Total Eclipse of the Sun?

                Human caused global warming is one of the biggest threats of our time, correct? After all, we are responsible for the industry that sends all those greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, right? And we engineered the cow, with their horrible greenhouse gas expanding flatulence!

                Well, let’s see. What countries are currently thought to be the biggest contributors to global warming, greenhouse gas emissions/climate change? China and the U.S.

                What was the high temperature in the capitols of these two nations on October 25^th, 2014? In Beijing (City) it was 74 degrees. Pleasant. Coincidentally, in Washington, D.C. it was also 74 degrees. Very pleasant. If you went back 10 years, you’d  find reasonably similar temperatures in both cities for this date. Or if you went back 50 years. Or one hundred. Or two hundred. This despite the fact that we’ve put millions upon millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere since then. Sure, the high might have been 80 one year and 50 another in either or both of these cities, but that’s about the range of their temperature “extremes.”

                I ask you, what would be the  temperature in these two cities now- and everywhere else on planet earth- if there was no sun?

                Only in our own benighted minds does man’s “power”  eclipse  the sun.

The Way We Were

                Whilst cleaning out some  file folders recently, I came upon an old article written by syndicated columnist George F. Will of the Washington Post. The piece, typically excellent, is titled “Innocence Lost” and was written a number of years ago. Scanning the column, a paean to 1950’s America, it became clear that it was in part a book review, that book being “The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid” by Bill Bryson. It is, apparently (I have not read the book), an account of the author’s youth in Des Moines, Iowa.

                According to Will, Bryson had some startling facts in his book, as well. To wit: in the early 1950’s America controlled two-thirds of the world’s productive capacity, owned 80% of the world’s electrical goods, produced 60% of its oil and 66% of its steel. Americans made almost all of what they consumed: 99.93 percent of new cars sold in the U.S. in 1954 were domestic brands. By the end of the 50’s, GM was a larger economic entity than Belgium and Los Angeles had more cars than did Asia! (The 1958 Lincoln Continental was 19 feet long). Yet “There was, too, a wonderful simplicity of desire. It was the last time that people would be thrilled to own a toaster or waffle iron.”

                Ballpoint pens and long-playing record albums hadn’t yet been invented. Words and phrases still commonly in use then included: icebox, dime store, bobby socks, panty raid, and canasta (a card game).

                Today, nearly everything you can do to- or put into- your body has at one time or another been considered bad or dangerous. Back then?  In Las Vegas, downwind from some atomic weapons tests,  government technicians used Geiger counters to measure fallout: “People lined up to see how radioactive they were. It was all part of the fun. What a joy it was to be indestructible.”

                Yet, as Bryson noted dryly, people knew- without a warning label- “that bleach was not a refreshing drink.”

                Nothing has changed more for the worse since the 50’s than childhood. The lives of children were, Bryson remembers, “unsupervised, unregulated and robustly physical. Kids were always outdoors- I knew kids who were pushed out the door at eight in the morning and not allowed back in until five unless they were on fire or actively bleeding.”

                Today, parents- or likely parent- want to protect their  kid(s) from all physical harm- if they didn’t abort them. They’ll put them in a helmet before placing them on a tricycle. Yet mental or spiritual harm isn’t a concern. ‘Outside’ is scary and unregulated in their view (though they may profess to love nature). Many kids today spend a large percentage of their time in malls. Just chillin’. Hangin’ out and coveting the newest shoes. And of course on the internet, playing video games and watching television. What could possibly go wrong?

                There are distinct reasons for the American decline. It isn’t just the emergence of the third world, a broader sharing and usage of resources or demographic changes. Most of it is self-inflicted. As in the Carter days, we are now questioning our own worth and capabilities. It is worse than that, however. We have leadership that doesn’t want to lead, and despite all historical evidence to the contrary, believes America is nothing special. In fact, wants to see us “taken down a peg”. Incredible.

                Yet we can come back from this new abyss, as Reagan proved after Carter. It can again be “Morning in America” for us, and indeed the world. It is a question of will and character, one that will be answered- one way or the other- by the American people.

                There is a reason why we don’t let our kids play outside anymore. There is a reason why we haven’t been back to the moon and the space shuttle program is no more. There is a reason why our power and influence is waning, not waxing. And with that waning of American power we see a more belligerent Russia and a more aggressive China filling the void.

                What a joy it was to be indestructible.

               

Natural Law Repealed?!

                The socialists/progressives that are increasingly in control of the united States summarily dismiss God. The Ten commandments? Out. School prayer? Out. “Under God” out- if the Pledge of Allegiance is even said at all anymore. Christian symbols of any type in the public square? See ya’! Christmas tree? No. “Holiday Tree.” Merry Christmas? No, we say “Happy Holidays” in enlightened society.

                Marriage should be between two people whom God made capable of reproducing the species by blessing them with perfectly complimentary parts? Laughable. Born male or female and don’t like it? No problem, we can make you whatever sex gender (of the Heinz 57 or so varieties currently listed on Face-book, etc.) you prefer at the moment.

                We can do this because we want to take the place of the God we dismiss as inflexible, sexist and ‘old school’. We are progressive. We know better. We know what is best for everyone.

 The United States was uniquely founded on the recognition of “nature and nature’s God.” Natural Law. Natural Law has done more for the advancement of mankind’s freedom than any and all other concepts put together.

                 And now, progressives want to repeal this sacred and most transcendent of all Laws.

They can mock or imprison us. They can audit us and call us names (“Tea-baggers” comes to mind for some reason), they can stop us from speaking to the people, but it is not in their power to repeal this  Law.

                Claiming to have  God-like powers doesn’t make you God.

                Maybe you should  try “banning” climate change first.

        

Raptor Rapture?

                                                               Bad Wind Rising

                Wind farms are killing thousands upon thousands of birds each year in the U.S., but the Obama administration is covering up that inconvenient truth. The administration has never fined or prosecuted a wind farm for killing eagles or other protected bird species, and has actually shielded the industry from liability  by helping keep the scope of the deaths secret, an Associated Press investigation found back in 2013. More than 573,000 birds are killed by the country’s wind farms each year, including 83,000 hunting birds such as hawks, falcons and eagles, according to an estimate published in March, 2013 in the peer-reviewed Wildlife Society Bulletin. Each of these deaths is a federal crime, a charge that the Obama  administration has used to prosecute oil companies when birds drown in their waste pits, and power companies when birds are electrocuted by their power lines. Yet no wind energy company has been prosecuted, even those that repeatedly flout the law.

                Moreover, when companies have voluntarily reported the bird deaths, the Obama administration has, in many cases, refused to make the information public. Nearly all the birds being killed are protected under federal environmental laws, which prosecutors have used to generate tens of millions of dollars in fines and settlements from businesses, including oil and gas companies, over the past five years.

                Big business? Bad. Big oil?  Very bad. (Those rascally Republicans and Halliburton)!

                Big wind? Good! (Unless it doesn't blow).

                We are closing oil refineries and not building any new nuclear power plants. We are dramatically increasing the average gas-mileage requirements for our domestic auto-makers. We are ignoring our vast coal deposits and submissively letting ourselves be subject to arbitrary “United Nations” greenhouse gas emission standards, while blithely letting the Soviets- excuse me, Russia- Venezuela and other hostile nations drill for oil not far off our coasts.

               

                But let’s go ahead and throw up as many of these massive bird-dicers as we can, as fast as we can!  (At up to thirty stories tall, and in clusters of dozens to hundreds, they are damn attractive on the landscape, too. No “sight pollution” here! It is a bit ironic though, that their massive rotors are made in part out of petroleum-based material). The Obama administration, at the urging of the wind-energy industry, has proposed a rule that would allow companies to apply for 30-year permits to kill a set number of bald or golden eagles. Good thing we had the moral fortitude to ban that evil DDT years ago!

                It seems fitting, though. Decapitating America’s image and its symbols seems to be a specialty of this administration.

                And that… blows.

                                                          

Just Chill, Baby!

                Oh-Oh.

                “Former space shuttle engineer, NASA consultant, and climatologist John L. Casey is warning that a radical shift in global climate is underway, and that Al Gore and other environmentalists have it wrong.”

               That statement is from an article by Clayton B. Reid in the October edition of Newsmax magazine.  The earth, Casey says, is cooling, and cooling fast. And unless the scientific community and political leaders act soon, cold, dark days are ahead. In his new book “Dark Winter: How the Sun Is Causing a 30-Year Cold Spell”, Casey warns that the earth is rapidly growing colder due to diminished solar activity. In fact, “Dark Winter” posits that a 30-year period of cold has already begun. Frigid temperatures, and food shortages that inevitably result, could lead to riots and chaos in the near future.

                Casey states, “All you have to do is trust natural cycles, and follow the facts; and that leads you to the inevitable conclusion that the sun controls the climate, and that a new cold era has begun.” For over a decade now, he claims, the planet’s oceans have been cooling. And since 2007, the atmospheric temperature has been cooling as well. “The data is pretty solid,” Casey says. “If you look at the 100-year global temperature chart, you look at the steep drop off we’ve had since 2007, it’s the steepest drop in global temperatures in the last hundred years.”

                Casey believes that the real driver of global climate is solar activity, namely sunspots. He says they correspond to shifts in global temperature with a greater than 90% accuracy. Several Russian scientists and astrophysicists also agree with this view  that the earth is cooling; and at least one argues that a new mini ice age has begun.

                Casey says that climate-change theorists have  simply wedded themselves to the wrong theory, namely, that global temperatures respond in a significant way to the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. “There are two fundamental flaws with that,” Casey says. “No. 1, the greenhouse-gas theory, and the global climate models that they produced, never permitted a pause. As long as CO2 levels were going up, the only thing that could happen was global temperatures could go up. That has not happened. No. 2, there could be absolutely no cooling, much less a pause. And yet we’ve been cooling for years now.”

                Of course, if “Dark Winter” is right, that means the nation is busily preparing for the wrong calamity.

                So far, according to the article, “all of Casey’s predictions have come true.”

                This is history’s biggest opportunity cost. We will soon be paying billions of dollars to ‘lessen’ the affects of ‘global warming’. Moreover, we will impoverish ourselves, or at the very least drastically degrade the quality of our lives by not utilizing the vast quantities of coal, oil, gas etc. available to us. Therefore there will be fewer jobs available for people- and much higher energy bills. Transportation costs will soar needlessly, and consequently the cost of virtually all goods sold will as well, becoming a huge drag on the economy. Some folks will have to cut back on buying goods they otherwise could have afforded, some will cut back on or eliminate savings. Some will go deeper into debt. There will be less money available, then, for loans and investment, etc.

                Over and above all of this, it is likely that not only was all of this privation unnecessary, but that it will have actually worsened the crisis we do face. There is a word for this lose-lose-lose proposition.

               

                Chilling.

               

Next on Progressive's Agendas: Inter-Species Marriage

                          

February 14^th, 2024

Honolulu-

                Hawaii has become the first state to approve Inter-Species Marriage. The decision to yet again redefine marriage in Hawaii will take effect immediately. This comes after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month that the current law defining “marriage” as between one human male and one human female is archaic and discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional.

                Polls show a majority of public opinion now in favor of the change. The new policy paves the way for Inter-Species couples from around the country to flock to Hawaii. Inter-Species Marriage advocates  are saying that Hawaii will serve as a vivid, positive example to other states that legalizing Inter-Species Marriage (ISM) is workable, humane- and the right thing to do. They say it will not present any challenge to traditional family life.

                “Society is progressing and evolving” said one ISM activist. “Inclusiveness and tolerance are the keys to a healthy community. It is high time that we legally recognize differently-specied couples.”

                Canada may also be moving to unshackle their ISM community. A three- member panel of the Ontario Court of Appeal unanimously declared the current Federal definition of marriage- as a union between one man and one woman- “woefully inadequate for our times.” It ruled that under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Canada’s version of the Bill of Rights) “the existing common-law definition of ‘marriage’  violates  couples equality rights on the basis of sexual orientation. In doing so, it offends the dignity of persons/animals in Inter-Species relationships”.

                ISM supporters rallied in Washington earlier today. One stated for the record, “Look, we sprang from the monkey’s womb, evolutionarily-speaking. We owe them, our predecessors this at least.  Are we who climbed the ladder to the top now going to yank it away from those below? Does anyone really want to prevent an intelligent, caring, family-oriented being like a chimpanzee, who we share 99.5%  of our DNA with- more than I do with my in-laws it appears, lol- from enjoying a protected, loving, sanctioned relationship with, say,  an Ivy-League professor or an NPR host?

                What a beastly reality that would be.”

                Some in the Democratic Caucus are proposing legislation that would give special protection & benefits to those involved in homosexual Inter-Species relationships.

                A few conservatives questioned the exigency of the proposed legislation and were met with reasoned shouts such as “you hypocritical, ignorant, intolerant bastards…a pox on all your houses!”

               

Notes on a Culture

                With some studies suggesting that almost 50% of Junior High School kids are engaging in some kind of sex, it seems time to pause and reflect.

                I have read two articles in particular lately that solidify that conclusion. One was titled “She’s proud of her three moms.” Most of us are familiar with the controversial school book (for pre-teens) “Heather Has Two Mommies.” But this article chronicles the experience of a teenage girl (who wrote the article- and did it very well I might add) whose biological mother (Susan) and father (name never given- just ‘dad’) got divorced when she was 2. Shortly after that, she states, her mother showed up with another woman, “Kimmie.” At six years of age, her dad (much slower on the rebound then mom, apparently) got married to a woman named “Chrissy.” So she has four- count them, four- parents now…a dad and three mothers. (Talk about a “Full House”; even in poker terms she only needs one more dad to qualify).  “She claims they all get along and that she loves them all, yet they have “four different personalities offering me four different opinions on every matter of my life.”

                That can’t be easy- or optimal. She states that her biological mother and her dad’s second wife often give her “completely opposite advice”, yet she remains “loyal to each of them, making sure they all feel equally loved and needed, and that their advice is equally appreciated.”

                The second article was even more disturbing. Titled “Horrors on video lure teen viewers”, it   chronicled the allure brutal “snuff” videos apparently have on many of today’s youth. This article was recently in a Twin Cities newspaper.

                In Waseca, Minnesota, a 17 year old boy’s parents say their son told them recently how he repeatedly watched graphic videos (beheadings and dismemberments and the like) as he also consumed himself with making secret, unfulfilled plans to kill his family and set off bombs at the local school. He told his parents that he had become obsessed with the videos and started to like them, his father said. His parents said they want other parents to be aware of what their children might be watching on smart-phones and laptops.

                The article continued: “Fifteen miles from Waseca, in the town of Owatonna, tattooed young men ran their painted skateboards over ramps and pipes at a skate park one recent evening. Most said they’d seen a video of an execution, brutal fight or bad accident.

                “It’s, like, what kids get a kick out of nowadays,” said one skater in a white T-shirt and baseball cap, who didn’t want to give his name. “It’s worse than it should be but you can’t stop it,” said another.

                The videos are often shared on social media and shown in the back of a classroom on somebody’s phone they said. One student watched a few of the videos- one of an execution shooting, another of a group of boys murdering another boy with a hammer. Other kids egged classmates to watch. “They kind of, like…showed it to everyone,” he said. “They said, hey, check this out, it’s gross.”

                Several students said they watched only a few of these videos and that was enough to sear their memories. “You can’t erase ‘em,” one said.

                What we choose to watch onscreen says a lot about a society and where it might be headed.

                We’ve gone from “Leave it to Beaver” to “Hand Me the Cleaver.” From “Bewitched” to “Beheaded” and from “My Three Sons” to “My Three Mommies.” From “Father Knows Best” to “Father (transsexual) Shows Breast.” If "he's" around at all.

               Forget the full house.  Maybe he could become a fourth mommie.

 

                That’s “progress” for you.

               

               

               

Revelation: Israel is David, Not Goliath

                                           Revelation: Israel is David, Not Goliath

                Anti-Semitism has reared its ugly head again recently. It is on the rise and nearly unchecked around the world. Incredibly, after the holocaust, Jew-hating is becoming a bloodsport once again. The august body of the United Nations is partly responsible, but, as usual, it is Islamic extremism that is at the forefront of the hatred. Many leftist intellectuals (I believe that is an oxymoron) heap hate upon Israel as well…even while claiming to be against hate speech and for the broadest tolerance of diversity of opinion, religion, sexual orientation and things not yet imagined.

                This tiniest of nations is an unparalleled success on nearly every imaginable front, and this drives Islamists and others of her detractors crazy. Especially because it was largely a non-descript, unproductive swamp under the Ottomans, Jordanians and Egyptians.

                Recently, many cities in Europe have experienced anti-Israel demonstrations that included such signs as “Kill The Jews” and “Hitler Was Right.”

                Even in the United Kingdom, more than half the population say Israel is the number one threat to world peace! (Apparently, the Brits didn’t liberate any concentration camps). Europe will soon be politically and culturally dominated by Muslims, as there doesn’t appear to be any entity strong enough- or with the will- to stop them. Was one holocaust with 6 million Jews killed not enough?

                Israel is in existential danger. Mortal peril. She has one true friend in the world and that friend has just exited…stage left, and  decided that maybe it won’t be so bad if Iran gets the nuclear bomb after all.

                How could this possibly have happened? Israel the number one threat to world peace?! I thought all the world- and especially the leftists- loved an underdog. What country has Israel tried to take over? Do they have designs on Japan…France? They don’t even keep the territory of nearby terrorist states that try to destroy them… after they defeat them!

                Israel is an isolated “iota” of a nation. A true oasis. A tiny isle  surrounded by a vast desert sea of hate and depravity, and the only democracy in the Middle East. It is virtually the same size as the state of New Jersey.

                Biblically, historically, morally, logically, strategically…we need to help the David that is Israel in her struggle against  Goliath.

               

               

                            

Recreating Reproduction

                Facebook and Apple will now give up to $20,000 in benefits to help employees pay for infertility treatments, sperm donors and even to freeze their eggs. This from a recent Associated Press article.

                Shelley Correll, a sociology professor and director of the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University stated “It potentially addresses the conflicts between the biological clock and the clockwork of women’s careers: The time that’s most important in work, for getting your career established, often coincides with normal fertility time for women. This can potentially help resolve that by pushing women’s fertility into the future.”

                Good to know we’ve got our priorities straight.

                Some  experts claim other companies will follow suit “because it’s the right thing to do. It’s telling women they have the ‘opportunity’ to put off child bearing and focus on their careers.” (And) not  make decisions based on certain reproductive limits women have. Apple’s and Facebook’s reproductive benefits policies also  appeal to gay and lesbian couples who want to use a surrogate or a sperm donor to have a baby.

                This is certainly a brave new world we are entering. Insurance and health care are evolving quickly. We may not be able to get health insurance through our employers anymore, but if we do it damn sure better cover the cost of our contraception to prevent us from having a baby now! And it also better cover the cost of any and all  procedures necessary to see that we can have a baby sometime in the future! This used to be a matter of private- not public- policy.

                I, for one, can’t wait to see how we  expand- or perhaps eliminate- our erstwhile “reproductive limits”! Think of the possibilities! Maybe we can recreate our reproductive limits to better suit our modern era. We could, perhaps, get pregnant at a much earlier age and also at much older ages than currently possible. And, of course, we already have eliminated the  anachronistic, archaic- and frankly sexist- burden of needing two different sexes to come in contact with one another in order to start a family.

                But let’s not put all our eggs in one basket! Let’s think outside of the box. What if we could extend our “reproductive limits” all the way to include other species? Forget “One World Government”. Hell, perhaps one day we could get most of the creatures on Earth to be one big family…literally!

               On the other hand, of course, there must be “birth panels” as there are “death panels”. We should restrict these infertility treatments, etc., to people we know deserve it. Folks we don’t think should have offspring should not be offered this coverage!

                Many of us don’t believe in God anymore, but we sure love playing Him on t.v.! What could possibly go wrong?

 

                Okay, I got a little carried away, I know, but as quickly as technology is changing, our code of ethics is changing faster. And as these two facts combine…  we will have given birth to a very unpredictable  future.

                So for now, I will just imagine a parent a few years hence, a beneficiary of Facebook’s and Apple’s new reproductive insurance coverage. Sitting at the kitchen table with their son or daughter and relating their heritage, beatific smile on their face saying “Your sperm donor would be so proud. You were the Apple of my I-Pod honey! You were on facebook when you were just a non-viable tissue mass. Just kidding, you were the cutest little zygote, dear!”

                #itsallaboutme

              

Ebola and Excalibur

                Excalibur, a dog belonging to an Ebola-infected Spanish nurse, was euthanized  this past October the 8^th.  This was done as a preventative measure as studies have shown that dogs can become infected with the disease.

                There is a growing world-wide furor over the potential for spreading this deadly disease, yet this pales in reaction to the furor over the dog being sacrificed. Protesters and animal rights activists surrounded the Madrid home of the nurse and her husband.

                The dog’s plight started an online frenzy. Incredibly, more than 350,000 people signed the petition to save Excalibur’s life.

                At the time, 150,000 people had signed a petition calling on the Food and Drug Administration to fast-track research on potential vaccines and treatments for Ebola. And nowhere have I read about concern for the nurse or her other family members. Strangely, there were no ‘human rights’ activists protesting around her house.

                I love dogs, I truly do. It would be hard for any decent person to have their beloved pet put down.

                Excalibur was, however, 12 years old; that’s roughly 84 in dog years. (Under Obamacare he’d have been subject to ‘death panels’. No money would’ve been spent on procedures to save him  this late in life were he a human).

                Our ability to think clearly and logically and to prioritize properly has been impaired. Our moral compass is not on ‘true north’ anymore. It would probably prove impossible to get 350,000 signatures on a petition to praise George Washington. It might be there aren’t 350,000 souls that know he was the first President of the United States.

                Poor Excalibur.

                 It is the left’s ‘value-system’ that should be euthanized.