A Republic . . . if you can keep it . . .

 

Election season again and the typical words flying around about saving the Democracy.  I’m sure they’re heartfelt – but terribly misplaced.  We do not now, nor have we ever, had a Democracy.  We are a Constitutional Republic.  And it is that fact that has enabled our nation to endure for the past 248 years.  Let me say a few words on what it means to be a Constitutional Republic and then a few more on how our political parties decide and proclaim what they stand for are and wish to enact if elected.

A Republic is - a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).

Our Republic is guided by the Constitution.  While it outlines our form of government and the duties and responsibilities of each different segment to me the most important are the “Bill of Rights” – in particularly the First Amendment – freedom of speak our minds, Second Amendment – right to defend ourselves against a tyrannical government and the Tenth Amendment that states – “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” – meaning that the government is constrained in their actions and can only do what is explicitly listed in the Constitution and that THE PEOPLE are in control of the country, not those that sit in Washington DC.

To facilitate the voice of the people, our nation is divided into 50 states and each state is divided into smaller geographic regions called counties.  Within those counties the people represent their individual positions through the participation in political parties.  Your individual voice is as large as you choose to make it, up to and including become a Supervisor, Councilman, Mayor, Governor, State Representative or Senator, US Representative, US Senator or even the President of the United States.  But it begins with the County and your parties’ goals and desires for their constituents.  This is the beauty of our system, its power and its strength.  And it’s the core strength of the individual citizen working through like-minded people.

Much has been made of the Heritage Foundations working document called Project 2025 . . . all 900+ pages of it.  There are some determined to hang this boat anchor around the neck of Donald Trump and the Republican party.  Sadly, for them, all have disavowed this particular behemoth of verbal diarrhea.   Here’s a clue . . . if you cannot clearly and concisely explain your position in a single page – don’t bother printing it because NO ONE is going to read and digest a 900+ page document.  And if you cannot be clear enough to state your major goals in a single page – you will never muster the support needed to get them passed.

This is the beauty of County party conventions.  County party delegates come together to hammer out what is important to their constituents in their county, and they hammer out a county platform that details them concerns and desires.  Here the idea that is clear and simple will win the day.  The state convention then takes all the county platforms and molds them into a Party Platform for the state.  States then meet in a National convention and mold all these platforms into a single Party Platform that began in small towns across America and this year will end with Platforms being written in Milwaukee and Chicago.  For the Republicans, this has been done.  You can find it here . . . Republican_Party_Platform_2024.pdf (ballotpedia.s3.amazonaws.com) .  Twenty  Specific goals are defined – from securing our borders to bringing unity to our nation.  They take up a single page.  These are expanded on with methods to accomplish them with an additional 15 pages being added.  16 Pages – NOT 900+.  That is what Candidate Trump and the Republican Party have signed their name to.  That is what you should read and see if they fit with your individual goals and ideals or not. 

When I search for the Democrats 2024 Platform I am greeted with a page filled with promises . . . DNC Releases 2024 Party Platform Draft, Outlining Historic Record and Bold Agenda for President Biden and Vice President Harris to Finish the Job - Democrats

Yet, when I follow the link to the actual platform (Where We Stand at the top of the page), I am greeted with a 91-page document entitled “2020 Democratic Party Platform”.  Well, President Biden is moving a bit slow of late, I’m sure the platform will catch up in Chicago next month.

The advantage to this approach to governance is that it IS NOT EASY, IT IS NOT FAST!  And that was the goal of the founders, to slow the process down and make it deliberate enough to ensure each citizen that wishes to participate in their governance – can.

Democracies have been called “Tyrannies of the Majority”.   And our individual states have been called “Laboratories of Democracy”.  Meaning that individual states can experiment, within the confines of their borders and within the guidelines of the Constitution, on how they want themselves to be governed.  We, as fellow states, can then observe, take a look at how their decisions worked for them and then choose to follow suit or not.  In today’s America we seem to have settled into “Red States” – meaning primarily Republican and conservative majorities and “Blue States” – meaning primarily leftist and Democrat majorities.  Some generalities have bubbled out of observing Blue states.  Taxes are higher, crime in their major cities – think NYC, Chicago, Portland, LA, San Francisco to name a few – is simply off the chart.  Police forces are being “reimagined” and their citizens and corporations are fleeing to the safety of “Red States”.  The value to the country of this process is that we can observe this Red and Blue experiment to see which serves our nation better.  For me, the answer is obvious.

Our nation is a marvel.  The fact that you can have as loud or soft a voice as you choose is unique.  And that we freely allow multiple experiments in governance to be conducted in tandem is unique on the planet.

This coming November 5^th, you will choose the next State Representatives and Senators.  You will choose the next Congressional Representatives and Senators to represent Iowa in our nation’s Capital.  And you will choose the next President of the United States to lead our nation.  Your vote helps determine who represents us, what their platform will be and who will lead the nation and our Constitutional Republic.  Find out what each party has signed their name to, do your best to ignore the propaganda of the parties and focus on the individual Party’s leadership’s written word and the actual choices the parties have made in the past, and then make your choice come November 5^th. 

Cause that’s how our Republic works!

I’m new to rifle shooting – where do I start?

Like most avid shooters, I subscribe to a number of different Facebook Groups regarding firearms.  This post deals mostly with the more advanced elements of shooting – precision shooting, use of Scout Rifles and precision rifles and the use of the 22LR rifle.   It’s not unusual to see brand new shooters joining these groups a couple times a week.  Their posts usually revolve around the rifle they purchased, and it’s associated “furniture” – bipod, scope, muzzle break, whether they need to change their stock to get better precision and accuracy . . . along with a host of other typical “beginner” questions.  And many times, I respond to their questions coming from my experience in introducing new and inexperienced shooters to rifle shooting – everyone from kids with a new BB Gun, to Scouts working on their Rifle Merit badge, to adults learning to shoot a rifle for the first time, to patrol officers working to get better with their patrol rifle.  But . . . it takes a lot of words to fully explain the things that I believe are important.  It occurred to me, while my wife and I are traveling on a winter vacation, perhaps the easiest thing to do would be to simply post a comprehensive post for a new and inexperienced shooter to lend them a hand to get started.  And that is the purpose of this post . . . where to start and how to start.  Grab a sandwich, this could get to be a long puppy!!

 Let’s start out with expectations.  If you’re a new shooter and have been watching YouTube videos of shooters nailing steel plates out to 500 to 1000 yards easy-peasy . . . you might be in for a bit of a wakeup call.  The same holds for the shooter who went to the range for the day and posts a single photo of a target with a 5-round group all occupying approximately the same hole.  Let’s be frank here – they’re only showing a single photo for a single reason – the rest of their groups just “may” be a bit more open – just sayin’.  So, what is reality?  We’ll over the past 50 years of shooting my experience is that most rifles are capable of a 1-MOA or less group – once in a while.  Hence – their manufacturer will call them 1-MOA guns.  That does NOT mean that they will shoot such a group every time you send 5-rounds downrange – but, if YOU DO EVERYTHING PROPERLY, if you use good ammunition, if you shoot when the wind is calm and if you purchase a reasonably good rifle – you too can shoot a 1-MOA group once in a while.

Let’s also define a couple of other terms here.  Accuracy – the rounds go where you are aiming.  And, Precision – all the rounds go to the same place.  My goal is to have all my rounds to land in a 1-inch group within a 2-inch circle at 50 yards.  Moving out to 100 yards, I want all my rounds to land in a 2-inch group within a 3-inch circle.  Honestly, this is where I spend most of my time – at 50 and 100 yards.  It is where you can work on all your fundamentals, your shooting positions and learn about the need to do all the little things correctly.  It is where you will learn to run your rifle.  Where you will learn the discipline to do all the fundamentals exactly correctly each and every round to achieve your overall goals of Accuracy and Precision. 

 So, let’s chat a bit about “DA RIFLE” . . . what to buy, what to buy.  The reality of things is that you CAN buy precision by the rifle and ammunition that you purchase.  You CAN NOT buy accuracy – that is squarely on the shoulders of the person you look at every morning as you brush your teeth.  I usually recommend buying a “klunker” – an older, used, single shot, bolt action with iron sights only.  Mine is shown in the photo of me behind the gun.  It is a Stevens 53B 22LR.  I have about a half dozen similar rifles that I use for firearms training for new shooters and Scouts.  I’ve had hundreds of Scouts shoot their 5 qualification targets with such rifle and earn their Rifle Merit Badge.  This is where I encourage you to begin.  Your goal is to shoot a 1-inch group, within a 3-inch circle at 50 feet.  My argument is that if you cannot do this on demand – with a 80% success rate – why spend money on a larger caliber gun?  You learn the fundamentals while shooting ammunition that costs $.10 per round rather than $2.00+ a round.  That just makes sense to me.

 Your first step will be to zero your rifle.  All rifles and aiming systems have their own quirks.  You will need to learn each and become proficient in zeroing each rifle.  For the Stevens 53B there is a screw on the rear sight that you can loosen and then move the sight left or right in the same direction you wish to adjust the “windage” on the rifle.  If you want the bullet to hit 1-inch to the left, you move the rear sight notch slightly to the left.  And visa-versa to adjust to the right.  The movement is slight, even at just 50 feet.  It’s even less at 50-yards.  For elevation there is a movable, stepped bar that moves forward and backward under the rear sight.  This is what you will move forward or back to elevate your point of impact or lower it.  Zeroing is typically only done once, and seldom needs adjustment unless your hardware is loose or there is a drastic change in the performance of your ammunition.

 Next is mounting the rifle to your shoulder.  I suggest you start shooting from a bench rest position until you have all the little things down like – mounting the rifle into the pocket of your shoulder, finding a good cheek weld on the comb of the stock, having a grip that does not affect the point of aim while you smoothly press the trigger straight to the rear.  It is the place to learn sight alignment – the front blade is in the middle of the rear notch and the top of the front blade is even with the top of the rear notch.  Finally, you can learn sight picture” – the above mentioned “sight alignment” is placed on the target in such a way that the top of the front blade lays just below the center dot of your target.  If you do everything correctly, you point of impact will be in the center of the black dot on your target.  Your goal should be that for 50-rounds, that is 10 targets at 50-feet with 5-rounds per target, your groups should be 1-inch in diameter or less and they should all lay within a 3-inch target.  Your goal should be to be able to accomplish this 80% of the time.  Again, if you cannot accomplish this, why spend money on an expensive rifle with expensive ammunition to learn and become proficient with the fundamentals?

Once you’re proficient with your “klunker”, think about “moving up”.  I have two bolt action 22LR rifles that I purchased new.  One is the Ruger American 22LR with a bipod and Vortex 2-7x Scout Rifle.  And, I have a Ruger Precision Rifle in 22LR with bipod a Vortex Crossfire II Scope.  Periodically, I will return to the Stevens 53B for a couple boxes of 22LR, but most of the range work, both at 50-yards and 100-yards is done with the Ruger Rifles.

I believe that many shooters believe that if they spend lots of money on the rifle and the scope and associated gear, they will shoot better.  Honestly, again, most issues do not lie with the gun, but the shooter.

I suggest you begin each session at 50-yards with a single box of 22LR.  Each rifle will “like” a certain 22LR ammunition.  Most of mine like Eley Club that runs about $10 per box.  You can spend much more – and gain little in precision.  But you can spend much less – and simply fail to come close to your precision goals.  Eley Club is a good middle ground for me.

 My target is a 2-inch circle for 50-yards.  I expect to shoot a 1-inch group that is within the 2-inch circle.  And, I expect to do this for a minimum of 8 of the 10 targets I will shoot at 50-yards.  This is typically my starting exercise for my range trip. 

 Next, I’ll move to the 100-yard range.  My target will change to a 3-inch circle for 100-yards.  Here, I expect to shoot a 2-inch group that is within the 3-inch circle.  I expect to do this for a minimum of 8 of the 10 targets I will shoot at 100-yards.

 I use the same targets with the same expectations with my Ruger Precision Rifle in 22LR for both 50-yards and 100-yards. 

I realize that everyone likes to shoot the big rifles - .308, .338 or maybe the lowly .223 but, but – the mechanics are exactly the same for each rifle (fully acknowledging the recoil mitigation is significantly between 22LRs and the larger calibers).  Mounting the rifle, getting a good cheek weld, acquiring your sight alignment and sight picture, loading the bipod, using the rear bag, a smooth trigger press straight to the rear, running the bolt, reacquiring the target, and reengaging the target.  If you successfully do all those things with the 22LR, you are wiring your neural pathways that will function exactly the same with your larger caliber rifles.

 For larger caliber rifles, I have a Ruger Precision Rifle in .308 with a Vortex Viper scope and bipod, a Savage 110 Scout in .308 with a Vortex Scout Scope and bipod, and a Ruger American Predator in .223 with a Vortex Crossfire II and a bipod.  My experience is that if I do my work with the 22LR rifles, the transition to the larger caliber rifles is straight forward and I can consistently meet my shooting goals. 

One thing with the larger caliber rifles that I learned was to reduce my group sizes to 3-round groups with 5 minutes between each target.  This is due to barrel heating.  When I shot 5-round groups, by the time I got to the 4^th target on up, the groups would open up because the barrel heated affecting the precision of the rifle.

 That pretty much wraps it up . . . if you are starting down the path of rifle shooting, I’d offer that you should begin “small”, work on and polish your fundamentals – then work your way up to the larger caliber rifle of your choice.

 Enjoy the journey . . . hit the range . . . and be safe!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Climate Change – A modern day religion

Religion

1:        a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices

2:        scrupulous conformity: conscientiousness
3:        a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

Heretic

1:        a person who differs in opinion from established religious dogma especially : a   baptized member of the Roman Catholic Church who refuses to acknowledge or accept a revealed truth The church regards them as heretics.

2:        one who differs in opinion from an accepted belief or doctrine: nonconformist

Dogma

1:       something held as an established opinion especially: a definite authoritative tenet

2:        a code of such tenet’s pedagogical dogma
3:       a point of view or tenet put forth as authoritative without adequate grounds
4:        a doctrine or body of doctrines concerning faith or morals formally stated and authoritatively proclaimed by a church

Faith

1:        belief and trust in and loyalty to God

2:        belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion
3:        firm belief in something for which there is no proof
4:        complete trust
5:        something that is believed especially with strong conviction especially
6:        a system of religious beliefs
7:        without question

I’ve been a Christian my entire life.  From my earliest memories of “Sunday School”, through confirmation, conversion from Lutheran to Catholic, marriage up to today when my wife and I will attend Mass in a few hours.  I don’t believe I’ve ever really doubted the existence of God though I’ve never really just “accepted” him as fact, I’ve looked for “proof” that he existed.  The earliest exploration for proof occurred sometime after my confirmation.  I’d received a microscope as either a birthday or Christmas present and I spent many hours viewing everything from a butterfly wing, to fish scales . . . to a part of a communion host that I palmed in the name of science.  I must admit that I never really believed that “bread” was actually converted to the “body” of Christ.  That afternoon I had my proof, right there under the microscope . . . it was still bread!  Honestly this discovery did little to shake my faith in God though it did put more understanding it the phrase “through, with and under the bread”.  It was here that the idea of FAITH, just plain trust in something based on what if felt in my heart and what I believed based on the faith of others around me – my mother, aunts, uncles, kids in the church with me, became clearer.  I “knew” there was a God, a Christ, that he died and rose to save me.  It was my faith.  It still is.

That doesn’t mean I’ve stopped looking for evidence . . . real, honest, hard evidence that he exists.  Perhaps that’s the engineer side of my head, the science side, the logical side.  I have settled on a specific piece of evidence that I use to explain that God truly exists . . . the Maple Leaf.  It’s perfect in every way for it’s stated task, to take sunlight and use that to convert nutrients taken from the ground into food for the tree.  To take CO2 from the air and convert it to Oxygen for the creatures of earth and to finally decompose returning to the earth to create soil to hold the tree.  Nothing wasted.  Nothing left over.  Perfect.  To believe that such a thing could come about from the universe’s chaos by chance is simply a reach that is too far to make. 

This past week I was in Florence, Italy and saw “The David”.  It is a single piece of marble depicting a grown David carrying his sling.  To believe that there is no God would be to believe that someone was digging around in the ground one day and happened upon a true piece of art “The David” fully formed by nature itself.  We know for fact that “The David” was extracted from a single piece of marble by Michelangelo.  His skill and love of the work is seen in the perfection of the work itself . . . as is God’s skill and love the His work as seen in the perfection of the Maple Leaf.

If you open your eyes, question everything, it is easy to see God in nature, the laws of nature, the orbit of the planets, the existence of the multitude of universes and the existence of billions and billions of suns and planets.  It all works too well together to simply be an accident – thus science offers proof to me that God exists.  It is a faith I can easily accept.  And still I question, look, observe – looking for more “proof”.

I’m taking a lot of words to draw an analogy between a Faith in God and a Faith in “Climate Change”.  Does “Climate Change” exist?  Sure – 100,000 years ago where I live was part of a vast savannah.  Forests grew and receded, grasslands expanded and contracted.  Just 10,000 years ago a bit to the north of where I sit was under a mile+ of ice.  The Great Lakes didn’t exist.  Man was pushed to a few areas that were warm enough for them to survive.  Creatures like the Wooly Mammoths existed.  “Climate Change” happened, the earth warmed, the glaciers melted, the Great Lakes filled in – a new normal was established.

If we look 65 million years in the past a single meteor impact changed the entire global climate killing over 75% of all life forms including the dinosaurs.  And again “Climate Change” healed the planet allowing life to once again flourish.  So, bottom line, is “Climate Change” real – yes.

But . . . but . . . and it’s a BIG BUTT . . . is “Man Made Climate Change” real?  Is man, by his very existence and his choice of actions, changing the climate?  And in what manner?  When I was younger the “scientific consensus” was that the earth was cooling and that was an existential threat to all humans.  There was a plan to fix that – use nuclear weapons to break off the McMurdo Ice Shelf from the Antarctica, let it drift into the North Atlantic Current, change the salinity of the Atlantic Ocean and the “Global Cooling” would stop – catastrophe averted!  Just to make sure we would also cover the Antarctica with coal dust which would also increase the ice melt, decrease the salinity of the Atlantic Ocean adding to the “cure” for “Global Cooling”.  It was simply the “faith” of the scientific community, based on what they had seen, that this would work.  Obviously, it was never implemented.  Because other, more “pressing” issues gathered steam – acid rain, shifting weather patterns and innumerable other climate emergences emerged.  Finally – “Global Warming” showed itself to be the next existential threat.  The planet was “warming” fast!!  We were all going to die – is just 20 years!!!  Of course, those 20 years past . . . and the next . . . until it was generally realized that global temperatures were not rising.  In fact, we were still recovering from the last mini-ice age.  So, the phrasing had to change . . . to “Climate Change”.  Yep . . . and we must do something in the next 12 years . . . or the next 10.5 years . . . or what, we’re all going to die???  Really??  Well holy crap, we better get cracking.  And since the good folks aren’t smart enough to get their butts in gear . . . our government will just have to tell them what to do!  What cars to buy, gas to use, light bulbs to buy, food to eat, how to build their houses, where to build their houses . . . our government will just have to CONTROL EVERY LITTLE BIT OF OUR LIVES . . . just to SAVE US FROM OURSELVES.

And that, that right there is the purpose of “Climate Change” just as it is the purpose of every religion on earth today.  To control our lives.

Religion attempts to control who we marry, when we marry, where we marry, how we act, what is good, what is bad.  Punishments range from a “visit from the pastor” to the taking of your head depending which faith you follow.

Governments manage everything from restrictions on services ( limits on when you can water your grass ) to imprisonment for various “code” violations.

Control is the goal of “Climate Change” – not saving the earth.  

Did you notice with the latest “walk out” this past week (9/20/2019) school children, college students and everyday folks walked out of the classroom, off the job to “protest” us not doing enough to prevent “Climate Change”?  Did you notice that no questions were asked, no doubts raised, no data presented . . . just full acceptance of the faith, the religion of “Climate Change” as being the truth?  Scientists that confirmed “Climate Change” were accepted as telling the truth.  Scientists that questioned the results, that found different results – were called “climate deniers” – in other words, heretics of the religion of “Climate Change”.  The “consensus of the science” was that “Climate Change” change is happening – regardless of what the heretics were saying.

And in moments like these . . . true science dies . . . and myth, superstition, a new faith is born.

Here is a clue . . . a BIG CLUE . . . science does not support “consensus” . . . it only supports an unending drive for provable, repeatable, undeniable FACT . . . not “consensus”.  So what’s missing here . . . what should we be looking at?

With the presentation at the UN by “Pippi Longwinded” – (Greta Thunberg)  - it would seem to me that the final transition of “Climate Change” to a full blown eco-religion has been completed.  The acolytes are the young, ignorant, uneducated – grade school through the early years of college – tentatively lead by an young woman seemingly on the edge of madness due solely to the “fact” that the adults of the world are stealing her youth by standing by while a “mass extinction” event is roaring across the globe.   All of which is based on raw emotions whipped up to a fever pitch.  The level of which can only ever be generated within a primarily “religious” environment that is fully without benefit of true scientific evaluation.

What comes next?  My expectation – real violence against the “deniers”, the heretics.  You are either all in on this new religion – or you are an enemy of the planet and must be eliminated.  Is this movement big enough to be a genuine threat to law and order?  I suspect not in the short term . . . but unless the adults begin to stand up, in another 10 years or so . . . violence will be all they have left.

A little something to put things into perspective . . .

During the past week I found myself in Rome, Italy.  Old Rome . . . in the ruins of the original Rome.  I was standing in front of the “Temple of Romulus” built in AD 307 . . . in a city founded in 753 BC . . . and standing on a road built around 300 BC . . . 2,300 years ago . . . over two millennia ago.  Since that time our earth has withstood . . .

Volcanos that have erased entire cities and their populations from history and killed millions with the famines they generated.  Plagues have killed hundreds of millions of people.  Evil men have killed over 100 million people in their own countries in our century alone.  We have endured wars, nuclear weapons, hurricanes and typhoons . . . yet here, now . . . this new “religion” . . . this new “faith” assures us that we are on the very edge, the very cusp of extinction.  We have only 12 years . . . or 10.5 years remaining . . . or we’ll all die!!

I also stood in the forum in Pompeii and looked at the twin peaks of Vesuvius.  The right peak the remainder of the 79AD eruption that erased Pompeii from existence until the late 1700s.  The peak on the left is the new, active peak that will surely erupt again in the future.  And I wondered if those in the forum that day nearly 2,000 years ago had a better grasp of an “extinction event” as the pyroclastic material exploded towards them, burying them alive . . . than we do when we ponder this mythical event that is about to kill us in the next 12 years. 

2,000 years from now, if this moment is even remembered, there will be humans walking the earth . . . just as there are today.  Perhaps if we focused on true science . . . and not fears or feelings  . . . we would do ourselves a better service in becoming good stewards of the gifts we have been given.

Conservative Outlook – a resurrection of sorts

In January of 2004 I began the blog entitled “Conservative Outlook”.  It allowed me a space to vent about the Gore/Bush race in 2004 . . . later the Obama/McCain in 2008 . . . and Obama/Romney in 2012.  By the end of March 2012 I was, well, outta gas.   March 27^th was my last post.  The blog has remained dormant since then.

Other media filled in the commenting side of the formula for me . . . Facebook primarily.  And the focus became more personally centered – family, friends, daily life.  Other things were also consuming my time – Scouts, starting a firearms training company, attending various firearms training courses, grand parenting . . . life, I guess.  I maintained a passion for politics and our country’s direction . . . but taking the next step and blogging about it a couple times a week . . . well . . . no.

Today though, a bit of the fire has been rekindled by a genuine frustration with the road we’ve traveled since I last posted in March of 2012. 8 years of Obama left us heavily in debt, a nation that seemingly has little regard for its own sovereignty, even less regard for the officers that defend our communities and homes and on the edge of an election that offers a rather stark selection of our future . . . freedom . . . or socialism.  As family and friends will quickly tell you I have no shortage of opinions and thoughts on topics that surround this divide, the coming election or where I view our path should take us!  But I’ve decided that social media sites like Facebook are simply not meant for in-depth discussions.  A couple hundred keystrokes to author a quick point does nothing to offer depth and breadth to a discussion.  So, I’m going to do a bit of a facelift on this blog, leave all past content in place, and begin anew.  I invite any and all to join in on the discussion . . . but do it here, on the blog and not on FB.  Let’s leave FB to photos of dogs, kittens, horses, grandkids, spouses . . . and all the enjoyable pastimes that make life worth living.  I’ll provide a link to my posts that will direct you to the blog to share my thoughts . . . and you are always welcome to join in the discussion.  That way, those that have absolutely no desire to climb down a political rabbit hole can simply not click the link to the post.  

And, those that do . . . come on down . . .



Bill

EPA to impose first greenhouse gas limits on power plants

Looking forward to those rolling blackouts and increasing electric bills??  Here they come!!

EPA to impose first greenhouse gas limits on power plants

Daniel Acker/BLOOMBERG - The proposed EPA rule — years in the making and approved by the White House after months of review — will require any new power plant to emit no more than 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt of electricity produced.

By Juliet Eilperin, Published: March 26The Washington Post

The Environmental Protection Agency will issue the first limits on greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants as early as Tuesday, according to several people briefed on the proposal. The move could end the construction of conventional coal-fired facilities in the United States.

The proposed rule — years in the making and approved by the White House after months of review — will require any new power plant to emit no more than 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt of electricity produced. The average U.S. natural gas plant, which emits 800 to 850 pounds of CO₂ per megawatt, meets that standard; coal plants emit an average of 1,768 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt.

And, just in case you forgot Obama’s thoughts on coal fired electrical generation – a little reminder in his own words:

Latest Global Average Tropospheric Temperatures

This is a pretty good example of solid science regarding current global temperature warming – or cooling – trends.  Bottom line?  For the past 30+ years – NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE!!!

Latest Global Average Tropospheric Temperatures

Since 1979, NOAA satellites have been carrying instruments which measure the natural microwave thermal emissions from oxygen in the atmosphere. The signals that these microwave radiometers measure at different microwave frequencies are directly proportional to the temperature of different, deep layers of the atmosphere. Every month, John Christy and I update global temperature datasets (see here and here)that represent the piecing together of the temperature data from a total of eleven instruments flying on eleven different satellites over the years. As of early 2011, our most stable instrument for this monitoring is the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU-A) flying on NASA’s Aqua satellite and providing data since late 2002.

Fracking Doesn't Harm Drinking Water, Study Says. - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine

Once again, the devil is in the details.

 

Fracking Doesn't Harm Drinking Water, Study Says.

Ronald Bailey | February 17, 2012

Citizens who are concerned that fracking -- pumping a mixture of water, sand, and small amounts of chemicals into deep wells to break open natural gas and oil supplies -- should be happy with the findings of a new study just released at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference today. As ScienceNowreports:

Top 1 Percent Pay 37 Percent of Income Taxes - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine

Just a reminder of who actually pay’s taxes.

Top 1 Percent Pay 37 Percent of Income Taxes

Tax cheat Tim Geithner, the only member of the Obama economic brain trust who has not yet been fired, testified to the Senate Finance Committee today in favor of the president’s proposed trillion-dollar-deficit budget.

Geithner, a Dartmouth man esteemed more for his tennis skills than for his understanding of markets or business, peddled much Keynesian voodoo before a nation whose economy he helped destroy while employed by the Federal Reserve Bank and then the Department of the Treasury. To get a sense of the mixed metaphors and confused logic that characterized the treasury secretary's testimony, ponder the Reuters headline “Geithner: Year-end fiscal cliff to hit U.S. growth,” and tremble to reflect that this word salad accurately describes Geithner's comments