I’m white.

I’m American.

I’m Christian.

I’m not a racist.

And I’m offended by Jeremiah Wright. The Trinity United Church’s former pastor put on nearly an hour of smug mugging for the cameras at the National Press Club in Washington. Among other things, he repeated with a kind of glee that the attacks on 9/11 were retribution for America’s sins. He tried to distinguish African-influenced Christian churches in the United States from those that are not. He said, in part, that his recent plunge into the limelight “just might mean that the reality of the African-American church will no longer be invisible.”

What reality is that, reverend? How is reality visible or invisible? Is it a different reality from my church? Who says so? God? Or just you? What the heck, to be polite, are you talking about?

Let’s be clear: Reverend Wright has the right to say what he wants; that is the beauty of this country that he believes has so wronged him. His remarks are protected, even if they offend me, which they do. I, too, have rights, including the right to offend the Reverend, which I expect this will do.

I attend a Roman Catholic church where the pastor and most of the congregation are white. Yet my pastor would no more speak of white America, or the white church, or the hardships imposed on white people by the U.S. government because of affirmative action, than he would say “Goddamn America”. This does not mean that there is uniformity of opinion in my church. I know that my pastor and I disagree on issues of politics. I know that because we have talked outside the church, not because he preaches his politics from the pulpit. I would find it impossible to attend if he did this, because that would be an abuse of his position. His job is to help me in my quest for eternal salvation, not to tell me the kind of world he wants to live in until he and I achieve that goal.

He does not preach in order to divide. He preaches to bring comfort and hope to those in the Lord’s House.

Wright speaks about white racism while espousing the kind of hateful, bitter (yes, I know that word’s been used before) division between white and black that is the essence of racism. Do I know what goes on inside his head? No. But neither does he know what thoughts I secretly harbor.

“Be not deceived, God is not mocked,” Wright said, quoting Galatians 6:7. Reverend Wright, who dislikes being judged by sound bites, omitted the first passages of that biblical book. “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. 2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. 4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5 For every man shall bear his own burden.”

Whose burden were you bearing when you spoke, Reverend? If Americans have sinned, are you ministering to them in the spirit of meekness? You speak of the black church, yes. But what of the white church? Do churches have colors? Do souls? Are you and your church superior to mine? Allow me to tell you: you and it are not.

Your words, reverend, were an affront to me, but of far more importance, to the Almighty. You can still atone, but remember, God is not mocked.

Check out the article at Fox News.

'Nuff said!!!

Labels: Images, Politics

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Each year, the April 22 Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. Among other things, 1970 in the United States brought with it the Kent State shootings, the advent of fiber optics, "Bridge over Troubled Water," Apollo 13, the Beatles' last album, the death of Jimi Hendrix, and the meltdown of fuel rods in the Savannah River nuclear plant near Aiken, South Carolina -- an incident not acknowledged for 18 years. At the time, most Americans were consuming leaded gas in massive V8 sedans. Heavy industry released smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity[citation needed]. Environment was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news. The 1970 Earth Day helped to change many peoples' minds.

On April 22, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. Denis Hayes, the national coordinator, and his youthful staff organized massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.

Mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting the status of environmental issues onto the world stage. Earth Day on April 22 in 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

As the millennium approached, Hayes agreed to spearhead another campaign, this time focused on global warming and a push for clean energy. The April 22 Earth Day in 2000 combined the big-picture feistiness of the first Earth Day with the international grassroots activism of Earth Day 1990. For 2000, Earth Day had the Internet to help link activists around the world. By the time April 22 rolled around, 5,000 environmental groups around the world were on board, reaching out to hundreds of millions of people in a record 184 countries. Events varied: A talking drum chain traveled from village to village in Gabon, Africa, for example, while hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., USA.

Earth Day 2000 sent the message loud and clear that citizens the world 'round wanted quick and decisive action on clean energy. Earth Day 2007 was one of the largest Earth Days to date, with an estimated billion people participating in the activities in thousands of places like Kiev, Ukraine; Caracas, Venezuela; Tuvalu; Manila, Philippines; Togo; Madrid, Spain; London; and New York.

Founded by the organizers of the first April 22 Earth Day in 1970, Earth Day Network promotes environmental citizenship and year round progressive action worldwide. Earth Day Network is a driving force steering environmental awareness around the world. Through Earth Day Network, activists connect change in local, national, and global policies. Earth Day Network’s international network reaches over 17,000 organizations in 174 countries, while the domestic program engages 5,000 groups and over 25,000 educators coordinating millions of community development and environmental protection activities throughout the year. Earth Day is the only event celebrated simultaneously around the globe by people of all backgrounds, faiths and nationalities. More than a half billion people participate in Earth Day Network campaigns every year.

Check out the article at Wikipedia.

Happy Earth Day - a day late! Our Blue Marble holds so many breathtaking views! Photos don't do them justice... you have to see for yourself! If every day were Earth Day we could all breathe a bit easier!

Labels: History, Images, Politics

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NEW YORK — Mourners across the country bowed their heads in silence Tuesday to mark the moments exactly six years earlier when hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field. The dreary skies created a grim backdrop, and a sharp contrast to the clear blue of that morning in 2001.

"That day we felt isolated, but not for long and not from each other," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said as the first ceremony began. "Six years have passed, and our place is still by your side."

Construction equipment now fills the vast city block where the World Trade Center once stood. The work under way for four new towers forced the ceremony's move away from the twin towers' footprints and into a nearby park for the first time.

As people clutched framed photos of their lost loved ones, Kathleen Mullen, whose niece Kathleen Casey died in the attacks, said the park was close enough.

On this sixth anniversary, presidential politics and the health of ground zero workers loomed, perhaps more than any other.

The firefighters and first responders who helped rescue thousands that day in 2001 and later recovered the dead were to read the victims' names for the first time. Many of those rescuers are now ill with respiratory problems and cancers themselves, and they blame the illnesses on exposure to the fallen towers' toxic dust.

For the first time, the name of a victim who survived that towers' collapse but died five months later of lung disease blamed on the dust she inhaled was added to the official roll.

Felicia Dunn-Jones, an attorney, was working a block from the World Trade Center. She became the 2,974th victim linked to the four crashes of the hijacked airliners in New York, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pa., where federal investigators say the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 fought the hijackers on the rallying cry "Let's roll!"

A memorial honoring Flight 93's 40 passengers and crew began at 9:45 a.m., shortly before the time the airliner nosedived into the empty field.

"As American citizens, we're all looking at our heroes," said Kay Roy, whose sister Colleen Fraser, of Elizabeth, N.J., died when the plane went down.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff also spoke to the mourners, telling them: "You have my promise that we will continue to work every single day to protect the people of this country, all in the name of those who perished heroically on Flight 93."

In New York, drums and bagpipes played as an American flag saved from the collapse was carried toward a stage.

Firefighters shared the platform with former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who many victims' families and firefighters had said shouldn't speak at the service to keep from politicizing it.

Giuliani has made his performance after the 2001 terrorist attacks the cornerstone of his presidential campaign, but the Republican has said his desire to be there Tuesday was entirely personal.

"It was a day with no answers, but with an unending line of people who came forward to help one another," he told those gathered.

In Washington, President Bush paused for a moment of silence outside the White House, while Gen. Peter Pace spoke beside the Pentagon wall where one of the hijacked planes broke through.

Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the victims' families that their loved ones will always be remembered.

"I do not know the proper words to tell you what's in my heart, what is in our hearts, what your fellow citizens are thinking today. We certainly hope that somehow these observances will help lessen your pain," he said.

Pace also spoke of the military, calling the anniversary "a day of recommitment." At the main U.S. base at Afghanistan, service members bowed their heads in memory of the victims.

National intelligence director Mike McConnell said U.S. authorities remain vigilant and concerned about "sleeper cells" of would-be terrorists inside the United States. "We're safer but we're not safe," McConnell said on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Even though the World Trade Center ceremony gathering was moved out of ground zero, an estimate 3,500 family members descended briefly into the site to lay flowers near the twin towers' footprints.

Among the first family members down the ramp was Marjorie Miller, whose late husband Joel worked at Marsh & McLennan. She said the rain was almost welcome after five consecutive years of Sept. 11 sunshine.

"A lot of tears coming down from up there," she said, gesturing toward the sky, "and a lot of tears down here."

In all, 2,974 victims were killed by the Sept. 11 attacks: 2,750 connected to the World Trade Center, 40 in Pennsylvania and 184 at the Pentagon. Those numbers do not include the 19 hijackers.

Check out the article at Fox News.

Never forget what they did to us on that terrible day in 2001. If it weren't for our troops fighting overseas right now, we would probably have already been reminded of their hatred for us. But, I guess that is something that the anti-war crowd will never realize until it is far too late.

For more 911 images, check out my Never Forget 911 blog post from last year.

Labels: History, Military, Politics

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NEW ORLEANS — On the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, anger over the stalled rebuilding was palpable throughout a city where the mourning for the dead and feeling of loss for flooded homes, schools, snow cone stands, old-time hairstylists and hardware stores doesn't seem to subside.

Hurricane Katrina made landfall south of New Orleans at 6:10 a.m. Aug. 29, 2005, as a strong Category 3 hurricane that flooded 80 percent of the city and killed more than 1,600 people in Louisiana and Mississippi. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.

On Wednesday, protesters planned to march from the obliterated Lower 9th Ward to Congo Square, a venerable spot where slaves were able to celebrate their culture. Accompanied by brass bands and wielding megaphones, they will again try to spread their message that the government has failed to help people return.

"People are angry and they want to send a message to politicians that they want them to do more and do it faster," said the Rev. Marshall Truehill, a Baptist pastor and community activist. "Nobody's going to be partying."

"It's an emotional time. You re-live what happened and you remember how scattered everyone is now. There are relationships now that are completely over," said Robert Smallwood, a New Orleans writer. "The city has been dying this slow death. In New Orleans, you can't escape it. It's bad news everyday."

Churches will hold memorial services, including one at the historic St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square, and ring bells in honor of the victims. People throughout the city will hold their own private ceremonies to remember where they were when Katrina hit, and what they lost.

"Everyone who gives it any thought, and I can't imagine who hasn't, has to reflect on his or her own personal experience during that time, and also look at how far we've come," said Larry Lorenz, a journalism professor at Loyola University in New Orleans.

A candlelight vigil is scheduled in Jackson Square at dusk, right around the time the French Quarter may start getting tipsy with street parties and anniversary revelers, as happened last year.

The anniversary is an opportunity for the city to recapture media attention to tell the nation what's happened to New Orleans since Katrina. Reporters, television crews and photographers have, once again, flocked to the city.

The day has also attracted a passel of politicians — President Bush chief among them. He and Laura Bush arrived Tuesday night and dined with Leah Chase, the Queen of Creole cooking, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and musician Irvin Mayfield.

As on other visits, the president and his team arrived here armed with facts and figures to show how much the Bush administration has done to fulfill the promises the president made two-and-a-half weeks after the hurricane.

"We will do what it takes, we will stay as long as it takes, to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives," Bush said then from historic Jackson Square in New Orleans' French Quarter. "This great city will rise again."

In fact, there is some good news here. The city's population is rebounding, and a few neighborhoods thrive. New Orleans has recovered much of its economic base and sales tax revenues are approaching normal. The French Quarter survived Katrina, and the music and restaurant scenes are recovering.

But much of New Orleans still looks like a wasteland, with businesses shuttered and houses abandoned. Basic services like schools, libraries, public transportation and childcare are at half their original levels and only two-thirds of the region's licensed hospitals are open. Rental properties are in severely short supply, driving rents for those that are available way up. Crime is rampant and police operate out of trailers.

Many projects are hamstrung by the soaring costs of construction and insurance, while federal funding has been slow to flow to cities. Other economic indicators are down — such as population, employment and housing supplies.

Bush's Gulf Coast rebuilding chief, Don Powell, noted the federal government has committed a total of $114 billion to the region, $96 billion of which is already disbursed or available to local governments. Most of it has been for disaster relief, not long-term recovery. He implied it is local officials' fault, particularly in Louisiana where the pace has been slower, if money has not reached citizens.

Powell also said the president intends to ask for the approximately $5 billion federal share of the $7.6 billion more needed to strengthen New Orleans' levee system to withstand a 100-year storm and improve the area's drainage system. Though the levees are not yet ready for the next massive storm, they are slated to be strengthened by 2015.

But Powell said other areas — such as infrastructure repair and home rebuilding — are shared responsibilities with local officials or entirely the purview of state and local governments, suggesting that the federal government is absolved when those things don't happen.

Check out the article at Fox News.

I'm tired of these people protesting about the lack of progress... what's stopping them from rebuilding their own homes with their own money or insurance money? Oh, that's right... they don't have any money and they didn't BUY insurance, so now they have their hands out to the government. Well, beggars can't be choosers.

Maybe the real underlying reason behind delays in certain aspects of rebuilding is the realization that some portions of the New Orleans area just aren't worth rebuilding. Our politicians are dragging their feet, because the truth would be politically incorrect... especially right before the elections.

So much infrastructure has to be replaced and most of the structures have to be torn down in those low-lying areas, such as the Lower 9th Ward... areas that were originally swampland. The high ground close to the river - which includes downtown, the French Quarter, and the Garden District - never really got that much water during Katrina and is worth the investment. Of course, the highest priority is to develop a better storm protections system - it's worth it.

We should be spending the money on things that will provide an economic return for the city and state. This does not include brand-new low-income housing for the leeches. We build that for them and the area will become a run-down crap-hole again in no time... it's just not worth it!

Labels: History, Politics

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Richard Clarke remembers standing in the Oval Office and handing President George W. Bush a letter regarding what the nation should do to secure cyberspace.

"I think he signed it. I don't think he read it. I don't think he knows what it was," Clarke said during his keynote here in Las Vegas at the Black Hat security conference on Aug. 1.

Clarke is somebody whose advice Bush should have heeded.

Until his retirement in 2003, Clarke was a member of the Senior Executive Service, having served as an advisor to four presidents between 1973 and 2003.

He was the chief counter-terrorism advisor on the U.S. National Security Council for both the latter part of the Clinton administration through the early part of Bush's administration and the 9/11 attacks.

Serving with the Clinton administration, he toured the country for two years, collecting industry and academic intelligence on one crushingly important question: How do we secure cyberspace?

This is important. Within the coming 20 years, Clarke said, our soldiers will enter the battlefield with multiple IP addresses.

The Pentagon is already working toward what Clarke called net-centric warfare, part of which will be exoskeleton armor covered with interior and exterior sensors.

These exoskeletons will allow soldiers to literally have eyes in the back of their heads, to see around corners as robots fly ahead and beam back images to their visors, to lift weights at 5 to 10 times their normal capability due to exoskeletal servo-motors, and have their health monitored and their illness or fatigue medicated — again, automatically through the exoskeletal suit.

The Pentagon's vision of net-centric warfare relies on IP addresses, lots of them.

It's why the Pentagon is the only part of government now pushing for the next-generation Internet, IPv6, with its vast capacity for IP addresses, Clarke said.

But this all assumes that cyberspace is secure.

"It's not," Clarke said. "The chaos that goes on in cyberspace very day, I don't have to tell you about," he said to the audience of black, white and gray hackers.

"We are building more and more of our economy, our global economy, on the foundation of cyberspace 1.0," Clarke said. "The fundamental architecture hasn't changed since creation. And we still have secured very little" of that architecture, he said, including the very foundations of today's Internet's, DNS and PHP — themselves still not very secure.

We're also still running code from major vendors across the world that's "replete with errors, replete with errors people can use to hack into systems," Clarke said.

We still have no industry or academically generated standards to secure code, he added.

We still don't write secure code, either, he said, with high rates of errors commonplace.

We still don't authenticate much of cyberspace, either, he said.

We could also be using encryption far more than we do today, Clarke said — an omission evidenced by the loss of a laptop bearing the Social Security numbers of U.S. veterans.

"When some government laptop with the Social Security numbers of every veteran in the United States is stolen in Washington, we shouldn't have to worry about it; it should be encrypted. Databases should be encrypted," he said.

And, yet, they're not.

VoIP (Voice over IP) can be encrypted. With headlines about national security letters being abused by the FBI and other uses of surveillance, perhaps we should encrypt phone calls, Clarke suggested.

The United States also needs to adopt IPv6 "much more rapidly," Clarke said — not only because the Defense Department's plans rest on having IP address-loaded soldiers, but "because it also offers opportunity for security and for prioritization, which we don't have today. Think of how prioritization could improve disaster response in situations like 9/11 or Katrina, where communications channels get swamped immediately, barring emergency first responders from the prioritization they should have.

"And yet we're now planning disaster relief and other response based on cyberspace. On the Internet," Clarke said. "There's no way today to differentiate e-mail from someone to their grandmother or a packet with their vacation photos with that of [communications from a first responder in a disaster situation]."

The work needed to create an Internet infrastructure that could support a more secure, more rationalized cyberspace has unfortunately been starved of funding by a Congress, an administration and a society that just "doesn't get it," Clarke said.

"The Bush administration has systematically reduced the work necessary to secure cyberspace," he said.

"It's not because the answers aren't there," he said. "Or because it's a really hard problem. Sure it's a hard problem, but a lot can be done quickly. Two years we went around holding meetings, asking experts, asking industry, What should we do to secure cyberspace?"

Perhaps, instead of debating stem cell research, instead of debating whether evolution should be taught in schools, instead of surveilling citizens rather than terrorists, we should be having this crucial debate, Clarke said.

"The enemy is terrorists. The enemy is not citizens," he said.

The takeway from his talk: The enemy is an insecure cyberspace.

Check out the article at Fox News.

Scary stuff! One can only hope that the government and society recognize the threat and begin to act before it's too late!

For more information, check out the Cyber Security Wiki page.

Labels: Military, Politics, Technology

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Nine Inch Nails - Survivalism

I should have listened to her,
so hard to keep control.
We kept on eating but our
bloated bellies still not full.
She gave us all she had but
we went and took some more.
Can't seem to shut her legs our
mother nature is a whore.

I got my propaganda I got revisionism.
I got my violence in high def ultra-realism.
All a part of this great nation.
I got my fist I got my plan I got survivalism.

Hypnotic sound of sirens
echoing through the street.
The cocking of the rifles,
the marching of the feet.
You see your world on fire,
don't try to act surprised.
We did just what you told us.
Lost our faith along the way and found ourselves believing your lies.

I got my propaganda I got revisionism.
I got my violence in high def ultra-realism.
All a part of this great nation.
I got my fist I got my plan I got survivalism.

All bruised and broken bleeding,
she asks to take my hand.
I turn just keep on walking.
But you'd do the same thing in the circumstance I'm sure you understand.

I got my propaganda I got revisionism.
I got my violence in high def ultra-realism.
All a part of this great nation.
I got my fist I got my plan I got survivalism.

Check out the:

• Official Nine Inch Nails website
• Nine Inch Nails Myspace Page
• Nine Inch Nails Wikipedia Article
• Nine Inch Nails Wiki

Survivalism is a kick-ass song from a unique concept album... Year Zero

The Concept: Year Zero takes place about fifteen years in the future. Things are not good. If you imagine a world where greed and power continue to run their likely course, you'll have an idea of the backdrop. The world has reached the breaking point - politically, spiritually and ecologically. Written from various perspectives of people in this world, Year Zero examines various viewpoints set against an impending moment of truth.

It seems that Trent Reznor has done more than create a concept album, he's created his own fictional reality! There are even plans for a Year Zero alternate reality game and film project! Many Year Zero Hints have been found hidden in the album artwork, concert t-shirts, and even USB keys placed in the bathrooms of concert venues, that lead fans to concept-related websites and phone numbers... including Another Version of the Truth.

Wikipedia defines a survivalist as a person who anticipates and prepares for a future disruption in local, regional or worldwide social or political order.

Survivalism is a commonly used term for the subculture or movement of people who make such preparations. Survivalists often prepare for this anticipated disruption by learning skills (e.g., emergency medical training, marksmanship), stockpiling food and water, or building structures that will help them to survive (e.g., underground shelter, rural compound). The specific preparations made by survivalists depend on the nature of the anticipated disruption, some of the most commonly anticipated being:

• Natural disasters, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, blizzards, and severe thunderstorms.
• A disaster brought about by the activities of mankind such as chemical spills, release of radioactive materials, war.
• General collapse of society, resulting from the unavailability of electricity, fuel, food, and water.
• Widespread chaos, or some other apocalyptic event.

Survivalism ranges from the paranoid extremist to the well-prepared average citizen. It is my opinion that if you're not a survivalist to some degree, you are a fool... everyone should at least have a store of food and water on-hand. I recommend more: camping supplies, first aid supplies, survival skills, weapons and ammo, a prepared place to hold out, and on-hand survival reference and training materials are all necessities. Of course, the list never really ends... the number one thing is: BE PREPARED!

Check out

Labels: Entertainment, Images, Politics

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. Navy staged its latest show of military force off the Iranian coastline on Wednesday, sending two aircraft carriers and landing ships packed with 17,000 U.S. Marines and sailors to carry out unannounced exercises in the Persian Gulf.

The carrier strike groups led by the USS John C. Stennis and USS Nimitz were joined by the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard and its own strike group, which includes landing ships carrying members of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

The Navy said nine U.S. warships passed through the narrow Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday. Merchant ships passing through the busy strait carry two-fifths of the world's oil exports.

Aircraft aboard the three carriers and the Bonhomme Richard were to conduct air training while the ships ran submarine, mine and other exercises.

The maneuvers came just two months after a previous exercise in March when two U.S. carrier groups carried out two days of air and sea maneuvers off the Iranian coast.

Before the arrival of the Bonhomme Richard strike group, the Navy maintained around 20,000 U.S personnel at sea in the Gulf and neighboring waters.

Check out the article at Fox News.

I wonder what Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has to say about this? Nothing so far... he's probably getting a little nervous right about now! We'll see how many British sailors Iran kidnaps now!

Check out the Islamist Terrorism article at Wikipedia.

Labels: Military, Politics

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The police might arrive in time to call for the clean-up crew.
A quicker response is required to ensure the corpse isn't you!

"We have created a shopping list for madmen! If guns are the problem, why don't we see things occurring at skeet and trap shoots, at rifle and pistol ranges, at gun shows, at NRA conventions? We only see it where guns aren't allowed. The sign of a gun with a slash through it is like a neon sign for gunmen, 'We're unarmed. Come kill us.' "

-Suzanna Hupp, Texas State Representative

That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's cottage is the symbol of democracy.
It is our job to see that it stays there.

-George Orwell

I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness,
nor the arrow for its swiftness,
nor the warrior for his glory.
I love only that which they defend.

-J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers

Jan. 31, 2006 - A bill that would have given college students and employees the right to carry handguns on campus died with nary a shot being fired in the Virginia General Assembly.

Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker was happy to hear the bill was defeated. "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."

Last spring a Virginia Tech student was disciplined for bringing a handgun to class, despite having a concealed handgun permit. Some gun owners questioned the university's authority, while the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police came out against the presence of guns on campus.

Check out the Roanoke Times article.

It's sad how quickly a terrible tragedy such as this is exploited by the anti-gun politicians. They sight mass killings as the reason for the need of a new gun ban! They don't mention that guns were already banned on the Virginia Tech campus and that shooting people is already 'banned' by Federal law. It seems that criminals don't pay attention to the laws... imagine that!

So, if criminals do not acknowledge or obey the law, what could possibly come of a new gun ban?... Why, the disarming of your average law-abiding citizen, of course! The conversion from armed citizen to helpless victim - totally dependent on the government for protection of life, liberty and property.

Yeah, I'm going to depend on the local cops to be my family's personal bodyguards. Maybe they'll arrive 15 minutes later to fill out the paperwork and call the coroner, while some thug is miles away with my TV.

I don't think so... we don't need more government control!

It's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees!

If you're interested in preserving your 2nd amendment rights, contact your State Representatives and sign this Online Petition against HR-1022!

Check out this article: Gun Control: Myths and Realities.

Check out this article: Self Defense: Common or Rare?.

Read about Texas State Representative Suzanna Hupp's first-hand encounter with mass murder, and how she is forever changed by it.

Join the NRA!

Labels: Politics

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After fussing and fighting all week, local Republicans and Democrats finally found something to agree on: The week-long special session accomplished little.

The Senate and the House, after much debate, agreed to set aside $300 million in hopes of attracting a German steel mill and provided a way for property owners to get repaid for a hurricane-related surcharge on their insurance bills.

But the special legislative session dissolved Friday as the Senate and House adjourned early without finishing work on legislation to cut business taxes and income taxes for some, and to give parents a $125 tax credit for each child.

Most of the Democratic governor’s original agenda failed to get anywhere. Republicans in the House blocked her billion-dollar plan to fix highways and give pay raises to government workers.

Blanco was roundly criticized for calling lawmakers to the Capitol without consulting them first about her agenda.

“We all advised against the special session — Democrats, Republicans. We thought there was no real emergency,”
said Rep. Don Cazayoux, D-New Roads. “We didn’t want to come.”

Cazayoux said the Republicans “were trying to hurt the governor.”

“It was doomed from the beginning,” said Rep. Bodi White, R-Central. “There was no input, and key chairmen lacked information. The lack of communication almost doomed the whole process.”

“I don’t think it was a very productive session. I think what we did was draw attention to some things we have to deal with,” said Rep. Carl Crane, R-Baton Rouge.

One bill Blanco pushed through was the creation of a $300 million fund that would spend the cash on infrastructure, such as pilings, that will be necessary if German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp Steel AG decides to build a factory along the Mississippi River in St. James Parish.

“That was the most important thing passed. Really that was the only thing passed,” said Sen. Jody Amadee, D-Gonzales, in whose district the mill would be built. “If we land that project, it was worth every minute, but otherwise I don’t know.”

Rep. Ernie Alexander, R-Lafayette, said he didn’t like Blanco tying the spending for pay raises to the lifting of the state expenditure limit.

“I would like to have voted for the pay raise package, especially for teachers. But she made it an all-or-nothing-at-all, take-it-or-leave-it deal,” he said.

House Speaker Pro-tem Yvonne Dorsey, D-Baton Rouge, said the remaining issues will be settled in the regular session or another special session, “when people have had time to absorb what happened and evaluate it.”

“Hopefully, we will come back in a better frame of mind,” Dorsey said.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco, visibly angry at her evening press conference, accused House Republicans of reneging on an agreement to salvage her stalled legislative package.

“It’s just the most-amazing thing I’ve ever seen a group of people do,” Blanco said as she left the State Capitol. “They’re going against their own people."

She said Republican obstruction will hurt teachers, law enforcement, the road system and especially an attempt to attract a steel mill that would employ thousands.

“If we lose this business deal,” she said, “the blame will lie squarely in their laps.”

"The Republicans in the House set a sour tone and decided that partisan politics was more important than their own people."

The governor said she hadn't thought her proposals would be difficult to pass because lawmakers have said year after year that they support teacher pay raises, road repairs and other concepts included in her spending plans.

"I thought it was an easy vote," she said.

Check out the article at The Advocate.

Well, Governor... It's real convenient how you included teacher/firefighter/police/DPW pay raises in with your spending cap increase proposal... all the better to get the public into an outrage when you're blank check gets bounced by Republicans, right?

I guess we're not as dumb as you thought! We know that the pay raises will come, we just don't need to hand over $800,000,000 to you to get them!

You know, maybe when faced with a temporary surplus we should try to shore up some of our debt... instead, you treat it like a shopping spree!

Speaking of shopping sprees, I was appalled when I read how much state money the Governor spent while on her Far East Trip... $16,000! And we're not just talking about coach airfare and your average hotel room... we're talking First Class all the way, including a suite at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. Wow! I guess we really do have a surplus, but how long could it possibly last with her in office?

Tsk tsk, Governor Blank-Check-Blanco... there's no way in hell you'll be back for a second term!

Labels: Politics

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Soldiers and Police are supposed to be different.

Soldiers are aimed at enemies from outside the country. They are trained to kill those enemies and their supporters. In fact, “killing people and breaking things” are their main reasons for existence.

Police look inward. They’re supposed to protect their fellow citizens from criminals, and to maintain order with a minimum of force.

It’s the difference between Audie Murphy and Andy Griffith. But nowadays, police are looking, and acting, more like soldiers than cops, with bad consequences. And those who suffer the consequences are usually innocent civilians. The trend toward militarizing police began in the ’60s and ’70s when standoffs with the Black Panthers, the Symbionese Liberation Army, and the University of Texas bell tower gunman Charles Whitman convinced many police departments that they needed more than .38 specials to deal with unusual, high-intensity threats. In 1965 Los Angeles inspector Daryl Gates, who later became police chief, signed off on the formation of a specially trained and equipped unit that he wanted to call the Special Weapons Attack Team. (The name was changed to the more palatable Special Weapons and Tactics). SWAT programs soon expanded beyond big cities with gang problems.

This approach, though, has led to problems both obvious and subtle. The obvious problem should be especially apparent to readers of this magazine: Once you’ve got a cool tool, you kind of want to use it. That’s true whether it’s a pneumatic drill, a laser level or an armored fighting vehicle. SWAT teams, designed to deal with rare events, wound up doing routine police work, like serving drug warrants.

The subtle effect is also real: Dress like a soldier and you think you’re at war. And, in wartime, civil liberties—or possible innocence—of the people on “the other side” don’t come up much. But the police aren’t at war with the citizens they serve, or at least they’re not supposed to be.

The combination of these two factors has led to some tragic mistakes: “no knock” drug raids, involving “dynamic entry,” where the wrong house has been targeted or where the raid was based on informants’ tips that turned out to be just plain wrong.

On Sept. 23, 2006, a SWAT team descended on the home of a farmer and his schoolteacher wife in Bedford County, Va. “I was held at gunpoint, searched, taunted and led into the house,” A.J. Nuckols wrote to his local paper. “I was scared beyond description. I feared there had been a murder and I was a suspect.” When the couple’s three children came home, the police grilled them, too. The family was held under guard for five hours as the SWAT team ransacked the place, seizing computers, a digital camera, DVDs and VHS tapes. Ten days later, the cops returned the belongings. It turned out that a special anti-child-porn police unit had made a mistake while tracing an computer address and sent the SWAT team to the wrong home.

Sometimes, homeowners are killed in these actions; other times, it’s the officers. When a narcotics task force raided a duplex apartment in Jefferson Davis County, Miss., in 2001, they arrested one tenant, then burst into the adjacent apartment of Cory Maye. Thinking a burglar had broken into the bedroom he shared with his toddler, Maye shot the officer fatally. Maye was convicted of murder and sentenced to death, although irregularities in the trial eventually led to his conviction being overturned and a new trial ordered.

And, in a case that is now drawing national attention, 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston, who lived in a high-crime neighborhood of Atlanta, recently opened fire on police when they broke down her door while executing a drug warrant. They returned fire, killing her. It’s hard to believe any of this would have happened had the police taken a less aggressive approach in the first place.

It used to be that police came to the door, announced themselves and, once a homeowner responded, entered the premises. Most policemen still work this way. But an alarming number now break down doors first and ask questions later. Don’t get me wrong: Police often do dangerous work and they need equipment that’s going to protect them. And dynamic entry is valid when dealing with desperate criminals, but these tactics put ordinary citizens—and the police—at risk. And when they do, it’s often hard to get redress. Lawsuits against police and supervisors face strict legal limits in the form of “qualified immunity,” and prosecutors, who work with the police on a regular basis, are unlikely to bring criminal charges against officers who negligently kill people. But homeowners confronted with tactics like flash-bang grenades and shouting that are intended to disorient targets, tend to be held to a much higher standard. The result, as in the Cory Maye case, is that people who do the laudable thing and defend their homes against unknown, armed intruders sometimes wind up being prosecuted for murder.

Check out the article at Popular Mechanics.

Here are a couple more recent police shooting articles: NYC Police Investigating Shooting Death by Police of Groom on His Wedding Day and Police Kill North Carolina College Student Accused of Stealing PlayStation 3 Consoles

I guess I can recognize the need for SWAT teams in a major gang takedown or terrorist situation, but I must agree that it seems law enforcement groups want to use the "big guns" whenever the opportunity arises... even if it's a little old lady in her house with a freaking wheelchair ramp outside the front door.

I think the SWAT teams should give more warning and be more recognizable as law enforcement officers. Many a robber will impersonate a police officer in order to have his way with a victim.

I have no reason for the police to raid my home, so I'm automatically assuming that anyone kicking down my door is intent on harming me or my family members... I'm taking him down. So, what if he turns out to be a cop acting on a false tip? I'm justified in protecting my home, but he's justified in defending himself from me... my death would be a justifiable police shooting, but his death would be a murder and I would go down for it.

Police have to know that this is not a Police State! This is a free country, with law abiding citizens who will defend their homes with deadly force. Police must effectively announce their presence and distinguish themselves from the average thug with a uniform. This isn't rocket science, it's just common sense. I refuse to give up my rights to accommodate an oppressive police force!

It's Better to Die on Your Feet than to Live on Your Knees!

Check out my previous post regarding Non-Lethal Weapons.

Labels: Military, Politics

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"John Kerry, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the 'blame America first' crowd, they want to blame Iraq on the president, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and everyone else," said House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, referring to his Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate. "Why don't we blame it on the terrorists, the people who killed 3,000 people here in New York? Let's not blame it on everybody else.

"Let's blame the terrorists for the problems that we have. ... They want to blame America for the terrorists coming here and attacking our country. We have no choice but to take on these terrorists to defeat them," Boehner said.

"I spent three weeks in the Florida recount by Hillary Clinton's good friend Al Gore who wanted to be president. How? By suppressing the vote of the overseas military serving this country," said Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind. "So the Democrat elite have a record here of not supporting our military, and they sure did not like that exposed five days before an election."

Vice President Dick Cheney also was not about to let Kerry's remark and subsequent Web-only apology for a "bad joke" go quietly into the night.

"You remember John Kerry — the senator who voted for the $87 billion before he voted against it, the guy that was always lecturing us about 'nuance.' He's the one, you'll recall, who last year said that American soldiers were terrorizing children in Iraq," Cheney said at a campaign event in Montana Wednesday night.

"Of course, Senator Kerry said he was just making a joke, and he botched it up. I guess we didn't get the nuance. Actually, he was for the joke before he was against it," Cheney said.

Check out the article at Fox News.

The Democrats are all about degrading our country's leadership, military and citizens. I'm tired of the constant trash talking from them! Why can't this country be unified? It's sad to say, but it was nice to see the unity immediately following 9-11... it's a shame how fast it faded. Never Forget 9-11

John Kerry doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground! I thank God every day that this moron wasn't elected in '04! What kind of joke was that to tell about our military?

Well, our troops aren't laughing, our Republican Congressmen and Senators aren't laughing, I'm not laughing, and you shouldn't be laughing either!

Then, to illustrate just how much this guy flip-flops... after he refused to apologize to anyone for his comments, he finally released an apology to our troops and their families. Well, I should hope so - he basically said that they're uneducated idiots who joined the military as a last resort. That's one helluva joke to tell, John!

This should show you, if you didn't know already, just what sort of ideals these Democrats hold: Blame America First

I commend the statement released by the White House:

Senator Kerry's apology to the troops for his insulting comment came late but was the right thing to do. Our military is the best and the brightest — the most courageous and professional of any military in the world. President Bush is honored to be their commander-in-chief.

Labels: Military, Politics

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When the United States was last poised to pass such a momentous population milestone, Chicago's famous Picasso sculpture had only recently been dedicated, gas cost 33 cents a gallon and the nation was deeply embroiled in a war in Vietnam.

It had taken more than half a century for the U.S. to grow from 100 million to 200 million people, finally crossing the threshold in November 1967. Now, nearly 40 years later, the nation is on the brink of reaching 300 million.

"It's as good a number as any to stop and take stock of where we are and where we might be headed," said Linda Jacobsen, director of domestic programs for the Population Reference Bureau, a Washington-based think tank that studies national and global demographics.

It is also an achievement that is certain to trigger marketing initiatives on the part of baby food manufacturers, hospital publicists, public officials and others, just as it did in 1967. Gerber Products Co. has already incorporated a potential 300 millionth baby on its Web site.

Whether the 300 millionth person is a newborn--or someone entering the nation legally through an airport or illegally through the Arizona desert--will never be known because no one counts each new arrival.

At 300 million, the United States is the world's third most populous nation, though it remains far behind the growing economic superpowers of China (1.31 billion) and India (1.09 billion).

Fueled by immigration, longer life expectancies and birthrates that remain relatively high for an industrialized nation, America's next 100 million is expected to be added even quicker, perhaps by 2040.

Check out the article at Red Orbit.

Population growth is a scary thing... especially when it's the Hispanics that are growing so fast. They are infiltrating our society and I'm tired of pressing 1 for English!

Be sure to check out Strange Women Lying in Ponds' blog entry: Illegal Immigrant Thank You List.

For the racial breakdown in your neck of the woods, reference this U.S. Population Map.

Labels: History, Politics

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A new study of the Arctic permafrost forecasts that global warming will thaw and shrink the total area of perennially frozen ground 60 to 90 percent by 2100.

If true, it will increase the freshwater run-off into the Arctic Ocean by 28 percent, lead to the release by soils of vast doses of greenhouse gases, and upset ecosystems over wide areas.

"This (projection) is definitely higher than other projections, both in area and depth," said David Lawrence, a climate modeler with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate and Global Dynamics Division.

Lawrence and Andrew Slater of the University of Colorado in Boulder published their permafrost projection in the February issue of Geophysical Research Letters.

Currently in the Northern Hemisphere there are about four million square miles (10 million square kilometers) of land surface that does not thaw, even in the summer, which comes to about 24 percent of the land north of the equator.

Lawrence and Slater incorporated into a computer climate model the current and projected rates of global warming, as well as the physical parameters of freezing and thawing of the upper 11 feet (3.5 meters) of permafrost ground.

They generated a broad-brush image of what might remain of the frozen ground by 2100. That image shows today's permafrost shrinking to between 400,000 and about two million square miles (one to four million square km).

Put another way, the area of permafrost lost by 2100 could match or exceed the total land area of Australia.

Thawing such a vast swath of northern lands means those soils will begin draining, moving more water to the sea, which raises sea levels and could wreak havoc with global weather patterns.

It also means carbon that was frozen in the soils will be free to move up into the atmosphere in the form of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane, said Lawrence. This whole new source of greenhouse gases isn't something Earth needs right now.

Check out the article at Discovery News.

We had better get moving on taking measures to handle this problem before it becomes a runaway train!

For more information, check out this article at National Geographic News.

For a glimpse of what could be our future, check out this article at Discovery News

Ground Truth Investigations is another great source of information on this topic.

Also check out this National Resource Defense Council article

Check out my previous Global Warming post.

Labels: Politics

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Air Force secretary Michael Wynne says
non-lethal weapons should be tested on U.S. civilians
before being used on the battlefield

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nonlethal weapons such as high-power microwave devices should be used on American citizens in crowd-control situations before being used on the battlefield, the Air Force secretary said Tuesday.

"If we're not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens, then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation," said Wynne. "(Because) if I hit somebody with a nonlethal weapon and they claim that it injured them in a way that was not intended, I think that I would be vilified in the world press."

The Air Force has paid for research into nonlethal weapons, but he said the service is unlikely to spend more money on development until injury problems are reviewed by medical experts and resolved.

Nonlethal weapons generally can weaken people if they are hit with the beam. Some of the weapons can emit short, intense energy pulses that also can be effective in disabling some electronic devices.

Check out the article at CNN.

WTF?!? You mean, like when non-lethal weapons were used in Boston after the Red Sox beat the Yankees in the 2004 AL Championship Series?

I tend to trust the scientists' views on your so-called non-lethal weapons before they get tested on American citizens. Why don't you guys use these things on the terrorists and quit trying to turn this country into a police state?

For more information on non-lethal weapons, check out this article at TIME.

Labels: Military, Politics

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A Baton Rouge man has filed a civil rights lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the Gonzales Police Department, the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office and five Gonzales police officers.

In the lawsuit, Mark Edward Marchiafava claims he was the victim of false arrest, false imprisonment, assault and battery and unlawful seizure of property.

Marchiafava said Friday afternoon that on Jan. 28 he was in the parking lot at the Tanger Outlet Mall in Gonzales and was wearing an unconcealed blue-steel .357-caliber Magnum in a holster on his right hip.

A Gonzales police officer asked Marchiafava why he was carrying a gun and asked for Marchiafava’s driver’s license. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, alleges that the officer checked Marchiafava’s license for violations and returned it. Marchiafava claims that he left as a passenger in a vehicle driven by a friend along with his adult daughter and a child.

According to the lawsuit, as the vehicle Marchiafava was riding in approached the exit at La. 44, an unmarked Gonzales police unit and four marked police units forced the vehicle onto the median. Five officers surrounded the vehicle and at least one of the officers drew a weapon and aimed it at Marchiafava, the lawsuit says.

Marchiafava claims he was arrested and taken to the Gonzales police station where he was shackled to a wall.

He was booked into the Ascension Parish Prison in Donaldsonville on a count of illegal carrying of a weapon. He posted the $200 bail within a few hours and was released.

Marchiafava, in his lawsuit, claims his constitutional rights under the Second, Fourth and 14th amendments were violated.

Marchiafava said Friday he also carries a gun for protection. “If you ever need one (a gun), you don’t have time to run home or run to your car,” he said.

Gonzales Police Chief Bill Landry declined to comment Friday afternoon.

Check out the article at The Advocate.

Now, let's hear the story in Marchiafava's own words:

After meeting my youngest daughter, Christie, and my adopted daughter, Kelly, along with Kelly’s 2 year old daughter, Isabella, Kelly drove us to Gonzales, La. to visit my oldest daughter, Michelle. Needing to pick up something, I asked Kelly to drive into Tanger Factory Outlet. She dropped me off in front of the store, I ran in and out in less than 2 minutes while Kelly circled the parking lot.

While waiting to check out, I noticed an older guy standing right outside, staring intently at me. I KNEW he was either an off duty cop or he had just CALLED the cops on me. Yes, I WAS openly carrying a gun, which is quite legal in Louisiana. The state constitution CLEARLY states so. It does, however, retain the right by the state to regulate concealed carry, something that doesn’t come into play here.

Sure enough, as I was paying, a Gonzales police car came cruising by slowly. After exiting the store with my purchase, I got into Kelly’s car and within seconds, the cop turned on his lights and blipped his siren. Kelly exited and the cop told her it was ME he wanted to talk to.

Carefully, I approached officer Rome, and he asked why I was wearing a gun. After telling him EVERY citizen had that right, he just stood there, speechless.

I asked if he was aware of that, but STILL there was no answer.

It took THREE further queries before he finally answered, “No, I didn’t know that.”

Seemingly satisfied, he handed my driver’s license back to me, and I heard him tell headquarters to print him out a copy of my driver’s license info. At that point, I knew “they” were about to do “something.” I got back into Kelly’s car, not wanting to alarm them.

Sure enough, as soon as we exited the center’s parking lot, FOUR Gonzales cop cars swooped in and, in true TV cop fashion, with guns drawn and lots of loud shouting.

I slowly exited the car, hands away from my side. Yes, I was roughly handcuffed to the point of having red marks on both wrists 3 hours later. I was transported to Gonzales Police headquarters. There, Officer David Breaux was trying to figure out just what to charge me with. Since he was holding Louisiana revised statutes, title 14 (criminal code) in his hands, I suggested he read 14:95, “Illegal carrying of weapons,” which he did.

I tried, in vain, to explain to him there is nothing in the entire book which prohibits anyone from openly carrying a weapon in Louisiana.

His response: “Tell it to the judge.”

Another “officer,” Billiot, transported me across the Mississippi river to the jail in Donaldsonville. On the ride over, I tried to explain to HIM what the law states and the rights of any citizen.

He said, and I quote, “I don’t care what the laws or the Supreme Court say. WE are NOT going to have people running around, wearing guns, with women and children everywhere.”

I was fingerprinted, photographed and released on a $200.00 bond. Yes, all this for a MISDEMEANOR and a $200.00 bond.

District Attorney, Tony Falterman, obtained a copy of the arrest report and, after reading it, dismissed the charge. According to his assistant, Melissa, "Mr. Falterman has read the report and considers it complete BS."

A local reporter, Steve Ward with the Advocate, contacted chief of police Bill Landy concerning my arrest. According to Steve, the chief stated "We have a policy of arresting anyone carrying a gun without a permit. We don't care what Mr. Falterman says or does."

I attempted to retrieve my gun, only to find out the Gonzales police department has a "policy" of sending all seized weapons to the state police crime lab for ballistics testing.

Check out the post at The Liberty Zone.

There are stories like this all over the country. Take this one for example, from Ohio.

Is America moving toward a Police State? Many, such as this website, say we are. I am not so inclined to believe that this is 100% the case, due to the recent law that Governor Kathleen "babble-on" Blanco signed.

However, if it is my legal right to carry a firearm openly, or concealed with a permit, then what the hell right do the police have to take away my weapon? I understand and agree with the temporary confiscation during a traffic stop for the officer's safety, but the weapon should be IMMEDIATELY returned after official business is concluded... at least, that's what THE LAW says is supposed to happen.

What kind of country do we live in when the very people who are sworn to protect us and our laws don't follow the law???

Labels: Military, Politics

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LA Governor Kathleen Blanco Signs NRA-Backed Law

Fairfax, VA - Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco has signed into law the National Rifle Association (NRA)-backed "Emergency Powers Protection Act" (HB 760). The new law prevents local governments from confiscating firearms during a state of emergency, as it happened in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

"The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina became the proving ground for what American gun owners have always feared: the day that government bureaucrats throw the Bill of Rights in the trash and declare freedom to be whatever they say it is," said Wayne LaPierre, NRA Executive Vice President. "We promised to take measures to ensure that the Second Amendment is not another casualty during a declared emergency and today we are proud to deliver on that promise."

Days after Hurricane Katrina hit, then New Orleans Police Chief Eddie Compass issued an order to confiscate all firearms – including those from law-abiding residents. At a time when 9-1-1 was non-existent and law enforcement was stressed with search and rescue missions, the law-abiding citizens of New Orleans were left at the mercy of roving looters, robbers and thugs. This breakdown of civil order demonstrates that Americans’ rights to keep and bear arms are especially important during a state of emergency. This new law states that local governments will not be able to restrict law-abiding citizens’ use and transportation of firearms during declared emergencies.

"No matter what the circumstances, lawful gun owners have the right to possess their firearms in their homes. And if forced to evacuate, they have the right to transport their firearms to a safe place. Nobody has the right to disarm them. That’s what this legislation ensures."

Check out the article at NRA.org.

She finally does something I agree with! Way to go, Governor Blanco!!!

Labels: History, Military, Politics

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Water temperatures in areas where hurricanes form in the Atlantic Ocean have warmed up over the past century and human activity could be the reason, scientists report.

To develop into a hurricane, a tropical storm needs its primary fuel — water — to be at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.5 Celsius).

Previous studies suggest that warmer temperatures can fuel stronger storms. Long-term trends show that global ocean surface temperatures have warmed up in the past century, and that this is helping to create stronger hurricanes.

Read the article at Fox News or this article at NOAA

Global Warming is a scary subject and, despite doubts from countless millions, a very real danger to our civilization. Until it is perceived by the masses as a legitimate threat caused by our own actions, we are powerless to protect against the situation worsening.

Finally, scientific studies are being taken more seriously by the mainstream news media, as seen in this article and this article at Fox News. NOW is the time to act to prevent further damage to our fragile global ecosystem... before it's too late.

Labels: Politics

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Get your Fema Golden Ticket today and don't forget to vote for Mayor "Wonka" Nagin!

Check out my other Nagin posts: Nagin1, Nagin2, Nagin3, and Nagin4

Labels: Politics

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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- In Louisiana, where people are still cleaning up from hurricanes Katrina