AFRICA'S REAL CLIMATE CRISIS

By Fiona Kobusingye

It’s not global warming. It’s a science, priorities, honesty and morality crisis.
Life in Africa is often nasty, impoverished and short. AIDS kills 2.2 million Africans every year, say WHO reports. Lung infections cause 1.4 million deaths, malaria 1 million more, intestinal diseases 700,000. Diseases that could be prevented with simple vaccines kill an additional 600,000 annually, while war, malnutrition and life in filthy slums send countless more parents and children to early graves.
And yet, day after day, Africans are told the biggest threat we face is – global warming.
Conferences, news stories, television programs, class lectures and one-sided “dialogues” repeat the claim endlessly. Using oil and petrol, even burning wood and charcoal, will dangerously overheat our planet, melt ice caps, flood coastal cities, and cause storms, droughts, disease and extinctions, we’re told.
Over 700 climate scientists and 31,000 other scientists say humans and plant-fertilizing carbon dioxide have minimal effects on Earth’s temperature and climate, and there is no global warming crisis. But their views and studies are never invited or even tolerated in these “climate crisis” forums, especially at “ministerial dialogues” staged with United Nations money. Al Gore refuses to debate any of these experts, or even permit questions that he hasn’t approved ahead of time.
Instead, Africans are told climate change “threatens humanity more than HIV/AIDS.” More than 2.2 million dead Africans every year?
We are warned that it would be “nearly impossible to adapt to the loss of the West Antarctic ice sheet,” which would raise sea levels by “5 to 15 meters.” That certainly would impact our coastal communities. But how likely is it?
The average annual temperature in Antarctica is minus 50 degrees F! Summer in its Western Peninsula barely lasts two months and gets maybe 10 degrees above freezing for just a few hours a day. Not even Mr. Gore or UN computer models talk about raising Antarctic temperatures by 85 degrees F year-round. So how is that ice supposed to melt?
Let’s not forget that sea levels have risen 120 meters since the last Ice Age ended. Do the global warming alarmists think cave men fires caused that? Obviously, powerful natural forces caused those ancient glaciers to come and go – and caused the droughts, floods and climate changes that have affected Africa, the Earth and its animals and people for millions of years.
Just consider northern Africa, where green river valleys, hippopotami and happy villages suddenly got turned into the Sahara Desert 4,000 years ago. Scientists don’t know why, but it probably wasn’t Egyptian pharaohs building pyramids and driving chariots.
However, the real problem isn’t questionable or fake science, hysterical claims and worthless computer models that predict global warming disasters. It’s that they’re being used to justify telling Africans that we shouldn’t build coal or natural gas electrical power plants. It’s that the almost total absence of electricity is keeping us from creating jobs and becoming modern societies. It’s that these policies KILL.
The average African life span is lower than it was in the United States and Europe 100 years ago. But Africans are being told we shouldn’t develop, or have electricity or cars because, now that those countries are rich beyond anything we Africans can imagine, they’re worried about global warming.
The world needs to go on an energy diet, Al Gore and UN climate boss Yvo de Boer tell us. Well, I have news for them. Africans are already on an energy diet. We’re starving!
Al Gore uses more electricity in a week than 28 million Ugandans together use in a year. And those anti-electricity policies are keeping us impoverished.
Not having electricity means millions of Africans don’t have refrigerators to preserve food and medicine. Outside of wealthy parts of our big cities, people don’t have lights, computers, modern hospitals and schools, air conditioning – or offices, factories and shops to make things and create good jobs.
Not having electricity also means disease and death. It means millions die from lung infections, because they have to cook and heat with open fires; from intestinal diseases caused by spoiled food and unsafe drinking water; from malaria, TB, cholera, measles and other diseases that we could prevent or treat if we had proper medical facilities.
Hypothetical global warming a hundred years from now is worse than this?
Telling Africans they can’t have electricity and economic development – except what can be produced with some wind turbines or little solar panels – is immoral. It is a crime against humanity.
Meanwhile, China and India are building new coal-fired power plants every week, so that they can lift their people out of poverty. So even if Africa remains impoverished – and the US and Europe switched to windmills and nuclear power – global carbon dioxide levels would continue increasing for decades.
Even worse, the global warming crusaders don’t stop at telling us we can’t have electricity. They also campaign against biotechnology. As American, Brazilian and South African farmers will tell you, biotech seeds increase crop yields, reduce pesticide use, feed more people and help farmers earn more money. New varieties are being developed that can resist droughts – the kind Africa has always experienced, and the ones some claim will increase due to global warming.
Environmental radicals even oppose insecticides and the powerful spatial insect repellant DDT, which Uganda’s Health Ministry is safely using (along with bed nets and modern ACT drugs) to eliminate killer malaria. They claim global warming will make malaria worse. That’s ridiculous, because the disease was once found all over Europe, the United States and even Siberia.
Uganda and Africa need to stop worrying about what the West, the UN and Al Gore say. We need to focus on our own needs, resources and opportunities.
We don’t need more aid – especially the kind that goes mostly to corrupt officials who put the money in private bank accounts, hold global warming propaganda conferences and keep their own people poor. We don’t need rich countries promising climate change assistance (maybe, sometime, ten years from now), if we promise not to develop.
We need to stop acting like ignorant savages, who thought solar eclipses meant the gods were angry with them, and asked witch doctors to bring the sun back. We need to stop listening to global warming witch doctors, who get rich telling us to keep living “indigenous,” impoverished lives.
We need trade, manufacturing, electricity and transportation fuels to power modern industrial economies. We need to do what China and India are doing – develop – and trade more with them.
That is how we will get the jobs, prosperity, health and environmental quality we deserve.

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Fiona Kobusingye is chairman of the human rights and economic development group CORE Uganda. In the coming months, CORE will present both Al Gore’s movie and another film, “The Great Global Warming Swindle,” at colleges and other events. It will do what Al Gore and the UN never permit: let people ask questions, debate the films and decide for themselves who is telling the truth, and what Uganda and Africa should do to make life better for their people.

THE CONSTITUTION AS HOPE

By Jim Beers

Unnoticed and unmentioned in all the hoopla recently about the black Harvard professor that had to break into his own home and the white officer trying to do his duty is a remark made by President Obama several days into the affair. The President said that some people think he should not have said anything about this local police matter but "I disagree". These final two words are very troublesome and dangerous for us all.
Our Constitution had (until recent years) done a pretty good job of keeping the central government specifically limited in scope, meaning in authority and in what matters they are to be responsible for administering. All else was to remain "reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." per the 10th Amendment to the US Constitution. The attitude of the President (and by acquiescence), his appointees, and the Congress to a President that might both "without knowing all the facts" and merely on his own whim declare a (national as in The Presidential or Monarchical sense) position on such a local matter is very, very troubling. Kings of old used to have people killed or imprisoned (in France the King merely had to issue a "Letter de cachet" and the hapless subject was imprisoned or exiled with no recourse to a court of law). The Founding Fathers specifically forbade (they thought) this with the strict role for the national government and all power vested in "States" or "the people".
There are several obvious reasons why the President's attitude is dangerous. There is the precedent when local matters go to local or State or Federal courts that "The President said" or simply the knowledge by Presidential backers or nation-lovers in juries and elsewhere that "The Leader" believes thus and so. There is the created policy potential that local bureaucrats or local or State politicians will "make an example" of the hapless citizens or in this case all police officers identified as having angered "The Leader" and his minions that do things like pass out money and patronage. What I would like to mention is something that, as an old veteran bureaucrat, I believe few are familiar with in this matter.
When the President says something like this about State or local matters publicly and in his capacity as President he sends a strong signal to his appointees, career-hungry bureaucrats, Congress, State politicians, and even State bureaucrats that "a way to get ahead (promotion, bonus, appointment, prestige, grants, favors, etc.) is to discover', expose, and recommend remedies for such instances that suddenly turn up everywhere." The "Secretary" or "Czar" proclaims racist police activity in (fill-in-the-blank). The power-hungry agency head recommends a budget initiative to wipe out racist police activity in State wardens. The Division Officer and the Regional Director ask for "more" for their initiative to document and eliminate racism in (fill-in-the-blank). The young bureaucrat-to-be reports racism in this that and everything. The State delegates and State appointees and State bureaucrats likewise ask for State funding to please The President whose favor they more and more covet. Cooperators and "partners" from certain "Reverends" and lobby groups are found to be all too ready to enable the whole affair in may ways and often undetected until they collect their share of the booty. "But wait (to quote the late great Billy Mays) there is more". The really bad part is yet to come.
As this whole tawdry thing plays out beyond this "beer" business a precedent both real and psychological is enshrined. If The President has a gripe about trapping, or hunting, or pet ownership, or private property rights, or cutting trees, or dams, or animal husbandry etc., etc., ad infinitum: all he need do is mention it a "Voila" the federal government grows into that area and bureaucrats and States and "the people" all bow down like the Scots were doing in that movie Braveheart when the King or his designee could claim new brides for their own instant gratification. The Constitution never envisioned nor could the Founding Fathers have imagined that we would ever become so fat, dumb, and happy that we would let such things take root among us. How many of you horse owners or fishermen or farmers or dog breeders ignored this matter thinking "it doesn't affect me"?
As long as we elect politicians (Federal and State, Democrat and Republican) that let this sort of thing slide, we will reap our own self-contrived whirlwind. When the dust settles the nation will look like Greensburg, Kansas after the tornado only there won't be a bunch of rich greenie outfits willing to put it back together as a model for others. No, our nation will remain in ruins in the eye of a political storm that has no intention of moving on once it has destroyed our nation to make it subject to their own instant gratifications.
Only if the Constitution can be resurrected and made the Supreme Law of the Land once again is there and Hope for any of us, including those that anticipate coming out "on top". The coming elections and Supreme Court rulings will tell the tale. Either we will rule ourselves except for the necessary State government functions and the few (defense and interstate commerce) needs for a central government or we will once again bow down when "The Leader (will he also swim the Yangtze River?) rides through town or face angering a Supreme Authority that grants or withholds "Rights" as suits his purposes. The choice is ours.

SAVE MY RIGHTS, PLEASE

By Jim Beers

For the past four decades (since the late 1960's when race riots and "free" love and drugged-up hippies advocating "peace" and the "environment" emerged under a Democrat White House and Democrat-controlled Congress) American history has been dominated by the destruction of "unalienable" and Constitutional Rights with the simultaneous erosion of State and local government authority and the customs, traditions, culture, and freedoms that have been the hallmarks of American society for over 2 centuries. All of those things that distinguished the United States from all other nations and that were the magnets for immigration levels unmatched in world history are being swept away as we disregard our Constitution, embrace European government models, and become abject before other nations for not having been perfect throughout our existence. Anyone not recognizing this truth and not concerned about the breathtaking acceleration of these changes at this time (summer 2009) need not read further.
The radical late 1960's noted above resulted in many destructive trends. Presidents, Congressmen, and even Supreme Court Justices with but a few exceptions catered, for myriad reasons few of which could be called honorable, to the radicals and their Draconian objectives. A few examples make the point:
- The Supreme Court fabricated a "right to privacy" out of thin air thereby legitimizing "recreational" sex and set in motion the deterioration of marriage and family life at the expense of the lives of unborn children. The results also included a growing acceptance of same-sex political demands, debates about killing children now up to two years of age, tolerance for mercy-killing, and consideration of euthanizing the elderly (see current "Health Care" legislative proposals for mandatory "end-of-life" counseling and claims about how "we" (through "our" government) have a right to deny care to the elderly or to force doctors and nurses to perform abortions and euthanize the elderly or disabled ("since we are paying for it"). The loss of the first and most important "unalienable' right "endowed by their Creator" as mentioned in The Declaration of Independence, i.e. "Life", is indisputable for the millions sacrificed with government authority over the past four decades.
- Large cities like Boston, New York City, Chicago, and the Northern New Jersey megalopolis have dominated their State legislatures and forced passage statewide and locally of gun control legislation that clearly "infringes" on the Constitutional "right to bear Arms" that is clearly stated in the US Constitution. Further the government of the District of Columbia, and federal agencies like The National Park Service and US Fish and Wildlife Service (all composed of bureaucrats ostensibly sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States and paid for by US tax dollars) have instigated and enforced extreme infringements (i.e. total bans) on the Constitutional "right to bear Arms". The Supreme Court, Congress, and several Presidents (again all of whom are sworn to uphold the Constitution while being paid by "We the People"!) have supported this destruction of a Constitutional right of millions.
- Congress passes, and Presidents sign, legislation like The Endangered Species Act, examples of which regarding the elimination of private property rights, State's rights, and individual rights would fill books. Congress passes, and Presidents sign, legislation demanding that everyone be classified by race and gender for "preferences" in hiring, contract awards, bonuses, transfers, housing, and on and on: each "preference" given is a right denied another solely on a basis that should be repugnant to anyone believing that "all men are created equal".
- The current "Health Care", "Stimulus Funding", "Buyouts of GMC and Chrysler", "TARP Funding", etc. changes all involve losses of rights for doctors, patients, car buyers, investors, the elderly, young children, and so many others. The rate of passage of recent elimination of rights is staggering and the fact that it is all rushed through as an "emergency" 1.) without public hearings - or 2.) copies made available for public review - or 3.) with Congressional confessions that they have not even read what they pass - or 4.) without any Supreme Court challenges based on enforcement of the US Constitution (the ONLY purpose of a "Supreme" Court), 5.) at the insistence of a President surrounded by radicals of every stripe from abortion expanders to environmental and race extremists to anti-gun and animal rights fanatics.
I have been writing and speaking about this loss of rights for about ten years. My area of interest and expertise tends to be the environment and animal aspects of American society. I support the management and use of wild plants and animals as public property and the ownership and use of domestic animals as private property. I have a long track record with and I am opposed to the unnecessarily restrictive use and insufficient management of public lands. I am opposed to State governments interference with local jurisdiction over domestic animal owners and to federal legislation that goes beyond legitimate "Interstate Commerce" issues. I am opposed to, and despised by, organizations from PETA and HSUS to The Wilderness Society to The Nature Conservancy (the "nest" from which Treasury Secretary "Hank" "Stimulus" Paulson emerged).
None of this is to say that PETA members ought not to be able to advocate veganism or HSUS to collect money for "shelters" (which by the way they do not do). I object when they campaign to stop all hunting or fishing or to force dog breeders out of business or to give "their" animal wardens all manner of un-Constitutional powers. When they attempt to eliminate the ownership and use of all animals (starting with pets and "smart" animals like whales and seals that are so "cute") they must be opposed. Likewise TNC and Greenpeace et al are certainly free to buy property or to advocate avoiding whale meat or seal products; it is when TNC and federal agencies form hidden and illegal partnerships to but and control land or when Greenpeace prevents sensible whale management or recovery of commercial fish stocks that I oppose them. It is when The Wilderness Society and The Sierra Club influence the closure of public lands and the elimination of the management and use of natural resources and when they stack the federal agencies and Universities with fellow travelers that in turn force out resource managers and reinstate pagan worship of nonsense like "Native Ecosystems" and "Wilderness" and "Roadless" and "Electric Motor Only" Areas that they must be opposed. In all of these instances (and there are many more) the "loss of rights" meaning loss of culture, traditions, property, heritage and other aspects of the lives of American citizens is the thing that is most descriptive of the "problem" for those directly affected.
I was fired 10 years ago after 32 years of federal service for doing my job of protecting the rights of State governments to maintain trapping programs dependent on the sale of furs by American trappers to European fur markets. I have since tried to help all those being harmed by government programs like wolf introductions and protection. I have tried to help those threatened by the condemnation of their property by unholy cabals like TNC and Defense bureaucrats. I have tried to help landowners and resource users threatened by the US Fish and Wildlife Service with the loss of irrigation water or the use of property "designated" as "essential" to some bird flock or fish school. I have tried to help farmers and urban children exposed to goose concentrations and the health hazards they present or rural communities facing imminent destruction because of government radicals in control of government lands. I have tried to help dog owners threatened by Nazi-like animal "welfare" laws and animal wardens. What it almost always boils down to is the question, "how do we get anyone to support us?"
In fact, hunters' organizations seldom support trapping. Easterners and urban folks seldom ever consider ranchers and rural people suffering from wolves. Few people care about government land purchases and control unless they feel threatened themselves. Unless you irrigate or know someone that does, helping irrigators never crosses your mind. If you don't have geese pooping all over the park or schoolyard where your children play or polluting your field such that it will not grow anything in large swaths (from poop) you don't care. If you don't breed dogs, the idea of "no-knock" and even "no-warrant" searches to uncover animal abuse seems justifiable as you gaze at your daughter's golden retriever, Buffy. As States are going broke, the erosion of more State's rights to federal bureaucrats to insure more "Stimulus" or "Bailout" or "Subsidy" money seems like a good bargain (at the moment). So who will support whom? What is "the" answer?
I used to try and suggest people and organizations that would help those asking for help as their rights were threatened but alas few cared. I wrote about the need to help say, gamefowl breeders and cock fighters to remain under the auspices of local jurisdictions (as opposed State or federal authorities) but the hate mail and loss of "readers" was large. No, there is only "one" answer to how to save and restore our rights.
When one right can be eliminated, the precedent for other rights to be eliminated is established and enlarged. Whenever we accept that, sure they need a gun in rural areas but here in the urban area they should be banned, you have opened a door that jeopardizes every other right. Until we each understand that you don't have to own or use guns to grasp the importance of the Right of others to "bear Arms" for instance, that Right remains in jeopardy. Until we each accept the Right of citizens to own and use animals, that Right is in jeopardy. Until we each accept that private property can only be "taken" for a public "use" and that the owner must always be compensated, that Right is in jeopardy. Until we can tolerate that while we may be repelled by uses such as gamefowl owners fighting their birds as generations have done for eons and that we may actively oppose such events and places IN OUR COMMUNITY, if we begin to prohibit such legitimate use of animals by their owners everywhere then not only is that Right in jeopardy; so is hunting, fishing, trapping, and animal husbandry from livestock to poultry. In sum, "your rights are my rights and my rights are your rights".
This means speaking out at family gatherings, at lunches, and with neighbors in a positive way about how you may not agree with such and such but others and other communities should CONTINUE TO HAVE THE FREEDOM TO MAINTAIN IT. This means not electing politicians that are amenable to taking away the rights of American citizens whoever they may be or whatever they may do that bothers others, no matter what they promise you. This means assuring that schoolteachers and University staffs uphold American values ("unalienable" rights, and Constitutional dictates) or replacing them. This means federal and State agencies that employ bureaucrats that uphold rather that destroy Constitutional principles. This means once again looking at all neighbors as friends and forthrightly correcting and opposing those that would take away the rights of others.
Although there is apparently a significant part of the citizenry amenable to taking away the rights of others, they, like those limited groups they individually target are limited themselves. Whether you want or oppose some New Mexico town to allow a bullring isn't the question: the question is should a New Mexico town continue to have the jurisdiction to apply community standards to their own town and its residents? The question isn't whether there should be another "Wilderness Declaration": the question is should the federal government be able to buy and control land that is neither managed, used, nor accessible? The question isn't whether I should be able to carry a concealed weapon as authorized by my State government on a federal Park or Refuge in MY State; the question is whether federal bureaucrats sworn to uphold the Constitution can deny me this right by claiming State sovereignty over State land and waters for a purpose unrelated to any national security or other issue?
If we cannot "hang together"; this Administration, Congress, Supreme Court, and craven State governments are rapidly proving the old maxim about therefore, "hanging separately".





24 July 2009

If you found this worthwhile

CRITICAL MASS

By Ron Ewart

Never, in all of our 70 plus years, have we seen the country so riled up! Never have we heard so much anger in people's voices and in their written messages, as we see today. Never have we seen so many normal, hard-working, responsible Americans take to the streets in tea parties and other forms of protest, to express their anger at what government has done and is doing. Never have we seen so many different solutions to re-claiming our freedom, with many of those solutions based on the simple application of the foundation of our liberty ..... the constitution. The word "Revolution", is uttered quietly amongst some of the more hot-headed types, whose rising emotional frustration has transcended reason and logic.
Some might say it is a terrible, if not a frightening sight. On the other hand we say it is liberating, encouraging and uplifting. This rising anger we are witnessing, is a free country waking up from a deep, deep sleep and it is a sign that critical mass is approaching and approaching rapidly.
Government, who has increased their power over us exponentially over the last 100 years, is beginning to lose confidence in that power. Their hurried actions and the overt use of "dire emergencies", demonstrate that decreasing confidence. They are beginning to FEAR the people, as well they should. They are lying to the people, even more than usual. Cracks are forming in their demeanor and their attacks on the people are increasing, as one of their defenses against rising opposition to their insane laws and unsustainable economic policies.
Politicians are rushing to get unconstitutional laws passed before the people can digest what is in them, but worse, they are passing this foul legislation without even reading it. In government's headlong rush to greater power and control over our lives, more people are waking up and saying not NO, but HELL NO!
Obama, the catalyst to critical mass, is in trouble. His outright socialist agenda is being pried open like a tin can and examined by increasing numbers of skeptical "eyes". His National Health Care proposal is facing increasing opposition and will probably be given the deep six in the next several weeks. Cap and trade legislation is being exposed for what it is, Cap and Con, as is the fraud that is man-caused global warming. As the skepticism rises, other legislation is coming under additional scrutiny as well. Some of us (this author included) saw right through this flim-flam man from the beginning and predicted this would happen.
But what is even more encouraging is the move by state legislatures to distance themselves from the Feds, by passing resolutions declaring their sovereignty under the 9th and 10th Amendments. Montana has declared its state to be a FED-FREE zone regarding the citizens right to keep and bear arms. Other states, like Tennessee, are following suit. More states will jump on the bandwagon soon.
The infallibility and authority of a county sheriff under constitutional law, is showing a new resurgence. Supreme Court decisions have upheld the sheriff's absolute authority within his jurisdiction, including showing the FEDS the door, if they should trespass on that jurisdiction. Heroes, like Sheriff Mack, challenged the Federal Government on his authority and was vindicated by the U. S. Supreme Court.
Dr. Edwin Vieira, Jr., in a recent article, made a powerful suggestion that freedom could be reclaimed by a conversion of one state at a time, to constitutional principles. He outlined six (6) basic steps to accomplish his plan. We think it is a brilliant plan and has a huge chance of success. You can view the article and his plan at: http://www.newswithviews.com/Vieira/edwin197.htm.
"Americans For Constitutional Enforcement", another freedom group, has developed a somewhat different plan, also showing promise. You can view their website at: www.a4ce.org.
Walt Myers' group, "To Tame A Tyrant", has also put forth concrete solutions to undo what has been done for the last 100 years. You can view his website at: www.tyranttamer.com.
Our organization, the National Association of Rural Landowners, is working to unite and excite the rural landowners of America, who are being asked to bear almost the entire burden of environmental protection, while their city brethren (mostly liberals and Obama voters) are getting off virtually scot-free. Needless to say, rural landowners are growing more angry by the day, as they learn of the environmentalist's unconstitutional plan for their land.
These are just a few of the groups that are increasing in numbers and offering solutions to the powerful enemy we face ..... rising government tyranny. There are many more, but too numerous to mention here.
Yes folks, critical mass is approaching and soon the Feds will be rapidly back-peddling, as more and more of the 545 people who think they run this country, come face to face with an angry Consent of the Governed who DO run this country, and those 545 people won't like what they see. We will reclaim our freedom, as more and more proud Americans unite as one and we reach necessary critical mass.
The right of the people to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness, the irrevocable gift from their creator, shall not be infringed. At critical mass, we will make sure these rights are not infringed. Government should be afraid, very afraid, as the people approach the event horizon to critical mass, where the power of the people will overwhelm the intransigence and arrogance of government tyranny.
"Government only responds to the rising collective voices of millions of Americans who demand that government stay within its constitutional limits. No other power, short of armed revolution, will have any affect on them. If you don't care, neither do they and their power rises accordingly. That is exactly the "State of the Union" today."

FEDERAL TYRANNY

By Jim Beers

As we squirm about federalized "health care", financial "bailouts", auto company "buyouts", and "cap and trade" seizure of every aspect of American life; we are assuaged by the media, bureaucrats, politicians, and other federal harlots to "trust" the federal government and its intentions.
This nation was formed (i.e. a Constitution formed a "federal" government) to provide for our common defense and to encourage (not discourage) interstate commerce. It was precisely because every Founding Father knew that an all-powerful government would lead to abuse and eventually tyranny that the Constitution carefully proscribed the duties and limits of the necessary but feared central government. One such example of the increasingly omnipresent FEDERAL TYRANNY in America today has just come to my attention.
I have a Minnesota Concealed Carry Pistol Permit. One of the primary reasons for this is that often I hunt or fish alone and as I age I am more aware of my apparent vulnerability to robbers, drunks, or other nefarious persons when I am alone at a boat landing at 3 AM or in a tent asleep or simply alone in the woods. As a former City, State, and Federal law enforcement officer I am only too aware of how crimes occur and how they can turn deadly very quickly. The potential victims options are limited and as the old saying goes, "I would rather be tried by 12 than carried by six".
Enter the FEDERAL government. Federal agencies and Federal employees are formed to and sworn to "uphold the CONSTITUTION of the United States of America". The Constitution plainly states "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed". On what basis can any Federal employees or Federal agencies or Federal appointees or Federal politicians "infringe" on this Constitutional RIGHT?
The Federal government (by Congressional authorization) claimed 260 River miles of the Mississippi River from Rock Island, Illinois to Wabasha, Minnesota in 1924 as the newly formed Upper Mississippi National Wildlife Refuge to (ostensibly) "protect" 240,000 acres of floodplain. In fact today, just like all the closed and unmanaged (i.e. "Native ecosystems", "Natural Area", "Roadless Areas", Wilderness", etc.) closures of National Forests, this National Wildlife Refuge is a hodgepodge of closed areas, electric motor areas, etc. public "use" regulations so as to make any use complicated and legally perilous to the casual user. This area is one I would like to hunt ducks on this fall so I am trying to familiarize myself with all the intricacies of its use.
As I prepared to take my canoe to some boat landings I had checked out recently, it occurred to me to check the regulations regarding carrying of my concealed weapon. The regulations only mention authorizing using or possessing a gun when legally hunting in an "open to hunting" area. So what of legally carrying a pistol in Minnesota waters (or are they "really" Federal waters)? I know barge workers and pleasure boat owners that routinely carry pistols on their persons and in their vessels in all four states as a wise matter of personal protection. Why is there any concern here in Minnesota on Minnesota waters by Federal bureaucrats even though the other three states "in the refuge" (WI, IL, and IA) are notorious anti-concealed weapons states? I should have known better: once the National Park Service almost a century ago got away with gun-bans as part of their "save-the-animals-from-the-hunters" charge, other Federal agencies inevitably figured they were vested with such ANTI-CONSTITUTIONAL POWERS as well.
There are four "District Offices" for the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife Refuge, one in each of the four States (shades of those defense contractors everyone condemns for putting their plants and employees in every state to make every Federal politician an advocate). First, the Minnesota office had no one in that could answer a question and they didn't know if anyone would be in today. Second, the Wisconsin office had a confusing answering machine and after a couple of calls I was told that there was no one that could answer my question but I could leave a message and someone would get back "later" (than today?). Third, the Iowa office also had no one that could answer a question but likewise I could leave a message for some "later" call-back. So I called the Illinois office and got the first helpful answer from a receptionist that the fellow that could answer such a question would be back in about an hour and she was sure he would call me.
He called later and told me that "No, you cannot carry a pistol on the refuge." Not only is it "illegal" per Federal regulations to carry it, it is illegal to have it in your boat. When I asked if it was prohibited to leave it in the vehicle, he said that shouldn't be a problem since you can't park on the refuge. When I told him I was just at a Federal boat ramp where I would have to park my vehicle, he said , oh yes in that case you would be in violation by having a pistol in your vehicle (this vehicle prohibition for otherwise lawful carry is a common ploy by anti-gun folks to make it increasingly inconvenient and dangerous to exercise your legal 2nd Amendment right). He concluded with "WE don't allow pistols on the refuge" (did he have a frog in his pocket or who was this ominous "WE"?).
When he detected my disgust he informed me that there is legislation proposed to change that and he would be glad to cite it for me. I told him to never mind. Sure, I will write a letter to President Obama or one of his appointees or to Speaker Pelosi or to Senator Reid or to one of my Senators (Franken or Klobuchar) and ask for a Federal Agency to respect the 2nd Amendment. Maybe I should write the State government as they are desperately trying to get every Federal "Stimulus" nickel and ask them to stand up to the Federal government FOR taking away 2nd Amendment rights AND MINNESOTA SOVEREIGNTY ON MINNESOTA LANDS AND WATERS FROM MINNESOTA RESIDENTS? (Writing these autocrats about things they either oppose or shrink from is reminds me of old Esquire cartoon I once saw wherein a long line of bearded slaves chained neck and foot is winding its way past enormous Roman soldiers with spears on a dock with a moored galley with hundreds of oars sticking out each side. One of the shinny little bearded guys looks up and smiles saying, "My what a magnificent ship, I wonder what makes it go?")
Folks this sort of insidious Federal Tyranny has been going on too long. It seeps into our daily lives like WD-40 and it provides precedent after precedent to feed its own growth. The National Wildlife Refuge managers will take this as an attack on them. The US Fish and Wildlife Service will take this as "sour grapes" from an ex-employee. The Department of the Interior will just smile and wonder who is this upstart that questions US? The Presidential crew and Congressional staffs will say this is exactly the sort of person to beware of and put me on some list to teach me a lesson as a warning to others.
The lesson here concerns way more than pistols or refuges or useless bureaucrats. The lesson is the shredding of the Constitution by those sworn to uphold it; the lesson is the craven acquiescence of state government to allow the theft of Constitutional State's Rights for the pottage of Federal dollars; the lesson here is the way in which the constant success of such thefts of liberty has accelerated the fall of this nation from "The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave" to the land of the handout and the home of the helot. "What does one dead helot matter when 'WE' know what's best?"
"Helot" was the name given to serfs in Sparta. They were "owned" by the state and leased out to landholders (i.e. the rulers). The tyranny of Sparta is being reborn by the FEDERAL TYRANNY in modern America. By the way, where is Sparta today and whatever happened to the helots?

THE RULING CLASS

By Jim Beers

The United States of America is (are?) now being ruled by a self-serving ruling class. Like ancient European aristocracies, Asian ruling families, African chieftain families, and South American civilization rulers before them; current American rulers (President and Congress et al) are consolidating all existing power in their own hands by the raw exercise of legislation enforced by unrestrained government workers.
This increasingly absolute power of the Federal government is being created from two sources:
First, are the stolen "self evident" "truths" mentioned in The Declaration of Independence regarding "all Men" as "endowed" by "their Creator" and therefore described as "unalienable Rights". These individual "Rights" are increasingly seen as grants of government; for example I refer you to the latest Supreme Court nominee's refusal to recognize that any of us has the "right" to protect our own Life, i.e. the first "Right" mentioned in The Declaration as in "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness".
Second, are the myriad stolen "powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited to it by the States" that "are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people" as stated in the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Examples of stolen State "powers" range from ultimate authority over lands owned by federal agencies (almost ½ the landmass) and animal use proscriptions to public works standards and so-called educational requirements. Examples of stolen "powers" of the "people" are elimination of parental control of their own children regarding birth control, same-sex encouragement, and abortion to gun control, suppression of free speech, and "equality" for all Americans.
Like ruling classes down through history (Pharaohs, Caesar, Napoleon, Ivan the Terrible, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot, Mugabe, Chavez, etc.), a determined leader surrounds himself (is the masculine case permissible in this historically accurate instance??) with a clique of like-minded individuals that expect to benefit from the creation of an absolute authority over others. This "clique" or ruling class consists not only of the visible second rung of rulers around the Supreme Leader but also of the always much larger mob of often unnoticed bureaucrats and enforcers whose job and position depends on the ruling class and its continued strength.
While more often than not the emergence of absolute ruling authorities wielded by a ruling class is the result of violence; the emerging absolute federal authority in The United States of America is seemingly emerging, thus far, as a result of three things:
First is the growing portion of the population (almost 50 %) that does not pay any income taxes. This has given rise to the mistaken notion by many that some magical phenomenon like voting into office politicians that always promise you "more" can sustain itself. This gives rise to the ancient canard that there is only so much wealth and that only by taking it from others can we prosper. This lie is as "old as the hills" and as false as a "moon made of green cheese".
Second, the explosion of unmarried couples "living together without benefit of matrimony", children born out of wedlock, fatherless families, small families (few brothers and sisters), same-sex lifestyles, single "professionals" (especially women), and "environmental" "religious" pronouncements that there are "too many people" have all combined to create a society of lonely and despairing individuals. If there is "no one to take care of me" the allure of promised government health care, prohibited unhealthy diets, enforced "green" lifestyles, bureaucratically designed "sharing the wealth" programs, etc. combine to offer the "only" hope if illness, old age, or hard times occurs. Somehow the lifestyle of Russians under communism has been marketed as preferable to the USA of the past 220 years.
Third is the cynical manipulation of "science" and "equality" by the ruling class to bamboozle American citizens into ignoring Ben Franklin's truism made in 1755 (more than twenty years before the Revolution) that "Those who would give up essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Consider a few current examples of such manipulations by an electorate behaving as though the lessons of history no longer apply to us:
- Health Care is to be made a federal program wherein bureaucrats will control costs and make it widely available to all. As if the costs will not be astronomical, and specialists will not disappear (no longer profitable), and new drugs and devices will no longer be developed (lack of return on the investment), and workers will no longer work long hours for less pay, and we will not begin seeing doctors like the 3 "British" doctors from Pakistan and Syria that tried to blow up or burn down the Scottish airport, and as if prominent "rulers" from Ted Kennedy to Senator Byrd will "get in line" with the rest of us and abide by some bureaucrat's ruling that they are "too old" for certain treatments or that they should just "take a pain pill" as former "ruler" Tom Daschle recommends.
-Life is being marginalized still further by government financing of foreign abortions, funding abortions throughout the USA, and forcing all doctors and nurses to perform abortions. The lives of the elderly and disabled children will be further endangered by bureaucrats wielding life-and-death authority over treatments based on government "costs" and "quality of life" "regulations". Simultaneously, domestic and wild animals are to be "given rights" and elevated in status compared to humans so that human uses will be eliminated as human life is denigrated and made subservient to human government's "ruling class".
- Abundant energy resources are ignored and the American economy is starved for affordable power as we bemoan "paying for foreign oil" and tout unproven and totally inadequate alternatives as realistic. All the while our dollar drops in relative value and jobs and tax revenues disappear. The inevitable resulting jump in energy costs for everyone is ignored, denied, and accepted by a gullible electorate expecting other free benefits elsewhere.
- Global "cooling" of the 70's and 80's is morphed into global "warming" of the past 15 years and then into "climate change" as inarguable reasons (actually they are extreme contradictions) for signing international treaties and forcing domestic federal control over all human activities based on "Carbon" creation! Has there ever been as absurd a "science" claim and a resulting national acquiescence to forced submission to absolute authority? In a world where dinosaurs roamed in jungles extending to the Poles and recent glaciers scarred the land, dose anyone really believe that Dust Bowls and hot trends and cool trends are the result of recent activities? Does anyone really believe that "Carbon" "causes" warming, cooling or climate change? Has the world climate ever been stable or ought it to be? Does anyone really believe that human adjustment results are either knowable or that they could influence, much less override, the impacts of sunspots and historic worldwide weather factors? Finally, how can anyone propose with a straight face that giving an all-powerful absolute authority more power and money could somehow result in predictable and stable weather that may in and of itself for the first time ever (if such were even possible) result in greatly unforeseen and unknown negative effects? It would all be too funny if it were not such a deadly serious tool of those expecting to benefit from associating with an (in their opinion) inevitable ruling class.
- There is the "tax the rich" cry behind all of these prohibitively expensive proposals while the unavoidable impacts on reduced businesses, reduced investing, and economic decline by making business or wealth a liability (unless you are part of the ruling class) is denied.
- Defense and intelligence programs are diminished publicly as Al Qaeda and similar terror groups grow, as Iran proceeds to join North Korea in using nuclear weapons as a deadly bargaining chip, as Russia renews claims on lost Soviet "Republics", and as Cuba and Venezuela are encouraged by diplomacy that seems to have no real interest in protecting America. This function, to "provide for the common defense" is arguably the premiere reason given in the Preamble of The Constitution of the United States of America why "We the People" did "ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America. If the federal government cannot or will not defend us, what need have we of them?
- Government forms from job applications to contract bids and Census forms require "race" and "sex" classification identifiers as necessary to hire, award contracts, determine receivers of government largesse, and to permit race and sex pandering for votes by ruling class members seeking to maintain lifetime positions and even to pass on their positions and comparable positions to family members and collaborators. How does this square with being "created equal"?
What are we to make of all these contradictions?
- Constitutional wording ignored as in government gun control and creation of invisible words to assert a "right to privacy" as in Roe v. Wade.
- National defense diminished in a dangerous world while silly science like climate change, "native ecosystems", and "endangered species" is used to force submission to a more powerful central government.
- Taxing and debt growth that has everywhere caused economic decline and citizen oppression justified by vilifying those that pay taxes to those that pay no taxes.
What is the answer? The only peaceful hope is to rid ourselves of this permanent ruling class. That means voting them out of office in no uncertain terms. To do this, we must find worthy replacements committed to freedom and not to a career as a lifetime politician.
As I have said before, the only viable role model today is Governor Palin. Whether or not you agree with her politics, it is American citizens like her that are needed to step forward. We need citizens that, like her, admit to working with either party or others that are committed to rectifying what is happening today. We need fearless politicians like her that can turn their back when they feel it is best and not just do what others want them to do. We need men and women, young and old, like Governor Palin that will stand up to the entrenched rulers in both parties and we need them before it is too late.
There is a humorous and historic ring to all these media mavens, Republican "insiders", and Democrat "analysts" decrying her "lack of experience" and her "need for education" on all the "technicalities" of modern government.
Remember two things:
None of the Founding Fathers were "experienced" politicians and their "Declaration of Independence" and "Constitution" exceeded any comparable documents in human history. What they had was common sense, a sound education, and commitment just like Governor Palin.
Just as "patriotism" is often the last refuge of scoundrels, so too is the "need for education" the only way professional bureaucrats and politicians (the ruling class) have of denying "outsiders" any traction to create reforms. Prior to 1867, only one in five adult males in England and Wales could vote. The Representation of the People Act of 1867 enfranchised all male householders that included the urban working class. Commenting on the passage of this revolutionary (for England and Wales at this time) bill, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke (a "ruling class" guy if ever there was one) said that regarding the working masses there was now a need to "educate" them sufficiently "if they are to perform worthily their task of governing".
Shades of Governor Sarah Palin!

FEDS DEMAND HOT TOLIET PAPER!

Feds Now Defining Toilet Paper? Gore's home state breaks 1897 cold record - Congressman faces angry voters on climate vote - Nobel Winner Wishes for 'horrid things' to convince skeptics - July 20., 2009
Go to www.ClimateDepot.com for latest climate entertainment and links.
GOP Rep. Mike Castle (DE) faces angry voters over his support of climate bill: 'I can't understand for the life of me how you could be one of the GOP traitors!' - 'Booed by crowd when he says he believes in man-made global warming'
400 protesters say no to Congressional climate bill in W. VA: 'I love the climate just the way it is'
Have we reached bottom? Congressman proposes legislation calling on fed agency to define toilet paper! - 'Term 'toilet tissue' means toilet tissue, as determined under regulations prescribed by the Secretary'
'Find ways to exaggerate': Nobel Prize-winning economist wishes for 'tornadoes' and 'a lot of horrid things' to convince Americans of global warming threat!
Excerpt: I sometimes wish that we could have, over the next five or ten years, a lot of horrid things happening -- you know, like tornadoes in the Midwest and so forth -- that would get people very concerned about climate change.
NYT movie critic suggests mankind 'does not deserve to live anyway' if we don't heed global warming warnings!
Summer Cold Breaks 1897 Temp Record in Gore's Home State -- Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga Set Or Tie Record Lows
Excerpt: NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Cool weather that led to record low temperatures will take its time leaving Tennessee. Nashville dropped to 59 degrees early Monday and Knoxville bottomed out at 60 degrees -- both tying records for the date. Nashville's high temperature on Sunday was 77 degrees, a record low for a high temperature on July 19. The previous record was 79 degrees set in 1897. The National Weather Service reported the temperature in Chattanooga dipped to 59 degrees Monday morning, eclipsing the previous record for the date of 60 degrees, set in 1947. Early Sunday morning, the Tri-Cities set a new low for the date, reaching 54 degrees and breaking the old record of 55 degrees, set in 1984.
Farmers reject global warming: 'We like more CO2, because then our crops grow and we have food to eat'
'Media has created too much hype just for nothing'
Video: Climatologist Christy on 'the Morality of Climate Change'
Omaha breaks 1873 cold record during Summer
Co-author Markey of climate bill: 'We must bring soaring temperatures from global warming back to normal'
COLD AND SNOW INVADE SOUTH AMERICA
U.S. Summer Chill: '868 Lowest Max temps and 651 Low temps recorded for week of July 19'
Michigan sweet corn, tomato crop delayed because of cold - 'We are having to close the windows because it's too cold outside. I still haven't run the ac yet this year'
Peoria ties 1892 cold temp record
Connecticut: Unseasonably cold spring leads to smaller crops -- 'big challenge to farmers'
Global Sea Level Updated at UC - still flattening -- 'maybe slight DOWNTREND since 2006'
Claim: Ancient map of 1531 Disproves Global Warming
Parts of Michigan break 1914 cold temp records
'Global Tropical Cyclone energy nearing record low levels of inactivity - lowest in 50-years'
Minnesota: Cold prompts 'sudden influx of mice indoors' -- Sweaters in summer? Jackets in July?
Summer Cold Breaks 1897 Temp Record in Gore's Home State
Minnesota: Cold prompts 'sudden influx of mice indoors' -- Sweaters in summer? Jackets in July?
'Unseasonably cold temps' create 'hungrier than usual' bears in Canada
Quiet Sun: 'Sun has gone back to blank after having had just one sunspot group'
'Hiatus between Solar Cycle 23 and the next cycle is unprecedented in nearly a 100 years'
Another cool summer day for Chicago -- challenges 85 year old cold temp record
Climate Fear Promoter slams Climate Depot! Morano has 'abandoned intellectual integrity' by highlighting record cold temps - 'As soon are you start listing how cold it was in Idaho or India...You lose the only thing that science really has -- honesty' -- 'Rachel Carson didn't win by playing their game'
NYC breaks 'Summer cool' streak: '46 consecutive days without reaching 85° - longest since 1916'
Record cold hits the tropics
U.S. Navy Atmospheric Scientist: 'Dire warnings about 'runaway warming' and climate 'tipping points' cannot be taken seriously' - 'As history has often shown, consensus is the last refuge of poor science'
Minnesota: No lie about July; we're about to take the high out of high -- may break 1939 cold record
Meteorologist says man not cause of climate issue: 'We could very well be headed for a cool period'
Wisconsin set to see coldest July day since 1900
Nebraska Cold Weather: 'Two-thirds of the cedars died over the winter'
N. Dakota farmer on Cold July: 'Gore should be out here and tell us about this global warming stuff'
NASA GISS reports June is 2nd warmest month after only 1998
UK: 'Is it always so cold in July?'
Not so peachy: Ohio cold snap takes bite out of local peach harvest
Kenya: Cold weather in tea growing areas is expected to cut production
Brrrrr. Canadian fed up with July's 'unseasonably cold nights with heavy frost'
'If this is what we can expect of global warming then it might be wise to hang on to our long John's'
'Weather continues to run unseasonably cool...concern over delayed crops and possibility of frost damage on corn'
Rain and cool weather wash away millions of tourism dollars in Northeast
Scientist: 'Cooling earth temps may last a couple of decades'
Moment of Clarity: 'If we don't understand what is natural, I don't think we can say much about what the humans are doing'
NYC fails to reach 85°F in June - first time since 1916
New Yorkers ask: 'Wherefort art thou, summer?'
Marc Morano Climate Depot

HANSEN OPPOSES CLIMATE BILL!

Brought to you by Marc Morano - - - www.ClimateDepot.com

'A monstrous absurdity...less than worthless!' - Plus: G8 Leaders embrace 'climate astrology' - Trying to control Earth's thermostat is 'Madness of our age'
NASA Warming Scientist Hansen Blasts Obama's 'Counterfeit' Climate Bill - Calls it 'a monstrous absurdity...less than worthless!' - July 9, 2009
NASA's James Hansen: The Waxman-Markey bill, a monstrous absurdity hatched in Washington after energetic insemination by special interests. For all its "green" aura, Waxman-Markey locks in fossil fuel business-as-usual and garlands it with a Ponzi-like "cap-and-trade" scheme. [...] The fact is that the climate course set by Waxman-Markey is a disaster course. Their bill is an astoundingly inefficient way to get a tiny reduction of emissions. It's less than worthless
Read Hansen here:
http://www.climatedepot.com/a/1875/NASA-Warming-Scientist-Hansen-Blasts-Obamas-Counterfeit-Climate-Bill--Calls-it-a-monstrous-absurdityless-than-worthless
Morano: G8 Leaders embrace 'climate astrology' - Trying to control Earth's thermostat is 'Madness of our age' - July 10, 2009
Excerpt: A leading skeptic of "manmade global warming" says Group of Eight leaders have embraced a new movement he calls "climate astrology." [.] Marc Morano, executive editor of ClimateDepot.com, says it is ridiculous for the G8 leaders to believe they have the power to turn up or down the earth's thermostat. "This is the height of arrogance," he exclaims. "This is the madness of our age that world leaders, including our own president, can go up there with a straight face and act as though they can control the earth's thermostat -- act as though they control nature." Morano compares the G8 leaders' mindset to a Third World mentality. "In Uganda, they're blaming drought and disease on angry gods," he notes, "and people are saying, 'Oh, if only they knew. They need to be educated [and told that] it's manmade climate change.' "Well, who actually needs to be educated here?," Morano asks. "Is it the Ugandans who blame bad weather on angry gods -- or is it Western leaders who actually think they can control the climate?" Energy Secretary Steven Chu has said that science tells him for certain what the earth will be like 100 years from now -- which leads Morano to ask: "At what point should Secretary Chu be on a boardwalk with a full deck of tarot cards dispensing this?"
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=598036

4TH OF JULY REDUX?

By Jim Beers July 8, 2009

The Declaration of Independence was adopted in the midst of The Revolutionary War by all the Colonies except New York on the 4th of July 1776. The Colonial Congress ordered it signed (by John Hancock, President of the Congress and Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Congress) and distributed immediately to inform one and all why we were in rebellion against English rule. As Thomas Jefferson described The Declaration it was "an expression of the American mind". By January 18, 1777 all 56 signers had placed their signatures on the document. In 1781 the Colonies won a military victory and 2 years later Britain officially recognized our Independence as proclaimed in The Declaration of Independence.
Historians, scholars, and common men worldwide have marveled for centuries now at the concepts affirmed in The Declaration. Religious leaders and preachers throughout the western world have frequently mentioned The Declaration as a model basis for any government that truly aims to be "for, by, and of the people". Now that the fireworks have died down and all the leftover bratwursts have been consumed it is a fair time to ask how the 2009 "American mind" compares to 1776.
The Declaration affirmed in no uncertain terms "We hold these truths to be self evident":
-- "that all men are created equal".
How "equal" are government race and sex categories required on forms and in the Census as the basis for representation, contracts, hiring, promotions, housing, government services, etc.?
-- "that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights".
What "Right" does any of us recognize as "unalienable" any more? For that matter, the mention of a "Creator" in any public document or in any public place like a school today is merely a basis for ACLU lawsuits and public disgrace and punishment for the "offender". "Rights" have become whatever the majority wants or whatever elected politicians condone while considering themselves first of all.
-- "that among these are Life".
Abortion is rampant at all stages of pregnancy and we pay for foreign nations to kill their young as well. Simultaneously the federal courts have prosecuted people for 90 years for destroying a Migratory (federally protected) bird EGG since the egg is the protected bird in the eyes of the law, how absurd is that? How can euthanasia and assisted suicide and even killing children up to six months of age (if they may not have a "good quality of life") ever be consistent with an "unalienable Right" to "Life"?
-- "Liberty"
How is "Liberty" recognized and protected by Endangered Species preferences that harm citizens? What about growing prohibitions against hunting, trapping, fishing, timber cutting, grazing, home building, and the freedom to buy certain vehicles or to live on or use private property? How is "Liberty" affected when one group of citizens objects by outlawing other citizens using their own animal property as they (and their families for generations before them) have done for eons?
-- "the pursuit of Happiness".
How is "Happiness" affected by the forced imposition of the "Happiness" ideas of others? From vehicle size to home location to what we eat, we are being forced to live as others would have us do. Recently I visited a large hospital and saw the "No Smoking Anywhere" sign as I entered by a large construction site on the grounds. Now I don't smoke and I can sympathize with smoking bans indoors and by entries on private property however, what basis is there for the hospital do-gooders preventing those construction workers in the open under God's sky from smoking? The answer is of course that we have become so inured to a majority rule overriding "unalienable" "Rights" that such prohibitions are accepted and serve as the basis for food prohibitions and other lifestyle "Happiness" prohibitions in the future. The matter of smoking for those workers is and should have remained simply a matter between them personally and God.
I could go on here but space and my time are limited. Suffice to say that we have strayed far from those shining principles laid out so eloquently in The Declaration of Independence. Currently, the President and the Congress are accelerating this erosion of these principles by advocating without any credible opposition:
- Government owned and run businesses from auto companies to insurance companies and banks.
- Eliminating the freedom of Catholic hospitals and health workers like doctors and nurses to refuse to take the Life of an unborn child.
- Federal spending that will destroy our economy and (if the nation survives) hobble our children and grandchildren with unimaginable debt.
- A gargantuan tax scheme ("Cap & Trade") based on an imaginary threat (climate change) that human ingenuity can always adapt to but that no government can ever "change".
- A socialized medicine program that has everywhere eliminated specialist doctors, timely health services, health care options for the elderly and very young, rural health care, and established governmental authority over who will live and who will die ("since we pay for it we get to determine who gets what").
The reader that has gone this far might rightly ask what is to be done? Isn't the America founded on the Declaration of Independence far preferable to that which we have today?
These are good questions and the answer, short of the solution for which the Signers of the Declaration placed their "lives and fortunes" on the line for, may have been buried in the news this week. Just as "Cap & Trade" and "Socialized Medicine" bills passed the US House of Representatives while the country, media, and TV remained enthralled with Michael Jackson; so too in all the punditry prognostications about how dumb and what a quitter Governor Palin is for resigning the Alaskan Governorship we may be missing the real story.
Of the 56 Signers of The Declaration the majority were well-educated and prosperous. A few were entirely self-taught. One was a sea captain. Almost a quarter were planters and a few were truly farmers. Four were educated as ministers. Some were merchants and shippers. What they all had in abundance was courage and a sense of purpose.
Disregarding what you think of Governor Palin, she has given us a ray of hope. The current arguments about "experience" would have amused The Founding Fathers. Had they accepted that, well I guess they would have gone to the Parliament in London to get some power hungry politicians with lots of "experience" (Jeffords and Specter come to mind) to form and run the new country. Thank God none of them were that stupid.
The current Democrat and Republican Parties and politicians have carried us down the road (particularly over the past four decades) to the mess we are in today. The Party platforms differ in little more than speed and commitment. The lifelong politicians we have today are little better than the entrenched aristocrats in the Parliament that we threw off in 1776. There is about as much likelihood of "reforming" them into agents of the principles laid out in The Declaration of Independence as there is in training a cat to retrieve ducks.
How do you replace them when the Parties will simply replace the losers with other "team" (i.e. "Party") players? The answer is what we all saw Governor Palin do in Alaska. She took on the "Party" and began changing things despite not only the opposition but also despite her own (?) Party. Where do such people come from? The Party Convention? Not Hardly. The children of those that vacate the office like Dingell and Biden? Crooked politicians that get elected no matter what like Marion Barry and Alcee Hastings? No, they come from right where Governor Palin comes from - individual American citizens with "courage and a sense of purpose" like those Signers of The Declaration of Independence. Redux means "brought back, resurgent" and if ever there was a need for this word, this is it! If it cannot be done by such people reforming one (or both) of the "Parties" or by forming a new Party then God help us all.

SPORT FISH & WILDLIFE RESTORATION

By Jim Beers July 7, 2009

As hunters and trappers and fishermen see a White House and federal agencies stuffed with anti-hunting, anti-gun rights, environmental extremists and as an unfettered US House and Senate are churning out all manner of extremist and costly legislation; questions are being raised about minor things that we ignored for years but which are beginning to appear as razors that have been quietly slashing our hunting, trapping, and fishing heritage, traditions, and rights. I speak here of the federal programs originally known as the Pittman Robertson (1936) and Dingell-Johnson (1950) Acts.
These two Acts provided that the federal government collect excise taxes on certain items and that each year these funds be apportioned to all State fish and wildlife agencies for "Wildlife Restoration" and "Sport Fish Restoration" projects. Funds for "Wildlife Restoration" are derived from an 11 percent excise tax on sporting arms and ammunition; a 10 percent tax on pistols and revolvers, one-half of which may be used by the States for hunter safety programs; and an11-percent excise tax on bows, arrows, and their parts and accessories. Funds for "Sport Fish Restoration" are derived from a 10-percent excise tax on certain items of sport fishing tackle (Internal Revenue Code of 1954, sec. 4161), a 3-percent excise tax on fish finders and electric trolling motors, import duties on fishing tackle, yachts and pleasure craft, interest on the account, and a portion of motorboat fuel tax revenues and small engine fuel taxes. The current annual collections vary from $500 Million to over a Billion considering the ongoing stampede for arms and ammunition in anticipation of federal government attempts to subvert the 2nd Amendment to The Constitution of the United States of America.
These Acts have been manipulated and amended by politicians to name Amendments after themselves (Wallop-Breaux); to gain votes from certain blocs like boat owners and archers; and to give favors to ethnic voting groups like Puerto Ricans and Samoans. Importation of arms and fishing tackle has made up increasing amounts of these taxed items while federal bureaucrats have increasingly ignored the collection of these import taxes and as importers have exploited the indifference of federal bureaucrats by smuggling (the correct term) such items to competitive retail outlet stores. While there are strict rules for use of the funds by state agencies, required 5-year audits and "oversight" by federal bureaucrats are intermittent, poorly administered, and ideologically driven by federal and now state bureaucrats enacting agendas aimed ultimately at destroying hunting, fishing, and trapping. State fish and wildlife Directors want to be free to please the Governors that appoint them like offering (illegally) to allow a prison to be built on wildlife areas or to put wildlife vehicles in state motor pools for use by others. So, just like federal thieves, state thieves exist and benefit personally from foregone or slipshod oversight and audits.
All that said, let us focus on the terms "Wildlife" and "Sport Fish" and "Restoration".
- "Wildlife" in the original Act and in the eyes of American citizens meant deer, turkeys, ducks, pheasants, etc. (i.e. "GAME" animals whether or not they were present during the Ice Age, were eaten by Sitting Bull, or were brought over from China or Europe on a sailing ship). The "sporting" uses were what generated the funds and thus did everyone understand that game animals were to be the primary beneficiaries of the funding. The other animals that shared habitats with and benefited from the MANAGEMENT AND EXISTENCE of the habitats for those game animals were significant but secondary beneficiaries of much of the projects generated by the collected taxes. Harmful animals were to be controlled thus benefiting rural America while other "users" like campers, hikers, school groups, canoeists, and birdwatchers, etc. were always free to use the purchased wildlife areas and facilities like boat ramps.
- "Sport Fish" in the original Act was necessary because "Commercial Fish" and "Marine Fish" were jealously guarded (meaning they generated employees and funding) functions of the Commerce Department as opposed the Interior Department where the US Fish and Wildlife Service was ensconced. Consider for the moment how the Endangered Species Act divided the whales and seals and porpoises from other "endangered" animals between the Commerce and Interior Departments. (National Marine Fisheries Service and US Fish and Wildlife Service always "cooperated" for environmental benefit like the CIA and FBI always shared info with other agencies for the common good.)
- Finally, the term "Restoration" always (up until the radical 60's and 70's) meant the active "MANAGEMENT" of these desired (i.e. GAME and SPORT FISH) species to levels, distribution, abundance, and harvest levels known to previous generations CONSISTENT WITH THE EXPANDING AMERICAN SOCIETY, AMERICAN RIGHTS, AND AMERICAN TRADITIONS.
For the sake of brevity, let me observe that the White House, Congress, federal agencies, and state agencies have for the past 4 decades hired, promoted, and encouraged anti-management (of all natural resources), anti -use (of fish, wildlife, timber, forage, and other resources both renewable and non-renewable) acolytes of extremist environmental urban agendas. From destroying property rights to imposing deadly and destructive animals on an increasingly disarmed rural citizenry, politicians and bureaucrats have catered to urban voters unaffected by their work and international agendas to increase federal employment and power at the expense of State Constitutional authorities, local government controls, and individual rights.
These politicians and bureaucrats now interpret and write laws and regulations using our three terms thus:
- "Wildlife" means all "Mother Nature's (?)" creatures from snakes to lizards and rats. In fact, since the "Game" animals have gotten so much over the years we need to treat the other species like women and minorities under the "Equal" opportunity or employment Acts (i.e. award lots of "preferences" no matter the results).
- "Sport Fish" should be interpreted very broadly to include the other fish being eaten by or associated with the "sport fish" and funding of research should focus on getting money to environmental activist professors to establish all manner of "ecological" dependence and connections within the "aquatic community" to justify the broadest possible use of "Sport" fish project money from destroying dams to re-establishing "population segments" recently invented at nearby University Environmental Global Research Centers.
- "Restoration" means just that; "restoration" but not restoration of abundant game animals: no, "restoration" means restoration of the imaginary and vaunted "Native Ecosystem". Therefore, funds do not necessarily go to the encouragement of desired and useful species as well as the suppression of harmful animal populations; instead they may be used for "Invasive" (not necessarily harmful to civilization or the desired animals - just someone's idea of what not ought to be) "Species", "Introduced Species", "Native Species" (often very harmful to game species), etc., etc. The funds can go to whatever destroys hunting like "Prairie Restoration" in Iowa just South of my home that decimates pheasant and Hungarian partridge populations or cougar protection that decreases hunting species, rural safety, animal husbandry, pet ownership, etc., etc.
While they mumble about the esoteric pristine goals of their agendas, these environmental and animal rights extremists are ultimately working to impose an American society where guns, hunting, fishing, trapping and a whole host of other things from pet ownership to animal husbandry are forbidden by government fiat. It has been going on for four decades now and I have been writing about it for 10 years, ever since the Government Accounting Office found that the US Fish and Wildlife Service had STOLEN $45 to 60 Million FROM THE FUNDS COLLECTED FOR STATE WILDLIFE AND FISH PROGRAMS in a two year period to do two things rejected by Congress (introducing wolves into Yellowstone and opening a California Office to collaborate with West Coast radicals) and to pay top managers handsome bonuses for political pandering. The real kicker was that when the state agencies were notified, THEY NEVER ASKED FOR THE MONEY TO BE REPLACED! In other words the anti's stole millions from OUR fish and wildlife programs to use to destroy OUR hunting, fishing, and trapping and OUR (?) state agencies were more beholden to those thieves than to you and me (and things have only gotten worse since then).
It is my opinion that this decay of our traditions for four decades now parallels other cultural declines like the loss of parental rights to teachers and bureaucrats in such areas as same-sex indoctrination, birth control availability and abortion services; the loss of property rights resulting in un-Constitutional "Kelo"-takings unlawful impositions on property owners by governments; the loss of State's Rights to federal mandates accompanying funding like transportation and education funds; the emergence of government-owned businesses; socialized medicine ostensibly for the poor that will eliminate specialists, force abortion provisions everywhere thus closing Catholic hospitals and eliminating Catholic health care providers, lethal rationing of health care to the very young and the elderly and on and on. We have let lies and power-hungry individuals enrich themselves by eliminating the very things that have made this country great. No longer can a local community prohibit or allow cockfighting pits in accord with their own local community standards: state and federal laws prohibit it. No longer can State governments ration or manage natural resources or regulate gun possession on the gargantuan federal estates within the State: federal law supercedes them. Duplicitously, the federal government declares their own helplessness in oppressing American citizens and their rights by citing voluntarily-signed International and UN "Treaties" and "Conventions" that only we treat as inviolate.
As the American "barn" of freedom and liberty is burning all around us, many of us are beginning to take notice of how our "concern" for things that should never have become government matters and our indifference because we have been "busy" have led us to this point. Is it too late? What can we do? God help us because I do not know what to say. The three terms discussed here are but a symptom of a larger cancer we have ignored too long.
The theft of our liberties by those who would replace our Constitution with raw power wielded by themselves is like the attempted bank robbery by the James-Younger Gang in Northfield Minnesota in September of 1876. In spite of the fact that there were eight experienced armed robbers and most townsmen were out hunting prairie chickens - a few ill-armed townsmen men killed and wounded several of the robbers and with neighboring posses hunted down all but two that got away. The money was saved and although a brave clerk was murdered the town survived and thrives today. Most importantly, NO NORTHFIELD BANK HAS BEEN ROBBED SINCE THAT ILL-FATED "RAID"!
Americans of every stripe are beginning to see that their rights and heritage are being stolen and the results are even more catastrophic than the loss of everyone's money in an 1876 Minnesota town. For too long we have been hiding under our beds while these robbers have been helping themselves to our rights, liberties, traditions, and heritage. Just as those Minnesota townsmen were deadly serious about their money and families and town, so too must we become about our rights and Constitutional government.