Thursday, January 29, 2009

PROOF IN THE PUDDING

By Jim Beers


WARNING: If you don't read all this immediately and agree with me, our economy will collapse and the "only" experts (for example, folks like me and Secretary of the Treasury Geithner) capable of "saving" us will not be able to exert the government power we are growing to protect you from any adverse circumstances far into the future.
The preceding warning is no sillier than the deadly "bread and circuses" activities worthy of the final days of Rome being conducted in Washington during this second week of the Obama Administration and its' Congress. The overwhelming confirmation of a Secretary of the Treasury that cheated on his taxes is a scandal. The all but unanimous confirmation of a Secretary of State whose spouse has collected and will continue to collect millions of dollars from Middle East tyrants among many other foreign governments while she serves is disgraceful. The new Attorney General with a long record of anti-2nd Amendment activities and a primary role in enabling the pardon of a rich fugitive tax cheat that gave donations to those that pardoned him
should concern all Americans worried about their Constitutional rights. An Attorney General that enables the rich and powerful to evade the consequences that apply to the rest of us (like US Senator Webb that took a loaded gun to the Senate Office Security check but wasn't prosecuted for "lack of evidence") should be a Minister to an all powerful King or autocrat, not a supreme prosecutor under an American President. Add into this mix a Governor, Commerce Department appointee that "resigned" even before confirmation and other appointees with histories of Socialist and Animal Rights radical activism and you have an emerging picture of a White House that does not engender confidence in a Republic. Additionally, the President has already expanded abortion funding to other countries (in the midst of our own economic crisis) in a closed signing somewhere in the bowels of The White House while the annual Right to Life Marchers blanket, but go unmentioned and ignored on, the National Mall in front of The White House. Simultaneously, the Congress has drafted an "Emergency Bailout" bill of enormous proportions and they and the President tell everyone that will listen that there is no time for debate and that questions only delay our rescue by government "experts". The President
tells Congressmen that they and the public should not listen (actually he said "we can't let them listen to") to talk radio hosts raising questions about this and other new proposals. This TRILLION dollar bill (I still cannot believe that number, not because it is so big but because it is such a large percentage of our GDP and our economy especially in these difficult economic times) is to be unexamined even though it is made up of Billions for "contraception" and Billions for crooked Community Development organizations like Acorn and Billions for works projects that will be done in two to four years (when the next two elections will take place and well beyond this "emergency time for intervention).
Abortion and Acorn funding are simply two examples of the major funding and
policy changes that are being put in place like global warming commitments and increased auto emission standards that will further decimate the American auto companies that we have just given Billions of dollars to "help". In a Congressional hearing about how to "direct" the "bailout funds" one Presidential adviser and the Committee Chairman openly said the funds should "NOT" go to "WHITE" contractors or skilled workers and then they discussed how to "cut the Governors and State Legislatures out of any authority for funds" spent in their states (shades of Putin eliminating the election of Governors with a snap of his fingers and then making them appointees appointed by him)! Billions have already disappeared to Lord
knows where under ex-TNC Executive and ex-Secretary of the Treasury Paulson and no positive effect is even claimed much less proved. The President and Congress should be run out of town for continuing to throw our good money after bad; for hiding all these socialist pipe dreams in this "emergency" legislation; and then for stifling all criticism. What is happening here is a harbinger of what gun owners and rural people of all stripes and animal owners and hunters and trappers and fishermen can look forward to over the next two to four years.
History is replete with dictatorships birthed in "emergencies" that disguised the opportunistic seizure of absolute power. From modern day Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Russia to the French Revolutionaries, Cromwell's England and the numerous rebellions and coups in civilizations like Rome and China, the use of an "emergency" justifies all manner of subservience and obedience to a government that takes what you have to "save you". Given the world economy today and the very real fear among people everywhere, the danger of taking America into a socialist state where the central government controls everyone and everything is very real.
The President and the Congress are truly dismissive of any honest requirements for who should be given authority or what they will do to opponents or for friends.
The reason for stating the obvious here is all the pandering by Congressional Republicans (the opposition?) over President Obama's conciliatory actions to "get them on board" the "stimulus" package of a Trillion or so dollars. In spite of the fact that it (the package) is more likely counterproductive, and in spite of the fact that when it fails there will be no one to blame if there was no opposition, and in spite of the fact that it is chock full of Billions and Billions of dollars of socialist programs that will alter this country dramatically; the news media and
Republicans talk about how wonderful it is to "meet with" and "speak to" the new President (while Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reed shut them out and write up more "earmarks" for the package). Question, what is the difference between "earmarks" and "pork" and "favors" (this latter is like Barney Frank, the Committee Chairman that used to fix parking tickets for his same sex live-in that moonlighted as a male prostitute on Capitol Hill during the day, directing "bailout" money to "one of the banks in his District")?
We are being distracted from what we should be watching with every fiber of our being. The President is playing us like a fiddle when he asks a same sex advocate Bishop and a Pastor that opposed same sex marriage to pray at his inauguration. It matters not who appears where, what matters is what the President does about same sex activity in the military and in our schools and in our governmental affairs. It doesn't matter that the new President says he won't "take away guns" (in spite of his record to the contrary and those that support him); what matters is what he does about guns and ammunition and licensing and court cases about these things. It
doesn't matter what the new President says about "the environment": what matters is what he does about cars and roads and public lands and foreign commitments about these things. It doesn't matter what the President says about religion or about "children"; what matters is what he does about aborting more and more children and shutting down Catholic hospitals and forcing repugnant and immoral obligations on Catholic doctors and nurses and others by forcing them to perform and assist in abortions. Lollygagging with star-struck Republicans may make for great theatre and print but like Dirty Harry's Supervisor's mouthwash in one of those movies, "it ain't cutting it".
The proof is in the pudding as any good chef and any reasonable diner can tell you. The pudding being served by this White House and this Congress not only stinks, it will make many sick and kill more than a few. Ironically, "the" answer to this crisis in the short-term is tax cuts to spur investments and innovation, redesign of environmental overkill laws and regulations, and a free market approach to prices. In the long run, the answer is freedom, strong families based on strong marriages, and children - lots of children. What we are pursuing is exactly the opposite thanks to the likes of Pelosi, Reed, Daschle, Biden, and President Obama. What will
go down the drain is more than anyone realizes since we are all thinking only about ourselves and increasingly we no longer share a common moral understanding or recognize a common truth regarding who we are and why we are here.
Jim Beers 28 January 2009

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

JUST SAY NO TO OIL REVENUES??

By Paul Driessen
Forty years ago this month, a well blowout in the Santa Barbara Channel forever changed the way America looks at oil – and launched the anti-oil environmental movement.
The blowout was the only accident in over 45,000 US offshore wells where significant amounts of oil reached our coasts. The other good news is that the environmental impacts were temporary, and the accident initiated enormous advances in blowout prevention rules and technologies. The bad news is that the spill resulted in leasing and drilling bans that continue to this day, locking up an estimated 85% of our nation’s offshore oil and gas prospects, costing the United States billions in lost lease, royalty and tax revenues, and forcing us to import far more oil than would be necessary if we adopted more sensible energy policies.
My commentary analyzes the accident, discusses the aftermath, and offers policy prescriptions – from the perspective of someone who actually worked for the federal agency that regulates offshore oil and gas programs … and is one of a handful of people who has actually been scuba diving under the very platform where the infamous blowout occurred.
(The Santa Barbara blowout began on January 28, 1969, and gushered oil for twelve days, before it was brought under control. Ocean and beach cleanup took many months.)
Thank you for posting it.
Paul Driessen Senior policy advisor
Congress of Racial Equality and Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow
Telephone 703-698-6171

“Just say no” to oil revenues?

Petroleum production bans cost us billions that could pay for stimulus plans and renewables
The real lessons of the January 1969 Santa Barbara oil blowout
Plummeting stock and housing prices have triggered a painful recession, America’s worst job losses since 1945, and trillions in lost national wealth.
California is grappling with a $42-billion budget deficit. That’s more than the GDP of 112 countries. Maryland, Virginia, New York and other states likewise face billion-dollar budget shortfalls.
Congress and the White House want a $1-trillion “stimulus” for the banking, auto and steel industries, roads, bridges and ports, and “worthy” projects like water parks, parking garages and fitness centers.
They also support expanded renewable energy programs that will require tens of billions in subsidies and tax breaks – but provide intermittent electricity and deliver only 5-15% of their “rated capacity” during peak summer demand periods.
Many states have oil, gas, coal uranium and other energy and mineral resources, within their borders or off their coasts. Development would produce critically needed energy, reduce oil and gas imports, create millions of jobs, buttress our national security, and generate trillions of dollars in lease bonus, rent, royalty and tax revenues, to help pay these bills.
California could nearly double its offshore oil production within 12-18 months, without installing a single new platform, by using directional drilling technology to bore more wells from existing platforms.
But environmentalists vigorously oppose development. Many states increasingly restrict exploration and production. The US Senate is considering bills that would place more energy prospects off limits. Many legislators want a permanent lock on billions of barrels of oil beneath Alaska’s North Slope and America’s Outer Continental Shelf – despite support for drilling by two-thirds of voters.
Onshore, the usual justification is speculative or exaggerated impacts on wildlife, habitats and groundwater from drilling and production. Offshore, the most common rationale is the infamous oil blowout that occurred forty years ago this month, off Santa Barbara.
That spill is the only one in over 45,000 US offshore wells where significant amounts of oil reached our coasts. And it never would have happened, if it weren’t for the incompetence of a few federal regulators and oil company officials.
The guilty well was being drilled into brittle, highly fractured rock formations which sit atop a more stable zone that holds billions of gallons of gooey crude oil, mixed with natural gas under high pressure. It’s the same oil that’s been seeping out of the shallow formations and washing up on California beaches since long before Spanish explorers used it to waterproof their galleons.
But having drilled several wells without incident, company officials requested a waiver from normal regulations. Unbelievably, it was granted. The drill crew was allowed to install minimal well casing – steel pipes that go into well bores to prevent blowouts.
When oil and gas began to erupt out of the deep drill hole, the crew’s quick response stopped it only temporarily. Because the casing didn’t go deep enough, the pressurized goo surged into the brittle rocks, creating huge gashes that sent gushers of oil out around the platform. For six days, favorable winds kept the oil slick offshore. Then the wind shifted.
Oil inundated Santa Barbara’s gorgeous beaches. Thousands of sea birds died, along with seals and countless other marine animals. The anti-oil environmental movement was born.
Thankfully, dire predictions of permanent damage were wrong. Bird, crab, lobster, seal and other populations soon rebounded. Under the platform, the magnificent artificial reef ecosystem returned.
Enormous mussels, scallops and barnacles again cover the huge scaffold that holds the production platform above the waves. Gorging on shellfish, and having to move mere inches for their next meal, starfish grow to three feet across. Oriental carpets of white, pink and lavender sponges and sea anemones create firework displays of color, while crabs scamper about and thousands of mackerel, sardines and other fish cruise by.
I know this, because I’ve been there, up close and in person, in scuba gear, beneath that very platform and a dozen others in the Santa Barbara Channel and Gulf of Mexico. I joined biologists, wrote professional papers, and produced a documentary film about these towering steel reefs.
Even more important, the technologies, regulations and enforcement programs have changed. Today, instruments monitor temperature and pressure in wells 24/7. Blowout preventers, pipeline shutoff valves and other devices on or beneath the sea floor control the flow of oil and gas. Offshore operators conduct regular accident training and safety exercises. The efforts have paid off.
In 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita pounded the Gulf of Mexico’s 3,000 drilling rigs and production platforms. Over 200 were damaged or destroyed. But virtually no oil or gas escaped.
In fact, according to the US Minerals Management Service (where I used to work), oil companies produced nearly 12 billion barrels of oil from OCS leases between 1980 and 2007. Only 102,000 barrels were spilled: 3,780 barrels a year, on average. That’s a 99.999% safety record.
By contrast, natural seeps like the ones off California leak 620,000 barrels of oil per year into US waters. America’s oil industry has a pollution record 164 times better than Mother Nature’s!
And producing more US offshore oil has an added bonus. It means there is less seepage, and thus less oil in our oceans and on our beaches.
Our energy policies should recognize these facts.
America has been held hostage far too long by anti-oil ideologues and foreign “oiligarchs.”
Keeping our vast resources off limits won’t convince consumers to slash petroleum use. We will just import more, and be ever more indebted to foreign powers. (At $50 per barrel, imported oil costs the United States $235 billion per year; at $140 per barrel, we send $650 billion annually overseas.)
Oil prices are low at the moment, because world demand is down, due to the global recession. We could keep them down, by prolonging the recession – an unpalatable option. Or we can help keep prices at tolerable levels, by developing the domestic oil and gas that we have in abundance, but politicians, courts and greens for too long have told us we can’t touch.
We need the energy, jobs and revenues that offshore (and onshore) oil and gas development can provide. We can no longer afford to “just say no” to domestic petroleum, during the long transition to future energy technologies that we cannot begin to envision – any more than even Jules Verne could have foreseen the wondrous energy and other technologies that creative minds have made a reality today.
That’s the kind of change we can believe in. The kind America needs.
_______________
Paul Driessen is senior policy advisor for the Congress of Racial Equality and Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow, and author of Eco-Imperialism: Green power ∙ Black death.

Summary review of: We The People Foundation Rally

By Ken Keil
We The People Foundation Freedom Keeper Rally
Sponsored by We The People Congress, Inc.

On January 14, 2009, Bob Schultz, Chairman of the We the People Foundation(WTF) came to Denver, Colorado to present a summary of grievances committed against American citizens by the U.S. government and to rally interest in the formation of the Second Continental Congress to meet in Philadelphia beginning March 1, 2009. The purpose of the Second Continental Congress is to develop a plan of action of how to address grievances that have not been addressed properly by the U.S. government and various state governments when petitioned.

The rally tour began on January 3, 2009 and the Denver rally was the largest crowd to date (San Antonio, Dallas, Lake Charles, Louisiana, Phoenix, Riverside, Salt Lake City, and Denver). A room for 200 people was reserved and when the meeting began it was standing room only.

Mr. Schultz provided a brief history of the fight for freedom. According to Mr. Schultz, the Magna Carta signed in 1215 is the cradle of liberty. Specific mention was given to Section 61 of the MC. In 1774, representatives from 13 colonies met in Philadelphia to discuss grievances that the King of England had committed against the colonies. These representatives passed an 8 page act which stated several points. It encouraged the inhabitants of Quebec to join the movement. Additionally, the Act stated “People can retain their money until the grievances were addressed.” Until 1830, politicians always responded to the petitions for redress of grievances. Southern congressmen did not like the petition of redress of grievances because of the abolitionists. Per Mr. Schultz, in his opinion, the 1st Amendment of the Constitution contains the most important sentence of the Constitution (the right to petition for a redress of grievances). In the U.S. Declaration of Independence, the signers indicated that repeated petitions were met by repeated injuries.

WTF worked with several constitutional scholars and served four petitions on the U.S. government on November 8, 2008 in Washington D.C. A brief summary of the grievances include: 1) Iraq resolution; 2) the federal reserve system; 3) the US Patriot Acts; 4) income tax; 5) lack of immigration enforcement; 6) the North American Union; 7) the right to keep and bear arms; 8) foreign policy; and 9) federal gun control laws. Leaders from the federal government were invited to attend the 2 p.m. rally that day, but none showed.

Mr. Schultz gave several examples of how the Constitution has been and is being violated by our elected leaders and judicial system. Ron Paul prepared a bill to declare war against Afghanistan (?), but Henry Hyde, chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee stated “The Constitution doesn’t apply.” In a Washington county property tax case in which WTP represented the case, the court stated it does not have to hear redress of grievances. More recently, issues involving the election of Mr. Obama arose. Mr. Dinofrio in New Jersey filed petition to have three people, Obama, McCain, and a Nicaraguan with a green card removed from the ballot because they were and are not naturalized citizens of the U.S. as required by the Article 2 of the Constitution to run for president. The Supreme Court would not hear the case. An attorney, a Mr. Berg in Pennsylvania, filed a petition to stop Mr. Obama because he did not prove he is a naturalized citizen. The federal district court judge stated “Mr. Berg had no standing.” A Mr. Martin in Hawaii petitioned the court to open the vault where Mr. Obama’s alleged original birth certificate is stored. The judge said the could not be done as that would be an invasion of Mr. Obama’s privacy.

“What does a free people do?” asked Mr. Schultz. He indicated there are many organizations evolving around the country that are educating the people about the violations of their unalienable rights given to us by God. Mr. Schultz these organizations are doing a good job educating, but he wants to take this to the next level, i.e., action. He, therefore, is organizing the Second Continental Congress to meet in Philadelphia beginning March 1, 2009. The goal is to answer two questions. The first is should people begin the process of withdrawing their resources from federally elected and appointed officials who have usurped their power. The second is to reenact the state militias that have been taken from us. There will be 50 tables, one for each state, set up with three legislators from each state. Discussions will be conducted on the redress of grievances and what course of action should be taken. For more information, one can go to the We The People website, http://givemeliberty.org , click on Archives and then Archives 6. Refer to the articles dated December 20, 2008 (Summit Call) and December 25, 2008 (People Draw the Line) and articles since then to develop a better understanding of this momentous undertaking. Mr. Schultz’s goal is to motivate five percent of the population or 15,000,000 people to pressure our government to return to its Constitutional roots.

To: Weld County Commissioners re: Open Pit

Subject: Case # USR-1687; Name: Journey Ventures, LLC; Proposed Project; USR for open pit mining & materials processing & asphalt and concrete batch plants. Location: West of and adjacent to County road 51 and north of County road 58.
To: Weld County Department of Planning Services and County Commissioners.
We are opposed to this open pit operation because:
1. Possible pollution to South Platte River
2. Opening up the under ground aquifer to pollution and evaporation, therefore compromising our irrigation wells
3. Damage to our farming operatiopns
4. Damage to the wild game along South Platte River by drying up the sloughs
5. Disturbing a wet land area
6. There has been no environmental impact study done
7. The proposed site is zoned agriculture, not industrial. We respectfully request that you do not give this proposed mining operation the right to become operational.
Thank You.
Francis & Helen Puype, 24566 County Road 58, Greeley, CO. 80631
We sent this email to every county commissioner, we ask you if you could be of some assist to stopping the proposed project. Thank You. Francis & Helen Puype

Sunday, January 25, 2009

IN A PIG'S EYE

By Jim Beers

(The following letter was sent to the St. Paul paper and copied to David
Broder. The introductory title was "Heirs less apparent": I must assume that is an attempt at humor.)
David Broder's piece about "Disappearing dynasties" in Washington is misleading. Not only does he ignore the current Senate dynasties like Senator Murkowski, first appointed by her Dad when he stepped down from that position; he similarly ignores all the recent hoopla about how we are all to anticipate Senator, now Vice-President Biden's son to fill that seat.
Then there is the even more insidious aspect of this growing oligarchy in Washington: the growing and unmentioned hiring of the children of these powerful politicoes in the increasingly powerful federal agencies. When Senator Schumer's daughter is placed in a Senior Executive position in the federal agency that does Congressional bidding regarding banks and loans and former Senator Stevens' daughter is placed in a similar high position in the Interior Department (to name just two), two things happen and neither is good for the nation. First, the agency has influence on all Senators and Congressmen by using such relatives of a "powerful" politico and "quid pro quos" grow like weeds under the table from budget increases to audit avoidance. Second, any semblance of a "Merit System" for hiring and
awarding bonuses is turned into sardonic subjects for jokes and Russian-like cynicism about government programs. Have you heard about "gifts that keep on giving" or "Frank en stein banking policies"?
"Disappearring"? Hardly. By Jim Beers 25 January 2009

WILDLIFE WORD FOLLIES

By Jim Beers


From Chapter 6 of Through the Looking Glass:

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, "it means
just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many
different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master - - that's
all."
From the Fox News just this morning:
Three commentators reported as the #1 item that President Obama told
Congressional Republicans that "they shouldn't watch Rush Limbaugh" because
that will delay passage of this (latest) "emergency" funding bailout (of
plus or minus a Trillion dollars for whomever and whoever is deserving such
as $300 Million for "contraception services").
Actually, the quoted words on the TV screen of the President's comments at
the meeting of BOTH Republican and Democrat Congressmen was "WE CAN'T LET
PEOPLE LISTEN TO RUSH LIMBAUGH" BLAH, BLAH, BLAH.
These "words", when spoken by the President to assembled elected Congressmen
(Representatives and Senators) of both parties, mean "WE need to stop
'letting?' people (i.e. you and me) listen to Rush Limbaugh". That means
for you "people 'out there'" that the President wants legislation and/or
regulations that will prevent American citizens from hearing whatever Rush
Limbaugh has to say.
Two points bear mention: First, these words and this rationale belong in
dictatorships like Zimbabwe, Russia and North Korea not the United States of
America. They should be extremely repugnant to all Americans. Second, When
and if Rush is banished or incarcerated or whatever; do not doubt for a New
York nanosecond that not just other outspoken radio hosts will be next but
the precedent is set for any dissenter or malcontent or questioner of our
"rulers" to be silenced and (?). Look at Roe v. Wade, look at the
Endangered Species Act, look at the Wilderness Act, look at all the
socialist legislation of the past four decades and examine why they were
passed and all the denials of what they wouldn't do and then look at what
they have become. Look at how dog owners turned their backs on how urban
majorities denied rural communities the right to conduct cockfights as they
would and how duck hunters ignored the devastation of introduced wolves on
elk or how fishermen ignored the impacts of anti-trapping laws, each
disdaining any stake in the others freedom. Then you can see how once Rush
goes, the dominoes will fall a few at a time in a steady stream and the
supporters of each will deny anything in common with the victim du jour
(freedom? rights? traditions? culture?) except their common and impending
extinction for reasons they can't quite figure out.
But alas, our subject is wildlife and words, not simply word-mongering.
Like Alice and television political observers, we need to ask all the
wildlife "experts" that are dictating more and more of our daily lives and
enabling the agenda of those that would make us all subjects of an autocracy
seated in Washington; "what exactly do they mean?" Today's news is full of
such examples but three current ones are all I will mention in deference to
those who like "shorter" articles.
First, there is the snow pack and blizzards that have gripped the Upper
Midwest this winter (no, this is not about the word-mongering involved in
global warming; that would take more pages than any sane person could
endure). The Minnesota papers and gas station gossip are all concerned with
the high winter losses of pheasants and other game birds due to the lack of
winter cover (trees, brush, cattails, etc.) and the difficulty the birds are
having to find waste grain and other high energy food in the deep snow. As
Minnesota and the Dakotas wrestle with this matter, enter the Iowa
Department of Natural Resources and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. These
two august government agencies own nearly all the non-private (i.e. vast
majority) game bird winter cover in the state of Iowa. They are currently
BURNING all the winter cover since the fires can't spread over deep snow.
Why, you might ask? "To restore native plants" is their answer. Now
"native" plants are of little to no use either for food or cover for
pheasants or Hungarian partridge. The state agency is supposed to represent
hunting interests and the federal agency was founded to foster wildlife in
consonance with American communities and traditions. Simultaneously,
"hunter organizations" like Pheasants Forever and others are either absent
or mildly supportive of this "Final Solution" for Iowa pheasants. But not
to worry, the federal employees are garnering favor with the environmental
and animal rights radicals descending on Washington like crows heading for a
winter roost with the Obama Administration and the "hunter" organization
employees will be in line for an "appointment" with the new Administration
based on a "good WORD" from the anti-hunting folks that are using the
impossible to achieve and indefinable WORDS "restoring native ecosystems" to
grow government and further oppress American citizens.
Second, an august "biologist" employed by another questionable "hunter
organization", Ducks Unlimited has pronounced that mallard duck wintering
areas in Arkansas (mostly seasonally flooded woodlands, rice fields, corn
fields, and other agricultural fields) should be made up of more areas of
"native plants". This is a specious bit of flim-flammery with words. Like
burning pheasant winter cover to save the pheasants (shades of Vietnam) this
bit of "biology" is merely a justification for more government land control
and purchase. Like the "biology" spawned by the millions of tax dollars
being wasted on finding and saving the Ivory-billed Woodpecker that has been
extinct for 60+ years (and which coincidentally spawned more hate mail in my
inbox than any other topic I have commented on); this "biology" takes the
"hunter" orientation mistakenly credited to DU and reorients it to less
mallard-friendly, mallard-supportive and less mallard-healthy winter
habitat. The answer to why can be seen in the last sentence of the previous
paragraph, simply substitute DU for Iowa DNR and USFWS and there you have
it. Ah, the magic of words!
Third, there is the recent forced landing of a commercial airliner in the
Hudson River in the midst of some of the densest human populations in the
USA. What if, the pilot wasn't so cool and competent? What if, the plane
had torn into high-rises and streets? What if? Why aren't wild birds,
especially big ones like geese excluded from large areas around airports and
air-lanes in dense urban settings? The federal government began and
nurtured this entire year-around, resident Canada goose population problem
40 years ago and now it makes it difficult for states to manage goose
numbers (year around numbers are in the millions nationwide) and
distributions by using hunters. Additionally it looks down its' nose at the
animal damage control folks now (they used to be in the US Fish and Wildlife
Service before that agency sought to be more environmental/animal-rights
friendly) and only offer difficult and very expensive alternatives paid for
by taxes instead of generating tax revenue from managed hunters. But to the
"WORD" aspect of this issue; news reports tell us that New York Senator
Schumer has "earmarked" untold numbers of federal tax dollars to "humane"
and "animal rights" groups to "control geese" in and around New York City
using "humane" methods such as immunocontraception (does that make them
eligible for the latest "bailout" money that the President wants for
"contraception"??) and transferring geese (to where, Wilderness? Shelters?
China?). Just as with all the vapid word nonsense about "non-lethal
control" of deer and coyotes and raccoons et al, the (good?) Senator and
the environmental/animal rights community of New York City and the state and
federal agencies all hide behind the smooth WORDS that mean "just what I
(they) choose it (them) to mean". That is to say, WORDS are merely
propaganda for hidden agendas and the personal benefit of politicians,
bureaucrats, and radicals.
Who'd have "thunk" that Humpty Dumpty could be quoted as such a wise wizard
however, that is exactly what he is when he says, "The question is which is
to be master - that's all". These word "twistings" are exactly what that
old propagandist Goebbels did so well. We look with scorn on those Germans
that were swayed by such lies but yet we are proving just as gullible. We
must ask ourselves what is the truth and then answer the question, who is to
be "master": the politicians, the bureaucrats, the radicals or the rest of
us. Need I answer for you? Jim Beers 24 January 2009

Friday, January 23, 2009

Glaring Examples Of Wolf Problems

Comments by Harriet Hageman

If we ever want to return some semblance of common sense and local control to this debate, we are going to have to take a page from the enviros' playbook. We have to recognize that we are not going to win the lawsuits unless and until we are able to educate the general populace (including Judges who read newspapers, see billboards, watch advertising on tv, etc.) on what is going on. The enviros have now reached the point where they are controlling the debate -- the press not only goes to them for their side of the story every time there wildlife/sportsmen/livestock/environmental issue raised, but makes no effort to actually investigate the truth of what they are saying. There are glaring examples throughout the following article:

"Rushing through a flawed plan that has already been rejected by the courts doesn't make any sense," Stone said. "So much for public involvement. The bottom line is that we need to treat wolves as a wildlife resource and not as a pest to be exterminated. The Service should have created a new proposed rule that could do that and still address the needs of our regional stakeholders, but it means putting science back on the table first."

What "science" is she talking about? The science that shows that the FWS could introduce 35 wolves into Wyoming in 1995 and 1996 and have them explode 30-fold+ in 10 years? The science under which these wolves were introduced as "non-essential experimental" from the beginning? The science that shows that certain wildlife herds are being descimated? The science that shows for every "confirmed" livestock kill, we lose between 8-10 head (not counting the impact to breeding programs, the loss of weight, the increased expense of herding, etc.)? Sadly, the "science" was eradicated from this debate long ago, with the enviros making sure that science is ignored throughout the process.

My point is, the press does not do its job. It does not ask the right questions. It does not make an effort to understand either the situation on the ground, or the promises that were made. The problem is, however, that it is the press through which the public obtains its information. So long as the press is controlled by the leftist "green" agenda, the general public will never be informed of what is actually happening. It is for that reason that we have to stop expecting the press to actually investigate and fairly report on any of these issues.
The enviros only had to do a few things 15 years ago -- convince all of us that if the wolves were brought into our States that they would be managed, that they would be limited in number, and that the purpose was to "restore" the wolves to Yellowstone National Park. Once they got their foot in the door, it was over, and the facts will not matter to a Judge Malloy until there is a cost for ignoring them.
After having fought these battles for several years, I have come to the conclusion that we are going to have to move beyond the expectation that the Courts will understand the law and protect our interests. We are also going to have to recognize that the vast majority of the news outlets are corrupt, and will not make any effort to expose the "green" agenda for what it is. We need to return to our grassroots and start direct education programs in or to inform the public about reality, and we need to start from the bottom up. We know that kids are being indoctrinated in grade school to protect the pretty puppy dog wolves. We know that Disney World and Disneyland publish propaganda directed to the youngest members of our society. We know that teachers are presenting "global warming" hysteria in our schools, with little (if any) counterpoints being presented or even discussed.
The enviros started the long road to 2008/2009 in the early 1960's. It has taken 40+ years for them to arrive where they are now -- pushing a "green" agenda that has the potential to crater our economy (just wait for the upcoming "cap and trade" laws), destroy our environment (protecting the environment is a luxury when your citizens are starving -- you need look no further than places like Romania, China, etc.), and undermine our entire Constitution (how can private property rights be protected in the face of protecting "biological diversity" and "wildlife corridors").
If you want to fight this battle, it is going to take money, time, dedication, and a recognition that this is a long-term process. Whenever the enivros publish another picture of a polar bear "stranded" on an ice flow, we need to be able to come back with photographs of a person being carried out of their house having frozen to death for lack of money to pay the heating bill. Every time they show the pretty little pictures of the wolf pups, we need to show photographs of an elk attempting to return to its feet after having its hind-end eaten out while still alive. Every time they include an advertisement in the New York Times claiming that Earthjustice is protecting all of the babies of the world, we need to show starving children who do not have enough food because of the attack on our food production system. We need to approach our schools, and ask to be included in any assemblies in which environmental issues are addressed. We need to work with our teachers to develop educational programs that tell the truth.
We need to be writing more editorials in the newspapers. We need to be speaking at more conferences. We need to be going on radio programs exposing this "green" agenda for what it is -- the failed communist manifesto redux.
We need to hold a summit somewhere in the western United States and we need to create an organization that can take on the Sierra Club, the NRDC, the WWF, and the other enviro organizations head on. We need literally millions of dollars, a PR firm, and a board of directors who can keep this process on track. We need to try to prevent the agencies from writing laws through the regulatory process.
Where do we go from here? Do we let them win this battle, or do we gear up and fight back on their turf? Harriet M. Hageman

Teachers File FEC Complaint against NEA

January 22, 2009

Teachers File FEC Complaint against NEA for Illegal PAC Money Laundering Scheme
The National Right to Work Foundation announced it is filing a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission on behalf of two Alabama educators and itself against the National Education Association teacher union and two NEA affiliates for an illegal political fundraising scheme recently uncovered.
The case raises serious questions about the role played by the nation's largest teacher union in electing Barack Obama and scores of other Far Left, pro-forced-unionism politicians last year.
To continue reading this blog post, please click this link: http://nrtw.org/en/blog/teachers-file-fec-complaint-against-nea-illeg
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The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, is assisting thousands of employees in close to 300 cases nationwide. Its web address is http://www.nrtw.org/.

THANK YOU, From NARLO!

To all of our publishers: We thank you.

This is a general thank you to all of our publishers, but a specific thank you to Judi McLeod, founder and publisher of Canada Free Press, for her help in taking the National Association of Rural Landowners (NARLO) to national standing.
We would also like to give a special thanks to Jeff Bennett of the Federal Observer for making a special effort to work with us and have us on his daily radio show.
We'd like to thank all of you for seeing value in our work and helping us inform readers about NARLO and what is happening to our Republic.
Again, our sincere thanks. We are growing because of you.
Ron Ewart, President
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF RURAL LANDOWNERS
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We owe a great deal to our NARLO members and our supporters from all over America. We could not exist with out them. But we also owe a debt of gratitude to those on-line and print venues who have seen value in our work and have published our articles and essays on a regular basis. As a result, our "words" have found their way into almost every corner of America. But we owe a special debt of gratitude to Judi McLeod, founder and publisher of Canada Free Press (CFP), an on-line source of news and articles that reaches tens of thousands in both the U. S. and Canada.
Today Judi paid is the ultimate compliment by devoting four (4) paragraphs about NARLO and our "words" in her cover story article ("It's Over") in Canada Free Press this morning, quoting from our most recent article. (log on to www.canadafreepress.com to see article)
This is what she said in her cover story article:
"......... But it's the morning of the day after (Obama's Coronation) and a changed world. In a single day, the disenfranchised are turning to organizations such as the National Association of Rural Landowners (NARLO), where president Ron Ewart is calling on Americans to keep America independent and free from government nationalization. (the links were "hot" in the article)
...We are not asking you to rise up in violence against individual men, politicians and our government institutions," Ewart says. "We are asking you to rise up in unison by using the mechanisms of the very freedom that was granted to us in our constitutions and that was paid for by the blood and treasure of millions of souls who have given their lives in the defense of that freedom. We are asking you to avail yourselves of the right of the "consent of the governed" and make it known to your representatives of your consent when they get it right, or non-consent when they stray from the path of the Supreme Law. We are asking you to use the courts to undo laws that are blatantly in violation of the Constitution. This cannot be a token effort. It will only work with a maximum effort.
"America is a Constitutional Republic, not a Democracy no matter how many times you hear it otherwise. A Republic is government by the rule of law. The foundation of that law in America is our Constitution and it is our Supreme Law. A Democracy is government by the rule of the majority, or the mob. Whatever the majority decides to be acceptable becomes the law no matter how the minority may complain, or how many rights the law may trample.
"Verily, verily I say unto you, rise up Americans as did our forefathers and those that led them. Rise up in anger and commitment to right the wrongs and grievances that have been thrust upon us by a government that has lost all allegiance to our founding principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, that is the irrevocable gift of our Creator. Every day, in perpetuity, we must prove to government, at every level, and others, that we will vehemently defend that gift, because unless we do, government will do whatever it pleases, and it is."
We would have had to pay thousands of dollars to get this kind of a plug for the National Association of Rural Landowners. We thank Judi and Canada Free Press for what she and CFP have done to elevate NARLO to national standing.
We would also like to thank the following publishers for carrying our work. We are growing because of their efforts on our behalf.
The Federal Observer (www.federalobserver.com)
The Hawaii Reporter (www.hawaiireporter.com)
Good Neighbor Law (www.goodneighborlaw.com)
Citizens for a Constitutional Republic (www.citizensforaconstitutionalrepublic.com)
The Republic Magazine (www.republicmagazine.com)
The Reagan Wing (www.thereaganwing.com)
Yooper Scooper Magazine
Gun News, and others
Take care, Ron

POWER, INSPIRATION AND AMERICAN ENTHUSIASM

By RON EWART

As his eyes penetrated the darkness, a point of light streaked across the sky. He followed it with his eyes until it disappeared over the horizon. All at once several more streaks of light flashed past him and they followed the last streak, until they too vanished into the night. The time it took for each streak of light to appear and then disappear was measured in fractions of a second. He stood there in utter silence as he drank in the splendor of the night sky that glittered and twinkled from horizon to horizon. It was hard for him to believe that so much more existed out there than existed on this mere tiny spec of a planet upon which was the platform for this of points-of-light display. As he contemplated the darkness, a tiny spec of moving light appeared on the East horizon with a path from East to West. It moved in a steady pace across the sky, much slower than the meteorites he had just witnessed. He didn't know it at the time, but he had just observed the first man-made satellite to join the star-studded night, The Soviet Union's "Sputnic". Homer stood in awe of what he saw. He vowed, right then and there, that he wanted to make rockets.
But alas, the deck was stacked against Homer. His father, Homer Sr., a tough task master by any measure, was superintendent of a coal mine in Coalwood, West Virginia. Like so many fathers who wanted their sons to follow in their footsteps, he wanted Homer Jr. to become a coal miner and ultimately a superintendent, as he had become. The mine was in his blood in spite of the dangers from black lung disease, cave-ins and mine explosions. (Homer Sr. later died from black lung disease) He envisioned that his sons would share in that exhilaration. It was not to be. Homer, Jr. had other plans. He was going to build rockets.
In spite of and in almost open defiance of his father's objections, Homer Jr. set out with a few friends to experiment with rockets. They called themselves the Big Creek Missile Agency (BCMA). Their experiments ended almost entirely in failure. But they were learning with each attempt. For parts, they scrounged everywhere and got friends and some adults to help them. All of Homer's rocket-building activity created even more friction between he and his father.
Nevertheless, a teacher in the high school that Homer attended, sensing his enthusiasm, and even knowing that Homer was a marginal student, suggested that Homer's rocket group, the BCMA, try out for the 1960 National Science Fair. Homer and his BCMA group were awarded a gold and silver medal for their entries.
Homer graduated from Virginia Tech in 1964 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering. He began employment with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration at Marshall Space Flight Center in 1981 as an aerospace engineer. During his NASA career, Homer worked in spacecraft design and crew training. His specialties at NASA included training astronauts on science payloads, and extra-vehicular activities (EVA). He also trained astronaut crews for many Spacelab and Space Shuttle missions, including the Hubble Space Telescope deployment mission, the first two Hubble repair missions, Spacelab-J (the first Japanese astronauts), and the Solar Max repair mission. Prior to his retirement from federal service in 1998, Homer was the Payload Training Manager for the International Space Station Program.
A United States Army veteran, Homer served as a First Lieutenant in the Fourth Infantry Division during the Vietnam War in 1967 and 1968. For his service, he earned the Commendation and Bronze Star Medals. He served six years on active duty, leaving the Army as a Captain.
Homer was a boy and then a man, driven by a dream to accomplish something of great importance to him, no matter what the obstacles in his way. He even defied his own father to reach that dream. They later reconciled.
Homer is the essence of the American spirit and enthusiasm to create something of value, in a free land that allows creativity, industriousness, the pursuit of excellence and pride in our accomplishments to flourish. In the absence of that freedom, the servitude that replaces it, produces sloth, mediocrity, self-contempt and apathy. Servitude is worse than being dead. We need to rekindle that American spirit and enthusiasm in all of our people, but unfortunately there are evil forces that are putting road blocks in the way. Every attempt must be made to drown out the evil forces who would take away our freedom and our sovereignty. Men like Homer,with enthusiasm, spirit and drive, could lead the way.
"The noise is shattering. It shudders the air for almost a hundred miles. It shakes the ground upon which you stand, as you witness in awe, man's almost arrogant defiance of the forces of nature. It belches unimaginable fire and smoke from its tail and slowly, it breaks the bounds of Earth's gravity and rises ever faster, arcing into an azure sky. It screeches in anger with a body-penetrating roar as it fights valiantly against Earth's attempts to pull it back. A long, curving stream of white smoke outlines its path into the awaiting heavens. In minutes it is nothing but a spec against a backdrop of blue. Suddenly a soundless puff of flame and smoke mark the separation of its lift-off stage rockets. Spaceship Discovery has broken free of Earth and reaches for the stars, at seven miles per second." (From Ron's book, "Stare Deep Into the Cosmos.")
Reaching for the stars is what Americans are all about. Homer Hickam, the rocket boy, represents the best in us. He realized his dream and he helped America reach for the stars. We sincerely hope that America is still producing men like Homer because it is that spirit, that enthusiasm, that drive and ambition to make a dream come true, that will lead us back to what America once was.
If you would like to be inspired; if you would like to feel good about America and what we, as Americans can be, we encourage you to see the movie, "October Sky". This is the story of a young boy named Homer Hickam, who had a dream and followed it, no matter where it led, or what it cost. He never once considered failure as an option. As freedom-loving Americans we need to follow Homer's lead and never consider failure as an option.
If you are concerned about what a President Obama and a U. S. Congress will do, request a copy of our "Petition Declaring Potential Constitutional Violations by the 2009 incoming U. S. President, Barack Hussein Obama and the U. S. Congress" by e-mailing us at info@narlo.org and insert "VOUSC 2009-007" in the subject line.

THE DANGER WE FACE

By JIM BEERS

Approximately 100 years ago GK Chesterton made three observations about the worsening political situation in Europe as it slid inexorably towards war.
Soon thereafter, a "War to End All Wars" wrought unimaginable carnage on millions thanks to the combination of armament "science", disregard for
non-combatants and the hubris of absolute rulers. These observations were truly prophetic twenty years later concerning the circumstances in the 1930's
that led to World War II and, I suggest, they are worth the consideration of all Americans today, 22 January 2009.
On the subject of standing up to bullies and for what is right, Chesterton looks to children and rightly says, "The child's hero is always the man or boy who defends himself suddenly and splendidly against aggression." "In all boys' books, in all boys' conversation, the hero is one person and the bully the other."
On the subject of racial categories and the "science" of racial characteristics that were prevalent before WWI and that soon led to the Eugenics practices of limiting the "poor" and "unfit" by Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger and then the race murders and enslavements by the Nazis twenty years later, Chesterton observed "Never once would it flash across the Aryan mind that all such race theories are rubbish; that political, religious, and commercial groups of men come together because
they agree about politics, religion, or commerce; and that there is no group which does not contain, within the range of local possibility, all shapes of
skull and all shades of complexion." "We do not need to know about the skulls; we need to know about the brains."
Finally, Chesterton tells us why we fight, "A real soldier does not fight because he has something he hates in front of him. He fights because he has something he loves behind his back." "For it is intensely important to grasp that combatants do not commonly disagree about things, but about the value of things."
On this 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and the third day of the Obama Presidency a certain reality is evident. Undoing evil is far more difficult and problematic than preventing it before it becomes entrenched. Since the Supreme Court decision on this date in 1973, abortion has grown to become what everyone denied it would have become and what politicians all decry while protecting it and expanding it. That model is about to be duplicated In many ways by the new President and Congress in Washington.
It is with these things in mind that I find myself asking myself about my values, my willingness to confront racism, and what I am willing to do to defend what I know to be right on this pivotal day.
The more important things that I value highly include:
- The right of all humans to live free from the moment of conception until natural death.
- The US Constitution, The Bill of Rights, and The Declaration of Independence not as perfect but as the best guarantors of freedom and rights yet adopted by any society.
- The 2nd Amendment as a guarantor of my ability to protect myself and other innocents as well as being a "raison d'etre" for hunting, trapping, and fishing.
- Eating meat, wearing fur, and using animals as Public (wild) and Private (domestic) Property.
- Local governance and protection of community standards, traditions, and cultures.
- Parental sovereignty over children and the utter sanctity and importance of marriage and strong families to our future.
The more important things I strongly object to include:
Government classification of citizens by race and sex.
- Closure of public land to public use.
- Abandonment of the management of wild plants and animals for societal good.
- Central government power expansion and State government jurisdiction losses.
- Public encouragement of same sex activities in the military and schools.
- The diminishment of marriage, acceptance of out-of -wedlock births, and public schools as propaganda centers for social engineering.
- Recent transfers of public funds to private enterprises and the budget deficits they create.
- Environmental scams from Endangered Species and deadly predator protection to global warming; all of which call for more absolute government power over our property and our lives.
- Dominance of rural people by urban elites and urban politicians.
- Surrender of American sovereignty to foreign or international governing bodies.
It is patently clear that, despite duplicitous rhetoric and doing things like having a same sex advocate Bishop and a pastor opposed to same sex marriage pray at the Inauguration to assuage both sides of a controversial issue; the new President's record and his emerging appointee's records indicate abortion expansion and support domestically and internationally, gun control, central government power expansion over things like private property and children, same sex activity acceptance in schools and the military, animal "rights" expansion, discouragement of non-public education of the young, continued closure of public lands to public use and revenue
production, and the further abandonment of the concepts of the management and ownership of all animals and plants. From the Freedom of Choice Act (that will not only increase abortions but likely close Catholic hospitals and cause many doctors and nurses to leave the practice of medicine) that the President has vowed to sign to the current Congressional efforts to draft laws to allow the President to serve more than two terms and to have been born as a citizen of another country to the gun control extremism records of the President, his Chief of Staff and his Attorney General and the animal rights extremists in the White House; I am strongly opposed to
what they stand for and what they intend to do.
I look at what Chicago has done by their political dominance in recent decades over the State of Illinois that I left 50 years ago and I shudder because it is exactly what the President and his appointees intend to do with the United States by subjecting it to the absolute power of a Washington political "machine". Other such states dominated by corrupt and entrenched urban governments include New Jersey, Massachusetts, Washington and New York. Their respect for law was exemplified recently by the Mayor of New York's decision to run for a third term; he was not even slowed down by a legal prohibition against serving more than two terms; he simply had
"his" Council rescind the law: this is no different than Putin recently making Russian Governor's appointees rather than elected officials to silence any possible objections to his absolute power. The thought of such government from Washington is frightening.
So what is different? President Bush started the "bailouts" and his Secretary of the Treasury was a former head of The Nature Conservancy and no doubt pushed a lot of the public land closures and restrictions that took place under the Bush Administration. There are some very big differences that we all need to be aware of.
1. We are told we "must want the new President to succeed" and we "must support" him. Answer: He deserves and will get support when he does the right things and he will and should be opposed vigorously when he does bad things. Our responsibility in this regard was settled and defined in 1946 and 1947 in a court in Nuremberg, Germany.
2. We are cautioned that many of us do not support the President because he is "black". Answer: Racism accusations today are like the politics of yesterday, the last refuge of scoundrels. "Black ministers" preach hatred of "white people" from pulpits before the new President and even from the Inaugural platform while Washington "Rap Parties" for the new President's Inauguration feature vile profanity and threats directed at "white" people. We have the current anomaly of law wherein today black person after black person publicly admits to voting for the new President "because he is black" while at the same time a "white" male saying he voted for the "white" candidate because he is "white" would make him subject to all manner of litigation and reprisals. I strongly oppose most of what the new President stands for yet I voted for a now invisible, unmentioned, and evidently forgotten black man for President 8 years ago: Alan Keyes got my vote in the Republican primary in 2000 while the new President was learning to swim in the Chicago political sludge.
3. We are told he will "bring us together". Answer: This is most often stated in the same breath as the speaker is calling Bush vile names or booing President Bush or telling radio show hosts that those that don't support the new President should "jump off the ledge". The bitterness and hatred is extremely bad and it seems to have nowhere to go but down.
4. As I write this, the radicals arrested for everything from bomb-making and weapons violations to mayhem as they threatened and disrupted the Republican Convention here in Saint Paul last year grinds on as charges are dropped and downgraded. Answer: Any opposition to the policies and the oligarchy in both parties now ruling this nation is both discouraged and destroyed by the tactics of these bullies: like German Storm Troopers during the election of National Socialism their aim is to intimidate any opposition and destroy any individuals or media that runs counter to their desires. This must not be allowed to stand in a Republic if it is to be kept free.
5. The policies and tactics I have cited are now on steroids and are a far greater threat than any will admit. The US House of Representatives and the US Senate have majorities and leadership that are as committed to what I consider to be major threats to our Society and way of life as are the President and his appointees. The Congress can draft, pass and the President will sign the most extreme legislation unhindered almost overnight thanks to these majorities and their leadership. They have no meaningful opposition either in numbers or commitment. When John McCain can lead the roundup of Republican votes for Senator Clinton to be Secretary of State as
her husband collects million from Middle East tyrants and House Republicans are all but invisible today; the hope for public discussion, an effective opposition and the interests of rural America are nil. The Democrat Party interest groups from unions to urban environmental groups and animal rights groups are the ones scheming with Congressional and Administration staff people as I write this. At no time in my life have such radical agendas and the ability to pass them unopposed on such short notice existed.
6. Finally, there is a strong likelihood that in the next four years there will be several Supreme Court vacancies. Their replacements will be "litmus-tested" advocates (nominated by the President and coddled by the US Senate we have today) of the "living document" Constitution and all of the changes that the President and his majority in the Congress plan to pass to assure reelection and a secular-progressive society that many rural people and a growing number of others will find repugnant. Like the Roe v. Wade decision, these radical changes in American governance and society will be extremely hard to repeal or change once they are passed. They will grow and grow. Only if they can be stopped before they become law, is there hope for our future.
Chesterton said it all when he spoke of the "rubbish" of "race theories" and how children can be a model for the identification and importance of "heroes" and "bullies". When he capped it off with the reason a "real soldier" fights being not because what he "hates" is before him but because what he "loves" is behind him; he is telling me what I must do. I must fight to protect what I "love" and "value"; not out of hate or vindictiveness for those committed to taking away what I hold to be precious. Accusations of racism or bigotry or intimidation or feelings of isolation and hopelessness cannot stay any of us from the important work before us. The danger has never been greater and the need for a committed and effective opposition of "heroes" has likewise never been greater.
God help us all and God Bless America. bY Jim Beers 22 January 2009

Sunday, January 18, 2009

AMERICA'S ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BACK TO OPINION

Unintended Consequences in Action
James Quinn January 5th 2009

Cutting Edge Financial Crisis Analyst

Ben Bernanke

Columbia University statistician Andrew Gelman has said, “The law of unintended consequences is what happens when a simple system tries to regulate a complex system. The political system is simple. It operates with limited information (rational ignorance), short time horizons, low feedback, and poor, misaligned incentives. Society in contrast is a complex, evolving, high-feedback, incentive-driven system. When a simple system tries to regulate a complex system you often get unintended consequences.”

Gelman is dead on, if not understated. He states that the political system is simple. I’d go a step further and say that lifetime politicians and entrenched government bureaucrats are “simple.” They show no indication of knowledge or expertise in American history or rational financial theory. The President, Congress, Federal Reserve, and Treasury try mightily to direct our economy. It is an impossible task. With a GDP of $14 trillion, there are thousands of inputs and outputs that feed the system. Their hubris leads them to believe that they are in control and can manipulate the gears of capitalism in a way that will produce their desired outcomes. If a desired outcome occurs, it is simply due to dumb luck. The more likely result of their manipulations of our complex system is a set of bigger problems that never occurred to them.

Congress definitely fits Mr. Gelman’s definition of a simple system. I can’t think of a body of people operating with more ignorance than Congress. The information they act upon, is provided by the 17,000 lobbyists that wine and dine them on a daily basis. Corporate lobbyists, Political Action Committees (PACs), unions, and special interests buy their votes. Their time horizons are less than a few months. They are constantly running for re-election, raising money and handing out goodies to their constituents. The only feedback they care about is their standing in the polls and the amount of money they’ve raised from “donors.” Their incentives are poor and not aligned with the needs of the American people. They are not willing to do what is right for the country because they have no incentive to do so. Their only incentive is to get re-elected by insuring that their district gets as much pork spending as possible. They do this by selling their votes to the highest bidder.

Ignorance, Stupidity, and Hubris

Sociologist Robert K. Merton popularized the concept of unintended consequences in a paper written in 1936. Merton’s five possible causes were ignorance, error, immediate interest, basic values, and self-defeating prophecy. Ignorance, error, and immediate interest sound like a perfect motto for the U.S. Congress, Federal Reserve, and Treasury. When media pundits, pompous economists, self proclaimed “experts”, and corrupted politicians assure you that they have the solutions to all of our problems, they are practicing the most evil form of hubris. The arrogance and self importance of these people is an insult to the intelligence of all Americans. They put their unproven theories into practice by committing trillions of taxpayer funds. They are only concerned about the next election cycle and not about the long-term consequences of their ignorance and ignorance of crucial facts. The accumulation of blunders over the decades by government has led to unintended consequences that could bring down our country. Recent developments will have disturbing consequences for all Americans.

Unintended Consequences of Cheap Oil

When oil reached $147 a barrel in the summer of 2008, panic was setting in among the sages in Congress. Windfall profit taxes on oil companies and government intervention to support alternative energy were the mantra of congressmen and Presidential candidates. Government intervention was going to work its magic. Instead, the markets adjusted rapidly to a worldwide decline in demand and the price plummeted to less than $40 a barrel. This drop has put an additional $200 billion of money back into the pockets of Americans. This was a needed relief in the midst of a grinding recession. The law of supply and demand worked without government intervention. The short-term focus of our politicians and many Americans will likely squander this temporary reprieve.

The pundits concluded that oil reaching $147 a barrel was due to speculators. Once the speculators were forced out, oil prices collapsed. Their view is that this temporary crisis has passed and life will go back to normal. American oil demand declined by 13 percent in September 2008, but Chinese demand grew by 28 percent. Auto financing at 0 percent for five years on SUVs will prevail and all will be well. The ignorance of the true facts by our leaders will lead to a future crisis that will make the current financial crisis seem like a walk in the park. The current economic downturn which has temporarily decreased worldwide demand will end. Oil demand will resume its upward slope, while supply has likely reached its peak.

The facts based on exhaustive research by oil insider Matt Simmons are as follows. Sixty percent of the world’s oil is consumed by 10 percent of the world’s population. America represents 5 percent of the world’s population and consumes 24 percent of the world’s oil. Middle East oil use is growing more rapidly than China’s. China now uses 8 million barrels per day versus 3.5 million barrels per day in 1997. China now consumes 2 barrels per person per year versus 24 barrels per person per year in the U.S. The U.S. has 220 million automobiles for 305 million people. China has 32 million cars for 1.3 billion people. Peak supply of 86 million barrels of oil per day has been reached. Demand will grow to 115 million to 125 million barrels per day in the next 20 years.

The price of oil is now dangerously low. There are large amounts of untapped resources in non-traditional places. These include oil sands in Canada, oil shale in the Western U.S., and deep water oil. At $40 a barrel, the cost to extract oil from these sources is greater than the revenue that can be generated. Therefore, all projects in these areas will be stopped or delayed indefinitely. Drilling rigs are being shut down, employees are being laid off, and all expensive deep water projects are being abandoned. Supply has topped out at 86 million barrels per day. Mature oil fields throughout the world are in decline. Projects can take decades to bring online. Projects not started today will result in supply shortages in the future.

If the U.S. leaders allow today’s low prices to reduce its sense of urgency regarding energy independence, the consequences will be shocking. The existing energy infrastructure is rusting away. The estimates to rebuild the crumbling infrastructure, that is 80 percent beyond its original design life, run as high as $100 trillion. The Cantarell oil field in Mexico is collapsing and will lead to Mexico becoming an oil importer in the next five years. The U.S. currently gets 11.1 percent of our supply from Mexico, almost as much as from Saudi Arabia. Another 30 percent comes from unstable countries such as Venezuela, Iraq, Nigeria, and Russia. We are not in command of our energy future. By doing nothing today, we insure that $147 oil will seem like a bargain in the not too distant future. Converting our country to wind power, natural gas, and nuclear power would decrease our dependence on foreign oil and keep $700 billion in the United States rather than transferring it to the Middle East.

Unintended Consequences of 0 percent Interest Rates

The Gross Domestic Product of the United States is $14.4 trillion. Consumer spending makes up $10.2 trillion or 71 percent of GDP. Government spending makes up $2.9 trillion, or 20 percent of GDP. Domestic investment makes up $2.0 trillion, or 14 percent of GDP. The trade deficit of $700 billion reduces GDP by 5 percent. President Obama has quite a dilemma in trying to revive this economy. The American consumer has borrowed from their homes and credit cards to fuel a colossal spending spree in the last twenty years. The dilemma is that the U.S. economic growth during the entire Bush administration was a debt-induced fraud.

From 1953 through 1983, consumption as a percentage of GDP ranged between 61 percent and 64 percent. Consumers rarely, if ever, borrowed against their houses. Paying off your mortgage was a goal of all families. A normalized level of consumer spending at 65 percent of GDP will require consumers to spend at least $1 trillion less per year. Less consumer spending will also contribute to reducing the trade deficit. The Federal Reserve and politicians running our country see a $1 trillion reduction in consumer spending as a disaster. Their positions of power would be in jeopardy. They will do everything in their power to not allow this to happen. The unintended consequences will commence shortly.

From the time Alan Greenspan took over as Federal Reserve Chairman in 1987, consumption and household debt rose at a faster rate than the economy. The Greenspan Put was a major contributor to these developments. Everyone knew that Greenspan would lower rates and inject liquidity into the system whenever an economic bump in the road came along. Greenspan’s reduction of the discount rate to 1 percent in 2003 led to the greatest debt bubble in history that still threatens to bring down the financial system.

The entrenched politician rulers of our country who are bought and sold by Big Business lobbyists, the Military Industrial Complex, and Big Media want to preserve the status quo. Their power base depends upon it. Prior to the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, depressions were violent and short. Prices for goods and wages adjusted rapidly, which allowed businesses and workers to survive. Having the dollar pegged to gold, limited what the government could do. The Federal Reserve artificially inflated the money supply in the 1920s causing a normal depression to become a Great Depression. Government interference with wage and price controls and government made work projects did not allow the system to fix itself. It took a World War to pull our economy out of the Great Depression.

It’s the End of the World As We Know It

What is required to happen and what will happen, in the next year, will have calamitous consequences for the future of our country. Consumers need to cut back dramatically on consuming. Spending as a percentage of GDP needs to decline to 65 percent, or by $1 trillion. This would be approximately $3,000 less spending per household per year. Twenty years of consumer debt accumulation must be unwound. This required deleveraging needs to eliminate $2 trillion of household debt. The result will be thousands of retail store closings, mall closings, restaurant closings, and auto dealership closings. The distinction between needs and wants will reveal itself like a sledgehammer.

The consumer needs to increase their savings rate from 2 percent to 10 percent. This would provide more capital for investment. People who cannot afford the mortgage on their home need to sell or enter foreclosure. When home prices fall far enough, the market will clear the inventory. Lower prices are the only way to eliminate excess supply. Companies that have failed to prepare for this downturn by taking on excessive debt, allowing expenses to soar, and having no clear strategic plan should go bankrupt. Unemployment will reach 9 percent. New businesses will be created and Americans will be hired.The Government should make sure that no one starves to death or has to sleep on the streets. The safety net of food stamps and unemployment insurance should be strengthened.

The Government’s purpose is to protect its citizens, enforce the laws and maintain the public infrastructure. Our roads are crumbling, we have 156,000 structurally deficient bridges, millions of miles of pipes under our streets are rusting away, and our power grid is antiquated. The job of Government was to maintain these things. They have failed miserably. Why does anyone think a new government infrastructure plan will work? Bridges to nowhere will be everywhere. Reducing spending dramatically on our military empire would provide funds to support the social safety net that is required during a depression. Congressmen in the pocket of the Defense industry will never allow it to happen.

What needs to occur would inflict too much pain for our politicial leaders to allow. A violent short depression will be traded for a decade long extended depression. A painful deflationary depression will be converted into a hyperinflationary depression that could threaten the very existence of our country. President elect Obama has begun his finely orchestrated marketing plan to spend $775 billion of borrowed taxpayer money. His rationale for the stimulus package is classic Washington politics - "Economists from across the political spectrum agree that if we don't act swiftly and boldly, we could see a much deeper economic downturn. That's why we need an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that not only creates jobs in the short-term but spurs economic growth and competitiveness in the long-term."

Not one economist on the face of the earth predicted the events of 2008. None of Obama’s list of blue chip economists saw a crisis coming, and they have no idea how long or deep the current downturn will be. They make weather forecasters look highly accurate in comparison. Most economists are either sellouts (Lawrence Yun), cheerleaders (Larry Kudlow), ideologues, or academic theoreticians. If Barrack Obama is depending on economists to determine our future, all is lost. Alan Greenspan was an economist. If we had done the opposite of everything he recommended in the last 20 years, the country would be on the right track. President Obama, with the overwhelming support of a Democratic Congress, will double down on the trillions already poured down a rat hole by the Bush administration.

The $775 billion plan will grow to at least $1 trillion as Obama will need to buy off various factions within Congress with pork projects. Congress will approve the second $350 billion tranche of TARP funds. Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi will shovel billions to homeowners who should be foreclosed upon. Billions more will be given to the automakers. GMAC will get more funds from the taxpayer at 8 percent interest so they can then loan it to subprime borrowers at 0 percent. This doesn’t sound profitable, but they’ll make it up on volume.

TARP funds will be given to commercial developers who foolishly overleveraged, overbuilt, and overpaid for properties. Credit card companies that handed out credit like candy for the last 20 years will see their write-offs triple to over 10 percent by 2010. The government will give more of your tax dollars to these incompetent bankers so they can send out another 5 million credit card offers to deadbeats. The Federal Reserve will buy mortgage debt and long-term Treasuries to artificially reduce market interest rates. With money market funds paying .25 percent, senior citizen savers will be forced to take on risk to get a return on their money. Penalizing savers to resuscitate reckless gamblers is the path that Ben Bernanke has chosen. When the Markets decline another 20 percent in 2009, more senior citizens will see their retirements destroyed by Mr. Bernanke.

Citicorp and JP Morgan will require additional enormous injections of capital from the taxpayer due to their looming credit card and commercial loan losses. The top 10 biggest banks are insolvent. They are being kept alive on life support systems provided by the Federal Reserve and Treasury. All the bankers who didn’t bankrupt their banks should be outraged at this misappropriation of taxpayer capital to incompetent, reckless, immoral, politically connected bankers.

Home prices will drop another 15 percent in 2009 and will remain depressed until 2015. The market will adjust to its natural equilibrium level despite all government efforts to keep prices artificially elevated. When you can buy a house and rent it out and generate a positive cash flow, houses will be reasonably priced. Despite the immense spending, zero interest rates, and propping up bankrupt financial institutions, consumers will not spend. Economists, bureaucrats and politicians are so focused on models and theories that they have failed to realize that the social mood of the country has changed forever. The poor economic conditions are being caused by the mood change, not vice versa. A return to frugality, saving, and simpler lives will keep a cap on spending for at least the next decade.

The sum total of all that has been done and all that will be done will eventually lead to a hyperinflationary bust. The money supply is being expanded too rapidly, fiscal stimulus spending will be borrowed from foreigners, the dollar will fall as foreigners refuse to accept 2 percent for 10 years, and the Federal Reserve will react too late, just like they did when this crisis began. This overstimulation of the economy will lead to a panic out of dollars and into real assets. The government will attempt to control the situation by confiscating gold as they did in the 1930s and Americans will be forced to surrender more liberties. In periods of economic and social upheaval - war, revolution, or dictatorship become possibilities. The average American needs to wake up from their materialistic stupor and understand the risks that lie ahead. An educated, concerned citizen is our only defense against tyranny. Orwellian governmental policies will be inflicted upon the populous.

Cutting Edge Financial Crisis Analyst James Quinn is a senior director of strategic planning for a major university. This article reflects his personal views, and does not necessarily represent the views of his employers and is neither sponsored nor endorsed by them.

TIME FOR DENIAL IS OVER

By JIM BEERS


I. From Fox News: WASHINGTON -- Carol Browner, President-elect Barack Obama's choice to be his climate czarina, served until last summer as a
member of a socialist organization whose mission is to enact progressive government policies, including toward environmental concerns like climate
change. Browner's name and biography have been scrubbed from the Web site of socialist International, the umbrella group for 170 "social democratic,
socialist and labor parties" in 55 countries. But a photo of Browner speaking in Greece to the group's Congress on June 30 remained in the site's
archives. II. From The Center for Consumer Freedom:
Forget about the income tax-challenged Treasury Secretary nominee or the conflict of interest controversy at the State Department. The most
outrageous Obama appointee just might be Cass Sunstein, a Harvard Law School professor who's flying under everyone's radar and into a job that hardly
anyone has ever heard of.
Cass Sunstein is slated to run the White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. He's going to be America's chief "regulatory czar".
How radical? Sunstein supports making sport hunting illegal, and completely phasing out the consumption of meat. He's also in favor of giving animals
the legal right to sue people.
Here's what Sunstein wrote in his 2004 book, Animal Rights: Current Debates and New Directions:
"[A]nimals should be permitted to bring suit, with human beings as their representatives ... Any animals that are entitled to bring suit would be
represented by (human) counsel, who would owe guardian-like obligations and make decisions, subject to those obligations, on their clients' behalf."
III. From the Humane Society Legislative Fund (the Lobbying arm of HSUS):
A. "Senate confirmation hearings are in full swing this week for President-elect Obama's Cabinet choices." "Dog and cat2Obama's nominees will
almost certainly be confirmed by the Senate, and will assume their new posts shortly after the inauguration."
(Question, which "Cabinet choices" are "Dog and cat2Obama nominees" and what is their mission?)
B. "The Agriculture Department must improve enforcement at slaughter plants, puppy mills, research laboratories, and wild animal exhibits, and
crack down on abusive practices such as animal fighting, horse soring, and puppy imports. It should apply basic humane slaughter protections to poultry
so that nine billion birds per year have a merciful death, and finalize its pending rule to prohibit the slaughter of downed cows who (Author Note-"that")
are too sick or injured to stand up. The agency should work to stop the export of horses for slaughter in other countries, and should shift the
focus of its Wildlife Services program to effective nonlethal methods rather than the use of aerial gunning, cruel traps, and toxic poisons."
(Comments - Why does" enforcement at slaughter plants, puppy mills, research laboratories, and wild animal exhibits" need improvement? Where will "more" funding come from in these times, AIG? Raise your hand if you want to pay more for chicken so that they can have a death that HSUS defines as
"merciful"? Animals in and from dog raising businesses and research laboratories are private property, there is not nor should there be any
Federal role in their operation. Like "wild animal exhibits" jurisdiction and regulation lies Constitutionally with State and Local governments
employing and protecting COMMUNITY STANDARDS. Similarly, animal fighting and horse "soring" are matters of private property and community standards under the regulatory jurisprudence of State and Local governments, NOT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. There is NO GOOD REASON for the Federal government to entertain a ban on horse exports. Other than health reasons that should be perfectly amenable to quarantine and veterinary medicine, importing puppies should not be a matter for Federal concern. So "Wildlife Services" should employ "nonlethal methods rather than the use of aerial gunning, cruel traps, and toxic poisons": those means are ineffective and would be strongly disagreed with by New Yorkers and passengers in and near that recent airline crash in the Hudson River thanks to unmanaged Canada geese. We need "more" and persistent "lethal animal controls", not less, if we are to live and prosper in these United States.)
C. "The Interior Department must renew and restore its commitment to the Endangered Species Act, and work to protect listed species and their
habitat. It should reject attempts by trophy hunters to reopen the import of heads and hides from threatened polar bears, and should list the entire
species of chimpanzees as endangered, bringing an end to their use in research. The agency should also revamp its Wild Horse and Burro Program,
and broader use of immunocontraception and otheralternatives to rounding up wild horses and holding them in pens at taxpayer expense."
(Comments - If the Department of the Interior does any more with the ESA, we might as well all move to Canada. Polar bears are no more "threatened" than whitetail deer: they would benefit from managed hunting and Northern indigenous people would benefit economically from such hunting and the
trophies should have never been stopped. Chimpanzee "retirement" at Federal expense and "ending their use in research" (an important medical necessity) are imaginings of radical animal rights factions that should have never been given consideration and such authorization by Federal lawmaking particularly
in these economically depressed times. Chimpanzees are neither endangered nor threatened. "Immunocontraception" is useless, a waste of government
money, ineffective, and merely a smokescreen to stop the absolutely necessary lethal control of such animals as wild horses, deer, elk, burros,
geese, etc. that otherwise denude both wild and domestic plant communities and compete for forage and space with other human needs. Wild horses, like wild burros, California bighorn sheep, wolves, and other such species should have never been taken from State jurisdiction and management to be placed
under Federal auspices and non-management.)
D. "The Environmental Protection Agency must ensure that factory farm emissions are not exempt from federal environmental laws, including new laws
addressing climate change. It must also invest in promising alternatives to animal testing that offer more rapid, efficient screening of pesticides and
other chemicals."
(Note: "Factory farms", like ""puppy mills", "horse-soring", and "trophy hunting" are emotional descriptions of "farms", "dog breeders", "horse
owners" and "hunters" intended to tingle the emotions of those who do not enjoy these pastimes, know few others if any that do, and would like to see
them done away with AS LONG AS IT NEVER DIRECTLY AFFECTS THEM. This last point is a foolish assumption that, like pacifists assurances in 1930's
Europe concerning Hitler's benign intentions proved to be disastrously wrong. There are no reliable alternatives to animal testing, much less some
"silver bullet" that is "more rapid" and "efficient".)
E. "The Commerce and State Departments must make the protection of marine mammals and ocean life a priority both domestically and internationally,
working to stop commercial whaling, seal hunts, shark finning, dolphin drive fisheries, and other abusive practices."
(Note: Why "must" we "protect" marine mammals like whales and seals that compete with us for the salmon and cod and other prized commercial fish that
these same people want to "protect" from fishermen by declaring "Marine Sanctuaries" and fishing season closures that they blame on "over fishing"?
Managing their numbers and distribution is simply common sense. Seals (that decimate commercial fisheries and lobsters like sea otters decimate conch
fisheries) like whales benefit from management, harvest, and use: it gives them value, collects data, and creates a fishery that is far more invested
in their future than Central Park "mavens" providing "feel-good" support to such agendas and organizations. Why is a "dolphin drive" "abusive? UN
enforcement of prohibitions against "shark-finning" on the High Seas should be sufficient. Federal enforcement against "shark finning" in OUR
International Waters is a minor matter and inshore waters should be under the jurisdiction of concerned States.)
F. The Health and Human Services Department must expedite the retirement of all federally-owned chimpanzees to sanctuaries, honor and maintain its
moratorium on breeding chimps for research, and work to phase out use of chimps in invasive experiments."
(See comments above under C. Using chimps saves lives and expedites drug availability by using the species most closely related to Homo sapiens,
otherwise known as you and me.)
G. "The Justice Department must begin collecting data on animal cruelty crimes as a separate offense category in federal databases, so that law
enforcement officials can analyze the trends and connections with other violence. The agency should also enforce the longstanding federal law
limiting long-distance transport of farm animals to 28 hours or less, and create a new Animal Protection Division to ensure strong enforcement of
animal protection laws."
(Comment - Interstate commerce aspects of animal transport should not be conducted by Federal officials based solely on the animals but primarily on
the effects of such regulation on state commerce and the welfare of rural economies, farms, and the national interest; these all being the reason for
a Constitution that authorized limited Federal powers over interstate commerce. Animal cruelty "crimes" lie in the eye of the beholder. Any
regulation in this area should remain limited to Local enforcement of community standards and State protection of that right from Federal
intrusions and meddling by members of certain urban communities in the affairs of their neighbors. Animal use is NOT, I REPEAT NOT, related to
other violence anymore than urban kids that never hunted or grew up with guns killing other urban kids is due to guns. This is a waste of Federal
funding but even more disturbing, a growing intrusion of Federal power over private property, State government, Local control, Community Standards, and
the rights of all citizens eventually.)
H. "The White House should appoint an Animal Protection Liaison to help coordinate animal welfare concerns (policy issues, regulations, and
positions on legislation) that cut across many different federal agencies." (See Item II. Above. His name is Cass Sunstein.)
A similar chronology could be composed at this time about the coming gun controllers and their agenda from the President-elect and his Chief of Staff
on down to the pro-abortion (actually anti-life) appointees from Planned Parenthood. While the Inauguration is planned to please us all (a "gay" sex
advocate Episcopal Bishop and a "Biblical" pastor opposed to "gay" marriage on the same stage) it is no longer a smokescreen. When this animal "rights"
agenda, and gun control agenda, and "available-everywhere and subsidized abortion/euthanasia" agenda, and "gay" marriage and "gays" in the military
and schools agenda get underway; who will stand up to it? Not the Congress or an electorate scared about the economy and looking to Washington like
Russians looking to Moscow. Maybe the Supreme Court will stand for awhile but given a retirement or two the Senate and President will put on new
Justice's that will make Justice Ginsburg seem like a conservative and tip the Court from Court to rubber stamp.
This animal "rights" tsunami is in reality a forced (by government) imposition of religious beliefs on all non-believers. I could compare it to Sharia law in Moslem countries but it compares equally well with the history of pacifism over the last 100 years. Pacifism describes war as always wrong, like animal ownership, use and management. All those making war, like all those owning and using animals, must be shown to be wrong without exception and this is accomplished by making "war crimes" far worse than the crimes of those doing evil and ends in the logic of pacifism serving evil rather than good. In this milieu of lies and distortions found in both pacifism and animal "rights" we would do well to heed the observation of GK Chesterton regarding pacifists in the midst of WWI. "One of life's unfortunate realities is that those who know the truth are often less inclined to make sure it triumphs than those whose entire world view will collapse if the lies they believe are discredited."
The time for denying that things are about to get bad is past. It seems trite but true to say that at no time in my life has the domestic peril been
as great and therefore at no time have we ever needed as much to pull together and fight to make "sure" that "truth" triumphs. For at least the
next two years we will need all the cooperation and help we can get. This last means looking to trappers and gamefowl breeders as well as hunters and
ranchers and dog breeders if we are to survive.
by Jim Beers 17 January 2009

WE WILL NOT SURRENDER!

BY RON EWART

Maybe a large percentage of Americans are buying it, but we're not. We're not buying Obama's "hope" and "change" for one minute. Just take a look at his "Clinton" redux cabinet, including one of the Clinton's themselves. Some change! "Hope"? Hardly!
We're not buying the unconstitutional financial, industry and homeowner bailouts for one second; we're not buying amnesty, bilingual education, health care and safety net benefits for illegal aliens that break our laws; we're not buying radical environmental laws that render constitutionally protected property rights non-existent, or lock up millions of acres of land for UN biospheres and wildlife corridors at the expense of all Americans but mostly private landowners; we're not buying national health care that will seriously deteriorate health care in America and add to our national debt; we're not buying proposed or ratified treaties that dilute, diminish or extinguish our sovereignty, (like the Law-of-the-Sea Treaty, or the North American Union), and we are certainly not buying the words of the traitors who promote the one-world-order, over American sovereignty.
We're also not buying the premeditated brainwashing and indoctrination of our children in public schools; or the National Animal Index System; or the Real ID program. We're not buying never-ending entitlement programs so that liberals can remain in power by buying votes with our tax money from dumbed-down Americans; entitlement programs that will, in due time, without any doubt, bankrupt this country. It's not "if", it's just "when" and the "when" is alarmingly soon.
In fact, we are sick to death over the power struggle between parties, without the application of principle. We are sick to death of law, after law, after law that restricts our freedom of choice, our freedom of movement, our freedom of what to buy, our freedom of what to eat, our freedom of what to wear, our freedom of where to live, our freedom of where to work, our freedom of what to drive, our freedom to live on and use our property without draconian government restrictions, and our freedom to roam freely throughout America without having to go through check points and body searches.
We are sick to death of the social and environmental propaganda being taught to our kids in public schools. We are sick to death of open borders and illegal immigrants coming into this country and feeding at the government "pig trough" (Russians, Asians, Mexicans, etc.). We are sick to death of politicians that keep adding "feed" to that "pig trough" with our money in exchange for future votes. We are sick to death of seat belt and cell phone laws that are only designed to provide revenue for government, when in fact it's just another tax in a different form.
We are sick to death of politicians making law from the wish lists of narrow-focus lobby groups (socialists, environmentalists, corporations, unions, elitists, etc.), that violate our Federal and State Constitutions. We are sick to death of environmentalists who have taken over every level of government and lobby their radical agenda on a party of liberals that aids and abets their every whim. We are sick to death of radical environmental protection, SMART GROWTH and SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT policies under UN's Agenda 21, with no due process, much less compensation for the affected. There isn't a wetland (no matter how small) that government won't protect, at the expense of increased taxes, erosion of property rights and the loss of our individual freedom. We are sick to death of land use laws like the Endangered Species Act, the Salmon Recovery Act and the Clean Water Restoration Act that are a reckless disregard of our very foundation of property rights, freedoms and liberties, that were paid for by the blood and treasure of all of our brave men and women in uniform, who are even fighting today for our freedoms. One could ask, what freedoms are left that they are fighting for?
We are sick to death of irresponsible citizens who's only interest in Government is what they can take from it, not what they can give back to society by being a productive member. We are sick to death of government bureaucracies that waste billions of our tax dollars. We are sick to death of politician's arrogance and the constant violation of their oath of office. We are sick to death of government spending our tax dollars to engage in the fight against the fraud that is man-caused global warming, when the science is crystal clear that man is not the cause. If man is not the cause, then why would they do this? The answer is obvious; central control of land, water, air, food and energy. If you control these, you control the people.
We are sick to death of some citizens of this land denigrating our war on terror, while our brave men and women in uniform are in harms way and losing their lives, limbs and minds defending our freedoms. We are sick to death of the unmitigated "bull" coming out Hollywood's radical left wing and we are sick to death of individuals and the media who tear down our country, or fabricate crises for political gain.
Legislators think they know what is best for us, but in almost every case they are wrong, or blatantly self serving. They constantly violate their oath of office to preserve, protect and defend both the federal and state Constitutions, in passing laws, "for our so-called own good". The fact is, we are sick to death of government at all levels, as it is run-amok and out of control. Government steals our money, it steals our land, it steals our freedom and sells our sovereignty to the money changers and the world elite. Government is only about WHO WIELDS POWER, not what is constitutionally right for its citizens. Politicians, justices, judges and bureaucrats, (in either party) must revert back to the supreme law of the land,(our Constitutions) or you can kiss what is left of our liberty, goodbye!
We are sick to death of the whole mess that government has created and that Americans have allowed. We are sick to death of Government's out-of-control waste, fraud, abuse and corruption. To register just a small token of our disgust, we are manufacturing a bunch of metal, pin-back buttons with a series of different slogans on them and will be releasing them on our website shortly. We call this collection, NARLO'S Freedom Badges. If you have an idea for a freedom slogan for our badges, we'd like to hear from you.
In the end, others may be fooled, but we are one group of Americans that WILL NOT SURRENDER to the inevitability of socialism, radical environmentalism and the one world order. We will fight until there is no fight left in us. This is a great country and it's freedom is worth fighting for. Would there be man (or woman) among you, that will join us? We wonder.
And by the way, have you GIVEN YOUR DOLLAR FOR FREEDOM (link http://ww.narlo.org/dollar.html) this month? If freedom isn't even worth a dollar, it is no wonder we find ourselves in the "pickle" we are in. The domestic enemy we face has all the power and billions of dollars ..... nay trillions. Most of those billions, or trillions, were previously ours, that were taken from us at the point of a gun (taxes). If this one fact alone doesn't "bite" you in the soft tissue of your posterior, well .......................By Ron Ewart