Politics

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Energy is going to play a larger part in the 2008 election than I think anybody suspected it would a year ago.  Suddenly, non-fossil-fuel is at the forefront.

How serious are we?

Amid the rolling hills and verdant pastures of south central Virginia an unlikely new front in the battle over nuclear energy is opening up. How it is decided will tell us a lot about whether this country is willing to get serious about addressing its energy needs.

In Pittsylvania County, just north of the North Carolina border, the largest undeveloped uranium deposit in the United States -- and the seventh largest in the world, according to industry monitor UX Consulting -- sits on land owned by neighbors Henry Bowen and Walter Coles. Large uranium deposits close to the surface are virtually unknown in the U.S. east of the Mississippi River. And that may be the problem.

It seems to me that safe and reliable nuclear energy is going to have to play a larger role in our energy supply than it has previously.  Instead of "puddle jumper" aircraft that move from regional airports to the hubs, we may have to develop an electric (nuclear powered) train system for that segment of the journey.  That, all by itself, would release jet fuel to be used by the hub-to-hub larger planes that would still be forced to use fossil fuels.

Even if coast-to-coast trains were made more "attractive" to the general user (yes, it would take LOTS more time...but it could be made more feasible.  An iPod charger, wireless [satellite] internet, a curtain placed around the seat row for night-time sleeping, etc.)

As a society, we might have to slow down a little bit.  We might have to buy more locally grown crops.  We might have to start to ride bikes...I'm not sure that would be a bad thing.

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This is weird...I don't know what this post will look like (the margin is in the middle of the page)

Anyway...Mitt Romney "had to" apologize for using the "racial" term "tar baby"  and now John Kerry has used it to describe tactics of John McCain.  So...racial term or not?

Only because we have made it so.

It started out not:

(per wiki)
Tar-Baby was a doll made of tar and turpentine, used to entrap Br'er Rabbit in the second of the Uncle Remus stories. The more that Br'er Rabbit fought the Tar-Baby, the more entangled he became. In contemporary usage, "tar baby" refers to any "sticky situation" that is only aggravated by additional contact. The only way to solve such a situation is by separation.[1]

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Just a collection of links concerning "alternative energy"

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Microbial (dang it, I closed the tab before catching the link)

The microbial energy solution for biofuels and solar power The Biodesign team, in their Nature Review Microbiology perspective article, outlines the prospects for bioenergy. They believe the future of microbial bioenergy is brightened by recent advancements in genome technologies and other molecular-biology techniques. One species of bacteria, the human gut bacterium E. coli, has become the workhorse of the multi-trillion dollar global biotech industry.

E. coli?

LiveFuels uses open ponds to grow algae that are indigenous to the local environment, hoping that this will avoid the invasion problem. Since algae need nutrients to grow, including nitrogen and phosphorous, the company plans to feed agricultural runoff water - polluted with nitrogen and phosphorous fertilizers - into its ponds, combining energy production with water treatment.

Another company, Bionavitas, of Redmond, Washington, also grows native algae, but in deep, narrow canals, with a special optical system to bring light to the algae beneath the surface. It too hopes to harness nutrients from polluted wastewater; and because intense carbon dioxide inputs can speed growth, it envisages setting up sites next to a factory that could funnel smokestack emissions directly into its canals. Michael Weaver, the chief executive, said that Bionavitas aimed to use "the whole algae" to produce biodiesel, ethanol, nutriceuticals and products currently derived from petroleum.

Use "bad stuff" to grow "good stuff"...

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Shale Oil:

In the post immediately below, Senator John Cornyn talks about the need to get serious about solving our energy problems by developing our own domestic resources. One good example is shale oil, of which the U.S. has more than any other country. In fact, Rocky Mountain shale is believed to contain the equivalent of 2 trillion barrels of oil. Is that a lot? The entire world has used around 1 trillion barrels since oil was discovered in Pennsylvania in 1859.

Not exactly "alternative", except in the "it's an alternative to importing our oil" sort of way.  Lots of oil, hard to get and we need more refining capability.

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Picken's Wind Power...

Studies from around the world show that the Great Plains states are home to the greatest wind energy potential in the world — by far.

The Department of Energy reports that 20% of America's electricity can come from wind. North Dakota alone has the potential to provide power for more than a quarter of the country.

Okay...bit start up cost.  If we deal with that, what are the long term benefits?

Or, we could just hook the generators up to the chambers of congress...

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On a link from Picken's site:  A car that runs on natural gas (which we have quite a bit of).

But wait!  We don't have very many fuel stations for natural gas...but wait!  I heat my house with natural gas - and there are ways to add a fuel station right at my house.

There are drawbacks, of course...let's work them out.

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Okay...the mother kidnapped, abused, neglected, disappeared...

and the father is PRESENT, but the kids are under the "supervision" of the Welfare Office.   The default custody is generally to the mother...even a kidnapper, abuser, neglecter...

A MOTHER who abandoned her two young daughters with friends in Cyprus is believed to be in her homeland Holland.

Dutch police are now searching her previous addresses to serve her with a summons, after an arrest warrant was issued in Cyprus for serious child abuse and neglect.

The two girls, aged nine and 11, are now with their father, Gerard Roppeveel, and under the protection of the Cyprus Social Welfare Office.

According to Annita Koni, the Head of the Welfare Office’s Family and Child Service, “The Department has already taken the appropriate measures to protect the children and they are in a safe place under our supervision.” (...)

The story came to light when a friend of the family – who frequently took the little girls in to feed, wash and clothe them – contacted the Cyprus Mail and recounted the girls’ awful plight.

She was appalled that crippling bureaucracy procedures were preventing Roppeveel from taking his daughters back home, so they could live “a stable and secure life”. (...)

Courts in Cyprus are hesitant to allow Roppeveel to leave the island as the mother is not present. They are also having trouble trying to get the girls’ passports as they disappeared with their mum, when she left Cyprus over a month ago, leaving her children with the family friend.

According to the Chairman of the House Legal Affairs Committee, Ionas Nicolaou of DISY, there are specific procedures that need to be followed for a father to be able to secure a court order for full custody in the absence of the mother.

“The father must prove that the mother has abandoned her children,” he explained. “You can’t remove custody from a mother without following specific procedures. He must see a lawyer and start these proceedings.”

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WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama wants to speak at the Brandenburg Gate. He figures it would be a nice backdrop. The supporting cast -- a cheering audience and a few fainting frauleins -- would be a picturesque way to bolster his foreign policy credentials.

What Obama does not seem to understand is that the Brandenburg Gate is something you earn. President Reagan earned the right to speak there because his relentless pressure had brought the Soviet empire to its knees and he was demanding its final "tear down this wall" liquidation. When President Kennedy visited the Brandenburg Gate on the day of his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, he was representing a country that was prepared to go to the brink of nuclear war to defend West Berlin.

Americans are beginning to notice Obama's elevated opinion of himself. There's nothing new about narcissism in politics. Every senator looks in the mirror and sees a president. Nonetheless, has there ever been a presidential nominee with a wider gap between his estimation of himself and the sum total of his lifetime achievements?

Indeed.

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and (of course) the political party...

(from a blog comment: "This not-so-subliminal image of the cross was very deliberate. This guy is like McCarthy, Hitler & George Wallace trying to pass himself off like a boyscout leader.... This guy could actually end up being worse the GW Bush...."

From Peggy Noonan:  I love the cross. The sight of it, the fact of it, saves me, literally and figuratively. But there is a kind of democratic politesse in America, and it has served us well, in which we are happy to profess our faith but don’t really hit people over the head with its symbols in an explicitly political setting, such as a campaign commercial, which is what Mr. Huckabee’s ad was.

And then there's Mr. Obama.

(Edit:  I think this may be where the "sidebar" issue is)

From CBN: The Obama campaign has consistently believed that their candidate can compete for the “religious vote”. A lot has been made about how Obama hasn’t done as well with Catholics compared to Clinton. But let’s remember one thing: Obama has a story to tell about how Jesus came into his life. You can bet we will be hearing more details about it on the stump in the fall. (if Obama is the nominee)

(and Huckabee didn't?)

(EDIT:

please

excuse

the

editorial

antics

while

I

try

to

drop

the next post down...)

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This first one is important...we will begin to see religious freedoms eroded, shipped away at or litigated away.  This is not a "Christian" issue, but it is one that Christians should stand behind, for the sake of the freedom for all.

From Texas:

A small rural school district in Fort Bend County and a determined mother are tangled in a dispute over hair.

Michelle Betenbaugh says her 5-year-old son, Adriel Arocha, wears his hair long because of religious beliefs tied to his Native American heritage.

But the leaders of the Needville school district have strict rules about long hair on boys and don't see any reason to make an exception in his case.

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From Florida:

BRADENTON - A 94-year-old man whose arrest in a prostitution sting here caused an international buzz will not be prosecuted. A judge ruled Tuesday that Frank Milio was a victim of entrapment.

Milio, who has dementia, was unable to get into a care facility while his case was pending.

Okay...he's 94!  and demented...

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All is not well in Democrat-land...

or Republican-land...

Oh...it is going to be an interesting election cycle.

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Tom McMahon by Tom McMahon

Barack Obama's sitting at a bar when a man comes up to him and says: "Wanna hear a Barack Obama joke?" Obama: "Er, hold on there, buddy — I am Barack Obama."  "Oh. all right then, I'll tell it in Spanish."

More here.  (the page linked here is clean.  I take no responsibility for where it goes from here - and I didn't go past here)
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(AP) A federal judge has overturned a decision by the U.S. Forest Service to allow oil and gas drilling near a forest and a river in Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula.

U.S. District Judge David Lawson of Detroit ruled Thursday the agency had acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" in 2005 by giving Savoy Energy LP of Traverse City a permit to drill an exploratory well near the Au Sable River's south branch.

When I was a kid I fell in love with the idea of Kirtland's Warbler.  It was the "underdog"  and I had never seen one.  My family (grandparents) owned property in Grayling and I remember the time spent there very fondly.  I believe at that time the "specialists" were pretty sure the bird would be extinct soon and it would have been if they had not worked hard to protect it.

One of the rarest birds in the world, Kirtland's Warbler is a small songbird.  They spend winters in the Bahamas and during the summer all of these birds come to the Northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

They are in danger for two reasons:  1) habitat and 2) cowbirds.

In the article I linked to above, a judge has ruled that the drilling company cannot drill in the area for which they paid for a permit to drill (and said permit was granted).


Here are the two quotes that (for those who care to pay attention) make the Sierra Club and the judge (a collaborative effort) look like idiots.

quote #1:

But the judge ruled the Forest Service didn't consider how degrading the area could harm tourism, and said the agency did a "woefully inadequate" job of evaluating how the drilling might affect the Kirtland's warbler, an endangered songbird that nests in the area.

quote #2

"We've said from the beginning we didn't want to stop them from drilling," said Marvin Roberson, a forest policy specialist with the Sierra Club. "We want them to drill from a place that won't be harmful to the old-growth forest or the recreational experience."

This is where a person has to have a little bit of knowledge to know that these two things are mutally exclusive.

  • Old-growth forest
  • Kirtland's Warbler...

Folks...Kirtland's Warblers...DON'T NEST IN OLD GROWTH FORESTS!!!There are not many areas of old-growth forest in Grayling - the only significant acrage that is listed anywhere I could find is inside the boundries of Hartwick Pines State Park (we camped there a couple of weeks ago).  This is not where the drilling would be taking place.  Sierra Clubs appeal to "old growth" is a misleading at best.

Kirtland's Warblers nest in Jack Pine Forests - one of the first tree to grow after a forest fire.  A Jack Pine Forest is  NEW GROWTH FOREST.

Not only does this darling little bird not nest in "old growth forests", they don't even next in older Jack Pine forests!  Kirtland's Warblers nest under (not in)  Jack Pine trees that are young - between 8 and 20 years old.

The DNR in Michigan is giving Kirtland's Warblers new and safe habitat in which to live.

How do they do this?

BY CUTTING DOWN TREES AND BURNING AREAS FORESTED WITH MATURE TREES!

Local anglers can make a good case for prohibiting drilling withing a reasonable distance of the AuSable River.  The Mason Tract (where the drilling would be angling under) was given to the state with the intent that it be maintained as wilderness.  I think that it should be maintained as wilderness.

So I am NOT saying that drilling should happen (there are good reasons that it should not), but that the people who want it stopped should at least get their act together and not let the Sierra Club undermine their credibility by appealing to the Kirtland's Warblers nesting area in the Old Growth Forest.

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I've written on this a little bit in other places and it is a volatile topic and one that is difficult to discuss without getting emotional (for anybody).  I am writing from a philosophical point, not an emotional point.

I AM NOT "PRO-SLAVERY"; the post is to encourage the philosophical and Biblical viewpoint of calling sin "sin" and making sure that which we call "sin" is.
1) God does not regulate sin - He prohibits it.

If Scripture never tells us that an activity is sin, the burden of proof is on the one who calls it "sin".

The easiest way to prove slavery "sin" is to stand on the "golden rule".  Treat others the way you want to be treated.  If you would not want to be a slave, don't enslave others.  As a Christian...that makes perfect sense.

The next question would be:  might there be (or ever in history have been) a reason that being a slave might be better than the alternative?  Are there any circumstances that slavery would be beneficial/harmful to either the individual or the society.
2) right off hand, I can think of four different kinds of slavery  mentioned in Scripture:

  • debt slavery
  • kidnapping for the purpose of slavery
  • prisoners of war
  • punitive slavery

---Debt slavery:  If a person finds themselves overloaded with debt, they have the opportunity to work off that debt to the person owed.  They are released at the end of the time, they are free of the debt.  They are able to bail themselves out.  (that's a definition, not a judgement.)

NOTE:  I do not see this as being a good or practical thing in the society that we have today.  Looking at the "debtor's prisons" that we read about, it might have seemed a good option at the time.

SIN or not? (from Scripture only, please)?  (I'd rather have a discussion than put forth my thoughts - but would most likely play devil's advocate either way)

---Chattel slavery:  there is no justification of this act.  Slave trade was on the list of Tyre's condemnation and no matter what I might find about the other sorts of "manditory labor", the kidnapping and enslavement of a group of people - and the further keeping of their descendents in slavery is wrong.  Sin.  Condemned.  There is no justification for this.  (I believe that the preying on impoverished parents of children and purchasing them for the purpose of slavery that we see to day in parts of Africa and Asia are included in this segment.

---Prisoners of war:  three choices - dead.  refugee camp.  slave.  None of them are good choices.  (Again this is for discussion purpose and I'll gladly play devil's advocate for either side - but argue from Scripture)

NOTE:  the Geneva Convention permits the use of prisoners of war for "forced labor".  There are strict guidelines about what sort of work can be done, working and living conditions and prohibits the use of forced labor on actual military jobs.  A prisoner of war can be made to work in an agriculture setting, but cannot be made to manufacture bombs.

Using a prisoner of war for "forced labor" is not the same as conducting a war in order to get prisoners in order to get slaves (see kidnapping)

---Punitive slavery:  Sorry, but I think I could convinced to be at least a little bit in favor of this one.

California:  a "soccer mom" was loading stuff into the back of her car and was rear ended by an "illegal alien" (undocumented immigrant) - who happened to be driving under the influence of alcohol.  This wife and mother lost the use of her legs and looks forward to many months of rehab and the expenses incurred not only as part of treatment, but also with living as a person with impairments.

- instead of being shipped back to Mexico - again - after being caught driving drunk - again - what if this man were put in a place where his labor contributed to the income of the woman that he injured?

Michigan:  A man shoots and kills a cop, depriving the officer's wife and children of his love, support and income.  We now have a single mom with three kids.

- instead of being imprisoned for life, what if this man's labor went into a college fund for the children of the man he killed?

Anywhere:  a young man steals a car and wrecks it.  The insurance company pays, the owner of the car pays, the young man may lose time.

What if a person who steals property and destroys or damages it was made to work for the owner of the property in order to make restitution?

From Scripture, please?

(NOTE:  this post is only philosophical ramblings...mostly due to the continued and wearying and offensive habit of some egalitarians of comparing a Godly marriage where the husband is the leader...to chattel slavery)

What we think of as slavery (in the modern sense) fits into the "kidnapping for slavery" slot.  Race-based slavery fits into that slot.  Kidnapping and breeding of a group of people for the purpose of slavery is sin.  Condemned.  Wrong.

This  "chattel" slavery (and subsequent denial of the slave's humanity) can (in NO WAY) be justified.  The other three (especially in Scripture) have no impact on the way that the humanity of the slave (or bond-servant in some cases) was seen.  In two of the cases the "slavery" was more "manditory labor" which was brought about by the actions of the person in bondage.

Again, I am not in ANY WAY advocating for a return of the chattel slave system, a dehumanization of a race, the manditory

From an emotional standpoint:  I have no desire to be a slave or own a slave.  To my modern mind, the idea is not at all attractive.  As a Christian:  slavery is to be avoided and I think that it is sin for a Christian to seek to be a slave.

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Really.
For some (me) the passing out of peanuts is its own form of torture.  The last few flights I've been on, pretzels have been the treat of the day.  At any rate...

The Electronic ID Bracelet, as it’s referred to, would be worn by every traveler “until they disembark the flight at their destination.”  Yes, you read that correctly. Every airline passenger would be tracked by a government-funded GPS, containing personal, private and confidential information, and would shock the customer worse than an electronic dog collar if the passenger got out of line.

Clearly the Electronic ID Bracelet is a euphuism for the EMD Safety Bracelet, or at least it has a nefarious hidden ability (thus the term ID Bracelet is ambiguous at best). EMD stands for Electro-Musclar Disruption. Again, according to the promotional video, the bracelet can completely immobilize the wearer for several minutes.

So is the government really that interested in this bracelet?Apparently so.

According to this letter from DHS official, Paul S. Ruwaldt of the Science and Technology Directorate, office of Research and Development, which was written to the inventor whom he had previously met with, Ruwaldt wrote, “To make it clear, we [the federal government] are interested in . . . the immobilizing security bracelet, and look forward to receiving a written proposal.”

wow...just...wow.