The American Spectator : It's Not Easy Being Green

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It’s Not Easy Being Green

By W. James Antle, III on 4.24.09 @ 6:08AM

The Obama administration is blowing smoke about how many jobs its environmental agenda will create.

In Barack Obama’s America, there are no costs and benefits. There are only “false choices” that must be avoided lest we fall into the dangerous trap of old thinking. We can increase deficit spending and improve budgetary discipline, expand health care funding and reduce costs, and pay for social programs unimagined by LBJ with the tax rates of Bill Clinton.

Such characteristically hopeful thoughts were on display this week during the president’s Earth Day remarks. Speaking at a wind turbine tower plant that was once the site of a Maytag factory, Obama declared, “The choice we face is not between saving our environment and saving our economy — it’s a choice between prosperity and decline.”

The answer, my friends, is blowin’ in the wind. The president said that wind power could provide a fifth of the nation’s electricity by 2030, with the added benefit of providing 250,000 jobs. And that’s not all: All told, Obama touted up to 5 million “green jobs” that will make environmental protection pay for American workers.

Green jobs are said to eliminate one of those false choices the president is always warning against: a debate that pits environmentalists, with their regulations and government programs, against workers and taxpayers. Public investments in renewable energy sources are supposed to create new high-wage jobs for Americans that can never be shipped overseas.

Unfortunately, the laws of economics cannot simply be repealed and benefits still do come at a cost. A study (pdf) by Gabriel Calzada, an economics professor at Juan Carlos University in Madrid, found that for every green job created with taxpayer money in Spain over the last eight years, 2.2 other jobs were destroyed. Worse, only a tenth of the new green jobs ended up being permanent.

Obama has included Spain in his list of countries that are “surging ahead of us, poised to take the lead in these new industries.” The Calzada study also holds up Spain as a prime example of the green jobs approach — “No other country has given such broad support to the construction and production of electricity through renewable sources” — but comes to a very different conclusion: that the large numbers of green jobs that were projected in Spain and are now being promised in the United States will not materialize.

But what about the competing studies that predict radically different results? One such report claims that $100 billion for green stimulus would produce 2 million jobs in the next two years. Another says that the green jobs are already booming.

In March, researchers from four different American universities released a report entitled “The Seven Myths of Green Jobs” examining the methodology behind green jobs-boosting studies. What they found was that this research frequently failed to apply a consistent definition of what constitutes a green job, tended to count aggregate numbers of people collecting a paycheck rather than net job growth figures, and often used shaky economic models that relied on dubious assumptions.

Andrew Morris, a study co-author and professor of law and business at the University of Illinois, told TAS that the rush to fund green jobs had something in common with the financial crisis. “We saw people making a large leverage bet with other people’s money without a lot of due diligence,” Morris says. “Once again we are borrowing money with not enough attention being paid to underlying strategy.” And in some cases, with a definition of a green job that “isn’t coherent.”

Morris complains that the case for green-jobs optimism is too often built on “predictions made on very small base numbers” with “estimates derived from other statistics by interest groups.” “What we really need,” Morris says, “are net job calculations.” He cautions that these studies tend to assume “very large multiplier effects” when “all the experience we have suggests that these multiplier effects are exaggerated or overstated.”

These concerns have been echoed by some members of Congress. In a Thursday afternoon conference call about the coming cap-and-trade bill, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) recalled that Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson was eager to talk about the jobs the Obama administration’s emissions-reduction plans would create until asked to clarify how she arrived at her figures.

“Can you quantify how you will create these jobs?” Scalise said he inquired. “She said she’s not a jobs expert and can’t quantify the jobs. When you ask them to back it up, they can’t give you anything that will back it up.”

Renewable energy sources may be the wave of the future, but green jobs cannot turn a cap-and-trade plan into a cost-free panacea. No less an authority than public television teaches that it’s not easy being green. Some things hope can’t change.

topics:
Environment

About the Author

W. James Antle, III, author of the new book Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped?, is editor of the Daily Caller News Foundation and a senior editor of The American Spectator. You can follow him on Twitter @jimantle.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (107) | Leave a comment Leave a comment

David Mathews | 4.24.09 @ 7:01AM

The above article is pure bunk from the very beginning:

* "In Barack Obama's America, there are no costs and benefits. "

The American people have been told numerous times that sacrifices are necessary if they wish to maintain the planet in a state of health compatible with the survival of civilization.

Green jobs are especially important because the fossil fuels are all subject to depletion: Oil, coal and natural gas are all finite and exhaustible. If Americans and the rest of humankind chooses to rely exclusively upon the fossil fuels our species will eventually run out of energy and lose everything.

The automobile, for example. Back before the depression began oil reached $147 a barrel and gasoline was $4 a gallon. This should have served as a warning to Americans that the oil age is nearing its end but Americans are nearly as wasteful now as they were before.

A civilization which refuses to adapt to scarcity will collapse and cease to exist.

CS Lewis| 4.24.09 @ 7:32AM

DM or Dumb Man...
You're comments are pure Bunk!

stu.b.con| 4.24.09 @ 7:38AM

To fellow travelers, don't waste your time attempting to present actual facts, cogent argument, or an adult opinon to l'il davey. I have followed this nitwit's posts for the past 2 months and he will NEVER acknowledge or respect your facts and opinions, preferring to stick with adolescent attacks and chicken little squawking. Maybe he will take his toys back to the huffpo/daily kos sandbox if we ignore him. He is a jack ass of the first order.
p.s. davey: mom called and your cream of wheat is ready

jjones| 4.24.09 @ 7:39AM

A civilization that imposes false scarcity in the name of radical environmentalism will collapse and cease to exist.

Pingback| 4.24.09 @ 7:40AM

It’s Not Easy Being Green links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…but green jobs cannot turn a cap-and-trade plan into a cost-free panacea. No less an authority than public television teaches that it’s not easy being green. Some things hope can’t change. Read More Share and Enjoy: Related posts: Missouri’s doubly green sales tax holiday Helping folks save a few bucks while saving the planet... CTJ Study on Progressivity Says CBPP Criticism of Tax Freedom Day…

David Mathews | 4.24.09 @ 7:48AM

Hello jjones,

* "A civilization that imposes false scarcity in the name of radical environmentalism will collapse and cease to exist. "

False scarcity?

If the scarcity is false why were all the uneducated Newt Gingrich - Sarah Palin cultists chanting "drill, Drill, DRILL!" during the campaign because America seemed to not have enough oil to burn in its SUVs?

David Mathews | 4.24.09 @ 7:49AM

Helo stu,

* "To fellow travelers, don't waste your time attempting to present actual facts, cogent argument, or an adult opinon ... "

This is an ironic claim coming from the Fox News - Talk Radio crowd. Evidently all the educated adults have left the Republican party.

stu.b.con| 4.24.09 @ 7:52AM

I rest my case

Pecos Pete| 4.24.09 @ 8:14AM

I think it is a sure bet that Congress and the Obama Administration will go over the green cliff with all bugles blowing. Thus, the question is: What follows when the promised benefits do not appear?

Obviously the USA is about to undergo tremendous shifts in economic reality causing much higher energy costs that will then create much higher costs for all products: food, clothing, housing, entertainment.

Can anyone spell i n f l a t i o n? Roaring, that is.

stmich(DenierBoy)rick| 4.24.09 @ 8:18AM

Mr David GlobalMathews;

Were the original Earth Day enthusiasts wrong about the coming Ice Age?

Oh my.

Melvin| 4.24.09 @ 8:22AM

Thought for the day and everyday...Since the politicians do not want to adhere to the Constitution of the United States. Then why do we have to adhere to the laws of the politicians?

Darin| 4.24.09 @ 8:29AM

David Mathews,
How, exactly, are you personally serving the "green" movement? Do you walk everywhere (no bicycle as that requires oil)? No electricity for heat or cooling (including cooking and refridgeration)? A well in your backyard with a bucket on a string (water pipes have to be buried, requiring a backhoe, and thus diesel fuel)? An outhouse? Makes me wonder how you justify having electricity and Internet access to post your drivel. My guess is you're more of an Al Gore type - do what I say, not what I do.

And when you refute, please provide SPECIFICS on how you, personally, live the "green" life. Note that any and all "non-green" elements will be labeled as hypocritical (including the fact that you can even post a response, meaning you use energy for electricity and Internet access). If you're not going to live it, don't preach it.

David Mathews| 4.24.09 @ 8:29AM

Hello Pecos,

You Fox watching idiot. You need to start getting your info from someone reliable like Keith Olberman or Bill Maher!

David Mathews| 4.24.09 @ 8:31AM

Oh Darin,

You misguided rube. Janeane Garafalo says you guys are racists. Oprah says Obama is the greatest! Stop watching Fox and get some real information.

David Mathews| 4.24.09 @ 8:39AM

BTW Darin, don't try to use your conservative logic on me. I've got no answers only insults and hypocracy.

Darin| 4.24.09 @ 8:44AM

David Mathews| 4.24.09 @ 8:39AM
BTW Darin, don't try to use your conservative logic on me. I've got no answers only insults and hypocracy.

As I suspected, another useless idiot.

President One Term | 4.24.09 @ 9:06AM

Obamadinejad is really racing to the bottom. Any libtard like him could commit any heinous crime and still the leftards ---like some ugly fat dateless moron masquerading as DM---would still vote for him.

Watch as he loses more R's and Independents.
Independents like National Security, less taxes, less government overall. P*** them off and he's toast and oats.

The WSJ this morning had a very revealing article about Dem congress critters who are OPPOSED to Cap and Kill.

President Oprah will then have the "O" mean One---as in term.

I really believe the leftards are still angry and hang out here because they know that since he has gone back on EVERY campaign promise, people will remember and neuter him in '10 and 12. Well---maybe not neuter----Michelle has his cojones in her pocket. Actually, stomped and thrown away.

And since we witnessed he doesn't have a pair standing next to Hugorilla Chavez, the world is laughing.

He is largely a joke around the world. My brother has been to China, Singapore, Denmark, Japan and Brazil in the last three months.

He met with the HU Jintao's nephew back in March and the nephew told my brother they think Obama is a joke----not making this up!

Read NYT----he is loved around the world!

Read the WSJ----they are VERY kind in the way they describe how foreign leaders really view the N*T-less whack job.

No ***bagging for Obama---he's got none!

Gill O'Teen| 4.24.09 @ 9:09AM

obumassiah said on last year’s campaign trail that his cap and trade plan would bankrupt anyone seeking to build a coal powered plant. Such plants are used to generate electricity. Electricity is essential to the U.S. economy. he implied that his policies will cause the price of electricity to skyrocket, but at least your taxes won’t increase if you’re not in the unlucky fifth percentile. He has received approval from his sycophantic congress for some sort of National Security Force. I suppose that by issuing this farce chartreuse shirts instead of the more uusual brown, these would qualify as “green” jobs. As I understand it T. Boone Pickens’ favorite future source of energy, oil being so old fashioned, requires a constant supply of aeolian currents. I suggest that a large wind turbine farm be constructed along 1.2 miles of Washington D.C.’s Pennsylvania Avenue. I understand there is sufficient hot air there to meet the entire world’s demand for electricity constantly at least until Armageddon if not beyond.

Carpenter| 4.24.09 @ 9:31AM

Don't be so rough on David Matthews: aside from the fact that adults shouldn't waste their time arguing with ignorant and mischievous children, DM serves a useful purpose in revealing the base lack of knowledge and reliance on ad hominem taunts that so inhabit modern liberal political thought. Enlightenment liberals would be ashamed.
So who elected Obama? The un-educated, un-informed, un-interested indolent like our friend David (see Pew Research for evidence: http://people-press.org/report/504/knowledge-update ), who want to make an easier life for themselves, while maintaining the pretense of virtue.

Bill| 4.24.09 @ 9:40AM

This article is spot on. The idea that you can have a net job increase by placing constraints on energy use defies logic. Every engineer and mathematician knows that an additional binding constraint to an optimization problem can only result in a poorer outcome.

It makes perfect sense that placing a constraint on cheap energy reduces the output of the economy. For every visible green job produced there will be "invisible" non-green jobs destroyed. After wages adjust down (assuming the new unionized labor force permits that), those jobs will return - but the end result will be a lower standard of living for all.

Obama rhetoric implys that he can defy the very laws of economics. That is not going to happen.

If Americans are willing to see their standard of living reduced for CO2 reductions that is their choice, however, it seems to me that we ought to be honest about the trade-offs so people can make a fully informed decision.

stmich(DenierBoy)rick| 4.24.09 @ 10:05AM

Mr David GlobalMathews;

Was Paul Ehrlich (The Population Bomb)wrong about mass starvation by century's end caused by overpopulation.
My liberal professors in college didn't think so.

Oh my

Michael Tomlinson| 4.24.09 @ 10:36AM

It's not hard being Green if you're Red. Thanks Mr. Antle for such an informative article it should be mandatory reading for all members of the Obama administration.

Curtis Rasmussen| 4.24.09 @ 10:57AM

Ignore DM. His inane outbursts will soon disappear, making replies less comprehensible.

Let the market dictate green technology. The problem with wind and solar is the cost is higher than existing technologies. If California mandates that green technology be implemented, then the costs will be passed from business to the consumer along with higher electricity bills. Who will make short term profits? Moving companies as people bail out of California.

Pingback| 4.24.09 @ 11:04AM

Topics about Bcon » Archive » The American Spectator : It's Not Easy Being Green links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

Archive » The American Spectator : It's Not Easy Being Green Topics about Bcon The American Spectator : It's Not Easy Being Green Posted in Bcon Topics on April 24th, 2009 W. James Antle, III placed an observative post today on The American Spectator : It's Not Easy Being Green Here’s a quick excerpt stu.b.con| 4.24.09 @ 7:38AM. To fellow travelers, don’t waste your time…

Dustoff| 4.24.09 @ 11:10AM

Windmill problems

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/home/contentposting.aspx?newsitemid=CTVNews/20090422/wind_farms_090422&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True

Dustoff| 4.24.09 @ 11:48AM

This will drive the lebs nuts.
(Rasmussen report)

Friday, April 24, 2009
For the first time since Barack Obama was elected president last November, more than half of U.S. voters (53%) say it is at least somewhat likely that the next occupant of the White House will be a Republican. Thirty-one percent (31%) say it is Very Likely.

dnha14| 4.24.09 @ 12:56PM

The new "green" legislation (Waxman/Markey) is a true abomination. Here is a link to the text http://greenhellblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/waxmanbill.pdf

Among this drivel is the following:

‘‘(h)(1) The persons authorized by subsection (a) to commence an action under this section shall include any person who has suffered, or reasonably expects to suffer, a harm attributable, in whole or in part, to a violation or failure to act referred to in subsection (a).{of the Clean Air Act}

So, if someone even thinks they might be affected in the future, they can sue.

‘‘(2) For purposes of this section, the term ‘harm’ includes any effect of air pollution (including climate change), currently occurring or at risk of occurring, and the incremental exacerbation of any such effect or risk that is associated with a small incremental emission of any air pollutant (including any greenhouse gas as defined in title VII), whether or not the effect or risk is widely shared.

"small incremental emission of any air pollutant"

So this clause basically says, if I am grilling some burgers on my charcoal grill and my neighbor is offended, I can be sued.

I know THEY will say that is not the intent, but read the words. This bill is so vague and porous that a hybrid could drive right through. There's a lot to be said for attempts to reduce our footprint and our pollution levels, but Draconian is not the way. Representatives Waxman and Markey need to report immediately to Room 101 for re-education. Who actually writes this crap, anyway?

Gill O'Teen| 4.24.09 @ 1:07PM

dnha14, what if blarney fwank breaks wind within 500 miles of anywhere? Oops! I forgot, he's in congress so will no doubt be exempt from any rules dictated to us peasants.

IMKessel| 4.24.09 @ 1:22PM

Dylan said it better than I can:

"Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your mouth/Blowing down the backroads headin south.
Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth/ Youre an idiot, babe.
Its a wonder that you still know how to breathe."

Apply to parties as you see fit.

ron| 4.24.09 @ 1:22PM

The last time I bought gasoline it was $2.06 per gallon. If it were $15.00 per gallon, then I might agree with you that petroleum was a scarce commodity.

There is still a lot of fossil fuel to be used. When it becomes trully scarce then the alternate sources of energy will be used.

Let economics work and not socalist thinking prevale.

Marc Jeric| 4.24.09 @ 1:34PM

That retarded name-calling a**hole David is infecting this site again. He must a retired union goon with a lot of time on his hands.
As for Obama's windmills - that reminded me of my travels through Castilla Vieja in Spain, with its ancient "molinos a viento" that Don Quijote was attacking in medieval ages to please his Dulcinea and increase his fighting fame.

Stan Redmond| 4.24.09 @ 1:46PM

Not specifically responding to David Matthews' statement but the statement in general because if is a widely used argument for "green energy."

"Oil, coal and natural gas are all finite and exhaustible. If Americans and the rest of humankind chooses to rely exclusively upon the fossil fuels our species will eventually run out of energy and lose everything. " -David Matthews

America alone has an unimaginable supply of cheap coal which won't run out for hundreds of years. Oil, while it is a finite resource is still cheap and plentiful for another couple generations at least. DM himself argues that habits changed when gasoline hit $4 a gallon. That is the perfect answer to the scarcity argument. The MARKET, ie individual people and companies, will decide what price we are willing to bear and will change our consumption and production accordingly. Companies and entreprenuers will invent new ways to stretch our energy resources and invent new technologies to replace old technology. Government forcing changes that no one wants does not work. There is amazing stubbornness by environmentalists and government pols to allowing PEOPLE decide for themselves.

Furthermore the green jobs claims are pure fantasy. Windmills and solar DON'T WORK without massive subsidies and traditional electricity sources to back up their failures to produce reliably. And forcing the changes that no one is willing to pay for will lead to energy shortages and EXPENSIVE electricity rates. This green hoax is a perfect storm or high cost and a bubble that will pop loadly and painfully and of course, women and minorities will be hardest hit. Notice too China has been buying up the world's copper. We will be buying artificially expensive copper and aluminum for all these useless windmills while China laughs all the way to the euro. Obama's projection of costs and jobs that "can never be shipped overseas" will explode when China will be producing the wires and end products that we will be forced to buy at 10 times today's costs. That $200 billion? Try 2 trillion dollars more floating in to the hands of the Chinese to produce these "green" jobs for Obama. And China will laugh histarically as they produce copper wires and aluminum cables using cheap electricty produced by a coal fired power plant. All so we can ensure a few politicians and ignorant voting block can sleep better knowing they have a lower carbon footprint.

So in summary. We here in obama's green fantasy land, with the world's most innefecient and expensive electricity rates in the world with a devistated mining industry, will shift our "carbon footprint (bunk)" along with manufacturing businesses to China. But heck, we'll sure feel warm and fuzzy.

WAKE UP DAVID!!!

Tim| 4.24.09 @ 1:47PM

Dave Matthews,
How are you powering your computer that you use to spew your talking points provided to you by algore? Wind power? solar? flowers and love? I suspect it is coal or nuclear power, two forms of energy that you tree huggers abhore.
You're a phony and a hypocrite, just like the rest of the enviro-terrorism movement.

Big Leo| 4.24.09 @ 2:11PM

I collect comics used as propaganda, from Chicom praises of Mao to Green hype . My favorite? Debbie and Donnie in Sardineland, about the Maine sardine industry. The funniest are the Green comics of the early seventies on, which predict (with copious scientific footnotes) widespread famine in Europe by 1990, a depletion of virtually all mineral resources by 1985 and ALL petroleum by 2000. The anti-nuke ones are even funnier, promising imminent doom at any time from nuclear plants. And of course, the scientific consensus on global cooling. My collection is pretty comprehensive and reflects forty years of green lunacy. What is significant is that NOT ONE of their predictions has ever come true. NOT ONE. As in none. So why would anyone with any memory at all, or any sense of history, believe them now? The best argument they can give is "We've always been wrong, but we have it right this time."

JeffW| 4.24.09 @ 2:14PM

If wind and solar are so great and dependable how come after 20 years of goverment subsidies (solar at least) that they still have such a long way to go?

Oh wait, I get it. That's because no one wants to buy it, therefore it is capitalism's fault, hence capitalism is evil. Now I understand where the watermelons (Green on th outside, red in the middle) are coming from.

IMKessel| 4.24.09 @ 2:15PM

(Responding to post from Reader Mail 4.23.09. Please excuse the interuption.)

Guisepi,

Well met. Unlike some posters who only throw trash, you offer suggestions. Reading over your piece, we have more agreement than disagreement.

The market is capable of ever expanding because man has an infinite imagination. Today, and maybe for the next fifty or hundred years, we may have only this planet for our resources, but man has always, in time, learned to expand his capacity past the restrictions of his environment. Maybe the master of science fiction, Robert Heinlein, has influenced me beyond the point of being rational, but the stars are also our home. I may not live to see the day, but I have every expectation that my grandchildren will live off planet.

Prophets of doom have said that man will exploit Mother Earth and die off for quiet some time. Malthus and company so far have been discredited. Newton’s law of conservation of matter still holds true, but man has expanded the manner and methods by which we do transform and use matter and engery.

If capitalism will protect the environment, what system do you propose?

Your argument regarding man’s disconnect from the planet is a cogent one, and I thank you for your thoughtfulness, but the disconnectedness does not arise from capitalism; it is an ontological problem. Capitalism can help people connect locally to the world, and through this connection, create an opportunity to connect globally, but since the problem is not a capitalist problem, as you suggest,further connections will be needed via other methodologies.

In your discourse, you argue against acting in one’s self-interest. “It is not a course of pitting one man's self-interest against another (capitalism), it is a course of consciously shifting our view into the realm where we can purposefully act both in selfish and selfless ways (too much of either is bad for other or bad for self).”

Acting “selfishly” is never a wise choice; it is counter to one’s long term interests. Acting selfishly, pursuing a short term gain over long term interests, has been shown to be illogical by greater minds than mine. (Aristotle, Freud and Rand are but a few who make highly intelligent arguments for pursuing long self-interest.) Further, acting against self-interest is also highly illogical, but one has to be able to understand self-interest before one acts with intelligence on pursuing said interests.

You write, “Act out of compassion for people on a regular basis. Try out the 'gift economy,' which, simply stated, is giving without anything expected in return.” Kant wrote that man’s highest interest in entering heaven, even if he denies a belief in God. As the good book states in red letters, “As you have done to the least of men, you have done unto me.” Therefore, any kindness done is in my own self-interest. If one wishes to put aside heavenly gains and acknowledge only a material world (be one a communist or Objectivist), doing kindness still would have a positive effect on the me, either directly, in that I enjoy doing kindness, or indirectly, as you suggest, “Try out the 'gift economy,' which, simply stated, is giving without anything expected in return. You know what happens when you do this? The people you give to start giving to other people, and that goes on and on, and people gift to you and you gift to more poeple, [sic] etc.”

Again, we agree more than not, but as stated this problem is not one of scarcity or capitalism. Mother Earth has been good to us; being kind in return is moral, ethical and in our own self-interest.

Be well, sir.

Mike Keller | 4.24.09 @ 3:00PM

Jobs are created by making energy more affordable, which allows businesses to produce goods and provide services at a lower cost which increases the demand, therby creating more wealth for all. "Green energy" does the exact opposite.

An example of making energy more affordable -- see www.hybridpwr.com

Melvin| 4.24.09 @ 3:33PM

People, we still hold the ultimate power. All we have to do is stop working and buying for a predetermined amount of time the politicians lose the ability to extract fees, and taxes from us.
Tax revenue is the life force of every politicians and bureaucrat.
Let the liberals fund their own programs, the producers just need to stop working and overload the social services system to the point of governmental collapse.

Terry| 4.24.09 @ 3:43PM

" . . . were all the uneducated Newt Gingrich - Sarah Palin cultists . . "

" . . all the educated adults have left the Republican party . . . "

"You Fox watching idiot. You need to start getting your info from someone reliable like Keith Olberman or Bill Maher . . . " (no one could write that with a straight face)
"Janeane Garafalo says you guys are racists. Oprah says Obama is the greatest!"

I believe that one should ignore a baiter. Typically, a liberal will resort immediately to insults as opposed to a reasoned argument. At times he began to sound like he was a leftist only sarcastically, but whatever . . .

Pat| 4.24.09 @ 3:49PM

The human brain on Mother Earth drugs is a curious thing. You, the druggie, are grateful for life and the spectacular beauty of Nature but whom do you thank for such wonders? You've been told, and for what seems like forever, that God is dead, so you choose instead to worship the Earth, Gaia, the Goddess of the Druids; however and in whatever guise you see her.

Your theology compels you to action, so you cut a deal with the politicians. You offer them what they want most, namely Power. In return, you ask of Power a boon. Make the People do what's in their own best interest for the good of all.

Power isn't interested in souls, but bureaucracies staffed with thousands of bored slaves and a high prestige job as Under Secretary of Something or the Other sounds appealing. But how to sell the idea so the peasants don't revolt - which is always a worrisome problem with peasants.

Fear would work - the Earth is getting colder and we're all gonna die can suffice for a little while. Then the Earth is getting warmer and we're all gonna die works for a little while longer. As the Earth (bless her sacred name) turns, the variations on the Fear approach are almost endless.

So, Power speaks truth to the peasants, the Media, wearing those little pleated skirts, leads the cheers for Power, Love works for the worshippers and Fear works for the rest of us. Mysterious, indeed, are the ways of Mother Earth.

Carbonicus| 4.24.09 @ 4:49PM

Hello Dave Matthews.

What is the evidence that proves that "unless America makes this sacrifice that if they wish to maintain the planet in a state of health compatible with the survival of civilization"? Not computer model predictions, Dave, where's the evidence?

Where's the evidence of resource scarcity, Dave? Thomas Malthus told us the scarcity would ensue in 1798 because population grew geometrically and food production grew arithmetically. He predicted famine and the death of millions by starvation because of this math. Only it didn't happen.

The Club of Rome told us we would run out of oil by the 1990's. And we didn't. In fact, there are a greater number of years of known reserves today, even WITH the increase in global consumption, than there were when the Club of Rome made their flawed prediction.

PBO's National Science Advisor, John Holdren, assisted Paul Ehrlich, (who wrote The Population Bomb in 1978 that basically predicted the same thing as Thomas Malthus almost 200 years earlier) in picking the 5 metals that were the basis of the famous bet between Ehrlich and John Simon on resource scarcity Ehrlich had predicted. Ten years later, every single metal Holdren and Ehrlich picked had gone down in price, both in real dollar and inflation adjusted dollars. Ehrlich lost bad, Simon won.

John Holdren himself predicted in the 80's that 2 billion people would die by 2020 because of global warming (among MANY other famous eco-apocalypse predictions he made). How many have died from global warming so far, Dave?

In short, every prediction made by "environmentalists" about resource scarcity so far has been proven wrong. Every one. So, where your evidence, Dave?

You obviously underestimate human ingenuity and how it interacts with the basics of economics, using history as proof. So, I'll make it easy for you, Dave. The stone age didn't end for lack of stones. The age of horse and buggy didn't end for lack of horses or buggies. And the oil age won't end for lack of oil.

You, my misinformed, agenda-driven friend, are an eco-socialist, plain and simple. You are a watermelon. Green on the outside and red on the inside. And your day is coming.

ginsocal| 4.24.09 @ 5:35PM

People-Dave is engaging in satire, albeit not very well. Look it up.

Gill O’Teen| 4.24.09 @ 5:54PM

Far out, dudes! David Matthews The Great condescends to address me by name. I am truly honored, sir. But I have noticed that there does seem to be a split personality to many of your posts. So kind sir, was your comment addressed to me made by the Smeagol David Matthews or the Gollum David Matthews? I ask only because I do resent being called a ‘neocon’. I consider myself more an anachronism, nothing ‘neo’ about me, and I am certainly not a con (my bank account proves it). However, this resentment is somewhat mollified by the chuckles I made after reading your comments about chairman blarney. Your point about the nature of passed gas is well made; however, if it is true, why are those on the left so intent on dictating a livestock fee that is essentially a cap and trade tax on beef cattle? Also, I use a spell checker before I post my comments, so I and my PC are still puzzled over “feromone”. Please, kind sir, what is the meaning of that word? I find it as difficult to believe as a none-see pelousy statement that she was out of the loop during the CIA briefings or that obumassiah sat in wright’s church for twenty years yet didn’t know what his pastor was ranting about as I do that you simply made a spelling error by forgetting that many Greek words came into English with our letters “p and h” combining to make the 'eff' sound. Yes I do find Miss California, Carrie Prejean, attractive. What man wouldn’t? I also agree with her answer to girlie boy pair-less hilton who is probably busy sniffing for blarney as I type.

Robert Rosencrans| 4.24.09 @ 6:54PM

Now we have Newt Gingrich calling for Green Conservatism. That sounds eerily like compassionate conservatism, another false movement.

Lu| 4.24.09 @ 6:56PM

Since co2 is now a pollutant & we exhale co2, I have solution to the problem. All the enviromentalist, trial lawyers, Al Gore, D. Mattews and other assorted useful idiots should hold their breath for 10 minutes.

Pingback| 4.24.09 @ 7:30PM

Topics about Laughter | The American Spectator : It’s Not Easy Being Green links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…Spectator : It’s Not Easy Being Green I have my plans Al Gore and His Three-Decade Get-Rich-Quick Scheme Now one hath been already related The American Spectator : It’s Not Easy Being Green Sandra Block added an interesting post on The American Spectator : It’s Not Easy Being Green Here’s a small excerpt Speaking at a wind turbine tower plant that was once the site of a Maytag factory,…

Oh Happy Day| 4.24.09 @ 8:15PM

This just in from the DCCC
"Congratulations to Congressman-elect Scott Murphy on his remarkable, come-from-behind victory. In this election, voters responded to Scott Murphy's record as a successful businessman who helped to create more than 1,000 jobs and his strong support for President Obama's economic recovery package.

In trying to win the NY-20 special election, the RNC, NRCC, and their Republican allies went all in on the losing gamble that voters would prefer their 'just say no' approach to President Obama's bold plans to get the economy back on track.

Scott Murphy's victory in this district where Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than 70,000 represents a rejection of the obstructionist agenda and scare tactics that have become the hallmark of House Republicans."

This and watching Palin going down in flames has just made my weekend.

TGIF you loosers :) !

Pingback| 4.25.09 @ 3:42AM

Topics about Barack-obama » Blog Archive » The American Spectator : It's Not Easy Bei links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…Websites Faster! - Over 30 generators, tools and scripts for webmasters and web designers. » read more... The American Spectator : It's Not Easy Being Green Posted on Apr 24, 2009 05:08:00 AM W. James Antle, III put an intriguing blog post on The American Spectator : It's Not Easy Being Green Here’s a quick excerpt In Barack Obama’s America, there are no costs and benefits. There are only…

Mac-101| 4.25.09 @ 4:21AM

I can't beleive you people believe David Mathew is for real. He's just pulling your chain. As for the Environmental Scam it's just to make that Big Blowhart more money and is part of the New World Order to accelerate the bankrupting of this Great Nation so they can neutralize America as a force of good in the World.

The Master Pupeteer, George Soros, Dr Evil, Head Kapo of the Universe got the play all scripted and is still making Billions as the World economy collapses and is drastically increasing his power over the world.

It amounts to making us totally dependent on foreign energy, manufactoring, and increase living costs dramactically, and lastly increasing our national Debt way beyond our ability to repay.

To save our Nation we must secure our borders, Drill and Build now and implement the Fair Tax. It's probably to late NOW!

Pingback| 4.25.09 @ 5:13AM

Topics about Apocalypse » Archive » The American Spectator : It’s Not Easy Being Gree links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

» The American Spectator : It’s Not Easy Being Green Topics about Apocalypse The American Spectator : It’s Not Easy Being Green Posted in Apocalypse Topics on April 25th, 2009 Cara Chancellor placed an observative post today on The American Spectator : It’s Not Easy Being Green Here’s a quick excerpt Speaking at a wind turbine tower plant that was once the site of a Maytag…

Christopher Holland| 4.25.09 @ 6:20AM

I have worked for the Australian government for 25 years, nearly 20 of those as an economist working on environmental policy. The claims about green jobs are BS on a massive scale - the numbers bandied around simply have been plucked out of thin air. It is national suicide to spend a vast fortune on climate change and on green jobs, especially after the huge losses suffered from the financial meltdown. Throwing money at climate change and green jobs is a recipe for economic disaster that could result in decades of lost economic growth and poverty for those who are supposed to benefit. The green jobs bonanza is just another example of the old addage that if it sounds too good to be true then it isn't.

Ray| 4.25.09 @ 10:21AM

Green is the new Fad of the New Millennium! Have you noticed that "Green" technology and/or policies are now being touted in the ads businesses and corporations are recently producing? It's the "New and Improved" selling point, just like "Lower Sodium," Fat Free," and "Cholesterol Free" were for the products that have inundated the markets over the last 40 years.

"Green" has now become a trendy advertisement gimmick being used by the very people who are supposedly the ones poisoning our planet (as people like Dave here believes!)! Oh, how that must upset the liberals!

Michael L. Hauschild| 4.25.09 @ 12:01PM

As I set at my desk gleefully and remotely consuming fossil fuels while simultaneously causing the radioactive decay which produces isotopes with a half-life the time frame of an Obama tax hike I also am maintaining a “real window” open to the sounds of spring.
The male birds are chirping out their “Craig List” to the insignificant other (drabber) gender oblivious to the fact that DDT has been making a comeback.
All those carnal Cardinals will soon be Carlson’d, however, drowned out by the chorus of hundreds of non-catalytic converted internal combustion engines; machines poised to destroy the planet. I personally use more gasoline mowing than I do driving my 1978 vintage Lincoln Continental, and I wonder if PETA realizes that there are pain-feeling insects living in that grass?
Do not be confused, mowing for me is not a compulsive behavior, it is purely defensive. If I do not do pollute at the prescribed level and the foliage exceeds two and one half inches in height the ramifications become extensive. Believe it or not this violation threshold is determined by a civil engineer (often summoned by my “green” neighbors) and empowered by statute. Failure to comply will result in “the city doing the mowing for me at a monetary rate they (?) deem appropriate.
These public servants carry a long graduated ruler, which they insert in to your lawn, a red line demarcates the property owners transgression into the realm of lawlessness.
Now I was not kidding about that “destruction” of the planet implication. Using the very disputable Amazon Rain Forrest model of “bio-mass loss” my agronomy research background leads me to conclude that the GLAI (green leaf area index) of all that cut grass across the Nation on one Saturday morning alone vastly exceeds the infringement on the rain forest which is being perpetrated by all those despicable indigenous Indians trying to make a food plot for their starving children. The only thing that would actually make this scenario worse for the trees is if those they were Muslims rather than Catholics (higher birth rates).
So, when you pull that rope and activate the whirling blades of environmental death this morning realize that a Mobil-Exxon executive just receive a bigger bonus, Dick Cheney and Halliburton have secretly garnished the contract to produce lawn leaf bags manufactured from middle-eastern petroleum, and the onus of all this falls squarely on the shoulders of George Bush. (I’ll bet that bastard is out mowing his lawn as we speak.)

Michael L. Hauschild| 4.25.09 @ 1:45PM

As I set at my desk gleefully and remotely consuming fossil fuels simultaneously causing the radioactive decay which produces isotopes with a half-life the time frame of an Obama tax hike I also am maintaining a “real window” open to the sounds of spring.
The male birds are chirping out their “Craig List” to the insignificant other (drabber) gender oblivious to the fact that DDT has been making a comeback. All those carnal Cardinals will soon be Carlson’d, however, drowned out by the chorus of hundreds of non-catalytic converted internal combustion engines; machines poised to destroy the planet. (I personally use more gasoline mowing than I do driving my 1978 vintage Lincoln Continental, and I wonder if PETA realizes that there are “pain-feeling” insects living in that grass?)
Do not be confused, mowing for me is not a compulsive behavior, it is purely defensive. If I do not do pollute at the prescribed level and the foliage exceeds two and one half inches in height the ramifications become extensive. Believe it or not this violation threshold is determined by a civil engineer (often summoned by my “green” neighbors) and empowered by statute. Failure to comply will result in “the city doing the mowing for me at a monetary rate they (?) deem appropriate.
These public servants carry a long graduated ruler, which they insert in to your lawn, a red line designates the property owners transgression into the realm of lawlessness.
Now I was not kidding about that “destruction” of the planet implication. Using the very disputable Amazon Rain Forrest model of “bio-mass loss” my agronomy research background leads me to conclude that the GLAI (green leaf area index) of all that cut grass on one Saturday morning alone vastly exceed the infringement on the rain forest which is being perpetrated by all those despicable indigenous Indians trying to make a food plot for their starving children. The only thing that would actually make this scenario worse for the trees is if those they were Muslims rather than Catholics (higher birth rates).
So, when you pull that rope and activate the whirling blades of environmental death this morning realize that a Mobil-Exxon executive just receive a bigger bonus, Dick Cheney and Halliburton have secretly garnished the contract to produce lawn leaf bags manufactured from middle-eastern petroleum, and the onus of all this falls squarely on the shoulders of George Bush. (I’ll bet that bastard is out mowing his lawn as we speak.)

Robert Rosencrans| 4.25.09 @ 1:54PM

What follows is all you need to know about phony global warming, climate change or whatever the Washingtonians want to call it. The beltway crowd knows you're taxed to the max, so they've conceived of another way of robbing you know. It's supposed to make you feel good while your pocket is being picked.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/Examiner-Opinion-Zone/Polish-Academy-of-Sciences-Questions-Gores-Man-Made-Global-Warming-Theory-43618922.html

The climate change of our planet, which can be observed more frequently in recent years, has become alarming for the public opinion. Various methods to remedy the situation are elaborated on the international level by decision makers, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (operating since 1988) and different ecologic organisations.
Having a part in this significant debate, the Geologic Science Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences wishes to turn to 10 fundamental aspects of the problem closely related to the functioning of geosystem - the complex interdependence of processes occurring in the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. The knowledge of these factors should be the foundation for any rational and careful decisions, which could interfere in the geosystem.

1. The climate of the Earth depends on the interaction between the surface and the atmosphere, both of which are heated by solar radiation characterized by a cyclical, variable intensity. The climate is influenced by the Earth's yearly revolution around the Sun, thermics, changes in ocean waters flow, air mass movement, mountain massif position, their uplift and erosion in time perspective as well as changes in the continents' position as a result of their permanent wandering.

2. Geologic research proves irrefutably that the permanent change is the fundamental characteristic of the Earth's climate as throughout its entire history, and the changes occur in cycles of varied length - from several thousand to just a few years. Longer climate cycles are provoked by the extraterrestrial factors of astronomic character as well as by the changes of the Earth's orbital parameters, in brief - by regional and local factors. Not all reasons for climate change or their phenomena are fully known yet.

3. Although in the history of the Earth, a considerably warmer climate than today had dominated, there had been repeated occurrences when the Earth experienced massive global cooling which always resulted in vast ice sheets that sometimes even reached the subtropics. Therefore, reliable forecasts of changes in the Earth's climate (not to mentioned efforts to prevent, shape, or act against them) must take into account the results of its research of the Earth's geological history - a time when humanity (and the industry) were not on our planet.

4. Since twelve thousand years ago, the Earth is in the another phase of cyclical warming and is near the maximum of its intensively. Just in the last 2.5 million years, periods of warming have on several occasions intertwined with ice ages, which have already been well identified.

5. The current warming is accompanied by an increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere: water vapour is dominant among them, and in smaller quantities there are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxides and ozone. This has always happened because it is an occurrence that accompanies cyclical warming and cooling. The periodic increase in the number of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, sometimes a value even several times larger than at present, has accompanied previous warming even before man inhabited the Earth.

6. Over the past 400 thousand years - even without human intervention - the level of CO2 in the air, based on the Antarctic ice cores, has already been similar 4 times, and even higher than the current value. At the end of the last ice age, within a time of a few hundred years, the average annual temperature changed over the globe several times, in total, it has gone up by almost 10 °C in the northern hemisphere, therefore the changes mentioned above were incomparably more dramatic than the changes reported today.

7. After a warm period in the past millennium, by the end of the thirteenth century, a cold period had begun and it lasted up to the mid-nineteenth century, and then a warm period in which we are living had begun. The phenomenon observed today, in particular the temporary rise of global temperature, are the result of the natural rhythm of climate change. Warmer and warmer oceans have a smaller ability to absorb carbon dioxide, and reducing the area of the long term permafrost leads to more rapid decomposition of organic compounds in the soil, and thus to increased emissions of greenhouse gases. For billions of years, Earth's volcanic activity along the lines of lithosphere plate boundaries, hidden mainly beneath the surface of the oceans, has been constantly providing the atmosphere with CO2 with various levels of intensively.

In the geo-system gas is removed from the atmosphere to the biosphere and from the lithosphere through the process of photosynthesis that is bound in the living organisms - including the shell carbonate marine organisms and after their death it is stored in the huge limestone on the bottom of the seas and the oceans, while on land it is bound in various organic sediments.

8. A detailed monitoring of climate parameters has been carried out for slightly over 200 years; it only regards parts of continents, which constitute only 28% of the world. Some of the older measuring stations established - as a result of progressive urbanization, in the peripheries of the cities, are now within them. This factor, among other things, is the reason for the rise of the measured values of temperature. The research of the vast areas of the oceans has only been launched 40 years ago. Measurements taken for this kind of short periods of time can not be considered as a firm basis for creating fully reliable models of thermal changes on the surface of the Earth, and their accuracy is difficult to verify. That is why far-reaching restraint needs to be kept regarding blaming, or even giving the biggest credit to man for the increased level of emissions of greenhouse gases, for such a theory has not been proven.

9. There is no doubt that a certain part of the rise of the level of greenhouse gases, specifically CO2, is associated with human activity therefore, steps should be taken to reduce the amount on the basis of the principles of sustainable development, a cease of extensive deforestation, particularly in tropical regions. It is equally important to take up and pursuit appropriate adapting actions that will mitigate the effects of the current warming trend.

10. Experiments in natural science show that one-sided observations, those that take no account of the multiplicity of factors determining certain processes in the geo-system, lead to unwarranted simplifications and wrong conclusions when trying to explain natural phenomena. Thus, politicians who rely on incomplete data may take wrong decisions. It makes room for politically correct lobbying, especially on the side of business marketing of exceptionally expensive, so called eco-friendly, energy technologies or those offering CO2 storage (sequestration) in exploited deposits. It has little to do with what is objective in nature. Taking radical and expensive economic measures aiming at implementing the emission only of few greenhouse gases, with no multi-sided research into climate change, may turn out counterproductive.

The PAN Committee of Geological Sciences believes it necessary to start an interdisciplinary research based on comprehensive monitoring and modelling of the impact of other factors -not just the level of CO2 - on the climate. Only this kind of approach will bring us closer to identifying the causes of climate change

GSchrub| 4.25.09 @ 3:10PM

Look, I get it, “real America.” After an eight-year run of controlling the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court, this latest election has you feeling like a rejected husband. You’ve come home to find your things out on the front lawn — or at least more things than you usually keep out on the front lawn. You’re not ready to let go, but the country you love is moving on. And now you want to call it a whore and key its car.

That’s what you are, the bitter divorced guy whose country has left him — obsessing over it, haranguing it, blubbering one minute about how much you love it and vowing the next that if you cannot have it, nobody will.

But it’s been almost 100 days, and your country is not coming back to you. She’s found somebody new. And it’s a black guy.

The healthy thing to do is to just get past it and learn to cherish the memories. You’ll always have New Orleans and Abu Ghraib.

And if today’s conservatives are insulted by this, because they feel they’re better than the people who have the microphone in their party, then I say to them what I would say to moderate Muslims: Denounce your radicals. To paraphrase George W. Bush, either you’re with them or you’re embarrassed by them.

The thing that you people out of power have to remember is that the people in power are not secretly plotting against you. They don’t need to. They already beat you in public.

Bill Maher is the host of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

RIPLEE| 4.25.09 @ 3:38PM

If conservatives don't want to be seen as bitter people who cling to their guns and religion and anti-immigrant sentiments, they should stop being bitter and clinging to their guns, religion and anti-immigrant sentiments.

It's been a week now, and I still don't know what those "tea bag" protests were about. I saw signs protesting abortion, illegal immigrants, the bank bailout and that gay guy who's going to win "American Idol." But it wasn't tax day that made them crazy; it was election day. Because that's when Republicans became what they fear most: a minority.

The conservative base is absolutely apoplectic because, because ... well, nobody knows. They're mad as hell, and they're not going to take it anymore. Even though they're not quite sure what "it" is. But they know they're fed up with "it," and that "it" has got to stop.

Here are the big issues for normal people: the war, the economy, the environment, mending fences with our enemies and allies, and the rule of law.

And here's the list of Republican obsessions since President Obama took office: that his birth certificate is supposedly fake, he uses a teleprompter too much, he bowed to a Saudi guy, Europeans like him, he gives inappropriate gifts, his wife shamelessly flaunts her upper arms, and he shook hands with Hugo Chavez and slipped him the nuclear launch codes.

Do these sound like the concerns of a healthy, vibrant political party?

It's sad what's happened to the Republicans. They used to be the party of the big tent; now they're the party of the sideshow attraction, a socially awkward group of mostly white people who speak a language only they understand. Like Trekkies, but paranoid.

The GOP base is convinced that Obama is going to raise their taxes, which he just lowered. But, you say, "Bill, that's just the fringe of the Republican Party." No, it's not. The governor of Texas, Rick Perry, is not afraid to say publicly that thinking out loud about Texas seceding from the Union is appropriate considering that ... Obama wants to raise taxes 3% on 5% of the people? I'm not sure exactly what Perry's independent nation would look like, but I'm pretty sure it would be free of taxes and Planned Parenthood. And I would have to totally rethink my position on a border fence.

I know. It's not about what Obama's done. It's what he's planning. But you can't be sick and tired of something someone might do.

Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota recently said she fears that Obama will build "reeducation" camps to indoctrinate young people. But Obama hasn't made any moves toward taking anyone's guns, and with money as tight as it is, the last thing the president wants to do is run a camp where he has to shelter and feed a bunch of fat, angry white people.

Now wonder the moderates fleeing this party and the independents are turning their back on this insanity. GOP / RIP

Gill O’Teen| 4.25.09 @ 3:52PM

Oh Happy Day, I’m not surprised that someone on the DCCC’s alert list who is also unable to spell correctly takes such delight in a victory by one of your own. I found your posting extremely troubling and agonized for hours crafting my reply. It’s way too long and I apologize for that, but I feel these words must be written because I truly do not understand why those on the left take such perverse delight at watching the greatest country in the history of the world wither and die. And make no mistake, the stealing of an election by another Acorn candidate can be likened to removing the feeding tube from a terminally ill patient. That the United States of America was once the greatest country ever is indisputable. Certainly mistakes were made, but consider all our efforts to correct them.

The biggest mistake was slavery. If all men are created equal, how can one be held in bondage by another, even considered property? There were strong feelings on both sides of this issue for the simple reason that, believe it or not, the United States did not invent that vile institution. I doubt anyone truly knows when or where the first person was enslaved. We do know that the roots of another vile human practice, war, has origins so ancient that no one can tell when or where the first battle occurred. This is my theory and certainly has no scholarly proof of which I’m aware, but I speculate that slavery originated as a byproduct of war. During a battle, people are killed, but some survive. Wounded physically and mentally, these living casualties were normally executed so as to not be a burden or threat to their vanquishers. Of course, if they were potential breeding stock, the brave warriors would take them home where they would become concubines. At some point a victorious hero, tired from his exertions, upon encountering a surviving casualty of the recently concluded battle, instead of executing the loser, forced him to carry the winner’s heavy equipment thus putting him in bondage. Upon returning to the cheering village, the survivor was put in the fields to work alongside the women. This arrangement was successful. So much so that it quickly became evident that forcing the vanquished to heavy labor or concubinage, both forms of slavery, was more beneficial than simply killing them. This worked for the vanquished as well since, except for those cases by which dying for a noble cause such as global domination by Islam, when those brave warriors get to proceed directly to heaven and collect 40 brown-eyed virgins upon arrival, the conquered got to live. They were now slaves, so the price of living was unending involuntary servitude for them and their posterity. Slavery eventually became an established institution throughout the world. There is evidence that even the noble Native American made slaves of conquered enemies even before the evil White Man's first arrival, unless their captives were selected to be butchered for the local deity. The practice of slavery was so ingrained in the cultures of the time that passages of the Holy Bible itself are concerned with the proper treatment of slaves, not with setting them free. There is at least one New Testament passage in which Jesus of Nazareth, himself a descendant of African slaves, seems to condone it (Matthew 10:24-25). But how can this be? Certainly if Jesus was God and God created all men equal, He knew that slavery is evil. Well, He certainly did. He also knew that there was nothing He was going to directly do about it that day. Now I don’t know if Jesus is God or not. To accept this is a matter of faith and by its very nature that which must be accepted on faith is inherently unprovable. I am a doubting Thomas. Before accepting something as true, I must have proof.

I do consider The Son of Mary a Great Teacher and that body of evidence is overwhelming. His most important lesson for me is that ultimately no one can be free without accepting that there is a Higher Power in the universe than the civil authorities. If we accept politicians as the highest power, we become enthrall to them and surrender control to them. It is only by understanding that they too are subject to even greater forces than themselves and that they are simple sinners like the rest of us that we can know that they have no control over our souls. This is the power that sets all men free no matter their station in life. Jesus certainly knew this. Any who doubts this should read his anguished prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane as recorded in Matthew 26:39 (King James Version), “And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” Note that He fell on his face which is an even greater act of submission than bowing to a mere Arab king and surrendered himself fully to God’s Love and Mercy. He also knew that the forces conspired against Him were growing more and more powerful and that it was likely that as soon as the next day, He could be imprisoned, tortured and executed. After all, you are not paranoid if they really are out to get you, as wiser than I have often noted. And the Jewish leaders of that time were certainly out to get Him.

By surrendering Himself completely to the Greatest Power in the Universe, He showed us sheep the only path to true Freedom, the only way all men can ever be truly free, the way to abolish slavery. By giving Himself over to the Power of The Primal Cause, he found the strength and courage to endure the torments inflicted on Him by a morally bankrupt pack of vermin.

Rumor has it that the First Five Books of the Old Testament were written by Moses in the Desert, which is why they are especially revered by his Jewish People even today about three thousand years later. Some argue that these books were actually written while the Children of Israel were held in bondage by the Babylonians. I think that whichever belief is true, those books describe the path to Freedom. They are the blueprint by which a civil society can live long and prosper. It is an eternal truth guiding us to spread the Light of Freedom to the World.

Because the world is so corrupt and Man has free will, this will take a long time. It is also why we must be ever vigilant against those who would deny us our Freedom. Make no mistake, Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. is such a person. Consider his actions these past two weeks which can only give aid and comfort to those who would do us harm. Consider his efforts to impose government control over the banking, insurance, energy and automotive industries. Now if he wished to invest his own money into buying bank stock, fine. It’s his legally earned cash and so it is his right to use it as he sees fit. But that is not his plan. Even though he is a multimillionaire whose teleprompter is bought and paid for by a multibillionaire, he does not have sufficient assets of his own to buy control of a major corporation. Nonetheless, this is his goal. So he is stealing the money he needs to fulfill his ambition. Is he stealing it from us? No, that well was tapped dry by his predecessors years ago. So he is confiscating the potential wealth of our grandchildren’s grandchildren lacking their consent. Talk about taxation without representation! He is using these stolen funds to buy common stock in banks. 51% of the common stock of any company gives that stockholder control of the firm. He is also using his government to control directly the auto companies even to the extent of forcing one of them, GM, into bankruptcy. Yes, I know that GM has been a train looking for a spot to derail for years now; nonetheless, they cannot now file for bankruptcy without government’s blessing. He seeks to control the education of our children. He seeks to control our very health.

This nation was founded by flawed individuals who did recognize the ultimate authority of God (or Whatever Name you wish to use for The Power Greater Than Us All). These heros were subject to the power of the Government ruling the United Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland. They held that nation’s German King to be a tyrant, so these flawed individuals drew up a list of grievances against him with justifications for their complaints. They used this list in revised form to declare that they were free from the whims of the British Government. But words are cheap. They only become valuable if people take action. These particular words only became valuable after those who believed in them, fought a war for their independence from Great Britain. After a successful conclusion to that war, representatives of those former North American British Colonies gathered together to draw up a set of rules which would provide for securing the freedoms for which they had fought and some of their compatriots had died could be secured to their descendants forever. Like the Holy Bible, this compact provides a blueprint by which we, their ideological posterity, can live in peace, prosperity and Freedom.

But noticeable to even a dunderhead such as myself, these blueprints have been under ever more vicious assault by domestic terrorists by whose standard even Timothy McVeigh was an amateur. He only sought to kill the bodies of his victims. They seek to destroy our spirit, our Freedom, our immortal souls. There is no denying that they seek to control the Media such as newspapers, television networks and radio programming. Thus they seek to terminate our Freedom of the Press. If they control the sources of information, we have no Freedom. They seek to silence those who have a differing viewpoint. Thus they seek to terminate our Freedom of Speech. If they control what people can say, we have no Freedom. They allow those who are not legally entitled to vote to cast ballots thus denying us our Freedom to Choose our Government. If they control the outcome of elections, we have no Freedom. They seek to control when or where people may pray, thus denying us our Freedom of Religion. If they control our prayers, we have no Freedom. They silence the voices of lawfully elected representatives because they belong to a different political party thus denying those who elected these congressmen their constitutionally granted place in our government. If they control participation in Congress, we have no Freedom. They permit the killing of unborn children, even though once a child is created, one of our blueprints specifically states that there is a self-evident truth, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” By denying life to one of God’s innocent creatures they choose who lives and who dies. Without the Freedom to Live we have no Freedom.

How many more Freedoms must they subvert before Obama’s followers realize what the goal of his corrupt administration is. How many times must we listen to those who paved Obama’s path to power such as Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden deny their complicity in the destruction of our nation before we realize they are a greater threat to our Liberty than a mere hijacker of airplanes. Yet you celebrate an election victory by one who eats the bread granted him by his lord and master. I don’t celebrate such a win. To me it portends the loss of the only hope remaining in this world to “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity”.

But I will not go gently into that good night. No, for the support of those Freedoms for which Jesus died on the cross and for which much braver than I fought and died, I pledge to each one of you my life, what remains of my minuscule fortune, and my sacred Honor. I choose the Bread of Life, not the yoke of bondage.

Tyranny, even by the majority, is still tyranny.

I am a doddering old windbag. Please forgive me for taking so much of your valuable time.

Michael L. Hauschild| 4.25.09 @ 4:12PM

Robert Rosencrans,
You forgot one thing of considerable importance in the "evidence" provided by the various factions and that is the "heat island effect" of having many of the recording stations (especially those reflecting increases in temperature) within the influences of anthropogenic heat sources.

Michael L. Hauschild| 4.25.09 @ 4:12PM

Michael L. Hauschild| 4.25.09 @ 4:47PM

JMJ| 4.25.09 @ 5:19PM

Gill O’Teen| 4.25.09 @ 3:52PM

Jesus Mary and Joseph Gill , you are indeed doddering old windbag. Sorry that a typo put you in such perplexed state. They do have meds for this you know.

Just wondering what you have been doing these past eight years when the Bush/Cheney regime was destroying this country from top to bottom and left the mess this country is in now. That was OK I guess?

Why are you and others of your ilk not addressing the most important issue which is the lack of leadership and direction in the Repulican party? Are you all so Limbaughtomized that you lack the courage to address seriously declining reputation of the GOP? Why don't you all put your focus on that beacuse it certainly could use some help.

And sorry I don't agree with your 'past tense' obvervation.

The United States of America IS and always will be the greatest country ever.

Or maybe you should move to Texas.

JMJ| 4.25.09 @ 5:41PM

Gill yur rite caint spel...letz blame it on huked on fonics...

TXLady| 4.25.09 @ 7:02PM

Oh Happy Day| 4.24.09 @ 8:15PM

Who the hell care's if Oh Happy Day or JMJ can't spell.

"Why are you and others of your ilk not addressing the most important issue which is the lack of leadership and direction in the Republican party? Are you all so Limbaughtomized that you lack the courage to address the seriously declining reputation of the GOP? Why don't you all put your focus on that beacuse it certainly could use some help. "

Sadly, I have to agree.

Gill O'Teen| 4.25.09 @ 8:25PM

Actually, JMJ, it's not the typo that put me in such a perplexed state, it's the number of dopes who would trample all over The Constitution. Those who know me know that I was ranting against Bush the moment the American Army marched into Baghdad and an American soldier was ordered to remove Our Flag from, if I recall correctly, a statue of Saddam Hussein. When I was called by a Bush supporter seeking my funds for that campaign, I blasted the poor man for all the incompetence of the Bush Administration. Amazingly, he totally agreed with me. I only voted for Bush in 2004 because he was not John Kerry, not because I was a fan of his leadership. Plus, you forget, no President truly has any real authority. Bill Clinton never balanced the budget, Junior Bush never ran up a huge deficit, Obama is not responsible for bankrupting this country beyond all hope for recovery. That power constitutionally belongs exclusively to Congress and the Democrats have been in charge of that branch of government since January 2007. Not only that, but if the TARP program is so bad, why did Obama vote for it? In fact, it could not have passed Congress without the support of the Democratic Party, so quit kicking that dog around as you only reveal your own lack of knowledge.

However, I do think that Bush violated his Oath of Office when he bailed out the auto companies by executive order. In my opinion, this was an impeachable offense. Yet the Democrats in control of Congress gave him a free pass on that. How come, genius?

Guess what, Mr. Spelling Challenged, The Evil Bush is no longer President. Your commissar, Barry, is, and he has done absolutely nothing since he took office to give me any suspicion that I might be wrong about how he hopes to change us.

The most important issue facing this country is not the lack of leadership and direction in the Republican party. It is the Democratic Party’s efforts to turn us into another Cuba. Anyone thinks that the party of John and Meghan McCain, Olympia Snow, Susan Collins and all the other Congressional RINOs is capable of exhibiting any true leadership without banishing these lepers from its midst, has more problems than I do.

I pray that I am wrong about the United States no longer being the greatest country in the world. But I fear that I'm not.

I was born in Texas. Have dozens of cousins there still. Guess what? Some are Hispanic, some are of African descent. I love them all because they are Americans first and foremost. Put that in your pipe, but don’t smoke it - causes cancer, you know, and under Obama-care you might not be covered, bankrupt before it even starts, you know. Unless of course, Congress votes to require your great grandchildren's great grandchildren to pay for it. At least those we don't abort.

Gill O’Teen| 4.25.09 @ 8:32PM

Sorry, I meant to say that no President truly has any real BUDGETARY authority.

Vic Coffey| 4.26.09 @ 12:47AM

Couldn't help but respond to the nastiness of some on here to Gill. He has just put down my own feelings on this matter, and the best response you socialist can come up with is "what about Bush". This tripe has been going on better than 40 years as we squabble with each other over tripe that is trivial as our pols steal us, our children, and our grandchildren blind. We let them fool us with promises of stealing from the "rich" to give to the poor to get our support. We only see the freebies not realizing that using government to steal the freedom of the "rich" leaves the door open for that same government to steal ours.

I could care less about the "GOP", and if the shoe fits, maybe a little scare mongering is in order to try and wake up a nation committing suicide out of ignorance and envy.

You say comrade "O" has lowered our taxes, well this only only flies with the very ignorant. Do you not see, the "rich" do not pay taxes? They pass them down to the consumers of their products. They stash it overseas or have bazaar shelters only they can afford. If all else fails they will move to UAE, or somewhere else where they will not be persecuted by fascist. Who finances our jobs then?

This cap and trade idiocy will bite us all the way down, even the very poor. Even non taxpayers will see their standard of living go down as the increase in energy prices causes everything else to go up. So wonder on in your delusions that a powerful central government is the answer to your problems and it cares about you. Just remember, you were warned.

Hey Gill, the sound of crickets chirping from our enlightened lib frends?

Greyskull| 4.26.09 @ 1:57AM

In Barack Obama's America, there are no costs and benefits. There are only "false choices" that must be avoided lest we fall into the dangerous trap of old thinking. "

I stopped reading there. The most meaningless 29 words I have ever read. No dount the rest of the article is even shittier. Way to go.

Green or Swine Flu| 4.26.09 @ 8:23AM

Swine Flu spreadding around America, soon many of you will be pushing up plants, is that Green enough for you.

Stop worring about Obama, Obama will say what people want to hear like all other Presidents before him.

Detroit is coming to a town near you, and Swine Flu is coming to a town near you, worry about yourself and your family. Focus on your own life.

Bush was no better than Obama.
Depopulation applies to you and every one in America, do yourself a favour keep safe, the Fema Coffins is ready and waiting for YOU.

Disease for profits| 4.26.09 @ 8:42AM

The ways Politicans cash in on the Demise of America.
Rumsfeld cashes in on bird flu
5:00AM Monday Mar 13, 2006

Bird flu
Sixth swan tests positive for H5N1 bird flu in UK
One dead, five infected with bird flu in Pakistan
WASHINGTON - US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has made more than US$5 million ($7.8 million) from selling shares in the biotech firm behind Tamiflu, the drug being bought to treat a possible bird flu pandemic.

More than 60 countries have so far ordered large stocks of the antiviral drug to try to protect their people against the deadly H5N1 strain of the disease. The United Nations estimates that a pandemic could kill 150 million people worldwide.

Tamiflu does not cure the disease, but if taken soon after symptoms appear it can reduce its severity.

The drug was developed by Californian biotech company Gilead Sciences. Rumsfeld was Gilead's chairman from 1997 to 2001. He sold some of his shares in 2004 for more than US$5 million.

- INDEPENDENT

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Robert Rosencrans| 4.26.09 @ 10:48AM

Democrats refuse to allow real science to testify.

http://www.climatedepot.com/a/429/Report-Democrats-Refuse-to-Allow-Skeptic-to-Testify-Alongside-Gore-At-Congressional-Hearing
Washington, DC -- UK's Lord Christopher Monckton, a former science advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, claimed House Democrats have refused to allow him to appear alongside former Vice President Al Gore at a high profile global warming hearing on Friday April 24, 2009 at 10am in Washington. Monckton told Climate Depot that the Democrats rescinded his scheduled joint appearance at the House Energy and Commerce hearing on Friday. Monckton said he was informed that he would not be allowed to testify alongside Gore when his plane landed from England Thursday afternoon.

“The House Democrats don't want Gore humiliated, so they slammed the door of the Capitol in my face,” Monckton told Climate Depot in an exclusive interview. “They are cowards.”

According to Monckton, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), Ranking Member on the Energy & Commerce Committee, had invited him to go head to head with Gore and testify at the hearing on Capitol Hill Friday. But Monckton now says that when his airplane from London landed in the U.S. on Thursday, he was informed that the former Vice-President had “chickened out” and there would be no joint appearance. Gore is scheduled to testify on Friday to the Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment's fourth day of hearings on the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. The hearing will be held in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building.

According to Monckton, House Democrats told the Republican committee staff earlier this week that they would be putting forward an unnamed 'celebrity' as their star witness Friday at a multi-panel climate hearing examining the House global warming bill. The "celebrity" witness turned out to be Gore. Monckton said the GOP replied they would respond to the Democrats' "celebrity" with an unnamed "celebrity" of their own. But Monckton claims that when the Democrats were told who the GOP witness would be, they refused to allow him to testify alongside Gore.

[ Update: 1:55 PM EST: A GOP House source told Climate Depot that the Democrats on the Committee said “absolutely not” to allowing Monckton to appear during today's Gore hearing. The GOP committee “pushed at multiple levels” to bring Monckton in to testify but the Democrats “refused,” according to the GOP source. Former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich was called in to testify after Monckton was rejected by the committee Democrats, according to the Congressional source.]

“The Democrats have a lot to learn about the right of free speech under the US Constitution. Congress Henry Waxman's (D-CA) refusal to expose Al Gore's sci-fi comedy-horror testimony to proper, independent scrutiny by the House minority reeks of naked fear,” Monckton said from the airport Thursday evening.

“Waxman knows there has been no 'global warming' for at least a decade. Waxman knows there has been seven and a half years' global cooling. Waxman knows that, in the words of the UK High Court judge who condemned Gore's mawkish movie as materially, seriously, serially inaccurate, 'the Armageddon scenario that he depicts is not based on any scientific view,'” Monckton explained. Monckton has previously testified before the House Committee in March. (See: Monckton: Have the courage to do nothing...US Congress told climate change is not real ) Monckton has also publicly challenged Gore to a debate. (See: Al Gore Challenged to International TV Debate on Global Warming By Lord Monckton - March 19, 2007 )

A call to the Democratic office of the House Energy and Commerce Committee seeking comment was not immediately returned Thursday night.

Worry about YOU & your family| 4.26.09 @ 11:44AM

Swine Flu Deaths Spur Global Epidemic Fears.

Look it up, stop worring about Obama, worry about yourself. Politicans are no more than a groop of Puppets controled by a big bunch of Mafia styled criminals.

Gill O'Teen| 4.26.09 @ 2:07PM

Actually, I failed to give a full account of my activities these past 8 years. In February, 2001, I visited a popular mountain resort to beat the blahs. Wandering around that town, I came across something called a bowling alley. It was named The Hudson. I went inside and saw what appeared to be a biker gang rolling large balls down narrow wooden floors and drinking adult beverages most heavily. The point of their activity seemed to be to knock down as many of the juggling clubs standing at the opposite end of the floor as possible. I thought this game might be amusing, so I sought more information. Not knowing the rules, I inadvertently walked in front of a heavily bearded biker just as he released his ball. I so startled him that his ball flew into the air and landed upon my head with great force. This bonk on the old noggin put me into a deep coma while chirping crickets hopped about my eyes. Unconscious, I was placed in a nursing home until just a few days ago when by some miracle I recovered and was released. Now that you know my sad tale, explain to me why this disqualifies me from trying to speak the truth as I see it about your chief commissar. By the way I also failed to speak up when Frankie Roosevelt hauled American Citizens off to internment camps though I’ve had several Japanese friends, I failed to participate in the Underground Railroad though I did live near train tracks once, and I did nothing to prevent the butchery at Wounded Knee though I bought boiled peanuts at an Indian souvenir shop once. I guess these moral lapses also disqualify me from offering my opinions on this forum. I find it most interesting that the obumarrhoids only care about the past to deflect attention from their chosen one, but become totally disinterested when his less favorable past exploits such as his admitted drug abuse (remember the howling when, a few months before my accident, it was alleged that the Evil Bush may have snorted cocaine?) or his association with admitted communist terrorist Bill Ayres are brought up because they were so, like you know, before The Evil Bush, or in their limited minds have nothing to do with the economy. Excuse me, converting the United States into a Communist utopia is all about the economy. Boy, you guys really make my head hurt. Gotta go now, those crickets are back.

Keep the faith, Vic.

Religious Nutters & End Times| 4.27.09 @ 6:24AM

Green Jobs are a FANTASY, yes they are, what can you do about it?. Unemployment will double and tribble what can you do about it? What would the Republicans do about it, reduce tax on the Unemployed perhaps, failure to note that the Republicans was in office for the last 10 years is not important, Bush was asleep while whole Companies were moved to Mexico, Canada, China, and else where.

It's funny how the memories of the people seem so short, I wonder why that is?

I remember when Bush said Saddam must be dis-armed, dis-armed of what? I remember when Powell said a CoCo Cala factory was a factory manufacturing WMD.

Does any one remember who invented Al-Quda, it was the USA. Who invented war on Terror, the same again. I said to a friend of mine, do you remember the story of the boy who kept crying WOLF. He said yes, I said this is another of the same sort of story. An invention to frighten the masses, that has become real.

Who was it who invented the Terror Antrax attacks, an American. Who invented the Credit Crunch, the same people again.
Who spoke about chemical and biological attacks, the same people again, Bird Flu, Swind Flu, with Human Flu, to un leash on the world. Invented by Americans to kill millions of their own citizens and the rest of the world.

Christian Fundamentalist think if they sponcer these crimes against humanity, they will go to heaven because they want to create end times, because they will be going to heaven, to do what, cause more trouble. Every one is going to be Raptured off somewhere, what will happen when they discover they are going no where at all.

People need to speak up about these kinds of crimes as loudly as they speak about abortion. And further more bring these people to justice, because this religious nonsense will get no one anywhere.

Андрей | 6.23.09 @ 2:50AM

Ohhh
It's funny how the memories of the people seem so short, I wonder why that is?

sdone | 6.23.09 @ 2:51AM

People need to speak up about these kinds of crimes as loudly as they speak about abortion. And further more bring these people to justice, because this religious nonsense will get no one anywhere.

incy | 6.23.09 @ 2:53AM

Thanks...Christian Fundamentalist think if they sponcer these crimes against humanity, they will go to heaven because they want to create end times, because they will be going to heaven, to do what, cause more trouble. Every one is going to be Raptured off somewhere, what will happen when they discover they are going no where at all.

sanches77777 | 7.15.09 @ 6:37AM

People need to speak up about these kinds of crimes as loudly as they speak about abortion. And further more bring these people to justice, because this religious nonsense will get no one anywhere.

mfunk22 | 7.15.09 @ 6:38AM

outheader | 7.15.09 @ 6:39AM

do about it, reduce tax on the Unemployed perhaps, failure to note that the Republicans was in office for the last 10 years is not important, Bush was asleep while whole Companies were moved to Mexico, Canada, China, and else where.

lanazh | 7.17.09 @ 2:06PM

And further more bring these people to justice, because this religious nonsense will get no one anywhere.

professor | 7.17.09 @ 2:08PM

People need to speak up about these kinds of crimes as loudly as they speak about abortion. And further more bring these people to justice, because this religious nonsense will get no one anywhere.

zombie | 7.17.09 @ 2:09PM

It's funny how the memories of the people seem so short, I wonder why that is?

belbek | 7.17.09 @ 2:10PM

guru | 7.17.09 @ 2:11PM

Look it up, stop worring about Obama, worry about yourself. Politicans are no more than a groop of Puppets controled by a big bunch of Mafia styled criminals.

skuter777 | 7.17.09 @ 4:41PM

stop worring about Obama, worry about yourself. Politicans are no more than a groop of Puppets controled by a big bunch of Mafia styled criminals.

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Alina | 4.24.10 @ 10:21AM

Thanks You infermation.

Mag | 9.17.10 @ 6:37PM

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