Email Evidence We Might Have Slept Through.

A few days before Thanksgiving, a shocking and scandalous story broke out over all the major news outlets. Damning evidence of back door connivance and scheming surrounding a world wide effort to impose laws, restrictions and various forms of economic blood letting on the citizens of the free World came to light.

Didn't hear much about it? Yeah, I didn't either. A blurb in this news publication, a dismissive article in that, and the usual obligatory report that some politicos were demanding investigations. Something about emails and scientists and global warming. Whatever. I've got pre-Thanksgiving shopping to do and where am I going to find the time to dig out all my Christmas decorations?

So some scientists at one of the most prestigious think tanks providing info to the UN and other decision making bodies sent each other emails suggesting that certain data be tampered with or suppressed, or that publications giving that data the credence of print be blackballed. Yeah, I know, nobody used the word, “blackballed”, I'm being illustrative rather than specific. If you want specifics, there are plenty of sources. Iain Murray of Pajamas Media does the quotes and sources thing quite well if you want to check it out.... here. And another good article for basic info here.


What's the big deal? Why should we care?

How sick are you of hearing about Global Warming (now often referred to as "Climate Change" to distract us from all the inconvenient news about dropping average temperatures and our own observations that none of the catastrophes that have been screamingly predicted for years have shown any evidence of occuring) and being nagged about all the things you have to buy, give up or trouble yourself with in order to go "GREEN?"

We're meant to use squiggly light bulbs whether or not we like the quality of light they provide, buy cheaply made "reusable" cloth bags to carry our groceries, spend thousands of extra dollars to buy cars we don't even like the looks of because they get better gas mileage, take showers under special heads that reduce water flow to a miserly mist, subject ourselves to the inconveniences of "mass transit", completely restructure our diet to eat "sustainably" (and more expensively), bundle up in sweaters and hats at home in the Winter and slog sweatily through our living rooms in bathing suits in Summer.

We are nagged constantly by public "service" announcements, news stories, talk show hosts, celebrities, politicos and printed messgages on the products we buy to be "environmentally responsible", to "go Green!", to "recycle" or "reuse."

Well, I am heartily sick of it. Don't get me wrong, I'm against waste. I was raised that way...it used to be called being, "thrifty." I grew up in a household where the plastic bags grocery stores provide to contain vegetables were washed and dried for reuse.

But I have never been a lemming, in fact I have a stubborn streak in me that automatically resists any peer pressure push, be it social, cultural or political. If I am meant to radically change my lifestyle (incrementally or at one go), dig deeper into my pockets to support such changes or accept as the Gospel ideas that are currently in vogue, I want honest information, not manipulation.

As I have watched the "Global Warming" theories grow into hysteria, I have done a bit of research on my own. Made suspicious by the magnitude of economic potential--on the plus side for promoters and the minus side for us poor schmucks who pay the bills--I've paid particular attention to which side is saying what. No surprise, the people and groups who are banging the drum the loudest and threatening the most dire consequences are people and groups that have monetary and power interests involved.

"Big Media" has not been our friend in this. Some might blame political bias, but I think it has more to do with selling ads. When it comes down to it, News is a money making business. "The World Is Going To End!!!!!" (more at 11:00) stories get higher ratings than stories about manipulation and falsification of data that involve lots of dry charts and statistics. Higher ratings sell more ads.

Hence the tepid coverage of the scandal I began this article with, that of emails in which scientists holding positions of great respect and influence lay bear yet more evidence that Anthropogenic (man-made, in case you haven't heard the term yet) Global Warming is a hoax perpetrated on the world by people, organizations and government bodies out to promote their own ends.

Here in America, these interests are pushing "Cap and Trade", the mere mention of which probably makes many Americans yawn. Carbon credits, Big Evil Corporate Polluters, whatever. In a simplistic nutshell, the Big Evil Corporate Polluters (and a lot of not so big, not so evil businesses as well) will have unrealistic and economically punitive standards shoved onto the shoulders of their production capacity, standards that would cripple that capacity. But, it's o.k., because all they have to do is pay graft to "Green" companies (like those Al Gore has invested his fortune in) and then they can pollute as much as they like. Sounds o.k...make those nasty Big Evil Corporate Polluters pay! Except guess who will pay for those "carbon credits?" If you answered the American consumer (you and me) you have earned your Brownie points for the day. Yup. XYZ corporation, that manufactures the whatsits that you buy isn't going to slash corporate pay, apologize to stockholders and install pay toilets in employee restrooms to cover the "Cap and Trade" expenses, they're going to raise the price of your whatsits. And all so that scientists in on the hoax can keep justifying their government funding and politicos can consolidate governmental ability and power to interfere with and control your life and make you pay for the privilege of losing your rights and freedom.

I'm not going to lay out all the documented instances of exagerations, lies, manipulated data, staged photos of forlorn polar bears, and supression of opposing research that I've run across over the years. We live in an internet age, and a Google search or two will provide all the evidence. Yeah, proponents of the ManBadDestroyingWorld mindset will accuse any opposing research or opinion as being "funded by Big Oil", but a bit of actual research will show that the tens of thousands of scientists who are not part of the party-line "consensus" are not bending over for "Big Oil", but screaming in the wilderness of No News Coverage that we're being lied to, manipulated, and led to the Global Warming Altar for slaughter.

My American Pantry

I have a small closet in my kitchen, built into the space underneath the stairs. Already fitted with shelves when we moved in, it was obviously meant for a pantry. I was overjoyed. A real pantry instead of makeshift garage shelving! It didn't take long for me to fill it up, and I have my moments of annoyance that it seems too full when I come back from a shopping trip and have to find room for my spoils. It's such a pain that I have to spend time reorganizing it's contents every so often and things will migrate to the back corners so as not to be found when I need them.

There is a little girl in me, the echo of life past that lives in all of us. That little girl who was me remembers times when food was not so sure and varied, when Mom pretended not to be hungry so that her children could sleep with full bellies. That little girl, who is me still, sometimes opens that pantry door just to look. When I fight with my husband, lose a client, feel hurt by a friend, or wake in the middle of the night beset with nebulous fears, I open the door of my pantry and stand, not thinking about food or eating, I just look at the rows of jars, packages and cans. They are my shield and sword, my locked door against the night, my defense and my comfort when other sources fail me or are beyond my reach. The plenty soothes my fears, talks me down from my anger, strengthens my weak spirit.

Earlier today, I began a topic thread in an online cooking forum I frequent entitled, “Too much____in the pantry.” It was meant to be a fun topic, where forum members could commiserate about the means by which they end up having ten cans of cranberry sauce without meaning to or discover certain exotic food items (in a back corner) with which they haven't a clue what to do, not remembering why the purchase was made in the first place and offer up recipes to fellow sufferers to utilize the surplus items.

As fodder, I offered up my 3 large canisters of quick cooking oatmeal, which we don't use much of (why did I buy it??), preferring the longer cooking whole and cracked grain cereals and my 8 or 9 cans of potatoes that I stocked with a camping trip in mind, I suppose.

The replies to my topic came more quickly than any I had offered before. In a few hours, over 30 people had responded, mostly to admit their own odd hoards or to offer recipes with which I could use up mine. Several however, were suggestions that food banks would welcome donations of such superfluous items. As I always immediately transfer any item not in a can or jar into vermin-proof containers, I doubt a food bank would accept my oatmeal, but the cans of potatoes would be welcome. Why hadn't I thought of that??

I went to my pantry, to look for other items that might be of use to others if not to me and fell to just gazing over the stacks and rows of food. After a moment, my eyes fell on the cans of potatoes and the cans of beans next to them. The thought struck me that there were many people in the world to whom these homely, modest little cans of beans and potatoes would represent whole meals that they would be very glad to have while to me, half the cans (the potatoes) irritated me by taking up space and the other half (the beans) were simply there as a convenience for those times when I needed a quick side dish or couldn't be bothered to soak and then boil dried beans.

Counting the cans, I tried to calculate how many meals they might represent to someone who might consider my little hoard as bounty. Some 20 cans of beans and 8 or 9 of potatoes. For the sake of ease, I made it 30 cans altogether. Thirty stacked cans...perhaps a foot of shelf space. A can of beans and a can of potatoes each meal? I looked at the calorie contents of the cans. That would make a meal consisting of 585 calories. A bit of research tells me that the average, caloric intake per capita in Bangladesh is 2000, in Eritrea it is even less. The very meaning of the word “average” tells us that there are quite a few people in Bangladesh and Eritrea who would be quite happy to have my beans and potatoes. Three meals a day (if one could get them) at 585 calories each makes for 1755 calories, and 30 cans would supply those meals for 5 days. I have 5 days of human life stacked in a square foot of my pantry shelf space. A rough estimate tells me that I have at least 40 square feet of shelving in my pantry, and that doesn't count the floor space under the shelving...and I sometimes can't find room for items I bring home.

I am an enthusiastic, from-scratch cook, so aside from a few items of junk food (snack chips, Wylers freezer pops for Summer, CheezIts, canisters of Crystal Light), my pantry is stuffed full of staples. I joke that I could feed the neighborhood from my pantry in the case of disaster.

Moving over the shelves, away from the canned potatoes and beans, I see jar after jar of lentils, beans, nuts, seeds, and grains. Stacks of canned olives, tuna, tomatoes, tomato paste, smoked mussels and oysters, coconut milk, beef and chicken broth, grapefruit, oranges, pineapple, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, baby corn, corned beef hash and the ever popular SPAM. Roasted red bell peppers, pepperoncini, capers, anchovies and sun dried tomatoes in oil. Boxes and bags of pastas, couscous, polenta. Large containers of different rices, flours, cornmeal and sugars. Baskets of potatoes (russets, red and Yukon gold), onions, red onions, shallots, garlic and a couple of large yams. Jugs of olive and vegetable oil, bottles of flavored vinegars (including my big jars of home made and nurtured red and white wine vinegars), a couple of cans of Crisco. 5 different kinds of dry cereal and more jars and jars of various hot cereal grains. Coffee beans, boxes of wine meant only for cooking. And spices. Jar after jar of spices. I dabble in several of the World's cuisines, and needs must have the basics to do so.

After all this, I get to the shelves of my home-canned foods. Tomato sauce, barbecue sauce, jams, marmalades, jellies, relishes, chutneys, pickled veggies, peaches, mincemeat.

Baking goods...yeast, cocoa (three different types), baking chocolate, soda, powder, salt, lard, flavor extracts, syrups, molasses, honey, and jars of chocolate chips and dried fruits.

Are you overwhelmed yet? I bet the Eritrean who would be glad of my beans and potatoes would be out cold by now. I don't say that to be flippant, either. I can imagine that someone who prays each night for the opportunity of busting their behind for as many hours as it will take to earn the meager share of grain and lentils that will keep his or her family alive for one more day would feint dead away were the contents of my pantry to be found, piled up around his or her cooking area upon waking.

It is interesting to note that when I began an internet search to discover the caloric needs of an adult, most of the initial results had to do with how to lose weight. I don't guess that question is of any interest to my Eritrean.

All of that food. And that's just my pantry! Don't worry, I won't get into listing the contents of my refrigerator. Then there is the garage freezer, which contains more beef, lamb, pork, poultry, fish, fruit and vegetables than I imagine my Eritrean could wrap his brain around.

Hard times. Yup. We Americans are going through hard times. They tell us that every day. Recession, Depression, Unemployment, Housing Crisis. Gloom, Despair and Agony! Thanksgiving is coming, and the holiday grocery bill will be higher than we like. Want a reason to be thankful? Spend a few minutes calculating. How many Eritreans could you feed out of your pantry? It worked for me.

Ministry of PC's Official Stance on Muslim Terrorists-What Muslim Terrorists?

Seven years ago, while on an extended road trip, I listened with horror to the news broadcasts describe what seemed to be random murders being committed in the D.C. Area. Some demented lunatic was gunning people down for no reason while they went about their daily routine. Since it was barely more than a year since the September 11^th attacks, it didn't take me very long to begin wondering if the murders were also fueled by fanatical devotion to the “Religion of Peace.”

I remember my growing incredulity over the unmistakeable reluctance of journalists and officials to even suggest such an idea. This wasn't a case of prudent reticence against theorizing without sufficient factual knowledge. On the contrary, the usual plethora of psychologists, analysts and other professional speculators were trotted out to opine on possible motives and draw “profiles” of the killer. The common and increasingly glaring omission in the sort of speculative coverage that is always rife when facts are disclosed too slowly for the voracious appetite of competitive news peddlers, was that while we, the listeners, were all wondering if this was another terrorist attack our news providers were doing their absolute best not to make that suggestion and actively downplaying the very possibility.

Jump ahead to the present. Every major news source reported yesterday that the D.C. Sniper, John Allen Muhammad, was put to death. Not one journalist saw fit to mention that he was a Muslim, and member of the Nation of Islam. Several apparently thought his status as a Gulf War veteran pertinent to the story, though they didn't say why.

A week ago today, screaming “Allahu Akbar!” or, “God is Greatest”, a Major in the US army methodically slaughtered 13 people and shot 30 more, presumably attempting to kill them as well. Once again, my capacity for incredulity was strained as I searched the reports made by all the major news sources I could think of in vain for a mention of the suspect's faith, let alone any speculative connection between it and his murderous spree.

Of course, the indication that such a connection existed was actually suggested by the almost demented way in which making it was avoided by journalists and politicians alike. Our President advised us not to jump to conclusions, General Casey voiced concern about a “backlash” against Muslim soldiers, buying into the Chimera dutifully trotted out by journalists and pundits every time a Muslim commits an act of terror despite the fact that such a “backlash” never materializes. “Experts” were interviewed, blathering theories unsubstantiated by the least scrap of proof. The murderer had perhaps snapped under an undefined pressure, had suffered religious harassment, had been trying “desperately” but futilely to obtain an early discharge from his military commitment, had felt overwhelmed by his caseload. Every imaginable theory was given air except that he was a Muslim terrorist engaging in a personal act of jihad.

Mental illness, apparently caused or exacerbated by the Military's unreasonable expectation that a soldier carry through with commitments he made in exchange for years of education was at the root of his murderous rage, not religious mania. He wasn't an Islamic terrorist, just a nutcase...as though the two are mutually exclusive. Maybe it's just me, but I have a tendency to consider anyone who purposefully sets out to murder as many innocent people as possible mentally ill. But nutcases have motives for their actions as well as sane people do, and the fact that Major Nidal Hasan screamed, “Allahu Akbar!” as he opened fire on over 40 unsuspecting people tells me what his motive was despite the attempt at cover-up by our Comrades in the unofficial but all too extant Ministry of Political Correctness.

AOL News Article: Obama Wants More School, Shorter Break

“Obama Wants More School, Shorter Break”

This President is truly amazing in his ability to find ways in which to spend more of our money. Increasing school hours means increasing public school funding. Of course, everything to do with public schools means increasing funding. Do you remember the last time there was an election without some form of public school funding request put forward? Where is the money for these increased public school hours going to come from?

“The president, who has a sixth-grader and a third-grader, wants schools to add time to classes, to stay open late and to let kids in on weekends so they have a safe place to go.”

So is this really about education or about increasing State responsibility (and control) over our children? Does the average kid need a “safe place to go” on weekends? Of course not, their parents take care of that. The only children who need a “safe place to go” on weekends are the children of those who are too irresponsible to care for their own kids. It isn’t a matter of poverty. I grew up poor, and I grew up with a lot of poor neighbors. Our parents still made sure we didn’t need a “safe place to go” on weekends. The kids out in the streets, getting into trouble, were the kids whose parents were more interested in getting high or drunk than in raising their kids.

This is another Left wing maneuver to get the majority of responsible, tax paying citizens to pay for free day care for the children of people too irresponsible to be raising children in the first place.

“The extra time, which schools can add as hours or days, is for three things: core academics”

Is the only way to spend more time on “core academics”
to add more time to the public school day or year? How about if more of the hours already in place be used to study the basic academic subjects instead of spending class time on social engineering? Do our children need special time set aside to hold “commemorative exercises” for and learn about the contributions of a San Francisco supervisor who held office 30 years ago? Do they need specific curriculum plans related to Cesar Chavez further than a paragraph in a CA history book? That’s often all they get regarding very important historical figures. I wonder if we quizzed CA school kids on who the founding fathers were what the scores would be?

"Those hours from 3 o'clock to 7 o'clock are times of high anxiety for parents," Duncan said. "They want their children safe. Families are working one and two and three jobs now to make ends meet and to keep food on the table."

This is the core of it. It isn’t about education, it is about shoving tax payer funded day care down our throats.

A Day of Service and Remembrance

A Day of Service and Remembrance

Eight years ago yesterday, the ringing phone startled me out of sleep. A friend, babbling something about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center, urging me to turn on the news. I believe I protested, asked if she was sure, confused thoughts about the H.G. Wells, “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast that panicked the credulous into believing we’d been invaded by Martians running through my mind.

What a hideous way to come fully awake, watching the footage of that horrible event, and then realizing as the second plane struck that it wasn’t a terrible accident but a purposeful, evil, cowardly attack.

Americans rediscovered their Unity in the aftermath of that attack. The Stars and Stripes flew off store shelves to fly on porches, in windows, on car antennas. In many neighborhoods, the home without a flag was the anomaly. Political bickering was set aside as we mourned our dead and comforted their survivors.

Of course, the Unity was fleeting. Before the last corpse was dug out of the rubble, those whose default position is the assumption of American guilt and responsibility began attempting to shift the blame from the terrorists to our own county’s actions. We were to understand the grievances these people had against us, we must examine the actions of our country in the Middle East. Surely the sort of anger and hatred that could drive men to commit terrorist attacks must be rooted in unjust interference in the affairs of other countries. American policies were to blame.

Americans are busy people. We have jobs and families, friends and hobbies. And like people everywhere, we get involved in life and time heals our wounds. The first or second or even third anniversary of that deadly attack, we made a point of attending a memorial ceremony, or re-watching some of the news coverage, of talking to friends and family about where we were when we heard. But it’s been 8 years. The flags we rushed to buy on 9/12/2001 became old and frayed and each year, fewer of us bought replacements. It isn’t of course, that we are less American, or aren’t as patriotic. It’s just that maintaining that level of active pride and defiance takes energy, and we have so many demands on our energy.

But the people who hold that default position of American guilt have not given up, and this brings me to President Barack Obama’s decree of a “Day of Service and Remembrance.”

The phrase bothered me the first time I heard it, but I wasn’t clear on why it did. Oh sure, I get sick of politicians harping on how the people they are meant to serve should do the serving. These people are elected to work for us, not be our parents.
I get tired of the endless public “service” announcements that urge us to “get involved”, “give back to the community” or “donate” this or that. I always wonder how much more good would be done the cause in question if the time, money and energy put into nagging others to “serve” were put into that cause in the first place.

But, my feeling about the, “Day of Service and Remembrance” was of a different nature, it wasn’t irritation, it was unease. Recognizing this brought understanding.

People who hold the default position I have referred to are made uneasy by displays of patriotism and American Unity. The proliferation of flags in the aftermath of 9/11/2001 made them uneasy. They were made uneasy by the image of an America righteously indignant and angry over an unjustifiable and murderous sneak attack on our citizens. They are more comfortable with the image of America they’ve tried so hard to create. America as an imperialistic, greedy, thieving bully. An America that is selfish, uncaring. An America that doesn’t share enough, that doesn’t do enough to help the needy, the minority groups, the Oppressed.

President Obama, in decreeing his, “Day of Service and Remembrance” has exposed himself as one of those who hold that default position of American guilt. Placing “service” before “remembrance” was not done without intent. He is purposely trying to shift the emphasis from what was done to us to what we don’t do for others. In exhorting Americans to “serve” he reinforces the idea that we don’t serve enough. Remembering what was done to us stirs our patriotism and pride, and it is more difficult to manipulate a proud and patriotic people with guilt and shame.

Rendering some type of related service in memory of a group or individual is a time-honored tradition for many people. We serve the poor in shelters on Thanksgiving, we spruce up military cemeteries on Memorial day, we donate time or money to a departed loved one’s favorite charity.

But how does painting a Habitat house, picking up trash, or running a canned food drive relate to the murder of thousands of innocent Americans by crazed religious fanatics? To be sure, there are many groups of Americans who have tried to relate the service to the day by organizing to stuff packages for troops overseas, fighting to prevent future attacks. But the President himself chose painting a room in a Habitat house as the example he set. Service to the community, not to our protectors.

The message of decreeing a, “Day of Service and Remembrance” on 9/11 is a subtle return to the American Guilt and Responsibility default position. The message on 9/12/2001 was that we were too greedy, too selfish, we should give more, do more, serve more so that “the world” would like us. Really, we brought the hatred and vitriol on ourselves because "We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK,"

Don’t get angry at the memory of people having to decide between death in a fiery inferno or on a sidewalk thirty stories below, pick up some trash. Don’t engage in useless acts of patriotism, feed some homeless people. Do a little of the service you should have been doing all along, you selfish, guilty American. The appropriate way to remember 9/11 is to atone for the American culture of selfishness and greed that brought about the violent attacks in the first place.

We must never forget the 9/11 attacks. We must never forget that a politician’s stock in trade is the art of manipulation. We must never forget that to a politician, every crisis is an opportunity and every tragedy is potentially of use. We must cultivate the habit of looking not at the actions and words of a politician, but at the motive and agenda behind those actions and words. A politician who has been successful enough to reach the highest office in the land should be scrutinized with the intensity commensurate with that success.

Americans are a generous, caring people. America has done more for the poor, the oppressed, the weak and even it’s own enemies than any country the world has ever known. We mustn’t allow those who assume American guilt and responsibility as their default position to make it ours.