Someone explain to me how the environmental impact of the CFL over its entire lifespan is less than the simple Edison bulb?
Friday, December 4, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Some Prescient Words from 1877
Some very timely words from a book I purchased at a book sale several years ago entitled "The Question of Labour and Capital" Authored by John B. Jervis in 1877. These passages deal not only with government intrusion into everyone's life, but also the ways to a successful life. Read these passages carefully.
The Obamites will strongly disagree with every one of these statements. However, time will prove them wrong, very much to the detriment of future generations that will have to clean up his mess.
Government Aid To Labor.
I propose but few remarks under this head. The thing is so absurd in any economic view, that it would not be noticed, except for some recent claim on the aid of government to assist labour. The French made an experiment of this kind shortly after the revolution of 1848. What were known then as the comun- ists, claimed it as a duty of government to provide work for the people. This folly was listened to, and led to the establishment by government of shops for the fabrication of goods. It did not require much time to demonstrate this to be not only absurd, but ruinous to the government. Those shops, except so far as they were for military purposes, have been, as I understand, abandoned, and the idea of the communists has only been partially maintained in the way of municipal and other public works, which have been sufficiently impressive in the onerous taxes that follow in the wake of every attempt of government to do what should be done, and can much better be done, by individual enterprise. AMEN TO THAT!!
Not long since a convention of working-men met at the city of Pittsburgh. On that occasion they set forth a project for the government to furnish funds at a low rate of interest, to miners and others, as a capital that would enable them to dispense with the aid of banks, and so carry on industrial enterprise without dependence on capitalists. Their idea, probably had its origin in the supposition the government had funds, and that it was its duty to aid the working class of men. Whereas, the fact is, the government has got no money or resources, except in taxes; and if it furnish funds to one class of men, it can only do so by taxing all classes. The impolicy, the injustice of this, did not suggest itself to the convention. Such propositions are no credit to the intelligence of working-men, who should have at least the sagacity to see their absurdity. It was a chimerical proposition, and would not be worthy of notice, except that it was brought forward as a measure to adjust the question of capital and labour. The working-men should know that governments, when they have undertaken to provide for them, have done more for their degradation than for their improvement, and that the only real service the government can do for working-men, is to maintain their rights as freemen, and thus secure to them the full product of their skill, labour and enterprise in all the range of productive labour. Men are prone to forget the great truth that it is only as individuals a community can properly prosper. This is the basis and strength of our civilization, and the hope of its progress.
Remarks On My Eighth Deduction.
Namely—" That no benefit can result from any government interference or control; that the organization and prosecution of industrial enterprise, is most effective under the scrutiny of individual control."
There can be no doubt of the soundness of the above. It is no part of the function of government to meddle with the affairs of individuals, except to secure the administration of justice. It is the duty of government to protect every man in the rights of labour and enterprise, and take care that no wrong that may be attempted, shall fail of adjudication on the basis of justice, and that no one shall hold a privilege not secured to all. When governments attempt to interfere in the affairs of individuals, and dictate as to their rights of labour and exchange, they transcend their functions, and injure all labour and enterprise, and, in fact, vitiate the legitimate duties they were established to promote.
The difficulty in such cases is, the proprietors are not in a situation to understand well the methods by which their own affairs are conducted, and will mainly depend for success on the wisdom they exercise in selecting their agents.
If we leave the department of productive enterprise, and look into affairs necessarily committed to government, and trace along up from municipal to State and Federal administration, we shall have abundant evidence, as we ascend from the least to the greatest, of a regular advance in improvidence, waste and peculation. The great difficulty in government operations is that they are mostly out of the observation of those who by taxes pay the expense; and cunning men make their living by watching their opportunity to prey on the public, through managing rings and other processes. But in government affairs we have no alternative—we must commit the work to be done to representatives, and in their intelligence and honesty we must confide. In this we are sometimes successful and obtain faithful servants ; but it is certain we often fail. We have no such necessity in the business of production.
It is proper for the government and for individuals to make provision for the aged, the infirm, and all that from mental or physical imbecility are unable to provide for their own subsistence. But this takes the question out of the business circle, and we must be careful not to confound manly labour with pauperism.
It is sometimes said property is very unequally distributed. This is largely, if not essentially, an error, when applied to young men, who rarely have much property in the outset of life. If applied to those of advanced age, it merely expresses the fact— that all men do not equally avail of the facilities for thrift, that have arisen from the industry and prudence of those who have been successful. One man carefully husbands his resources, while another spends more than is needful in the indulgence of present desire.
There have been instances of men rising in disregard of their surroundings to a rank of prominence in business life. But these are exceptional cases ; the great mass of men will move on in the path they have chosen according to their education ; and the probability of correcting cardinal errors of youth in time to profit, is very small, and hence the importance of correct early training. This training must depend essentially on the parent. The young man goes into his business life according to his training. As a matter of course this will depend on the capacity of the parent for the work. It will require a good degree of self-control and perseverance. In the nature of the boy there will be much to correct in order to mould him into conformity with the exigencies of a business life. The first important point to be considered is, the son does not know as much as the father, and therefore the father should put himself in the position of an instructor, and should consider, that no one knows, in a practical degree, by intuition, and if the son does not know, it is because he has not seen or heard and is in need of information. A wise parent will always avail of any circumstances, even in the common routine of every-day affairs, to bring knowledge to the opening mind of his son, so as to fortify him against error, and illustrate truth to his mind. (This paragraph should be read and re-read, there is a lack of proper parenting instruction today, exacerbated by the fact that more than 50% of marriages fail before the children become adults. Having two mommies, or two daddies certainly is not the answer either!!)
Speaking of marriage.....
The Question Of Marriage.
Writers on industrial economy attribute much of the hardships of the labouring class to early marriages. No doubt there is some foundation for this ; but it is a subject I do not propose to discuss. There are so many circumstances influencing the question of marriage, which each one must consider for himself, that I do not see in what way I may give advice. This much, however, may be said: in marriage there is necessity of responsibility for the sustenance of wife and children, and the education of the latter. Any provident man will consider if his resources will be sufficient to meet the responsibility involved in these expenses. His judgment in this respect will very probably decide, whether he shall be a thrifty or an unthrifty man.
It is the cardinal stimulus to effort for advancing the industry and economy that promote the material, mental and moral well-being of society; and is naturally looked to, as a proper condition in the life of men. But in this, as in every enterprise of men, prudence demands that a man consider, if he have the means to meet its proper responsibilities. If he has not the means, he will probably fail to secure success. All I advise therefore is, that its consummation (of marriage) be deferred until a reasonable prospect is secured for the means of providing for its necessary responsibilities, always leaving something for thrift. I say leaving something for thrift; for the man who can see no progress towards improving his affairs, will lose courage and make life a drudgery.
That there are many who have difficulty in providing sustenance, and come to depend on public and private charity, there can be no-doubt. But to charge their condition to the hard terms imposed on them by capitalists, is a great error. The capitalist has done the same by them as he has done by those who have risen to the condition of competent independence. The capitalist has furnished these dependent men with the instruments of labour, without which they could have had no civilized work to do; and must have been driven to hunting and fishing for the means of subsistence. The charge against the capitalist is one that strikes at the foundation of our civilization. But, it may be inquired, is there no remedy ? Must our civilization be maintained at so great sacrifice as we see in the comparatively large number of dependent men ? Is this a necessary result ? To answer these questions, we have only to look over our society and see how large the proportion of men who began life with little or no resources but their skill and labour, and have reached competent conditions. How did they reach this condition? It was not by chance, but by industriously and wisely using the instruments put into their hands from the savings accumulated by their predecessors—now called capitalists. If no such instrument had been provided, they must have depended on the scanty resources of nature for the means of subsistence. With the same instruments the prudent man proceeded, until by industry and frugality he provided for his own instruments, and steadily and surely rose to the position of competent independence, if not to that of a large capitalist. The dependent class had the same opportunity—had the benefit of the same instruments, but had not the manly purpose to improve their advantages. They thought the world owed them a living—a great error of men, who forget the world owes them nothing; and that every man, who is not a pauper, is dependent on his own industry and vigilance for the subsistence he needs or desires. (HERE!!!, HERE!!!)
If we discard civilization, we must fall into barbarism. This latter result will inevitably come if the right of holding and enjoying the savings of frugal industry be denied.
I could probably include one example after another from this book that would apply to our state of affairs today. Read these select passages over and over again. The current government is attempting to turn what remains of these principles topsy turvy. The Republicans are no help, they seem to just spinning their wheels trying to find their identity again. The normal everyday citizens like me and you that work hard every day to make a living are the one's again that will bear the brunt of all of this.
The fact is progressivism does not work. Socialism does not work. The cradle to grave nanny-ism does not work. They all breed idleness and lazinesss for the masses while the few do the work for less and less overall compensation due to the excessive taxation and government intrusion that all of this involves. We are embarking on an experiment that will not only fail, but also will remove us from the list of great powers in this world. The sad fact is, this is what the architects of this mess wants to accomplish. The self hating Amercan liberal is starting to win again. Hopefully the tide will turn soon, or we will all be doomed to mediocrity.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Are the Republicans Trying to Commit Suicide?
John Ensign Adultery , Mark Sanford Adultery, Mark Foley male page scandal, David Vitter prostitutes, Larry Craig playing footsies in a public bathroom, Bob Livingston Adultery, Newt Gingrich adultery, not to mention Ted Haggerty, Bob Allen, Glenn Murphy; the list goes on and on. Hypocritical Republicans behaving badly. Do the Democrats have just as many similar scandals? Yes! However, the Republican party (Which is (was) my party of choice) is supposed to be the party of family values. That is one of the reasons WHY it is (was) my party of choice.
Add onto this the totally incomprehensible latching onto of Sarah Palin (who just this week provided even more proof of her flightiness by abruptly quitting) as the saviour of this party, and I have come to the conclusion that the Republican party is trying to commit suicide.
To tell you the truth, I am to the point where I would have to say "Let it".
There is no longer a political party in America that represents my own values and beliefs. The Republicans give lip service to it, but in practice they have just become a bunch of liberal Democrats masquerading as Republicans.
Therefore, it is time to scrap the Republican party and start anew. Anyone with even a hint of some sort of tawdry scandal would not be welcome. One of the problems with the Republican party today is that in the interest of keeping as many of their dwindling seats as possible in the congress, the whispers of these scandals are being hushed up. You cannot keep these sorts of things a secret forever. It is best to find out the truth, then give the perpetrator the ole heave ho. Trouble is, it is going to be awfully lonely for the few that are left.
Here are some of my values that the new replacement party needs to follow, not give lip service to.
1. Family first.
By family, I mean a man married to a woman. Not a man married to a man, not a woman married to a woman. Also not a man living with a woman and having children. This country needs to be committed to marriage again. Before entering into that marriage, both people involved need to understand that things will not always be rosy. There will be difficult times to go with the good times. One of the many negative results of children being raised to have a high self esteem at all times, to feel good all the time, to always be a winner even when they lose, to always have things go their way is that they tend to become selfish, narcissistic and not prepared to deal with the difficulties of the real world. I believe that this leads to the high rate of divorce that is prevalent in this country today. The young couple starts out, usually starts to have children right off the bat even though they may not be emotionally or financially mature enough to have a child. They buy a house they can't afford yet. The bills pile up. the fights start, next thing you know one or the other starts to look outside the marriage for solace, then things just spiral downward from there. I am not really sure how to break this vicious cycle, I just know it needs to be broken.
2. Keep the government out of my life.
Unless I am committing one of the heinous crimes (robbery, murder, rape, drug use etc..) the government needs to stay out of my business. Thanks to this Obama climate change bill, I won't even be able to sell my house without some Government official approving my "energy efficiency" first. Heck, I can't even use the light bulbs I want, the good old incandescent bulb will be criminal before long. I am typing this right now under the light of 3 CFL's in my ceiling fan light fixture. The Fourth one is already burned out despite only being 6 months old. So much for the 5 year life span that was promised. These were not the off brand ones either, they were expensive General Electric CFL's. I figured that with their 5 year life span combined with the energy efficiency advertised, it would be worth the extra cost. Now after only 6 months I have one burned out and three more that take forever to warm up. When they do, it is still a very unpleasing pale yellow. Certainly not what I expected. This must be the change I keep hearing from Obama.
3. Protect my right to own a gun.
This is not just an issue of my right to hunt game. This is also to protect my family. This is also to protect myself from future Government tyranny. That is why the second amendment was added in the first place. I am not some nut that is looking to shoot some law enforcement officer that shows up at my door like that idiot in Pittsburgh. Far from it. However, all you have to do is look at what happened in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to understand that a natural disaster coupled with a low paid more than likely affirmative action driven police force could possibly turn into a tyrannical situation very quickly. Also, looters were everywhere attacking everyone that was not armed, I plan to protect my family from such riff raff. Certainly I hope and do not expect that day to ever happen, but if it does, I do not want to be hopeless to act.
The liberals are currently using the angle of the Mexican drug cartels being armed by U.S. gun shops as a way to convince us that the gun laws should be tightened. They have made much of the fact that there is only one gun store in Mexico and the largest caliber that the average person can purchase is a .38. Well good for them. That seems to be working out well now doesn't it? Personally, I don't want to be Mexico. Not by a long shot. There could probably be an argument made that the lack of access of firearms to the average citizen makes the drug cartels even stronger. They have nothing to fear. Certainly not the corrupt politicians, military or police. certainly not the average citizen who most likely is dirt poor armed with a .38 with only a few rounds at his disposal.
As far as the easy access to guns from American gun shops, these people selling to the cartels should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. In other words, rather than restrict access and yet again punish those of us that are law abiding citizens, go after the crooks.
By the way, these cartels will find other sources of weapons. whether that be Central American countries, corrupt officials in their own country or else where, they will get them. Of course, that doesn't mean that we should be supplying them.
4. Get control of the illegal immigration situation.
This was country was built on immigration. I want the best from all countries whether that be India, Japan, China, Russia, England, Germany, Poland, Mexico etc... What I don't want is the country to be swamped with illegal immigrants that are taking advantage of our social services, taking advantage of our higher wages, refusing to learn our national language (English), basically not here to help our country and to become patriotic citizens. Just here to take advantage of the system and create little versions of their cesspool countries within our own great country. If you are not here to make our great land even greater, if you are just here to take advantage of our benefits and bring us down to your level, then LEAVE NOW.
5. Get rid of the remainders of Affirmative Action.
More than likely back in the 1960's Affirmative Action was necessary. There had to be a way to get the mostly racist people in charge of our businesses and Government to hire minorities.
However, times have changed. The country has made incredible progress in race relations. Many people don't realize that in the 1960's a man of color would most likely be shot or hanged just for talking to a white woman. The courts in that locality would probably consider this a justified killing. Times have changed considerably (Much for the better, I might add).
Today it seems as though Affirmative Action is used as an excuse to not try as hard. The recent supreme court case involving White firefighters not getting the promotions they deserved despite scoring the highest grades on their competancy tests highlights this. One of the white men was dyslexic and spent large sums of his own money to overcome this so he could pass this test. Did the men of color work as hard to get a higher grade? Apparently not since they did not get the higher grade. Does that mean they were not capable of that higher grade? Certainly not. They were more than likely expecting the preferences to take over, which they did until the Supreme Court gave its ruling. This garbage of the test being biased towards the white firefighters is just that, garbage. Did the test have to be given in ebonics for the black firefighters to understand? That is a ridiculous statement, but quite honestly I don't understand what is meant that the test was "white biased". Certainly there is not a black method of firefighting and a white method of firefighting. So the answer is, the black firefighters, expecting racial preferences (Affirmative Action) to kick in, simply did not try as hard. Any other answer is just bull puckey since the black firefighters have just as much potential as the white ones.
To be continued.
Add onto this the totally incomprehensible latching onto of Sarah Palin (who just this week provided even more proof of her flightiness by abruptly quitting) as the saviour of this party, and I have come to the conclusion that the Republican party is trying to commit suicide.
To tell you the truth, I am to the point where I would have to say "Let it".
There is no longer a political party in America that represents my own values and beliefs. The Republicans give lip service to it, but in practice they have just become a bunch of liberal Democrats masquerading as Republicans.
Therefore, it is time to scrap the Republican party and start anew. Anyone with even a hint of some sort of tawdry scandal would not be welcome. One of the problems with the Republican party today is that in the interest of keeping as many of their dwindling seats as possible in the congress, the whispers of these scandals are being hushed up. You cannot keep these sorts of things a secret forever. It is best to find out the truth, then give the perpetrator the ole heave ho. Trouble is, it is going to be awfully lonely for the few that are left.
Here are some of my values that the new replacement party needs to follow, not give lip service to.
1. Family first.
By family, I mean a man married to a woman. Not a man married to a man, not a woman married to a woman. Also not a man living with a woman and having children. This country needs to be committed to marriage again. Before entering into that marriage, both people involved need to understand that things will not always be rosy. There will be difficult times to go with the good times. One of the many negative results of children being raised to have a high self esteem at all times, to feel good all the time, to always be a winner even when they lose, to always have things go their way is that they tend to become selfish, narcissistic and not prepared to deal with the difficulties of the real world. I believe that this leads to the high rate of divorce that is prevalent in this country today. The young couple starts out, usually starts to have children right off the bat even though they may not be emotionally or financially mature enough to have a child. They buy a house they can't afford yet. The bills pile up. the fights start, next thing you know one or the other starts to look outside the marriage for solace, then things just spiral downward from there. I am not really sure how to break this vicious cycle, I just know it needs to be broken.
2. Keep the government out of my life.
Unless I am committing one of the heinous crimes (robbery, murder, rape, drug use etc..) the government needs to stay out of my business. Thanks to this Obama climate change bill, I won't even be able to sell my house without some Government official approving my "energy efficiency" first. Heck, I can't even use the light bulbs I want, the good old incandescent bulb will be criminal before long. I am typing this right now under the light of 3 CFL's in my ceiling fan light fixture. The Fourth one is already burned out despite only being 6 months old. So much for the 5 year life span that was promised. These were not the off brand ones either, they were expensive General Electric CFL's. I figured that with their 5 year life span combined with the energy efficiency advertised, it would be worth the extra cost. Now after only 6 months I have one burned out and three more that take forever to warm up. When they do, it is still a very unpleasing pale yellow. Certainly not what I expected. This must be the change I keep hearing from Obama.
3. Protect my right to own a gun.
This is not just an issue of my right to hunt game. This is also to protect my family. This is also to protect myself from future Government tyranny. That is why the second amendment was added in the first place. I am not some nut that is looking to shoot some law enforcement officer that shows up at my door like that idiot in Pittsburgh. Far from it. However, all you have to do is look at what happened in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to understand that a natural disaster coupled with a low paid more than likely affirmative action driven police force could possibly turn into a tyrannical situation very quickly. Also, looters were everywhere attacking everyone that was not armed, I plan to protect my family from such riff raff. Certainly I hope and do not expect that day to ever happen, but if it does, I do not want to be hopeless to act.
The liberals are currently using the angle of the Mexican drug cartels being armed by U.S. gun shops as a way to convince us that the gun laws should be tightened. They have made much of the fact that there is only one gun store in Mexico and the largest caliber that the average person can purchase is a .38. Well good for them. That seems to be working out well now doesn't it? Personally, I don't want to be Mexico. Not by a long shot. There could probably be an argument made that the lack of access of firearms to the average citizen makes the drug cartels even stronger. They have nothing to fear. Certainly not the corrupt politicians, military or police. certainly not the average citizen who most likely is dirt poor armed with a .38 with only a few rounds at his disposal.
As far as the easy access to guns from American gun shops, these people selling to the cartels should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. In other words, rather than restrict access and yet again punish those of us that are law abiding citizens, go after the crooks.
By the way, these cartels will find other sources of weapons. whether that be Central American countries, corrupt officials in their own country or else where, they will get them. Of course, that doesn't mean that we should be supplying them.
4. Get control of the illegal immigration situation.
This was country was built on immigration. I want the best from all countries whether that be India, Japan, China, Russia, England, Germany, Poland, Mexico etc... What I don't want is the country to be swamped with illegal immigrants that are taking advantage of our social services, taking advantage of our higher wages, refusing to learn our national language (English), basically not here to help our country and to become patriotic citizens. Just here to take advantage of the system and create little versions of their cesspool countries within our own great country. If you are not here to make our great land even greater, if you are just here to take advantage of our benefits and bring us down to your level, then LEAVE NOW.
5. Get rid of the remainders of Affirmative Action.
More than likely back in the 1960's Affirmative Action was necessary. There had to be a way to get the mostly racist people in charge of our businesses and Government to hire minorities.
However, times have changed. The country has made incredible progress in race relations. Many people don't realize that in the 1960's a man of color would most likely be shot or hanged just for talking to a white woman. The courts in that locality would probably consider this a justified killing. Times have changed considerably (Much for the better, I might add).
Today it seems as though Affirmative Action is used as an excuse to not try as hard. The recent supreme court case involving White firefighters not getting the promotions they deserved despite scoring the highest grades on their competancy tests highlights this. One of the white men was dyslexic and spent large sums of his own money to overcome this so he could pass this test. Did the men of color work as hard to get a higher grade? Apparently not since they did not get the higher grade. Does that mean they were not capable of that higher grade? Certainly not. They were more than likely expecting the preferences to take over, which they did until the Supreme Court gave its ruling. This garbage of the test being biased towards the white firefighters is just that, garbage. Did the test have to be given in ebonics for the black firefighters to understand? That is a ridiculous statement, but quite honestly I don't understand what is meant that the test was "white biased". Certainly there is not a black method of firefighting and a white method of firefighting. So the answer is, the black firefighters, expecting racial preferences (Affirmative Action) to kick in, simply did not try as hard. Any other answer is just bull puckey since the black firefighters have just as much potential as the white ones.
To be continued.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Is Global Warming the New Oppressive Ideology?
I am starting to see an alarming trend in this whole Global Warming obsession/ideology. There is no room for debate or questioning. It is now ( according to the Global Warming proponents) a done deal, climate change is entirely a result of human activities. Either agree or be vilified and ruined..... Debate over..... Period.
There are actually anti-global warming questioning laws in some countries , where you could actually get fined or if you are vociferous enough, actually go to prison just for being a "denier". This is scary, especially over a theory that might have some truth to it...... or not.
During the 1970's many of these same climate laboratories were raising the red flag that we were going into an ICE AGE. The claim was made at that time that we had experienced a COOLING period over the past century. That is right, Global Cooling. Now we are all about to be lit under the fire of Hades!!!
Actually, it seems to me that the Earth goes under heating and cooling cycles over the span of decades and centuries. The last heating cycle, which seemed to start in the early '80's and reached it's peak in the late 90's was certainly a bad one. HOWEVER, it following an approximately 2.5 to 3 decade cooling period that was especially harsh that ended in the late 70's. Therefore over the long run it evened things out.
Don't tell that to the global warming crowd. They will denigrate you in every way possible. We now must use light bulbs that contain mercury and just plain don't work . We must now pay much higher prices for all of our energy, just when a global deep recession will more than likely make wages (for those still employed) stagnant, or even declining for many years to come. We must now start driving unsafe light underpowered "cars" that pretty much no one would want if they weren't forced upon them. Or start riding our bicycles in the snow (Pretty dangerous for me since I have to go down a mile and a half long steep hill on my 12 mile journey to work every day.) Or take public transportation. (Don't have that either, besides I seriously doubt it would be running at 3:30 A.M., which is when I am on my way to work).
All of this on what is still a theory, not a truth. Quite honestly, it just seems to be a way to keep control of and keep an eye on the entire population. It is also a way to control the wealth. Make more money, be able to afford the finer things in life (most of which require more energy) and we will take more money away from you. So in other words, in a back door way they are introducing at least Socialism or maybe even Communism to our society.
So therefore, Global Warming is the next oppressive ideology. You have an ideology that tolerates no dissent. You have an ideology that makes a person poorer regardless of how hard they work. You have an ideology that has the government telling you the individual and the corporations of this country what to do and how to live under threat of penalty. Basically you have an ideology that is very much related to the past oppressive ideologies whether that is Communism, Socialism, Nazism, Monarchism etc.... Only worse...... This oppressive ideology purports to "Save the World for future generations".
Be scared, VERY scared!!!
There are actually anti-global warming questioning laws in some countries , where you could actually get fined or if you are vociferous enough, actually go to prison just for being a "denier". This is scary, especially over a theory that might have some truth to it...... or not.
During the 1970's many of these same climate laboratories were raising the red flag that we were going into an ICE AGE. The claim was made at that time that we had experienced a COOLING period over the past century. That is right, Global Cooling. Now we are all about to be lit under the fire of Hades!!!
Actually, it seems to me that the Earth goes under heating and cooling cycles over the span of decades and centuries. The last heating cycle, which seemed to start in the early '80's and reached it's peak in the late 90's was certainly a bad one. HOWEVER, it following an approximately 2.5 to 3 decade cooling period that was especially harsh that ended in the late 70's. Therefore over the long run it evened things out.
Don't tell that to the global warming crowd. They will denigrate you in every way possible. We now must use light bulbs that contain mercury and just plain don't work . We must now pay much higher prices for all of our energy, just when a global deep recession will more than likely make wages (for those still employed) stagnant, or even declining for many years to come. We must now start driving unsafe light underpowered "cars" that pretty much no one would want if they weren't forced upon them. Or start riding our bicycles in the snow (Pretty dangerous for me since I have to go down a mile and a half long steep hill on my 12 mile journey to work every day.) Or take public transportation. (Don't have that either, besides I seriously doubt it would be running at 3:30 A.M., which is when I am on my way to work).
All of this on what is still a theory, not a truth. Quite honestly, it just seems to be a way to keep control of and keep an eye on the entire population. It is also a way to control the wealth. Make more money, be able to afford the finer things in life (most of which require more energy) and we will take more money away from you. So in other words, in a back door way they are introducing at least Socialism or maybe even Communism to our society.
So therefore, Global Warming is the next oppressive ideology. You have an ideology that tolerates no dissent. You have an ideology that makes a person poorer regardless of how hard they work. You have an ideology that has the government telling you the individual and the corporations of this country what to do and how to live under threat of penalty. Basically you have an ideology that is very much related to the past oppressive ideologies whether that is Communism, Socialism, Nazism, Monarchism etc.... Only worse...... This oppressive ideology purports to "Save the World for future generations".
Be scared, VERY scared!!!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
One Year Later
It is amazing what has happened in the year since I put up my first (and only) post on this blog.
The world economy went from merely struggling to almost complete collapse. McCain had a running mate forced onto him that almost ensured his loss on election day (Remember my comment about his needing a strong running mate? That was certainly NOT Sarah Palin). It was almost as if the Republicans knew that things would be bad regardless, so they did what they could to lose this election.
Meanwhile, our new President has done whatever he possibly can to trash this great land overseas. I never thought the time would come when a President of our United States would go overseas and basically insinuate that WE were the source of evil in this world.
No country is perfect, there never has been and there never will be a perfectly just country as long as there is that inherent so called "Human Nature" in all of us. However, this country has strived to be more just than any great power the world has ever seen.
At the close of WWII, there is a reason why the German population desperately tried to reach the western side of their country. The Soviet Union was barreling through the countryside murdering any man and raping any woman that they ran into.
While I am sure there must have been some of that going on with the Allies, it was certainly not public policy and would be met with severe punishment. The United States and their Allies simply did not stand for those sort of actions. The Soviets relished it.
Our problems over the years have been amplified compared to other countries due to that cornerstone of our great democracy called Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press. Should we suspend those liberties to make us look better?
What we SHOULD do is to promote those liberties around the globe. I am not sure that President Obama wants to do that. He just wants to apologize for our sins, sins that are quite minor compared to the brutalities that are being carried out around the world.
It should be quite telling that our so-called "friends" in China did all that they could to suppress any coverage of the 20th anniversary of the massacre at Tiannamen Square. The internet was shut down, reporters were not allowed to report, discussion was pretty much squashed. Almost as if it did not happen. This from a country that has aspirations towards being the next Superpower (Frighteningly, also holds a large amount of our debt; whoever in this country that allowed that to happened should be tried and executed for treason).
If you people (mostly the 50% of our population that are self hating liberals) think that our reign as a superpower has been unjust, just you wait until China supplants us in that category. Look up some information about the civil war that China fought at about the same time period of our own in the mid 19th century. Approximately 20 million perished. These are a brutal people who smile at us while they stab us in the back. Read "The Art of War" very closely. The Chinese are following those concepts to the letter.
In the mid 90's I had considered sending Bill Clinton a copy of that book, more out of protest than anything. I am sure that he and all the other politicians in Washington on the Left AND Right were quite aware of this publication. Short term greed trumped national honor unfortunately. We are paying the price for our short-sightedness today.
China has brought up the debt we owe them several times now during this economic crisis. I have complained to everyone who would listen about how dangerous this huge amount of foreign debt is to our country for over a decade.
No one cared to listen to me. Now ALL of us will be paying for this mess for many years (generations) to come.
Well this has gotten off on a tangent from my original subject, but all of this needed to be said. Obama is spending even more money and putting us even further into debt since he entered office. Where does it stop? Who knows, but I do know that people should be preparing themselves for high inflation and high interest rates for the next 10 to 15 years. "Experts" have downplayed this scenario, but my experience has been that the more the "experts" downplay and minimize possible problems, the more likely those problems will come true.
The world economy went from merely struggling to almost complete collapse. McCain had a running mate forced onto him that almost ensured his loss on election day (Remember my comment about his needing a strong running mate? That was certainly NOT Sarah Palin). It was almost as if the Republicans knew that things would be bad regardless, so they did what they could to lose this election.
Meanwhile, our new President has done whatever he possibly can to trash this great land overseas. I never thought the time would come when a President of our United States would go overseas and basically insinuate that WE were the source of evil in this world.
No country is perfect, there never has been and there never will be a perfectly just country as long as there is that inherent so called "Human Nature" in all of us. However, this country has strived to be more just than any great power the world has ever seen.
At the close of WWII, there is a reason why the German population desperately tried to reach the western side of their country. The Soviet Union was barreling through the countryside murdering any man and raping any woman that they ran into.
While I am sure there must have been some of that going on with the Allies, it was certainly not public policy and would be met with severe punishment. The United States and their Allies simply did not stand for those sort of actions. The Soviets relished it.
Our problems over the years have been amplified compared to other countries due to that cornerstone of our great democracy called Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press. Should we suspend those liberties to make us look better?
NO!!.............NEVER!!
What we SHOULD do is to promote those liberties around the globe. I am not sure that President Obama wants to do that. He just wants to apologize for our sins, sins that are quite minor compared to the brutalities that are being carried out around the world.
It should be quite telling that our so-called "friends" in China did all that they could to suppress any coverage of the 20th anniversary of the massacre at Tiannamen Square. The internet was shut down, reporters were not allowed to report, discussion was pretty much squashed. Almost as if it did not happen. This from a country that has aspirations towards being the next Superpower (Frighteningly, also holds a large amount of our debt; whoever in this country that allowed that to happened should be tried and executed for treason).
If you people (mostly the 50% of our population that are self hating liberals) think that our reign as a superpower has been unjust, just you wait until China supplants us in that category. Look up some information about the civil war that China fought at about the same time period of our own in the mid 19th century. Approximately 20 million perished. These are a brutal people who smile at us while they stab us in the back. Read "The Art of War" very closely. The Chinese are following those concepts to the letter.
In the mid 90's I had considered sending Bill Clinton a copy of that book, more out of protest than anything. I am sure that he and all the other politicians in Washington on the Left AND Right were quite aware of this publication. Short term greed trumped national honor unfortunately. We are paying the price for our short-sightedness today.
China has brought up the debt we owe them several times now during this economic crisis. I have complained to everyone who would listen about how dangerous this huge amount of foreign debt is to our country for over a decade.
No one cared to listen to me. Now ALL of us will be paying for this mess for many years (generations) to come.
Well this has gotten off on a tangent from my original subject, but all of this needed to be said. Obama is spending even more money and putting us even further into debt since he entered office. Where does it stop? Who knows, but I do know that people should be preparing themselves for high inflation and high interest rates for the next 10 to 15 years. "Experts" have downplayed this scenario, but my experience has been that the more the "experts" downplay and minimize possible problems, the more likely those problems will come true.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
The Presidential Candidates are Set
It is John McKain vs Barack Obama. Yet again two very weak candidates. There is a reason for this as always. It is the bitter partisianship that exists on both sides of the ideological spectrum. This is nothing new.
The late nineteenth century, specifically after the civil war, saw a similar long line of mediocre candidates resulting in one poor president after another. The country as a whole suffered greatly. Even so the industrial revolution in this period was taking off, in spite of the poor leadership in Washington. The large amount of corruption that was partially a result of the spoils system is somewhat reminiscent of today.
So expect at least 4 more years of mediocre leadership regardless of the winner just as what we have had in at least the past 45 years. That is nearly 1/2 a century of weak leaders, yet this country is still humming along. That being said, the last three presidents have done what might not be irreversible, but certainly long term harm to our leadership in the world in all areas. Notice I said last three, that includes Democrats and Republicans, neither party has done us any favors.
We have shipped off large amounts of our industrial capacity overseas to countries that we certainly cannot call friends. This will seriously hamper our efforts if we ever again have to fight a real war (despite what the propagandists on both sides of the political spectrum say, this war on terror is more of a skirmish than anything, there were battles in WWII in which more than 4,000 of our brave soldiers were killed in a few hours. That statement is not meant to minimize the significance of any deaths in the war on terror, and certainly not to minimize the sacrifices heroics and courage that our brave military personnel still fighting in the 120 degree heat in Iraq and Afghanistan are making. It is only to provide a small amount of perspective.) In fact, our economic policies have strengthened our enemies.
China is a rising giant, Russia, after 2 decades of stagnation and decline (Although realistically they were on that same course for nearly all of their years under communist rule) is starting to become belligerent again. A lot of this has been built on our technology transfers to these countries. 15 years ago, China was unable to get a missile off the ground without it exploding on the launch pad, or veering around wildly like a ballon that had just let all of its air out. Now, thanks to us, they have missiles that they can plant right in our back yard.
Of course it is fashionable to blame Bush for this, but quite honestly the technology transfer began to happen in earnest in Bush the elders term, then REALLY got cranked up in Clinton's administration. By the time Bush the younger came to power it was too late. I believe that the policies of all three of these administrations were short sighted and had unintended consequences that are being felt today.
I may be selfish, but it seems to me it does not serve our national interests to make countries that are our enemies (and anyone who thinks that China and Russia are our friends are hopelessly naive) into superpowers in their own right, which is exactly what we did.
In the backdrop of this mess, we have our weak candidates. Obama, brash, young, inexpereinced, having little in substantive ideas, except he is going to change. Change what, and how? Lower my heating and electric bill? Lower the amount that I pay at the pump? lower my grocery bill, which has risen from $250 per week, to over $300 per week? That is the change I need.
McKain, the old war veteran, cranky and stubborn. Certainly a heroic figure for his many years of resistance as a POW during the Vietnam War. However, he will unfortunately be perceived(unfairly I believe) as a continuation of the Bush administration. I quite honestly am not certain what his policies will be on much of anything, just as I am not sure of Obama's leanings.
In one area that I am not comfortable is the stance that both candidates take on the Second Amendment. However, it is my opinion that Obama will make a serious and concerted attack on our right to bear arms, McKain most likely will at the most take a neutral stance.
It is my personal opinion that John McKain will be the better overall choice, and will receive my vote. It will be crucial for him however to pick a strong, popular running mate to get elected since the darling of the media is obviously Barack Obama.
The late nineteenth century, specifically after the civil war, saw a similar long line of mediocre candidates resulting in one poor president after another. The country as a whole suffered greatly. Even so the industrial revolution in this period was taking off, in spite of the poor leadership in Washington. The large amount of corruption that was partially a result of the spoils system is somewhat reminiscent of today.
So expect at least 4 more years of mediocre leadership regardless of the winner just as what we have had in at least the past 45 years. That is nearly 1/2 a century of weak leaders, yet this country is still humming along. That being said, the last three presidents have done what might not be irreversible, but certainly long term harm to our leadership in the world in all areas. Notice I said last three, that includes Democrats and Republicans, neither party has done us any favors.
We have shipped off large amounts of our industrial capacity overseas to countries that we certainly cannot call friends. This will seriously hamper our efforts if we ever again have to fight a real war (despite what the propagandists on both sides of the political spectrum say, this war on terror is more of a skirmish than anything, there were battles in WWII in which more than 4,000 of our brave soldiers were killed in a few hours. That statement is not meant to minimize the significance of any deaths in the war on terror, and certainly not to minimize the sacrifices heroics and courage that our brave military personnel still fighting in the 120 degree heat in Iraq and Afghanistan are making. It is only to provide a small amount of perspective.) In fact, our economic policies have strengthened our enemies.
China is a rising giant, Russia, after 2 decades of stagnation and decline (Although realistically they were on that same course for nearly all of their years under communist rule) is starting to become belligerent again. A lot of this has been built on our technology transfers to these countries. 15 years ago, China was unable to get a missile off the ground without it exploding on the launch pad, or veering around wildly like a ballon that had just let all of its air out. Now, thanks to us, they have missiles that they can plant right in our back yard.
Of course it is fashionable to blame Bush for this, but quite honestly the technology transfer began to happen in earnest in Bush the elders term, then REALLY got cranked up in Clinton's administration. By the time Bush the younger came to power it was too late. I believe that the policies of all three of these administrations were short sighted and had unintended consequences that are being felt today.
I may be selfish, but it seems to me it does not serve our national interests to make countries that are our enemies (and anyone who thinks that China and Russia are our friends are hopelessly naive) into superpowers in their own right, which is exactly what we did.
In the backdrop of this mess, we have our weak candidates. Obama, brash, young, inexpereinced, having little in substantive ideas, except he is going to change. Change what, and how? Lower my heating and electric bill? Lower the amount that I pay at the pump? lower my grocery bill, which has risen from $250 per week, to over $300 per week? That is the change I need.
McKain, the old war veteran, cranky and stubborn. Certainly a heroic figure for his many years of resistance as a POW during the Vietnam War. However, he will unfortunately be perceived(unfairly I believe) as a continuation of the Bush administration. I quite honestly am not certain what his policies will be on much of anything, just as I am not sure of Obama's leanings.
In one area that I am not comfortable is the stance that both candidates take on the Second Amendment. However, it is my opinion that Obama will make a serious and concerted attack on our right to bear arms, McKain most likely will at the most take a neutral stance.
It is my personal opinion that John McKain will be the better overall choice, and will receive my vote. It will be crucial for him however to pick a strong, popular running mate to get elected since the darling of the media is obviously Barack Obama.
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