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noreply@blogger.com (Savage Republican) — Sun, 02 May 2010 05:33:00 +0000

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Walk for Life

noreply@blogger.com (Savage Republican) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 01:23:00 +0000

While everyone is at the GOP Convention I will also be helping raise money for the Alpha Walkf for Life

Walk for Life

Also, look for a new redesign of Site to come Soon!

Whippee! It's TAX DAY!!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Amendment X) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 05:14:00 +0000

Today is April 15th, as we are required to voluntarily pay under threats from the IRS.
As I wrote a few years ago, the 16th Amendment was offered as "only a tax on the incomes of the rich." (Sound familiar at all?). Today, we make kitten and puppy stew to have those original tax rates back.
Tax Freedom Day (when the average worker has worked long enough to pay all his taxes) is usually around the middle of April. This means that you work nearly a third of a year just to pay the taxes you owe. Notice I said pay the taxes you owe. The Cost of Government Day which usually is in the first or second week of July is now out another month to August. (COGD means the total cost of government including taxes, regulations and the full burden on the economy government at all levels place on the taxpayer).

From Reason magazine: "Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society," said legendary Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. As students of Buck v. Bell could tell you, Holmes had a habit of being monstrously wrong, but if he's right about taxes and civilization, it's certainly worth asking whether we're getting what we pay for." Oh. So America is a club and taxes are dues. Or does that mean we were not civilized until the 16th Amendment?
And so, from Reason magazine, I present a short video for your edification on Tax Day.
Smile and be happy serf (even though a serf was much freer as he only had to provide 20-25% to his overlord. Didn't we go to war with a small island nation a few years back over a 3% tax on sugar?)

iPad vs oPad

noreply@blogger.com (Amendment X) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 04:39:00 +0000

From Hot Air (be sure to read the comments at this link at Hot Air):

A week ago Tuesday in Rochester

noreply@blogger.com (Amendment X) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:56:00 +0000

On 9 March, I had an eye opening encounter with the American health care system. I got up early and traveled to Mayo Clinic in Rochester for the first time in my life for a 7:30 a.m. appointment. Lots of paperwork at the office at St. Mary's Hospital-in addition to all the paperwork I filled out prior to the appointment. But, this was Mayo Clinic. At about 8:30 I had a 45 minute medical evaluation with the department head. We discussed prior treatments, current available treatments. He wanted to eliminate some concerns and explore a couple of possibilities. To that end he said he wanted an EKG, a blood draw and an MRI. He sent the requests out to his scheduler, Todd. Within 15 minutes, I had the EKG, blood draw and MRI all scheduled for that day. And all scheduled around a 1:00 p.m. audiology test I had scheduled for the same day. So, off I went. Going to Mayo Clinic and Methodist Hospital (right across the street). Todd and given me an itinerary and provided a map that he highlighted including where to park. If I ran into problems, he said to ask at any of the Information desks.
Now, Mayo is huge. The tests are run assembly line. But, everyone I ran into was friendly and efficient. And remember, Mayo is always ranked top five in so many categories.
And during lunch (yup, I had time for lunch too!), it occurred to me: ObamaCare in any form is a disaster; what was happening to me at Mayo, this day, could never, ever happen under ObamaCare. Mayo as it is would cease to exist.
And my resolve against the collectivists, progressives, lefties, RINO's was ratcheted up-markedly.

No words necessary

noreply@blogger.com (Amendment X) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:59:00 +0000

Convention Rules Time - Ask You Questions

noreply@blogger.com (Savage Republican) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:49:00 +0000

Have a Question about Robert's Rules?
Wondering what to have in your BPOU or CD convention rules?
Always wondered what a Point of Order is?

Ask away in the Comments and I will do my best to Answer.

An important anniversary

noreply@blogger.com (Amendment X) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:05:00 +0000

Today is the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz Concentration Camp.
A small group of survivors braved the bone chilling cold to remember and give a human face to the past.

And at the opening in 1940:

And how was it that men could do this? Because they had the power. The evil in their hearts could roam free. It was just this type of government that the Constitution was meant to prevent (“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.”-George Washington).
After the war, Germans were horrified at what they loosed on the world. Their protests were that this was not possible. After all, they were richly civilized people. They were the people of Beethoven, Bach, Handel and Goethe. Even Luther! But...

The best quote as a warning I can come up with today comes from none other than Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain)-"History doesn't repeat itself. But it sure does rhyme!"
"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." John Philpot Curran

Once again , living history becomes past

noreply@blogger.com (Amendment X) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 06:06:00 +0000

I just read where one of the people who hid Anne Frank and her family passed away at 100. Miep Gies worked in Otto Franks office and agreed to hide and help the family for 25 months from 1942 to 1944. It was Mrs. Gies who found Anne Frank's diary in the aftermath just after the raid. From the stories I've read, she decided not to read the diary and kept it in full anticipation that she'd be able able to return it to the young diarist.
Anne Frank and her sister Margot died of typhus two weeks before her camp was liberated in 1945.
That being said, I remember coming across the only known movie film of Anne Frank showing a curious twelve year girl looking out a window at a wedding celebration.
Click on this link to view the short film (embedding has been disabled, much to my regret)

Always remember, this young girl died because of a government that had concentrated power, exactly what the Constitution was meant to stop.

One paintbrush

noreply@blogger.com (Amendment X) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:26:00 +0000

Mr. William Franklin Wanner's life is over.He's accused of molesting a ten year old girl a number of times. Even assuming that he's found not guilty, his life will never be the same. (Video footage seemingly corroborates the girls testimony. That being the case, adios.) But that's not why I'm writing. What prompted this entry was the end of the one sentence sixth paragraph: after describing that he's affiliated with Wanner Engineering, we also find out that he" has been a significant contributor to local and national Republican candidates." Oh. And why is that significant to the story in any way, shape or form? I forgot: it's the Star Tribune. Subtle smears against Republicans, Christians, etc are pro forma. This one isn't very subtle.
I'll keep monitoring the story for comments secure in the knowledge that that fact will be used by the commenters.
P.S. After 17 seconds of reflection, it occurs to me that another reason for the inclusion is to have all those candidates who received contributions from Wanner give back the money.

More canaries become worm food

noreply@blogger.com (Amendment X) — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:33:00 +0000

First of all, the obligatory "Happy New Year". I happened to have slept through it, but...
I came across this headline yesterday:" Mayo Clinic in Arizona to Stop Treating Some Medicare Patients".Arizona-land of the snowbird and frozen tundra retirees. Arizona, where Phoenix is the kidnapping capitol of America. So, I read on. I discovered that Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic are non-profit (Mayo and Cleveland are ranked #2 and #4 ,respectively, in the nation). The article goes on to report that the Mayo Clinic Organization lost $840,000,000 treating Medicare patients last year, $120,000,000 of that in Arizona. The article goes on to say that there has been a 20% payment gap (for Medicare) nationwide, for at least a decade. Now, as a businessman, 20% means that in a non-profit atmosphere, that disparity is eating into your overhead recovery. In other words, you're not only not making money, you're losing money on each patient. And from the article, that's been going on for over a decade. OK, multiply 10 x 20% = 200%, meaning that 2 full years of revenue, not profit, but revenue have been lost over the past decade. Now, how does a business make up the difference? Only two ways: increase revenue and/or cut expenses. It ain't rocket science. Well, if you are offering a service with so many hours in a day and so many providers, you can charge more for those who pay in order to cover your losses (sound familiar yet? Now, you have another clue as to why aspirin in a hospital costs $10). Eliminating a non-profit or a pure cost item is eliminating an expense. Therefore, Medicare gets dropped. Yet, the Obamacare package is going to cut Medicare reimbursements by approximately $500,000,000.
So, where do Medicare retirees go now? What next? The article states that 92% of American doctors participate in Medicare, but that only 73% are taking new Medicare patients. I'm 60. I'm on the front edge of the wave called the Baby Boom. We will bankrupt the system that is now underfunded by tens of trillions of dollars. What will happen when the Baby Boomers behind me flood and overwhelm the system's ability to even come close to adequately funding the Medicare Plan? When you have the likes of Boxer, Feinstein, Franken, Klobuchar, Schumer, Jackson Lee who can't even give money away are now in charge of health care?
There will absolutely have to be rationing of health care. There is no way around it. The laws of economics are like the laws of physics- they are inevitable. There will be bureaucrats sitting someplace in a conference room. They will decide what treatments will be offered to what types of patients. Yah, that's right, people will have to die for lack of treatment for lack of money, aka the bureaucrats will therefore compose "death panels".
The truth hurts.
Oh, and you, me, everyone else-the good news: we can opt out. The bad news:but we'll be fined and/or be put in prison.
Bring it on...

P.S.- Seems even countries where there is complete and absolute government control experience the immutability of the laws of economic.

TSA has its priorities straight

noreply@blogger.com (Savage Republican) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 22:58:00 +0000

I happened to walk past the TSA office at MSP airport earlier this month.
I noticed that they have only one poster on the wall as you enter office.
Something to help them remember the most important thing about the TSA.
On side say "We are TSA" and the other side.
"We are Security" - Nope
"We are Safety" - Nope

Here it is -

"We are Diverse"
That is what they want their people to focus on.

A remembrance from Thanksgiving Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Amendment X) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:03:00 +0000

From Michael Yon's site:

Published: 27 November 2009

By JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY
McClatchy Newspapers

Over the last 12 months, 1,042 soldiers, Marines, sailors and Air Force personnel have given their lives in the terrible duty that is war. Thousands more have come home on stretchers, horribly wounded and facing months or years in military hospitals.

This week, I'm turning my space over to a good friend and former roommate, Army Lt. Col. Robert Bateman, who recently completed a yearlong tour of duty in Iraq and is now back at the Pentagon.

Here's Lt. Col. Bateman's account of a little-known ceremony that fills the halls of the Army corridor of the Pentagon with cheers, applause and many tears every Friday morning. It first appeared on May 17 on the Weblog of media critic and pundit Eric Alterman at the Media Matters for America Website.

"It is 110 yards from the "E" ring to the "A" ring of the Pentagon. This section of the Pentagon is newly renovated; the floors shine, the hallway is broad, and the lighting is bright. At this instant the entire length of the corridor is packed with officers, a few sergeants and some civilians, all crammed tightly three and four deep against the walls. There are thousands here.

This hallway, more than any other, is the `Army' hallway. The G3 offices line one side, G2 the other, G8 is around the corner. All Army. Moderate conversations flow in a low buzz. Friends who may not have seen each other for a few weeks, or a few years, spot each other, cross the way and renew.

Everyone shifts to ensure an open path remains down the center. The air conditioning system was not designed for this press of bodies in this area.

The temperature is rising already. Nobody cares. "10:36 hours: The clapping starts at the E-Ring. That is the outermost of the five rings of the Pentagon and it is closest to the entrance to the building. This clapping is low, sustained, hearty. It is applause with a deep emotion behind it as it moves forward in a wave down the length of the hallway.

"A steady rolling wave of sound it is, moving at the pace of the soldier in the wheelchair who marks the forward edge with his presence. He is the first. He is missing the greater part of one leg, and some of his wounds are still suppurating. By his age I expect that he is a private, or perhaps a private first class.

"Captains, majors, lieutenant colonels and colonels meet his gaze and nod as they applaud, soldier to soldier. Three years ago when I described one of these events, those lining the hallways were somewhat different. The applause a little wilder, perhaps in private guilt for not having shared in the burden ... yet.

"Now almost everyone lining the hallway is, like the man in the wheelchair, also a combat veteran. This steadies the applause, but I think deepens the sentiment. We have all been there now. The soldier's chair is pushed by, I believe, a full colonel.

"Behind him, and stretching the length from Rings E to A, come more of his peers, each private, corporal, or sergeant assisted as need be by a field grade officer.

"11:00 hours: Twenty-four minutes of steady applause. My hands hurt, and I laugh to myself at how stupid that sounds in my own head. My hands hurt... Please! Shut up and clap. For twenty-four minutes, soldier after soldier has come down this hallway - 20, 25, 30.... Fifty-three legs come with them, and perhaps only 52 hands or arms, but down this hall came 30 solid hearts.

They pass down this corridor of officers and applause, and then meet for a private lunch, at which they are the guests of honor, hosted by the generals. Some are wheeled along.... Some insist upon getting out of their chairs, to march as best they can with their chin held up, down this hallway, through this most unique audience. Some are catching handshakes and smiling like a politician at a Fourth of July parade. More than a couple of them seem amazed and are smiling shyly.

"There are families with them as well: the 18-year-old war-bride pushing her 19-year-old husband's wheelchair and not quite understanding why her husband is so affected by this, the boy she grew up with, now a man, who had never shed a tear is crying; the older immigrant Latino parents who have, perhaps more than their wounded mid-20s son, an appreciation for the emotion given on their son's behalf. No man in that hallway, walking or clapping, is ashamed by the silent tears on more than a few cheeks. An Airborne Ranger wipes his eyes only to better see. A couple of the officers in this crowd have themselves been a part of this parade in the past.

These are our men, broken in body they may be, but they are our brothers, and we welcome them home. This parade has gone on, every single Friday, all year long, for more than four years.

"Did you know that?

The media haven't yet told the story."

V/R TK
TOM KUNK
COL, GS
Division Chief for ODO
HQDA, G3/5/7

(BTW, Joe Galloway was portrayed by Barry Pepper in the Mel Gibson movie "We Were Soldiers")
Comments welcomed.

Because I have no words...

noreply@blogger.com (Amendment X) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:25:00 +0000

To fallen soldiers let us sing.
Where no rockets fly nor bullets wing.
Our broken brothers let us bring.
To the mansions of the Lord.

No more bleeding, no more fight.
No prayers pleading through the night.
Just divine embrace, eternal light.
In the mansions of the Lord.

Where no mothers cry and no children weep.
We will stand and guard though the angels sleep.
Through the ages safely keep.
The mansions of the Lord.

Find a veteran today and thank him for your freedom and liberty...

A Sunday in Heron Lake, MN 1961

noreply@blogger.com (Amendment X) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:38:00 +0000

I watched the film footage on TV of a soldier running concertina wire across a street. I was twelve but didn't appreciate what was happening, but my Grandmother said, as she listened to the reporter "This sounds like war." What I was witnessing was the very beginning of what was to be called The Berlin Wall. The first explanation I heard for the wall was that it was constructed to constrain the West Berliners from diluting the socialism of East Berlin and East Germany. The truth has always been an obstacle that tyrants and tyrannies need to "explain".
As the years progressed there were stories of many spirited and interesting attempts to breach the wall to get into the West. Too many times the attempt proved fatal. There is one iconic photo that I've always remembered, that of an East German border guard who leapt the then concertina wire only wall-
In 1989, it was becoming apparent that the Eastern Bloc was failing in its attempt to keep its solidarity. One evening I heard a report that there were people, hundreds if not thousands of people, who were marching across the fields of Hungary toward the Iron Curtain. And the border guards were not stopping them.It was quite a report for a man who grew up hearing "When you see the flash, 'Duck-And Cover!' " Who grew up seeing the start of the Berlin Wall, watched my parents become very worried in October, 1962, saw the Prague Spring...

And then there was this evening:

There was an article about the creation and fall of the Berlin Wall on the History Channel. The amazing risks people took to be free: tunneling, hot air balloons, befriending border guards to learn how an armored car worked to be able to car jack it later and ram through the wall, using ultra light airplanes to rescue a brother...incredible.
All to escape to liberty.
I wonder what we here in America are willing to do to preserve liberty.
I came across this quote that is extremely timely and thought provoking, especially today during this time here in America:
" 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."
So, what are you doing, what will you do to preserve and take back your liberty?
Time to let that hollow space in the Lazy Boy fill back in.

A must read that must be read now

noreply@blogger.com (Amendment X) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:38:00 +0000

I just got through reading an excellent article on Hot Air called "The Momentum of History" by a fairly recent writer to Hot Air with the nom de plume Doctor Zero. He discusses the importance of the 2010 election (and the incredible relevance of the NY 23 election). I also strongly urge you to read all the comments on the first page, especially the comment by Dark Horse.
The article and Dark Horse's comment prompted me to go to Doug Hoffman's website (NY 23 candidate ) and made a contribution.
The radicals are taking money from you in buckets. Take $25, $50, $100 of you own money and fire back at them and tell the RINO supporters to shut up by donating to Doug Hoffman.

A better way or why BHO is surrounded by idiots

noreply@blogger.com (Amendment X) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:48:00 +0000

Yesterday I was coming back from a doctors appointment and was listening to Glenn Beck as he was describing "his accepting the prize","how this would have been a pinnacle moment if there had been any other significant achievements". It took me about two miles to realize "Obama's been awarded"(not won)"the Nobel Peace Prize !!! WHAAAAATTTT???" Beck went on to say that this awarding of the Peace Prize does nothing now but highlight the ineptitude and arrogance of Obama. As I read some of the biting criticism and incredulity of many on the left, something else occurred to me though.
If The One had surrounded himself with something other than self serving advisors and sycophants, or if he hadn't been caught up in his belief of his own infallibility, he would have strode to the microphone yesterday, cleared his throat, and thanked the Nobel Peace Prize Committee for the honor. And then, with a proffered sense of humility and propriety, he would have politely and graciously refused the award. The One would have made huge political points and would have robbed the Republicans of all the ammunition the likes of Michael Moore and Peter Beinart have so willingly served up ("You won it. Now earn it" "I like Barack Obama... But this is a farce. He's done nothing to deserve the prize."). He also would have scored points internationally.
However, no. Arrogance and looking into the Donacon pool controlled his reason and political acumen. A huge opportunity completely squandered. Plus, it exposes him and his advisors as having the same tailor as a well known emperor.(BTW, an excellent read. Especially now.
Nothing learned from a trip to Copenhagen, he loses again.
He is on a roll, however.
Now, don't get me wrong. This is not a bite on the Peace Prize. It's an observation on COC (Community Organizer in Chief) and his advisors. It's an observation on what America's enemies see and surmise. They see a president full of himself. They see an American President who lingers over his image so that any appeal to his vanity may very well yield results. They see an American President who believes he can secure an Olympic venue just by showing up. America's enemies are not fools. They play the manipulation game very, very well. They realize they can easily manipulate the press (Yasser Arafat did it for decades. His progeny still do).They are taking the measure of this man in the White House and are calculating strategy accordingly.
Another danger is evident in a Prairie Pravda editorial:"That he would be chosen says much about the hope invested in his presidency by people of good will around the world." And what if he doesn't deliver on that "hope"? What if he disappoints on that "world investment"? And he will. No one can ever live up to another's expectations. To live your life adhering to someone else's hopes and dreams is emotional dysfunction. To base national and international policy on it is downright dangerous and lunacy in the extreme.
The COC has not done himself or America any good here.
Quite the opposite, I fear.
Quite the opposite.

Irena Sendler and the Noble Peace Prize

noreply@blogger.com (Amendment X) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:11:00 +0000

I thought that today, in light of the Noble Peace Prize being awarded to COC (Community Organizer in Chief) this You Tube clip is more than appropriate:

My Profile Photo

noreply@blogger.com (Amendment X) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:43:00 +0000

This is a picture of me last July as I was helping to run the Wings of Freedom Tour at Anoka Blaine Airport (Janes Field). I'm under the port wing of a B-17G named Nine-O-Nine owned by the Collings Foundation out of Stowe, MA.
Start planning now for the tour to come back next year.

How big WAS the crowd in D.C. ?

noreply@blogger.com (Amendment X) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:10:00 +0000

Seems to be the question of the hour. Well, I happen to have a bit of experience with really, REALLY large crowds. Like over 1,000,000 men.
I was at "Stand in the Gap" the Promise Keepers event 4 October 1997 in Washington D.C.

I was over near the tree line in front of the Smithsonian. We arrived about 9:00 and were told that we had just missed an ABC camera crew. The crew had shared with the men around us that ABC was estimating 100,000 men between each Jumbotron.They told us there were 9 Jumbotrons from the Capitol steps to the Washington Monument. We were also told there were another 300,000 plus men on the other side Monument to the Reflecting Pool and Lincoln Memorial. There were another 50,000 on the Ellipse. And many 10,000's walking the streets as there was no more room on the Mall.
Now, here is a satellite picture taken of the Mall during Obama's inauguration ceremony. (Click on the image above and below twice to enlarge).

A photo analyst estimated this crowd at 800,000. The Washington Post crowed that there 2,000,000 at the inauguration.

The MSM covered Stand in the Gap with the usual deference they show Christians and conservatives.
Compare the two photos and come to your own conclusion about numbers reported by the MSM for the 912 Rally.

No, Mr. President

noreply@blogger.com (Savage Republican) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:26:00 +0000

A powerful response to Obama's speech on "Women's Reproduction Freedom"

And I recommend to others that we continue to pray for our President.

Obama in 774 words

noreply@blogger.com (Amendment X) — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:30:00 +0000

Sometimes it takes South Park to put the policies of the Community Organizer in Chief (COC) in perspective. As I've written before, the left is great for proclaiming something will happen because they SAY it will happen. The following is from a WSJ article:

Sometimes it takes "South Park" to explain life's deeper mysteries. Like the logic of the Obama administration's policy proposals.
Consider the 1998 "Gnomes" episode -- possibly surpassing Milton Friedman's "Free to Choose" as the classic defense of capitalism -- in which the children of South Park, Colo., get a lesson in how not to run an enterprise from mysterious little men who go about stealing undergarments from the unsuspecting and collecting them in a huge underground storehouse.
What's the big idea? The gnomes explain:
"Phase One: Collect underpants.
"Phase Two: ?
"Phase Three: Profit."
Lest you think there's a step missing here, that's the whole point. ("What about Phase Two?" asks one of the kids. "Well," answers a gnome, "Phase Three is profits!") This more or less sums up Mr. Obama's speech last week on Guantanamo, in which the president explained how he intended to dispose of the remaining detainees after both houses of Congress voted overwhelmingly against bringing them to the U.S.
The president's plan can briefly be described as follows. Phase One: Order Guantanamo closed. Phase Two: ? Phase Three: Close Gitmo!
Granted, this is an abbreviated exegesis of his speech, which did explain how some two-thirds of the detainees will be tried by military commissions or civilian courts, or repatriated to other countries. But on the central question of the 100-odd detainees who can neither be tried in court nor released one searches in vain for an explanation of exactly what the president intends to do.
Now take the administration's approach to the Middle East. Phase One: Talk to Iran, Syria, whoever. Phase Two: ? Phase Three: Peace!
In this case, the administration seems to think that diplomacy, like aspirin, is something you take two of in the morning to take away the pain. But as Boston University's Angelo Codevilla notes in his book, "Advice to War Presidents," diplomacy "can neither create nor change basic intentions, interests, or convictions. . . . To say, 'We've got a problem. Let's try diplomacy, let's sit down and talk' abstracts from the important questions: What will you say? And why should anything you say lead anyone to accommodate you?"
Ditto for Mr. Obama's approach to nuclear weapons. In a speech last month in Prague, right after North Korea had illegally tested a ballistic missile, Mr. Obama promised a new nonproliferation regime, along with "a structure in place that ensures when any nation [breaks the rules], they will face consequences." Whereupon the U.N. Security Council promptly failed to muster the votes for a resolution condemning Pyongyang's launch.
Now Kim Jong Il has tested another nuke, and we're back at the familiar three-step. Phase One: Propose a "structure." . . .
It was also in his Prague speech that Mr. Obama repeated his pledge to "confront climate change by ending the world's dependence on fossil fuels, by tapping the power of new sources of energy like the wind and sun."
Never mind that neither the wind nor the sun are new sources of energy. It so happens that the U.S. gets about 2.3% of its energy resources from "renewable" resources of the kind the president advocates while fossil fuels account for about 70%. The reason for this, alas, has nothing to do with the greed of the oil majors. But it has much to do with something known as "energy density": Crude oil has almost three times as much of it as switchgrass, supposedly the Holy Grail of our green future. A related problem is that heat invariably dissipates, meaning that it will always be difficult to turn diffuse sources of energy, like wind, into concentrated ones.
In Gnome-speak, then, Mr. Obama's energy policy goes something like this: Phase One: Inaugurate the era of "green" energy. Phase Two: Overturn the first and second laws of thermodynamics. Phase Three: Carbon neutrality!
Take any number of Mr. Obama's other initiatives. Rescue Detroit? Phase One: Set a national mileage standard for passenger cars of 39 miles per gallon and force auto makers to make the kind of cars that drove them to bankruptcy in the first place.
Reduce the deficit? Phase One: Approve $3.5 trillion in government stimulus, and then await the mythical Keynesian multiplier.
Pay for a $1.2 trillion health-care reform? Phase One: scrounge around for about $60 billion in new "sin tax" revenue.
Actually, we can easily guess how Mr. Obama intends to make up the difference on this last item: To wit, by taxing health benefits. Taxes, subsidies funded by taxes, regulations and mandates will also fill in many (though not all) of the other blanks. Underpants gnomes: meet Phase Two. Say, what happened to profits?

"I pledge..."

noreply@blogger.com (Amendment X) — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:48:00 +0000

I pledge to give President Obama the same level of respect as the left gave President Bush for eight years.
I pledge to give Sonia Sotomayor the same level of deference and critique as the left gave Sarah Palin, Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas.
I really do!

You're not broke enough, in debt enough, miserable enough or dead enough-yet

noreply@blogger.com (Amendment X) — Wed, 20 May 2009 12:59:00 +0000

Last night I was listening to the Community Organizer in Chief (COC),on the official Janet Napolitano certified radical right wing terrorists on Fox News, proclaim the virtues of new CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards. Afer hearing how the we should all be grateful to pay an average of $1300 more per vehicle (as per estimates-ya), the vehicles will be smaller (where do you put the kids?) plus a number of other great reasons we should declare 19 May a new national holiday in gratitude for the depth of experience and wisdom COC brings to us, the servile masses. What really caught my attention was this: A spokesman for the Washington Policy Institute said, regarding the vehicles that will be manufactured under the new CAFE regs, "More than likely, all the safety features that the buyer would like will not be available." Let that sink in.
According to a Heritage article, the National Highway traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that the CAFE standards have, over the past years, been responsible for the deaths of an additional 49,000 people. That translated into 7,700 lives for each mile/gallon (MPG) improvement. Again, that's just deaths. It does not not include the 100,000's of injuries, permanent pain and suffering, the disruptions of lives forever.
If we take the 7,700 lives lost in each MPG gained and extrapolate the ten MPG the Mandater in Chief proclaims, that means 77,000 of you are going to die. That includes children who can't read this blog entry. It does not include the, again, the 100,000's if not 1,000,000's of you who will be injured, many permanently. And of course, it will include the innocent children.
So, next time you meet someone who extols the virtue of CAFE and the "green" movement, first cite these statistics. Then ask them "How many people dying are acceptable to you? How many permanently scarred and painfully injured children are acceptable to you?"
I'd be interested in hearing what they have to say.

"...where no President has gone before!"

noreply@blogger.com (Amendment X) — Sun, 10 May 2009 17:44:00 +0000

From "Day by Day" from "No Runny Eggs" from an article (you need to read this one. Basically "another canary drops dead" posting) from "Hot Air" (There. I think that covers it all).