Perhaps I should have closed the sarcasm tag...

Regarding my post on the CFL quote, the lovely Miss Tam at View From The Porch weighed in:

Over at the Newbius Papers, the idea is advanced that because hippies want to register your guns, then hippies should have to... register their compact florescent light bulbs. Because CFLs contain mercury, get it? So they're dangerous, like guns!

First, I like CFLs for a lot of applications, such as any light you basically want to leave burning. They're the berries for a back porch light. More importantly, though, I like freedom, so I don't like the idea of registering anything. Not guns, not CFLs, not even filthy hippies or nosy statists.

Telling people what kind of light bulbs they have to buy is for commies.

My reply began to approach post length, so I am instead going to put it here:

Tam, for the record: I find the idea of registering my light bulbs as repugnant as the idea of registering my firearms, and for the same reason. Further, the fact that our government even thinks it has the authority to regulate what type of light bulb I am allowed to purchase offends my Wookie-suiter sensibilities. That I must engage them, and ask for their permission, in order to exercise my Constitutional right to purchase (4473), keep (MA Licenses anyone?), and bear (CCW permit) Arms is beyond the pale.

The comment that I quoted is "sauce for the gander", and hopefully caused some of the hippie-statists to wince. Especially as it Gores (pun intended) one of their pet oxen (Anthropogenic Global Warming).

Thanks for the link, Miss Tam.

Newbius

Qui Bono?

"Who Benefits?"

We are over two months into the Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico. Still, the Obama Administration displays a stunning lack of ability to manage the problem, while preventing the professionals with experience from engaging. Who Benefits?

When asked about how he would have responded to the oil spill crisis, former President Bill Clinton responded:

"The federal government's position ought to be very straightforward," he said. "The most important thing is to fix the leak -- and anybody that can help us fix the leak, I'm for it. The second most important thing is to keep the oil away from the shores. The third most important thing is to minimize the damage when of the oil that reaches shores.

"The fourth most important thing today is to figure out who did what wrong and hold them accountable -- whether it was somebody in BP or somebody in the U.S. government. I'll do that, but let's do one, two, and three first... What people want is to fix the leak"

Exactly.

So who benefits from the current administration posture?

Is it the environmentalists? Does the environmentalist movement derive more power from the destruction of the gulf shores, in order that they may eliminate our carbon-based energy economy? Is the destruction an "acceptable loss" in the war against capitalism? Is Cap and Trade that big a grail that this spill is worth perpetuating? Is there a market out there that would benefit from carbon limits?

How about the Labor Unions? We have had offers of assistance from 60 countries, many of whom have the specialized equipment and expertise necessary to rapidly and effectively deal with oil spills. There are ships in the Persian Gulf, the North Sea, and all around the United States (even in Louisiana) capable of skimming massive amounts of contaminated water and removing the oil. These sit idle. Why? The Jones Act. A 1920 protectionist measure designed to ensure that only American ships and American (union) labor work in our waters. This is the act that G. W. Bush waived in order to allow outside assistance in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Obama won't waive the act to allow these high-tech skimmers access to work the spill. Instead, they sit idle. Maybe using exclusively unionized labor is more important than getting this disaster resolved?

The incompetence of bureaucracies is on full display with the Army Corps of Engineer's delay in permitting sand berms because "...even under an expedited basis, the dredging project would need to comply with federal environmental regulations."; the Coast Guard's shutdown of skimming/separating operations because of life jackets and fire extinguishers; and the EPA's disapproval of the Costner oil separators because the output "didn't meet water quality standards of 15ppm of oil"

Really.

President Obama's response to this oil spill so far has shown up his executive inexperience, as he owns all of the above agencies. So far, the only thing he has shown any talent at is shakedowns. He got $20 Billion from BP in less than an hour. Money that is not held by a disinterested third party, and has no accountability mechanism or oversight. In my opinion it is just another slush fund like TARP, and it will be abused similarly for political favoritism, vote buying, and graft.

Time for some aphorisms. I give you, in order, Clark's Law, Hanlon's Razor, Occam's Razor, and Emanuel's First Rule:

"Sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice."
"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity, but don't rule out malice."
"The simplest explanation is usually the correct one."
“Rule one: Never allow a crisis to go to waste, they are opportunities to do big things.”

So I ask you to make a judgment about the administration's response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Incompetence or Malice?

Qui Bono?

Pax,

Newbius

QOTD-AGW edition

A commenter at PJM brilliantly and succinctly nails the discussion on AGW.

For me the money quote is this:

"The AGW frauds who have conspired for so long to wreak our economies, steal our livelihoods, and subvert our freedom are criminals. Justice demands that they pay a penalty that ruins their lives, as they have worked so hard for so long to ruin ours."

Go and RTWT, including especially the comments.

H/T Alger

Dear Barack

It is OK to go after the Jihadists. They are TerrORists, not Terrists. They are not a part of the Green Movement.

The TerrORists want to kill us by, well, killing us.

The Terrists just want choke off our livelihood, sustenance, energy supplies, transportation, and way of light life. The latter group are your friends, not the former. Try and remember that.

Pax,

Newbius

Eco-Karma

Perhaps it is fitting that the Global Warming crowd is getting hit on all sides right now. From Senate hearings being canceled due to blizzard conditions, to Prius owners being told that their wonder-mobiles might be flawed, Karma is rearing her head and exacting her toll.

I can appreciate efficiency, especially when efficiency manifests itself in good design (which the Prius undoubtedly is). What I cannot stand is the sanctimonious preaching of the eco-weenie crowd who think that the Prius is God's own answer to efficient fuel usage.

Having to sit around a new Prius owner for any length of time is painful. So much so, that a term has been coined to explain it: "Priuspism". I would define this a little more specifically as: "An eco-weenie's extended auto-erotic joy at being more environmentally friendly than thou, which is painful to be around for more than an hour."

Now if only I could get the Supreme Court to recognize that "Global Warming" is really a religion, and that Congress would be barred from Establishing adherence to same, then my life would be complete for the week.

Pax,

Newbius

Global Warming...

Welcome to the new, warmer, climatically-enhanced winter. It looks like my part of the US is bracing for significant snowfall, and earlier in the season than normal.

A normal winter storm, if it drops any snow at all, will bring 2"-4" of the wonderful white stuff. Thanks to Al Gore's Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming Absurdia(c), we are expecting between 8" and 18" of snow this time. This is only two short weeks after the last storm dropped 4+" on us.

If we get any warmer, the next storm might be a rip-roaring blizzard!

Thanks Al!

Pax,

Newbius

Green is the new red

Way back when, a committed Communist was referred to as a "Tomato". This was because they were red on the outside, and red on the inside.

Nowadays, while we still have "Tomatoes", the committed Communist is more likely a member of the environmental movement. Thus, has been coined a new term. Watermelon.

Beneath the surface of the climate debate lies an ugly truth. It is not about saving the planet. It never has been. It is about control, and power over people's lives in the name of some "greater good". It is about power which THEY wish to wield.

Do not be blinded by the feel-good rhetoric. They want to disarm you and make you obey. They want to become eco-mandarins (like Al Gore), telling you what you can and cannot do, make, or consume. All the while they will be living in their mansions, being driven in their armored SUVs and Limos, and flying to the next conference on a private jet.

Watermelons. Because Green is the new Red.

Pax,

Newbius

Lessons from the eco-terrorists

Yesterday, I posted a link to the ELF Press Office homepage as a question about the profligate waste of resources by our President (and their silence in the matter). While perusing their site, it struck me that they work together not as a band of people with a central leader, but instead as a group of people bound by ideology.

From their FAQ page:

How does one become a member of the ELF?

The ELF does not have any sort of physical membership list or meetings you can attend to become involved. Remember, the ELF revolves around not a physical base or classically-designed structure, but instead an ideology. If you believe in the ELF ideology and you follow a certain set of widely-published guidelines, you can conduct actions and become part of the ELF.

The ELF guidelines are as follows:

1)To cause maximum economic damage to a given entity that is profiting off the destruction of the natural
environment.

2)To educate the public on the atrocities committed against the environment and life.

3)To take all necessary precautions against harming life.

Now, I do not promote terrorism, "eco" or otherwise. But, there is a lesson here. The lesson is this: If you are centralized, or have a meeting location, or have an identifiable leader, then you can be compromised by those who would defeat your aims. If you are fighting zombies, or Leviathan, or corporate entities, or organized thugs, you would be wise to learn the ways of effective resistance without detection.

Decentralized communication, with above-ground messages passed along by sympathetic but clean messengers, is effective at concealing the underground resister's identity. Use of bulletin boards, anonymous signage, and internet postings (via proxies and redirected traffic originating from publicly accessible computers) can also be effective at getting a message out without blowing cover.

Our President is effectively using the tactics of his Community Organizer's Marxist roots to change the paradigm in America...right under our noses. I think it is time to study the methods of organization and communication that the Radicals (even those currently in power) are using to see if something of value can be gleaned. If nothing else, it will prepare you for the time when the tactics will be used against you openly...

Newbius
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Hypocrisy

How come the groups who got the vapors when Corporate fat-cats flew into Washington are silent when The Won jets around the world on behalf of his cronies in Chicago? How come we hear no vapidities about the carbon footprint of Oprah, Michelle-my-belle, and BHO when they EACH take separate jets (at least two of which are JUMBO JETS) to Copenhagen to do what amounts to a conference call?

< crickets >

Does a 25 minute tarmac meeting with McChrystal justify the trip?

< crickets >

How about the carbon footprint of the dinner date in New York (when one of the best chefs in the world is in your own kitchen)?

< crickets >

How about the carbon footprint of the trip to Colorado to promote the Green Energy portion of the Stimulus (which got signed after a languid few days of idling over the weekend-AFTER it was passed in "an emergency").

< crickets >

Judging by the profligate use of energy by this President in promoting HIS agenda items, one would think that "saving the planet" wasn't one of the items. In fact, one could propose that by his actions, this President is actually hostile to the environment. What say you ELF?

< crickets >

I guess it is really about ideology after all...

Newbius
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I can't say something nice

So I am not going to say anything at all about the passing of Edward Kennedy.

Newbius
|||

The Societal Cost of Radical Environmentalism

Nobody really wants to tell the truth about the cost of OIL and how much of the cost of that $4.00/gallon gasoline is the true cost of radical environmentalism.

No, really.

The numbers change regularly but here are the basic facts:

The United States COULD be one of the top producers worldwide of oil, natural gas, coal, and uranium but lacks the political will to be. Or, rather, the politicians lack the political will to be leaders instead of lackeys to the Environmental Lobby. (Don't worry, I'll pick on the "evil corporations" later).

Why aren't we? Because the citizenry became the governed and forgot about the consent part of the deal. We do not work for the Feds, they work for us. We need to remind them once in a while or they will continue to usurp our power to line their pockets with political contributions and kickbacks from marginalized but powerful fringe groups. Because the US Congress is a bunch of cowards more afraid of negative publicity than negative consequences.

The United States citizens have a legitimate gripe about the cost of energy. Unfortunately, they are blaming the wrong people for the trouble. The energy cost problem was not caused by ExxonMobil, or Shell, or BP, or ConocoPhillips, or Unocal, or Amoco, or even that evil Venezuelan company CITGO.

Nope.

Really.

It was caused by US.

Wow. There is a radical statement Newbius. What do you mean?

When WE the governed allowed the Congress to bow to pressure from groups like Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, Earth First, and Save the Seals, we created our own nightmare. We have some of the world's largest proven energy reserves within our territorial control, but lack the will to go get it.

We would rather enslave ourselves to people who hate us, than be self-sufficient for our own energy needs...just so we don't inconvenience some caribou in Alaska that maybe 30,000 people in the whole world will ever see. We would rather enslave ourselves than risk marring the view from Hyannisport with new wind energy stations (thanks Teddy!). We would rather enslave ourselves than see drilling platforms off the coasts of California, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, or Mississippi. We would rather be SLAVES to rich oil sheiks who plot daily to subjugate us under the next Caliphate than allow coal production , oil shale production , or natural gas production in those areas of our own country where we are resource rich. God help us if we ever tried to allow a new oil refinery, Nuclear power plant, Hydroelectric plant, or new wind generation facilities (can't risk the Condors can we?).

Get real.

The world marketplace runs on the laws of supply and demand. You can work either or both sides of the equation, but it is what it is. Add supply, price drops. Reduce demand, price drops.

Simple.

Pass laws that make it harder to explore for, produce, transport, and market a commodity and prices will rise. Limit opportunities to develop existing reserves, prices rise. Mandate expensive boutique gasoline blends to help out some corporate fat-cat farmers, prices rise (and on more than Gas, too).

Also simple.

So what's it going to be America? Are you going to allow your congressmen/congresswomen to continue being paid-for lackeys of the monied environmental and corporate interests? The price of your next tank of gas hangs in the balance on your decision. Take action! Do it now!

Newbius