Global Effects!

I am taking this from Mike's America blog - because it is so necessary for as many people to read this and try to understand this! Thanks to Mike for his work!

From Mike's America:

No Sun Spots Means Bigger Problem: Global Cooling, NOT Global Warming

Another nail in the globaloney coffin!

What could be worse than Al Gore's apocalyptic scaremongering on global warming? A new ice age brought on not by man's emission of CO2 but the Sun taking a holiday.

It's a definite possibility especially with this latest news:

No spots means no warming and might mean rapid cooling.

Sun Makes History: First Spotless Month in a Century
By Michael Asher
Daily Tech
September 1, 2008

Drop in solar activity has potential effect for climate on earth.

The sun has reached a milestone not seen for nearly 100 years: an entire month has passed without a single visible sunspot being noted.

The event is significant as many climatologists now believe solar magnetic activity – which determines the number of sunspots -- is an influencing factor for climate on earth.

According to data from Mount Wilson Observatory, UCLA, more than an entire month has passed without a spot. The last time such an event occurred was June of 1913. Sunspot data has been collected since 1749.

When the sun is active, it's not uncommon to see sunspot numbers of 100 or more in a single month. Every 11 years, activity slows, and numbers briefly drop to near-zero. Normally sunspots return very quickly, as a new cycle begins.

But this year -- which corresponds to the start of Solar Cycle 24 -- has been extraordinarily long and quiet, with the first seven months averaging a sunspot number of only 3. August followed with none at all. The astonishing rapid drop of the past year has defied predictions, and caught nearly all astronomers by surprise.
...
In the past 1000 years, three previous such events -- the Dalton, Maunder, and Spörer Minimums, have all led to rapid cooling. One was large enough to be called a "mini ice age". For a society dependent on agriculture, cold is more damaging than heat. The growing season shortens, yields drop, and the occurrence of crop-destroying frosts increases.

Sunspot activity of the past decade. Over the past year, SIDC has continually revised its predictions downward (Source: Solar Influences Data Center)

A chart of sunspot activity showing two prior solar minima, along with heightened activity during the 20th century (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

And lest you think a new ice age would be better than global warming, think again. Famine, disease, death and political chaos worldwide would likely be the result.

Played on the Peninsula

We were played.

In February and April 2007, North Korea agreed to "abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and returning, at an early date, to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and to IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] safeguards."

Supposedly, "this significant achievement commits all six parties to a denuclearized Korean Peninsula and will lead to a more stable and secure Northeast Asia."

For doing this, North Korea received as it "complies with its commitment to declare all its nuclear programs and to disable all existing nuclear facilities (including reactors and processing plants), further shipments of economic, energy and humanitarian assistance equivalent to 950,000 tons of heavy fuel oil will be delivered in line with the principle of "action for action."" (Source: US Dept. of State Website)

Well, they're baaaaaccccckkkkk! The picture above is the Yongbyon facility. IAEA seals are broken and it more than appears that North Korea is re-starting its nuclear programs. Sources say that it could produce plutonium within two months!

They agreed to the deal long enough to get their hands on the fuel oil and other incentives. Furthermore, I believe that China influenced North Korea to go along with the deal until after the Olympics in order to placate the rest of the world, and then crank up their weapons program once the Games were over. Well, it seems the Games have just begun!

What are we going to give them to stop for a little while this time??

Let's do the math: I found that there are 7 barrels of petroleum per metric ton. 950,000 tons X 7 barrels = 6,650,000 multiplied by the going rate for crude oil (I know, they sent fuel oil, but for calculations sake - let's just use this, OK?) $105/barrel today (9/5/2008) = $698,250,000.

Go figure.........

I am a FAN!

My favorite lines from Gov. Palin's speech:

"In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change," she said.

"What exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make the government bigger and take more of your money."

"This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting and never use the word 'victory' except when he's talking about his own campaign.

WOW! What a great "Hockey Mom!"

What is Wrong with This Picture

I was in line dropping the boys off at school last week and saw this bumper sticker. Now - I am going to leave the question open, waiting to see what you see as wrong with the bumper sticker:

Left out of the debate.......

We tend to forget the side-benefit of our involvement in Iraq - and that is the drastic reduction of terrorist activity in Israel.

Since the fall of Iraq and the removal of Saddam Hussein, the terrorist activity in Israel has almost ceased. Maybe this is due to the end of payments to the families of the suicide bombers by the Hussein regime, the presence of the US military in Iraq or the terrorists' focus being redirected toward the US troops in Iraq, the beneficiaries would seem to be, in some measure, the state of Israel.

Think about the last time you saw or heard a news report about a terrorist act - marketplace or bus suicide bombing - since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Before the US went into Iraq, it seemed like a weekly, if not a daily, occurrence.

If you have not read Victor David Hanson's article, I recommend it: What happened to Iraq?

McCain Housing Crisis? Please......

Recently Senator John McCain was asked by a reporter how many houses he owned. This was definitely a loaded question designed to put McCain in a box and paint him as an elitist. As it turns out, he has seven houses worth approximately $14 million (based on what I have read).

So what?

Now, McCain is being painted in the light that he "doesn't know how many houses he owns...." - which is not what he said. He never said "I don't know how many houses I own......" He clearly was uncomfortable in discussing the subject and did not want to answer the question.

Probably because some of their houses are investment properties and some may be in the name of his wife, or in partnerships or holding companies.....I think he wanted his staff to accurately and completely answer the question.

As I thought about his answer, I began to add up the houses that I own.

I am a real estate investor and I own several rental properties. I own them in my name; my wife and I own some together; I have partners and I have some property in a corporate name. Let's see: my primary residence (1); three rentals in my name (3); one in Mel's name (1); two with partners (2); one in a corporation (1) - that totals eight (8). If you count a duplex that I own with a partner, then add another one to the total.

I deal with these properties every week. I am in the business. But think about answering a question like that on the spot - (heck I had to give it some thought).

John McCain has been on the campaign trail running for President for over two years! What if Cindy McCain had sold some of their properties or purchased others (given the real estate market - it could have been either).

If you are in the real estate business, think about it: How many houses do you own? Quickly, now. The world is watching........

If there can be an upside.....

The BEAR is back. The Russian BEAR that is.

I have always been interested in geography. One of my college professors instructed that geography is more than just knowing where countries and geological features are in the world, but also is the study of those region's natural resources, climates and even political make-up to some degree.

Russia (during my college years it was the Soviet Union) has tremendous natural resources - primarily oil, natural gas, gold and timber. There are bountiful others but these are the biggies for this debate.

The Soviet Union was inefficient at tapping these resources primarily due to their inept government structure. After the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of market driven capitalism, there was incentive for, not only the new government but also private businesses, to invest in exploring and utilizing these resources. Russia isn't reliant on foreign sources of energy.

During the time since the fall of the Soviet empire, the United States has seen a reversal of sorts take place that, when juxtaposed against the NEW Russia, is daunting. Let me explain:

While Russia was experiencing capitalism, low taxes (they have a flat rate income tax of 13%) and a positive business climate, the US has seen a tremendous growth in government. We have created a huge entitlement state and have proceeded to limit free-market driven investments in energy resources. From the moratorium on oil and natural gas exploration to the moratorium on new nuclear reactors to the moratorium against recycling nuclear fuel to the increased regulations on business and industry that is growing everyday due to the global warming alarmism - we are like the inept Soviet state.

Neutered, if you will, by "Political Correctness" and by a small but vocal minority in America that is calling for carbon tax & trade, no nuclear expansion and don't even think about drilling in ANWR or off our coasts!

This latest Russian move is a power-play. The Russian leaders and the proud Russian people desire to once again be a major global force as they were under the old Marxist empire. This time, however, they are building their might, not through fear as during the Cold War era, but through cagey capitalistic approaches to wealth creation and energy independence.

If there can be an upside for the U. S. in the unforgivable Russian aggression towards Georgia it would be in how Americans begin looking at our own country again. With the Russian Bear gaining in global power once more, maybe - just maybe - the vocal liberal minority and environmentalists who have stymied progressive approaches to energy independence will gain some American pride again.

If we are to solve this energy crisis, deal with a weak economy and the dramatic reduction in American manufacturing, we need an increasing sense in American pride. This applies, too, to our struggles against Islamic terrorists and pride in our military.

If we don't wake up quickly here in America to what is happening, we may soon find ourselves a good ways down the list in world power and influence rankings.