By Dave Buhlman
From an 8/21/07 Spiegel Online article:
"The poor old Scandinavian moose is now being blamed for climate change, with researchers in Norway claiming that a grown moose can produce 2,100 kilos (approximately 4,600 pounds) of carbon dioxide a year - equivalent to the CO2 output resulting from a 13,000 kilometer (approximately 8,000 miles) car journey." (english equivalents added).
Now that's some moose! And Norway alone has about 120,000 of them. My only wonder is: does Algore produce more or less hot air than one of these moose? Probably less when he's flying in his private jet eating up gobs of fuel, and more when he's bothering us in a public speech, telling everyone that man's activities are causing the sky to fall. I'd call Algore a weenie alarmist, but he did spend eight years in the general vicinity of Hillary Clinton, and that is definitely not for the faint of heart.
Message for Al - there indeed MAY be global warming occurring, but the cause is much larger than anything humans (or moose) are doing while going about their daily lives. Or as meteorologist Reid Bryson put it in a 8/20/07 WorldNetDaily article, referring to global temperatures: "Of course it's going up. It has gone up since the early 1800s, before the Industrial Revolution, because we're coming out of the Little Ice Age, not because we're putting more carbon dioxide into the air". Poor Bryson. he's yet another expert that is shut out by the controlled media because he has facts and speaks the truth about global warming.
But one thing is for sure. If these global-warming religionists get their way, you'll (for one thing) be standing in line waiting for your gas rationing coupons and doing a lot more walking and carrying. That is, unless you're a rock star flying/being driven to another gala to defeat global warming. After all, gas was rationed in WWII and, according to the adherents to preacher Algore, this is a much bigger threat we face now. The whole bogus dogma about man-caused global warming is all about more control over the population. Be assured of that. Yes, the target is on your back.
Now to President Bush who has often said, referring to terrorists (and, maybe, Algore), that "they hate us for our freedoms." To solve this problem Bush is doing everything in his power, legal or not, to take away our freedoms. When he and his lapdogs in Congress are done, the terrorists will presumably love us because there will be no reason to hate us after our freedoms get swished down the DC memory hole.
30
8.29.2007
8.26.2007
A Campaign of Boot Lickers
By Ron Dupuis
They’re everywhere. Like a mosquito buzzing around your head before landing and draining the life sustaining blood from your body. Don’t get me wrong. It is not only a boon to our economy but also a tremendous honor for New Hampshire to be first in the nation when it comes to the process of electing a President. Most of our million or so residents take it very, very seriously. It’s just that there comes a point in time when men and women with inflated egos from all over America come here, in the beginning, merely to introduce themselves and ask us what we are looking for in a candidate. They then suddenly morph into a pushy, pandering politician, willing to say and do anything to get your vote. That “point in time” is quickly approaching. Let me give you the IMHO opinion on some of the boot licking glade-handers that may be the next President of the United States.
This week, the Democrats.
Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut; who not only received a grade of “F” from the National Taxpayers association but glees in being considered one of the most liberal voters in the Senate. His home town newspaper even questioned as to why he’s running. His buddy, buddy relationship with Sen Ted (make mine Chivas) Kennedy will finish him not only in New Hampshire but throughout the rest of the country. Dodd has less than an ice creams chance in Hades of becoming President
Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware,Maryland, or wherever, is another candidate who receives low grade from taxpayer groups. He also voted to deny employees the right to a secret ballot thereby allowing labor unions to organize WITHOUT a vote. The plagiarism scandal of several years ago has never left him and a lot of voters feel that rather then attending any of Biden’s speeches, all they have to do is read the works of Winston Churchill. Less ice cream but same chance. NONE!
Former Senator and former Vice President candidate John Edwards: a personal injury lawyer who’s current holdings include a company making millions by evicting hurricane Katrina victims. His belief that there is NO global “war on terror” and that the phrase is just a bumper sticker slogan has everyone I speak with feeling somewhat uneasy. Despite his nice hair, his chances, NONE, with a capital N.
Bill Richardson; As a former Governor, and former Ambassador, and many other high government post under his belt he is felt by many to be the most qualified Democrat. The problem here is that if you look closely, he is on the wrong side of many issues such as immigration. He wants a path to citizenship for the twelve or so million illegals already in this country. Chances? FAIR.
Sen. Barack Obama; The man is bright, handsome, and I’m not afraid to say it, articulate. He is a Harvard Law School graduate and was president of the Law Review. These are all attributes you like to see in a candidate. That’s where it ends. The man has minimal experience in the Federal sector of government. In his brief Senate career he has been the primary sponsor of 97 pieces of legislation, of which only one has passed. His platform seems to consists of promising to help those of us who feel they have been denied equal opportunity to achieve and bombing Afghanistan. Or was it Pakistan? The voters I’ve spoken with are afraid of Obama’s inexperience and feel he would be better of remaining in the Senate to get a little more seasoned. His chances of becoming President, unfortunately, FAIR to GOOD.
I’ve saved the best for last.
Sen. Hillary Clinton; A force to be reckoned with, for sure. However in my humble opinion this woman is the most prolific panderer of them all. She will say and do anything in order to occupy the White House again. After voting for the war in Iraq, she voted against funding it. In February she voted to cap troop levels and begin withdrawal within 90 days. Now she is saying definite dates for withdrawal are wrong “because of the dangers we face in country.” She voted for the largest tax increase in U.S. history AND had more earmarks in the Defense Authorization Bill than any other candidate. She feels that businesses that make too much money should be penalized and called higher taxes “patriotic”. The good Senator is awash in pandering contradictions. I’m wondering, since Hillary and Bill have both used the phrase “If you vote for me, you get two for one”, wouldn’t her first eight years occupying the White House disqualify her from serving another eight years?
Unfortunately the Clinton chances of being co-presidents again are GOOD to EXCELLENT
Next column; The Republicans, good men, one and all.
Ron Dupuis is a long time New Hampshire resident, a former State Representative, and a freelance writer. His e-mail is drcdupuis@comcast.net and his blog where you can view other writings may be found at www.imho-nh.blogspot.com
They’re everywhere. Like a mosquito buzzing around your head before landing and draining the life sustaining blood from your body. Don’t get me wrong. It is not only a boon to our economy but also a tremendous honor for New Hampshire to be first in the nation when it comes to the process of electing a President. Most of our million or so residents take it very, very seriously. It’s just that there comes a point in time when men and women with inflated egos from all over America come here, in the beginning, merely to introduce themselves and ask us what we are looking for in a candidate. They then suddenly morph into a pushy, pandering politician, willing to say and do anything to get your vote. That “point in time” is quickly approaching. Let me give you the IMHO opinion on some of the boot licking glade-handers that may be the next President of the United States.
This week, the Democrats.
Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut; who not only received a grade of “F” from the National Taxpayers association but glees in being considered one of the most liberal voters in the Senate. His home town newspaper even questioned as to why he’s running. His buddy, buddy relationship with Sen Ted (make mine Chivas) Kennedy will finish him not only in New Hampshire but throughout the rest of the country. Dodd has less than an ice creams chance in Hades of becoming President
Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware,Maryland, or wherever, is another candidate who receives low grade from taxpayer groups. He also voted to deny employees the right to a secret ballot thereby allowing labor unions to organize WITHOUT a vote. The plagiarism scandal of several years ago has never left him and a lot of voters feel that rather then attending any of Biden’s speeches, all they have to do is read the works of Winston Churchill. Less ice cream but same chance. NONE!
Former Senator and former Vice President candidate John Edwards: a personal injury lawyer who’s current holdings include a company making millions by evicting hurricane Katrina victims. His belief that there is NO global “war on terror” and that the phrase is just a bumper sticker slogan has everyone I speak with feeling somewhat uneasy. Despite his nice hair, his chances, NONE, with a capital N.
Bill Richardson; As a former Governor, and former Ambassador, and many other high government post under his belt he is felt by many to be the most qualified Democrat. The problem here is that if you look closely, he is on the wrong side of many issues such as immigration. He wants a path to citizenship for the twelve or so million illegals already in this country. Chances? FAIR.
Sen. Barack Obama; The man is bright, handsome, and I’m not afraid to say it, articulate. He is a Harvard Law School graduate and was president of the Law Review. These are all attributes you like to see in a candidate. That’s where it ends. The man has minimal experience in the Federal sector of government. In his brief Senate career he has been the primary sponsor of 97 pieces of legislation, of which only one has passed. His platform seems to consists of promising to help those of us who feel they have been denied equal opportunity to achieve and bombing Afghanistan. Or was it Pakistan? The voters I’ve spoken with are afraid of Obama’s inexperience and feel he would be better of remaining in the Senate to get a little more seasoned. His chances of becoming President, unfortunately, FAIR to GOOD.
I’ve saved the best for last.
Sen. Hillary Clinton; A force to be reckoned with, for sure. However in my humble opinion this woman is the most prolific panderer of them all. She will say and do anything in order to occupy the White House again. After voting for the war in Iraq, she voted against funding it. In February she voted to cap troop levels and begin withdrawal within 90 days. Now she is saying definite dates for withdrawal are wrong “because of the dangers we face in country.” She voted for the largest tax increase in U.S. history AND had more earmarks in the Defense Authorization Bill than any other candidate. She feels that businesses that make too much money should be penalized and called higher taxes “patriotic”. The good Senator is awash in pandering contradictions. I’m wondering, since Hillary and Bill have both used the phrase “If you vote for me, you get two for one”, wouldn’t her first eight years occupying the White House disqualify her from serving another eight years?
Unfortunately the Clinton chances of being co-presidents again are GOOD to EXCELLENT
Next column; The Republicans, good men, one and all.
Ron Dupuis is a long time New Hampshire resident, a former State Representative, and a freelance writer. His e-mail is drcdupuis@comcast.net and his blog where you can view other writings may be found at www.imho-nh.blogspot.com
8.20.2007
Rooting out Evil: Scaled to Fit
---by Micheal
I was out in the yard, pulling up some stray crabgrass, listening to my teenage son rant about the sorry state of the world, hypocrites, injustice, etc. Ah, the idealist indignation of youth. I remembered being just like him -- full of rage at the sorry state of the world. As an idealistic young man, I was all full of fire to "fix" the world which all the stupid old people had screwed up. I would fight injustice. I would stand up for what was right.
I also recalled feeling a sort of moral outrage at old men and women whom I saw out putzing in their yards. How could they just fuss over stupid grass and flowers, when the world around them was so screwed up and needed fixing. How could they be so selfish or blind?
But then, look at me now. I had become one of those old men in his yard. I was doing nothing more heroic than pulling up crabgrass spouts. And, it's not like I was just taking a break from my saving the world. This was pretty much my life now. What happened to that idealistic young man's vision of rooting out evil? Improving the world?
Fatigue, I figure. Maybe burnout. Over the years, I'd fought and championed causes which I truly felt would improve the world. I put hundreds of hours into what I saw as righting wrongs, attempts to make things better. They did not change one blasted thing. The world went on exactly as it had been.
All this time, I'd been trying to carefully steer the world around dangers I saw in the road. Finally, I'd realized the steering wheel I held was bright red plastic and said "Fisher Price" on the hub. I'd been in the back seat all along.
A fitting flip-side to Shakespear's famous quote about greatness would be: Some men are born to be marginal. Others have marginality thrust upon them. It's not an easy thing reconciling one's inner idealistic youth with one's actual marginality. Denial prolongs the process. I know it took me awhile to catch on.
So, here I am now, on my knees in the yard, pulling up crabgrass. The only "world" I'm able to have any impact on is a few acres in size. The bigger world might be morphing into a New Eden, or going to hell in a handbasket. Either way, there's not a blasted thing I've been able to about it. What I can do, is make my little acre a tidy little world. When I see evil (scaled down to mean: crabgrass), I can root it out.
Looking back, I wonder if those old men and women I grumbled about had also been idealistic youths, spent 30 or 40 years of their lives campaigning to improve the world, only to see that the world didn't change. Maybe they were just burned out. Like me now, they'd decided to focus on a smaller world.
I was out in the yard, pulling up some stray crabgrass, listening to my teenage son rant about the sorry state of the world, hypocrites, injustice, etc. Ah, the idealist indignation of youth. I remembered being just like him -- full of rage at the sorry state of the world. As an idealistic young man, I was all full of fire to "fix" the world which all the stupid old people had screwed up. I would fight injustice. I would stand up for what was right.
I also recalled feeling a sort of moral outrage at old men and women whom I saw out putzing in their yards. How could they just fuss over stupid grass and flowers, when the world around them was so screwed up and needed fixing. How could they be so selfish or blind?
But then, look at me now. I had become one of those old men in his yard. I was doing nothing more heroic than pulling up crabgrass spouts. And, it's not like I was just taking a break from my saving the world. This was pretty much my life now. What happened to that idealistic young man's vision of rooting out evil? Improving the world?
Fatigue, I figure. Maybe burnout. Over the years, I'd fought and championed causes which I truly felt would improve the world. I put hundreds of hours into what I saw as righting wrongs, attempts to make things better. They did not change one blasted thing. The world went on exactly as it had been.
All this time, I'd been trying to carefully steer the world around dangers I saw in the road. Finally, I'd realized the steering wheel I held was bright red plastic and said "Fisher Price" on the hub. I'd been in the back seat all along.
A fitting flip-side to Shakespear's famous quote about greatness would be: Some men are born to be marginal. Others have marginality thrust upon them. It's not an easy thing reconciling one's inner idealistic youth with one's actual marginality. Denial prolongs the process. I know it took me awhile to catch on.
So, here I am now, on my knees in the yard, pulling up crabgrass. The only "world" I'm able to have any impact on is a few acres in size. The bigger world might be morphing into a New Eden, or going to hell in a handbasket. Either way, there's not a blasted thing I've been able to about it. What I can do, is make my little acre a tidy little world. When I see evil (scaled down to mean: crabgrass), I can root it out.
Looking back, I wonder if those old men and women I grumbled about had also been idealistic youths, spent 30 or 40 years of their lives campaigning to improve the world, only to see that the world didn't change. Maybe they were just burned out. Like me now, they'd decided to focus on a smaller world.
8.13.2007
Joy of B: Destination Moon
---by Micheal
Destination Moon isn't technically a B-movie. It was in color and it won an Oscar. But it's a worthwhile starting point for a trek through 50s B movies because it was one of the first 50s science fiction flicks -- a topic which the B-movie industry jumped into with gusto. Unlike a lot of later movies, Destination Moon has no monsters or alien civilizations. Instead, it presents a fairly serious story of a manned expedition to the moon.
Why is this movie fun?
A rocket into space was not new to movie screens -- Flash Gordon had been rocketing around since the 1930s -- but Destination Moon was the "Star Wars" wow-movie that really touched off a decade of space-themed science fiction movies. Sure, the pacing is slow by modern tastes, and the special effects are hardly special by today's standards, but set all that modernist elitism aside. Destination Moon is fun to watch for knowing that it was the Star Wars of its day.
Quick Plot Synopsis
Private industry moguls decide that men must reach the moon as soon as possible. They build a rocket which does, indeed, make it to the moon. Due to landing trouble, the crew burn too much fuel to take off from the moon and return. After lightening the ship of all non-essentials, the ship is still 160 pounds overweight. One of the crew must stay behind. With some ingenuity and desperation, everyone does blast off for the return to earth.
Cold War Angle
Like a great many 50s sci-fi films, anxiety over the Soviets and nuclear war is woven into the plot. When several industrialists question the need to risk their millions on the outlandish moon project, the General Thayer character says: "We're not the only ones planning to go there. The race is on! And we'd better win it, because there is absolutely no way to stop an attack from outer space. The first country that can use the moon for the launching of missiles will control the earth."
Even though those sinister "others" are never mentioned again during the movie, the urgency driving the whole plot is the space race to beat the Soviets for national security reasons! -- ten years before that actual race really started.
Destination Moon is quite naive on what it really took to get men on the moon. (A dozen industrialists build a rocket within one year, and launch a crew to the moon on their first shot.) But in 1950, just five years after the end of WWII, audiences didn't know all that. Destination Moon showcases American optimism about the future in space. Some industrialists' deep pockets, a few clever engineers with slide rules and some talented aircraft workers can get the job done! You have to admire their spunk.
Next up in Joy of B: Same year, but opposite end of the quality spectrum.
Destination Moon isn't technically a B-movie. It was in color and it won an Oscar. But it's a worthwhile starting point for a trek through 50s B movies because it was one of the first 50s science fiction flicks -- a topic which the B-movie industry jumped into with gusto. Unlike a lot of later movies, Destination Moon has no monsters or alien civilizations. Instead, it presents a fairly serious story of a manned expedition to the moon.
Why is this movie fun?
A rocket into space was not new to movie screens -- Flash Gordon had been rocketing around since the 1930s -- but Destination Moon was the "Star Wars" wow-movie that really touched off a decade of space-themed science fiction movies. Sure, the pacing is slow by modern tastes, and the special effects are hardly special by today's standards, but set all that modernist elitism aside. Destination Moon is fun to watch for knowing that it was the Star Wars of its day.
Quick Plot Synopsis
Private industry moguls decide that men must reach the moon as soon as possible. They build a rocket which does, indeed, make it to the moon. Due to landing trouble, the crew burn too much fuel to take off from the moon and return. After lightening the ship of all non-essentials, the ship is still 160 pounds overweight. One of the crew must stay behind. With some ingenuity and desperation, everyone does blast off for the return to earth.
Cold War Angle
Like a great many 50s sci-fi films, anxiety over the Soviets and nuclear war is woven into the plot. When several industrialists question the need to risk their millions on the outlandish moon project, the General Thayer character says: "We're not the only ones planning to go there. The race is on! And we'd better win it, because there is absolutely no way to stop an attack from outer space. The first country that can use the moon for the launching of missiles will control the earth."
Even though those sinister "others" are never mentioned again during the movie, the urgency driving the whole plot is the space race to beat the Soviets for national security reasons! -- ten years before that actual race really started.
Destination Moon is quite naive on what it really took to get men on the moon. (A dozen industrialists build a rocket within one year, and launch a crew to the moon on their first shot.) But in 1950, just five years after the end of WWII, audiences didn't know all that. Destination Moon showcases American optimism about the future in space. Some industrialists' deep pockets, a few clever engineers with slide rules and some talented aircraft workers can get the job done! You have to admire their spunk.
Next up in Joy of B: Same year, but opposite end of the quality spectrum.
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