Non-Solutions to Non-Problems ... by Alan Caruba

Non-Solutions to Non-Problems
By Alan Caruba

************************
A desperate push is underway to enact the Climate Security Act sponsored by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CN) and Sen. John Warner (R-VA). It would impose cap-and-trade mandates on anything that generates carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and that pretty much includes everything involving energy use, including backyard barbequing.



Just what “climate security” is remains a mystery. It suggests that humans actually have something to do with the climate and only idiots believe that. If that were true, there would be no tornadoes tearing up the mid-west or hurricanes threatening the east coast. There would be no droughts, no blizzards, and other weather phenomena.



The Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the most virulent environmental organizations, famed for finding ways to impede any kind of development nationwide, whether it’s housing for a growing population, ranching and farming to feed it, or anything industrial that might provide jobs, is sponsoring a May 29 briefing for “America’s editorial board members and op-ed page editors, via a conference via phone.



You can expect newspapers to publish a raft of editorials and op-eds praising legislation based on the notion that CO2 must be reduced to stop global warming.



The problem for the environmentalists is that the Earth is now a decade into a cooling cycle that even U.S. government agencies such as NOAA acknowledge. The other problem is that CO2 represents about 0.038 percent of the Earth’s atmosphere which is comprised mostly of water vapor. So there is no global warming and the role of CO2 is negligible. Earlier this month there was news of some 31,000 scientists from around the world who have signed a petition debunking the global warming hoax. More than 9,000 of them were PhDs.



Among those participating in the NRDC conference call will be Sen, John Kerry of Massachusetts whose resume makes no reference to any knowledge of meteorology or climatology.



The Senate would be better off to pay some attention to the estimates of the costs involved in establishing a program to reduce “greenhouse gases.” A study by the Heritage Foundation predicts the following:



# The impact on the economy would be horrendous. Heritage estimates that cumulative gross domestic product (GDP) losses of at least $1.7 trillion that could reach $4.8 trillion by 2030 (in inflation-adjusted 2006 dollars).



# Single-year GDP losses of at least $155 billion that could exceed $500 billion (in inflation-adjusted 2006 dollars).



# Annual job losses that would exceed 500,000 before 2030 and could exceed a million.



# The annual cost of emission permits to energy users to cost at least $100 billion by 2020.



# The average household will pay $467 more each year for its natural gas and electricity (in inflation-adjusted 2006 dollars). That means that the average household will spend an additional $8,870 to purchase energy over the period 2012 to 2030.



It’s worth noting that a similar bill in 2005 was defeated by a vote of 60-38, an even larger margin that an earlier 2003 vote.



Cap-and-trade legislation is a non-solution to a non-problem and this vote will take place at a time when most of the public has wisely concluded that global warming, except for Al Gore’s fulminations about the coming end of the world, is just so much hot air. Such carbon credits, however, would likely make him and his fellow conspirators very wealthy through the creation of exchanges for their sale and trade.



What makes this legislation so utterly wicked, inane and insane is that it would wreck what is left of our already injured economy, trying to pull itself together after the mortgage loan debacle of our financial institutions, and facing the rising costs of oil whose full effects have yet to be felt as they ripple through the economy.



The fact that environmental organizations would try to get such legislation imposed tells you everything you need to know about their true agenda regarding America.

Alan Caruba writes a weekly column posted on the website of The National Anxiety Center, http://www.anxietycenter.com/. He blogs at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com/.


Filed under:

conservative+Global+Warming+Religion+Pagan+Socialism+Ethanol+carbon+hoax

Did You Ever Wonder?

(August 2005)

Did You Ever Wonder?

********************

Did you ever wonder why ALL the Republican's Presidential candidates, and Presidents, are said to be so dumb and ignorant? Huh?

Did you ever wonder why the Democrat's Presidential candidates, and Presidents, are said to be so smart, so intelligent? Huh?

Did you ever wonder why so many more of those dumb, ignorant, Republicans get elected President? Huh?

Did you ever wonder when, if ever, the Left is finally going to become cognizant of the fact that they come across, to the average American, as arrogant, know it alls, who talk down to the rest of us whom they see as the dirty, unwashed, masses lucky, mind you, to have them offer themselves as a candidate to be President? Huh?

Did you ever wonder... why... after all the promises the Left has made to them, and not kept, Black Americans continue to vote for Democrats... overwhelmingly? Huh?

Did you ever wonder why the Left has no solutions to ANTHING to offer?

Did you ever wonder why they are able to do nothing but disrupt, obfuscate, block, and hinder?

Did you ever wonder why the Left is not willing to defend this country? Did you ever wonder why they do not feel the US is worth dying for?

Did you ever wonder if they ever see themselves through the eyes of the average American who thinks their antics, such as the street demonstrations against the war, etc, are childish, silly, and do nothing to aid the country and everything to aid the “Islamofacists” sworn to wipe America from the face of the earth?

Did you ever wonder why the Left thinks more of trees and animals than they do for God’s own children, the human race?

Did you ever wonder how the Left can manufacture lies such as accusing the Republicans of stealing the Presidential elections in 2000, and 2004, and then come to believe their own lies?

Did you ever wonder where the Old Democrat Party went?

Did you ever wonder how the socialists managed to take over an entire major political party in the US without a struggle?

Did you ever wonder why the Left is so cozy with that bunch of thieves, brigands, and reprobates, at the United Nations?

Did you ever wonder why the Democrat Party finds it more important "to seem" rather than "to be"?

Did you ever wonder…?

Longstreet

©

Longstreet
Filed under:

conservative+Democrat+Republican

Haul Down US Flag… Or Be Sued? ... by Longstreet

Haul Down US Flag… Or Be Sued?

**************************

A US Navy Veteran faces a lawsuit if he doesn’t take down the US flag he has flying on a pole in his own yard! Think I’m kidding??? Take a look for yourself! Go here:

http://www.local6.com/news/16399678/detail.html

What kind of country have we become? We’d better do some serious thinking about that... and soon!

I fly two flags on the front of my home every day. The National Flag of the United States of America and the First National Flag of the Confederacy. It is a demonstration of my love and devotion to my country and the reference I hold for the country of my Confederate ancestors. It is free speech protected by the US Constitution.

If you would like to read more about such incidents as that described above, go to:

http://www.ccfj.net/dispatchflag.html

You know, I have to wonder… if all these folks who have been told to remove the US flags were to run up UN flags in place of Old Glory… would they have any problems with the neighbors or nearby home owners? Why do I ask that? Because it seems to me, the more I read, see, and hear about these incidents the motive behind it becomes clearer. Underneath all the bluster lies globalization… “One World Government”, allegiance to a single government… and that government is not the United States of America.

Yes, it is evidence of the continuing indoctrination, by the left, that America is NOT the BEST country in the world and should not be viewed as such by her citizens.

All these flag incidents are just examples of the rot at the core of America. You can’t fly a US flag on your own property, it is Ok if you do not place your hand over your heart as the National Anthem is being sung, its NOT OK to ask why a politician refuses to wear a US flag lapel pin, and the list goes on.

What a pathetic bunch we have become! No wonder a handful of fanatics living in holes in the ground, in a remote, god forsaken, part of the world can do battle against us… and strike fear in our national heart! We have become wimps!

A country, which no longer believes the truths upon which it was founded, cannot survive for very long. I submit to you… that is the reasoning behind the leftist indoctrination of our children, for the past two generations, in the government indoctrination centers we call Public Schools. Look around you. The evidence is everywhere… even in communities that will not allow those who live there to fly the National Flag of the United States of America on their own property.


Longstreet

© Commentary copyrighted by Longstreet

Filed under:

conservative+US+FLAG

Say NO to Obama. Stop the Obamanation!

The article below was posted by Texas Fred at his blogsite Texas Fred's at:

http://texasfred.net/archives/1232

*****************************

We are witnessing a political phenomenon with Barack Hussein Obama of rare magnitude. His speeches have inspired millions and yet most of his followers have no idea of what he stands for except platitudes of ‘Change’ or they believe him when he says he will be a ‘Uniter’.

The power of speech from a charismatic person truly can be a powerful thing. Certainly Billy Graham had charisma and his manner of speech, and particularly the content of that speech, changed the lives of untold millions.

On the extreme other hand, the charisma of Adolph Hitler inspired millions as well, and the results were catastrophic.

Barack Hussein Obama seems to radiate an aura of pure evil as he attempts to call upon the inspirational speaking styles of both Billy Graham and Adolf Hitler, and it makes me feel an almost primal fear every time I see this person, not a man to man fear but a deeper and much more spiritual fear, as if a pall of doom were being cast across America…

Here are just a few things that define Barack Hussein Obama:

– He voted against banning partial birth abortion.
– He voted no on notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions.
– Supports affirmative action in Colleges and Government.
– In 2001 he questioned harsh penalties for drug dealing.
– Says he will deal with street level drug dealing as a minimum wage affair.
– Admitted marijuana and cocaine use in high school and in college.
– His religious convictions are very murky.
– He is willing to meet, unconditionally, with Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Kim Jung Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
– Has said that one of his first goals after being elected would be to have a conference with all Muslim nations.
– Opposed the Patriot Act.
– First bill he signed that was passed was campaign finance reform.
– Voted No on prohibiting law suits against gun manufacturers.
– Supports universal health care.
– Voted Yes on providing habeas corpus for Guantanamo detainees.
– Supports granting driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.
– Supports extending welfare to illegal immigrants.
– Voted Yes on comprehensive immigration reform. Would result in 20 million instant citizens never having paid SS, many refusing to speak English, immediately sending for their 40 to 50 million extended relatives telling them not to wait and obey the laws, the once mighty USA is theirs for the taking.
– Voted Yes on allowing illegal aliens to participate in Social Security.
– Wants to make the minimum wage a ‘living wage’.
– Voted with Democratic Party 96 percent of 251 votes.
– Opposed to any efforts to Privatize Social Security and instead supports increasing the amount of tax paid.
– He voted No on repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax.
– He voted No on repealing the ‘Death’ Tax.
– He wants to raise the Capital Gains Tax.
– Has repeatedly said the surge in Iraq has not succeeded.
– Has never served in the military and has never visited Iraq or Afghanistan.
– He is ranked as the most liberal Senator in the Senate today and that takes some doing.
– Is a notorious gun grabber, he wants to completely disarm the American population and is a total supporter of ALL anti-gun legislation.

If your political choices are consistent with Barack Obama’s and you think that his positions will bring America together or make it a better place, then you will probably enjoy the ride and not re-post this message as we attempt to stop this poser from ascending to the Oval Office.

If you agree this is important, pass it on in a nationwide emailing and re-post it on your blogs…. The mainstream media will not do it for you!

Obama is EVIL personified and a danger to America!

Filed under:

conservative+Obama

Mexico is Soon to be a Bigger Problem ... by Alan Caruba

Mexico is Soon to be a Bigger Problem
By Alan Caruba
************************
As if the constant flow of illegal aliens and drugs from Mexico were not already a huge problem for the United States, it is about to get worse. When Business Week took notice of Mexico’s dwindling oil reserves and failed national oil company, Pemex, in its May 5th edition, it signaled a problem whose significance is as great as the one involving an invading population.

“A Slippery Moment for Mexican Oil” was the title, followed by “Output is tanking, but there’s fierce opposition to a plan that could reward Big Oil for helping find new reserves.” You have to read through most of the article before you discover that, “Oil output in Mexico, the world’s No. 6 producer of crude, is plummeting. At the Cantarell field, the country’s main source of oil, production is declining 15% annually…Unless new reserves are found quickly, Mexico—which accounts for 11% of U.S. oil imports—could stop exporting within a decade.”

It takes at least a decade between the discovery of new reserves and the infrastructure required to extract it, transport it to a refinery, and then distribute it to consumers.

The May issue of Energy Tribune applauded the efforts of Mexico President Felipe Calderon to free up Pemex sufficiently to encourage exploration and production. “Under the reform, Pemex would be freed from stifling oversight,” but noted that, “Its approval is far from certain, and the proposal wouldn’t turn Pemex’s fortunes around any time soon.”

Allan Wall, a U.S. citizen who lives in Mexico, writes some of the most penetrating and accurate commentaries about our neighbor to the south. In May, his Memo from Mexico, provided notice of a how bad the problem is and, while not saying so, also reminds us that America with its own vast known and undiscovered reserves of oil, has been wasting time and thwarting access to our oil resources.

Wall begins by reminding us that Mexico is not “poor.” Its citizens are not starving and it’s home to at least ten billionaires, one of whom is the world’s second wealthiest man. It’s not that Mexico doesn’t have “vast economic potential,” but that, “It’s just been spectacularly mismanaged.”

“Mexico has one of the world’s most closed petroleum markets, controlled by the state oil company, Pemex (Petroleos Mexicanos), which is protected from all competition.” It enjoys a legal monopoly on the exploration, processing, and sale of petroleum.”

Pemex has long been the government’s piggy bank, providing up to 40% of the nation’s revenues. If any nation could be said to be “addicted” to oil, it’s Mexico. You would think that it would have taken steps to explore for more, but you would be wrong. You would be wrong if you thought it had bothered to build new refineries as well. The United States has 150 oil refineries (and needs more), but Mexico only has six and they are aging.

Pemex has been spectacularly mismanaged. In this respect it is not much different from the rest of the world’s nationalized oil operations that include unstable governments like those in Africa and South American operations like Venezuela’s communist dictator. What this means is that the United States and other oil importing nations are literally at the mercy of governments that do not have to answer to their citizens.

The United States has depended heavily on imports from Canada and Mexico, but the latter nation is a governmental basket case. With ownership of its oil written into its constitution, the prospect of privatizing its oil industry is off the table. Permitting other oil companies to explore for oil is difficult at best under these circumstances. It is a costly and high-risk enterprise at best. Any new discovery would cost in excess of a billion dollars. And you don’t hit oil every time you drill.

If oil were not enough of a problem, the billions in drugs that are controlled by the Mexican cartels and purchased by Americans constitute an entire column by itself. We have a narco-army on our border that poses a major threat.

Meanwhile, Mexico has been “solving” the problem of a lack of jobs and opportunities for its people by exporting them to America. The U.S. taxpayers are picking up the bill for these uninvited workers through our education, health, and legal systems to the tune of billions. Congress has been reluctant to close our border with Mexico and the three candidates seeking to be our next president have no plans to slow or stop the invasion.

These are solvable problems if sensible people make sensible changes and encourage investment in their energy sector, but neither the United States, nor Mexico, appears ready to do that. Instead, out of sight of U.S. citizens and Congress, the two governments, in concert with Canada, are re-writing U.S. trade regulations to create a so-called Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, undermining the sovereignty of all three nations.

Earlier this month, a lot of people in America celebrated Cinco de Mayo, but a lot of them were not legal citizens.

Alan Caruba writes a weekly column posted on the website of The National Anxiety Center, http://www.anxietycenter.com/. He blogs at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com/.

© Alan Caruba, May 2008

Filed under:

conservative+Mexico+Illegal+immigration+Oil+Exploration+Processing+refineries

Individualist America Still Leads the Way ... by Longstreet

Americans are Alone Because the Rest of the World Can’t Keep Up!

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I marveled, a while back, as I read an article by Sebastian Mallaby of the Washington Post. The article was printed in my local/regional daily (owned by the New York Times) on Wednesday July 5th (2006).

Mr. Mallaby, it seems to me, is very confused! Like so many folks reared in the old world, he does not understand America nor Americans. In his most recent article titled: “We have Isolated Ourselves”. He bemoans what he sees as a fact… that Americans have isolated themselves individually, from each other, and the world. He decries that as, somehow, bad! I, on the other hand, find it to be a hallmark of Americanism.

You see, before the socialists got hold to the Democrat Party and infiltrated the US government, and before they managed to control Hollywood, and the so-called labor unions, Americans prided themselves in something called “individualism”. It meant we relied upon ourselves, and nobody else. That was a prized attribute and one in which we took great pride..

Then all the above happened (when FDR opened the door to socialism) and it has been a downhill slide ever since.

Our children have been indoctrinated, in the public school system, that they need to rely on others… that they NEED the input of others…that everything comes in shades of gray. In short, they are taught they must become a member of the mass known as society. Sorta like a beehive. You work and you die. Sound anything like socialism to you? Damn sure does to me!

Then we have those famous socialists who attained the White House, one of whom wrote a book telling us how it takes a village to raise a child. Not a mother and a family, a nuclear family, but a whole village! How nuts is that?

So, now they are telling us that we are isolating ourselves. I certainly hope they are right! We need to return to a time when we were truly independent, when we truly valued individualism and had nothing to do with socialism. We were a great country then. Not rotten at the heart as we are now.

I think the movement toward isolation, or individualism, whichever you prefer is a good thing for Americans and for America.

I truly think Mr. Mallaby has mistaken “aloneness” for “loneliness”. They are NOT the same thing.

I am an adherent of “aloneness”. I like it. I crave it; I revel in it, and, I do not recall a time in my life when I felt lonely. I don’t look to others for validation. I don’t feel a need for it.

I love to see America stand-alone. That’s when she is at her finest!

This nation was created by individuals who felt stifled by European society. They came here to be ALONE. When the land, along the east coast, became too populated for them they moved westward. They finally reached the west coast. And that’s when things went bad. There was no place left to move to for individualist.

So where do the individualists go today? If you were watching TV, over the past weekend, you have the answer. You either witnessed, or heard about, the landing on the planet Mars of another "probe" sent by the US to try to ascertain if life ever existed on Mars. Why is this important? Becasue...we are going to the stars! Why? Because we have to… because we are being stifled here… because it is the destiny of man to be individualist, to reach out, to stretch himself, and to rely on his own resources, not that of a village.

You may not realize that when the Mayflower pilgrims reached the new world they decided, while still aboard the ship, that all agricultural products would be held in common. If other words, they instituted “collectivism”. We call it “socialism” today. Three years into their adventure, as settlers in the new world, they found they could not grow enough agricultural products to sustain themselves as a colony. So they went looking for a solution. They found it. They allotted each person a parcel of land and that person was responsible for the food grown upon that parcel of land. All that grew upon it was his! That solved the food shortage problem. Thus ended the experiment with socialism in early American and… thus was the path set for “individualism” in America.

No, we do not look like the old world. No, we do not think like the old world. We are NOT the old world.

Americans are not nearly as individualistic as they used to be, nor should be, in my estimation. But we still cause the rest of the world to marvel at how we get things done when we set our minds to it. That, Dear Reader, is the result of confidence in oneself… as a direct result of individualism.

If Americans are isolated it is simply because the rest of the world can’t keep up!

Longstreet

© commentary copyrighted by Longstreet

Filed under:

conservative+ America+indiviualism+socialism+excellence

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day!
Remember WHY we HAVE Memorial Day:

Honor the memory of these men and women today and thank a Soldier, Sailor, Marine, Airman, and Goast Guardsman today... and every day. Simply take their hand in a handshake of gratitude and say the simply words: "Thank you for serving!". It will mean so much!

Longstreet

© Commentary copyrighted by Longstreet

Filed under:

conservative+Memorial+Day

A Constitutional Amendment banning sucession of family members to the office of President of the US?

(November 2007)
A Constitutional Amendment banning sucession of family members to the office of President of the US?
************************

Yep! It’s time.

Grover Norquist, a Republican activist, aims to turn the question of dynasty into a campaign issue.

Norquist hired lawyers to draw up a constitutional amendment that would ban family members from succeeding one another to elected and appointed office.In the event it passes, it won’t affect the Clintons as president Bush was elected between them. But Norquist believes that it will alert voters to the perils of dynasty. “Americans don’t like to go back,” he said.

For the full story, go here:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2848250.ece

Frankly, I’m not sure what to make of this. Admittedly, I do not like family members following one another into the same political office. It smacks too much of a “ruling class”, or a “ruling family” and my ancestors came here , to America, to escape that very thing (not to mention jail) !

Realistically, a constitutional amendment will have to wait for a conservative congress to even have a prayer of coming to the floor of the two houses even for discussion. The Dems are not about to discuss anything that will light the dark corners of the Clinton’s scandalous former administration and those scandels which still cling to them. There will be time enough for that when, and if, Hillary is elected. It will be, as her husband’s administration, a string of scandels, one behind the other, for four long years. It cannot be escaped, if Hillary is elected.

However, there is a school of thought among the democrats that Hillary is losing votes/support as a result of voter’s fear of a political dynasty. I really don’t think that is why her support is weak in some quarters. Actually, I suspect it has more to do with her being such a polarizing person. There are two camps, and two camps only, of voters considering Hillary. Those who love her and those who hate her. There is no middle ground.

Let’s face it: Dems and Repubs are both dissatisfied with their respective fields of candidates for the Presidential nomination.

In my opinion, Norquist’s proposal has merit. I don’t think America wants a “ruling family” no matter the political leanings of that family. After all, the US is a Republic. A representative republic, to be sure, but a republic, nonetheless.

It pays to keep in mind the expression: “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” A ruling family’s power increases with every succession. I don’t think America wants to go there.

Longstreet

© Comments copyrighted by Longstreet

Filed under:
Constitutional+Ammendment+family+succession+President

Hollywood Rewrites History…Again

Hollywood Rewrites History…Again
By Alan Caruba

******************

The movie, “Recount”, arrives at a time when the Democrat Party is trying to determine whether the “popular” vote in its primaries takes precedent over the actual number of delegates, whether “pledged” or “super delegates” whose only allegiance is to (1) retaining their power in Congress and the Party and (2) actually trying to win the national election in November.

There is enough written about the 2000 election results in Florida to suggest that, had the Supreme Court not intervened and stopped the vote count, Al Gore would have won by the slimmest of margins, but that ignores the way the Gore campaign successfully got the absentee military votes that would have unquestionably put Bush over the top disqualified from consideration.

In short, Florida, where apparently the voters in Palm Beach County were retarded, remains a great historic muddle. In 2000 it became a battle ground between two evils, the Republican and Democrat parties.

In the end, George W. Bush won the election, became President, and, because of 9/11, transformed his presidency into a military conflict in Afghanistan and extended it into Iraq. The reason why there is so little news current coverage of events in Iraq is that some real measure of political stability has arrived and because no one in the mainstream media wants to report that Iran has been engaged in war with the U.S. and Iraqi troops there. That war was unofficially declared in 1979 when they took our diplomats hostage and held them for 444 days. Al Qaeda has since been reduced to the ravings of Osama bin Laden.

The reason why the cost of a barrel of oil has skyrocketed is because no one knows how long the de facto Iran-U.S. conflict with continue and whether it will erupt into a full-scale war involving our having to bomb and/or invade Iran to put an end to its nuclear ambitions and its endless intrusive efforts to impose its hegemony over the entire region.

It may be “a tiny country” as Barack Obama says, but it has been a very troublesome one for a very long time.

Meanwhile, despite Hollywood’s effort to convince Americans how much better off they would have been had Al Gore been elected, it would be useful to consider that he stands revealed as one of the greatest liars on the face of the Earth, thanks to his megalomania about global warming.

On Monday, May 19, the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, led by Dr. Arthur Robinson, held a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to announce that its petition rejecting Al Gore’s and the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change lies, had been signed by 31,000 scientists from around the world. A total of 9,201 of the signers were PhDs and the rest held university degrees in science.

That is an impressive group of “deniers” and they are joined now by millions of people who understand that “global warming” is a hoax. Indeed, since 1998, all the meteorological data indicates that the Earth has entered a period of cooling. The oceans are cooling. Glaciers are growing. Winter blizzards are more intense. You don’t need a degree to know that global warming isn’t happening.

The movie, “Recount”, is propaganda, not history. Its stars and others involved in its production will swear that it is fact-based, but the fact is that, since 2001, and his reelection in 2004, George W. Bush has been the President of the United States.

The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 2008, notes that, “The Nov. 2000 presidential election was one of the closest in history. While Bush came out behind in the popular vote—by about 540,000 out of more than 100 million cast—the electoral vote total hinged on the outcome in Florida where official totals, challenged by Democrats, gave him a razor-thin lead.” The Supreme Court decision—a merciful end to the election—ceded Florida’s 25 electoral votes to Bush.

A mark of maturity is that an individual or a nation ultimately comes to acknowledge reality and acts upon facts, not emotions.

There is the Hollywood version of history and then there is reality. The two rarely coincide.

One is tempted to consider what the passed eight years would have been like had Al Gore had been elected President.

His response to 9/11 might well have been to blame America for having angered al Qaeda in some fashion. One imagines a large mosque being built on Ground Zero in order to get Middle Eastern Muslims to like us more.

By now, based on his view that the internal combustion engine is a threat to humanity, it is likely that most voters would be on bicycles or horseback. All national parks would be off limits to Americans to protect the flora and fauna. There would be rolling blackouts due to a ban on the building of any nuclear or coal-fired plants to generate electricity. Every species known to man and God would have been declared endangered. And you would have to flush your toilet at least five times to achieve the results that preceded his election to office.

Alan Caruba writes a weekly commentary posted on the website of The National Anxiety Center, http://www.anxietycenter.com/. He blogs at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com/.

Filed under:

conservative+propaganda+recount+election+politics

Is Iran’s Bark Worse Than It’s Bite?

Is Iran’s Bark Worse Than It’s Bite?

******************

When the attack on Iran comes, what will be Iran’s reaction? That question has been debated around the war planning tables in at least three countries now for some months.

The Persians are past masters at hyperbole. Using language, and language alone, they can make the passing of gas seem like a cyclone! With that in mind, the world cannot put much stock in what Iran swears will be their answer to the attack upon their nuclear facilities… an attack, we might add, which they seem to be all but inviting.

When the attack comes, no matter the insignia on the wings and fuselage of the aircraft, the world will know three nations, to one degree or another, were behind the attack…Israel, the US and Great Britain.

Europe will howl, publicly, with indignation, while secretly thanking the deity they worship for the attacking nation’s fortitude.

The Islamists will shake their fists and spew hatred for Israel and America and threaten all sorts of dire scenarios of destruction for the Infidels… so… what else is new?

As for the nation sitting on the bulls eye the Islamists have been aiming at for 60 years now… how are they assessing Iran’s reaction to the coming attack?

In an article at www.haaretz.com entitled: “Is an attack on Iran a big risk?” and written by Yossi Melman, a correspondent for Haaretz, that very question is explored. We recommend you read it. You’ll find it at:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/985895.html

Of one thing the world can be satisfied… an attack to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities, and curb their bomb making abilities, is coming, no matter how the election of a new President of the US turns out in November. Too much is at stake. If Obama is elected, the attack will come sooner, rather than later. Israel will not wish to disclose any of their plans, or intelligence, with an Obama Administration. Obama’s people, and the Democrat Party, will make every effort to put a good face on relations between the Obama government and the Israeli government, but Israel will keep the Obama government at arm’s length. They have too. They will never trust an Obama government.

If, on the other hand, McCain is elected, some time will be bought while the McCain Administration is brought up to speed, then… the attack will come.

Of course, an attack could come at any moment. One never knows. That is part of the art of war. Keep the enemy guessing and off balance. The Israeli’s are past masters at it. Add to that the fact of Israel’s superior intelligence services and “humint” abilities, which far exceed that of the US, and one would be well advised to bet that when the perceived threat to Israel is strong enough, an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities will take place… no matter where the Americans are in their electoral process and no matter who the President happens to be. Israel has said: “Never Again!"

Amen!

Longstreet

© Longstreet, May, 2008

Filed under:

conservative+Iran+Israel+attack

British and Australian SAS, and US Special Ops Troops Operating INSIDE Iran?

The Quiet War.

*******************

According to the Times Online, the Brits, the Aussies, and the Yanks are operating inside Iran and engaging the enemy there in combat. Read the story here:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2691726.ece

Thanks to a UK commenter, IOF received a "heads up" on this story, which somehow, does not seem to have made the MsM here in America. Can't imagine why!

A tip of the IOF hat to "Charlie" for this extremely interesting story. It points up the fact that at least these three brothers in arms take the Iranian involvement in the Iraq war seriously. It also points to the intensity of preparations for the coming attack on Iran.

Thanks, "Charlie"!

Longstreet

Filed under:

conservative+Iran+Britain+ Australia+US+Special+Operations

Appeasing Iran

Appeasing Iran

***************

If the President of the US sits down, in a face to face meeting with the President of Iran, and discusses Iran’s attempt to develop an Atomic Bomb, discusses Iran’s meddling in Iraq… including the training and supplying of insurgents in Iraq who are killing American military personnel, discusses Iran’s declared intention of wiping Israel from the map, discusses Iran’s threatening of shipping through the Straits of Hormuz, discusses Iran’s arming and training of terrorists in Gaza and Lebanon and sundry other places around the globe, … would that be appeasement ?

Of COURSE it would be appeasement! Why? Because… it would raise Iran’s President up to the level of the US President in perceived prestige and power around the world (I mean, of course, the “OFFICE” of the President). Plus, it would embolden the terrorist organizations that would read it as “bringing the US to heel”.

There is nothing to discuss with Iran. We have demands to make, but there is nothing to discuss.

Iran is skating on very thin ice. Their arrogance is either covering for their stupidity, or a national death wish. Either way the life of their country is in the balance.

Iran is setting itself up for a preemptory military strike by Israel… or the United States, or (most likely), both.

The fact that the US has been fighting a ground war against Iran, for many months now, is not lost on the intelligence communities of Israel, Great Britain and the United States. Although it has not been spoken of by the press in the US, to any great degree, the British press printed the facts about the 12,000 man Iranian force which flooded across the Iraq/Iran border shortly after the US and British Invasion of Iraq. It is certainly a contributing factor in the continuing battle to knock down the so-called “Insurgency” within Iraq.

The plain fact is... we are fighting Iran on the ground, and all over the world... right now! If the troops we are fighting against aren’t Iranian in blood, then they are Iranian by proxy.

Iran has a huge bulls eye painted on her today. If the people of Iran do not rise up and overthrow the mullahs and the Imams running that pitiful excuse for a country then they can expect to be attacked by outside forces and their regime changed by force. Iran’s hand is raised toward every man and every man’s hand is raised toward Iran.

Iran’s leadership continues to boast of going after Israel. It is the worst mistake they could possibly make.

Israel has a first, and second, strike nuclear capability. She has nuclear-armed subs, at sea, as a back up to her ground based nuclear arsenal. If attacked, she will certainly strike back and… she has the capability to take out the entire metropolitan population of Iran a number of times over.

For many years, now, Israel has warned that she will use her nuclear option rather than be the recipients of another holocaust. Israel is not just whistling Dixie. She will do it as surely as the sun will rise tomorrow.

Iran finds a democratic Iraq unacceptable as a neighbor. Therefore, they intend to do, and are doing, anything within their power to cripple all efforts to establish such a government in Iraq. In the meantime, their effort to create a nuclear bomb, missiles, etc, is on track and is due to be realized well before the ten years our "insufficient" intelligence services led themselves to believe several years ago.

All of this we know. And, still, some in our government want to negotiate??? Some of our presidential candidates want to TALK to Iran?



At this point, talking is nothing more than a sign of weakness. On the other hand, if Iran wishes to send an emissary, through back channels, to talk to OUR people in search of a way to save their own behinds, well, that is a different story. We might entertain an offer from Iran to lay down her arms, remove her troops from Iraq, back away from the Straits of Hormuz, stop threatening the free flow of oil from the Middle East, cut off funding and supplying terrorists in Gaza and Lebanon and the other trouble spots around the globe, and basically, behaving themselves… then, we might be open to listening.

But, as long as Iran’s mad mullahs and hallucinating henchmen continue to prance and preen, shine their shields and rattle their sabers, any attempt, on the part of the US (or any other nation at which their vitriol is directed) to talk with them is viewed as appeasement… and rightly so.

Since the beginning of warfare between tribes there have always been those who want to try talking to the enemy tribe in an attempt avoiding open combat. They are, inevitably, the weakest members of the threatened tribe. Unfortunately, it is their protestations of “peace at any price”, which have cost more lives, in the long run , than would have been lost had the battle begun immediately and ended quickly with one tribe, or the other, wining decisively.

Appeasement does two things: It demonstrates the appeasing side’s weakness and fear... and... it allows the threatening side to grow stronger and bolder and even more determined to put the pip-squeak nation, begging for peace, out of it’s misery.

Even inferring that one might talk to Iran, if one were in a position of power from which to do so, does the nation a disservice. It demonstrates the naiveté, the inexperience, and the lack of security in one’s ability to lead a nation of free people who went to war against a world superpower to gain their freedom and have fought ever since to maintain their freedom.

A great nation does not negotiate peace with another nation threatening war against it. A great nation swats the offending nation, as one would a fly, then dictates the terms of peace to THEM. Great leaders understand that. “Pretenders to Greatness” have never understood that! History records great nations and great leaders. Pretenders to greatness MAY gain mention in the footnotes of history.

So, as our diplomatic elite urge appeasement of Iran, by “talking”, understand... they are not representative of the vast majority of the American people who had much rather act as men, standing on their feet in defense of their nation, than as weaklings on their knees, exposing their necks to the sword of the enemy.

Courage begets greatness. Fear begets timidity. Timidity gives birth to acts of appeasement. There is no place for timidity in the Office of the President of the United States.


Longstreet

© Commentary by Longstreet copyrighted

Filed under:

conservative+appeasement+Iran+courage+greatness

The Nightmare We Call Our Schools ... by Alan Caruba

The Nightmare We Call Our Schools
By Alan Caruba
***********************
A friend of mine recently wrote to me saying, “My wife is retiring in June after thirty years of teaching. A high school degree means nothing. No Child Left Behind is an even bigger joke. It is a scary situation that could lead us to third world status, but we are prepared for that since we already teach English as a second language.”

I remember my Father, the son of Italian immigrants, telling me how, when he entered kindergarten in the early years of the last century, the teacher paired him with a boy who spoke both English and Italian. That was how he learned to speak English. He was not considered special, the school was full of immigrant’s children and they were expected to pick up English as best they could and as fast as they could. Later, my Father worked his way through New York University and became the youngest person at the time to pass the exam to become a Certified Public Account.

The difference between my Father’s era—and mine at mid-century—and the children in today’s schools is that there were subjects we were expected to master and grades reflected actual achievement.

Today’s schools reflect the opening quote from a friend of mine, a fellow with a master’s degree in education who tried his hand at teaching and discovered that his school was a jungle of incompetent teachers, indifferent administrators, and a majority of students for whom the expectation of good behavior and a dedication to learning was laughable. And his school was every public school.

That explains why Dr. Renato C. Nicolai, Ed.D, with forty years of teaching elementary and middle school as well as being an administrator in California schools, sat down and wrote “The Nightmare That is Public Education: An Expose of What Really Happens in Public Schools” ($17.95, iUniverse). I recommend this book to parents so that the blinders can fall from their eyes and especially to teachers who still have a desire to actually teach.

“I believe teachers and principals work in school systems throughout the United States that are ineffective, poorly administered, and broken,” says Dr. Nicholai. He cited six “myths” the public is spoon-fed to keep them in the dark.

The Money Myth—“Schools perform poorly because they need more money.”

The Special Ed Myth—“Special education programs burden public schools, hindering their academic performance.”

The Myth of Helplessness—“Social problems like poverty cause students to fail; schools are helpless to prevent it.”

The Class Size Myth—“Schools should reduce class sizes; small classes would produce big improvements.”

The Certification Myth—“Certified or more experienced teachers are substantially more effective.”

The Teacher Pay Myth—“Teachers are badly underpaid.”

Politically conservative parents have an even greater problem with today’s schools that are totally in the grip of unions with a demonstrative leftist agenda. “The terms multiculturalism, modernism, diversity, secular humanism, individual self-expression, moral relativism, and political correctness identify the secular-progressive,” writes Dr. Nicholai.

“When these terms are discussed with praise and commitment, you know you’re on the trail of persons who believe that traditional values, rights, and responsibilities are old-fashioned and out of step with modern thought.”

“Public schools are havens for liberal thought and practice. Secondary teachers are generally far left, left, or left-leaning.” The greatest complaint of parents with children in today’s school is that they are factories for indoctrination of values that run contrary to their own “old-fashioned” views.

It is doubtful still that parents have any idea how bad the situation is in their local schools, even if their children attend those in prosperous suburbs. Dr. Nicholai simply says they have been hoodwinked. Everyone participates from the students to the teachers to the administrators.

“Actually, at most public high schools, chaos is just under the surface of the daily routine, with cops on campus and administrators supervising before and after school, during passing periods, and at lunches and recesses, with walkie-talkies and cell phones.”

Not exactly the description of a serene, safe environment in which to learn or teach anything.

We as a nation have known about this as far back as 1983 when the National Commission on Excellence in Education issued its report, “A Nation at Risk.” Here we are, twenty-five years later, and the situation is infinitely worse. At a current average cost of $9,200 per student, an increase of 69% over 1980 per-pupil spending, taxpayers are spending more and getting worse results.

Alan Caruba writes a weekly column posted on the Internet site of The National Anxiety Center, http://www.anxietycenter.com/. He blogs at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com/.

© Alan Caruba, May 2008

Filed under:

education

Senator Ted Kennedy

Senator Ted Kennedy
*********************

Growing up, I was the recipient of many “pearls of wisdom” from my mother, which I instantly ignored. But… as I sat before the keyboard trying to think of something nice to say about Senator Ted Kennedy… and finding (not to my surprise, I might add) that I simply had nothing nice to say about the man, I remembered the admonition from my mother many, many, years ago. It went something like this: “If you can’t say something nice about somebody… don’t say anything at all.” So I am going to follow my mother’s advice (For once in my life!) in this space, which is dedicated to Ted Kennedy. I’ll say nothing. Here it is:





















_______

Longstreet

Filed under:
conservative+Kennedy

The Death of Conservatism in America?

The Death of Conservatism in America?

***********************

The Republican Party is in such deep trouble that its leaders have been talking about “re-branding” the party. Apparently, what I suspected about the leadership in the GOP is correct. They have lost all desire to stand and fight! They have thrown in the towel and quit!

Look, those of us who are proud to call ourselves Reagan Republicans are no longer welcome in the GOP. Why? Well, we don’t lie down and roll over for the democrats for one thing. We tend to fight for what we believe in, for another. We don’t want to see the United States of America overrun by a flood of illegal immigrants through the open border to the south. And… well, you get the picture.

Yes, there is a definite “split” in the GOP. The current leaders of the party are showing that all too familiar bent to “compromise”… to give in… to the democrats rather than stand up for the principles of conservatism.

You know, when the GOP overlooked the lesson of republican losses in November of 2006, I mis-read it as the party leadership not “understanding” the message sent by conservatives voters who stayed home to allow the democrats to rack up big wins in the Congress. I was wrong. The party leadership did not mis-read that “lesson”. They understood it… all too well. But… they decided to turn the tables on conservatives and deliberately do nothing to change their ways and stop their turn away from conservation. Not only did the party leaders not turn back to conservatism, a proven winner in national elections, they, instead, embraced liberalism!

The Republican Party is no place for a true conservative. We were tolerated, and only just, after we grew strong enough to win the Congress for the party in 1994.

I have a theory. My theory is that Republican leadership has no desire to “lead”. See… when you lead you are out front, you take the heat, and the hits, from those who oppose your policies. Unfortunately, republican leadership could not take the strain of leadership and they folded like a cheap suit! It was embarrassing for conservatives who had worked tirelessly to put them in the position of power and leadership in the government of the US. Now, they are back where they want to be, in second place, eating the dust of the socialist who bill themselves as Democrats and look at republicans of all stripes as something to scrape off the bottom of their shoes.

Conservatives in the Republican Party are persona non-grata! We are not wanted. And I have become convinced that conservatives who stay in the Republican Party are setting themselves up for more and more abuse at the hands of the GOP leadership, including the current Republican candidate for President of the US.

The GOP has backhanded its conservative base and no longer deserves our support. It will not have my support.

Conservatives have no hope of re-taking the leadership of the GOP. Those days are gone as surely as is Ronald Reagan. The moderate/liberal republicans are in charge… again… and they have effectively slammed the door on conservatism. There is no room for conservative ideas, any longer, in the GOP.

There is something repugnant to me about being an “Independent”. Independents tend to get thrown in with democrats and moderates. I am certainly not a democrat and by no stretch of the imagination can I be referred to as “moderate”. Here in North Carolina, once cannot register as an “Independent”. One registers as “Unaffiliated”. It would appear that is what I am about to do.

Conservatives need their own party. I mean a conservative party for conservatives. In as much as America now has TWO LIBERAL political parties, it seems to me that at least ONE conservative party is needed!

Why are conservatives so afraid of creating their own party? Why haven’t we done it already? What is the hold-up? We have been driven from the two ruling parties of the US government and we have no place to call home. How in hell can we ever expect to have any say in the direction the US takes if we do not have a political party as a base of operations?

It seems to me, Conservatives owe it to the American people to give them a clear-cut choice between the socialists, who call themselves Democrats, and a Conservative Party. As it stands today, the Republican Party is certainly not providing that choice. BOTH the major political parties have swung left. The democrats have embraced more and more of the Marxist/Socialist agenda and the republicans have embraced more and more of the old liberal democrat agenda. As I said above America is left today with TWO leftist political parties. There is no clear-cut choice for the American voter. No wonder the American electorate is confused! No wonder my state has set a record this year for voters registering, and re-registering, as “Unaffiliated” voters! A conservative party in America would fill that need.

If America continues along the path she is headed today America will wind up, and very soon, as effete, as toothless, and as impotent as any of the European socialist ”weenie” nations in the European Union. What a dreadful thought! Yet, that is where we are headed as a nation. Some would say we have arrived, already!

Longstreet

© Longstreet, 2008

Filed under:

conservative+politics+party

It’s NOT the Oil Companies “Gouging” at the Pumps!

It’s NOT the Oil Companies “Gouging” at the Pumps!

************************

I don’t expect this article to be very popular with readers… but here goes:

It is NOT the oil companies gouging you and me at the gas pumps. No, not by a long shot! The real culprit is environmental regulations. We have our own oil, but the “greenies” will not allow us to extract it and refine it and get it onto the market. All those ridiculous environmental regulations do nothing but insure our dependence on foreign oil. As long as they stand the US will continue to have war after war in the Middle East, and elsewhere, to maintain the “free flow of oil”. THAT is an unpleasant truth Americans don’t want to deal with. But there it is.

There is an article by Brian P. Simpson we recommend you read. Mr. Simpson is an assistant professor of economics in the School of Business and Management at National University in San Diego and the author of the book "Markets Don't Fail". The article we recommend is titled: “Who’s to Blame for the High Gas Prices” published in the April 11th, 2005 edition of SignsonSanDiego.com. You’ll find it at:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050411/news_mz1e11simpso.html

But… how about those per gallon prices? By far the largest chunk of those per gallon prices is courtesy of the US Government AND your state government. They are taxes!

Federal tax on a gallon of gasoline is 18.4 cents per gallon. Here, in North Carolina, state tax on a gallon of gasoline is 26.6 cents per gallon and the same on diesel fuel… plus 0.25-cents per gallon inspection tax. The rate increased 2 cents per gallon from 24.6 cents per gallon to 26.6 cents per gallon on 1/1/05. It consists of a 17.5 cents per gallon flat rate… plus a variable rate of 9.1 cents per gallon wholesale component based on a 7% average wholesale price component based on prices from 4/1/04 to 9/30/04 (the average price for that period was 130.34 cents per gallon).
(Courtesy of: http://www.gaspricewatch.com/usgastaxes.asp )

You can find the break down for your state at www.gaspricewatch.com as well. You might want to take a look.

I came across an article by J.B. Williamson, a few days, ago titled: “Who is "gouging" Whom at the Pumps?” . We recommend you read it. You’ll find it at:

http://www.jb-williams.com/4-25-06.htm

Another article by Mr. Williams, over at “Newsbull.com ”, is worth your while, as well. It is titled: “When Gasoline Reaches $5.00 per Gallon...Thank Liberals!” You’ll find it at:

http://www.newsbull.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=61272

Another interesting and telling point is this: ““Since 1981 when refineries operated at 69% of their capacity, the number of refineries in the U.S. has dropped from 324 to 153.” These troubling statistics are from an article titled: “U.S. government to blame for high gas prices” at:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46228

In the same article Marilyn Barnewall goes on to list the refinery closings: “According to the Energy Information Administration, in 1995, Indian Refining in Lawrenceville, IL, Cyril Petrochemical Corp. in Cyril, OK, Powerine Oil Co. in Santa Fe Springs, CA, Sunland Refining Corp. in Bakersfield, CA, and Caribbean Petroleum Corp. in San Juan, Puerto Rico were closed.

In 1996, Tosco in Marcus Hook, PA was closed. So, too, were Barrett Refining Corp. in Custer, OK, Laketon Refining. In Laketon, IN, Total Petroleum, Inc. in Arkansas City, KS, Arcadia Refining. & Mktg. in Lisbon, LA, Barrett Refining. Corp. in Vicksburg, MS and Intermountain Refining. Co., Fredonia, AZ.

In 1997, Gold Line Refining. LTD in Lake Charles, LA was closed. So, too, were Canal Refining Company and Pacific Refining Company in Hercules, CA.

In 1998, Gold Line Refining Ltd. Of Jennings, LA was closed. So, too, were Petrolite Corp., Kilgore, TX; Shell Oil Co., Odessa, TX; Pride Refining, Inc., Abilene, TX, and Sound Refining, Inc., Tacoma, WA.

In 1999, TPI Petroleum, Inc., of Alma, MI was closed.

In 2000, Pennzoil of Roseville, PA, Berry Petroleum of Stephens, AK, and Chevron of Richmond Beach, WA were closed.

In 2001, Premcor of Blue Island, IL was closed.”

Ms. Barnewall goes on to point out that: “The total loss of 830 thousand barrels per day of refined oil was lost with these closings.”

Now, this is not some "nut” making these claims. Marilyn Barnewall is the Author of several banking texts, she has written extensively for the American Banker, Bank Marketing Magazine, and was U.S. consulting editor for Private Banker International (Lafferty Publications, London/Dublin). Barnewall, in 1978, was the first female to be named vice president in charge of a major loan and deposit portfolio at Denver’s largest bank. She started the nation’s first private bank, resigned to start her own firm and consulted for banks of all sizes in America and other countries. In June 1992, Forbes dubbed Barnewall “the dean of American private banking.”

(From: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46228)

Now… here’s the thing: the big oil companies do not set the price for oil or for the gasoline you buy at the gas pump. Nope! The price is set by commodity traders all over the world… but most likely in London, Tokyo, and in New York. Ben Stein in his article entitled “Who's to Blame for High Oil and Gas Prices?” says: “Oil is a world commodity like tin or copper or rubber or coffee. The price is set by traders anticipating supply and demand”. You’ll find Mr. Stein’s article at:

http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/yourlife/2973

Now, look… I get as angry as the next guy when I pull up to the pumps and see gasoline selling for $4.00.9 a gallon (as I did a day or two ago). But the anger we American motorists feel should be directed at the source of the problem and stop blaming the closest target at hand, the service station owners and the oil companies.

I have been careful in this tome to give you sources from which you can gain additional information. Some of you will. Others will not bother to click the mouse a few times and enlighten yourselves as to the true culprits of the high gasoline prices at the pump.

There is no oil crisis! The “problem” we are having with the prices at the pump is artificial, created through the joint efforts of the government and the commodity traders all over the world.

The Congress can haul the oil company execs up to those Kangaroo Courts called “Congressional Hearings” all they want… and it will do absolutely nothing to ease the price crunch…. nor create another single drop of oil. Nothing. If, on the other hand, Congress was serious about lowering the gas prices, they would back off the freeze on extracting the oil from ANWR, from the outer continental shelf of the US, ease environmental restrictions and regulations so that our own oil could be had (and this includes the shale oil available in this country). And while they were at it, they would ease the environmental restrictions on oil companies, themselves, and encourage them to build as many refineries as they need to put more gasoline on the market.

Is Congress going to do that? No! Not until the American people get mad enough to forced them to do it. Congress is held in the iron grip of the socialist left and that includes the “Greenies”. As long as it remains that way there will be no room for “common sense” in the government of the US., and gas prices at the pump will continue their upward climb.

There is no end in sight to the high gas prices. None of the three candidates for President is inclined to show the “backbone” needed to get this artificially created problem handled.

If you think it is bad now… wait ‘til cold weather next winter and people begin to freeze to death, in their cold homes, because they cannot afford the price of heating fuel to heat their homes!

America elected a socialist Congress in 2006 and is set to elect a Marxist/Socialist as President... or a Democrat running as a Republican for President. The choice of either one will do absolutely nothing to reduce the “Pain at the Pump” nor the sky rocketing food prices.

Maybe it is time for those “Angry White American Men” we hear the Left complaining about so much, to show themselves and put that anger to good use… for the sake of the country.

Longstreet

© Commentary copyrighted by Longstreet May 2008

Filed under:

conservative+Oil+Gouging

ACLU vs Christianity

(First posted in July of 2005)

ACLU vs Christianity

**********************

So now the ACLU has sued the state of North Carolina over using a Bible as the sole source of the Holy Scriptures.

You can immediately see the problem with that… if you are a Christian, that is. The problem, from the standpoint of a Christian, is simply this… the Bible IS the sole source of the Holy Scriptures! The acceptance of any other collection of inspirational verses, as Holy Scripture, is a sin for those of the Christian faith.

If a Moslem, or a Hindu, for instance, wishes NOT to swear on a Bible, here in North Carolina, … he or she can simple “affirm” they will testify to the truth. That is acceptable in this state. The same option is offered for those chosen for jury duty. Many Christians feel that “swearing on the Bible” is a sin. For those, the State offers the “affirmation”.

There is something very wrong about this lawsuit. It is blatantly anti-Christian.

I simply do not believe this lawsuit by the ACLU, against North Carolina, is about the right to swear on your chosen “Holy Scriptures”. No, it has become clear to those of the Judea-Christian faith, in the United States, over the past few years, that the ACLU is bent on destroying any, and all, vestiges of the Jewish faith and/or the Christian faith in America.

Why does the ACLU hate us so much? Why do they see us as a threat so potent that they feel they must destroy us? Because, the Judeo-Christian religion IS a threat to the ACLU. Christians are anti-Socialist and anti-Communist. Christians are the natural enemy of the ACLU. And they know it. They have been coming after us since their founding in 1920. Many of the founders of the ACLU were members of, or had association with, the Communist Party of the USA. It would seem their goals have changed little since their founding. They still never miss a chance to strike out at Christian activity anywhere in the US. It leads one to believe their purpose is to eradicate the Christian religion in the USA. They have made a grand start.

Here is what the noted Communist Joseph Stalin said: “America, is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within.”

Today, as in the past, we see the ACLU attacking America’s Patriotism, America’s Morality and America’s Spiritual Life. A coincidence? It would be a stretch to convince one’s self that it is.

The ACLU does not just dislike Christians… they hate us! As Christians, we are their chief enemy. Yet many professed Christians hold membership in the ACLU. How can this be? Even the Romans had no help from the early Christians in their campaign to destroy Christianity. But the ACLU does have it… in spades! Our “liberal churches” have opened the door for their own destruction and are actively aiding in the campaign against the “Faith of our Fathers”… the Judeo-Christian faith.

Here in North Carolina they have struck another blow against the Jew and the Christian. The war to eradicate Christianity, in the US, is as real today as it was during the day of Nero in ancient Rome. Only, the ACLU has replaced the lions in today’s coliseum.

The war rages, between good and evil, as it has since Eden. However, I have read The Book, and the Christians win!

Longstreet

Filed under:

Conservative+Socialist+Communist+Christian+Church+Religion+ACLU

© Commentary by Longstreet copyrighted, 2005

When Candidates are Dangerously Wrong ... by Alan Caruba

When Candidates are Dangerously Wrong
By Alan Caruba
**********************
Americans have painted themselves into the corner on energy and the two presumptive candidates for President are ready to finish off the nation with the worst possible “solutions.”



Sen. Barack Obama is talking of “windfall profits” taxes on the oil companies, thus threatening to take away the money they need to invest in exploration, extraction, refining and delivery of the gas and oil we need to fuel our cars and trucks, and heat our homes.



It takes up to ten years between finding a new reserve of oil and actually delivering it. It’s been nearly four decades since any oil company has built a new refinery because the United States has made it too expensive to do so thanks to lawsuits and a maze of environmental laws. As for exploring for oil in the U.S. or off-shore, would you spend millions doing that if you knew the government wouldn't let you drill or extract it?



Like Sen. McCain, Sen. Obama believes in global warming even though the planet stopped its long, completely natural warming in 1998. The Earth is cooling, but please don’t let that get in the way of either candidate proposing “solutions” to address a drastic warming that is not happening.



Sen. John McCain says that global warming in undeniable even though literally hundreds of scientists worldwide say it isn’t happening. In March I attended a conference on climate change sponsored by the Heartland Institute. It attracted over 500 meteorologists, climatologists, economists, and other very smart people from around the world who sat through two days of presentations and seminars all jammed with information confirming that there is no global warming, if you interpret this to mean a massive rise in the temperature of the planet.



Sen. McCain, however, is worried about “carbon fuel emissions” at a time when the cost of those carbon fuels, gasoline in particular, is going through the ceiling thanks, not to a lack of supply, but the speculators in the world’s commodity exchanges.



It is moronic to worry about carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) when this gas, vital to the growth of every piece of vegetation and all life on Earth, constitutes a mere 0.038% of the Earth’s atmosphere.



Look up at the sky above you. It’s about 95% water vapor. You know, water as in hydrogen and oxygen molecules. You drink it. You wash in it. You swim in it. There are large bodies of it called oceans. Those oceans which normally retain and release 80-90% of the Earth’s heat are now cooling!



So neither one of the candidates has a grasp of economics or science and we are about to elect one of them the next President of the United States of America!



Meanwhile, The New York Times on May 11 published an editorial, “Rethinking Ethanol” in which the geniuses who write such things have concluded that maybe diverting food products like corn into a fuel product that provides less mileage per gallon, costs more to produce than gasoline, and adds its own pollution to the air, is probably not a good idea. Their solution? End the tax subsidy that goes to ethanol producers.



According to The New York Times, “The other reason is a spate of studies suggesting that some biofuels—corn ethanol in particular—could accelerate global warming.”



You have to be a special kind of idiot to (1) advocate a Congressional mandate for billions of gallons of ethanol as a gasoline additive and (2) continue to maintain that global warming is occurring.



The New York Times has been lying about global warming since the 1980s. The good news is that it is laying off large numbers of its reporters and editors. Its circulation has been sinking like a stone and maybe someday it will be sold on street corners as a single broadsheet hawked by boys shivering in the snow while shouting, “Read all about it! No more global warming!”



If you get the feeling that the United States is heading over the cliff for failing to anticipate and encourage its energy industries, for codifying in law requirements to deal with a non-existent problem, and for refusing to reverse course, you’re right.



There is a price for being an idiot. Think about that the next time you fill up your gas tank.

Alan Caruba writes a weekly column posted on the web site of The National Anxiety Center, http://www.anxietycenter.com/. He blogs at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com/.

© Alan Caruba, May 2008


Filed under:



conservative+Global+Warming+Religion+Pagan+Socialism+Ethanol+hoax