ANWR: To Drill Or Not To Drill?

Much of the opposition to oil development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has an almost theological tinge.

The details are overshadowed by a sense of sacrilege: Grubbing for mere petroleum in the "crown jewel" of the nation's wildlife refuge system?

Don't Drill:


"One of the best arguments against development is not that it would destroy the refuge, but that it would only postpone America's inevitable reckoning with the approaching era of petroleum scarcities. It would make sense to keep ANWR's oil where it is, for now, as a sort of huge strategic petroleum reserve.

The way Congress and the administration are headed, though, ANWR's reserves will be pumped dry so Americans can continue to consume gasoline as if the planet were afloat on petroleum. That's the worst possible reason for sinking drills in the wildlife refuge."

Tacoma News Tribune editorial.

Drill:


""Environmaniacs" claim ANWR is a "crown jewel," referring to the beautiful Brooks Range mountains seen in all the anti-drilling photos, yet they're actually 50-100 miles from the coastal plain. The potentially oil-rich area is just flat, treeless tundra.

Winters on the ANWR coastal plain last for nine months – there is total darkness for 58 consecutive days and temperatures drop to 70 degrees below zero. Spit, and your saliva freezes before it hits the ground. But the nasty conditions mean drilling can be done with ice airstrips, roads and ice pad platforms.

When spring finally arrives, the ice pads would all melt, leaving no sign of the drill crews. The caribou would return, along with arctic fox, geese, shore birds and swarms of vicious mosquitoes ("large enough to slow dance with a turkey"). Incidentally, in the arctic, mosquitoes hatch in such multitudes they can actually turn the sky gray.

Opponents of drilling in ANWR say, "it's the nation's last true wilderness, a hallowed place, and a pristine environmental area." But last summer in a Washington Times article titled, "Hardly a Pretty Place: Use ANWR for Oil Exploration," Jonah Goldberg described it this way: "[I]f you wanted a picture to go with the word 'Godforsaken' in the dictionary, ANWR would do nicely."

Are you tired of allowing Middle East oil monopolies to hold America in a black gold stranglehold by making us pay $2, $3 and soon $4 for a gallon of gas? Me, too. That's why I'm in favor of Alaska drilling. If we're going to have to continue importing oil, I'd rather send my dollars to Alaska, instead of to the Middle East. How about you?"

Craig R. Smith @ World Net Daily.

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Does the Middle East really have a stranglehold on the United States? The Middle East countries are bordered in pink. You decide...

Columnist Novak Vets Pedestrian

"Longest-running syndicated columnist EVER, Bob Novak, was cited today by DC police after hitting a pedestrian with his black Corvette and driving off. This is different than his normal hit and run jobs - this time a person was physically injured.

There is no early indication that a) the person was a Democrat or b) it was road-rage induced by finding out that he had been duped, yet again for political purposes, by the McCain campaign.

As luck would have it, a Politico reporter and film crew were nearby (thank goodness, I'd hate to have to wait 3 years for a grand jury and Patrick Fitzgerald to find out what happened) to record the goings-on."

Read more @ Political Machine.

Michael Savage Spells Autism S-T-U-P-I-D

Definetion:

Autism is a disorder of brain function that appears early in life, generally before the age of three. Children with autism have problems with social interaction, communication, imagination and behavior. Autistic traits persist into adulthood, but vary in severity.

Attention Deficit Disorder is a biologically based condition causing a persistent pattern of difficulties resulting in one or more of the following behaviors: inattention; hyperactivity; impulsivity.

Corny Capitalism v. Crony Socialism

I do not recognize the market world I am living in... a world of total and unadulterated hypocrisy. A world where business people who made billions and billions of dollars because of free markets... now want manipulated and government controlled markets because of the bad bets they made. This is disgusting, and for anyone that is a free market proponent, it is a wake-up call that none of us has any control of. This is no longer crony capitalism - this is crony socialism. We can rant, we can yell, we can scream, but no one is listening because the guilty are being propped up by their friends... and it is not even hidden anymore. It is self evident for all of us to see, but supposedly, for the greater good, these too-big-to-fail companies have to be saved. In my world, if you make bad bets, you lose and if need be, you go out of business and let someone else come to fill the void of your stupidity. In the world we are watching, you can hide losses just like ENRON and not be called an ENRON.

Gary Kaltbaum @ TradingMarkets.com.

Pssst...Would You Jerk My Gas Nozzle?

“I'm willing to go tell Idahoans that.”

Senator Larry "Hand Under The Stall Door" Craig




“Censure is a limp noodle across the wrist of the president, ... I think the way we vote on the articles will express the way we feel stronger than any censure vote.”

Senator Larry "Bathroom Stall" Craig

Proof McCain Ain't A Gigolo

Republican presidential candidate John McCain cashes his monthly Social Security checks despite calling the federal program "a disgrace," the Associated Press reports.

"I'm receiving benefits," McCain told campaign reporters, but added, "the system is broken."

In 2007, he received benefits of $23,157 from Social Security, approximately $1,930 a month. The maximum monthly benefit under Social Security is $2,185. Social Security benefits are determined by age at retirement.

McCain, who is 71, has received benefits since he was 65.

Last week, McCain told observers at a town-hall meeting in Portsmouth, Ohio, "Americans have got to understand that we are paying present-day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers ... and that's a disgrace."

B.J. Jarrett from the Social Security Administration said that individuals can refuse retirement benefits.

In 2006, McCain's wife Cindy earned $6 million, and has a net worth of approximately $100 million.

From the San Fransisco Business Times.

When You Say "Budweiser," You've Said It All

"I will veto every single beer, um, bill with earmarks."

John McCain
Speaking at the National Small Business Summit, Washington, D.C.
June 10, 2008

Free-market Fundementals

The U.S. economy may not be facing Armageddon, but that's no thanks to the anti-regulation, free-market fundamentalists like Phil Gramm and Alan Greenspan.

Over the years they have gutted financial controls and oversight leading directly to the savings-and-loan bailout, the Enron energy manipulations, and now the subprime fiasco.

Bank depositors can feel some measure of security because the conservative philosophy was stopped short trying to reduce or eliminate the New Deal-era government insurance on their accounts.

People would feel a lot less worried if they knew their health insurance was secure, but that's another story.

Andrew March
Phoenix

Leadership 101: Inspire Your Constitutents

In the US of A we try to elect leaders to be our President. For example, that the current office holder George W. Bush. A few days after the 9/11 terrorists attacks, President Bush urged us fellow Americans to "go out and shop" to help the economy keep going.

Now, with the economy slipping into an ever darkening recession, Bush has stepped away from his bully pulpit to let his fellow Americans to crew on their own boot straps. President Bush said his is sympathetic with the plight of the people reeling from higher gas prices but he doesn't see the need to step up to the bully pulpit and demand specific conservation measures.

Concerning his constituents, Bush said, "They're smart enough to figure out whether they're going to drive less or not."

Evidently Bush is not paying attention...these are the same people that elected him.