Cap & Trade Tax is Coming Up! - Higher Fuel Costs!

I worry more about the proliferation of global graphitti than global warming in an ice field.

After watching some of the Global Warming "documercials" with dramatic, alarming pictures of enormous ice walls cracking and caving into the ocean; it's obvious they're selling indelible impressions to casual viewers on an impending catastrophic flood of sea levels leading to total world obliteration. Far from the truth, though, these documercials fail to differentiate that ice calving is the result of expansion not contraction which are chunks of ice that break off glaciers and fall into water creating floating icebergs. The melting and growth of sea ice, in contrast to land ice, does not affect sea level.

Factoid: Academy Award and Nobel Prize winner, Al Gore's 2006 movie, "An Inconvenient Truth" documents this dishonest documercial format of half truths and lies about global warming.

In one scene filmed, a mother polar bear and cub are described as drowning on a broken-off melted Alaskan ice cap floating helplessly out to sea. It was later exposed as a bogus scenario. I realize a polar bear can drown... if, say, it's exhausted and swimming over 50 miles. But basically, these bears can swim 15 miles easily, at a speed of 6 miles an hour, and they use the edge of an ice floe as a platform from which to hunt. An on site photographer reported that those bears afterwards dived off to swim back to shore--talk about an inconvenient truth!

It is uncertain to NASA observations, however, whether the world's two major ice sheets--Greenland and Antarctica--have been growing or diminishing. Together, Greenland and Antarctica contain about 75% of the world's fresh water. 

"Global warming could therefore be expected initially to increase both melting and snowfall. Depending on which increase dominates, the early result could be either an overall decay or an overall growth of the ice sheets. This is of particular importance because of the huge size of these ice sheets, with their great potential for changing sea level." [It leaves any computer software models literally out in the cold because it could be either scenario A or B depending on mother nature, not anything due to man's logic to decide the actual global change to expect--only time will tell.] 

An interesting corollary is that the Greenland ice sheet is warmer than the Antarctic ice sheet and as a result, global warming could produce serious melting on Greenland while having less effect in the Antarctic. In the Antarctic, temperatures are far enough below freezing that even with some global warming, temperatures could remain sufficiently cold to prevent extensive surface melting. It then leads with an assumption of a null outcome, negative results to support any significant overall global net change.

All this technical talk is exactly what the EPA, Environmental Protection Agency. as a federal bureaucratic organization does not want the voters to understand. As an administrative and enforcement arm of a very liberal, progressive government, it promotes the Washington political agenda. They must raises more taxes on high earner taxpayers including hiding from the stupid middle class an income tax increase too, and so want to enforce a "Cap and Trade" policy to tax "greenhouse emissions", the hydrocarbons emitted from coal-fired power plants and automobiles by restricting oil production and by forcing the public to curb personal utility power usage. Of course, Al Gore and his political cronies have invested heavily in promoting this Cap and Trade program too.

V.P. Al Gore invested tens of millions of dollars in green energy projects not because they work, but the profit potential of 'credits' generated by EPA regulatory controls he can command. So, Al Gore and other wealthy investors establish the marketplace for a Cap & Trade Exchanges to buy and sell  "energy credits." You will be limited to how much electricity you use or save through Federal government mandated allocations, you are literally fined with excess usage levies; but, if you use less, you can sell your unused credits in the Cap & Trade Exchange--Hello, Al Gore? By the way, they say that this practice provides an alternative source to create an additional supply, say what?

Net Neutrality - Don't Troll on Me!

Obama's "Net Neutrality" Program to provide freedom of access is a total sham! Barring the possibility of not getting it approved by the FCC Board, Obama is feverishly directing the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, to rein in the Internet into a public utility entity before the "stupid voters" realize what he has done.  This action would automatically bring it under immediate political controls of the Federal Government Laws on how businesses or individuals conduct themselves on the Internet. Applicable state, federal, local taxes will be charged on any utility services which will only add to monthly internet access charges--what a tax boondoggle and annual $Billion Federal tax revenue stream. It further offers Obama unbridled FCC regulations to be imposed without the interference of the Congress as a body to provide any public stop-gap check on FCC overreach on privacy or web content bans.

Up to present, ICANN has all been conducted as a private U.S. based, non-government entity. ICANN, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, is the technical coordination body. ICANN primary objectives which always have been non-political since its inception, has been ensuring the stability of the Internet's system of assigned names and numbers without the purvue of any legislation or sovereignty. 

Now, Obama has a political movement afoot, effective July 2015, to turn over the U.S. registration of all Internet registered users from our U.S. base to a U.N. international body with an "independent governing board." Why is this move necessary now? That's an easy answer: Many countries see $Billions in taxes and want to levy international "access Internet fees" on users.  All of the totalitarian governments cannot control their populations any longer with their propaganda with the unbridled access to facts, 24 hour news cycle, You Tube, blogs and social media.  It is true that some information is either unfactual, malicious, sketchy at best or rumor where irresponsible speculation exists.  But, that's how the "word of mouth" has operated over thousands of years and how all generations told stories, only now it is instantaneous. So today subversive or repressive regimes operating within the shadows cannot hide under the bright lights of the Internet era and they want the freedom of information curtailed or crushed. 

A perfect example of a totalitarian regime's abuse is the way Facebook’s detection systems work. Once a post is reported by enough users—no matter the content, intent or who is reporting it—the post is marked as a "terms-of-use violation." As it happens, the Iranian regime, much like the Chinese and Russian governments, is adept at mobilizing trolls to report activity it doesn’t like. Facebook inadvertently becomes the morality police, and that will always work to the advantage of these tyrants.

Well-intentioned Facebook policies are designed for U.S. Constitutional values such as the prohibition on anonymous users which malign or attack other individuals. However, Facebook inadvertently has kicked off thousands of activists who use pseudonyms to protect their own safety. Whistleblowers, advocates for political prisoners, rally leaders, labor activists, feminists and bloggers all use the platform to organize without detection. But in addition to eluding dictators, these activists must also worry that Facebook employees (or data machines) in Menlo Park, Calif., will detect that their names are not real and have trouble getting their official page “verification” from Facebook, something that could help protect users from threats and troll attacks from those draconian regime governments.

Facebook and others have a challenge to remain free of this corruption. I believe that also starts by keeping ICANN as a U.S. based organization, not as a utility company, to maintain its own integrity--it's neither right or left, Republican or Democrat, Red State or Blue State, it's the United States--sound familiar?

China Pledges Help in Terrorism Fight

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, "China seeks to play an active role in Afghan reconstruction and reconciliation."

Boy, those headlines are reassuring, China finally gets it! ...Uh oh, hold on, I thought so, there are some slight wrinkles nearly unnoticeable there in those headlines. It seems it isn't to help the United States, but it's to help Afghanistan. Oh well, it's still a magnanimous gesture towards settling war to bring peace into the region since they share a strategic narrow border. What else could it be, right?--Wrong.

Mao Tse Tung & President NixonThe old saying, "You don't get anything for nothing." is certainly prescient here. It is with that foresight from past Chinese diplomatic encounters since President Richard Nixon discovered that ulterior Mandarin motives always prevail in any Manchurian negotiations. Haven't you ever heard of "saving face"?

Factoid: Afghanistan has asked China on several occasions to open their northern border in the Wakhan Corridor for economic reasons or as an alternative supply route for fighting the Taliban insurgency. Historically, Marco Polo traversed this rugged, deep, narrow valley pass sandwiched between Afghanistan and Chinese provinces considered even today as the only viable land passage in spite of its extremely rugged mountainous terrain. However, China has resisted, largely due to unrest in its far western province of Xinjiang, which borders the Wakhan Corridor that could supply ongoing anti-Beijing anarchists. In December 2009, it was reported that the United States had asked China to open the corridor with no end results. Is that some more of the unreported Obama foreign relations policies successes? 

Afghanistan natural resources: coal, copper, iron ore, lithium, uranium, rare earth elements, chromite, gold, zinc, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, marble, precious and semi-precious stones, natural gas and petroleum. In 2010, U.S. and Afghan government officials estimated that untapped mineral deposits located in 2007 by the US Geological Survey are worth between $900 billion and $3 trillion. 

The biggest find, however, is mining the 1.4 million tons of 'rare earth elements' such as lanthanum, cerium and neodymium in one place. There are 17 rare earth elements which are typically dispersed and not often found concentrated as rare earth minerals in economically exploitable amounts, so that is what is remarkable about Afghanistan.  

 Despite being one of the poorest nations in the world, Afghanistan may be sitting on one of the richest troves of rare earth minerals in the world, valued at nearly $1 trillion. It is in extremely high demand in manufacturing of high tech military hardware, computers and various electronics such as cell phones, television displays and communications which are exponentially growing.

So, China strategically is encouraging new investment of Chinese enterprises to mine these minerals in this land-locked country even with its arid, war-weary devastated countryside from years of Russian occupation with surrounding mountainous terrains. This is really why China is helping to build Afghan anti-terrorism capabilities by training local militia and police with arms and boots on the ground to protect their own national interests such as: 

• In 2007, a Chinese government-owned company paid $3 billion to lease a 2,600-year-old Buddhist site for 30 years and plans to extract over $100 billion worth of copper from the area.

• In 2011, China became the first foreign country in decades to sign a oil exploration deal in Afghanistan when it inked a $7 billion pact.

• In 2013, China announced preliminary talks to construct a direct road link, Wakhan Corridor, to China across the remote 47-mile border between the two countries.

Obama losing shirt in cards with Hu of China.This is part of a trend that has been welcomed by the U.S. officials in the Obama administration. It is interesting that the Obama administration has not raised much fanfare about this U.S. capitulation to the Chinese government by the American people as Afghanistan is bought and paid for by our blood, sweat and treasure. No wonder the Chinese like to deal with the Obama administration.

In the meantime, the United States withdraws its troops as facilities, equipment and municipal infrastructures such as power plants, dams and roads are left behind for the Chinese to use in Afghanistan. After all, China needs them to corner the market on these strategic rare earth minerals to attain military superiority over the United States. Is this another Obama foreign policy blunder or a side deal cut with China to shore up and build up his feeble Obama Presidential diplomatic legacy?

 

Obama Duplicates Past Mistakes

So here we go... Hitler then ISIS? If this history is copied into this generation we would have a 'Generation Xerox.' So here we are... History is duplicated again! Why has the White House underestimated the ISIS Islamist terrorist threats that fomented and metastasized into a massive festering deadly tumor like the Nazis? Why has President Obama referred to the ISIS fighters as 'militants' and 'rebels' instead of 'terrorists'? Why has President Obama minimized the ISIS worldwide threat even further by referring to them as a 'Jayvee team'?  

It is certainly obvious that Obama is working way above his pay grade as he appears to be clueless on who is the real enemy. However, he may be on game too by pitching a soft sell on the word 'terrorist' in other terms so he deliberately avoids the truth with the American people about the "T" word, 'terrorist', which is evil and must be killed. Obama is then tailoring this narrative to match his passive foreign military policy of 'no boots on the ground' and 'al Queda is on the run' in order to leave ongoing wars against 'terrorists' that have no 'terrorists' to shift the national political focus over to his unfinished, domestic agenda. After all, Obama still has his signature Obamacare act on life support; an immigration reform bill stuck on the border fences; energy programs stalled on top of drilling rigs and in the XL pipeline with coal mines to be closed to kill an industry; more EPA job-killing regulations pending further legislative approvals; and Presidential executive orders waiting for signatures to further bypass more Constitutional congressional oversight. 

Obama has always championed cooperation with U.N. global partners to persuade countries to obey international rules of law or conform to acceptable norms of conduct. Under the auspices of the rules for U.N. rebuke and punishment on bad behavior, Obama has conducted formal punitive actions against U.N. member nations by delivering general assembly U.N. admonishments, making formal U.N. Declarations and seeking U.N. Sanctions. These actions were clearly backed up with all the prestige of the U.N. Organization and full military power of the U.N. peace keeper forces. ...So did you fall out of your chair laughing so hard at this joke of a U.S. Foreign Policy Plan to handle rogue nations and tough issues?

When U.N. embargoes deepened in 2010 and 2012, concerns over preventing Iran's nuclear program for enrichment beyond peaceful power plants created international markets to withdraw from Iran. It was further hit with Western sanctions which included shipping embargoes, trade restrictions and business banking transaction limitations. Were these non-military actions effective and did they accomplish their intended goals, yes or no? It depends only if the sanction pressures remain in place by all the International partners until Iran stops their nuke production. What reality scenario could unravel Obama's attempt to stop the Iranian plutonium enrichment program? ..."Sprechen sie Deutsch?"  

So where is Obama's tough talk now on those punishing sanctions to stop the Iranian nuclear arms production? Anger over Russia's role in the Ukrainian conflict and the shooting down of the Malaysian airliner has cooled German foreign investment in Russia. Ongoing rumors leaking out of the U.S.-Iran talks are about encouraging more sanctions relief to motivate Iran in working to prevent further nuclear development. So in seeking a safer investment haven, those companies all across Germany have quietly rekindled once-strong ties with Iran. Sparking the interest among businesses is the opportunity to tap into 77 million potential consumers that may open with a booming market soon as the U.S. embargoes gets lifted. Say what? I guess that is just one more 'red line' that now got erased too? 

The United States is lead by a feckless, castrated, impotent warrior: Obama has now removed all doubt--the Emperor indeed has no clue or clothes!

California, Here it Comes...Down As It is Done!

I can really empathize about state government regulatory burdens on Californians after living there for over fifty-six years and have since moved to Dallas, Texas. I cannot, however, sympathise with the state residents resolve to keep spending beyond their means. I recently read an Editorial in the Wall Street Journal written by Dr. Bradley Allen who is currently running for Congress in California's 24th District in the Republican race. He had lamented, "We Californians could learn how to grow from the Lone Star State." It called out a list of successes for his former home state of Texas [Houston] while then offering a whole litany of reasons for their failure in California.

The California vs. Texas comparison that Dr. Allen pointed to were: 

• Energy Industry - no fracking and horizontal drilling in gas and oil fields.

• State Business Income Tax - high at 4.1% (av. CA state rate)

• Utility Costs - electricity 50% to 88% higher for renewable-energy mandate.  

• Gasoline - 70 to 80 cents per gallon more due to CA state blending fuel laws.

• Job Growth - Los Angeles added 1 Mil people (1980-2010) & lost 165K jobs.

• Poor People - 42%+ in CA than TX. 17.6% L.A. poverty rate nation's highest.

• Regulatory laws - so overly burdensome they had driven business out of state.

What's truly remarkable about this editorial was it thoroughly covered the glaring differences with solid indisputable facts. It further argued quite forcefully for pro-growth policies that would spur on the California economy. I was absolutely sold on his editorial analysis until I read the last paragraph. It succinctly encapsulated in just a few sentences why California will remain moribund in its own excrement, not capable to escape its inevitable demise:

Dr. Allen stated besides the cited state parallels, he complained about job creation killers like Obamacare which must be addressed; or with respect to the onerous business Federal income tax of 35% with equally high small business S-Corp income tax, they restrict business expansion and affect job growth. He further complained about Federal regulations and energy costs too. His recommendation was, "Washington should follow Texas' lead and pass pro-growth reforms."..."It's not big verses small government. It's government that works for us not against us." [No Bradley, you are wrong. Take off your 'rose-colored' California glasses. It really is BIG government spending that does works against us.] 

The typical 'California dreaming' syndrome promotes government largess as the answer to all social problems and civil matters. If the undocumented illegal aliens need welfare or legal services the state provides them. If special interests need funding for projects the state provides them. If the state needs more monies to meet these budgetary demands the state floats new tax bonds or just passes tax increases.

The 2013 overall California state budget deficit has ballooned to $778 Billion plus unfunded state pension funds for $200 Billion. That's almost a Trillion dollars. Is this state looking at a 'too big to fail' Federal bailout? It's a possibility for a bankruptcy filing with a Washington style bailout as the California legislature's spending spree on the backs of state taxpayers is painfully coming down to a bitter showdown for a default and bond credit rating downgrade to junk.

Why do other states have to suffer to 'Bail Out' California for their free-spending programs?  Let them Go Bankrupt!