Featured Quote

In 1913, Henry Ford wrote the following as the directors had been reaping the rewards of profits - "The wages we pay are too small in comparison with our profits. I think we should raise our minimum pay rate".

Friday, February 11, 2011

Fired to Work?

We want to get people back to work, so we are going to fire a lot of people
“The level of cuts here have not taken place in Congress since World War II,” Cantor said. “That’s how big these cuts are, OK? So we have now produced a working document, again a bill that will be brought to the floor that will make history again. Since World War II, this place has not seen a cut like this. These are not easy cuts. But we understand our country is on a path to fiscal ruin and if we want to get the economy going, we want to get people back to work, this is one of the first steps we need to take.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/49295.html#ixzz1DekVqqS0
Yeah.  So the Republican plan to put people back to work is to slash federal spending - and federal jobs, putting thousands of people into the job market.  ... I will let that logic speak for itself.


On the budget, McCarthy says it’s just the beginning.
“As many have said we didn’t get into this problem overnight, it takes some time to turn it around,” he told reporters. “But this will be the first step forward.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/49295.html#ixzz1Del0A0zJ 
It has been said before, but it bears repeating - The Minds who got us into this mess, are NOT the ones to get us out of it.

.... and on a TOTALLY unrelated note, a Song!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Global Warming

"It got cold - so much for global warming"  ... yeah, Simple much?  There is a reason "Simple" is equated with "Stupid" and the first quote is a prime example.

Let me see if I can break down Global Warming for the people who can no longer comprehend more than a short soundbite or catchphrase.  Or maybe the problem is the ever-shrinking attention span.

There are many articles stating that scientists agree that global warming is real and at least contributed to by human activity - and those that seek to convince you otherwise.  Then there are those who say Climate Change has already started affecting us.

I noticed throughout both the positive and negative articles that the most heated diatribes against "Global Warming" were not saying that the earth is not getting warmer - they were all saying that Humans do not contribute to it, most emphatically stating that oil and petroleum have no effect.  In other words, scientists whose jobs and livelihood depend on continuing to use oil are the ones making the claims that "global warming" does not exist.

It is not just some "hey, the weather is going to get warmer" kind of silliness.  It has MUCH greater impact than that.
In the Gulf of Mexico, Alexandra Cousteau said, the runoff down the Mississippi River from farms in the Midwest has created a dead zone the size of New Jersey where few species can survive. Wetlands in Louisiana are disappearing at the rate of 33 football fields a day as hurricanes grow in strength and frequency because of climate change, she said.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/06/09/69751/scientists-global-warming-has.html#ixzz1DZQ5xOav
So, a little acid kills off some shrimp - so what?  Well, the salmon and other game fish that WE eat, starve out and we loose our food supply.  Its all connected whether you comprehend it or not.  We are killing ourselves here.  The "Scientists" that claim carbon dioxide being pumped into the atmosphere is "healthy" are morons!  For one thing, the forests that they cite as benefiting from CO2 are being clear-cut - so we don't have as much of the air filter forests as we used to.  Those forests do 'breathe' in CO2 and 'exhale' Oxygen - they give us life... and we are clear-cutting them out of existence.

I suppose the only time some people will acknowledge that we are going down an unsustainable road of self-destruction is when they are laying on the ground gasping for oxygen beside their revving SUV.

There is snow in 49 states, and Alaska is complaining their snow is melting - a lot of melting - and it is not limited to Alaska.

Many say that 1934 was the hottest year on record in the United States, so we are not getting warmer.  Well, yeah, 1934 was the hottest year - in the United States.  Globally speaking, the 10 average hottest years have all occurred since 1998.  You can't compare "US" temps to "Global" temps in the argument - despite the size of the U.S. National ego.  Another thing about the 1934 argument is that it cooled off quickly... we are not cooling off now.  Now, a statement to point to how SMALL of a change we are talking about :
The "Global climate has warmed about a third of a degree Fahrenheit per decade since the late 1970s"

Also in the article quoted and linked to above, the scientists have said what I have been telling people :
However, many scientists project that extreme weather of all kinds will increase with global warming. Lately, some have begun to consider whether unusual cold last year in some places, including Europe, was, paradoxically, driven by dramatic warming in the arctic. They say that melting of sea ice may have shifted wind patterns, sending frigid polar air into the populated mid-latitudes during winter. 
So, YES, "Global Warming" is causing the "Extreme Winter" weather we are getting now.