HEY, BIG SPENDERS

California

Hand it to Democrats, particularly those in California. One of the great bits of political jujitsu in recent years was to portray Republicans, not themselves, as the party of tax-and-spend. Now, with control of both Congress and California's state house, they're showing their true colors, says Investor's Business Daily.

• Democrats have boosted general spending 32 percent in just four years to $103 billion, or 8 percent a year.
• This increase occurred despite going through the worst financial crisis in its history only 4 years ago.
• Revenues, though growing rapidly, haven't kept pace; if spending had grown just half as much -- at a still-healthy 4 percent -- the budget today would be in balance.

Democrats were warned about spending so much, especially with the state's finances so dependent on just a handful of affluent taxpayers, says IBD. They didn't listen. They gave lavish contracts to state employee unions and padded retiree benefits. They even tried to hand out benefits to millions of illegal aliens.

This has been a fiscal disaster. Over the next year and a half, California's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst predicts the state will have an unprecedented $16 billion budget shortfall. Pretty nasty, considering just last summer the state predicted a surplus.

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AP Article on States' Budget Woes Ignores Spending Excesses

Old Media coverage of government budget difficulties usually focuses on the here and now, and all the "tough decisions" that have to be made. Seldom is there ever an examination of how a state or local government entity got into its current fix. Sunday's Associated Press report on the budget situations many states governments face was no exception. In it, AP reporter Andrew Welsh-Huggins:

• Recited a litany of current woes.
• Failed to mention that most states have allowed spending to greatly exceed inflation during the past several years.
• Gave unchallenged quotes to advocates of further tax and fee increases.

What Welsh-Huggins totally ignores is that during the past four years, state and local government spending has exploded, and is now taking a greater share of income than ever, as shown here (Source: The Tax Foundation; more detailed looks at each state can be found here):

[big graphs, show lots of spending increases, etc. etc. - point is; shouldn't professional journalists know that such info. is required in any such story? They do - but ignore it anyway. Why?]

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You thought your job was bad
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Notable Quotable

Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Opposing Feingold-Reid Legislation Which Cuts War Funding and Calls for Immediate U.S. Troop Withdrawal from Iraq:

"I have thought a lot about this war, and I cannot help but wonder at a moment like this what some of the political heroes of my youth who are Democrats would think if they were here and could see and listen to this debate and read this resolution.

"I think of President Kennedy who declared: 'We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.'

"In my opinion, that is exactly what we are doing in Iraq today.

"I ask my colleagues: Do these words have meaning, have significance? Or are these just words?"

Source

Heroes: Marine Looks Back on Long Journey to Corps

"I always wanted to visit America,” Vyskocil said. “I started to save up enough money for a plane ticket and some extra spending money.”

He arrived in America in 1998 with one change of clothes, a small bag and no ability to speak the English language.

“I’m proud that I’m a Marine and honored to serve this country,” ... “I came to this country with basically nothing, and after 10 years, I have a family and everything I’ve ever dreamed of before coming to the United States. I’ll never take the freedom America gave me for granted.”

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Conditions to Determine Post-Surge Troop Levels in Iraq, General Says

[There...]
Officials project five U.S. Army brigades and two Marine battalions will leave Iraq by the end of July, but it’s too soon to project troop levels beyond that, a senior U.S. military officer said here today.

“There is increasing pressure on al Qaeda in Iraq everywhere inside of Iraq,”

If current conditions continue, the projected U.S. troop strength in Iraq should drop from about 156,000 U.S. troops there now to about 140,000 servicemembers by the end of July, Ham said.

However, U.S. military force levels in Iraq, as always, remain contingent upon conditions on the ground, Ham emphasized.

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Nonsense on Intelligence Reform

[here...]

The Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill has circled the wagons in defense of the party’s determination to roll the dice with American national security.

Senators Jay Rockefeller and Patrick Leahy joined Representatives Silvestre Reyes and John Conyers in penning a fatuous op-ed in the Washington Post Monday. The four are chairs of the intelligence and judiciary committees of, respectively, the Senate and House. They claim that the White House is engaged in fear-mongering when it decries the failure of House Democrats to enact a reform measure that would have preserved essential intelligence-collection authority — a bill that passed in the Democrat-controlled Senate by an overwhelming two-to-one margin and would similarly sail through the House - if only Speaker Nancy Pelosi would allow it to come to the floor for a vote...

[I.e., it's not a case of the house being split: it's not. It's a simple case of Ms. Pelosi preventing the matter from even coming to a vote. How very democratic]

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Egypt puts concrete wall on Gaza border

El-Arish, Egypt -- Egypt is building a 10-foot-high concrete wall along its border with Gaza to prevent any new breaches after Palestinian militants blasted through the barrier in January to escape a blockade of their territory, an official said. The new wall replaces a mixed barbed-wire, iron and concrete barrier which was breached in several places when militants blew it open with explosives (Snip) Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flooded across the open border unchecked for 12 days before Egypt managed to reseal it.

[Will Egypt now be accused of 'apartheid' by the world press {and ex-president-peanut farmers} for controlling its border as was Israel? And the Gazans aren't even trying to murder them.]

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Preserving "Liberty's Best Hope

“Liberty’s Best Hope,” a new book by Kim Holmes, vice president for foreign policy at The Heritage Foundation, boldly proclaims the truth: The United States and our republican democracy is the only true hope for the oppressed nations in the world. If we don’t step up to the plate and accept the responsibility that comes with the many blessings we enjoy as a free nation, then our future -- and indeed that of peace-loving people around the world -- is bleak, at best.
[snip]
Those who think the solution is to work out our differences at the United Nations will get a much-needed education from Holmes. Despite the fact that the U.N. charter calls for the expulsion of member nations that fail to uphold basic human rights, the U.N. has become home to the world’s most repressive regimes, which routinely work to subvert the actions of freedom-loving nations. Yet we keep trying to make it work. The result? “Through countless efforts to work with the U.N., Washington has unwittingly fallen into the trap of conferring more legitimacy on the United Nations than it deserves."
[snip]
“The only way around it is for the U.S. president and his cabinet to understand at times they will have to endure some bad feelings and controversies from friends and allies. … Other countries drive hard bargains because they believe in their own values and interests. China and Russia are ready examples. We should do the same without apology. If tone and style matter, then do it with a smile and without bluster - but be no less forthright in the assertion of our interests than other nations are.”

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Canada to buy old German tanks as spare parts for Afghan mission

Ottawa - Canada plans to buy a handful of older, surplus German tanks to cannibalize for spare parts to keep its combat forces on the move in Afghanistan. The undisclosed purchase is apparently part of the $1.3-billion tank modernization [?] program (Snip) Part of the problem is that cuts to Canada's defence industry throughout the 1990s eroded its ability to service armoured vehicles.

[if you'd like to review a problem that truly approaches the definition of 'pandemic', this is it: the degree to which nearly all liberal-western countries having successively cut back on defense budgets to pay for ever expanding social programs has left them with near-dysfunctional militaries - certainly when it come to force projection outside their borders. I.e., they count on America for that now, and when China and Russia start causing trouble, don't expect there to be any 'help' available from our 'allies'.]

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NO HEALTH INSURANCE? FACE FINES

Massachusetts has begun imposing stiff fines on residents who, for whatever reason, fail to purchase health insurance. The program is the enforcement end of the state's universal health-insurance plan -- and the fees reach up to $912 a year, says WorldNetDaily.com.

"The Massachusetts universal coverage plan is overregulated and largely unworkable," said Devon Herrick, senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis. "The least expensive plan would cost a 37-year-old male resident of Massachusetts $196 a month, and a fine for not having insurance could run half of that, or $98 a month. The same 37-year-old living in Dallas could buy coverage for $98 per month."

[government is also for-profit - but without the pesky need to convince customers of its value - it merely imposes itself upon the populace]

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GLOBAL WARMING: IS IT REALLY A CRISIS?

John McCain, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton all promise massive new regulations that will cost trillions of dollars to combat global warming. Ironically, this political unanimity is occurring as scientific evidence points in the other direction, says John R. Lott, Jr., a senior research scientist at the University of Maryland:

• Global temperatures have now largely eliminated most of the one degree Celsius warming that had previously occurred over the last 100 years, according to a consensus of scientists.

• Temperatures rose from the late 1970s to 1998, but there has been no net global warming since 1998; indeed, the more recent numbers show that there is now evidence of significant cooling.

• Even if temperatures were not decreasing, mankind is responsible for just a fraction of one percent of the effect from greenhouse gases, and greenhouse gases are not responsible for most of what causes warming (e.g., the Sun).

Yet we just keep on piling on more and more regulations without asking hard questions about whether they are justified, says Lott.

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Hispanic group calls for boycott of Houston Rodeo

A group of Hispanic leaders called today for a boycott of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, saying show officials haven't done enough to include Hispanics in the event.
[snip]
The show is disrespecting the Hispanic community by hiring non-Tejano performers to play at the show's main venue,and not enough of the show's scholarships go to Hispanic students, said Ruben Cubillos, co-founder of the group. He also complained that the show doesn't have enough Hispanics at the executive level.

State Sen. Mario Gallegos, who said he tried to negotiate with show officials, offered to discuss the issues with them again. "We're open to sit down and talk, and talk for real," he said.
[snip]
But several members of the show's Go Tejano Committee who attended the Rodeo Roundup kickoff event said they didn't agree with the boycott.

"They're completely out of line," said George Hernandez, a committee volunteer. "We're not chartered by the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo to hear Tejano music. If they want their music heard, they should join a music association."

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AP Highlights Fewer Jobs, Ignores Steep Drop in Unemployed

Here's is the core information the Associated Press's Jeannine Aversa had to work with today in the Employment Situation Report released by the government's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):
[snip]
Here's how her report began (scare words in bold; the headline is also from AP):

Employers Slash Jobs by Most in 5 Years

Employers slashed jobs by 63,000 in February, the most in five years, the starkest sign yet the country is heading dangerously toward recession or is in one already...

She totally ignored the fact that the number of unemployed (i.e., the people we should be concerned about) dropped by almost 200,000 in February, and is now 284,000 (3.6%) lower than it was in December. That doesn't exactly square with an economy Aversa says is "heading dangerously toward recession or is in one already."

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Government Knows Best

Type "New York City Council" and "ban" and "2007" into Google. Here's some of what you find:
• A New York Times story: New York City Council Approves Ban on Metal Bats
• A BBC News story: "Racial slur banned in New York."
• A CNN story on how New York is considering banning "ultrathin" models.
• A New York Sun article on how New York City is contemplating banning feeding pigeons.
• A link to the Humane Society's effort to ban horse drawn carriages.
And that's on the first page alone.

In Britain, in a perfectly typical event quickly forgotten, police tracked down and nearly arrested an 11-year-old boy for calling a 10-year-old boy "gay" in an e-mail. This was considered a "very serious homophobic crime" requiring the full attention of police, traffic cameras are now trained on drivers to arrest them for eating in their cars.

And in both Britain and Canada, the old Hitler Youth slogan, "Nutrition is not a private matter!" has taken on a new life. One expert this week argued that obesity must now be treated like Global Warming, requiring stern government intervention.

On countless fronts, the natural pastures of daily liberty are being paved over by bureaucrats, politicians and other do-gooders. They aren't merely fixing problems as they come up. They are laying-down a path to a world where people like them are in charge of our lives, in large ways and small.

The old story of the frog who doesn't jump out of the pot because the heat is turned up so slowly comes to mind.

[I recently listened Michael Bloomberg address the World Bank on CSPAN. The man's beliefs are literally indistinguishable to the worst despots in history: government-forced behaviors at every level - frightening]

Jonah Goldberg is the author of the New York Times bestseller Liberal Fascism.

Governor proposes insurance fee to fund firefighting

California

Facing an estimated $14 billion state budget deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed assessing a fee on property owners’ insurance to help cover the cost of fighting fires.

It is just one of many fees and spending cuts the governor is considering to help close the financial gap, while maintaining public services and protecting Californians from such risks as devastating wildfires.

[once again with the firehouse ploy: when facing budget cuts start with the most obviously necessary: police, fire, infrastructure schools et al - as if there's nothing else in the budge we wouldn't be better of cutting completely than diminishing any of these supposedly basic-critical services. I don't know which insults me more, the arrogance of their perpetually doing so - or its seeming to work on the populace every time the do...]

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...................................Take Your Kid to Work Day

‘Active First’ Grad Continues Family Tradition

Pvt. Raymond Loree has become the first Army National Guard soldier to graduate directly into the active Army’s ranks through a new program called “Active First,” in which recruits commit to service in the active-duty Army followed by service in the National Guard.

“It’s my time to serve my country,” Loree said by telephone from Fort Leonard Wood, where he was trained as a combat engineer. ... “I feel motivated,” Loree said. “It’s very motivating knowing that I can get up in the morning serving my country.” ... “Growing up as a kid, I looked up to my dad. I always wanted to serve our country. I get to keep the tradition going.”

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Superb Performance Reflects Force Quality, Personnel Chief Says

The United States has purposely “set high standards for the quality of that force and for the motivation of the young people that seek to join the American military,” Chu explained.

“And, I believe we see the payoff to those high standards in the performance of this force in the field, which has been truly remarkable,” Chu said. “It is a tribute, in my judgment, to this young generation of Americans and to some not-so-young Americans” serving worldwide in the U.S. military. "

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MoveOn, Edwards Unite to 'End' Iraq War

Liberal activist groups MoveOn.org, USAction, Americans United for Change, VoteVets, and the Service Employees International Union, along with former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards joined forces Monday to announce a $20-million public 'awareness' and lobbying campaign to promote a perceived link between the war in Iraq and a weakening U.S. economy.
[snip]
"This Iraq and recession campaign will focus on members of Congress and the Senate who stand in our way, and on Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who is arguing for an Iraq policy that takes us in a dramatically different direction,"
[he' right on that point: it's called victory]
[snip]
But Brian Riedl, senior budget analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told Cybercast News Service that if Mr. Edwards is in any way suggesting the war is responsible for the receding economy, he is mistaken.

"The idea that Iraq spending is causing our economic woes has no basis in any economic theory whatsoever," ..."It's not economically plausible that spending 1 percent of GDP in Iraq would cause a recession."
[damn facts]

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Hamas hails 'heroic' attack

Gaza City - The Palestinian Hamas movement hailed a deadly attack on a Jewish religious school in Jerusalem tonight as ''heroic,'' without claiming responsibility for the strike that killed eight people. ''This heroic attack in Jerusalem is a normal response to the crimes of the occupier...'' (Snip) Hundreds of Palestinians poured into the streets of Gaza City as news of the attack at a west Jerusalem yeshiva spread, firing automatic rifles into the air in celebration.

[the 'occupier' left Gaza in 2005]

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Thanks for your help, Germany

Germany has refused to deploy additional troops to Afghanistan to assist beleaguered Canadian and Dutch forces in the south. The flat refusal to help is a big blow to those desperately trying to get NATO countries who do not have troops in active combat zones to commit to the fight:

Make no mistake. This is the diplomatic crisis of the war in Afghanistan. NATO countries are terrified of the political firestorm that would erupt if they put their troops in harms way and they suffered casualties. The European left is looking for any excuse to get troops out of Afghanistan and nations like Germany, France, Belgium, refuse to change their rules of engagement and prohibit their troops to engage the Taliban.

Meanwhile, the Canucks and their 2500 troops along with a small contingent of Dutch soldiers try and hold off the Taliban at the point where inflitration over the Pakistani border is most common - in Kandahar province. This is while German troops sit at the Kabul airport in perfect safety.

If NATO won't fight in Afghanistan where so much is at stake, where will they fight?

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Colombian rebels find haven in Venezuela

El Cruce, Venezuela -- Leftist rebels fighting Colombia's U.S.-backed military have increasingly found refuge in Venezuela, where they get weapons, food, medical treatment and a smuggling route for the cocaine that keeps them afloat. Former rebels, local citizens and Colombian officials told The Associated Press that hundreds or even thousands of Colombian insurgents are in Venezuela at any given time. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who last month publicly recognized the rebels as "insurgent forces."

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1.9m on benefit 'should go back to work'

[UK]

Up to two thirds of people claiming incapacity benefit are not entitled to the state handout, the Government's new welfare adviser warns today. David Freud, an investment banker hired by James Purnell, the new Work and Pensions Secretary, said the disability tests used to award state aid were "ludicrous" and could be costing billions of pounds.

[but it supports the top goal of all government bureaucracies: grow and expand themselves.]

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A CLEAR CHOICE

Meaningful health care reform has to be national. But the answer is not to subject the whole country to ideas that don't work at the state level. What the country needs is a shift in priorities, from extending coverage to attacking costs.

Once that decision is made -- to make affordability, not scope of coverage, the first objective -- then there's a clear choice to make. Policymakers have just two options if they want to reduce the cost of something: They can stimulate competition or impose price controls.

Control is the norm in most of the world's health care. Competition is the insurgent model. It's getting a test in the Medicare prescription drug program, which actually has cost less than expected.

Congress created the current regulatory regime and could get rid of it, but the political climate would have to change first. Democrats will have to stop scoring cheap points by demonizing the insurance business. They'll have to recognize that insurers are part of the solution, not the problem, and that profit in health care is not a dirty word.

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Climate change: Science, not insult

Scientific methodology should be sacrosanct — it requires competing hypotheses to be tested over and over again to make sure we have the right conclusion. Sometimes, new data require the old to be thrown out in favour of the new.
[snip]
Here’s an example from the world of climatology. Several years ago, the work of Michael Mann inspired a profound belief that temperature trend lines were shaped like a hockey stick — flat for a long time, then a sharp increase in recent years due to carbon emissions. It took the careful work of two Canadians, Ross McKitrick and Steven McIntyre, to show that Mann’s data and statistical methodology were flawed, disproving one of the bedrock arguments in carbon-induced global warming theory. The “hockey stick” is no longer touted.
[snip]
If anyone should be thrown into jail, it’s someone who believes people should be locked up if they challenge a scientific hypothesis. Instead, it should be left to the scientists to sort out what ideas hold up through empirical verification. This is the essence of good science, and we should make sure we don’t undermine its important process.

[one correction: Mann's infamous hockey stick, which had the minor 'flaw' of returning an upturn-curve even if random data was input - is still used pervasively to this day, and is in fact the underlying 'data' for several of Gore's slides in An Inconvenient Truth - coming to a public school near you...]

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OUR ENERGY DEFICIT

The renewed jump in the price of oil underscores the corner we've painted ourselves into. By refusing to drill in either the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) or offshore, the United States can expect less energy, higher prices, growing vulnerability and a shrunken economy.

• As recently as 1973, imports made up 36 percent of our total oil use; today, imports are two-thirds of our 21-million-barrel-a-day oil habit, and climbing fast.

• We're sending nearly $400 billion overseas each year to buy oil.

This has made us uniquely vulnerable, to say the least, to the inherent political instability of the Mideast, Russia, Africa and Latin America -- and to the OPEC oil cartel's anti-Western schemes. But what can we do? Plenty. Start with getting more energy:

• We have at least 40 billion barrels of crude and 250 trillion cubic feet of gas offshore, in ANWR and on federal lands -- enough to replace nearly a quarter of our imports for several decades.

• Another 1.2 trillion barrels of oil lie in shale deposits across the Midwest.However:

But Congress has put more than 50 percent of the oil and 27 percent of the gas in the United States out of bounds.

• Just 19 percent of the Outer Continental Shelf can be developed.

• The National Petroleum Council estimates that we'll need $4 trillion in investments over the next 25 years just to keep pace with a forecast 30 percent jump in energy demand.

"Onshore and offshore public lands could hold enough oil to produce gasoline for 60 million cars and fuel oil for 25 million homes for 60 years -- and enough natural gas to heat 60 million homes for 160 years."

And apart from demonizing oil companies, Congress does nothing. This is madness.

[and they won't unless we insist they do. et tu?]

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Notable Quotable

Kris W. Kobach, Former Immigration Law Counsel to the U.S. Attorney General, Regarding a Real-Time, Working Solution to Illegal Immigration:

"On Jan. 1, Arizona became the first state to require all employers to confirm workers' legal status via the federal 'E-Verify' system.

"After just six weeks, Arizona's system is already working: Newspapers in the state report that illegals are self-deporting by the thousands. Apartment complexes in Phoenix and Tucson confirm that thousands of tenants have skipped town. Many are returning across the border to Mexico.

"This success is proof that attrition through enforcement works. The premise is straightforward: The way to solve our illegal-immigration problem is to ratchet up enforcement while making it more difficult for employers to hire illegals

[six weeks. it isn't rocket science]

Source

Foreclosure 'Crisis' Hype: 'American Dream Slipping Away'

hursday's CBS Evening News greeted reports of a 0.83 percent 4th quarter foreclosure rate with just under 6 percent of mortgages more than a month past due as proof “the American dream” is “slipping away” since “foreclosures are spreading like cancer.”

Those may indeed be unusually high levels, but the American dream is hardly “slipping away” when 99.17 percent are not in foreclosure and 94.18 percent are paying on time or nearly on time.

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Do you have a legal right to own a gun?

Guns, and questions about how much power the government has to keep people from owning them, are at the core of one of the most divisive topics in American politics. Nowhere is that divide more pronounced than in the gap between Americans' beliefs about their rights under the Second Amendment, and how courts have interpreted the law. Nearly three out of four Americans — 73% — believe the Second Amendment spells out an individual right to own a firearm...

[stop: one of the few issues where the American populace has a long standing super-majority of opinion - 3 out of 4 - and the piece starts by calling it 'one of the most divisive' topics in America'? It's only divisive to the small minority in the liberal media that routinely report it with this kind of slant. Typical 'professional' journalism.']

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California court: Home school parents must have teaching credential

California

California parents without teaching credentials can no longer home school their children, according to a recent state appellate court ruling.

"Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children," Justice H. Walter Croskey wrote in a Feb. 28 opinion for the 2nd District Court of Appeals.

Noncompliance could lead to criminal complaints against the parents, the judge said. An estimated 166,000 students in California are home schooled.

To earn a five-year preliminary teaching credential in California, a person must obtain a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university and complete multiple examinations.

[snip]

"I have sincerely held religious beliefs," he said. "Public schools conflict with that. I have to go with what my conscience requires me."

[yeah the net's afire with calls for the judges head, but that's not the problem. He mentions the lack of constitutional right because that's what's needed not to enforce the laws on the books, which our education 'system' has jury-rigged to require state {by which I mean government at any level} approval before you can teach your own children. That invariably leads to the state deciding what your children will, or won't, be taught (and hence, think). Consider that last point re: religious beliefs - and its implications for any of us that hold any views not embraced by our government. In this country citizen used to tell government what it was and wasn't allowed to do - it's rapidly becoming the other away around, even in matters as intensely personal of what we'll teach our children. The good news is it has the same solution...]

Governor: governor@governor.ca.gov and http://www.govmail.ca.gov/
CA State Legislature = http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html

...................................Penguin practical jokes

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"I am not accusing the New York Times of screwing up again by publishing an insufficiently sourced article, then defending itself with a preposterous assertion that it wasn't trying to imply what it obviously was trying to imply. I am merely reporting that some people worry that other people might be concerned that the New York Times has created the appearance of screwing up once again."

— Michael Kinsley, Slate Founding Editor
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Progress in Iraq Approaches Point of Irreversibility

[there...]

The former commander of Multinational Corps Iraq reflected today on vast improvements made during the past 15 months and said Iraq is approaching the point where no single incident or chain of events will be able to reverse those positive trends.

“We were focused for 15 months in Iraq on improving the security situation, which allowed a window of opportunity for economic development, improved governance and enhancement of the Iraqi security forces,” he said. “The improved security conditions, in part from the surge of 2007, have given the Iraqis an opportunity to choose a better way"

Odierno emphasized that gains made in Iraq have come with big sacrifices in injuries and lives lost.

“Their sacrifices were (not) and will not be in vain,” he said. “And because of them, Iraqis have the right to choose their own destiny. Let us forever remember our noble and gallant warriors who gave everything so others can enjoy life and liberties of a truly free people.”

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War-Funding Delays Harmful Within Months, Deputy Secretary Says

[here...]

War-funding delays will become harmful within months if continued, the Pentagon’s second-ranking official said here today ... lawmakers have approved less than half the fiscal 2008 request of $189 billion to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“At some point, that delayed appropriation will be harmful,” ... “We do manage to keep stretching (the appropriated $86.8 billion), but at some point here in a matter of months, we will start to run out of money again.”

The deputy secretary called the appropriations “vital” for funding daily operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and other parts of the world.

The request, which marks a $35.9 billion increase over fiscal 2008 funding, accounts for about 4 percent of the United States’ gross domestic product, ... By comparison, defense spending accounted for 11.7 percent of the GDP during the Korean War, and 9 percent during the Vietnam War.

“Fortunately, our economy has grown to support the kind of military we need in this complex (security) environment we have today,” he said. “I view the 4 percent as … the insurance policy to protect our freedom and liberty and frankly it sounds like a pretty reasonable amount of money.”


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Pay Now, Nothing Later

After studying and living with the Middle East for a few decades one sees certain patterns endlessly repeated, though always with a new set of details. Understandably, naïve newcomers fall for the carnival con-man's traps. They should learn after one disaster. Veterans have no excuse.

The pattern is this: They say we have been your victims so you must make up for it. Violence arises from our grievances. You must solve the root causes of problems. In short, you owe us big time. Pay up to show you've changed your ways.

A common Western response: In our usual style of self-criticism and trying to do better, we acknowledge fault and do nice things to build credibility with you. Then you will like us better, trust us more, and make a deal.

Proper analysis: Such behavior not only convinces the Middle East side that the West is weak, scared, and surrendering but is also taken as acknowledging the West's guilt and the rightness of their own cause. Grievance and outrage, in this context, are bottomless pits. Playing this game establishes a terrible relationship along the lines of--probably the worst thing Shimon Peres ever said--our task is to give, their job is to take. This pattern never gets broken.

Correct response: If you have grievances, have suffered, and root causes must be resolved then it is in your interest to make and implement an equitable, workable deal. You are not doing us a favor by making peace, stopping terrorism, or being moderate. It is in your interest and you must show credibility, too. If it is true that you are so terribly suffering, then you are the ones with an incentive to compromise. Things are the exact opposite of what you say.

[but the name of the game is victimhood - forever. Recommended > ]

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French deputies approve amendment permitting adoption of EU treaty

French MPs have voted in favour of amending their country's constitution to allow adoption of the EU Lisbon Treaty. Prime Minister Francois Fillon called the decision: "a vote that distinguishes the actors of history from the spectators."

The Versailles assembly, bringing together both the French Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, voted 560 to 181. Of the 893 voters present, 741 votes were cast

The opposition Socialists abstained in protest at the decision to "take the parliamentary road" to pass the treaty rather than hold a referendum.

[i.e., the French people voted against it - so the government took away their ability to have a say in it and passed it 'for' them...]

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THE SICKENING FOR OUR NATIONAL SOUL

Sen. Clinton's plan is to use a federal mandate to force every American to buy health insurance. The government will regulate health care, define acceptable health insurance and force every American to buy a plan based on the government established standard. When asked how purchase can be enforced, she told ABC's George Stephanopolous, "we will have an enforcement mechanism . . . you know, going after people's wages."

Indeed, we have a problem in the delivery of health care in our country, says columnist Star Parker. But if we want cheaper and more creatively delivered health care we need less, not more, government. According to Dr. David Gratzer of the Manhattan Institute:

• About half of health care expenditures in 1960 were directly controlled by consumers; today, it's about 15 percent.

• Over the same period in which consumers have relinquished control, per capita health care spending has quintupled.

Beyond the pure economic calculus lies the moral question of individual responsibility and freedom. Our health care ills are symptomatic of our social ills. And our social ills reflect a society where the link between personal responsibilities and costs and personal rights and benefits has been largely severed. More individual freedom, choice, and responsibility in both the delivery and purchase of health care is our only hope, says Parker.

[the problem is that the paying customer, employers, and consumers, us, aren't the same. Subsequently we don't care when a hospital charges 17$ for a Tylenol - it's not our money - hence no price pressure whatsoever. Consumerism and competition work everywhere else to raise service while lowering costs - it would here too - if allowed to.]

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Welcome to the new Ice Age

Snow cover over North America and much of Siberia, Mongolia and China is greater than at any time since 1966.

The U.S. National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) reported that many American cities and towns suffered record cold temperatures in January and early February. According to the NCDC, the average temperature in January "was -0.3 F cooler than the 1901-2000 (20th century) average."

China is surviving its most brutal winter in a century. Temperatures in the normally balmy south were so low for so long that some middle-sized cities went days and even weeks without electricity because once power lines had toppled it was too cold or too icy to repair them.

There have been so many snow and ice storms in Ontario and Quebec in the past two months that the real estate market has felt the pinch as home buyers have stayed home rather than venturing out looking for new houses.

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Here Come the Green Car-Jackers

No amount of energy efficiency will ever do the trick -- the only way to save the planet is to surrender your car altogether. That's the conclusion reached by a group of Australian energy experts from last week's partial release of Professor Ross Garnaut's long-awaited climate change report.

You may recall that this was the very analysis Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told last year's Bali conference he must await before embracing specific targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Well, the wait is over, the cherry-picked facts are in and the hysteria is in full bloom. As reported by The Age:

"THERE is no doubt that global warming is the world's greatest crisis, the real weapon of mass destruction against which a workable defence strategy must be found, and found soon..."

And even though all of these cooling indicators coincide quite neatly with recently diminished solar activity, the Big Green Scare Machine continues its mission to control world economies by fomenting blind hysteria about manmade atmospheric CO2 concentrations...

[they've too much money at stake to ever concede they've been caught - their deceptions will only grow. Our active refutation against their legislative designs must increase in like measure or they will prevail]

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Border Insecurity

[yet again]

About 75 percent of the public wants our border secured. I guess that does not include the president -- nor the Democratic Party candidates to replace him. [nor the 'Republican' candidate - that leaves us.]


1) Border control advocates want an actual physical fence. 2) Respectable Bush comprehensivist types like Chertoff want to substitute a sophisticated hi-tech 'virtual fence.' 3) Border control types say the 'virtual fence' won't work. 4) Respectable Bush comprehensivists like Chertoff in fact cut back on actual fencing, choosing the 'virtual fence.' 5) Where it's installed, the actual fence works. 6) Where it's installed, the 'virtual fence' doesn't work.

"In other words, we've all just been taken for a ride. In order to do whatever possible to avoid building an actual physical fence Bush (et al.) made sure a monumental amount of money was wasted on a fake, untested, unreal fence to placate conservatives."

The Bush administration and the leaders of the Democratic Party both want (for different reasons) no obstruction to the full flood of illegal workers (for the Republicans) and voters (for the Democrats) into the United States, thus their adamantine opposition to a physical obstruction to such passage.

[this will not get done unless we literally force our 'representatives' to do so on pain of termination {metaphorically of course} - ready?]

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ABOUT THAT MIDDLE-CLASS SQUEEZE

Democrats seem unable to stop themselves from promoting higher taxes for the wealthy and lower taxes for the poor. But if the public knew the facts, their rhetoric would have no resonance. The poor in America pay virtually no taxes at the federal level. What taxes they do pay have been falling for decades:

• The total effective federal tax rate -- for income, payroll and excise taxes -- for the bottom 20 percent of U.S. households was halved from 1979 to 2005.
• From 2000, the year before President Bush took office, to 2005, after his tax cuts had fully kicked in, their total effective federal tax rate fell by nearly a third.
• If you look at households with children, the difference is even more stark -- for the top incomes, taxes have risen, while those at the bottom saw a whopping 85.7 percent cut.

Don't think that the poor's tax burden has been passed to the average American family:

• The total effective federal tax rate for the middle quintile has fallen faster than the top two quintiles.
• The effective tax rate for middle-class Americans has fallen since the late 1970s.
• While that was happening, the median after-tax household income jumped by more than a quarter.

With taxes down and incomes up, all quintiles are doing better.

[yeah stats can be filtered to show nearly anything, but beware those comparing current economic circumstance to the whacky 90's (as is routinely done), which were hardly 'average'. What ever happened to the moral aspect of stealing from one person to give to another - is that what we want our democracy to stand for?]

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=289527073199247

Wheelchair ramp will cost $100,000 a foot

California

Where else but San Francisco City Hall could a 10-foot-long wheelchair ramp wind up costing $1 million? Thanks to a maze of bureaucratic indecision and historic restrictions, taxpayers may shell out $100,000 per foot to make the Board of Supervisors president's perch in the historic chambers accessible to the disabled. What's more, the little remodel job that planners first thought would take three months has stretched into more than four years - and will probably mean the supervisors will have to move out of their hallowed hall for five months...

{yeah; where do I sign up to put my health care in these folk's hands? {A: the polls}]

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Nets Turn on McCain: Just 30% Positive; Obama: 67% Good Press

The Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) reported how “McCain's media fortunes have taken a dramatic turn for the worse since early January,” plummeting from “97 percent positive...before the New Hampshire primary” to “just 30 percent positive since.”

Meanwhile, Barack Obama enjoys overwhelmingly positive coverage of 84 percent positive coverage. Hillary Clinton got 53 percent positive. (Factoring in neutral coverage, Clinton earned more good than bad press.)

[I.e., help McCain to become the Republican nominee, once done, back to supporting the Democrats (just like the NYT, which endorsed him prior to running a fabricated hit piece on him. Are we really not supposed to notice this? {rhetorical} ]

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State Democrats determined to raise taxes

California
SACRAMENTO -- Democratic legislative leaders declared this morning that they are prepared to delay the state budget this year if that's what it takes to get tax increases, which they called the only reasonable solution to California's multibillion-dollar shortfall. "This is going to be the fight of a lifetime," Senate leader Don Perata (D-Oakland) declared at a news conference.
[snip]
Asked how Democrats propose to make up the difference, Perata said: "Raise taxes. That clear enough? Raise taxes."
Republican lawmakers have repeatedly said they will not vote for any budget that includes new taxes.

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[what do you think? tell 'em. {I certainly told mine, name of Perata}]
Governor: governor@governor.ca.gov
Your state legislators: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html

MSNBC Ad: Hyper Partisan Olbermann Calls to 'Ignore Partisanship'

In an MSNBC "Decision 2008" ad, Olbermann spoke of the need to "ignore partisanship" under inspirational music and prominent American flag displays.

"We as citizens must at some point ignore partisanship, not that we may prosper as a nation, but that merely we may function as a nation."

Olbermann has called President Bush a "fascist" "engaging in terrorism," a "liar" and "idiot in chief." He even asked if there is an element in the Republican party that wants to re-segregate America.

[hilarious]

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Bonus: What Is An American?

[HT:MC]

We have a shared history and ideals and a shared future. But beyond that you have so many options that it boggles the mind: Gay ministers are good Americans and conservative gun proponents are good Americans too. We are a nation full of liberty and spectrum. But two general answers come to mind.

First of all, to be an American is to want what is best for America. This sounds like the utterance of a politician, but we have forgotten it. If you violate our laws and only complain about America you may not be a good American. If we need to change our institutions for your cultural group you are probably not a good candidate to be an American.

For example, Muslims are currently challenging our basic holidays – holiday – build footbaths in quasi public institutions; change our photo identification laws and who gets served in markets and taxis. This is a bad sign. People are not fitting in. They are not contributing to what's American they are contesting it. And in the name of multiculturalism we are caving. We have to remember we have a culture and it requires some accommodation. If you are too inflexible to meld to our ways, you are probably a bad candidate for being an American.

Immigration that does not recognize the rule of law is another area of concern. Again, if we need to change our institutions to fit you, it is a bad sign. Many immigrants believe that we need to dismantle our border laws to suit them. When people do not pay taxes once they are here or overuse public services and send money “home” it is not clear that they have America’s best interest at heart. A good American has upholding American law and fiscal stability as a goal.

This gets us to our last category. If you are a businessperson who puts profit above nation, you are a bad American. Divesting from America and running sweatshops domestically undermines our tax base. It enervates the middle class – which is a foundation of liberal democracies. If this country devolves into class hostility and violence – ala Mexico – we will lose liberties. Where will the businessman then live and enjoy a good quality of life? Do you really want to be secluded from America?

Would it not feel better to be a part of an America that is strong free and something you can proud of? When your conscience is so checked out that you think porn on television and gangster rap on radio and no social questions arise, you have forgotten that we are all in this together. And remembering that we are all in this together is a big part of being a good American.

As an American, I speak with people about what I think will make America better. I attend rallies. But more than that, I try to improve myself and be a really good person in order to do credit to my grandfathers and our forefathers and our traditions. I work hard at what I do and take my work and role in America seriously.

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Heroes: Sergeant’s Art Funds Surgeries for Children

Where most just see trash, Air Force Tech. Sgt. Robert Sommers sees possibility.

On any given day, the squadron’s noncommissioned officer in charge of operations management can be found sorting through leftover wood scraps and paints in his shop to create paintings and donate the proceeds to help pay for heart surgeries for children whose parents are unable to pay for the surgeries themselves.

“Possibilities are endless; everybody has a talent and can use it to help others who are less fortunate,” Sommers said. “This is what I am trying to do.”

Two local doctors perform these surgeries free of charge. But an oxygenator is needed for each operation, and each costs $560.

During his five-month tour, Sommers’ donated proceeds have paid for three oxygenators.

“There are many people in this world who by some circumstance are less fortunate than we are,” he said. “I viewed this tour as a possibility to help a few of these people.”

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Operation Gratitude in Iraq

... Meanwhile, the flip side of the say-all-and-do-nothing leftists are the myriad silent-majority forces at work day and night proving with their actions that they truly love and support our valiant military men and women.

One of the most effective groups at work on behalf of our troops is Operation Gratitude, an assemblage of Americans who put aside every difference among them in the common cause of loving our soldiers. Since its founding in 2003, this one group of all-volunteer supporters has sent 300,000 care packages to our troops serving in harm's way.

And all of it started because one American mom decided that she could not sit idly by in her safe, comfortable home doing nothing while our young men and women willingly left safety and comfort behind to fight for the rest of us...

[good reading, Recommended > ]

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Please consider taking a moment to sign their petition in support of our troops!

A Brash Proposal [for Israel]

... But every move of self-defense is condemned by the “international community” -- consisting primarily of Israel’s enemies and even a few countries who ought to know better. Does Israel attempt to take out the rocket lunching areas and those who man them with a few air strikes or a ground raid? That’s “disproportionate.” Does Israel administer a dose on non-violent reprisal such as lowering the amounts of electricity or fuel it sends to the Gazans? That’s “collective punishment” and “inhumanitarian” treatment.
[snip]
(1) Make all retaliation indisputably “proportionate.” That is, design some rocketry similarly incontrollable to the Qassams and fire them willy-nilly at populated Gaza areas. Same for mortar shells and Katyusha-equivalent missiles. One for one exactly. What could be more proportionate than that?

[could you imagine the uproar if Israel sent uncontrolled (indiscriminate) rockets into Gaza? Yet that's what Gazans have been doing to Israel for years on end. Yet when Israel targets the bad guys hiding among the populace they're the ones demonized?]

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This is Restraint, Secretary-General

[predictable update I guess...]

It's official. It's on the record. The words have been spoken out loud. Israel, according to Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, is using "excessive and disproportionate" force in Gaza.

Now the Security Council knows it. Now the world knows it.

After years of being pounded by missiles and rockets from Gaza, after weeks of escalating Hamas instigated and led attacks, Israel chose to respond. And in turn, the world has responded --- by condemning Israel.

What did Israel do? Did Israel raze a village, bomb an orphanage, massacre an entire village? No. Israel officiated a counterattack, striking at those terrorists hiding within a civilian populace who are targeting Israeli cities and citizens with Qassam rockets and with missiles

What would be an acceptable, proportionate response? Let me offer some suggestions. Perhaps, Israel should:

* day after day, for the next few years, indiscriminately lob rocks into residential areas

* sponsor civilians to build and shoot crude and inaccurate rockets into Gaza

* preach hatred, teach about destruction and dream of annihilating the entire Palestinian population

* reprint textbooks eliminating the Palestinian Authority from maps

Would that change the thinking of those who are now condemning Israel? Would those be less excessive and proportionate responses?

[UNsalvageable]

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Russia, China block UN resolution on Iran

Vienna, Austria - Russia and China on Tuesday scuttled a Western attempt to introduce a resolution on Iran's nuclear defiance at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, diplomats said. (Snip) Asked why Russia and China were opposed, one of diplomats said Moscow decided to withdraw its support ''on principle''

[that would be the 'oppose America' principle. I don't care what Bush thinks he saw in Putin's eyes, we need remember that these folks are not our friends]

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Kremlin Signals Tough Line After Vote

President Vladimir Putin fast-tracked the transfer of power to his newly elected protege Monday and signaled the Kremlin won't back down from its pull-no-punches anti-U.S. foreign policy or ease up on its critics at home. President-elect Dmitry Medvedev credited his overwhelming election victory Sunday to Putin's policies that have ''so effectively been pursued in recent years.'' Medvedev has stressed he will pursue Putin's foreign and domestic agenda...

[how surprising. 'Putin's policies' have consisted of stealing the energy companies from the private sector and reaping the profits of sky-high energy costs, thanks in large part to our refusal to develop our own reserves as he {and every other nation} develops theirs]

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Oil jumps to new record on dollar's fall

The surging price of oil reached another milestone Monday, jumping to an inflation adjusted record high of $103.95. The weaker dollar that has propelled oil and other commodities prices higher sent light, sweet crude for April delivery past $103.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That's the level many analysts consider to be the true record high for oil, after its $38 barrel price from 1980 is translated into 2008 dollars.

[this is a bit of a distortion: while the depreciating dollar contributes to higher dollar-based costs, analysts say based on supply & demand oil should be around 76$ a barrel, and the primary reason it's so much higher is speculation based on America's consistent signaling that it doesn't intend to do anything about the supply side of the equation {consider: last year's 'energy' bill only mentioned oil in connection with raising the taxes on the companies that provide it. insanity} ]

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TAX CUT FOR HUGO?

If there's anything more dumbfounding than the House's imposition of $18 billion in taxes on oil companies, thereby guaranteeing higher prices at the pump, it's the exemption voted for Venezuela's state oil firm:

* H.R. 5321 scrapped the tax deduction routinely given to the major integrated oil companies -- Exxon, Chevron, BP, Shell and ConocoPhillips -- that helps them explore, extract, refine and market the energy that drives our economy.

* However, Congress ensured that its discrimination against the big oils would benefit Citgo,
which happens to be owned by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez.

* Under the bill, Citgo keeps its 6 percent deduction for U.S. domestic manufacturing -- the one the American oil companies lose -- because Citgo, technically, buys from Chavez.

Worse, the bill includes distorted incentives that will do exactly the opposite of what Congress intends:

* By taxing big oil companies, Congress gives them less cash to develop new sources of supply that would bring these prices down.

* America's large integrated oil companies are profitable, but they also are the biggest spenders on exploration and R&D technologies.

* Now U.S. oil companies have a long-term incentive to locate operations abroad, if only to match the advantage enjoyed by companies such as Citgo.

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PRICED OUT OF THE MARKET

The world's food situation is bleak, and shortsighted policies in the United States and other wealthy countries -- which are diverting crops to environmentally dubious biofuels -- bear much of the blame. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization:

* The price of wheat is more than 80 percent higher than a year ago and corn prices are up by a quarter.

* Prices have gone so high that the World Food Program, which aims to feed 73 million people this year, said it might have to reduce rations or the number of people it will help.

[several contributing factors,] Yet the most important reason for the price shock is the rich world's subsidized appetite for biofuels:

* In the United States, 14 percent of the corn crop was used to produce ethanol in 2006 -- a share expected to reach 30 percent by 2010.

* This is cutting into production of staples like soybeans, as farmers take advantage of generous subsidies and switch crops to corn for fuel.

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, absent new technologies, the United States, Canada and the European Union would require between 30 percent and 70 percent of their current crop area if they were to replace 10 percent of their transport fuel consumption with biofuels.

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[up to 70% of our crop land to replace 10% of the transportation fuel we need. remember that when next we're' told we need to use alternative energy sources: with the sole exception of nuclear (over time), none of them are a viable alternative - they simply haven't the capacity for our needs. Meanwhile, we float on oceans of oil...]

[Flashback: 061024 post:]

Geologist Refutes Media Myth: World Has Lots and Lots of Oil
A common theme in the media the past couple of years has been that the world is running out of oil, and that energy prices will do nothing but head higher for the rest of time. Well, a University of Washington economic geologist issued a statement on Thursday not only refuting such contentions, but also claiming that we will never fully deplete the earth’s supply of black gold:

"The most common question I get is, 'When are we going to run out of oil.' The correct response is, 'Never,'" said Eric Cheney.

[as previously mentioned, since the oil embargo of '73 the energy industry has found new reserves at a rate more than double the global (including China & India) increase in usage, meaning the supply horizon continues to expand and is already twice what it was in the 70's - the only thing effecting the supply side of the equation is America's (unique) refusal not to exploit its own resources - below link recommended]

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-10/uow-dpb101906.php

bonus...

[HT:MN]

Dan Rather, Katie Couric, and an Israeli commando were captured by terrorists in Iraq.

The leader of the terrorists told them that he would grant them each one last request before they were beheaded.

Dan Rather said, "Well, I'm a Texan, so I'd like one last bowlful of hot spicy chili."

The leader nodded to an underling who left and returned with the chili.

Rather ate it all and said, "Now I can die content."

Katie Couric said, "I'm a reporter to the end. I want to take out my tape recorder and describe the scene here and what's about to happen. Maybe someday someone will hear it and know that I was on the job till the end."

The terror leader directed an aide to hand over the tape recorder and Couric dictated some comments. She then said, "Now I can die happy."

The leader turned and said, "And now, Mr. Israeli tough guy, what is your final wish?"

"Kick me in the ass," said the soldier."

"What?" asked the leader? "Will you mock us in your last hour?"

"No, I'm not kidding. I want you to kick me in the ass," insisted the Israeli.

So the leader shoved him into the open and kicked him in the ass.

The soldier went sprawling, but rolled to his knees, pulled a 9 mm pistol from under his flak jacket, and shot the leader dead. In the resulting confusion, he jumped to his knapsack, pulled out his carbine and sprayed the terrorists with gunfire.

In a flash, all terrorists were either dead or fleeing for their lives.

As the soldier was untying Rather and Couric, they asked him, "Why didn't you just shoot them in the beginning? Why did you ask them to kick you in the ass first?"

"What?" replied the Israeli, "and have you two assholes report that I was the aggressor?!