The best moment from the Doha Climate Farce and the funniest thing I've seen all day.
(h/t Just Right which led me to the video)
Lord Moncktons account of the moment of clarity cannot be missed. Russia is actually blaming the failure of the talks on Lord Monckton. Well done my Lord!
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Oh Crap!
I've made a critical error in my logic concerning the fiscal cliff. In good faith I assumed that Democrats wanted the economy to do better and did not want to go over the fiscal cliff. My mistake. I did not account for the possibility that raising taxes back to the Clinton era and major cuts to defense spending as well as blaming it all on Republicans could be exactly what the Democratic Party wants after all.
Seen in that light, going over the fiscal cliff might be inevitable. Democrats are so determined to achieve the above outcomes that they don't care if they go off the cliff too. The negotiations on the Democrat side might all be theatrics. Its more a fecal cliff than a fiscal one.
Could they really be aiming for lose - lose? More people become dependent on government welfare and the Republican party is destroyed. It’s the one outcome they have complete control over. They can choose to lose. Oh Crap!
There is a bright side though. Stable, secure, peaceful, productive, profitable, prosperous, Canada can scoop up every company that doesn't want to pay a higher corporate tax. Every business and person making over $250,000 American Pesos a year should move to the True North Strong and Free. The Fraser Institute says that Alberta is is more free than Texas by a hair. Our lead is now secure thanks to the November election. You can always go back if sanity returns to Washington, or maybe you can just stay.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Another Green Debate: “Oil: Dangerous Addiction or Healthy Choice.”
Alex Epstien goes up against Dr. Dino Ress this time and wins handily. Dr. Ress seems like a nice enough person who I'm sure believes that what he is teaching is for the greater good. Unfortunately the chemistry PhD doesn't quite grasp the economics of energy and it showed.
Dr. Ress clearly believes that oil is the root of all evil but fails to put forth a good argument why? He also claimed that there are four futures for oil but doesn't explain why there should be only four possible outcomes.
Alex Epstien made very clear linkages with our standard of living and the use of oil. The most astounding part of this refresher is that he has to give it at all. Children should understand the importance of mining to their lives by the 4th grade, but sadly it needs to be explained again to adults who have lost the faculty of reason in this area.
Mr. Epstien skillfully batted down misconceptions about fracking and nuclear accidents. He also does really well explaining that the real issue isn't about a desire for oil but a desire for energy market freedom. If oil is the overall best energy for transportation then so be it.
I may work in the oil industry but if someone were to invent a better fuel tomorrow it would be great. The UN or some NGO or even our own government can't just make a law stating that donkey power or whatever is better than oil because donkeys have some intrinsic goodness revealed only to members of a particular ideology.
Only the market can tell us what is the best fuel. While I might lose my job along with hundreds of thousands of others if something better than oil appeared, the net result would be an economic boom. Our standard of living would improve because a purely market driven energy transition would mean more capital available to just about everyone.
An ideologically driven transition of energy would have to be forced on markets. People would be made to use a less efficient and more expensive form of energy which would drag the economy down and reduce our standard of living. We have already started down this road by deficit subsidizing inefficient forms of energy like wind and solar.
Some people like the idea of sacrifice for high ideals and that's fine for them. When they try to force it on others for the sake of their own satisfaction, well, what about my satisfaction? What makes their ideal society so good that I must transfer my own hopes for happiness to them against my will? Who in the hell gives them this right over me? I didn't, and I pledge to you here and now that I will never support or comply with the green agenda.
Dr. Ress clearly believes that oil is the root of all evil but fails to put forth a good argument why? He also claimed that there are four futures for oil but doesn't explain why there should be only four possible outcomes.
Alex Epstien made very clear linkages with our standard of living and the use of oil. The most astounding part of this refresher is that he has to give it at all. Children should understand the importance of mining to their lives by the 4th grade, but sadly it needs to be explained again to adults who have lost the faculty of reason in this area.
Mr. Epstien skillfully batted down misconceptions about fracking and nuclear accidents. He also does really well explaining that the real issue isn't about a desire for oil but a desire for energy market freedom. If oil is the overall best energy for transportation then so be it.
I may work in the oil industry but if someone were to invent a better fuel tomorrow it would be great. The UN or some NGO or even our own government can't just make a law stating that donkey power or whatever is better than oil because donkeys have some intrinsic goodness revealed only to members of a particular ideology.
Only the market can tell us what is the best fuel. While I might lose my job along with hundreds of thousands of others if something better than oil appeared, the net result would be an economic boom. Our standard of living would improve because a purely market driven energy transition would mean more capital available to just about everyone.
An ideologically driven transition of energy would have to be forced on markets. People would be made to use a less efficient and more expensive form of energy which would drag the economy down and reduce our standard of living. We have already started down this road by deficit subsidizing inefficient forms of energy like wind and solar.
Some people like the idea of sacrifice for high ideals and that's fine for them. When they try to force it on others for the sake of their own satisfaction, well, what about my satisfaction? What makes their ideal society so good that I must transfer my own hopes for happiness to them against my will? Who in the hell gives them this right over me? I didn't, and I pledge to you here and now that I will never support or comply with the green agenda.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Agenda 21 and Anthem
Glenn Beck and Harriet Parke have written an excellent book called Agenda 21. Its about a dystopian future where UN Agenda 21 has taken over every aspect of life in the name of saving the planet.
I'm loving it so far. It reminds me a lot of Ayn Rand's Anthem.
Anthem was written in 1937 after Ayn Rand escaped from communist Russia. Anthem is short enough to read in one or two sittings and available entirely free at the above link.
Agenda 21 could easily be described as the prequel to Anthem since the characters in Agenda 21 still remember how it used to be in our civilization. The character's in Anthem are generations removed from all history and science and as ignorant and primitive as Iron Age slaves.
Both are pertinent timely reads in a world going nuts.
I'm loving it so far. It reminds me a lot of Ayn Rand's Anthem.
Anthem was written in 1937 after Ayn Rand escaped from communist Russia. Anthem is short enough to read in one or two sittings and available entirely free at the above link.
Agenda 21 could easily be described as the prequel to Anthem since the characters in Agenda 21 still remember how it used to be in our civilization. The character's in Anthem are generations removed from all history and science and as ignorant and primitive as Iron Age slaves.
Both are pertinent timely reads in a world going nuts.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Sight Seeing at the Fiscal Cliff
Boy its a long way down.
The neologism of the "fiscal cliff" is pretty powerful. Good(ish) economy up here. Bad economy down there. Tax cuts expire, government spending stops, and so-on to a tune of 600 billion that will be such a drag on the economy that it will seem to have plunged off a cliff.
I can't say I'm that worried about the so called "Fiscal Cliff." Obama will raise taxes. That battle was lost on election day. Republicans caved last time and extended the problem until now. Nothing has changed, so get on with it.
Unless the Republicans plan a stunning suicide move, then there is nothing to worry about. Do they think that America is better off without them? If so then by all means jump off the cliff. You could gamble that people would forget who jumped, or more likely it would give Obama his second excuse for a second term of a dismal economy.
How does it make sense to jump to stop someone from pushing you over? It must be hard with Pharaoh shouting "FORWARD! FORWARD!" Obama is king now, though I think Pharaoh suits him better (fair-O). Let Pharaoh Hussien rule this economy.
The economy is toast under Obama anyway. The Eurozone is posting negative growth and so is Japan. I know we are going down to the bottom one way or another, but still I'd prefer to take the stairs.
The neologism of the "fiscal cliff" is pretty powerful. Good(ish) economy up here. Bad economy down there. Tax cuts expire, government spending stops, and so-on to a tune of 600 billion that will be such a drag on the economy that it will seem to have plunged off a cliff.
I can't say I'm that worried about the so called "Fiscal Cliff." Obama will raise taxes. That battle was lost on election day. Republicans caved last time and extended the problem until now. Nothing has changed, so get on with it.
Unless the Republicans plan a stunning suicide move, then there is nothing to worry about. Do they think that America is better off without them? If so then by all means jump off the cliff. You could gamble that people would forget who jumped, or more likely it would give Obama his second excuse for a second term of a dismal economy.
How does it make sense to jump to stop someone from pushing you over? It must be hard with Pharaoh shouting "FORWARD! FORWARD!" Obama is king now, though I think Pharaoh suits him better (fair-O). Let Pharaoh Hussien rule this economy.
The economy is toast under Obama anyway. The Eurozone is posting negative growth and so is Japan. I know we are going down to the bottom one way or another, but still I'd prefer to take the stairs.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Another Great Green Debate
I like Alex Epstien. He thinks the same way that I do and he's working hard to change the way other people think.
This time he's gone up against Bill McKibben, a leading warmist though not a scientist. He's got the entire debate on YouTube and I'm happy to post it here. Its about 1.5hrs in its entirety.
Having watched the whole thing, I have to be fair and say that Alex lost this one. I agree with Epstien 100% on the substance of his argument, but McKibben appeared to own the subject while Epstien was visibly nervous and compensated by measuring his speaking cadence. The overall effect is to undermine the power of his message: that fossil fuels are essential to our way of life.
When I judge a debate, I try to imagine how a complete stranger to the subject would be swayed by the dialog. The average person isn't expecting isn't expecting spin and obfuscation so merely the appearance of confidence will give this debate to McKibben.
He did really well in his first debate with Greenpeace so I'm not sure what happened. Pressure can do that and McKibben is a much bigger fish than the Greenpeace guy was. I'm sure Alex will grow into it and be a regular Ezra Levant in no time.
McKibben's ideas are nonsense of course. Its simply impossible to implement what these eco-nuts talk about: a forced abandonment of civilization for the sake of some mollusks breeding in the dark.
The most the eco-nuts will ever accomplish is to seize control of our industrial society. Even the stupidest mis-educated liberal blogger would tie the noose themselves when you turned off the power for a month. The eco-nuts will be able to give the stamp of approval to those who pay tribute to them and accede to their demands. They would be become a ruling class by their power to bless one "polluter" and condemn another.
I know people get turned off by "conspiracy theories" but I'm a systems guy and this is how I see this system coalescing from the different players involved. It doesn't require a Central organizer to emerge. The various players, the activists, the politicians, even the scientists, recognize their own role and self coordinate to their own benefit. The system emerges.
Its happened before. Call them Bishops or Commissars or Lords. The environmental consultants of the future will have the same power over society as the former ruling classes.
This is why I believe Alex Epstien and the Center for Industrial Progress among others are doing important work to keep us all free. Remember that the concept of individual liberty is an aberration in Human history. Powerful natural human tendencies are at work to stratify society into distinct impermeable classes once again.
This time he's gone up against Bill McKibben, a leading warmist though not a scientist. He's got the entire debate on YouTube and I'm happy to post it here. Its about 1.5hrs in its entirety.
Having watched the whole thing, I have to be fair and say that Alex lost this one. I agree with Epstien 100% on the substance of his argument, but McKibben appeared to own the subject while Epstien was visibly nervous and compensated by measuring his speaking cadence. The overall effect is to undermine the power of his message: that fossil fuels are essential to our way of life.
When I judge a debate, I try to imagine how a complete stranger to the subject would be swayed by the dialog. The average person isn't expecting isn't expecting spin and obfuscation so merely the appearance of confidence will give this debate to McKibben.
He did really well in his first debate with Greenpeace so I'm not sure what happened. Pressure can do that and McKibben is a much bigger fish than the Greenpeace guy was. I'm sure Alex will grow into it and be a regular Ezra Levant in no time.
McKibben's ideas are nonsense of course. Its simply impossible to implement what these eco-nuts talk about: a forced abandonment of civilization for the sake of some mollusks breeding in the dark.
The most the eco-nuts will ever accomplish is to seize control of our industrial society. Even the stupidest mis-educated liberal blogger would tie the noose themselves when you turned off the power for a month. The eco-nuts will be able to give the stamp of approval to those who pay tribute to them and accede to their demands. They would be become a ruling class by their power to bless one "polluter" and condemn another.
I know people get turned off by "conspiracy theories" but I'm a systems guy and this is how I see this system coalescing from the different players involved. It doesn't require a Central organizer to emerge. The various players, the activists, the politicians, even the scientists, recognize their own role and self coordinate to their own benefit. The system emerges.
Its happened before. Call them Bishops or Commissars or Lords. The environmental consultants of the future will have the same power over society as the former ruling classes.
This is why I believe Alex Epstien and the Center for Industrial Progress among others are doing important work to keep us all free. Remember that the concept of individual liberty is an aberration in Human history. Powerful natural human tendencies are at work to stratify society into distinct impermeable classes once again.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
I Remember
I'm lucky not to remember any wars personally. I'm lucky because of the people who, even now, have put themselves harms way for me.
For a time these great citizens give up thier freedoms to serve the Crown and project our national will wherever it leads. For some it leads to the ultimate sacrifice. Our debt to them is too great to describe. All these noble heroes ask in return is we honor them and thank them.
Thank you.
What I remember on Rememberance Day are Rememberance Days past. I remember the cold rainy ones in front of Cenotaphs where only Legion members, Cadets and thier Officers would show up. Seeing those old veterans there in the weather with thier medals dripping and their eyes dry and alert; the memory gives me great comfort. There is deep and enduring strength in the people of this land.
Parents, put your kids in Cadets. I can't tell you enough what a great experience it was for me. Rememberance Day is just one example of the invaluable life lessons that a Cadet is exposed to. Citizenship, athleticism, and skill building are a few of the benefits to a teen in the Cadets. They can learn to fly, sail and shoot. They learn self confidence and pride. They are sent to far flung corners of Canada.
Myself, I spent many fine summers at RMC learning to sail. I went to Greenland, and Resolute Bay and Iqaluit with the Coast Gaurd. I was on the Range Team, the First Aid Team, Both Drill teams, Sheer-legs team, the Band, became Chief of the corps. What a fantastic time it was. All of it paid from donations and the government.
My parents were immigrants and didn't have any extra money for hockey or whatever. I went farther and did more in my than many others my age on a shoestring budget.
It shaped who I am: A Canadian Citizen and Patriot. That is how I remember on November 11th. I remember how good this country has been to me and that it cost some heroes everything so I could live in it.
For a time these great citizens give up thier freedoms to serve the Crown and project our national will wherever it leads. For some it leads to the ultimate sacrifice. Our debt to them is too great to describe. All these noble heroes ask in return is we honor them and thank them.
Thank you.
What I remember on Rememberance Day are Rememberance Days past. I remember the cold rainy ones in front of Cenotaphs where only Legion members, Cadets and thier Officers would show up. Seeing those old veterans there in the weather with thier medals dripping and their eyes dry and alert; the memory gives me great comfort. There is deep and enduring strength in the people of this land.
Parents, put your kids in Cadets. I can't tell you enough what a great experience it was for me. Rememberance Day is just one example of the invaluable life lessons that a Cadet is exposed to. Citizenship, athleticism, and skill building are a few of the benefits to a teen in the Cadets. They can learn to fly, sail and shoot. They learn self confidence and pride. They are sent to far flung corners of Canada.
Myself, I spent many fine summers at RMC learning to sail. I went to Greenland, and Resolute Bay and Iqaluit with the Coast Gaurd. I was on the Range Team, the First Aid Team, Both Drill teams, Sheer-legs team, the Band, became Chief of the corps. What a fantastic time it was. All of it paid from donations and the government.
My parents were immigrants and didn't have any extra money for hockey or whatever. I went farther and did more in my than many others my age on a shoestring budget.
It shaped who I am: A Canadian Citizen and Patriot. That is how I remember on November 11th. I remember how good this country has been to me and that it cost some heroes everything so I could live in it.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
America Deserves Obama
Obama won. Americans lost. Oh well.
I wanted Romney to win, not for Romney, but for me. -for we. We all do well when they do well. Economics is pretty simple.
This isn't the end. Mark Steyn has it wrong. A negative "hockey stick" is just as improbable as the positive ones. We never hit the asymptote. That is we fly right past where its supposed to be. Time is the x axis and time never stops. So if the area behind the asymptote is undefined then we know that infinite exponential curves plotted along a time axis, positive or negative, will always be wrong. Always. Another variable always intrudes on our simple little graphs to change the outcome. The curves either plateau or they crash.
Obama will not be the end. Obama will be their Pierre Trudeau. An icon of an age and then everyone will agree he was wrong on most everything.
Obama put ~$1,000,000,000,000 on the American credit card in the first term. There is only one direction that number will go. He is raising taxes across the board with Obamacare and still plans to tax job creators. He stepped in to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline twice for political reasons that seem to have paid off. All the while the economy suffers.
This might sound like partisan campaigning but I'm sorry the problems above are not going away. These are real problems caused by Obama. Binders, Bain Capital and Big Bird, those are going away forever because they were never there. Smoke and mirrors.
Socialism ends in misery my fellow Humans.
Europe is in tatters. The Middle East is burning (still). China is building ghost cities with slaves. The United States is blind and stupid. I just can't see how any of this will be resolved painlessly.
The affirmative action presidency is just not up to the job. I think what Americans really wanted was a mascot when they picked Obama. Oh well. What else can I say? Some kids don't learn until they get punched in the face.
The invisible hand of markets is going to be a fist next time around.
I think the world economy is hooped. America's credit card is maxed out. They are incapable of slowing down their spending rate, nevermind staying below the "Fiscal Cliff" credit limit. Then they print money, thereby increasing the need to borrow even more because that money doesn't buy what it used to. Then you have government spending on pet projects that creates false demand that raises prices for real profitable private businesses. Don't forget the borrowing for the spending and interest on borrowing that all has to be paid with taxes someday.
This is a flushing toilet bowl. It doesn't take a genius to figure out this is a recipe for negative growth.
The only way to overcome this is with a booming private economy that grows so much it pays these extra costs without blinking. Do you see that happening? What kind of an economy can make a trillion borrowed dollars feel like nothing? Not this one. No sir. This is an artificial economy propped up by deficit spending and low interest rates. You want unsustainable? Look at current fiscal policy around the world.
Oh well. I still have my xbox.
I hope I'm wrong about it all. I'll tell you this though: I will be contributing as little as possible to this economy. I've set myself up to cruise to my destination with fuel to spare. I can afford to lose some altitude and climb back later. I've built that into my flight plan on account of the massive obstacles ahead. I encourage you to think about your flight plan and watch out for mount Obama.
I wanted Romney to win, not for Romney, but for me. -for we. We all do well when they do well. Economics is pretty simple.
This isn't the end. Mark Steyn has it wrong. A negative "hockey stick" is just as improbable as the positive ones. We never hit the asymptote. That is we fly right past where its supposed to be. Time is the x axis and time never stops. So if the area behind the asymptote is undefined then we know that infinite exponential curves plotted along a time axis, positive or negative, will always be wrong. Always. Another variable always intrudes on our simple little graphs to change the outcome. The curves either plateau or they crash.
Obama will not be the end. Obama will be their Pierre Trudeau. An icon of an age and then everyone will agree he was wrong on most everything.
Obama put ~$1,000,000,000,000 on the American credit card in the first term. There is only one direction that number will go. He is raising taxes across the board with Obamacare and still plans to tax job creators. He stepped in to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline twice for political reasons that seem to have paid off. All the while the economy suffers.
This might sound like partisan campaigning but I'm sorry the problems above are not going away. These are real problems caused by Obama. Binders, Bain Capital and Big Bird, those are going away forever because they were never there. Smoke and mirrors.
Socialism ends in misery my fellow Humans.
Europe is in tatters. The Middle East is burning (still). China is building ghost cities with slaves. The United States is blind and stupid. I just can't see how any of this will be resolved painlessly.
The affirmative action presidency is just not up to the job. I think what Americans really wanted was a mascot when they picked Obama. Oh well. What else can I say? Some kids don't learn until they get punched in the face.
The invisible hand of markets is going to be a fist next time around.
I think the world economy is hooped. America's credit card is maxed out. They are incapable of slowing down their spending rate, nevermind staying below the "Fiscal Cliff" credit limit. Then they print money, thereby increasing the need to borrow even more because that money doesn't buy what it used to. Then you have government spending on pet projects that creates false demand that raises prices for real profitable private businesses. Don't forget the borrowing for the spending and interest on borrowing that all has to be paid with taxes someday.
This is a flushing toilet bowl. It doesn't take a genius to figure out this is a recipe for negative growth.
The only way to overcome this is with a booming private economy that grows so much it pays these extra costs without blinking. Do you see that happening? What kind of an economy can make a trillion borrowed dollars feel like nothing? Not this one. No sir. This is an artificial economy propped up by deficit spending and low interest rates. You want unsustainable? Look at current fiscal policy around the world.
Oh well. I still have my xbox.
I hope I'm wrong about it all. I'll tell you this though: I will be contributing as little as possible to this economy. I've set myself up to cruise to my destination with fuel to spare. I can afford to lose some altitude and climb back later. I've built that into my flight plan on account of the massive obstacles ahead. I encourage you to think about your flight plan and watch out for mount Obama.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Strike Back
Strike Back is a British series now into its second season that I've come to enjoy lately. Its like a cross between James Bond and Blackhawk Down while still being something completely new and different.
Its about an elite special forces group called Section 20 that doesn't officially exist yet who's purpose is to counter terrorism. I find it has a very intelligent and realistic dialog and a superb twisting plot line that frighteningly mimics reality.
It's amazing how prescient the show is. I started watching it on HBO Canada in August. When I picked up my jaw from the floor on September 11th hearing about the terrorist attacks in Benghazi I said to my lover "We are watching Strike Back, but for real." The other day we were watching the recent documentary on Benghazi on Fox News and she said to me shaking her head, "this really is like Strike Back."
Art imitates life, and this is the world we live in. It speaks to the quality of the writing in Strike Back when you see a typical episode unfold on Fox News one dark day.
It's made by Cinemax which some of my friends call "Skin-emax." Watch the show without the kids to see why. Ample extreme violence and course language are some other reasons why this show is good for adults.
By any measure it's a great show.
Its about an elite special forces group called Section 20 that doesn't officially exist yet who's purpose is to counter terrorism. I find it has a very intelligent and realistic dialog and a superb twisting plot line that frighteningly mimics reality.
It's amazing how prescient the show is. I started watching it on HBO Canada in August. When I picked up my jaw from the floor on September 11th hearing about the terrorist attacks in Benghazi I said to my lover "We are watching Strike Back, but for real." The other day we were watching the recent documentary on Benghazi on Fox News and she said to me shaking her head, "this really is like Strike Back."
Art imitates life, and this is the world we live in. It speaks to the quality of the writing in Strike Back when you see a typical episode unfold on Fox News one dark day.
It's made by Cinemax which some of my friends call "Skin-emax." Watch the show without the kids to see why. Ample extreme violence and course language are some other reasons why this show is good for adults.
By any measure it's a great show.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
What was Ambassador Stevens doing on Obama's behalf?
The news media is now awash in details about the terrorist attack and assassination in Benghazi Libya. You can almost follow the Ambassador's last footsteps from building to building. There are details about car chases and firefights that would be called "too Hollywood" if they didn't actually happen.
We also have a substantial email trail proving that the White House knew exactly what was happening on September 11th in Benghazi. There might even be live aerial footage from a spy drone the US had over head at the time.
We all saw the President and his minions lying about the assassination. They tried to hush it up and confuse it with idiotic Islamist tantrums about a movie that doesn't even exist.
I saw it immediately as a terrorist attack and a failure of Obama's foreign policy but, probably like you, reserved judgment until I had more information. That information would be provided by the news media. Instead the press skewered Mitt Romney for being critical of Obama's handling of this debacle while he was perfectly right to do so.
The thing about the cover up is how lazy the Obama administration was in its execution. Much of the information 'uncovered' about Benghazi isn't even classified. It shows both a disdain for the intelligence of the average person and worse: that the administration has come to expect the media to run cover for Obama's mistakes.
Its sad and racist. To think that an American President has to be held to a lower standard... why? Is it because he's Black? All you have to do is imagine it was Bush instead and then you see how much the media has sandbagged for Obama on this one. Its shameful. It tarnishes all journalists. (its important to note Bush would have been tarred and feathered for getting it right)
Why isn't the media doing its job?
I don't really need to know exactly what time it was in Washington when a grenade was tossed at Ambassador Stevens' car.
I want to know what the Ambassador was doing in Benghazi. What was the purpose of his shady meetings in a dangerous city without protection? There is still more to this story and I doubt any of it will make American's proud.
There are rumors out there that Ambassador Stevens was running guns to the Syrian rebels. He may have been running guns to Jihadist rebels.
Now factor in the election, and Fast and Furious, and you can see why some are entertaining the idea that Ambassador Stevens was declined the support he asked for because of the nasty business he was involved in.
Imagine the repercussions for the Obama Administration to have an Iran Contra scandal complete with cover up blasting into the election at this point into the game.
The kingmaker Journalist hero will be the one to find out what Steven's was really doing and why. Who told him to do it and who let him and three others die there?
We also have a substantial email trail proving that the White House knew exactly what was happening on September 11th in Benghazi. There might even be live aerial footage from a spy drone the US had over head at the time.
We all saw the President and his minions lying about the assassination. They tried to hush it up and confuse it with idiotic Islamist tantrums about a movie that doesn't even exist.
I saw it immediately as a terrorist attack and a failure of Obama's foreign policy but, probably like you, reserved judgment until I had more information. That information would be provided by the news media. Instead the press skewered Mitt Romney for being critical of Obama's handling of this debacle while he was perfectly right to do so.
The thing about the cover up is how lazy the Obama administration was in its execution. Much of the information 'uncovered' about Benghazi isn't even classified. It shows both a disdain for the intelligence of the average person and worse: that the administration has come to expect the media to run cover for Obama's mistakes.
Its sad and racist. To think that an American President has to be held to a lower standard... why? Is it because he's Black? All you have to do is imagine it was Bush instead and then you see how much the media has sandbagged for Obama on this one. Its shameful. It tarnishes all journalists. (its important to note Bush would have been tarred and feathered for getting it right)
Why isn't the media doing its job?
I don't really need to know exactly what time it was in Washington when a grenade was tossed at Ambassador Stevens' car.
I want to know what the Ambassador was doing in Benghazi. What was the purpose of his shady meetings in a dangerous city without protection? There is still more to this story and I doubt any of it will make American's proud.
There are rumors out there that Ambassador Stevens was running guns to the Syrian rebels. He may have been running guns to Jihadist rebels.
Now factor in the election, and Fast and Furious, and you can see why some are entertaining the idea that Ambassador Stevens was declined the support he asked for because of the nasty business he was involved in.
Imagine the repercussions for the Obama Administration to have an Iran Contra scandal complete with cover up blasting into the election at this point into the game.
The kingmaker Journalist hero will be the one to find out what Steven's was really doing and why. Who told him to do it and who let him and three others die there?
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Free Khadr!
That's right set him free... in the middle of Hudson's Bay or anywhere at 10,000 feet less a parachute.
Seriously though. Why should Khadr's return make us so angry? That is the real question. What does it matter where this character is kept? -Guantanamo. -Club Ed. -Alert. -Hell. All of these are great places to keep Omar Khadr.
The trouble is that deep down we know that plans are being drawn as you read this to free that worthless scum. You know it. The trouble is that we don't trust our "Justice" system to keep him locked up at all.
The American government does not trust their own "Justice" system, hence the creation of Guantanamo in the first place. Guantanamo is under US control but outside of a judge's jurisdiction. Even the Obama administration has stumbled upon some vital truth about Guantanamo terrorists to make them go back on their pre-election promises to close the place. I don't really blame them for tossing this hot potato at us.
What the left is planning to do is to make Omar Khadr into the next Maher Arar. The big difference being that while Arar was innocent, Khadr is an actual Al Qeada terrorist with blood on his hands.
Right and wrong don't matter in politics or law, at least with the enemy. They won't hesitate to turn this evil-doer into the victim. Romeo Dallaire is pioneering this approach calling Khadr a "child soldier."
I'm sorry but Dallaire has a screw loose. Thank you for your service and all of that, but service has become a bit of a participation trophy in our society. I greatly admire many of the brave men and women who serve but any one of them can tell you that not every one who ever wore a uniform deserved to. I'm sure you can think of at least one person who didn't deserve the privilege.
The Liberal government that made Romeo Dallaire sit there and watch a genocide has created an individual so riddled with guilt he sees the cause of Omar Khadr as some kind of personal redemption. What kind of mental scars could be so deep as to advocate the freedom of an enemy traitor let loose in your own country? Dallaire is the victim and he doesn't even know it. This is along side the very same bastard politicians who did it to him. I simply can't imagine that kind of pain. I don't want to imagine it, but there it is.
One of those bastards is our old friend Bob Rae. Rae once called the staffers of the PMO terrorists. Law abiding, tax paying, loyal sons of Canada are terrorists to Bob Rae, but an actual terrorist like Omar Khadr is just a victim.
Khadr is a grenade throwing, bomb making killer victim. This is the line they will use to set him loose, but it gets worse. The same line will be used to give him a great big tax payer cheque. Betraying your country, killing our allies, possibly killing our own troops with road side bombs, can win you the lottery in this country.
Good people can toil away their whole lives and not win as big as the left wants Khadr to win. It makes me want to find Galt's Gulch. I love myself too much to try and impose justice on this scum bag but I can't pay taxes to Omar Khadr. I can't.
I just came home from Texas yesterday. Believe it or not the subject of Omar Khadr happened to come up during my trip. They had never heard of him but they spied something on my desktop that prompted them to ask "who's Omar Khadr?" When I finished telling them, they completely agreed with me. Every breath Khadr takes is stolen from the good people of the earth.
It makes me wonder at how easily the left dismisses Khadr's own victims and their families. Do they not matter because they are Americans maybe? You have to wonder. Perhaps the left thinks Americans had it coming? Don't be afraid to ask these questions. Goodness knows the enemy bigots will be calling us racists in short order.
I do realize that whatever happens the Khadr case is a political fork for the Conservatives. Politically we win, even if we lose. There is too much emotion bound up in this story. It's like the Long Gun Registry to the power of ten. It's sure to energize the base for decades and fuel the angst against a system of law that has totally lost sight of right and wrong.
It all keeps reminding me of a quote I saw on a t-shirt down in the Lone Star State.
"you may all go to hell and I will go to Texas" - Davy Crockett
It's too damn hot in Texas! Liberals and assorted leftards will not drive me out of the home I love. Should I just go back to sleep, forget politics and stay away from large crowds? No way. Canada and the good people in it are worth fighting for.
Seriously though. Why should Khadr's return make us so angry? That is the real question. What does it matter where this character is kept? -Guantanamo. -Club Ed. -Alert. -Hell. All of these are great places to keep Omar Khadr.
The trouble is that deep down we know that plans are being drawn as you read this to free that worthless scum. You know it. The trouble is that we don't trust our "Justice" system to keep him locked up at all.
The American government does not trust their own "Justice" system, hence the creation of Guantanamo in the first place. Guantanamo is under US control but outside of a judge's jurisdiction. Even the Obama administration has stumbled upon some vital truth about Guantanamo terrorists to make them go back on their pre-election promises to close the place. I don't really blame them for tossing this hot potato at us.
What the left is planning to do is to make Omar Khadr into the next Maher Arar. The big difference being that while Arar was innocent, Khadr is an actual Al Qeada terrorist with blood on his hands.
Right and wrong don't matter in politics or law, at least with the enemy. They won't hesitate to turn this evil-doer into the victim. Romeo Dallaire is pioneering this approach calling Khadr a "child soldier."
I'm sorry but Dallaire has a screw loose. Thank you for your service and all of that, but service has become a bit of a participation trophy in our society. I greatly admire many of the brave men and women who serve but any one of them can tell you that not every one who ever wore a uniform deserved to. I'm sure you can think of at least one person who didn't deserve the privilege.
The Liberal government that made Romeo Dallaire sit there and watch a genocide has created an individual so riddled with guilt he sees the cause of Omar Khadr as some kind of personal redemption. What kind of mental scars could be so deep as to advocate the freedom of an enemy traitor let loose in your own country? Dallaire is the victim and he doesn't even know it. This is along side the very same bastard politicians who did it to him. I simply can't imagine that kind of pain. I don't want to imagine it, but there it is.
One of those bastards is our old friend Bob Rae. Rae once called the staffers of the PMO terrorists. Law abiding, tax paying, loyal sons of Canada are terrorists to Bob Rae, but an actual terrorist like Omar Khadr is just a victim.
Khadr is a grenade throwing, bomb making killer victim. This is the line they will use to set him loose, but it gets worse. The same line will be used to give him a great big tax payer cheque. Betraying your country, killing our allies, possibly killing our own troops with road side bombs, can win you the lottery in this country.
Good people can toil away their whole lives and not win as big as the left wants Khadr to win. It makes me want to find Galt's Gulch. I love myself too much to try and impose justice on this scum bag but I can't pay taxes to Omar Khadr. I can't.
I just came home from Texas yesterday. Believe it or not the subject of Omar Khadr happened to come up during my trip. They had never heard of him but they spied something on my desktop that prompted them to ask "who's Omar Khadr?" When I finished telling them, they completely agreed with me. Every breath Khadr takes is stolen from the good people of the earth.
It makes me wonder at how easily the left dismisses Khadr's own victims and their families. Do they not matter because they are Americans maybe? You have to wonder. Perhaps the left thinks Americans had it coming? Don't be afraid to ask these questions. Goodness knows the enemy bigots will be calling us racists in short order.
I do realize that whatever happens the Khadr case is a political fork for the Conservatives. Politically we win, even if we lose. There is too much emotion bound up in this story. It's like the Long Gun Registry to the power of ten. It's sure to energize the base for decades and fuel the angst against a system of law that has totally lost sight of right and wrong.
It all keeps reminding me of a quote I saw on a t-shirt down in the Lone Star State.
"you may all go to hell and I will go to Texas" - Davy Crockett
It's too damn hot in Texas! Liberals and assorted leftards will not drive me out of the home I love. Should I just go back to sleep, forget politics and stay away from large crowds? No way. Canada and the good people in it are worth fighting for.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Obama the foreign policy genius
This week should completely and utterly dispel the media myth that Obama is some kind of foreign policy demi-god. The latest re-imagining of the Obama legend was that the US President has better foreign policy experience than Mitt Romney.
Sure. If you call experience at getting it wrong something to brag about, then Obama has loads of experience. Tons. By that rational he's the worlds greatest economist now too. -Just by being President. Why he even killed Osama Bin Laden with his own two hands. Biden was in the room man! They should give him all the Nobel Prizes next year.
After all that bowing and apologising to the middle east what hath Obama wrought? Chaos! Terrorism! Look at this map they showed on Fox earlier. It's a map of the unrest since September 11th 2012.
Genius. Pure genius.
The mindless and despicable media boosters conveniently overlook the serious implications of coordinated murderous terrorist attacks. Instead they repeat the thinly veiled propaganda that its all about some dumb video.
I haven't seen the video myself because from what I've heard it's a total waste of time. It could have been produced by high school kids. In actuality it was produced by an Egyptian accused of fraud and has a previous conviction of producing crystal meth.
The Obama administration's response to all this went something like:
"sorry. sorry. Sorry. Sorry! SORRY!"
Genius. YouTube has done a better job of explaining America to the rioting savages. America did not make any video but they apologized for it. An apology for something you didn't do is still a lie. Should the barbarians ever come to understand how this stupid video was allowed to be made, they will at once understand the craven cowards that now hold the US presidency.
Billy-Boy Clinton had his embassy attacked once by terrorists. His response was to lob some cruise missiles into the city. He killed some random people who likely had nothing to do with the bombing and let the whole thing fester. Eventually it all led to 9/11, and then back to this week again.
Good thing Hillary is on it. The savages chant: "Mon-i-ca! Mon-i-ca!" when she comes around.
What a crack foreign policy team they have there. That video was from July of this year. Obama is going to need a lot of missiles.
I'm sure this is all just part of the 8 year plan. There weren't enough apologies. The bows weren't solemn and deep enough. Obama was just getting to part where he kisses the feet or Arab leaders and wears a special presidential shoe-hat. That is when the Muslim world will finally show some respect and decency to America. Just give him more time.
US foreign policy just appears to be in shambles. The US economy just appears to be a total disaster. He isn't finished yet. Just get wasted and cast your ballot for team Obama and you wont feel a thing.
Sure. If you call experience at getting it wrong something to brag about, then Obama has loads of experience. Tons. By that rational he's the worlds greatest economist now too. -Just by being President. Why he even killed Osama Bin Laden with his own two hands. Biden was in the room man! They should give him all the Nobel Prizes next year.
After all that bowing and apologising to the middle east what hath Obama wrought? Chaos! Terrorism! Look at this map they showed on Fox earlier. It's a map of the unrest since September 11th 2012.
The mindless and despicable media boosters conveniently overlook the serious implications of coordinated murderous terrorist attacks. Instead they repeat the thinly veiled propaganda that its all about some dumb video.
I haven't seen the video myself because from what I've heard it's a total waste of time. It could have been produced by high school kids. In actuality it was produced by an Egyptian accused of fraud and has a previous conviction of producing crystal meth.
The Obama administration's response to all this went something like:
"sorry. sorry. Sorry. Sorry! SORRY!"
Genius. YouTube has done a better job of explaining America to the rioting savages. America did not make any video but they apologized for it. An apology for something you didn't do is still a lie. Should the barbarians ever come to understand how this stupid video was allowed to be made, they will at once understand the craven cowards that now hold the US presidency.
Billy-Boy Clinton had his embassy attacked once by terrorists. His response was to lob some cruise missiles into the city. He killed some random people who likely had nothing to do with the bombing and let the whole thing fester. Eventually it all led to 9/11, and then back to this week again.
Good thing Hillary is on it. The savages chant: "Mon-i-ca! Mon-i-ca!" when she comes around.
What a crack foreign policy team they have there. That video was from July of this year. Obama is going to need a lot of missiles.
I'm sure this is all just part of the 8 year plan. There weren't enough apologies. The bows weren't solemn and deep enough. Obama was just getting to part where he kisses the feet or Arab leaders and wears a special presidential shoe-hat. That is when the Muslim world will finally show some respect and decency to America. Just give him more time.
US foreign policy just appears to be in shambles. The US economy just appears to be a total disaster. He isn't finished yet. Just get wasted and cast your ballot for team Obama and you wont feel a thing.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Happy to be Canadian
I have to say thank you to the Harper Government. Thank you to all the Conservative Ministers and Members of Parliament. You make me glad, relieved really, to be so privileged as to hold a Canadian Citizenship.
Thank you.
Thank you especially to Jason Kenny, Minister for Citizenship and Immigration. Jason Kenny first got my attention for amending immigration materials to include expectations of tolerance in our society. More recently, thank you for cancelling fraudulent citizenships for people who wish to abuse our privileges without committing to our society. Well done.
Thank you of course to Stephen Harper, our Prime Minister. These happy years of steady leadership have been a blessing and a boon to all Canadians. I'm not surprised he has been named "Statesman Of The Year." I have long regarded Stephen Harper as best Prime Minister in many decades, possibly the best in a century. We have not only weathered this economy, we have thrived in it.
We notice how responsible and prudent the Harper Government has been.
Take the closing for relations between Canada and Iran? Talk about proactive. After the US Ambassadors murder and the storming of 2 US Embassies, on September 11th no less, the prudence of the Harper Government is clear.
Now take this private members bill C-377. It makes Unions divulge their spending details. Sounds innocent enough but it seems to have kicked up a hornet's nest with the Unions. A great teacher of mine used to say: "a guilty conscience pricks the mind." How true. This innocent bill now seems essential. May nothing stand in the way of its careful passing. I'd like to know what is so important to hide? Please include appropriate penalties for fraud or evading the new law.
Perhaps it will clear the way for optional union membership one day? This is what real 'Hope' looks like. Hope for continual improvement of the country, even hope for better unions. Who could argue that a union made of involuntary members would be as good to it's members as one where members could leave? Heck I'd like to see unions compete for members.
We only have to look south to see how lucky we are here; though we could look anywhere. We are so lucky to have the responsible Harper Government manage the care and conservation of this great country.
Thank you all. I sleep soundly as the storm rages.
Thank you.
Thank you especially to Jason Kenny, Minister for Citizenship and Immigration. Jason Kenny first got my attention for amending immigration materials to include expectations of tolerance in our society. More recently, thank you for cancelling fraudulent citizenships for people who wish to abuse our privileges without committing to our society. Well done.
Thank you of course to Stephen Harper, our Prime Minister. These happy years of steady leadership have been a blessing and a boon to all Canadians. I'm not surprised he has been named "Statesman Of The Year." I have long regarded Stephen Harper as best Prime Minister in many decades, possibly the best in a century. We have not only weathered this economy, we have thrived in it.
We notice how responsible and prudent the Harper Government has been.
Take the closing for relations between Canada and Iran? Talk about proactive. After the US Ambassadors murder and the storming of 2 US Embassies, on September 11th no less, the prudence of the Harper Government is clear.
Now take this private members bill C-377. It makes Unions divulge their spending details. Sounds innocent enough but it seems to have kicked up a hornet's nest with the Unions. A great teacher of mine used to say: "a guilty conscience pricks the mind." How true. This innocent bill now seems essential. May nothing stand in the way of its careful passing. I'd like to know what is so important to hide? Please include appropriate penalties for fraud or evading the new law.
Perhaps it will clear the way for optional union membership one day? This is what real 'Hope' looks like. Hope for continual improvement of the country, even hope for better unions. Who could argue that a union made of involuntary members would be as good to it's members as one where members could leave? Heck I'd like to see unions compete for members.
We only have to look south to see how lucky we are here; though we could look anywhere. We are so lucky to have the responsible Harper Government manage the care and conservation of this great country.
Thank you all. I sleep soundly as the storm rages.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Why the Bank of Canada Cares if Corporations are Hoarding Cash
The first time Mark Carney advised cash heavy Canadian corporations to release more of their reserves conservative bloggers and mainstream pundits roundly criticized him.
The tone was one of indignation. ‘How dare a central banker give advice to private business,’ at length they all had to say. Maybe it was a reaction to the MSM framing the advice as an admonishment to business. It certainly wasn’t an order. The BOC has no authority to give such orders.
When the punditocracy over reacted to the perceived chiding they missed the real story. This is the reason the BOC was out there giving that same advice again yesterday.
The question nobody is asking is why are corporations hanging onto cash? Why would you build up a store of cash or a store of anything?
This isn’t rocket science. People, corporations, governments, and ant colonies, hoard resources when they expect scarcity in the future. Our corporations are half expecting cash to be scarce. That is to say they are afraid of the uncertain world economy. They aren’t sure if the money they have now is the only money they will ever see.
I watched one of those faux debates about this on Lang and O’Leary. Amanda Lang actually suggested that the government should force corporations to raise wages if they hoard cash. All O’Leary could say was “don’t even try Amanda don’t even try”. What O’Leary should have tried to say was that forcing corporations to spend money against their own interest is exactly what they are so afraid of. Imagine Mulcair or some other well meaning idiot tried to legislate Lang’s idea? Forget hiring new people they can’t afford. Forget re-investing in their business for fear of being short come payroll. This kind of thinking sends a chill through the economy as people and business hunker down to wait out the storm. -or die in it.
I said corporations are holding onto cash couple of weeks ago myself. (before Mark Carney I might add. I’m not always right, but I like to be right) I did no research. All I had to go on were my own instincts. You may scoff at that, but instincts can be entirely rational. Fear of economic uncertainty is entirely rational so long as Barack Obama remains president.
Obama is an unfolding disaster. Only a Marxist could spend a trillion dollars with nothing to show it but bankrupt solar companies and half a pipeline. He’s scorned his allies and encouraged America’s adversaries (not his personal adversaries, Putin endorsed Obama… and Assad).
Fear is pervasive in the business community. If you want to know what uncertainty looks like, watch this video of Obama.
Inspires confidence doesn’t he?
Europe is in trouble but I believe their days of stupidity are behind them at least. It’s all about consequences for them now. Surely Americans will see the folly in following Obama down that hard cul de sac road.
Obama is a disaster for America, for Canada and for the entire world. The economy really does pivot entirely on the November election. Democrats are running on a “hard road” of lowered expectations through a “great recession” which I’m sure they will deliver if they are allowed.
Republicans will have a Romney boom that you can take to the bank. The Republican White House will be rational rather than ideological for once. They will not spend money on mystical environmental wishes nor will they block private money from being spent for practical purpose. They will not pass thousands of pages of sweeping transformative and encroaching legislation that includes the highest tax hike on the middle class ever. Their focus will be the economy first and foremost as it is here in Canada with its quantifiable successes. Investors will have the confidence to invest and away we go. Happy days for all.
So we have before us two vastly different futures. A continued Obama presidency where he has the “flexibility” to create a community organizer's paradise is one where corporations will need to hoard and hide every dollar from the government. Obama is an existensial threat to business.
A Romney government will produce the opposite.
This is what the Bank of Canada governor is really concerned about. Everybody has a pile of money waiting for Obama’s exit. If he does indeed exit, all that money, all that stimulus and quantitative easing will hit the street at the same time. It’s common knowledge what happens then: inflation.
Suddenly money is everywhere and everyone is spending it. All manner of goods become scarce and the price goes up. Inflation is a problem currently, so imagine how it would be if the US got out of its socialist slump? The Fed and the BOC would have no choice but to start destroying all the money they printed. The only way to do that is to raise interest rates or see the currency lose much of its value. Econ101.
Carney thinks Obama is hooped and so do I. He’s right to encourage businesses to invest while the currency still has the power it does. Money won’t be so cheap when things get better. I think they even understand this but aren’t so sure. Democracy is funny sometimes. -Dangerous other times. I can count 2 provincial elections so far that should have been a sweep for the opposition but somehow they weren’t. Wasteful, corrupt lying crooks have managed to hold onto Ontario and Alberta when by all rational assessments they really should not have.
So hold your money if you want to be safe from Obama. Risk it if you want to win with Romney. Freedom is your ability to choose your own path based on your own perception of the future and the environment. It is not freedom from good advice. My advice would be to support Mitt Romney any way you can.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Quebec Election ends with Terrorism
1 person has been murdered at the PQ election celebration. That makes it terrorism. Its not just a crime, its a politically motivated crime.
It was a shocker. "What happened! Where did she go?"
A politician doesnt skip the moment of glory. It must have been a security problem. Marois was there ranting about separation and then she was gone.
The news kept getting worse after that.
First the crowd was told someone fired some blanks. A lie to keep order. You can't yell fire in crowded theatre. I guess you can't yell fire in burning theatre either.
Later we found out about the fire the terrorist had set and the person he shot.
Very sad. A terrible start to a divisive and confrontational minority government.
Then there is the quote picked up by the french CBC. "The english are rising" he is thought to have shouted.
I have my doubts. It doesnt smell right.
I've never heard of militant anglos before. It seems to me that vastly outnumbered people would side with the rule of law. What exactly would armed rebellion accomplish?
No rational person would do something like this. Remember this is the same city that gave us the Luca Magnotta horror. He made some grusome political statements as well.
A person could be both insane and politically active. Think of Charlie Manson. Manson went around killing white people to provoke a race war.
Could the PQ shooter be a looney separatist looking to instigate a retaliation worthy of the FLQ?
Some would hope.
It was a shocker. "What happened! Where did she go?"
A politician doesnt skip the moment of glory. It must have been a security problem. Marois was there ranting about separation and then she was gone.
The news kept getting worse after that.
First the crowd was told someone fired some blanks. A lie to keep order. You can't yell fire in crowded theatre. I guess you can't yell fire in burning theatre either.
Later we found out about the fire the terrorist had set and the person he shot.
Very sad. A terrible start to a divisive and confrontational minority government.
Then there is the quote picked up by the french CBC. "The english are rising" he is thought to have shouted.
I have my doubts. It doesnt smell right.
I've never heard of militant anglos before. It seems to me that vastly outnumbered people would side with the rule of law. What exactly would armed rebellion accomplish?
No rational person would do something like this. Remember this is the same city that gave us the Luca Magnotta horror. He made some grusome political statements as well.
A person could be both insane and politically active. Think of Charlie Manson. Manson went around killing white people to provoke a race war.
Could the PQ shooter be a looney separatist looking to instigate a retaliation worthy of the FLQ?
Some would hope.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Is Obama Planning to Betray his Environmental Base over Keystone XL?
You can’t trust a turncoat.
Even if they betray their own team to help yours, their loyalty will
always be suspect. The traitor can be
redeemed of course, but not with a continuing pattern of betrayal. The Obama administration has shown a pattern
of treachery that has every indication of extending to the Keystone XL
controversy.
Dealing with Obama’s America is treacherous indeed. For better or worse Mubarak’s Egypt was a US
ally that was summarily cashed in. Same
thing with Gaddafi in Libya. Contrast
this with Russia’s
embarrassing loyalty to the murderous Assad regime in Syria.
The rightness or wrongness of those decisions continues
to evolve, but the fact remains that the Obama Administration does not
place a high value on loyalty.
America’s closer allies like Israel
and the United
Kingdom have been publicly snubbed as well. Nevermind little Mexico who gets to deal with Obama's administration supplying assault weapons to drug cartels.
If the United Kingdom is America’s brother, then Canada is America’s wife. How does the Obama administration treat its wife then? The decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline is a backhand smack across the face.
If the United Kingdom is America’s brother, then Canada is America’s wife. How does the Obama administration treat its wife then? The decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline is a backhand smack across the face.
We know they need it.
They know we want to give it to them.
No Brainer. Instead we get the
ultimate expression of ‘spite your face’ politics. Economically speaking, environmentalists would cut off their nose
to spite their face. This is exactly
what the Obama administration did when vetoing the Keystone XL pipeline not
just once but twice.
There is no question that these decisions were forced by the
powerful environmental lobby. The
façade of environmental concern is completely misleading. Endangering the Ogallala aquifer is the excuse for the rejection . Nebraska’s Ogalalla aquifer is not only criss-crossed
by thousands of kilometres of pipelines already, it has oil and gas wells
that drilled
right though the Ogallala to get to the zones below (and fracture them). None of this was a concern before and it’s
not a concern now except in the case of Keystone.
Bull. The excuse is
bull. The eco-nuts threatened to pull
their ground game for Obama for the next election. Obama needs them, but just until after November.
The only reason environmentalists want to stop the pipeline
is to stop the oil sands and inhibit any devolvement of oil
infrastructure. CO2 from oil is the root of all evil in their earth religion. For this reason alone
were they able to bend a sympathetic Obama to their destructive policies and
cancel the Keystone XL.
Quietly we hear that it’s only temporary. The Keystone pipeline is only delayed until
after the election. Obama even approved
the construction of a portion of the Keystone XL pipeline. (A pipeline to nowhere?)
Obama is going to approve the Keystone XL after the
election. Why after the
election? Approving the pipeline
after the election allows Obama to mobilize and use the environmental stooges
that make up his base. After the
election he can just betray them, or betray the unionized pipeline
workers. We can't be certian what he'll actually do but we can be sure he's lying to at least one of his special interest groups.
Presidents are limited to 2 terms only. Obama won’t be facing the voters again. He just has to make it through this election
and he can do whatever he wants. He can
betray anyone he wants. He’ll say
anything to win the election.
It isn’t the first time he has said as much. When speaking to then Russian President
Medvedev, Obama
said into a hot mike:
Obama: "This is my last election ... After my
election I have more flexibility,"
Medvedev: "I will transmit this information to
Vladimir."
They were talking about missile defence. Obama is planning to betray another ally,
likely Poland.
American’s would do well to skip the Obama ambiguity and
just go with Mitt Romney. Mitt
Romney said he would approve Keystone on “Day One.” On Keystone XL he also
said "I will build that
pipeline if I have to myself." It’s a pretty stark contrast to Obama.
Obama is a treacherous liar. It looks as though he will betray his own base of
environmentalists after the election.
You can’t really be sure though.
The Obama administration encouraged rumours that it will in fact approve
the Keystone XL. What reason is there to believe him? It only demonstrates what little respect he has for his base of eco-nuts. Are they not paying attention? (wow they are soooo intelligent)
American's should fire this liar. Mitt Romney is the guy they can count on.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Romney/Ryan Energy Independence Plan Quotes HMPM Stephen Harper
Today the Romney Campaign released a major campaign plank for their election to the Office of President of the United States, which includes several quotes from our Prime Minister the Right Honourable Stephen Harper.
This is international cooperation with close regional allies to promote economic development within the relative economic safety of North America for the benefit of all participants. Is this easy or what? It’s so easy when the only agenda is the welfare of the citizenry.
This one policy plank alone is enough to win the election. It makes so much sense. Even the losers win. Everyone wins when the economy is free to grow. Everyone wins when people are free to grow and prosper and improve their lives and the lives of others.
Obama’s response to his purposeful increase in energy prices? -Tap the Strategic Oil Reserve...again. Unbelievable. Just incredible. I’m going to stay away from the whys and wherefores of Obama’s disastrous energy policies. Suffice it to say that at the very least President Obama is grossly ill equipped and woefully incompetent to lead the free world.
It’s never that simple though is it? Do you suppose it’s just a case of Forest Gump accidentally landing in the Oval Office?
The Prime Minister made an excellent move calling the Keystone XL a “no brainer.” In a world of lies the truth is a potent tool. Ezra Levant can also feel ebullient since the core essence of the “Ethical Oil” argument is also contained in the passage above. Sound logic and potent truth: deadly.
Sun News can also take pride in providing another quote from HMPM Stephen Harper. They do so alongside the company of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Department of Energy and so on.
Read the whole thing right here. It’s important. I have only just scanned it myself. Every wonk and politico in the hemisphere will be all over it before long. Google has almost 4000 news articles at the time I write this already. Enjoy!Energy Policy White Paper 8.23
“As Canadian Prime Minister Harper notes, fostering a greater North American energy partnership that replaces OPEC imports with stable supply from secure sources at discounted prices should be a “no brainer.” And Mexico is now displaying a renewed interest in collaborating with outside partners to increase development of its own plentiful resources. By collaborating with these countries on energy development, America can guarantee itself a reliable and affordable supply of energy while also opening up new opportunities for American businesses and workers in the region.” (pg. 12)
This is international cooperation with close regional allies to promote economic development within the relative economic safety of North America for the benefit of all participants. Is this easy or what? It’s so easy when the only agenda is the welfare of the citizenry.
This one policy plank alone is enough to win the election. It makes so much sense. Even the losers win. Everyone wins when the economy is free to grow. Everyone wins when people are free to grow and prosper and improve their lives and the lives of others.
Obama’s response to his purposeful increase in energy prices? -Tap the Strategic Oil Reserve...again. Unbelievable. Just incredible. I’m going to stay away from the whys and wherefores of Obama’s disastrous energy policies. Suffice it to say that at the very least President Obama is grossly ill equipped and woefully incompetent to lead the free world.
It’s never that simple though is it? Do you suppose it’s just a case of Forest Gump accidentally landing in the Oval Office?
The Prime Minister made an excellent move calling the Keystone XL a “no brainer.” In a world of lies the truth is a potent tool. Ezra Levant can also feel ebullient since the core essence of the “Ethical Oil” argument is also contained in the passage above. Sound logic and potent truth: deadly.
Sun News can also take pride in providing another quote from HMPM Stephen Harper. They do so alongside the company of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Department of Energy and so on.
Canadian PM Harper: “Look, the very fact that a 'no' could even be said underscores to our country that we must diversify our energy export markets…We cannot be, as a country, in a situation where our one and, in many cases, only energy partner could say no to our energy products. We just cannot be in that position.” (Bryn Weese, “Harper Determined To Get Canadian Oil To Asia,” Sun News, 4/3/12)
Read the whole thing right here. It’s important. I have only just scanned it myself. Every wonk and politico in the hemisphere will be all over it before long. Google has almost 4000 news articles at the time I write this already. Enjoy!Energy Policy White Paper 8.23
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Shook Hands with Rob Ford
I shook hands with Toronto Mayor Rob Ford today.
He was on the sidelines with his Argos which is my side of the stadium. The sunny side.
There he was just walking by and I was the only person to recognize him.
"Hey Rob!" I shouted and he heard me right away. He had to shake hands with security on the way over but he came right up to me eventally.
"I'm a big fan buddy" I said smiling in full Stampeders gameday dress. He shook my hand and pulled out a Rob Ford fridge magnet from his breast pocket. It looked like his last one, and gave it too me.
Cool, I thought. Totally unexpected. There is a special place in my heart for the heroes that succeed in leftard strongholds.
That was when the fun began.
A lefty in the crowd noticed the happy encounter and could not let it stand. Ford was mercifully out of earshot when the fat slurs started. Rob Ford being "a big fat fatty" as Glenn would say, and the mayor of the enemy city team at a football game, I paid it no mind. All in good fun.
Ford came back though and the fat insults started again. Mean ones.
"I love you Rob!" I shouted as an offset. That was when the gay insults started being directed at me.
Good, I thought. This is the left. This is what Andrew Breitbart told us about. Hypocrites and cheaters and cowards. I show love. They show their hypocritical homophobic hate.
Rob came back again and the fat abuse started up right on que. I turned around and lo this leftard a-hole is fatter than I am. That is pretty fat.
"You are pretty fat yourself!" I said, still smiling.
"That was uncalled for!" He faked indignation.
"Do you hate fat people?" I asked rhetorically. There were a lot of fat people around. Heck some of the best line backers on the feild are big fat fatties.
"No No its beautiful," he retreated further.
"Exactly," I ageed victorious. Big fat fatty leftard hater backed down exactly as I knew he would. Not another peep emanated from the man.
There is something about the left I can't tell you. You have to work it out for yourself. If you know the left, then you know. If you don't, then only the way for you to understand is to hear the voice in your mind come to its own conclusion upon observing the unspun facts.
I strongly suggest Andrew Breitbart's final book "Righteous Indignation" to help you find your way.
My Stamps lost in the end, but it was still fun. Good day.
He was on the sidelines with his Argos which is my side of the stadium. The sunny side.
There he was just walking by and I was the only person to recognize him.
"Hey Rob!" I shouted and he heard me right away. He had to shake hands with security on the way over but he came right up to me eventally.
"I'm a big fan buddy" I said smiling in full Stampeders gameday dress. He shook my hand and pulled out a Rob Ford fridge magnet from his breast pocket. It looked like his last one, and gave it too me.
Cool, I thought. Totally unexpected. There is a special place in my heart for the heroes that succeed in leftard strongholds.
That was when the fun began.
A lefty in the crowd noticed the happy encounter and could not let it stand. Ford was mercifully out of earshot when the fat slurs started. Rob Ford being "a big fat fatty" as Glenn would say, and the mayor of the enemy city team at a football game, I paid it no mind. All in good fun.
Ford came back though and the fat insults started again. Mean ones.
"I love you Rob!" I shouted as an offset. That was when the gay insults started being directed at me.
Good, I thought. This is the left. This is what Andrew Breitbart told us about. Hypocrites and cheaters and cowards. I show love. They show their hypocritical homophobic hate.
Rob came back again and the fat abuse started up right on que. I turned around and lo this leftard a-hole is fatter than I am. That is pretty fat.
"You are pretty fat yourself!" I said, still smiling.
"That was uncalled for!" He faked indignation.
"Do you hate fat people?" I asked rhetorically. There were a lot of fat people around. Heck some of the best line backers on the feild are big fat fatties.
"No No its beautiful," he retreated further.
"Exactly," I ageed victorious. Big fat fatty leftard hater backed down exactly as I knew he would. Not another peep emanated from the man.
There is something about the left I can't tell you. You have to work it out for yourself. If you know the left, then you know. If you don't, then only the way for you to understand is to hear the voice in your mind come to its own conclusion upon observing the unspun facts.
I strongly suggest Andrew Breitbart's final book "Righteous Indignation" to help you find your way.
My Stamps lost in the end, but it was still fun. Good day.
Anticipating the next round of Presidential debates
You know what? I'm really looking forward to the US Presidential debates.
The GOP primary debates were fantastic. Now we have some very important debates coming up this fall. Here's the schedule.
Romney was never my first pick. He wasn't my second, third or fourth pick for presidential candidate, but he wasn't my last pick either.
I'm sure anyone who followed the GOP primary had a sinking feeling that Romney would be the GOP nominee in the end. Looking back at all the other candidates and considering the very high stakes involved in this next US election, I can't imagine anyone else leading the GOP into the White House.
I do think the GOP establishment got the message however. -Loud and clear. Bigger government is off the agenda. Paul Ryan is a Tea Party type and Romney's running mate (if you haven't heard and heard and heard).
Somehow I unconsciously expected a progressive imbecile to run with Romney for President and his Vice President. Its nearly become a tradition for Americans. Biden, Cheney, Gore, Quayle... all the VP's I can remember living through have been imbeciles. It's almost like an insurance policy against assassination. I'm sure the left fantasized about that right up until they realized assassinating GW Bush would have created a President Cheney.*
I'm thinking the VP debate, Biden vs. Ryan, is going to be amazing. Ryan has been making excellent speeches about small government and the economy. Biden has told a crowd of dummies that Republicans are going to "put y'all back in chains!" Haha! This is going to be high comedy. October 11th, 9pm eastern, don't miss it.
I'll be on the edge of my seat through them all of course. The one I'm really waiting for is going to be the VP debate. I bet ya Biden will skip out on it.
President Hope&Change has to go. A prosperous near term future for Americans and Canadians alike hangs in the balance. The entire world economy hangs in the balance. Sure we can get by without them Americans, but imagine where we can get together with them? A Romney win will produce an economic boom. The Romney-boom. Money would flow and multiply like a vast sigh of relief from all the places it has gone to hide from Obama and his pack of ideologically insane thieves. Good times are just around the corner. I can feel it. Romney's "Day One" will see to that. I'm confident that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will put them back on track and we will all benefit from it.
*I hope the Secret Service is on its toes. Anyone who would consider assassination as a political option would not hesitate to sacrifice one of their own... giving us President Biden. God save Obama!
The GOP primary debates were fantastic. Now we have some very important debates coming up this fall. Here's the schedule.
Romney was never my first pick. He wasn't my second, third or fourth pick for presidential candidate, but he wasn't my last pick either.
I'm sure anyone who followed the GOP primary had a sinking feeling that Romney would be the GOP nominee in the end. Looking back at all the other candidates and considering the very high stakes involved in this next US election, I can't imagine anyone else leading the GOP into the White House.
I do think the GOP establishment got the message however. -Loud and clear. Bigger government is off the agenda. Paul Ryan is a Tea Party type and Romney's running mate (if you haven't heard and heard and heard).
Somehow I unconsciously expected a progressive imbecile to run with Romney for President and his Vice President. Its nearly become a tradition for Americans. Biden, Cheney, Gore, Quayle... all the VP's I can remember living through have been imbeciles. It's almost like an insurance policy against assassination. I'm sure the left fantasized about that right up until they realized assassinating GW Bush would have created a President Cheney.*
I'm thinking the VP debate, Biden vs. Ryan, is going to be amazing. Ryan has been making excellent speeches about small government and the economy. Biden has told a crowd of dummies that Republicans are going to "put y'all back in chains!" Haha! This is going to be high comedy. October 11th, 9pm eastern, don't miss it.
I'll be on the edge of my seat through them all of course. The one I'm really waiting for is going to be the VP debate. I bet ya Biden will skip out on it.
President Hope&Change has to go. A prosperous near term future for Americans and Canadians alike hangs in the balance. The entire world economy hangs in the balance. Sure we can get by without them Americans, but imagine where we can get together with them? A Romney win will produce an economic boom. The Romney-boom. Money would flow and multiply like a vast sigh of relief from all the places it has gone to hide from Obama and his pack of ideologically insane thieves. Good times are just around the corner. I can feel it. Romney's "Day One" will see to that. I'm confident that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will put them back on track and we will all benefit from it.
*I hope the Secret Service is on its toes. Anyone who would consider assassination as a political option would not hesitate to sacrifice one of their own... giving us President Biden. God save Obama!
Saturday, July 28, 2012
The Council of the United Federation of Planets
I happened to catch the "Council of the Federation" giving their group statement yesterday. What a steaming pile of verbalized turds that was. We have a Confederation, I thought. (council of confederates? haha)
When the "Preems" get together and call it the "Council of the Federation", you know they want to be taken more seriously. Didn't really work. If they are making up titles they should have just gone all out and included the planets too. The Council of the United Federation of Planets.
How grand! How progressive. How does anyone stand these people? (Brad Wall being the exception)
Christy Clark was the big deal this time. Its going to be her way or the railway. The railway being the default alternative to move oil out of Alberta. While rails are extremely safe, I have to laugh at the irony that pipeline safety is the excuse for forcing oil to use less safe means of travel. (pipes don't have as many moving parts, are not as exposed to traffic, random weather events or sabotage, and even use less energy as other means of transport).
Everyone sees through it, even the other progs.
Nobody seems to notice that its game over for the Gateway pipeline. All of the BC parties, even the BC Conservatives have basically the same position. Everyone expects the Liberals to lose the next election but have you noticed who is expected to win? The BC NDP doesn't even want to negotiate about a pipeline.
I know Confederation. If BC doesn't want it in BC, good luck. I'm not comforted by the law. The law is for suckers. Sorry. I know how important the rule of law is to conservatives, but I'm not talking about how things should be here. There is no rule of law when the law can be bent to the short term will of progressives lawmakers. They call it progress and beam about it.
I don't doubt that Clark is doing this for pure political gain, but think about what that really means. Every party in BC has realized something important about the people of BC. I suspect their internal polling is telling them all that the pipeline is a political bomb. -almost like Obama with Keystone. A no-brainer with no brain brave enough to try and calm their fears.
Then there is the inevitable and odious pronouncement of complete success that comes with every political meeting. While I do admit that it was impressive to see every province lined up behind Alberta, (even the retards! -McGuinty, Charest) how can it possibly be called a success? Consider the exact opposite of what actually went on. Lets say only Clark and Redford saw eye to eye on the pipeline. Just for the sake of argument. Brad Wall is the only leader in the lot, but lets just imagine that's how it went. Well, the Gateway pipeline would still be game on! Every stuffed shirt east of the 2nd meridian could be dead set against the Gateway pipeline, but if only BC were on board this country would be go for launch.
For a blog who's raison d'être is all about calling out the political bull crap, I still wish it wasn't such a target rich environment. The Council of the Federation (of planets) is the biggest pile of crap since the UN itself.
When the "Preems" get together and call it the "Council of the Federation", you know they want to be taken more seriously. Didn't really work. If they are making up titles they should have just gone all out and included the planets too. The Council of the United Federation of Planets.
How grand! How progressive. How does anyone stand these people? (Brad Wall being the exception)
Christy Clark was the big deal this time. Its going to be her way or the railway. The railway being the default alternative to move oil out of Alberta. While rails are extremely safe, I have to laugh at the irony that pipeline safety is the excuse for forcing oil to use less safe means of travel. (pipes don't have as many moving parts, are not as exposed to traffic, random weather events or sabotage, and even use less energy as other means of transport).
Everyone sees through it, even the other progs.
Nobody seems to notice that its game over for the Gateway pipeline. All of the BC parties, even the BC Conservatives have basically the same position. Everyone expects the Liberals to lose the next election but have you noticed who is expected to win? The BC NDP doesn't even want to negotiate about a pipeline.
I know Confederation. If BC doesn't want it in BC, good luck. I'm not comforted by the law. The law is for suckers. Sorry. I know how important the rule of law is to conservatives, but I'm not talking about how things should be here. There is no rule of law when the law can be bent to the short term will of progressives lawmakers. They call it progress and beam about it.
I don't doubt that Clark is doing this for pure political gain, but think about what that really means. Every party in BC has realized something important about the people of BC. I suspect their internal polling is telling them all that the pipeline is a political bomb. -almost like Obama with Keystone. A no-brainer with no brain brave enough to try and calm their fears.
Then there is the inevitable and odious pronouncement of complete success that comes with every political meeting. While I do admit that it was impressive to see every province lined up behind Alberta, (even the retards! -McGuinty, Charest) how can it possibly be called a success? Consider the exact opposite of what actually went on. Lets say only Clark and Redford saw eye to eye on the pipeline. Just for the sake of argument. Brad Wall is the only leader in the lot, but lets just imagine that's how it went. Well, the Gateway pipeline would still be game on! Every stuffed shirt east of the 2nd meridian could be dead set against the Gateway pipeline, but if only BC were on board this country would be go for launch.
For a blog who's raison d'être is all about calling out the political bull crap, I still wish it wasn't such a target rich environment. The Council of the Federation (of planets) is the biggest pile of crap since the UN itself.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Wildrose is Gay
So?
The brilliant Andrew Breitbart asked this very obvious question and Wildrosers should think about it.
Rick “scribbler” Bell had an interesting scoop the other day on Daniel Smith’s interview with a lesbian group. (here is her response) Apparently it seemed like she committed the party to the very sex change funding we have right now. –Funding that was canceled by the Progs and then reinstated to presumably draw the ire of homophobes.
The troubling news is that the PCs believe their own propaganda. You can’t make good decisions if your model of the world is flawed. The progs will find themselves surprised again and again. I’ll expand on this another time, though the day will come when PC delusions come due with interest.
But today I’m talking about the Wildrose Party. Today I’m soul searching. See I’m a believer in Democracy. The people are always right. As terrible as Obama is, Americans could not rightly reward the incompetence of the Bush administration. I wouldn’t have. So why was the corruption and incompetence of the Alberta PC party rewarded?
One reason was the old fears brought to light by a Christian preacher’s old blog. You remember the “lake of fire” hoopla I’m sure. I didn’t care. Surprise, a priest believes in his religion. -But it did give credence to the old lies about the right. We’re all Nazis didn’t you know.
So is this what the Wildrose is? Am I the one with the flawed world view? Have I believed my own propaganda? Have I hitched my wagon to a Nazi train? This is the question the electorate has asked us Wildrosers.
No! The answer is no. -Emphatically no. -Obviously no. -At least for my part. I can’t be a party to anything that would make the answer to any of the above questions a yes.
I’m an Atheist. Outnumbered by even Gay believers (I think). Atheist conservatives are a super-minority; a minority of a minority. I’m not interested in oppressing anyone. The way leftist Atheists behave, we’ve got some oppression coming to us. Force belief on someone else and you open the door to some belief being forced on you. If you don’t own your own mind, what can you own?
So when a preacher preaches about something that has no bearing on the here and now. So? What of it? It’s like he’s gay. Your sexual preference has no bearing either. Government is about the here and now and about the future in the real world. Sex and the afterlife have as much to do with good policy and good government as the colour of my socks.
Let me say this then: Wildrose is Gay. We’ve got a pretty pink flower as our symbol. So? Problem? We talk the talk. If we don’t walk the walk, that in a nutshell is the idea of the hidden agenda slur. Do not tolerate these insults.
We are here to free the markets. We are here to unleash the creative spirit that is a benefit to all mankind. We are here to give each individual their own life and destiny back to them. That is what Wildrose is and it includes all sexual orientations and all belief systems.
Bigots and liars who say otherwise be damned –in the here and now.
note: I'm strait. I may have made it ambiguous but again it doesn't matter unless we are talking about sex now does it?
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Hail to the National Energy Strategy*
Hail to the National Energy Strategy! Nobody is sure what it is, even today, but its such a slogan.
These damned Progressives and their nonsense jargon language are repulsive. They have perfected the art of sounding intelligent, but only to clueless morons. An intelligent person either sees through this meaningless jabber, or if they're dishonest, goes along with it.
The National Energy Strategy eh? What strategy? Was Christy Clark's pipeline cash grab part of the grand strategy? I thought Clark and Redford were peas in a progressive pod? That's silly. Clark has even said that Redford is "silly."
Dalton blamed Alberta for Ontario's problems soon after the little sit down with Redford. Mulcair went even further and made it NDP policy to cure Alberta's wealth disease, and it took a week for Redford to respond. Now that is a National Energy Strategy.
How's the Keystone pipeline coming along? Exactly. This is so strategic I can't even understand how it looks just like another utter failure by the PC government. Have they been mentioning unsettled science?
The best thing Redford could say to this brazen cash grab is: "It's not how Canada has worked, it's not how Canada has succeeded and I'm disappointed to hear the comment."
Me, I'm just too cynical to believe any of it. Perhaps these two progs in a pod are just manufacturing some headlines for free publicity.
An honest Premier would call BCs bluff. This sort of politicking should be discouraged. It should have a cost associated with it.
Instead they will throw ridiculous statements at each other until after the BC election. Then the pipeline will go through and BC will get the spoon of sugar they were always going to get. Only this way Clarke and Redford will get to claim a victory of negotiation.
Maybe. Or maybe they are bumbling in the dark. No plan. No strategy. Just smart sounding buzzwords. They don't know what is going on.
I have a feeling Clark won't be there after the election. I think we should be looking at ways to make the BC government uncomfortable in its demands from the get-go. Daniel Smith would have been the better person for this and Albertans will know it before the next election. Incompetence and failure are the hallmarks of progressive politics.
*sarcasm in the extreme.
These damned Progressives and their nonsense jargon language are repulsive. They have perfected the art of sounding intelligent, but only to clueless morons. An intelligent person either sees through this meaningless jabber, or if they're dishonest, goes along with it.
The National Energy Strategy eh? What strategy? Was Christy Clark's pipeline cash grab part of the grand strategy? I thought Clark and Redford were peas in a progressive pod? That's silly. Clark has even said that Redford is "silly."
Dalton blamed Alberta for Ontario's problems soon after the little sit down with Redford. Mulcair went even further and made it NDP policy to cure Alberta's wealth disease, and it took a week for Redford to respond. Now that is a National Energy Strategy.
How's the Keystone pipeline coming along? Exactly. This is so strategic I can't even understand how it looks just like another utter failure by the PC government. Have they been mentioning unsettled science?
The best thing Redford could say to this brazen cash grab is: "It's not how Canada has worked, it's not how Canada has succeeded and I'm disappointed to hear the comment."
Me, I'm just too cynical to believe any of it. Perhaps these two progs in a pod are just manufacturing some headlines for free publicity.
An honest Premier would call BCs bluff. This sort of politicking should be discouraged. It should have a cost associated with it.
Instead they will throw ridiculous statements at each other until after the BC election. Then the pipeline will go through and BC will get the spoon of sugar they were always going to get. Only this way Clarke and Redford will get to claim a victory of negotiation.
Maybe. Or maybe they are bumbling in the dark. No plan. No strategy. Just smart sounding buzzwords. They don't know what is going on.
I have a feeling Clark won't be there after the election. I think we should be looking at ways to make the BC government uncomfortable in its demands from the get-go. Daniel Smith would have been the better person for this and Albertans will know it before the next election. Incompetence and failure are the hallmarks of progressive politics.
*sarcasm in the extreme.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Obama Supports Fracking?
Nope. It isn't because of the government roads and teachers that make Obama the only reason any business is done at all.
Here is what Obama had to say about fracking:
Interesting that the quote mentions shale oil too. There could be some formation that is actually viable but most of it isn't recoverable yet. Commercially recoverable shale oil would see the fact reflected in the markets.
The other mistake is to say that fracking only happens in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Every well is fracked. Every single one. Even old wells get serviced and stimulated with the latest technology. I've seen figures saying that 95% of wells are fracked today. I disagree but the disagreement only amounts to a difference in defining fracking. Fracking is any technique that fractures the rock around the well bore. Others may get more specific.
If you read my recent post about fracking you would be glad to see the left, at least the leadership, seems to have capitulated. The facts about fracking are overwhelming. To be against fracking is to be ignorant. This is an uncomfortable position for the left as they have spent large amounts of time casting themselves as smart or progressive and morally superior.
Its nice to see them retreat.
If you like winning arguments with leftards, fracking and drilling are some subjects you may really enjoy. All they know is what eco-nuts have told them: bullcrap. They are so convinced they can fit the entire universe into their tiny skulls that they will enter debates armed only with bullet points from an email newsletter. Annihilating these pretentious snowflakes with nothing but facts is a joy that keeps you smiling long after the encounter. Read up. Be ready for your moment of triumph.
Here is what Obama had to say about fracking:
“Natural gas actually burns cleaner than some other fossil fuels,” the Democratic incumbent said in reply to an audience question. “It’s an ideal energy source that we potentially could use for the next 100 years.via (h/t Fracknation)
“So I want to encourage natural gas production. The key is to make sure that we do it safely and in a way that is environmentally sound.”
The practice popularly called “fracking,” regionally concentrated so far in eastern Ohio and neighboring Pennsylvania, involves ground injections of chemically treated fluids at high pressure to fracture shale deposits and free oil and natural gas trapped inside.
“There are a lot of folks right now who are engaging in hydraulic fracturing who are doing it safely,” Mr. Obama said. “The problem is that we haven’t established clear guidelines of how to do it safely and to inform the public, so that neighbors know what’s going on. … Look, we are going to work with industry to establish best practices. We are going to invest in the basic research and science to make sure this is done safely and in a way that protects the public health.
Interesting that the quote mentions shale oil too. There could be some formation that is actually viable but most of it isn't recoverable yet. Commercially recoverable shale oil would see the fact reflected in the markets.
The other mistake is to say that fracking only happens in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Every well is fracked. Every single one. Even old wells get serviced and stimulated with the latest technology. I've seen figures saying that 95% of wells are fracked today. I disagree but the disagreement only amounts to a difference in defining fracking. Fracking is any technique that fractures the rock around the well bore. Others may get more specific.
If you read my recent post about fracking you would be glad to see the left, at least the leadership, seems to have capitulated. The facts about fracking are overwhelming. To be against fracking is to be ignorant. This is an uncomfortable position for the left as they have spent large amounts of time casting themselves as smart or progressive and morally superior.
Its nice to see them retreat.
If you like winning arguments with leftards, fracking and drilling are some subjects you may really enjoy. All they know is what eco-nuts have told them: bullcrap. They are so convinced they can fit the entire universe into their tiny skulls that they will enter debates armed only with bullet points from an email newsletter. Annihilating these pretentious snowflakes with nothing but facts is a joy that keeps you smiling long after the encounter. Read up. Be ready for your moment of triumph.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Ezra's Next Battle for Free Speech
I completely support Ezra Levant and Sun News Network. All Censors, Nanny Staters, Progressives and any other idiot leftist can "Chingua tu madre."
Truth is the ultimate irritant to progressives. They can't have it. Too bad for them.
Don't shut up Ezra. Keep it up. Make it even louder if you can.
Here is the email I wrote to the Prime Minister:
I'm only sorry I didn't chime in sooner. Now its your turn. pm@pm.gc.ca
Truth is the ultimate irritant to progressives. They can't have it. Too bad for them.
Don't shut up Ezra. Keep it up. Make it even louder if you can.
Here is the email I wrote to the Prime Minister:
Hello Prime Minister Stephen Harper:
Let me start by saying what an excellent job you and your government are doing. You are well on your way to becoming the best Prime Minister in Canadian history.
I was very impressed and deeply thankful when I heard that your government repealed Section 13 of the Human Rights Act. Its rare that any government in the world today moves to give more freedom to its citizens.
We Canadians can be the most free people on earth. Its in your power to make it so. Freedom is Canadian.
That is why I'm asking you to step in and repeal Section 5. (1)(b) and (c) of Broadcasting Regulations.
Small minded leftists abuse the spirit of these regulations to take freedoms from their opponents and mislead Canadians. I'm sure this was not the intent of the regulation and it should be struck down to avoid further abuse.
I know you are busy but these excessive powers have been abused for long enough.
Keep up the great work!
Alex
I'm only sorry I didn't chime in sooner. Now its your turn. pm@pm.gc.ca
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Don't count your wells before they are fracked
Isreal's new found shale oil reserves rival those of Saudi Arabia. Its Great news. The world needs shale oil. Wars have been fought over smaller oilfields in the area recently. Recovering these reserves would be an economic boost to Carbon poor Europe as well as a major geopolitical shift for the region.
Well not so fast. Reserves are not the same recoverable reserves and shale oil is not yet recoverable. Wikipoedia gives an authoritative account of how shale oil is produced but its misleading. There are also huge unrecoverable shale oil reserves in Montana and elswhere. These reserves are not new. Legend holds that Natives could actually light some these oil bearing rocks on fire.
Shale oil has become a hot topic lately because of the breakthroughs in shale gas recovery. There is an expectation that the fracturing or "fracking" technology that created the natural gas abundance will evolve to produce oil from shale.
I'm not so sure. Expectations of technological progress rarely pan out as predicted or hoped. The technological leap required to liberate oil from solid rock at depth is at least as large as the leap realized by shale gas fracking. Its not a safe bet, however anything can happen.
If the worlds markets were suddenly floating in a sea of shale oil, what would change?
A collapse in oil prices would be excellent for the greater world economy. Alison Redford's Vegas style spendthrift Alberta budget would implode like a collapsing star. The Oil Sands would take a temporary hit as well. A lot of capital projects may become obsolete.
I say temporary because while Oil Sands crude is more expensive to produce, its still going to be easier to get bitumen from sand, than to somehow sqeeze oil from tight shale. Technology to extract oil from shale is just going to make it that much easier to produce from the oil sands. Say goodbye to SAGD. Say hello to more competative drilling with a smaller footprint.
Imagine that. More wealth across the board and less intensive, less intrusive production all thanks to Capitalism. David Suzuki would cry in his organic latte.
This is why fracking has become the new eco-bogey man.
Global Warming hasn't panned out for the eco nuts. All the predictions over 30 years have been wrong. The current science has been watered down to the extent that it has proved the skeptics to be right all along. Just don't look for the career alarmists to say so.
Energy from shale gas is actually 50% cleaner than oil (if you fear the eco-bogey CO2). It is particulate free. Its cheap. Abundant. Widely distributed. You cook your dinner and heat your house with natural gas. You can even run a car on it. What is not to love?
Uh-oh fracking. Every single well drilled today is fracked. Fracking is the process of fracturing oil or gas bearing rock so it can flow into a cased well bore. Its done at depths typically 1000 - 2000 meters deep. That's 4 times as deep as the CN tower. Its not even in the biosphere. The zone itself is completely inhospitable to life. It can be 200 degrees celsius while its -40 at the surface. It is deadly poisonous and toxic already. The fossil fuels may have been trapped in crushing darkness for eons. There is no way to pollute that environment. Furthermore the zone is literally burried under a mountain of overburden. Only a meteor could unearth the fracked zone. If that happens a little patch of fracking will not be the biggest problem on your mind.
Anyone you meet who opposes fracking is ignorant of the process. There is a good chance they have been scooped up into the eco-nut indoctrination machine and are quickly losing anything they may have once known.
There has been 40 years of regular fracking all over the world but now its the latest threat mother earth. Directional drilling is what made horizontal wells possible. Along with those advances new fracking techniques had to be developed to fracture the length of the horizontal section. These cumulative advances finally gave rise to shale gas fracking and will probably continue into other applications like shale oil.
Fracking isn't at all new. It isn't free of risks of course. Drilling a well is essentially a construction job. It is subject to all applicable regulations and some industry specific ones too. Fracking is as risky as building a bridge or a school. Anyone up for banning those? Right now there are hundreds of wells being completed by fracking. There are tens of thousands of fracked wells producing some part of your energy as you read this.
If oil shale fracking technology panned out it could transform mining in general. Uranium wells can already be mined through a type of fracking called in-situ recovery. What other minerals could be extracted from a horizontal wellbore?
There is more shale oil in the US than all the conventional oil in all of the world. Its not yet recoverable but you can expect that it will be at some point. Fracking will be an integral part of liberating that resource an goodness knows what other minerals. When you talk about oil shale you are talking about fracking techniques yet to be discovered.
So don't count your barrels before the wells are fracked.
Well not so fast. Reserves are not the same recoverable reserves and shale oil is not yet recoverable. Wikipoedia gives an authoritative account of how shale oil is produced but its misleading. There are also huge unrecoverable shale oil reserves in Montana and elswhere. These reserves are not new. Legend holds that Natives could actually light some these oil bearing rocks on fire.
Shale oil has become a hot topic lately because of the breakthroughs in shale gas recovery. There is an expectation that the fracturing or "fracking" technology that created the natural gas abundance will evolve to produce oil from shale.
I'm not so sure. Expectations of technological progress rarely pan out as predicted or hoped. The technological leap required to liberate oil from solid rock at depth is at least as large as the leap realized by shale gas fracking. Its not a safe bet, however anything can happen.
If the worlds markets were suddenly floating in a sea of shale oil, what would change?
A collapse in oil prices would be excellent for the greater world economy. Alison Redford's Vegas style spendthrift Alberta budget would implode like a collapsing star. The Oil Sands would take a temporary hit as well. A lot of capital projects may become obsolete.
I say temporary because while Oil Sands crude is more expensive to produce, its still going to be easier to get bitumen from sand, than to somehow sqeeze oil from tight shale. Technology to extract oil from shale is just going to make it that much easier to produce from the oil sands. Say goodbye to SAGD. Say hello to more competative drilling with a smaller footprint.
Imagine that. More wealth across the board and less intensive, less intrusive production all thanks to Capitalism. David Suzuki would cry in his organic latte.
This is why fracking has become the new eco-bogey man.
Global Warming hasn't panned out for the eco nuts. All the predictions over 30 years have been wrong. The current science has been watered down to the extent that it has proved the skeptics to be right all along. Just don't look for the career alarmists to say so.
Energy from shale gas is actually 50% cleaner than oil (if you fear the eco-bogey CO2). It is particulate free. Its cheap. Abundant. Widely distributed. You cook your dinner and heat your house with natural gas. You can even run a car on it. What is not to love?
Uh-oh fracking. Every single well drilled today is fracked. Fracking is the process of fracturing oil or gas bearing rock so it can flow into a cased well bore. Its done at depths typically 1000 - 2000 meters deep. That's 4 times as deep as the CN tower. Its not even in the biosphere. The zone itself is completely inhospitable to life. It can be 200 degrees celsius while its -40 at the surface. It is deadly poisonous and toxic already. The fossil fuels may have been trapped in crushing darkness for eons. There is no way to pollute that environment. Furthermore the zone is literally burried under a mountain of overburden. Only a meteor could unearth the fracked zone. If that happens a little patch of fracking will not be the biggest problem on your mind.
Anyone you meet who opposes fracking is ignorant of the process. There is a good chance they have been scooped up into the eco-nut indoctrination machine and are quickly losing anything they may have once known.
There has been 40 years of regular fracking all over the world but now its the latest threat mother earth. Directional drilling is what made horizontal wells possible. Along with those advances new fracking techniques had to be developed to fracture the length of the horizontal section. These cumulative advances finally gave rise to shale gas fracking and will probably continue into other applications like shale oil.
Fracking isn't at all new. It isn't free of risks of course. Drilling a well is essentially a construction job. It is subject to all applicable regulations and some industry specific ones too. Fracking is as risky as building a bridge or a school. Anyone up for banning those? Right now there are hundreds of wells being completed by fracking. There are tens of thousands of fracked wells producing some part of your energy as you read this.
If oil shale fracking technology panned out it could transform mining in general. Uranium wells can already be mined through a type of fracking called in-situ recovery. What other minerals could be extracted from a horizontal wellbore?
There is more shale oil in the US than all the conventional oil in all of the world. Its not yet recoverable but you can expect that it will be at some point. Fracking will be an integral part of liberating that resource an goodness knows what other minerals. When you talk about oil shale you are talking about fracking techniques yet to be discovered.
So don't count your barrels before the wells are fracked.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Friday, June 29, 2012
Sack PSAC
PSAC can blow me. You can put that on a button.
I could care less what PSAC thinks about the Prime Minister. They can display thier stupidity as much as they want on thier own time.
I prefer it actually. The beauty of free speech is that somebody that says something wrong or stupid is immediatly outed by thier own words. Tell me what you think. I want to know. Tell me if you are an idiot leftist.
If you wear that button on the public dime, I agree with Sandy Crux, you should be considered as part of the cutbacks.
Firing a civil servant for political demonstration after a warning is fair game. There isn't even a risk of losing a voter. It's win/ win. PASC does't win of course. They are the problem. If you let the problem win then you havn't solved it.
There is a lesson for the government in this story. You can't please the left. You can't. Don't even try. They will fight against you no matter what you do.
Even if you borrow and spend billions. Even when you grow the size of government. They will never be pleased with a Conservative. They will always be the enemy.
So pretty please, with sugar on top, this voter asks you to shrink the defecit and PSAC. They are complimentary goals where everyone wins. Cut PSAC now.
I could care less what PSAC thinks about the Prime Minister. They can display thier stupidity as much as they want on thier own time.
I prefer it actually. The beauty of free speech is that somebody that says something wrong or stupid is immediatly outed by thier own words. Tell me what you think. I want to know. Tell me if you are an idiot leftist.
If you wear that button on the public dime, I agree with Sandy Crux, you should be considered as part of the cutbacks.
Firing a civil servant for political demonstration after a warning is fair game. There isn't even a risk of losing a voter. It's win/ win. PASC does't win of course. They are the problem. If you let the problem win then you havn't solved it.
There is a lesson for the government in this story. You can't please the left. You can't. Don't even try. They will fight against you no matter what you do.
Even if you borrow and spend billions. Even when you grow the size of government. They will never be pleased with a Conservative. They will always be the enemy.
So pretty please, with sugar on top, this voter asks you to shrink the defecit and PSAC. They are complimentary goals where everyone wins. Cut PSAC now.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
RIP Ray Bradbury
Everyone who knows Ray Bradbury has their favorite works of his. He was one of the fathers of Science Fiction along with Isaac Asimov, Arthur C Clarke, Robert Hienlein and others.
My Favorite was a 1950 short story "August 2026: There will come soft rains." I first read it in grade school. I still think about this story. It stayed fresh in my mind all that time.
I have one of those iRobot cleaning droids in my house. It is set to clean the ground floor every morning at 3 am. It always reminds me of this very story. All the gadgets in my house from the dishwasher to the iPad makes me think we are almost there. Another 14 years and fully automated houses could really be a possibility. Its too bad the threat of nuclear war is still here and in the hands of maniacs.
RIP Ray Bradbury. May his forsight be averted.
Here is the entire story. 4 pages. Enjoy.
1
"August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains" (1950) 1
Ray Bradbury
In the living room the voice-clock sang, Tick-tock, seven o'clock, time to get up, time to
get up, seven o'clock! as if it were afraid that nobody would. The morning house lay empty. The
clock ticked on, repeating and repeating its sounds into the emptiness. Seven-nine, breakfast time,
seven-nine!
In the kitchen the breakfast stove gave a hissing sigh and ejected from its warm interior
eight pieces of perfectly browned toast, eight eggs sunnyside up, sixteen slices of bacon, two
coffees, and two cool glasses of milk.
"Today is August 4, 2026," said a second voice from the kitchen ceiling, "in the city of
Allendale, California." It repeated the date three times for memory's sake. "Today is Mr.
Featherstone's birthday. Today is the anniversary of Tilita's marriage. Insurance is payable, as are
the water, gas, and light bills."
Somewhere in the walls, relays clicked, memory tapes glided under electric eyes.
Eight-one, tick-tock, eight-one o'clock, off to school, off to work, run, run, eight-one! But
no doors slammed, no carpets took the soft tread of rubber heels. It was raining outside. The
weather box on the front door sang quietly: "Rain, rain, go away; rubbers, raincoats for today…"
And the rain tapped on the empty house, echoing.
Outside, the garage chimed and lifted its door to reveal the waiting car. After a long wait
the door swung down again.
At eight-thirty the eggs were shriveled and the toast was like stone. An aluminum wedge
scraped them into the sink, where hot water whirled them down a metal throat which digested and
flushed them away to the distant sea. The dirty dishes were dropped into a hot washer and
emerged twinkling dry.
Nine-fifteen, sang the clock, time to clean.
Out of warrens in the wall, tiny robot mice darted. The rooms were acrawl with the small
cleaning animals, all rubber and metal. They thudded against chairs, whirling their mustached
runners, kneading the rug nap, sucking gently at hidden dust. Then, like mysterious invaders, they
popped into their burrows. Their pink electric eyes faded. The house was clean.
Ten o'clock. The sun came out from behind the rain. The house stood alone in a city of
rubble and ashes. This was the one house left standing. At night the ruined city gave off a
radioactive glow which could be seen for miles.
Ten-fifteen. The garden sprinklers whirled up in golden founts, filling the soft morning air
with scatterings of brightness. The water pelted windowpanes, running down the charred west
side where the house had been burned evenly free of its white paint. The entire west face of the
house was black, save for five places. Here the silhouette in paint of a man mowing a lawn. Here,
as in a photograph, a woman bent to pick flowers. Still farther over, their images burned on wood
in one titanic instant, a small boy, hands flung into the air; higher up, the image of a thrown ball,
and opposite him a girl, hands raised to catch a ball which never came down.
The five spots of paint—the man, the woman, the children, the ball—remained. The rest
was a thin charcoaled layer.
The gentle sprinkler rain filled the garden with falling light.
1 Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles (Toronto: Bantam Books, 1985), 166-172.
2
Until this day, how well the house had kept its peace. How carefully it had inquired, "Who
goes there? What's the password?" and, getting no answer from lonely foxes and whining cats, it
had shut up its windows and drawn shades in an old maidenly preoccupation with self-protection
which bordered on a mechanical paranoia.
It quivered at each sound, the house did. If a sparrow brushed a window, the shade
snapped up. The bird, startled, flew off! No, not even a bird must touch the house!
The house was an altar with ten thousand attendants, big, small, servicing, attending, in
choirs. But the gods had gone away, and the ritual of the religion continued senselessly, uselessly.
Twelve noon.
A dog whined, shivering, on the front porch.
The front door recognized the dog voice and opened. The dog, once huge and fleshy, but
now gone to bone and covered with sores, moved in and through the house, tracking mud. Behind
it whirred angry mice, angry at having to pick up mud, angry at inconvenience.
For not a leaf fragment blew under the door but what the wall panels flipped open and the
copper scrap rats flashed swiftly out. The offending dust, hair, or paper, seized in miniature steel
jaws, was raced back to the burrows. There, down tubes which fed into the cellar, it was dropped
into the sighing vent of an incinerator which sat like evil Baal in a dark corner.
The dog ran upstairs, hysterically yelping to each door, at last realizing, as the house
realized, that only silence was here.
It sniffed the air and scratched the kitchen door. Behind the door, the stove was making
pancakes which filled the house with a rich baked odor and the scent of maple syrup.
The dog frothed at the mouth, lying at the door, sniffing, its eyes turned to fire. It ran
wildly in circles, biting at its tail, spun in a frenzy, and died. It lay in the parlor for an hour.
Two o'clock, sang a voice.
Delicately sensing decay at last, the regiments of mice hummed out as softly as blown gray
leaves in an electrical wind.
Two-fifteen.
The dog was gone.
In the cellar, the incinerator glowed suddenly and a whirl of sparks leaped up the chimney.
Two thirty-five.
Bridge tables sprouted from patio walls. Playing cards fluttered onto pads in a shower of
pips. Martinis manifested on an oaken bench with egg-salad sandwiches. Music played.
But the tables were silent and the cards untouched.
At four o'clock the tables folded like great butterflies back through the paneled walls.
Four-thirty.
The nursery walls glowed.
Animals took shape: yellow giraffes, blue lions, pink antelopes, lilac panthers cavorting in
crystal substance. The walls were glass. They looked out upon color and fantasy. Hidden films
docked through well-oiled sprockets, and the walls lived. The nursery floor was woven to
resemble a crisp, cereal meadow. Over this ran aluminum roaches and iron crickets, and in the hot
still air butterflies of delicate red tissue wavered among the sharp aroma of animal spoors! There
was the sound like a great matted yellow hive of bees within a dark bellows, the lazy bumble of a
purring lion. And there was the patter of okapi feet and the murmur of a fresh jungle rain, like
other hoofs, falling upon the summer-starched grass. Now the walls dissolved into distances of
3
parched weed, mile on mile, and warm endless sky. The animals drew away into thorn brakes and
water holes.
It was the children's hour.
Five o'clock. The bath filled with clear hot water.
Six, seven, eight o'clock. The dinner dishes manipulated like magic tricks, and in the study
a click. In the metal stand opposite the hearth where a fire now blazed up warmly, a cigar popped
out, half an inch of soft gray ash on it, smoking, waiting.
Nine o'clock. The beds warmed their hidden circuits, for nights were cool here.
Nine-five. A voice spoke from the study ceiling:
"Mrs. McClellan, which poem would you like this evening?"
The house was silent.
The voice said at last, "Since you express no preference, I shall select a poem at random."
Quiet music rose to back the voice. "Sara Teasdale. As I recall, your favorite….
"There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum trees in tremulous white;
Robins will wear their feathery fire,
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree,
if mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn
Would scarcely know that we were gone."
The fire burned on the stone hearth and the cigar fell away into a mound of quiet ash on its
tray. The empty chairs faced each other between the silent walls, and the music played.
At ten o'clock the house began to die.
The wind blew. A failing tree bough crashed through the kitchen window. Cleaning
solvent, bottled, shattered over the stove. The room was ablaze in an instant!
"Fire!" screamed a voice. The house lights flashed, water pumps shot water from the
ceilings. But the solvent spread on the linoleum, licking, eating, under the kitchen door, while the
voices took it up in chorus: "Fire, fire, fire!"
The house tried to save itself. Doors sprang tightly shut, but the windows were broken by
the heat and the wind blew and sucked upon the fire.
The house gave ground as the fire in ten billion angry sparks moved with flaming ease
from room to room and then up the stairs. While scurrying water rats squeaked from the walls,
pistoled their water, and ran for more. And the wall sprays let down showers of mechanical rain.
But too late. Somewhere, sighing, a pump shrugged to a stop. The quenching rain ceased.
The reserve water supply which had filled baths and washed dishes for many quiet days was gone.
The fire crackled up the stairs. It fed upon Picassos and Matisses in the upper halls, like
delicacies, baking off the oily flesh, tenderly crisping the canvases into black shavings.
Now the fire lay in beds, stood in windows, changed the colors of drapes!
4
And then, reinforcements.
From attic trapdoors, blind robot faces peered down with faucet mouths gushing green
chemical.
The fire backed off, as even an elephant must at the sight of a dead snake. Now there were
twenty snakes whipping over the floor, killing the fire with a clear cold venom of green froth.
But the fire was clever. It had sent flames outside the house, up through the attic to the
pumps there. An explosion! The attic brain which directed the pumps was shattered into bronze
shrapnel on the beams.
The fire rushed back into every closet and felt of the clothes hung there.
The house shuddered, oak bone on bone, its bared skeleton cringing from the heat, its
wire, its nerves revealed as if a surgeon had torn the skin off to let the red veins and capillaries
quiver in the scalded air. Help, help! Fire! Run, run! Heat snapped mirrors like the brittle winter
ice. And the voices wailed Fire, fire, run, run, like a tragic nursery rhyme, a dozen voices, high,
low, like children dying in a forest, alone, alone. And the voices fading as the wires popped their
sheathings like hot chestnuts. One, two, three, four, five voices died.
In the nursery the jungle burned. Blue lions roared, purple giraffes bounded off. The
panthers ran in circles, changing color, and ten million animals, running before the fire, vanished
off toward a distant steaming river....
Ten more voices died. In the last instant under the fire avalanche, other choruses,
oblivious, could be heard announcing the time, playing music, cutting the lawn by remote-control
mower, or setting an umbrella frantically out and in the slamming and opening front door, a
thousand things happening, like a clock shop when each clock strikes the hour insanely before or
after the other, a scene of maniac confusion, yet unity; singing, screaming, a few last cleaning
mice darting bravely out to carry the horrid ashes away! And one voice, with sublime disregard
for the situation, read poetry aloud in the fiery study, until all the film spools burned, until all the
wires withered and the circuits cracked.
The fire burst the house and let it slam flat down, puffing out skirts of spark and smoke.
In the kitchen, an instant before the rain of fire and timber, the stove could be seen making
breakfasts at a psychopathic rate, ten dozen eggs, six loaves of toast, twenty dozen bacon strips,
which, eaten by fire, started the stove working again, hysterically hissing!
The crash. The attic smashing into kitchen and parlor. The parlor into cellar, cellar into
sub-cellar. Deep freeze, armchair, film tapes, circuits, beds, and all like skeletons thrown in a
cluttered mound deep under.
Smoke and silence. A great quantity of smoke.
Dawn showed faintly in the east. Among the ruins, one wall stood alone. Within the wall,
a last voice said, over and over again and again, even as the sun rose to shine upon the heaped
rubble and steam:
"Today is August 5, 2026, today is August 5, 2026, today is…"
My Favorite was a 1950 short story "August 2026: There will come soft rains." I first read it in grade school. I still think about this story. It stayed fresh in my mind all that time.
I have one of those iRobot cleaning droids in my house. It is set to clean the ground floor every morning at 3 am. It always reminds me of this very story. All the gadgets in my house from the dishwasher to the iPad makes me think we are almost there. Another 14 years and fully automated houses could really be a possibility. Its too bad the threat of nuclear war is still here and in the hands of maniacs.
RIP Ray Bradbury. May his forsight be averted.
Here is the entire story. 4 pages. Enjoy.
1
"August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains" (1950) 1
Ray Bradbury
In the living room the voice-clock sang, Tick-tock, seven o'clock, time to get up, time to
get up, seven o'clock! as if it were afraid that nobody would. The morning house lay empty. The
clock ticked on, repeating and repeating its sounds into the emptiness. Seven-nine, breakfast time,
seven-nine!
In the kitchen the breakfast stove gave a hissing sigh and ejected from its warm interior
eight pieces of perfectly browned toast, eight eggs sunnyside up, sixteen slices of bacon, two
coffees, and two cool glasses of milk.
"Today is August 4, 2026," said a second voice from the kitchen ceiling, "in the city of
Allendale, California." It repeated the date three times for memory's sake. "Today is Mr.
Featherstone's birthday. Today is the anniversary of Tilita's marriage. Insurance is payable, as are
the water, gas, and light bills."
Somewhere in the walls, relays clicked, memory tapes glided under electric eyes.
Eight-one, tick-tock, eight-one o'clock, off to school, off to work, run, run, eight-one! But
no doors slammed, no carpets took the soft tread of rubber heels. It was raining outside. The
weather box on the front door sang quietly: "Rain, rain, go away; rubbers, raincoats for today…"
And the rain tapped on the empty house, echoing.
Outside, the garage chimed and lifted its door to reveal the waiting car. After a long wait
the door swung down again.
At eight-thirty the eggs were shriveled and the toast was like stone. An aluminum wedge
scraped them into the sink, where hot water whirled them down a metal throat which digested and
flushed them away to the distant sea. The dirty dishes were dropped into a hot washer and
emerged twinkling dry.
Nine-fifteen, sang the clock, time to clean.
Out of warrens in the wall, tiny robot mice darted. The rooms were acrawl with the small
cleaning animals, all rubber and metal. They thudded against chairs, whirling their mustached
runners, kneading the rug nap, sucking gently at hidden dust. Then, like mysterious invaders, they
popped into their burrows. Their pink electric eyes faded. The house was clean.
Ten o'clock. The sun came out from behind the rain. The house stood alone in a city of
rubble and ashes. This was the one house left standing. At night the ruined city gave off a
radioactive glow which could be seen for miles.
Ten-fifteen. The garden sprinklers whirled up in golden founts, filling the soft morning air
with scatterings of brightness. The water pelted windowpanes, running down the charred west
side where the house had been burned evenly free of its white paint. The entire west face of the
house was black, save for five places. Here the silhouette in paint of a man mowing a lawn. Here,
as in a photograph, a woman bent to pick flowers. Still farther over, their images burned on wood
in one titanic instant, a small boy, hands flung into the air; higher up, the image of a thrown ball,
and opposite him a girl, hands raised to catch a ball which never came down.
The five spots of paint—the man, the woman, the children, the ball—remained. The rest
was a thin charcoaled layer.
The gentle sprinkler rain filled the garden with falling light.
1 Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles (Toronto: Bantam Books, 1985), 166-172.
2
Until this day, how well the house had kept its peace. How carefully it had inquired, "Who
goes there? What's the password?" and, getting no answer from lonely foxes and whining cats, it
had shut up its windows and drawn shades in an old maidenly preoccupation with self-protection
which bordered on a mechanical paranoia.
It quivered at each sound, the house did. If a sparrow brushed a window, the shade
snapped up. The bird, startled, flew off! No, not even a bird must touch the house!
The house was an altar with ten thousand attendants, big, small, servicing, attending, in
choirs. But the gods had gone away, and the ritual of the religion continued senselessly, uselessly.
Twelve noon.
A dog whined, shivering, on the front porch.
The front door recognized the dog voice and opened. The dog, once huge and fleshy, but
now gone to bone and covered with sores, moved in and through the house, tracking mud. Behind
it whirred angry mice, angry at having to pick up mud, angry at inconvenience.
For not a leaf fragment blew under the door but what the wall panels flipped open and the
copper scrap rats flashed swiftly out. The offending dust, hair, or paper, seized in miniature steel
jaws, was raced back to the burrows. There, down tubes which fed into the cellar, it was dropped
into the sighing vent of an incinerator which sat like evil Baal in a dark corner.
The dog ran upstairs, hysterically yelping to each door, at last realizing, as the house
realized, that only silence was here.
It sniffed the air and scratched the kitchen door. Behind the door, the stove was making
pancakes which filled the house with a rich baked odor and the scent of maple syrup.
The dog frothed at the mouth, lying at the door, sniffing, its eyes turned to fire. It ran
wildly in circles, biting at its tail, spun in a frenzy, and died. It lay in the parlor for an hour.
Two o'clock, sang a voice.
Delicately sensing decay at last, the regiments of mice hummed out as softly as blown gray
leaves in an electrical wind.
Two-fifteen.
The dog was gone.
In the cellar, the incinerator glowed suddenly and a whirl of sparks leaped up the chimney.
Two thirty-five.
Bridge tables sprouted from patio walls. Playing cards fluttered onto pads in a shower of
pips. Martinis manifested on an oaken bench with egg-salad sandwiches. Music played.
But the tables were silent and the cards untouched.
At four o'clock the tables folded like great butterflies back through the paneled walls.
Four-thirty.
The nursery walls glowed.
Animals took shape: yellow giraffes, blue lions, pink antelopes, lilac panthers cavorting in
crystal substance. The walls were glass. They looked out upon color and fantasy. Hidden films
docked through well-oiled sprockets, and the walls lived. The nursery floor was woven to
resemble a crisp, cereal meadow. Over this ran aluminum roaches and iron crickets, and in the hot
still air butterflies of delicate red tissue wavered among the sharp aroma of animal spoors! There
was the sound like a great matted yellow hive of bees within a dark bellows, the lazy bumble of a
purring lion. And there was the patter of okapi feet and the murmur of a fresh jungle rain, like
other hoofs, falling upon the summer-starched grass. Now the walls dissolved into distances of
3
parched weed, mile on mile, and warm endless sky. The animals drew away into thorn brakes and
water holes.
It was the children's hour.
Five o'clock. The bath filled with clear hot water.
Six, seven, eight o'clock. The dinner dishes manipulated like magic tricks, and in the study
a click. In the metal stand opposite the hearth where a fire now blazed up warmly, a cigar popped
out, half an inch of soft gray ash on it, smoking, waiting.
Nine o'clock. The beds warmed their hidden circuits, for nights were cool here.
Nine-five. A voice spoke from the study ceiling:
"Mrs. McClellan, which poem would you like this evening?"
The house was silent.
The voice said at last, "Since you express no preference, I shall select a poem at random."
Quiet music rose to back the voice. "Sara Teasdale. As I recall, your favorite….
"There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum trees in tremulous white;
Robins will wear their feathery fire,
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree,
if mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn
Would scarcely know that we were gone."
The fire burned on the stone hearth and the cigar fell away into a mound of quiet ash on its
tray. The empty chairs faced each other between the silent walls, and the music played.
At ten o'clock the house began to die.
The wind blew. A failing tree bough crashed through the kitchen window. Cleaning
solvent, bottled, shattered over the stove. The room was ablaze in an instant!
"Fire!" screamed a voice. The house lights flashed, water pumps shot water from the
ceilings. But the solvent spread on the linoleum, licking, eating, under the kitchen door, while the
voices took it up in chorus: "Fire, fire, fire!"
The house tried to save itself. Doors sprang tightly shut, but the windows were broken by
the heat and the wind blew and sucked upon the fire.
The house gave ground as the fire in ten billion angry sparks moved with flaming ease
from room to room and then up the stairs. While scurrying water rats squeaked from the walls,
pistoled their water, and ran for more. And the wall sprays let down showers of mechanical rain.
But too late. Somewhere, sighing, a pump shrugged to a stop. The quenching rain ceased.
The reserve water supply which had filled baths and washed dishes for many quiet days was gone.
The fire crackled up the stairs. It fed upon Picassos and Matisses in the upper halls, like
delicacies, baking off the oily flesh, tenderly crisping the canvases into black shavings.
Now the fire lay in beds, stood in windows, changed the colors of drapes!
4
And then, reinforcements.
From attic trapdoors, blind robot faces peered down with faucet mouths gushing green
chemical.
The fire backed off, as even an elephant must at the sight of a dead snake. Now there were
twenty snakes whipping over the floor, killing the fire with a clear cold venom of green froth.
But the fire was clever. It had sent flames outside the house, up through the attic to the
pumps there. An explosion! The attic brain which directed the pumps was shattered into bronze
shrapnel on the beams.
The fire rushed back into every closet and felt of the clothes hung there.
The house shuddered, oak bone on bone, its bared skeleton cringing from the heat, its
wire, its nerves revealed as if a surgeon had torn the skin off to let the red veins and capillaries
quiver in the scalded air. Help, help! Fire! Run, run! Heat snapped mirrors like the brittle winter
ice. And the voices wailed Fire, fire, run, run, like a tragic nursery rhyme, a dozen voices, high,
low, like children dying in a forest, alone, alone. And the voices fading as the wires popped their
sheathings like hot chestnuts. One, two, three, four, five voices died.
In the nursery the jungle burned. Blue lions roared, purple giraffes bounded off. The
panthers ran in circles, changing color, and ten million animals, running before the fire, vanished
off toward a distant steaming river....
Ten more voices died. In the last instant under the fire avalanche, other choruses,
oblivious, could be heard announcing the time, playing music, cutting the lawn by remote-control
mower, or setting an umbrella frantically out and in the slamming and opening front door, a
thousand things happening, like a clock shop when each clock strikes the hour insanely before or
after the other, a scene of maniac confusion, yet unity; singing, screaming, a few last cleaning
mice darting bravely out to carry the horrid ashes away! And one voice, with sublime disregard
for the situation, read poetry aloud in the fiery study, until all the film spools burned, until all the
wires withered and the circuits cracked.
The fire burst the house and let it slam flat down, puffing out skirts of spark and smoke.
In the kitchen, an instant before the rain of fire and timber, the stove could be seen making
breakfasts at a psychopathic rate, ten dozen eggs, six loaves of toast, twenty dozen bacon strips,
which, eaten by fire, started the stove working again, hysterically hissing!
The crash. The attic smashing into kitchen and parlor. The parlor into cellar, cellar into
sub-cellar. Deep freeze, armchair, film tapes, circuits, beds, and all like skeletons thrown in a
cluttered mound deep under.
Smoke and silence. A great quantity of smoke.
Dawn showed faintly in the east. Among the ruins, one wall stood alone. Within the wall,
a last voice said, over and over again and again, even as the sun rose to shine upon the heaped
rubble and steam:
"Today is August 5, 2026, today is August 5, 2026, today is…"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)