Money corrupts, and government money corrupts absolutely

This is the the professional description of physicist Harold Lewis:

Emeritus Professor of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, former Chairman; Former member Defense Science Board, chmn of Technology panel; Chairman DSB study on Nuclear Winter; Former member Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Former member, President's Nuclear Safety Oversight Committee; Chairman APS study on Nuclear Reactor Safety Chairman Risk Assessment Review Group; Co-founder and former Chairman of JASON; Former member USAF Scientific Advisory Board


On October 6, 2010, Harold Lewis resigned his membership in the American Physical Society (APS), a membership he had maintained for sixty-seven years.  His reason?  The APS position on climate change/global warming, and the way funding has forced or coerced scientists into endorsing the manmade global warming theory.  In his letter to APS president Curtis Callan, Lewis wrote the following passage:


"It is of course, the global warming scam, with the (literally) trillions of dollars driving it, that has corrupted so many scientists, and has carried APS before it like a rogue wave. It is the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist. Anyone who has the faintest doubt that this is so should force himself to read the ClimateGate documents, which lay it bare. (Montford's book organizes the facts very well.) I don't believe that any real physicist, nay scientist, can read that stuff without revulsion."


In it's response to Lewis's charges, the APS denied that, as an organization, it benefits financially.  They also said that the society maintains the highest ethical standards because, well, it maintains the highest ethical standards. 

"If it's not close, they can't cheat"

"If It's Not Close, They Can't Cheat: Crushing the Democrats in Every Election and Why Your Life Depends on It" is a book Hugh Hewitt wrote a few months prior to the 2004 Presidential election.  He wrote it in response to the Democrat shenanigans that went on in various areas during the previous two campaigns in 2000 and 2002.

Six years later Hewitt's point seems more relevant than ever.  In an election which many are calling historically important -- the complete direction and role of government is at stake -- Democrats have managed to find ways around rules, ways that are breathtakingly arrogant and audacious.

In Nevada, some early voters who intended to vote for Republican Sharon Angle found that after they submitted their vote, Democrat Harry Reid's name was already checked.  This happened not once, but several times. Election officials deny any fraud was committed, and made excuses.

In related news, it turns out that, interestingly enough, voting machine technicians in Nevada are members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).  The SEIU has been a major Democrat supporter and donor, donating millions of dollars to Democrat candidates and causes.  Former SEIU head Andy Stern was Obama's most frequent White House guest in 2009, and White House political Director Patrick Gaspard is a former SEIU lobbyist.

In North Carolina, a man tried to vote a straight Republican ticket, but got the opposite result.  He tried four times, and every time his vote showed a straight Democrat ticket.

Then of course, there's the case of First Lady Michelle Obama violating Illinois state law by electioneering in a polling place.  While not an earth-shaking action in itself, it's an indication of what people on the Democrat side perceive as permissible.  The Democrat-controlled Chicago Board of Elections refused to investigate the matter.

In the "not-quite-cheating but it might as well be" department:

A week before election day, a federal appeals court voted 2-1 to strike down an Arizona law requiring people to provide proof of citizenship before they can vote.  Arizona, of course, has a huge illegal immigrant problem.  Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett disagreed with the decision (and plans to appeal.) He compared the ruling to allowing passengers to pass through airport security unchecked as long as they sign a paper saying they're not terrorists.

As it turns out, Democrats have catered to the illegal population, so it's not a stretch to say that the federal court (of which former Supreme Court Justice and infamous Liberal Sandra Day O'Connor is a member) added significantly to the Democrat voter roles.

Incidentally, you have to show a photo ID to buy some cold medicines.  

It looks like it's time for another edition of Hewitt's book.

The Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Obama Conundrum

Which Obama are we getting these days?  The Obama of 2004:



or the Obama of 2010:
"We’re gonna punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends"

Latro, Ergo Sum #5

"I rant, therefore I am."

Lately I find myself becoming outraged by an unusually large number of things. Here is a partial list of things that outrage me:

1. People's egos preventing anything from getting done.
2. Actual, tangible bigotry.
3. Someone using "racism" as an excuse so they don't have to make their argument.
4. Politicians who lie and who are so arrogant that they don't care if we know they're lying.
5. Being forced to spend money on something I didn't think I'd have to spend money on.
6. Planned and designed obsolescence in electronics.
7. Cats who barf in unexpected places.
8. People who make my children's lives harder.
9. The high cost of razors.
10. Deceptive pricing in stores.
11. Not being able to compare apples to apples when shopping for insurance or investments.
12. Waitng 45 minutes after showing up on time for a doctor's appointment.
13. People who don't answer their phones.
14. Dealing with the consequences of getting old.
15. Not being good at something I used to be good at.
16. Waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to go back to sleep.
17. Grammar nazis.
18. Quizzes that cheat.
19. Sitting at the keyboard when the words won't come.
20. Having a million story ideas and realizing that most of them will never see daylight.
21. Having an idea for something that I have absolutely no clue how to execute.
22. Coming up with an original idea for something only to find out that other people have known about it for years.
23. When a celebrity says something incredibly stupid and I have no way to tell them how stupid they are.
24. Losing tools.
25. When things I used to like become things I don't like anymore.
26. Consistently bad service at a business I have to patronize.

Okay, that's enough for now.  As you were.

Whaddaya know?

"There's no such thing as shovel-ready projects." - Barack Obama, in a recent interview with New York Times magazine.


This after Obama and the Democrats touted "shovel-ready jobs" for months to sell their stimulus bill to the public in 2009. I guess, as Ron Ziegler would have put it (and did,) those statements are "inoperative." 

I hate always being right

From a story in no-friend-to-Conservatives Time Magazine:  "With the exception of core Obama Administration loyalists, most politically engaged elites have reached the same conclusions: the White House is in over its head, isolated, insular, arrogant and clueless about how to get along with or persuade members of Congress, the media, the business community or working-class voters. This view is held by Fox News pundits, executives and anchors at the major old-media outlets, reporters who cover the White House, Democratic and Republican congressional leaders and governors, many Democratic business people and lawyers who raised big money for Obama in 2008, and even some members of the Administration just beyond the inner circle."

Other People Say Smart Stuff, Too - Part XXIII (Genius edition)

An absolutely brilliant quote from Dick Armey, on being told that Obama stimulus checks had been sent to dead and incarcerated people:  "Well, we knew that Democrats would use stimulus funds to repay those who voted them into office."

Obama pwned

By a supporter, yet.  They're doing more damage to him than we are.

"No more lies!"

Headline: "Obama heckled at NY Event"


And it wasn't even from our folks.  Of course, he responded with another lie.

Worth reading

John Hawkins' latest column, "7 Things The Establishment Gets Wrong About The Tea Party."

Well, well, well...sometimes it takes a while

Politics daily headline, September 21, 2010:  "GOP prepares to unveil new 'Contract with America'"

The article begins with "Republicans are going back to their '90s playbook as Election Day approaches..."  The author then goes on to delineate how Republicans are making promises about what they will do, such as freezing tax rates, cutting back on spending, and a repeal of Obamacare.

I referenced the appeal of the 1994 Republican "Contract with America" previously, in 2005.  One of the points that I raised was that such a contract would hold politicians acountable.  They will either do what they agree to, or they won't. 

In the current political environment everyone wants to appear Conservative -- Democrats are running ads that they opposed Obama, and John McCain reversed his longheld position on border security (now he's for it.)  Politicians will say anything to get elected.  A scorecard will make it easier to see if they keep their word.

But what if they don't?  Senators stick around for six years, and Representatives for two.  They can do a lot of damage before we have a chance to evict them.  Politicians lie.  (72% of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of members of Congress, according to a Rasmussen survey.)  If Republicans win in November, as current projections show, their feet need to be held to the fire.  If -- or when -- they divert from what they agreed to do while campaigning for the job, they need to be blasted by their constituents.  Lying politicians should not have a moment's peace.

Other People Say Smart Stuff, Too - Part XXII

From a Bruce Bialosky column:

You have to just laugh at the Democrats who argued for seven years that the “Bush” tax cuts were for the “rich” and made it a critical point of their 2008 presidential campaign. Now they are arguing for keeping the tax cuts for the middle class (actual 85% of the “Bush” tax cuts) and not the “rich”.

The best Thai shampoo commercial you'll ever see

A Pantene commercial From Thailand

Barack Obama says we don't have any ideas to contribute.  ("Party of no" sound familiar?)  


How about Solutions for America from the Heritage Foundation?  

For anyone born since 1992

Coming this fall: I Want Your Money

Best line, from Ronald Reagan: "I would say they [Congress] are spending money like drunken sailors, but that would be unfair to drunken sailors.  The sailors are spending their own money."

Ice Ice Baby

It's been a while since I've commented on global warming.  The news for the last several months has just been confirming what I've been saying for years.  But this headline from Yahoo News prompted me to get back on the subject:  "Climate: new study slashes estimate of ice cap loss."

The first paragraph:

"Estimates of the rate of ice loss from Greenland and West Antarctica, one of the most worrying questions in the global warming debate, should be halved, according to Dutch and U.S. scientists."

Every new discovery seems to undo the argument of the "manmade global warming" crowd.

Obama's "Mission Accomplished"

Barack Obama, August 31, 2010 - "The American combat mission in Iraq has ended."


September 8, 2010:

Will the media comment on the irony?

Tom Delay cleared of corruption charges

This story got by me, but former Republican House leader Tom Delay was cleared of corruption charges in relation to his association with Jack Abramoff, the disgraced lobbyist found guilty of bribing politicians.  From the  Wall Street Journal:

"Former Majority Leader Tom DeLay was the kingpin in the Democrats’ 2006 “culture of corruption” campaign that helped force the Texas Republican out of office—and swept Democrats into power....But after a lengthy federal probe, the Justice Department has dropped its investigation, according to DeLay’s attorney, Richard Cullen."

Delay still faces charges in Texas for money laundering and conspiracy.  These charges were brought in 2005 by Democrat prosecutor Ronnie Earle.  The trial is actually scheduled to start in October of this year. That's a five years wait, folks.  Seems like if the prosecution had a case, this should have been tried a long time ago.

This is the kind of tactic that makes me believe within the next six weeks we're going to see a flurry of Republican "scandals" hit the media.  Passing notes in class, spitting on the sidewalk, removing the tag from a mattress -- no Republican transgression is so small that the media can't make a major news story out of it before an election.

Other People Say Smart Stuff, Too - Part XXI

From "Meltdown of the climate 'consensus' " by Matt Patterson:

"What does the best evidence now tell us? That man-made global warming is a mere hypothesis that has been inflated by both exaggeration and downright malfeasance, fueled by the awarding of fat grants and salaries to any scientist who'll produce the "right" results."

Other People Say Smart Stuff, Too (Special Edition)

A story from an unexpected source -- Time magazine -- entitled "How Barack Obama became Mr. Unpopular" details how people have become unimpressed with him. The surprising part is that Time would run such a gritty true story about the Chosen One. Some key passages:

"When Obama arrived in office in January '09, his Gallup approval rating stood at 68%, a high for a newly elected leader not seen since John Kennedy in 1961. Today Obama's job approval has been hovering in the mid-40s, which means that at least 1 in 4 Americans has changed his or her mind."

"In more confiding moments, aides admit that the peak of Obama's popularity may have been inflated, a fleeting result of elation at the prospect of change and national pride in electing the first African-American President.* As one White House aide puts it, "It was sort of fake.""

"People now openly say they didn't quite understand the President they voted for in 2008"

Any of this sound familiar?


* What I said back in January.