But does he?
How do you read a clown?
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First-quarter output was sharply revised down to a 0.4 percent pace from 1.9 percent.Why do we believe the Commerce Department?
NASA satellite data from the years 2000 through 2011 show the Earth's atmosphere is allowing far more heat to be released into space than alarmist computer models have predicted, reports a new study in the peer-reviewed science journal Remote Sensing. The study indicates far less future global warming will occur than United Nations computer models have predicted, and supports prior studies indicating increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide trap far less heat than alarmists have claimed.
...
In addition to finding that far less heat is being trapped than alarmist computer models have predicted, the NASA satellite data show the atmosphere begins shedding heat into space long before United Nations computer models predicted.
...In short, the central premise of alarmist global warming theory is that carbon dioxide emissions should be directly and indirectly trapping a certain amount of heat in the earth's atmosphere and preventing it from escaping into space. Real-world measurements, however, show far less heat is being trapped in the earth's atmosphere than the alarmist computer models predict, and far more heat is escaping into space than the alarmist computer models predict.
When objective NASA satellite data, reported in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, show a "huge discrepancy" between alarmist climate models and real-world facts, climate scientists, the media and our elected officials would be wise to take notice. Whether or not they do so will tell us a great deal about how honest the purveyors of global warming alarmism truly are.
Angola (1993), Argentina (1981), Austria (1922), Belarus (1999), Bolivia (1985), Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992), Brazil (1994), China (1948),Danzig (1923), Georgia (1994), Germany (1923), Greece (1944), Hungary (1922), Hungary (1945), Isreal (1970's), Krajina (1993), Mexico (1980's), Nicaragua (1980's), Peru (late 1980's), Philippines (1940's), Poland (1922), Poland (1989), Romania (1990's), Taiwan (1948), Ukraine (1994), Yugoslavia (1999), Zaire(1992), Zimbabwe (2005)
The problem with deflation on a wide scale (not just with one class of consumer goods) is that it leads to a highly unstable economy. If consumers expect that prices will fall, they put off purchases, which decreases demand and can cause prices to fall further, decreasing demand, rinse and repeat. (Dave Ribar)Why do they force this irrational fear?
It seems odd to me that we are being asked to be more fearful of a deflationary spiral than an inflationary spiral. We are being asked to consistently dabble in inflation which has no real upward ceiling aside from currency destruction so as to avoid a deflationary event which almost everyone admits has a floor.
This strikes me as an awfully risky strategy for a nation, however it does lend "the few" tools to by which macro economic manipulation may be attempted.deflation monster
State Police Sgt. Andy Perdue said Monday that traces of the drug were found in the ducts, principal's office, hallways and bathrooms of the Boone County Career and Technical Center. Perdue says the teacher admitted he smoked meth with the principal in the principal's office.
We have lived under a broken debt funded system so long we no longer recognize a functioning system when we see one.
Our representatives are in power to reconcile needs and wants with our fiscal ability to meet those needs and wants. Doing so is difficult. That difficulty combined with cheap borrowing costs has lead to an over reliance on debt rather than doing the hard work of reconciling fiscal incoherence.
What we see today, the hard and messy work of reconciling fiscal incoherence, is healthy. One party understands that, the other does not and requires the coercive fear of limited debt availability to reign in their unreal dependence on other people's money, or more accurately, another generation's prosperity.
No, it is not simple; impressing reality on the irrational rarely is.
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Reading this post today, everything finally clicked into place. I finally understand the Christianists, though it makes my head want to explode.No, it's not about the Tea Party assassin in Norway. It's about Tea Party dominionists in Florida who want to loosen environmental restrictions that protect ocean animals. These god-fearing Christian soldiers are proud to say: "We cannot elevate nature above people," explained Edna Mattos, 63, leader of the Citrus County Tea Party Patriots, in an interview. "That's against the Bible and the Bill of Rights."
We have such fools here at home, those in favor of turning North Carolina's beaches into concrete bunkers. Those who want to give zygotes the same exalted status as living humans. Those who believe mercury is an essential ingredient for North Carolina rivers. Those very same partisan whores who believe elected officials should choose their voters instead of vice versa.
This Sunday I wish I was a schizophrenic militant Christianist too. Then I could pray to god that all these arrogant assholes would rot in hell.
To which I replied:
The statement:
I finally understand the Christianists.and the statement:
Then I could pray to god that all these arrogant assholes would rot in hell.are contradictory. You do not understand Christians.
and:
It is contradictory to define life as not life.
Those who want to give zygotes the same exalted status as living humans.If there were only one polar bear and that polar bear were a "growing clump of cells" within its recently deceased mother would it be a life worth saving? Unfortunately I am unable to use humanity in this example due to the devaluing humanity has suffered from the left.
and:
Those very same partisan whores who believe elected officials should choose their voters instead of vice versa.Elected officials are by definition chosen by their voters. To state otherwise is contradictory:
:::::
James Protzman replied by not only deleting my comment, and banning me, but labeling my comment as "intolerable".
Sorry for the deletion, but on this particular day in right wing hell, your words rose to the level of intolerably obnoxious. I have blocked your account.
Feel free to re-register as a real person with a real name and I will consider allowing you the privilege of participating in this community.

Unlike the state GOP’s first proposal, though, this one puts McIntyre’s and Miller’s homes into other members’ districts. Furthermore, it would make both McIntyre’s and Kissel’s even more Republican than before.
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The new map also would likely force McIntyre — perhaps the toughest of the four targets for Republicans to defeat — to move into the new 7th to run for reelection. And Miller, who is drawn into Rep. David Price’s (D-N.C.) district, would also face a tough reelection decision.
In the end, the map appears to be even better for the GOP than the first map proposed (details on that map here), concentrating more Republicans into the vulnerable Democrats’ districts while putting more Democratic voters in non-competitive districts.
Republicans said they made the changes in response to concerns raised by Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) that his majority-black district may not meet the requirements set forth by the Voting Rights Act. Because of this, Butterfield’s safe Democratic district would become even more Democratic than the first proposal, allowing Republicans to put even more of their voters in other districts.
When the first North Carolina redistricting map came out at the beginning of July, Democrats of course bawled like stuck calves.
...
But then something interesting happened: Rep. GK Butterfield (D, NC-01) started complaining. Rep. Butterfield is a beneficiary (along with Rep. Mel Watts of NC-12) of the racial gerrymandering system set up in response to the Voting Rights Act; and he made some rather pointed objections to the first map, arguing that it ‘disenfranchised’ some of his former constituents by moving them into majority-white districts. North Carolinan Republicans thought about it – and must have decided that they agreed, because they went into the maps again and redrew both Butterfield’s and Watt’s districts to make them more in line with the VRA’s perceived guidelines.
You mustn't go near a watape tree. They grab you.
When the first North Carolina redistricting map came out at the beginning of July, Democrats of course bawled like stuck calves.
...
But then something interesting happened: Rep. GK Butterfield (D, NC-01) started complaining. Rep. Butterfield is a beneficiary (along with Rep. Mel Watts of NC-12) of the racial gerrymandering system set up in response to the Voting Rights Act; and he made some rather pointed objections to the first map, arguing that it ‘disenfranchised’ some of his former constituents by moving them into majority-white districts. North Carolinan Republicans thought about it – and must have decided that they agreed, because they went into the maps again and redrew both Butterfield’s and Watt’s districts to make them more in line with the VRA’s perceived guidelines.
You mustn't go near a watape tree. They grab you.
Bank of America is tanking again, as firm may need $50 Billion in fresh capital.Is this bank still to0 big to fail when it is not one of many?

"The privileged few clustering around the Treasury Secretary and the Fed have eaten everybody else's lunch," Corrigan said.
See the head fake?One key sticking point lies in raising taxes on higher earners, which many Republicans object to.
"If you want to preserve some kernel of the free market, you can't have corporate welfare socialism and then expect all the austerity to fall at the bottom of the pile," Corrigan said.

Black men are half as likely to die at any given time if they're in prison than if they aren't, suggests a new study of North Carolina inmates.
Republicans will not be reduced to being the tax collectors for the Obama economy.

...it is important that the American people know that their government is acting on their behalf, not on behalf of powerful financial institutions. It is important that the public and Congress be able to assess whether the enterprises settled claims that would limit taxpayer losses on a tough, arm's length basis, rather than providing another indirect subsidy to the banking industry.
Today Dr. Brod gave us the generational redistibutionst's argument for Keynesianism:
Economists have generally pointed out that given steadily rising standards of living, what would really be inequitable would be leaving no debt to future generations (which is the core point of Queenan's article).
In most cultures leaving a stronger, wealthier tomorrow to subsequent generations would be a source of pride.
Only in liberalism would such success be a source of envy.
How best to remedy the inequity of the rising standards of living that benefit unborn generations?
Keynes and its generational redistribution, of course. Diminishing tomorrow for today through debt.
The result being the uniform equity of no rising standard of living across generations. Heck, we know it works, just look at Japan and it's success with Keynesian sourced generational redistribution otherwise known as Japan's 20 year recession.
Ultimately arguing for Keynes' generational redistributionist qualities is an admission of Keynesian born economic stagnancy and failed growth policy.
Bugs can be features to the socialist.
Insidious.
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Why not leave our children and grandchildren with debt? Why do they get to be the special generation with no debt? Has helicopter parenting progressed so far that we can't even run a deficit to save the economy? Why do our hearts ache more for future generations than they do for the millions of people who are unemployed right now?
Why?
Because it shifts real loss to subsequent generations for the mirage of a repaired economy today. As Dr. Brod has said in reference to the recession of 1937 which was second only to the current recession in severity after the Great Depression:
...what we saw in the 1930s is that fiscal stimulus worked while it was tried, and didn't work when it was pulled back.
In other words we traded real debt for no lasting gain. Keynes failed, FDR failed. The nation suffered.
We saw it again with the conclusion of WWII which was followed not by boom but by bust in the recession of 1945.
And in the most glaring example there is Japan which continuous the feel good Keynesian stimulus that has resulted not in boom, but a full generation of economic stagnancy. In Japan we see firsthand the real loss that was transferred to the unborn when Japanese leaders chose Keynesian solutions.
Those unborn are now young adults enduring the fiscal abuse metered out by elders who asked themselves:
Why not leave our children and grandchildren with debt? Why do they get to be the special generation with no debt?and chose poorly.
When has the boomer generation ever known sacrifice?
The Hippies are, and have been "The Man" for some time now. The national debt problem is their pig, but they refuse responsibility for it. Firmly ensconced in moral relativism they selfishly support choice over life, they choose debt over thrift, they choose "The Man" over liberty, and they push poverty on all generations, but their own.
The majority of the boomer generation never gave a thought beyond their own peers. First rejecting the thrift, success and sacrifice of the greatest generation then engorging themselves on a combination of free love, consumerism, and me-ism made possible by the very sacrifice they rejected.
They found no satiation; not in art, not in chemicals, not in communes, not in their incessant self aggrandizing through the media, not in new age nonsense. They are lost in an endless maze of perpetual selfish desire unable to find contentment.
Now with the bill for all their excess firmly on the table, they pass on their last chance at finding contentment through meaningful sacrifice as they pass that bill to subsequent generations.
Once a child, then a hippie, now the man -- perpetually living off the plate of another.
Where once churches and community helped the down trodden we now funnel that help through a soulless government.
Where once we had a melting pot we now have cultural Balkanization.
Where we once had the crisp suit of moral certitude we now have the tie-dyed confusion of moral relativism.
Never before has our country suffered a more worthless, selfish, shiftless, horrible, or gluttonous group of malcontents so intent on shifting their individual responsibility to society at large and beyond than our aging boomer generation who refused all sacrifice.
Thanks for the suck Hippies.
You truly are --- The Worst Generation.
Say no to Woodstock...
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What happens when a whiney drunk liberal economist runs to a whiney lefty former journalist hard up for a story of something on something to salvage her reputation? You get salacious nonsense like this from Talking Points Memo.
Horror of horrors, a possibly drunk and possibly crazy left-wing economist Rutgers named Susan Feinberg, and her husband who she probably calls her partner, saw Representative Paul Ryan and two other economists drink a $300 bottle of wine.
And all the lefty economist got was whine.
So she whined to Susan Crabtree, a former reporter turned lefty hacktivist, to write up a whine list lamenting Paul Ryan and friends daring to use . . . wait for it . . . no seriously, wait for it . . .THEIR OWN DAMN MONEY to buy the wine.
In all fairness where I am about to go has nothing to do with the article referenced but a portion of the article does dip into a topic of interest; the scope and morality of socialism:
... in 1994 with the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which opened the American-Mexican border to more economic activity. To encourage foreign investment in Mexico, its government started to strip Indian landowners of a long-held legal protection from privatization. The resulting conflict awakened ethnic tensions that dated back centuries, and spurred a populist support of indigenous heritage.What interests me here is that the Mexican government recognized a social benefit for Mexico in increasing foreign investment. Whatever the merits, Indian landowners retained legal protection from privatization that hindered much needed foreign investment. Mexico's solution was to strip the Indian landowners of those legal protections that stymied foreign investment for the greater good of the state.
Duke Energy filed Friday for an overall 15 percent rate hike, its largest such request in North Carolina in at least 20 years.
...
N.C. residential rates would go up 17 percent, adding $19 to the average $97 monthly bill. Commercial and industrial rates would rise 14 percent.
With the Founder's guidance the US was once an example of governance that avoided both theocracy and athocracy. We were a nation in which no groups were disenfranchised to the benefit of a single group and instead all groups were allowed in the public square despite creed, color, religion et cetera. Some of these took longer to acheive than others; there is no compelling argument to drop others.
On this Fourth we should remember the inclusive government that has been lost to atheocracy.
Edited for clarity.
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President Barack Obama plays a Rock Star, but he has no chops. Going on three years of Air Guitar Hero In Chief, perhaps it is time to listen to one who took the time to learn how to play. Here is Thad McCotter doing Norwegian Wood:
In a 2-1 decision, the judges ruled that the law violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

Wednesday, school officials put in place new policies they estimate will turn that $400,000 deficit into a $1.5 million surplus. And it's all because of the very provisions that union leaders predicted would be disastrous.
Now, the collective bargaining agreement is gone, and the school district is free to shop around for coverage. And all of a sudden, WEA Trust has changed its position. "With these changes, the schools could go out for bids, and lo and behold, WEA Trust said, 'We can match the lowest bid,'" says Republican state Rep. Jim Steineke, who represents the area and supports the Walker changes.
The changes mean Kaukauna can reduce the size of its classes -- from 31 students to 26 students in high school and from 26 students to 23 students in elementary school. In addition, there will be more teacher time for one-on-one sessions with troubled students. Those changes would not have been possible without the much-maligned changes in collective bargaining.
In his rather “prickly” press conference on Wednesday, President Obama made it sound as if tax increases (or, to use the Democrats’ language, “cutting spending in the tax code”) were part of a last resort at trimming the deficit as the federal government reaches its $14 trillion debt ceiling. He even referred to “tax breaks for corporate jet owners” (see here for background on the absurdity of that language) as “tough decisions”:He's right, tax cuts were never last ditch.
When Jamaica became independent from Great Britain, residents of the Cayman Islands, which until then had been administered as part of the colony of Jamaica, were given a plebiscite in which they voted to remain a British colony rather than join Jamaica in independence. The rest is history.

The fact is that scientists and politicians have been too quick to assume causation when it comes to climate change. Like ancient tribes of people who made sacrifices to the gods of nature, modern societies are too easily convinced that they are the ones responsible for weather changes and that they can somehow atone for their environmental sins through changes in behavior. And this happens to be very convenient for politicians and profiteers who are intent on regulating global energy use for their own power and financial gain.
...
All pain for no measurable gain.
But this new claim is that really there is only one clause that matters in the Constitution, and that is the Commerce Clause, and this one brief clause renders all 4400 other words in the Constitution null and void, because the Commerce Clause says, it is contended, that the federal government may do anything so long as, in the aggregate, it "affects interstate commerce," which, as is often pointed out, applies to everything.
Real racism is indeed truly disgusting; and nowhere is it more real and objectively manifest than in the left's politically correct posturing and in the perpetual victimhood scams perpetrated by their compassionate policies--you know, the ones that infantalize other races and ethnicities and keep them "in their place" so that the truly superior denizens of the political left can manage their lives.
If you want to be disgusted, take a look at the front-page story in today’s New York Times, “On College Forms, a Question of Race, or Races, Can Perplex.” It’s about how selective colleges and universities are wrestling with the problem of how to deal with applicants who check more than one box for race and ethnicity: which mixes are to be most favored, whether it’s better to be mixed or pure, what do to about students who refuse to check any box, and how to tell if a student is really sincere in his or her self-identification or is just "gamming" the system. Now, maybe it’s just me, but I think a lot of people will find it really sickening to read about how these politically correct educrats sit around and give a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down to an 18-year-old based on his racial and ethnic mix. As for “gaming” the system, were we supposed to lament the fact that a black applicant 100 years ago might try to pass for white? I think our condemnation then and now should be more concentrated on the racially discriminatory system itself rather than on those who tried or try to game it.
There is another strain of leftist racism - the presumption of racism without proof, an example which would be the accusations of racism hurled toward the Tea Party.
The war on traditional racism has nearly been won and it seems evident that as the old racism fades into history, the proof of its existence fades with it. What is slower to fade, though, is the perception of political leverage gained from the charge of racism. What remains is the current sea of baseless charges of racism for political advantage. Furthermore, without proof that there is racism involved then merely labeling something as racist is indicative of viewing events through a racial prism.
When an individual charges racism where there is none, the charge of racism becomes an act of racism itself.
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...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being.
The U.S. is in the midst of an energy revolution, and we don't mean solar panels or wind turbines. A new gusher of natural gas from shale has the potential to transform U.S. energy production—that is, unless politicians, greens and the industry mess it up.
...
The resulting boom is transforming America's energy landscape. As recently as 2000, shale gas was 1% of America's gas supplies; today it is 25%. Prior to the shale breakthrough, U.S. natural gas reserves were in decline, prices exceeded $15 per million British thermal units, and investors were building ports to import liquid natural gas. Today, proven reserves are the highest since 1971, prices have fallen close to $4 and ports are being retrofitted for LNG exports.
Fracking contaminates drinking water. One claim is that fracking creates cracks in rock formations that allow chemicals to leach into sources of fresh water. The problem with this argument is that the average shale formation is thousands of feet underground, while the average drinking well or aquifer is a few hundred feet deep. Separating the two is solid rock. This geological reality explains why EPA administrator Lisa Jackson, a determined enemy of fossil fuels, recently told Congress that there have been no "proven cases where the fracking process itself has affected water."There is much more at the link.A second charge, based on a Duke University study, claims that fracking has polluted drinking water with methane gas. Methane is naturally occurring and isn't by itself harmful in drinking water, though it can explode at high concentrations. Duke authors Rob Jackson and Avner Vengosh have written that their research shows "the average methane concentration to be 17 times higher in water wells located within a kilometer of active drilling sites."
They failed to note that researchers sampled a mere 68 wells across Pennsylvania and New York—where more than 20,000 water wells are drilled annually. They had no baseline data and thus no way of knowing if methane concentrations were high prior to drilling. They also acknowledged that methane was detected in 85% of the wells they tested, regardless of drilling operations, and that they'd found no trace of fracking fluids in any wells.
"You cannot fuse together different economies, with different rates of growth, with different patterns of trade across the world. We learned our lesson, we didn't join the EURO, thank God. You, I'm afraid, are currently trapped inside an economic prison."
Verification is an integral part of the scientific process, but neither AGW or economics seem to be held accountable for their statistically based projections and are hence free to engage in propaganda via dark side of statistical analysis and enjoy its electrolysis like ability to impart the patina of credible scientific analysis on what would otherwise be immediately recognized as fraud. Meteorology, however, uses statistics differently. Honestly, via verification.We often hear tongue in cheek comparisons made between meteorology and economics. There is merit the comparison and the similarities between the two fields of study help illuminate a difference that points to the utility of statistics as a tool. Weather forecasters use statistics regularly, but do so honestly while AGW and economists do not. That honesty is born of real world verification of statistical analysis and dishonesty born of being freed of the same.
From this ability to avoid verification arises the dishonest use of statistics in defense of dearly held beliefs. This in combination with fields of study being predominantly populated by like minded individuals results in the loss of clout of entire fields of study.
Once again bias in academia damages academia itself, in this case by removing the layer of protection afforded by diversity of thought and the verification that arises against abuse of statistical analysis.
The North Carolina House has voted to cancel out Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue's veto of the two-year state budget.
The vote Wednesday just after midnight was 73-46. That's just enough to meet the three-fifths majority required to override a veto.
3. "Culled data... Keynesian catnip": Right. When the data contradict your deeply held beliefs, the data must be wrong.The charge comes in different forms and it is partially correct. In fact, I question "the data" ( is it complete? is it manipulated? what agenda may be driving the data?) as it is always presented through the massaging magic of statistics.
Two Cape Fear region lawmakers who are key figures in the state budget battle say they will vote to override Gov. Bev Perdue's budget veto.
Rep. William Brisson and Rep. Dewey Hill are among the five Democrats in the House who voted for the budget. Four are needed to override the veto.
Judge Biery’s ruling banned students and other speakers from using religious language in their speeches. Among the banned words or phrases are: “join in prayer,” “bow their heads,” “amen,” and “prayer.”
He also ordered the school district to remove the terms “invocation” and “benediction” from the graduation program.
“These terms shall be replaced with ‘opening remarks’ and ‘closing remarks,’” the judge’s order stated. His ruling also prohibits anyone from saying, “in [a deity’s name] we pray.”
Lord, I thank you so much for the blessing of this day. And I just thank you for the amazing group of people that you surrounded me with.
God, I thank you for the support of our whole entire community through this case hearing; and also for Erin (Leu)and all the people at the Liberty Institute; and my parents, who’ve helped get me through the last couple of days.
Lord, I just thank you so much for your presence in our lives through these 18 years. And I just praise you for your incredible faithfulness through all adversity and all joy.
God, I thank you for the men and women who have given their lives helping to give us, and protect, the freedoms that we have today. And I ask that you please keep your hand of guidance on all of them — past, present and future military.
God, I thank you just so much for the freedom to be here today. And most of all, I thank you for loving us first.
God, I ask that you please keep each of us safe and well, as we all go our separate ways. And I can’t wait to see where you’ll be leading each of us. I ask that you’ll ask us all to remember where we come from, and to know where we stand.
God, I thank you for the gift of your Son and for the forgiveness that surpasses all understanding. And most of all, I thank you for your great love for us, and for our great nation, where we are free.
And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Bottom line; either a significant portion of seniors are going to be eating cat food, or the next few generations are going to be paying (unfairly) through the nose.
...
To me, it is absolutely insane to think that the Baby Boomers (I’m one) can put the burden of SS on younger workers. This simply will not work. The result of a policy approach that sticks everyone under 50 with the cost of the Boomers is going to result in deep social divides. We have enough problems in our society today. We don’t need/want Age Warfare to be added to the list. But if the plan to “fix” SS is one that sticks the bill onto young people we WILL have age warfare, it’s inevitable. The social consequences would be greater than the economic costs. Why does no one see this?
...
The solution(s) have to be born (largely) by the Baby Boomers themselves. Post the Boomers, SS can be a PayGo concept. But the transition is not PayGo. It is a huge inter-generational transfer of wealth. This means that well off Boomers (there are many, including myself) are going to have to dig into their pockets to support those in their age group who did not fair so well. That, in my opinion, is the only viable solution. That would be more representative of the American way. Fairness.
Are we living at the beginning of the Age of Fossil Fuels, not its final decades? The very thought goes against everything that politicians and the educated public have been taught to believe in the past generation. According to the conventional wisdom, the U.S. and other industrial nations must undertake a rapid and expensive transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy for three reasons: The imminent depletion of fossil fuels, national security and the danger of global warming.
What if the conventional wisdom about the energy future of America and the world has been completely wrong? …
If gas hydrates as well as shale gas, tight oil, oil sands and other unconventional sources can be tapped at reasonable cost, then the global energy picture looks radically different than it did only a few years ago. Suddenly it appears that there may be enough accessible hydrocarbons to power industrial civilization for centuries, if not millennia, to come.
So much for the specter of depletion, as a reason to adopt renewable energy technologies like solar power and wind power. Whatever may be the case with Peak Oil in particular, the date of Peak Fossil Fuels has been pushed indefinitely into the future. What about national security as a reason to switch to renewable energy?
The U.S., Canada and Mexico, it turns out, are sitting on oceans of recoverable natural gas. Shale gas is combined with recoverable oil in the Bakken “play” along the U.S.-Canadian border and the Eagle Ford play in Texas. The shale gas reserves of China turn out to be enormous, too. Other countries with now-accessible natural gas reserves, according to the U.S. government, include Australia, South Africa, Argentina, Chile, France, Poland and India.
The transformation of Americans from a nation of savers and entrepreneurs in the era of the family farm to a nation of consumers in the last eighty years was a fateful one. Our ancestors thought that debt was shameful and a burden; we’ve come to think of cheap debt as part of our birthright. The American Dream as we’ve known it entailed a lifestyle based on permanent debt. The growth of the American economy depended on growing debt at every level from federal Keynesian stimulus to credit card and mortgage debt.
There is no doubt that the NC redistricting process has created another gerrymander only this time under conservative rule , but there is also no doubt that the gerrymander is the product of a racially based redistricting process created by democrats, a process that conservatives must abide by.
Why?Unfortunately the Supreme Court found that the Voting Rights Act trumps the NC Constitution's firewall against gerrymandering.
NCGA :
Since the 1980's democrats in the NC House and NC Senate have abused the Voting Rights Act so as to break the NC firewall against gerrymandering. In so doing they broke NC's redistricting process. The current republican NCGA is forced to abide by that broken democrat process. That the results are unpleasing to democrats I hope enlightens them to basic racism in the process they crafted, a racism they chose to ignore due to the political gains they received from the process.
But therein lies the common ground, though. The belief that racism is evil. If as a result of being at the receiving end of their own redistricting process democrats recognize that their redistricting process is evil due to its racially based roots, then it seems to me that we can all agree that the process itself needs to be changed.
Unfortunately for democrats the path from evil is fraught with the darkness of self recognition.