The Past Is Today Is The Future? -- Obama And The Media's Long March

While researching my posts from years ago I stumbled across a very revealing and fascinating post from August of 2004, that linked to an American Spectator column, The Obama Myth.

Then there is Iraq. Like Dean, he opposed the war calling it a "dumb war" and even opposed the $87 billion reconstruction appropriation. Not until Obama was pegged to give the keynote address did we hear anything about staying the course. Like a good party man, Obama has flopped over to the Kerry camp. Yet, as with Sen. John Kerry, there's no reason to believe that his core principles have altered.

In the area of crime, Obama appears downright pro-criminal. He cast the lone vote against legislation in 2001 that would have eliminated time off for "good behavior" for sexual predators. Obama's backers have tried to explain the vote away by tying it to the principle of uniform sentencing guidelines, but 55 to 1 makes that a tough sell. He has consistently voted against tougher sentences for, among other things, cop killers, and drug dealers.

Because of the media's complete unwillingness to explore Obama's record in the same manner they explored the civil court records of his opponents, the Hyde Park Liberal has gotten a free ride. Democrats tout him as a future President and even Republicans find themselves charmed and envious of the young star. But his wings of wax will not last. In the realm of national politics where merit matters and the press actually vets candidates, we can be confident that a Senator Barack Obama will become the next Paul Wellstone -- a nice, bright guy relegated to the back benches of the liberal fringe. If we're lucky, Illinois voters will wise to this potential fate before they go to the polls in November.

You have to read the whole thing, it could have been written today.  Too bad the media never has looked into Obama's record!

DKK

The Only Thing Holding Back America Is Our Government

Unleash America in all her glory to drill, innovate, conserve, and complain!
DKK

Republican Congress Delegation Goes To ANWR -- Finds Nothing, Because There Is Nothing There

(O)ff to ANWR with several House colleagues. Their trip is intended to draw attention to ANWR as an ideal place to drill for oil. Michele writes:

Let’s be clear about this. The Coastal Plain of ANWR, also known as the 1002 Area, is neither wilderness nor refuge. It was set aside by Congress and President Carter in 1980 for future oil development. Development would be limited to 2000 acres of the Coastal Plain or 0.01% of the entire 19.6 million-acre refuge. These lands were set aside for America to produce its own energy resources. What are we waiting for?

ANWR can economically produce over 10 billion barrels of oil.

DKK
Powerline Blog

How The Debate Is Silenced!

Earlier this week I posted about an article reporting on the flaws in the mathematical assumptions of the IPCC as demonstrated by The Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, former science adviser to Margaret Thatcher, in the APS newsletter Physics and Society.

When the press picked up the news of this article the stuff hit the fan and the pressure to remember that 'the debate is over' kicked into high gear.  Lord Monckton's article it seemed was no longer acceptable and was prefaced in red with the following comment:

"The following article has not undergone any scientific peer review. Its conclusions are in disagreement with the overwhelming opinion of the world scientific community. The Council of the American Physical Society disagrees with this article's conclusions."

Unfortunately for the APS Lord Monckton's article was subjected to extensive peer review and rewrite prior to publication and Lord Monckton is demanding an apology as well as the removal of the preface.

The religion of the eco-wacko's is just as touchy about any debate of its basic tenants as any religion past or present.  They will do anything to cut off any debate or doubt.  Scientology could learn a few things from them!

Both Watts Up With That and  The American Thinker has the whole story including the full letter Lord Monckton sent to the APS stating his case.

I am again reminded of Eisenhower's farewell speech, which I have quoted often, that warned:

“The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present — and is gravely to be regarded.

"Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.” (emphasis added) 

DKK

The Obama Rainbow Tour -- Day 2

There you are, I told you so
Makes no difference where she goes
The whole world over just the same
Just listen to them call her name
And who would underestimate the actress now? 
Evita - Rainbow Tour

US Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has met President Hamid Karzai while on a visit to Afghanistan.

Details of the talks have not yet been given. Mr Obama said earlier this week he would send extra US forces to the country if he is elected US president.
The senator, who flew to Kabul as part of a US congressional team, also had breakfast with US troops in the city. 

DKK
BBC News

Alternative Energy -- Today It's 'Just A Religion' -- Al Gore Says Drilling Is Like Invading Iraq!

In order for "alternate energy" to become feasible, it has to satisfy all of the following criteria:

1. It has to be huge (in terms of both energy and power)
2. It has to be reliable (not intermittent or unschedulable)
3. It has to be concentrated (not diffuse)
4. It has to be possible to utilize it efficiently
5. The capital investment and operating cost to utilize it has to be comparable to existing energy sources (per gigawatt, and per terajoule).

If it fails to satisfy any of those, then it can't scale enough to make any difference. Solar power fails #3, and currently it also fails #5. (It also partially fails #2, but there are ways to work around that.)

The only sources of energy available to us now that satisfy all five are petroleum, coal, hydro, and nuclear.

My rule of thumb is that I'm not interested in any "alternate energy" until someone shows me how to scale it to produce at least 1% of our current energy usage. America right now uses about 3.6 terawatts average, so 1% of that is about 36 gigawatts average.

Show me a plan to produce 36 gigawatts (average, not peak) using solar power, at a price no more than 30% greater than coal generation of comparable capacity, which can be implemented at that scale in 10-15 years. Then I'll pay attention.

Since solar power installations can only produce power for about 10 hours per day on average, that means that peak power production would need to be in the range of about 85 gigawatts to reach that 1%.

Without that, it's just religion, like all the people fascinated with wind and with biomass. And even if it did reach 1%, that still leaves the other 99% of our energy production to petroleum, coal, hydro, and nuclear.  Chizumatic

Meanwhile Al Gore continues to preach the tenants of this religion from his bejeweled alter!

“The idea that we can drill our way out of this is just so absurd,” he said, comparing the push for offshore oil drilling — which has gained popularity and put environmentalists on the defense — to dealing with a hangover by having another drink.

“The defenders of the status quo are the ones who have dug us into this hole,” he said, commenting that Americans have been “so often fooled into finding a remedy for a problem" that has nothing to do with the problem at hand — pointing to the invasion of Iraq when America was attacked by terrorists in Afghanistan as an example.

“The engines of distraction and the great concentrated power of communication that you’ve seen turned on this issue or that issue is already hard at work," he says. "They will say we can’t switch away from oil."
“We have to switch our electricity generation system,” he says, noting that changing transportation fuels will take longer, before reiterating his plan to ensure that “100 percent of our electricity [comes] from renewable sources and carbon-constrained fuels over the next 10 years.”  

Politico -- Gore compares offshore drilling to Iraq

DKK

Additional:

The point that needs to be made is that the Republicans are willing to do EVERYTHING but the Democrats are NOT!  They continue, however, to mislead by accusing the Republicans of only wanting to drill when in reality they are the ones with restricted options.
DKK

Daily Trek -- July 20, 2008

What'd I miss?

Everything you need to know to stay informed each day in 5 minutes or less!  Read your regular news and include this and you will be able to participate in most any current events discussion.
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The hawks need to back off of Bush regarding the talks with Iran.  While this appears can make Obama look good it also diminishes the issue for him and can make him look foolish if the end result is what the hawks expect.  In addition there is really no way to know what information the President has used to make his decisions, they might just agree with him if they knew.

How a young lawyer that saved the second amendment.

Has Obama stepped into a trap of his own making in Iraq?   He opposed the surge before he was for it, but both sides have to play this one very carefully and Obama has that big media advantage.

Obama's plans mean that higher income residents of high tax areas could end up paying 60% of their income to the government.  Seriously, in what type of a system is that considered appropriate?

Sunni's return to Iraqi Government, foiling another one of the Democrats talking points!

What is the difference between a union run wooden riverboat that doesn't meet current safety codes and a non union wooden riverboat that doesn't meet current safety codes?  The Democratic congressman gave the waiver two years ago to the union boat and then refused to issue the very same historic boat a waiver when it became non union!

KFC opens in Fallujah!

Victory is breaking out all over!  However, as McCain warned, you can expect Iraqi attacks to increase as our election draws near.

"Under Barack Obama, that 58¢ for you, 42¢ for the federal government will become 48¢ for you, 52¢ for the federal government, the New York Sun reported.  Reaganomics will be replaced by the same tired old policies that brought us stagflation in the 1970s, when workers made less on overtime than for regular pay even with time-and-a-half." -- This is simply a foolish policy in a slow economy!

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DKK

Dancing Toddler's Mom Takes On Suicidal Music Industry

Stephanie Lenz is an angry Pennsylvania mother who refuses to back down from the music industry.

Lenz's attorneys were in federal district court on Friday morning, trying to thwart a motion to dismiss her lawsuit against Universal Music Group. A year ago, the music label ordered YouTube to pull down a 30-second video she shot of her infant son dancing to Prince's song "Let's Go Crazy."

Lenz, who resides in a rural Pennsylvania area, claims that her video is protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Fair Use provision in copyright law. She fought the order, and eventually, Universal Music abandoned any claim that she violated Prince's copyright. YouTube has since reposted her clip.

Now Lenz is out to teach the music industry a lesson.

The music industry has managed to go from heroic representatives of changing culture and a recorder of the history of the times to the personification of evil in the modern online world.  They refused to do what their artists have done since recordings began, change to meet and challenge the world head on!

Confirmation that they lost the war came when people started saying, "you have to download that song."  That is one of those cultural pivot points.

Currently there is little they can do to save their old business model and moves like the overuse of take down orders hurts them each and every day!  Their only hope is to adapt, embrace their customers, and take a kinder more accepting tone on all matters!  Get ahead of everything and give some of it away.
DKK
CNET -- Mom continues to chase Prince over 'fair use'

Full disclosure: I have never downloaded illegal music, ever.

'If we can't drill our way out of our immediate problems, there is no immediate solution.'

A blog about US politics has this comment:

The time for talk is over. We can't drill our way out of this and both his and Gore's plan point us in the right direction. We need to just do it.

I got news for him. If we can't drill our way out of our immediate problems, there is no immediate solution. Why? It is a matter of logistics and infrastructure. Our experience with the transition from wood to coal and coal to oil is instructive. Those transitions took about 75 to 100 years. Why? Whole new methods of production and infrastructure had to be developed. It is a problem of capital and logistics. Take our automotive fleet. It turns over at the rate of about 6% a year.

Let me point out again that no one is saying to JUST drill!  But to do everything BUT drill is simply, well f'n idiotic!
DKK
Power and Control Blog (Rockford's Own! -- Rockford Bloggers)

Democrats Plan To Affect Gas Prices -- Raise Gas Taxes -- Seriously!

Despite calls from the presidential campaign trail for a Memorial Day-to-Labor Day tax freeze, lawmakers quickly concluded — with a prod from the construction industry — that having $9 billion less to spend on highways could create a pre-election specter of thousands of lost jobs.

Now, lawmakers quietly are talking about raising fuel taxes by a dime from the current 18.4 cents a gallon on gasoline and 24.3 cents on diesel fuel. …

Oberstar, D-Minn., said his committee is working on the next long-term highway bill. He estimated it will take between $450 billion and $500 billion over six years to address safety and congestion issues with highways, bridges and transit systems.

“We’ll put all things on the table,” Oberstar said, but the gas tax “is the cornerstone. Nothing else will work without the underpinning of the higher user fee gas tax.”

DKK
Hot Air -- Instead of a gas-tax holiday, Congress considers gas-tax hike

Dark Knight Set To Break All Records

No, Not Obama In November, the new Batman Movie.

It's no joke! Warner Bros sources tell me that very early numbers show The Dark Knight made $48 million on Saturday, and its total North American weekend take looks to be $153M-$155M. If Sunday holds up, that FSS non-holiday figure will be enough to snag the record from Spider-Man 3's $151.1 million.

However Batman did NOT beat the one day record of $51.3 million held by Spider-man 3.

Media Mistranslates Maliki Again -- Obama Again Jumps To The Bait

A German magazine quoted Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as saying that he backed a proposal by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq within 16 months.

"U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months," he said in an interview with Der Spiegel that was released Saturday.

"That, we think, would be the right time frame for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes," he said.

But a spokesman for al-Maliki said his remarks "were misunderstood, mistranslated and not conveyed accurately."

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the possibility of troop withdrawal was based on the continuance of security improvements, echoing statements that the White House made Friday after a meeting between al-Maliki and U.S. President Bush.

It was less then a week ago that they made the same mistake.
DKK
Gateway Pundit -- Call of the Kooks ... MEDIA MISTRANSLATES MALIKI