Sorry for the radio silence, but it’s tough here in real estate land, and a man’s gotta somethin’ for a livin’ these days….then again, “Dyin’ ain’t much of a livin’ boy”!  But enough of Josey Wales; on with the Blog!
 
First up, political commentary from Neil Cavuto Republicans would do well to heed….but undoubtedly will ignore!

I think Republicans are focusing on the wrong race.  The White House is important.  But losing, and likely losing big, in the House and Congress, well, right now, that's more important.

Some telling signs of late.  A Mississippi congressional seat that was assumed a Republican lock was un-locked yesterday.  Democrat Travis Childers trouncing Republican Greg Davis, by 54 to 46 percent.  This, in a district that voted for President Bush by a 25 point margin.  And Real Clear Politics' Reid Wilson reports this conservative Democrat won, get this in many rural counties once considered Republican strong-holds.  No more.  And no longer unusual.  Keep in mind, Republicans have already lost two other special elections in Illinois and Louisiana.

Now three House seats do not a general election make, but they do make for trends.  And disturbing trends at that for a Republican Party hell-bent on keeping the White House, but forgetting even a victory there is meaningless if the other guys can stop you every step of the way in their house... Congress.  After all, Democrats are a mere handful of votes away from locking in a veto-proof and filibuster-proof 60-vote majority in the Senate.  And that, again, on top of very real gains, ahead of the election, in the House.

I know the presidency gets all the press.  But it's Congress that passes all the laws.  Republicans would be wise to remember that.  Democrats, clearly, haven't forgotten that.

Ladies and Gentlemen, as Walt Kelly, creator of the cartoon Pogo so aptly observed, “We have met the enemy, and he is us!”  The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight has betrayed our trust time after time.  First Bush I, then Newt, then Fat Denny Hastert, then Bush II; and now John Boehner.  I don’t count McCain as I consider him a RINO, and worthy only of contempt.  But the rest of these clowns have squandered what can only be considered a golden opportunity to show this country how true Conservatism can and would have turned this ship around…..and instead were drunk at the helm….with power, ego and an opinion of themselves inflated wider that Hastert’s waist.
 
Speaking of McCain, here’s the latest reason I fear him in the Oval Office only slightly less than Hillary or Osama:

Republican John McCain, reaching out to both independents and green-minded social conservatives, argues that global warming is undeniable and the country must take steps to bring it under control while adhering to free-market principles.  In remarks prepared for delivery Monday at a Portland, Ore., wind turbine manufacturer, the presidential contender says expanded nuclear power must be considered to reduce carbon-fuel emissions. He also sets a goal that by 2050, the country will reduce carbon emissions to a level 60 percent below that emitted in 1990.  “For all of the last century, the profit motive basically led in one direction — toward machines, methods and industries that used oil and gas,” said McCain. “Enormous good came from that industrial growth, and we are all the beneficiaries of the national prosperity it built. But there were costs we weren’t counting, and often hardly noticed. And these terrible costs have added up now, in the atmosphere, in the oceans and all across  

McCain has long expressed a belief in global warming, arguing that even if he is wrong, acting as if the planet’s temperature were increasing would only benefit the environment if scientists subsequently proved he was mistaken.  In his speech, he highlighted his personal experiences viewing evidence of glacial recession. He also cited evidence of a shift in animal migration patterns.  “You would think that if the polar bears, walruses, and sea birds have the good sense to respond to new conditions and new dangers, then humanity can respond as well,” he said.

For more on McCain’s latest environmental inanities, we turn to David Limbaugh:

In a preview of the speech, CNN reports that McCain will say: "We stand warned by serious and credible scientists across the world that time is short and the dangers are great. The most relevant question now is whether our own government is equal to the challenge."  No, Sen. McCain, the most relevant question is whether political leaders will have the diligence to study this issue and the integrity and courage to stand up to the propaganda of the enviro-bullies. The question is whether you can be a maverick where it counts

It is not Earth's ecosystem that hangs in the balance, but America's future. Those whose vision isn't blurred by green-colored glasses and the temptation to win accolades from the leftist-dominated culture can see that the global push to "save the planet" is more about destroying capitalism, private property and Western culture than sound, science-based environmental stewardship. Never mind the staggering contradiction that free market economies produce cleaner environs.  Indeed, I hate to break it to some of my fellow evangelical Christians who are falling into the trap along with McCain, but the global warming proselytes don't share your worldview. Do you realize you are jumping in bed with those who are promoting a pantheistic deification of the environment and a diminution of the dignity of human beings created in God's image?

Contrary to the mandated script from the warming zealots, there is plenty of credible dissent in the scientific community about global warming, particularly man's role in it. Much of this dissent comes from scientists in fields related to weather studies. Imagine that.  The fact that the enviro-church fathers have "outlawed" dissenting opinion and slander those offering it tells us something fishy is afoot.

And for you McCain supporters who think the only issues that matter are the war and taxes, not to mention abortion and immigration -- all of which are incalculably important -- I urge you not to underestimate the gravity of the global warming issue and the potentially devastating consequences of rolling over on it.  If Republicans also acquiesce to this false religion and its required "good works," we are headed toward a path of economic and societal destruction in the name of saving the planet.  It's time for Newt Gingrich to get off that couch with Nancy Pelosi and for John McCain to jump off this insidious global warming train that might as well be armed with enemy bombs and aimed at the heart of this nation and its economy.

Hey Last In Your Class!  What about the “serious and credible scientists across the world” that tell us the whole thing is a hoax?  I’ve never really paid much attention to Limbaugh, as I’ve never really considered him anything more than Rush’s brother.  However, this particular column really rang true, and we’d do well to pay attention to his central message.  The Environazis do in fact worship Planet Earth; it’s their religion, and Gore their latest prophet.  No need to confuse them that history has thus far discredited almost every earlier prophet and prophecy, be it Rachel “I’ve Killed More People Than Stalin, Mao and Hitler Combined” Carson to the alar hoax….and at some point Al Gore and the theory of human-induced global warming will in similar fashion be brought into disrepute.  Unfortunately, we may not be around to see it, and our kids and grandchildren will likely pay the price for the acquiescence of “Republicans” such as McCain, Gingrich and Schwarzenegger.
 
Oh….and Bush!

The Bush Administration named the polar bear to the “threatened species” list based on computer predictions of the anticipated loss of sea ice due to global warming Tuesday.  “Computer models predict sea ice is likely to recede in the future,” said Department of Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. “They [polar bears] are in my judgment likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future, in this case 45 years.”  Kempthorne used a series of slides showing images of decrease polar sea ice while making his announcement. They are available here.  The polar bear’s classification as “threatened” is a step below “endangered”—a classification which would trigger massive environmental protections that would prevent energy and oil exploration in Alaska.

Officials said an “endangered” listing could not be made because there was not enough scientific evidence that greenhouse gas emissions where causing the sea ice to melt.  Kempthorne said, “Listing the polar bear as threatened can reduce avoidable losses of polar bears. But it should not open the door to use of the ESA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, power plants, and other sources.”  To prevent the environmental lobby from using this listing as a means to prevent domestic energy development Kempthorne proposed a rule to allow this type of activity in the area if it is permissible under standards dictated by the Mammal Protection Act.  This rule has not been adopted.

This decision was spurred by The Center for Biological Diversity, a group that sued the Department of Interior, along with Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council, to make a decision about listing the polar bear as “endangered” based on global warming concerns. The environmental lobby argues global warming has melted sea ice that polar bears walk on when hunting seals. Less ice, their logic follows, exposes the bears to drowning, cannibalism and starvation.

Their complaints come as U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services reports the polar bear population is on the rise. FWS estimates there are currently 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears, up from a record-low population of 5,000 to 10,000 in the 1950’s and 1960’s

These guys truly are clueless.  McCain manages to time his obeisance to the Environazis with news were entering a ten-year “cooling” period that we’re to conveniently ignore, even though such a temperature drop flies completely in the face of all the “facts” on which these prophets of doom have based their hare-brained theories.  And now the Bush Administration, despite Arctic ice levels returning to normal (whatever “normal” is!), and polar bear populations climbing, decides to issue a pronouncement that may well allow the Environazis to forestall ANY drilling operations in the Great White North.  And all based on what someone says is “likely” to happen!  You couldn’t make this sh_t up!  Seriously, we can only hope McCain is paying lip-service to the environmentally-sensitive undecideds, and upon assuming the helm of the Ship of State will deftly manage a retreat from this insanity….but we won’t bet on it!
 
Meanwhile, some Australian has determined while polar bears are warm and fuzzy, left alone in a room with one you just might wind up looking like Moo Goo Gai Pan!  So he’s come up with an even cuddlier poster-child for the evils of global warming!

Koalas are threatened by the rising level of carbon dioxide pollution in the atmosphere because it saps nutrients from the eucalyptus leaves they feed on, a researcher said Wednesday.  Ian Hume, emeritus professor of biology at Sydney University, said he and his researchers also found that the amount of toxicity in the leaves of eucalyptus saplings rose when the level of carbon dioxide within a greenhouse was increased (by how MUCH?!?).  Hume presented his research on the effects of carbon dioxide on eucalyptus leaves to the Australian Academy of Science in Canberra on Wednesday.

Hume estimated that current levels of global carbon dioxide emissions would result in a noticeable reduction in Australia's koala population in 50 years due to a lack of palatable leaves.  Out of more than 600 eucalyptus species in Australia, koalas will only eat the leaves of about 25, Hume said. Changing the toxicity levels in the trees could further reduce the varieties that koalas find palatable, he said.  "Koalas produce one young each year under optimal conditions, but if you drop the nutritional value of the leaves, it might become one young every three or four years," Hume said.

Hugh Tyndale-Biscoe, a marsupial physiologist, described Hume's predictions of declining koala numbers as speculative but credible.  Eucalyptus leaves already have little nutritional value, he said, and koalas have adapted to their poor diet by sleeping to conserve energy.  "It's a very precarious existence," Tyndale-Biscoe said. "They basically sleep for 20 hours a day and then they've got four hours to do everything else — occasionally eat a leaf and maybe once a year go after another koala" to mate.

Tyndale-Biscoe said koalas had already disappeared from parts of Australia but remained plentiful in others and were unlikely to be wiped out by climate change. They already have been displaced from the most nutritious trees on the most fertile land by the spread of farms and suburbs, he said.
                                                                                                
 
“Estimated”…”could”…”might”.  Could we not insert “as likely NOT”, “could NOT” and “might NOT” just as easily….and likely be more correct?!?  As we said earlier, this isn’t science; it’s RELIGION, pure and simple.  And Voodoo at that!
 
And in news that combines Environazism and politics, here’s our “Pop-Pop, Fizz-Fizz, Oh What A Relief It Is!” segment:
 
"I won't accept a cabinet post regardless of which of the three candidates wins the presidency," Gore said yesterday.  "I am looking for a way to bring about change in other ways," the former vice president and former Democratic presidential candidate said. Gore is in Rome to present the Italian version of his Current Media Inc.'s Current TV channel.
 
When did we establish an office of Secretary of Boredom?
 
Oh, while we’re on the subject of Algore, here’s further evidence there ain’t a natural disaster his Highness of Hypocrisy won’t blame on human-induced global warming:

Former Vice President Al Gore says global warming is to blame for the Myanmar cyclone. In an interview with National Public Radio, Gore called the storm one of the "consequences that scientists have long predicted might be associated with global warming."  But many experts say it is impossible to make such a link. Willie Soon of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics tells FOX News: "It is an alarmist statement and Vice President Gore wants to confuse the crowd" adding "there is no way to blame any single event on CO2 and global warming."  That's a sentiment supported by Dr. Adam Lea at the University College of London who says, "it's impossible to say."  And Jeff Poor of the Business and Media Institute writes that "using tragedy to advance an agenda has been a strategy for many global warming activists."

We must assume Messrs. Soon and Lea are not either “serious or credible scientists”, at least in John McCain’s expert opinion!
 
                                   
While both accurately convey the truth, we’re particularly pleased with the second picture….but not because of it’s correct depiction of American attitudes.  Rather it’s the fact that Chris, like my son Michael, is a second-generation Blogger, and I’m particularly proud the oldest son of one of my oldest and most-valued friends has seen the truth, and it has set him free!  You go boy!

Magoo