Memorial Day 2010

"The Bivouac of the Dead"

"The muffled drum's sad roll has beat
The soldier's last tattoo;
No more on life's parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.
On Fame's eternal camping-ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And Glory guards, with solemn round,
The bivouac of the dead."
...... Theodore O'Hara


Memorial Day, which is observed on the last Monday of May, commemorates the men and women who died while in the military service. In observance of the holiday, many people visit cemeteries and memorials, and volunteers often place American flags on each grave site at national cemeteries. A national moment of remembrance takes place at 3:00 p.m. local time.

“America Circling The Drain”

“America Circling The Drain”
By: J. D. Longstreet
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I am hearing more and more folks speak of the Two Americas these days than ever before. But these people, unlike some of our former democratic candidates for President, no longer believe the two Americas can continue in their unhappy marriage.

We have mentioned in our scribbling, a number of times, how America has grown into two absolutely distinct countries cohabitating within the same borders. We have also pointed out that, at some point, these two countries are going to want to be separate from each other. The patience of one or the other will run out and rumblings about separating the two countries, geographically, will begin.

It already has.

Those on my side of this issue want our republic restored. We want the original constitution of the United States recognized as the supreme law of the land as it once was. We yearn to live free (again) as did our forefathers only a few short decades ago. In other words -- we want our freedom and the protections from government granted us by the original US Constitution restored.

I don’t recognize this place called “America” today. There is only a vague resemblance to the real America. Half of the population consists of freedom-loving people, while the other half has fully embraced socialism and Marxism. As of this writing, the socialists/Marxists are in control of the US government.

The last two elections have completed the “balkanization” of the country formerly known as America. The split is deep and wide. For evidence, one has only to consider the way the US government refuses to recognize the sovereignty of the state of Arizona.

Let me ask you… have you noticed more people speaking in lowered tones, whispering to each other as they discuss the politics of the day in America recently? I have. I have been noticing it for some time now. It makes me uneasy. Then I heard a radio commentator mention it a few weeks ago. He, too, has noticed it. As a matter of fact, I had a whispered conversation with a trusted friend, in my office, just a few weeks ago. The topic of the conversation was the shape in which the country finds itself today. It was during this whispered conversation that I suddenly realized what we were doing. I was stunned at the import of what was taking place… in my very own office.

In the America in which I grew up, no one felt the need to whisper about politics, about the President, about Congressional leaders. Does this tell you anything? It should. It tells you we are now an oppressed people!

Listen up, now: When a citizen, in a supposedly free country, feels the need to whisper his opinion on the workings of his government to a trusted friend, that dear reader, is oppression by an overbearing government!

Just days ago, I was having my hair cut and my barber and I were talking politics, as is our wont, when I realized he was leaning forward whispering in my ear his opinion about something the government was doing. This is NOT the America I remember.

Look, America is in BIG trouble. I MEAN BIG TROUBLE. A few of us see it for what it is. A few of us have been warning it was coming and now -- it is here. It is my opinion; everything depends on the outcome of the Mid-Term Election this coming November.

A nation as divided as America is today cannot continue. As we struggle with our internal problems our enemies are circling ever closer, with fangs bared, ready to tear us apart if we don’t do it to ourselves first.

The inevitable approaches. Like a runaway locomotive even if the brakes were applied today, it will take a very long time to stop the train. There WILL be damage.

I wish I had possession of a workable crystal ball to tell me how we will get through this mess we have created through ignorance and apathy. I refer, of course, to the ignorance and apathy of the American citizen.

I do not see how America can survive another half century with 50 states. I just don’t see that. The State Sovereignty Movement is already underway and reports I have seen have the figure at close to two-dozen states already involved to one degree or another. That ought to get your attention. That is close to… HALF the states!

And ponder this: if the government of our southern neighbor, Mexico, should collapse, as a result of this world-wide recession, what happens when the hordes from that country swarm our border, as they surely will? And how will the southern states, on that border, react to what will amount to an invasion?

The stage is set. The players are in the wings, the footlights are on, and the curtain is about to rise. Is this the last act?

J. D. Longstreet

Energy Policy? What Energy Policy? ... Alan Caruba

Energy Policy? What Energy Policy?
By Alan Caruba

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When the government controls the provision of energy, it controls the lives of all citizens and the growth or failure of the nation’s economy. Everything else, including national defense, runs second when it comes to this single factor.

Recently the fourth annual survey of more than a hundred executives in the U.S. and Canadian electric and natural gas industries was released by Platts and Capgemini. Platts is a global provider of energy and metals information and Capgemini is a leading provider of consulting, technology and outsourcing services. The objective of the survey was to determine the opinion of energy industry executives regarding the first year and a half of the Obama administration’s energy policies.

The Obama administration’s energy policy is to have as little as possible.

The administration is bent on reducing access to national energy resources, coal, oil and natural gas, combined with a bizarre emphasis on “alternative” or “renewable” sources in the form of wind and solar energy. European nations that went this course ended up with fewer jobs, insufficient energy for the money invested, and massive fraud in its carbon credits exchanges.

It is essential to understand that the nation’s utilities have all signed onto the bogus “global warming” theory that carbon dioxide emissions threaten all life on Earth because they can make gobs of money raising the rates they currently charge for electricity. They expect to do so via the bogus selling and trade of “carbon credits”, a key element of the Cap-and-Tax bill currently in the Senate. It is a massive robbery of all energy consumers and that means everyone.

Under intense pressure from the government and from environmental organizations, many utilities have wasted millions on the installation of wind and solar farms, none of which provide enough electricity to even begin to meet their consumer’s needs. Moreover, they must all maintain traditional coal-burning, nuclear, and other forms of energy generation plants because neither wind or solar provide a reliable source of electricity.

This is the big, dirty secret of the so-called “sustainable” energy from wind and solar. It is not sustainable if the wind is not blowing and the sun is obscured by clouds. Wind energy provides about one percent of all the electricity used daily in America. In 2006 solar power provided 0.1 percent! By contrast, nuclear provides about 20 percent and coal provides just over 50 percent!

The alternative energy suppliers are sustained by a combination of taxpayer subsidies (your money) and mandates imposed on the utilities to include them with nuclear, coal and other energy sources. One way the government makes so-called sustainable energy appear to be a greater source is to include conventional hydroelectric energy.

According to the survey, “some 80% are dissatisfied with the U.S. government’s energy policy performance following the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s inauguration and amid a slowly rebounding economy,” adding, “there is considerable dissatisfaction in the lack of tangible and actionable policy and legislation.”

John Christens, vice president of Smart Energy Services for Capgemini, says, “Few utility executives consider the current solutions as satisfactory either in scale or feasibility.” That’s because there are NO current “solutions” to America’s growing needs for additional energy provision and the nation’s electrical grid is aging daily and in need of major upgrades.

Not surprisingly, since they stand to make billions if the Cap-and-Tax bill is passed, many utility executives were unhappy with the progress “on CO2 legislation and action, regulations which will increase the cost of power without addressing the root issue of atmospheric carbon…”

There is no “root issue” because carbon dioxide plays NO role whatever in climate change. The bloviations of Al Gore and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are a huge package of lies based on flawed and deliberately spurious computer model projections.

In November 2009, the Climategate revelations that a handful of IPCC scientists had been misrepresenting the truth should have ended the global warming fraud, but it has only intensified the effort of those behind it to impose it on the world. At some point, having taken millions in government funding for research, particularly here in the U.S. and in England, some of these IPCC scientists should be on their way to jail if there is any justice to be had.

The survey is barely useful to the public because it was taken among the very utility executives who are guilty of supporting the global warming fraud in anticipation of reaping obscene profits. The cost of energy will soar if the Cap-and-Tax bill waiting a vote in the Senate is passed and signed into law by the president.

Meanwhile, the real energy policy of the Obama administration is to do everything in its immense power to thwart the building of any new coal-burning or nuclear plants while deceiving the public into believing that wind or solar has any real potential of meeting present and future needs. Dangling promises of “green jobs” is perhaps the cruelest lie of all. Virtually all of the technology required for wind or solar is manufactured overseas.

The Obama energy policy can be summed up as no new energy, no new jobs, and a very dark future for America.

Alan Caruba

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Alan Caruba writes a daily post at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com/. An author, business and science writer, he is the founder of The National Anxiety Center.

© Alan Caruba, 2010

Will the Democrats Nationalize the US Oil Industry?

Will the Democrats Nationalize the US Oil Industry?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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Even a casual observer of the Obama Administration would answer the question asked in the title of this piece with a resounding “YES!” I mean, you can FEEL the electricity in the air when you mention the possibility of Obama nationalizing the US oil industry in the presence of democrats/ socialists. I suspect, when out of public view, they are rubbing their hands together and doing a little jig of happiness at the very thought!

But, hold the phone! According to a recent poll, by Rasmussen, 65% of Americans say “HANDS OFF the US Oil Industry!” That same poll reveals that only 16% think it would be a good idea for the government to nationalize all the oil companies and run them on a non-profit basis. Twenty percent (20%) are undecided. (I am ALWAYS AMAZED AT THE PERCENTAGE OF “UNDECIDEDS” IN ANY POLL!)

One of the things we find amazing about this poll -- there has been a two percent drop in those favoring nationalization of the oil industry in just two years. In June of 2008, 29% favored nationalization of the oil industry and only 47% were opposed.

Some democrats/socialists are openly calling for the Obama Regime to take over the oil industry. In keeping with their “never allow a crisis to be wasted,” I should think the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico would fall within that category.

Socialism in the United States has gone from “creeping” to a full “gallop!” Even some democrat commentators are asking publicly why the President doesn’t simply nationalize the oil industry and get the clean up of the oil spill done -- for the people, of course.

Frankly, I don’t think the government has a clue how to clean up that spill -- and they know it! Plus, the government does not currently have the equipment or the expertise required to plug a gushing oil pipe located a mile below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.

As far back as June of 2008 Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., joined the ranks of those threatening to nationalize the oil companies. He is reported to have said: "We (the government) should own the refineries. Then we can control how much gets out into the market." (SOURCE).

Oh, I don’t think there is room for any doubt the democrats/socialists would nationalize the US Oil companies, and the American divisions of foreign oil companies, in a heartbeat if this were not an election year and they were not already in deep doo-doo.

It is time for America to understand that America now has a socialist government running things in Washington, DC. All one has to do is look around and consider the debris of what used to be a constitutional, representative, republic… in other words… a free country! That ended January 20th, 2009.

If the American electorate is unsuccessful in rescuing America from the clutches of the Marxists in charge of our government, in the Mid-Term Election this coming November, we will have far more to worry about than whether or not Obama nationalizes the oil companies.

From now until election day in November expect to be bombarded by propaganda in the press, by direct mail, by phone, by e-mail, even door to door propagandists working out of local democrat/socialist precinct offices spreading the gospel, the “Good News of Socialism,” Obama style!

Eventually the Gulf Oil Spill will be but an unpleasant memory. When memory does dredge it up, remember who stopped the oil from gushing from that broken pipe one mile deep in the ocean. It wasn’t Obama’s socialist government. No. Remember, they stood by, looking on and making comments, holding press conferences, and photo ops, much as the so-called “sidewalk supervisors” of by-gone days. What America saw was: socialist mediocrity, not American Exceptionalism, from the Obama Regime. And – it will only get worse until America is rescued from the democrat/socialist strangle hold.

We can do that -- NO – we MUST do that in November!

J. D. Longstreet

The US Southern Border, Arizona, Obama, and the North American Union

The US Southern Border, Arizona, Obama, and the North American Union
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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Those 1200 National Guard troops Obama is proposing to send to the US/Mexican border will be, for most intents and purposes, in the way of the Border Patrol trying to do their job. Pushing pencils and tapping on keyboards cannot take the place of an armed combat soldier walking guard along that border ready to challenge and “detain,” when necessary, anyone crossing onto American soil.

We desperately need a wall from the Pacific to the Gulf. Not a physical FENCE, not a virtual fence, – a WALL made of bricks and mortar! With a wall there is no excuse that one did not KNOW one was on the US side of the border.

We have US troops patrolling the borders of Iraq, of Afghanistan, of South Korea, and we used to patrol the border between the two Germanies during the recent Cold War. Somehow, we can provide border security for all those foreign countries – but -- we cannot provide border security for the American people who are, after all, picking up the tab for all those border-patrolling efforts by US troops overseas! It makes no sense. At least until you know what is behind the US government’s reluctance to secure the border between the US and our southern and northern neighbors.

I suspect it won’t be long before folks in the southwestern states, especially those along the border, will be building “compounds” to ensure the safety of their families. These would basically be home-built “forts” with walls and armed security surrounding their homes. Much like the old Spanish missions, their homes would become, in fact, walled forts.

Only a fool would believe the US government actually wants the border between Mexico and the US sealed and secured. They do not!

I cannot shake the feeling that there is a pattern in the way the three governments of North America are dealing with border issues.

You may not be aware of the push underway to create a “North American Union” – a single entity made up of Mexico, the US, and Canada. It is important to understand that a North American Union would effectively erase US borders with both Mexico and Canada. It troubles me, enormously, when I conclude that what the current administration and, yes, the Bush administration before Obama, wants/wanted is the free, unimpeded, movement of people across open borders with Mexico and Canada! In other words – OPEN BORDERS. Of course, open borders is exactly the same as NO BORDERS!

Look, a nation is NOT a nation without borders! It becomes, for all intents and purposes, a NO MAN’S Land, free for the taking. And believe me – it WILL BE taken.

The North American Union will be a new economic and political entity. In fact, the plan is to merge the three nations into one huge Socialist mega-state. As we said, the governments of Mexico, the US, and Canada are quietly forming it now. And yes, it will be the American version of the European Union.

Borders between the three North American countries will cease to exist. The only border on the North American Continent will be around the NAU (North American Union).

The Council on Foreign Relations issued a report, way back in 2005. (Building a North American Community ) In that report it is stated: “To that end, the Task Force proposes the creation by 2010 of a North American community to enhance security, prosperity, and opportunity. We propose a community based on the principle affirmed in the March 2005 Joint Statement of the three leaders that "our security and prosperity are mutually dependent and complementary." Its boundaries will be defined by a common external tariff and an outer security perimeter within which the movement of people, products, and capital will be legal, orderly, and safe. Its goal will be to guarantee a free, secure, just, and prosperous North America.” (SOURCE) The CFR Report can be seen at 2005 report .

As we pointed out near the beginning of this article, the US could seal and secure the border between Mexico and the US anytime it chooses. The US government simply does not want the border closed!!

We desperately need a wall along the border with Mexico. There simply is no substutute.

The Border Wall will cost a lot of money, a huge amount of money, in fact. But when we total up the cost, to US taxpayers, for the care and feeding, (including healthcare and education) of the Illegal Aliens already living in the US now, plus, the cost of incarcerating those who commit crimes in our jails, I expect a great portion of the cost of a border wall would be offset.

No, 1200 National Guard troops will not be anywhere near enough. The American public has been tossed a bone as one would toss a bone to a dog to distract him from the nice juicy steaks one is about to grill. Sending those National Guard troops to the border is a political stunt -- and that is all!

Once again, a governing elite is treating US citizens as if we are idiots. It is WAY past time to toss them out on their collective backsides and elect a government that will legislate pulling the US out of any negotiations for a “UNION,” of any kind, on the North American continent and making it illegal for the US government to ever again enter negotiations for the same.

If we are to preserve the sovereignty of the United States of America – we must seal and secure our borders and make sure the idea of a North American Union is crushed – forever!

J. D. Longstreet

The Jews of Venezuela ... Alan Caruba

The Jews of Venezuela
By Alan Caruba
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A few days ago a friend linked me to a video about the Jews of Venezuela which I posted on my blog because, as a student of history, I know that whatever first happens to Jews anywhere eventually happens in a similar fashion to people everywhere. They lose their freedom and then they lose their lives.

Then, the same day, I received an email which said, “If you’ve never read ‘The Protocols of The Elders of Zion’, find it attached along with a current article that connects these protocols with what is happening today. The sooner we learn who our real enemy is, the sooner we can successfully fight battles.” It was signed, “Blessings, Loretta.”

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is an anti-Semitic screed cooked up by the state police under the Russian Czar, Nicholas II. One of the first things the Bolsheviks did was assassinate him. Life in the Soviet Union did not improve for its Jews. When the opportunity arose many of them immigrated to Israel.

Despite the fact that it is an ugly piece of propaganda the Protocols remain popular, particularly in translated editions throughout the Middle East. The sole purpose is to further the gross libel that Jews secretly control the banks, the media, and the world

This is so absurd it defies logic. The worldwide Jewish population is 13.3 million. Jewish population growth worldwide is close to zero percent. Some six million live in Israel and another six million in the United States. After Hugo Chavez took control of Venezuela, many among its small Jewish population fled.

If American Jews are so smart, why did they vote in large numbers for Barack Obama in the last election? Throughout his formative years, Obama hung out with some of the worst anti-Semites in Chicago that included Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam. Not since Jimmy Carter has the United States had a more anti-Semitic president. Not surprisingly it was ex-President Carter who helped Chavez gain control by certifying election results that were widely regarded as rigged.

In Venezuela, synagogues in Caracas, private Jewish schools, and other identifiable Jewish community centers have been vandalized and then covered with graffiti saying, “Jews get out” and similar statements; all of which remind those with any historical recall of Nazi Germany.

It’s an old game called scapegoating as Chavez tries to distract Venezuela’s population from his gangster regime.

Anti-Semitism as government policy is a threat not just to Venezuelan Jews, but has global ramifications, not the least of which is Iran’s threat to “wipe Israel off the map.”

Israel has twice destroyed nuclear facilities, in Iraq and in Syria. Israel must attack Iran’s facilities. This may occur while the most anti-Semitic American administration in the modern era has demonstrated its antipathy to Israel. It is a dramatic policy break with all previous U.S. administrations dating back to Truman’s.

I have often written that the Jews are the world’s canary in the global coal mine. What happens to them always precedes what will happen on a larger scale to others. For now, though, Venezuela’s Jewish population needs to find sanctuary elsewhere.

© Alan Caruba, 2010

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Alan Caruba writes a daily post at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com. An author, business and science writer, he is the founder of The National Anxiety Center.

Don't Repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Policy

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” To Be Repealed?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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Reports in the Mainstream Media tell us that President Obama made a deal with key Democrats on earlier this week that could repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy governing gays and lesbians in the military — assuming Congress signs on.

Why the rush? We were told it would take about a year to repeal this law. The answer is simple. November is approaching! The Mid-Term Election, otherwise known as the “Apocalypse for the Democrats” is only a few short months away. The democrat/socialists know that if they are to get “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. overturned – they must do it NOW while they still have the numbers in the Congress -- and -- a socialist President in the Oval Office.

Of course, a little CYA never hurts at moments like these in politics and so the Obama Regime is practicing that little dance with their usual amateurish skill, while their motives are thinly veiled. They say it will depend upon the president and top military leaders certifying that the repeal wouldn't threaten the military's "readiness, effectiveness, unit cohesion, and recruiting and retention," according to documents the sponsors of the bill sent to the Obama Regime.

Of course, people who reason normally know it will do ALL those things. But the less than bright lights in our Congress and in the Obama Regime who have near zero understanding of The Military, cannot, or will not, see the promise of chaos this repeal holds for the finest military on the face of the planet.

You may read about it here (SOURCE) .

Mike Pence, a Republican Congressman from Indiana and the third-ranking Republican, said Republicans would oppose it. Pence is reported to have told the Associated Press: "The American people don't want the American military to be used to advance a liberal political agenda,"

The president of the conservative Family Research Council, Tony Perkins, criticized the agreement and referred to it as a backroom deal that "disregards the views of our troops and uses the military to advance the political agenda of a radical special interest group."

Mr. Perkins went on to say: “This rushed deal is a tacit admission that after the November election, the Democrats are likely to lose a working liberal majority," Perkins continued. "They want to get what they can now, and also far enough away from the election that it won't be prominent in the mind of voters." (SOURCE) .

So. There it is.

This is the kind of social experimenting we get when we elect politicians to our national legislature and to the office of President who have no clue as to how the military works.

It has been my contention for many years that the criteria essential for becoming a candidate for President should include having served in at least one branch of the US military. If necessary I could support a constitutional amendment to that effect.

Social engineering, social justice, socialism – so far that is all the Obama Regime seems to be capable of accomplishing. They seem wholly lost, running in place, but running in a frenetic way.

It was great theatre, recently, to observe "the Obama front line" writhing and tying themselves into knots in a vain attempt to explain away their impotent response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. If there has ever been a larger gathering of people who didn’t have a clue as to what was going on, I have yet to acquire knowledge of it.

That is the same amount of expertise they bring to the question of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” ZERO! They know so very little about the military they have no clue as to the damage repealing the law will have on our troops, individually, and on the US Military as a whole.

If the Congress agrees to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the military will lose some excellent soldiers. Millions upon millions of dollars spent on training these soldiers, as a singular part of an elite military, will be lost.

One other thing you are not likely to hear anywhere else, certainly not in the Mainstream Media. The shame is – what I am about to tell you is a given. It WILL happen. And -- when it DOES happen, the MSM and the democrats/socialists in Congress and the White House will act “SHOCKED! SHOCKED!

What is this horrible thing of which we dare not speak its name?

If you are a person of, well, average intelligence, you know that there will be incidents between “straight” soldiers and “homosexual” soldiers. There will be fisticuffs involved, probably some sort of weapons involved, and you might as well reconcile yourself to accept that there will be incidents between “homosexual” soldiers and “straight” soldiers in which the “homosexual” soldiers will be killed. Of course, there is also the chance the fatally wounded soldier will be “straight. The point is – it is going to happen. Resign yourself to it. It is as certain as is the fact that day follows night.

Placing homosexuals in a platoon of trained killers with male testosterone running rampant in their bloodstreams and it is the equivalent of tossing a lamb into a pen of ravenous wolves.

Now, the folks over at the Pentagon KNOW this. It will fall on their shoulders to contrive ways to keep this from happening and not be accused of discrimination against the openly homosexual soldiers and/or the straight soldiers. Simply put -- it is going to be a mess!

Re-enlistments will drop. Recruiting will drop. Civilian respect for the military will drop -- precipitously. Unrest within the various military units where the actual fighting is done -- such as platoons, and squads -- will be palpable. Talk about a “Hostile Working Environment!”

Sadly, though, it appears the left is going to get its way with the military. They have shown a much lower level of respect for our fighting men and women than the right ever has. By repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” they have a chance to do some REAL damage to America’s defenders.

Look I don’t agree with the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, either. I am of the belief there should be zero tolerance of homosexuals in the US military – period! But that ship has sailed.

Homosexuals serving openly in the US military will be a disaster. Most of the unpleasantness in the ranks will be covered up. Occasionally, a leak will give the rest of us a peak inside a unit where “cohesiveness” is no longer possible. And, of course, we will get the horror stories from those who have served their hitches and been discharged -- and then, over a few drinks, spills the beans.

The Obama Regime IS going to do this. It is just another example of how their ineptness, coupled with their “arrogance of elitism,” blinds them to the REAL world where the rest of us actually live.

Repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy is just another of those gross errors by the Obama Regime, and the socialists in Congress, that we must “Remember in November.”

J. D. Longstreet

Cause For Alarm? ... Paul Driessen

Cause for Alarm?
Why do scientists and news stories blame everything on global warming? Fortune and glory.
Paul Driessen, Willie Soon and David R. Legates
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We’re often asked, What really causes all these alarms about global warming disasters?
As scientists and policy analysts who’ve studied our ever-changing climate for a combined 65 years and attribute the changes primarily to natural forces, we’ve wondered that ourselves and also asked: Why is warming always framed as bad news? Why does so much “research” claim a warmer planet “may” lead to more diarrhea, acne and childhood insomnia, more juvenile delinquency, war, violent crime and prostitution, death of the Loch Ness Monster – and even more Mongolian cows dying from cold weather?

We’re not making this up. In fact, this is just the tip of the proverbial melting iceberg of climate scare stories chronicled at http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm. Clearly, too much money is being spent on one-sided global warming advocacy cloaked as “research,” not enough on natural causes and adaptation. Despite the best of intentions, too much money can corrupt, or at least skew the science.

As they say, follow the money. Remember Indiana Jones’ immortal words: “Fortune and glory.”
Too many people in government, wealthy foundations and activist groups have decided they know what’s best for us, what kind of energy and economic future we should have, and who should be in charge. They intend to implement those policies – and global warming scare stories are key to achieving that objective. They’re pouring tens of billions of dollars into the effort.

A good example of how research money politicizes science is this May 4 headline: “Carbon dioxide effects on plants increase global warming.” The story enthusiastically reported the results of a science journal paper by Long Cao and Ken Caldeira from the Carnegie Institution. Carbon dioxide is not just making the atmosphere trap more heat, they say. It also enables plants to absorb CO2 more efficiently, so they don’t have to open stomata (pores) in their leaves as much, and they evaporate less water.

That should be good news, as it enables plants to survive better under dry conditions, even in desert areas where they couldn’t before. Any botanist or visitor to CO2science.org knows this. Indeed, hundreds of experiments show how growth, water efficiency and drought resistance of crop and wild plants are enhanced by higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. So more CO2 and better plant growth should be celebrated – not serve as another “climate crisis” to further the political goal of ending hydrocarbon use and controlling our factories, jobs, cars, lives and living standards.

But the Carnegie folks turned this good news into bad, ominously saying the reduced evapotranspiration means plants don’t cool down as much, and that supposedly raises global temperatures slightly.

Equally interesting, the researchers based their findings not on actual experiments, but on yet another computer model that allegedly predicts future temperatures. When they tweaked various assumptions about the physiological effects of CO2, global air temperature over land increased 0.7 degrees F (0.4 deg C) above what supposedly would occur just from doubled CO2 levels directly increasing the greenhouse effect. But just six months earlier, the same authors tweaked the same model differently – and got only 0.2F (0.1 deg C) of additional warming. The authors now say this earlier result is “unrealistic.”

However, what guarantee do we have that the new assumptions are “realistic”? Maybe they are but, face it, there’s far less “fortune and glory,” far less headline grabbing, in a mere 0.2 degrees. It’s also far less “realistic” to expect another research grant, if the first one could only come up with 0.2 degrees of crisis. That’s not even 9:00 versus 9:30 on an average summer morning.
Besides fortune and glory, and more research grants and publications in prestigious journals, there’s also the matter of reputation. Dr. Caldeira, besides being a reputable scientist, is also an advisor to billionaire Bill Gates on renewable energy, and in charge of the $4.5 million in geo-engineering research funding that the Gates Foundation has provided over the past 3 years.
How many climate scientists can rub elbows with Bill Gates? Glory indeed. So 0.7 degrees it is.

Of course, this does not mean more robust plant growth can never be harmful. But does it really take five researchers and six funding sources (including the National Environmental Trust, NSF, NASA and NOAA) to model ragweed under doubled CO2 computer scenarios and conclude, “there may be increases in exposure to allergenic pollen under the present scenarios of global warming”?

All this makes us wonder: Why is it a bad thing that more CO2 helps plants tolerate droughts better and revegetate deserts? Should we cut down more forests, to generate even more cooling than the planet has experienced since 2005? Why do “error corrections” always seem to result in more warming than originally predicted, instead of less? And why do taxpayers have to shell out Big Bucks on this stuff?

The United States alone has been spending some $7 billion a year on “climate change research.” That’s a lot of money. But a majority of Americans now say climate change is due to natural forces, not to human CO2 emissions. To alarmists that means more “research” and “education” on the “climate crisis” is clearly needed – but not more on better oversight of questionable research or studying natural causes.

During a March 2009 closed-door meeting, Department of Energy senior advisor Matthew Rogers outlined his “dilemma” over how to comply with his new mandate to quickly spend $36.7 billion in grants and loan guarantees from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (aka, the Stimulus Act) on renewable energy and climate change. Today, with only $300 million of our taxpayer money and children’s inheritance left to spend, poor Matt says his “popularity continues to decline.”

Nearly $2.4 million dollars of that Stimulus loot may be funding the latest research by Penn State University Professor Michael Mann, father of Mann-made global warming, the debunked hockey stick temperature graph and many infamous Climategate e-mails. In one new project where Mike is the principal instigator, over a half-million dollars in grant money generated only “0.53” jobs in Pennsylvania. We must have missed the headline “Stimulus Creates Millionaire.”
We’re not suggesting fraud or corruption by Caldeira or anyone else. But we do find it curious that the vast bulk of the money goes to research that consistently discovers more “global warming crises.” We find several other phenomena equally curious.

* In an era when ExxonMobil posts all its grants on its website, and we have the “most transparent government in history,” government agencies, liberal foundations and activist groups jealously guard information on who’s getting how much money from whom, to finance all this crisis-oriented research.

* Universities are fighting attorney-general investigations, and insisting that any investigations into alleged misconduct must be conducted in-house and behind closed doors. Yet they are happy to give Greenpeace fishing-expedition access to emails and work product by climate crisis skeptics.

* Despite insisting that their research and findings are completely honest and above-board, climate alarmists still refuse to share their data, computer codes and methodologies, or discuss and debate their tax-funded work with scientists who might “try and find something wrong with it.”

If we didn’t know better, we’d think the operative rules were: Never seek logical or alternative answers, if you can blame a phenomenon or problem (like decreasing frog populations) on global warming. Do whatever it takes and fund whatever research is needed, to advance the goals of ending hydrocarbon use, increasing government control and “transforming” society. And always include the terms “global warming” or “climate change” in any grant application.

It may not be corruption. But it sure skews the research, conclusions and policy recommendations.

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Paul Driessen is senior policy advisor for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (www.CFACT.org). Willie Soon is an independent scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. David Legates is a climatologist at the University of Delaware.

Amnesty for illegal Aliens Must Be Stopped -- AGAIN!

With the Obama Regime set to ram their Amnesty for Illegal Aliens Bill through Congress and into law, we thought it would be a good idea to revisit our position on “Amnesty” as we begin a new week. Nothing has changed our mind since this was first written. The border between Mexico and the USA must be sealed, secured, and the US Military given the job of patrolling it and enforcing the law on the border, Amnesty for Illegal Aliens must be stopped in Congress and we need to round up the illegal aliens in the US today and begin mass deportations.

Read on for more:
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Amnesty for illegal Aliens Must Be Stopped -- AGAIN!
The “Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill” IS Amnesty for Illegal Aliens
A UPDATED Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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Obama is about to ram the old Amnesty Bill (Renamed The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill) right through Congress and sign it into law before we even know what hit us! And the Mainstream Media, in league with The Obama Legions, are playing along with Obama in an attempt to keep us distracted with all the many and varied crises sucking up all the ink from their publications and all the air time from their broadcasts.

And… to make matters even worse for those of us who oppose Amnesty, there is a huge disconnect between the citizens of America and their representatives in the US House of Representatives and the US Senate. It is a disconnect Americans are keenly aware of and determined to change in November 2010.

We have said all along the problem with illegal immigration across our southern border could be fixed, almost immediately, if the government wanted it fixed. Now we know for certain that they do not want the southern border sealed. See, those are democratic voters coming across that invisible line headed north into the land of milk and honey and along side them, on their northward trek, is cheap labor!

Basically, Americans STILL want the border closed and sealed FIRST! Once the border is closed and sealed then taking care of those aliens here illegally can begin and mass deportations can begin.

Like you, I have heard all the arguments from the government that they cannot find all those 12 million, or so, illegal aliens who have integrated into our society in order to deport them. I don’t buy it, not for one second. If the government was serious about finding them all they’d have to do is enlist the help of American citizens and you would have convoys of vehicles, filled to capacity with illegal aliens, headed south to the border to be deported. Maybe the government doesn’t know where they are, but you can bet your bottom dollar American citizens know where they are - or can find them - post haste.

Yes, Americans ARE angry with the illegal alien mess and the numerous attempts by our government to offer them amnesty, which would, in time, offer them citizenship. But Americans are not mad at the illegal aliens. No! They/we are mad at our government for allowing this to happen in the first place!

Those of you who support open borders do not, I repeat, do not try to beat us about the head and shoulders with the old saw that says America is a nation of immigrants. See, we already know that because our ancestors were immigrants, too. Mine came into the country, legally, in 1789 through what was then Charles Town Harbor and were assigned a place in the 96th precinct of the state of South Carolina. Notice - they came into this country LEGALLY! That is all we expect of any who want to immigrate to America. Do it legally and we will welcome you with open arms. Do it illegally and we want you caught and deported forthwith!

It is becoming ever more clear, everyday, that America’s biggest problem with illegal immigration is not with those who illegally break into our country and help to bleed it dry, but with our government which refuses to uphold the laws already on the books. Had those laws been enforced we would not be in the situation we find ourselves today. Plus, the problem of what to do with these 12-plus million illegal aliens would not be a problem, at all, if the government would simply follow the laws on the books today.

The bottom line for Americans to ponder is… what do we do with a government that refuses to uphold/enforce the nation’s laws? Well, let me ask you - suppose you had a business and an employee consistently refused to follow the rules of the workplace. What would you do to that employee? See? The answer is simple. The ONLY way we are ever going to get relief from this problem is to clean the house in Washington.

My friend and fellow blogger, Alan Caruba, recently said in his piece entitled “A Crisis of Governors”: “What, in fact, Americans are witnessing is a failure of government at both the state and federal level. The nation has managed to elect too many people to public office that are so clearly inept, incompetent, and untrustworthy, it poses a threat to the republic.” Alan, as usual, is spot on. America’s most dangerous enemy, at the moment, is its own government! I would add that, in my opinion, America’s second worst enemy, at the moment, is its own ignorance. It was through the ignorance of the American electorate that these pitifully inept politicians were elected to office in the first place.

Maybe a third party, working hard over decades, could turn it around, but frankly, I doubt it. Americans are so woefully ignorant of how a representative republic is supposed to work that I have serious doubts we are capable of doing that which is necessary to save our country. Then there is the opposition from the politicians themselves. If we know anything, we know the two parties in power today watch each other’s backs when it comes to Americans forming a powerful third party. They make sure it is almost impossible for that to happen.

The Tea Party Movement in America is performing a great service for America. It has finally gotten the attention of the legislators in Congress even though the mainstream media continues to try to downplay their importance in bridging the gap between the people of America and their government. I am convinced the Tea Party will help America retake her government from the socialists in November.

Until we can solve the problem of un-responsive government, in the Mid-Term Election this coming November, we are stuck with socialists running the US government while we watch the largest land invasion and take-over of a country in the history of the world.

J. D. Longstreet

American Freedom Requires Eternal Vigilance

American Freedom Requires Eternal Vigilance.
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet ... UPDATED!
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The story is told (You may have received this story by e-mail as many did.) that a chemistry professor in a large college had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab the Prof noticed one young man (exchange student) who kept rubbing his back, and stretching as if his back hurt.

The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country's government and install a new communist government.

In the midst of his story he looked at the professor and asked a strange question. He asked, 'Do you know how to catch wild pigs?'

The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said this was no joke. 'You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come every day to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side. The pigs, which are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat; you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd.

Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.

The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening to America. The government keeps pushing us toward socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, all sorts of agricultural subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, socialized medicine, drugs, reform of our financial system, even amnesty for illegal aliens already within the borders of America, etc. while we continually lose our freedoms - just a little at a time.

One should always remember: There is no such thing as a free lunch! Also, a politician will never provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself.

Many Americans now see that all of this wonderful government 'help' is a problem confronting the future of democracy in America. If you happen to be one who thinks the free ride is essential to our way of life then you will probably disagree with what we say here, but God help you when the gate slams shut!

American citizens need, desperately, to listen and observe what is going on today in Washington, DC. Bailouts, nationalization of businesses, and US government take-overs of banks, OBAMACARE (socialized medicine), Cap and Trade, Amnesty for Illegal Aliens, new laws that ham-string our financial system and financial institutions and our national; economy, are just the opening gambits of the socialist regime currently in power in our nation’s capital.

Americans are observing the redistribution of their wealth today, and they do not like it!
Americans need to listen closely to what the Congress and the President are saying and doing and promising us.

SOME of us warned this would happen. We were sneered at, and made fun of, and, in some cases, ostracized. Now the painful truth is coming out as Americans slowly wake up and learn they have given their country away to a socialist regime. Now, just maybe, Americans will be able to tell who is about to slam the gate on America!

America must be retaken from the socialists. That is why the Mid-Term Election, this coming November, is so important. It is a chance for the people of America to retake their country the democratic way, without violence, as happens so often in other countries around the globe.

Until the Obama Regime took over, America was the last, best, hope for mankind’s freedom on this planet. Obama and his courtesans in Congress crushed the hopes of millions looking to American leadership in their quest for freedom. If freedom is crushed in America – what hope is there, anywhere, for freedom to gain even a toehold?

America needs a purge of Congress this November in order to save our country. We desperately need to clean the House and the Senate of Socialists, Marxists, Progressives, Liberals, and RINOS.

If we are to save America then we must give democracy a chance to work by going to the polls and voting the above out of office and making darned sure they are not replaced by others of like mind.

Yes, it is a tall order but red-blooded conservative Americans have never been shy about stepping to the forefront when their country is in trouble whether in war or when the threat to freedom is coming from inside the government itself -- as it is today.

We must see that America never slips back into the hands of those who would destroy her ever again. We must teach our children and grandchildren the Constitution, teach them “unrevised” American history, and teach them their duties as a citizen of a free nation. When possible, we must get our children out of the public education system.

We must never, ever, allow ourselves to become apathetic about our government again! We must constantly engage those who would drive America back into socialism. We must give no quarter to those who would enslave Americans with the yoke of an all-powerful socialist central government.

John Philpot Curran said the following: "It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt."

Remember in November. Purge our Congress and take back America!

J. D. Longstreet

Massive US Naval Build-Up Off the Shores of Iran

Massive US Naval Build-Up Off the Shores of Iran
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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In an article entitled: “Obama starts massive US Air-Sea-Marine build-up opposite Iran” Debkafile reports on a massive US Naval build -up currently underway in the Persian Gulf waters off Iran’s shore. You can read the article in its entirety at:
http://www.debka.com/article/8794/

We urge you to read the article and form your own opinion as to what is going on off the shores of Iran.

So – what IS going on? Is the stage being set for the long expected attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities? Well, nobody is going to admit that, even if it were true. Is the US stationing itself, strategically, between Iran and Israel – as a clear warning to Israel NOT TO ATTACK IRAN? With the Obama Regime clearly showing no favor for Israel, one must consider that possibility.

As one looks at the Iranian defense, especially the new Russian “Surface to Air Missiles,” one must consider the option of boots on the ground, inside Iran, to take out those mobile missiles by either hands-on destruction or painting the targets with lasers for aircraft using stand-off munitions to take out. Of course, we are describing a task, which would be undertaken by Special Forces troops. Both Israel and the US have outstanding Special Forces who certainly have the capability to complete such a mission.

On the other hand, the US has the option of using its stealth aircraft to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities. The Russian SAM’s can’t shoot ‘em if they can’t see “em!

If stealth aircraft are to be involved in this mission, whatever it is, there will likely be no reports on their movement for they fly out of US bases, here in the states, and return to those same bases after their mission is complete.

Whatever the mission, this is a very large and a very visible task force assembling off Iran. SOMETHING IS going on.

It is important to remember the value of keeping the Straits of Hormuz open for the world’s flow of oil to continue -- unimpeded -- when the strike on Iran begins. Iran has made it clear they will make an effort to block the straits immediately when the shooting begins. Certainly one task of the US Armada will be to secure the straits from attack by the Iranians.

Remember, too, that when THIS war begins it will be fought in the air, on land, and at sea. I should think that depending upon the intensity of the conflict and the durability of the Iranian forces, the use of tactical battlefield nukes would certainly be considered. We KNOW the US has them and we THINK Israel has them as well.

With the American public signaling their war weariness it is unthinkable that the current regime would undertake another war they were sure could not be ended successfully and quickly. Tactical nukes would do that.

Whatever is up, this naval flotilla, gathering off the shores of Iran, sends a very strong signal that the US is not intimidated by Iran’s military posturing. And it is never, ever, wise to thumb one’s nose at the IDF. As the biblical story of David and Goliath points out, all too clearly, Israel has a very long record of defeating superior military forces.

Iran has rattled the tiger’s cage far too often.

J. D. Longstreet

Dems Believe Amnesty for Illegal Aliens a “Done Deal!”

Dems Believe Amnesty for Illegal Aliens a “Done Deal!”
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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World Net Daily reports: “Bureaucrats already drawing up plan to implement. $1 billion, 30-week processing program revealed in leaked 14-page Homeland Security memo”

World Net Daily claims to have obtained a copy of the plan, which, they say, was drafted by the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, a division of the Department of Homeland Security Department. WND reports the memo as saying: “The undated draft report anticipates the possibility of the legislation requiring public benefits to amnesty applicants.”

WND then claims a direct quote of a particular direction from the memo: "If the statute requires interim benefits while application pending, issue discrete variant of status document (shorter term duration that [sic] if issued after prospective immigrant status granted),"

This memo simply underscores our belief that the Obama Regime intends to ram this piece of legislation, “Amnesty for Illegal Aliens” (Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill) down the throats of the American people -- whether we want it or not! (Read the entire article HERE.)

The reported leaked memo also suggests there should be negotiations with an outside contractor – now. This suggestion is being made even before passage of the legislation. This suggests one thing. It suggests the Obama Regime has NO DOUBT they will be able to shove this Amnesty for illegal Aliens through the Congress.At the risk of seeming redundant we have warned over and over again this was/is coming. Yes, Americans have been able to stop the bill, in it’s tracks, twice in the recent past. But that was before America had a socialist government and a man who sees himself as some sort of benign dictator in the Oval Office of the President of the US. Obama has brought that “fundamental change” he vowed to make in America while he was on the campaign trail.

It is plain to every one, including the democrat/socialists that the American electorate has awakened and now understands it made a colossal mistake in 2006 and 2008 and is determined to correct that mistake this coming November by tossing out of office as many democrat/socialists as is possible. As we said, even the democrat/socialists know this. That is why the big push is on to get those illegal aliens made legal citizens with the ability to vote as quickly as possible.

The democrat/socialist are making a “Hail Mary” pass in an attempt to save their grasp on the US government. They know they must get it passed as quickly as possible to save the 2012 election. Unless something totally unexpected happens to favor the democrat/socialists this November’s Mid-Term Election is set to be a massacre of democrat/socialist incumbents and even first time candidates.

The GOP should be extremely wary. The Dems are going to put a strong arm on them in hopes of getting some republican support for the bill. Its called “political cover.” The GOP should understand that if a single republican supports the Amnesty Bill, the GOP could see their support in November evaporate. Voters, who already feel there is little difference between the two parties, may just stay home… again!

Understand this: The support for the GOP candidates, at the moment, does not indicate there is a love affair with the Republican Party. No. What it DOES indicate is the disdain in which the American electorate holds the democrat/socialist party! The electorate is simply using the GOP as a means toward an end -- and that end is to purge the Congress of as many democrat/socialists as possible. All incumbents are skating on extremely thin ice, democrats, and republicans alike.

Two predictions are begging to be made: One - The Amnesty Bill, like ObamaCare, will be foisted on the American people, against their wishes, by the Obama Regime and Obama’s courtesans in Congress. Two – It will be a long time before a Democrat takes the Presidential oath of office again.

Obama’s insufferable arrogance has set back the cause of his political party and done incalculable damage to the political aspirations of any black candidate for president for the foreseeable future.
America has just had a taste of the truth in the expression: “Power corrupts; Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

J. D. Longstreet

Calderon, GO HOME!

Calderon, GO HOME!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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The President of Mexico coming to MY COUNTRY and criticizing US citizens for TRYING to stop the tidal wave of HIS citizens breaking into our country illegally absolutely infuriates me. It is an insult to every American.

Mr. Calderon should never have been extended the courtesy of addressing a joint session of Congress after his remarks concerning the Arizona immigration law.

If you are frustrated by the actions, or inactions, of the federal government over illegal immigration and the manner in which they are treating the new immigration law in Arizona – AND -- the cavalier way they bitch and moan about Arizona’s attempt to get a handle on the ever growing problem -- without even extending to the people of Arizona the courtesy of first READING the law, then dear reader, you are experiencing a tiny iota of the frustration my Confederate ancestors felt toward the federal government of their day as the President and the Congress simply ignored their grievances in the early 1800’s. Yes, indeed, history DOES repeat itself.

All of this -- the entire mess with illegal immigration, with Arizona’s new immigration law, “the whole cussed thing” could be put to rest IF the federal government would just DO ITS JOB and secure the border between Mexico and the US. It is as simple as that!

Now, do not try to tell me it is far more complicated -- because it is not! To say that it is -- is pure unmitigated BS!

If the US government WANTED to seal and secure the Mexican/US border they could do it in a matter of hours and it would stop – IMMEDIATELY -- the northward flow of illegal aliens into our country.

I am in a state, which is running a close second to Arizona’s population of illegal aliens from Mexico. I will be lobbying my state legislature to pass a state law in North Carolina similar to the new immigration law in Arizona.

I have warned for years now, in my scribbling, that this was coming. (My voice on this was/is just one among a HOST of others issuing the same warning!) I warned that if the federal government continued to refuse to uphold federal law and seal and secure the borders then the states would take it upon themselves to do it, and that, dear reader is what is happening today.

If the federal government does not send US troops to the border to secure it, there will soon be armed citizens patrolling the border and it will get “REAL nasty” from that point on.

In the meantime, Mr. Calderon should hike his skirts and get the hell out of my country and take the over 12 million illegal aliens back home with him!

I call upon the federal government to seal and secure the border between Mexico and the US, immediately, by placing US troops on the border to stop those stealing across, illegally, into the United States.

I further call upon the federal government to issue a proclamation allowing illegal aliens 48 hours to surrender themselves, for deportation, at the nearest federal government facility. Those not surrendering themselves should be forcibly rounded up, men, women, and children, and deported, ASAP, to their country of origin. After six months, any illegal aliens found within the US should be arrested and placed in internment camps for an indefinite length of time during which they would render public service such as cleaning roadsides of debris, etc.

Tough? You are darned right it is tough. If we want to secure our country then we have to secure the borders and make darned sure we get rid of all those within in our borders illegally -- and we need to do it NOW. It is LONG, LONG, past due.

One last thing:

We need a candidate for President who runs on a platform of sealing and securing the borders of the US, both north and south, and rounding up and deporting illegal aliens now residing within the US. If the Tea Party wants to support a candidate for President, then may we suggest they look for a candidate espousing just such a platform. That candidate will route all others.

A warning to candidates running for office in November: If you want to be seriously considered as a candidate for Congress, or for the Senate, then you had better run on a platform of taking America back, not just from the socialist, the progressives, the marxists and the liberals -- but from the well over 12 million illegal aliens as well!

We MUST take our country back -- and we must do it NOW!

J. D. Longstreet

Non-Church Goers Form The Base of Obama’s Support

Non-Church Goers Form The Base of Obama’s Support
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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This should come as no surprise to anyone!

According to an article at CNSNEWS.COM entitled: “Americans Who Don’t Attend Church Form Base of Obama’s Support, Gallup Polling Indicates,” Terence P. Jeffrey, Editor-in-Chief writes the following:

“Gallup reports the breakouts from its presidential approval survey for three different types of church-goers: people who attend church weekly, people who attend church nearly weekly or monthly, and people who seldom or never attend church. Among these three groups, Obama’s approval rating tops 50 percent only among those who seldom or never attend church. In fact, among this group it was at 56 percent for the week ending May 8.”

Jeffrey went on to write: “Obama’s approval rating dropped to a low of 38 percent among weekly church-goers in the week that ended on April 4. By contrast, Obama’s presidential approval rating has never dropped below 50 percent among those who seldom or never go to church. (Read the entire story HERE.)

Surely you are not surprised by these findings – are you? You should not be. As far back as the presidential campaign, Obama was supported by the less religious among Americans.

In an article from the “Christian Post UK,” and posted on “Directions to Orthodoxy” dated July 9th, 2008, it is noted: “Presidential candidate Barack Obama has stronger support among less religious Americans than rival John McCain, a survey revealed.” The article goes on to say: “The survey, conducted by The Gallup Poll and released Tuesday, found 55 percent of Americans who say religion is not important in their life backed Obama, compared to 36 percent for McCain. The reverse was true for Americans who said religion was important in their life, with 50 percent to 40 percent preferring McCain over Obama. WE recommend you visit their site HERE.

Little has changed, at least for Obama’s support. A little deeper in the Christian Post UK article it is noted: “The finding that religious voters prefer a Republican candidate is not new. Evangelical Christians, who are viewed as highly religious, have traditionally been stalwart voters of the Republican Party…” You may read the entire article HERE.

As a conservative Christian I am not surprised by these findings. What troubles me is that ANY Christian could support Obama and the American political left. With every passing day it becomes more and more obvious the American political left has embraced socialism.

It is the opinion of this scribe that the Christian faith and socialism cannot co-exist. They are totally incompatible. Simply put -- Christians believe in God and believe that man needs God. Socialism, on the other hand, sees no need for God. The “State” takes over the duties of the “Supreme Being.”

“Socialist philosophy assumes that the masses [are] as dumb as children, and they don't need a god to reach their fondest dreams, but a government to hand out the goodies… .“ Thus states Julie Behling in an article titled: “Why I Believe Socialism and Christianity Are Wholly Incompatible.” Ms. Behling goes on to say: “In Christian philosophy, individuals are responsible to care for the needs of the poor, the sick, the widow, and the orphan, but not compelled. Those who rise to the challenge will find themselves on the right hand of God because of their CHOICES, and those who don't -- will not receive the blessings reserved for those who do.

In Socialist philosophy, all are compelled to care for the needy whether they want to or not (through taxation), and this care comes through the administration of a notoriously inefficient bureaucracy.”

Ms. Behling explains: “Christian philosophy causes men and women to rise up, work for their sustenance depending oftentimes on faith that help will come if and when it is needed. It is hard, it is risky, but the rewards of making the proper use of God-given free will are great. The consequences of poor choices can be brutal.

Socialist philosophy seeks to soften the blows of consequences to natural laws, both positive consequences - financial abundance for the thrifty, wise, hard-worker -- and negative consequences - poverty to those who break the natural laws that govern abundance.”

As one who subscribes to the Christian faith, I believe Ms. Behling is "spot on" when she says: “Socialism falsely informs men and women there is another way to reach their ultimate dreams besides faith in any god.” (We urge you to read Ms. Behling’s article in its entirety HERE.)

In summing up Ms. Behling says: “The degree to which taking care of the poor and the needy is instituted and administered by government is the degree to which freedom is abdicated.” (Editor’s note: The italics used here for emphasis are totally mine.)

We applaud Ms. Behling’s article and recommend it to you. You will find it HERE.

It may seem that we have moved far a field here, in this commentary, from the original intent. I assure you -- we have not. My intention was to try to explain why the majority of the religious in America, the Christians especially, cannot support Obama en masse. Obama’s socialism flies in the face of the Christian faith. In fact Obama’s socialism is seen, among many Christians, as a religion in, and of, itself. It is a secular religion, without God, but a religion, nonetheless.
I suspect my conclusion above will not sit well with Obama followers, but the truth, oftimes, brings pain.

Evangelical Christians have only to consider Obama’s stance toward Israel to find reason to renounce his particular brand of socialism.

For evangelicals the fate of Israel and the fate of the United States are inextricably interwoven. The promise of God to Abraham that God would bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel is taken literally. According to their belief, Obama’s rebuke of Israel and his obvious fondness for Israel’s enemies will bring the wrath of God down on America. In fact, many Christians believe that has already begun. They believe that God’s protection of America has been lifted and America’s future holds only crisis after crisis and disaster after disaster until America once again embraces God’s “Chosen People.”

Americans have slowly come to realize the leadership they chose in 2006 and 2008 was a huge mistake and has brought nothing but pain and suffering to the American people. Elections have consequences. Decisions have consequences. America is living through the consequences of choosing a socialist government, which is incrementally dismantling our constitutional republic right before our eyes.

One of the signs given man as to when to expect the “End of Days’ was when people began living their daily lives as they did in the time of Noah. We have certainly reached that point in the evolution of our American society. And, unfortunately, just as Noah preached over and over again, to the masses, that the rains WERE coming and the ensuing flood would consume every one unless they changed their ways, they refused to listen and even rebuked and made fun of the old man building a huge boat in that dry land. Even the unchurched and the non-religious supporters of Obama know how that story turned out.

All the signs are there. Just as Israel paid a terrible price for demanding an earthly king, Saul, just so they could have a king of their own, just like their neighboring countries, America will be required to pay a price, of biblical proportions, for demanding a leader who remake America into the image of the socialist countries with whom we share this globe.

To say the end is nigh would be kind – and wrong. Unfortunately, America has much suffering in her future long before anything resembling the end rises above her clouded horizon.

J. D. Longstreet

A few questions for climate alarmists ... Paul Driessen

A few questions for climate alarmists
Kerry, Lieberman and other congressional climate alarmists have some ‘splaining to do
Paul Driessen
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The new Kerry-Lieberman climate bill mandates a 17% reduction in US carbon dioxide emissions by 2020. It first targets power plants that provide reliable, affordable electricity for American homes, schools, hospitals, offices and factories. Six years later, it further hobbles the manufacturing sector itself.


Like the House-passed climate bill, Kerry-Lieberman also requires an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050. Once population growth and transportation, communication and electrification technologies are taken into account, this translates into requiring US emission levels last seen around 1870!


House Speaker Pelosi says “every aspect of our lives must be subjected to an inventory,” to ensure that America achieves these emission mandates. This means replacing what is left of our free-market economy with an intrusive Green Nanny State, compelling us to switch to unreliable wind and solar power, and imposing skyrocketing energy costs on every company and citizen.


Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency is implementing its own draconian energy restrictions, in case Congress does not enact punitive legislation.


It’s time to ask these politicians some fundamental questions.


1) Even slashing carbon dioxide emissions to 80% below 2005 levels would reduce projected global average temperatures in 2050 by barely 0.2 degrees F, according to a study that used the UN’s own climate models. That’s because China, India and other developing countries are building new coal-fired power plants every week, even as the United States and Europe shackle their economies and send more jobs overseas. How do you justify such destructive, punitive, meaningless legislation?


2) Reflecting agreement with thousands of scientists, most Americans now say climate change is natural, not manmade. Fully 75% are unwilling to spend more than $100 per year in higher energy bills to “stabilize” Earth’s unpredictable climate. What provision of the Constitution, your oath of office or your duty to the overall health and welfare of this nation permits you to ignore the will of the people, the mounting evidence that “climate disasters” are the product of computer models, manipulated data and falsified UN reports, and the job-killing impacts of the laws and regulations you seek to impose?


3) If carbon dioxide is causing “runaway global warming,” why have average global temperatures not risen since 1995, and why have they been COOLING for the past five years – even as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have continued to rise to levels unprecedented in the modern era?


4) What properties does manmade carbon dioxide have that enable it to replace the complex natural forces that clearly caused the Ice Ages, Medieval Warm Period, Little Ice Age, Dust Bowl, ice-free Arctic seas in 1822 and 1922, Alaska’s 100 degree F temperature record in 1915, and all the other climate and weather changes and anomalies, blessings and disasters that our planet has experienced during its long geologic and recorded history?


5) What physical or chemical properties does manmade carbon dioxide have that would enable it to overturn the laws of thermodynamics – and cause temperatures in Antarctica to rise 85 degrees F, from an average of minus 50 F to plus 35 F year-round (or 48 degrees C, from -46 C to +2 C), to melt that continent’s vast ice masses, raise sea levels 20 feet or more, and flood coastal cities?


6) Precisely what chemical, physical and thermodynamic processes would drastic carbon dioxide reductions alter, and how? Precisely what weather and climate improvements would those reductions achieve? Precisely how will CO2 reductions stabilize planetary temperature, climate and weather systems that have been turbulent, unpredictable and anything but stable throughout Earth’s history?


7) Is there ANY direct physical observation or evidence that would falsify your climate crisis thesis, and cause you to admit human greenhouse gas emissions are not causing a planetary climate disaster? Or do you think everything that happens confirms your climate disaster hypothesis: warmer or colder, wetter or drier, more snow and ice or less, more hurricanes and tornadoes or cyclical periods with few such storms?


8) Replacing hydrocarbons with unreliable, subsidized “green” energy will require millions of acres of land for wind turbines, solar panels and transmission lines – plus hundreds of millions of tons of steel, copper, concrete, fiberglass and rare earth minerals for all those facilities.


Do you support delaying wind, solar and transmission projects for years, to protect the rights and property of local communities and private landowners? Or do you favor regulatory edicts and eminent domain actions, so that government can seize people’s property and expedite construction of these projects?


Do you support opening US public lands for renewed exploration and development, so that we can produce these raw materials and create American jobs? Or do you intend to keep US lands off limits, and force us to depend on imports for renewable energy, too?


Do you support relaxing environmental study, endangered species and other laws, to fast-track approval of these projects, despite their obvious impacts on wildlife and habitats? Or do you want them subjected to the same rules that have stymied thousands of other energy projects, so that renewable energy projects cannot be built, either – and we have massive blackouts?


9) Over 1.5 billion people in Africa, Asia and Latin America still do not have electricity, for even a light bulb or tiny refrigerator. Millions die every year from diseases that would be largely eradicated with electricity for refrigeration, sanitation, modern hospitals, and industries that generate greater health and prosperity. How can you justify using taxpayer money to finance UN and environmental activist programs that claim global warming is the biggest threat they face, and they need to get by on wind and solar power, and give up their dreams of better lives, because YOU are worried about global warming? Doesn’t that violate their most basic human rights to improved living standards, and even life itself?


10) If you’re so sure about your data and conclusions – and intend to use climate disaster claims to justify sending our energy costs skyrocketing, killing millions of factory jobs, controlling our lives, and totally overhauling our energy, economic and social structure – why do you refuse to allow fair, open and balanced congressional hearings and debates on climate science and economics? Why do you refuse to debate skeptical experts in a public forum, or even answer questions that challenge your alarmist thinking? Why do you refuse to require that scientists who get taxpayer money for their research must share and discuss climate data, computer codes, methodologies and analyses?


11) How much money and campaign help have you gotten from companies and activist groups that benefit from renewable energy mandates and subsidies, carbon offset and trading schemes, coal mining and oil leasing bans, and other provisions of climate and energy legislation?


12) What if you vote for these job-killing, anti-growth, anti-poor, anti-human-rights “climate disaster prevention” laws – and it turns out you are WRONG on the science or economics? What will you do? Give up your congressional seat, home, pension and worldly wealth – and pledge yourself and your children to an austere life of service to the people you have harmed? Or just say, “Oh I’m so sorry,” and then pass more intrusive, oppressive laws, before retiring to collect a nice government pension – while millions freeze jobless in the dark?


13) If you can’t or won’t answer these questions, then why do you think you have a right to tell anyone on this planet that we have a “climate crisis,” and dictate how they must live their lives – especially when you’ve done so little to slash your own taxpayer-funded air travel, staff, and home and office energy use?
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Paul Driessen is senior policy advisor for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow and author of Eco-Imperialism: Green Power - Black Death. He has studied climate change for over 15 years.