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A Primer Against Enviromental Stupidity
Thursday, July 31, 2008
I think the ‘chicken littles’ are finally clucking home to roost, after ramming all manner of irrational and patheticly biased laws through in various places. These laws are now truly making problems for our economy, via the eco-demands to limit drilling for oil and not allowing us to build new refineries and nuclear power reactors. Frankly, I think the people who support the measures that literally are damning our civilization back to the dark ages ought to be the ones forced to pay the higher prices and deal with the ramifications. Instead, they are hanging on to their patheric little demands, trying to blackmail through political pandering as the present psuedo science that terrifies our poorly educated lawmakers.
I think there are places where ecology is important. I don’t like pollution that destroys rivers or poisons the earth and causes birth defects and early death. Businesses who flaunt their power and do truly harmful things that literally ruin communities and lives need to pay. BUT - we don’t throw out an entire civilization with the pollution.
One of the other things that truly angers me is this “green” fad. It is a fad. Truly annoying technology that is far worse than that which has been banned needs to be exposed to the light of day. The problem is we’re going to be stuck with some very nasty light bulbs that are a heck of a lot worse than the bulbs they are replacing, so we aren’t going to be able to see cleary. I think the whole lightbulb sceneario is a statement about the problems we are now facing, because people want feel-good quick fixes. Dim Bulbs!
1. CARBON FOOTPRINT STUPIDITY
FYI – Carbon is one of the basic building blocks of life. If you delete it, you delete all life. Of course then the Earth would be pure. What a crock! Basically carbon is the new buzz-word for some form of evil.
“…Rather than a metaphor for plague and scourge, our carbon footprint should be a life-affirming exaltation with primordial hopes of reproduction and immortality. Carbon footprint as villain is temporal, transitory and self-absorbed-a nihilist and narcissist absurdity. Narcissus, you will recall, unable to return the affections of the nymph Echo, was consigned to forever seek the embrace of his own reflection and be captive to an illusion. So what becomes of the illusion of the zero carbon footprint? Where does the line of sight beyond a zero carbon footprint world lead? Well, to steal a reference from philosopher Antony Flew in his essay on death, quoting the apocalyptic words of Ludwig Wittgenstein, “Outside the visual field nothing is seen, not even darkness…the world in death does not change, but ceases.”…”
Reducing the Carbon Footprint is lethal to plant life
“…While CO2 is not poisonous to animals, it is a necessary airborne fertilizer for plant life. Reducing CO2 to slightly less than half of current concentrations would kill off all green plant life. As concentrations increase, so do plant growth rates and harvests, and many greenhouses and conservatories add CO2 to the air to quickly grow healthy and productive plants. Yet, we are told this trace gas is pollution. We are told that CO2 causes global warming that far exceeds natural variation. We are told, as a result, that we must be concerned about, be aware of and reduce our carbon footprint. There is much scientific data showing CO2 has very little to do with any planetary warming let alone the catastrophic kind….”
2. NOBLE FIRST AMERICAN ECOLOGIST MYTH
Then there is the myth of the noble “First American” native American ecologist. That, too is a crock. Michael Medved has a masterful column on the subject.
“…Political correctness portrays untamed America before European invasion as a natural paradise, where Indians maintained an exquisite ecological balance, living in a harmonious, idyllic relationship to the natural world. According to conventional wisdom, this pre-Columbian Eden flourished for peaceful millenia until brutal disuprtion by thoughtless, menacing and mercenary white colonists. Stewart Udall, one-time Arizona Congressman and later Secretary of the Interior for President Kennedy, became an early advocate of this point of view in his influential 1973 article, “Indians: First Americans, First Ecologists,” urging modern citizens to follow the native example of treating the landscape with love and respect.…The baseless myth of indigenous peoples living in respectful balance with their natural surroundings and making no mark on the space they inhabited for thousands of years plays an important role in most allegations of Indian genocide, because it reinforces the image of Natve Americans as childlike innocents, no more capable of protecting themselves than the noble beasts they supposedly revered. This vision supports an image of explorers and colonists as intruders, despoilers and mass killers, with nothing to offer the pure, proud peoples of the New World except for disease and exploitation, corruption and decadence, and feeds the toxic argument that Americans should feel guilty about the very origins of our civilization….”
3. THE IMPORTANCE OF SUNSPOTS
Sunspots are a major factor in climate change – NOT MAN - We are currently dealing with a very strange low in sunspots to the point where there is a fear of a small ice age. It is amazingly egocentric to think that we - humans - can actually have a major effect on climate change on a day by day (normal) basis.
“…Incidentally, the Sporer, Maunder, and Dalton minima coincide with the colder periods of the Little Ice Age, which lasted from about 1450 to 1820. More recently it was discovered that the sunspot number during 1861-1989 shows a remarkable parallelism with the simultaneous variation in northern hemisphere mean temperatures (2). There is an even better correlation with the length of the solar cycle, between years of the highest numbers of sunspots. For example, the temperature anomaly was - 0.4 K in 1890 when the cycle was 11.7 years, but + 0.25 K in 1989 when the cycle was 9.8 years. Some critics of the theory of man-induced global warming have seized on this discovery to criticize the greenhouse gas theory….We do not know why the Sun spends part of its time in a magnetically quiescent state, and whether the sunspot minima occur with a regularity that is sufficient to predict when the next quiescent episode might occur.
At present there is no concern about another Little Ice Age. Recent satellite measurements of solar brightness, analyzed by Willson (4), show an increase from the previous cycle of sunspot activity to the current one, indicating that the Earth is receiving more energy from the Sun. Willson indicates that if the current rate of increase of solar irradiance continues until the mid 21th century, then the surface temperatures will increase by about 0.5� C. This is small, but not a negligible fraction of the expected greenhouse warming.
The relationship between cycle length and Earth temperatures is not well understood. Lower-than normal temperatures tend to occur in years when the sunspot cycle is longest, as confirmed by records of the annual duration of sea-ice around Iceland. The cycle will be longest again in the early 2020’s…”
4. VOLCANIC ACTIVITY
Volcanic activity is another cause of global climate change – NOT MAN. This comes from a dim-wit global warming site.
“…One of the possible reasons for climate change on scales of centuries and millennia, like the Little Ice Age, is increased volcanic activity. Great volcanic eruptions release huge amounts of gases and aerosol particles which impact global climate by reducing the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth’s surface, lowering temperatures, and changing atmospheric circulation patterns. The result is a cool summers and severe winters for the period that follows. Large-scale volcanic activity may last only a few days, although its influence on climate patterns lasts 5 years or so. Multiple eruptions (not necessarily from the same volcano) may be assumed for long-lasting spells of unusually low temperatures. …”
Now, some ACTUAL science on the subject. Global Warming is causing earthquake activity.
“…Cites to a paper purportedly published by “Nujournal.net” - which seems to be nothing but a vanity webpage for Chalko. The linked “paper” basis for claiming that the “energy imbalance” is causing more earthquakes? Absolutely none. Chalko proves absolutely nothing in this two page joke of a “paper”. It is a joke to even call this junk science as there is no scientific content at all. The wire services will publish any horse manure so long as it is disguised as a press release on global warming at all - and so long as it is not skeptical…”
5. NATURE IS STRONGER
Nature is stronger than human damage. One of the things that annoys me the most about the stupidity of “global warming” and the whole green idiocy is the abject narcissism of the “green crowd”. They assume (ass/u/me) that man is the sum total of the problem. The problem of that fact is, aside from catastrophic nuclear war, or some nasty versions of pollution, man – human beings – cannot even begin to do damage to the planet the way nature can. To think that man made global warming can trigger volcanic eruptions is junk science at its very best.
6. GREENLAND
Greenland - ever heard of it? Want to know the history of GREENLAND? It’s a frozen wasteland, right? If we are causing global warming, why is Greenland colder now that it was when we weren’t causing problems? The problem is the morons who drape themselves in the mantle of climate change are the fools who do not know history. Those who don’t know history are damned to repeat it.
“…In prehistoric times, Greenland was home to a number of Paleo-Eskimo cultures. From AD 984 it was colonized by Norse settlers in two settlements on the west coast on the fjords near the very southwestern tip of the island. They thrived for a few centuries, but disappeared sometime in the 15th century.
Data from ice cores indicate that from AD 800 to 1300 the regions around the fjords of southern Greenland experienced a relatively mild climate, with temperatures similar to today. Trees and herbaceous plants grew there, and the climate initially allowed farming of livestock as in Norway. These remote communities thrived on farming, hunting and trade with Norway. When the Norwegian kings converted their domains to Christianity, a bishop was installed in Greenland, subordinate to the archdiocese of Nidaros. The settlements seem to have coexisted relatively peacefully with the Inuit, who had migrated south from the Arctic islands of North America around 1200. In 1261, Greenland became part of the Kingdom of Norway.
Data from ice cores indicate that from AD 800 to 1300 the regions around the fjords of southern Greenland experienced a relatively mild climate, with temperatures similar to today. Trees and herbaceous plants grew there, and the climate initially allowed farming of livestock as in Norway. These remote communities thrived on farming, hunting and trade with Norway. When the Norwegian kings converted their domains to Christianity, a bishop was installed in Greenland, subordinate to the archdiocese of Nidaros. The settlements seem to have coexisted relatively peacefully with the Inuit, who had migrated south from the Arctic islands of North America around 1200. In 1261, Greenland became part of the Kingdom of Norway.
Around the 14th and 15th centuries, the Norwegian settlements vanished, likely due to famine and increasing conflicts with the Inuit. The condition of human bones from this period indicates the Norse population was malnourished. Main reasons appeared to have been soil erosion due to destruction of the natural vegetation for farming, turf, and wood by the Norse, a decline in temperatures during the Little Ice Age, and armed conflicts with the Inuit. Jared Diamond suggests that cultural practices, such as rejecting fish as a source of food and reliance solely on livestock ill-adapted to Greenland’s climate, caused by the mini-ice age, which resulted in recurring famines, with environmental degradation led to the abandonment of the colony. However, other research has suggested that fish were a major source of food for the Norse Greenlanders from the early 1300s on.…”
Please explain the above in terms of MAN MADE global warming. Well, you can’t. You probably also cannot explain why civilization has its most remarkable growth both intellectually and scientifically during those periods of ‘global warming’?
7. REAL SCIENCE
We had a warmer planet in recent geological times – get it warmer. Not colder, warmer. Deal with it. Human beings have nothing to do with this. It’s called NATURE. The junk science behind climate change is a total and complete fraud. It isn’t real science. If you can use this science to dispute my information, in a logical, “scientific” manner, without the emotion, name calling, damning to hell, tantrums, and threats, please feel free to do so. I will rebutt with real, actual science and historical record.
“…Scientists who probed two kilometers (1.2 miles) through a Greenland glacier to recover the oldest plant DNA on record said Thursday the planet was far warmer hundreds of thousands of years ago than is generally believed. DNA of trees, plants and insects including butterflies and spiders from beneath the southern Greenland glacier was estimated to date to 450,000 to 900,000 years ago, according to the remnants retrieved from this long-vanished boreal forest. That view contrasts sharply with the prevailing one that a lush forest of this kind could only have existed in Greenland as recently as 2.4 million years ago. The existence of those DNA samples suggest the temperature probably reached 10 degrees C (50 degrees Fahrenheit) in the summer and -17 °C (1 °F) in the winter. They also indicated that during the last interglacial period, 116,000–130,000 years ago, when temperatures were on average 5 °C (9 °F) higher than now, the glaciers on Greenland did not completely melt away…”
8. GREEN STUPIDITY - TOILETS
Green stupidity - Low Flow toilets – if you have an old one, they use far more water than a decent old fashioned toilet did. If you have a retro-fit one like I do in one bathroom, and a normal one in another bathroom, well, forget it. It takes a minimum of 5 flushes to get the blasted thing to work. I’ll take the old fashioned one any day of the week. One of my friends was complaining about her fairly new one the other day. It takes at least 4 flushes.
9. LIGHT BULB STUPIDITY
More green stupidity – those darn lightbulbs.
10. GORE
Al Gore is an idiot.
11. RECYCLING IS GARBAGE
Garbage and trash recycling is a crock
“…It is better to recycle than to throw away. This is the most enduring myth, the one that remains popular even among those who don’t believe in the garbage crisis anymore. By now, many experts and public officials acknowledge that America could simply bury its garbage, but they object to this option because it diverts trash from recycling programs. Recycling, which was originally justified as the only solution to a desperate national problem, has become a goal in itself — a goal so important that we must preserve the original problem. It’s as if the protagonist of “Pilgrim’s Progress,” upon being informed that he could drop his sinful burden right there on the road, insisted on clinging to it just so he could continue the pilgrimage to get rid of it….EVERY TIME A SANITATION DEPARTMENT CREW PICKS UP A load of bottles and cans from the curb, New York City loses money. The recycling program consumes resources. It requires extra administrators and a continual public relations campaign explaining what to do with dozens of different products — recycle milk jugs but not milk cartons, index cards but not construction paper. (Most New Yorkers still don’t know the rules.) It requires enforcement agents to inspect garbage and issue tickets. Most of all, it requires extra collection crews and trucks. Collecting a ton of recyclable items is three times more expensive than collecting a ton of garbage because the crews pick up less material at each stop. For every ton of glass, plastic and metal that the truck delivers to a private recycler, the city currently spends $200 more than it would spend to bury the material in a landfill….””
“…And that brings us the second type of contamination, food residues. Now, I have long heard of people running their mayonnaise or spaghetti sauce jars through the dishwasher before recycling them. But I had assumed this was an urban legend, since no rational person could justify the time and hot water need to run garbage through the dishwasher. To my surprise, it is actually easy to find examples of cities encouraging this lunacy. I found two examples very quickly, one from Beverly, MA, and one from Mason City, IL. But it is surprisingly common all over the U.S., in towns large and small. Why would a city do this? Two reasons, and both of them are bad. The first we have already discussed: any costs imposed on citizens is avoided by city budgets strained by the irrational insistence on “recycle at all costs.” Cleaner glass is worth more as cullet, and citizens’ time and effort cost the city nothing. The second reason is more disturbing. A generation of Americans has been indoctrinated into a “save resources, recycle at all costs” mindset. “Recycle!” is used as a moral bludgeon. This is different from “Don’t Litter!” Littering is a collective action problem, a genuine social dilemma: cheaper for me to throw that cup out the window. But I myself would prefer a world where no one throws cups out of windows over a world where everyone does. “Don’t litter” is an attempt to solve a real problem. “Recycle, regardless of cost!” doesn’t solve a problem; it creates one. Laws requiring recycling harm me, the environment, and everyone else. We have to take prices into account, because prices are telling us that we can’t save resources by wasting resources….”
12. GREEN CAN BE DEADLY
The deadly consequences of “green”. MALARIA AND DDT! Because of the stupidity of banning DDT to kill malaria based mosquitoes over 97 million people have died.
“…Goldman is headed by a wealthy San Francisco insurance magnate. Cedar Tree was begun by a Boston pediatrician. The California Endowment is headed by an African-American physician. All support good causes. But the millions they have given Pesticide Action, Beyond Pesticides and Physicians have exacted an unconscionable toll across Sub-Saharan Africa. Good deeds simply don’t offset this carnage. And while for-profit corporations are prosecuted and penalized for every accident – these toxic groups and their bankrollers are not held liable or accountable even for this horrendous disease and death toll.
Their actions violate basic medical, humanitarian and human rights principles. They violate the ethical and social responsibility standards that “progressive” activists say for-profit companies must follow. They ignore the Hippocratic Oath, and the need to help families insure their children against killer diseases, with comprehensive strategies that include DDT and other insecticides – and actually work. Goldman, Cedar Tree, the California Endowment and their compatriots must atone for their sins. How?
Stop funding these heartless pressure groups. Donate to organizations like CORE and Africa Fighting Malaria that are working with the WHO, USAID and PMI to end this needless slaughter, get electricity and other modern technologies people in the Third World – and enable them to stay healthy, work more productively, and build strong family and national economies that can afford modern homes with window screens. Buy some bed nets, and help train Africans in how to use DDT and other insecticides safely, responsibly and with minimal environmental impact, to reduce disease and save lives – now!
Then they can seek forgiveness from families who have lost loved ones – and atonement would be made….”
Some call it Green Power, Black Death The demands for “Green” and bio-fuels are literally killing people in different parts of the world. Bio-fuels should be banned as immoral.
13. SOCIALISM
“Green” is an agenda of socialism. It is a fad. It is false science worshiping a false god built on a false premise of warm and fuzzy do good feelings like the DDT ban that has cost nearly ONE HUNDRED MILLION lives in sub-Saharan Africa. It’s called “social justice.” It is collectivism, destroying our minds. It is destroying our liberty. It is robbing us of the ability to make our own decisions. Humans are a stain on the face of the planet. We are to be curbed. We are to have our freedoms limited. We can’t be allowed to be – free. Ergo, the brainwashing begins. All of this reminds me of the Sylvester Stallone movie, Demolition Man. In order to protect humanity from all that hurt humanity – freedom was destroyed.
I know how to think for myself. I refuse to join the hype. My only “green” demand is that all forms of Styrofoam be banned. I don’t wear synthetic clothing. I try to stay away from plastics. And – I always choose plastic bags over paper, and absolutely refuse to be pulled into the hype of using those dumb promotional eco-friendly bags. I use my plastic shopping bags for trash bags. If you really want to go green, dump the synthetic chemical mess that are those ugly athletic shoes (I’ve never owned a pair in my life and never plan to) and start wearing good leather eco-friendly designs from Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Stuart Weitzman, and the like. Strike a blow for freedom. I only carry fine leather hand-bags. I don’t use the fake stuff from China. I am not going to pander to “green” and flounder in a chemical bath! I will also pledge to stay away from any form of synthetic form jewelry and wear only the finest gold and silver, and never any item that would cause pollution.
I know how to think for myself. I refuse to join the hype. My only “green” demand is that all forms of Styrofoam be banned. I don’t wear synthetic clothing. I try to stay away from plastics. And – I always choose plastic bags over paper, and absolutely refuse to be pulled into the hype of using those dumb promotional eco-friendly bags. I use my plastic shopping bags for trash bags. If you really want to go green, dump the synthetic chemical mess that are those ugly athletic shoes (I’ve never owned a pair in my life and never plan to) and start wearing good leather eco-friendly designs from Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Stuart Weitzman, and the like. Strike a blow for freedom. I only carry fine leather hand-bags. I don’t use the fake stuff from China. I am not going to pander to “green” and flounder in a chemical bath! I will also pledge to stay away from any form of synthetic form jewelry and wear only the finest gold and silver, and never any item that would cause pollution.
SOLAR CYCLES
Two years ago this cycle of solar cooling was predicted.
“…The work is based on research of past periods of climatic change, including the Little Ice Age in the 1700s when Europe shivered, the Thames froze over, and harvests failed. At the same time, solar activity dropped and sunspots disappeared from the face of the Sun.
Now leading scientists are predicting that we may soon enter such a period again - although they stress such cooling would only bring temporary relief to our overheated world. In the end, the Earth will still be swamped by huge rises in global temperatures, triggered by human activities, that will affect the planet over the next few decades.
‘If there was a period of low solar activity, it could give us a little more time to combat global warming and to introduce the curbs on the carbon emissions that we need to limit climate change,’ said Professor Joanna Haigh, of Imperial College, London…. Scientists have known for decades that the Sun’s output varies over an 11-year cycle. More recently, they have found what appear to be other, longer cycles affecting its output. These occasionally cause perceptible drops in solar radiation. For example, during the Little Ice Age, which affected Europe from 1650 to the end of the 18th century, astronomers noted that sunspots disappeared completely from the face of the Sun.
‘High numbers of sunspots are associated with increased solar output,’ said Professor Sami Solanki, of the Max Planck Institute for Solar Research, in Katlenberg-Lindau, Germany. ‘Sunspots occur when magnetic fields rip through the Sun’s surface and show that vast amounts of energy are being released deep within its heart. The impact on the Earth can be considerable.’
Studies have shown that when solar output is high, the climate tends to be hot. For example, over the past 30 to 40 years scientists believe the Sun has been particularly active, adding to Earth’s already considerable heating problems. However, things may change in the near future.
One study, by a group led by solar expert Leif Svalgaard of ETK - a consulting firm based in Houston, Texas - has predicted that in the next few years solar activity is set to drop to its weakest level in over a century, with sunspot numbers declining by about 40 per cent over the next decade. ‘Sunspot numbers will be extremely small,’ he said.
This point was backed by Cambridge solar physicist Nigel Weiss. ‘Periods of high solar activity do not last long, perhaps 50 to 100 years, then you get a crash,’ he told New Scientist. ‘It is a boom-bust system and I would expect a crash soon.’
The net result of this sunspot decrease could be to lead to an increase in cloud formation and also to a reduction in ultra-violet radiation reaching the atmosphere. Overall, it would bring about a 0.2C decline in global temperatures, according to Solanki and his colleagues.
That is only a tenth of the rise now predicted to grip the world over the next few decades, however. Not enough to save the Earth from a sweltering, overheated fate but possibly enough to provide a little breathing space in which humanity could take remedial action.
‘Just who might benefit most from any reduction in solar energy is hard to say at present,’ added Professor Haigh. ‘The Little Ice Age was mainly felt in western Europe and the rest of the world was relatively unaffected - possibly because meteorological effects cause solar radiation reductions to have localised impacts. That could happen again, though it is difficult to predict where.’…”
Now leading scientists are predicting that we may soon enter such a period again - although they stress such cooling would only bring temporary relief to our overheated world. In the end, the Earth will still be swamped by huge rises in global temperatures, triggered by human activities, that will affect the planet over the next few decades.
‘If there was a period of low solar activity, it could give us a little more time to combat global warming and to introduce the curbs on the carbon emissions that we need to limit climate change,’ said Professor Joanna Haigh, of Imperial College, London…. Scientists have known for decades that the Sun’s output varies over an 11-year cycle. More recently, they have found what appear to be other, longer cycles affecting its output. These occasionally cause perceptible drops in solar radiation. For example, during the Little Ice Age, which affected Europe from 1650 to the end of the 18th century, astronomers noted that sunspots disappeared completely from the face of the Sun.
‘High numbers of sunspots are associated with increased solar output,’ said Professor Sami Solanki, of the Max Planck Institute for Solar Research, in Katlenberg-Lindau, Germany. ‘Sunspots occur when magnetic fields rip through the Sun’s surface and show that vast amounts of energy are being released deep within its heart. The impact on the Earth can be considerable.’
Studies have shown that when solar output is high, the climate tends to be hot. For example, over the past 30 to 40 years scientists believe the Sun has been particularly active, adding to Earth’s already considerable heating problems. However, things may change in the near future.
One study, by a group led by solar expert Leif Svalgaard of ETK - a consulting firm based in Houston, Texas - has predicted that in the next few years solar activity is set to drop to its weakest level in over a century, with sunspot numbers declining by about 40 per cent over the next decade. ‘Sunspot numbers will be extremely small,’ he said.
This point was backed by Cambridge solar physicist Nigel Weiss. ‘Periods of high solar activity do not last long, perhaps 50 to 100 years, then you get a crash,’ he told New Scientist. ‘It is a boom-bust system and I would expect a crash soon.’
The net result of this sunspot decrease could be to lead to an increase in cloud formation and also to a reduction in ultra-violet radiation reaching the atmosphere. Overall, it would bring about a 0.2C decline in global temperatures, according to Solanki and his colleagues.
That is only a tenth of the rise now predicted to grip the world over the next few decades, however. Not enough to save the Earth from a sweltering, overheated fate but possibly enough to provide a little breathing space in which humanity could take remedial action.
‘Just who might benefit most from any reduction in solar energy is hard to say at present,’ added Professor Haigh. ‘The Little Ice Age was mainly felt in western Europe and the rest of the world was relatively unaffected - possibly because meteorological effects cause solar radiation reductions to have localised impacts. That could happen again, though it is difficult to predict where.’…”
CLIMATE CHANGE?
When liberals wax poetic about climate change, they have a tendency to utilize the nascent science of climatology. They have a tendency to completely ignore the interaction of any number of fields from history to volcanology and everything in between. The arrogant belief that man, outside of nuclear cataclysm can effect climate is almost laughable. True, massive fires have an effect on temporary cooling. Meteorologists are working on cloud seeding with silver iodine to bring rain to drought stricken areas and to possibly lessen the effects of hurricanes. But, nature is a heck of a lot stronger than man ever was.
Currently we are going through a very strange period where almost all of the sunspots on the surface of the sun have disappeared, and has been this way for nearly 2 years. Recently something like 100 of the top people in the field gathered at the International Solar Conference at Montana State University.
“…Dana Longcope, a solar physicist at MSU, said the sun usually operates on an 11-year cycle with maximum activity occurring in the middle of the cycle. Minimum activity generally occurs as the cycles change. Solar activity refers to phenomena like sunspots, solar flares and solar eruptions. Together, they create the weather than can disrupt satellites in space and technology on earth. The last cycle reached its peak in 2001 and is believed to be just ending now, Longcope said. The next cycle is just beginning and is expected to reach its peak sometime around 2012. Today’s sun, however, is as inactive as it was two years ago, and scientists aren’t sure why. “It’s a dead face,” Tsuneta said of the sun’s appearance. Tsuneta said solar physicists aren’t like weather forecasters; They can’t predict the future. They do have the ability to observe, however, and they have observed a longer-than-normal period of solar inactivity. In the past, they observed that the sun once went 50 years without producing sunspots. That period coincided with a little ice age on Earth that lasted from 1650 to 1700…”
MICHAEL CRICHTON, THE VOICE OF REASON
“…In recent years, much has been said about the post modernist claims about science to the effect that science is just another form of raw power, tricked out in special claims for truth-seeking and objectivity that really have no basis in fact. Science, we are told, is no better than any other undertaking. These ideas anger many scientists, and they anger me. But recent events have made me wonder if they are correct. We can take as an example the scientific reception accorded a Danish statistician, Bjorn Lomborg, who wrote a book called The Skeptical Environmentalist.
The scientific community responded in a way that can only be described as disgraceful. In professional literature, it was complained he had no standing because he was not an earth scientist. His publisher, Cambridge University Press, was attacked with cries that the editor should be fired, and that all right-thinking scientists should shun the press. The past president of the AAAS wondered aloud how Cambridge could have ever “published a book that so clearly could never have passed peer review.” )But of course the manuscript did pass peer review by three earth scientists on both sides of the Atlantic, and all recommended publication.) But what are scientists doing attacking a press? Is this the new McCarthyism-coming from scientists?
Worst of all was the behavior of the Scientific American, which seemed intent on proving the post-modernist point that it was all about power, not facts. The Scientific American attacked Lomborg for eleven pages, yet only came up with nine factual errors despite their assertion that the book was “rife with careless mistakes.” It was a poor display featuring vicious ad hominem attacks, including comparing him to a Holocaust denier. The issue was captioned: “Science defends itself against the Skeptical Environmentalist.” Really. Science has to defend itself? Is this what we have come to?
When Lomborg asked for space to rebut his critics, he was given only a page and a half. When he said it wasn’t enough, he put the critics’ essays on his web page and answered them in detail. Scientific American threatened copyright infringement and made him take the pages down.
Further attacks since have made it clear what is going on. Lomborg is charged with heresy. That’s why none of his critics needs to substantiate their attacks in any detail. That’s why the facts don’t matter. That’s why they can attack him in the most vicious personal terms. He’s a heretic.
Of course, any scientist can be charged as Galileo was charged. I just never thought I’d see the Scientific American in the role of mother church….”
Anti-Catholic Minuteman Expose (Video)
Friday, April 25, 2008
THESE ARE THE MINUTEMEN
NOTE: I was planning to a piece on the FLDS (I have some new information) but was side-tracked by this story. I think this is something that needs to be told. I know I am telling it one-sided, against the Minutemen in California. But what I have found is so repulsive and so vile it needs to be exposed to the light of day. It is obvious someone is going to cross the line one of these days and shots are going to be fired. I have a feeling it will be a Minuteman or one of their supporter who will do the shooting. When this happens and a defense is made, naturally the Hispanic is going to be the evil one.
I think these videos are terribly important. They show how abjectly evil these people are.
Do you have the courage to watch these videos? There are a number of them at Minutemen Unvarnished – and take nearly an hour to watch. Watch the video “Do You Believe in Jesus” as the San Diego Minutemen harass parishioners at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Fallbrook. This is in Fallbrook, CA.
Now see how it is portrayed in the local media.
If this is what Sheriff Joe is allowing in Maricopa County, then he is as vile as are these individuals. I don’t care what side of the immigration argument you are on. If you think this is good, decent, and patriotic, then you are seriously disturbed and as evil as are these individuals. When you start harassing people attending church, and mace people as they are going into church as this video shows you are as bad as they are.
ANTI CATHOLIC A TREND?
After watching these videos, it appears to me that there is an anti-Catholic. I’ve been covering the anti-immigration crowd’s anti-Catholic bigotry for several days. Yesterday mentioned that Harold Hutchinson at Called As Seen had picked up on the anti-Catholic bigotry of Tom Tancredo and Lou Dobbs. Harold references a WSJ piece about how they “insulted the Pope”. l The Opinionated Catholic has more. JJ mentions an editorial at Modern Commentaries about Michelle Malkin and her anti-Catholic rants. It is obvious there is a strong anti-Catholic bias in the whole anti-immigration movement, promoted by John Tanton and his dislike of anyone who is not lily white. Why?
LA Times
“…t’s not too surprising that one of the pontiff’s most vocal critics was the poor man’s Howard Beale, CNN personality Lou Dobbs. He’s made something of a specialty of bashing the Catholic hierarchy in recent years, as part of his pseudo-populist campaign for ratings. Dobbs charged Benedict with “mixing religion and politics … in many ways insulting our country, talking about the need to be welcoming. … I really don’t appreciate the bad manners of a guest telling me in this country and my fellow citizens what to do.” Well, there you go, though the pope got off easy compared with L.A. civic leaders, whom Dobbs blasted after an earlier — and totally misleading — report on Special Order 40 and the case of Jamiel Shaw II, a young man allegedly shot to death by an illegal immigrant who is a gang member. Dobbs called city officials “liars” and singled out Police Chief Bill Bratton, whose defense of Special Order 40 — which puts certain restrictions on when police can inquire about a suspect’s immigration status — the broadcaster called “irresponsible” and “disgusting politics.” “And I think every one of you in the city of Los Angeles, running that city, supporting a sanctuary city and trying to excuse what happened to that family, I think it is contemptible,” said Dobbs….”
THE VIDEOS
(WARNING: These videos feature profanity and obscene gestures)
(MigraMatters) If this is an example of those who are anti-illegal and are “Minutemen” in San Diego, then I’d rather be castigated for being against them. These people are filthy, vile, nasty trash. This is a link to a video. I am not doing an inbed, because of the filthy language. From Minutemen Unvarnished comes a ‘best of’ collection of videos about the Minutemen. Maybe you might want to ask for your money back (if they can account for it). You might want to watch “I’m Allowed to Threaten People”. The jerk is wearing a minuteman cap. Look at the people who are with the Minutemen. I wouldn’t let them in my driveway, let alone associate with them. The one “Keep Your Hands to Yourselves” features San Diego Minuteman Founder Jeff Schwilk. Try watching the one “Are You Legal?”
How about this Minuteman waving his flag? He’s nothing but a thug. Watch “Remember after the Alamo” to see what these people look like. They are scary. Watch “No Talking Chickens”. “Hello Witches” features the leader of the San Diego Minutemen harassing two activists. Watch as the Minutemen follow the women, attempting to terrorize them. Do you really think these are nice people? If I were those women, I would have been terrified. The San Diego Minutemen were founded by Jim Gilchrist.
In “If You Love Mexicans” Jeff Schwilk accosts a Home Depot customer. A minuteman then spits at the camera person. “Get out of here” Jeff Schwilk goes after a Home Depot customer. “Morning Wetbacks” shows how gentile the Minutemen are.
In “Vermin of Vista” Jeff Schwilk harasses and intimidates another activist. This man is seriously disturbed. I can’t believe people actually believe the you know what these people spout. In “Bring It On” he tries to mace someone who disagrees with him. In “He’s Trying to Scare Her” our boy Jeff finally gets picked up by a cop for harassing women.
Can you watch these videos and not call them evil? Do you really want to have sympathy for them and for their cause? These people think nothing of interrupting a church service because the people inside are Hispanic. “Can I Get Your Name” is the video. Then in “The Church is Nothing but Pimps” just shows how vile they are, using a loud speaker to blast a church service. Obviously Sheriff Joe isn’t the only one who doesn’t give a rip about disrupting church services. They call the Catholic Church nothing but pimps. Too bad these people can’t be arrested for disturbing a worship service.
Why don’t decent people realize how nasty these individuals are? “I gotta be Freakin’ Rank” shows this same bunch disrupting a funeral so they can harass people near-by. Obviously they have no morality or decency. In this one, a Minuteman did not wear deodorant, and then fans his nasty body in front of Hispanics. A woman is speaking Spanish. They keep yelling at her to shut up.
You will also want to read Minutemen Uncensored which features their email.
The Secessionist Movement
Thursday, October 18, 2007
SECESSIONIST MOVEMENT
The American Secessionist Blog has not been updated in 6 months – but you need to know what it is.
Secessionist Net
First North American Secessionist Conference
Sedition Movements in the US
Middlebury Institute
STATE WIDE MOVEMENTS
Free South Carolina
Free Maine
Hawaii
North Carolina
Vermont
New Hampshire
Massachusetts
Alaska
New England Alliance
Some of the goals of a “Free South Carolina” are
“…*…decide the abortion issue for ourselves. No longer would Federal courts be able to lord over us. Most South Carolinians would probably like to see the Federal court decision that gave us abortion overturned. Regardless, it would be for us to decide, not some remote judge.
*…eliminate affirmative-action entirely and root out the influences of “poltical-correctness” and multiculturalism from our government and society.
*…prevent our soldiers from being sent to die overseas for United Nations nation-building projects. Our soldiers would guard our national territory and lend aid to our allies if invaded.
*…stop illegal immigration and Third World immigration in general and rigorously guard our borders. We could heavily fine or strip business licenses from businesses and people that employ or house illegals….”
*…eliminate affirmative-action entirely and root out the influences of “poltical-correctness” and multiculturalism from our government and society.
*…prevent our soldiers from being sent to die overseas for United Nations nation-building projects. Our soldiers would guard our national territory and lend aid to our allies if invaded.
*…stop illegal immigration and Third World immigration in general and rigorously guard our borders. We could heavily fine or strip business licenses from businesses and people that employ or house illegals….”
Another goal of a “Free South Carolina” is to remove Lindsey Graham from office.
SOUTHERN ACTIVISM
I consider myself a ‘southerner’ having been born in Florida and having grown up in South Carolina. Things like this give the South a bad name. http://www.southernheritagepac.org/deck/deck.php
Note the League of the South and their activity in defeating immigration reform. This isn’t about immigration reform – it is about extremists who have figured out a way to rattle ‘conservative’ cages, co-opt talk radio, and have their way with the world.
Read the League of the South activity list.
The Abbeville Chapter of the League of the South advocates Secession.
CHRISTIAN EXODUS
According to a friend who lives in Oconee County, SC, you had better be aware of Christian Exodus and the problems it can cause.
NOT REPUBLICAN
“Pro” Southern is NOT Republican.
Contrary to the hyped up extreme conservatives who now dominate talk radio and defeated immigration reform, we are not dealing with a full deck. We are dealing with a well-organized, NON REPUBLICAN, very vocal minority. My worry is the fact if they can destroy immigration reform I think we need to be afraid – very afraid – of what they will attempt next.
How familiar are you with the “Southern Party”?
Christian Exodus is not Republican and is pro Ron Paul.
Missouri Bushwacker Blog
The Conservative Exodus Project
The Pledge
“We, the undersigned, petition the Republican Party to support real conservative candidates for the 2008 presidential nomination.
In the belief that the Republican Party has become too liberal, we pledge, unless a suitable candidate is selected for the GOP 2008 presidential nomination, to stay home or vote third party (e.g. Constitution Party).
Returning to its liberal roots, the GOP has recently become the party of big business, neoliberal globalism, and unwise interventionism - not the party of conservatism.
The following presidential candidates are UNACCEPTABLE: John McCain, Rudolph Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Sam Brownback, Mike Huckabee, Chuck Hagel, Condoleezza Rice, et al. They all support the third-world invasion of the United States.
Unless a candidate is chosen who is tough on immigration (e.g. Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo, Duncan Hunter, or another candidate yet to announce), we shall have no choice but to vote third party.
We would like to stress these five points.
(1) We oppose the third-world invasion of the United States, and reject amnesty and any path to citizenship for illegals. We support deportation, attrition, and massive reductions in legal immigration, especially from the third world.
(2) We oppose free trade, the support of which has become an ideological suicide pact. Free trade is both destroying our economy and undermining our sovereignty. Historically, conservatives have opposed free trade, and they should, but many in the GOP have been “neoconned” on this issue.
(3) We support a moral candidate, critical of secularism, who embodies the virtues of the Christian Western tradition.
(4) We oppose the illegal neocon war in Iraq. The transformation of the Middle East to liberal democracy is Jacobin, not conservative.
(5) We wish to see big government reduced in size - in all three branches - and for many offices and functions to be returned to the states, where they Constitutionally belong.
Unless the above criteria are met, we pledge to stay home or vote third-party in 2008….”
In the belief that the Republican Party has become too liberal, we pledge, unless a suitable candidate is selected for the GOP 2008 presidential nomination, to stay home or vote third party (e.g. Constitution Party).
Returning to its liberal roots, the GOP has recently become the party of big business, neoliberal globalism, and unwise interventionism - not the party of conservatism.
The following presidential candidates are UNACCEPTABLE: John McCain, Rudolph Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Sam Brownback, Mike Huckabee, Chuck Hagel, Condoleezza Rice, et al. They all support the third-world invasion of the United States.
Unless a candidate is chosen who is tough on immigration (e.g. Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo, Duncan Hunter, or another candidate yet to announce), we shall have no choice but to vote third party.
We would like to stress these five points.
(1) We oppose the third-world invasion of the United States, and reject amnesty and any path to citizenship for illegals. We support deportation, attrition, and massive reductions in legal immigration, especially from the third world.
(2) We oppose free trade, the support of which has become an ideological suicide pact. Free trade is both destroying our economy and undermining our sovereignty. Historically, conservatives have opposed free trade, and they should, but many in the GOP have been “neoconned” on this issue.
(3) We support a moral candidate, critical of secularism, who embodies the virtues of the Christian Western tradition.
(4) We oppose the illegal neocon war in Iraq. The transformation of the Middle East to liberal democracy is Jacobin, not conservative.
(5) We wish to see big government reduced in size - in all three branches - and for many offices and functions to be returned to the states, where they Constitutionally belong.
Unless the above criteria are met, we pledge to stay home or vote third-party in 2008….”
WHICH LEADS US TO…
If Islamic terrorists now have advanced degrees, financial opportunity, and are the ‘right’ people for immigration -
We are dealing with the voices of hate who have infiltrated an issue and are manipulating it and conservatives within the GOP for their own agenda. Unfortunately they are like the little kid who cried wolf once too often. Illegal Mexican migrants have nothing – ABSOLUTELY NOTHING – to do with TERROR. The problem is our anti-immigration minuteman voices are promoting this very idea. We keep yelling “terror” where it isn’t – and now that we need to yell “terror” and focus attention on individuals who are:
LEGAL
WELL-EDUCATED
PROFESSIONAL
MIDDLE-EASTERN
NO CRIMINAL BACKGROUND
FAIRLY WELL OFF FINANCIALLY
“MODERATE ISLAMIC”
WELL-EDUCATED
PROFESSIONAL
MIDDLE-EASTERN
NO CRIMINAL BACKGROUND
FAIRLY WELL OFF FINANCIALLY
“MODERATE ISLAMIC”
But the little minutemen, et. al and all their adorable little friends have cried ‘terror’ so much – is anyone now going to listen?
The one portion of that now defeated immigration bill I opposed was the emphasis on the following for guest workers: I am glad that I did.
LEGAL
WELL-EDUCATED
PROFESSIONAL
NO CRIMINAL BACKGROUND
FAIRLY WELL OFF FINANCIALLY
WELL-EDUCATED
PROFESSIONAL
NO CRIMINAL BACKGROUND
FAIRLY WELL OFF FINANCIALLY
AND TO THE VOICE OF DOOM…
The GOP can’t win elections without moderates.
HOW DOES THIS ALL TIE-IN
For over a year I have been saying the GOP is being manipulated, used and infiltrated by the forces of evil. Stormfront, the white supremacist, neo-nazi web forum is preaching just this.
Conservatives who claim to be Republican are manipulating our public officials. These “conservatives” have nothing to do with conservative and everything to do with the KKK, and other adorable little warm and fuzzy hate groups. They have co-opted public opinion for their agenda and are currently basking in the glow of their victory. How far are good decent people going to allow this to go.
Joe Arpaio Primer
Thursday, October 18, 2007
JOE ARPAIO IS AT IT AGAIN!
Arizona is rich with outlaw-lawman history. Anyone who knows anything about me knows about my love of Tombstone history and my research and books about Wyatt Earp and Tombstone. Because of this I find the exploits of “legendary” Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio very interesting. His conservative admirers, who are legion, like to compare him with Wyatt Earp. Unfortunately, after getting to know Sheriff Joe and his keystone kops, one realizes there is a Tombstone analogy with Sheriff Joe, but it isn’t Wyatt Earp. Fact is, there’s another famous (or infamous) Tombstone and Cochise County lawman who is Sheriff Joe personified - Cochise County Sheriff John Behan! In fact, if you know anything about Tombstone during those wild and crazy days of the early 1880s, you will know that John Behan controlled a huge political, legal, and publicity machine. He was corrupt, charming, loved the press, and completely incompetent. Yep - that’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio! Want to know more, just watch both Tombstone & Wyatt Earp. You’ll soon get the picture.
Over the years a few publications in Arizona have had the courage to take on Joe Arpaio and expose the abject incompetence and the cruelty in the way he has treated inmates and the way he has trampled the rights of those who are incarcerated in Maricopa County. Also there is the matter of nearly a million dollars in investment money Sheriff Joe never bothered to disclose. Yep - just like John Behan.
“…While voters lapped up the sheriff’s harsh approach to inmates in his jails — from forcing them to wear pink underwear, to feeding them oxidized, green bologna, to working them in chain gangs, to housing inmates in tents — New Times writers pointed out that the cruelty and violence in Arpaio’s lockups prompted Amnesty International’s first investigation in America.
And people continued to die under Arpaio’s care. Crippled people, blind people, people out of their minds. Local attorney Michael Manning has collected nearly $20 million in damages from the county over inmates killed in Arpaio’s custody.
When Arpaio stood yet again for election in 2004, New Times’ relationship with the sheriff was 12 years old.
Sheriff Arpaio hid nearly $790,000 in cold hard cash in three real estate investments that former New Times staff writer John Dougherty discovered in July 2004, in the middle of a heated primary election.
Arpaio stashed an indeterminate amount of cash in another six parcels of commercial and residential real estate.
With more than a million dollars invested, how could there not be questions?
Columnist Dougherty wondered how a public servant surviving on a $78,000 sheriff’s salary and a government retirement check could afford such an investment portfolio.
It was not a pointless query. In 12 years overseeing (at the time) a $140 million law enforcement empire, Arpaio had never suffered a thorough audit by the county.
Perhaps the sheriff inherited a fortune from a distant relative.
A paper trail that should have been public would have reassured voters.
But the normal public real estate records maintained by the government were not available when it came to Sheriff Arpaio.
He used an arcane statute meant to conceal home addresses of law enforcement officials to shield his investments….”
When Arpaio stood yet again for election in 2004, New Times’ relationship with the sheriff was 12 years old.
Sheriff Arpaio hid nearly $790,000 in cold hard cash in three real estate investments that former New Times staff writer John Dougherty discovered in July 2004, in the middle of a heated primary election.
Arpaio stashed an indeterminate amount of cash in another six parcels of commercial and residential real estate.
With more than a million dollars invested, how could there not be questions?
Columnist Dougherty wondered how a public servant surviving on a $78,000 sheriff’s salary and a government retirement check could afford such an investment portfolio.
It was not a pointless query. In 12 years overseeing (at the time) a $140 million law enforcement empire, Arpaio had never suffered a thorough audit by the county.
Perhaps the sheriff inherited a fortune from a distant relative.
A paper trail that should have been public would have reassured voters.
But the normal public real estate records maintained by the government were not available when it came to Sheriff Arpaio.
He used an arcane statute meant to conceal home addresses of law enforcement officials to shield his investments….”
Now Sheriff Joe has decided to abjectly trample the Constitution by running rough-shod over the Phoenix New Times, their editors, reporters, and ANYONE who has EVER linked to four specific articles about Sheriff Joe, or even read the articles online. Yep - if you (and I) have even clicked on those articles, they want the New Times’s stored cookies. They are going to investigate EVERYONE who has read those articles. I suspect they are also going to start combing the internet for anyone who blogs against America’s favorite lawman. I don’t know about you, but this is absolutely terrifying and absolute chilling.
Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin write
“…This newspaper and its editorial staff — both current and former — are the targets of unprecedented grand jury subpoenas dated August 24. The authorities are also using the grand jury subpoenas in an attempt to research the identity, purchasing habits, and browsing proclivities of our online readership.
It is, we fear, the authorities’ belief that what you are about to read here is against the law to publish. But there are moments when civil disobedience is merely the last option. We pray that our judgment is free of arrogance.
These are the issues as we understand them.
In a breathtaking abuse of the United States Constitution, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, and their increasingly unhinged cat’s paw, special prosecutor Dennis Wilenchik, used the grand jury to subpoena “all documents related to articles and other content published by Phoenix New Times newspaper in print and on the Phoenix New Times website, regarding Sheriff Joe Arpaio from January 1, 2004 to the present.”
Every note, tape, and record from every story written about Sheriff Arpaio by every reporter over a period of years.
In addition to the omnibus subpoena, which referred to our writer Stephen Lemons directly, reporters John Dougherty and Paul Rubin were targeted with individual subpoenas.
More alarming still, Arpaio, Thomas, and Wilenchik subpoenaed detailed information on anyone who has looked at the New Times Web site since 2004.
Every individual who looked at any story, review, listing, classified, or retail ad over a period of years….”
It is, we fear, the authorities’ belief that what you are about to read here is against the law to publish. But there are moments when civil disobedience is merely the last option. We pray that our judgment is free of arrogance.
These are the issues as we understand them.
In a breathtaking abuse of the United States Constitution, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, and their increasingly unhinged cat’s paw, special prosecutor Dennis Wilenchik, used the grand jury to subpoena “all documents related to articles and other content published by Phoenix New Times newspaper in print and on the Phoenix New Times website, regarding Sheriff Joe Arpaio from January 1, 2004 to the present.”
Every note, tape, and record from every story written about Sheriff Arpaio by every reporter over a period of years.
In addition to the omnibus subpoena, which referred to our writer Stephen Lemons directly, reporters John Dougherty and Paul Rubin were targeted with individual subpoenas.
More alarming still, Arpaio, Thomas, and Wilenchik subpoenaed detailed information on anyone who has looked at the New Times Web site since 2004.
Every individual who looked at any story, review, listing, classified, or retail ad over a period of years….”
Why? Several years ago Sheriff Joe’s home address was printed at the bottom of an opinion column on their web site, along with some fascinating information about some commercial real estate Sheriff Joe was evidently trying to hide from public view! The only way to handle this is to just quote directly from the New Times.
“… have now erupted into a courtroom donnybrook against a backdrop of illegal immigration disputes, Mexican drug cartels, the Minutemen, political ambition, and turf disputes between prosecutors and the judiciary.
And given the diva-like drama that Arpaio attaches to even the mundane, you can add to the grand jury tension the paranoia of a Keystone Kops assassination “plot” against “America’s toughest sheriff.”
Behind these operatic and public developments, an ethical stain has spread over the secret proceedings of the grand jury.
Special prosecutor Wilenchik has sabotaged the integrity of the investigation.
Not content with using the hidden power of sweeping grand jury subpoenas, the government’s lawyer attempted to get the ear of the sitting judge — out of earshot of New Times’ attorneys.
Special prosecutor Wilenchik used a politically potent emissary in a behind-the-curtain attempt to set up a meeting between the judge overseeing the grand jury and Wilenchik.
In a hastily called hearing October 11, the judge labeled Wilenchik’s attempt to set up an ex parte discussion “absolutely inappropriate.”…”
And given the diva-like drama that Arpaio attaches to even the mundane, you can add to the grand jury tension the paranoia of a Keystone Kops assassination “plot” against “America’s toughest sheriff.”
Behind these operatic and public developments, an ethical stain has spread over the secret proceedings of the grand jury.
Special prosecutor Wilenchik has sabotaged the integrity of the investigation.
Not content with using the hidden power of sweeping grand jury subpoenas, the government’s lawyer attempted to get the ear of the sitting judge — out of earshot of New Times’ attorneys.
Special prosecutor Wilenchik used a politically potent emissary in a behind-the-curtain attempt to set up a meeting between the judge overseeing the grand jury and Wilenchik.
In a hastily called hearing October 11, the judge labeled Wilenchik’s attempt to set up an ex parte discussion “absolutely inappropriate.”…”
But - this is the worst of it. And, quite frankly, anyone who is an admirer of Sheriff Joe should reconsider their admiration of him and realize how absolutely chilling these developments are - if allowed to stand. The implications for anyone who even reads the internet are horrifying and reek of something that would happen in China, not the US. Remember - this is going to the Grand Jury for an investigation. Does this imply that someone like moi who is writing about Sheriff Joe can be called to the same Grand Jury? Clearly it is an attempt to squash any critical reporting and expose of Sheriff Joe, the conservative favorite.
“…In a grandiose insult to the Constitution, Arpaio, Thomas, and Wilenchik used the grand jury to subpoena the online profiles of anyone who viewed four specific articles on the sheriff.
The pertinent section of the secret grand jury subpoena reads, in part: “All internet web site information for the Phoenix New Times internet site related to the web pages . . . [four specific articles on the sheriff]. The information should include, but not be limited to: The Internet Protocol addresses of any and all visitors to each page of . . . [four specific articles on the sheriff]. . .”
Energized, perhaps, by this mugging of Constitutional safeguards, Arpaio, Thomas, and Wilenchik then shot the moon. The grand jury subpoena also demands Web site profiles of anyone and everyone who visited New Times online over the past two and a half years, not merely readers who viewed articles on the sheriff.
The subpoena demands: “Any and all documents containing a compilation of aggregate information about the Phoenix New Times Web site created or prepared from January 1, 2004 to the present, including but not limited to :
A) which pages visitors access or visit on the Phoenix New Times website;
B) the total number of visitors to the Phoenix New Times website;
C) information obtained from ‘cookies,’ including, but not limited to, authentication, tracking, and maintaining specific information about users (site preferences, contents of electronic shopping carts, etc.);
D) the Internet Protocol address of anyone that accesses the Phoenix New Times website from January 1, 2004 to the present;
E) the domain name of anyone that has accessed the Phoenix New Times website from January 1, 2004 to the present;
F) the website a user visited prior to coming to the Phoenix New Times website;
G) the date and time of a visit by a user to the Phoenix New Times website;
H) the type of browser used by each visitor (Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Netscape Navigator, Firefox, etc.) to the Phoenix New Times website; and
I) the type of operating system used by each visitor to the Phoenix New Times website.”
Special prosecutor Wilenchik wants this information on each and every New Times reader online since 2004….”
B) the total number of visitors to the Phoenix New Times website;
C) information obtained from ‘cookies,’ including, but not limited to, authentication, tracking, and maintaining specific information about users (site preferences, contents of electronic shopping carts, etc.);
D) the Internet Protocol address of anyone that accesses the Phoenix New Times website from January 1, 2004 to the present;
E) the domain name of anyone that has accessed the Phoenix New Times website from January 1, 2004 to the present;
F) the website a user visited prior to coming to the Phoenix New Times website;
G) the date and time of a visit by a user to the Phoenix New Times website;
H) the type of browser used by each visitor (Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Netscape Navigator, Firefox, etc.) to the Phoenix New Times website; and
I) the type of operating system used by each visitor to the Phoenix New Times website.”
Special prosecutor Wilenchik wants this information on each and every New Times reader online since 2004….”
“New Times and two of its writers have sued Maricopa County and a special deputy county attorney in U.S. District Court, asking the judge to enjoin the defendants from violating the newspaper’s constitutional rights….”
The Feathered Bastard (our favorite liberal site) has news that Sheriff Joe’s co-horts, the County Attorney, etc. are being investigated by the AZ State Bar.
“…And in an October 10 letter to the Arizona Republic, McAuliffe wrote that, “These attacks appear to be transparent attempts to cow the judiciary into rulings that are acceptable to the source of these attacks. The prospect of having a decision vilified on the front page of your newspaper cannot help but have a chilling effect on the ability of a judge to evaluate independently the legal merits of an issue that has been presented for decision.
“There is a correct way to question a judge’s actions, and that is through the appellate courts or the Commission on Judicial Conduct, and not through the media.” Are Thomas and Wilenchik on their way to being sanctioned somehow by the State Bar? That would be an incredible development, but then it’s already incredible that the State Bar on its own would begin investigating a sitting a County Attorney….”
“There is a correct way to question a judge’s actions, and that is through the appellate courts or the Commission on Judicial Conduct, and not through the media.” Are Thomas and Wilenchik on their way to being sanctioned somehow by the State Bar? That would be an incredible development, but then it’s already incredible that the State Bar on its own would begin investigating a sitting a County Attorney….”
For more information on why these two are being investigated, consult The Phoenix New Times. Evidently they tried to ‘get to’ the Judge Baca and try to influence how she ruled in the grand jury investigation of The Phoenix New Times.
“…The Arizona Rules of Professional Conduct are unequivocal: “A lawyer shall not communicate ex-parte with such a person (judge, juror, prospective juror) during the proceeding . . .”
Were it not for Judge Anna Baca’s impeccable character, her willingness to short-circuit the conversation with friend Carol Turoff at the same time that she made a record of the approach, Wilenchik’s brazen tactic would never have surfaced.
And yet he remains the special prosecutor.
There will be many questions about our decision to make public the secret machinations of the special prosecutor armed with grand jury powers.
Consider this: When the wife of a senior member of County Attorney Andrew Thomas’ management team feels free to contact the sitting judge, and when the special prosecutor who initiated this idea of an ex-parte meeting sees nothing wrong with conduct his own profession prohibits, we feel compelled to shed light upon these remarkable proceedings.
And make no mistake: Special prosecutor Wilenchik sees nothing wrong with what he did.
Judge Baca told the prosecutor that it was “absolutely inappropriate.”
“With all due respect,” argued Dennis Wilenchik, “it was absolutely appropriate.”
It is little wonder that special prosecutor Wilenchik found nothing inappropriate about his ex parte contact with Judge Baca; his instinct to engage in subversive tactics underscores his lack of professional ethics.
On October 3, precisely one week before Turoff phoned Judge Baca, Wilenchik smeared Superior Court Judge Timothy Ryan in an orchestrated campaign that is part of County Attorney Thomas’ anti-illegal immigration strategy….”
Were it not for Judge Anna Baca’s impeccable character, her willingness to short-circuit the conversation with friend Carol Turoff at the same time that she made a record of the approach, Wilenchik’s brazen tactic would never have surfaced.
And yet he remains the special prosecutor.
There will be many questions about our decision to make public the secret machinations of the special prosecutor armed with grand jury powers.
Consider this: When the wife of a senior member of County Attorney Andrew Thomas’ management team feels free to contact the sitting judge, and when the special prosecutor who initiated this idea of an ex-parte meeting sees nothing wrong with conduct his own profession prohibits, we feel compelled to shed light upon these remarkable proceedings.
And make no mistake: Special prosecutor Wilenchik sees nothing wrong with what he did.
Judge Baca told the prosecutor that it was “absolutely inappropriate.”
“With all due respect,” argued Dennis Wilenchik, “it was absolutely appropriate.”
It is little wonder that special prosecutor Wilenchik found nothing inappropriate about his ex parte contact with Judge Baca; his instinct to engage in subversive tactics underscores his lack of professional ethics.
On October 3, precisely one week before Turoff phoned Judge Baca, Wilenchik smeared Superior Court Judge Timothy Ryan in an orchestrated campaign that is part of County Attorney Thomas’ anti-illegal immigration strategy….”
A few weeks ago, Wilenchik went after Judge Timothy Ryan over his rulings on the legality of some of Arizona’s new anti-immigration laws and the legality of some of Sheriff Joe’s antics regarding ‘racial profiling’ when it came to establishing standards that law enforcement must meet when establishing the protocol of determining if a person is legal or not.