Global Warming and logic

There is a joke that has been floating around the Internet for months... It specifies some really dumb stuff that no one could believe, yet they do..

The punch line is "Yet, they exist."

Yesterday on the bus from the airport terminal to the off premise parking lot someone commented on the brisk 62 degree tempature and I seized the opportunity to note that Global Warming had failed us.....

A mild discussion broke out in which a lady said that the temperature extremes was the fault of Global Warming....

When I asked her what happened to the warming caused by carbon dixiode during the winter she duly noted that (again) the cold weather was caused by the temperature extremes...she then threw in hurrricanes, toranados, flat feet and bad breath... okay, she didn't toss the last two... When I again asked what happened to the carbon dixiode she declared that it wasn't discussable..

Yes, folks. They exist.

Oh, BTW - I have figured out what happens to the carbon dioxide during the winter...

It goes south.

Do I get a Nobel Prize??

Give it back.

Hello dear chums... As you may have noticed I have been traveling so my blogging has been somewhat remiss... But I have now returned from the hinter lands of Northern Mexico, aka San Diego/Los Angeles, just full of thoughts...

The battle is over and we lost. I base this on spending a bit of time strolling through working class shopping centers.

Now, if we can just get Mexico to take it back we'll save billions. We can lease the military facilities and the cultural sojourners will sojourn no more.

$10.00 gasoline??

While $7–$10 a gallon would be ground-breaking in America, these prices would not be trendsetting internationally. For example, European drivers are already shelling out $9 a gallon (which includes a $2-a-gallon tax).

Everytime I read something like this I want to grab the author by the gonads and shake. Look. Germany, one of the larger countries in Europe, is about the same size as one of our smaller states, Wisconsin. So quit with the phony BS.

If we let OPEC destroy our country we will have got what we deserved. It is time to dump Bush and elect McCain. We also need to start understanding that electric powered cars aren't the solution. Can you imagine the "snap crack and pop" when 15 million cars are plugged into the power grid in LA at 7PM?? Can you say, "Overload boys and girls??"

His latest prediction of $200 oil is open to question, since it would undoubtedly create considerable global economic distress. Further, just about every energy expert I talk to cautions me to expect a sizable pullback in oil prices, maybe to between $50 and $70 a barrel, especially if there’s a global economic slowdown.

Duh... You think?

The Romans sent troops to Egypt to promote political stability and protect the grain. It is obvious we need to send troops to Nigeria, Venezuela and Mexico... Along with engineers, technicians and managers to help get the oil out.

Investment Opportunity

It does my heart good to read my very first email of the day and discover that I shall soon be rich.

Dear Partner,

Re: Funds Management / Partnership Request.
I am an Investment/Legal Consultant. I have a Client
that has Interest in investing the sum of $60millionUSD in Your Country, Can you be of Assistance as a Partner? I will give Details when You Reply.

Sincerely,

Barrister AHMED TOMKINSON
(Investment/Legal Consultant)

EMAIL Address Deleted

I wonder if anyone actually responds to these??

Tim Russert and tin ears on Meet The Press

You know many times I wonder why any business organization would pay the chattering class any money for their "opinions." They say the craziest things.

Here are some perfect examples.

Link to transcript

MR. RUSSERT: David, we had in the debate--and Andrea--Hillary Clinton jumping on Barack Obama about William Ayers, the Weatherman, is one of the questions, and Jeremiah Wright. John McCain has now picked up on the William Ayers situation. Tom Hayden, the former radical from the '60s, has now written a piece which is basically saying, "Time out." And he writes this, "Hillary is blind to her own roots in the sixties. ... She was in Chicago for three nights during the 1968 street confrontations. ... She was involved in the New Haven defense of Bobby Seale during his murder trial in 1970, as the lead scheduler of student monitors.

"Most significantly in terms of her recent attacks on Barack, after Yale law school, Hillary went to work for the left-wing Bay Area law firm of Treuhaft, Walker and Burnstein, which specialized in Black Panthers and West Coast labor leaders prosecuted for being communists. Two of the firm's partners, according to Treuhaft, were communists and two others `tolerated communists.'

"All these were honorable words and associations in my mind, but doesn't she see how the Hillary of today would accuse the Hillary of the sixties of associating with black revolutionaries who fought gun battles with police officers, and defending pro-communist lawyers who backed communists? Doesn't the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, whom Hillary attacks today, represent the very essence of the black radicals Hillary was associating with in those days?"

Are we going to have a debate in November about past associations and pastors, or we going to have a debate about the war, health care and economy?

Say what??

First of all the Repubs will be happy to call Hillary to account, when it is time.

Secondly, Hussein's problems with Willam Ayers are not "past" associations. It appears that Hillary's is.

Finally, yes. Yes indeedy. Associations, past for Hillary and present for Hussein count.

MR. RICHARD WOLFFE: Well, there's no question that Barack Obama has a deficit when it comes to white working-class voters. It's more than the issue of whether he's elitist, just as ridiculous as that argument is. He's the son of a single mother,

The problem with that song, Dear Richard, is that his grandmother, who Hussein credits with raising him, was a Vice President in the largest bank in Hawaii. So that dog won't hunt. Heck, it won't even get off the porch.

MR. BILL MOYERS: Barack Obama was a skeptic when it came to religion. He sought you out because he knew you knew about the community. You led him to the faith. You baptized him, you performed his wedding ceremony, you baptized his two children. You were, for 20 years, his spiritual counselor. He has said that. And yet he, in that speech at Philadelphia, had to say some hard things about you. How did it go down with you when you heard Barack Obama say those things?

REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT: It, it went down very simply. He's a politician; I'm a pastor. We speak to two different audiences. And he says what he has to say as a politician. I say what I have to say as a pastor. Those are two different worlds. I do what I do; he does what politicians do. So that--what happened in Philadelphia, where he had to respond to the sound bites, he responded as a politician.

Now we have a preacher condoning improper behavior. That Wright's moral base. No wonder he could yell, "God damn America!" and not see how disgusting that is.

Gwen Ifill: It also obscures a, a more fundamental problem which is coming up in this campaign, we are all looking for ways, in our way, to talk about race in the campaign. But what the, the numbers have shown us, the exit polls have shown us in the last week is that what we don't want to talk about is racism, which is, I think, a, a, a real issue. The people who said they--that race mattered to them, a lot of them voted for Hillary Clinton. I'm not calling the voters racists, but I think, at some point, we have to get back to a word that we're very scared of using in our society, which is the reason why people vote against someone because of their race is not a positive reason, it's a negative, and racism is a negative quality. We have to find some way to embrace talking about that in our coverage, and we're kind of nervous about that.

That is very kind of Ms. Ifill. But perhaps she should examine the definition of racism and explain why Hussein is getting 90% plus of the black vote. Is it racism??

rac·ism
–noun 1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.

McCain and Katrina

I have from time to time criticized Bush for his ham handed handling of the PR part of his job. Now we have McCain saying things that are untrue
and only reinforces the nonsense spewed by the MSM.

Next, McCain took up Bush-bashing. Touring New Orleans, he repeated the Democrats' view of Hurricane Katrina as, pre-eminently, a story of Bush administration incompetence. On ABC this morning, Chris Cuomo, of all people, asked McCain about his attack on President Bush:

Chris CUOMO: John McCain is taking direct aim at the Bush administration. The senator toured New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward as part of his "forgotten places" tour and sharply criticized the response to Hurricane Katrina, calling it disgraceful. He said the leadership failure after the disaster could be traced straight to the top, and he told our Claire Shipman it would not have happened on his watch. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MCCAIN: I've come here and told these people, "Never again. Never again will a disaster, either natural or manmade, be mishandled in this fashion."
It may be that the Hurricane Katrina mythology is so irrevocably fixed that McCain loses little by subscribing to it. More troubling is his willingness to bash the Bush administration's economic record, contrary to his own prior, more reasonable, statements.

McCain's staff needs to do some research.

Jason van Steenwyk is a Florida Army National Guardsman who has been mobilized six times for hurricane relief. He notes that:

"The federal government pretty much met its standard time lines, but the volume of support provided during the 72-96 hour was unprecedented. The federal response here was faster than Hugo, faster than Andrew, faster than Iniki, faster than Francine and Jeanne."

For instance, it took five days for National Guard troops to arrive in strength on the scene in Homestead, Fla. after Hurricane Andrew hit in 1992. But after Katrina, there was a significant National Guard presence in the afflicted region in three.

I write this column a week and a day after the main levee protecting New Orleans breached. In the course of that week:

More than 32,000 people have been rescued, many plucked from rooftops by Coast Guard helicopters.

The Army Corps of Engineers has all but repaired the breaches and begun pumping water out of New Orleans.

Shelter, food and medical care have been provided to more than 180,000 refugees.

Journalists complain that it took a whole week to do this. A former Air Force logistics officer had some words of advice for us in the Fourth Estate on his blog, Moltenthought:

"We do not yet have teleporter or replicator technology like you saw on 'Star Trek' in college between hookah hits and waiting to pick up your worthless communications degree while the grown-ups actually engaged in the recovery effort were studying engineering.

McCain should also add that if you choose to live in a nice city with lots of charm, even if it is below sea level, then it is your business. Just don't expect Aunt Matilda in Omaha to bail you out when the flood finally occurs.

Paul Johnson and William Ayers

It is obvious that if you want information about Barack Hussein Obama you are not going to find it in the MSM and the Repub pundits will be ignored as partisians.

Paul Johnson is not a Repub, to say the least.

So when he asks questions about the hopeful candidate from Chicago, Hawaii and Indonesia, you should listen to his answers.

Barack Obama is not telling the truth about his relationship with Bill Ayers....

In fact, Barack worked for Bill Ayers for at least eight years and the press, so far, has not investigated this matter.

In 1995, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge was created to raise funds to help reform the Chicago public schools. One of the architects of the Challenge was none other than Professor Bill Ayers. Ayers co-wrote the initial grant proposal and proudly lists himself on his own website as the co-founder of the Challenge.

And who did William Ayers, co-creator of the Challenge, help select as the new director of the board for this program? Barack Obama. Barack Obama was the first Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.

Now, let’s revisit Obama’s claim about Ayers in the ABC debate:

“Not someone I’ve accepted endorsement of, it’s not someone I exchange ideas with on a regular basis…”

That is a lie. Both parts of Obama’s statement are obviously false. Obama not only evaded Stephanopoulos’s question, he was deliberately deceptive and misleading.

Ayers helped select Obama to exercise a leadership role on the Annenberg Challenge. And Obama wants us to believe they never talked? Never exchanged ideas? Never identified issues to raise and policies to pursue? What is Barack hiding?

It is of vital importance to clarify Barack’s relationship with Ayers. This is not a casual relationship. It is not a recent relationship. And, as reported in an earlier piece on this blog, Ayers has not changed his tune of political radicalism. I don’t challenge his right to believe such things, but Ayers certainly does not reflect the views of most Americans, both Democrats and Republicans. Why is Barack lying about this relationship? That is the question voters deserve to have asked and answered.

Read the whole article. It is obvious that Hussein was picked and carefully groomed to be where is at today.

Those lucky Demo voters in FL and MI

They are going to get HALF of their vote counted!!!

WASHINGTON (AP) — A plan to award half-delegates for the disputed Michigan and Florida Democratic presidential primaries will get a hearing before party leaders.

The co-chairs of the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws committee sent members a memo Friday announcing a meeting May 31 to consider the idea.

The committee stripped Michigan and Florida of their national convention delegates because they held primaries too early. DNC members in Michigan and Florida have filed challenges to restore the delegates.

Under the challenges, all superdelegates from both states would get to vote. The pledged delegates would only count for half votes.

I mean how lucky can a citizen get?? Aren't you glad you are a Demo?

Link

Barack Hussein Obama's bad memory?

Hussein either has a terrible memory, or else he is lying.

The question has lingered since it arose last week during the federal corruption trial of Antoin "Tony" Rezko: Why, just weeks after winning the Democratic U.S. Senate primary in 2004, would Barack Obama attend a party for a controversial Iraqi-born billionaire whom Rezko was trying to lure into an investment......

Asked if he thought Rezko may have been using him to impress potential investors, Obama replied: "I just don't have a recollection of the event.

Here's a guy who can't remember anything that his Preacher said. Now he can't remember attending a party with a key contributor whose wife's purchasing a strip of land made it possible for him to buy his home.

If his memory is that bad, he shouldn't be President. If he is lying, he shouldn't be President.

Your pick.

James Clyburn doesn't understand

I think it sad when I see a supposed Black Leader demonstrate that they know nothing about politics or power.

Clyburn, the most senior African American in Congress and the third-ranking Democrat in the House, today said he was also disturbed by the vast quantity of press coverage focused on Obama's relationship to white voters, which he felt minimized the significance of African American voter choices. "I think that the way everybody has been reporting this Pennsylvania thing, it's almost saying black people don't matter. Only thing that matters is how white people respond. And that's what bothered me. I think I matter."

Look Congressman. As long as Hussein is getting 90% of the vote, do you think he, or the media, will pay you much attention? Do you think the Democratic Party, who regularly gets 80% of the Black vote, thinks they have to pay you any attention?

Hussein and the Demo party both consider you bought and delivered. You have no leverage. You are like an old wife. Loved perhaps, but not appreciated.

Declare your independence and you might discover that hubby will show up with gifts and demonstrations of love, not just the expectation of a home cooked meal and some comfortable sex when he's in the mood.

Lawyers, politicians and ethics

Claudia has made a valid point regarding the post making fun of Bill, Hill, Hussein and Michelle.

I read this post on another blog. My question was: Are all American lawyers political crooks? I never got an answer.

There are very decent lawyers in my family. I'll name you one: my brother, WW2 hero, 5 years overseas as a Major. Finished his law studies after the War, was Queen Councillor, became Colonel of his Regiment until he died of a heart attack at 68.

Surely there must be a few respectable American lawyers. This type of comment is demeaning to the law profession. I think it's also demeaning to Senator McCain whom I greatly admire as a War hero. He would not get my vote because his opponent is a lawyer but because I agree with his conservative political view.

All the best.

Well, the comment is somewhat in jest, and is certainly in questionable taste.

I think it was Mark Twain who said, "First we hang the lawyers."

And there are very decent lawyers, just as there are decent mechanics and plumbers. Problem is, the antics of Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Hussein and Michelle Obama tend to over shadow them.

Outside of the politicians, we have the defense lawyers.

This link to TalkLeft describes a situation where two defense lawyers knew that the guy jailed for 26 years was innocent, but their "ethics" prevented them from ratting out their client, who had confessed to them.

I find such slavish kowtowing to so called "ethics" not especially ethical, useful or any reason to cut lawyers, or politicians, any slack.

To me, if lawyers are concerned about the truth, these two would have went to the judge and told what they knew. In other words, justice became confused with process and came in dead last.

A hard to refute arguement.

From a Danish associate

'We in Denmark cannot figure out why you are even bothering to hold an election.

On one side, you have a bitch who is a lawyer, married to a lawyer, and a lawyer who is married to a bitch who is a lawyer.

On the other side, you have a true war hero married to a woman with a huge chest who owns a beer distributorship.

Is there a contest here?'

My thanks to bfyart3.

Preacher Wright and the excuses of the

Left.

Weeder Gander stopped by and offered this as an excsue what Reverend Wright said.

It's much better to condemn certain parts of America:

On September 18, 2006, Pastor John Hagee - whose endorsement Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said this past Sunday he was "glad to have" - told NPR's Terry Gross that "Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans." "New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God," Hagee said, because "there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came."'

Let me know when you can show that McCain sat in his church for 20 years, was married to his wife by him and when McCain's children were baptized by him, called him his spiritual adviser and visited Israel with him.

You see dear weeder it isn't the endorsement of Hussein by Wright, but the long term and continual association.

As to what he says, it is bad but it pales in comparsion to Wrights ranting attacks against the country.

Global warming and hot breakfasts

Good morning everyone! Have we all had our breakfast? Coffee tea or coke? Eggs and bacon? Ham? Grits or gravy? Toast with jam? Ready to jump into the personal transportation equipment and waddle off to work?

Have a big celebration on Earth day??? Drive to a lecture explaining Gaia? Well, I didn't. Put me down as a "no graven idols before you" kinda guy. But, if you must have a label, call me a believer in "Unintended Consequences."

And speaking of same.

Ethanol was initially promoted as a vehicle for America to cut back on foreign oil. In recent years, biofuels have also been touted as a way to fight climate change, but the food crisis does not augur well for ethanol’s prospects.

“It takes around 400 pounds of corn to make 25 gallons of ethanol,” Mr. Senauer, also an applied economics professor at Minnesota, said. “It’s not going to be a very good diet but that’s roughly enough to keep an adult person alive for a year.”

Put another way, that 30 mile trip to the Gaia lecture driving your 30 mpg car using gasoline with 10% ethanol sent someone to bed hungry....There now. Feel better about your love for the environment?

Mr. Senauer said climate change advocates, such as Vice President Gore, need to distance themselves from ethanol to avoid tarnishing the effort against global warming. “Crop-based biofuels are not part of the solution. They, in fact, add to the problem. Whether Al Gore has caught up with that, somebody ought to ask him,” the professor said. “There are lots of solutions, real solutions to climate change. We need to get to those.”

Mr. Gore was not available for an interview yesterday on the food crisis, according to his spokeswoman. A spokesman for Mr. Gore’s public campaign to address climate change, the Alliance for Climate Protection, declined to comment for this article.

Want to make a bet that Pope Algore never returns that call?

And it isn't like this wasn't known to be a problem.

A Harvard professor of environmental studies who has advised Mr. Gore, Michael McElroy, warned in a November-December 2006 article in Harvard Magazine that “the production of ethanol from either corn or sugar cane presents a new dilemma: whether the feedstock should be devoted to food or fuel. With increasing use of corn and sugar cane for fuel, a rise in related food prices would seem inevitable.” The article, “The Ethanol Illusion” went so far as to praise Senator McCain for summing up the corn-ethanol energy initiative launched in the United States in 2003 as “highway robbery perpetrated on the American public by Congress.”

Later chums.

The Reverend Wright

explains it all.

Mr. Wright, who has acted as Mr. Obama’s spiritual mentor and retired in February as pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, said that he has never heard Mr. Obama repeat any of his controversial statements.

“Absolutely not,” Mr. Wright said. “I don’t talk to him about politics. And so he had a political event, he goes out as a politician and says what he has to say as a politician. I continue to be a pastor who speaks to the people of God about the things of God.”

You know, this guy has a tin ear. A HUGE tin ear!

I mean, this is a flat out admission that he was asking God to damn America. Remember?

"God Bless America? No! No! No! God damn America."

And Hussein could set there???

And Bill Moyers just let him slide? Figures, eh!

Link

Sad but true

As you may have heard, each of us will be getting a tax rebate check to
stimulate the economy.

If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China.
If we spend it on gasoline it will go to the Arabs. If we purchase a
computer it will go to India. If we purchase fruits and vegetables it
will go to Honduras, and Guatemala. If we purchase a good car it will go
to Japan. If we purchase useless stuff it will go to Taiw an and none of
it will help the American economy.

We need to keep that money here in America. The only way to keep that
money here at home is to spend it at yard sales, since those are the
only businesses left owned by Americans !!

My thanks to Shawn in Denver!

Tax Refunds and other offers

Paul Basel comments that he too received an invitation to expedite his tax refund, but his did not have a link. So he would have had to send an email. He has, of course declined, as have I.

But I do have other financial hopes. There are several gentlemen from Africa, mostly from Nigeria and Niger, who regularly make offers for me to manage their money for them. But for now I am concentrating on winning the Lottery. Why just last month I managed to get one (1) of the six numbers correct!

And then there's the stock market and other forms of gambling.

Years ago I read somewhere that the average investor would be better off taking his money to Las Vegas and playing blackjack. The reasoning was simple.

1. He knows more about blackjack than the stock market.

2. He will probably receive free adult beverages, and perhaps free food, lodging and other entertainment.

3. The scenery will be much better. Much better.......

4. When he loses the management will be more sympathetic than his broker.

Of course sympathy is also found between sh*t and syphilis in the dictionary......

Which may be unfair to the casino and the broker. Neither want you busted because if you loose your ability to play, then they have no customer. They just want their share.....

Limbo dancing and the Los Angeles Times.

requires the dancer to go lower and lower bending backwards and sliding under a pole. Often the question is asked:

"How low can he go?"

The Los Angeles Times has answered the question.

"It is a legitimate question to ask about the commander in chief: Is he fit to serve," said Robert Schriebman, a senior Pentagon tax advisor and tax attorney who recently retired as a judge advocate for a unit of the California National Guard.

If McCain can hike across the Grand Canyon, then why should he be getting disability payments from the government that are tax-exempt, Schriebman asked.

McCain shattered his knee and broke both arms when he was shot down over North Vietnam in 1967.

In his autobiographies, McCain said that his knee still bothered him in cold weather and that he was unable to raise his hands above his shoulders.

It is likely that 80% of the Times' employees were young and supple and able to dance the Limbo when John McCain was a wounded prisoner of war, captured while fighting for his country. It is likely that they are able to raise their arms and comb their hair.

This hit piece tells us how low they can go, and they can go no lower.

They have hit bottom. They are in the dirt.

Shame on them. Shame, shame, shame.

Focus Mr. President. Focus. Or resign.

Did anyone besides me notice that oil inched nearer to $120 today? And did anyone notice that Bush continued to ignore the problem? Look, Mr. President. NAFTA may be important, but you are rapidly falling into the tank by your evident lack of interest.

Now it may be that you have your troops working like crazy on the problem, but you are showing nothing. The last time you did this was during Katrina and all it cost the country was a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress.

Frankly Mr. President, if you aren't interested you can always resign.

And remember. I voted for you. Twice. If I'm getting pissed, imagine how Joe Six Pack feels. The Repubs may be busy taping the "affairs of Hussein," but the Demos are taping $3.50 (or more) gas for our ssummer vacations and a stumbling economy.

And pocketbook trumps societal concerns every time.

And please. No BS about how the Left kept us from drilling..... It is absolutely true, but no one gives a flip about how they got here. What they want is for the Party In Power to get them out. That would be:

1. Drive a "drill now" bill through Congress.

2. Cease purchasing oil for the strategic reserve.

3. Start taking oil out of the strategic reserve.

4. Declare a moratorium on the Federal gas and disel tax.

5. Start jawboning OPEC like crazy. Maybe have the Navy "accidentally" sink a Iranian gunboat or some other attention getting act.

Time is short. UAL lost 25% of its value in the market today and all the airlines are talking about 15%-20% price increases. That will cause a huge slump in the travel industry. And in our service driven economy that is a disaster.

The Dark Avenger has roared out

of wherever Dark Avengers roar out of to make some comments about the wonders of concentrated solar power, aka CSP.

Before I copy his comments, let me assure one and all that I love solar power. In fact, I adore solar power. In fact, I want solar power.

But my comments have been this. Gasoline is now at a national average of $3.51. Diesel is $4.24. The economy is shaking.... CSP is not going to fix that in the near, or mid future. And that is what desperately needs fixing.

My comments have also included a healthy disbelieve in the various cost basis being tossed around, and I have noted several times that there is a difference between "cost" and "sell" prices as most people who have been in business know.

Now, here's DA:

CPSA isn't 'new technology', as it's been used in CA since the mid-80s', and in Spain since last year.

My comment was to the claim that cost would go down as new technology becomes available, noting that a claim is a claim. Perhaps it will. As I quoted earlier:

Ausra has said with new CSP technologies they expect to reach $0.08/kWh, and some within the company have said that with economies of scale and implementation of developing technologies the cost could be as low as $0.05/kWh. When you make these charts it is important to use expected costs rather than historical costs. The current costs of CSP is already only in the $0.14 range in the newest CSP facilities

Note two things. 1. The above is their figures. 2. They are "costs" not sell. Thus 8cents become 16 cents, or more if you assume a 100% gross margin, which is not unreasonable.

DA continues:

The company's system, which is now testing in Australia, can operate at 10 cents per kilowatt hour for plants between 100 and 200 megawatts. For plants between 100 and 500 megawatts, the cost goes down to 8 cents per kilowatt hour, said Morgan.

That means they can compete with existing natural gas plants, which operate at 12 cents per kilowatt hour, he said.

Again we see "can" rather than "is." And again, that is "cost" and doesn't include any mark up.

DA snarks on.

So they have it already below the cost of power generated by a natural gas plant, but you're worried about the rate payers paying more when the production cost is cheaper for this 'unproven technology'.

When they have a couple of plants delivering commercial power let me know. Until then see my comments re "new technology."

That is quite risible, by the way.

I had written "As for "follow the investors," we should remember what happened to many start up telecom technology and telecom services companies. They tanked."

Power generation can be hardly compared to the telecom industry, but then you make all sorts of nonsense allegations when you have neither facts or common sense in your reasoning.

What's risible is your demonstration of what a lack of knowledge coupled with an ego that is overblown with self importance can do.

The promise of new technologies that did not emerge in time shot many CLEC's down because their business plans assumed a cost effective solution to the "last mile" problem for high speed data and video. Simply put, the over capacity of the inter exchange carriers destroyed them while the under demand from the over leveraged CLEC's zapped them. It was a perfect storm.

This is what's happening here in the Golden State in re: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/21/ED8Q107P18.DTL&hw=solar+power&sn=001&sc=1000Solar.

Indeed, in the debate on SB1, the solar industry asked that ratepayer-funded incentives decline over time as costs came down, eventually zeroing out as the market matures and the cost of solar electricity becomes competitive with utility power. The declining incentives pressure manufacturers and installers to reduce the costs of solar systems, and protect ratepayers from subsidizing an industry that can operate without support. What other industry has agreed up-front to sunset governmental support?

To date, the initiative has demonstrated impressive results. The commercial solar market in California is two years ahead of the program goals, and the residential market is in line with the initiative plan. Even the utilities are responding - in late March, Southern California Edison announced a plan to install 250 megawatts of solar panels on just a fraction of the millions of square feet of sunny commercial rooftops in Southern California. The utility projects declining solar costs over time.

Sorry to confuse you with the facts, in any case.

And what happens when the sun goes down and all those solar panels quit producing?
The existing commercial grid must step in and provide the power.

It is a complex problem and I hope we continue to work on it. But I won't become excited until I see business people willing to put their money on the line. And a subsidy, no matter how it is projected to decline still means they do not have confidence.

Tax Refund Fraud

Just got this email.....I wonder how many dummies will respond??

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
United States Department of the Treasury

Dear Taxpayer,

After the last annual calculations of your fiscal
activity we have determined that you are eligible
to receive a tax refund of $184.80.

Please submit the tax refund request and allow us
6-9 days in order to process it.

A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons.
For example submitting invalid records or applying
after the deadline.

To access the form for your tax refund, use the following personalized link:

http://0x7C.0x3.0x3A.0x85/www.irs.gov/taxrefund.php

Regards,
Internal Revenue Service

LMAO - Global Warming

Vendors and presenters from various eco-friendly groups, including Bullfrog Power, CO2 Reduction Edmonton and the local solar energy society, crammed into a lone tent in Hawrelak Park after a blizzard forced them to abandon their original locations

Pay no attention to the blizzard behind the screen.

Hussein's new name??

This from Bizzy Blog is good. Very good.

Translation: The presidential candidate I refer to as Mr. BOOHOO-OUCH (Barack O-bomba Overseas Hussein “Obambi” Obama - Objectively Unfit Coddler of Haters) has richly earned the words behind the seventh and eighth letters in his BizzyBlog-formulated acronym.

But I still like "Hussein." Short. Simple. And with so many reminders embedded in it.

A music break...

Enjoy.

Immigration - how many - how fast

I am not sure how accurate this, but it offers some good points. Please read the complete article.

Islam is not a religion nor is it a cult. It is a complete system.

Islam has religious, legal, political, economic and military components. The religious component is a beard for all the other components.

Islamization occurs when there are sufficient Muslims in a country to agitate for their so-called 'religious rights.'

When politically correct and culturally diverse societies agree to 'the reasonable' Muslim demands for their 'religious rights,' they also get the other components under the table. Here's how it works (percentages source CIA: The World Fact Book (2007)).

However, in our past, the newcomers settled into ghettos, and then were assimilated over the next generations. But remember that they had very few reminders of the "old country." Today there is very cheap travel and telecommunications that keep the new comer tied to the old country. Plus, there is local radio, plus Spanish TV and for the Muslim, al-Jazeera. And the politicians, especially Left wing Demos, target and try to use this as a wedge to keep'em in the ghettos and voting as told. But none of the new arrivals offer the problems of the new Muslim. In a land that prides itself on being tolerant, it is easy to see how we can just fold to their demands because "diversity is good."

It is with those thoughts that I view this:

From Audacity of Hope: "I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."

However, that is not correct. Here is the correct version.

UPDATE AND CORRECTION: From reader Dan, with thanks:

The actual quote from the book is from page 261 and is as follows: "Of course, not all my conversations in immigrant communities follow this easy pattern. In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific reassurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."

But a reasonable person will note that there is no significant differences between the short version and the actual quotation. However, when leveling charges, it is always necessary to be as accurate as possible.

So again we have something that Hussein should have to explain. Only this time he can't condemn the statements without condemning himself. He is caught with no escape, yet the pundits won't ask the question because it is the coup de grace of his campaign.

Class over, chums. Time for a hot bath and a cold Stoly... on the rocks with nothing on the side.

And my thanks to Larry P.

Bits and pieces and gasoline prices

Just filled up the Buick, the price per gallon was $3.45.9, might as well say $3.46. Crude went over $117.00 today based on the fact that a rocket hit an oil tanker.... Or at least that is the excuse of the commodity traders. There is little doubt that Bush has two choices.

1. Take action of some type to try and force the prices down.

2. Take no action and give the keys of government to Hussein or Hillary.

God help us.

Other than watching us being raped by OPEC and the commodity traders today was gorgeous. Kinda like:

"Other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?"

And the taxes the Demos will levy on the middle class and above will finish off the economy as sure as Smoot Hartley worsened the Depression. But I digress.

Worked in the yard, sharpened my lawn mower's blades, sprayed weed killer... Unfortunately Pope Algore's failure to get Global Warming when we needed it has left me in a quandary. Shall I wait and watch my cold damaged tomato plants die a slow and natural death, or shall I just go ahead and replace them. Decisions decisions.

Speaking of decisions.... The local school board, which is always broke and begging for more money...has decided that the trauma of children changing schools at the fifth and ninth grade is too much to bear and they must now be split into only two groups....k-8 and 9-12 instead of k-4, 5-8 and 9-12. The superintendent has hinted that if she doesn't get her way she will leave.

One can hope.

Returning to the yard... I have a fine crop of toads and lizards. That means no snakes. Since the Blue Racer was at the edge of the woods perhaps they have decided to not try and live in the flower beds this year.

Speaking of two reptiles...........

Tomorrow will be interesting. I have heard polls from Hillary at 11 over to 1 over. That tells me that no one knows what's going on. So here's mine.

Hillary at 7. Remember were you heard it.

Later chums!

Flag pins and Barack Hussein Obama

Good morning everyone! Are we having fun yet? Ready to dash back into the world of work? No? Sorry about that.

The phrase "Sorry about that" came into use before and during the time that William Ayers, aka the English professor and friend of Hussein that never spoke to him, was a member of the Weather Underground.

In 1970 the group issued a "Declaration of a State of War" against the United States government, under the name "Weather Underground Organization" (WUO), and members adopted fake identities and pursued violent covert activities. They carried out a domestic terror campaign in the United States, consisting of bombings, jailbreaks, and riots. Their attacks were mostly bombings of government buildings between 1969 and 1975, although they were also notable for the Greenwich Village townhouse explosion which claimed the lives of three of their own members in 1970.

The meaning of the phrase was basically an acknowledgement of a complaint/problem/situation but without sympathy. As essentially black humor it was widely favored by the military. But I digress.

The question that rises to the surface of the bubbling pot of nonsense that is Hussein's campaign is why Hussein would have anything to do with him. As someone who has received all that America has to give, why wouldn't Hussein shun a person who attacked the country?

The answer is in doubt. We know that when it comes to people attacking the country, the Reverend Wright for instance, he has said that he condemns the attacks, but not the man. What does it take for him to condemn the acts and the man?

The question is further highlighted when we view the video of him declaring that he won't wear "that pin" on his lapel. The pin in question, of course, being a US flag pin. Said flag, of course, flies over the graves of thousands of dead soldiers, sailors and airmen who died so that A MAN WHO WANTS TO BE PRESIDENT can not wear it. Instead he is mouthing nonsense that he wants to convince us he is a patriot.

Yesterday on ABC's "This Week," John McCain said he was sure that Hussein was "very patriotic." I don't believe he is.

I think McCain is sometimes too kind. I'm not.

Sorry about that.

Hussein's name and the flag

Several have complained that I choose to use Barack Hussein Obama's middle name.

I do so mostly because I don't like him, and I don't like him because he doesn't want me to use his middle name. My guess is that he thinks it will remind us of his Muslim connections. Father, step father and some schooling. Fair enough, and I wouldn't be bothered if I didn't think he was trying to get me to not ask questions. And after listening to his excuses about the Reverend Wright and Ayers association, I can see why he doesn't want questions. Especially after he insulted small town America with his demonstrated lack of understanding about middle America.

Michelle Malkin has dubbed him "Snob-ama," a pithy description that is good, but doesn't really capture the man.

So I am going to keep calling him Hussein. Any American running for President who doesn't know how to properly salute the flag of the country he wants to be CIC of doesn't deserve to be President, nor does he deserve the respect of being called what he wants.

Hussein he was. Hussein he is. Hussein he will remain.

Failure to salute Link

Green power? hehehe

One of the enduring traits I find of most Left wingers is their inability to make an argument that isn’t designed to establish that they are more knowing than others, and ending with some type of insult. They also have a tendency to fall in love with any and all technology that has some connection with reducing carbon dioxide. They just can’t help it. It is in their genes.

Such is the case with Weeder Gander.

On 4/18 I posted a “memo” to “Mr. President” in which I urged him to declare an emergency and start drilling for oil in response to the high gasoline, diesel and other chemical prices that are killing our economy. I also suggested, somewhat in jest, but less so than more so, that he have some serious conversations with OPEC re our belief that they are attacking us.

Weeder responded with a snark about what Bush knew and when, and even managed to come up with a quote supposedly showing he didn’t know about the forecast of $4.00 gasoline from some reporter. I didn’t bother asking for links because it didn’t matter. My post was not about what Bush did, or didn’t know, but about taking action to solve the problem. I even asked Weeder for a solution.

To which he responded that:

Drilling for oil in America wouldn't do much for the present crisis. It's like a heroin junkie saying they'll quit using in two weeks.

Which, if you take only the long view, has some truth in it. Of course in the long view we will all be dead. And when pressed a bit he came up with solar power. More specifically, concentrated solar power, or CSP.

Solar power has been around for sometimes, and is attractive for many reasons. But it has its problems. Chief among them is how do we store heat to run the plant when the sun is not available and the size of the collection/heating areas relative to the required location for transmission. Weeder seemed to agree with these, but instead of offering a specific solution, he argued that the problems are solved. (See my “Solar Power?” post.)

The first commercial scale concentrating solar power (CSP) plant in Europe was inaugurated in the Southern Spanish city of Seville in March 2007. The 11 MW plant has been designed to produce 23 GWh of electricity a year, enough to supply a population of 10,000.

Let’s see, a population of 10,000? That would be a very small town. And given that the per capita energy usage in Spain is probably 60% or so of what it is in the US, the US number would be 6,000. A very small town.
And then we had this:

Ausra has said with new CSP technologies they expect to reach $0.08/kWh, and some within the company have said that with economies of scale and implementation of developing technologies the cost could be as low as $0.05/kWh. When you make these charts it is important to use expected costs rather than historical costs. The current costs of CSP is already only in the $0.14 range in the newest CSP facilities

Given that we are talking cost, the consumer price with NEW technologies is expected to reach 16 cents. Expected, of course, means “hope.” And developing technologies means “maybe.” In other words, your electric bill will be around three times what it is now. A $150 monthly bill becomes $450.

That buys 100 gallons of gas at $3.00 a gallon, or 2000 miles worth of driving. Said driving, of course is necessary to get to work, etc.

That is, the additional price of electrical power adds nothing to the economy. It is just a flat loss. So much for the green economy. It’s green alright. The color of the dollar coming out of your pocket.

Are all these numbers accurate? As a proponent wrote:

I just put together a couple graphs for a talk I’m giving on Monday to give people a visual feel of the various technologies for generating electricity. These come with a gigantic caveat: the numbers are far from precise

Ah yes. Yes indeed.

Solar power???

Weeder Gander has flown back in and provided some insight on the gasoline problem.

To my comment about drilling for oil being blocked by the environmental wackos, the Demo Left and dummy RINOs being an OLD excuse, he responded with about the only comment that lets Bush off the hook.

Drilling for oil in America wouldn't do much for the present crisis. It's like a heroin junkie saying they'll quit using in two weeks.

Uh, having quit smoking one time I can tell you that what you have to do is "quit." Rationalization does nothing towards solving the problem. Plus, a President screaming for new oil drilling would send a huge psychological shot across OPEC's bow.

His solution?

My solution is using solar power in a variety of applications including CSP, as outlined in a recent article on Salon.com

Well now, that's pretty definitive. It solves the problems of how the power can be stored and used later, like say "night time." It also solves the problem of transmission of the power from the acres and acres of solar panel farms, including, of course where they will be located. (Sarcasm alert.)

CSP makes use of the most abundant and free fuel there is, sunlight, and key countries have a vast resource. Solar thermal plants covering the equivalent of a 92-by-92-mile square grid in the Southwest could generate electricity for the entire United States.

I mean you do understand something called Ohm's law don't you?? What it says is that when you run current through resistance, a voltage drop occurs between the generation point (the CSP) the transmission lines and the "load," of the users.... Now that's a great simplification, but I trust you get the idea.

Simpler. There is a finite distance you can transmit electrical power without suffering an unacceptable loss.

As for heat storage to keep the generators running when the sun is not available, there is another small problem called The Second Law of Thermodynamics. Again let me help you. What that says is that hot things become cold if not continually heated. And no place have I seen a reasonable solution to this problem. If it requires X amount of energy to heat the source of power to turn the turbines, then the amount required to be generated is equal to [(2)(X)] plus the nominal loss of initial storage. In other words, if 10 watts are required to run the generators, and additional 10 watts must be stored at a temperature that overcomes the storage loss, and the linear loss over time.

Can it be done?? I don't know. But I haven't seen anything that would persuade me that it can. Especially if the 8 to 10 cents per KWH is to be met. Instead I see:

So what do we need to do to ramp up CSP? Interestingly, most CSP executives don't talk much about the need for government R&D. They mostly need policies aimed at creating initial market demand that would help bring down costs quickly over the next several years. One such policy is a so-called national renewable portfolio standard, which would require utilities to get a minimum percentage of their electricity from new renewable forms of power, or purchase such power from other utilities. After that, the typical manufacturing learning curves and economies of scale -- plus a market price for carbon dioxide set by the cap-and-trade system -- should do the rest.

Simpler. Provide us a market a much higher price than what we have now. Heck. No wonder they don't want government R&D. They want a much better deal.

Having said all of the above, am I for it? Yes. If it is at the same price I pay now.

So your solution is an unproven technology available in an unknown time frame at an unknown cost.......?

I rest my case. Drill, jawbone and threaten.

Conservative Democrats

Daffynition.

Conservative Democrat:

A politician that when elected gives the Left wing Democrats enough of a majority to pass legislation that the Conservative Democrat ran against.

Disneyland and Hooters??

William Katz fromUrgent Agenda wades in this morning with some pithy comments regarding Hussein and his minions protesting ABC's lead reporters asking Hussein some hard question.

Yes indeed, life is unfair. In fact, if Hussein's minions thinks those were hard, I can just imagine the ones being feverishly written by the Repub side.. But I digress.

The following is from a protester at Disney's headquarters.

"I'm protesting the dumbing down of America ... of what should be news," said Albert Johnson, Jr., an insurance agent from Altadena. "I could ask any Hooters waitress and they'd have better questions. All that bing-pow graphics? What is this—a baseball game?"

I love it. Here we have someone who is enchanted with a man who calls small town Americans bitter, clinging to religion and guns and being racist calling a Hooters' waitresses dumb by inference... George S's and Charlie's questions were so dumb that even a "Hooters" waitress could beat them. Elitist is as elitist does, eh??

BTW - Mr. Johnson, as someone who has traveled and dined out extensively, let me give you some advice.

Never, never, never anger your waitress. Remember. She gets to spend time with your food with no one around.......

Mr. President:

Can we talk? Got a minute?

I just filled up my Buick and the price per gallon was $3.40. And even though the American made product is getting 25.4 combined MPG, that's a hurt. A big hurt.

And I know that the high demand from China and India, aka the "excuse of the day" by OPEC, has us by the short hair. And it was the environmental wackos and their hand maidens the Demos and dummy RINOs that kept us from drilling within the US. I mean I know who the evil ones are. The Big Guy and Hannity have told me.

But you see, that excuse has been around thirty years, and even if true, consider this.

It doesn't fix the problem.

You are the man, Mr. President. So I think it is time you start using the bully pulpit and jam some emergency legislation down the Demos throats. Just tell the wackos to piss off and tell the oil companies that they have been talking the talk, but now is the time to walk the walk. Get off your behinds and start drilling some holes in the ground.

At the same time it wouldn't hurt to tell OPEC that they really truly sure enough need to open the spigots because their current actions look like an attack on the US and well, everyone knows what happens when we think we've being attacked. How do you say "spidy-hole" in Farsi? Arabic? Spanish?

Well, that's about it. Wish I could have been more subtle, but I really can't. Because if the public doesn't start to see some actual honest to God change come out of the Repubs, they are likely to start listening to Hussein talk about change.

And no. Not THAT Hussein. The other one. The one from Chicago. The one who can really do some damage to the country.

Regards from a two time voter.

Poker Player

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Dog For Sale
* Free to good home.
* Excellent guard dog.
* Owner cannot afford to feed him anymore, as there are no more thieves, murderers or molesters left in the neighborhood for him to eat.
* Most of them knew him as 'Holy Shit.'

My thanks to Shawn in Colorado

Silicy, Atlanta and bits and pieces

I read someplace that the latest elections in Italy resulted in, for the first time since WWII, there being no communists in the government... Replay of a golden oldie.

"What's the difference between Eastern Europe and Boulder, CO?"

"There are no communists left in Eastern Europe."

Boulder, of course being the location of the University of Colorado who, believe it or not, beats Nebraska from time to time...Actually they won a national championship in 1990 under the oversight of Coach Bill McCartney...who was deemed a nut because of his professed Christian faith and belief that men should act like men, doing such outrageous things as leading by example and supporting their children...

Beloved between the goal lines, such talk doomed him with the university's administration. Since his departure the team's success has been limited. However, its national exposure has continued by the comments of Professor Ward Churchill who opined that, among other things, that the twin towers on 9/11 had Little Eichmans in them doing things best not known.

Churchill is no longer there. Proving that despite the flood of people from California and other cultural sojourners there are times when common sense rules.

Thinking about Italy I am reminded of my first stay in Sicily... Upon expressing my pleasure in being in Italy I was immediately reminded that, "You are not in Italy, you are in Sicily!" My apology was graciously accepted and no one made an offer I couldn't refuse.

There have been other places that took a similar view.... Atlanta is well known to not be in the south, or at least by true Southerners.....I seem to remember it being called "The New York of the South." That, of course, was when people actually dreamed of making it there...or anywhere... but I digress..

There was an earthquake in central eastern Illinois at 5:46 this morning... Rumors have it this is the start of Illinois south of Chicago and its burbs removing itself from the state that elected Hussein.....

Later chums. Time to play farmer!

There is an old joke about poker players...

"Deal," cried the losers, while the winners were telling jokes.

Such is the case with the man who would be king, aka Hussein. Unused to hard questions and with a political career consisting of no contests, he deemed himself untouchable. But a funny thing has happened on the way to the coronation. A combination of political opposition, talk radio and the Internet has raised questions about who he is, can be beat McCain in November and is he fit to serve?

We have found out many things about him. But the most problematic isn't his relationships with Ayers and Wright, although they now have gone past the judgement issues to raising questions about this belief in this country. No, the real issue has become his wimpiness. As is said sometimes in chat rooms and blogs...

"Want some cheese with that whine?"

Sen. Barack Obama suggested Thursday that he doesn't see any point in having another debate with Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Clinton.

So now we find he no longer wants to debate because they are likely to raise "old issues" that Hussein deems unworthy of debate. It is time to move on to the future. To emote over change. To do anything but face more questions..... to having to explain his record.

He knows he can have whatever he wants. After all, it has always been given to him.

He is soft. His arrogance is born of never having to fight. Of winning without trying. Hillary is right. Can you imagine him being there when the phone rings at three in the morning? Or facing our enemies at High Noon?

Shales' style

I really don't know what a "Style Columnist" is for the Washington Post. But whatever it is, knowledge of current events and fairness evidently is not required. Case in point is Tom Shales attack first on ABC and then his demonstration that he either has not been keeping up with what's going on, or he wants to spin it.
I give you:

The boyish Stephanopoulos.....looked like an overly ambitious intern helping out at a subcommittee hearing, digging through notes for something smart-alecky and slimy. He came up with such tired tripe as a charge that Obama once associated with a nutty bomb-throwing anarchist. That was "40 years ago, when I was 8 years old," Obama said with exasperation.

Someone should tell Tom, "once associated" means "in the past." Ayers and Hussein continue to associate, and are actually serving on the same corporate board. And then there is the large lapse made when Hussein compared Ayers and Senator Coburn.

No sooner was that said than Gibson brought up, yet again, the controversial ravings of the pastor at a church attended by Obama. "Charlie, I've discussed this," he said, and indeed he has,

True enough, but his answers haven't been satisfactory. So now he just says his unsatisfactory answers are OK and we should just move on...

Perhaps it is natural that someone who writes in the Style section of a paper would be more interested in style than facts. But he really shouldn't complain about bias when it is glaringly obvious that he is in the tank for the master of style, Hussein.

Global warming wins!!!

At least for one day. And may I say yesterday was a beautiful day. Cloudless skies and 72 degrees.... reminded me of Hawaii... except I worked and worked... fresh mulch in the flower and bush beds out front.... cleaned out the beds in front of the new addition... chased off a Blue Racer snake..no big deal, they are naturally shy and will leave if given the chance.

The problem is that all my muscles have turned to flab, and when I decided to take out three dead trees on the edge of the woodlot that contains the Palatial Retirement Compound... well, just let me say that it was a major error in judgement, but I think I will be walking normally in a few days.

One of the trees was a cedar and will be missed. The other two were sweet gum. Messy hardly describes them. Yet they provided shade and wind break.

After the severe freeze last year that came after the trees had leafed out and destroyed the leaves, the County Agent said that they would leaf out again, and they did. He also said that some would likely die over the winter. Especially if the summer was dry...and it was... and the next winter was cold... which it was... I saw four more that look questionable... but maybe not.

I didn't watch the "debate" last night. There are some things even I won't do. And the transcripts will be available and more accurate. Besides Hussein exposing his inability to judge moral versus immoral, much is being made over Hillary saying Hussein could win.

You think? Well, duhhhhhhhhhhh.

I think my mind drifted back to Hawaii because of Hussein's comments that he was raised by a mother on food stamps. He also was raised by a grandmother who, in addition to being fearful of black men as all typical whites are... if I can believe Hussein....was a Vice President of the largest bank in Hawaii... Has the candidate of change adopted some of Hillary's hen house ways???

Aloha chums!

Hussein and equivalence

Just when you think it can't get any better, or worse, Hussein does it again.
This from Newsbusters.

Prefacing the issue under the “general theme of patriotism,” and previous questions about why Obama has, at times, refused to wear an American flag lapel pin, Stephanopoulos noted, “[Ayers] never apologized for [the bombings]. And in fact, on 9/11, he was quoted in the New York Times, saying, ‘I don’t regret setting bombs. I feel we didn’t do enough.’” The ABC host pointedly observed that Obama’s campaign has described the relationship with Ayers as “friendly.” Stephanopoulos then asked, “Can you explain that relationship for the voters and explain to Democrats why it won’t be a problem?”

Obama’s response included stating that Ayers's actions happened when he was very young and asserted they weren’t relevant. Oddly, he went on to compare a man who was involved in bombings that killed people to his colleague, Republican Senator Tom Coburn from Oklahoma. Obama stated, “The fact is that I’m also friendly with Tom Coburn, one of the most conservative Republicans in the United States Senate, who during his campaign once said that it might be appropriate to apply the death penalty to those who carried out abortions."

But "oddly?" Not at all. He sees the actions of Ayers as moral. Ayers is attacking the "enemy," who is engaged in "immoral acts." In this case the defense of the country. Hussein also sees that Coburn is attacking the "enemy." In this case those who carry out abortions and thus engage in "immoral acts."

In his mind the actions are equal. Both are attacking what each see as evil. What Hussein has told us is that he cannot distinguish between right and wrong. He lives in a world of no absolutes. Thus he is comfortable with Ayers, and his Reverend and Rezko and Senator Coburn.....

That is a frightening thought about a man who would be President. Doubly so in a time of war.

Hussein and wishful thinking.

Obama has frequently been taunted by his rivals for suggesting as president he’d sit down with America’s enemies without preconditions. He attempted to clarify Wednesday that he would go into meetings with Iranian leaders with a “very clear set of objectives and a very clear set of demands.”

Among those, he said he would press the country to stop pursuing nuclear weapons, stop funding Hezbollah and Hamas and stop threatening Israel.

“My interest in meeting with Iran is practical; it is not based on my assessment of who they are or my judgment about their values, but rather it is a practical assessment in terms of how we can best achieve our ultimate goal, which is an Iran that is not threatening its neighbors, is not threatening Israel, does not possess nuclear weapons, is not funding organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas,” he said.

“They may not agree to any one or all of those demands. But, by having made them directly, it becomes much more difficult for them, I think, to posture on the international stage and it then positions us to be able to obtain the kinds of assistance from potential allies that we need,” Obama continued.

Here again we see the elitist Hussein. He obviously believes that just by him asking Iran the results would be different.

An obvious question is why. What magic potion does he think he brings. Even worse, what happens when he is turned down? At that point you must either accept the results or go to war. There are no other options.

His inexperience coupled with a false sense of ability are deadly.

I wonder if the knuckle heads who swoon in his presence have thought about that. It would appear they have not.

Link

Awesone Pics

These are awesome. Click and enjoy.

My thanks to Tom R.

Link

Why would any Jew vote Democratic?

I have asked that question before and I am asking it again.

February 6, 2007 -- THE Democratic National Committee made a strange choice to deliver the invocation last Friday at its winter meeting: Husham al-Husainy - an extremist who has a long record of support for prominent Islamists at war with America and Israel....

Al-Husainy heads the Karbalaa Islamic Education Center mosque in Dearborn, Mich., one of the largest Shiite mosques in North America. He is an open admirer of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini - under whose rule Americans were held hostage for 444 days.

During last summer's Israel-Hezbollah war, al-Husainy led rallies in Dearborn in support of the Lebanese terrorist group. Protesters displayed swastikas as well as anti-American and anti-Semitic posters.

I attended one rally, at Dearborn's Bint Jebail Cultural Center - named for the stronghold in south Lebanon from which Hezbollah rockets rained on Israel. Al-Husainy was among several who delivered hate-filled, anti-American rhetoric. He cheered as others called for the hastened destruction of the Jews

I mean I understand that the country club Repubs discriminated, and I understand that hurt. But time goes by and things change. The facts now are that the Democratic Party is under control of the anti-war Left, and when you scratch too many of these guys, you find a Jew hater, although many claim they just hate Israel's actions in defending themselves. You even have an ex-President and leading anti-war Leftist, aka Jimmy Carter, over there laying wreaths on tombs of dead Jew haters and hugging live Jew haters.

Time to catch a clue, folks. To flip a phrase, "A friend of my enemy is not my friend."

The Pope and Immigration

I heard on either the TV or radio that the Pope wants to talk to President Bush about immigration reform.

Which leads me to say: Mind your own business! And if you want to really help the citizens of Mexico and other countries to the south, tell them birth control is okay.

Perception is everything, President Bush.

From bizzyblog we get this in response to the press running in circles.

(AP's) Crutsinger also hilariously raised the specter of long-ago ogre:

The inflation pressures are occurring at a time when the overall economy is slowing and many analysts believe may have toppled into a recession. That raises concerns that the country could be facing another bout of stagflation, the malady that last occurred in the 1970s when economic growth stagnated but inflation kept rising.

Stagflation? Based on the latest data, the sum of inflation (about 4.0%, with food and energy, as of February) and unemployment (5.1% as of March) is currently 9.1%.

In December 1980, thanks to our worst president ever, who now dabbles in terrorist coddling, it was over double that, at 19.7% (12.5% inflation and 7.2% unemployment).

Heck, the current “stagflation” number is barely higher than April 1995’s 8.8% (3.0% inflation and 5.8% unemployment), during a period the AP seems to regard as the Golden Age of Pericles because a Democrat was in charge at the White House. I don’t recall the business press worrying about stagflation then.

Well, yes, but the perception is that things are bad, and if the Repubs want to lose come November all they need is more of the same from Bush.

On a day when he should have been demanding that Congress implement McCain's call to eliminate the 18 cents per gallon gasoline, the 24 cents per gallon deisel tax for three months and stop purchasing oil for the strategic reserve, he is having a "historic" meeting with the Pope.

That's called "doing nothing," Mr. President. And btw - why don't we take some oil out of the reserve?? Looks like we could use a bit of strategic thinking righht now.

In case you forget what this election is all about,

I give you this article on the Supreme Court's
Hamdan vs Rumsfeld decision.

As you read this demand to ignore both of the other two branches of Government and find rights for terrorists being held to prevent them for attacking us, remember that this is with a court that has some degree of commonsense. Just think what will happen if either Hussein or Hillary is elected.

So I implore all of us to quit jacking around and elect McCain. He isn't perfect, but he is light years ahead of the alternatives!

Torture??

The scary thing is... we know you wouldn't.

IBD Link

Muslim censorship

done by the victim's country.

If Brigitte Bardot (73) had been fifty years younger, French President Nicolas Sarkozy might have made her France’s First Lady and her nude pictures might have been sold to help charities in Cambodia. Now, instead, the French are taking her to court.

The former French sex symbol stood trial in Paris today for “inciting racial hatred” against Muslims. The public prosecutor demanded that the former filmstar be given a two-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 15,000 euros.

In December 2006, Bardot wrote a letter to Sarkozy, then France’s Interior minister, to demand that Muslims anaesthesize their animals before slaughtering them. In her letter she said, referring to Muslims, that she is “fed up with being under the thumb of this population which is destroying us, destroying our country and imposing its habits.”

Leave it to the French to do some really dumb things.

But then all of Europe seems to be doing them.

I knew there was something I liked about her....

Abbott and Costello

I need some grins. If you aren't a fan of the boys, then click on this link and prepare for a giggle or three.

Global Warming Kills

It appears I lost only three tomato plants, with no loss of the peppers, onions and cabbages. Of course cold damage doesn't always show up immediately, so there may be additional damage.

And then there is the problem of delayed planting which means waiting longer for fresh vegetables. No problem for me, I just go to WalMart and grumble as I pay the inflated prices. Of course that means that there will be less to buy other things, so the problem just tumbles down the line.

Others aren't so fortunate.

The world intelligentsia has been asleep at the wheel. While we rage over global warming, global hunger has swept in under the radar screen.

Of course the facts are that the elitists haven't been asleep. They have been very active screaming about GW, demanding that we reduce oil consumption without a single thought of how that could be done. Last year Mexico saw a huge run up in corn meal prices, and this was blamed, not on the demands of the GW crowd for ethanol, but on the Yankee. It will be worse this year. And without a closed border we will see huge increases in illegal aliens from the south.

Of course OPEC can also be blamed. Their sky high prices have also driven the demand for energy production from plants. Corn is the easiest and grows the best in temperate climates. Sugar is so plentiful that we subsidize prices which in turns suppresses production. Congress is not likely to change this for sugar or corn.

But the real villains have been those on the Left who have opposed every possible solution that would reduce our dependence on OPEC and foreign oil. Nuclear was not acceptable. New drilling off our coasts was not acceptable. New refineries couldn't be built lest we kill some wild life, etc., etc., etc.

Now we see gasoline above $3.30 and diesel above $5.00. Food prices are spiraling ever upward due to the cost of transportation and cultivation. And the increases in fertilizers and weed control chemicals are immense.

The Luddites have led us into an ambush. We need to take back control and turn technology, and diplomacy loose on the price of energy. Either that or you need to learn to raise a garden.

Taxes Due!!!

Don't forget to render unto Caesar!

BTW - All you good Lefties who think we need a tax increase can always pay an additional amount.

Just write a separate check for the amount to the US Treasury. Just note: "Donation" on the check and stick in the envelope.

May I suggest $100. each?? A modest amount but it will help pay for the rebuilding of New Orleans. A city built below sea level that people were surprised to learn would flood.

No, make it $200. We need to pay for bailing out all the folks who bought houses they couldn't afford and the bankers who got rich doing it by destroying the credit market.

No, make it $300. We need to bail out Medicaid that's going broke taking care of illegal aliens.

We haven't spoke of illegal aliens for

a while. Here is a Tom Tancredo article that nails it.

OBGYN wards in Denver would have 24-percent fewer deliveries and Los Angeles’s maternity-ward deliveries would drop by 40 percent and maternity billings to Medi-Cal would drop by 66 percent.

Hussein's Buddy Rezko

When Tony Rezko held a reception at his home for Iraqi-born billionaire Nadhmi Auchi on April 3, 2004, White House hopeful Barack Obama and his wife were also there, Stuart Levine testified just now at Rezko's trial.

Auchi is the man who provided Rezko a $3.5 million loan that Rezko did not disclose to the court -- resulting in his January arrest.
"Mr. and Mrs. Obama were there, were they not?" Rezko lawyer Joseph Duffy asked.
"Yes, sir," Levine said.
Obama and his aides have said Obama has no recollection of ever meeting Auchi.

Let me see.... Hussein has a buddy named Rezko who obviously made it possible for him to buy a house by purchasing an adjoining lot that the seller said must be sold at the same time the house was..... Now Rezko has a buddy from Syria who made a loan of $3.5 million that he illegally concealed and got him arrested...

And of course Hussein can't remember being there. Of course he couldn't remember anything his Reverend of twenty years said until the tapes were produced...

Follow the money, dear chums. Follow the money.

This is getting "gooder" and "gooder" and "gooder."

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Global Warming????

I snatched the picture from Denny Wilson at Grouchy Old Cripple in Atlanta. It just absolutely describes my feelings. If I had wanted snow and sleet on April 14 I would have stayed in Denver.

But I must admit that all the doomsayers were right:

Meteorologists disagree about the cause and the extent of the cooling trend… but they are almost unanimous in the view that the trend will reduce agricultural productivity for the rest of the century. Newsweek- April 28 1975

They were just 32 years, 11 months and 14 days early.

What Australia's troops think of our troops...a comparsion.

Before I came over here I thought we (the Australian Army) were pretty…hot….. was I ever wrong!….The Yanks (I hope you don’t mind me using that word) are so professional from the top to the bottom that it is almost embarrassing to be in their company,.....

If nothing else, coming here has taught me that the Americans are a truly great Nation and a truly great bunch of people…..Let’s face it they don’t HAVE to be here, they could stay in America and beat the shit out of anyone who threatened them, BUT THEY ARE HERE because they believe they should be here, and the Iraqis would be screwed if they weren’t here…..When I come home, you and I we are going to the US, we will buy some bikes and we are going riding….

Read all of the Australian soldier's comments.

Compare that to what our anti-war Left thinks.

Protesters burned an American soldier in effigy at a peace rally in
Portland, Oregon, on March 18.

Chants included:

"Bye, bye, G.I., in Iraq, you're gonna die!"

and

"Build a bonfire; build a bonfire; put the soldiers on the dock; put
the fascists in the middle, and we'll burn the f-----g lot!"

Did you get a good look at the video? Note the concealed faces?? What courage, eh? They can't even burn a dummy without being afraid to show their faces.

Logan Act - Try Carter

§ 953. Private correspondence with foreign governments.
Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
This section shall not abridge the right of a citizen to apply himself, or his agent, to any foreign government, or the agents thereof, for redress of any injury which he may have sustained from such government or any of its agents or subjects.

Okay, that's the law.

WASHINGTON — Former President Jimmy Carter said he feels "quite at ease" about meeting Hamas militants over the objections of Washington because the Palestinian group is essential to a future peace with Israel.

Several State Department officials, including the secretary, Condoleezza Rice, criticized his plans. Carter said he had not heard the objections directly, although a State Department spokesman said earlier that a senior official from the department had called the former president.

The State Department says it advised Carter twice against meeting representatives of Hamas, which Washington lists as a terrorist organization.

"I think that it's very important that at least someone meet with the Hamas leaders to express their views, to ascertain what flexibility they have, to try to induce them to stop all attacks against innocent civilians in Israel and to cooperate with the Fatah as a group that unites the Palestinians, maybe to get them to agree to a cease-fire — things of this kind," he said.

Now. It is obvious that Carter, he no longer deserved to be called ex-President, has broken the law. SecofStatde Rice has specifically asked him not to do this, yet he will.

No one is above the law. And it is impossible for any government to carry on foreign policy when a third party, especially an ex-President, becomes involved.

He should be arrested, indicted, tried and if convicted, punished as law specifies.

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