verbal attacks Hillary would use against her husband. They were embarrassed for his sake by the manner and frequency in which she verbally insulted him, sometimes in the presence of the Secret Service, and sometimes behind closed doors. Even behind closed doors Hillary Clinton would scream and holler so loudly that everyone could hear what she was saying.

Many felt sorry for President Clinton and most wondered why he tolerated it instead of just divorcing his "attack dog" wife. It was crystal clear that the Clinton's neither liked nor respected each other and this was true long before the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Theirs was genuinely a "marriage of convenience."

Chelsea was much closer to her father than her mother, even after the Lewinsky scandal, which hurt her gravely. Bill Clinton did in fact have charisma, and occasionally would smile at or shake hands with his security detail.

Still, he always displayed an obvious air of superiority towards them. His security detail uniformly believed him to be disingenuous, false, and that he did nothing without a motive that in some way would enhance his image and political career. He was polite, but not kind. They did not particularly like him and nobody trusted him.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN: Al Gore was the male version of Hillary Clinton. They were more friendly toward each other than either of them were towards former President Clinton. They were not intimate, so please don't read that in. They were very close in a political way. Tipper Gore was generally nice and pleasant. She initially liked Hillary but soon after the election she had her "pegged" and no longer liked her or associated with her except for events that were politically obligatory.

Al Gore was far more left wing than Bill Clinton. Al Gore resented Bill Clinton and thought he was too "centrist." He despised all Republicans. His hatred was bitter and this was long before he announced for the Presidency. This hatred was something that he and Hillary had in common. They often said as much, even in the presence of their security detail.

Neither of them trusted Bill Clinton and, the Secret Service opined, neither of them even liked Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton did have some good qualities, whereas Al Gore and Hillary had none, in the view of their security details.

Al Gore, like Hillary, was very rude and arrogant toward his security detail. He was extremely unappreciative and would not hesitate to scold them in the presence of their peers for minor details over which they had no control. Al Gore also looked down on them, as they finally observed and learned with certainty on one occasion. Al got angry at his offspring and pointed at his security detail and said, "Do you want to grow up and be like them?"

Word of this insult by the former Vice-president quickly spread and he became as disliked by the Secret Service as Hillary. Most of them prayed Al Gore would not be elected President, and they really did have private celebrations in a few of their homes after President Bush won. This was not necessarily to celebrate President Bush's election, but to celebrate Al Gore's defeat.

WHAT IS: Everyone in the Secret Service wants to be on First Lady Laura Bush's detail.
Without exception, they concede that she is perhaps the nicest and most kind person they have ever had the privilege of serving. Where Hillary patently refused to allow her picture to be taken with her security detail, Laura Bush doesn't even have to be asked, she offers. She doesn't just shake their hand and say, "Thank you." Very often, she will give members of her detail a kindhearted hug to express her appreciation.

There is nothing false about her. This is her genuine nature. Her security detail considers her to be a "breath of fresh air." They joke that comparing Laura Bush with Hillary Clinton is like comparing "Mother Teresa" with the "Wicked Witch of the North."

Likewise, the Secret Service considers President Bush to be a gem of a man to work for. He always treats them with genuine respect and he always trusts and listens to their expert advice. They really like the Crawford, Texas detail. Every time the president goes to Crawford he has a Bar-B-Q for his security detail and he helps serve their meals. He sits with them, eats with them, and talks with them. He knows each of them by their first name, and calls them by their first name as a show of affection. He always asks about their family, the names of which he always remembers.

They believe that he is deeply and genuinely appreciative of their service. They could not like, love, or respect anyone more than President Bush. Most of them did not know they would feel this way, until they had an opportunity to work for him and learn that his manner was genuine and consistent. It has never changed since he began his Presidency. He always treats them with the utmost respect, kindness, and compassion.

Please pass this on. It is important for Americans to have a true inside understanding of their President.

Hal Johnson


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No wonder she's sinking in the polls. Maybe Republicans should run Laura Bush.

Monday, October 29, 2007

A Big Backfire Against Liberal Democrat Actions

I challenge any of you liberals to refute any of the facts in this BLOG. Facts, not opinions. On second thought, maybe you shouldn't read this. Your thin skin couldn't take the facts.

The beginning of the fracus, (My commentary inserted in italics) Harry Reid on the Senate floor:

Washington, DC—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made the following statement today on the floor of the U.S. Senate, urging Senators to sign a letter that calls on Mark P. Mays, CEO of Clear Channel Communications, to publicly repudiate Rush Limbaugh’s characterization of troops who speak out against the Iraq war as "phony soldiers."
Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery:

"Freedom of speech is one of our country’s most cherished values. Nothing sets us further apart than the countries and regimes we oppose than our belief that everyone’s opinion matters, and everyone has the right to express it. That is why, when we hear things on the radio that are offensive, by and large, we tolerate them.

"But last week, Rush Limbaugh went way over the line – and while we respect his right to say anything he likes, his unpatriotic comments cannot be ignored. (Boy, Dingy Harry, did you ever get that wrong! For one who routinely condemns the war and Ameria, you have little authority to accuse others.)

"During his show last Wednesday, Rush Limbaugh was engaged in one of his typical rants. This rant was unremarkable and indistinguishable from his usual drivel, which has been steadily losing listeners for years (In your dreams, maybe! Factually incorrect as usual. Rush continues to gain listeners and has the largest following of anyone on radio.) – until he crossed that line by calling our men and women in uniform who oppose the war in Iraq ‘phony soldiers.’ This comment was so beyond the pale of decency that it cannot be left alone. And yet, he followed it up with denials and an attack on Congressman Jack Murtha, a 37-year active member of the Marine Corps. (He denied the Media Matters interpretation of his words and his "attack" was to repeat Murtha’s own words verbatim. Funny how liberal Democrats consider repetition of their own words as an attack on them.)

"We have been debating the Iraq war here in the Senate and throughout the country for not months, but years. (Wrong! You, the left, and your lackeys in the media, have been condemning Bush for waging an "illegal" war, calling him and his administration "criminals," "Nazis," and launching numerous other personal attacks, twisting facts and downright lying since the war started, and strictly for political gain. You have aided and abetted our enemies and provided direct support for their propaganda machines.) There are good, patriotic Americans who favor the war – and good, patriotic Americans who oppose President Bush’s handling of it. (There are also millions of Americans who decry the obvious assistance those bitter condemnations in your propaganda provides to those Islamic terrorists. Al Jazeera frequently uses your words verbatim in their constant attacks on our nation.) Neither party holds a patent on patriotism. (The liberal Democrats certainly act like they hold a patent on anti American hate speech.) I know all my Republican colleagues would agree with that.

"Yet Rush Limbaugh took it upon himself to attack the courage and character of those fighting and dying for him and for all of us. (How you could twist and mischaracterize Rush’s actual words means you did not hear them yourself and are either lying about what you heard or are taking the words of some other person or organization as being correct– which they certainly are not. Perhaps you get your marching orders from ‘Media Matters.’) Rush Limbaugh got himself a deferment from serving when he was a young man. He never served in uniform. He never saw in person the extreme difficulty of maintaining peace in a foreign country engaged in civil war. Yet he thinks that his opinion on the war is worth more than those who are on the front lines. (Sounds like a description of Bill Clinton to me. See "Bill Clinton's Militarfy Career" below.)

"And what’s worse – Limbaugh’s show is broadcast on Armed Forces Radio, which means that thousands of troops overseas and veterans here at home were forced to hear this attack on their patriotism. Rush Limbaugh owes the men and women of our Armed Forces an apology. (In the light of Rush’s long standing and unquestioned support for our troops, these last statements are pure nonsense and apply more to your actions, Senator Reid. Indeed, you are the one who owes everyone an apology.)

"On Friday, many Democrats joined me in drafting a letter to the Chief Executive Officer of Clear Channel, Mark Mays that we will send out this week. (This may actually have been a criminal or at least illegal act. Of course, liberal Democrats are above the law, aren’t they? They certainly seem to think they are.) Here is what we wrote:

‘Dear Mr. Mays,

‘At the time we sign this letter, 3,801 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq, and another 27,936 have been wounded. 160,000 others awoke this morning on foreign sand, far from home, to face the danger and uncertainty of another day at war. (The same is true about just three days of the start of the invasion of Normandy in WWII.)

‘Although Americans of goodwill debate the merits of this war, (I see absolutely no evidence of goodwill on the part of any liberal Democrat in this so called ‘debate.’) we can all agree that those who serve with such great courage deserve our deepest respect and gratitude. That is why Rush Limbaugh’s recent characterization of troops who oppose the war as "phony soldiers" is such an outrage.

‘Our troops are fighting and dying to bring to others the freedoms that many take for granted. (I can hardly believe you have admitted that, Senator Reid. George Soros, moveon.org and Media Matters will really be upset at you.) It is unconscionable that Mr. Limbaugh would criticize them for exercising the fundamentally American right to free speech. Mr. Limbaugh has made outrageous remarks before, but this affront to our soldiers is beyond the pale. (Compared to your ‘outrageous’ propaganda and hate speech about Bush and Republicans, Rush’s words are mild.)

‘The military, like any community within the United States, includes members both for and against the war. Senior generals, such as General John Batiste and Paul Eaton, have come out against the war while others have publicly supported it. A December 2006 poll conducted by the Military Times found just 35 percent of service members approved of President Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq, compared to 42 percent who disapproved. From this figure alone, it is clear that Mr. Limbaugh’s insult is directed at thousands of American service members. (What a farce and the military knows it is. I’d like to see results of a poll comparing Rush’s approval rating among all of our troops compared to yours, Senator. Try about 100 to 1.)

Active and retired members of our armed forces have a unique perspective on the war and offer a valuable contribution to our national debate. In August, seven soldiers wrote an op-ed expressing their concern with the current strategy in Iraq. Tragically, since then, two of those seven soldiers have made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq. (I suppose that’s why General Petraous’ report was given such great support by lefties.)

‘Thousands of active troops and veterans were subjected to Mr. Limbaugh’s unpatriotic and indefensible comments on your broadcast. We trust you will agree that not a single one of our sons, daughters, neighbors and friends serving overseas is a "phony soldier." We call on you to publicly repudiate these comments that call into question their service and sacrifice and to ask Mr. Limbaugh to apologize for his comments.’

"Just as patriotism is the exclusive realm of neither party, taking a stand against those who spew hate and impugn the integrity of our troops is a job that belongs to all of us. I can’t help but wonder how my Republican colleagues would have reacted if the tables were turned – if a well-known Democratic radio personality had used the same insulting line of attack against troops who support the war. (Your people do so all the time and there is no well known Democrat radio personality.)

"The letter I read will be available on the Senate floor for the entire day. My colleagues on both sides of the aisle will have every chance to add their names to it, and I encourage all of us to do so. If we take the Republican side at their word that last week’s vote on another controversial statement related to the war was truly about patriotism, not politics, then I have no doubt that they will stand with us against Limbaugh’s comments with equal fervor.

"I am confident we will see Republicans join with us in overwhelming numbers. (What a farce! He knows that's untrue.) Anything less would be a double standard that has no place in the United States Senate. I ask my colleagues, Democrat and Republican alike, to join together against this irresponsible, hateful, and unpatriotic attack by calling upon Rush Limbaugh to give our troops the apology they deserve."

HoJo’s follow up commentary: My only question is how stupid, ignorant and childish can a Senator get to concoct such a letter? The results of Reid’s stupid and possibly criminal behavior triggered a response that showed without a doubt who stood where in support of our troops and just how out of touch Reid is with reality. After this completely erroneous and unjustified attack, the poise and humor with which Rush handled his actions in response certainly speaks well for the kind of a man he is. That liberals will do literally anything they can to shut down Rush Limbaugh and many others on talk radio is an accepted truth. This is because so many in talk radio are among the very few in the media who tell the truth about the liberal left and their hatred for Republicans, the military, capitalism and yes, even the America that grants them the freedom to utter their words of hatred. They particularly hate the fact that their own words are used to show their true nature and what they are after. Notice who’s on the list of signers of his letter. It's a who's who among Socialist hate mongers in our Senate.

Senators that signed are listed below.
Senator Harry Reid, Senator Richard Durbin, Assistant Majority Leader (D-NY)
Senator Charles Schumer, Vice Chairman, Democratic Conference (D-NY)
Senator Patty Murray, Secretary, Democratic Conference (D-WA)
Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI)
Senator Max Baucus (D-MT)
Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) Wants to be President?
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD)
Senator Tom Carper (D-DE)
Senator Bob Casey (D-PA)
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) Wants to be President?
Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND)
Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) Wants to be President?
Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Senator Tom Harkin (D-CA)
Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA)
Senator John Kerry (D-MA) Wanted to be President
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Senator Carl Levin (D-MI)
Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL)
Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) Wants to be President?
Senator Jack Reed (D-RI)
Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO)
Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT)
Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-M)
Senator Jon Tester(D-MT)
Senator Jim Webb (D-VA)
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Comments from everywhere:
For more varied comments, click on http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1913623/posts

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I include the following few comments from bloggers:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I don't think the shook up Dem party will appeal to the masses.

Too out there. Too socialistic, too entitlement, too anti entrepreneurship. They quite obviously try to keep the poor poor and make the rich and successful pay for it.

They need to work with what they have, stop the petty crap and accomplish something. Fat chance of that actually happening.

Add up Hillary’s proposed trillion dollar tax increase (offered up by front man Charley Rangle) and you have a real recipe for a US financial disaster like Jimmy Carter’s 20%+ interest rate debacle and the recession it caused. Are Dems really so stupid they don’t realize that lower taxes equals prosperity and greater tax revenues? It happened under Kennedy, Reagan and Bush. It’s just that they really aren’t interested in an economy that creates wealth for so many people, only a system that puts as much money under their control as possible. How long do you think it will be until they take all your income (and property) and dole back to you (and illegals) what they decide you need.

But my question remains, why is there no press coverage on the auction? Nothing on network news, my local papers, etc. even if you hate Rush, why aren't more people disturbed? This shows strong news bias to the left. Don't you all want to hear all the news - good and bad? And why didn’t all those wealthy Democrat Senators offer to match the bid as Rush did? Because they think all donations should come from your tax dollars and not from their pockets, no matter how deep.

Or do libs only want to see, hear and read good things about Dems and bad about Republicans? They seem to hate everybody that speaks the truth. In fact, hasn’t unreasoning hate become their single most used method? The certainly never propose or talk about practical solutions or offer proposals for real progress.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Today' Omits Mention of Rush's $2.1 Million Donation

By Mark Finkelstein October 20, 2007 - 13:58 ET

Given his show's modest ratings, it's unlikely that Keith Olbermann would be in a position to make a multi-million dollar donation to charity anytime soon. But let's imagine he did. Do you think that, in a segment on a related subject, NBC might find a moment to mention Olbermann's generosity?

So do I.

But "Today" managed to get through its report this morning about Rush Limbaugh's auctioning off of the Harry Reid letter . . . without mentioning that Rush has publicly pledged to match the $2.1 million winning bid.

Typical main stream media "objective" reporting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Comments from Republican Representative, Joe Wilson of South Carolina:

WILSON: Madam Speaker, last week, America's number-one radio personality, Rush Limbaugh, auctioned off for charity a letter shamefully signed by a group of 41 Democrat senators. The letter to Limbaugh's employer attacked Rush for comments blatantly distorted by Media Matters regarding persons who had lied about their service in the military. I am happy to report that the Senate letter of infamy auctioned for $2.1 million, an amount Rush says he will generously match. That brings the total to $4.2 million. The money will be donated to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation. This charitable organization provides financial assistance to the children of fallen Marines and law enforcement officers. I wish to commend Rush for overcoming what was clearly a political ploy to chill his First Amendment rights of free speech. Rush took an abuse of power by Democrat leadership and turned it into something positive. Between Rush Limbaugh and Senate Democrats, America knows who really supports our troops.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Comments from Rush on his program:

RUSH: Well, we have a winner. The auction is over. The final bid remained at $2,100,100. The winning bidder, the high bidder: Betty Casey. More about Betty Casey in due course. (Open Line Friday intro jingle) Betty Casey: $2,100,100. She now is the proud owner of the Smear Letter written by Dingy Harry Reid, read by him on the Senate floor, mailed to the CEO of Clear Channel Communications, my syndication partner. This, ladies and gentlemen -- for those of you watching on the Dittocam, this is -- the Zero Halliburton metal attaché case, and inside (I'm going to be very, very careful with this) is the letter. I am holding it up now so that you can see it, watching on the Dittocam. Here is the first signature page that contains Hillary Rodham Clinton. It also contains Senator Reid, the Senate leadership and so forth. The attaché case, the letter, and a very, very well-written and nice thank-you note from me will be included, as well as a picture of me displaying it publicly for the first time last week in Philadelphia. Now, folks, while I'm waiting on the information here to fill you in on Betty Casey, who is a noted philanthropist, I want to share with you just a couple thoughts here about this. Everything about this, the letter -- and, by the way, I have to tell you...Harry Reid in a speech on the Senate floor at 12 noon today, a little over an hour ago, attempted to horn in on all this and take some credit for it, claiming that he and I had buried the hatchet, or implying that that had been the case, and then kept using the pronoun "WE" in discussing how good this was, the money going to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation. So the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, it's now official, is going to get in excess of $4.2 million because I am matching Betty Casey's bid on eBay -- $4.2 million. I asked Senator Reid to match and all the other senators who can afford to do so. I haven't heard from them on that. I asked Senator Reid to go on the program and discuss his discussion of me as "unpatriotic." He did not accept my offer to do that, and now has the audacity to climb aboard this, praising the effort, saying that "he" never knew that it would get this kind of money. It got this kind of money because it represents one of the most outrageous abuses of federal power in modern American history, and that is what makes it a collector's item.

This letter that Senator Reid wrote will forever memorialize him as a demagogue, and the same for the other 40 who signed it. Senator Reid will be remembered forever, here, as a disgrace. But let's put this in perspective. I think it's fascinating to see what happened here. Look at what happened. The Senate leader, the Senate majority leader, smeared a private citizen -- a private citizen, I, me, who has donated time and money to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation. The government tried to take away my living, by sending this letter to Mark Mays at Clear Channel and asking him to confer with me about my remarks. So that was an attempt from him to take away from me my living, and, in the process, my ability to support charities like this: the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation. This is the government, by the way, that our Founding Fathers warned us about and tried to protect us from, with a Bill of Rights. As a result (and I have tingles going up my spine here, and I have had all week long), fellow private citizens took up the cause. They bid their own hard-earned, after-tax dollars -- and many of you are sending your money in small amounts and large amounts to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, the charity that Senator Reid indirectly attempted to damage when he smeared the charity's board member and very active donor and fundraiser. The government was used as a blunt instrument here on me, and you could almost say as a blunt instrument on people in need.

Private citizens, of their own accord -- without a government mandate, without an Algore pledge -- responded with creativity, and charity, and a sense of fun. See, in the private sector, ideas matter, individuals care, and things get done. I guess conservatives are compassionate after all. The winning bidder is -- and this is subject to the receipt of funds, of course -- a wonderful woman named Betty Casey. She is a trustee of the Eugene B. Casey Foundation. She gives significant sums of money to hospitals, hospices, colleges, and private schools. These include the Eugene B. Casey Diabetes Education Center at Suburban Hospital, the Eugene B. Casey Swim Center, and the Eugene B. Casey Academic Center, and the Casey Home Hospice in Rockville. She has also donated tens of millions from the foundation and her personal funds to the Washington Opera. Betty Casey has been a listener to this program since its inception. She's a huge fan. We would expect nothing else -- and we cannot thank her enough for her support in this, and I am honored, and proud, and happy to be matching her $2,100,100. We also want to give thanks to eBay Giving Works, for allowing us to break their website in the closing moments of the auction. We were trying to get the latest bid amount in the last ten seconds, and on three different computers, we got a "system down" message. We broke eBay! I don't know that anybody has ever broken eBay. As such, we have heard from south Florida lawyers, ladies and gentlemen, who suspect that there might be a hanging-chad scenario here. We, of course, are going to just flick that away as we would a Lake Erie midge during a New York Yankees game in the American League Divisional Series Playoffs. Auction Cause also is an outfit we want to thank, because they managed all of this on eBay. They were our consultant, prequalifying bidders and developing the auction. So thanks again to Betty Casey, who is a trustee of the Eugene B. Casey Foundation, a fan and listener of this program from the beginning. It's $2,100,100 for the Harry Reid letter and this attaché case from Zero Halliburton.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another demonstration of where liberal Democrats stand in their battle against America:

By Colonel Harry Riley USA ret.

Senators,

Your vote against an amendment to the Immigration Bill 1348, to make English America's official language is astounding. On D-Day no less when we honor those that sacrificed in order to secure the bedrock character and principles of America. I can only surmise your vote reflects a loyalty to illegal aliens.

I don't much care where you come from, what your religion is, whether you're black, white or some other color, male or female, democrat, republican or independent, but I do care when you're a United States Senator, representing citizens of America and vote against English as the official language of the United States Your vote reflects betrayal, political surrender, violates your pledge of allegiance, dishonors historical principle, rejects patriotism, borders on traitorous action and, in my opinion, makes you unfit to serve as a United States Senator... impeachment, recall, or other appropriate action is warranted.

Worse, 4 of you voting against English as America 's official language are presidential candidates: Senator Biden, Senator Clinton, Senator Dodd, and Senator Obama. Those 4 Senators vying to lead America but won't or don't have the courage to cast a vote in favor of English as America's official language when 91% of American citizens want English officially designated as our language. This is the second time in the last several months this list of Senators have disgraced themselves as political hacks... unworthy as Senators and certainly unqualifed to serve as President of the United States.

If America is as angry as I am, you will realize a back-lash so stunning it will literally rock you out of your pants... and preferably, totally out of the United States Senate.

The entire immigration bill is a farce... your action only confirms this really isn't about America ; it's about self-serving politics... despicable at best. "Never argue with an idiot; they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." ~anonymous

"If you are a liberal, you never let lack of or even contrary facts get in the way of your opinion. How you ‘feel’ about it is all that counts."

FOR COUNTLESS EXAMPLES: Read "I’ve Always Been a Yankees Fan" by Tom Kuiper and get to know Hillary Clinton like never before with this often shocking, always hilarious collection of the former-First Lady and aspiring-President's own quotes!

From claiming to be named after a famed mountaineer (Sir Edmund Hillary actually scaled Mt. Everest years after she was born), to bragging about being a lifelong Yankees fan (although she grew up in Chicago rooting for the Cubs), Hillary shows that there's no tall tale too tall to tell.
With extensive, attributed sources, including recollections from former Clinton aide Dick Morris, this is the biggest collection of Hillary quotes ever... witty with clever illustrations, and always hilarious context. Sad, but true that a US Senator and aspiring President should be such a consummate liar or have such a terrible memory. Remember those countless, "I just can’t recall." statements to questions about her activities in a testimony. Do you really want such a person running the country?

The following senators voted against making English the official language of America :

Akaka (D-HI)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE) Wants to be President?
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Clinton (D-NY) Wants to be President?
Dayton (D-MN)
Dodd (D-CT) Wants to be President?
Domenici (R-NM) Coward, protecting his Senate seat...
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI) Not unusual for him
Feinstein (D-CA)
Harkin (D-CA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA) Wanted to be President
Kohl (D-WI)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT) Disappointment here.....
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Obama (D-IL) Wants to be President?
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV) Senate Majority Leader
Salazar (D-CO)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Stabenow (D-M)

"Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale, and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled or hanged."

~ President Abraham Lincoln

"Amen!"

Of course, Lincoln was one of those hated Republicans so his words now carry little weight with Congress or the main stream media.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BILL Clinton's MILITARY CAREER - Dan Rather please note!

Bill Clinton registers for the draft on September 08, 1964, accepting all contractual conditions of registering for the draft. Selective Service Number is 3 26 46 228.

Bill Clinton classified 2-S on November 17, 1964.

Bill Clinton reclassified 1-A on March 20, 1968.

Bill Clinton ordered to report for induction on July 28, 1969.

Bill Clinton refuses to report and is not inducted into the military.

Bill Clinton reclassified 1-D after enlisting in the United States Army Reserves on August 07, 1969, under authority of COL. E. Holmes.

Clinton signs enlistment papers and takes oath of enlistment. Bill Clinton fails to report to his duty station at the University of Arkansas ROTC, September 1969.

Bill Clinton reclassified 1- A on October 30, 1969, as enlistment with Army Reserves is revoked by Colonel E. Holmes and Clinton now AWOL and subject to arrest under Public Law 90-40 (2)(a) registrant who has failed to report...remains liable for induction.

Bill Clinton's birth date lottery number is 311, drawn December 1, 1969, but anyone who has already been ordered to report for induction is INELIGIBLE!

Bill Clinton runs for Congress (1974), while a fugitive from justice under Public Law 90-40.

Bill Clinton runs for Arkansas Attorney General (1976), while a fugitive from justice.

Bill Clinton receives pardon on January 21, 1977, from President Carter.

Bill Clinton becomes the FIRST PARDONED FEDERAL FELON ever to serve as President of the United States.

All these facts come from Freedom of Information requests, public laws, and various books that have been published, and have not been refuted by Clinton.

After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, President Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

After the 1995 bombing in Saudi Arabia, which killed five U.S. military personnel, Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

After the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 and injured 200 U.S. military personnel, Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

After the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Africa, which killed 224 and injured 5,000, Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

After the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, which killed 17 and injured 39 U.S. sailors, Clinton promised that those responsiblewould be hunted down and punished.

Maybe if Clinton had kept those promises, an estimated 3,000 people in New York and Washington, DC. who are now dead would be alive today.

THINK ABOUT IT! It is a strange turn of events. Hillary gets $8 Million for her forthcoming memoir. Bill gets about $12 Million for his memoir yet to be written. This from two people who spent 8 years being unable to recall anything about past events while under oath.

Sincerely, Cdr. Hamilton McWhorter USN (ret)

Dan Rather please note that at least George Bush reported for duty.

I wonder if any liberals read this far?

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Bully for Australia!

Received in an email forward:

Subject: Look what Australia is doing! Excerpts from an on going debate in Australia.

This is true and can be checked at
http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/australia.asp

Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks. A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to Australia and her Queen at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his Ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown. Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did not accept that Australia was a secular state, and its laws were made by parliament. "If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you", he said on National Television.

"I'd be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia : one, the Australian law, and another, Islamic law, that is false. If you can't agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to another country, which practices it, perhaps, then, that's a better option", Costello said.

Asked whether he meant radical clerics would be forced to leave, he said those with dual citizenship could possibly be asked to move to the other country. Education Minister Brendan Nelson later told reporters that Muslims who did not want to accept local values should "clear off. Basically people who don't want to be Australians, and who don't want, to live by Australian values and understand them, well then, they can basically clear off", he said.

Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques.

Quote: "IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians."

"However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the 'politically correct' crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others. I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Australia ." "However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand."

"This idea of Australia being a multi-cultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. And as Australians, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own life style."

"This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom"

"We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society . Learn the language!"

"We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us."

"If the Southern Cross offends you, or you don't like "A Fair Go", then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. By all means, keep your culture, but do not force it on others.

"This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom, 'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'."

"If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted."
_________________________________________

Maybe if we circulate this amongst ourselves, American citizens will find the backbone to start speaking and voicing the same truths !

If you agree please SEND THIS TO EVERYBODY YOU KNOW! (HOORAY FOR AUSTRALIA ! OUR "REPRESENTATIVES" IN WASHINGTON SHOULD TAKE A HARD LOOK AND LEARN A LESSON BEFORE WE DON'T HAVE A COUNTRY ANYMORE!

Ho’s response:

The last comment is wasted energy. Those gutless, self-serving politicians in Washington could care less about the opinions of most Americans. They have proven themselves over and over again to place their personal ambition above the nation and above the people.

Maybe I should move to Australia. Apparently a much higher percentage of Australians love their country and culture than do Americans. It is my opinion that the "Politically Correct" and "Multi cultural" crowd in America are so full of class envy and hatred for the personal freedom, culture and economy of America that they are doing everything in their power to destroy them and bring our country to it’s knees. America has done more to bring more people out of poverty than any other nation in the history of the modern world, yet the PC crowd condemns America for poverty. (Remember, their truth is that which promotes their agenda and has nothing to do with being factual.)

The degradation of our education systems and other associated systems are the result of many years of growth and control of those who foolishly believe one bloated, self-serving entity, the government, can do a better job than thousands of individual independent organizations in virtually every area. That private enterprise, capitalistic enterprise, can do anything government can do and do it better, cheaper, safer, creating more and better jobs and yes, even do a better job environmentally, there is absolutely no doubt. It has been proven time and time again. This is now especially true in our education system.

Even the Chinese have discovered this fact and look what’s been happening to them. Yes they have problems with pollution, but they are also doing something about it. While our elected officials pander to powerful political and economic forces, lining their pockets and satisfying their petty egos with power, the Chinese are loosening the chains of socialism and encouraging capitalism, free enterprise and personal freedom. "Who’d a thunk it." If this continues, I can see a time in the near future where the world roles of China and the US change places. Where China and maybe others, including India, become the strongholds of free enterprise, quality education and success as they forego the dull gray life of socialism which envelops most of the rest of the western world. Can despotism and dictatorship in the west be far behind? As in Venezuela?

In my opinion the powerful and self-serving "Robber Barons" of America now sit in the halls of Congress, in bureaucratic positions in government agencies, and among the lobbyists, media and entertainment personalities. These powerful people work to impose their agendas on an American populace that has less and less to say about it’s government. Though they vigorously deny it, fact is they provide aid, comfort and support to Islamic terrorists and others who would destroy us. They seem happy to sell us out to our potential destroyers just to gain power and money for themselves. That their efforts have encouraged our deadly enemies and aided greatly in their efforts to destroy us, there is no doubt. Like spoiled children that destroy toys that won’t do their bidding, they work to destroy a culture and economy they cannot control.

I suggest that those America haters like Michael Moore, Sean Pann, Noam Chomsky, Susan Sarandon and the rest of the entertainment world freaks, move to Cuba or Venezuela and live under the wonderful system they are trying to foist off on America. I would suggest Europe, but before long and thanks to their European counterparts, Sharia law will be in effect there and they would be among the first to be beheaded.

In God We Trust???

I recently received the following forwarded email:

"NBC this morning had a poll on this question. They had the highest Number of responses that they have ever had for one of their polls, and the Percentage was the same as this: 86% to keep the words, IN God We Trust and God in the Pledge of Allegiance 14% against

That is a pretty 'commanding' public response. Therefore, I have a very hard time understanding why there is such A mess about having "In God We Trust" on our money and having God in the Pledge of Allegiance!

Why are we catering to this 14%?"

Ho’s comments:

We cater to the small minority because of the elitist Politically Correct crowd in the media (entertainment world). They guide and control the thoughts and opinions of the sheep and America haters among our citizens to serve their beliefs and agenda. They have those citizens who follow and support them out of habit, out of ignorance, out of class envy, out of belief systems, and out of self service.

Not to worry! If this bunch succeeds in their "hate Bush, hate conservatives, hate Republicans and hate America" campaign, the resulting aid and support for Islamic fascists and terrorists will solve that for us. They will soon replace the word "God" in the pledge with "Allah" and "In God we trust" on our coins with, "It's Allah or lose your head." I wonder how the feminists will respond to Sharia law? We’ll probably see this in Europe before it gets here so if you plan to visit Europe you’d better do it soon before the Islamic fascists take over. Remember, they like to behead Americans. They've been murdering all they encounter who won't join them for a millenium and a half. Why would anyone expect them to change.

Ho

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Reverberations from 9-11

A friend of mine just sent me the address of a website with photos of expressions of sympathy and solidarity from all over the world right after 9-11. The website is http://www.coreykoberg.com/9-11-01/ . If you check it out you’ll probably shed some tears.

It is so sad that the perveyors of hate and animosity have since done everything in their power including outrageous lies and ridiculous charges all laced with the vitriol of class, ethnic, racial and political hatred and envy to divide us and virtually incite mob rule. And to what purpose? That singular, self-serving purpose is political power and monetary gain for themselves. They believe they have discovered that fanning the flames of envy into unreasoning hatred among the poor and less educated will gain them the votes they need to gain power and thus money for themselves with little regard for any damage it does to our nation.

I'm quite certain those in opposition could have found a more constructive means to oppose what they believe to be wrong, but they chose instead to use the path of inciting hatred. They chose to use their followers in the media to help them launch a campaign of charges, condemnations, and even more importantly, omissions in hopes of molding public opinion and affecting elections in their favor. They acted on the known fact that it is far far easier (and cheaper) to destroy than to build. The murderous Islamic 9-11 terrorists who used planes as bombs clearly demonstrated that a few men can destroy in short order what took many men years and a great deal of money and effort to build. This old lesson has not been lost on the left.

The easy way is destruction-- the hard way is cooperation, creativity and construction. Cheap and dirty attacks are much easier than hard work, dedication, cooperation and building. In addition, those who for whatever reason are at the bottom of the income and education scales-- the underpriveleged-- the have-nots-- are easily enlisted in causes that promise the destruction of those better off than they. Enlisted by words of hatred and condemnation for those they envy for whatever reason they become a mob with mayhem and destruction their aim. How much easier to bring down those they envy than to work to raise themselves up.

In his book, "The True Believer," Eric Hoffer describes men who think so little of themselves they can only gain self-esteem by abandoning "self" to a "cause." These true believers, as he calls them, will do anything, including committing suicide for their cause. Following their "leaders" who enslave them to serve the leader’s own and often undefined purpose, these are not men of free will, but true slaves of those who manipulate them. Such is the enemy free men now face including those within our nation as well as those elsewhere.

Here, from fifty years ago, are two of my favorite Eric Hoffer Quotes that describe these people so accurately:

“To know a person's religion we need not listen to his profession of faith but must find his brand of intolerance.”

“People unfit for freedom - who cannot do much with it - are hungry for power. The desire for freedom is an attribute of a have type of self. It says: leave me alone and I shall grow, learn, and realize my capacities. The desire for power is basically an attribute of a have not type of self.”

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Copperheads, Then and Now

The more things change, the more the seem the same. A history lesson.

Although the Democratic party had broken apart in 1860, during the secession crisis Democrats in the North were generally more conciliatory toward the South than were Republicans. They called themselves Peace Democrats; their opponents called them Copperheads because some wore copper pennies as identifying badges. A majority of Peace Democrats supported war to save the Union, but a strong and active minority asserted that the Republicans had provoked the South into secession; that the Republicans were waging the war in order to establish their own domination, suppress civil and states rights, and impose "racial equality"; and that military means had failed and would never restore the Union.

Peace Democrats were most numerous in the Midwest, a region that had traditionally distrusted the Northeast, where the Republican party was strongest, and that had economic and cultural ties with the South. The Lincoln administration's arbitrary treatment of dissenters caused great bitterness there. Above all, anti-abolitionist Midwesterners feared that emancipation would result in a great migration of blacks into their states.

As was true of the Democratic party as a whole, the influence of Peace Democrats varied with the fortunes of war. When things were going badly for the Union on the battlefield, larger numbers of people were willing to entertain the notion of making peace with the Confederacy. When things were going well, Peace Democrats could more easily be dismissed as defeatists. But no matter how the war progressed, Peace Democrats constantly had to defend themselves against charges of disloyalty. Revelations that a few had ties with secret organizations such as the Knights of the Golden Circle helped smear the rest. The most prominent Copperhead was Ohio's Clement L. Vallandigham, who was a vehement opponent of President Abraham Lincoln's policies. During the American Civil War (1861-1865), he headed the secret antiwar organization known as the Sons of Liberty.

At the Democratic convention of 1864, where the influence of Peace Democrats reached its high point, Vallandigham persuaded the party to adopt a platform branding the war a failure, and some extreme Copperheads plotted armed uprisings. However, the Democratic presidential candidate, George B. McClellan, repudiated the Vallandigham platform, victories by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman and Phillip H. Sheridan assured Lincoln's reelection, and the plots came to nothing. With the conclusion of the war in 1865 the Peace Democrats were thoroughly discredited. Most Northerners believed, not without reason, that Peace Democrats had prolonged war by encouraging the South to continue fighting in the hope that the North would abandon the struggle.

Copperheads were the "Peace" faction of Democrats in the North who opposed the American Civil War, wanting an immediate peace settlement with the Confederates. They were also called "Peace Democrats" and "Butternuts" (for the color of the Confederate uniforms). The Copperheads nominally favored the Union but strongly opposed the war, for which they blamed abolitionists, and they demanded immediate peace and resisted draft laws. They wanted Lincoln and the Republicans ousted from power, seeing the president as a tyrant who was destroying American republican values with his despotic and arbitrary actions. (Sound familiar?)

Some Copperheads tried to persuade Union soldiers to desert. They talked of helping Confederate prisoners of war seize their camps and escape. They sometimes met with Confederate agents and took money. The Confederacy encouraged their activities whenever possible. Most Democratic party leaders, however, repelled Confederate advances.
Some historians, such as Richard Curry, have downplayed the treasonable activities of the Copperheads, arguing that they were simply people who fiercely resisted modernization and wanted to return to the old ways.

Media Supporters

The Copperheads had numerous important newspapers, but the editors never formed an alliance. In Chicago, Wilbur F. Storey made the Chicago Times into Lincoln's most vituperative enemy. The New York Journal of Commerce, originally abolitionist, was sold to owners who became Copperheads, giving them an important voice in the largest city. A typical editor was Edward G. Roddy, owner of the Uniontown, Pennsylvania Genius of Liberty. He was an intensely partisan Democrat who saw black people as an inferior race and Abraham Lincoln as a despot and dunce. Although he supported the war effort in 1861, he blamed abolitionists for prolonging the war and denounced the government as increasingly despotic. By 1864 he was calling for peace at any price.

John Mullaly's Metropolitan Record was the official Catholic paper in New York City. Reflecting Irish opinion, it supported the war until 1863 before becoming a Copperhead organ; the editor was then arrested for draft resistance. Even in an era of extremely partisan journalism, Copperhead newspapers were remarkable for their angry rhetoric. "A large majority [of Copperheads]," declared an Ohio editor, "can see no reason why they should be shot for the benefit of niggers and Abolitionists." If "the despot Lincoln" tried to ram abolition and conscription down the throats of white men, "he would meet with the fate he deserves: hung, shot, or burned."[2] Through the 1864 election, Wisconsin newspaper editor Marcus M. Pomeroy called Lincoln "fungus from the corrupt womb of bigotry and fanaticism" and a "worse tyrant and more inhuman butcher than has existed since the days of Nero... The man who votes for Lincoln now is a traitor and murderer... And if he is elected to misgovern for another four years, we trust some bold hand will pierce his heart with dagger point for the public good."

Copperhead resistance

The Copperheads sometimes talked of violent resistance, and in some cases started to organize. They never actually made an organized attack, though. As war opponents, Copperheads were suspected of disloyalty, and Lincoln often had their leaders arrested and held for months in military prisons without trial. Probably the largest Copperhead group was the Knights of the Golden Circle; formed in Ohio in the 1850s, it became politicized in 1861. It reorganized as the Order of American Knights in 1863, and again, early in 1864, as the Order of the Sons of Liberty, with Clement L. Vallandigham as its commander. One leader, Harrison H. Dodd, advocated violent overthrow of the governments of Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and Missouri in 1864. Democratic party leaders, and a Federal investigation, thwarted his conspiracy. In spite of this Copperhead setback, tensions remained high. The Charleston Riot took place in Illinois in March of 1864. Indiana Republicans then used the sensational revelation of an antiwar Copperhead conspiracy by elements of the Sons of Liberty to discredit Democrats in the 1864 House elections. The military trial of Lambdin P. Milligan and other Sons of Liberty revealed plans to set free the Confederate prisoners held in the state. The culprits were sentenced to hang but the Supreme Court intervened in Ex parte Milligan, saying they should have received civilian trials.

Most Copperheads actively participated in politics. On May 1, 1863, former Congressman Vallandigham declared that the war was being fought not to save the Union but to free the blacks and enslave Southern whites. The Army then arrested him for declaring sympathy for the enemy. He was court-martialed and sentenced to imprisonment, but Lincoln commuted the sentence to banishment behind Confederate lines. The Democrats nevertheless nominated him for governor of Ohio in 1863; he campaigned from Canada but was defeated after an intense battle. He operated behind-the-scenes at the 1864 Democratic convention in Chicago; this convention adopted a largely Copperhead platform, but chose a pro-war presidential candidate, George B. McClellan. The contradiction severely weakened the chances to defeat Lincoln's reelection.

Profile of the average member

The sentiments of Copperheads attracted Southerners who had settled north of the Ohio River, conservatives, the poor, and merchants who had lost profitable Southern trade.[3] Copperheads did well in local and state elections in 1862, especially in New York, and won majorities in the legislatures of Illinois and Indiana.[3] Copperheads were most numerous in border areas, including southern parts of Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana (in Missouri, comparable groups were avowed Confederates). The Copperhead coalition included many Irish American Catholics in eastern cities, mill towns and mining camps (especially in the Pennsylvania coal fields). They were also numerous in German Catholic areas of the Midwest, especially Wisconsin.
Historian Kenneth Stampp has captured the Copperhead spirit in his depiction of Congressman Daniel W. Voorhees of Indiana:

“There was an earthy quality in Voorhees, the tall sycamore of the Wabash. On the stump his hot temper, passionate partisanship, and stirring eloquence made an irresistible appeal to the western Democracy. His bitter cries against protective tariffs and national banks, his intense race prejudice, his suspicion of the eastern Yankee, his devotion to personal liberty, his defense of the Constitution and State's rights faithfully reflected the views of his constituents. Like other Jacksonian agrarians, he resented the political and economic revolution then in progress. Voorhees idealized a way of life which he thought was being destroyed by the current rulers of his country. His bold protests against these dangerous trends made him the idol of the Democracy of the Wabash Valley."

Today:

The Bush haters, capitalism haters, organized far left (read socialists & communists), anti war activists, and others, all of whom seem to be walking in lock-step with Al Queda and our other totalitarian enemies, have much in common with the Copperheads. The only difference is that the war in question is not over. They are invested in our defeat and humiliation in Iraq and are doing everything in their power to bring about that defeat. Their current ridiculous pre condemnation of Gen. David Petraeus’s report is just one more activity orchestrated by moveon.org and/or the New York Times. It’s hard to tell who’s calling the shots, but hearing precisely the same words of condemnation from so many Democrats and media reporters makes it clear their mantras and marching orders come from a single source.

Remember the plethora of “gravitas” statements a while back? It is impossible for these repetitions of words and phrases to be accidental. It remains to be seen if we will win in Iraq as we did in the civil war and thus relegate the Democrats to relative political obscurity or give in to the efforts of the left and go down to defeat and humiliation and thus relegate Republicans to political obscurity.

I am reminded that when the 13 colonies were still part of England, Professor Alexander Tyler, a Scottish historian, wrote about the fall of the Athenian democracy over 2000 years earlier. “A democracy can not exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves money from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates promising them the most money from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship.” It is quite clear that this describes today’s America precisely. Historically, collapses are quite sudden and unexpected and happen when a nation is at its peak. Debt and liberalism are sure to destroy America in the very near future. We have neither the guts or determination to do the things that will save us from destruction. The far left should be ecstatic, albeit for a very short time until the despots take over and murder and mayhem become the prime political control activity. I wonder how many main stream media personalities will be left alive after the fall.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Words to go

The phrase, “a gay young man” has a totally different meaning today than it did a hundred years ago. Then it was a phrase describing a happy, maybe frivolous, but certainly pleasant young man– a compliment mostly. In fact, the word “gay” has been hijacked from our language and turned into a word bearing no relationship to its earlier, corporeal meaning. Its usage in the previous sense has been entirely eclipsed by this new meaning and the old one has completely disappeared from use. I doubt there is a person under fifty in the US who has ever used “gay” in any way other than to describe sexual orientation. There are several other words that have been drastically changed in meaning, good or bad, by the”sexual revolution.”

“Prostitute” is one that used to hold a very bad, negative connotation and has now become almost complimentary– at least in the entertainment world– and that includes sports, media news, and even politics. Of course, the entertainment world, now so revered by the public, traces its origins back to the camp followers and dancers who followed armies and provided sex for money. In fact, the synonymous word “hooker” originated as a description of a member of “Hooker’s army,” the large and well organized camp followers and sexual slaves General Hooker supported for his troops during the Civil War. With literally millions of “teeny boppers” adopting the dress, makeup and often the actions of prostitutes how long will it be before the word will be applied to any young girl and become synonymous to “young girl”?

After all, word usage, moral codes, dress standards, “normal” accepted behavior, even pejorative intents, change as meanings and peer acceptance or demands change. The media, all kinds of media, has become a powerful tool for this to the dismay of many and the joy of those media personalities who look for more and more shocking language and word usage to influence public actions, language and morals. The good or bad of this depends on where each individual stands in the moral or social spectrum at any given time. Those who decry our current “moral decay” and “destruction of family values” are merely reacting to these changes which are, like unruly children, pretty much out of their control. “Shock jock” Iiames was pretty much a victim of this ongoing conflict when he stepped just slightly over current bounds. Incidently, these boundaries are the opposite of fixed in any sense. They are constantly changing like edges of shapes in snow or desert sand by fickle, agenda driven winds from varying directions and force. Heaven help the individual who treads these amorphous shapes and happens to step on the wrong side of an edge at the wrong time. The media will glorify or condemn such actions at a whim or as moved by the direction of the winds of contemporary political agendas. These winds are driven and controlled almost entirely by someone’s or some group’s lust for power, money, or both. The vast majority of the common folk blow in these winds and exert little effort to change or resist them. Those in power count on this non-thinking, non-involvement to hold on to their positions of power.

Political labels are also changing as different groups of power brokers exert more or less influence. Those power brokers of the nineteenth century we dubbed “Robber Barons” are long gone, but their legacy lingers on, haunting all successful business people with strong negative images in a mostly media driven culture riddled with class envy and that describes “profits” as evil and depicts “businessmen” as dictatorial oppressors of the masses. “Governmentalists,” my term for the whole spectrum of “let the government do it” proponents come from a long history of anti-capitalist, anti-business, anti-establishment movements variously called, socialist, communist, populist, fascist, and even democratic. They gain their popularity by use of a human trait we could call “the Robinhood syndrome” or “take from the rich and give to the poor.” This, of course, is driven by envy and jealousy and exhibited by anger of the poor toward the rich. This force, variously named class envy or some other form of group envy, is evident where those that have the least are pitted against those who have the most, regardless of how either came to be in that stage. This pitting of the haves against the have nots, the rich against the poor, is often promoted with loud condemnation by the powerful and influential (and very wealthy) entertainment world in movies, TV shows, news broadcasts and such. Their animosity toward successful capitalists and industrialists and their portrayal of them as greedy oppressors is legion. Many very wealthy politicians use the same tactics to gain votes from the “poor and oppressed.” The truth is that in our country, those greedy individuals and organizations are the main source of revenue for all levels of government either directly through taxes or indirectly through wages paid to employees and then taxed by governments. This includes all payments for government services including social services and social security. The wealthiest five percent of our nation provide a hefty fifty percent of tax revenue mostly from gross profits of these businesses and industries.

Those media personalities and politicians who protest loudly at evils committed by the likes of the Enron crowd or the mischief of the dot com manipulators are not nearly as vocal about similar activities of wealthy members of the media, the legal profession, politicians mostly of the left and in particular, those with extreme wealth who support leftist policies and causes. Several studies have been conducted on the behalf of business organizations showing that business on both the personal and corporate level has a much lower incidence of dishonesty and criminal activity than does virtually any other major component of our nation including government, the professions, unions, the entertainment world including sports and media, and in particular, our elected officials who happen to have the worst record of any group examined. Of course, these studies are suspect since they were done by organizations that are not strongly anti-business. Surprisingly, university studies of the same subject seem to bear this out in spite of the strong anti-business, anti-capitalist leanings of the university environment. The realities of this do not at all indicate any innate honesty among members of the business community, but rather are the result of laws, controls and reporting requirements enacted to correct past abuses by those “robber barons” of earlier times. This body of business control legislation has been growing steadily for more than a hundred years. Very little such legislation encumbers or limits the activities of most other groups including labor unions and of course, our legislators who write such laws and determine such controls.

The legal profession is a special case because of their unique relationship with the body of law. Their members are an overwhelming majority in all legislative bodies, writing virtually all laws and then sitting on the judicial benches in judgement of those who are suspected of violating those laws. This gives them ample opportunity to provide “wiggle room” for legal maneuvering in much legislation providing long range benefits including “job security” for their colleagues. I’ll only mention in passing all the very special and expensive (to taxpayers) perks and privileges they are constantly granting themselves. Things like their own special and very generous health and retirement plan, virtually unlimited travel expense accounts, multi-million dollar well staffed luxury offices and then there’s all that pork and well hidden XXXX written into so much legislation for the sole purpose of buying votes. Of course, they have seen to it that such activities are all legal.

Is it any wonder that the latest polls show lawyers as one of the least trusted professions? How is it we tolerate our congressional public servants– that’s sure an oxymoron– who have the lowest approval rating ever recorded for Congress. Do you wonder why the media constantly harps on the President’s low approval rating but never mentions the much lower rating of Congress? The truth is obvious to all but the dullest and most prejudiced minds, and you know just who you are. Yes, words are changing just like everything else and many carry meaning with far more political impact than fact. I will finish this by mentioning a few.

Just a few in addition to those mentioned include: abortion, anti-war, bio-anything, criminal, Christian, endangered species, environmental, freedom, global warming, hunger, illegal immigrant, Islam, labor union, left wing, Muslim, nuclear, politically correct, politician, profit, protest, right wing, sexual orientation, socialist, terrorist, welfare, wetlands. There are thousands more.

Like many writers, I have a large vocabulary and in general, like most people, use not even a fraction of it on a daily basis. Quite frankly, most people don't really care about vocabulary. We live in a society in which words aren't used, they are made up or changed to new and different meanings. I'm always curious about them though. I often get excited when I happen across old meanings of words that have very precise connotations in present day. For instance, I think it's fascinating that the word virgin once simply meant an unmarried woman. It had nothing to do with a Hymen being intact as it now means. Virgins were often mothers, had partners as she chose (Hollywood virgins???) and may have been warriors.

Obviously, if a word challenges my vocabulary, then I'm curious enough to look it up. One word I recently looked up was 'polymath'. New one on me. It means a person of great learning in several fields of study. It is something or someone I would strive to be or emulate– like someone with a PhD about a number of subjects. I had instilled in me at an early age a hunger for knowledge, for information, for understanding– logical understanding. Trying to satisfy this hunger has taught me one significant thing. The more I learn, the more there is I realize I don’t know and might never be able to know. I guess that’s just the natural progression of things. My how things do change.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Rising fuel and food prices

June 17, 2007 - Leesburg Indiana - HoJo Press

I am also emailing this to my entire address book.

The food/energy crunch is upon us. Evidenced by the immediate prospect of four dollar per gallon gasoline and five dollar per gallon milk (and the promise that both will continue to rise) Americans are becoming aware of something this writer wrote and spoke about at least twenty years ago. I did not think then it would happen so soon, predicting the crunch for somewhere around 2040. Increasing shortages of petroleum, a limited resource, has combined with increasing use of biofuels, another limited resource, as promoted by the President (and many politicians and environmental activists) to create a major crisis in both the energy and food industries. Read one article about what is going on at:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070617/ap_on_bi_ge/ethanol_refineries

This article is mainly about oil companies and refineries and, as usual, politicians are taking pot shots at oil companies and threatening punitive and corrective actions. Haven’t those politicians and their buddies in the media done enough damage to that industry already? First, they impose massive controls and restrictions on refining and prospecting for oil which is the real cause for much of our dependence on imported oil and lack of new refineries. Wasn’t that their real goal in the first place– to punish Big Oil for making impacts? Or do they and their co-conspirators in the media merely play the blame game and do it specifically to divert attention from their own miserable, self-serving actions. (Check out some earlier postings in this BLOG>)

I’m no fan of Big Oil, but doesn’t it seem logical to suppose that a for profit company of any kind would then do those things that made for high profitability and not make the huge investment required to build refineries? The monumental effort and investment they did make was in internal expansion of existing refineries. If not for that we would certainly now be importing most of our gasoline at world prices far above what we now pay. Add to that the very real threat our government makes to soon have 20% of our gasoline replaced by biofuels and you have a force that is a real threat to the profitability of adding refinery capacity. I doubt any of you would buy a home where there was a very real threat to reduce the value of that home by twenty percent in the very near future. Unless for charity, you wouldn’t go to work for anyone without pay (or profit). Also, you would not take a job you knew would soon be replaced. So why would you expect any company to do so? Those companies are made up of people just like you.

There is another force acting in this energy equation that will negatively impact everyone’s pocketbook. Not so obvious, but very real nevertheless, is the sharp boost in food prices brought about by just the threat of the increasing use of biofuels. About thirty miles south of me a huge plant is rising out of the cornfields along I-15. No, it is not an ethanol plant like at least twelve now built or being built in our state. It is a biodiesel plant which will convert soy beans into diesel fuel. The big difference between biodiesel and ethanol is that it can go directly into the fuel tanks of virtually all present diesel vehicles with no modification! Also, a soy bean oil plant is much simpler and cheaper than an ethanol plant, uses less energy per energy equivalent of ethanol, doesn’t produce carbon dioxide as a by product, and gives off fewer pollutants. This huge plant, scheduled for opening late in the year, will use as much as thirty percent of Indiana’s soy bean crop. I have no idea if they are on schedule but looking at the plant as I passed it yesterday, I seriously doubt it.

Already, soy bean futures are climbing along with corn futures. That’s great for Indiana farmers– farmers in all grain producing states– but does not bode well for food producers and the buying public. With milk soon to pass five bucks a gallon and other food products also on the rise, the public, and especially those governmentalists who look to the government for solutions to every problem, will soon be shouting, “Do something!” It’s already been noted by the media with their usual predictions of doom and crisis.

I am beginning to wonder about existing grain supply contracts with China and many other nations who cannot produce enough food for their people as it is. Because of population growth, many once food exporting nations have become food importers in recent years. How do you suppose diverting 30% of our raw food production into fuels will affect the completion and renewals of food export contracts. I’ll wager China will not be very happy– in spades! If five buck a gallon milk is here now, how soon do you suppose two dollar a dozen eggs will be a common reality? How about five bucks a box cereal?

OK, so I’ve described the problem. How about a solution? Well, I’ve been working on not one, but a whole complex of interwoven solutions. This is not a simple problem. It has many tentacles reaching into many aspects of our economy and our lives. You all know of what I speak. “A Convenient Solution” should be published by year’s end.
(for info, click on http://superh2ee.blogspot.com/)

No, it is not really a solution, but it is a collection of facts that could lead to several. The best thing government could do is to encourage private enterprise to work on it, grease the skids for as many of the proposals as could come out of it, not waste money on dead ends for political purposes, and just get out of the way. American ingenuity and can do spirit will provide the practical solutions, make a little profit (or maybe a lot), put many Americans to work in high paying jobs, boost our real economy and, as long as taxes stay low, provide a huge boost to tax income. In fact, this is already happening. (See the new innovations I found out about and recorded in the last portion of my book.)

I wonder why the media hasn’t been shouting about the fact that all but a few states are not only in the black, but are now having huge and growing surpluses– a very new thing. Thank you George Bush for those tax cuts. (Democrats insisted they would wreck our economy, remember? They were wrong as usual) Now these Democrats promise to demolish this economic miracle with huge new taxes. No wonder Congress has an approval rating far lower than Bush. Why doesn’t the media ever mention that? They shout about Bush’s low rating but never mention the dismal record and even worse approval rating of the Democrat controlled Congress. Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi each have ratings even lower than all of Congress. Hmmmmmmmm?

I’ll be interested to receive responses. Does anyone even care?

Happy father’s day!

Ho