...It's time for Americans to moveoff their duffs and demand better government...^sm



Latest Analysis, Commentary and Opinion*
(The title of each article is linked to the complete article)

Monday, February 8, 2010

Safer Streets 2010: I don’t like gun violence anymore than Starbucks does
  Guns/Self-defense piece by John Longenecker (2/8/10)

When it comes to gun control, the issue has been intentionally misframed by the left. Not surprising, since the left misframes gun control in every country it touches. When we see the anti-gun activist articles, speeches, press releases and interviews, they seem to consistently talk about gun violence. Every day, I scan the news items and I see the same old cliches: ‘gun violence’.

For GOP, No Experience Is No Problem
  Elections piece by Offsite (2/8/10)

Party Drafts Political Newcomers as Candidates in a Bid to Capitalize on Voters’ Anti-Incumbent, Anti-Washington Mood - Scott Rigell is best known around Virginia Beach as a car dealer. Come January, he is hoping to be known by another title: congressman.

America is Not Ungovernable
  The Republic piece by Offsite (2/8/10)

Recently, some analysts have suggested that the lack of major policy breakthroughs in the last year is due to the fact that America has become ungovernable. Ezra Klein argued that it was time to reform the filibuster because the government cannot function with it intact anymore. Tom Friedman suggested that America’s “political instability” was making people abroad nervous. And Michael Cohen of Newsweek blamed “obstructionist Republicans,“ “spineless Democrats,“ and an “incoherent public” for the problem.

IPCC And CRU Are The Same Corrupt Organization
  ClimateGate piece by Offsite (2/8/10)

Cost of the corruption of climate science by the Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change (IPCC) is likely a trillion dollars already and there is no measure of the lives lost because of unnecessary reactions like biofuels affecting food supplies. Stories appear about the corruption at the IPCC and others about the leaked emails from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU). Most people, including the media, don’t seem to realize the IPCC is the CRU. Some articles mention both but don’t make the connection. A recent article in the Globe and Mail is a good example.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Abusegate and Children
  AbuseGate piece by Offsite (2/7/10)

President Obama’s 2011 federal budget, a nearly $4-trillion monstrosity, includes an increase of $117 million for domestic violence programs—a 22-percent increase. It is time to shine the light of truth on so-called “domestic violence” issues. Instead of “spousal abuse,“ the broader term “domestic violence” provides cover for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to spawn widespread distortion of data that is used for political ammunition to hold taxpayers hostage to the VAWA Mafia—all those bureaucrats and social workers whose existence depends upon convincing the public that husbands are dangerous to their wives and children. In fact, the mothers’ boyfriends are most often the perpetrators of abuse deaths, and mothers are more often responsible for the neglect fatalities.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Painting With Textures - Not Possible With All Tools
   Software piece by Editor (2/7/10)

Some consumer graphics tools offer “painting with textures” which allows extraordinary results.

America, a nation founded on Individualism, not Collectivism
   The Republic piece by Guest: Doug Hagin (2/7/10)

There is no greater difference between the Left and Right than on the issue of human rights. The Left talks incessantly of human rights, equality, social justice, free elections, and so on. Wondferful stuff, really inspiring, until you look at what the Left REALLY means. In the mind of a Leftist, rights are collective, not individual. Take a peek at the “right” to health care, one of the pillars of Marxism, which, of course Leftism is a direct descendant of.

Excuse Me: Sarah Palin Is A Political Pop Icon
   Republicrats piece by Malcolm T. Hedges (2/7/10)

Nuthin wrong with that it just don’t compute as a viable Presidential candidate.

Wells Fargo Bets $1 Billion That Rates Will Rise
   Economics piece by Offsite (2/7/10)

Well Fargo gave up as much as $1 billion in return last year by trimming its bond holdings, betting that interest rates will rise.

India Sets up Independent Global Warming Panel
   Climate Change piece by Guest: Dennis T. Avery (2/7/10)

CHURCHVILLE, VA - India is setting up its own climate research unit because it no longer trusts the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. I’ve been predicting such a move for years - partly due to the IPCC’s biased science, but more because India simply cannot afford to curtail its desperately needed and energy-powered economic growth. India’s government’s stability depends on expanding prosperity for the all of its people. That means more energy, and over half of India’s electricity comes from coal.

U.S. Waives ‘Buy American’ Clause for Canada
   Foreign Policy piece by Offsite (2/7/10)

WASHINGTON - (AFP) - The United States has agreed to waive “Buy American” provisions for Canadian companies under a massive economic stimulus package, a joint statement said Friday, ending a year-long dispute between the neighbors.

Media cools on global warming
   ClimateGate piece by Offsite (2/7/10)

Climate-change sceptics are being vindicated by scientific scandals that are no longer being ignored - LAST weekend looks likely to have been a tipping point in the media debate on climate change in the English-speaking world.

Angry young men
   Society piece by Offsite (2/7/10)

Recently I read an extraordinary essay on the subject of why so many young men are angry, sullen and rebellious. The writer of this piece (Tiffani) has five children, including two sons ages 14 and 2. In the laboratory of a happy, stable, chaotic home life, she concocted this wild harebrained theory: That boys need men to teach them to be men. Crazy, ain’t it?

Climate makes money move in mysterious ways
   ClimateGate piece by Offsite (2/7/10)

In all the coverage lately given to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and its embattled chairman, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, one rather important part of the story has largely been missed. This is the way in which, in its obsession with climate change, different branches of the UK Government have in recent years been pouring hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money into a bewildering array of “climate-related” projects, often throwing a veil of mystery over how much is being paid, to whom and why.

Climate change research bungle
   ClimateGate piece by Offsite (2/7/10)

The research institute run by the head of the UN’s climate body has handed out a series of environmental awards to companies that have given it financial support, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose.

How Met Office blocked questions on its own man’s role in ‘hockey stick’ climate row
   ClimateGate piece by Offsite (2/7/10)

The Meteorological Office is blocking public scrutiny of the central role played by its top climate scientist in a highly controversial report by the beleaguered United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

U.N. gun ban faces pre-emptive attack
   Guns/Self-defense piece by Offsite (2/7/10)

A gun rights organization has launched a petition effort to build opposition to plans being discussed by U.S. officials and the United Nations that could result in the confiscation and destruction of privately owned firearms inside the U.S.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Disclosing the real risks of climate change
   Climate Change piece by Guest: Paul Driessen (2/6/10)

We are not weighing in on the climate debate. We are not opining on whether the world’s climate is changing, at what pace or due to what causes, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Shapiro insisted on announcing the SEC’s new “interpretive guidance” on climate change.

Calculating the Unemployment Rate
   Big Brother piece by Offsite (2/6/10)

Recently several news pieces have made the claim that if the unemployment rate were calculated as it was during the Great Depression, the current rate would be close to double what it is, and creeping toward the formidable rates back in the 1930s.

European Policymakers Try to Calm Global Markets Amid Euro’s Plunge
   Euro piece by Offsite (2/6/10)

(Reuters) - European policymakers scrambled on Friday to reassure markets about the stability of the 16-nation currency bloc as investors shed euro assets for a second day and Portugal backed a law that may push its swollen deficit higher.

U.S. Is a Ticking Fiscal Time Bomb
   Economics piece by Offsite (2/6/10)

The Obama administration lacks the “political capital” for serious financial reform, and that is putting the U.S. in a perilous fiscal position, writes former Clinton White House economist Nouriel Roubini.

Unemployment Rate Drop Is Fluke
   Economics piece by Offsite (2/6/10)

The drop in the unemployment rate to 9.7 percent in January from 10 percent in December isn’t as good as it looks, says Bank of America’s chief economist Ethan Harris.

Keynesian Economics Another Progressive Trojan Horse
   Economics piece by Malcolm T. Hedges (2/6/10)

You learn something every day. A piece on WND brought to light valuable previously undiscovered information on Keynesian Economics.

Open Letter To Conservatives
   Politics piece by Guest: Charles Cole (2/6/10)

Ladies and Gentlemen, We stand at perhaps the most important juncture in recent American history.  The events of the past several years, and most especially of the past year, should be alarming to every American patriot.  The threat to our beloved Republic is very real and quite imminent. I do not say this lightly, but resolutely from the standpoint of a patriotic American and U.S. Army veteran who has been actively engaged in the study of American government and history since my 1959 freshman class in what used to be called “civics”. 

Friday, February 5, 2010

John Boehner is Kidding Himself
   Republicrats piece by Warner Todd Huston (2/5/10)

Yesterday our Republican minority leader in the House of Representatives proved that he still isn’t seeing the problem with the GOP. He’s living in denial, at least he is if we can take his words at face value.

‘Is the Constitution a Partisan Document?‘
   The Republic piece by Guest: JB Williams (2/5/10)

From all outward appearances, one would think that the U.S. Constitution is a partisan document loved and revered by the political right, so-called republicans, conservatives or constitutionalists, and hated or at least treated like an old worn out shoe no longer of any use by the political left, often referred to as democrats, liberals or progressives.

The Super-Sized Census Boondoggle
   Demercrats piece by Offsite (2/5/10)

If only the federal government were as responsible with our money as Pepsi is with theirs. The soda giant has been in the Super Bowl ad business for more than two decades. But this year, Pepsi determined it was economically unwise to pay $3 million for a 30-second spot. So, who’s foolish enough to pay for Super Bowl gold-plated airtime? You and me and Washington, D.C.

Gibbs: Public Broadcasting ‘not on radio’
   Bird-Brain Flu piece by Offsite (2/5/10)

Muffs answer to question over $8 million weekly tax bill - White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs today said that National Public Radio is for those who “don’t listen to the radio or can’t buy cable TV,“ but corrected himself when reporters questioned the comment.

New mistake found in UN climate report
   ClimateGate piece by Offsite (2/5/10)

The Dutch environment minister, Jaqueline Cramer, on Wednesday demanded a thorough investigation into the 2007 report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change after a Dutch magazine uncovered it incorrectly states 55 percent of the country lies below sea level. The the Dutch national bureau for environmental analysis has taken responsibility for the incorrect figure cited by the IPCC. Only 26 percent of the Netherlands is really below sea level.

‘Did EPA check global-warming claims?‘
   ClimateGate piece by Offsite (2/5/10)

Two members of Congress have written to the Environmental Protection Agency demanding answers about scientific documentation that was used to support the agency’s determination that “greenhouse gases threaten the public health and welfare of the American people.“

Constitutional Courts Are A Threat To Liberalism
   Supreme Court piece by Christopher Adamo (2/5/10)

The reverberations from Republican Senator Scott Brown’s Massachusetts election had barely subsided when an even greater shockwave was sent throughout the liberal world. On Thursday January 21, the United States Supreme Court handed down a decision that overturned major pillars of the McCain/Feingold campaign finance “reform” act, thereby reestablishing the ability of the people to express themselves freely during election time, and thus to publicly hold Washington accountable for its actions.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Review: The Free Glary Utilities For Windows
   Software piece by Editor (2/4/10)

The Glary Utilities 2.19.0.800(Free Version) Jan. 21, 2010 is a comprehensive collection of tools that can augment your toolbox.  It works in W2K thru Windows 7.

‘Safer Streets 2010: How many guns are enough?‘
   Guns/Self-defense piece by John Longenecker (2/4/10)

Leftists are always limiting freedoms. Our Constitution limits only one thing: Government powers, and in doing so, affirms freedom. Sometimes there aren’t two sides to an issue when it comes to liberty. As if there were two sides to safer streets, leftists tend to ask provocative questions which wind up only provoking people, especially free Americans. They ask irritating questions as if they’re crafted to vex, as if they have no answer, and as if the question itself were an accusation. One of the best ways to short-circuit a liberal is to take that question in front of others such as an audience and then answer it.

Investors’ Biggest Problem Is Fear
   Investments piece by Offsite (2/4/10)

Economists mistakenly assume that investors are rational, says Yale economist Robert Shiller, co-founder of the Case/Shiller index - but nothing could be farther from the truth.

The buck stops with Gates
   Government piece by Offsite (2/4/10)

So often when something in Washington goes wrong, no one is singled out as being at fault. It’s a kind of bureaucratic and political fatalism: Bad stuff happens.