Garbage and Soot to Keep Al Gore Famous

Live Earth came and went and wealthy celebrities will continue to use more energy and produce more pollution then common folks could ever dream of.

'A key point in my extreme dislike for anything left -- IT'S THE HYPOCRICY STUPID!

...anyway, there was a great overview of the hypocrisy amongst many in the Live Earth elite crowd in this article from a couple of day ago in The Daily Mail. Some quotes and statistics from the article:

"...Matt Bellamy, front man of the rock band Muse, has dubbed it 'private jets for climate change'."

"A Daily Mail investigation has revealed that far from saving the planet, the extravaganza will generate a huge fuel bill, acres of garbage, thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions, and a mileage total equal to the movement of an army."

"The most conservative assessment of the flights being taken by its superstars is that they are flying an extraordinary 222,623.63 miles between them to get to the various concerts - nearly nine times the circumference of the world. The true environmental cost, as they transport their technicians, dancers and support staff, is likely to be far higher."

"The total carbon footprint of the event, taking into account the artists' and spectators' travel to the concert, and the energy consumption on the day, is likely to be at least 31,500 tonnes of carbon emissions, according to John Buckley of Carbonfootprint.com, who specializes in such calculations."

"Throw in the television audience and it comes to a staggering 74,500 tonnes. In comparison, the average Briton produces ten tonnes in a year."

"The concert will also generate some 1,025 tonnes of waste at the concert stadiums - much of which will go directly into landfill sites."

"Moreover, the pop stars headlining the concerts are the absolute antithesis of the message they promote - with Madonna leading the pack of the worst individual rock star polluters in the world..."

"...Collins says: "It is patently absurd to claim that travel of this nature doesn't have an impact. Each person attending the event will have to make a return journey to the venue, be it by air, rail, bus or car. This burns fossil fuel - precisely what we are trying to reduce."

"There is also the environmental cost of these artists flying around the world - that is absolutely huge."

"Indeed, an audit of the lifestyles of the A-list performers appearing at Live Earth, reveals that they are among the worst individual polluters in the world, as their world tours and private jets billow thousands of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. One hour in a Gulfstream jet burns as much fuel as driving a family car for a year."

"The Daily Mail has found that five of the top performing acts together have an annual output of almost 2,000 carbon tonnes. Madonna alone has an annual carbon footprint of 1,018 tonnes, according to John Buckley."

"Remember, the average Briton produces just ten tonnes."

"The veteran pop singer's Confessions tour last year produced 440 tonnes of carbon pollution in just four months, simply in flights between venues. This does not include the trucks required to transport equipment, the power needed to stage each show, or the transport for fans traveling to each concert."

"Rock group Genesis re-formed last year and are in the middle of their European tour. The three-man band will fit their Live Earth performance into a tour of at least 47 locations across the world. Their carbon footprint last year totaled 195 tonnes."

"James Blunt, another Wembley performer, completed his world tour of the U.S. last year, racking up a carbon footprint of 195 tonnes."

"American band Red Hot Chili Peppers have, like Madonna, flown in to Wembley from the U.S.. They have produced 220 tonnes of carbon dioxide with their private jet alone over the last six months... "

"...So just how does Gore claim that Live Earth will be carbon neutral? He does so by convenient use of 'carbon offsetting' - a trendy new method of absolving yourself of guilt."

"Carbon offsetting involves 'neutralizing' the emissions you are responsible for by buying 'credits'."

"A spokesperson for Live Earth says: "This might involve buying environmentally sound light bulbs for a Third World school, planting trees, or installing solar panels in a developing country."

"A huge industry has sprung up to provide corporations with carbon credits."

"However, critics say that the practice is simply a way for consumerist industries and nations to export their responsibility to developing countries. Others say it simply does not work."

"Carbon-offsetting is, it turns out, how celebrities square green issues with their extravagant lifestyles and use of private jets..."

"...The idea that you can offset the pollution you cause is just ridiculous. What these people at Live Earth have done is defined their boundaries to suit themselves, but there is no sense in which this concert is carbon neutral."

"Planting trees or investing in renewable energy does not reverse the damage of releasing huge quantities of carbon dioxide into the environment."

"It is far better not to pollute in the first place. Carbon offsetting can be a removal of guilt, but it is not an effective one."

It's been said before; "Shut up and sing."

...Nothing changes.

A Special Religion with Special Needs

The Special Religion with Special Needs (and special assistance from pampered journalists).

(I've posted this before but it seems to always remain timely).

The Religion of Peace

"...may Allah pluck out your eye if you haven't yet seen that Jihad is an individual duty..." -- Al-Zawahi, Al-Qaida's second in command.

...don't forget, we're the bad guys....and, "Bush is Hitler."

Tunes to Save the World

Soon there will be millions (supposedly two billion) across the globe performing and listening to music...to “save the world” from Climate Change ® (previously know as “Global Warming").

I guess their hearts are in the right place. Who wouldn't want to “save the Earth” if they really thought it was on the brink of total doom, as depicted by Al Gore and company. Of course a lot of these people just want to listen to some good bands perform and then drive back home in their massive SUV's – I guess thats okay. Like I said, their hearts are in the right place. I'm not sure their brains are up to the task when it comes to practical judgment though.

All of this latest in celebrity sound-bite cacophony of course assumes that the world is in a state of impending doom, something many of us don't buy into (scientific facts being among our reasons). The “scientific consensus” so often quoted by mainstream media outlets is bogus of course to anyone who has kept relatively informed on the issue, and “consensus” has nothing to do with science anyway, if I may paraphrase Michael Creighton.

Do many people consider how utterly ridiculous it is when musicians chastise “society” for “depleting energy and resources?” Here we have some – in many cases wealthy – characters sucking up megawatts of electricity under colored lights with camera crews and chauffeurs, and making CD's and transporting them to a million stores (with CO2 producing trucks). Live Earth is a resource depleting extravaganza.

It's odd that a caste of entertainment nobles -- the elite, the wealthy, the famous -- demand that the guy who “needs to cutback” or “sacrifice” is Joe and Susan average on their average drive to work or vacation with their kids. “We” always consume too much but Di Caprio's and Al Gore's mansions utilize “carbon offsets” -- well, whopp-dee-doo!

Remember, there were great ice sheets that once covered large parts of the Earth and there is currently global warming on Mars. And you could have stopped it all if you just kissed the assess in the political classes.

I love music and what a great many of musicians produce when practicing their trade, but when musicians become preachers for the new church of global environmental fear, I want to laugh.

So, “save the world” by demanding more centralized and powerful forces of state to reign in us unbelievers. God knows, that's been tried before – with results any good history major can appreciate.

Practicing what they preach – not a big leftist standard but, hey, we can "save the cake [environment]" and eat it to. Just do what they say. Quiver in your boots at the thought of twenty extra feet of fairy tale water. Rattle your teeth at massive glaciers melting. Vote for Hillary or Hugo Chavez...

Then, pat yourself on the back for "saving the world," kick back, and listen to some music.

Jihad In the U.K. -- The "Poor and Oppressed" Strike Again...

...Doctors.

'Just don't call them "Muslim" doctors.

Remember, we're in a global war with an amorphous, unknown, and undescribable enemy waging some neutral concept called "Jihad" (but any connection to the religion of Islam is just coincidental).

Political Correctness used to just be stupid. Now it can get lots of people killed.

-- pathetic...

The Lunatics Who Never Stray From The Path

I had an encounter with another devout follower of the “9/11 cover-up” cult recently. The usual nonsense; 'a knowing gleam in the eye (a cross between a deer in the headlights and a serial killer about to pounce) and the big question I've grown sick of; “So do you think there was a cover up?” I initially answered this completely out of context question in the same manner of response I usually use when I see the rant coming. I acted naïve and confused, “cover up of what?...” A legitimate and convincing response to an absurd question regarding events of over five years ago that had nothing to do with the non-political mundane conversation we were having. Then he went off with the usual memorized lines of “statistics” regarding the velocity of a “pancaking” building in free-fall, how “steel doesn't melt,” and how, “no Arab names were on the flight manifests of the crashed aircraft.” Rather than just roll my eyes up, eventually I made the stupid decision to honestly answer his more stupid question; “I think a group of Al Queda terrorists did it, and jets flying into buildings might do enough damage to make them fall (considered a foolish response to the brilliant minds of the 9/11 paranoia wing of leftland). Then the usual secret insight, born-again rebel sound bites flew; “Operation Northwoods,” “Oil Corporations,” “Profit and greed”... Yawn, what an asshole (I realize that “name-calling” is bad form...but so is being and asshole).

Regarding “secret government plans” (i.e. "Operation Northwoods") from decades ago, regardless of the original circumstances, I don't think that anything circulating on the Internet to millions of people can be really called a “secret plan” now. It's an issue of time and semantics I suppose but, give me a break, a “secret plan” that everyone can read, millions do read, and millions believe? A secret plan that was declassified before supposedly being carried out, and then plastered all over the Internet? That's one shoddy “conspiracy” if you ask me. Doesn't “secret” mean....secret? If only the authoritarian freaks from leftland would be so kind in declassifying secret projects when their “system” is the one in power. I don't recall the former Soviet Union declassifying and making public much stuff (beyond spaceflights, a week after they occurred). Likewise for any contemporary society claiming the torch of “revolutionary socialism” -- not big on information variety or exposes'.

I'm not an engineer, and I've never encountered one of these 9/11 conspiracy connoisseurs who was either. In my latest conversation with previously mentioned clown-freak, all the memorized “facts” from innumerable conspiracy web sites bounced through the air as if he was an engineer (he wasn't) and I was supposedly stupid or “unaware” for not knowing or believing them -- “There's no use ever talking to you if you haven't read the stats regarding the little green men who live in your pillow” (yes, that's a caricature, but it captures the essence of these people's thinking process).

After all the cliché rambling, a final even more cliché classic from leftland; “I'm not taking a side.” Well, there ya have it! Guess what, we're “taking a side” every time we get up in the morning! A conservative has no difficulty saying that they take a side. Why are the left's constant statements of disdain toward free capitalist society and sympathy for its totalitarian enemies always made with the phony qualification that they are somehow, magically, “not taking a side?”

All over the world, people – often majorities – believe the 9/11 -- U.S. government conspiracy B.S. It's become the left's latest rallying cry (tied with “global warming”). The theory of a U.S. Government/"oligarchy" conspiracy now has the popularity of a Starbucks latte and yet these freaks still think they're some rare insiders privy to secret knowledge – back to leftland's default prime motive; “I'm better than you.”

One thing can be absolutely certain when confronting the lefts' conspiracy theory nut-parade; the one possibility we can definitively rule out (in their eyes) is that Muslim terrorists trained to hijack airplanes and later crashed them into buildings killing innocent people.

Apparently (and, this is the repeated line of thinking among the types I'm writing of), anyone who believes “the government's story” (e.g. Common sense based on facts and not paranoid speculation) also, doesn't' know that a Jewish neo-con conspiracy has allowed George Bush to seize power-- “under the Patriot Act” -- and establish a fascist police state.

You may not notice that America is a dictatorship now, where “voices and opinions are muzzled,” but that's just “because you can't see it.” You need leftland's X-ray vision. You need a mediocre life, and need to compensate for your insignificance with passionate delusion. Meanwhile, a real enemy of free civilization (Islamo-fascism) needn't be conspiratorial at all. Their chess moves are announced or displayed daily, and we're handing them the keys to the car while rambling incoherent nonsense about unclassified “secret” government plots, engineering physics we know nothing about, and the esoteric truth of urban legends concocted by middle class pampered brats with too much time on their hands and a serious deficit of common sense.

Public “education” + media political PR – common sense = ”ignorance is strength.”

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A fascinating video (I think) that you may or may not wish to incorporate into the issues addressed above; a plane crashing into a solid concrete wall at very high speed. All sorts of arguments have been made regarding what happens, or “should” happen, when a high speed aircraft hits a solid object (like the wall of the Pentagon). Although an aircraft is heavy, and jammed full of equipment and “objects,” it is essentially a hollow tube of relatively light weight material (that's so it can fly – duh). Is it so hard to believe that it becomes unrecognizable after a high impact (don't forget to add igniting fuel into the equation).

A really big hat tip to Eject Eject Eject.

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...Oh yeah, this too is an excellent -- and comical -- accessory in the "debate."

Regarding the Most Recent Attempted Bombing in London...

'Time to get -- justifiably -- "Islamo-phobic."

As with Nazism, Fascism, and Communism; we're late, but perhaps not too late. More and more people are beginning to recognize the enemy -- and that's a good thing.

The Pesky Little Tax Issue

My taxes here in Japan just went up – about $80.00 a month.

Of course, the tax issue is a centerpiece of the conservative/libertarian position. I can't get too worked up about it though, not because I'd ultimately be up against some powerful politicians but because – as in any locale – I'm up against lots of stupid people who will continually vote for the clown who promises to take someone else's money to “do good things.”

Of course most people's response to taxes is that, “we gotta pay for the roads and police etc...” What a total crock! We could pave and patrol the entire solar system for what the worthless clowns of socialism inc. have fostered upon the public.

The only sure things are – supposedly -- “death and taxes.” Of course you can't say “no” to death, but taxes are another thing. Perhaps we should say, “death and public stupidity are the only sure things.”

In my little town, there will definitely be more than a few people with families and greater expenses than my own, who will now forfeit an extra evening out at a restaurant, pass on a movie, or perhaps they'll just stop buying that 400 yen latte or new pair of shoes.

A minor tax hike rarely bankrupts anyone (though I'm sure more than a few small businesses have had their “camel's back” broken by this pathetic “straw” of state coercion).

No doubt, next year the city elders will be whining about the local economy and reduced shopping in the downtown area. Leave it to politicians to be so f___ing stupid that they're unable to see a relationship between excess theft and a reduction of expenditure on the part of their constituents.

Consistently, a reduction in taxes results in increased business activity (for those who hate the “B word,” that simply means making, selling, and buying stuff) and ultimately an increase in tax revenue from a more dynamic economy. But the left likes, or is at least apologetic to, the concept of taxes. Left-of-center politicians forever chastize those "unwilling to pay their 'fair share'." Taxes “pay for government programs,” but they also do something far more important in the eyes of a statist. They punish success and achievement, they “redistribute” wealth – from “the rich” to the political class (politicians and bureaucrats). Socialism in all its guise is ultimately a punitive philosophy.

Here in Japan, people complain about taxes just the same as anywhere else but I'd dare say they're less likely to see the ultimate solution (not that Americans or anyone else, acts on the solution).

The solution is to support any politician who promises to reduce government spending and taxes, and to make any politicians who wants to seize more funds unemployed – throw the asshole out of office. But..., most people aren't going to do that. Japan is pretty weak on a libertarian mentality favoring – very limited – government and equally limited taxation.

People want their “free” stuff, and as long as there's a politician promising to materialize free stuff on a rich person's dime, they're all for it. “Give me more government grants to the cheese industry, more money to 'help the poor' (that's always a favorite), more government grants to investigate the effects of second-hand methane emissions.”

If a socialist says they're going to punish or extract wealth from “the rich,” you can be certain that, regardless of your income or living circumstance, you'll eventually be classified as “rich” (your taxes are going to go up).

“Death and Taxes.”...

...Death of taxes has such a nicer ring to it, but don't hold your breath waiting.

The Capitalist in All of Us

One need go no further than Shakespear or Freud to know that when a person continually notes “selfishness” and “greed” in others, you're probably dealing with a rather selfish and greedy person.

-– “know thyself;” then, leave others alone...