Boehner Blinked

 Published April 15, 2011 in the Lynchburg Ledger

In the first real confrontation between the Republican House and the Democrat-held Senate and White House since the 2010 election, the Republicans lost.

Republicans went toe to toe with the Democrats over the remainder of the 2011 budget.  The Democrat-controlled Congress failed to even consider a budget last year because it was an election year.  They opted instead to pass ObamaCare and further expand the size of government. 

The task of producing the budget fell to the Republicans with their newly elected majority in the House.  In the campaign, they promised to cut $100 billion from the current spending of $3.7 trillion for the fiscal year.  That equated to about $61 billion for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends the last day of September.  That is only 1.6 percent of the proposed spending

In their budget proposal, they cut spending for programs that the government has no business funding.  There is no constitutional authority for the federal government to fund Planned Parenthood (which performed 332,278 abortions in the United States in 2009) and Public Broadcasting.

The threat, of course, was that if a budget was not passed, the government would run out of money and be forced to “shut down.”  Now in a government shut down, the government really does not shut down.  Essential services continue to be funded.  Social Security checks continue to go out, the military continues to function (but their pay is withheld), law enforcement continues to function, and except for the closure of some national parks, the average citizen would be hard pressed to find an effect of a government shut down.

As the deadline drew near, the Republicans offered another temporary extension, but it would have also funded the Department of Defense for the rest of the year.  Barack Obama indicated he would veto such a bill, holding our military hostage.  What a despicable act.

At the 11th hour, it was the Republicans who blinked.  They settled for only a $38.5 billion reduction, and gave up all the demands the conservatives were insisting on.  The concessions John Boehner made to Harry Reid and Barack Obama was to drop:

•           De-funding of ObamaCare.

•           Blocking EPA funding for regulating carbon.

•           The National Labor Relations Board will not be stopped from forcing an end to secret ballots in union contests.

•           Medicaid will not be block granted and turned over to the states.

•           Welfare spending will not be cut nor work requirements imposed.

•           The FCC will not be stopped from regulating talk radio

Some Republicans, such as Eric Canter, are praising the agreement where many others, such as Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Rand Paul and Dick Morris see it for the sell out that it is.

Sarah Palin tweeted, "GOP: don’t retreat! The country is going broke. We can’t AFFORD cowboy poetry & subsidizing abortion. If we can’t fight to defund this nonsense now when we have the chance, do you think we’ll win the big fight on entitlement reform later on?"

Bachmann called the deal a disappointment saying, "Sadly, we're missing the mandate given us by voters last November.”

Rand Paul said the budget compromise, “Does not set us on a path to fixing the spending and debt problems our country is facing. There is not much of a difference between a $1.5 trillion deficit and a $1.6 trillion deficit-both will lead us to a debt crisis that we may not recover from.”

Dick Morris wrote, “John Boehner has just given away the Republican victory of 2010 at the bargaining table...he has unilaterally disarmed the Republican Party by showing that he will not shut down the government and will, instead, willingly give way on even the most modest of cuts in order to avoid it.”

The Democrats now know that when push comes to shove, the Republicans will cave in.  This does not bode well for two important upcoming issues.

The first will be a vote in Congress to raise the debt limit so we can continue to borrow at an astounding rate.  Republicans need to dig their heels in and oppose raising the debt limit without a realistic deficit elimination plan that relies on spending cuts and not tax increases, which will only cripple and enslave.

The Democrats will howl and scream and say the financial credibility of the nation is at stake.  They don’t seem to realize that our massive borrowing has already destroyed our credibility.  The value of the dollar continues to drop, which accounts, in part, for the increase in oil prices.  The world petroleum market uses the U.S. dollar as its trading currency.

The Democrats can expect the Republicans to cave once again.  They may throw them a bone or two in exchange for raising the debt limit.  We need to tell the Republicans in Congress to oppose any increase in the debt limit.

Finally, there is the 2012 budget being proposed by Congressman Paul Ryan.  This is a very aggressive budget designed to get government spending under control.  It makes cuts everywhere, including entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare.  If we are ever to bring spending under control, the proposed cuts are necessary.

Look for the Democrats to attack the Ryan budget just like they did the 2011 budget compromise.  Harry Reid accused Republicans of wanting to hurt and even kill women because of the attempt to defund Planned Parenthood.  The Republicans need to learn how to take it to the Democrats and dish it out to them they way they attack Republicans.

Rising in the presidential polls is an unlikely potential candidate, Donald Trump.  He is attracting attention because he isn’t afraid to take it right to Obama and the Democrats.  Republicans are going to have to learn from Trump and have the intestinal fortitude to stand up to the Democrat lies and distortions.

Alternative Energy Pipe Dreams

 Published April 8, 2011 in the Lynchburg Ledger

When the Democrats took control of Congress in 2007, the cost of gas at the pump was around $2.15 a gallon.  By August of 2009, the cost had climbed to around $4.00 a gallon.  Then along came the financial collapse brought on by the sub-prime home loan market meltdown and the price at the pump took a nose dive.  When Barack Obama took the oath of office on January 20, 2009, the cost of gas at the pump was about $1.60 a gallon.  

Since then, the cost has steadily climbed to today’s $3.59 a gallon, more than doubling in cost.  The liberal media is totally silent and seems to be ignoring this economy-crushing increase.  If a Republican was in the White House, they would have plenty to say.

With the continuing unrest in the Middle East, the petroleum futures market has bid the price of a barrel of crude to $108.00.

The U.S. is still importing over 50 percent of our daily oil consumption.  We get 70 percent of our petroleum imports from five countries, which are:  Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Venezuela.

Barack Obama recently visited Brazil and gave them $2 billion to explore deep water oil reserves, stating the U.S. would be a big customer.  Brazil currently is our 10^th biggest supplier of crude oil.

When Obama returned from his jaunt to South and Central America, he spoke at Georgetown University stating his goal was to reduce oil imports by one third by 2025.  

Just how does he plan to do this?  By increasing domestic production like drilling offshore and in ANWAR?  No, it is by consuming less and relying on alternate energy sources.

I believe Obama is privately thrilled with the current increases at the pump as the economy will limit gas use.  He also expects new vehicles to get better gas mileage.

One way to increase mileage is to make vehicles smaller.  A friend of mine just returned from Vietnam where he says everyone rides around on motor scooters.  Even entire families are loaded onto one motor scooter.

Obama would love that, but the rest of us would not.  We are used to the freedom a comfortable car provides.  For safety reasons, I will not buy a car that weighs less than 3,000 pounds.  In an accident, anything lighter will result in injury or death.

Obama is also looking to “alternative energy” sources to solve the problem.  However in many cases, they made the problem worse or prove to be totally impractical.

Today’s gas contains 10 percent ethanol.  This mixture and small engines like lawnmowers don’t get along very well.  The ethanol dissolves the gaskets in carburetors and the engines won’t run.  This year millions are going to break out their mowers and lawn tractors and discover they won’t start.  A trip to the small engine repair shop is going to cost big bucks.

Many boaters have already learned this lesson as ethanol and outboard engines don’t get along either.

Have you noticed the cost increases in food lately?  Much of that increase is caused by corn being diverted from animal feed and food production to ethanol production.

A gallon of ethanol has only two thirds the energy as a gallon of gasoline so with 10 percent ethanol in your gas, your mileage is decreased by 3 percent.

Then there is wind energy.  In a Letter to the Editor in the Roanoke Times on March 28, 2011, my friend Dr. Charles Battig wrote about “wind turbine syndrome.”  He wrote, “’Wind-turbine Syndrome’ was coined by Dr. Nina Pierpont in describing the medical impacts on captive neighbors. Ringing in the ears (tinnitus), headaches, insomnia and nausea are health complaints she documented. Citizens in Canada, Britain, Denmark and France have registered similar complaints to their authorities about nearby wind-turbine installations.  The low-frequency thump, thump, thump is relentless and inescapable, save by moving away.”
A lesson learned all too well by the people of Falmouth, Massachusetts. 

Looking to save money on the town’s electric bill, this liberal Cape Cod town installed a 1.65 megawatt wind turbine at a cost of $5.1 million.  But as soon as it was turned on, the sound it emitted was described as that of “an old Soviet helicopter.” 

One person who lives a quarter mile from the turbine says, “It is dangerous,” he told a Boston TV channel, “Headaches.  Loss of sleep.  And the ringing in my ears never goes away.”

It didn’t take long for the residents to file a lawsuit.  The town agreed to shut off the turbine when the wind exceeded 23 miles per hour.  Its maximum efficiency is in winds of 30 miles per hour.  Instead of saving $400,000 per year in electric costs as they anticipated, they will save only about half that.  At that rate, it will take the Town of Falmouth over 25 years just to break even on the cost of the turbine.

Then there are the various community colleges of Los Angeles which spends a little under $8 million annually on electricity.  

One “green thinking” individual came up with a plan to save money.   For only $975 million, he could take them “off the grid” using solar photovoltaic panels.  When you do the math, it takes 121 years to break even and since solar cells are only guaranteed for 20 to 30 years.  An engineering consultant estimated it at 1.9 billion, giving a break even time of 237 years. 

The City of Los Angeles actually signed off on the project but reality set in and it was scrapped, but not before spending $10 million on the project.

There are no practical alternate energy sources to replace the carbon-based fuels we have become dependent on.  Perhaps, some day hydrogen will be a practical fuel, but until that day arrives, it is “Drill Baby, Drill.”

Comparing Obama to Carter

 Published april 1, 2011 in the Lynchburg Ledger

I suspect that one of the people most excited about Barack Obama’s presidency is former president Jimmy Carter.  Up to now, Jimmy Carter has been considered the most incompetent president in history.  Now, in a race to the bottom, Barack Obama seems to be on track to take the title from Carter.

Carter in turn, has described the Bush (43) administration as the “worst in history.”  Historically, former presidents have refrained from commenting on their successors, but Democrats like Carter and Clinton seem to think they are above that.

Jimmy Carter was the 39th President and served from 1977 to 1981, when he was defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980, perhaps the best president of the century.

We are still suffering from the incompetence of the Carter administration some 30 years later, both internationally and domestically.

Under Carter, Iran went from a friendly dictatorship to an Islamic nation dominated by Islamic fundamentalists. 

On taking office, Carter announced that "human rights" was among the highest of his priorities. Carter immediately made America’s ally, the Shah of Iran, one of his first targets.  Carter publicly chastised the Shah for his human rights record, claiming he had been torturing about 3,000 prisoners, many of them accused of being Soviet agents. Carter sent a clear message to the Islamic fundamentalists that America would not come to the Shah's aid.  His anti-Shah speeches were actually played from public address systems in downtown Tehran.

When it comes to foreign relations, we can not think in terms of good and bad, but rather in terms of tolerable and intolerable.  When you depose an ally, you better be sure what you get in their place. 

Carter didn’t and Iran became a fundamentalist Islamic state.  The regime of Ayatollah Khomeini, which took power, executed more people in its first year in power than the Shah's government had allegedly killed in the previous 25 years.  Khomeini's regime was a human rights nightmare and continues to be even today.  Two American hikers who possibly strayed into Iran have been held for over two years charged with spying.  A third was released on a massive amount of bail. 

We had a similar situation in Egypt where Obama abandoned our long-time ally Hosni Mubarak.  Mubarak was a tolerable dictator and a stabilizing influence in the Middle East.

Obama has also decided it was time to oust Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, in spite of Gaddafi’s much less militant stands in recent years.  Gadaffi voluntarily surrendered his growing nuclear capability after we invaded Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein.

Is history about to repeat itself?  Speculation is that the Muslim Brotherhood is poised to take political control of Egypt.  If they do, Egypt will be turned into another Iran.

It was Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini who introduced the idea of suicide bombers to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and who paid $35,000 to PLO families who would offer up their children as human bombs to kill as many Israelis as possible. 

Khomeini gave the world Hezbollah to make war on Israel and destroy the multicultural

democracy that was once Lebanon.  They are responsible for the deaths of 241 U.S. Marines in their Beirut barracks in 1982.

Jimmy Carter is responsible for the chain of events that gave us not only Hezbollah, but al-Qaida and the 9-11 attack, the Taliban and a nuclear Iran and North Korea.

It was Jimmy Carter who negotiated the flawed agreement with North Korea (at Bill Clinton’s request) that resulted in their nuclear weapons capability today.

When the Soviet Union saw us so willingly abandon a staunch ally such as the Shah of Iran, they invaded Afghanistan, and it was the resistance to the Soviet invasion that helped give birth to the Taliban. We actually supported the Taliban back then by providing arms and instructors from the CIA. 

The Iranian revolution also led to the Iraq-Iran War that took a million lives and encouraged Hussein to invade Kuwait to strengthen his position.  This brought us Desert Storm where we had to evict Iraq from Kuwait.

Economically, Carter adopted the Keynesian economics of the time, buying into the theory that there was a reverse "trade-off" between inflation and unemployment — an idea that proved spectacularly wrong but one Barack Obama subscribes to.  Under Carter, the U.S. became mired in "stagflation," with both inflation and unemployment rising sharply. 

Under Obama, we have high unemployment and his policies are keeping them high by restricting small business.  The rate of inflation has been held artificially low by the Federal Reserve but with rising gas prices, the costs of every thing else, such as food, is on the rise.

Carter was famous for embracing dictators.  He kissed Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev on each cheek.  Carter also kissed Fidel Castro when he visited that communist despot.

Obama took another approach.  Obama greeted the king of Saudi Arabia with a full bow from the waist.  He also bowed to Japan’s Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko at the Imperial Palace.

During the Carter administration, the Housing and Community Development Act of 1977 was passed and set in motion the events which led to the housing meltdown and financial collapse of 2008, which helped elect Obama.

Carter established the Departments of Energy and Education.  Ever since, our supply of domestic energy has steadily decreased as we become increasingly dependent of foreign oil.  Our students, who once scored at the top of international scholastic tests, now score at or near the bottom.

Unless we repeal ObamaCare, our health care system, now the finest in the world, will revert to a second class system such as we see in Europe.

Jimmy Carter was a one-term president.  Let us hope and pray Barack Obama will be also.

Islamic Fundamentalists and Other News

Published March 18, 2011 in the Lynchburg Ledger 

Last week was certainly a busy news week. 

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker stood his ground against unruly union protestors and the legislature stood with him.  They stripped out of the stalled appropriations bill the portions that reformed union benefits for public workers and passed it separately, no longer needing the quorum needed for budget bills.  This enraged union workers and they were further enraged when Walker signed the bill.

We all got a good look at labor unions in action.  They trashed the state capitol building in Madison, costing taxpayers about $7.5 million to repair.

The 9.0 magnitude earthquake in Japan quickly grabbed the headlines as sections of Japan were devastated by the quake and the ensuing tsunami.  This event, the 5th largest ever recorded in modern times, is sure to have long-lasting consequences on the Japanese people and economy. 

Perhaps the biggest concern is the nuclear power plants that were affected.  It should be noted that the reactors withstood the earthquake; it was the tsunami following that knocked out cooling capacity for some units.  On the on a seven-point international scale of gravity for nuclear incidents, the Japanese incident has been upgraded from 4 to 6 according to France's Nuclear Safety Authority.  Three Mile Island was a level 5 and Chernobyl was a 7.

But three main stories, all having to do with Muslims, are what mainly caught my attention.

There is the on-going revolt in Libya, where embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi’s 41 year dictatorial rule is on the verge of collapse.  One problem is that Barack Obama seems to be completely indecisive, projecting weakness rather than strength.

Additionally, there is unrest in Saudi Arabia, where last Friday was suppose to have been Saudi Arabia's "day of rage", planned for and anticipated for weeks.  The protests in the east, where the Saudi Shia minority is concentrated, were mostly to call for the release of political prisoners.  The rest of the nation seemed to ignore the call for action.

Domestically, we heard about the sting operation at National Public Radio (NPR) by conservative James O’Keefe posing as a potential donor with connections to the Muslim Brotherhood.  NPR executive Ron Schiller was caught on tape admitting his willingness to accept $5 million from what he had to know was an Islamic terrorist organization.  Schiller also was recorded making derogatory statements against Republicans, Jews, evangelical Christians and the Tea Party.  He was forced to resign.

Also resigning from NPR was CEO Vivian Schiller (no relation to Ron).

O’Keefe also released a recording of a conversation between NPR executive Betsy Liley and a member of the fictitious Muslim Education Action Center about how to proceed with a $5 million donation, including her suggestion the gift wouldn't be subject to an audit. She is on unpaid leave.

I was delighted to see NPR exposed.  I had an issue with them in the Washington DC area and quickly learned how little they care about facts.

Then, there was the furor New York Republican Rep. Peter King’s Homeland Security Committee hearing on Muslim-American radicalization.  It is absolutely incredible how the Democrats come to the defense of those who have sworn to destroy our nation and kill those who won’t convert to Islam.

What some call Muslim “radicalization” is in fact Muslim fundamentalism.  The 19 terrorists who flew the planes into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Shankesville, PA were Islamic fundamentalists. 

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Fort Hood gunman who killed 13 innocent service personnel is an Islamic fundamentalist.

Richard Colvin Reid, commonly known as the shoe bomber, is an Islamic fundamentalist.

It is estimated that about 10 percent of the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims are fundamentalists.  That is to say, they believe and seek to practice the teachings of their holy book, the Koran, all 130 million of them. 

The Koran teaches that those who refuse to convert to Islam must die.  They call this jihad, which is defined as “holy war waged by Muslims against infidels (non-Muslims), or a holy struggle or striving by a Muslim for a moral or spiritual or political goal.”

Compare the fundamentalist Muslim to the fundamentalist Christian, who also believes the teaching of their holy book, the Bible.  There are an estimated 2.1 billion Christians but only about 10 percent are fundamentalist.  They are the direct opposite of fundamental Muslims as Jesus teaches His followers to “love their enemies.”

Jesus summed up fundamental Christianity when he said.”‘ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself."   Jesus also said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.   Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  This is called the Great Commission.

Jesus tells his followers to love God and their neighbors and to go into all the world preaching the “good news.”

This is just opposite what the Koran teaches.  It tells Muslims to hate their neighbor if they are “infidels” and to spread Islam by force, not the spoken word.

Christianity has liberated women where Islam keeps them enslaved. 

Although alms giving are a basic Muslim tenet, you rarely see Muslims responding to disasters such as the Japan earthquake.  Rather, you will see them sending aid and weapons to jihadists throughout the world.

It is the Christian community who responds to national disasters.

Peter King’s Homeland Security Committee needs to continue to hold hearings until the true nature of Islam is exposed and understood.

Preparing For Disaster

Published March 11, 2011 in the Lynchburg Ledger

It has now been two weeks since the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and the resulting tsunami, and we still don’t know the true magnitude of this disaster.  We will likely never really know the exact extent since whole communities have simply disappeared.  We may never know the total death toll.

When a disaster of this magnitude strikes, communications networks are completely destroyed and will take months to restore.  In the meantime, communications will be re-established gradually and we will learn more as time goes on.

The most attention has been focused on the nuclear reactors that were damaged and opponents of nuclear energy lost no time spinning the destruction to their advantage.  In the news business, there is an old saying, “if it bleeds it leads.”  A newsletter I get added “if it radiates it fascinates.”

All six of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant are Generation II boiling water reactors designed and built by GE about 40 years ago.  They were designed to withstand a magnitude 8.8 earthquake and they exceeded their specifications.  The primary containment for the nuclear core is a concrete and steel structure around the pressure vessel.  The secondary containment structure of thick poured concrete around the primary containment. An outer structure is designed to keep out weather.

Although the reactors survived the quake, the electric grid which the plant is connected to, did not.  When the grid went down, control rods were automatically inserted into the fuel assemblies stopping the nuclear reactions in the reactors in operation. The backup diesel engines to generate emergency electrical power turned on providing the necessary circulation of water needed to keep the fuel rods from overheating.  About an hour later, the tsunami hit the plant breaching the sea wall and destroying the diesel backup for the electricity to the pumps providing cooling water.

They have been struggling to cool the reactors ever since. 

Some radioactivity has escaped but has been disbursed in the atmosphere so levels detected are well below the dangerous limits.

Japan is located right along the western edge of the Pacific Plate along a subduction zone.  The Pacific Plate is descending below the Eurasian Plate making Japan very prone to not only earthquakes but tsunamis. 

The plate tectonics for North America is completely different.  On our west coast, the Pacific Plate is moving north, sliding along the North American Plate.  Although they are earthquake-prone, the geography is such that major tsunamis are not likely. 

However, along the coast of Alaska, the Pacific Plate is diving under the North American Plate.  Alaska is definitely prone to earthquakes with the possibility of tsunamis, as history shows.

On March 28, 1964, I was operating a Nuclear Detection and Reporting System research station in Manassas, Virginia when the “Good Friday” earthquake occurred in Alaska.  This 9.2 magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami took 128 lives.  15 from the earthquake and 113 from the resulting tsunami.  I clearly recorded the event on my seismic monitoring equipment.

On the east coast, the North American Plate meets the Eurasian and African Plates but this fault line is expanding rather than colliding.  The plate boundaries are actually creating undersea land and the plates are moving away from each other.  Consequently, here in the east coast, the chances of a severe earth quake and tsunami are somewhat remote.  Our major risk would be from the fault along the Caribbean Plate and a fault located off the coast of Portugal. 

However, the east coast is much more susceptible to hurricanes and the associated tidal surge, which can be just as destructive as a tsunami.  We saw what the tidal surge from Hurricane Katrina did along the Gulf coast.

I have spent many hours in the air flying up and down the east coast and from Maine to Florida; it is one solid line of coastal development.  If a category 4 or 5 hurricane should strike almost anywhere along the east coast, the result will be very similar to the Japan tsunami.

Here in Lynchburg, we are at about 900 feet above sea level so in no danger from a tsunami or tidal surge. However, weather-related events such as tornados and hurricanes remain our greatest threat.

 

Last week, Virginia conducted a state-wide tornado alert.  Those of us with NOAA weather radios heard our alarm go off.

 

In 1969, Hurricane Camille dropped 27.36 inches of rain in Nelson County resulting in 123 deaths, just five less than the Alaska earthquake.  It took many hours for those outside Nelson County to discover a disaster had even occurred.

So the question is how does one prepare for a possible disaster?  In most cases, if a disaster strikes, you need to be totally self sufficient for at least three days if you survive.  You can go to the ready.gov website for a list of items you will need in your disaster kit. However, I recommend doubling or tripling the amount of water as they did not allow enough water for flushing.

I keep a supply of water, enough food to last a while, and a generator which will keep the refrigerator running, allow me to cook, watch TV, generate heat and operate my computer and ham radio equipment.

In a major disaster, all communications will be out and the only source of emergency communications will be by ham radio as it was during Camille and Katrina.  Locally, we are well prepared.  We have communications equipment permanently installed at Lyncom, the communications centers of Amherst, Bedford and Campbell counties as well as Lynchburg General and Bedford hospitals.

I am an assistant emergency coordinator for Campbell County and locally we train once a week.

Let us hope we don’t have to use our emergency provisions or communications, but if disaster should strike, we are as prepared as we can be.