tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24958878327849984382024-03-13T01:17:50.370-07:00Lady CincinnatusI named my blog after Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus -- A Roman consul who served only long enough to save his Republic before returning to his farm. Cincinnatus was the inspiration for the Order of Cincinnatus, to which George Washington and Lafayette and many other American Patriots were members. Omnia relinquit servare rempublicam - He relinquished everything to serve the Republic.Lady Cincinnatushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392687400344784843noreply@blogger.comBlogger810125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-80781532839157620332013-09-25T07:51:00.000-07:002013-09-25T07:51:32.670-07:00McConnell vs. Cruz
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #434343; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Playing politics or
winning the argument.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #434343; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">My dad once told me,
“Kelly, you may not like politics but politics likes you.” His point was that
politics has very real consequences to your life. Nowhere
is this more obvious than with the Obamacare law; a law with life and death
consequences. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #434343; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Government provided
healthcare should be a relic of the past like religious wars, kings and serfs
and tuberculosis wards. Didn’t the government run those? To say nothing of your
friendly government run insane asylums. How did those work out for both the
patients and the doctors? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #434343; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Yesterday, Senator
Ted Cruz (R-TX) stood on the Senate floor to speak against Obamacare. And as I
write this, he is going on 20 hours.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #434343; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Why? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #434343; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #434343; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Certainly
Senator Mitch McConnell isn’t rising with his colleague in a 20-hour lecture on
why Obamacare is a bad bill with a bad Supreme Court ruling backing it up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #434343; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Last week, Boehner’s House gave conservative Senators
a bill that would keep the government funded but cut Obamacare’s purse strings.
Exactly what Cruz and friends, including me, would like to see. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #434343; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #434343; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">But this is politics and nothing is ever as clear as
it seems. Take the initial passing of Obamacare. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #434343; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In the House, Obamacare started as </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">House Resolution 3590, which was
then called the Service Members Home Ownership Act. That’s right home
ownership for veterans. Who isn’t for a military veteran coming home from war
and having a roof over his or her head?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The Service
Members Home Ownership Act passed the House, but was stripped in committee in a
process known as “gut and amend”. This is where Dr. Jekyll became Mr. Hyde. HR
3590 was replaced entirely and became the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act as it headed for the Senate. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">According to Washington insiders and the U.S.
Department of Justice using H.R. 3590 as a “shell bill” is a “commonplace
procedure (which) satisfied the Origination Clause,” said their brief. “It makes
no difference that the Senate amendments to
H.R. 3590 were expansive. The Senate may amend a House bill in any
way it deems advisable, even by amending it with a total substitute, without
running afoul of the Origination Clause.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">A total substitute? Which begs the question, then what is the use
of passing a bill in the House in the first place if it can be rewritten
entirely by the Senate? The procedure may be commonplace and satisfy the
Origination Clause but is it right?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #212121; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">So jump ahead several years and Obamacare is now the
“law of the land” and the Senate is once again up to its armpits in
“commonplace procedures” that may “satisfy” some lawyer somewhere and are
certainly political. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #212121; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #212121; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Upon receiving Boehner's House passed bill that strips funding
for Obamacare, the Democratic leadership in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry
Reid (D-Nev.), wanted to simply “gut and amend” again creating a new Senate version
restoring funding with a simple majority vote. And why shouldn't he. The rewrite-a-good-House-bill-into-a-bad-Senate-bill tactic known as "gut and amend" worked for Reid and friends the first time. And, this time they're only going for a bit of added funding. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #434343; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #434343; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Senator Cruz stood up and said no...and he's still saying no...for 20 hours now and counting. I guess Senator
McConnell continues his proud support of the House passed Service Members Home
Ownership Act. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Lady Cincinnatushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392687400344784843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-33979918318202330062012-09-22T20:27:00.000-07:002012-09-22T20:27:09.269-07:00U S Flag Primes Voters Towards Republican Viewpoint<center><a href="http://tinypic.com/?ref=b6916a" target="_blank"><img src="http://i52.tinypic.com/b6916a.jpg" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0" /></a></center><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/20/study-us-flag-primes-voters-toward-republican-viewpoints/?test=latestnews"></a><blockquote><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/20/study-us-flag-primes-voters-toward-republican-viewpoints/?test=latestnews">Just a glimpse at the American flag </a>can sway voters, even Democrats, toward more Republican voting behavior, attitudes and beliefs, a new two-year study says.<br />
<br />
The authors, from the University of Chicago, Cornell University and Hebrew University, say the research proves the American flag has a powerful effect on voters.<br />
<br />
"A single exposure to an American flag resulted in a significant increase in participants' Republican voting intentions, voting behavior, political beliefs, and implicit and explicit attitudes, with some effects lasting eight months," reads the study titled, "Long-Term Effects of U.S. Flag Exposure on Republicanism."</blockquote><br />
<br />
Can't say for certain that it's true, but it never hurts to display the symbol of our great country on every suitable occasion.<br />
<br />
Cross posted at <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof Positive</a> <br />
Mike aka Proofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08931553845065187278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-66162535043908785192012-09-13T12:04:00.000-07:002012-09-13T12:25:31.984-07:00 Mr. Obama's Neighborhood By <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof </a><br />
<br />
<center><a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=55gqc2" target="_blank"><img src="http://i50.tinypic.com/55gqc2.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a></center><br />
I miss Fred Rogers. His evident kindness and gentleness were a quiet reassurance to his audience that everything was going to be okay. There was always some small object lesson whenever the little trolley took us to the Land of Make Believe. Today, I think the heir apparent to Mr. Rogers is...Barack Obama!<br />
<br />
Mr. Obama has constructed quite a neighborhood of make believe, taking credit for military actions he either opposed or sought to defund, claiming to have cut spending while increasing our deficit spending by trillions of dollars, obstructing oil exploration and production on federally controlled land while claiming credit for increased oil production that was beyond his control, avoiding our allies while funding their enemies, helping to overthrow other allies with little clue as to what or who would replace them... The list goes on and on.<br />
<br />
I thought of this comparison when I thought back to the phony, Styrofoam Greek columns of the 2008 Democrat convention. It reminded me, just a little bit, of the crenelated towers of King Friday's castle, and every bit as substantive. Also, Mr. Obama's Imaginary Gravitas world tour in 2008, where he famously went to 10 Downing Street, not to visit the English Prime Minister in his home, but to merely stand in front of his house and make a speech! Appearance is everything, don'tcha know?<br />
<br />
The trolley would need to be renamed "Folly", as only folly would take you to revisit Mr. Obama's Land of Make Believe. Mr. Obama attempts to reassure us with that gentle voice, as he changes into his "comfortable shoes" (the ones he said he would use to march with striking union members. Hm. Must have misplaced those shoes somewhere in Chicago!), and pull on his sweater, which we all need now, since Obama bankrupted the coal industry and raised the cost of energy to heat our homes this winter!<br />
<br />
All our old favorites would be there. Bill Clinton as "Mr. McFeely". (No. Seriously!) Either Michelle or Hillary could do Lady Elaine Fairchilde. Debbie Wasserman Schultz could do Harriet Elizabeth Cow. Joe Biden as Prince Tuesday, and, in a bit of casting genius, Eric Holder as Malcolm X the Owl.<br />
<br />
In Obama's Neighborhood of Make Believe, Mr. Obama is a fiscally responsible, bold and decisive leader, who will lead us into a world that loves us, unlike the one that cowboy Bush was responsible for. Just ignore the demonstrations where they burn Obama in effigy, throw shoes at his picture and invade American embassies with impunity. More importantly (to him) Mr. Obama also stands to do battle with the Republicans in their War on Women, bolstered by such stalwart defenders of womenhood such as Teddy Kennedy and Bill Clinton...if he can ever drag himself away from the golf course!<br />
<br />
Oh, and the lesson that can be learned today in our little trip to Mr. Obama's Neighborhood of Make Believe? <br />
<br />
We'd better vote for Mitt Romney this November!<br />
<br />
<i>I'm Fred Rogers, and I approve this message!*</i><br />
<br />
<br />
*If you believe that, you may be so far into the land of make believe, that there is no return! <br />
<br />
Cross posted at <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof Positive</a> Mike aka Proofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08931553845065187278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-87036988521976717322012-08-04T14:01:00.001-07:002012-08-04T14:06:16.820-07:00#Occupy Chick-Fil-ABy <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof </a><br />
<br />
<center><a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=s11fmd" target="_blank"><img src="http://i47.tinypic.com/s11fmd.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a> </center><br />
I have been pretty quiet on the Chick-Fil-A kerfluffle of late, other than a few timely and somewhat barbed tweets. Mostly because it had been given so much coverage by virtually everyone outside the MSM, I felt there was little more that needed saying. Other than perhaps this:<br />
<br />
Reading my dead tree paper this AM, I stumbled across an AP story on some of the folks protesting Chick-Fil-A.<br />
<br />
<blockquote><a href="http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/19193036/kiss-ins-staged-at-chick-fil-a-stores">BOSTON (AP</a>) —About a dozen members of Boston-area gay rights groups staged a kiss-in at the food court at the Burlington mall Friday.</blockquote><br />
"About a dozen". Let me call upon the expertise of my readers: You've probably gone into a fast food restaurant around lunchtime, at least once in your life, if there were a dozen people ahead of you in line, about how long would it take you to get served? Twenty minutes? Half an hour??<br />
<br />
I was down in Fresno on Chick-Fil-A appreciation day, and the radio reports there were of people standing in line for hours in one hundred plus degree heat, to buy a chicken sandwich. (Or whatever else they had before they ran out of food!) There were reports of neighboring businesses and Good Samaritans handing out bottles of water freely to the people standing in line so they wouldn't get heat stroke. <a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
There were also reports of traffic jams around the Chick-Fil-As, as cars in drive through lanes backed up around the block and further. (Just think of the carbon footprint of Chick-Fil-A, grilling up all those extra sandwiches while internal combustion vehicles idled, getting nearly zero MPG! Take that, Al Gore!)<br />
<br />
Most of the protests against Chick-Fil-A involved "a dozen", "a couple dozen" protesters. Even with two dozen people standing in line in front of you, do you think it would have taken two to three hours to get your food? And if it did, would you even hang around that long, or go find a place with faster service? <br />
<br />
The CEO of Chick-Fil-A expressed an opinion on gay marriage, that was nearly identical to the one held by Barack Obama when he ran for president in 2008, yet thuggish Democrat mayors wanted to deny this man the right to do business in their cities. Chick-Fil-A doesn't discriminate against gays or anyone else. The man who runs the business used his First Amendment rights to express that opinion. Agree with him or not, he has the right, in this country, to express that publicly, and thousands upon thousands of people rallied to his support.<br />
<br />
Now it is true that Barack "I don't have a record I can run on" Obama would rather talk about gay marriage than his record, and his willing accomplices in Democrat mayors, #OWS and the MSM are more than willing to help him out. The overwhelming support of Chick-Fil-A and the right of Dan Cathy to exercise his freedom of speech, by hundreds, not dozens of supporters, and nationwide, thousands not maybe a hundred, like their "Kiss-in cousins", was a sight to behold. <br />
<br />
The joke now, is how to get Rahm Emanuel to criticize MY business, so I can have a windfall of business like this! <br />
<br />
<blockquote>#ChickFilA's success yesterday was beyond everyone's wildest dreams. I just heard Ronald McDonald making gay slurs to a Newsweek reporter. </blockquote><br />
Obama should ask himself, "With surrogates like these, who needs enemies?"<br />
<br />
<br />
Cross posted at <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof Positive</a>Mike aka Proofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08931553845065187278noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-4241759324935953882012-06-11T21:23:00.000-07:002012-06-11T21:25:09.650-07:00There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free LunchBy <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof </a><br />
<br />
<center> <a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=4gi4pz" target="_blank"><img src="http://i50.tinypic.com/4gi4pz.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a></center><br />
<br />
There was an article in my local dead tree paper a while back which brought that to my mind. In keeping with good journalistic practice, I invited one of the parties quoted to respond to what I thought was a very simple question. Having received no response, I will let you draw your own conclusions, along with me, as to the veracity of those statements.<br />
<br />
The story was a "puff piece". It was not part of any breaking story, merely a down home look at the "wizbang, golly jeeper" happenings around our fair city*.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>"(Catherine)<a href="http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120312/A_NEWS/203120326&cid=sitesearch">Kearney's Nissan Leaf is refueled each day</a> while it sits in a parking spot near her desk at the San Joaquin County Office of Education, which recently installed five charging stations for plug-in electric vehicles. They are among the first free public chargers in the county."</blockquote>There's that "free" word. Now, were I a big city reporter and not just a lowly blogger, I might have asked a few questions. Maybe something along the lines of "Exactly how much did these stations cost?" or "In tough economic times when there are school cutbacks and teacher layoffs, which part of the county Office of Education budget did this come out of?" and, "Was this the best use of your limited resources?"<br />
<br />
And, while it is a nice "perk" for Ms. Kearney to have her electric car charged at no cost to her while she is at work, I wondered not only what it cost to install the charging stations, but what the upkeep on them would be? What are the operating costs?<br />
<br />
Here the plot really thickens. <br />
<br />
<blockquote>The county Office of Education chargers are attached to a new solar array helping to power the complex. So on a sunny day, when Kearney charges her car, that fuel is direct from the sun - rather than some polluting power plant.</blockquote><br />
On a sunny day, a solar array charges her car without all that nasty, smelly pollution (unless you count the pollution of manufacturing the array, disposing of the toxic waste by products, the energy it took to manufacture, ship and install the solar array. But, why worry about that? It's free lunch time, right?) That would presume that on <i><b>less</b></i> than sunny days, her Nissan Leaf is suckling at the teat of some "polluting power plant"... paying for power from Pacific Gas & Electric, with tax dollars, out of the county's <i>education</i> budget.<br />
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Maybe the key word is "helping". We teach that to our kindergarteners as a virtue. But,for the math impaired among us...<br />
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<blockquote>The <b>$2.5 million (solar array) project</b> was financed mostly through low-interest loans. <b>Energy savings will eventually pay it off</b>, said Barry Scott, the county office energy coordinator.</blockquote><br />
"Energy savings will eventually pay it off..." Is this like that lottery for stupid people, where you win a million bucks and they promise to pay you a dollar a year for a million years? I pulled one of my PG&E bills at random to see what I'm being charged for electricity. Depending on what percentage of my "baseline" usage it is, it looks like about 12 to 29 cents per kilowatt hour. Let's assume for the moment that charging electric cars pushes the school district to the maximum residential** rate. (If they get a lower rate, the breakeven takes longer.) <br />
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Even rounding the rate up to .333/kwh, to make the math simpler, that solar array would have to generate <b>7.5 million kilowatts </b>of electricity, plus whatever it would take to pay the interest on the "low interest loans". That's <b>7.5 Billion watts</b> of electricity for the array to "eventually" pay itself off. (At 12 cents/kwh, make that <b>20 Billion</b>.) <br />
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I asked Mr. Scott about "eventually": <blockquote>"Would you mind sharing details as to exactly what time frame that is, given the projected and actual output of the system and the current and projected savings against the cost of purchasing power from PG&E?"</blockquote>Mr. Scott declined to answer. And I don't blame him. I have no idea how much power a $2.5 million dollar solar array puts out on a sunny day. Or how many sunny or partly sunny days they base their return. But, given the fact that solar cells have a limited life span, (Nothing lasts forever, not even your free lunch!), I suspect that even assuming a twenty year life, which I believe is overly generous, that solar array would need to produce 375,000 kwh/year to break even on the principle. Add interest, maintenance and repair, and either that is one honking big solar array (possible visible from space) or the free lunch bunch are pursuing a "green" agenda that will likely never pay for itself, (Gee! Just like "high speed rail"!) and hoping that the education system they are administering will produce enough math impaired people, so as not to question their benevolent overlords. <br />
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One criticism of today's reporting, and perhaps part of what is causing the decline in dead tree newspapers, is that we have too few real reporters and too many who just rewrite the press releases given to them. I really would have hoped that a reporter, even one assigned to a "puff piece" would have enough curiosity to ask a few questions, do a little analysis of the numbers and dig a deeper than this. Who knows? Maybe there's even a story in there somewhere? *Sigh*<br />
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And finally, if enough of your tax dollars weren't being squirreled down the rat hole, the electric chargers are "free" to anyone who wanders by.<br />
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<blockquote>Kearney hopes people driving on nearby Highway 99 will stop by and plug in - if not for a complete charge, at least to "top off" for a few minutes. The office has a café, she said with a smile. "They can have a sandwich, get a few electrons and be on their way," Kearney said.</blockquote><br />
I wonder if the café offers a free lunch as well? <br />
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*Not to be confused with a short story by Robert A. Heinlein with the same name.<br />
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**The county may get a break on this, but I was growing old waiting for a reply.<br />
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Cross posted at <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof Positive</a>Mike aka Proofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08931553845065187278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-37630059212947753292012-05-06T17:31:00.000-07:002012-05-06T17:31:02.143-07:00You can Trust Barack Obama... to be Barack ObamaBy <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof </a>
<center> <a href="http://tinypic.com/?ref=a2fro" target="_blank"><img src="http://i52.tinypic.com/a2fro.jpg" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0" /></a></center><br />
Barack Obama, the Bamboozler-in-Chief, is going to try to tell you that you should not focus on the fact that most of us are worse off than we were four years ago, by telling us the the problem he "inherited" was far worse than he thought. Well imagine a fellow that decides to walk from one side of the continental United States to the other. He starts off in San Francisco, and by the time he gets to Denver, thinks to himself, "Wow. This is far longer than I thought it would be!"
<br /><br />
But, at least, he'd have made it to Denver.
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Now imagine Barack Obama starting off in San Francisco, going the wrong way, ending up in Hawaii, knocking off to play a few rounds of golf, and looking you in the eyes and telling you, "It was farther than I thought."
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Obama said he'd cut the budget in half by the end of his first term, but made it tremendously larger instead. As a candidate, he promised to "go through the budget line by line" to eliminate waste and fraud. By my reckoning, he's played over 90 rounds of golf, but hasn't quite found the time to do the whole "line by line" thing. And he said he had cut millions of dollars from the budget, so that he could sound like a moderate politician, but the truth is, they were all phony cuts, and the Federal Budget is slated to continue to grow every year for the next ten years. <br/><br />When next year's budget is bigger than this year's budget, normal people will tell you that's not a cut, but an increase. A bamboozler will tell you what he thinks you want to hear.
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The first two years of his presidency, Democrats controlled the <b>White House, the House and the Senate</b>. They had the power to pass <b>any legislation</b> they wanted, any remedy to the economy that they saw fit: health care reform (as opposed to health care <i>insurance</i> reform), minimum wage, or jobs bills and instead, funneled money to political supporters like Solyndra and failed solar companies, sent money overseas to build electric cars, and actively took measures to raise the price of oil, gas and electricity, instead of doing what was right for the country.
<br/><br />
What on God's green earth makes you think the next two or four years will be <b>any different</b> under Obama?<br/><br /> Tips from his caddy??
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Cross posted at <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof Positive</a>Mike aka Proofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08931553845065187278noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-52652573946312523042012-04-03T09:14:00.001-07:002012-04-03T09:14:59.390-07:00On Liberty...Liberty is the one pre-existing condition that Obamacare doesn't cover. <br />-<a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof</a>Mike aka Proofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08931553845065187278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-37812220006460238652012-01-30T22:53:00.000-08:002012-01-30T23:34:22.359-08:00What Makes Us Human?By <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof </a><br /><br /><center> <a href="http://tinypic.com/?ref=5zqrg6" target="_blank"><img src="http://i41.tinypic.com/5zqrg6.jpg" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0" /></a></center><br /><br />Did Descartes have it right? “I think, therefore, I am”? Or maybe Twain’s observation that “humans are the only creatures who blush…or need to”? Fairy tales and speculative fiction are awash with the theme, of what it means to be truly human. Wooden Pinocchio wants to be a real boy. Silicone and steel android Data longs to know what it is to be human, despite the irony that the longing is itself a human emotion. He is curious about what it means to be curious. Curiouser and curiouser! Strange visitors from another planet are raised by humans to embrace a code of decency and honor. Others come and fall in love... does love make us human?<br /><br />And what of those who, became somehow more than human? Radioactive spider bites, bombardment with gamma radiation, mutations of the human genome…at what point can it be said that a human transcends humanity and becomes homo superior?<br /><br />Now imagine having those philosophical musings, discussing and arguing the respective points over the course of ten years. College boy conundrums? Speculation at a seminary? Meditations at a monastery? <br />No. A discussion about...the level of taxes on...<span style="font-style:italic;">toys.</span><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><blockquote><br /><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/01/30/x-men-arent-human-us-govt-says-but-hulk-is/">The forthcoming Avengers movie</a>, directed by Joss Whedon and expected May 4 from Walt Disney Pictures, depicts the Marvel superhero group teaming up to save the Earth from utter destruction.<br /><br />Saving the world is ordinary fare for superheroes, especially teams like the Avengers and the X-Men. But one of the biggest battles ever fought in the Marvel universe took place in the real world, a historic fight that lasted 10 years and crossed America.<br /><br />The clash ended quietly in 2003, with a monumental, six-figure legal ruling by the U.S. government: The X-Men and many other superheroes simply aren’t human.<br /><br />Or more precisely, they’re not <span style="font-style:italic;">dolls</span>, which, according to the U.S. Customs Bureau, represent “only human beings.” They’re toys, which represent “animals or non-human creatures.”<br /><br />What’s the difference? Gazillions of dollars.</blockquote><br /><br />Even though it sounds like the sort of discussion the nerds on The Big Bang Theory might discuss, this was big business.<br /><br /><blockquote>The U.S. government waded into the “mutant or mortal” battle 19 years ago at ports in Los Angeles and Seattle after Customs officials there classified several large shipments of action figures, including the X-Men, as “dolls” instead of “toys.”<br /><br />But labeling the figures as “dolls” made importing the X-Men nearly twice as expensive as they would have been as “toys,” facing a 12 percent tax rather than a 6.8 percent tax.<br /><br />...Recognizing the difference between toys and dolls, international trade lawyers Sherry Singer and Indie Singh saw an opportunity to save Marvel a lot of money by getting the X-Men, along with Marvel’s other action figures, including the Hulk, Spider-Man, and Iron Man, reclassified as toys.</blockquote><br /><br />At this point, one is hard pressed whether to laugh or cry. To think that for ten years lawyers have been working, on both sides, and expert witnesses have been testifying whether Barbie should be taxed at a higher rate than Wolverine, reminds me of another Bizarro world I read about when I was younger.<br /><br />Does the government really have a vested interest in whether or not the Human Torch is more human than torch? I know it is in the DNA of every bureaucrat to micromanage every aspect of our lives, but at some point, can't we decide that the government we have is more than we really ever needed? When our toys are categorized, not by weight, or the amount of polystyrene or paint, but by the philosophical backstory of their characters???<br /><br />I suppose I could have titled this "What is a doll?" But, would that have piqued your human curiosity and caused you to read this far? And would you have had as much of a surprise making the hyperspace leap from comic book heroes to taxes and tariffs? <br /><br />This is but one more illustration of the bloated bureaucracy that nibbles away at our economic freedoms and attempts to regulate every aspect of our lives. It's way past time to start taking our country back from our wooden headed, would be masters and their arbitrary rules and regulations.<br /><br />Equal rights for G.I.Joe! In the meantime, before we can roll back this overly burdensome and somewhat ridiculous over regulation, I suggest that Mattel put out a comic book where Barbie, Ken and Skipper all get bitten by radioactive spiders...<br /><br />The folks at Mattel can show their gratitude to me with a small percentage of the tax savings realized...<br /><br /><br />Cross posted at <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof Positive</a>Mike aka Proofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08931553845065187278noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-64802091145028321642012-01-11T06:07:00.000-08:002012-01-11T06:09:31.736-08:00My Official 2012 GOP Presidential Slogan. And I won't even charge a consulting fee.Okay, I've come up with the best GOP campaign slogan ever. Maybe. Okay, here it is... Pull over if you're driving. OBAMA CRIED (AGAINST BUSINESS) AND <a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/hostess-files-for-bankruptcy/">HOSTESS TWINKIES DIED</a>. Forget jobs or a sound dollar...no deep fried Twinkies??? Come on people, what's it going to take?Lady Cincinnatushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392687400344784843noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-28888624888740041322012-01-04T23:01:00.000-08:002012-01-04T23:03:54.757-08:00"U.S. Flag 'Primes' Voters Toward Republican Viewpoints"<center> <a href="http://tinypic.com/?ref=b6916a" target="_blank"><img src="http://i52.tinypic.com/b6916a.jpg" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0" /></a></center><br /><br /><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/20/study-us-flag-primes-voters-toward-republican-viewpoints/?test=latestnews"></a><blockquote><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/20/study-us-flag-primes-voters-toward-republican-viewpoints/?test=latestnews">Just a glimpse at the American flag </a>can sway voters, even Democrats, toward more Republican voting behavior, attitudes and beliefs, a new two-year study says.<br /><br />The authors, from the University of Chicago, Cornell University and Hebrew University, say the research proves the American flag has a powerful effect on voters.<br /><br />"A single exposure to an American flag resulted in a significant increase in participants' Republican voting intentions, voting behavior, political beliefs, and implicit and explicit attitudes, with some effects lasting eight months," reads the study titled, "Long-Term Effects of U.S. Flag Exposure on Republicanism."</blockquote><br /><br />Can't say for certain that it's true, but it never hurts to display the symbol of our great country on every suitable occasion.<br /><br />I've placed a small flag at the top of the sidebar. Let's turn the Internet red white and blue between now and election day.<br /><br />Cross posted at <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/2011/07/us-flag-primes-voters-toward-republican.html">Proof Positive</a>Mike aka Proofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08931553845065187278noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-82035086153112520422011-12-18T11:13:00.000-08:002011-12-18T11:21:36.145-08:00Merry Christmas !<center><a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=wuph92" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/wuph92.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a></center><br /><br />May the Spirit of Christmas be with you all year long!Mike aka Proofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08931553845065187278noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-59732276457138012362011-12-03T11:10:00.000-08:002012-01-30T23:36:15.997-08:00A Gallon of Gas for a Dime? That's Nothing!By <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof </a><br /><br />Remember when Ron Paul tried to make a big to do in one of the debates, about being able to buy a gallon of gas for a dime? That's nothing! Well, if you'd taken that dime in 1938 and bought a dime's worth of gas, today it would be a varnish deposit on the bottom of your gas can. Here's what a wise investment of a dime would have brought you:<br /><br /><center><a href="http://tinypic.com/?ref=f592bl" target="_blank"><img src="http://i44.tinypic.com/osejav.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8927572/Action-Comics-No.-1-sells-for-record-2.16m.html">Action Comics No. 1 sells for record $2.16m</a></span></center><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><blockquote><br />The issue, graded at 9.0, was auctioned starting Nov. 11 online at www.comicconnect.com. The starting bid was just $1 but there was a reserve price of $900,000. Neither the name of the buyer nor seller was disclosed.<br /><br />It's the first time a comic book has broken the $2 million barrier. The issue was published in 1938 and cost just 10 cents.<br /><br />"When we broke the record in 2010 by selling the Action Comics No. 1, graded at 8.5, for $1.5 million, I truly believed that this was a record that would stand for many years to come," said Stephen Fishler, CEO of ComicConnect.com and Metropolis Collectibles.</blockquote><br /><br />That is, of course, if your Mom didn't happen to throw them all out!<br /><blockquote><br />...About 100 copies of Action Comics No. 1 are believed to be in existence, and only a handful of those in good condition.</blockquote><br /><br />Two point one six million dollars? Mom, I coulda bought you a lot of breakfasts in bed for that kinda cash!<br /><br />Cross posted at <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof Positive</a>Mike aka Proofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08931553845065187278noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-33538480063328655752011-11-13T14:56:00.000-08:002011-11-13T15:05:44.153-08:00Eagle Stands Watch in Veteran's Cemetary<center><a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=8zfclt" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/8zfclt.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a> </center><br /><br />This eagle was photographed atop a WWII vet's headstone at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, MN.<br /><br />The story can be found here: <a href="http://saberpoint.blogspot.com/2011/11/eagle-on-gravestone-in-military.html">Saberpoint</a><br /><br />Cross posted at <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof Positive</a>Mike aka Proofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08931553845065187278noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-41040277680192976592011-10-30T09:14:00.001-07:002012-01-30T23:37:02.565-08:00#OccupyAnarchy: What Lawlessness BreedsBy <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof </a><br /><br /><center> <a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=2cnw8bp" target="_blank"><img src="http://i42.tinypic.com/2cnw8bp.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a></center> <br /><br /><blockquote><a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/zuccotti_perv_Qd8v3hCAnspzJ7VGC9nJZP">Wall Street protesters</a> in Zuccotti Park battened down the hatches yesterday as the early October snow turned their tents into igloos, but the close quarters also made easy pickings for one predator. A sex fiend barged into a woman’s tent and sexually assaulted her at around 6 a.m., said protesters, who chased him from the park.<br /><br />“Pervert! Pervert! Get the f--k out!” said vigilante Occupiers, who <span style="font-weight:bold;">never bothered to call the cops</span>. “They were shining flashlights in his face and yelling at him to leave,” said a woman who called herself Leslie, but refused to give her real name.<br /><br />She said that weeks earlier another woman was raped. <span style="font-weight:bold;">“We don’t tell anyone,” she said. “We handle it internally</span>. I said too much already.”<br /></blockquote><br /><br />With all the free loaders, free lovers, free Mumia's, free lunchers and free thinkers populating the OccupyAnarchy movement, which many on the Left hope to be the anti-Tea Party, one gets the impression that one thing the ReOccupyTheWhiteHouse movement doesn't need is more bad press, so there seems to be a conscious effort to keep these kinds of attacks quiet and sweep them under a rug.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />Granted, the Occupy movement has spawned a "volunteer" security force of dubious origin and efficacy: part mob, part vigilante justice. But they have neither police powers or training. And, rather than pursuing a sexual predator until he is caught and deterred from repeating his offense, he is merely chased off to continue his perverse felonies again, either at another "occupied" area of the park or in society at large.<br /><br />First, I think this sends a bad message about the OccupyAnarchy view of women. "Ladies: Lay back and enjoy it. Women who are assaulted or raped should be seen and not heard." In a rational world (not the protesters' strong suit), how would it not benefit everyone for every woman raped or assaulted to give a statement to the police and a description of the perpetrator so that the criminal can be apprehended? Is the movement so inured and enamored of breaking whatever laws they choose, that they empathize with other lawbreakers, no matter how odious? <br /><br />We have seen the Occupy Anarchists disrespect the police, one man infamously defecating on a patrol car, and attacking the police and even rioting in some places. Compare and contrast with the Tea Party rallies. There was a police presence there, but the only incidents I observed or am aware of, involving the police at a Tea Party rally, was when a small element of miscreants from the Left showed up to protest against the Tea Partiers, to shout them down, or damage property.<br /><br />There were no tents, no soup lines and above all, no rapes, sexual assaults, refusals to obey police orders or assaults on police officers.<br /><br />Is OccupyAnarchy the Left's version of the Tea Party? It's looking like it. Will OccupyAnarchy motivate anyone to vote Democrat next Fall? Well, I think they can count on the rapist and sexual predator vote!<br /><br /><br />H/T <a href="http://www.memeorandum.com/">Memeorandum</a><br /><br />Cross posted at <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof Positive</a>Mike aka Proofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08931553845065187278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-49295967261157231932011-10-20T13:45:00.000-07:002011-10-20T13:46:09.514-07:00Warning: This Campaign May be Toxic to Your Political HealthBy <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof </a><br /><br /><center><a href="http://tinypic.com/?ref=iqlclz" target="_blank"><img src="http://i56.tinypic.com/iqlclz.jpg" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0" /></a> </center><br /><br /><a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/2011/10/mccaskill-stiffs-obama-in-missouri.html">Earlier this month</a>, Claire McCaskill (D- Not the Sharpest Knife in the Drawer), disappeared with "prior commitments" (like getting re-elected) when Obama came to visit St. Louis. <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hujYBEGedoQM3_y-UPP4QGEMUpkA?docId=b60b024af5fa49daa0f4c1312f09bd48">In Virginia and North Carolina</a>, Democrats like Tim Kaine,former Democratic National Committee chairman and governor, Democratic state Sen. Phil Puckett, were running away as well.<br /><br />In September, Democratic state Sen. Phil Puckett distanced himself from Obama after his Republican challenger started calling him "Obama's man in southwest Virginia". In southwest Virginia, House Minority Leader Ward Armstrong is having a tough political fight. One of his solutions? Stay away from Barack Obama,.<br /><br />Sometimes, in politics, they talk about a politician's "coattails", how a lesser candidate can be carried into office by virtue of the fact that the top of the ticket was strong enough to draw votes for other members of the same party. More rarely, they talk about "reverse coattails", where a poor candidate drags others in his party to defeat.<br /><br />Democrat politicians fear Barack's coattails in 2012. As well they should.<br /><br />Cross posted at <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof Positive</a>Mike aka Proofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08931553845065187278noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-48275303277269066982011-10-05T07:59:00.000-07:002011-10-05T08:01:00.223-07:00The Latest from our Narcissist-in-ChiefBy <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof </a><br /><br />If you were President, and had the opportunity to read to small school children, which book would you choose? If you are Barack Obama, the one about yourself! <br /><br /><center><a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=2s1uasz" target="_blank"><img src="http://i54.tinypic.com/2s1uasz.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a></center><br /><br />H/T <a href="http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2011/10/unreal-obama-show-and-tell-me-me-me/">Gateway Pundit</a><br /><br />Cross posted at <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof Positive</a>Mike aka Proofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08931553845065187278noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-39606222524755112572011-09-25T09:07:00.000-07:002011-09-25T09:08:00.210-07:00Rookie MistakeEver see the Clint Eastwood, Charlie Sheen movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100514/">The Rookie</a>? The scene where Clint Eastwood jumps a car from one parking garage to another? This wasn't quite that dramatic...<br /><br /><center><a href="http://tinypic.com/?ref=jrd2qd" target="_blank"><img src="http://i52.tinypic.com/jrd2qd.jpg" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><object id="otvPlayer" height="345" width="432"><param name="movie" value="http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/static/flash/embeddedPlayer/swf/otvEmLoader.swf?version=&station=kgo&section=&mediaId=8339203&cdnRoot=http://cdn.abclocal.go.com&webRoot=http://abclocal.go.com&configPath=/util/&site="><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed id="otvPlayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allownetworking="all" allowfullscreen="true" src="http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/static/flash/embeddedPlayer/swf/otvEmLoader.swf?version=&station=kgo&section=&mediaId=8339203&cdnRoot=http://cdn.abclocal.go.com&webRoot=http://abclocal.go.com&configPath=/util/&site=" height="345" width="432"></embed></object><br /><br /></center><br /><br />Cross posted at <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof Positive</a>Mike aka Proofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08931553845065187278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-2905506924231257782011-09-11T08:33:00.000-07:002011-09-11T08:34:15.759-07:00F-16 Pilot Tells of the Suicide Mission that Wasn'tBy <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof </a><br /><br /><center><a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=r8fcbp" target="_blank"><img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/r8fcbp.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a></center><br /><br />A lesser known story of yet another hero of 9/11.<br /><br /><blockquote><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/f-16-pilot-was-ready-to-give-her-life-on-sept-11/2011/09/06/gIQAMpcODK_story_1.html">Late in the morning of the Tuesday that changed everything</a>, Lt. Heather “Lucky” Penney was on a runway at Andrews Air Force Base and ready to fly. She had her hand on the throttle of an F-16 and she had her orders: Bring down United Airlines Flight 93. The day’s fourth hijacked airliner seemed to be hurtling toward Washington. Penney, one of the first two combat pilots in the air that morning, was told to stop it.<br /><br />The one thing she didn’t have as she roared into the crystalline sky was live ammunition. Or missiles. Or anything at all to throw at a hostile aircraft.<br /><br />Except her own plane. So that was the plan.<br /><br />Because the surprise attacks were unfolding, in that innocent age, faster than they could arm war planes, Penney and her commanding officer went up to fly their jets straight into a Boeing 757.<br /><br />“We wouldn’t be shooting it down. We’d be ramming the aircraft,” Penney recalls of her charge that day. “I would essentially be a kamikaze pilot.”</blockquote><br /><br />A young pilot, with essentially her whole life ahead of her, gets an order that, if carried out, will almost certainly cost her her life. One that even if she survived, she'd have to live with the knowledge that she hastened the end, of a plane load of civilians, taking their lives in order to protect the lives of others and defend the United States of America. And she answered the call.<br /><br /><blockquote>“We had to protect the airspace any way we could,” she said last week in her office at Lockheed Martin, where she is a director in the F-35 program.<br /><br />Penney, now a major but still a petite blonde with a Colgate grin, is no longer a combat flier. She flew two tours in Iraq and she serves as a part-time National Guard pilot, mostly hauling VIPs around in a military Gulfstream. She takes the stick of her own vintage 1941 Taylorcraft tail-dragger whenever she can.</blockquote><br /><br />"Lucky" Penny was lucky indeed! A distinguished flying career for the last ten years. One that would have been cut short, save for the heroism of a group of passengers on Flight 93...<br /><br /><blockquote>But she didn’t have to die. She didn’t have to knock down an airliner full of kids and salesmen and girlfriends. They did that themselves.</blockquote><br /><br />It is an honor to salute the brave men and women of our armed forces. Major Penney had "the Right Stuff". And America is better off for having her serve.<br /><br />Major Penney, we humbly salute you and thank you for your service.<br /><br />Cross posted at <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof Positive</a>Mike aka Proofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08931553845065187278noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-35645845779208385882011-09-03T12:48:00.001-07:002011-09-03T13:10:15.786-07:00All Those In Favor of Dirty Air and Dirty Water, Please Raise Your Hand!<center><a href="http://tinypic.com/?ref=2rwnybs" target="_blank"><img src="http://i51.tinypic.com/2rwnybs.jpg" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0" /></a> </center>
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<br />Okay, put your hands down now, you filthy conservatives who are only concerned with raping the planet! That's the picture the Left paints, isn't it? As long as you can make a buck, it doesn't matter how many streams you pollute or how dirty the air gets, because...well, I'm not exactly sure why, because no one I know likes dirty air or water. It's been said that the anti-capitalist Left became "environmentalists" so that as they destroy our nation's economy, they could say they're doing it to "save the earth".
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<br />Balderdash! Capitalism has enabled the technology to keep our emissions down and keep the environment cleaner, because we can afford to! Back in the days of the old Iron Curtain and a partitioned Germany, some of the filthiest spots on the planet were in Communist countries that did not have the wealth to afford safeguards on pollution.
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<br />Obama's recent rescission of ludicrously high standards for "parts per billion" of ozone in this country, where even the air above our national parks might not meet the standards, got me to thinking, what would individuals who want to "save the earth" be willing to give up <span style="font-style:italic;">personally</span> to make improvements in air quality that are nearly too small to measure?
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<br />(Think: Al Gore with his limo idling outside one of his global warming speeches, so he doesn't have to get into a cold car, to drive to airport where a private jet is waiting to take him back to his mega mansion with all the lights burning while he's gone, but on a smaller scale.)
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<br />And I thought, what can a good, honest (stop laughing!) green weenie do personally to improve the environment? First thing? <span style="font-weight:bold;">Unplug the 'fridge</span>. Your refrigerator runs 24/7 and is probably the largest energy consumer in your house. Unplug it and don't buy anything perishable that will not keep unrefrigerated.
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<br />Some of you will find this to be an inconvenience. (Talk about your "Inconvenient Truths"!) You may find that you need to go to the store a little more often. Perhaps daily. But, <span style="font-weight:bold;">don't drive to the store</span>. You cannot waste what precious little ground you gained by unplugging your 'fridge, if you pollute the air making multiple trips to the store. Find a store within walking or biking distance. Or work on those calf muscles, because you're not going to let a little thing like this deter you from saving the planet, are you? Think about it!!! The WHOLE PLANET!!!! That's better! Must keep things in perspective!
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<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Buy locally</span>. A typical modern supermarket has a wondrous assortment of fruits and vegetables from around the globe. My last trip, I noticed some wonderfully fresh rhubarb that had been grown in Canada. DO NOT BUY IT! Do not buy anything that is not in season where you live. Some diesel belching truck brought those here and in good conscience, you must avoid contributing to that mindset.
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<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Unplug your furnace and your air conditioner</span>. This is a way to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the third world.
<br />Think of those poor, benighted people burning cow chips for cooking and heat. Of course, you could fire up the woodstove or a fireplace or a barbeque grill, but you know the prodigious amounts of soot put into the air by them, so you forego them. Wrap your self in a nice quilt in the winter (so long as all the fibers were grown and sewn locally) and console yourself with the fact that you are SAVING THE PLANET. Not just a portion of the planet, but the entire freaking planet. Feel free to shake your fist at your neighbors who are oblivious to the planet's plight.
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Boycott "Big Water"</span>. Daily showers are overrated. It takes power to pump that water into your household. Try digging a well. Buy water from the store if you have to (whatever will fit on the back of your bicycle) but be sure to take a reusable container. Preferably not plastic, since those are made from byproducts from the evil petroleum industry. And you can turn off your water heater, too. That also runs 24/7 for most of us, whether we're using it or not. You can get a solar shower from most good camping stores. How often you take one is up to you, but, we are saving the entire planet!!!
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<br />Sit in the dark </span>when the sun is not shining. Living off the grid used to mean using candles and kerosene lamps to avoid using electricity. No more. Light a candle sometime, invite your friends over (if you still have any after not showering so much), and watch the smoke that comes off them. Sometimes, people who burn a candle repeatedly in one place may notice a darkening on the ceiling above it. This is pollution. Your fireplace pollutes, your candles and oil lamps pollute (and just where did you think that oil came from, hmmm?). If you live in a city where there are streetlights, petition to have them turned off. In these tough economic times, cities are on a budget, too. This will lower their carbon footprint and might even save you a little on your property tax (or your evil Republican landlord's taxes, as the case may be.) Of, course, it will be a little harder to ride your bike to the store at night, but they've got these tiny generators you can attack to your bike's wheels to power a light. Some nights, you might even want to bring it inside and treat the family to a few extra minutes of carbon free lighting?
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<br />And since I'm sure you're going to unplug your computer and sell your TV right after you finish reading this, one last thought:
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<br />A large, coal fired generating plant, generating power for 10,000 homes, puts out far fewer emissions than 10,000 homes with woodstoves, candles, and oil lamps. So much less, that you can even plug in your 'fridge, if you want, and enjoy a few of the creature comforts we take for granted. Like the glowing screen you're staring at now.
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<br />No one wants dirty air or water, but some of us realize that regulations that cripple our economy are actually counterproductive to keeping the environment clean. I think our cities can live with the same amount of ozone found naturally over our national parks. I seem to recall a story about a small Alaskan town where they actually had to introduce small amounts of pollution into their waterways to keep them in compliance with what the federal government required of them. (Please don't ask for a citation, I've slept since then!)
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<br />We have made great strides in reducing pollution in our country over the last several decades. At some point, the diminishing returns of larger and larger investments for smaller and smaller gains should provide a wake up call for the green weenies.
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<br />Sometimes good is good enough. If not, I look forward to your reports on what you are doing personally to turn it around. Hand carried, of course, on paper made locally from locally grown fibers. Because, I'm sure you want to be consistent.
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<br />Cross posted at <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof Positive</a> Mike aka Proofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08931553845065187278noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-21080133575651091262011-08-09T07:36:00.000-07:002011-08-09T07:38:28.621-07:00London Thugs Don't Seem So Cool When You Get A Glimpse Of Their Targets<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.mediaite.com/online/slideshow-british-photojournalists-capture-stunning-images-of-london-riots/?pid=1069#image"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPwRgCqg7b0lVkvjmSkskmm3fA_AF-ibALCkRrpV8tM0Q0zpq0WiFF9bSnWYIZUfXJ5ATeG1ais5G98BOoKDkyKrky3n2Eel669XNhizwpnHZ6LWZmXVhBnKa7pqzkc1Xo2G21qHD_Y6g/s400/rioting_9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638865194589288930" border="0" /></a>*Photo comes from www.Mediaite.com http://www.mediaite.com/online/slideshow-british-photojournalists-capture-stunning-images-of-london-riots/?pid=1069#image
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<br />Lady Cincinnatushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392687400344784843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-6021105133373800332011-07-30T14:16:00.001-07:002011-07-30T14:22:38.113-07:00Favorite Book Is Now A Fan Made TrailorI don't know if there is such a thing as "conservative fiction" but this is my all time favorite book and I think it's conservative...I mean there is the part about "hunted by the government." Enjoy. Maybe someday they'll make a real movie out of it. <br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5rvC2YNw8Fg" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" width="425"></iframe>Lady Cincinnatushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392687400344784843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-29032935985603725462011-07-29T09:21:00.000-07:002011-07-29T09:33:19.444-07:00My Debt Ceiling Spleen Vent<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBtErFbD_0WkwdJbHYFVvU6oppqlAmGUrwI4gNi98T1BPrQl54GK8E_Kk9crGnf7cWqf43PzTFbx3JcMe2OfoiByLbV-w9MLimUyvaR9kx-1dMA5fJaofpgW6L_TuG_K2sa6I6QTjfxEE/s1600/c12755-22A-1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBtErFbD_0WkwdJbHYFVvU6oppqlAmGUrwI4gNi98T1BPrQl54GK8E_Kk9crGnf7cWqf43PzTFbx3JcMe2OfoiByLbV-w9MLimUyvaR9kx-1dMA5fJaofpgW6L_TuG_K2sa6I6QTjfxEE/s400/c12755-22A-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634811242512310626" border="0" /></a><br /><br />First, I agree that we are completely being played. We've never had any chance at this...Boehner thought he could play Henry Clay and become known as the great compromiser. Understandable when you consider his formative political years where watching Tip O'Neill and Reagan and trying to replay their model for breaking partisan gridlock. Problem is, I don't think Tip O'Neill...while certainly a Democrat with a capital "D"... was ever an anti-American Socialist Marxist agitator.<br /><br />Cut, Cap & Balance was passed and tabled as soon as it got to the Senate.<br /><br />D.O.A. (Dead On Arrival)<br /><br />And likewise, ANYTHING that comes out of the Republican controlled house is D.O.A.<br /><br />What shocks me is why the Tea Party doesn't understand that. Anything that Boehner and the Republican-held House does is D.O.A. Anything. Period. So both sides are making a huge mistake. Boehner thinks he can deal with a bunch of reasonable Democrats. He's wrong. And the Tea Party thinks it has any influence in what actually happens in this debt ceiling debate--the President and the Dem controlled Senate will eventually do exactly what they want to do. Obamacare Episode II.<br /><br />If anything, I think our side shouldn't even be uttering the word Boehner or plan. We should be doubling down our messaging--Repeat over and over that the Dems will do whatever they want because they hold 2 branches of government. Repeat all the bad things that will happen as a result of their spending spree. Repeat how important it will be in 2012 to make sure the Dems DO NOT get 2 branches of government ever again because we see what they do with that spending power. Then take back congress and pass cut, cap and balance. Democrate Power = You Are Poorer. I mean how hard is it to come up with a slogan like that and then repeat ad nauseum like the Dems do?<br /><br />But instead, we attack Boehner, split our team right down the middle, and the Left will do exactly what they would have down all along--Never let a crisis go to waste and probably allow Obama to invoke the 14th Amendment for yet another stunning executive power grab. And then what? The tea party can say how right they were about Boehner not being 100% pure in principle. Boy, that's going to feel like a win for the Tea Party.Lady Cincinnatushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392687400344784843noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-49807458333622787362011-07-23T13:00:00.000-07:002011-07-23T13:14:28.340-07:00Sic Transit Gloria Americanus?By <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof </a><br /><br /><center> <a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=2n1u9np" target="_blank"><img src="http://i55.tinypic.com/2n1u9np.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a></center> <br /><br />I wasn't planning on writing about this today, but the fading glory of our space program moves me to write. In 1977, Jerry Pournelle wrote about the "2007 expedition to Ceres". The old Buck Rogers TV show spoke of the "last of NASA's deep space probes in 1987". The <span style="font-style:italic;">last??</span> when was the <span style="font-style:italic;">first???</span><br /><br />Robert Heinlein spoke of the expectation that many of us had growing up of the inevitability of space travel. In 1949, he wrote in the preface to "The Man Who Sold the Moon":<br /><br />" (the stories)...are of the "What-would-happen-if" sort, in which the "if", the basic postulate of each story, is some possible change in human environment latent in our present day technology or culture. Sometimes the possibility is quite remote; <span style="font-weight:bold;">sometimes the postulated possibility is almost a certainty, as in the stories concerned with interplanetary flight</span>."<br /><br />Did you get that? In 1949, R.A. Heinlein considered interplanetary flight "almost a certainty".<br /><br />How did we get from the first Model A Ford to the first walk on the moon in forty two years and from the first walk on the moon to the last flight of the shuttle program in exactly the same time? <br /><br />And perhaps, more importantly, how do we get back? <br /><br />Cross posted at <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof Positive</a>Mike aka Proofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08931553845065187278noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-75998345764720023832011-07-02T12:59:00.000-07:002011-07-02T13:01:12.929-07:00"Fast and Furious" Weapons Found at Valley Crimes<center><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" id="video" data="http://www.abc15.com/video/videoplayer.swf?dppversion=10783" height="310" width="380"><param value="http://www.abc15.com/video/videoplayer.swf?dppversion=10783" name="movie"><param value="&skin=MP1ExternalAll-MFL.swf&embed=true&adSizeArray=1x1000,320x40,3x1000&adSrc=http%3A%2F%2Fad%2Edoubleclick%2Enet%2Fpfadx%2Fssp%2Eknxv%2Fnews%2Flocal%5Fnews%2Finvestigations%2Fdetail%3Bdcmt%3Dtext%2Fxml%3Bsz%3D%25size%25%3Bpos%3D%25pos%25%3Bloc%3D%25loc%25%3Bcomp%3D%25adid%25%3Btile%3D3%3Bfname%3Dweapons%2Dlinked%2Dto%2Dcontroversial%2Datf%2Dstrategy%2Dfound%2Din%2Dvalley%2Dcrimes%3Bord%3D274880350735218430%3Frand%3D%25rand%25&flv=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eabc15%2Ecom%2Ffeeds%2FoutboundFeed%3FobfType%3DVIDEO%5FPLAYER%5FSMIL%5FFEED%26componentId%3D187998489&img=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia2%2Eabc15%2Ecom%2F%2Fphoto%2F2011%2F06%2F30%2FAssault%5Fweapons%5Ffrom%5FA3f4720fa%2Dcc13%2D419b%2D9873%2D7c16ab3454da0000%5F20110630223218%5F640%5F480%2EJPG&story=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eabc15%2Ecom%2Fdpp%2Fnews%2Flocal%5Fnews%2Finvestigations%2Fweapons%2Dlinked%2Dto%2Dcontroversial%2Datf%2Dstrategy%2Dfound%2Din%2Dvalley%2Dcrimes&category=&title=&oacct=&ovns=" name="FlashVars"><param value="all" name="allowNetworking"><param value="always" name="allowScriptAccess"></object></center><br /><br /><blockquote><a href="http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/local_news/investigations/weapons-linked-to-controversial-atf-strategy-found-in-valley-crimes">PHOENIX </a>- Weapons linked to a questionable government strategy are turning up in crimes in Valley neighborhoods.<br /><br />For months the ABC15 Investigators have been searching through police reports and official government documents. We’ve discovered assault weapons linked to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ controversial "Fast and Furious" case strategy have turned up at crime scenes in Glendale and Phoenix communities.</blockquote><br /><br />More guns sales ineptly handled by BATFE are showing up at crime scenes on this side of the border. The story and the reporter repeatedly talk about this as a "strategy".<br /><br />This was hardly a "strategy". At best it was a tactic, so poorly thought out and ineptly implemented as to assure its failure from the beginning. The architects of this clusterfumble are trying desperately to cover their tracks and find a scapegoat they can blame this on. Remember when the White House couldn't remember or find out who hired <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_FBI_files_controversy">Craig Livingstone </a>? Good luck finding the fingerprints of anyone high enough up the food chain to be truly responsible for the "Fast and Furious Foul-up" on this<br /><a href="http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/fast-and-furious-weapons-found-at-valley-crimes/"></a><br />In other news, the BATFE plans to let children play with matches as part of a "strategic" plan to watch children get hurt. Eric Holder could not be reached for comment.<br /><br /><u>Update</u>: There's a Petition to Fire Holder <a href="https://www.nra.org/fireholder/Petition.aspx">here.</a><br /><br />H/T <a href="http://www.memeorandum.com/">Memeorandum</a><br />Cross posted at <a href="http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/">Proof Positive</a>Mike aka Proofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08931553845065187278noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495887832784998438.post-9279374373421757352011-06-02T05:38:00.000-07:002011-06-02T05:40:41.590-07:00Was this Keith Olbermann's idea? Just askin' the question...<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MvTRvtzVpUo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Lady Cincinnatushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392687400344784843noreply@blogger.com4