JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN, DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULD

Technology is moving into the culture at such a fast pace that Joe and Jane Citizen can't even wrap their minds around it.  And, no, I am not suggesting paranoia is the best response to it.  But when government uses Joe's and Jane's money to use technology to take away their privacy, property rights, and their freedoms, I think it's time to take a hard look at what this "Brave New World" is foisting upon us.  Science fiction has become reality.  This is why we are looking at drone strikes on American citizens and why Rand Paul's filibuster was such a dramatic and seminal moment.

My readers know I have been on the rabbit trail, chasing down the power grab of Councils of Governments and trying to warn our elected officials.  To that end, I am going to share a few details with you from the grant application and grant that our Centralina Council of Governments took from the Federal government.  The grant is based on United Nations global governance.  But to hide that fact, our Federal government has obfuscated the jargon in an attempt to snooker the American public.  And a good job they've done so far.  

How do you like the idea that an unelected bureaucracy has given itself the power to assess and collect data on your personal belongings and your lifestyle?  (Worse that your elected officials are letting them do it.)  We know the Federal government is implementing data collection through the healthcare bill and through the public school system.  So why no do it through unelected planning agencies as well?  They are!

This may be too much "getting into the weeds" for some, but here is an example of what I mean:

Under the heading of "Energy Conservation" the HUD grant application sets out the budget to be spent on data collection on your home, your assets,  and your activities.  This bureaucratic cabal of self-important controllers. is using your tax dollars to pay people with infra-red thermal imaging equipment to come to your house and assess the greenhouse gases your house may be emitting.  Is your house leaking heat or cooling emissions? Remember this CCOG has captured 14 counties and all of the towns and cities within that area....four of the counties are not even in this state.

This project provides comparable analyses of energy-savings potentials for a cross-section of neighborhood houses in the CCOG/Catawba COG represented county region. Deliverables for this project include: (1) a compilation of neighborhood housing sampling per county for the Neighborhood Energy Profile Database; (2) assessments will be made as to which neighborhoods collectively have the best potential for realizing cost-effective energy savings; (3) targeting those identified neighborhoods with messages on how households can realize these savings through proven,
affordable, achievable and accessible measures.
The Neighborhood Energy Profile Database and Energy Enhancement Recommendations project team will be led by Jim Kirby, GREENTHINC., PLLC and Hamilton Cort, Cort Architectural Group, PA. Both will share the two-state/multi-county management/database development responsibilities for residential building energy performance assessment, corresponding database development, and publication of proven/affordable energy enhancement strategies. Members of the US Green Building Council-Charlotte Region Chapter (USGBC-CRC) will serve in the outreach messaging efforts and home sampling selection efforts for the 14 county CCOG region. Matthew Ryan, Efficiency 1st, LLC will provide on-site residential building diagnostics, assessment and reporting responsibilities for the two state/ multi-county residential buildings through blower-door/pressurization testing, HVAC systems review and envelope thermal imaging.

Under "Climate Change" is the taking of inventory on both public and private vehicle fleets.

ATC Associates will conduct an inventory of construction equipment used in the region to determine the model year, estimated usage hours and engine upgrade retrofits. This inventory will be conducted on both municipally-owned fleets and privately owned fleets (general contractors, grading, construction, and equipment rental companies) and entered into a database. The purpose will be to assess the age and emission levels of construction equipment used in our region to determine the scope of the problem that aging diesel fleets represents. The cost for their work, all of which is to be paid for using grant funds, is $85,760.
Mecklenburg County will assess the feasibility of expanding their highly successful GRADE (Grants to Reduce Aging Diesel Engines) Program. Currently the program targets older construction equipment in the region for engine repowers or replacement to reduce the emission of nitrogen oxide, a major component of ozone pollution. Expanding the program or creating a similar model to provide grant funding for diesel particulate filter retrofits will address the emissions of black carbon. Potential sources of funding for this program will also be explored. All of Mecklenburg County’s staff time (valued at $23,940) is being provided through an in-kind match.
UNCC will assess the job creation opportunities within the diesel retrofit sector (manufacturing, installation and maintenance) that would result from increasing the installation of diesel particulate filters on pre-2008 construction equipment and vehicles in the region. UNCC will also identify workforce retraining options for manufacturing and diesel mechanics. All funds attributed to UNC Charlotte, $31,705, are to be paid for by the grant.
Supporting work will also be provided by Clean Air Carolinas (CAC), a clean air advocacy group in the Charlotte region and by Jason Wager (CCOG Sustainability Program Manager). CAC is providing $2000 in in-kind staff assistance. Approximately 23.3% of Wager’s time is being provided by an in-kind match through CCOG. (NOTE: Wager’s time is accounted for in Section 1, Personnel Labor Costs, of the Budget Narrative.)

Presto!  There you have just two of the invasive Federal intrusions into our personal and private lives.  Oh...you say pollution is not personal and private, but is a "public" problem.  Well, the truth is the town I live in is 20 miles west of Charlotte and we do not have an air quality problem.  In fact, none of the other counties and communities outside Charlotte / Mecklenburg have any of the air quality problems that Charlotte has.  Furthermore, the idea that personal homes are causing Climate Change is just ridiculous.  Energy conservation can and should be left up to individuals who purchase energy.  That is the free market.  Here we have an unelected, self-appointed, group of meddling bureaucrats who intend to walk into your neighborhood with thermal imaging equipment, paid for with your Federal taxes, and then proceed to get the Federal government involved in your roofing, insulation, and HVAC system.  Or, how about this?  The friends I have who are in the construction business or the equipment rental business will be forced to have their equipment inspected by (again unelected) guns for hire who will then sic the Feds on them to pay for retrofits and or new equipment.  As you can see from the cited bits of that grant, the intention is to get more government grant money should the public and private entities not be able to pay for this "upgrade.  And how could they pay for this?  City governments are broke.  County governments are broke.  Personally owned businesses can't cough up money for this willy nilly.  So....who do you think is going to pay for that?  Got money?  You'd better hang onto your wallet.  Government is about to stick you with the tab ...and has already to the tune of $4.9 million for this "Sustainable Communities Initiative" planning grant.  (funny money that was borrowed from somewhere out there or printed out of fiction!)

Technology makes a lot of things possible.  Thermal imaging.  Carbon Capture. Energy efficiency.  But does that mean government has the right to trample on your rights to force you to comply with some other person's idea? What does that do to the free market?  I have some friends who own antique vehicles that are street legal.  Should these bureaucrats force them off the street?  And in doing so, does that make light rail less expensive or more environmentally friendly?  No.  Does forcing people to seal up their homes do anything to help the environment?  No.  So they use a tiny bit less energy, does that keep the snow from falling or a river from flooding?  No. 

Just because you can invade someone's privacy or personal choices, doesn't mean you should!  As compared with drone strikes on American citizens, this may seem trivial.  Trust me it is not trivial and will threaten our economic survival even more than it already is.

FOR GOD'S SAKE, I'LL GIVE YOU THE SCISSORS! CUT, PLEASE!!!

 I have a few pairs of scissors (as long as they still let me have them) and I would be more than happy to share them with Congress and the POTUS to start the cutting of government spending.  I'd even pitch in to help with the job. Heck, I'll start a campaign to send them all the scissors they would need. While everyone this past week was having kiniptions about how dreadful our lives will become if government actually cuts some spending, I thought, "Why is anyone complaining about this?"   The Federal government has become so intolerably fiscally insane, I say cut away!  And do cut some more!  PLEASE!!  CHOP CHOP!!

 I know that you all know some of the stories about wasteful spending coming out of DC.  You remember the silly little research study of Chinese prostitutes and alcohol use.  Wasn't there something about a squirrel lately?   The sad thing is there is so much of it, if we were digging it out, we'd never see the bottom of the pit. 

Heritage has a glimpse into some of it here:

Examples of Government Waste

And then of course there is the "green" slime, taking your / our greenbacks to throw down the sewers of "green" nonsense.  You don't know the half of that reality.  The next article I give you has a peek into what our dear leaders are doing on behalf of the planet:

  Alan Caruba of the National Anxiety Center writing in 2004

"It is mind-boggling the billions of US taxpayer dollars that are squandered annually in the name of “protecting the environment.” Nor are these millions and billions devoted to just the US environment. They are just as often given way to foreign nations, many of which have a track record of corruption."
I was thinking about this as I read a speech given in Stockholm, Sweden, on March 2 by John F. Turner, an Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environment and Scientific Affairs. If Turner were any more Green he’d glow in the dark. He represents a vast Fifth Column of Greens that are everywhere in the government, having been attracted by fellow travelers like Al Gore and Bill Clinton. They are in many agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior, and, like Turner, even in the State Department.  

The US government is engaged in one of the biggest land grabs in history and they are doing it in collusion with a matrix of so-called environmental and conservation non-government organizations. They are doing it using your money! If successful, there will be fewer and fewer places for people to live, create new businesses, ranch, farm, or use our natural resources in any fashion, i.e. mine it, drill for it, or log it.

Turner noted “the United States has cemented 13 formal bilateral relationships with both developed and developing nation to address climate change.”

And here’s the kicker! “What’s more, the US spends $1.7 billion annually on climate science and related science, more than the rest of the world combined.” It gets worse! “Over the next five years, the United States has pledged $1.7 billion to develop clean, hydrogen-powered automobiles.” That’s billion with a “B” for an automobile that nobody wants, nor needs.

This is what the Greens call “sustainable development.” If they were honest about it---which they never are---they should call it “no development.”

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The US, noted Turner (John F. Turner, an Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environment and Scientific Affairs), will let some countries reduce their debt by agreeing to “protect valuable tropical forests.” Peru, for example, won’t have to pay what it owes us in return for preserving 12.5 million hectares of rain forest. What Turner doesn’t mention is that logging is one of the ways Peruvians have of making a living and depriving them of that, much as was done to many American logging communities in our Northwestern States, will destroy an important element of that nation’s economy.

The waste of tax dollars in the name of the environment is beyond comprehension, but it illustrates just how totally infiltrated the federal government is with both legislators and civil servants who feel free to ignore the best interests of Americans. In the process, they are destroying the key element of our economy, private property, and, in the name of “sustainable development”, seeking to thwart every manner of development.

This next article is how California has soaked the Federal government for billions as well.:

Forbes article on California debt

Feds to pay Californians unemployment payments is shocking and unfair to the rest of the nation. California uniquely owes the federal government more than $9 billion for unemployment compensation.

This one is just another microscopic glimpse on unelected Federal agencies spending money on grants for green.  This article refers to a company named Republic who has figured out how to milk the system from all directions:

Arlington, Texas article on DOE

In Indiana, Republic acquired $500,000 to buy 15 CNG trucks as part of the DOE’s Alternative Fuel Vehicle grant program. As part of the grant process, Republic must work with the Greater Indiana Clean Cities Coalition.
The DOE is re-distributing millions of tax dollars in the form of grants to companies like Republic to upgrade its fleet to compressed natural gas vehicles (CNG). These grants are available through a nationwide network established by the DOE called the Clean Cities Coalitions.

In Mount Holly, N.C., Republic received a $100,000 state grant to help pay for new carts. One of the key requirements for getting the grant was that the carts be equipped with RFID chips. Mount Holly doesn’t have an RFID reader to collect and compute the data being sent from the chips, but the city hopes to get another $10,000 grant to pay for one.
Republic received another $500,000 in Dayton, OH, for RFID-equipped carts.

Oh, and of course they don't let the military off the hook.  You and I are paying $26.00 buckaroos PER GALLON for fuel for the U.S. Navy. 

Military spending on the green agenda

Under the administration’s directives, the Navy has launched a new “Great Green Fleet” of ships that use a 50-50 blend of conventional and alternative fuel, made from seeds, algae and chicken fat.
The cost of this fuel: $26 per gallon.

I especially love this one.  This is our money paying to teach government employees that Americans are evil bastards and stole the nation.  It's all for "Diversity" training, don't ya know.  Judicial Watch Report - plus page with videos

Within the last two weeks, Judicial Watch uncovered a major scandal inside the USDA, where taxpayers have been funding an expensive “cultural sensitivity” program that requires federal employees to bang on tables and repeat the words, “The Pilgrims were illegal aliens,” among other ridiculous chants. - See more at: http://minutemennews.com/2013/03/arrogantly-playing-politics-at-the-publics-expense/#sthash.FuJbrk7P.zQTG7CAK.dpuf

 Judicial Watch uncovered a major scandal inside the USDA, where taxpayers have been funding an expensive “cultural sensitivity” program that requires federal employees to bang on tables and repeat the words, “The Pilgrims were illegal aliens,” among other ridiculous chants.

Within the last two weeks, Judicial Watch uncovered a major scandal inside the USDA, where taxpayers have been funding an expensive “cultural sensitivity” program that requires federal employees to bang on tables and repeat the words, “The Pilgrims were illegal aliens,” among other ridiculous chants. - See more at: http://minutemennews.com/2013/03/arrogantly-playing-politics-at-the-publics-expense/#sthash.FuJbrk7P.zQTG7CAK.dpuf

Really?  I paid for that?  Oh, that must be Obama redistributing my wealth....or lack of it, as the case may be.  Yeah, those damn Pilgrims.  It's all their fault!  I need to pay up for what they did!  Yeah, that's right!

Here's an idea.  Why don't we all print a little picture of scissors and send it to our DC reps and senators.  Do you think they would get the hint?  Nah...don't waste the stamps. The situation is so far out of control, you can't even wrap your mind around it.  

Well....if any of my DC reps and senators wish to borrow my scissors.....

(I'm sure I'd never see the scissors again either.)  

Chop Chop!!!

THE REAL TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS - MASTERS OF THE EARTH

The phrase "Tragedy of the Commons" entered my mind today like a lightning bolt.  Realizing that the Socialist leftists coming out of universities, for several decades now, believe the example means strict government control of all resources I suddenly thought, "The Commons IS the Tragedy."  The evidence is both historical and contemporary.  The story of The Tragedy of the Commons" was written by an ecologist named Garrett Hardin in 1968.   Hardin blamed farmers for over-grazing a plot of land, land they didn't own but were allowed to use.  According to Hardin, the selfishness of each farmer for over-grazing the land meant that people cannot be left to their own devices when using any of earth's resources.  But what Hardin conveniently leaves out is that the farmers didn't own the land, so they had little to no motivation for protecting that piece of land.  Nor does Hardin recognize the psychological truth that each farmer thought the owner of the land, Boston city government, would manage the land.  Mr. Hardin went further back in history and cited Feudal land use to support his arguments.  His arguments were full of fallacies according to critics in the Wikipedia article.  From all I read on him, Garrett Hardin, being an ideological ecologist, decided that all the land and all resources belong to the "Commons," and therefore you should not be allowed to use anything unless you are controlled by masters of the earth who tell you how and what you can use.   (Mr. Hardin is also a Malthusian population hysteric.)  This "Communitarian" idea has been planted into mindless robots who have stolen the American dream of private ownership and individual freedom away from all of us.  I say "mindless robots" because you really can't believe this tripe if you do have a working mind.  But Hardin's theory has been entrenched into university dogma for many years now, so you can only imagine how many of the indoctrinated have taken positions in the government sector to rule over you.  Hopefully, you can see the irony that the same "masters of the earth," who would have you bow and scrape to them and not allow you to "own" anything, are quite rich and own quite a lot.  Does Ted Turner come to mind?  Even mid-level bureaucrats make more than the average Joe and usually own a chunk of property.  (One I know in my county lives in a cushy $450,000 + house on a lake.) Last I looked, university professors with tenure make quite a lot of money.  Bureaucrats in planning organizations are doing quite well on our tax dollars.

But, let's go back to Boston again and see what the Mayor of that fine city has in store for property owners today, if he gets his way.  Welcome to Boston, where the Commons now includes water, energy, and fossil fuel emissions.  The illustrious Mayor, Mr. Menino, has proposed that all commercial buildings in Boston should begin reporting to the city all water use, energy use, and emissions.  (How they are to determine this "emissions" report is beyond me, but that's what the proposal says.)   Utilities already track and bill water and energy use.  Seems an easy thing to me that the city could just confiscate the data from the utilities, forgetting privacy concerns of course.  And if you think this will only apply to "commercial" buildings in the future, I've got a bridge in Arizona to sell you! 

You'll like this part: 

"The information, which would be posted online, would also include Energy Star ratings — energy-efficiency “scores” from 1 to 100 backed by the Environmental Protection Agency.  Menino said the first building owner to participate in the program will be the city, which will report 2012 energy and water use for its buildings by the end of this year."

 I like that, don't you?  Your building data will be posted online!!  And furthermore, you get stars just like in the second grade for your compliance with the "Energy Star" scam.  Woo Hoo!

According the article (linked above from the Boston Globe), San Francisco, Washington, and New York have similar laws on the books already.  I guess that should come as no surprise since all three of those cities are run by serious control addicts, all Democrats.  Supposedly all of this reporting and star rating is enough to bend you, using "behavior modification" techniques.  When that doesn't work, and it won't, next comes the hammer.  They will already know who to target.

Control addicts are everywhere these days.  A dime a dozen.  This same "reporting" idea is endemic in the "Sustainable Communities" grant that has descended upon my area as well as most in the nation.  We are commanded to report our resource use to bureaucrats, who then report the data to the Federal government, who then will condemn us each, individually, to a restricted lifestyle.  Who do we blame for this?  Well, the Mayor of Boston is a clue.  Elected officials are now the enforcers of the "Tragedy of the Commons."  The bureaucrats convinced the elected that we just can't live on privately owned land, use the water we need, or heat our homes as we see fit.  The masters of the earth must manage us.  

As you find the elected masters of the earth in your city, county, or state, begin weeding them out.   It is the only way to stop this madness.  Go out there and start the process of changing from masters to hirelings.  They work for us...not the other way around.  These policies will have to be taken off the books and out of our government.  And, if you aren't willing to do that...well....I give up.  I don't  want to live in a Stalinist / Fascist / Socialist nation.  If you do, I strongly suggest you find one and move there. Oh...and when you do, would you please take these mindless robots with you?

Note:

Hardin's commons theory is frequently cited to support the notion of sustainable development, meshing economic growth and environmental protection, and has had an effect on numerous current issues, including the debate over global warming. An asserted impending "tragedy of the commons" is frequently warned of as a consequence for adopting policies which restrict private property and espouse expansion of public property.

INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS - EUGENICS AND FOUR YEAR OLDS

How many ways can the statists take away your life and liberty?  

At this point it is becoming harder and harder to count them all.  From healthcare to education, from housing to food, the Federal government, under the dictatorship of Barack Obama, is in the process of taking everything in your life out of your hands.

Now Barack Obama wants four year old children in government run preschools. Universal pre-school for all!   Body snatching four year old children? Well, I think we've been there and done that, except Head Start was voluntary.  Well, voluntary to those who took their children there, but not to those of us who paid for it.  Even the word "voluntary" is so carelessly tossed around and ambiguous these days.  "Voluntary" is just another word for taking from some and handing it over to others.  Choices are so restricted that there is actually a phrase to describe that now.  It's called "Choice Editing."    

I have read that the "Affordable Health Care Act" contains language to allow the state to demand your organs upon your death without your consent.  Not at all sure that is so, but if Mayor Bloomberg can mandate what you can't buy to drink and can restrict the use of salt, is there any limit to what the government can and can't do with your body?  Obamacare (the unaffordable health care act) is chock full of assaults on a person owning his or her own body.  The "Independent Payment Advisory Board" is due to be the appointed cabal who decides your fate.  They are just another version of body snatchers. 

And who decides the fate of a four year old?  Parents or the almighty state?  If Barack Obama has his way, it will be the state.  The few short years that parents have to hold their children dearly and tightly, to protect them and shelter them, teaching them the uncompromising love of parents, would be cut short yet another year by the dictator in the White House. Obviously this is Hitler's and also the Soviet Marxist imperative, to take the children as quickly away from parents as possible and hand them over to the state.  My dear God, this is America!  How can anyone let this already, nearly complete, socialist / fascist doctrine  Socialist / Fascist doctrine continue?  How?  Why?  And now Eric Holder, the Joker of Justice, has chimed in to say that parents have no fundamental right to educate their own children? 

Most educated people are aware that since ancient Greece, with the philosophy of Plato, there have been statists who declare you only exist for the sake of the state.  This arrogant ideology only comes from those who believe they are immune from the declarations they make, never having to submit to the rules they put on others.  (Bloomberg and Gore would be two very fine examples of this.  George Bernard Shaw would be so proud of them.)  I can't imagine that they imagine they would ever be forced to do without whatever they wish or have someone else decide their fate.  No.  The rules they make are always for the poor unfortunate souls they denigrate as not worthy of liberty to choose a fate for themselves.  

Bill Wilson for Net Right Daily

Obama claimed that "fewer than three in ten 4-year-olds are enrolled" in a preschool program. So now he wants enrollment to become universal.

It harkens back Plato's Republic, which advocated children be mandatorily placed in the care of the state guardians at very young ages.

Except, right after his big speech, the White House contradicted Obama by suggesting that only families up to 200 percent of the poverty level instead of the current 130 percent would even qualify for his Head Start expansion.

Not exactly universal. But it will still end up costing billions more every year.

So Barack Obama thinks parents should hand over their children at four years old so that he and the statists can mold those children into good little slaves of the state.  And further, costing all of us billions more in taxation.   As usual, there is never enough to satisfy their appetite for power or your money.  K through 12 is obviously just not long enough for the Federal government to control the outcome of that child's life.  Why not just birth that baby and hand it over immediately to the state nursing agency where they will either keep the child or get rid of it, depending on the acceptable DNA results? 

You know it's coming.  You see it as plain as day, just like the sun coming up in the East.  The body snatchers are very busy planning your future.

(Just as a side note, I think it fascinating that each time a compassionate God inspired event or ideology appears, shortly thereafter an equally non-compassionate, cruel ideology of tyranny rears its ugly head.  I suppose this is the moral tug of war for the history of the world...the war of good vs. evil, no doubt.  But soon after Hippocrates penned his Hippocratic philosophy of compassionate care of the sick and infirm, along came Plato with just the opposite view. That is just one example of this constant dichotomy presented to humanity.) 

PLAYING WITH FIRE - THE GLOBAL WARMING HOAX

 "It's too hot."  Oops.  I mean, "It's too cold.  Oops.  I mean, "Whatever, Dude." 

Here we go again.  The POTUS delivers the SOTUS and the hoax continues.  The global leftists, including the President of the United States just can't let go of the lie.  Exploiting that the masses are still stuck on stupid, the State of the Union address included dire warnings about how weather events are SO MUCH WORSE than they have ever been in the history of mankind.  Worse, he proposes his Federal policies will fix that.  Look out friends...you are the target.  (We are the targets.)  I guess the O hasn't ever heard of This page that shows the worst hurricanes in U.S. History, only one of which happened in the last 30 years.  Or This page showing the cyclical nature of flooding and droughts.

 My mom, may she rest in peace, used to say, "You don't mess with Mother Nature."  The saying has more implications today than it had when she said it, but if you cut it down to basic common sense, that adage has always and ever will be true.  The reason she would say it had to do with real world anecdotal evidence of what natural disasters could bring.  Weather events were respected.  People prepared.  The Army Corps of Engineers built dams to control flooding.  The insurance industry charged more for building in areas prone to natural disasters.  People took heed.  It was up to individuals to assess and mitigate the risks.  People invented heating and air-conditioning for a reason...HELLOOOOooo!!!

But along the way, some people decided to blame the public for natural disasters.  Really.  Mother Nature isn't in charge.  It's all our fault. (Check Maurice Strong and the Club of Rome for who those people are.)  Imagine someone coming to you and telling you that Hurricane Sandy is your fault because you failed to switch out those light bulbs to the compact fluorescent type, or that you aren't bicycling to work, or you don't have a Smart Meter controlling your thermostat and appliances.  That IS what the President of the United States of America is telling you. Further, he is telling you the Federal government will force you to comply with whatever regulations he contrives and will do it through the executive branch by fiat.  Isn't it nice to be king?  If you have any prosperity left, you can kiss it goodbye.

The King of the World, Barack Obama, is telling you how he will use his tyrannical powers over you to supposedly fix the climate?  The "Audacity of Hope" has become the "Audacity of Stupidity," both his and the dumbed-down masses of idiots (low information voters) who put this character in the White House, not once but twice.  Who is dumb enough to believe that impoverishing the United States' population and lowering their standard of living is going to change the climate?  Tell me.  Who is that stupid?

Which brings me to the fire part of this.  The O is making a gamble that he can force you to do what he wants and use your money (both today's money and your children's future earnings) to do it, all for the deception that he can make you change the climate?  That's a pretty big gamble. People will surely notice that storms happen and that life is not made up of 365 perfect days per year.   He has done the same thing with healthcare, taking your money in order to make you think he can "fix" a problem.  In fact, he fixes nothing and only makes your money disappear....go up in flames.  He is, for all intents and purposes, burning down the house, the nation in which we live.  His deceptions are so ridiculous that, I believe, he is going to go down in flames himself.  (God willing) People may be dumbed-down, but the deceptions that this President perpetrates are so blatant and so devoid of positive results that this cannot go on. People aren't deaf, dumb, AND blind.  The results are becoming more and more obvious.  Continuing on his path, the house burns down as you have seen by the contracting economy, the continuing unemployment, the restrictions of resource use, the downward spiral of pressure on healthcare and escalating prices therein, the skyrocketing debt, financial instability, the narrowing of choices left to us, the corruption of our nation's institutions, on and on.

The only warming we are seeing is Barack Obama putting us all on the hot seat, a seat that is getting hotter and hotter by the minute.  Sooner or later, people will surely jump out of this hot seat and stop believing that Barack Obama can do anything, much less change the climate.  Somebody take the matches away from the king baby in the White House...Please!!

"LEVERAGE"- THE NEW WORD FOR POLITICAL THEFT

If someone came up to you and said they wanted to make your life WONDERFUL by curing the world's ills, but also say in order to do that you would have to give them 60% of your earned income, what would you say?  If someone came up to you and said you are at fault for a typhoon in Japan, so your penance will be giving up 40% of your land, what would you say?  If someone came up to you and said they would give you $100 million for a project, but in order to receive that you MUST spend it they way they tell you and THEN you must match that amount of money over the next 5 years on the same exact project they propose, what would you say?  

Welcome to "leveraging."

Feel like you are being manipulated?  Well, guess what?  You are.  We all are.  But the operative word lately is not "manipulate."  It is "leverage."  As in using "levers" to manipulate.  Levers are powerful devices to move something.  Trying to sound cool and businesslike,  bureaucrats, politicians, and non-profit foundations are using the word "leverage." 

Here is an EXAMPLE

According to the Sacramento Bee, “B Lab will establish partnerships with organizations that have regional presence and expertise and leverage financial and technical support provided by the Inter American Development Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation, Halloran Philanthropies, Prudential Foundation, Linklaters, the Ford Foundation, the Avina Foundation, InnovaChile CORFO and Deloitte LLP.”
The B Corporation journey has thus far been characterized by pioneers like Yvon Chouinard, the iconoclastic CEO of Patagonia, who was the first CEO to sign on once B corps became recognized in California.
Chouinard has called prior laws governing corporations and charities too restrictive. He says that for-profit firms often face pressure to abandon social goals in favor of increased profits, while non-profits are overly restricted in their ability to raise capital when they need it to grow.
The B Corporation is another important step in the journey to build a new, more Earth-centered, more sustainable economy.  Perhaps something along the lines of what David Korten writes about in his latest book, Agenda for a New Economy, where he says, “to create an economic system that works for all, we need a different design grounded in different values and a different understanding of wealth, our human nature, and the sources of human happiness and well-being.”

 Note the effort there to change the language of prosperity to "redistribution of wealth."  "Earth-centered?"  "Human happiness and well-being," the author declares, is to place "social goals" on the backs of corporations, without exactly defining what those "social goals" are.  But gee, whatever he says ends in "human happiness and well-being."  Really?  

Also note the players in this B Corporation Scheme.  The Rockefeller Foundation.  The Ford Foundation.  Prudential Foundation.  Have the Rockefellers, Fords, and the insurance giant, Prudential given up all of their profits?  I missed the memo if they have.  These are foundations that are busy greasing their tax status with the government while preaching that the rest of us should not be profit motivated.  Hmmm.....interesting how that works.  They became rich from capitalism and now create foundations "leveraging" money to implement Socialism?  Anyone asking why that would be?

Trust me when I tell you this is only one small example of this word, "leverage" showing up in just about every policy document I've seen lately.  The grant application from the unelected Centralina Council of Governments uses the word "leverage," often and in many places, to describe their intent on how to use the Federal money.  They will "leverage" the funds to either get matching funds or to bend local policies to conform to HUD compliance in the grant. 

A "lever" is a lien on existing or future assets and labor.  It is also a bribe, but sadly the bribe, used as a "lever," has been given cultural legitimacy in our vernacular. 

What happens when property rights are "leveraged" away from Constitutional rights?   When politicians are "leveraging" away our rights by accepting bribes, they completely rescind the oath they took to protect and defend the Constitution.  But the bribes they are taking, which create the levers, are on your back, not on theirs.  So "leveraging" comes with no consequences.  Just as the previous noted foundations are receiving tax breaks from the government and using their donors' money to do it, politicians are putting feathers in their caps by running around shouting "I BROUGHT IN GRANT MONEY," but using your money to do it.  They NEVER tell you it is your money or that they stole your money to get that grant in the first place.

The supposed cure for curing the world's ills, these days, is always political theft of our rights, our liberty, our labor, our property, whatever our assets may be. 

So how does it feel to be "leveraged?"  

CHERYL MEETS ORWELL - RIGHT HERE AND NOW

I went to the Animal Fair....I mean, Animal Farm...in 1984...just last night.  Orwell is alive and well, having accurately predicted the future, and that future is NOW.  Actually it was a Dog and Pony Show put on by the propaganda experts from the unelected Centralina Council of Governments.  It was a room full of posters and bureaucrats handing out surveys with stupid questions.  Questions like: "How would you like to see your "region" grow?"  Questions like: "Would you like to see more roads or, would you rather see more houses close to work places?"  Questions like, "Would you like more bike paths and sidewalks?" Questions like, "Would you like to see more open spaces and parks?"  The surveys were a joke, frankly.  Posters that state: "The population in our region is going to double in the next 20 yrs."  Oops, "40 yrs."  Oops, "50 yrs."  (Seriously, they have published all three time frames in different propaganda pieces, so which is it?)  Posters that tell you "the demographic is going to be a lot older and a lot poorer."  Posters that say, "We can fix all these things."  Posters that say, "You can be part of this VOLUNTARILY."  Sure, and my Aunt Sadie was the Queen of Egypt, too.

Our county stays at over 10% unemployment.  More layoffs were announced yesterday.  The birth rate is declining.  The previous year increase in population in this state was 1.2%.  Multiply that by 20 years and you have a 24% increase, hardly double to 200% of the current population.  The only jobs that seem to exist are service jobs.  Manufacturing is still on the wane, and has been for years.  People don't make anything anymore.  They either don't have jobs or they are in service industries.  Oh, and the largest employer here is....guess who?  The government.

Anyway, back to Animal Farm and 1984, I managed to get several Tea Party people there.  Not to be outdone, the bureaucrats had called in every non-profit in the county and had them show up.  They have been told they will have a "seat at the table," and they will be in line to get more money from the Feds if they participate.  I was prepared.  I had printed out flyers of information for anyone and everyone, countering the lies and subterfuge.  I handed them out.  My husband and I were watched every minute by the smarmy, nasty, beady-eyed bureaucrats in suits.  We engaged people in conversations and asked them if they would read my flyers.  I had good feedback from most, thanking me for my editorial in the paper and telling me they didn't know about this prior to reading my editorial.  (side note: it is good to find that people actually do read newspapers today.) 

The Dog and Pony Show also attracted two of our City Council members who were promoting this "regional government," federal monster that they voted to join on our behalf.  One of them didn't look me in the eyes and barely said hello.  The other, a woman, did engage me in conversation.  And here is where the whole thing went off the rails for me.  Below is an account of that conversation.

"Hello Councilwoman."  "Hello Cheryl."  I then said, "Councilwoman, I have information for you on this regional government and I would like to come to your office and share that with you."  "Oh," she said, "No, you don't need to do that."  "I already know how you feel."  I said, "Councilwoman, you do know that you were misled and that the Director of Centralina Council of Governments misrepresented all of this to you, don't you?"  She said, "I know how you feel and I just disagree with you."  I said, "Councilwoman, I have copies of the HUD grant and the actual grant application that proves you were misled."  I'd like very much to share that with you, so that you might revisit this situation and rescind the agreement."  She replied, "I can see you are very concerned about this, but if someone could prove to me I was misled or that I am wrong, I'll look into it."  I said, "Councilwoman, I have the contract application right here with me." " I can show you the proof."  "I can come to your office and lay it all out for you."  "No, that won't be necessary," she said.  Next, she said again, "I just disagree with you and that's O.K." (Was she giving herself permission to disagree with me?)  She continued, "You are entitled to your opinion."  I replied, "Councilwoman, this is not opinion."  "I have the facts right here," showing her my folder of documents. "I would like to discuss them with you." "May I have an appointment?"  "No, that won't be necessary," she said.  "But if someone can prove to me I was misled, I'll revisit the vote for this."  (HUH?  Didn't we just go through that? And didn't I just tell her I have the proof?)  "Councilwoman, you represent ME," I said.  "I would like to show you the proof that I have."  She then rolled her eyes and said, "Well, if this doesn't turn out the way we think, then maybe I'll look at it again," dismissing me at that moment. Goodbyes all around....end of conversation.

It's 4:00 a.m. right now.  I couldn't sleep.  I woke up at 3:00 and my mind went back to that exchange with the Councilwoman.  There was a bit more to it where I gave her three examples of lies that should be obvious to anyone.  She pretended to listen, but refused to acknowledge them.  I have a lot I could say about her personally, based on this and other conversations with her in the past, not to mention her votes on issues.  You don't want to hear (or read) what I personally think of her after this conversation.  It wouldn't be fit to print.  But I have to say, George Orwell should be very proud.  His worst predictions have arrived, right here and right now.