REFLECTIONS

Howdy all, a few Interesting Items for your information. Enjoy –
In this issue: 1. DISCLOSE 2. Dearbornistan
3. Milk 4. Bombs 5. McChrystal
6. Financial Reform 7. Drilling

1. DISCLOSE. Pelosi pulled a bait and switch routine with the DISCLOSE Act last week. A week ago, she pulled the legislation from the floor of the House in response to union concerns. Well, she fixed those problems and the made the unions very, very happy. And the legislation passed last week with a vote of 219 – 206. This legislation is yet another vehicle to ensure democrats are reelected in November, as it shuts down all political speech other than that funded by unions, the greens, lawyers, and the state-controlled media. It is on to the senate for action. Expect our Boy Senator Mark Begich to vote for it.

2. Dearbornistan. PowerLine and Hot Air early last week ran articles about mass arrest of Christian protestors outside a city Arab festival in Dearborn, MI. The protestors were doing all the normal things that Christian protestors do – handing out literature, singing hymns, and spreading the Gospel. This was offensive to the (apparently) Muslim Police Chief of Dearborn, Ronald Haddad, who had them all arrested and removed for disorderly conduct. The cops also confiscated all video cameras among the protestors so that nobody will be able to see what happened and why. The Thomas Moore Law Center was quoted as saying local police were “concerned” last year that a Christian presence outside a mostly Muslim event would cause some excitement. Appears the excitement was entirely from the Muslim side of the discussion – as it normally is, for Muslims seem to be singularly incapable of competing in the marketplace of ideas without resorting to threats, intimidation, thuggery, and violence. And we are supposed to tolerate this in our midst?

3. Milk. From Watts Up With That, Sunday June 24, we have yet another story of the EPA spinning off into Nana Land. This time, the EPA wants to regulate milk as a hazardous substance much like crude oil, and the regulations require farmers, vendors and everyone else who handles milk to use the identical hazmat tools, procedures and disposal techniques for milk as they do for crude oil. The excuse given by the EPA is that raw milk has a high fat content, making it similar to crude oil. Really? I can put frozen milk on a stick and eat it as ice cream. I defy the clowns at the EPA to do the same thing with a tar ball from the Gulf of Mexico. Of course the greens are celebrating the new rule as yet another way to keep dairy farmers from defiling the waterways with spilt milk. The basic lesson is this: when you hire a bunch of true believers to write rules and regulations; that is what they will do. And they will keep on doing it long after the environment is acceptably clean. There is a concept in industry that you spend 80% of your money chasing the last 20% of performance. The concept also applies to the regulatory world, as we are spending huge amounts of money for no appreciable improvement in clean air or clean water. See carbon dioxide regulation for an example.

4. Bombs. Chris Horner in Pajamas Media Sunday, June 24, wrote a story about death threats to a Spanish researcher who wrote a damning report on the fabled green jobs initiative in Spain 15 Months ago. The basic conclusion of the study was for every so-called green job created by government interference in the energy marketplace, Spain as a whole lost 2.2 normal jobs. Follow this string long enough and you can put everyone out of work. Green jobs have been cited by Obama and his cronies as a worthy goal for our energy future. The fact of the matter is that they are a mirage, a chimera, a Cheshire cat, disappearing from our grasp as we chase them across the desert. You can find an English version of the report at: employment-public-aid-renewable.pdf

As a result of his work, the researcher has received multiple death threats. Things are sufficiently dicey that he treated an unexpected package from a Spanish solar energy company as a bomb. He was expecting a paper or set of papers from the corporation in response to an information request. Instead, he received a box of what turned out to be auto parts. Apologies were passed all around, but it certainly does give one pause. What would an energy company specializing in solar energy whose business is now at risk due to the diligent work of the researcher doing sending automobile parts out in the mail? This is supposed to be a mistake, an oopsie? Nothing about this story passes the smell test. Do not forget the immediate resort to brute force, thuggery, intimidation and other forms of strong arm tactics from the left when they don’t get their way.

5. McChrystal. Obama fired his hand-picked Commanding General in Afghanistan last week following “sensational” revelations in a Rolling Stone article on the General and his staff. McChrystal’s staff was sandbagged by the Rolling Stone reporter who published things that were told him off the record. It was those revelations – mostly expressing frustration and dismay with leadership out of Washington DC – that ended up getting McChrystal fired. Interestingly enough, he was very much an Obama general, who said he voted for Obama and did not allow Fox News on television in his headquarters. Obama selected McChrystal’s commander, David Petraeus to lead the effort in Afghanistan. Expect Petraeus to loosen the ridiculous Rules of Engagement McChrystal levied upon his forces. Expect the July 2011 departure date from Afghanistan to disappear. And expect Petraeus to start fighting the war via the tribal leaders as he did to win the war in Iraq. We will see if Obama and his regime are smart enough to stay out of the way.

6. Financial Reform. House and Senate conferees announced Thursday a general agreement on financial reform legislation. This is yet another 2000 – 3000 page fetid pile of steaming overripe manure that will basically allow unelected, unaccountable regulators to take over and shut down any business they want to grab as long as it is deemed to be “troubled.” This legislation is essentially a lawless, fascist strike at property rights of businesses. It overturns hundreds of years of bankruptcy laws at the stroke of a pen. It puts the regulators in charge of writing the rules and regulations. As an aside, if you had 2000 – 3000 pages of legislation, I would think you would write the new rules and regulations in those pages. It does not repeal the Community Reinvestment Act nor does it do anything whatsoever about Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which were at the center of the financial collapse in 2008 and will be in the center of the next one. On the other hand, the banks and investment houses were able to carve out very nice loopholes for themselves in the legislation and appear to be happy with what they have in hand. The stock market went up the day the agreement was announced and banking stocks did well that day also. It would have gone the other direction had the outcome been harmful to the banks. Folks, it appears the entire financial game is now rigged against the American people, small businesses, and anyone who is not an insider. It is the very definition of fascism – where the government via regulations and taxation controls everything we do. It should be defeated.

7. Drilling. Federal District Judge Martin Feldman overturned Salazar’s and Obama’s ban on all deep water offshore drilling Monday. The opinion specifically applies to the Gulf of Mexico, so it does not reopen exploratory drilling in Alaska or the Atlantic coast. But the opinion was based upon Salazar’s recommendations from his panel of eight experts – the recommendation to close off all exploratory drilling offshore over 500’ water depth that he appended to his expert’s panel after they were finished. Essentially, Salazar who is a lawyer, committed a fraud upon the Court, which is what got Bill Clinton’s law license pulled in the late 1990s. Judge Feldman called out Salazar for lying about the recommendation to shut down drilling in his opinion. In response to the ruling, the Obama administration huffed and puffed and promised to impose a new, better written drilling ban. What they did in practice was to simply stop approving all permits for anything associated with offshore drilling in any water depth, including well rework. This is a dangerous path to travel, as well rework is an essential part of the business, as steel corrodes and must be reworked from time to time. The longer necessary well maintenance is delayed, the greater chance there will be for yet another blowout. Finally, the greens reacted as expected with death threats directed against Judge Feldman.

More later — AG

“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”
- Samuel Adams, speech at the Philadelphia State House, August 1, 1776.

Note: Interesting Items can be found also at the following locations: MatSu Valley News and the home page. Rod Martin’s The Vanguard site is also a long-time supporter of this column. Alex Gimarc is a long-time member of the previous Town Hall Conservative group.