The politics of personal destruction

There is no shred of decency in the DNC. The party, The press, and the largely liberal media have takien the low road with regard to the Governor of Alaska ever since her run for the vice presidency.  She has decided to leave the Governorship for the sake of Alaska, and for her family. It's a sad day.  She will leave office on July 26th.  I will miss Sarah Palin.  I Thank her for her service to the country with regards to Energy.

Who do we on the right look to next?  Who hasn't the press already tainted with unsubstantiatable accusations and innuendo?  When will the public at large stop listening?  I remain ever hopeful.

 

 

Capping & Taxing U.S. Government Insanity

The house speaker rushed the 1200 plus page bill through the house before the science proved the lack of necessity for the effort.  At a time when the US economy needs every possible measure to strengthen it, the Congress and the President seem intent on legislation to further weaken it.  The EPA had already internally released a draft report indicating that the EPA should not depend on outside bodies like the IPCC for data, and that recent data undermines most of the theories presented before 2007.  The memo, released to and repressed by the EPA leadership, is now being reported on with copies available on the Internet.  The report is available [here] . The cost of the Cap & trade legislation to the average household has been estimated to be several thousand dollars per year.  The cost to American industry may be much worse. [Source]   Ironies abound.  Without cooperation from China, any 'benefit' in reduced carbon dioxide would be negligible. We pollute with every breath (breath mints or not) since carbon dioxide is now deemed a pollutant.  Hopefully, we will not have to trade carbon credits in order to breath.  Those who voted for the bill are certain to have not read it, because the bill in it's final form did not exist at the time of the vote.  This is the second time this Congress has voted for an unread (unreadable) bill. The first was a manifest malfeasance in the non-stimulating stimulus that will surely result in a whole lot of federal easing (aka inflation.) 

'I'm better off dead. I'm done': Michael Jackson's fateful prediction just a week before his death

By Ian Halperin

    * Genetic condition had ruined his lungs and left him unable to sing
    * He became so skeletal, doctors believed he was anorexic
    * He had nightmares about being murdered – and wanted to die
    * He used swine flu as an excuse to avoid coming to England
    * He thought he was agreeing to 10 concerts – it was 50

Whatever  the final autopsy results reveal, it was greed that killed Michael Jackson. Had he not been driven – by a cabal of bankers, agents, doctors and advisers – to commit to the gruelling 50 concerts in London’s O2 Arena, I believe he would still be alive today.  [More...]

Carbongate

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Friday, June 26, 2009 4:20 PM PT

Climate Change: A suppressed EPA study says old U.N. data ignore the decline in global temperatures and other inconvenient truths. Was the report kept under wraps to influence the vote on the cap-and-trade bill? [More...]

Solar Variability: Striking A Balance With Climate Change

ScienceDaily (May 12, 2008) — The sun has powered almost everything on Earth since life began, including its climate. The sun also delivers an annual and seasonal impact, changing the character of each hemisphere as Earth's orientation shifts through the year. Since the Industrial Revolution, however, new forces have begun to exert significant influence on Earth's climate... [More] : [Counterpoint]

Obama said to be open to taxing health benefits

Jun 2 06:00 PM US/Eastern By ERICA WERNER Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is leaving the door open to taxing health care benefits, something he campaigned hard against while running for president.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., raised the issue with Obama during a private meeting Tuesday with the president and other Democratic senators and later reported the president's response: "It's on the table. It's an option."

The federal government would reap about $250 billion a year if it treated health care benefits given to employees like wages and taxed them. [More]  : [Counterpoint]

Nader Statement On GM Bankruptcy

 

WASHINGTON, June 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer advocate Ralph Nader today issued the following statement on GM's bankruptcy filing:

Today's bankruptcy declaration in federal court by General Motors is an avoidable, crude weapon of mass devastation for workers, dealers, auto suppliers, small businesses and their depleted communities. For GM's voiceless owners -- the common shareholders -- it is a wipeout.

 

The proximate cause of the bankruptcy was supposed to be the inability of GM and the government's auto task force to reach an accommodation with GM's bondholders. But late last week, the bondholder problem was moving toward rapid resolution, and was clearly resolvable. Why then are GM and its multibillion government financier proceeding with bankruptcy?

The bankruptcy and the GM restructuring plan are the product of a secretive, unaccountable, Wall Street-minded government task force that assumed power because of a Congressional abdication of historic magnitude. By all rights, the restructuring plan should have been submitted to Congress for deliberative review and decision.

There is little doubt that GM's chronic mismanagement and the deep recession require restructuring and scaling back the auto giant. But the bankruptcy and restructuring plan appear poised to do so in ways that will needlessly harm the stakeholders meant to be helped by Washington's rescue of GM?

[More]

Thorium: Earth's Forgotten Treasure

As we face soaring energy prices, future shortages, and the alarming prospect of dramatic climate change brought about by fossil fuel waste, the one thing we desperately need stands out in stark relief: an abundant supply of clean energy - the Holy Grail of the modern world.

Oil and natural gas are running low. Wind power is limited to a few locations, biofuels require much more land than we have, and solar is still far from practical after decades of intensive research. Nuclear fusion has made even less progress. The supply of uranium for conventional nuclear power will run out within this century. Right now, almost every new power plant has to be fueled by dwinding supplies of natural gas or uranium, or by dirty coal, which spews out not only vast amounts of carbon dioxide but millions of tons of toxic soot, poisonous heavy metals, and radioactive isotopes.

Whenever the construction of a nuclear reactor is delayed because of a false hope in "renewable" energies that never materialize, a coal or natural gas plant has to be built instead, polluting the air we breathe and driving global warming faster and faster. But even conventional nuclear reactors produce waste, and because they use only a tiny fraction of the energy in uranium, that resource is also being depleted.

Enter Thorium. Half a century ago, a different kind of nuclear reactor was invented, one that burns Thorium - an inexhaustible supply of fuel, and much cheaper than the enriched-uranium fuel used by current reactors. It can even use the nuclear waste from other reactors as fuel! The Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor, or LFTR for short, operates at low pressures, so it could never explode like the reactor at Chernobyl, and its liquid-fuel design makes it physical impossible to overheat, like the reactor at Three Mile Island.

Unfortunately, it was the Cold War - energy was still cheap, global warming was just a theory, and the LFTR wasn't good for making weapons-grade plutonium, so it was abandoned. Now, a growing group of scientists and engineers are working to bring the LFTR back to life - to free us from filthy coal and turn stockpiles of nuclear waste into the clean, cheap energy we need. [More]

Ed Note: This is an area where the US could lead.   If not Thorium, (why not Thorium?) then fast breeder reactors based on liquid salts for coolant.  These designs are inherently safer that light water reactors, cheaper, more efficient, and can eliminate the nuclear waste now growing in cooling ponds at the various LW reactor sites. 

The Wolfram Alpha web site is alive. 

 www.wolframalpha.com is now taking questions.  It isn't accurate to call it a 'google buster' because it isn't a search engine.  It provides organized and detailed information on key topics.  The Internet has become a lot more interesting and powerful.  For now, it's a little rough around the edges, but I think it's learning.

Chocolate, running shoes and Spam are hot items in recession

 Some items are not only recession resistant, but actually thrive a recession.  [More]

People of Plenty

By William Tucker on 5.5.09 @ 6:09AM

In my book, Terrestrial Energy, I talk about historian David Potter's 1956 book, People of Plenty, which redefined Frederick Jackson Turner's "Frontier Thesis." Whereas Turner said that an abundance of land had been the defining experience in the American character, Potter argued it was actually an abundance of natural resources.

Following this line of thought, I argued that since our domestic oil production went into decline in 1970 we had entered a new era of American history where we became a "people of scarcity." It was a pretty good argument at the time, but I think now I'm going to have to revise it for the next edition. Once again we have become a People of Plenty -- this time in natural gas.

In a front-page story last week, the Wall Street Journal summed up what has been floating around for more than a year (it's amazing how long it takes these things to reach the public consciousness) -- gas industry roustabouts, wildcatters and innovators in Texas and Louisiana have done it again. They have cracked into gas deposits previously locked up in shale formations and opened Saudi-Arabian-sized reserves. As the Journal summarized, "One industry-backed study estimates the U.S. has more than 2,200 trillion cubic feet of gas waiting to be pumped, enough to satisfy nearly 100 years of current U.S. natural gas demand."  [More]  

Ed. Note: Natural Gas has a significantly smaller carbon footprint than oil or coal:

Fossil Fuel Emission Levels - Pounds per Billion Btu of Energy Input
Pollutant	Natural Gas	Oil	Coal
Carbon Dioxide	117,000	164,000	208,000
Carbon Monoxide	40	33	208
Nitrogen Oxides	92	448	457
Sulfur Dioxide	1	1,122	2,591
Particulates	7	84	2,744
Mercury	0.000	0.007	0.016
Source: EIA - Natural Gas Issues and Trends 1998

 

The Facts on Fascism

By Quin Hillyer on 4.30.09 @ 6:09AM

Yes, it is indeed similar to fascism.

Since my April 2 column that compared Barack Obama's economic policies (and others) to those of Italy's Benito Mussolini, I have been denounced on the pages of the Economist, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Toronto Star, and the New York Times (less strongly denounced there than in the others, oddly enough), and by Chris Matthews (and guests Tony Blankley and Larry Sabato) on Hardball, and also had the idea made fun of by CNN morning hosts while they played a rather tame and sober interview they had done with me on the subject.

Never mind that in the New York Times on April 7 , David Leonhardt went farther, comparing the policies to the economics of Hitler in the course of saying that was a good thing because Hitler's economics worked. Somehow, the rather fact-based piece I wrote was seen by the media elite as out of bounds, but Leonhardt's was acceptable analysis because it was meant to praise Obama rather than bury him.

Yet Leonhardt's column is proof enough that it is not some right-wing conspiracy theory that sees fascistic leanings in the big government, corporatist approaches taken by The One in the Oval Office.

Since then, the evidence has grown only stronger. As the Examiner noted yesterday, the Obama takeover of General Motors is astonishing in its scope and reach. The money quote from GM itself: "The U.S. Treasury will be able to elect all of our directors and to control the vote on substantially all matters brought for a stockholder vote."

This is scary stuff.  [More]

'Hate crimes' law definitions would protect 547 sex 'philias'

Posted: May 04, 2009  9:08 pm Eastern

By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

 

The leader of a pro-family organization says families across the nation need to contact their U.S. senators now to try to derail a legislative plan that already has passed the U.S. House and is being awaited by President Obama – after a Democrat confirmed that it would protect "all 547 forms of sexual deviancy or 'paraphilias' listed by the American Psychiatric Association."

WND columnist Janet Porter, who also heads the Faith2Action.org Christian ministry, today cited S. 909, dubbed the "Pedophile Protection Act" as an extreme danger to America.

As H.R. 1913, the House version of the so-called "hate crimes" bill was adopted on a 149-175 vote, but not before several amendments were proposed by Republicans trying to mitigate the impact of the draconian law.

Democratic Sens. Edward Kennedy and Patrick Leahy immediately introduced a matching plan in the U.S. Senate, and activists say a vote in committee could come as early as tomorrow.

The proposal, formally called the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act after a Wyoming homosexual who was killed in a horrific robbery and beating in 1998, creates a special class for homosexuals and others with alternative sexual lifestyles and provides them protections against so-called "hate."

It specifically denies such protections to other targeted classes of citizens such as pastors, Christians, missionaries, veterans and the elderly. [More]

An invention that could change the internet for ever

Revolutionary new web software could put giants such as Google in the shade when it comes out later this month. Andrew Johnson reports

The biggest internet revolution for a generation will be unveiled this month with the launch of software that will understand questions and give specific, tailored answers in a way that the web has never managed before.

The new system, Wolfram Alpha, showcased at Harvard University in the US last week, takes the first step towards what many consider to be the internet's Holy Grail – a global store of information that understands and responds to ordinary language in the same way a person does.

Although the system is still new, it has already produced massive interest and excitement among technology pundits and internet watchers.

Computer experts believe the new search engine will be an evolutionary leap in the development of the internet. Nova Spivack, an internet and computer expert, said that Wolfram Alpha could prove just as important as Google. "It is really impressive and significant," he wrote. "In fact it may be as important for the web (and the world) as Google, but for a different purpose.

Tom Simpson, of the blog Convergenceofeverything.com, said: "What are the wider implications exactly? A new paradigm for using computers and the web? Probably. Emerging artificial intelligence and a step towards a self-organising internet? Possibly... I think this could be big."

Wolfram Alpha will not only give a straight answer to questions such as "how high is Mount Everest?", but it will also produce a neat page of related information – all properly sourced – such as geographical location and nearby towns, and other mountains, complete with graphs and charts.

[More]

The end of Consumer Demand for Chrysler and GM Products

It was the NASCAR crowd that bought their cars.  The 'Intellectual Elite' had long ago switched to European or Japanese models.  Now that Chrysler is to be 55% owned by the UAW; with most of the rest owned by the Government I don't expect any recovery in demand.   GM will soon be Government Motors , with UAW/Government ownership around 89%.  I don't see the NASCAR contingent buying into that! The inequitable deal handed to bondholders is really financial shock and awe. 

Who can stomach a Union/Government owned auto company? What kinds of cars would they make?  What kind of executive would work under the new reality, with treasury at the real helm?  I think we can look to fairly recent history to get a clear picture of what's ahead.  All we have to do is look to the former Soviet Union and the crowning achievement of East German production: the Trabant. It really is beginning to look a lot like Venezuela around here.   Speaking of NASCAR, what will become of it without a domestic auto industry?

I can say that as for myself: My next purchase will be probably be a VW, Volvo, Ford, BMW or Honda.  I am done with GM and Chrysler.

 

4.4 Quake hits So Cal.

Version #M: This report supersedes any earlier reports of this event. This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.

A light earthquake occurred at 6:11:13 PM (PDT) on Friday, May 1, 2009.
The magnitude 4.4 event occurred 5 km (3 miles) E (81 degrees) of Leo Carrillo State Beach, CA.
The hypocentral depth is 11 km ( 7 miles).  [More]

Fannie Mae Creates Housing Mirage With Bum Loans: David Reilly

Commentary by David Reilly

April 24 (Bloomberg) -- Give money away. That was a solution to the housing crisis mortgage giant Fannie Mae hit on last year.

Faced with growing numbers of homeowners unable to make mortgage payments, Fannie decided to fund loans to borrowers that were instant losers.

The point was to buy time. Even though those loans resulted in a $453 million loss, they helped keep troubled homeowners from defaulting. That meant Fannie for now didn’t have to make good on loan guarantees that may have cost it as much as $2.4 billion.

The big game of kick the can strikes at a deep-seated fear among many investors -- that banks and others faced with mounting housing losses are finding all manner of dubious ways to push a day of reckoning into the future.

If that’s the case, any improvement in the housing outlook might be a mirage obscuring even greater pressures building in the financial system. That would eventually counter better-than- expected first-quarter results from many banks.

Investor angst was made worse by the knowledge that the government is leaning hard on banks to modify troubled loans any way they can. Prevent foreclosures and worry about the consequences later is the mantra of the day.

[More]

ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER: The last thing this country needs is a pirate raid on the wealth creators who still dare navigate our stormy waters

 

The opinion polls have uttered. The country loves the new 50 per cent top rate of income tax. Soak the rich. Smash the bankers. So Government spin doctors are in second heaven. The Conservatives' silence redefines a tomb. And I suppose there'd be quite a turnout for the public flogging of Sir Fred the Shred.

But before you book your tickets, hold hard. And before you lynch me as a rich b*****d flying a kite for my own cause, let me beg you to believe that I am not.

I believe that this new top rate of tax could be the final nail in the coffin of Britain plc.

I am 61 years old. I have lived and worked in Britain all my life. Not even in the dark days of penal Labour taxation in the Seventies did I have any intention of leaving the country of my birth.

Despite a rumour put around some years back, I have never contemplated leaving Britain for tax reasons. But in the 40-plus years I have been lucky enough to work here, I've seen a bit. So I must draw your attention to what is really proposed in this Budget.

Here's the truth. The proposed top rate of income tax is not 50 per cent. It is 50 per cent plus 1.5 per cent national insurance paid by employees plus 13.3 per cent paid by employers. That's not 50 per cent. Two years from now, Britain will have the highest tax rate on earned income of any developed country.  [More...]

Drama at GE shareholders meeting 'Open hostility' toward execs over MSNBC's 'leftward tilt'

By Paul Bond April 22, 2009, 06:38 PM ET Updated: April 22, 2009, 07:28 PM ET

Things got testy Wednesday at the GE shareholders meeting courtesy of several complaints about political bias at its media division, NBC Universal. Just don't expect to see the fireworks at the company's webcast of the event, which contains prepared remarks from CEO Jeff Immelt and CFO Keith Sherin but leaves out their interaction with shareholders. A GE spokesman clarified that the corporation doesn't typically broadcast the shareholders meeting in its entirety. Just before GE board members were re-elected, shareholders asked about 10 questions of a mostly political nature concerning the viewpoints of MSNBC and CNBC, according to attendees. First up was a woman asking about a reported meeting in which Immelt and NBC Uni CEO Jeff Zucker supposedly told top CNBC executives and talent to be less critical of President Obama and his policies. Immelt acknowledged a meeting took place but said no one at CNBC was told what to say or not say about politics. During the woman's follow-up question, her microphone was cut off. Later, during the umpteenth question about MSNBC, another shareholder's microphone was cut, according to multiple attendees. "The crowd was very upset with MSNBC because of its leftward tilt," one attendee said. "Some former employees said they were embarrassed by it." One specific complaint about MSNBC concerned Keith Olbermann's interview of actress Janeane Garofalo, who likened conservatives to racists and spoke of "the limbic brain inside a right-winger." "They were upset that Olbermann didn't bother to challenge her," one GE shareholder said. Immelt said he takes a hands-off approach to what is reported on the company's news networks, which prompted a shareholder to criticize him for not managing NBC Uni effectively. "My biggest surprise was the open hostility to MSNBC," another shareholder said. "It was noticeable and loud. I don't remember any of this going on last year." One shareholder at the Orlando, Fla., meeting was Jesse Waters, a producer of "The O'Reilly Factor." Waters asked a question at the meeting, then turned on the Fox News Channel cameras outside the venue and interviewed other shareholders who attended the meeting.

Hugo Chavez Says Venezuelan Socialism Has Begun to Reach U.S. under Obama

Tuesday, April 21, 2009
By Edwin Mora
(CNSNews.com) - Inspired by his meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama at the Americas Summit, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez declared on Sunday that Venezuelan socialism has begun to reach the United States under the Obama administration.

“I am coming back from Trinidad and Tobago, from the Americas Summit where, without a doubt, the position that Venezuela and its government has always defended, especially starting 10 years ago, of resistance, dignity, sovereignty and independence has obtained in Port of Spain, one of the biggest victories of our history,” Chavez said.
 
“It would seem that the changes that started in Venezuela in the last decade of the 20th century have begun to reach North America,” he added. “It would seem that the changes that started in Venezuela in the last decade of the 20th century have begun to reach North America,” he added.
 
Chavez made the comments Sunday to a crowd gathered for the 199th Commemoration of the Independence Declaration of Venezuela.  [More]   Ed. note: My Venezuela connection article was  apparently prescient.

Minnesota's Missing Votes

Some Senate absentee ballots are more equal than others.

 Meanwhile, back in the Minnesota Senate recount, the three-judge panel reviewing the race has declared Democrat Al Franken the winner. Republican Norm Coleman intends to appeal to the state's Supreme Court, while Democrats and the press corps pressure him to surrender. We hope Mr. Coleman keeps fighting, because the outcome so far hangs on the fact that some votes have been counted differently from others.

Even after the recount and panel-findings, the 312-vote margin separating the two men equals about .01% of the 2.9 million votes cast. Even without any irregularities, this is as close to a "tie" as it gets. And there have been plenty of irregularities. By the end of the recount, the state was awash with evidence of duplicate ballot counting, newly discovered ballots, missing ballots, illegal voting, and wildly diverse standards as to which votes were counted. Any one of these issues was enough to throw the outcome into doubt. Combined, they created a taint more worthy of New Jersey than Minnesota.  [More]

Reinventing Nuclear Power

Jonathan Fahey, 03.25.09, 06:00 PM EDT
Forbes Magazine dated April 13, 2009

A fusion-fission hybrid reactor could produce clean electricity and remove dangerous nuclear waste from the planet. If it ever works.

The light of 192 lasers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility travels more than a half-mile through a stadium-size building toward its target. Along the way, the beams are amplified, shaped and focused into the world's most powerful laser, capable of delivering power in a pulse that lasts 20 billionths of a second and peaks at 500 million megawatts. ... [More]

A Tale of Two Depressions

Barry Eichengreen Kevin H. O’Rourke 6 April 2009

Often cited comparisons – which look only at the US – find that today’s crisis is milder than the Great Depression. In this column, two leading economic historians show that the world economy is now plummeting in a Great-Depression-like manner. Indeed, world industrial production, trade, and stock markets are diving faster now than during 1929-30. Fortunately, the policy response to date is much better.  [MORE]

Contemporary Scholarship and the Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

William Lane Craig

After an appraisal of recent scholarship on the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Professor William Craig contends that "the resurrection appearances, the empty tomb, and the origin of the Christian faith - all point unavoidably to one conclusion: the resurrection of Jesus". Source: "Contemporary Scholarship and the Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ," Truth 1 (1985): 89-95. [MORE]

ON THE PHYSICAL DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST

William D. Edwards, MD; Wesley J. Gabel, MDiv; Floyd E Hosmer, MS, AMI

From the Departments of Pathology (Dr. Edwards) and Medical Graphics (Mr. Hoamer), Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.; and the Homestead United Methodist Church, Rochester, Minn., and the West Bethel United Methodist Church, Bethel, Minn. (Pastor Gabel).

Reprint requests to Department of Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905 (Dr. Edwards)

* Jesus of Nazareth underwent Jewish and Roman trials, was flogged, and was sentenced to death by crucifixion. The scourging produced deep stripelike lacerations and appreciable blood loss, and it probably set the stage for hypovolemic shock, as evidenced by the fact that Jesus was too weakened to carry the crossbar (patibulum) to Golgotha. At the site of crucifixion, his wrists were nailed to the patibulum and, after the patibulum was lifted onto the upright post (stipes), his feet were nailed to the stipes. The major pathophysiologic effect of crucifixion was an interference with normal respirations. Accordingly death resulted primarily from hypovolemic shock and exhaustion asphyxia. Jesus' death was ensured by the thrust of a soldier's spear into his side. Modern medical interpretation of the historical evidence indicate that Jesus was dead when taken down from the cross. [MORE]

Order your Chia Obama at Amazon.com

Yes Amazon.com has it!  Get it before it's banned. 

Also at Amazon.com, the Hillary Nutcracker!

To complement the collection be sure to order Corkscrew Bill.

 

Gov. Perry Backs Resolution Affirming Texas’ Sovereignty Under 10th Amendment

HCR 50 Reiterates Texas’ Rights Over Powers Not Otherwise Granted to Federal Government April 09, 2009

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today joined state Rep. Brandon Creighton and sponsors of House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 50 in support of states’ rights under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state,” Gov. Perry said. “That is why I am here today to express my unwavering support for efforts all across our country to reaffirm the states’ rights affirmed by the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I believe that returning to the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution and its essential 10th Amendment will free our state from undue regulations, and ultimately strengthen our Union.” [MORE]

In Recession, Some Cities Printing Own Cash

Reporting Derrick Blakley CHICAGO (CBS)


You've probably heard critics claiming Uncle Sam is printing money like it's going out of style. Now, as CBS 2's Derrick Blakley reports, some towns are getting into the act since their communities were granted a license to print money.

At a time when money's tighter than ever in Ithaca, New York, they're now printing they're own.

They call their funny money "Ithaca Hours."

In Pittsboro, North Carolina, it's much the same. Local businesses are distributing their own bizzaro dinero called, "The Plenty."  [MORE]

North Korea launches rocket, defying world pressure

AP

South Korean soldier watches a TV news program on the North Korean rocket launch AP – South Korean soldier watches a TV news program on the North Korean rocket launch at a train station in …


By JEAN H. LEE and JAE-SOON CHANG, Associated Press Writers Jean H. Lee And Jae-soon Chang, Associated Press Writers – 1 hr 48 mins ago

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea fired a rocket over Japan on Sunday, defying Washington, Tokyo and others who suspect the launch was cover for a test of its long-range missile technology. President Barack Obama said the move threatens the security of nations "near and far." [MORE]

'Chia Obama' booted from
local stores

Fox Tampa Bay

April 2 (was) National Peanut Butter Day

I, David McCombs, the editor of the news blogs, rediscover the substantial cost savings of PBJ sandwich over eating out for lunch.

Smokers angry over cigarette tax hike

March 30, 2009 06:22 PM

Greenwood - Paying more to light up may force some Hoosiers to kick the habit. A new federal tobacco tax takes effect Wednesday.

It will be the single largest federal tobacco tax hike in history. For a state with the sixth highest rate of smokers in the country, it's forcing many Hoosiers to cut back or cut out smoking all together.

The major cigarette makers raised prices a couple of weeks ago, partly to offset any drop in profits once the per-pack tax climbs from 39 cents to $1.01.

For longtime smoker Dawn Huntzinger, the thought of paying more for her habit has her fuming.

"I would rather my property tax go up," she said.

On Wednesday, the federal tax on cigarettes and tobacco products takes the biggest hike in history. It will cost 62 cents more per pack.

That has customers at a Greenwood discount tobacco store doing the math. [MORE]

Lawmakers trash the Constitution

HENRY LAMB Posted: March 14, 2009 :00 am Eastern

It appears that the lawmakers who assemble in Washington have no idea what the Constitution says, or worse, they simply don't care. The Fourth Amendment says quite clearly:

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated. …"

Connecticut Democrat Rosa DeLauro has introduced the "Food Safety and Modernization Act of 2009 (H.R. 875). Her bill will create a new Food Safety Administration and give its administrator the authority to "conduct monitoring and surveillance of animals, plants, products or the environment" on every family farm, ranch, vineyard and fishing hole in the country. Moreover, the administrator can visit and inspect the property and demand that the owner present "papers and effects," and all records relating to food production.

There is nothing in this bill that requires the administrator show probable cause or that evidence be presented to a judge to secure a warrant for entry into the property. The Fourth Amendment explicitly prohibits government from entering private property without a warrant, "describing the place to be searched, and the persons or thing to be seized."

DeLauro and the 39 Democratic co-sponsors of this bill must have missed this very clear language when she wrote into the bill authorization for the administrator to seize up to $1 million each day a violation exists. Section 405 of the bill says that "the validity and appropriateness of the order of the Administrator assessing the civil penalty shall not be subject to judicial review." [MORE]

U.N. 'Climate Change' Plan Would Likely Shift Trillions to Form New World Economy

Friday, March 27, 2009
By George Russell

A United Nations document on "climate change" that will be distributed to a major environmental conclave next week envisions a huge reordering of the world economy, likely involving trillions of dollars in wealth transfer, millions of job losses and gains, new taxes, industrial relocations, new tariffs and subsidies, and complicated payments for greenhouse gas abatement schemes and carbon taxes — all under the supervision of the world body.

Those and other results are blandly discussed in a discretely worded United Nations "information note" on potential consequences of the measures that industrialized countries will likely have to take to implement the Copenhagen Accord, the successor to the Kyoto Treaty, after it is negotiated and signed by December 2009. The Obama administration has said it supports the treaty process if, in the words of a U.S. State Department spokesman, it can come up with an "effective framework" for dealing with global warming.  [MORE]

Want to get mad? Well at least get mad at the right people (like Soros).

I'm having a very good crisis,' says Soros as hedge fund managers make billions off recession

By Mail Foreign Service  - Last updated at 5:13 PM on 25th March 2009

George Soros said the current economic crisis has been the culmination of his life's work

A hedge fund manager who predicted the global credit crunch has said the financial crisis has been 'stimulating' and the culmination of his life's work.

George Soros, who predicted the global financial crisis twice before, was one of the few people to anticipate and prepare for the current economic collapse. [MORE]

Air Force Reports F-22 Crashed Near Military Base

The Associated Press

March 25, 2009

      EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - The Air Force says an F-22 fighter has crashed near Edwards Air Force Base in the high desert of Southern California.

      Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. Ann Stefanek confirmed the crash Wednesday but had no other details.

      Stefanek had no information on the status of the pilot.

      The F-22 is the Air Force's new top-of-the-line fighter.

Geithner plan will rob American taxpayers: Stiglitz

Tue Mar 24, 2009 4:12am EDT  By Susan Fenton and Deborah Kan

HONG KONG (Reuters) - The U.S. government plan to rid banks of toxic assets will rob American taxpayers by exposing them to too much risk and is unlikely to work as long as the economy remains weak, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said on Tuesday.

"The Geithner plan is very badly flawed," Stiglitz told Reuters in an interview during a Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's plan to wipe up to US$1 trillion in bad debt off banks' balance sheets, unveiled on Monday, offered "perverse incentives," Stiglitz said.  [MORE]

EPA Raises Heat on Emissions Debate

By IAN TALLEY

WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency has sent the White House a proposed finding that carbon dioxide is a danger to public health, a step that could trigger a clampdown on emissions of greenhouse gases across a wide swath of the economy.

If approved by the White House Office of Management and Budget, the endangerment finding could clear the way for the EPA to use the Clean Air Act to control emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases believed to contribute to climate change. In effect, the government would treat carbon dioxide as a pollutant. The EPA submitted the proposed rule to the White House on Friday, according to federal records published Monday.  [MORE]

Palin Energy Plan Receives High Praise

Alaska Stresses Local Solutions

Written By: Alyssia Carducci
Published In: Environment & Climate News > April 2009
Publication date: 04/01/2009
Publisher: The Heartland Institute

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) has announced an ambitious plan to produce half of the state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2025.

Palin’s plan, which empowers local municipalities to identify and develop the most cost-efficient renewable power sources available to them, won immediate praise from environmental groups, consumer groups, and industry.


Local Solutions Identified

The plan was presented in a 245-page document, Alaska Energy: A First Step Toward Energy Independence. It identifies each community’s current energy needs for electrical generation, space heating, and transportation while developing a list of solutions to lower energy costs.

In a January 16 press conference, Palin said her plan was designed to break away from energy proposals produced in prior years but never implemented. Key to turning ideas into action under the Palin plan is identification of the most cost-effective energy alternatives for each community and region in the state. [MORE]

Concept of 'hypercosmic God' wins Templeton Prize

 11:08 16 March 2009 by Amanda Gefter For similar stories, visit the Quantum World  Topic Guide

Today the John Templeton Foundation announced the winner of the annual Templeton Prize of a colossal £1 million ($1.4 million), the largest annual prize in the world.

This year it goes to French physicist and philosopher of science Bernard d'Espagnat for his "studies into the concept of reality". D'Espagnat, 87, is a professor emeritus of theoretical physics at the University of Paris-Sud, and is known for his work on quantum mechanics. The award will be presented to him by the Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace on 5 May.

D'Espagnat boasts an impressive scientific pedigree, having worked with Nobel laureates Louis de Broglie, Enrico Fermi and Niels Bohr. De Broglie was his thesis advisor; he served as a research assistant to Fermi; and he worked at CERN when it was still in Copenhagen under the direction of Bohr. He also served as a visiting professor at the University of Texas, Austin, at the invitation of the legendary physicist John Wheeler. But what has he done that's worth £1 million?

The thrust of d'Espagnat's work was on experimental tests of Bell's theorem. The theorem states that either quantum mechanics is a complete description of the world or that if there is some reality beneath quantum mechanics, it must be nonlocal – that is, things can influence one another instantaneously regardless of how much space stretches between them, violating Einstein's insistence that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. [MORE]

Space Shuttlle Discovery STS-119 Sunday Evening Launch Successful

The Discovery Space Shuttle launches from Cape Kennedy.  A beautiful and error free twilight launch on a windy Florida evening.  The mission will provide new solar panels to ISS that will augment ISS's power generation capability. Commander Lee Archambault will lead Discovery's crew of seven, along with Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata on mission STS-119 to the International Space Station.

The Discovery crew members are set to fly the S6 truss segment and install the final set of power-generating solar arrays to the International Space Station. The S6 truss will complete the backbone of the station and provide one-fourth of the total power needed to support a crew of six.

 

GOP Members of Congress Unveil ‘No Cost Stimulus’ Bill

Friday, March 13, 2009 - By Edwin Mora
Washington (CNSNews.com) - Five conservative Republicans – three from the House and two from the Senate -- have introduced a “common sense” economic stimulus package that includes energy proposals tthey say will boost the economy without adding to the national debt.
 
The “no-cost stimulus plan” calls for expanding offshore oil and gas production and leasing the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas producers, which in turn would generate new federal revenue.  [MORE]
 

Dr. Willie Soon It’s the Sun, Stupid! March 5, 2009

The theory that climate change is chiefly caused by solar influences “is no longer tenable,” says US National Academy of Sciences president Ralph Cicerone. Carbon dioxide, he argues, is the key driver of recent climate change. I beg to differ.

The amount and distribution of solar energy that we receive varies as the Earth revolves around the Sun and also in response to changes in the Sun’s activity. Scientists have now been studying solar influences on climate for 5000 years.

Chinese imperial astronomers kept detailed sunspot records. They noticed that more sunspots meant warmer weather on Earth. In 1801, the celebrated astronomer William Herschel noticed that when there were few spots, the price of wheat soared – because, he surmised, less “light and heat” from the Sun resulted in reduced harvests.

Is it true then that solar radiation, which supplies Earth with the energy that drives our climate, and caused so many climate shifts over the ages, is no longer the principal influence on climate change.  [MORE]

 

NASA's Chief Climate Scientist Stirs Controversy With Call for Civil Disobedience

Friday, February 27, 2009 By Joshua Rhett Miller AP

NASA's chief climate scientist is in hot water with colleagues and at least one lawmaker after calling on citizens to engage in civil disobedience at what is being billed as the largest public protest of global warming ever in the United States.

In a video on capitolclimateaction.org, Dr. James Hansen is seen urging Americans to "take a stand on global warming" during the March 2 protest at the Capitol Power Plant in Southeast Washington, D.C.

"We need to send a message to Congress and the president that we want them to take the actions that are needed to preserve climate for young people and future generations and all life on the planet," says Hansen, who has likened coal-fired power plants to "factories of death" and claims he was muzzled by the Bush administration when he warned of drastic climate changes.

"What has become clear from the science is that we cannot burn all of the fossil fuels without creating a very different planet. The only practical way to solve the problem is to phase out the biggest source of carbon — and that's coal." [MORE]  Meanwhile...

Rare snow blankets South as East braces for storm

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A potent March snowstorm blanketed much of Alabama with up to 4 inches of snow Sunday, covering Civil War statues and forcing the cancellation of hundreds of church services.

The storm headed toward the Northeast and threatened to drop up to a foot of snow in the Philadelphia area, 13 inches in New York and 15 inches across southern New England late Sunday.

In Georgia, the snowfall made roads treacherous and delayed flights, while in Alabama, more than 210 churches in the central part of the Bible Belt state had to cancel morning services.

Vonda Braswell of Alabaster, Ala. was throwing snowballs in her front yard instead of putting on her Sunday best. "I think you can worship in this it's so rare," she said.  [MORE]

Credit unions angry over surprise 'bailout tax'

Column by Tom Philpott

Federal credit unions, in cluding those serving mil lions of military patrons, are fighting to keep off their books nearly $5 billion in charges that regulators have assessed to bail out their largest "corporate" credit union.

The U.S. Central Federal Credit Union was in danger of insolvency due to losses on mortgage-backed securities until regulators adopted a bailout plan Jan. 28 that would be financed by 7,900 member-based credit unions.

"If we were to allow something to happen to U.S. Central, the impact on the industry would have been devastating," said Michael E. Fryzel, board chairman of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).

But Fred Becker, chief executive for the National Association of Federal Credit Unions in Arlington, Va., said NCUA's "premiums" on member credit unions, unless lowered by September when scheduled to take effect, "would drive most of the industry's income into the red" for calendar 2009.

Fryzel conceded that some smaller credit unions have warned that their part of the "bailout tax," as some call it, would leave them undercapitalized, threatening their viability. Fryzel said none of these credit unions serve military populations. In any case, NCUA will "work with them," he said, to ensure the special assessment doesn't have such a dire effect.

Credit union officials said there is no reason for members to fear for their deposits. Individual accounts are insured by the government for up to $250,000. Military credit unions contacted for this column said they don't even expect the bailout tax to force them to lower member interest rates paid on savings accounts or to raise interest charges for loans or mortgages.  [MORE]

Report: Fetal stem cells trigger tumors in ill boy Feb 17 08:01 PM US/Eastern

By LAURAN NEERGAARD AP Medical Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - A family desperate to save a child from a lethal brain disease sought highly experimental injections of fetal stem cells—injections that triggered tumors in the boy's brain and spinal cord, Israeli scientists reported Tuesday.

Scientists are furiously trying to harness different types of stem cells—the building blocks for other cells in the body—to regrow damaged tissues and thus treat devastating diseases. But for all the promise, researchers have long warned that they must learn to control newly injected stem cells so they don't grow where they shouldn't, and small studies in people are only just beginning.

Tuesday's report in the journal PLoS Medicine is the first documented case of a human brain tumor—albeit a benign, slow-growing one—after fetal stem cell therapy, and hammers home the need for careful research. The journal is published by the Public Library of Science.

Ed: Fetal Stem cell lines continue to fail in real therapy.   The REAL Dr. Frankenstein is here. [MORE] This is diverting money against the genuinely effective and proven adult stem cell therapies and research.

The FBI raided the offices of a defense lobbying firm with close ties to Democratic Rep. John Murtha (Penn.), sources tell ABC News.

the PMA Group

The FBI searched the Virginia headquarters of the PMA Group in November, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. PMA was founded by former Murtha aide Paul Magliochetti and specializes in winning earmarked taxpayer funds for its clients.

Good government groups have long criticized Murtha's cozy relationship with a handful of lobbyists and defense firms, ties that see millions of dollars in government spending go out from Murtha's office, and hundreds of thousands in campaign donations come in. Murtha has said his earmarking has helped revive his economically depressed district.

PMA is the second company with close ties to Murtha to be raided by federal agents recently. In January, agents from the FBI, the IRS and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service searched the office of Kuchera Industries and Kuchera Defense Systems, as well as the homes of the firms' founders. The companies reportedly have received over $100 million in earmarks, thanks to Murtha's efforts. [MORE]

HR 40 110th CONGRESS

[MORE]

New Hampshire Secession Movement

If there were ever a state for the other forty nine to model - it would be New Hampshire.

There are no income taxes, no sales taxes, low property taxes, schools funded by local community's (not the federal government),  and a state motto that reflects the very spirit of American independence; 'Live free or die'. 

It is out of such a state that a grass roots movement is growing to advocate the succession of New Hampshire from the United States.  Several reasons are given involving the overreach of the federal government beyond constitutional limits.  These include denials of writ of habeas corpus, domestic spying, cruel and unusual punishment, use of force and powers of government to deny free speech and many other grievances.  A web site has been set up to promote the movement at  http://www.republicofnh.org

Bill would fire ex-Weatherman Ayers

 SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Feb. 5 (UPI) -- An Illinois lawmaker says he wants to fire university professor William Ayers because of Ayers' 1960s and '70s involvement in the radical group the Weathermen.

State Sen. Larry Bomke, a Republican in the Democratic-controlled Illinois state Senate, proposed that anyone who committed an act of violence against the governments of the United States or Illinois cannot work at a public university

, the Chicago Tribune reported. [MORE ]

The University of Toronto’s Centre for Urban Schooling issued a statement Monday saying Ayers was denied entry to Canada on Sunday night.

Forty years ago Ayers was a member of the Weather Underground, a radical group that claimed responsibility for a series of bombings, including nonfatal explosions at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol.

Ayers was a fugitive for years but after surrendering in 1980 the charges were dropped because of prosecutorial misconduct.  [MORE]

Note editor:  Some of the AP story is factually incorrect.  The part where it says: "Obama had a very limited relationship with Ayers" has been a liberal press talking point that is easily refuted,  See S. Kurtz well documented articles at the NRO [HERE].

Bill creates detention camps in U.S. for 'emergencies' Sweeping, undefined purpose raises worries about military police state

By Jerome R. Corsi © 2009 WorldNetDaily

Rep. Alcee L. Hastings, D-Fla., has introduced to the House of Representatives a new bill, H.R. 645, calling for the secretary of homeland security to establish no fewer than six national emergency centers for corralling civilians on military installations. [MORE]

Where Hamas Gets Its Money

Rachel Ehrenfeld, 01.16.09, 05:15 PM EST

The U.N., the E.U., the Gulf States, the U.S.--and Israel.

Amid international condemnation of Israel, one would never guess that humanitarian aid and even cash is flowing into Hamas coffers, while its rockets continue to hit Israel.

It is important to alleviate the suffering of innocent Palestinians. However, since Gaza is under Hamas control, we have to ask: Will aid reach the suffering populace? If the past is any indication, most funds and supplies will end up with Hamas  [MORE]]

Tens of Thousands Crowd San Francisco Waterfront, Rally Against Abortion

Tens of thousands filled the square by the Ferry Building in downtown San Francisco for the 5th Annual Walk for Life West Coast Saturday, January 24. (PRNewsFoto/Walk for Life West Coast/Photo by Darwin Sayo)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA UNITED STATES

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Tens of thousands of pro-life supporters filled the boulevard along San Francisco's waterfront for more than a mile in the 5th Annual Walk for Life West Coast today, walking behind a 10-foot-long "Abortion Hurts Women" banner.  [MORE]

Two ex-Guantanamo inmates appear in Al-Qaeda video

5 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Two men released from the US "war on terror" prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have appeared in a video posted on a jihadist website, the SITE monitoring service reported.

One of the two former inmates, a Saudi man identified as Abu Sufyan al-Azdi al-Shahri, or prisoner number 372, has been elevated to the senior ranks of Al-Qaeda in Yemen, a US counter-terrorism official told AFP.

Three other men appear in the video, including Abu al-Hareth Muhammad al-Oufi, identified as an Al-Qaeda field commander. SITE later said he was prisoner No. 333.

A Pentagon spokesman, Commander Jeffrey Gordon, on Saturday declined to confirm the SITE information. [MORE]

So, Does this mean that Liberal Help Terrorists?  [READ HERE]

Poll: Tax cuts will help economy more than spending

A poll released today confirms that the economy is job one for President Barack Obama, who is pushing a recovery package of $825 billion or more.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey found that 74 percent of Americans believe the economy is the top issue facing the country, far outpacing the Iraq war, which ranks second on their list of concerns at 8 percent.

On the economy, 86 percent said economic conditions are somewhat or very poor, and 52 percent said unemployment is the most serious concern, followed by mortgages at 12 percent. Only 13 percent said they believe the economy will recover within the next year, while 27 percent said it could take as long as 2 years, 23 percent said it could take 3 years, and 24 percent said it will take longer than Obama's four-year term in office.

Obama and House Democrats are pushing a stimulus package that includes about $550 billion in new spending and $275 billion in tax cuts over the next two years. The poll found 58 percent supporting infrastructure spending, and 71 percent in favor of tax cuts. Asked whether the spending or tax cuts would be more effective, 55 percent picked tax cuts.
The higher faith in tax cuts is apparently partly because 42 percent believe that the spending projects would be done mostly for political reasons rather than to help the economy.

The poll, conducted Jan. 12-15, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Five Years in Iraq

My Own Crazy Adventures | January 18, 2009 | Allegra

Posted on Sun 18 Jan 2009 06:05:52 AM EST by Allegra

Five years ago today on January 18, 2004, I arrived at Baghdad International Airport on a charter flight from Dubai with about 60 other people to begin working in Operation Iraqi Freedom. It was a mild and cloudy afternoon as we descended onto the tarmac for the short walk into the terminal. The dreary, desolate airport was not operational and didn’t even have electricity, aside from a few lights here and there powered by a generator. We were the only people in the airport, except for a few local national employees wandering around as we lined up just inside to show our passports to a lone Iraqi man who gave each one a cursory glance.

After retrieving our luggage and body armor from a pallet, we were picked up at the front of the airport in three buses by our company’s operations team and driven to nearby Camp Victory North, now called Camp Liberty. We were all quietly taking in our new and starkly different surroundings as we drove past US military tanks and jeeps, anti-missile batteries, T-walls and razor wire. Our adventure had just begun.

December Cooler Than Average in U.S.

The 2008 annual temperature for the contiguous U.S. was near average, while the temperature for December was below average, based on records dating back to 1895, according to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. [MORE ]

Global Warm-mongering: More Silk from a Pig's Ear Gregory Young

It seems that NASA's James Hansen, head of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), is at it again.  He just can't let the data speak for itself.  In yet another egregious display of Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) arrogance, he changed the temperature data from 1910-2008 to reflect what is clearly a cooling trend to reflect a warming trend. [More]

Old gastrointestinal drug slows aging, McGill researchers say

Clioquinol inhibits action of the CLK1 aging gene, may alleviate Alzheimer's

Recent animal studies have shown that clioquinol – an 80-year old drug once used to treat diarrhea and other gastrointestinal disorders – can reverse the progression of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases. Scientists, however, had a variety of theories to attempt to explain how a single compound could have such similar effects on three unrelated neurodegenerative disorders.

Researchers at McGill University have discovered a dramatic possible new answer: According to Dr. Siegfried Hekimi and colleagues at McGill's Department of Biology, clioquinol acts directly on a protein called CLK-1, often informally called "clock-1," and might slow down the aging process. The advance online edition of their study was published in Oct. 2008 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

"Clioquinol is a very powerful inhibitor of clock-1," explained Hekimi, McGill's Strathcona Chair of Zoology and Robert Archibald & Catherine Louise Campbell Chair in Developmental Biology. "Because clock-1 affects longevity in invertebrates and mice, and because we're talking about three age-dependent neurodegenerative diseases, we hypothesize that clioquinol affects them by slowing down the rate of aging."

Once commonly prescribed in Europe and Asia for gastrointestinal problems like diarrhea and shigella, clioquinol was withdrawn from the market after being blamed for a devastating outbreak of subacute myelo-optic neuropathy (SMON) in Japan in the 1960s. However, because no rigorous scientific study was conducted at the time, and because clioquinol was used safely by millions before and after the Japanese outbreak, some researchers think its connection to SMON has yet to be proven.

The exact mechanism of how clioquinol inhibits CLK-1 is still under investigation, Hekimi said. "One possibility is that metals are involved as clioquinol is a metal chelator," he explained. Chelation is a type of binding to metal ions and is often used to treat heavy metal poisoning.

Hekimi is optimistic but cautious when asked whether clioquinol could eventually become an anti-aging treatment.

"The drug affects a gene which when inhibited can slow down aging," he said. "The implication is that we can change the rate of aging. This might be why clioquinol is able to work on this diversity of diseases that are all age-dependent."

However, he admits to being concerned about how people may interpret his results.

"The danger is that you can buy a kilogram of this compound at a chemical wholesaler, but we don't want people to start experimenting on themselves. Clioquinol can be a very toxic substance if abused, and far more research is required."

 

From DRUDGE...

NBC BANS COULTER FOR LIFE; CUT FROM 'TODAY' SHOW OVER BOOK'S CLAIMS, NO MORE CABLE
Mon Jan 05 2009 17:50:57 ET

The nation's top selling conservative author has been banned from appearing on NBC, insiders tell the DRUDGE REPORT.  Banned for life! "We are just not going to have her on any more, it's over," a top network source explains. NBC's TODAY show abruptly cut Ann Coulter from its planned Tuesday broadcast, claiming the schedule was overbooked. But executives at NBC TODAY replaced Coulter with showbiz reporter Perez Hilton, who recently offered $1,000 to anyone who would throw a pie at Ann Coulter. Hilton is also launching a new book this week, RED CARPET SUICIDE. Coulter was set to unveil her new book, GUILTY.  But one network insider claims it was the book's theme -- a brutal examination of liberal bias in the new era -- that got executives to dis-invite the controversialist. "We are just not interested in anyone so highly critical of President-elect Obama, right now," a TODAY insider reveals. "It's such a downer. It's just not the time, and it's not what our audience wants, either."  For the book, Coulter reportedly received the most-lucrative advance ever paid to a conservative author.  The TODAY show eagerly invited the author months ago, for her first network interview on GUILTY. 

The exclusive was to air during the show's 7 AM hour. The cut came Monday afternoon.  Coulter was also to appear on the TODAY's fourth hour. A host even teased the segment saying the 'conservative pit bull and bestselling author' would be a guest.  NBC's cable outlet, MSNBC, will also become a Coulter-free zone, insiders explain. Morning host Joe Scarborough is said to be concerned with the new ban. "He's working to overrule it," tips a source. 

Advanced Arrow Radar Deployed, Missile Defense May be Next

(IsraelNN.com) The IDF's advanced Arrow missile defense system has been deployed near Ashkelon to help the Home Front Command detect missile launches. Meanwhile, former army officers are calling on the defense establishment to purchase an American missile defense system capable of shooting down Kassam and Katushya rockets.

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has developed an updated radar system named MC4 based on the Arrow missile defense system, which was developed jointly by the U.S. and Israel to counter ballistic missile launches. The new radar can track the launch of smaller missiles, such as the Kassam or Grad rockets, as they are being launched from Gaza. Using GPS and camera sensors, the MC4 system tracks the flight path, and within a minute of launch, it can determine both the launch site and projected landing site of the missile.... [MORE]

Israel Invades Gaza

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon conveyed his "extreme concern and disappointment" to Olmert and called for an "immediate end" to the operation. Israel should ask the secretary general if he intends to personally guarantee the end to rocket fire into Israel.

The U.S. has put the blame on Hamas. At an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Saturday night, the U.S. blocked approval of a statement demanded by Arab countries calling for an immediate cease-fire and expressing serious concern at the escalation of violence. The US Administration calls it as it is. Isreal has done everything it can, including steps against it's own self interest, to limit Palestinian casualties. What other nation at war would tell the enemy that they are about to bomb a building so the enemy can evacuate? This is what Israel has done. In the war on terror the whole concept of 'disproportionate response' must be recognized for what it is - an outmoded relic of a different time. In terror, there is no such thing as disproportion. The side being terrorized is forced to do whatever is necessary to eliminate an enemy that cares not a whit for any human life. At the heart of terrorism is hatred and evil.

Sunday Jan 04, 2009

Double Standard Watch: Israel's actions are lawful and commendable

Posted by Alan M. Dershowitz

Israel's military actions in Gaza are entirely justified under international law, and Israel should be commended for its act of self-defense against international terrorism. Article 51 of the United Nations Charter reserves to every nation the right to engage in self-defense against armed attacks. The only limitation international law places on a democracy is that its actions must satisfy the principle of proportionality. Israel's actions certainly satisfy that principles. ... [read full article]

Iraq & Afghanistan 2008:465 Deaths, Chicago: 509, Change We Can Believe In?

Barack Obama’s Chicagoland is a war zone. The community service model seems to have failed in Obama’s home base.

• 314 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq in 2008, down from 904 in the previous year.

• Chicago finished 2008 with 509 homicides, a 15 percent increase from 2007.

• Chicago’s median number of homicides over the years average about 700 per year.

• The combined total of 465 U.S. deaths in both Iraq and Afghanistan for 2008 is lower than the 509 homicides in Chicago for same period.

Chicago the murder capital of the U.S.  Where was Obama during this surge?  Campaigning for the Presidency on the merits of his community involvement in Chicago.

Hamas-cide

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Monday, December 29, 2008 4:20 PM PT

Middle East: While condemned as "disproportionate," Israeli attacks on Hamas in Gaza are the only appropriate response to daily terror. As the U.N. Charter says, when they shoot at you, you can shoot back.The Palestinians, the late Israeli leader Abba Eban once said, never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew to its international border with Gaza and gave peace a chance.

On taking power in Gaza, Hamas decided that rather than build a viable infrastructure with foreign assistance, feed and educate its people and pick up the trash, it would rather turn Gaza into a launching pad for Kasam rockets targeted on Israeli civilians. ...  [MORE]

ONE PLUS ONE EQUALS 20 EXTRA VOTES FOR FRANKEN

December 17, 2008
It's bad enough that the Republican Party can't prevent Democrats from voting in its primaries and saddling us with The New York Times' favorite Republican as our presidential nominee. If the Republican Party can't protect an election won by the incumbent U.S. senator in Minnesota, there is no point in donating to the Republican Party.

The day after the November election, Republican Sen. Norm Coleman had won his re-election to the U.S. Senate, beating challenger Al Franken by 725 votes. ... [Rest at AnnCoulter.com]

ACORN, Soros Linked to Franken Vote Grab

Monday, December 22, 2008 9:22 PM By: David A. Patten 

Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, who orchestrated the recount that gave Democratic challenger Al Franken a lead some six weeks after incumbent GOP Sen. Norm Coleman appeared to win by 725 votes on Election Day, has extensive ties to both the ACORN organization now under federal investigation for vote fraud, and to MoveOn.org ultra-liberal kingmaker George Soros. In 2006, ACORN endorsed Ritchie in his bid to become secretary of state, and Ritchie also received a campaign contribution that year from Soros. Indeed, Ritchie has credited his own political career in large part to an obscure, Soros-funded group called the Secretary of State Project (SoS), whose express purpose is to seed state election bureaucracies nationwide with partisan activists -- Ritchie among them -- who are strategically positioned to influence the outcome of close recounts like the one now underway in Minnesota. The SoS Web site lauds Ritchie as “arguably the most progressive secretary of state in America,” and states: “Thanks to SoS Project donors, Minnesota’s Mark Ritchie – a true champion for Democracy – was able to defeat a two-term incumbent Republican by less than 5 points. We helped close the gap and make the difference with cable television ads targeting women and seniors.” Nor does Ritchie downplay the role of the Soros-funded nonprofit in his own election win. [MORE]

Tis the Season for Porn?

Mona Charen Mona Charen – Fri Dec 19, 3:00 am ET

Creators Syndicate – I will be called names for writing this column. It always happens. Raise the issue of the pornification of the culture and its fanatical devotees will come gunning for you. If they hope to be intimidating, they've forgotten what delete keys are for.

It's Christmastime and the Fox News Channel, the most conservative of the major media outlets, is running an ad for PajamaGrams, "the only gift guaranteed to get your wife or girlfriend to take her clothes off." The ads feature soft porn images of women disrobing and tossing slips and bras to the floor. The ads run at all times of the day and night. Thus do we usher in the season supposedly devoted to the Prince of Peace and the Festival of Lights...[Full story here]

Researchers target cancer cells; note treatment by SW Florida resident

By MATT CLARK (Contact)
6:12 a.m., Friday, December 19, 2008

Steven A. Curley, M.D., right, and John Kanzius, inventor of this radio wave transmitter, check over the machine before a test is run in Erie, Pa. 

Born out of necessity through his own battle with cancer, John Kanzius has developed a technique which may one day eradicate cancer cells in humans with radio waves in a much less invasive fashion than current radiation techniques.

They've demonstrated the cancer research "holy grail."

In a manuscript published today, researchers say they have successfully targeted and killed two of the most deadly types of cancer cells, colon and pancreatic, using the treatment invented by Sanibel Island and Erie, Pa. resident John Kanzius.

"This is what everybody's been waiting for," Kanzius said. "Can you target cancer cells? And the answer is 'yes.' Can you kill them? Yes. Can you target specific cancers? Yes."  ... [Full Story]

Help the Wasilla Bible Church Rebuild

1651 W. Nicola Avenue   Wasilla, Alaska  99654   907-376-2176

church@wasillabible.org

The Wasilla Bible Church will meet at Wasilla Middle School, 650 E Bogard Road, at 11:15 am only on Sunday, December 14^th.  It is likely there will be limited or no child care or programs this Sunday.  Our building was damaged by a fire Friday evening, and will need repairs before we can resume worship there again.  Praise God that no one in the building was injured, and pray for us as we rebuild.  We will likely meet at the Middle School for a while until the building is ready again.  We’ll update this page once we reschedule locations and times for events as we celebrate our Savior’s birth.  The normal web page will return once the offices are restored.  Here is the link to the other parts of our website.  Dates and times may not be correct if the location is the Church building.  The telephones are not working right now, but email is functioning.

Jewish World Review Dec. 10, 2008 / 13 Kislev 5769

Skepticism on climate change

By Jeff Jacoby

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | THE MAIL brings an invitation to register for the 2009 International Conference on Climate Change, which convenes on March 8 in New York City. Sponsored by the Heartland Institute, a Chicago-based think tank, the conference will host an international lineup of climate scientists and researchers who will focus on four broad areas: climatology, paleoclimatology, the impact of climate change, and climate-change politics and economics.

But if last year's gathering is any indication, the conference is likely to cover the climate-change waterfront. There were dozens of presentations in 2008, including: "Strengths and Weaknesses of Climate Models," "Ecological and Demographic Perspectives on the Status of Polar Bears," and "The Overstated Role of Carbon Dioxide on Climate Change."

Just another forum, then, sounding the usual alarums on the looming threat from global warming?

Actually, no. The scientists and scholars Heartland is assembling are not members of the gloom-and-doom chorus. They dispute the frantic claims that global warming is an onrushing catastrophe; many are skeptical of the notion that human activity has a significant effect on the planet's climate, or that such an effect can be reliably measured or predicted. Some point out that global temperatures peaked in 1998 and have been falling since then. Indeed, several argue that a period of global cooling is on the way. Nearly all would argue that climate is always changing, and that no one really knows whether current computer models can reliably account for the myriad of factors that cause that natural variability.

They are far from monolithic, but on this they would all agree: Science is not settled by majority vote, especially in a field as young as climate science.

Skepticism and inquiry go to the essence of scientific progress. It is always legitimate to challenge the existing "consensus" with new data or an alternative hypothesis. Those who insist that dissent be silenced or even punished are not the allies of science, but something closer to religious fanatics.

Unfortunately, when it comes to climate change, far too many people have been all too ready to play the Grand Inquisitor. For example, The Weather Channel's senior climatologist, Heidi Cullen, has recommended that meteorologists be denied professional certification if they voice doubts about global-warming alarmism. James Hansen, director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, wants oil-company executives tried for "crimes against humanity if they continue to dispute what is understood scientifically" about global warming. Al Gore frequently derides those who dispute his climate dogma as fools who should be ignored. "Climate deniers fall into the same camp as people who still don't believe we landed on the moon," Gore's spokeswoman told The Politico a few days ago.

But as the list of confirmed speakers for Heartland's climate-change conference makes clear, it is Gore whose eyes are shut to reality. Among the "climate deniers" lined up to speak are Richard Lindzen, the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology at MIT; the University of Alabama's Roy W. Spencer, a pioneer in the monitoring of global temperatures by satellite; Stephen McIntyre, primary author of the influential Climate Audit blog; and meteorologist John Coleman, who founded the Weather Channel in 1982. They may not stand with the majority in debates over climate science, but - Gore's dismissal notwithstanding - they are far from alone.

In fact, what prompted The Politico to solicit Gore's comment was its decision to report on the mounting dissent from global-warming orthodoxy. "Scientists urge caution on global warming," the story was headlined; it opened by noting "a growing accumulation of global cooling science and other findings that could signal that the science behind global warming may still be too shaky to warrant cap-and-trade legislation."

Coverage of such skepticism is increasing. The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Michael Scott reported last week that meteorologists at each of Cleveland's TV stations dissent from the alarmists' scenario. In the Canadian province of Alberta, the Edmonton Journal found, 68 percent of climate scientists and engineers do not believe "the debate on the scientific causes of recent climate change is settled."

Expect to see more of this. The debate goes on, as it should.

Obama Aide Discussed Senate Vacancy With Governor

By HELENE COOPER and JACKIE CALMES
Published: December 13, 2008

CHICAGO — President-elect Barack Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, spoke several times with Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois about possible candidates for Mr. Obama’s Senate seat, aides close to the presidential transition team said Saturday.

Mr. Emanuel has not been accused of wrongdoing by federal prosecutors. A Democratic transition aide said that the two men had discussed a wide range of people who might fill Mr. Obama’s seat, but that Mr. Emanuel had not engaged in any deal-making with Mr. Blagojevich, who was charged last week by federal prosecutors with conspiring to turn a profit from the appointment.

The conversations between Mr. Emanuel and Mr. Blagojevich, first reported by The Chicago Tribune, were captured on wiretaps, according to another official close to the transition.  [More at the NY Times]

Joe the Plumber: McCain 'appalled me'

By ANDY BARR | 12/9/08 5:22 PM EST  

MOSCOW, November 24 (RIA Novosti)

A leading Russian political analyst has said the economic turmoil in the United States has confirmed his long-held view that the country is heading for collapse, and will divide into separate parts.

Professor Igor Panarin said in an interview with the respected daily Izvestia published on Monday: "The dollar is not secured by anything. The country's foreign debt has grown like an avalanche, even though in the early 1980s there was no debt. By 1998, when I first made my prediction, it had exceeded $2 trillion. Now it is more than 11 trillion. This is a pyramid that can only collapse."

The paper said Panarin's dire predictions for the U.S. economy, initially made at an international conference in Australia 10 years ago at a time when the economy appeared strong, have been given more credence by this year's events.


When asked when the U.S. economy would collapse, Panarin said: "It is already collapsing. Due to the financial crisis, three of the largest and oldest five banks on Wall Street have already ceased to exist, and two are barely surviving. Their losses are the biggest in history. Now what we will see is a change in the regulatory system on a global financial scale: America will no longer be the world's financial regulator."

When asked who would replace the U.S. in regulating world markets, he said: "Two countries could assume this role: China, with its vast reserves, and Russia, which could play the role of a regulator in Eurasia."

Asked why he expected the U.S. to break up into separate parts, he said: "A whole range of reasons. Firstly, the financial problems in the U.S. will get worse. Millions of citizens there have lost their savings. Prices and unemployment are on the rise. General Motors and Ford are on the verge of collapse, and this means that whole cities will be left without work. Governors are already insistently demanding money from the federal center. Dissatisfaction is growing, and at the moment it is only being held back by the elections and the hope that Obama can work miracles. But by spring, it will be clear that there are no miracles."

He also cited the "vulnerable political setup", "lack of unified national laws", and "divisions among the elite, which have become clear in these crisis conditions."

He predicted that the U.S. will break up into six parts - the Pacific coast, with its growing Chinese population; the South, with its Hispanics; Texas, where independence movements are on the rise; the Atlantic coast, with its distinct and separate mentality; five of the poorer central states with their large Native American populations; and the northern states, where the influence from Canada is strong.

He even suggested that "we could claim Alaska - it was only granted on lease, after all."

On the fate of the U.S. dollar, he said: "In 2006 a secret agreement was reached between Canada, Mexico and the U.S. on a common Amero currency as a new monetary unit. This could signal preparations to replace the dollar. The one-hundred dollar bills that have flooded the world could be simply frozen. Under the pretext, let's say, that terrorists are forging them and they need to be checked."

When asked how Russia should react to his vision of the future, Panarin said: "Develop the ruble as a regional currency. Create a fully functioning oil exchange, trading in rubles... We must break the strings tying us to the financial Titanic, which in my view will soon sink."

Panarin, 60, is a professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has authored several books on information warfare.

In Alaska, The Drill Is Gone

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Monday, November 24, 2008 4:20 PM PT

Energy: Remember those 68 million acres House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the oil companies had to use or lose? According to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, they can't drill there either. [MORE]

Time's Halperin: TLTL Media Bias CYA

From Bob Parks, Black and Right - November 23rd, 2008

UAW’s ‘No Concessions’ Policy Killing Big Three, Expert Says

Friday, November 21, 2008
By Tiffany Gabbay
(CNSNews.com) – The Big Three automakers are forced to pay 85 percent of union benefits to members of the United Auto Workers union who aren’t working – even if their plants have been closed.
 
Industry analysts say union labor agreements that obligate the Big Three to pay millions of dollars to workers who are no longer working are a major reason why the automakers are in trouble – a problem that no short-term bailout can fix. [MORE]

Planet Has Cooled Since Bush Took Office

– Scientists Continue Dissenting – Gore Admits 'I've failed badly' - Global Sea Ice GROWS! Global Warming Theory has ‘failed consistently and dramatically’ [MORE]

Proof that the choice of Sarah Palin as VP helped the McCain Campaign

The Pew Research Center says: "Yet those who cited Palin's selection as a factor in their vote -- 60% of all voters -- favored McCain by 56% to 43%."

60% of voters said Sarah Palin was a factor in their choice. Of that 60%, 56 % voted for McCain. That should stop all this nonsense about Sarah hurting the ticket. Unfortunately, it probably won't.  Here is why.

 

The world has never seen such freezing heat

[ed. note] NOAA has an article that pretty much makes the same claim about the hot October that never was.  We are waiting for them to recant.  They are also predicting warmer than usual winter temperatures.

By Christopher Booker

 A surreal scientific blunder last week raised a huge question mark about the temperature records that underpin the worldwide alarm over global warming. On Monday, Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), which is run by Al Gore's chief scientific ally, Dr James Hansen, and is one of four bodies responsible for monitoring global temperatures, announced that last month was the hottest October on record.

 This was startling. Across the world there were reports of unseasonal snow and plummeting temperatures last month, from the American Great Plains to China, and from the Alps to New Zealand. China's official news agency reported that Tibet had suffered its "worst snowstorm ever". In the US, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration registered 63 local snowfall records and 115 lowest-ever temperatures for the month, and ranked it as only the 70th-warmest October in 114 years.

 So what explained the anomaly? GISS's computerised temperature maps seemed to show readings across a large part of Russia had been up to 10 degrees higher than normal. But when expert readers of the two leading warming-sceptic blogs, Watts Up With That and Climate Audit, began detailed analysis of the GISS data they made an astonishing discovery. The reason for the freak figures was that scores of temperature records from Russia and elsewhere were not based on October readings at all. Figures from the previous month had simply been carried over and repeated two months running.

The error was so glaring that when it was reported on the two blogs - run by the US meteorologist Anthony Watts and Steve McIntyre, the Canadian computer analyst who won fame for his expert debunking of the notorious "hockey stick" graph - GISS began hastily revising its figures. This only made the confusion worse because, to compensate for the lowered temperatures in Russia, GISS claimed to have discovered a new "hotspot" in the Arctic - in a month when satellite images were showing Arctic sea-ice recovering so fast from its summer melt that three weeks ago it was 30 per cent more extensive than at the same time last year.  (more...)

November 5 2008 Michael Crichton 1942-2008

Michael Crichton has been on my mind a lot over the last few weeks.   I was shocked to see that he had died on Tuesday Nov. 4 2008 from a long private battle with cancer.  Crichton is the well know author of books like the 'Andromeda Strain', 'Jurassic Park' and 'The Congo'.  He was also a screenwriter and filmmaker, who turned many of his titles into hit movies.  He was an M.D. from Harvard where he graduated summa cum laude.  The thing many don't know about Crichton that he was an articulate and convincing skeptic of global warming.

Here is a lengthy interview with Charlie Rose done on February 2007 where is views on Al Gore, and global warming are discussed extensively.

Crichton's 'Aliens Cause Global Warming' lecture.

Source:  http://www.crichton-official.com/speech-alienscauseglobalwarming.html