Damn the Facts! Full speed Ahead!!

It seems that the warmista/green movement has recently been dealt a serious blow from none other than a government "study" funded by tax payers in good old Blighty, arguably the most radical of the warmista controlled nations in western civilization. The socialist government there, realizing that the warmista/green agenda is a government friendly, individual liberty averse movement/religion, has bought into the warmista propaganda that disposable diapers (nappies in British parlance) are a threat to the "environment" but is embarrassed by the findings of a recent study costing the British tax payers £50,000 (US $86,000) which finds that disposable diapers (nappies) have a significantly reduced impact (carbon footprint) on the environment than do the officially touted cloth reusable alternative.

The report found that using washable nappies, hailed by councils throughout Britain as a key way of saving the planet, have a higher carbon footprint than their disposable equivalents unless parents adopt an extreme approach to laundering them.

Warmistas need not however worry over dissemination of the data as ..."the government is so concerned by the “negative laundry options” outlined in the report, it has told its media managers not to give its conclusions any publicity."

Take that! you anti warmista heretics!

About to Hit The Fan?

There are various reasons explaining why the current financial/economic "difficulties" will in all likelihood result in a reprise of the "great depression" of the 1930's. Firstly, the "crash" of October, 1929 occurred approximately two months after an economic downturn began as evidenced by increased unemployment statistics in August of that year. Secondly, the "crash" resulted in a 24% reduction in the value of the equities market as evidenced by the Dow Jones index which began a "recovery" lasting into May of 1930. Compare this to the 40%+ drop in the value of equities since October 2007.

Enter the US government at the behest of President Herbert Hoover.

Hoover did not fail to employ promptly and vigorously his "modern" political principles, or the new "tools" provided him by "modern" economists. And, as a direct consequence, America was brought to her knees as never before. Yet, by an ironic twist of fate, the shambles that Hoover abandoned when he left office was attributed, by Democratic critics, to his devotion to the outworn tenets of laissez-faire.

Fast forward to October 2008. A credit crisis caused chiefly by the government's insistance on an end to "red lining" by lenders in order to increase home ownership by favored minorities results in a crisis due to mortgage defaults cascading into a meltdown in the financial sector.

Enter the intervention by a Republican Administration which for political considerations wishes to prevent the morphing of the crisis into a widespread economic downturn.

Even though these "rescues" are too little and too late the die is cast for the most far reaching socialization of the US economy in history. The US electorate (educated in government schools) will logically lay the blame for its pain at the feet of the Republican Party. Already the Democrats as evidenced by their presidential candidate are laying plans to: increase taxes, enact protectionist tariffs, increase transfer payments to their constituencies etc. This is precisely the direction taken by the FDR Administration beginning in 1933 which prolonged the recession of 1929 1932 into a depression in which the recovery to 1929 levels extended until 1954.

This old Spartan's advice: plant a vegetable garden, arm yourself with an adequate supply of ammo (hidden of course), get out of the stock market and into gold (in small, hidden and easily traded units) and upgrade your marketable and survival skills.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ!!!

To The Rescue!

Are any of you gentle readers concerned over the world financial meltdown and resulting economic downturn negatively impacting your retirement plans and causing your 401k to do a disappearing act?

If so, here's an item that will relieve the pain somewhat by improving the taste of the cheap swill you will be forced to drink in order to drown your sorrows.

The Ultrasonic Wine Ager, which looks like an ordinary ice bucket, takes 30 minutes to work and has already been given the thumbs up by an English winemaker.

Mr Jones, 53, [the inventor] said: "This machine can take your run-of-the-mill £3.99 bottle of plonk and turn it into a finest bottle of vintage tasting like it costs hundreds.

"It works on any alcohol that tastes better aged, even a bottle of paintstripper whisky can taste like an 8-year-aged single malt.

Due to the deflationary pressures of the looming economic downturn the projected cost of this item is bound to be reduced from the projected £350 (US $396) unless of course, the Federal Reserve or U.S. Treasury elect to do another "bail out".

Once Upon a Time

We all have at one time or another heard recited various fairy tales beginning with the words which are the title of this posting. A variation of the phrase has been fed to us recently by the political candidates of both major political parties and dutifully echoed by the punditocracy of the so called "mainstream media". I am of course referring to the finger pointing and blame assignment for the recent meltdown of the investment banking and insurance giants on Wall Street. The most recent version goes something like this: "Yes Virginia; once upon a time in the United States there existed a group of evil and avaricious men called 'predatory' lenders who preyed upon unsuspecting poor people and minorities and whose aim was to trick them into mortgages at usurious rates of interest in order to deprive them of any hope of achieving the 'American Dream'." If these poor victims could not convince the lenders to provide financing for homes or businesses due to the unscrupulous practice of having a reasonable assurance that the funds would be repaid, the lenders (banks) were obviously guilty of the evil practice of 'red lining'."

Government (or more precisely Democrat politicians) to the rescue, and voilá President Carter signs the "Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. As of late 2000:

Under its provisions, U.S. banks have committed nearly $1 trillion for inner-city and low-income mortgages and real estate development projects, most of it funneled through a nationwide network of left-wing community groups, [i.e. ACORN, the Obama connected group] intent, in some cases, on teaching their low-income clients that the financial system is their enemy and, implicitly, that government, rather than their own striving, is the key to their well-being.

Not to worry Virginia, "the prices of real estate will continue to rise forever" and these shaky loans will be refinanced.

Right now this crisis is being sold to the American public by the left as evidence the failure of the free market and capitalism. Not so. What we're seeing is the inevitable result of political interference in free market economics. Acme bank didn't want to loan money to Joe Homebuyer because Joe had a spotty job history, owed too much money on his credit cards, and wasn't all that good at making payments on time. The politicians told Acme Bank to figure out a way to make that loan, because, after all, Joe is a bona-fide minority-American, or forget about opening that new branch office on the Southside. The loan was made under political pressure; the loan, with millions like it, failed - and now we are left to enjoy today's headlines.

And Ms Pelosi has the gall to absolve her party, the dimocrats, of all responsibility for the meltdown.
In the words of John Stossel: "Gimme a Break." And be sure to keep kissing those frogs Virginia.

Fascism at Work, Hold on to Your Wallet!

News Flash!

The 100+ year old investment banking firm Lehman Brothers has just yesterday filed for bankruptcy. It would appear that its management has been blindsided and overtaken by mismanagement and the events of the subprime mortgage meltdown. How interesting! Just last year the company, in an effort to boost the profits of its clients including Al Gore's carbon trading scam, the Alliance for Climate Protection issued a report concerning the economic and financial impact of "climate change" a century hence. Hoping to board the cash bandwagon of governments implementing various schemes of "carbon trading" they even presumed to assign a value to a ton of carbon emissions on a government controlled market 50 years in the future. The hubris of socialist theoreticians appears to be boundless.

A year ago they couldn’t predict their bankruptcy but were predicting the climate 100 years ahead. Thousands of green militants have been using the Lehman report as a proof of global warming and impending chaos. Lehman Bros. said it! sacred words! Its scientific advisor is James Hansen! The report is the basis for policies on climate change in Spain, Argentina and several other countries playing the progress game; it is used by economy professors playing the climatologists; by newspapers editorials, and even by a State Secretary: Lehman Bros., said it!

Lehman Brothers spoke in his report about the climate in 2100 and its economic and financial projections, about climate change costs several decades away.

By the way, we also learn that Merryll Lynch, while teetering on the brink of bankruptcy is heavily involved in the carbon trading scheme and has now merged with BankAmerica. Not many remember or are aware how heavily invested in the Kyoto Treaty and banking on huge governmental contracts that Enron was, preferring to assign that debacle to the so called failure of capitalism.

The interests of the environmental movement in acquiring more power and influence are reasonably clear. So too are the interests of bureaucrats for whom control of CO2 is a dream-come-true.

After all, CO2 is a product of breathing itself. Politicians can see the possibility of taxation that will be cheerfully accepted because it is necessary for saving the world. Nations have seen how to exploit this issue in order to gain competitive advantages. But, by now, things have gone much further.

The case of ENRON is illustrative in this respect. Before disintegrating in a pyrotechnic display of unscrupulous manipulation, ENRON had been one of the most intense lobbyists for Kyoto. It had hoped to become a trading firm dealing in carbon emission rights. This was no small hope. These rights are likely to amount to over a trillion dollars, and the commissions will run into many billions. Hedge funds are actively examining the possibilities. It is probably no accident that Gore, himself, is associated with such activities . The sale of indulgences is already in full swing with organizations selling offsets to one's carbon footprint while sometimes acknowledging that the offsets are irrelevant. ....Archer Daniels Midland (Americas largest agribusiness) has successfully lobbied for ethanol requirements for gasoline, and the resulting demand for ethanol is already leading to large increases in corn prices and associated hardship in the developing world (not to mention poorer car performance).

And now we learn that Barclays Bank UK will acquire the profitable sector of Lehman Brothers operations and the remainder will be left to be mopped up in all probability by the US taxpayer.

More Warmista KoolAid

If there was any doubt about the terrible threat that global warming poses to humanity, then it can now be dismissed - as this shocking photograph proves that climate change is turning icebergs into giant penises.


You gotta hand it to the [warmistas]. They have mind-bending gall. New Scientist, which used to be a good pop science magazine, now quotes a NASA scientist saying: “The Antarctic wintertime ice extent increased at a rate of 0.6% per decade” from 1979 to 2006, says Donald Cavalieri, a senior research scientist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Since 1979, the average year-round ice extent has risen too.”

Let’s see, that would be 27 years, so a total increase of about 2.0% in the extent of sea ice in the Antarctic. That’s a lot of frozen daiquiris. Millions of tons of increased ice in the Antarctic sounds colder rather than warmer, no?

But the [warmistas have] a different way of spinning these facts. New Scientist begins the article with: “The amount of sea ice around Antarctica has grown in recent Septembers in what could be an unusual side-effect of global warming, experts say.” You see, when it gets hotter it proves global warming. And when it gets colder it also proves global warming. They get you coming and going.

And these people think creationism is unscientific? Don’t they ever feel embarassed? And why are all the other scientists in the world not rolling on the floor laughing at these silly twits?
source

Deja Vu?

Except for a few interested bloggers and some of the journalists in the Miami area recent events in Venezuela have gone unremarked. The Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez recently declared the ambassador of the US persona non grata and ordered him to leave Venezuela within 72 hours. Señor Chávez has become increasingly unhinged as the Miami trial in the US District Court unfolds of two individuals charged with transporting a suitcase containing USD $800,000.00 to Buenos Aires for use in the recent Argentine presidential election. It seems that Señor Chávez had an interest in the election of a certain female socialist candidate in that election but the suitcase belonging to a Venezuelan agent was discovered at the Buenos Aires airport Customs desk. In any event the lady socialist handily won the election and appears to now be a cheerleader for socialism in South America.

The video below of a recent rally of the party faithful in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela seems to have eery similarities to the Nuremburg extravaganzas of the National Socialists addressed by Herr Hitler; the exception being of course Herr Hitler never indulged in the gutter language favored by Chávez. For those not conversant in Spanish, the word "mierda" translates as: "shit".

Yankees de mierda
by noticias24

In spite of all this sturm und drang, Chávez is unlikely to sever economic relations with the US as there is as yet no other market for the low gravity crude oil from the oilfields in Carabobo. Incidentally, you should be aware that the US petroleum marketer Citgo is a wholly owned subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), the socialized oil company controlled by Señor Chávez. In spite of these facts it appears that the prime whipping boy of the oil industry for our Democratic politicos continues to be the eeevil ExxonMobil. How dare they earn 8.3% on their investment.

When the State Violates Its Contract

In the early morning hours of this past 6 September in Gnesta, a suburb of Stockholm, a 21 year old woman was en route home from a birthday celebration when she was set upon by a gang of more than 20 "immigrant youths" (code words for the Muslim "asylum" seekers who have recently flooded that hapless nation to avail themselves of the perks of the welfare system). One of the attackers shouted "Swedish whore" and the gang proceeded to beat her senseless with clubs, fists and feet. Six members of a local soccer team witnessing the assault attempted to intervene in order to save the woman's life and were in turn severely beaten themselves. All seven were subsequently treated at the hospital for serious injuries.

Incidents such as this are in fact becoming more or less routine in Sweden and this one is only mentioned here as Mrs. ΛΕΟΝΙΔΑΣ's blog colleague posted on it here The comments thus far reveal what we here in the US might find rather astonishing.
First, your humble host is rather pleasantly surprised that the six gallant would-be rescuers were not arrested as is often the case when a victim has the temerity to mount a defense against a criminal assault. They were probably spared prosecution due to the seriousness of their injuries. Secondly, nowhere in the comments or the news article is the possibility broached that the item pictured below, judiciously brandished, accompanied by the will to use it, would in all probability have precluded the necessity of visits to the emergency room.
Tec-9

THE ULTIMATE

LIBERAL PISSER-OFFER

You, gentle reader, might consider this incident the next time a politician such as Mr. Schumer, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Obama or the venerable ACLU assert that the language in the second amendment protects the " right of the STATE to bear arms".

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ!

Unringing the Bell

The extent to which the media have become the partisan apologists and attack apparatus for the Democratic socialist party begins to boggle the minds of those who remain sentient and less than enthusiastic about the assent to the White house of a committed Marxist and former adherent to the Muslim faith. Who would have conceived that the selection of a vice presidential candidate by a nominee who most would characterize as a geriatric pushover "Republican" could result in the pressing of the panic button by every leftist partisan and journalist (redundancy alert) from Seattle to Miami and beyond?

It would appear that the selection of a female, articulate, non feminazi conservative/libertarian to grace the number 2 spot on the ticket has forced these leftists over the edge to the extent that some are attempting to "unring the bell". For example the recent assertion by an obscure blogger that Mrs. Palin as mayor of a small town in "flyover country" had attempted to have a list of books banned from the municipal library was picked up and embellished by the Obama campaign to include the list of every publication ever banned in the US and reproduced on their website. Within two hours of the absurdity of this "report" being pointed out, the web page was taken down by the Obama campaign. Below is a screen shot of the since removed page. Click on images to enlarge.





Likewise, the freudian slip by Obama concerning his "Muslim faith" in an interview with ABC's George Stephanopolus has since been removed by YouTube but has been copied and can be viewed below.



The willingness of most media outlets to carry water for the extreme left of the political spectrum appears to have little if any limits.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Apologies

ΛΕΟΝΙΔΑΣ would like to extend his apologies to the readers of this blog (both of them) for the recent hiatus. The recovery from major surgery has directed his attention to such mundane subjects as pain management and a temporary change in lifestyle. Hopefully the most unpleasant manifestations of these conditions have past. In any event, you may rest assured that the outrage meter has remained operational and he is prepared to move beyond the mere commenting on other blogs.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

An Epiphany On the Road to Damascus?

Your humble scribbler is still recovering from major surgery and for that reason has of necessity been precluded from posting as frequently as he would prefer. Be that as it may, this has come to our attention, authored by none other than George McGovern, the far left Democratic nominee for President in 1972. Please read the entire op ed:

Since leaving office I've written about public policy from a new perspective: outside looking in. I've come to realize that protecting freedom of choice in our everyday lives is essential to maintaining a healthy civil society.

Why do we think we are helping adult consumers by taking away their options? We don't take away cars because we don't like some people speeding. We allow state lotteries despite knowing some people are betting their grocery money. Everyone is exposed to economic risks of some kind. But we don't operate mindlessly in trying to smooth out every theoretical wrinkle in life.

The nature of freedom of choice is that some people will misuse their responsibility and hurt themselves in the process. We should do our best to educate them, but without diminishing choice for everyone else.

Mr. McGovern's philosophical journey (maturation?) mirrors that experienced by ΛΕΟΝΙΔΑΣ from a callow, Marxist university graduate to a wizened, libertarian senior citizen.

In the words of ΛΕΟΝΙΔΑΣ‘ sainted sire: " Too quick you're old. Too late you're smart".

ht: John Ray

Blame Game

John Hinderaker's observations on the Economy

Two thoughts about recent economic data: first, the Labor Department reported last week that private employers cut payrolls in July by 51,000 jobs. (This isn't exactly correct; employers added many new employees over the summer, as they always do, but because the increase was a little less than in most recent summers [minimum wage increase?] , it was recorded as a "decline" on a seasonally-adjusted basis.) Democrats hailed the job report as a sign of economic failure [yes, but whose?].

[The] question is: why, then, are they so intent on exporting hundreds of thousands of energy jobs? We pay around $700 billion annually for foreign oil. That represents not just an enormous amount of money, it also represents jobs that must number in the hundreds of thousands. Why shouldn't that money go to Americans? If we do our own drilling, pipeline construction, refinery expansion, etc., hundreds of thousands of American laborers, pipefitters, welders, engineers, etc., will have great, high-paying jobs. The Democrats would be happy to fund a government program that would pay a like number of Americans to do make-work. Why, then, are they so determined to stop hundreds of thousands of American workers from making an excellent living in the private sector by supplying their fellow citizens with a desperately needed commodity? The Democrats' policies are simply perverse.

Second: [recently], the administration announced increased federal budget deficit figures for fiscal years 2008 and 2009. As the Associated Press reported, "Democratic critics...charged that the soaring deficits showed the total failure of the Bush administration to put the government's fiscal house in order." But why did the 2008 deficit "soar" to an estimated $389 billion? Mostly because Congress decided that the existing budget deficit wasn't large enough to stimulate the economy, and therefore enacted a "stimulus" package in February that included mailing checks to 128 million households.

At the time, the Congressional Budget Office forecasted that the package would increase the deficit by $152 billion in FY2008, with a smaller impact in FY2009. This wasn't an unintended consequence of mailing out all those checks, it was the whole point--the source of the "stimulus."

The stimulus package, HR 5140, passed the House on a 385-35 vote, with 216 Democrats voting in favor. Only 10 Democrats opposed the act. In the Senate, the stimulus package passed on an 81-16 vote. Not a single Senate Democrat opposed the proposal to expand the federal deficit by $152 billion.

I'm not a good enough economist to be sure whether the bipartisan Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 was a good idea or a bad idea. But for anyone who voted for it--which includes pretty much everyone in Washington--to complain about the growing budget deficit is ridiculous.

Mystery Solved!

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

"Jug Ears" Speak: The New "Communicator"

For several years now we have been treated to the derision of George W. Bush by members of the MSM as well as the leftist punditocracy for his propensity to mangle the spoken English language. Much of this derision can be dismissed as sour grapes due to Bush having bested their darlings in the political contests of 2000 and 2004.

Now that the contest for political power in 2008 is in the home stretch so to speak, one wonders what to make of the leftists reaction to the verbal faux paus of their designated messiah in his quest for political power: to wit Barak (jug ears) Hussein Obama who appears to be "challenged" when bereft of a teleprompter or a prepared script. A sterling example would be the following exchange on the messiah's recent overseas campaign swing. An ABC reporter posed the following question to the candidate:


In case our leftist friends believed they heard an intelligent reply to the reporter's query, here is a transcript:

Q: "If you had to do it over again, knowing what you know now, would you support the surge:"

A: "No, because keep in mind that question, you wouldn't ... but keep in mind that kind of hypothetical is very difficult to know hindsight is 20-20 ... later ... but I think that what I'm absolutely convinced of is that at that time we had to change the political debate because the view of the Bush administration at that time was one that I just disagreed with."

Fun and Government Games

DC Police Department: Sten gun acceptable? Colt Model 1911 not Acceptable!!!

File this under "we knew it was coming". The District of Columbia municipal government, in order to deny Richard Heller ( who recently cleaned their clock in the US Supreme Court) a natural right guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the Constitution, has had to assert the equivalence of a suspension the law of gravity by categorizing all magazine fed semiautomatic hand guns as "machine guns"!
(screen shot included in case the link vanishes)

"A spokesman for the DC Police says [Heller's] gun was a bottom-loading weapon, and according to their interpretation, all bottom-loading guns are outlawed because they are grouped with machine guns." Heller's gun appears to be a variation of the Colt model 1911. Who knew that there were several million "machine guns" in the hands of ordinary civilians here in the US? You can't make this stuff up. Perhaps the side loading British Sten submachine gun locked in semi auto mode would qualify for these cretins to register.

One commenter on the linked site asks: "So if DC redefines guns as 'footsies' and footsies are banned, is that OK?"

How do you spell "contempt of court"? Oh. I forgot. We're dealing with government here. In the immortal words of my friend Wollf: "Memo to self: time to buy more ammo"

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ!

Copyright Stuff?

This humble writer is hesitant to enter into a copyright fray but the related example has raised his hackles sufficiently to generate the following exception:

As a California libertarian refugee and former resident of Humboldt County, California I have occasion to frequent several of the local blogs there. One said blog is Fred's Humboldt Blog.

Fred posts almost daily and on Saturday 12 July one of his postings, as is typical of Fred, was a light hearted posting on the election process in a rural community in North Dakota. The post was copied from a subscription-generated service to which I shall not link in Colorado. The post was in block quotes and linked by Fred.

The resulting response by the original author identified as "This is True" in the comments simply boggles the mind.

While the posting was a technical violation of the copy right law, Fred neither claimed authorship nor profited monitarily from it. Indeed, the posting would be construed by any sentient reader as a recommendation.

I am forced to conclude that the original author of the essay is either mentally challenged or a serious liberophobe. Unfortunately, he seems to enjoy a wider readership.

cross posted at: Eternity Road

Pointyheaded "Logic"?

This just in from one of those attempting to make sense of the Reid/Pelosi (Democratic party's) talking point that assures us that "We can't drill our way out of this fuel crisis":

Picture if you will, an attempt to address the problem of a food shortage in the nation by those advocating the planting of more crops:
"Plant, plant, plant"

World of Unwarranted Opinion Service
From the Woodpile Report

News that fell through the time warp:

"Plans to put in crops next year have been abandoned because food is scarce now," a Dept. of Agriculture spokesman said. "This is one problem we can't plant our way out of." She pointed to promising initiatives like stomach-staples, phasing out food-guzzling bipeds and switching to alternative sources of calories such as wood chips, termites and recycled street sweepings. "Tragically," she added, "death by starvation hits the poor and minorities the hardest."

"Brave" New World

Many years ago I had occasion to read several science "fiction" novels by Isaac Asimov. In one of his novels of the Foundation series he described the use by henchmen of the tyrant of a distant planet a device which he called a "neuronic whip". The whip as described by Asimov eerily resembled the tasers of today and were used essentially for discouraging groups of citizens who had congregated to protest the most recent ukase issued by the government the "Mule".

Enter stage left the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Regular readers of these postings will understand that the threshold precluding ΛΕΟΝΙΔΑΣ from utilizing commercial airlines for travel was reached when he was subjected to a body search some years ago by one of the recently nationalized incompetent minions of the Transportation Security Administration. Be that as it may, our rulers are now expressing interest in a device which would be required to be worn by all air travelers which would among other handy functions serve as the means to administer "a disabling shock" to the wearer by airline personnel. Imagine the potential for dealing with disgruntled, drunken or otherwise obstreperous passengers , not to mention wailing infants.

In the letter to the manufacturer/developer of this bracelet device Mr. Paul S. Ruwaldt of the US Department of Homeland Security (PDF) states regarding when further development of the "bracelet concept with the localized emitter/interrogator/restraint stations, will occur": "To make it clear, we are interested in the mobile read/write emitter in conjunction with the immobilizing security bracelet, and look forward to receiving a written proposal."


There you have it ladies and gentlemen. Our rulers public servants have plans for those of us unfortunate enough to be forced to engage in commercial air travel. Come to think of it, this is evidence they have plans for the rest of us as well. As for this old Spartan, he will fly again when he either sprouts wings or is allowed to board with his Glock model 23 .40 cal S&W with the 29 round magazine. In the mean time ΛΕΟΝΙΔΑΣ will not be holding his breath.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ!

"Big Oil" Part II

Your humble scribbler recently posted here on the real impact of US oil companies regarding the price of what consumers are being forced to pay for energy, specifically the fuel used in the transportation segment of our society. He pointed out the fact that 94% of the known petroleum reserves of the planet are controlled by various governments. This of course includes the US government whose vast public lands are blessed with enormous energy potential in the form of oil and natural gas.

The policies of the US and several state governments led by California beginning in the early 1960s up to the present time with regard to the extraction of these resources has been either outright prohibition or regulation to the point of driving up production costs beyond the point of economic feaseability.

What the US government also does not tell you is that it [the government] is the leaseholder and royalty recipient of most oil production, and receives 25% of the gross oil sales before we pay for electricity to lift the oil, and propane to keep the oil-water separators from freezing in the winters. We pay a pumper to visit each well everyday plus we have equipment failures all the time. We pay for that out of our 75% of gross sales. The government does not share in any expenses to run any production well. So, if the Big Oil Companies are making record profits, then so is the federal government from it's 25% tax on every molecule of oil sold to a refinery in this country. Why isn't the government on the stand for "record" profits? What you don't see is this 25% of the sales price of crude oil being siphoned away by the government. That money, plus the road taxes, state taxes, etc., amounts to over $1 per gallon of gasoline you are buying while the governments only admit to about 50 cents per gallon.

On top of all of the aforementioned taxes is added in many states, especially California, a sales tax amounting to as much as 8% of the gross.

Initially the rationale for these policies was to protect the natural environment from damage due to contamination from carelessly handled or accidentally spilled petroleum. The impact of those environmentally motivated regulations has resulted in the tremendous technological advances in the oil and gas industry's production methods. The Alaskan Prudhoe field development and the Alaskan pipeline are noteworthy examples of those improvements as are the offshore fields in the Gulf of Mexico and southern California. Indeed, the several thousand offshore wells in the Gulf have withstood nature's ravages in the form of major hurricanes with no significant impact on the environment other than the exponential increase in sea life habitat.

With the miraculous improvements in the production and handling of petroleum, the ecological objections of the environmentalists have begun to ring hollow in the ears of the public to the extent that they are not concealed or ignored. Enter the propagation of what can be described as a politician's wet dream and the greatest hoax in history, the concept of anthropogenically driven global warming.

It is beyond the scope of this posting to address the myriad refutations of this religiously held hypothesis but some of the best are here, here, here and here.

So America, enjoy your $4.00 per gallon gasoline [and it will be seen as cheap if the current gaggle of politicians of the Democratic party remain in power]. Your dollar is now worth 0.62 Euro-Cents. The lack of American production of GNP, the massive trade deficit (as labor markets have moved overseas to fight insanely high union imposed labor [and regulatory] costs in America) and the run away printing of money (backed by nothing of value here in America) has caused the dollar to become more worthless on the international market. And that's where our oil comes from. It's paid for with dollars that become more worthless everyday. If we had just kept par with the Euro, we'd be paying $62 dollars per barrel for oil (42 gallons) or about $1.50 instead of $2.50 a gallon for crude oil.

Superb Idea!

You're standing in line waiting for your flight to begin boarding as the arriving passengers debark. Suddenly one, two or perhaps a dozen or more military personnel come out off the plane and pass by you. You want to jump over there and shake their hands and tell them, "Thank you," but it just seems so awkward. You don't want to look like some grandstanding showboat.


OK! I have a personal policy that precludes the jail-like booking process of today's commercial air travel. I do however, frequently meet visiting travelers arriving at the local airport (the busiest in the US) and often encounter military personnel arriving and departing. This procedure seems to avoid a lot of potentially awkward situations.
Please steal this video. I did, from HERE.