How This Current Health Care Reform Bill Will Affect You

Make Mine Freedom (1948) ~ Very Telling!

I am RE-POSTING this message for my new readers and to remind everybody else what we are fighting to protect. Folks this is the American Way. It's not left nor right. It's about our Constitutional FREEDOM which applies to U.S. Citizens of every RACE. This cartoon was made in 1948 and the exact same sentiment applies today! I am so blown away by this message. I highly recommend you take a moment to watch this 9 minute cartoon. I promise, you too will connect to its message! This message is so spot on it's kind of eerie to actually be living through it right now 60 yrs later. I have taken the following from the YouTube description:

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Fun and Facts About America, John Sutherland Productions. Creative Commons license: Public Domain. This Cold War-era cartoon uses humor to tout the dangers of Communism and the benefits of capitalism. For more great vintage animation check out www.animationstation.info and subscribe to our podcast.

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Here is a little snipit of the message shared in this cartoon:

When anybody preaches this unity, tries to pit one of us against the other through class warfare, race hatred or religious intolerance, you know that person seeks to rob us from our FREEDOM and destroy our very lives! And we know what to do about it...

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) Adamantly AGAINST The "Deem and Pass" Strategy Back In 2003! All Of You Democrats Are A PIECE OF WORK!!! You Are A Bunch Of HYPOCRITES And SLEAZEBAGS!

You have to listen to this video! Rep. Steny Hoyer, a democrat from Maryland is really pissed off at the republicans trying to use a "Deem and Pass" strategy a.ka. The Slaughter Rule much like the one the Democrats are trying to use right now. Only Rep. Hoyer is having a cow in this video over $82 BILLION vs. the $1 (T)RILLION or more the democrats are seriously considering this strategy for to BYPASS having to vote on the Health Care Senate bill. $82 BILLION come on now, that's chumpchange compared to $1 (T)RILLION or more.

Our country has been wiping our backsides with 100s of BILLIONS of taxpayer dollars this past year with NOTHING substantial to show for it. Right now there are several munipalities across the United States that are CLOSING SCHOOLS literally shutting them down because they can't afford the cost. So ENOUGH with the "What's good for the goose is good for the gander." attitude. When ALL the while the American public get's ROYALLY SCREWED OVER in the end.

Rep. Steny Hoyer was the Minority Whip at the time of this OUTRAGE dated June 12, 2003. I have typed a transcript for your reading pleasure:

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The GOP's intransgence is on full display with this self-executing rule on this legislation to allow low income working American families to benefit from the increase in child tax credits. I have sat on this floor when you did not allow us to offer substitutes, that you didn't have the courage of your convictions. I have sat on this floor before when you didn't allow us to offer amendments, that you didn't have the courage of your convictions.

Now you know and don't allow us to offer substitutes, you don't allow us to offer amendments YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE THE COURAGE TO PUT YOUR OWN BILL ON THE FLOOR and the public probably doesn't understand that. This is a RULE NOT THE BILL. We're NOT DEBATING THE BILL. Why? To muzzle us?! and to muzzle their folks who they don't rely on TO VOTE ON THE SUBSTANCE OF THIS BILL but hope and pray they'll get enough of their people on the procedural end of this bill to carry the day.

That's unfortunate, $82 BILLION dollars of deficit that Americans are going to have to pay for. My children are going to have to pay for it. My grandchildren are going to have to pay for it. And we don't even have the COURAGE TO PUT THE BILL ON THE FLOOR but this (Slaughter) RULE roost!

HAPPY St. Patrick's Day! CHEERS!!! =)

"May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you
In the palm of his hand."
~Irish Blessing

May you be poor in misfortunes,
and rich in blessings,
May you know nothing but happiness,
from this day forward,
May good luck be your friend,
In whatever you do,
And may trouble be always,
A stranger to you.
~Irish Blessing

May you always have work for your hands to do,
May your pockets hold always a coin or two,
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane,
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain,
May the hand of a friend always be near you,
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.
~Irish Blessing

May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day. May songbirds serenade you every step along the way. May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that's always blue. And may happiness fill your heart each day your whole life through.
~Irish Blessing

May the friendships you make be those which endure and all of your Grey clouds be small ones for sure. And trusting in Him to Whom we all pray, may a song fill your heart every step of the way.
~Irish Blessing

May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light,

May good luck pursue you each morning and night.

~Irish Blessing

May luck be our companion

May friends stand by our side

May history remind us all

Of Ireland's faith and pride.

May God bless us with happiness

May love and faith abide.

~Irish Blessing

May the Irish hills caress you.

May her lakes and rivers bless you.

May the luck of the Irish enfold you.

May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.

~Irish Blessing

A best friend is like a four leaf clover: hard to find and lucky to have.

~Author Unknown

More Classic Cartoons To Brighten Your Day!!!

Classic Cartoon Intermission! We Could ALL Use Some Levity Right Now! HEY FIGARO!

President Obama's "PROPOSALS" vs The ACTUAL Legislative Bills

"What we need from the next president is somebody who will not just tell you what they think you want to hear but will tell you what you need to hear." - Barack Obama, Feb. 27, 2008

President Obama's has handed us yet another "PROPOSAL" and is back to campaigning trying to SELL his "PROPOSAL"! He reminds me of an Amway salesperson. Have you ever had a friend who relentlessly tried selling you Amway products even after you kindly told them you weren't interested in what they had to sell? You even went so far as to AVOID that friend so you wouldn't have to hear the salespitch all over again? Well that's what President Obama reminds me... a DESPERATE salesman. The kind that turns you OFF immediately. All of you know precisely what I'm talking about.

What really pisses me off is that once again there is NO BILL to SUBSTANTIATE President Obama's "PROPOSAL". I thought the former Bush administration was bad. Well the Obama administration has proven me WRONG by their conniving, ruthless, self-serving actions! And I am so sick and tired of hearing the democrats say repeatedly well the Bush administration did it for 8 years or this has been going on for decades or this is how legislation get's passed. BULLSH*T! So you mean to tell me that you are PROUD to be figuratively raping and pillaging the American people by abusing your power like every other administration? Change? Really now... Let me tell you right now that you are going to go down as the WORST administration in the history of this country. Most especially for deceiving your voters so egregiously.

America, let me give it to you straight...

If you go to a restaurant, order a burger from the menu and when you get SERVED, the so-called burger smells like actual sh*t. ARE YOU STILL GOING TO EAT the burger simply because they TOLD YOU they served you a burger? Get real and read the actual bills they are serving us. All President Obama has been doing is giving us PROPOSALS labeling them what we want to hear. Once the Congress and Senate gets through drafting the actual bills they smell like sh*t...

What I don't understand is how the heck can the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) accurately draw up the cost if the latest "PROPOSAL" has not been fully drafted into an actual BILL! Moreover, by the time the CBO delivers their data to Nancy Pelosi all of Congress will ONLY HAVE -->>1 HOUR<<-- to read over 2,000 pages of legal crapola and then VOTE on our BEHALF!

It's like me telling you to BLINDLY agree to a 2,000 page CONTRACT that's going to cost you $1 TRILLION or more without having read the details. Would you eagerly SIGN on the dotted line knowing you are going to be LEGALLY BINDED to this agreement?

Let me give you an example. Let's say you walk into an auto dealership and the salesperson tells you that you are automatically approved to purchase a car. But you need to sign the contract FIRST without having read it. You are so excited you agree to sign on the dotted line because you finally get to buy a car. You see your focus is only on buying a car. The salesperson and manager smoozes with you for a while catering to your every need ie; thirst and hunger. Once they see that you are satisfied, they tell you that your car is ready for you to drive it off the lot. They hand you a key chain as a momento and escort you to the parking lot. To your SHOCK and HORROR, it is a beat up old CLUNKER. You yell at them "This is not what I wanted." and they kindly tell you with a smile "You said YOU WANTED A CAR, right? Well that's what we gave you, A CAR". And a few weeks later you receive a letter in the mail that reads your auto payment is going to be $1,000 per month for 30 years. The letter does not tell you what your purchase price is nor the interest rate you are paying and you can't understand the 2,000 page CONTRACT you signed. Now how the heck would that make you feel? Seriously, wouldn't you feel like a SMUCK for being FOOLED by a fast talking salesman who just ruined your life? Well that is precisely what this government is trying to do to 300 MILLION AMERICANS!

When you bought your car, didn't you want to know what the purchase price was going to be, what the interest payment on your loan was going to be and how much your monthly payment was going to be??? You didn't just walk into an auto dealership and agree to any car right? No, you probably looked for the RIGHT CAR for you, right? and not only did it have to run great and look great to you but you also had to be able TO AFFORD it right?

Note To Washington: Where is the DUE DILIGENCE and FIDUCIARY DUTY --->>>YOU OWE US<<<---

From: Congressman John Linder

Subject: Health Care Update

Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 2:18 PM

It is official: the President and the Speaker have decided to ram a health care bill through the Congress this week. The first step for this newly introduced 2,300 page bill is for it to be rushed through the Budget Committee this afternoon. As you saw if you clicked on the link to the bill, the legislation is moving so fast that it hasn't even been assigned a bill number yet.

While you can read this new bill here, it won't be worth your time. Why? Because these 2,300 pages aren't even the 2,300 pages that the President and Speaker Pelosi want us to vote on. That's right: the pages that they want us to vote on haven't even been completed yet. The bill that the Budget Committee is working on is simply a placeholder because the Speaker is still working out new language. The plan, we're told, is that Budget Committee will finish its work today to move the process along and then tomorrow -- likely deep into the night -- the Rules Committee will take up the bill. The Rules Committee will completely erase the 2,300 pages approved by the Budget Committee and insert thousands of entirely new pages into the bill. Don't worry, though: the Speaker has promised us at least >>1 HOUR<< to read those several thousand new pages before the Rules Committee votes. No, I'm not laughing either.

Obviously, this is not the way that any bill should be considered in Congress, but this is definitely not the way to handle something as important as health care reform and something so enormous that it accounts for almost 20% of our entire economy.

If you need to learn more, I will be holding a telephone town hall meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, March 16, at 7PM. By calling 1-800-857-6263 a few minutes before 7PM and giving the operator the passcode “Town Hall,” you can join in this discussion. I would certainly value your participation.

John

Talking Points Versus Reality On Health Bill

Investors Business Daily

Talking Points Versus Reality On Health Bill

written by Thomas Sowell

Monday March 15, 2010 at 06:42pm ET

In a swindle that would make Bernie Madoff look like an amateur, Barack Obama has gotten a substantial segment of the population to believe that he can add millions of people to the government-insured rolls without increasing the already record-breaking federal deficit.

Those who think in terms of talking points, instead of realities, can point to the fact that the Congressional Budget Office has concurred with budget numbers that the Obama administration has presented.

Anyone who is so old-fashioned as to stop and think, instead of being swept along by rhetoric, can understand that a budget — any budget — is not a record of hard facts but a projection of future financial plans. A budget tells us what will happen if everything works out according to plan.

The Congressional Budget Office can only deal with the numbers that Congress supplies. Those numbers may well be consistent with each other, even if they are wholly inconsistent with anything that is likely to happen in the real world.

The Obama health care plan can be financed without increasing the federal deficit — if the administration takes hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicare. But Medicare itself does not have enough money to pay its own way over time.

However money is juggled in the short run, the government's financial liabilities are increased by adding this huge new entitlement of government-provided insurance. The fact that these new financial liabilities can be kept out of the official federal deficit projection, by claiming that they will be paid for with money taken from Medicare, changes nothing in the real world.

I can say that I can afford to buy a Rolls-Royce, without going into debt, by using my inheritance from a rich uncle. But, in the real world, the question would arise immediately whether I in fact have a rich uncle, not to mention whether this hypothetical rich uncle would be likely to leave me enough money to buy a Rolls-Royce.

In politics, however, you can say all sorts of things that have no relationship with reality. If you have mainstream media that see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil — when it comes to Barack Obama — you can say that you will pay for a vast expansion of government-provided insurance by taking money from the Medicare budget and using other gimmicks.

Whether this administration, or any future administration, will in fact take enough money from Medicare to pay for this new massive entitlement is a question that only the future can answer, regardless of what today's budget projection says.

What Exactly Is CO2? It's Good To Know About What It Is 'They' Are Trying To Scare Us With...!!! RE-POST From 12/11/09

People in postions of power and influence would have us all believe that we need to reduce CO2 levels. In fact, all talk has been based on reducing CO2 emissions. But what exactly is CO2?

"Carbon dioxide is used by plants during photosynthesis to make sugars, which may either be consumed in respiration or used as the raw material to produce other organic compounds needed for plant growth and development. It is produced during respiration by plants, and by all animals, fungi and microorganisms that depend either directly or indirectly on plants for food. It is thus a major component of the carbon cycle. Carbon dioxide is generated as a by-product of the combustion of fossil fuels or the burning of vegetable matter, among other chemical processes. Small amounts of carbon dioxide are emitted from volcanoes and other geothermal processes such as hot springs and geysers and by the dissolution of carbonates in crustal rocks.

There is about fifty times as much carbon dissolved in the oceans in the form of CO2 and carbonic acid, bicarbonate and carbonate ions as exists in the atmosphere. The oceans act as an enormous carbon sink, and have taken up about a third of CO2 emitted by human activity. Gas solubility decreases as the temperature of water increases and therefore the rate of uptake from the atmosphere decreases as ocean temperatures rise.

Furthermore, plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by photosynthesis, also called carbon assimilation, which uses light energy to produce organic compounds (cellulose, lipids, and various proteins) by combining carbon dioxide and water. Plants also emit CO2 during respiration, and so the majority of plants and algae, which use C3 photosynthesis, are only net absorbers during the day. Mature forests are valuable carbon sinks, helping maintain balance in the Earth's atmosphere. Additionally, and crucially to life on earth, photosynthesis by phytoplankton consumes dissolved CO2 in the upper ocean and thereby promotes the absorption of CO2 from the atmosphere."

Nutrients From Deep-Sea Vents Key to Carbon Storage, Study Says

CleanTechies

Nutrients From Deep-Sea Vents Key to Carbon Storage, Study Says

written by Yale Environment 360

Monday March 15, 2010

Hot, nutrient-rich water seeping from a network of deep-sea volcanoes provides a consistent source of iron for the phytoplankton that soaks up carbon dioxide, playing a key role in limiting climate change, according to a new study by French and Australian scientists.

The world’s oceans capture about 25 percent of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels, scientists say. Among the largest “carbon sinks” is the Southern Ocean between Antarctica and Australia.

Underpinning that cycle is the microscopic plant phytoplankton, which absorbs the carbon dioxide at the ocean surface and then eventually carries it to the ocean floor.

While it is well known that iron carried in dust or in coastal sediments can trigger phytoplankton blooms, the extent and consistency of deep-sea vents as a source of nutrients was not as well understood, according to the study published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

That source, researchers say, produces between 5 and 15 percent of the total carbon storage in the entire Southern Ocean, and as much as 30 percent in some parts.

We, The People EPA!!! UGH! I Am So Having A Moment...

Investors Business Daily

We, The People EPA

written by IBT Editorials

Monday March 15, 2010 06:42pm ET

Regulation: The New York Times says the EPA should use its authority to regulate our very breath if a Democratic Congress isn't "goaded" into action. Whatever happened to government of the people?

It's been a pattern of this administration that if the American people are adamantly opposed to it, ram it through anyway. So it's been with the health care overhaul, offshore drilling restrictions and now the Environmental Protection Agency threatening to become the uber-regulator of the air we breathe.

The New York Times says in a Saturday editorial regarding that last item that if Congress fails to enact cap-and-trade legislation such as Waxman-Markey or Kerry-Boxer, the EPA should jam it down our throats.

After all, the Supreme Court said the EPA had the power, even the obligation, to impose draconian restrictions on so-called greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide. The elected representatives of the American people should just get out of the way.

We've heard this argument before. Last April, Time magazine ran a piece titled "EPA'S CO2 Finding: Putting A Gun To Congress' Head." This isn't the government structure the Founding Fathers envisioned.

They had in mind a system of checks and balances between the three branches of government, and the EPA was not one of them. The only gun that should be held to Congress' head is the vote of the American people.

The paper of distorted record objects to a "resolution of disapproval" originated by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Republican from Alaska, an energy-producing state forced to keep vast stores of energy locked up underground or under offshore sea beds. This the newspaper says is a "destructive idea" that "would reject the EPA's recent scientific finding that greenhouse gases are a danger to public health."

Yes, that's right. The product of your breathing, the carbon dioxide you exhale and that every plant, even in the rain forest, breathes in is a danger to your health and the planet.

It matters not that the EPA's "scientific" finding was based largely on the fraudulent analysis and manipulated data produced by such entities as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Britain's Climate Research Unit.

Even NASA and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cooked the books, cherry-picking temperature data and closing down weather-reporting stations inconveniently located in colder, rural areas and the Canadian Arctic.

As Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, noted: "Lisa Jackson, Obama's EPA administrator, admitted to me publicly that EPA based its action today (issuing its finding) in good measure on the findings of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC. She told me that EPA accepted those findings without any serious, independent analysis to see whether they were true."

Tucker: The Man And His Dream

This is such a great movie about Preston Thomas Tucker who dreamt he could build a better automobile than the Big 3 automakers of Detroit. The car that he built was a beautiful piece of machinery, sleek and stylish. He was concerned about improving the saftety standards of the automobile because safety was a cost that the Big 3 did not want to incur. Thus he added seatbelts, a pop out windshied and a padded center row bar. What's even more amazing the car that he built would have given us 20 miles per gallon and that was 1948. That was 62 YEARS AGO! Imagine what we would have today if he and other innovators had NOT BEEN FORCIBLY shut down!

The Big 3 automakers with the help of government and the media SHUT DOWN Tucker Motor Corp. This may also shed some light on why our government (both parties) bailed out the U.S. automakers. Preston Tucker's character is played by Jeff Bridges. I highly recommend that you watch this movie! The movie clip I am sharing is the end of the movie where Preston Tucker gives his closing argument in court. He was being charged with fraud by the Securities Exchange Commission. I have typed a transcript of his closing argument. His words were very prophetic!

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Thank you your Honor. Thank you Senator. The prosecution claims that I never had any intention at all of building any cars. That all I wanted was to take the money and run. If you decide that they are right, well I am guilty. But according to the law if I tried to make the cars, even if they weren't any good, even if I didn't make any. But if you believe that I tried, well then I am not guilty. Because it is not against the law thank God to be wrong or stupid. Which I was both building that prototype. But what nobody has said through this whole trial is that after the prototype I built the car that I said I would and there are fifty of them right now parked down there on the Street. All the judge has to do is let you walk down there and take a ride in one of them and that's it the trial is over. Will you allow the jury please just look out the window. You can see them from here your honor. Your honor I am on trial whether I intended to build the car or not.

When I was a boy I used to read all about Edison and the Wright Brothers and Mr. Ford. They were my heroes. Rags to riches that's not just the name of a book, that's what this country was all about. We invented the FREE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM. Where anybody no matter who he was, where he came from, what class he belonged to, if he came up with a BETTER IDEA about anything there is NO LIMIT to how far he could go. I grew up a generation too late I guess, because now the way the system works the LONER, the DREAMER, the CRACKPOT who comes up with some crazy idea that everybody laughs at that later turns out to revolutionize the world he's squashed from above before he even gets his head out of the water. Because the BUREAUCRATS they'd rather KILL A NEW IDEA then let it rock the boat. If Benjamin Franklin were alive today he'd be thrown in jail for sailing a kite without a license. It's true. We're all puffed up with ourselves today because we invented the bomb. We dropped the. We beat the daylights out of the Japanese and the Nazi's.

But if BIG BUSINESS closes the door on the LITTLE GUY WITH THE NEW IDEA, where not only closing the door ON PROGRESS but we're sabotaging everything that we fought for. Everything that the country stands for. One day we're going to find ourselves at the bottom of the heap instead of king of the hill having no idea how we got there buying our radios and our cars from our former enemy's. I don't believe that is going to happen. I can't believe it because if I ever stop believing in the plain old common horse sense of the American people there is no way I can get out of bed in the morning. Thank you.

White House Finalizing Rules To Cut Car Emissions!" This Is Such A Joke! "Starting with 2012 Model Year From 25mpg To 35mpg by 2016! Preston Tucker Built A Car That Would Run On 20mpg in->>1948<<-

EcoSeed News

White House finalizing rules to cut car emissions

written by Reuters staff

Friday March 12, 2010 06:04

WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - The White House is finalizing rules on the first United States greenhouse gas emission standard for automobiles, which would raise average fuel economy 42 percent by 2016 in a bid to slash oil imports and fight climate change.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Transportation Department sent the final rules this week to the White House's Office of Management and Budget, according to a notice posted on the O.M.B. website.

The higher mileage requirements will reduce United States greenhouse gas emissions by 900 million metric tons and save 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the life of vehicles built during the 2012 to 2016 model years, according to the E.P.A.

The projected savings over the life of the plan amounts to about four months of current fuel consumption in the United States, the biggest petroleum consumer, with demand at close to 19 million barrels per day.

The rules would aid the Obama administration's efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, especially if Congress fails to pass legislation to fight global warming.

The vehicle emissions standards will be phased in starting with the 2012 model year, raising fuel economy to an average 35.5 miles per gallon by the time the 2016 models are ready – up 42 percent from the current 25 miles per gallon.

Lower gasoline consumption in the United States could make more crude supplies available in the world market, which in turn could put downward pressure on oil prices.

Phil Flynn, an analyst with PFGBest Research in Chicago, said the new standards will definitely lower United States oil demand, but that could be offset with higher fuel use in other countries.

"We can save it here, but are these cars going to be marketable in China, where all the demand growth is going to come from?" he asked.

The rules follow an E.P.A. finding that greenhouse gas emissions from new vehicles contribute to air pollution, a danger to public health.

The E.P.A. has come under attack from many United States lawmakers and industries for working independently on regulations that would slash greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, oil refineries and factories. Legislation is pending in Congress to stop the E.P.A. from issuing broader emissions-cutting regulations.

Many accuse the E.P.A. of trying to get around Congress, where legislation that would cap and then slowly reduce United States emissions blamed for global warming has been bogged down. As lawmakers deal with a massive healthcare bill and financial reform, it becomes more unlikely Congress will be able to approve a final climate change bill this year.

But automakers support the separate vehicle regulations because it would create the first national standard for controlling car and truck emissions, instead of having state-by-state regulation.

Many new vehicles, especially hybrid vehicles, already meet or exceed the planned standards.

The government must notify automakers by March 31 of the higher fuel efficiency for the 2012 model years.

To meet the new standard, the sticker price on a car or truck would rise by an average $1,300 in 2016 compared to current vehicle costs, the E.P.A. said. However, a driver would save about $2,800 over the life of a vehicle through fuel costs.

European Industries Hoarding Greenhouse Gas Emission Permits! This Is Precisely Why Cap & Trade Is A Useless & Ineffective Piece Of Legislation!

I am so glad this information is finally coming to light. This is precisely why Cap and Trade is a useless and ineffective piece of legislation! The only ones who benefit immensely if this legislation gets passed are the government and the agents that are trading the excess pollution. Oh and of course the industries that would continue polluting. The industries are forced to pay for permits and the extra cost gets passed down to their customers. Thus, the customers are the only ones getting hurt by this measure by having to pay more for goods and services!

It's right there in the title itself, Cap the pollution and Trade the excess. So basically what all the Global Warming nuts with Al Gore at the helm shouting "Cap and Trade, it MUST be passed." haven't bothered reading the legislation and don't have a clue about how it's supposed to work. Well perhaps that is true of the Global Warming followers. However, Al Gore owns one of the trading companies that would make bank if this bill got passed. It's sad to say that Al Gore used his credibilty to influence the world mainly so that he could benefit from the policies he was promoting. He is a con-artist and this is all a sham!

Al Gore with the help of government officials have outright lied to you. They have told you that this legislation would REDUCE CO2 emmissions, right?! They told you that this legislation is going to help the environment and our air quality, right?! Well let me tell you that that is a bunch of bull crapola! If they really wanted to stop or substantially reduce air pollution, then why don't they simply set an output standard?! You and I have to get a smog check for our cars regularly, I think every two years. That is an output standard that was set for us little people. If our cars don't pass the smog check, then our mechanic makes the necessary repairs so that the car could pass. We cannot get our automobile registration renewed without proving that our car has passed the smog check. Industrial plants should have the same applied to them. But in their case have surprise inspections to make sure they are complying with the new standards set. Why can't somebody invent a filter of some sort that would capture all the toxic output from the smoke stacks? Am I thinking too simply here? I urge you to read this article I've posted below.

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The Guardian UK

Industries hoarding greenhouse gas emission permits

written by Juliette Jowit and Tim Webb

Thursday March 11, 2010 21:10pm GMT

Saved permits can be used to meet future targets to cut emissions WITHOUT REDUCING POLLUTION.

Companies across Europe are hoarding permits to produce greenhouse gas emissions worth hundreds of millions of pounds, the Guardian can reveal.

The surplus credits have been amassed from over-allocation of permits to pollute from the European emissions trading scheme, and by buying cheap credits from carbon-cutting projects in developing countries and holding on to their more expensive official EU allowances.

The saved permits can be used to meet future targets to cut the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming and climate change without actually reducing pollution, or sold for a profit in the future.

Campaigners for tougher emissions reductions said the saved-up allowances discredited the argument of some industries that much deeper cuts in future would be "fatal" because they could no longer afford to compete against rivals outside the EU.

However, companies involved said the banked credits would help them pay to develop new emission-cutting technology, and to meet emissions targets until that became widely available.

Industry also warned it faced "death by a thousand cuts" as a result of the next phase of the scheme, from 2013 and 2020, and other costly environmental legislation planned by government. Business leaders accused the government of being prepared to sacrifice industry to enable other sectors such as aviation to keep polluting and meet the UK's carbon budgets.

One steelmaker told the Guardian: "Officials see us as acceptable collateral in the fight against climate change. If we don't make anything in this country any more, it means people could still fly to Tenerife once a year and the UK will keep within the carbon budget."

He said meeting targets would require vast amounts of steel to build windfarms, nuclear reactors and electric cars. This would have to be imported from more-polluting steelmakers outside Europe if the industry disappeared in the UK.

The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), the centrepiece of the EU's pledge to cut greenhouse gases, has already been criticised for giving many companies allowances to emit more emissions than they need, leaving little incentive to reduce pollution, and for lax regulation.

The latest concern about "banking" credits involves companies also buying cheap allowances from "offset" schemes which reduce emissions in other countries, often China and India, and using these to cover their emissions while keeping their official allowances – which are worth more because projects in other countries could in future be banned.

Analysis for the Guardian by campaign group Sandbag of the figures for 2008, the most recent available, looked at the extra allowances accrued by four big sectors: iron and steel, coke ovens, metal ore processing, and cement, which together have 800 installations covered by the trading scheme, and include big names like ArcelorMittal, Thyssenkrupp, Corus, Holcim and Cemex.

If the companies stockpiled over-allocated surpluses for the whole of this phase of the ETS, from 2008-2012 they could be worth as much as €3.2bn at today's prices, said Sandbag. Any more credits released by buying offsets would be on top of that.

"If they [companies] want cashflow, which in the current climate they may, then they'll cash in the allowances," said Bryony Worthington, Sandbag's founder and director. "But if they are thinking long-term then they'll be thinking 'I should probably hold on to them and insulate myself for the future'."

Please click HERE to read the ENTIRE ARTICLE... MUST READ!

Cyclone Tomas Battered Island Groups Off Fiji's Northern Coast Monday, Causing One Reported Death. KUDOS To Fiji's National Disaster Management Office For Preparing And Responding

The Associated Press

Fiji braces as major tropical cyclone bears down

written by Staff

Monday March 15, 2010

SUVA, Fiji — Cyclone Tomas battered island groups off Fiji's northern coast Monday, causing flooding, pounding seas and one death, but officials said the storm likely would only sideswipe the main islands of the South Pacific nation.

Some 6,000 residents fled to cyclone shelters ahead of the storm, which was already battering the Lau and Lomaiviti island groups, National Disaster Management Office director Pajiliai Dobui said. Power has been disrupted, roofs torn off by the winds and heavy rain was falling. A curfew was in place to minimize injuries.

A 31-year-old woman was swept away by strong ocean currents in northern Vanua Levu's Cakaudrove province late Friday after she saved her two children from a storm surge, police spokeswoman Atunaisa Sokomuri said. The woman had ignored warnings to stay away from the sea, she said.

Cyclone Tomas packed winds of up to 130 miles (205 kilometers) per hour at its center, with gusts of up to 175 mph (280 kph), Dobui said. The Category 4 storm was the same strength as Fiji's devastating Hurricane Bebe in 1972, which caused widespread damage and claimed 180 lives.

Fiji Tropical Cyclone Center senior forecaster Matt Boterhoven said Monday evening that while the outer islands were expected to be hit in the next 12-18 hours, the cyclone will sideswipe the main islands of Vanua Levu and Viti Levu as it heads northeast.

Smaller islands would be hit by gale and storm-force winds, heavy rains and seas. He said villagers can expect "a lot of damage from storm tides."

Boterhoven said on its present track the storm will be about 138 miles (220 kilometers) east of the main islands and the capital, Suva, by midmorning Tuesday.

The Disaster Management Office warned thousands of people living on the coast of outer islands in the path of the cyclone to move to higher ground because of expected floods.

Dobui said it was lucky the storm would likely pass offshore of the main islands of Vanua Levu and Viti Levu.

"Fiji is fortunate — the cyclone has moved away from the most populated and flood-prone areas of Fiji," he told The Associated Press. "We are counting our good luck ... one-third of our population will be spared the full brunt of the storm."

In Savusavu township on Vanua Levu, electricity was cut by high winds Sunday night. Strong winds destroyed seven homes on Qamea Island off Taveuni, near the northern tip of Vanua Levu, the National Disaster Management Office said.

Fiji's 22,000 civil servants were ordered to stay home Monday and schools throughout the country were closed.

Indonesia Earthquake 7.0 Sunday And 6.5 Saturday PLUS Japan Earthquake 6.2 On Sunday No Reported Injuries Or Deaths

Newsopi

Indonesia Earthquake 7.0

written by Jerry Reth

Sunday March 14, 2010

Indonesia was hit early Sunday by an earthquake that measured 7.0 on the Richter scale. There has been a bit of debate as to how large the quake actually was, because the US Geological survey actually measured the quake at around a 6.4 magnitude on the Richter scale. This quake happened at around 10 in the morning, and the epicenter of the quake was said to be around the Maluku islands.

Immediately after the quake occurred it was announced that there would be no tsunami warning issued, although other institutions had said that there was a small possibility that a tsunami could strike the coastlines closest to the epicenter of the quake. Luckily, it was reported that there have been no injuries or death from the massive 7.0 earthquake. The region was also rocked by a quake the day before that measured a 6.5 magnitude on the Richter scale.

It was reported that the quakes epicenter was located about 33 miles out to see. The Maluku islands sit just above the Halmahera plate, and have often been a point of discussion among earthquake experts. The area is located in the area known as the “Ring Of Fire” which is a string of locations that are located along fault lines of tectonic plates and are considered to be at a much higher risk for seismic activity.

This earthquake comes on the heels of a 6.2 earthquake that struck Japan earlier in the day, and just weeks after the massive earthquakes that struck both Haiti and Chile and caused so many casualties. Fortunately, Indonesia faired much better than the aforementioned countries and were able to minimize the amount of reported injuries. The only damages that have been reported at this point are a number of cracked foundations in cities and towns that are closest to the epicenter of this 7.0 earthquake that struck Indonesia, just off the Muluku island on Sunday.

Good Morning Everyone! HAPPY MONDAY! These Pics Always Make Me Crack Up! ♥♥♥ I Hope You All Have A Fabulous Day With A Smile On Your Face, A Song In Your Heart And A Skip In Your Step! ♥♥♥

Classy Insults

Classy Insults

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire."
Winston Churchill

"A modest little person, with much to be modest about."
Winston Churchill

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure."
Clarence Darrow

"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary."
William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)

"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?"
Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)

"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it."
Moses Hadas

"He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know."
Abraham Lincoln

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it."
Groucho Marx

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it."
Mark Twain

"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends."
Oscar Wilde

"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play, bring a friend... if you have one."
George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one."
Winston Churchill, in response

"I feel so miserable without you, it's almost like having you here."
Stephen Bishop

"He is a self-made man and worships his creator."
John Bright

"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial."
Irvin S. Cobb

"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others."
Samuel Johnson

"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up."
Paul Keating

"He had delusions of adequacy."
Walter Kerr

"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure."
Jack E. Leonard

"He has the attention span of a lightning bolt."
Robert Redford

"They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge."
Thomas Brackett Reed

"He inherited some good instincts from his Quaker forebears, but by diligent hard work, he overcame them."
James Reston (about Richard Nixon)

"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily."
Charles, Count Talleyrand

"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him."
Forrest Tucker

"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?"
Mark Twain

"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork."
Mae West

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go."
Oscar Wilde

"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination."
Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

"He has Van Gogh's ear for music."
Billy Wilder

Gratefulness: The Seeds of Discouragement Cannot Take Root In A Grateful Heart. What Are You Grateful For Today?

Gratefulness
A night without lodging
[source: Osho International]

The moment one is capable of feeling grateful for both pain and pleasure, without any distinction, without any choice, simply feeling grateful for whatsoever is given... Because if it is given by God, it must have a reason in it. We may like it, we may not like it, but it must be needed for our growth.

Winter and summer are both needed for growth. Once this idea settles in the heart, then each moment of life is of gratitude. Let this become your meditation and prayer: thank God every moment -- for laughter, for tears, for everything. Then you will see a silence arising in your heart that you have not known before. That is bliss.

The first thing is to accept life as it is. Accepting it, desires disappear. Accepting life as it is, tensions disappear, discontent disappears; accepting it as it is, one starts feeling very joyful -- and for no reason at all!

When joy has a reason, it is not going to last long. When joy is without any reason, it is going to be there forever. It happened in the life of a very famous Zen woman. Her name was Rengetsu.... Very few women have attained to the Zen ultimate. This one is one of those rare women.

She was on a pilgrimage and she came to a village at sunset and begged for lodging for the night, but the villagers slammed their doors. They were against Zen. Zen is so revolutionary, so utterly rebellious, that it is very difficult to accept it. By accepting it you are going to be transformed; by accepting it you will be passing through a fire, you will never be the same again. Traditional people have always been against all that is true in religion. Tradition is all that is untrue in religion. So those must have been traditional Buddhists in the town, and they didn't allow this woman to stay in the town; they threw her out.

It was a cold night, and the old woman was without lodging, and hungry. She had to make her shelter underneath a cherry tree in the fields. It was really cold, and she could not sleep well. And it was dangerous too -- wild animals and all. At midnight she awoke -- because of too much cold -- and saw, in the night sky, the fully-opened cherry blossoms laughing to the misty moon. Overcome with the beauty, she got up and bowed down in the direction of the village, with these words:

Through their kindness in refusing me lodging I found myself beneath the blossoms on the night of this misty moon... She feels grateful. With great gratitude she thanks those people who refused her lodging; otherwise she would be sleeping under an ordinary roof and she would have missed this blessing -- these cherry blossoms, and this whispering with the misty moon, and this silence of the night, this utter silence of the night. She is not angry, she accepts it. Not only accepts it, welcomes it -- she feels grateful.

One becomes a buddha (enlightened) the moment one accepts all that life brings, with gratitude.