MaxRedline

Reality And Religion

On the last day of her trip to East Asia, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke briefly of the place of human rights in American policy toward China. "Our pressing on those issues can't interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crisis."

In other words, the Left in America simply doesn't care.  They've come a long way since the days of Jimmy Carter and LBJ.  It's quite a slide.

Of course, we can't really push very effectively where China is concerned, as we need them to buy more American debt as The Won leads us into a grand new experiment in socialism.  Because we face crisis after crisis after crisis, the goody-two-shoes stuff needs to be moved not merely to the back burner, but completely away from the stove.

We have, after all, the "global climate change crisis" to deal with, and we all know how incredibly important that is.  It's right up there with the Temperance Movement of the early 1900's, in which an ever-growing chorus of well-intentioned do-gooders set about "saving the planet" from "demon rum".  Naturally, the only way to accomplish this was to pass laws aimed at restricting individual freedom, which of course culminated in the passage of the 18th Amendment.  This, it is now widely recognized, was a huge mistake which arose from a strong desire to save us all.  The boogyman then was demon rum; the boogyman now is carbon dioxide.  In any event, the effects are likely to be analagous.

Good intentions, pushed with religious fervor by True Believers, never yield positive results.  It's never been the case in the past, and it won't be the case now.  The stakes, however, are high: such opportunities to assert power and control over the lives of millions come along only rarely.  This is one such opportunity, and as Mrs. Clinton correctly estimates, it is not something to be diluted by trivialities like human rights.

People have had an urge to control the climate throughout history so I suppose it is no surprise that we are at it again today.  Sometimes the obsession for control of the climate got a bit out of hand, as in the Aztec state, where the local scientific/religious establishment of the year 1500 had long since announced that the debate was over and that at least 20,000 human sacrifices a year were needed to keep the sun moving, the rain falling, and to stop climate change. The widespread dissatisfaction of the people who were unfortunate enough to be the source of these sacrifices played an important part in the success of the Spanish conquest of Mexico.

Forget The Whales, Save The Dinosaurs!

The newest Consumer Reports ratings for auto reliability are out, and who do you suppose is at the bottom of the heap?  Give yourself a gold star if you guessed the two receiving $31 billion in bailout cash.

In December, GM and Chrysler were granted a total of $17.4 billion in federal loans to keep operating through the recession. GM is seeking another $16.6 billion in loans, while Chrysler wants another $5 billion.

These two companies clearly deserve to die.  They're noncompetitive, yet are being kept on life support to the tune of tens of billions of dollars that the USA doesn't have.  It's long past time to yank their feeding tubes.

This is something that American "leaders" simply don't seem to understand: it's un-American to prop up companies that can't or won't compete on equal footing in the marketplace.  It's best for the economy to let them die, as they should.  They'll be replaced by cutting-edge companies with the skill, agility, and vision to compete head-to-head.  Our government needs to quit messing around with natural selection; all they do is further foul the water.

More Leadership, Kulo-Style

In yet another demonstration of his great vision and leadership, Oregon governor Kulongoski has introduced House Bill 2186 - once again, following California's "example".  The bill allows DEQ to restrict and prohibit sale of after-market auto parts, including tires.  As is the case with almost every stupid regulation these days, the idea is to promote fuel efficiency in the name of reducing "greenhouse gas emissions".  Yes sir, little old Oregon is going to save the planet again.

If you look at studded tires, you immediately notice that they provide better traction and a higher degree of safety under winter driving conditions than do standard tires.  Better traction, however, equates to more friction - and that means less fuel efficiency.  Less fuel efficiency means more "greenhouse gas emissions".  And you know that whole mantra.

There's really no reason for any concern, though:

Andy Ginsburg, with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, said the bill has been the subject of substantial misinformation. Ginsburg said the bill only gives the state Environmental Quality Commission the authority to regulate tires and other aftermarket automotive products. In other words, the commission could choose not to regulate tires and other aftermarket automotive products.

The commission could choose not to regulate tires.  Has there ever been a time when, given the power to regulate something, any state agency has chosen not to regulate?

Boston Tea Party? Never Again.

Some folks over in the Heartland, around Cedar Rapids, Iowa, were planning to dump tea into the Cedar River in a tax protest.  That won't happen because state officials have classed tea as a "pollutant".

Tea, although natural and quite tasty, is considered a pollutant that can’t go into a body of water without a permit, said Mike Wade, a senior environmental specialist at the DNR’s Manchester field office.

“Discoloration is considered a violation,” Wade said.

Obviously, the folks behind the Cedar Rapids Tea Party are unclear on the concepts of oppressive government and protest.

And Speaking Of A Cold, Dead Anus...

Portland's so-called Mayor continues to gamely stay in the office he "won" by deceit, and the Portland City Council continues to do nothing.  Meanwhile, every week, citizens line up to tell Sam Adams to resign, and to chide the City Council for twiddling their thumbs.

Still, the farce grows in scope even as Sam and his pals attempt to downplay events.  In the latest installment, television station KATU reports that their request for public records from Sam's office was delayed, obfuscated, skirted, and otherwise hampered.

It all started weeks ago when the mayor issued a public apology over the scandal involving his relationship with a young intern. During the press conference, KATU requested Adams' phone, calendar and e-mail records from the spring of 2005, when the then city commissioner was developing a relationship with 17-year-old Beau Breedlove.

Eventually, the City quoted KATU a cost of $1.5 million (excluding legal fees) to retrieve the public records.  According to the Office of Management and Finance, it would take a single employee 10 years to get the records.  No word on how long it would take a married employee, or one involved in a civil union to pull the records.  Presumably, the City's single employees are all Sam wannabes; scouring the state in relentless pursuit of minor children to groom for sex.  You can see why it might take ten years to retrieve public records if you're doing it in your spare time.  The only other explanation that makes any sense involves the City using really slow computers (Osborne?  Atari?) for search and retrieval of records requested under the FOIA and state law.

Eventually, they were able to bargain the City down to around $195.00 for the documents (which still haven't been turned over, as of this moment).

Portland.  The City That Works (you over).

You Can Have My TP When Your Pry It From My Cold, Dead Anus

Like constipated curmudgeons on a crapper, greenies are really straining.  Their latest "outrage": American toilet paper is too soft, and wiping your backside with the stuff causes more harm to the environment than driving a Hummer.

Well, driving a Prius causes more harm to the environment than driving a Hummer, too - so what's the point?

That appears to be - once again - "greedy Americans are destroying the environment".  As usual, Americans should look to the progressive people of Europe and Latin America for guidance.  In Europe and Latin America, up to 40% of toilet paper comes from recycled products. 

"We have this myth in the US that recycled is just so low quality, it's like cardboard and is impossible to use," said Lindsey Allen, the forestry campaigner of Greenpeace.

Wait, what?  If the progressive people of Europe and Latin America are all so much better than Americans, then why, exactly, do they rush to enter our country - whether by legal means or otherwise?  Undoubtedly, a part of the equation hinges upon the toilet paper disparity.

In many European nations, a rough sheet of paper is deemed sufficient.  Yeah, and our grandparents used to rely on the Sears catalog.  So what?  Back in the day, corncobs and large leaves were used.  Try flushing catalog pages and corncobs with today's government-mandated "low-flow" toilets.  Even if you could manage to flush them, it's a sure bet that your local sewage treatment system would die of indigestion.  The "green" view of other people reminds me of an old "Dilbert" strip (click to see the whole thing):

So how important is the toilet paper outrage to the "greenies"?  Apparently, it's such a big deal that they feel completely comfortable with disseminating outright lies:

Although brands differ, 25 percent to 50 percent of the pulp used to make toilet paper in this country comes from tree farms in South America and the United States. The rest, environmental groups say, comes mostly from old, second-growth forests that serve as important absorbers of carbon dioxide, the main heat-trapping gas linked to global warming.

Um...sorry, but old forests are actually emitters of carbon dioxide.  Absorption and sequestering is a feature of young trees, not old trees.  Of course, this is a great argument in favor of selective harvesting and replanting - which is complete anathema to "greenies".  In their peculiar religion, it's a sin to cut down any trees - but cutting down older, carbon-emitting trees is doubly sinful.  Who knew that sins come in single- and two-ply?

Why Is The Burb Called "Beaverton"?

BEAVERTON

, Ore., Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Officials in Oregon said they are mulling their options to stop a beaver from flooding a body of water that shares his name, Beaverton Creek.

 

This is why we really don't need "officials".  They're simply clueless artifacts that for the most part, serve no useful purpose. 

 

Beaverton was inhabited by many beavers, long before it was drained and became a Portland suburb.  Now the critters are making a comeback, and this is a problem?

 

Beavers build dams.  They're good at it.  Doesn't mean you can't get involved.  You can maintain a lower water level quite easily - and inexpensively - so that you and your beavers can be good and peaceable neighbors.

 

Go to a hardware shop and buy some pvc tube and some 90-degree elbows.  Buy an axe, and pick up some poultry netting.

 

With the axe, chop a set of channels in the beaver dam sufficient to drop the backed-up water to a level you're comfortable with.  Into each channel, place a 12-foot length of pipe with an elbow attached, so that the elbow faces downward in the backed-up water behind the dam.  You may want to secure the pipes with twine, or something.

 

Come evening, the beavers will be drawn to the sound of flowing water and will quickly repair the dam, sealing the channels.  Now you have a self-regulating beaver dam, as the pipes you laid in have become part of the dam.

 

If you just lay in pipes, the beavers will identify them as something to be plugged.  The elbows, pointing downward, are something beavers  don't get.  The elbows allow water to be removed via the pipes, but don't generate the current that the beavers rely upon to determine the best patching strategy.  Result: peaceful coexistence.

 

That poultry netting you bought?  Use it to wrap trees to a height of at least three feet above ground level.  You'll only need one layer per tree.  Beavers don't like poultry netting.

More Bad News For The Man-Made Global Warming Crowd

Scientist: Global Warming Evidence, Claims Exaggerated

Scientific literature, which Michaels said should present an equal distribution of positive and negative conclusions about climate change trends, is overwhelmingly pessimistic, Michaels said.

This phenomenon can be partially attributed to the "small inbred community" of scientists who peer review global warming research, he said.

Japanese Commission Challenges UN: Global Warming Not Man-made

A Japanese energy commission released a report last month challenging the supposed international consensus that man is responsible for warming the planet while claiming that climate modeling -- the questionably accurate process of predicting the future so key to Nobel Laureate Al Gore's myth -- is immature and akin to ancient astrology.

Good grief!  Haven't they heard that the science is in?  Obviously, Bill Bradbury's got his work cut out for him.  Hardly a week goes by without a story of yet more scientists abandoning the Anthropogenic Global Warming religion, and if this sort of thing is allowed to continue, it's going to become much more difficult to bring your lifestyle under proper governmental control.  It's not about climate - it's about sales.

 

The Unnecessary "Stimulus"

As mentioned previously, things are starting to look up for the US economy, and for reasons totally unrelated to any Big Government moves.  MarketWatch has been tracking indicators, and among other things, they note that retail sales rose last month - for the first time since June 2008.  Pending and actual sales of homes also began to bounce back.

Yet despite the empirical data, what have you been hearing for the last month?  It's been a constant mantra of "crisis" and "catastrophy" - in one speech, President Obama used the term, "crisis" more than two dozen times.

What ever happened to "hope'n'change"?  It sure sounds like the same old fear and loathing. 

Illinois Politics Shadows Hang On

No. 2 U.S. Senate Dem Dick Dustbin called for noob Illinois Senator Burris to resign.  Burris replied, "I got yer resignation right here".

Emerging from the hour-long private meeting with Durbin, Burris looked a bit shaken and inexplicably said he was under orders not to comment, other than to say the session was a "great discussion."

Dustbin emerged looking shaken, down.  Welcome to Illinois politics, Dick.