Energy Independence

I see today that President Obama said that he would like to cut United States imported oil dependency by a third over the next 10 years. I applaud and support this goal; HOWEVER, to date this goal and his administration's policies are seemingly the exact opposite of this pronouncement. While probably no one can dispute the need to make sure that deep water oil  drilling is done in an environmentally responsible way to prevent future massive oil spills such as the recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico; from what I have read, this administration has approved little if any recent oil drilling permit applications. This administration has talked about reducing oil exploration tax incentives and talked about raising taxes on the "evil BIG OIL" interests and caused thousands of people in the Gulf region of America involved in the oil industry to remain unemployed. Say what you will about Sarah Palin; she does know quite a bit about oil and natural gas issues in Alaska and current horizontal drilling techniques for oil and gas do minimize the environmental impact of drilling. The democrats however, are not convinced to date on the need and desirability to develop the Alaskan oil fields.

So, it is great to talk a good game about "energy independence" but how do you propose to have America become more energy independent from the unstable Mid-East nations when you tie the hands of American oil exploration with taxes, and bureaucratic "red tape"? How do you justify guaranteeing 2 billion dollars of energy loans to Brazil to develop their recent huge oil discovery while handcuffing American oil exploration efforts? Solar and wind power just aren't cost effective or a reliable alternative to oil, coal, and natural gas at the present time.

I believe America does have enough energy resources over time to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources but have not seen any sort of encouragement by the Obama administration to develop these resources. We, instead, hear talk of "high speed rail" service for California and Las Vegas and other such "governmental boondoggles".

"Urban Cowboy"

People criticized President George W. Bush for launching a coalition of allies against Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein after Hussein violated 17 United Nations resolutions and after talking about the potential for conflict in Iraq for about a year. The liberal press called George W. Bush a "cowboy" which connotes a "shoot from the hip" impulsive, individual, attitude that doesn't take into account the advice or opinions of others. Having a home in Crawford, Texas and a "plain speaking" style of speech probably added to this liberal characterization.

Well, is President Barack Obama, then an "urban cowboy"? After 1 United nations resolution and without consulting with Congress and with a Secretary of Defence that thought that getting involved in Libya was a "stupid idea"; Obama decides to establish a "no fly" zone. Sounds pretty impulsive and cowboyish to me. Being primarily from Chicago, that would perhaps make Obama an "urban cowboy".

In the movie "Urban Cowboy" starring John Voight and Dustin Hoffman, the theme song sung by Harry Nillson "Everybody's Talkin' at Me"  there is a phrase that says "Everybody's talkin' at me, I can't hear a word they're sayin'" which pretty much sums up Obama's smarter than thou cowboy attitude that he knows best on what do do about Libya and everything else in the world for that matter. Although, there are reports that Hillary Clinton was a strong advocate for rushing into Libya with military action.

At least so far with the exception of the group "Code Pink" and Congressman Dennis Kucinich who is wondering a little if Obama  has committed an "impeachable offence"; most of the former anti-war activists are strangely silent about America's Libya involvement. Maybe the liberals care more about who is in charge than what that person does who is in charge as long as "their cowboy" holds the reigns of power. As long as their "warmonger" is in charge then all is right here "home on the (urban) range".

Libya: What is the Mission?

President Obama, a long time critic of the Iraq war when he was running for president is now one of the world leaders in charge of establishing a "no fly" zone in Libya to try to stop Qaddafi from re-taking back his governmental control of Libya from dissenters who feels that Gaddafi's time is up. Do you agree with this assessment and should the United States be involved in the internal affairs of Libya?

If you agree that the United States should be involved in countries that yearn for freedom and have a repressive dictatorial leader then which country should we invade next?  How about Iran? After the recent election with probably fraudulent results there were massive protests and a "Green Revolution" of protesters who begged for support from the United States and others as they tried to push for freedom from the ruling repressive "Mullah" leadership of Iran. America stood idly by and offered no support.

How about Cuba? Cuba has a totalitarian repressive regime that stifles individual liberties. How about Venezuela where Hugo Chavez is expropriating many foreign business, took control of the television stations, and is financing the Colombian communists? Why don't we help these oppressed people see the shining light of freedom?

How about China? The Chinese central government has fired on their own people and stifles certain religions as well as occupying Tibet? Why don't we establish a "no fly zone" over China while we are at it?

Will "anti-war" activists soon start protesting the Obama administration for their activities in Libya like they protested the Bush administration? What is the mission in Libya?  I wonder if the cruise missiles and airplanes will end up killing more of the civilian population than the amount of the civilians killed by Qaddafi loyalists. I wonder if the American and European involvement will end up being further recruiting tools for "radical Islamists" to get involved in further terrorism and "jihadist activities" against the "infidel West"?

Time will tell how this all "shakes out". "Unintended consequences" often occur despite our good intentions.

"Time Bandit"

I woke up today to a "time shift". How about you? I have a Casio brand wrist watch called a waveceptor that has a solar charged battery and somehow through some kind of "wave action" keeps precise time. This morning my wristwatch showed a time one hour ahead of all my other clocks! How can this be? Where did this time go? Who's the "time bandit"? I guess I'm going to have to change all my other clocks to match my wristwatch but I'm not totally sure that there isn't some kind of time glitch in my wrist watch because all the other clocks show a different time. Its all so confusing to me but I have a busy day planned for today so I don't have time to think about this too much.

Fortune Cookie Advice

I started a new blog today http://www.rickshaw-fortunecookie.blogspot.com where I am relaying the wisdom of the Orient as found on the little fortune cookies as well as the "lucky numbers". Feel free to check it out but remember these lucky numbers may or may not work for you and I am not responsible if for example you lose at "Bingo" or if you buy a lottery ticket and don't win. These lucky numbers only work for certain people at certain times. So good luck! Time will tell where the "cookie crumbles" and many of the fortune cookie advice messages have stood the test of time as the Chinese culture is a lot older than for example our relatively young country of the United States of America.

SLAM ONLINE | » Video: Kemba Walker Drops McGhee, Game-Winner

SLAM ONLINE » Video: Kemba Walker Drops McGhee, Game-Winner Game winning "ankle breaking" move at the buzzer frees UCONN's guard Kemba Walker to the game winning shot over Pittsburgh during the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden Thursday afternoon 3/10/11.

Stupid Relatives, Stupid Song

I read recently in a book by psychic Sylvia Browne that Bill and Hillary Clinton were brother and sister in a former life. What do you think of that? Apparently, some people we meet in this lifetime we have known from previous incarnations while other people of course we haven't met until this current lifetime.

Have you seen the movie "The Stupids"? It is considered by some to be one of Tom Arnold's greatest movies. In this clip Tom sings the classic song "I'm my own Grandpa". Also of note is the actor who played "Neidermeir" in one of the best comedy movies of all time, "Animal House". It is somewhat hard to follow how Tom Arnold's character in this "stupid" movie became his own grandpa but the words are all there so we all can follow along. The television audience seemed to enjoy this song explanation. Perhaps you are your own grandpa from a former life or maybe just the sibling of your current partner like Bill and Hillary Clinton.

"Same but Different"

Ever notice how the press perceptions have changed now that President Obama is the president? The mainstream press cheerleaders (I mean news anchors and reporters) were very up to date on the casualty count for American soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush presidential years. There were a lot of anti-war protests during the Bush years but it seems that as soon as Obama was elected these protests have stopped. Same wars different perception.

Remember during the President Bush years General David Petraeus was scheduled to update Congress on the Iraq war and "Move On.org" had full page newspaper ads where he he was called "General Betray Us" and people like Senator Hillary Clinton stated that they doubted the veracity of his analysis of the war situation. Now, General Petraeus is more respected in the media as he is working under the leadership of President Obama. Same person different perception.

Candidate Obama stated that he would close Guantanamo Bay military base where the captured suspected terrorists and jihadists were being kept as this sends a wrong image to the world of how America should operate as far as judicial resolution of these captive bad guys. Once in the presidency it seems this isn't a big deal any more and things are just as they were under the Bush administration.

I remember during the Bush administration unemployment rose to an intolerable level of 5.3% and leaders such as Nancy Pelosi called this unemployment rate a jobless recovery. Now with unemployment hovering between around 9 and 10 percent the press is painting a picture of "Good News! Unemployment dropped from 9.8 to 9.6%, further proof that the recovery is taking hold." I wonder what the press would say if a President McCain had these kind of unemployment results?

So, let's go you anti-war protesters, if that's your thing, where are you now? Hey press bring back the body counts for the wars, if that's your thing, we are still in these wars. Oops, my bad, your "Guy"is now in charge so that even though things are pretty much the same as before he was elected, things are now different. It wouldn't be "politically correct" for the main stream media to fulfill their supposed role as independent critical thinking objective journalists.

Hope the media will change but don't hold your breath. Maybe the media cheerleaders are waiting for the day when there is a new president before they get back their role of trying to investigate and report on the news of the day in a critical manner.

"Soul Survivor"

They say in heaven there is no beer. I read recently in the book "Evidence from Beyond" which deals with some after death communications from former theologian A.D. Mattson as communicated through clairvoyant Margaret Flavell that the human ego and soul survive death. In this book it mentions that the afterlife is a higher frequency existence than life on Earth. It is said that some people who die from starvation gorge themselves on "thought food' that they create through their mind to heal their earthly hunger pangs.

The psychic Sylvia Browne says that in the afterlife you can choose the age you wish to be and that most people choose the age of thirty as the age that they are most comfortable manifesting in the great beyond.

It is said by some that Earth existence is like a giant classroom and the goal of each Earth lifetime is determined through a blueprint between each soul and God with a record of each past life kept in a huge library known as the "Akashic records". Sylvia Browne lists 44 areas of life from which each person chooses two of these categories to work on; kind of like a "major and a minor" that you choose when you attend college.

It is said that each of us is a small "spark of God" and that the goal of each of us is to increase our rate of frequency or vibration rate as we all strive to perfect ourselves and re-unite over time with the Creator. Earth existence has a relatively slow vibration rate. The next level of higher vibration rate is the "astral plane" which is almost a replica of our world. Higher vibration realms if you "graduate" are the mental and spiritual planes.

So, enjoy the ride known as life. You can come back to this Earth plane again and again if you want or need to until you get things right and "graduate" to a higher frequency plane. Remember though that there is only beer here on Earth as even the lightest light beer has too heavy a frequency vibration so drink up now if you are so inclined as higher planes of existence only have "food for thought". Your soul survives but you can't bring a keg with you when you leave this plane.

"Blue Heron"

As Winter is transitioning into Spring I thought I would share this photo I took in early December before Winter started. I was inspecting a home in Brewster on Cape Cod and came across a "Blue Heron" down by the shore of a small pond. I had to creep up real quietly behind this majestic bird to take this photo as these wild birds are known for their great hearing and eyesight. This bird was probably studying the pond and remembering all the fish, minnows and frogs it ate over the past Summer and possibly trying to calculate how to drill through the slim layer of ice for another fish delight. Not being a bird myself I don't know for sure what this bird was exactly thinking but it sure seemed to be concentrating and not even moving a feather. Then again, maybe this heron saw its reflection in the water and thought that this was another heron and they commenced to have a "staring contest".

"Ouch!, That Bean Bag Hurt!"

Did you see in the news recently that United States border patrol agents sometimes are instructed to fire "bean bags" instead of bullets? What do you think of that? I think firing bean bags borders on "cruel and unusual use of force". Why, if you are hit in the stomach you could get the wind knocked out of you and fall down in the desert sand with you mouth open and suffocate to death. You could also develop a nasty bruise or even break your nose if this bean bag hit you the right spot. This use of "bean bags" does seem rather extreme and may result in the rise in price of bean bag chairs or the rise in the price of beans in general. With approximately 45 million people receiving food stamps in America the last thing we need is for a bean shortage.

I think a more humane approach would be to equip our border patrolmen with either nerf guns and cannons or large "super soaker" water guns. We could use the water which used to be offered to illegal aliens caught in the desert without water and instead spray them full blast with a super soaker stream of water.

Border patrol agent Brian Terry was recently murdered (December 14,2010) when he fired some bean bags at a group of illegal immigrants who refused to drop their AK 47 assault weapons as these immigrants returned fire with bullets. Maybe we should consider "fighting fire with fire" when enforcing our borders as although bean bags may hurt; they don't seem in most cases to have the deadly capacity of a bullet. You usually don't want to bring a knife to a gun fight or bean bags either.

"Selective Justice"

It is interesting to see that the Obama administration and the "Justice department" seem to be employing a "selective law enforcement" policy even though when you are sworn in as president each president agrees to enforce the current laws of the land. For example, President Obama has stated that his administration will not enforce DOMA (Defense Of Marriage Act) which states that marriage is defined as a contract and union between a man and a woman as President Obama believes that this law is unconstitutional. Now, whether you support or disagree with this law this is a current law and it is not the role of the president or the justice department to determine if this is a good or bad law. President Obama is not to be considered a one man supreme court or decision maker on which laws are constitutional or unconstitutional. The role of the Congress is to legislate, the office of the presidency is to administrate, and the role of the Supreme Court is to determine the constitutionality of the laws of the land.

Attorney General Eric Holder refuses to prosecute the " New Black Panther Party" individuals for voter intimidation during the 2008 election where a couple members of this party were parked outside a Philadelphia polling station dressed in camouflage uniforms and sporting "night sticks" as he said that he would not go against "his" people in this case. I guess justice in this day and age is not "color blind". Not that I would favor this situation, but, I'm sure if someone stood outside a polling place say in Alabama dressed in full Ku Klux Klan regalia and sporting a night stick; I'm sure that the "justice department" would have no problem prosecuting any case of voter intimidation.

Enforcing current laws should not be the same as ordering from a Chinese restaurant menu when you can pick and choose from "column A and column B". This administration should try to enforce the current laws of the land, work toward repealing through Congress laws that they disagree with and let the courts decide and interpret the existing laws.