Monday, May 19, 2008

Monday Morning Rant 38

Do you Believe This?

“GENEVA (Reuters) - A special U.N. human rights investigator will visit the United States this month to probe racism, an issue that has forced its way into the race to secure the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.
The United Nations said Doudou Diene would meet federal and local officials, as well as lawmakers and judicial authorities during the May 19-June 6 visit.

"The special rapporteur will gather first-hand information on issues related to racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance," a U.N. statement said on Friday.

His three-week visit, at U.S. government invitation, will cover eight cities—Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Omaha, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Race has become a central issue in the U.S. election cycle because Sen. Barack Obama, the frontrunner in the battle for the Democratic nomination battle, stands to become the country's first African American president..
His campaign has increased turnout among black voters but has also turned off some white voters in a country with a history of slavery and racial segregation.

Diene, a Senegalese lawyer who has served in the independent post since 2002, will report his findings to the U.N. Human Rights Council next year.

However, the United Nations has almost no clout when it comes to U.S. domestic affairs and is widely perceived by many as interfering. The United States is not among the 47 member states of the Geneva-based forum, but has observer status.

In a report last year he said Islamophobia had grown worldwide since the September 11 2001 attacks on the United States, carried out by al-Qaeda militants.”

The whole thing is just too bizarre to even consider. An organization peopled by some of the worst human rights violators in the history of the world coming here to report on abuse in the land of the free. Give me a break!

Power Politics

If you have been in a super market recently, you have a good idea of how the cost of bio fuels has affected your life whether you drive or not. Due to high demand placed on foodstuffs for use in ethanol, prices are going through the roof. You might also get a clue from your annual tax statement. Through tax breaks, loan guarantees and outright subsidies, the total cost to the American taxpayer totaled $16.6 billion last year. Did anyone bother to ask the citizen if they got their money’s worth?

In the area of generation of electrical power, all prices are pegged to the mega watt hour base. The top subsidized of these are: solar power - $24.34, wind power $23.37 and “so called,” clean coal at $29.81. Compare that to normal coal at 44¢, natural gas 25¢, hydroelectric 67¢ and nuclear power at $1.59 and then start scratching your head. Are the most expensive innovators taking over the power industry? It’s not likely to happen. Wind and solar combined only generate about 1% of the power on the grid. In spite of excessive regulation and ridiculous controls, our aging nuclear plants still manage to deliver nearly 20% of power nationwide.

When the numbers are crunched to an acceptable unit of energy the comparisons are available to compare apples to oranges. Bio fuels cost $5.72, Solar $2.82, refined coal $1.25 and natural gas 3¢! Since natural gas carries little or no subsidy, it appears higher priced. Since bio fuel is heavily subsidized it appears normal at the pump. The costs you don’t see are the taxable results of these subsidies. Unseen or not, we all need to be aware that the cost is still there. Ultimately, every tax is passed to the consumer in a higher retail price. In the case of bio fuels, it also reflected as a consequence in the pricing of other consumer goods; vegetables, meat, dairy, leather, etc.

If you understand this, you are light years ahead of the congress.

Malaria in a Snowball Fight

Part of the not-so-veiled threats made by the Global Warmers is that continued warming will threaten our resistance to infectious diseases such as malaria. Balderdash and poppycock! Due to the lack of public health facilities and subsequent disease control in poor countries close to equator an increased presence of malaria is reported. Therefore the casual observer has come to believe that malaria is the property of hot steamy climates and as a result, global warming will increase the incidence of the disease.

This is a fiction perpetrated upon those who have no real knowledge of history. The “ague” referred to in at least eight of Shakespeare’s plays was in reality, malaria. He wrote at the beginning of the cold spell which came to be called the “Little Ice Age.” The disease was common in Europe and America until advances in agriculture and sanitation coupled with the discovery of quinine as a cure finally wiped it out. The disease also was nearly eradicated by the chemical DDT until the chemical itself was eradicated first by know-nothing do-gooders. The presence of malaria today in sub-Saharan Africa is a result of poverty and political ignorance, not steamy hot days.

The last country in Europe to be declared malaria free was Holland in 1970. A country far more noted for silver skates on frozen ponds than sweltering mosquito-laden nights. Keep in mind that the warming movement is fueled by profit and ideology. Not much room left to accommodate the truth.
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The lies, half truths and outrage continue. We are under a constant assault and need to be especially on the alert. If you are in the market for a trusted source; I have a recommendation. It’s called prayer and when used in concert with the Holy Bible, it will lead you to truths you can use. For example you might ask for discernment to sort the chaff from the news reports to get a kernel of truth. If you do not seek it for your own enlightenment you will become the complicit victim of their twisted offerings.

In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon

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