Tuesday, June 29, 2010

You do not hold to atheism because it is true, but rather because of a series of chemical reactions. #atheist

"If there is no God, then all that exists is time and chance acting on matter. If this is true then the difference between your thoughts and mine correspond to the difference between shaking up a bottle of Mountain Dew and a bottle of Dr. Pepper. You simply fizz atheistically and I fizz theistically. This means that you do not hold to atheism because it is true, but rather because of a series of chemical reactions. Morality, tragedy, and sorrow are equally evanescent. They are all empty sensations created by the chemical reactions of the brain, in turn created by too much pizza the night before. If there is no God, then all abstractions are chemical epiphenomena, like swamp gas over fetid water. This means that we have no reason for assigning truth and falsity to the chemical fizz we call reasoning or right and wrong to the irrational reaction we call morality. If no God, mankind is a set of bi-pedal carbon units of mostly water. And nothing else." - Douglas Wilson

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Nobody wishes to underestimate this disaster, or thinks that BP should not be made to pay, but that payment should be proportionate to its culpability.

Nobody wishes to underestimate this disaster, or thinks that BP should not be made to pay, but that payment should be proportionate to its culpability. BP is not a demonic figure in a morality play, it is the sort of organization on which the wealth of the West is built. Unfortunately, politicians — and leftist/authoritarian politicians in particular — like to portray corporations as dangerous exploiters that must constantly be brought to heel. Perhaps the real reason is that they realize that it is only through such entities that jobs and wealth are created. Politicians resent that fact, which makes them all the more eager to press boots to corporate necks, kick ass, or manipulate the mechanism of ducking stools.

Unions tell Obama what to do and both of them make the BP Oil spill worse #obamafail

The Americans, overwhelmed by the catastrophic consequences of the BP spill, finally relented and took the Dutch up on their offer — but only partly. Because the U.S. didn’t want Dutch ships working the Gulf, the U.S. airlifted the Dutch equipment to the Gulf and then retrofitted it to U.S. vessels. And rather than have experienced Dutch crews immediately operate the oil-skimming equipment, to appease labour unions the U.S. postponed the clean-up operation to allow U.S. crews to be trained.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

FYI | Why Are We Turning Down Foreign Ships to Clean Up the Gulf?

The Belgian dredging group DEME says it has offered the U.S. specialized vessels and technology that can help clean up the spill in three to four months compared to the estimated nine months that the U.S. will need. There are only a handful of these vessels in the world, and most of them belong to Dutch and Belgian companies. So why aren’t we calling on them?
Blame it on the protectionist Merchant Marine Act of 1920, also called the Jones Act, that requires ships working in U.S. waters to be built, operated and owned by Americans… Presidents can suspend the Jones Act in emergencies, as George W. Bush did after Hurricane Katrina. But the Obama Administration continues to maintain that this isn’t necessary and that there are “no pending requests” for waivers.
Full article on why Obama has turned down foreign aid in the oil clean-up.

Friday, June 18, 2010

What Is Wrong With Immanuel Kant's Philosophy?

A Final Word on Kant

In offering and defending his low estimate of pure reason as incapable of achieving certitude (apart from the mysterious judgments which are synthetic a priori) Kant appeals to his so-called "antinomies" or "contradictions." He holds that when pure reason tries to apply the categories in the abstract realm of logical inference (whereas its business is to pour findings through fixed molds) it gets beyond itself and comes a cropper. It finds that it can prove, with equal facility, things directly opposed. Thus, he says, it can prove that space is finite, and also infinite; it can prove matter divisible and indivisible; it can prove human freedom existent and nonexistent; it can prove that God is necessary and also non-necessary.

In all this, and in the examples offered in proof of it, Kant is entirely gratuitous and sophistical. Besides, he stands self-condemned in using logical reasoning to establish the fact that logical reasoning is useless.

We merely mention the "antinomies" because we discern in them an element of materialism in the heart of an idealistic theory. This materialism was to appear in full form in later philosophies which took inspiration, at least in part, from the doctrines of Immanuel Kant.

Kant's philosophy is fundamentally wrong and is one of the major contributors to the intellectual insanity which we see today.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

BP: BARACK PETROLEUM

A government panel of scientists determined that the well is leaking even more oil than previously thought, as much as 2.52 million gallons a day — or enough to fill the Oval Office where Obama sat more than 22 times. The total spilled so far could be as much as 116 million gallons.

BP was founding member of 'cap-and-trade' lobby...

As Democrats fight to advance climate change policies, they are resorting to the misleading tactics they used in their health care and finance efforts: posing as the scourges of the special interests and tarring “reform” opponents as the stooges of big business.

Expect BP to be public enemy No. 1 in the climate debate.

There’s a problem: BP was a founding member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a lobby dedicated to passing a cap-and-trade bill. As the nation’s largest producer of natural gas, BP saw many ways to profit from climate legislation, notably by persuading Congress to provide subsidies to coal-fired power plants that switched to gas.

In February, BP quit USCAP without giving much of a reason beyond saying the company could lobby more effectively on its own than in a coalition that is increasingly dominated by power companies. Theymade out particularly well in the House’s climate bill, while natural gas producers suffered.

But two months later, BP signed off on Kerry’s Senate climate bill, which was hardly a capitalist concoction. One provision BP explicitly backed, according to Congressional Quarterly and other media reports: a higher gas tax. The money would be earmarked for building more highways, thus inducing more driving and more gasoline consumption.

Elsewhere in the green arena, BP has lobbied for and profited from subsidies for biofuels and solar energy, two products that cannot break even without government support. Lobbying records show the company backing solar subsidies including federal funding for solar research. The U.S. Export-Import Bank, a federal agency, is currently financing a BP solar energy project in Argentina.

Ex-Im has also put up taxpayer cash to finance construction of the 1,094-mile Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline carrying oil from the Caspian Sea to Ceyhan, Turkey—again, profiting BP.

Lobbying records also show BP lobbying on Obama’s stimulus bill and Bush’s Wall Street bailout. You can guess the oil giant wasn’t in league with the Cato Institute or Ron Paul on those.

BP has more Democratic lobbyists than Republicans. It employs the Podesta Group, co-founded by John Podesta, Obama’s transition director and confidant. Other BP troops on K Street include Michael Berman, a former top aide to Vice President Walter Mondale; Steven Champlin, former executive director of the House Democratic Caucus; and Matthew LaRocco, who worked in Bill Clinton’s Interior Department and whose father was a Democratic congressman. Former Republican staffers, such as Reagan alumnus Ken Duberstein, also lobby for BP, but there’s no truth to Democratic portrayals of the oil company as
an arm of the GOP.

Two patterns have emerged during Obama’s presidency: 1) Big business increasingly seeks profits through more government, and 2) Obama nonetheless paints opponents of his intervention as industry shills. BP is just the latest example of this tawdry sleight of hand.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

MSNBC Trashes Obama's Address: Compared To Carter, "I Don't Sense Executive Command" ~ Matthews

MSNBC Trashes Obama's Address: Compared To Carter, "I Don't Sense Executive Command







Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann and Howard Fineman react to President Obama's Oval Office Address on the oil spill. Here are the highlights of what the trio said:

Olbermann: "It was a great speech if you were on another planet for the last 57 days."

Matthews compared Obama to Carter.

Olbermann: "Nothing specific at all was said."

Matthews: "No direction."

Howard Fineman: "He wasn't specific enough."

Olbermann: "I don't think he aimed low, I don't think he aimed at all. It's startling."

Howard Fineman: Obama should be acting like a "commander-in-chief."

Matthews: Ludicrous that he keeps saying [Secretary of Energy] Chu has a Nobel prize. "I'll barf if he does it one more time."

Matthews: "A lot of meritocracy, a lot of blue ribbon talk."

Matthews: "I don't sense executive command."

VIDEO: Obama: Oil Disaster "Most Painful And Powerful Reminder" That We Need Clean Energy

VIDEO: Krauthammer: Obama Gave It A Shot, But The Story Will Not Be His Speech

VIDEO: Frank Luntz Focus Group On Obama's Address: "Negative"

A Mandate to Have Healthcare 'Liability' Insurance would be something like this

This is Robert Brook (RAND), describing his vision for the next phase of health reform [gated], in JAMA:
  • What if to obtain and keep health insurance, individuals had to pass something like a driver’s license test?…What skills should be demonstrated?
  • Should insurance be more costly, or even withdrawn, not because individuals become sick but because they do not use preventive services or evidence-based care in a manner that both protects their health and reduces health care costs for others?
  • Consider a health system in which individuals who have health insurance and are competent to care for themselves would be required to take medications and have procedures known to be necessary and would do so; and a severe penalty would be imposed if they do not.
What if individuals were required to receive vaccines for which they were eligible, as soon as the vaccines became available — and were penalized if they contracted an illness the vaccination could have prevented?
  • What if individuals with hypertension or hyperlipidemia who did not take their medications became responsible for some of the costs of future cardiac care?
  • Should parents be expected to maintain their young children’s weight-to-height index at the 50th percentile or less? Should sedentary workers be expected to participate in an exercise program provided at the workplace?

The Progressive 'Democrat' Jihad Against Israel



One of the mainstream Progressive organizations that has pledged its support to this anti-Israel movement is the Progressive Democrats of America, a group organized by Rep. Maxine Waters, Rep. Lynn Woolsey, Rep. Barbara Lee, Rep. John Conyers, Rep. Donna Edwards, Tom Hayden (founder of SDS), and Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans of Global Exchange/CodePink.
The Progressive Democrats of America are but one in a slew of mainstream American Progressive groups taking part in these actions against Israel on behalf of Hamas.

Another Progressive organization whose board members are helping Hamas with this program of actions is the Movement for a Democratic Society, or (MDS). Their members include a who’s who of 1960s domestic radicalism.
The full list of the November 2006 MDS board members is available here, but some names jump right off the page:
Bernardine Dohrn – Domestic Terrorist, Northwestern University Professor.
Rashid Khalidi
Very close friend of President Obama, (details at the link). Sits on the Advisory Board of the US Campaign To End The Israeli Occupation.
Carl Davidson
– Former SDS. Co-organized the anti-war protest where Barack Obama came out against the Bush Administration.
Tom Hayden
– Former leader of SDS, member of Progressive Democrats of America.
Alan Haber
– First President of SDS

Below is a diagram of major Progressive groups responsible for the Free Gaza marches and flotillas (Click to view full size image):
These groups have attracted a great deal of public support from some very interesting people and organizations.

Link

Friday, June 11, 2010

Obama and economics: Intellectually clueless

While in high school, I was standing at a bus stop next to a gas station. A kid tossed a candy wrapper on the station lot. Somebody yelled, "Hey, pick that up." The kid, with a straight face, defended himself. He said, "I just created a job." Someone would be hired, he explained, to pick up the trash, and this would be good for the economy.

Don't laugh. The kid probably works for the Obama administration.



Congress is now considering yet another "stimulus" package. But did the administration's previous one work? Of the $787 billion stimulus package, President Obama said it would "save or create" 3.5 million new jobs. Has it?

The National Association for Business Economics polled 68 private-sector members. Seventy-three percent said the employment at their companies was neither higher nor lower as a result of the stimulus package.

Link

VID: Republicans nail Obama in new video: The Finger-Pointing President



Transcript:

The Finger Pointing President-
He started off sounding like a post-partisan candidate that inspired millions…
“On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.” (President Obama’s Inaugural Speech)

That lasted three whole days…

When the Republicans offered a stimulus plan to add twice the jobs at half the cost, the president refused to even discuss it.

Politico: “I won,’ Obama noted matter-of-factly, according to sources familiar with the conversation.” (1/23/09)
And from there, it only got worse…
“On top of that the effects of the recession put a $3 trillion dollar hole in our budget. All this was before I walked in the door.” (President Obama: 1/27/10)
“We understand exactly who and what got us into this mess. Now, we don’t mind cleaning it up!” (President Obama: 10/20/09)

“The auto interventions weren’t started by me. They were started by a conservative Republican administration.” (President Obama: 8/20/09)

“After they drove the car into the ditch, they made it as difficult as possible for us to pull it back. Now they want the keys back… No.” (President Obama: 5/13/10)
“Now some of you may have noticed, that we have been building this foundation without much help from our friends in the other party.” (President Obama: 6/2/10)
But wait! A presidential moment of clarity?

“I ultimately take responsibility for solving this crisis. I’m the President and the buck stops with me.” (President Obama: 5/28/10)

Nope! More finger pointing
“Much of the last ten years we’ve tried it their way. They gave us tax cuts that weren’t paid for to millionaires that didn’t need them. They gutted regulations and put industry insiders in charge of industry oversight.” (President Obama: 6/2/10)

The finger pointing president: What is lacking in leadership, Is made up for in blame.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Ayers, Dohrn, Code Pink founder Evans helped organize pro Hamas Turkisk flotilla group

 Former Weather Underground leaders William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, as well as Code Pink founder Jodie Evans, helped organize the Free Gaza Movement, which launched the six-ship flotilla from Turkey to Israel that ended in a violent clash with Israeli Defense Forces, BigGovernment.com reported.

Is there a White House-Hamas link?

Israel has eased its Gaza blockade, allowing some food items through for the first time in almost four years. But a recent deadly confrontation in that part of the world has given rise to new information that organizers of the convoy have ties to the Obama administration.

It is believed that John Brennan, a top adviser to President Obama, is the contact person within the White House for communications with the group Free Gaza Movement -- a coalition of leftist organizations with ties to terrorists and to a Turkish Islamist group. This group seeks to challenge Israel's blockade on the terrorist Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, according to a source close to Israel's Netanyahu administration. Acquaintances of Obama -- people like Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn -- are also key players in this relationship.

Obama Confidant Bill Ayers Joins Pro-Hamas Demonstration in Egypt

January 4, 2009 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - On New Years' Eve, Bill Ayers, the unapologetic Weather Underground domestic terrorist who launched Barack Obama's political career, his wife, the equally notorious Weather Underground leader Bernardine Dohrn, Jodie Evans - Code Pink bigwig and a major Democrat Party funder with over 22k in donations reported to the FEC in 2009 - and a gaggle of other Jew hating leftist bigots gathered in front of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo to join in solidarity with the terrorist group Hamas.

http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/4218

'Obama Deceives the Public'

Daniel Ellsberg, legendary leaker of the "Pentagon Papers" in 1971, still has a bone to pick with the White House. In an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, the 79-year-old peace activist accuses President Obama of betraying his election promises -- in Iraq, in Afghanistan and on civil liberties.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Mr. Ellsberg, you're a hero and an icon of the left. But we hear you're not too happy with President Obama anymore.
Daniel Ellsberg: I voted for him and I will probably vote for him again, as opposed to the Republicans. But I believe his administration in some key aspects is nothing other than the third term of the Bush administration.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: How so?
Ellsberg: I think Obama is continuing the worst of the Bush administration in terms of civil liberties, violations of the constitution and the wars in the Middle East.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: For example?
Ellsberg: Take Obama's explicit pledge in his State of the Union speech to remove "all" United States troops from Iraq by the end of 2011. That's a total lie. I believe that's totally false. I believe he knows that's totally false. It won't be done. I expect that the US will have, indefinitely, a residual force of at least 30,000 US troops in Iraq.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: What about Afghanistan? Isn't that a justifiable war?
Ellsberg: I think that there's an inexcusable escalation in both countries. Thousands of US officials know that bases and large numbers of troops will remain in Iraq and that troop levels and bases in Afghanistan will rise far above what Obama is now projecting. But Obama counts on them to keep their silence as he deceives the public on these devastating, costly, reckless ventures.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: You doubt not only Obama's missions abroad but also his politics back home in the US. Why exactly are you accusing the president of violating civil liberties?
Ellsberg: For instance, the Obama administration is criminalizing and prosecuting whistleblowers to punish them for uncovering scandals within the federal government …

Can black Americans afford Obama?

Early indications suggest that the Barack Obama presidency might turn out to be similar to the failed presidency of Jimmy Carter. That's bad news for the nation but especially bad news for black Americans.
No white presidential candidate had to live down the disgraced presidency of Carter but I'm all too fearful that a future black presidential candidate will find himself carrying the heavy baggage of a failed black president.
That's not a problem for white liberals who voted for Obama who received their one-time guilt-relieving dose from voting for a black man to be president, but it is a problem for future generations of black Americans.


Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/Can-black-Americans-afford-Obama_-95966734.html#ixzz0qSRhRtFE

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Be on the lookout .. House Democrats and teachers unions will make one last push to pass a $23 billion bailout of the incompetent teachers unions.

Soon after Congress returns from its Memorial Day recess, liberal House Democrats and teachers unions will make one last push to pass a $23 billion fund to prevent teacher layoffs.

Democrats are looking to package the fund with war and disaster spending in a supplemental appropriations bill the House will vote on as early as this week.

Obama brings Nixonian twist to oil spill...with Carter incompetence

...the White House was told by the Coast Guard within 24 hours of the April 20 explosion on BP's Deepwater Horizon platform that the equivalent of 8,000 barrels a day could escape into the ocean. Within three days, Obama and his senior aides were warned that the spill could exceed the in environmental damage caused by the Exxon Valdez wreck in 1989.

Despite these warnings, over the next two months Obama attended Democratic fundraisers, played golf, hosted basketball and football teams at the White House and delivered commencement speeches.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/Obama-brings-Nixonian-twist-to-oil-spill-95733059.html#ixzz0qKN5JRTh

Thursday, June 3, 2010

VID: The World Economy in a Nutshell

Debt under Obama increases $5 billion per day -- 3 times the Bush rate...

The federal government is now $13 trillion in the red, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday, marking the first time the government has sunk that far into debt and putting a sharp point on the spending debate on Capitol Hill.
Calculated down to the exact penny, the debt totaled $13,050,826,460,886.97 as of Tuesday, leaping nearly $60 billion since Friday, the previous day for which figures were released.
At $13 trillion, that figure has risen by $2.4 trillion in about 500 days since President Obama took office, or an average of $4.9 billion a day. That's almost three times the daily average of $1.7 billion under the previous administration, and led Republicans on Wednesday to place blame squarely at the feet of Mr. Obama and his fellow Democrats.

Yeah, Paul McCartney; it's great to have a President who knows how many states we have too!

Yeah, Paul McCartney; "After the last eight years, it's great to have a president who knows how many states the US has too!"



Paul McCartney; "After the last eight years, it's great to have a president who knows what a library is." Video

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

ObamaCare vs. Small Business

We also believe the health-care law is unconstitutional. The centerpiece of this law is an individual mandate requiring virtually all Americans to purchase health insurance or pay a fine. We strongly believe that the Commerce Clause of the Constitution does not give Congress the power to force individuals to purchase a private product or face a fine. Requiring individuals to purchase something simply because they are alive is unprecedented. The military draft is the only exception to this, and Congress's authority to enact the draft is provided for in the Constitution, unlike this mandate.

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TRACKING: The Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises