Clipmarks | n2sooners's Comments

Group Of US Mayors Calling For An Import Ban On Canadian Oil

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 07:35:50 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: specifically the lucrative oilsands of the Northern part of the province.

The concept is still relatively unknown to most people outside of the province. Using cutting edge thinking and current technology oil is separated from sand dug out of the ground. The oilsands have always been here, but it has only been in the last while that the technology existed that would allow this kind of process.

The enviroNazi movement in the Great White North, led by Canada’s national Nature Boy and our answer to Al Gore, David Suzuki, has long had it’s crosshairs on Alberta’s Progressive Conservative government and what is perceived as their lack of environmental concern and pro-business bias.

Now, the latest attack on Alberta’s oil industry has come from outside our borders. The simmering of negative press in the United States has been blown up into a full fire with a recent resolution passed by group of U.S. mayors, laughably calling for an import ban on our province’s oil.

Clip Source: www.themoderateseparatist.com

History has shown an unfortunate flaw of the Canadian mindset that says that when the oil-rich, good-ol’-boy Western Canadian province of Alberta enjoys a lucrative economic boom, the rest of Canada spends its time and energy devising different methods to get their grubby hands on the cash, the province’s economy be damned.

Ottawa’s attempts at our wealth aren’t new, and Albertans have long memories. Pierre Trudeau effectively killed Alberta’s economy for more than a decade with his memorable attempt, sold as ‘necessary to stabilize prices’.

The resulting economic collapse still stings in the memory of our citizens. One mention of the National Energy Program (N.E.P.) is as offensive to some patriotic Albertans as the term Nazi is to some older generation Germans.

The latest attack on Alberta’s current wave of prosperity is something of an old nemesis dressed in a new costume. The environment has long been the excuse for attacks against Alberta’s oil industry

Tags: western canada, alberta, pro-business, oilsands, technology

Virgin Group Chairman Sir Richard Branson Willing To Pay Carbon Offsets

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:08:32 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Former United Nation's chief Kofi Annan. "We must have climate justice."

Abdul Gayoom is president of The Maldives, a band of 1,200 islands in the Indian Ocean. He said his nation faces elimination if sea levels rise, as a result of global warming... and suggested proceeds from aviation-related carbon offsets go towards benefitting small nations.

Clip Source: www.aero-news.net

There's at least one airline CEO willing to put his money where his mouth is when it comes to paying for greenhouse gas emissions from commercial airliners. Virgin Group chairman Sir Richard Branson told attendees of a meeting on climate change Tuesday that all carriers should be willing to pay so-called "carbon offsets" against damaging emissions from their planes.

The Associated Press reports Branson told the Global Humanitarian Forum he is willing to lead by example, and offered to pay carbon-related taxes on his aviation-related businesses.

"If you run a dirty business -- an airline business, a shipping business, ... coal business, you should pay for the privilege because you are doing damage," Branson said.

That position was applauded by the head of the forum, former United Nation's chief Kofi Annan. "We must recognize that the polluter must pay, and not the poor and vulnerable," Annan said. "We must have climate justice."

Tags: global humanitarian forum, sir richard branson, virgin group chariman

Bush's attempt to keep us hooked on oil

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:09:05 GMT

clipped by: egoldstein
clipper's remarks: Man, Tom Friedman just nails it. This is exactly what the Bush administration is trying to do and it scares the heck out of me. I strongly suggest that you click the source link to read the entire article.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Two years ago, President Bush declared that America was “addicted to oil,” and, by gosh, he was going to do something about it. Well, now he has. Now we have the new Bush energy plan: “Get more addicted to oil.”

Actually, it’s more sophisticated than that: Get Saudi Arabia, our chief oil pusher, to up our dosage for a little while and bring down the oil price just enough so the renewable energy alternatives can’t totally take off. Then try to strong arm Congress into lifting the ban on drilling offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

It is hard for me to find the words to express what a massive, fraudulent, pathetic excuse for an energy policy this is. But it gets better. The president actually had the gall to set a deadline for this drug deal:

Tags: bush, oil, alternative energy, politics

James Dobson accuses Obama of `distorting' Bible

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:42:53 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: Obama is correct on this. Dobson and Minnery are basically slamming those who do not acknowledge the New Testament - where Obama is at least acknowledging the Old and New.
What irritates me about religion are those that think their version is the absolute truth (Dobbs/Minnery as an example) since they are no different then the radical Islamic groups.

Clip Source: ap.google.com

"Even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools?" Obama said. "Would we go with James Dobson's or Al Sharpton's?" referring to the civil rights leader.

Dobson took aim at examples Obama cited in asking which Biblical passages should guide public policy — chapters like Leviticus, which Obama said suggests slavery is OK and eating shellfish is an abomination, or Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, "a passage that is so radical that it's doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application."

"Folks haven't been reading their Bibles," Obama said.

Dobson and Minnery accused Obama of wrongly equating Old Testament texts and dietary codes that no longer apply to Jesus' teachings in the New Testament.

Tags: obama, relugon, politics, christianity, bible

Racism in America (and obviously in the Republican Party)

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:08:26 GMT

clipped by: izzy3r

Clip Source: current.com

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6081

At the Republican state convention, a booth hosted by Republicanmarket was selling a pin Saturday that says: If Obama is President will we still call it the White House.

Tags: obama, racism

Bush's attempt to keep us hooked on oil

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:09:05 GMT

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Tags: bush, oil, alternative energy, politics

A Radicalist View of Conservative Mindset

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:17:55 GMT

clipped by: DrCat2013
clipper's remarks: For entertainment purposes only

Clip Source: dailykos.com

The conservative mind

It must be really scary to be a conservative. To be one, you must live in constant fear of terrorists nuking the United States, of gay people on the verge of convincing you that you really enjoy sodomy, of Spanish becoming the official language of the United States next week, of every African-American voting seven or eight times in the next election, of radical Islam suddenly becoming the latest hip thing among kids across the country, of perpetual lesbian orgies in girls bathrooms in high schools across America, of liberals forcing everyone to become a vegan, of Christians being rounded up into concentration camps, and of Democrats outlawing private property if they were to ever take power again.

They do live in a state of fear, and what's more, they want everyone else to join them hiding under their bed, in their pool of urine.

Oh, they'll talk tough. They'll bluster and pound their chests like the neanderthals they are.

Why we need high oil prices

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:11:27 GMT

clipped by: egoldstein
clipper's remarks: I know this sounds crazy, but i honestly believe that high oil prices in the short term (1-5 years) is a very good thing if it forces us to find alternatives. I am definitely concerned that if oil prices drop temporarily, the momentum behind alternatives such as wind and solar will die off - leaving us exactly where we are today - way too dependent on oil and way to harmful to our environment.

Clip Source: www.ft.com

If the Democratic party were correct about speculation and gouging, it should be demanding a Nobel Prize for futures traders and oil titans. They have done more for the planet than Al Gore, making the pump price of petrol so unthinkably expensive (almost half as dear as in Europe!) that the country has started to economise. Americans are driving less and buying smaller cars.

If ever there were a case for the maxim, get prices right, this is it. The way to curb carbon emissions is to add the environmental cost of carbon to the price of energy. The current oil price offers a good opportunity: when it falls (as it probably will) a carbon tax could be used to set a floor, making the transition to correctly priced energy much easier.

Tags: alternative energy, oil, politics

Obama's fake birth certificate

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:49:02 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners
clipper's remarks: Why doesn't the campaign just drop the five or ten bucks it takes to get an official certification of live birth or better yet, the actual birth certificate and put this whole thing to rest? I can't imagine that at this point in his career that there is any major problem with his birth certificate, so why not just release it? Seriously, there are situations where a birth certificate is a required form of ID, you would think being president, with it's constitutional requirements, would be one of those situations.

Clip Source: web.israelinsider.com

It is now a certainty that the "birth certificate" claimed by the Barack Obama campaign as authentic is a photoshopped fake.

The image, purporting to come from the Hawaii Department of Health, has been the subject of intense skepticism in the blogosphere in the past two weeks. But now the senior spokesman of that Department has confirmed to Israel Insider what are the required features of a certified birth document -- features that Obama's purported "birth certificate" clearly lack.

Janice Okubo, Director of Communications of the State of Hawaii Department of Health, told Israel Insider: "At this time there are no circumstances in which the State of Hawaii Department of Health would issue a birth certification or certification of live birth only electronically." And, she added, "In the State of Hawaii all certified copies of certificates of live birth have the embossed seal and registrar signature on the back of the document."

Tags: obama, birth, politics

Huge advance in fuel efficiency

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 03:09:56 GMT

clipped by: willhelm

Clip Source: gas2.org

Revetec, a little known company from the Gold Coast region of Australia, may be on to something huge: they’ve created an engine that is 50% smaller, 50% lighter, has 50% lower emissions and is cheaper to manufacture than a conventional internal combustion engine of the same horsepower. Oh yeah, did I mention that it doubles the fuel economy too.

What that means is a car like the 2007 Toyota Yaris, which is rated at 40 mpg on the highway, would get 80 mpg with a Revetec engine.

This isn’t some hoax… They have a prototype which has been attached to an actual vehicle and independently tested to substantiate their claims.

In personal communication with Mr. Brad Howell-Smith, the Chairman, Inventor and CAD Designer for Revetec, he says “road tests have estimated that [the engine] uses around 50% less fuel than a conventional engine” and if it were converted to run on diesel, that performance gain could be much higher.

Madhouse Madison Considers Ban on Drive-Through Windows

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 06:22:07 GMT

clipped by: Smoke TNT

Clip Source: moonbattery.com

Madison, Wisconsin — which competes with Ann Arbor for the title of the Berkeley of the Midwest — has solved both high gas prices and the imaginary global warming crisis in a single blow: by proposing a ban on drive-through windows.

Explains Eric Sundquist of the Madison Plan Commission, who doesn't want to permit a new Starbucks to have a drive-through window:

Given the concern about all the carbon going into the atmosphere, I'm not sure we should be building more places for people to sit idling in their cars.

With enough restrictions, we'll be forced to get out of our cars and go inside to get coffee, thus lowering carbon emissions, cutting gasoline usage, and striking a blow against "America's auto-centric lifestyle." Where would we be without authoritarian bureaucrats?

Tags: global warming, freedom, environment, government, politics, scam, lunatics

Obama ally, warns GOP will play race card

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:50:23 GMT

clipped by: reddogiedog
clipper's remarks: It appears that its the Dems playing the race card.

Clip Source: www.mcclatchydc.com

Kansas governor, Obama ally, warns GOP will play race card

WASHINGTON — Echoing comments by Barack Obama, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius predicted that Republicans would undertake "a major effort to try and frighten people about him" because of his race.

"That has been the Republican playbook for the last eight years," said Sebelius, an Obama ally. " 'He’s not qualified, he's somebody who should scare you. He's too liberaI.' "

The Kansas Democrat, often mentioned as a possible running mate for Obama, said those were all "code words" to try to make voters "uncomfortable."

"I don’t think anybody's going to go directly at the race issue, but that’s going to be an underlying theme," she said in an interview this week.

Obama said much the same thing to an audience in Florida last week.

"They're going to try to make you afraid of me," the presumptive Democratic nominee said. ‘"He's young and inexperienced and he's got a funny name. And did I mention he’s black?" ’

Tags: obama, sebelius, race

Warren Buffett on windfall profit taxes

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:50:21 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners
clipper's remarks: Will the media notice?

Clip Source: newsbusters.org

"I think it is very hard to have windfall taxes," Buffett said. "Steel has doubled in price. Is that a windfall for the steel producers? Sure. Corn is $7 a bushel; soybeans are at $15 a bushel. I don't think any candidate in his right mind with the number of electoral votes in farm states would say you ought to tax farms specially because they are getting a windfall."

"But they [farms] are getting a windfall from commodity prices," Buffett said. "Maybe they deserve it because commodities have been under priced, but to pick out one commodity - with copper at $3.60 a pound, you could say that the copper producers are getting a windfall. The networks are getting a windfall because of the Olympics. So, I don't think that picking anybody that's had a commodity that's increased in price a lot and saying that there's a special tax because of that makes any sense.

Buffett said he disapproved of the windfall profits taxes in an interview with CNBC's Becky Quick on "Power Lunch" on June 25.

Tags: buffett, taxes, oil, politics, economics

101 Photoshop Tips in Five Minutes

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:20:33 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners
clipper's remarks: Couldn't clip the video. Worth going to the site to watch though.

Clip Source: digitalmedia.oreilly.com

If you've ever read a computer magazine, you know the idea behind "101 Tips." One gala issue, lots of first-rate contributors, lots of quality information. And lots and lots of pages. But when's the last time one lone guy tried to capture 101 tips in video? In just 5 minutes of video? Set to music? This is the realm of dekePod, the once-every-other-weekly series from Deke McClelland. It's bold, it's brash, it's ridiculous. It's a podcast with serious issues. Enjoy.

Right-click or Ctrl-click to download this dekePod (.mov file 52.3Mb). You can also subscribe to dekePod via RSS or iTunes to get the videos automatically. Or, you may download the podcast version.

Tags: photoshop, tips, humor

A Trifecta Of Gaffes Has Obama Taking Heat

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:37:41 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: By laughing not with, but at, Obama the mainstream media again demonstrated the type of emotional distance one might almost mistake for journalistic independence. (Conservative pundits have been mocking Obama’s elite iconography for some time.)

For patriotic Americans holding traditional value this was a bit of civic blasphemy.The presumptuousness was only outdone by the lack of reverence for existing symbols of the U.S.

Obama played the race card - loudly and blatantly. He suggested, with no evidence whatsoever, that Republicans were pointing to his race as a reason to question his fitness for the presidency. That tactic seemed further evidence that his effort to minimize race are over and he now intends to use race as a sword to attack his Republican opponent. It however is a potentially dangerous strategy, certain to turn off some segment of white voters who do not want to be bludgeoned by racial politics.

Here Obama has done what weeks of McCain ads and speeches could not

Clip Source: pajamasmedia.com

Barack Obama is endangering his status as the media darling of the 2008 presidential campaign. In fact, he has been the villain in the campaign story over the last few days.

The trigger for the downward slide was his decision to abandon public financing.

To make matters worse he concocted a false and misleading, indeed an “operatic” explanation that those mean Republicans forced him to take private money.

And for once, the media joined in the Obama-bashing and perhaps was even harsher.

In short, the campaign finance move exposed the Great and Powerful Oz as an ordinary man behind that curtain.

Clip Source: pajamasmedia.com

The second incident was comical but telling. Obama had a faux seal of the U.S. — a knock off of the Great Seal — constructed for his benefit.

Never have they questioned or examined the messiah-complex which envelops the Obama movement. Certainly, they have not seriously examined the arrogance of a man who knows so little but claims such grand wisdom.

Tags: obama, campaign finance, faux great seal, race card, mccain