Vatican Goes Both Ways on Nature: It Blasts Nations for Not Agreeing to (Flawed) Global Warming Treaty, and It Blasts “Avatar” Movie for Promoting Nature Over Religion

It sounds to me like the Pope needs to fire some of his advisers when it comes to nature and develop a more coherent stand of where nature stands in regards to religion.  Because two conflicting stands have emerged from Vatican City in the last week.

One week ago the Vatican blasted the international community for not striking a deal on a global warming, saying that it was humanity’s responsibility to care for God’s creation. 

Yesterday, it blasted the James Cameron film “Avatar” for promoting worship of nature over that of religion. 

In my opinion, man-made global warming hubris has become part of the “religion” of worshipping nature.   So I am a little concerned that the Vatican has bought into the hubris, and isn’t doing more to cast the global warming discussion into its proper place.

If Pope Benedict XVI wants to make the Vatican more energy efficient and make the environment cleaner, and encourage the faithful to do the same to be better stewards in preserving God’s magnificent works, then so be it.  I like that idea.

But man-made global warming is a political creation, and a deeply flawed one at that too.  The Vatican shouldn’t be taking a side on this politics-based “science” that is as full of hot air as Al Gore is.   I would encourage the Vatican to clarify its position and to help correct the flaws in understanding what global warming truly is, and what it isn’t.

One other thing: the  kind of thinking that put forth the idea of man-made global warming came from liberals who reject the teachings of the Church, and religion in general.  Why, then, is the Church buying into this global warming hubris put forth by THOSE people??!   Global warming hubris is a FALSE religion.  And bad politics.  And REALLY bad science.

Democratic Double Standards are on Full Display for All to See: If a Republican Said What Harry Reid Said About Obama, The Dems Would Be Screaming for Someone’s Head on a Platter, Regardless of Apologies Made

More Democratic hypocrisy is on display in Washington over the racial double standard between themselves and the GOP.

Harry Reid is in hot water over his racist comments about President Obama during the 2008 elections.  He was quick to rush out an apology, and the President, the Democratic Party and the Congressional Black Caucus just as quickly accepted it.

We all know what would happen if a Republican made the same remarks.  There would be howls for him to resign coming in from the Democratic Party, the Congressional Black Caucus and in the media.  And they wouldn’t let the story die either, until the Republican resigned.

Where is that same righteous firestorm that consumed Trent Lott when he praised Strom Thurmand at his 100th birthday party in 2002?

Where is that same righteous firestorm that has attempted to consume Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Michael Savage, and other conservative personalities over their remarks that got a lot of bad press?

Where is that same righteous firestorm that  held Conrad Burns, Tram Hudson, and George Allen to account for their comments during the 2006 midterms?

Answer:It’s nowhere in sight.  It only applies to Republicans!

Here is a partial list of Democrats who made racist comments (from the Wall Street Journal) and the result:

"I am a former Kleagle [recruiter] of the Ku Klux Klan in Raleigh County. . . . The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia. It is necessary that the order be promoted immediately and in every state in the union."
Senator Robert Byrd (former KKK recruiter, famous for white n-word interview): Forgiven

"The Confederate Memorial has had a special place in my life for many years. . . . There were many, many times that I found myself drawn to this deeply inspiring memorial, to contemplate the sacrifices of others, several of whom were my ancestors, whose enormous suffering and collective gallantry are to this day still misunderstood by most Americans."
Senator Joe Webb : Forgiven

"Everybody likes to go to Geneva. I used to do it for the Law of the Sea conferences and you'd find these potentates from down in Africa, you know, rather than eating each other, they'd just come up and get a good square meal in Geneva."—Senator Hollings, 1993: Forgiven

"I do not think it is an exaggeration at all to say to my friend from West Virginia [Sen. Robert C. Byrd, a former Ku Klux Klan recruiter] that he would have been a great senator at any moment. . . . He would have been right during the great conflict of civil war in this nation."—Senator Dodd:  Forgiven

1. "You cannot go into a Dunkin' Donuts or a 7-Eleven unless you have a slight Indian accent."
2. "My state was a slave state. My state is a border state. My state has the eighth largest black population in the country. My state is anything [but] a Northeastern liberal state."
3. "I mean, you got the first mainstream African American [Barack Obama] who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice looking guy."
4. "There's less than 1% of the population of Iowa that is African American. There is probably less than 4% or 5% that is, are minorities. What is it in Washington? So look, it goes back to what you start off with, what you're dealing with." 
   Vice President Joe Biden: Forgiven

The double standard has never been more clear and more undeniable.  Senator Reid SHOULD be shown the door by his own party and the SAME standards should be applied to both parties.   If the Democrats are as committed to cultural understanding as they proclaim, they’ll get off their duffs and DO IT!

I’d also like to say that the Congressional Black Caucus has done more damage to their own cause than any other special interest group in Washington DC.  Their quick acceptance of Reid’s apology while refusing to hold the Democrats to account for ANY racial statements that they make while holding the Republicans to strict standards on ALL racial statements coming from their party isn’t helping the perception that’s evident.  The CBC’s goal of cultural harmony will never happen if they keep this up.

Enough of the hypocrisy, already!

Unconstitutional Measures in Current Health Care Reform Bill: Put an End to This Madness

Congress has taken it upon itself to start shredding the Constitution that they took an oath to protect, in the name of their health care reform bill. Other things are just plain wrong.

The list as I see it:

• Making the bill irreversible. They can’t do that; the Constitution is the supreme law of the land and trumps all bills. And I don’t see Congress trying to pass a Constitutional Amendment to make this happen. This is grounds for a constitutional challenge all by itself. Nothing is irreversible, by Constitutional standards.

• Mandating that people who don’t buy insurance go to jail. This is not the federal government’s call, as insurance is under the direct control of the states. This federal power grab is illegal; insurance is a reserved power for the states to regulate. Refer to Article I Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution.

• Forcing people to pay for abortion services is morally objectionable. I have no intention of paying for someone to get an abortion. For those who say senators are imposing their religious views on everyone, that’s only half the story. Those who support abortion rights are also trying to impose their views on everyone by forcing everyone to pay part of a premium to abortion services. Intolerable! They’re going to violate the rights of pro-life people to support their own.

• Congress is also preparing to exceed it’s taxation authority by imposing tax penalties on those who are not in compliance with their health care bill. The federal income tax should be dealing exclusively with taxing income. And they’re going to punish those who can least afford it too.

• The negotiations that have taken place thus far, including the Nebraska payoff, amounts to bribery for votes. The last time I checked, that’s a criminal offense. See references to “Bribery of Public Officials” for clarification.

• The numbers aren’t adding up. The Dems are double-counting savings throughout the bill, but with the type of numbers they’re trying to shovel under the carpet, it’ll add to the debt faster than it will pay it off. Add the sweetheart deals to Democratic senators that they’ve bought off (some $159 billion from the bribery), and you have a budget-wrecking proposal.

• Why are they targeting the system that pays for medical procedures, instead of limiting the amount that can be charged for medical procedures? I think they’re going about this business backwards.

• The economy is still a train wreck. We shouldn’t be going for expensive new federal programs until the economy is cleaned up and is on the move again. The current Administration needs to clean up it’s own act and quit blaming Bush. This health care bill is Obama’s baby, not Bush’s. And using Bush’s excesses is not a valid excuse for the Obama Administration to continue the trend. What Obama should have done was cut the federal budget as soon as he took office, to pay down Bush’s debt. Once that was dealt with, THEN he should have started making noise about health care reform.

More to follow. I think all the deals should be immediately rescinded to start with. And the numbers redone. And all the constitutionally objectionable stuff removed. And abortion services either banned, or made as an option that pro-life people can opt out of.

Then we’ll see how much support this health care bill actually has.

Health Care Reform Debate Needs to be on C-SPAN as Obama PROMISED: I Expect This to Be a Broken Promise

We’re seeing the broken promises of the Democrats and President Obama on full display in the health care debate.  Secret meetings, with no CSPAN cameras to get them on record.

The Democrats are terrified to have this promise fulfilled, as they may go from losing a lot of seats in November to losing a lot more.  By all means, throw the light of day onto these secret negotiations that are reminiscent of a  Soviet Politburo.

And the Attorneys General should file their lawsuit immediately to stop the unconstitutional measures found in this 2,000 page piece of crap.

More Proof of Global Warming: Record COLD in India, Britain, China, Russia, Germany, Austria, Mongolia and the Rest of the Northern Hemisphere…WHAT??!

The Northern Hemisphere is freezing it’s collective ass off.  Must be GLOBAL WARMING!!

If you still buy into the man-made global warming hubris, then I have some land in Florida that I’d like to show you.

People Need to Use Common Sense When Using GPS: Maps Are More Accurate in Larger Cities Than in Rural Areas

The Air Force denied that there was anything wrong with their GPS satellites in the story of a wayward couple that got lost when they followed their GPS unit’s instructions into the Oregon back woods.  And the Air Force is right.   The maps utilized by Garmin, Tom Tom, Magellan and other GPS companies are their responsibility, not the Air Force’s.

People need to use common sense when utilizing technology that gives them directions across the country.   I would not go into a desert simply because my GPS unit told me to do so.  I also wouldn’t jump off a bridge either, if it told me to do so.    They couldn’t tell that they were on an unmaintained road?  With over a foot of snow sitting on the road?  And no sign of civilization or people in at least twenty miles?  And all to save two minutes to get home?  They should have turned around and gone back on their original course.

At this stage, I would rate GPS accuracy at around 85-90% in metro areas, and 50-60% in rural areas.  It’s continually improving, but GPS units should have a label on the box that says “use with caution.”  And people should READ the warnings, too.

I’m glad that the couple in question got out safely, but they’re probably not going to be the last ones either, especially when sunspot activity resumes and electromagnetic interference in the atmosphere throws the GPS system off here and there.  Use with caution.

Firing Guns into Air to Celebrate New Year is UTTERLY Stupid: Kid Gets Hit By Bullet in Church That Was Fired By an IDIOT and Dies

I was on a mission this year, to catch my neighbor on video firing his shotgun into the air to ring in the New Year, but it didn’t happen as they moved out of the neighborhood.   I was just as happy to not get involved, but I was going to put a stop to that.

But a kid got hit by a bullet in Georgia at a midnight service and died not long after.  He was four years old. 

The bullet came through the roof as the midnight hour hit on January 1st, and some damn fool took his firearm outside and fired.   And the person firing probably forgot that that bullet had to come down somewhere.

This practice is illegal across the country, but people do it anyways.  If they find this person who's responsible for the killing of a four year old in a church, they should throw the book at/and make an example out of the person responsible, whether they were intoxicated or not.

Firing a bullet up in the air and not caring where it comes down…sheer insanity.

2010 Will Mark the End of the NASA Space Shuttle Program: Here’s to a Good NASA Year

The space shuttle fleet is scheduled for retirement in 2010, unless they extend the program a little longer so that there isn’t as much downtime between the Discovery’s final flight and the first operational flight of the Orion space vehicle. 

Here is the published schedule for the final five flights:

February 7—Space Shuttle Endeavour will “…deliver the final connecting node, Tranquility Node 3, and the Cupola, a robotic control station with six windows around its sides and another in the center that provides a 360-degree view around the International Space Station.”

March 18—Space Shuttle Discovery will “…carry a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module filled with science racks that will be transferred to laboratories of the International Space Station.”

May 14—Space Shuttle Atlantis will “…will carry an integrated cargo carrier to deliver maintenance and assembly hardware, including spare parts for space station systems. In addition, the second in a series of new pressurized components for Russia, a Mini Research Module, will be permanently attached to the bottom port of the Zarya module.”  This mission will be the final flight of the Atlantis.

July 29—Space Shuttle Endeavour will “…deliver an EXPRESS Logistics Carrier-3 (ELC-3) and an Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) to the International Space Station.”  This mission will be the last one for the Endeavour.

September 16th—Space Shuttle Discovery will “…deliver the Express Logistics Carrier 4 (ELC4), a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MLPM) and critical spare components to the International Space Station.”  This is the final scheduled mission for the space shuttle program. 

I hope all of these missions go off without a hitch.  I think it’s safe to say that if they lose another shuttle prior to the scheduled retirement of the fleet, they’ll ground the shuttles permanently and send the hardware up to the ISS by other means.

Two of the shuttles are being offered up as museum pieces; one museum has put in a request for the Endeavour that NASA is considering.

I hope everything goes off without a hitch.

$10,000 Reward for Killers of Salvation Army Major Offered: Killers Still on the Loose

A $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the two murderers who killed a Salvation Army major in front of his three children on Christmas Eve continues to grow.

So far there have been no arrests in this horrific crime.   Hopefully the police are closing in; it sounds like they’ve gotten some tips.

Dems Should Pay Attention to What Greece is Doing: Their Reckless Spending May Put Us Into the Same Situation

Greece is making massive cuts to their budget in order to get their debt problem under control.

I hope the Democrats in Congress and in the White House are watching what the Greeks are doing and are taking some notes.  It’s what we should be doing right now too.

Murder of Salvation Army in Front of His Children on Christmas Eve is Heartbreaking: Police Need to Get The Killers and FAST

I was sickened to learn of the murder of a Salvation Army major in front of his three children on Christmas Eve.

The two killers confronted the major and demanded money, then shot him in cold blood as his kids watched in horror.

I feel sick.

Raising the Debt Limit Every Few Months is Making Our Financial Situation Even Worse: Congress & Administration Need to Cut Their Spending Immediately

Congress and the President aren’t cutting their spending the way that they should be, and are making our debt load even worse.

They can’t be talking about turning their attention to cutting the debt after they pass health legislation.  They need to postpone their debt-exploding health care reform bill and address the debt NOW, before it’s too late.

For months they’ve been saying that the debt exploded under the Bush Administration.  That’s true, but that’s no excuse for continuing this very bad practice.   They came in promising to restore financial sanity to Washington; it hasn’t happened, and I have no confidence in the current Congress or Administration to fix THE biggest threat to our nation.

We will have to look to the next Congress and Administration to get us out of the mess that no current Democrat is interested in fixing, in the least.   They’re competing to get as much bacon as they can.  Revolting!

Copenhagen Conference is a Circus: They Have No Business Agreeing to Any Protocols Until They Get the Science Mess Straightened Out

The Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change--or whatever the hell it is that they’re calling it—is the largest gathering of global warming alarmists on the planet, and they have no legs to stand on.

Their data has been criminally tampered with by global warming supporters in the scientific community, and then destroyed, leaving no evidence behind other than an e-mail trail that someone forgot to erase.

All it is is a gathering of neo-communists, environmental wackos, and malcontents who don’t want to see the world as it is; they’d rather waste time and resources trying to stop a naturally occurring process instead of adapting to the situation and moving things forward.  And spend money on their own causes too.

A little more responsibility in planning for the future would go a lot further rather than trying to stop global warming, which is going to happen regardless of what the wackos in Copenhagen decide upon.  This is like trying to stop the sun from setting.   They can spend trillions of dollars trying to stop it, but it’s trillions of dollars that they could be setting aside to relocate entire cities and communities that will be flooded out in the next hundred years.

That entire conference is doing a pretty good job of blowing a lot of hot air around. But that’s all that they’re doing, as well as arguing about a bad plan that won’t work, and is based on sketchy science.  I think this conference is premature, and ill-considered, given what they’re up against.

They ought to get with the program.

NO to Raising the National Debt Ceiling: It’s Time to Cut the Budget and Use the Savings to Pay Down the Debt

Congress is preparing to raise the debt ceiling again to avoid defaulting on the debt.  No, no, NO!  Congress and the Administration need to cut their budgets and use the savings to PAY DOWN the debt, not add to it.

Adding another $1.8 trillion to the borrowing ceiling is way out of line.  This government has no business spending more money than it has.

I have little faith that this and  future administrations will have the discipline to reign in spending the way that they need to, before we’re presented with a bill that we have no way of paying, without adding more debt.

We also need to be able to tell China off without fear of China saying “no” to our borrowing requests.  This is a symbiotic relationship that must be changed.  The current Administration seems to want to avoid talking to China about it’s human rights record because we owe the Chinese SO much money.

Better start the cutting party!

Since Reid’s Compared GOP Efforts to Block Health Care Reform to Efforts to Block the Stoppage of Slavery, Here’s A Comparison for Reid in the Same Vein

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has made some more outlandish statements about his GOP colleagues and others trying to slow down the runaway health care reform train recently. In the statement, he said that those efforts were comparable to the efforts to prevent emancipation of the slaves before, during and after the Civil War.

He left out a VERY important fact on his statement.

It was the DEMOCRATS of that era who blocked the emancipation of the slaves, and resisted the 13th Amendment. Radical REPUBLICANS pushed through those changes and ended slavery. Some progressive Democrats joined the Republicans in ending slavery.

I would like to point out that no Democrat who favored slavery back then is alive today; that was then. Not today.

It should also be noted that in the more recent civil rights era, when they were trying to pass additional civil rights legislation (the 1964 Civil Rights Act), the Democrats filibustered the legislation for 83 days, and included a 14-hour speech by Senator Robert Byrd.

For Senator Reid to say something like this is more proof that he’s in over his head, and his runaway health care train is heading for a major derailment. And WHY should the Republicans be the ones to change their minds? He can’t even get his OWN party on board his runaway train.

I’m actually enjoying watching Reid and President Obama squirm.

MSNBC Desperation on Global Warming Continues to Show: Now They’re Running Old Stories as if They’re Breaking News

MSNBC has a “breaking news” item on their web site today: “Rising Ocean Levels Could Threaten Maldives.”

No duh!

This is a re-run of a story that has already been gone through by all the news organizations, and is already common knowledge.  According to MSNBC, they’re running the story in advance of the Copenhagen summit on global warming.

They should be reminding the summit that the Maldives WILL be underwater and that they will need help in relocating their entire population.   But no, MSNBC is dedicated to stopping the rise of the waters.   MSNBC needs to get real and face the facts as they ARE, not as they want them to be.  And so should the politicians and the news media who support a failed theory.

Former WWE Wrestler "Umaga" Dies at Age 36: Heart Attack Suspected

Another former WWE talent, "Umaga" Edward Fatu, passed away at age 36 on Friday at a Dallas-area hospital.

He had been battling a lot of the same demons that have claimed other professional wrestlers and was suspended by World Wrestling Entertainment in June after failing a drug test.

I still don't think that these wrestling organizations are doing enough to change the culture that says that their athletes have to have huge muscular bodies in order to be considered "successful" and that drug abuse, in any form, is bad for their employees, and bad for business. WWE has moved forward with it's Wellness Policy, but it doesn't account for the damage that many of these wrestlers had done to themselves years ago.

Look at Eddie Guerrero; the former WWE great had undergone major struggles, but conquered his demons and had been drug and alcohol free for years; but the damage had already been done and he passed away at age 38.

Road Warrior Hawk is another example. He had turned his life around too, but the damage had been done years before and it caught up to him. Hawk passed away at age 45.

These wrestler deaths seem to come in clusters. I hope this isn't the start of a new one.

May he rest in peace.

Michigan Snowbirds Need to be Counted as Michigan Residents for 2010: State May Have Already Lost 11% of Population in Last 3-4 Years

The Michigan government is asking Michigan snowbirds, or residents who go south for the winter, to fill out their census forms when they get mailed out in February or March.   They need to indicate that they are residents of Michigan on the forms, and not residents of Florida or Arizona, or wherever they go during the winter months. 

The government estimates that 200,000 snowbirds were counted as residents of other states during the 2000 census; as a result Michigan lost a Congressional seat and about $2 billion over the last ten years.

If the estimates are correct, and we’ve lost 11% of our population, the results will be devastating, with the loss of billions in federal aid, and the proportionate loss of representation in Congress.

Accuracy in the census and the addition of the snowbirds will stem the heavy loss of workers in our struggling state.

If you’re a Michigan snowbird, please read the following from the State of Michigan:

LANSING - Lt. Governor John D. Cherry, Jr. reminds Michigan residents who leave the state for warmer climates during part of the year, commonly referred to as snowbirds, to make sure they are counted in Michigan for the upcoming Census in 2010.  Every resident of the United States should be counted by the Census just once and in the correct state. 
"Michigan residents who spend a smaller portion of the year at a residence in another state should be sure to fill out the Census form for Michigan," said Lt. Governor Cherry.  "There are dramatic financial impacts to Michigan, and we need to be sure that our residents are counted here and not in another state."

Unfortunately, Census forms that will be mailed in March do not have clear instructions for people with more than one place of residence.  This runs the risk of many snowbirds being counted in the wrong state.

Michigan snowbirds should follow these guidelines:

1.  Zero should be entered on the Census form received at the second residence, as the number of people residing there, and the rest of the form should remain blank.  It is also a good idea to write "usual residence elsewhere" on the form so that the Census Bureau will know the reason for entering zero.

2.  If other individuals are occupying the home in Michigan while permanent residents are away, those completing the Census form should include the permanent residents.

3.  If no one is staying at the Michigan home, residents should wait until returning to Michigan to complete the Census form.  If a form hasn't been received, Census personnel will contact residents between May and July.

For each Michigan resident who is missed by the Census or who is counted in a different state, over $1,000 in federal funds that should be allocated to Michigan each year will be spent elsewhere. 

"Just missing one person in the Census means a loss of at least $10,000 in funds to Michigan over the course of a decade," added the lieutenant governor.  "We can't afford to not be counted."

Michigan has more snowbirds than many other states, with an average of 2.1 percent of Michigan's residents identified as part-year residents.  Most of Michigan's part-year residents have their permanent homes in Michigan and spend the smaller part of the year in another state, which means they need to be counted in Michigan.

Obama’s Afghanistan Plan Will Work Only if Taliban & al-Qaeda are Degraded and Afghan Military is Upgunned to the Point That Taliban Can Never Match Their Firepower

President Obama has decided to increase U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan to 100,000 in the next six months before beginning a staged pullout starting in mid-2011.  It looks like he has a target of a U.S. troop pullout before the next U.S. presidential election.

His goals are ambitious and not without a lot of risk.  There has to be progress on many fronts, including progress in stabilizing Afghanistan’s government, guaranteeing basic human rights, reducing corruption in government, controlling the drug trade, and building up their military to the point that the Taliban and/or al-Qaeda will not be able to defeat them in sustained battle.  That’s the key.

I’m not sure if Congress will play ball, though. The left wants no troop buildup, the right wants no timetable.  I disagree with both sides.  There should be a temporary surge, and they should be talking inside the Administration about a withdrawal date.  Whether that timetable should be made public is a different story. 

They should let the surge go forward, with full funding, then start pulling back depending on what’s happening on the ground.  And the Afghan government should be given the same deal as the Iraqi government has been given: fight your own battles.  And we should be providing the tools that they need to get the job done.  The Afghan Army should be the strongest military force in the country, not the Taliban and not al-Qaeda.  And the same thing goes for the Iraqi Army in Iraq.

We owe it to the soldiers who have died there to make sure that their sacrifice wasn’t in vain.  And to make sure that we won’t be back in either country in the future, retaking the same ground AGAIN that’s already been paid for in blood.

MSNBC Declares We’re “Losing” Battle on Global Warming: No We’re Not—Global Warming is Being Redefined More Accurately Now and They Don’t Like It

After days of refusing to carry any stories that covered the contamination of all the gloom and doom research that the global warming crowd has been quoting for years, MSNBC started crying about it with a story proclaiming that the battle over global warming is being “lost.”

In other words, their version of global warming is getting trashed in favor of a more accurate and reliable accounting of what global warming actually is—a naturally occurring phenomenon that has gone on MUCH longer than humanity has been around.  And will still be going on until the day the sun consumes the planet.

But I’m happy to see that they’re now talking about the inevitable changes that will be coming, instead of trying to stop the changes.   It’s about bloody time too.  We can no more stop global warming than we can stop the sun from setting. 

Now, Senator Boxer is crying about charging someone who exposed the global warming data manipulations (that we all knew was going on) with a crime to cover up her and her compatriots’ own crimes of collusion and abuse of power with regards to falsifying global warming data and trying to sell the public a boatload of crap. 

And it’s also interesting to note that the manipulated data has mysteriously been destroyed.  Perhaps Senator Boxer and Speaker Pelosi should investigate THAT.