Texas Viking

How the GOP Would Fix It

2011-09-16T17:52:00.002-05:00

Problem:

20% of Americans are now in Poverty

GOP Solution: Cut Taxes

144,000 U.S. bridges are classified as “derelict”

GOP Solution: Cut Taxes

U.S. borrows $2 Trillion to pay for Iraq/Afghanistan wars

GOP Solution: Cut Taxes

U.S. Falls from No. 1 in 2000 to No. 9 in Education

GOP Solution: Cut Taxes

3 Million U.S. Jobs Unfilled Because Americans Lack Skills

GOP Solution: Cut Taxes

Top U.S. 1% Control 33% Wealth--Top10% Control 56%!

GOP Solution: Cut Taxes

14 Million Unemployed - Corporations have $1.5 Trillion

GOP Solution: Cut Taxes

Top Corporations Pay Executives More Than They Pay in Taxes

GOP Solution: Cut Taxes

50 year old pipelines are Exploding Under Peoples’ Homes

GOP Solution: Cut Taxes

U.S. Destroyed by Massive Floods and Fires

GOP Solution: Cut Taxes

World Destroyed by Climate Change – Must Evacuate Planet

GOP Solution: Cut Taxes

Question: Did America Become Great by NOT building an Interstate Highway system, a Space program, an Internet, or by educating all regardless of income?

Did we become great by doing nothing and not investing in our future and future technologies?

Then HOW do we succeed in the 21st Century by just cutting taxes?

Pelicans and Their "Wingmen"...

2011-07-10T17:27:00.004-05:00

Until I lived on water I had no idea. But after three or so years of watching the wildlife on Clear Lake, I have seen some fascinating features about the birds and fish on the lake that are fascinating.

Did you know that Pelicans often have a Seagull "wingman" fly with them? When the Pelican dives, the gull lands either next to it on the water - or even on its head! Sometimes the gull gets a bite before the fish goes down the Pelicans big gulp. It's nature's "trickle down."

When the Pelican takes off for another run, the gull flies along behind and to the side, just like the "wingman" on WWII fighter movies - tailing the leader. Then there are times when just a gull alone will hit the water, getting something.

Amazing, how nature works together - something humans could learn from.

Fathers' Day 2011 - Remembering Dad

2011-06-19T17:02:00.002-05:00

Watching the classic "Life with Father" before making an airport run.

Remembering dad who passed in an auto accident 40 years ago, when i was a young student at UT. He wasn't a perfect guy, but he always had a joke and a laugh. (We'll overlook the rest!). lol.

We need more fathers who look after the children they do have, and appreciate the ones who do.

I missed that adventure (fatherhood) unfortunately, but I salute those who had that blessing AND enjoy their offspring --AND try their utmost to make the world a better place for them.

That's why it drives me nuts to see dads (and moms) not recognize the danger climate change is to the future of their offspring, and their children. If you think the weather has been freaky in 2011, it is an example how climate change will make it for our heirs if we take no action to correct it.

The very existence of our home planet that is at stake -- not just a bombing. We have survived bombings for centuries. On the grand scale of things, the quality of our planet should rank priority No. 1. Right?

The awareness level of the public and leadership is just like it was when I kept doing videos in the 90's and articles on terrorism before 9/11 (some still on YouTube under "Fjet2020"). No one paid attention then either.

Our heirs can't survive if the planet doesn't. Think about that on this Fathers' Day as well.

what happened to the 4 Hispanic districts for the four new Texas Congressional seats?

2011-06-02T17:26:00.002-05:00

So what happened to the 4 Hispanic districts for the four new Texas Congressional seats that Texas gets since Hispanics made the growth that earned the seats?

I don't recall narrow minded white (GOP) guys generating that growth? LOL

SO, WHERE are the 4 Hispanic seats in the proposed Texas Congressional redistricting plan if we are to elect representatives from the group that generated that growth (Hispanics)...?

The proposed new districts favor only GOP candidates, even when it takes drawing the strangest boundaries in the planet. Those seats should not go to additional seats by white GOP males whose policies show disrespect and even disdain for Hispanics.

They belong to Hispanic candidates...

TX Budget: Billions Available Says AARP

2011-03-18T08:36:00.002-05:00

The AARP has come up with a list of money Texas could tap to fix its budget hole. Without comment, here they are:

Eliminate Sales Tax exemptions on business, professional services (legal, architectural, real estate broker, except health care)...Would RAISE $5.6 Billion on 2012-13 biennium

Eliminate high-cost-natural-gas exemption...Would RAISE $2.3 Billion

Eliminate recognition of optional percentage homestead exemption...Would Raise $1 Billion

Eliminate freeport property tax exemption...Would RAISE $850 Million

Eliminate 10% property tax appraisal cap...Would RAISE $650 Million

RAISE sales tax 1/2%...Would RAISE $3 Billion
INCREASE Franchise Tax from 1% to 1.25%...Would RAISE $2.1 Billion
RAISE Gas Tax 5 cents....Would RAISE $1.5 Billion
RAISE cigarette tax 59 cents/pack...Would RAISE $1.2 Billion

ALLOW Slot Machines at existing gambling sites...Would RAISE $2 Billion

incredible freaky weather worldwide on a scale never seen before

2011-02-02T15:39:00.002-06:00

While we are freezing, scientists witnessed a polar bear are having to swim 10 days just to find an iceberg to hunt, arctic temps are 40 degrees ABOVE normal and they just verified we had the hottest 2,000 years in human history.

Let's see, monster 186 mph hurricane in Australia, worst floods in history almost everywhere, incredible freaky weather worldwide on a scale never seen before (hot in the arctic and cold in the south), I thought that these were supposed to be signs of climate change...

Did I miss something?

Do you want to know what causes nut jobs to shoot people?

2011-01-09T10:23:00.003-06:00

Good day to PACK boxes - what a downpour! Cold at that. The lake is whipped into a raging frenzy.

Movers arrive tomorrow. I remember why I move so seldom - it sucks! LOL.

I am so sorry for the Tucson people killed by the idiot at a Congressional meeting. We have let the nut jobs blow too long.

We are AMERICANS: we choose ballots over bullets. We don't need to follow the nut jobs in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan - they prefer the bullet. That is what makes us unique, or has.

We can disagree without shooting people. We've allowed extremists to make millions spreading false facts on radio and TV, calling the President "Imam" etc. Yes, I'm talking about the jerks Limbaugh and Beck.

Do you want to know what causes nut jobs to shoot people, including a Congressional rep?

People like this: Rush Gasbag and Glenn Beckenstein. Listen to the false hysteria promoted by these two con jobs. They lie to million of American people for profit - not for TRUTH.

They shout "Fire" in a crowded theater: radio and TV.

They falsely claim the President was not born in the U.S. or the biggest lie that an American President would actually try to sabotage the U.S. They put crosshairs on the political opponents, as Palin did. They shout "reload!"

We are AMERICANS: we choose ballots over bullets. We have to return to respecting people and civil dialogue, and TRUTH. It matters for our future.

4 year old Insight -Kids can say the darnest things

2011-01-03T07:57:00.002-06:00

Kids can say the darnest things, as Art Linkletter used to say. And I think that's true before they get to be teenagers lost in the world of IPhones, etc.

My favorites are the 4 -7 year olds I've been around lately. They have an intelligence, and curiosity and desire to communicate that teens don't since the latter are trying to assert their independence (like the horror of being seen in a restaurant with mom and dad).

Last night I was at a dinner which included 3 grandchildren - all girls from 1 year, 4 years and 5. I was talking to their grandmother about how they seemed to get through holidays without any family drama and that they could be a role model for families.

At that point the 4 year old said: "That's lame" in a soft little voice. I had to stop and laugh. She is so funny, and bright!

She was also the one who dropped the bomb in a very casual way when she said: "We are going to live in a high rise with mom and in the house with dad." Wow. Pretty calm reaction to a split.

Linkletter was right, kids say the darnest things. And they have great insight. I'm thinking we could use more of them in Congress in the days ahead, when adults deal in fantasy and kids tell the truth, even when it's lame...

When I last Left Indonesia, I Flew Into a Coup in Bangkok

2010-11-09T18:28:00.001-06:00

The President is in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world – having been there I can tell you that it is nothing like what you think. Indonesia is nothing like the Middle East. Indonesians are Asians who are by nature much more moderate. Don’t forget Indonesia is home to the fabled “Bali” island – a tourist mecca that was bombed by terrorists years ago. Indonesia has been hit by terrorism by Islamic extremists. It has fought them. Indonesia’s are a good people we can do business with.

However, the lack of international experience by Americans was exhibited this week when Rush Limbaugh thought it would cost $200 million day for the President to travel internationally (funny, he never said that about Pres. Bush), when the real number was about $10 million -- what it was when Bush traveled, a tiny fraction of that. Limbaugh needs to get a passport and spend some time in the real world if he is going to influence millions of Americans who have the same lack of actual knowledge of these countries and travel costs. Actually I think Limbaugh deliberately airs every lie designed to savage America’s first black President who inherited the worst economic situation in seven decades.

That’s almost as pitiful as Sarah Palin criticizing the Fed for it’s “quantative easing” – a potential Presidential candidate totally ignorant of our system and the fact that the Fed is an independent agency not controlled by Congress or the White House. We really want clueless running our country? The Fed was designed not to be the plaything of politics and politicians like Palin, who is blissfully ignorant of how our American financial system was put together and why.

I was in Indonesia for the first time when I was a just-laid-off-from-the-Fortune500 entrepreneur who was on a mission to start business on behalf of U.S. companies. It was the mid-80’s. Then Indonesia was ruled by one man named Suharto, a “President for Life” jerk running the country. He fell after that. Now it is an actual democracy. When I left Jakarta on that trip for Bangkok, a coup had just occurred in Thailand, changing the government. A couple reporters had been killed. I didn’t know what to expect when I got there. It turned out to be a whole another story, because I almost didn’t get out.

Indonesia is a good trade partner for the U.S. because their economy consumes goods we make – whereas its neighbors would rather export to us than buy from us (like China).

We finished our job in McAllen about 5 today – one pane seemed as big as an 18 wheeler, a burglar could have tapped it and carried out a BIG screen TV in the gaping hole, but not now that it has Armor Glass security film! LOL.

Going to the edge of Mexico's Drug War Death Alley Today -

2010-11-08T08:08:00.000-06:00

Growth equals GREEN JOBS folks. My green company keeps growing but it is also is taking me to dangerous territory --today I have to go to McAllen for a job near the Mexico border where drug gangs closed the international bridge with heavy gunfire during a gang brawl at one point last week.

While illegal immigration from Mexico has dropped dramatically under the Obama administration, our drug policy the last 40 years has failed and things have gotten worse despite the billions spent. Even after 8 years of Bush administration control over border issues and 10 years of the same Texas Governor (Perry), it has become more dangerous to be in Mexico -- or near the border. I once drove to Guadalajara in a car with a friend - but that was 1990. Just going to Juarez (across from El Paso), or Reynosa (across from McAllen) has gotten several Americans killed in recent days/weeks.

Only a change in strategy has the potential of turning this situation around. There are no jobs for young people in Mexico, other than being a police officer (and those are risky) or a drug mule for a gang. Their system has concentrated wealth to the point that a few people control all the money and the vast majority have nothing. For the bottom to feed their families, they have to chose a drug gang or illegally crossing our border to take jobs Americans won't do like cleaning Meg Whitman's house - none of them are running hedge funds.

And these billion dollar drug gangs are getting their heavy weapons from AMERICAN GUN DEALERS.

If I hear gunfire from across the border, it will be coming from American weapons killing innocent civilians and police. (I do have our GSA blast rated security film on my vehicle to foil a break in and avoid spraying glass from gun shots).

Remember prohibition in the 1930's and Al Capone and the gangs fighting for control of the illegal booze market? That was worth millions and was a local fight - now we have the global version of it that is giving crooks billions to buy even more powerful weapons.

With poverty so high in Mexico, killing one leader only leads to 100 more willing to take his place. It is a no win strategy. The money has even corrupted the police and federal military - who often do the killing for the gangs. They are now killing Mayors, Governors - not unlike Al Qaeda but without a religious purpose. It's all about CONTROL.

If I survive this trip, you can 'friend' me on Facebook, to see future updates.

In the meantime, I bet the gun dealers sleep very well despite knowing that their weapons are instrumental in the carnage. Our government has done little to nothing to stop the illegal weapons exports from the U.S. to Mexico in the last 10 years.

Michael Fjetland
Global American Series
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GlobalAmerican

Conservative columnist Loren Steffy: "Healthcare Reform bill will SAVE $158 billion over the next 10 years" - Repeal that?

2010-11-05T07:41:00.004-05:00

According to the conservative columnist Loren Steffy, the Healthcare Reform bill will SAVE $158 billion over the next 10 years.

You want to repeal something that cuts the deficit? duh.

You want to go back where insurance companies could drop you once you got sick? Or denied you for a pre existing condition? (Especially when our population is aging and has an obesity problem due to its fascinating with high fat food and salt (1/3 will get diabetes from being overweight in the next few years).

Let's improve the healthcare bill by allowing the feds to negotiate lower prices from the drug companies - that would save another $200 billion/year!...Negotiating for lower drug prices has been fought by the Republicans and the drug companies in the past --nor was it included in this healthcare reform bill.

It's time to change that so we can CUT our costs even more.

The clueless leading the uninformed is not a recipe for success

2010-11-01T08:03:00.001-05:00

When you are talking JOBS, its all about economics - and in a global economy economics are, duh, GLOBAL, and involve dealing with CHina, India who are training the engineers we aren't.

And we are going to elect a bunch of yahoos who have never been there and couldn't find these countries on a map?

Boy, I feel so much better knowing that!...LOL. The clueless leading the uninformed is not a recipe for success as a country falling behind the world in technology and education folks.

That's more scary than Halloween!..lol

Since the Bush years and my TV terrorism advising, I have argued CARGO should also get screening

2010-10-29T17:08:00.001-05:00

No one should be surprised Al Qaeda tried to send bombs via Fed Ex - duh! It only took 10 years for them to figure out the obvious.

Since the Bush years and my TV terrorism advising, I have argued CARGO should also get screening - why just the passengers riding above?

It does show that our system is working better than it ever did, but needs improvement..it's a world of 200 countries sending packages!

How to Create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs That Can’t Be Exported

2010-09-26T11:17:00.001-05:00

“Starting in late 2009, Clinton began lobbying privately for an energy-efficiency loan-guarantee program. He prepared a detailed memo for the White House laying out a plan that would use $9 billion from the Treasury to leverage $67 billion in financing to retrofit offices and residential buildings. This specific, doable idea—comprehensible to the independent, small businesspeople Obama has lost—would create hundreds of thousands of new green jobs in construction and manufacturing that can’t be exported.”

Article link: http://www.newsweek.com/2010/09/26/alter-obama-clinton-and-clean-energy.html

Neither President Obama nor the GOP have embraced this plan that would generate a big boost in jobs and cut our energy waste at the same time. It would put us back in competition with China that is taking the lead in new green technology – the next major job-creating engine of the 21st Century.

The U.S. needs an energy PLAN. Doing the “same ol’, same ol’” will not solve our debt and energy issues. Only bold, innovative action will. Thomas Friedman points out how seriously we are lagging China’s “Moon Shots” and this is a policy to help us regain the lead.

Friedman article link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/opinion/26friedman.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

What Bill Clinton has proposed should be up before Congress right now – with a bipartisan vote because it will create the jobs we need and advance the technology leadership we are losing.

And remember, Clinton was the last President to generate a $200 billion SURPLUS so he knows something about budgets (that $200 billion surplus was instantly turned into a $1.6 trillion deficit after the Bush tax cuts of 2001, and grew larger with two unpaid for wars, etc.).

We need leaders who will generate the jobs we need – and Bill Clinton’s plan should be embraced by both parties for that simple reason.

Have you seen a better one that advances our technology and generates the huge number of jobs we need?

Want to REALLY FIX our Economy? Drop All Tax Cuts and Cut Pentagon 50%

2010-09-25T16:22:00.005-05:00

"Where's the beef" was a popular commercial years ago - and that applies to the GOP "Pledge to America" Their plan only continues to INCREASE the debt more than a $1 TRILLION MORE than the Obama Plan.

Yet even the Obama Plan won't be able to get the budget back under control unless we take even more serious action than the political wimps on both sides who won't tell America what really needs to be done. Voters want to believe in fairy dust - that you can cut taxes and increase spending and come out ahead instead of deeper in the hole (voters prefer voodoo economics to reality!)

Want to really get costs and income under control?

Then let ALL the tax cuts expire. That would generate $4 TRILLION dollars in the next decade. (The GOP plan to let the top 1% keep their tax cut would put us another $1 TRILLION in the hole).

Then CUT COSTS starting with the fattest cow in the lot --which alone could save $3.5 TRILLION in the next decade. Which is that?

Since the Pentagon budget is more than the military budgets of the next 45 countries COMBINED, that's the fattest cow. It has too many unneeded weapons projects and too many surplus Generals sitting around with nothing to do and too many layers of bureaucrats. We have excessive numbers of Generals and layers and layers of bureaucrats that make getting stuff to Afghanistan and Iraq harder not easier.

CUT its budget 50% so our military budget is only larger than the next ten countries combined. That would save $350 billion a year, or $3.5 TRILLION in the next decade.

Between the two, we would be $7.5 TRILLION AHEAD - Put another way, we'd be $7.5 TRILLION out of the hole (making up for the $5 TRILLION we went into the hole from 2000-2008). It would eliminate the need to attack our safety nets like social security and any other cuts are pure gravy.

But Americans really don't want reality - just more voodoo economics that they can have their tax cuts and a smaller deficit too. LOL. No politician ever tells voters what they need to hear; only what they want to hear.

Obama Goes After Employers Hiring Illegals - Will GOP Reverse that - & Protect the Traffickers?

2010-09-08T08:15:00.004-05:00

Not until the Obama administration were EMPLOYERS held responsible for knowingly hiring illegals instead of US citizens. This didn't happen under Bush and when the GOP held control of Congress from 2000-2006.

Now it turns out the some of these employers are even trafficking in humans to get their workforce! Why did the GOP give these creeps cover for so long? It's wrong even if they are not trafficking humans! Check out the linked article to get a taste of what employers are doing that hurts both Americans and the illegals.

Will the GOP protect these creeps again, assuming they take control of Congress this November? Let's hear it from their leadership...now, BEFORE the election.

Whose side is the GOP on? Do they still favor the employers (by not punishing them like the Obama administration has) or do they favor the working Americans who don't get jobs when employers are knowingly hiring illegals instead, even engaging in human trafficking!

These corporations are making Gov't look downright Good

2010-09-07T14:12:00.004-05:00

You say corporations are better than gov't right?

Well, I go to Discount Tire store in Kemah to replace a couple bad ones, but it turns out they don't do alignments! (I'm supposed to put on new tires and ride off with them misaligned? How stupid!).

So then I have to go to a NTB place for an alignment (so they are smarter in that regard). They park my car in front but don't tell me --I find them doodling in an office! Stupid corporate trick No. 2.

Then Today I find out the Verizon rep sold me the original Droid, not the 2 or the X! (Hey, sell them the old stuff first!) Duh! And they have this crazy system where reps are in different stores on different days so you never can connect with the person who sold you the phone.

That's three dumb corporate moves in a row.Got more you'd like to share? Add a comment.

What corporate genius said that you should sell tires but not an alignment? Did he jump out with his golden parachute yet? This is how we are supposed to get out of a recession?

We be stupid! No wonder why we are in a mess - and its not just government we need to improve. What happened to common sense and service that makes sense?

Would Jesus Burn a Koran? Kickback on our Troops

2010-09-07T10:46:00.006-05:00

A so-called "Christian" group is planning to burn copies of the Koran, the Islamic holy book, on 9/11. Where did Jesus say "Hate Thy Neighbor and Burn His Books"?

Gen. David Petraeus, the commander in Afghanistan, said the burning of Islam's holy books "could cause significant problems" for American troops overseas.

"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan," Petraeus said in a statement issued Monday.

Petraeus is right. The alleged "Christians" doing this are beyond stupid. It's going to lead to more soldier deaths and be a recruiting bonanza for Al Qaida, who is about as popular as a pack of rattlesnakes since they are now killing fellow Muslims (Shiites) with car bombs in Iraq.

What bible are these so-called Christians reading? They translate Jesus' command "Love Thy Neighbor" into overt acts of disrespect, hate and incitement. I would wager a bridge in Booklyn that they don't even know that Jesus and the Virgin Mary are treated with great respect and admiration in the Koran. Instead of doing the Jesus thing of interfaith meetings to seek common ground, they are doing the Hitler book burning act -- and sounding equally intolerant.

Did Jesus ever call for the burning of the Jewish holy book, the Torah, even when he was being sentenced to death? You might recall he actually "forgave" his executioners; he didn't condemn them or call for revenge.

How would you feel if someone from another religion, or an atheist, burned a bible? That's the kind of reaction this stupid act will have on Muslims worldwide. It's a slap in the face; its not Jesus saying "turn the other cheek" is it?

You may recall that Jesus lived at a time when Judaism was the dominant religion and Christianity was the new kid in town. Anyone calling for burning the Koran seems to have missed reading the same bible stories I did.

In this respect our extremists are no different from the Muslim extremists who hate everyone not as limited and intolerant as they are.

The blood of our troops will be on this idiot's hands. In fact, it is not even "Christian" to do so - did Jesus burn books?

Actions have consequences folks. Our acting as stupid and intolerant as the Taliban and Al Qaida doesn't give us the high ground. Extremists are twisting Christianity and Islam into nothing but intolerant blind hate --the opposite of what both Jesus and Muhammad taught.

Tea Party: Kill Social Security, Mediaid - Economic Solution>?

2010-09-05T14:17:00.004-05:00

You think the job situation is bad because of the illegals in this country? Think again. We did this one to ourselves. More precisely, DC did this to us when it let Wall Street run wild with phony credit default swaps from 2000 to 2008 while a GOP-controlled Congress borrowed and spent like drunken sailors.

Not one illegal was responsible for Wall Street's greed selling phony instruments to banks worldwide and nearly tanking the global economy. Not one illegal cast a vote in Congress DOUBLING OUR NATIONAL DEBT IN 8 SHORT YEARS from 2000 to 2008--a debt that had taken over 200 years to build to that point!

Most of the illegals were bent over doing jobs Americans won't do anyway - like picking food in the field or working in Iowa meat plants and chicken farms.

Things have changed though. The Bush administration refused to penalize the employers so that did get jobs away from people willing to work. The Obama administration has been more aggressive on cheating employers who hire illegals instead of U.S. citizens.

Wall Street's hedge fund managers and borrow and spend by Bush/GOP really put us in a deep hole that will take YEARS to get the jobs back. Many are gone forever.

They allowed U.S. companies to stay here but "move" their headquarters offshore so they could duck paying their fair share of taxes. That increased our deficit. They gave the top 5% the lion's share of tax cuts, paid for with borrowed money, which the rest of us -- you, your kids and great-grandkids -- will have to pay for. That increased the deficit. (the Pentagon budget so that it is greater than the next 20 countries defense budgets put together—we could save hundreds of billions and still have a budget greater than the next ten countries put together).

How are we going to fix our mess and cut the deficit if we don't close these unfair tax loopholes for the privileged and many others like it? Ordinary citizens don't get this kind of preferential treatment.

And let's face the truth -- a lot of individual Americans were doing the same thing with their home equity borrowing in the 2000's. The whole thing was unsustainable. Finally the credit card maxes out and the party goes bust.

I found out when I was laid off years ago that I had to create my own job, and take a low pay filler to get cash flow even though I had a law degree. However, as a result, I now own a thriving "green" company that is part of the new economy. I’m making more money than I have in my life, with my own company that sells a product that pays for itself multiple times over. It’s the type of clean new industries we need to produce new jobs.
Tea Party candidates are suggesting the solution to our problems is to get rid of social security and medicaid. They blame the illegals for our economic troubles.

Don't blame the illegals for our economic troubles. They didn't create this mess. They came here to fill the job void during the good times. It was our own idiots in DC that let Wall Street run wild and spent borrowed money like drunken sailors from 2000 to the time the party crashed in late 2008 that got us into this black hole. It wasn’t them and it wasn’t President Obama. He got a wrecked ship full of $5 trillion in new IOU’s when he arrived the first day on the job. It will take years to fix the damage.

What is so ironic is that the crew that wrecked this ship up on the reef are now the ones claiming to be able to "fix" it - by voting against Wall Street reform and going back to tax cuts for the wealthy that makes our economy more and more like Mexico's - a pyramid with a few at the top getting all the breaks with most of the people with nothing at the bottom.

Watch for the truth. When the "tea party" people like Sharon Angle call for abolishing social security and Medicaid (which millions of people like my mother depend on), then exactly who are they representing? Not the ordinary, legal American.

The problem today is not the illegals, so much as it is the "legal" citizens who are returning us to the failed economic policies of the 2000's, and worse.

The Floating Car

2010-09-01T22:43:00.001-05:00

This is not something you see everyday - a dune buggy on floats!

Gingrich: "Muslims are Nazis" - Calculated Lie That Jesus Would Reject

2010-08-29T10:34:00.006-05:00

Did Jesus ever say: "Hate thy neighbor and anyone different from yourself?" He even hung out with prostitutes, lawyers and tax collectors!

I was just having breakfast in Seabrook when the folks at the table next to ours when one of them said this: "Newt Gingrich says Muslims are Nazi's." It was greeted by a knowing silence as they continued on. You could see the expression in them that, of course, it's true! What a hate-mongering lie masquerading as fact.

Last week when I was giving a presentation on terrorism to NASA employees and contractors, the head of NASA's security said: "There are 50,000 terrorists in 60 countries." He's probably right. 50,000 is NOT 1.5 billion people!

Casting Al Qaida as Nazi is one thing -- but to claim an entire religion of 1.5 billion people are all Nazis is not only false but a calculated lie.

It is Gingrich who is using the Nazi tactic --like Hitler blaming Germany's problems on the Jewish people. Gingrich should be a co-defendant in the case of the guy who stabbed a NY cabdriver after he said he was Muslim. It's hate-mongers like him that drive the unstable over the edge, like yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater.

When Fox allows this to be "news" it is also engaging in religious racism and prejudicial fear-mongering. Their actions allow Al Qaida to claim that this is a war against Islam instead of just the terrorists. It is taking advantage of Americans ignorance about other religions.

I am a Christian and it is time for Christians to shout down the bigots and extremists like Gingrich in our own religion -- just as Imam's have condemned Islam's extremists. Does Gingrich or Fox ever expose that the Islamic Koran actually has passages describing in positive terms Jesus and the Virgin Mary? No.

If the GOP wants back in power, it should not be based on stoking hate and ignorance. We have had one Nazi party too many.

Jesus would be ashamed to hear his name being used by people like Gingrich and Franklin Graham as a message of hate.

Who's Responsible for Our Debt Crisis? See the Graphic Evidence

2010-08-29T09:05:00.006-05:00

Check out this graph. It shows how our national debt was DECREASING until Reagan took office. Then see what happens when Clinton took office.

People forget that when Bush took office he got a $200+ billion surplus from Clinton -like a nice car with $ in the bank. When Obama took office he got a $1.3 TRILLION Deficit (first day) and a locked up financial system -- like inheriting a smoking wreck and over $5 Trillion in new IOU's.

Since it's our only ship of state, do you think its an overnight fix without spending on repairs? How cheap was it to fix the damage from the Exxon Valdez or the BP spill?

Give the guy a break. He didn't create this mess but has the nasty job of fixing it.

The Over-committed Geezer

2010-08-11T21:07:00.003-05:00

How's this for a week:

I am running to a different installation every day,
just did a radio program on climate change with a Rice professor,
will be shooting a TV ad tomorrow, then giving a presentation to architects,
then giving a presentation to NASA next week on terrorism and
doing an interview with private space companies like Virgin Galactic for the Global American radio program -

You think I might be a bit over-committed for a 60-year old geezer?

I love it. LOL.

GA Radio this Saturday: Are Your Children at Risk to International Sex Traffickers? Yes…

2010-08-06T08:45:00.001-05:00

5 August 2010
Global American Series

Are Your Children at Risk to International Sex Traffickers?
Yes…

You can hear our first Global American Radio broadcast on International Trafficking this Saturday at 9 a.m. on Business 1110 AM Houston, streamed on http://business1110ktek.com/ and also available worldwide at our new Global American Radio website at:
www.GlobalAmerican.org

Did you think slavery ended in the U.S. in 1862 with the 13th Amendment? Did you know that over 12 million people have been trafficked worldwide - and that nearly every city in the United States has people being held against their will for sex services and forced labor? According to official sources, 300,000 American children are at risk of becoming victims – including some of the 450,000 runaway children each year.

Did you know that human trafficking is today’s third largest criminal activity in the world – after arms and drugs? It’s a $10 billion/year business. It still exists on your street or in the massage parlor, the nail salon or private homes.

Many cities in the U.S. are hubs of trafficking, from San Francisco to Houston. Texas is a major hub and Houston is the hub of the hub. Over 90 languages are spoken in Houston. Its diversity allows traffickers to hide almost in plain sight. One group of labor trafficked men were made to take off their clothes and live on the second story of a house—the kidnappers lived downstairs--until they could ransom them to their families. But the same story is happening in American cities everywhere.

Did you know that despite the huge number of people being held in bondage, from 2001 to 2005 only 140 defendants have been convicted of human trafficking in U.S. courts – and that was a 109% increase from 1996-2000!

Children are preyed on by pimps and predators hanging out at bus stations etc., promising love that turns out to be a Dr. Jeyll and Mr. Hyde trap into an isolated controlled world of forced commercial sex and abuse. They are denied their own money. They can’t own a phone or talk to their family or friends. They are moved from city to city, living in apartments or massage parlors, and even private homes. The traffickers are also getting more violent against their captives.

80% of the trafficked are women, 50% of them are minors. Boys are also trafficked. Solution? Police still are not trained to recognize a trafficked person, who often hide or deny their victim status to official authorities who arrest them – and also take advantage of their plight. On August 5, the Houston Chronicle ran an article on two Houston vice officers who were caught taking nude photos of a prostitute – way beyond normal procedure. It is not an isolated incident according to many sources. Harris County Texas, however, gets high marks for training its officers to recognize a trafficked person. The Houston Police Department does not. I was informed that some HPD use the services provided by the massage parlors and don’t think of these women as being trafficked.

Europeans are ahead of the U.S in trafficking laws. Sweden has a model law that criminalizes the DEMAND for prostitution (arrest the guy asking for sex) but decriminalized prostitution itself. “Sex Purchase Laws’ have reduced prostitution by 50%!

The UN passed a law in 2004 and it ranks countries on their trafficking efforts. Kuwait flunked and ranked as the worst. It is unwilling to prosecute its own citizens -- who hire thousands of overseas workers and have a history of serious abuse cases. It makes you wonder why we saved their butt from Saddam?

There is only one person providing services to help people who have been trafficked in the Houston area. Dozens of groups provide help for drug or alcohol issues, but an empty hole exists for victims of sex trafficking. U.S. Law Enforcement needs training to recognize trafficked persons, and we need a system to get these people help. International trafficking victims can get help without being charged with a crime, but a domestic U.S. sex trafficking victim has to be charged with a crime to get assistance for counselors, etc.!

Attention needs to be paid to this important issue that could affect your sister, daughter, niece, brother, nephew , etc.

Michael Fjetland
Global American Series
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GlobalAmerican/

Sponsored by Armor Glass International, Inc.
www.ArmorGlass.com
“Saving Energy and Providing Security”

Are Your Children at Risk to International Sex Traffickers?

2010-08-05T19:46:00.001-05:00

5 August 2010

Are Your Children at Risk to International Sex Traffickers?

Yes…

Global American Series

Did you think slavery ended in the U.S. in 1862 with the 13^th Amendment? Did you know that over 12 million people have been trafficked worldwide - and that nearly every city in the United States has people being held against their will for sex services and forced labor? According to official sources, 300,000 American children are at risk of becoming victims – including some of the 450,000 runaway children each year.

Did you know that human trafficking is today’s third largest criminal activity in the world – after arms and drugs? It’s a $10 billion/year business. It still exists on your street or in the massage parlor, the nail salon or private homes.

Many cities in the U.S. are hubs of trafficking, from San Francisco to Houston. Texas is a major hub and Houston is the hub of the hub. Over 90 languages are spoken in Houston. Its diversity allows traffickers to hide almost in plain sight. One group of labor trafficked men were made to take off their clothes and live on the second story of a house—the kidnappers lived downstairs--until they could ransom them to their families. But the same story is happening in American cities everywhere.

Did you know that despite the huge number of people being held in bondage, from 2001 to 2005 only 140 defendants have been convicted of human trafficking in U.S. courts – and that was a 109% increase from 1996-2000!

Children are preyed on by pimps and predators hanging out at bus stations etc., promising love that turns out to be a Dr. Jeyll and Mr. Hyde trap into an isolated controlled world of forced commercial sex and abuse. They are denied their own money. They can’t own a phone or talk to their family or friends. They are moved from city to city, living in apartments or massage parlors, and even private homes. The traffickers are also getting more violent against their captives.

80% of the trafficked are women, 50% of them are minors. Boys are also trafficked. Solution? Police still are not trained to recognize a trafficked person, who often hide or deny their victim status to official authorities who arrest them – and also take advantage of their plight. On August 5, the Houston Chronicle ran an article on two Houston vice officers who were caught taking nude photos of a prostitute – way beyond normal procedure. It is not an isolated incident according to many sources. Harris County Texas, however, gets high marks for training its officers to recognize a trafficked person. The Houston Police Department does not. I was informed that some HPD use the services provided by the massage parlors and don’t think of these women as being trafficked.

Europeans are ahead of the U.S in trafficking laws. Sweden has a model law that criminalizes the DEMAND for prostitution (arrest the guy asking for sex) but decriminalized prostitution itself. “Sex Purchase Laws’ have reduced prostitution by 50%!

The UN passed a law in 2004 and it ranks countries on their trafficking efforts. Kuwait flunked and ranked as the worst. It is unwilling to prosecute its own citizens -- who hire thousands of overseas workers and have a history of serious abuse cases. It makes you wonder why we saved their butt from Saddam?

There is only one person providing services to help people who have been trafficked in the Houston area. Dozens of groups provide help for drug or alcohol issues, but an empty hole exists for victims of sex trafficking. U.S. Law Enforcement needs training to recognize trafficked persons, and we need a system to get these people help. International trafficking victims can get help without being charged with a crime, but a domestic U.S. sex trafficking victim has to be charged with a crime to get assistance for counselors, etc.!

Attention needs to be paid to this important issue that could affect your sister, daughter, niece, brother, nephew , etc.

You can hear our first Global Amerian Radio broadcast on International Trafficking this Saturday at 9 a.m. on Business 1110 AM Houston, streamed on http://business1110ktek.com/ and also available worldwide at our new Global American Radio website at:

www.GlobalAmerican.org

(Should be active by Saturday Aug 7 by time program airs)

Michael Fjetland

Global American Series

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GlobalAmerican/

Sponsored by Armor Glass International, Inc.

www.ArmorGlass.com

“Saving Energy and Providing Security”

More Jumping Fish

2010-07-27T07:53:00.001-05:00

A view across Clear Lake taken this morning. The fish are jumping like crazy. Either they are having a feeding frenzy - or trying to keep from being a meal!

Private Spaceship Makes First Crewed Flight

2010-07-19T09:25:00.002-05:00

Reprint of Virgin Press Release

Compare the cost of the private ship vs. NASA's...

Virgin Galactic's Private Spaceship Makes First Crewed Flight

By Clara Moskowitz

SPACE.com Senior Writer

16 July 2010 - 06:06 pm ET

A private suborbital spaceship built for the space tourism firm Virgin Galactic made its first flight with a crew onboard Thursday as it soared over California 's Mojave Desert beneath its enormous mothership.

The commercial spaceliner – called VSS Enterprise, one of the company's fleet of SpaceShipTwo spacecraft – did not try to reach space in the test flight. Instead, it stayed firmly attached to its WhiteKnightTwo VMS Eve mothership.

The two crewmembers riding onboard VSS Enterprise evaluated all of the spacecraft's systems and functions during the 6-hour, 12-minute flight, Virgin Galactic officials said in a statement. In addition, automated sensors and ground crews conducted thorough vehicle systems tests.

"Objectives achieved," Virgin Galactic officials said in a statement on the company's website. "Congratulations to the whole team!"

Three other crewmembers flew aboard the Eve mothership, which is designed to carry SpaceShipTwo to an altitude above 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) before the spacecraft drops and fires its hybrid rocket motor to launch into suborbital space.

Virgin Galactic was founded by British billionaire Sir Richard Branson. The SpaceShipTwo spacecraft and their WhiteKnightTwo motherships are built for Virgin Galactic by Mojave, Calif.-based Scaled Composites, which was founded by veteran aerospace designer Burt Rutan.

SpaceShipTwo is built to carry eight people (six passengers and two pilots) on suborbital flights that would reach outer space for a few minutes, though would not go high enough to enter Earth orbit.

The flights will provide a weightless experience and a view of the blackness of space and glowing Earth below. Tickets cost $200,000 per person.

Rutan and Scaled Composites also built SpaceShipTwo's predecessor, the smaller suborbital craft SpaceShipOne financed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, which won the $10 million Ansari X Prize for reusable, manned suborbital spacecraft in 2004.

Thursday's captive flight test was the 33rd voyage of the mothership VMS Eve, one of company's the WhiteKnightTwo craft. It was the third captive-carry flight for VSS Enterprise. The first of these joint flights occurred earlier this year in March.

The mothership crew consisted of Mark Stucky, Peter Kalogiannis and Brian Maisler, while Peter Siebold and Michael Alsbury rode aboard VSS Enterprise.

The VSS Enterprise is the first in a planned fleet of suborbital SpaceShipTwo spacecraft for Virgin Galactic. While the first test flights are being flown from Mojave, Calif. , Virgin Galactic is building a terminal for space tourism flights at Spaceport America in New Mexico as well.

The VSS Enterprise named after the fictional starship of the same name from the science fiction television franchise "Star Trek."

So....you still think only NASA can take people to space? After SpaceShipTwo, they have plans for a SpaceShipThree - to go into orbit....I'm betting Virgin beats NASA back into space.

Mexico's First Car Bomb - Iraq on our Border. Time for a New Strategy

2010-07-18T16:04:00.005-05:00

Drug gangs in Mexico for the first time used a car bomb. It won't be the last time.

Ironically, my original script I was writing when the Gulf War started was about an international collaboration between South American drug gangs and a Mideast plot for a terror attack on the U.S.

It seems that the drug gangs are now taking a page from the Middle East violence - using a cell phone to set off a car bomb at the worst possible moment. This incident is a bad omen. It means that there will be more of these as the fight between the wealthy gangs and the government of Mexico continues - with the gangs with far greater intelligence, arms and money than the government.

There is a Newsweek article that suggest legalizing pot could hurt the cartels (remember Al Capone in the 1930's? Legalizing booze put him out of business, along with his failure to pay income taxes).

No one has ever died from marijuana - none, zip, zero. Here is a chart showing deaths in different categories in 2000:

Annual Causes of Death in the United States

Tobacco	435,000¹
Poor Diet and Physical Inactivity	365,000¹
Alcohol	85,000 ¹
Microbial Agents	75,000¹
Toxic Agents	55,000¹
Motor Vehicle Crashes	26,347¹
Adverse Reactions to Prescription Drugs	32,000²
Suicide	30,622³
Incidents Involving Firearms	29,000¹
Homicide	20,308⁴
Sexual Behaviors	20,000¹
All Illicit Drug Use, Direct and Indirect	17,000^{1, 5}
Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Such As Aspirin	7,600⁶
Marijuana	0⁷

So why not take it out of the cartels inventory and cut their profits 20-50% (the estimate profit they make from selling it)? TAX IT. Use it for medical purposes. Strip the cartels of a business and put it in the hands of legitimate business, like the pharmacies they have set up in California, New Mexico, etc.

President Nixon started this "Drug War" in the 1970's. It has been a total failure for over 40 years.

Insanity is defined as trying the same thing each time and expecting different results. Pumping more and more money and military equipment into the drug war has not made a difference. Putting people into prison for smoking a substance less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco is not making a difference.

The gangs are making over $100 billion/YEAR, which they use for importing American high powered weapons from American gun dealers to wage turf wars.

Now they are adopting Al Qaida techniques to maintain power. They've even begun assassinating candidates for high office. We have a situation as serious as Iraq right on our border, which stretches from Texas to California.

A lot of people think the biggest threat to us is from illegal immigrants. Most of those people are simply looking for work and opportunity they can't get in Mexico. They do jobs I don't see any American willing to do - nasty jobs like picking veggies or working in a meat plant. You want that job?

The real threat to us comes from the billionaire drug barons who have a fondness for beheading victims, assassinating political leaders and now -- car bombs. They do it with less concern than Al Capone had for lives of any kind. And they are doing on American soil as well as in Mexico.

We need a new course of action. Removing a profit center from the cartels would be a good start. Otherwise they will only continue to grow bigger, more violent and more dangerous. If by removing even one profit center from their world, we cut their profits --that is a good thing. It would also give us tax revenue source we never had and could really use right now. A pot tax would add billions in revenue to the State of California alone.

What if these drug lords get bored with buying American machine guns and acquire a nuclear weapon? They are already rich enough to built submarines (one was found recently being prepared in a remote jungle). Losing that sub will hardly dent their finances, or stop them from building more. You can do a lot with a $100 billion tax free dollars a year!

We need to take a different approach to win this "war" - or things will get worse. This first car bombing on our border should be a wake up call. An American consul officer was killed with her husband recently. No one is safe on either side of the border.

But I suspect that it will take an even worse attack by these thugs for us to change a losing strategy.

The Netherlands has coffee shops selling pot and their world did not end. The streets in Amsterdam are less violent than those here in Houston.

Wild Week from Alex

2010-07-03T08:23:00.002-05:00

Alex provided a wild week, with us dealing with rain while doing jobs. Yesterday I saw two major traffic back ups on I 45 as I went North. One car was sideways with its wheels up against the cement median and up against its top was an 18-wheeler. I didn't look good for whoever was in that car.

We did a job in Spring yesterday, which was on the receiving end of 5 inches of rain. It was a 2-hour compute to get home, with flooded access roads.

The day before the guys had to access a third story window with a 40 foot ladder in the rain (normally the film goes on the inside but these windows weren't accessible from the inside so we had no choice. Just as the rental ladder arrived, so did the rain gusher. It was hair raising but fortunately there was no lightning and no one fell 40 feet getting it done. I was soaked.

The calls keep rolling in for Armor Glass, so I bought a small Toshiba notebook computer today to take with me to process work in the field --the bigger Fujitsu laptop was so bulky and heavy to handle in my van. The Toshiba has a 13 inch screen but is light as a feather.

I looked at the Ipad first - but it doesn't have a printer hook up or enough memory to do what I needed to have done.

It was a wild week of rain due to Alex - even though it was 500 miles away.

Another busy week ahead...all the way to August and beyond.

Heat is Popping Corks and People - Michael Berry's "Bombing" of Mosque

2010-05-28T16:35:00.006-05:00

The Atlantic waters are the hottest on record and it hit 95 on my car outside temp gauge today. The heat was enough to pop the wine corks sitting in the trunk of my friend's car - as you can see in this photo and video.

Apparently that is not all that's popping off - Mr. Michael Berry apparently got mad about a Mosque being built near the World Trade Center in NY and called for it to "be bombed." That puts him in the same league with people who bomb buildings to make their point; people like Al Qaida. Since when is promoting violence an adult, acceptable thing for a talk show host? What's next. Promoting Murder?

Jerusalem hosts the Christian church, the Grand Mosque and Jewish Synagogue in the same place - and it hasn't caused the world to end. Muslims revere Jesus and Mary both (its in the Koran if you look it up).

America was founded on the principle that one religion would not rule all the others -- as it was like in the England when our founding fathers fled. Mr. Berry needs to do some traveling and get a grip on his brain.

Just like most Catholics are not IRA bombers (remembers the 70's?) and most white guys are not extremists like Tim McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, most Muslims are NOT terrorists, only the fringe like Al Qaida, the former IRA, or the Taliban make up that fringe.

We live side by side with them every day in Houston. You are probably buying gas, cigarettes and beer from them. Did they shoot you walking in or out of the store? No.

Get a grip folks. Americans need to travel and get some reality. Mr. Berry should have known better, having an Indian wife. He needs to go spend time in places like Pakistan (right next to India), Indonesia and talk to ordinary people -- instead of sounding like an extremist himself.

Actually, he should go to some of the Houston mosques and talk to the ordinary people there. I have. Even our Congressman have been in them. Mr. Berry will find that they are like any American - wanting respect, a chance to do their job and be left alone, and education for their kids. They want peace, not war. Get a grip folks!

We have enough nuts in the world without encouraging our own nut cases to go bomb a building. How does our violence make us better than 'them'?

GOP to Mex Prez - It's OK for Gun Dealers to Sell Assault Weapons to Drug Gangs

2010-05-21T07:37:00.004-05:00

When Mexico President Calderon addressed a joint session of Congress yesterday, most GOP representatives blew him off -- and failed to attend the session to hear his words.

Then, when Calderson said that the drug lords were getting assault weapons from American gun dealers that had led to thousands of people killed, the GOP reps criticized him!

The message from the GOP is, apparently, that it is OK for American gun dealers to sell deadly assault weapons to drug lords - who have killed over 20,000 people in the last 3 years. 80% of the 75,000 weapons seized from gangs in the last 3 years have come from American gun dealers. Over 7,000 of them line the border from Texas to California.

Where is the Congressional outrage? It's illegal for Mexican citizens to own guns so our failure to control gun sales to drug gangs gives them even more power over innocents as well as the Mexican police.

This lack of respect by our Congress reps of our neighbor's President was uncalled for. Third graders act better than that. Siding with drug gangs on guns is even worse.

What kind of people are representing us in the GOP? (And this was before the New GOP Senate candidate basically said it should be OK for private individuals to discriminate - a major step backwards.)

To put it from a different perspective, how would Israel feel if our gun dealers were selling these weapons to the Palestinians?

And where is the NRA on this? Do they support selling assault weapons to drug gangs? The ban on these weapons was lifted in 2004. This is the result.

What kind of 'War on Drugs' is it if it is OK for dealers to sell no less than 75,000 weapons to criminals in a country where drug gang violence is out of control?

Yes, we need a change in Washington alright. We need less of people like TX Sen. John Cornyn and a party that thinks giving the finger to our neighbors is a solution. The fight against drug gangs will require joint cooperation - a raised middle finger and failure to keep our people from dealing in illegal weapons won't cut it.

Perhaps the GOP will wake up when these Mexican drug gangs use American-bought assault weapons on our border agents and citizens --which they already have!

Armoring My Van In McAllen - With Blast rated Film!

2010-05-17T17:26:00.001-05:00

http://armorglass.blogspot.com/2010/05/armoring-my-van-in-mcallen-with-blast.html

An Oil Spill + Hurricane season starts in 2 weeks!

2010-05-12T08:12:00.002-05:00

I had an unpleasant thought this morning while shaving - Millions of barrels of oil in the Gulf and HURRICANE season starts in 2 weeks!

What happens if all that crude gets churned up and cast ashore in a storm? Until now, the oil has not hit the beaches in a major way. But if a storm blows in, the booms will blow away.

I attended a Seabrook hurricane preparedness program last night. The NOAA speaker said we are looking at an "above average" season. One bad sign: The Atlantic ocean temperature is already at a record high. He said that the Gulf of Mexico is cooler, but will heat up fast.

This means that an early hurricane combined with the millions of spilled crude in the Gulf could end up being flung on large sections of the Gulf Coast - from the U.S. to Mexico. If the Gulf stream is carrying it to the East Coast, they could also be affected by the Deepwater blow out.

Bottom line: We have the makings of an even greater environmental disaster.

And there's not a lot that can be done about it until the well is capped. And even that the volume of the spill is so large that a hurricane could reek hell on our coast in more ways than one.

Stay tuned.

From "Drill Baby, Drill" to "Spill, Baby, Spill"

2010-05-07T08:15:00.003-05:00

"Drill, Baby, Drill" has been replaced. It's now "Spill, Baby, Spill" -

Where is America when it comes to solar and wind energy we can get for free and doesn't spoil our seafood?

"Behind, Baby, Behind"....

We need to pass a Renewable Energy bill NOW!

What? Obama has actually CUT taxes for bottom 95%

2010-04-18T09:20:00.002-05:00

Russian billionaires doubled in the last year....Most of their wealth remains concentrated in a few at the top, like Mexico.

Our tax policy from 2000-2008 took wealth from the middle class and moved it to the top 5%...

Obama has actually CUT taxes for the bottom 95% of Americans, if you paid attention.

Introducing "Global American Values" blog - Why NASA Needs to Change

2010-04-16T11:04:00.002-05:00

Introducing "Global American Values" blog:

Why NASA Needs to Change for America to Have a Chance in Space

http://globalamericanvalues.blogspot.com/

The Potential of a Nuclear Terrorist Attack – Real Even Before 9/11

2010-04-12T18:40:00.002-05:00

In 1994, after the failed bombing the New York World Trade Center –which killed about six people – I produced a TV program about the potential for a nuclear terrorist attack on the United States (link to Part 1 can be found at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfRE-JkUSRg

Copies of this video were made available to VP-Elect Dick Cheney (and the next majority leader, Tom DeLay) in January 2001 – nine months before 9/11. Yet despite an August memo to the President warning of a possible terrorist attack, no action was taken. No one called and asked: "What the hell is THAT about?" No one asked anything. Yet everyone was "shocked, shocked" that 9/11 happened. For anyone with any global experience, it was obvious.

My theory of a nuclear terrorist attack was wrong only in that I assumed it would be Saddam Hussain who carried it out. It’ s now obvious that Al Qaida – which was forming the same year the video was made – is the most likely to seek, buy and trigger a nuclear terrorist bomb.

With President Obama’s Nuclear Terrorism Summit today, for the first time we have had a President call for global action on the worst possible scenario that has been largely ignored in the past decade – the threat of nuclear terrorism on U.S. soil.

My scenario involved a missile fired from a ship, but even more likely is a criminal gang stealing one and selling it to someone like AL Qaida, which uses it on a major U.S. city like Washington DC or New York as the President said today.

My book on the potential attack on the U.S. using a nuclear device was based on facts: thousands of nukes loose after the fall of the Soviet Union, unlocked uranium storage, etc. – but reality would be much worse.

We should feel better that a President is taking pre-emptive action to avoid the worst possible attacks than one who is surprised it could even happen. Pakistan’s real nukes are a more inviting target for Osama bin Laden living less than sixty miles away than the current zero nukes in Iran. Why would a terrorist care about Iran when Pakistan may have up to 200 or more existing nuclear weapons in its inventory – and an unstable government?

The less scattered nuclear material around the world equals more security for the United States and the rest of the world. The President should get a “thumbs up” even among the loyal opposition for addressing an issue that is No. 1 for our existence as a nation.

Even the horror of 9/11, a conventional attack, would be nothing compared to the devastation of a small band of lunatics using a suitcase nuke or similar device on an American, European, or any, city. You are talking about radiation zones that would last centuries and the potential loss of entire governments (on both sides of the aisle)…

If you don't think so, check out some of the facts bought out in my old 1994 TV video that didn't get a response even after I ran for Congress against Mr. DeLay in 2000 - I figured he'd at least look at the video of a competitor to see if it made me look like a fool or something...LOL.

The attached link shows the countries that have enriched uranium that could be a source for a nuke.

GOP Convention – Repeat of 2000-2008 Fairy Tale Economics

2010-04-10T10:08:00.002-05:00

Their platform? Cut taxes and balance the budget at the same time!

Haven't we fallen for that fairy tale before? Like during 2000-2008 when Bush put everything on the credit card - two wars, Plan D, the tax cut for the top 5% which the little guys paid for.

How about a real platform of honesty? After Reagan's budget deficit disaster in the 80’s (candidate H.W. Bush I called it ‘voodoo economies), Bush I said “read my lips,” and then raised taxes to reverse the negative spiral.

President Clinton, who won in ’92 partly as a result of Bush I’s tax increase, kept those rates and restrained spending, handing Bush II a $200 billion SURPLUS.

Bush II handed Obama a $5 TRILLION DEFICIT (doubling our national debt accumulated over 200 years in 8 short years!)

In effect, Clinton handed “W” keys to the world’s fastest supertanker but “W” gave Obama the keys to a smoking supertanker, hung up on a reef leaking oil, with a frozen banking system and a $1.3 Trillion deficit from his last year in office.

We need more of this?

All Sarah Palin could talk about in her speech was OIL, OIL, OIL. She criticized Obama for picking on Afghanistan “President” Karzai, who won office by vote fraud yet accused the U.S. of committing the fraud! Then he says he is tempted to side with the Taliban! Palin feels sorry for Karzai? Yikes – pay attention to the news!

Did she propose the GOP candidate for Sen. Reid's seat come out in FAVOR of storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain? No, but she criticized Obama for closing it.

In 2010 we need to see some political reality and adults proposing some real solutions – our ship is still in recovery mode.

During 2000-2008, corporations were allowed to pretend to move offshore and stop paying their U.S. taxes (ordinary citizens can’t do that.) Companies were given no-bid billion dollar Iraq contracts. Revenues dwindled despite boom times. Naturally, deficit borrowing soared.

Billions of dollars were lost for our federal treasury, so Bush covered it with borrowed money (a lot from China) during a prolonged boom when people had lots of cash to pay a fair share. The government lost money so that a privileged few at the top of the economic ladder could pay less or nothing at all. Wall Street was allowed to drive drunk and collapse the world economy with credit default swaps while betting against their own customers. Your kids and grandkids were left with the bill.

Do you think that even John McCain, had he been elected, would have sat in office and done NOTHING to fix a wrecked ship on a reef?

TARP was actually started by the Bush administration – not Obama. Do you think McCain would not have asked for a stimulus when the entire economy had frozen up along with economies around the world?

Do you think people would be happier if our unemployment were up to twice as high because the government had, like President Hoover in the 30’s depression, done nothing? If a man is drowning, you either throw a lifeline or do nothing? If throwing a line is socialism and doing nothing is capitalism, someone is really confused. The right American thing should be throwing the line.

It’s easy to criticize and be an armchair quarterback, but we need to see some real proposals from the GOP to get America competing globally: green technology for renewables is one of the few areas that would do it. I didn’t hear that coming from the GOP convention. Drill baby drill won’t cut it when we have only 2% of the world’s oil and consume 20%! That is fuzzy math.

Calling people patriots and repeating “American is great” a hundred times is not a plan and won't make America great. Talk is not action. People need to hear some hard truths – fixing wrecked economies takes time and money. It doesn’t happen by doing nothing or ballooning the deficit even more.

All I heard yesterday was more fairy tale economics and “just say no” negative attitudes instead of some real solutions based on reality to help our country to compete with fast-growing, high-tech China, India, etc. in the 21^st Century.

Re-electing the same folks who got us into this mess based on the same platform from 2000-2008 is not a solution, its insanity because it will lead to the same result – more deficits and favoritism for the top 5% instead of the Obama administration focus on the middle class.

Palin’s plan would insure America stays focused on old technologies while countries like China are racing in front of us -- developing solar, wind, and renewable energy while buying up mineral rights worldwide. China has built a 350 mph Mag Lev train and their export base is global. The GOP focus is keeping the tax cuts for the top 5%.

Repeating past mistakes is not going to advance American interests. We need to return to people paying their fair share, like Bush 41 had the courage to do, to get our budget back in control and return to honest accounting instead of the 2000-2008 voodoo economics that didn’t even include the cost of the two wars in the Bush budgets.

Neither America’s, nor the world’s, future will be advanced on fairy tales and platitudes.

How Bacteria from a Sneeze Lived on the Moon for 3 years - Life Beyond the Bubble

2010-04-04T11:39:00.004-05:00

Photo: Apollo 12 (background). Astronaut pulling camera off surveyor...that had a surprise in it.

I was just watching a TV program on which Pete Conrad, Commander of the Apollo 12 mission, which deliberately landed on the moon near the site where the moon surveyor had landed nearly three years before. The idea was that the astronauts would cut a piece off the earlier lander to take back and test - to see what happened to something stuck on the hostile moon for years.

They cut off the surveyor's camera. When they brought it back to earth and disassembled it, they discovered that someone had sneezed into it during its construction. The bacteria from that earthly sneeze had been in the airless radiation on the moon's surface for 33 months - nearly 3 years.

Yet when the scientists put the bacteria in a Petri dish, they returned to life as if nothing had happened!

In the day, the temperature of the Moon averages 107⁰ C, although it rises as high as 123⁰ C (250^o F). The night cools the surface to an average of -153^o C, or -233⁰ C in the permanently shaded south polar basin. A typical non-polar minimum temperature is -181⁰ C (at the Apollo 15 site). That's over a 500 degree difference from day to night temperatures.

Yet -- despite these temperatures and living in a vacuum -- the bacteria that produce the 'common cold' survived when brought back to earth.

If the bacteria had died, then it would make life as we know it outside our planet seem difficult or impossible to survive deep space conditions. But since ordinary human bacteria lived in space for years without air or water, then it shows that life beyond Earth is entirely possible, lurking perhaps beneath the ice on Mars or Europa.

We seem to live in our own fishbowl, looking at only our town, our State or country. If we looked beyond our community fishbowl, we'd find that people are pretty much alike all over the world - most of them looking for a job, security and education for their kids. They are also focused pretty much on their own fishbowls.

Taliban teach hate because they have never been anywhere outside their bubble. Catholic church leaders remain detached from the secular world outside an insular institution. Lack of vision beyond the bubble usually leads to a poor vision of reality and that always leads to trouble.

But if we look beyond even our planet, a trip to the moon made long ago on Apollo 12 gave us solid proof and evidence that life can exist beyond our own earthly fishbowl.

We need to look beyond our bubbles, because only then do we see true reality. When I see our so-called experts with their radio shows, it amazes me how little they really know. I was lucky to get beyond the Midwest and Texas and did business in over 50 countries. You have no clue about the world and its reality until you have seen life in countless other places, and seen both the differences and similarities.

All of us need to get beyond our bubble worlds, because without it we aren't seeing reality. And if we don't live in reality that always leads to being blindsided by trouble...(remember Pearl Harbor, 9/11?)

After Apollo 12, if you don't think life can live beyond our Earth bubble, well, get prepared for another shock of reality.

Maybe that is what it will take to get humans to work together--finally.

Want a Job? Get a GREEN One…(Available Now)

2010-04-02T08:54:00.001-05:00

So, you need a job? Right now? Then get a GREEN job. They are Available Now. They will only GROW in number and size the next couple of decades.

I was unemployed in the 80’s after being laid off from a Fortune 500 company, so I know what it is like for a lot of Americans today. I learned some valuable lessons on how to beat a bum economy.

After looking for another corporate job for years (and getting older) I finally saw reality, gave up sending resumes and became an entrepreneur. That is when I discovered you don’t have to wait for someone to give you a job to make a comfortable living. If I had continued waiting for someone to give me a job I’d still be waiting (and broke).

Today GREEN JOBS are where the action is. And they are available now and represent our fastest and best growth market. My company, for example, is a green company. It sells and installs an energy efficiency product.

When everyone had sales plummeting last year, our sales went UP 500%! We were hiring people and generating economic activity while others were cutting back. This year looks even better. We are getting calls from everywhere, inside and outside of the U.S.

Why? Because SUV’s that get 10 mpg don’t make much sense, but a product that cuts energy use (by cutting solar heat 50-70% and cancer-causing UV 99%) while also protecting windows from bricks hurled at them by burglars (or protesters) or from a bomb blast or a Hurricane IKE breaking glass (costing $40 million in damage to one building in downtown Houston alone) DOES make a lot of sense. It makes sense for our economy, our energy independence and our job creation! This is only one product example of the thousands of new efficiency products that are available that can pay for themselves -- and are creating the new jobs of the 21st Century.

So if you want to get to work now, go get a Green Job – such as designing green buildings, or selling solar Ppnels, installing wind turbines and radiant barriers, selling Security Window Film to cut energy waste or learning how to install it, designing and building new nano-tube high efficiency transmission lines, building factories to produce magnets for a MagLev 300+ mph train in the NY – DC corridor (no rails needed) to compete with China’s, build a space solar collector to feed our power grid with the sun (which would develop our private space transport business) –all these jobs are possible or AVAILABLE NOW.

But it will happen only if you decide to make it happen -- and government keeps (and makes) the right incentives to let it happen.

Being laid off is not the end, but the beginning of personal experience that yes, is painful, but can also open fantastic new doors to unimagined opportunities and results.

When a road ends, change is all that you have left if you want to get back on track. I struggled for many years after being laid off, waiting for someone to give me the job I knew I deserved. It didn’t happen. Only when I created my own job/s did my world improve.

Today I am riding a growing six figure business and we haven’t touched the tip of the iceberg yet.

Tired of not working? Go get your own Green Job today. Build yourself a green future that puts money in your pocket and cuts our energy waste at the same time.

You’ll thank yourself in the future many times over. And it will make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy at the same time. It’s a win-win.

10 Future Jobs You Can Get NOW - Plus Private Space Jobs

2010-03-28T11:18:00.005-05:00

Photo: Space based solar collector

I'm attaching a link to an article about 10 "future" jobs you can get right now. These include:

1. Undersea Welder (Pays $17/$20hour if you live)

2. Zero-Energy Home Architect (Pays between $45,000 - $100,000/yr).

3. Combined Heat and Power Mechanic (Pays $30,000 - $75,000/yr.)

4. Energy Engineer (Pays $50,000 - $100,000/yr.)

5. Digital Detective (Pays $60,000 to $100,000+)

6. 3D Sports Tech (Pays $50,000 - $150,000/yr.)

7. Wind Explorer (Pays $35,000 - $55,000/yr.)

8. Fabricator of Carbon-Fiber Spaceships and Planes (Up to $20/hour)

9. Battery Engineer (Pays $50,000 - $95,000/yr)

10. Independent Video-Game Designer (Pay averages $62,000/yr.)

Note that skills needed for these jobs are engineering, not the Wall Street financial fine art of inventing fake assets like credit default swaps that your Wall Street firm sells to people while at the same time taking bets against the same instruments they are selling (that didn't work so well as we found out in the 2000's)!

We could also develop space technology that addresses our energy needs and gets us more involved in space with a purpose instead of just joyriding back to the Moon to plant a flag.

For example, we could develop the technology to put into orbit solar collectors in space to direct the sun's energy to ground-based stations - that would create thousands of jobs assembling and designing the equipment and maintaining and operating the ground stations.

It's obvious that we will need to continue to advance to new technologies and new jobs instead of just flipping burgers and selling junk bonds to "stay ahead of the curve."

World's First Solar City - in the Middle East?

2010-03-28T07:27:00.000-05:00

Photo: Masdar, Abu Dhabi's Solar City Using "lunar" technology.

Yep, the world's first solar city is being built in the Middle East of all places, in oil poor Abu Dhabi - What is unique is that they are using lunar type technology (see link) and pushing the "green envelop" in their design of a modern city.

America, even the Middle East is getting ahead of us in this inventive with our own technology.

China now leads us in investing in 'green' technology. We are now No. 2.

We need to kick in the afterburners on "green" technology --or lose the global tech race.

Breaking Glass to Demand Right to Have Insurance Canceled - Really?

2010-03-26T07:10:00.003-05:00

When I hear people protesting the passage of the healthcare reform bill, here is what I hear:

"I DEMAND THE RIGHT TO HAVE MY INSURANCE COMPANY CANCEL ME!"

You want that? You really want the right to have your insurance company cancel your insurance when you find out you or a family member has cancer -- or when your arrive at the hospital?

"I DEMAND the RIGHT to BE DENIED INSURANCE for a PRE-EXISTING CONDITION!"

(of which I have many due to eating too much fried food).

Do you really demand to be turned down for insurance because you have a risky condition or a disease like diabetes or cancer and an insurance companies don't want you because you will cost too much?

This is was the protesters are really saying if they think about it. Kinda crazy isn't it - to demand the right of some stranger to cancel your policy at the worst possible time?

Makes me wonder if logical reasoning is still alive and well in America - throwing bricks through windows, mad that they can't now be denied insurance or get canceled when they get sick.

That is sick! LOL.

SpaceShipTwo's First Flight - Buy Your Space Ticket Here!

2010-03-24T09:40:00.003-05:00

Check out SpaceShipTwo's First Flight - PRIVATE companies going into Space makes a lot of sense.

They do it quicker and cheaper.

It's funny and downright strange to see the GOP opposing the privatization of space flight!

Get this. We have Democrat President pushing for private companies to enter space! And Republicans are OPPOSING that?

The world has flipped upside down! LOL.

Buy your space ticket here!

America's Real Nazis - Mistreating a sick man is sick

2010-03-23T07:06:00.002-05:00

You call these people patriots?

People "at a Tea Party rally in Columbus, Ohio, last week taunted and humiliated a man who was sitting on the ground with a sign that said he had Parkinson’s disease." You can get more details at Mr. Herbert's article at this link.

Using the N word and spitting on our Congressional reps? What kind of American behavior is that? Calling a Congressman "faggot" is the same.

Mr. Herbert is too nice. I call them unAmerican Nazi thugs to treat any person like that, especially someone with a disease.

It's not any better than Congressmen shouting "Liar!" and "Baby Killer" in Congress - or egging on more violent abusive behavior. I've heard Republicans in my own Rotary Club refer to the President with the N-word right after he took office and inherited a $1.3 billion deficit mess from the prior administration! Like it was his fault?

It's time for a white guy to stand up and say that I've had enough of the white racism. I'm tired of the spitting and abusive behavior that would get you arrested in a domestic dispute. I've had enough of white racists like Glenn Beck falsely claiming the President is racist and hates white people.

It's time for decent white people to protest bigotry by its own members -- and support another group being abused. Before now, it was Hispanics being put down. Before that, it was Jews. Now they are abusing sick people who attended their rallies. Who's next?

Any party that encourages such low life behavior has lost its moral compass....

America: Losing Globally If We Don't Reduce Partisanship

2010-03-22T07:31:00.002-05:00

This article on partisanship should be read by all Americans concerned about our future as a country.

To Reduce Partisanship, Get Rid of Partisans

The more extreme each side gets, the more America loses - we need common middle ground to stay ahead of the global competition, instead of primaries with who can be right of right or left of left.

The Taliban are so conservative they blow up girls' schools. Is that how far we have to go to get back to the common sense center?

We need to quit being narcissist (and staring only at our internal political battles) and start playing a smarter global game to stay winners in the 21st century.

Pearl Harbor and 9/11 should be proof that being partisan and self-absorbed is not a good thing for America...

A Unique Day Even on Clear Lake - Revealing What Lies Below

2010-03-21T15:55:00.004-05:00

Today the lake was showing something seldom seen. It seems the same is happening in Washington DC.

This day could go down in history as one of those pivotal moments - like the passage of social security certainly was in the 1930's when millions reached old age with nothing, and Medicare in the 1960's, when seniors faced old age with no medical care.

It was also unique on Clear Lake today - strong winds from the west peeled back several feet of lake bottom that normally is covered. It was fascinating to see what was lurking there just five feet below, the potential hazards.

In the same way, this year-long conversation on health care has also revealed a lot of hidden hazards below the water - people losing their insurance because they were sick, or denied because they had prior health issues - so they had no coverage. Either they went bankrupt, paid out of pocket or were denied medical treatment. Neither of those choices seems to me to be very American, or humane, or even civilized for a great country to treat its own people.

But the sight of those 'tea party' people standing in our capitol and screaming the "N word" and spitting on black and gay Members of Congress yesterday was disgusting. It tells me that they are racists that don't represent true American values. Tea Party people are MAD that people won't be denied insurance anymore? What kind of value is that?

Today, where water once was, is beachfront - revealing what has been hiding below: a discarded scooter, some tires, a lawn chair --JUNK we need to get rid of before someone steps on them --like a cancellation of your insurance after you get sick.

Let's face some reality and facts. Our American people have an obesity problem. We have an obesity epidemic. We have too many people who are walking heart attacks from too many high-fat meals. They are high health risks who any insurance company in their right mind would want to drop if they could.

Why would anyone in their right mind want to keep a system that lets insurance companies do that to people? Congressional reps don't get denied insurance or dropped (insurance companies aren't stupid), but ordinary citizens? They get dropped or denied every day.

Tomorrow, the water will probably cover the hidden hazards on Clear Lake. Let's hope that in terms of healthcare, we have eliminated some for Americans.

Keeping the status quo only guarantees we stay at No. 37 in the world in healthcare.

Check this Link to See How HealthCare Reform Would Affect Your District

2010-03-19T12:28:00.002-05:00

Here is a link that shows what would happen in your Congressional district if healthcare refrom passes. For example, in my TX CD22 district it would:

Improve coverage for 578,000 residents with health insurance.

Give tax credits and other assistance to up to 143,000 families and 13,400 small businesses to help them afford coverage.

Improve Medicare for 76,000 beneficiaries, including closing the donut hole.

Extend coverage to 99,500 uninsured residents.

Guarantee that 19,700 residents with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage.

Protect 600 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs.

Allow 72,000 young adults to obtain coverage on their parents’ insurance plans.

Reduce the cost of uncompensated care for hospitals and other health care providers by $50 million annually.

Hit the link and see what would happen in your district (unless of course you are so crazy that you WANT to have your insurance denied for a pre-existing condition or your insurance canceled after you get a serious illness like cancer)....!

What is THAT Swimming in Clear Lake?

2010-03-19T07:26:00.006-05:00

WHAT is THAT Swimming in Clear Lake?

Lately, sitting on the balcony overlooking the lake, my eye was caught by ripples from a strange creature that came into view. Most of it is below the surface b,ut you can tell it is a big creature compared to what you usually see on the water (where kids where sledding behind a boat yesterday).

Only a small part protrudes above the water. It doesn't dive or look like a duck or anything else I've seen on the lake.

It slowly swims along the shore of Clear Lake. An eel? A gator? Just WHAT is that thing?

This morning I ran and got some video of it (the sun wasn't up yet so it is dark). Notice how the water forms a curve when it turns in the second video as it neared some docks.

We used to have small ducklings (actually Cormorants?) of over 30 swimming together in a group. Now I see about 5 or 6 in a group.

It's enough to give one a pre-existing condition. Hope the ducks don't get their policies cancelled for reaching their policy cap!

WHAT is that thing? Umm.

"I have been Mugged in England and Need $$$ to Get Home" Scam

2010-03-19T06:35:00.007-05:00

While I was out on a job yesterday I read a disturbing email from a friend which said the following:

"Sorry I didn't inform you about my trip to the UK England for a program,I am presently in England,something extremely dreadful happened to me,I was mugged at gun point on my way to the Hotel by some Hoodlums and they made away with my Bag and other valuables. I called my bank for a wire transfer but it has proven almost Impossible to operate my account from here as they made me understand international transactions take 7 working days to be effective which i can't wait.

I feel so devastated,now my passport and other belongings are been retained by the hotel management pending the time I pay my Hotel bills.This is shameful,I need you to help me with a loan of (2,150 pounds= $3,250) to pay my hotel bills and get my self home.I will reimburse you soon as I get back Home.I will appreciate whatever you can assist me with.Can you help?"

That message was followed by the following (I have deleted the person's name for privacy reasons):

"I'm really happy to hear from you and thanks for your concern, at the moment am not my self and I cant even think straight but I will like you to loan me the money and will refund it back to you as soon as I get back.You can help me wire the money through western union money Transfer to my personal details and to the Hotel address bellow.I will be receiving it here with an ID and was also told that you can send it online on the western union website www.westernunion.com or go to any Walmart around you and get it sent from there. You can call on the Hotel receptionist number +447035930781

Name: Barbara XXXXXX
Address:12 London Road, Guildford
Surrey.England
United Kingdom

As soon you get it done,send me the Transfer details Including the (money Transfer Control Number).Get back to me as soon as you can.

All hopes on you."

Getting that kind of message is a wake up call. It was sent with what appeared to be her legitimate email address.

It turned out to be a scam by someone who somehow had used her email address. But before it was discovered to be a phony, her friends (many of whom are members of the League of Women Voters) were scrambling to raise money with some even thinking of hocking their jewelry etc to come up with money to help her out.

When she found out what was going on, the alleged victim sent out an email saying "I have NOT been mugged, and I am not in England."

This a NEW twist to the scam machine. If you get a strange message from someone you know claiming they have been mugged on a quick trip overseas and need money to get home, check it out before you panic and wire off funds. Try to contact the person through their cell phone and family first.

If that doesn't work, try contacting the FBI who should be informed of it even if it turns out to be a scam.

Texas GOP Chair believes that the Earth is only 6,000 years old

2010-03-15T09:24:00.002-05:00

By the way, the current Chair of the Texas GOP believes that the Earth is only 6,000 years old! (Nor did she deny it when I asked if it was true she believed that).

If that isn't proof of failure of our (TX) Education system, nothing is...(The charts on climate change, taken from ice core drilling samples, show climate changes going back over 800,000 years! (not 6,000!)

That is the same kind of ignorance that would support dropping Thomas Jefferson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, from our history books --which our TX School board just did.

This is the same kind of mindless narrowness exhibited by the Taliban who oppose secular education. Dropping Thomas Jefferson from our books (after 200+ years of being a key figure) because he espoused "separation of church and state" fits with that kind of thinking.

Rice Univ Climate Expert: Rapid Loss of Greenland Ice Would Stop Ocean's Currents

2010-03-14T08:35:00.011-05:00

You thought because of our weird weather with snow in Washington DC to Atlanta that climate change was not happening? Wrong.

Rice University climate expert Ron Sass gave a presentation to the League of Women Voters in Houston this week and showed how it was still a record HOT year for the planet overall. We didn't feel it in the middle of the U.S. because this year the HEAT went to the Canadian north and arctic regions - which were about 40 degrees WARMER than normal.

All the data on climate change shows is that the temperature trend is UP - only how much and how soon it becomes an irreversible disaster is in question. Who cares if it doesn't kill us at a specified time when the evidence is that if we don't act fast, climate change will kill us?

In his presentation, Ron Sass showed how just one aspect of climate change could have fatal and catastrophic consequences -- the loss of Greenland's icecap would stop the ocean current cycle that brings life to our planet by bringing up nutrients from the ocean floor. The Gulf Stream would terminate because of massive influx of fresh water from the Greenland ice melt, stopping that life cycle.

The two photos provided by Dr. Sass above are shots of the increase Greenland ice melt causing by the warming trend.

Sass also said another truth – that scientists are not split. Most agree on the science an overall conclusion we are beyond the normal natural cycle that existed the last 800,000 years.

The problem is with our media that if there are 10,000 people on one side and 5 on the other, the media makes it look like a "split" by giving the 5 equal time -- which does not reflect there their true proportion.

Health care reform won't matter, nor will anything else, if don't have a surviving planet.

If the climate proponents are wrong, we end up with cleaner energy, air and water. If the climate skeptics are wrong and we do nothing, we end up with an overheated, dying planet. Which is worse?

Dumbing of American Education by the Texas Board of “Hillbillies”

2010-03-12T09:00:00.003-06:00

Eight people in Texas control what your child anywhere in America will see or not see in his or her school textbook – and it is leading to the dumbing of America.

A 15-member Board of Education in Texas determines what school children see in their textbooks – or don’t see. Because Texas is a huge market, what they pick goes into texts used by schools nationwide. The 15 members are politicians, not teachers. And the majority of eight has shown a remarkable ignorance about history and a racial and religious bias that goes against what America is all about. These eight people will determine if your kid is dumber than dirt, or an educated 21^st century citizen.

An example: “Mavis Knight, D-Dallas, was unable to attract any Republican support for her motion to teach students that government is not supposed to favor any religion. Knight's proposed amendment: “Examine the reasons the Founding Fathers protected religious freedom in America by barring government from protecting or disfavoring any particular religion over all others,” was defeated.

If the eight had their way, your children would learn only about one religion and about white people only. Minority success stories are routinely cut out even as minorities are becoming the majority in Texas and America. Political censorship is applied – no socialists are to be mentioned! As a result of this small group, Texas textbooks are becoming more partisan and narrow when all textbooks should be nonpartisan and broad to give students greater perspective, as in “education”.

One member of the board, a lawyer who teaches law, fails to understand that when our founding fathers established America, they were sick of the English system that favored only the state religion. Religious wars in Europe pushed the Founding Fathers to guarantee religious liberty to ensure a strong and united country. They wanted religious freedom for all, not just the “chosen.”

Yet board member Cynthia Dunbar, from a small Texas town, missed that part in law school and history class. She wants schools to become churches and only educate students about the Christian religion, instead of exposing them to ALL the religions that exist in America -- Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity, how Islam recognizes Jesus and Mary in their texts, etc.

Instead, Ms. Dunbar insisted that our founding father, Thomas Jefferson, be dropped from the history book entirely! Why? "Because he supported separation of church and state" she said. That shows how little these people know about our founders and their vision.

If you don’t know that, it is because Texas hillbillies are dumbing down America’s education – at a time when our kids need a GLOBAL education to even have a chance at staying competitive in the high tech 21^st century. In a recent poll 40% of Americans who were asked could NOT identify a "fossil fuel" (as in oil, gas. "Ethanol" is not a fossil fuel). Fifty one percent (51%) could NOT name a renewable fuel (as in "solar" or "wind"). Does that sound like an educated public?

We have to get a lot smarter not dumber, to stay in the game. How does America lead a world when its students and future leaders learn nothing about it -- because of eight extremists on the Texas School Board? How many of our leaders went into the Iraq war not knowing the difference between Muslim Shiites and Sunnis – and how they really don’t like each other? That was an expensive lesson.

It’s past time to abolish the Texas School Board authority to dictate the education levels of United States students. Write your State leaders and representatives. Texas’ Board of Education is gutting our national education when other countries are improving theirs.

We can’t compete or win with our own version of the Taliban in charge of education.

Go VOTE March 2 - Or Don't Complain For Wasting Your Citizenship Right

2010-03-01T06:54:00.004-06:00

Got to go to Dallas today - RAIN all the way. Coming back to do a last minute Vote Tuesday before the polls close at 7 March 2.

To all those who have been complaining, go VOTE so you are entitled to complain (and suggest solutions). If you don't vote you wasted your citizenship right, so don't waste our time with your opinions!

Preferably, voting is for the best candidate. Sometimes it is for the least worst! Either way, it's better than doing nothing about who gets into office and expecting things to improve.

As the six retiring Congressmen (both Republican and Democrat) said in a CNN interview I saw over the weekend, our primaries favor the more extreme candidate instead of the more moderate, common sense one (like all of them). Try to change that if you want a better government system.

The likelihood of both extremes working together to solve our problems is pretty low.

So try to pick someone who isn't so nuts they can't talk to regular people on the other side in Congress for the purpose of getting real things done instead of the political volleyball blame game that never seems to end.

The world is moving on past us while we remain self obsessed and oblivious to what is going on beyond our country/state/county.

That's not a recipe for success in the 21st global-techno century where China is building Mag Levs while we were building paper empires of credit default swaps and borrowed billions to give tax cuts to the top 5%, concentrating wealth on pyramid paper empires to the point where our economy collapsed and took down a lot of other countries with it.

Go vote...Our future depends on it.

NASA and UFO's: Official Policy -Ignore What You See

2010-02-28T09:56:00.008-06:00

Did you know that if a UFO passed a Shuttle in flight, that no astronaut will mention it? Why? Because the official policy of NASA is to ignore UFO's! I'm not making this up.

I confirmed this with a person who works at NASA and has been there for decades. I asked if acknowledging a UFO was off limits at NASA even if one is visible during a flight. The answer: "Yes." Why? The explanation was something like: "We don't want people to panic."

Check out this video from a shuttle flight. As the astronauts talk, you can see something flying in different directions over the earth below (not just the same direction like satellites might do). This is one of many strange flying objects captured by NASA on space flights - which used to show real time video until UFO's starting showing up on tape.

There is another video clip showing an object hanging on space - until it rapidly changes direction when another object appears to shoot a light beam at it!

Here are some clips of NASA astronauts on early missions including a clip of a 1989 Discovery flight discussing "alien spacecraft" hovering nearby.

Would acknowledging UFO's make people doubt our superiority? Would it make funding for NASA less or more important?

For the record, I love NASA, but this policy seems to be the opposite of what having a space agency is all about. Explore new worlds? Go where no man (or woman) has gone before?

To do that the policy should be willing to disclose that we don't have the most advanced technology circling our globe. Shouldn't we be curious about these objects? Where they come from? What do they want with us and/or our planet?

Putting our heads in the sand and pretending not to notice advanced technology isn't a solution. Having a space agency with a policy prohibiting acknowledgment of UFO's - even when they fly past our Shuttle -- isn't dealing with the real world.

This policy should be reversed. Maybe that change will spark the public's interest in developing the next generation of space technology.

Link From Chile's Earthquake to NY Hurricane Winds

2010-02-27T16:27:00.000-06:00

Link From Chile's Earthquake to NY Hurricane Wind. Details at:

http://armorglass.blogspot.com/2010/02/chile-earthquake-to-hurricane-winds-in.html

Fuel cell made from sand = End of Power Plants, Carbon Emissions and Storm Outages

2010-02-25T08:35:00.004-06:00

Photo: Testing Fuel cell powered computer servers for eBay.

A new fuel cell made mostly from sand instead of precious me just announced by Bloom Energy may make power stations and carbon emissions a thing of the past. It could remedy both our need for power and to reduce carbon emissions at the same time.

With this technology, a house could generate its own power without being hooked up to a grid -- and without generating gas fumes or carbon emissions. If the technology develops as expected so that you can buy a residential size unit to power a house for $3,000, it would also make power outages after storms a thing of the past (remember how long we were without power after Hurricane IKE?)

Presently it is being tested and it works. It is also cutting power costs in a big way. These are some of the new industries and jobs that will be created by moving to greener, cleaner energy sources.

Stay tuned...

LWV and a Republican pollster: If the Scientists are Wrong on Climate Change..

2010-02-22T09:21:00.002-06:00

" ...a presentation that was put together by Republican pollster Frank Luntz with the Natural Resources Defense Council and NRG Energy. Their conclusions on the need for a Climate Bill in the US are summed up as follows:

"If we do it right, we get cleaner air.
We get less dependence on fossil fuels and enhanced national security.
We get more innovation in our economy.
More jobs and more sustainable jobs.
And that's if the scientists are wrong."

Didn't expect that did you?

Moral: Fighting climate change will produce the next generation of jobs, technical advances needed for our economy to keep up with the rest of the world, and cleaner air -- even if the scientists are wrong.

(If the climate skeptics are wrong, we end up with dirtier air, an over-heated, dying planet - definitely bad for business). Which is worse?

See the above link for details on the LWV study on climate change...

3 Little Pigs, Flying Bricks, Presidents and Climate Winds

2010-02-21T14:39:00.002-06:00

A new study suggests that global warming aka climate change could reduce the number of hurricanes (the good news) but that the ones who occur could be stronger (the bad news).

The study estimates that future hurricane damage could be 28% HIGHER.

A Professor who lives near Rice University in Houston told me that their neighborhood has had a series of break ins lately - people throwing BRICKS and PAVERS through people's windows, then grabbing a laptop, TV, etc., then fleeing in the blink of an eye.

I got another call from a couple who could not sleep until security film was installed on their windows -- after someone broke a 4’ x 4’ window one day, and stole everything. They felt insecure even with a new window in place, until security film was installed on all the windows.

A recent explosion in Seabrook rattled windows for miles around. Another one in New York blew out the windows of a Starbucks. A special energy saving film sold by Armor Glass would have avoided a breach – and injuries from flying glass in each case.

It is estimated that the damages from Hurricane IKE that hit Texas in 2008 was $22 billion, including flooding, roof and window losses.

Add 28% to that figure for the next storm that hits - assuming it isn't a CAT 3 or 4, which would do even more damage than CAT 2 IKE. Katrina was a CAT 3.

Nearly 25% of the U.S. population lives near the coast, meaning that bigger storms will threaten a significant portion of our citizens and destroy more property unless the property is protected (and building codes improved).

I have heard estimates that the damage to Chase Bank at 600 Travis in Houston is about $40 million. Had Armor Glass security film been on those windows, millions in damages would have been avoided -- because the film with attachment would have kept those windows from being sucked out even if they had been broken! The cost of installation would have been a fraction of the cost of damages, not including lost productivity, computer files destroyed, data lost, etc. And it would have also cut their energy consumption and tenant UV exposure.

Remember the story of the three little pigs? One built a house of straw, one built a house of sticks and one built a house of bricks. Only the pig with the house made of bricks survived - but only if that pig had installed our security film on its windows to keep out (1) the bad wolf throwing a brick through the window and (2) hurricane-force winds and windborne debris breaching a window that leads to roof loss in a storm!

Now, the CPAC has just proposed Ron Paul for President – who believes the Federal Reserve should be dissolved and big institutions should have failed instead of being bailed out. If he -- or someone else with a similar view -- becomes President and unemployment surges higher as institutions are allowed to fail, expect more unemployed desperate people to be assaulting your property. (Remember President Hoover in the 30's? Doing nothing in a depression cost him the next election to FDR).

So get protected today before things get worse. The good news is that protection is available and that Armor Glass security film is Large Missile rated (4.5 lbs -- or the size of a brick hurled at the glass).

Moral: Armor Glass security film would have stopped the unemployed Big Bad Wolf from breaking into Piggy No. 3's house, protect him from future Hurricane force-winds, while saving him energy (= $Money for the piggy bank) at the same time, regardless who is President!

Some AMAZING Katrina Photos - Tornadoes and Tidal Wave

2010-02-19T16:45:00.000-06:00

Check out the photos on the Armor Glass Blog at:
http://armorglass.blogspot.com/2010/02/some-amazing-katrina-photos-tornadoes.html

Pilot's Kamikaze Attack on Austin IRS - Why isn't it terrorism?

2010-02-18T14:21:00.000-06:00

Have you noticed? When a white guy shoots up a federal building and kills a guard, or dives a plane into a federal building -- like the one that just crashed in the IRS building in Austin -- that it is a "criminal" act.

But if the same thing is done by a Middle East guy, like the Ft Hood Shooter, then it's an act of "terrorism."

Frankly, they are the same and should be treated the same. A domestic terrorist is no better or different than one from a foreign land. Was Timothy McVeigh's blowing up the Murrah building in Oklahoma City just a criminal act? Killing someone because you are "mad" at people or the government is WRONG regardless of your color or country of origin.

It is terrorism.

That leaves the question how to head off these crazy acts. One way is to stop listening to the anti-government hysteria going around. The nut jobs running the "Tea Party" and people like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have stoked the fires of irrational thought by giving one-sided, distorted commentary, the equivalent of shouting "fire" in a theater, causing panic. Crazy talk about Secession is tolerated as if it is normal.

Congress reps have done the same, like Iowa rep Charles Grassley falsely saying that the health care reform would result in a death panel for grandma.

It's no wonder why out of control anger is causing people to fly airplanes into a federal buildings, as if it will solve anything. These acts will only injure or kill innocent people.

How to protect yourself? Self defense is the best offense when you don't know what the next nut will do to make a point.

I just wrapped up a Homeland Security convention and posted some thoughts on why our film can even protect from Kamikaze pilots in small aircraft. It's at:
http://armorglass.blogspot.com/2010/02/austin-plane-crash-into-irs-building.html

Lessons from the Congressman Who Looked Beyond the Hot Tub

2010-02-11T13:20:00.005-06:00

How Charlie Wilson Brought Down the Soviet Union & Congress “Screwed Up the End”

The opening scene of “Charlie Wilson’s War” is a hot tub party featuring both strippers and a Texas Congressman (no, not “Hot Tub Tom” DeLay) – but one who looked beyond the confines of the hot tub and saw something no one else did. Charlie Wilson had a vision that lead to the defeat of the Soviet Union. But it is the last scene that you really need to watch closely.

Charlie Wilson saw from the hot tub a TV news report by Dan Rather, portraying a people with no weapons fighting the Soviet Invasion of their country, Afghanistan, in the 1980’s. Joanne King Herring was the woman who got Charlie to see the global picture and its potential impact on the U.S.

So Charlie got other key Congressmen interested. With their funding --for Soviet anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles acquired with help from both Israel and Egypt -- he helped rain hell on Russian Gunships that had been shooting civilians until the Soviets couldn’t take the body count anymore and got out of the country.

But then, as he says in the book and movie: “We screwed up the end.”

After his fellow Congressmen had gladly voted for billions in weapons for the Mujahedeen, when the Russians left and Afghanistan was in shambles, Charlie couldn’t get them to fund even a couple million for a school. Without schools and an economy, a vacuum was created in which stepped Osama bin Laden, who provided money in return for a safe haven.

Moral: If we don’t provide schools and education to failed States like Afghanistan (Somalia, etc.) then the extremists fill the void and tragic events like 9/11 will happen, again.

Charlie would say the same today about Pakistan. If all we do is provide weapons and we don’t help countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan provide education for tens of thousands of children, then the extreme religious schools will continue to fill that void, filling their heads with extremist views instead of math and science. Instead of getting to know American books, the young students get a message of hate towards us, feeding the never-ending stream of suicide bombers willing to die.

Don’t forget Charlie’s lesson. It takes more than weapons to protect us. I am sure that Joanne King Herring will remind you of it -- if you listen to her. We need more Congress men and woman like Charlie Wilson and Americans like Joanne King Herring, people who think beyond the box.

Check out the movie “Charlie Wilson’s War” in honor of Charlie, and pay attention to all of it. You’ll get a lot of laughs and be a wiser person as a result.

We salute you Charlie. You were no angel but you did a world of good.

Tea Party Convention Looked Like a Secession Cult

2010-02-10T07:30:00.003-06:00

If the "Tea Party Convention" was the real Tea Party, then it showed its true nature - a whites-only, palm-reading, anti-Obama Cult with no platform but plenty of double standards and platitudes, hate and division.

One tip off? When Palin mentioned the word "Texas Secession" there was a huge cheer from the crowd! What? Breaking up the USA is patriotic? How many normal Americans go around talking like that? No one with a real brain that I know. That would leave Texas last in education in the world instead of just the USA 50.

And then there was the speaker who claimed our President was not born in the US (that again, despite existing Hawaiian birth certificate), while failing to mention that his opponent, John McCain, was born in Panama. What's the difference between foreign country X or Y? Do you think they'd be mentioning this if McCain had been elected? Of course not. So including this speaker makes the movement look racist to me.

Did you notice that 99.9% of the people at the convention were WHITE? How does that represent the wonderfully diverse America I know? No.

Finally, there was no platform. It was all about the speaker.

And the speaker had to use the palm of her hand to remember three simple things - using her "crib notes" within minutes after criticizing President Obama for using a TelePrompter. At least Obama can stand and speak to the opposition without a single note or paper to guide his brain.

This was the same speaker, Sarah Palin, who chastised the White House Chief of Staff for using the word "Retard" but then excused the use of the same word by her ally Rush Gasbag (aka Limbaugh) for saying the "Democrat retards were retards. Limbaugh can say retard anytime but not anyone else.

This is the same hypocritical double standard of politics, where sins are only sins when the other side does it, but not when your side. Lying, double standards and disrespect is wrong regardless of who does it.

That is not about real Americans. The Tea Party Convention appeared to be an anti-Obama cult without a plan or a platform.

It's unfortunate because we need teamwork on both sides of the aisle to compete in a global century. We certainly don't need more double standards and palm readers running our country.

NOAA New Study: Expect BIGGER Hurricanes Due to Warming

2010-02-09T09:09:00.001-06:00

Details and NOAA link at Armor Glass blog:

http://armorglass.blogspot.com/2010/02/new-study-expect-bigger-hurricanes-due.html

Texas High Speed Rail - Sabotaged by Texas Leadership from DeLay to Perry

2010-02-07T08:59:00.005-06:00

Map of the Dallas Rail System - Compare to Houston's one short line taxpayers had to finance when DeLay blocked federal funding for it...and gave it to Dallas instead!

This Houston Chronicle article is an excellent summation of the failure of our Texas leadership preparing us for the 21st Century - as we add another 2 million people in Houston alone.

The article is right about Tom DeLay's sabotage of federal rail money for Houston - money Houstonians pay as part of the pump price when they fill up. Their lack of leadership has left us crawling on over-crowded roads, and added extra costs on our taxpayers.

It was DeLay's singular cutting off Houston from rail money that was one of the reasons that drove me to run against him until he left office - our citizens were being penalized by his arrogance and lack of leadership. I sat in a Ft Bend lunch after lunch for 400 people when I heard DeLay declare "Dallas rail is a total failure." That was a total lie, but no one else in the room knew it. This was right after Dallas citizens had voted to increase their rail system they were so happy about its success.

Gov. Perry has continued this tradition of sabotaging the future for ordinary Texans such as his Trans Texas land grab that favored Spanish corporations over the Governor's own citizens.

We need a Texas Governor who hasn't been in office for a decade and really does have vision - unlike now.

Perry governs as if all decisions are approved by GOP primary voters. Having been in GOP primaries, I know that primary voters do not reflect the majority of all Republicans, not to mention everyone else. I found the November Republicans much more more moderate and practical in their views.

Unfortunately politics now trumps leadership.

Ed Emmett is right. We need a direct Dallas-Houston high speed rail link, not the Texas T Bonehead plan Perry floated and failed to coordinate.

People like Tom DeLay and Gov. Perry have cost Texan taxpayers more billions out of their pockets. When will they realize that leadership is about us, not them.

Think about that as you are crawling along our freeways.

Glenn Beck's Nazism & Americans Shallow Focus - Not Good for America

2010-02-02T07:19:00.002-06:00

Lawyers will confirm that free speech does not give one the right to stand up in the theater and shout "FIRE!" when there isn't one.

That causes panic that can injure or kill people.

But people in high places like Glenn Beck are doing exactly that. When he claims our President and his people are going to "slaughter Americans," his hate-mongering speech would make a Nazi proud.

It's not even based on true facts. That makes it a lie and un-American. If it causes a nut case to shoot someone, then the corporate sponsor of such verbal violence has potential liability for giving such over the top extremism a national voice. Why feed the hate when the ship was wrecked by the last crew, not this one?

We are in this mess after the past administration's doubled our total debt in 8 short years (after getting a $200 billion surplus from Pres. Clinton) and leaving the economy locked up like an engine without oil and heavily damaged.

Reality should be in discussion in America, not beating drums -- not screaming "FIRE!" "Hang him!" (remember those days before courts?) and false information.

We had Frankenstein. Now we have "Beck-enstein" a more dangerous monster because he is a real person influencing the vulnerable. It smacks of Nazism and hate-mongering. It's not even based on reality. After all, it was the last administration that lit the fuse by not paying for anything including two wars, Plan D and a fat tax cut for the top 5% (while everyone else got a few crumbs). Once the Exxon Valdez was on the reef, do you think it was cheap to fix the damage?

I have to wonder what has happened to Americans moral compass. It seems that no one really bothers checking the real facts, but everyone has an opinion -- usually based on an email from another Internet Cement-head. Reinforcing stupidity is not going to keep us ahead of our global competition. When I post articles on India going into space some Americans assume (wrongly) that is was with our money instead of their own money and technology.

If our general population remains this clueless, our leadership status in the world is toast. The last administration inherited a nice Mercedes, but turned over a smoking wreck. We can't afford to be stupid from here on out.

I see that the GOP has once again proposed its fix: Privatize social security. How would you like it if the last meltdown just cut your social security 50% like it did your stock portfolio? Come on dudes, repeating past mistakes is not going to fix our awful financial situation.

Americans should be dealing in reality and real numbers, if anyone paid attention to more then what is on the dinner plate.

This brings up something else. I am amazed by how shallow Americans seem. Look at the entries on Facebook. Who cares if you are staring at your toes. I'd like to see at least some wit and thought included.

Americans, we are better than hate-mongers and shallowness. We need to focus on real facts and ways to get out of this situation.

On that note, we need common sense instead of more stupidity - by both our leadership and Main Street.

And neither will morons like Glenn Beck. People like him are the problem, not the solution.

Entrepreneurs in Space - Give Obama Credit Dudes

2010-02-01T09:20:00.004-06:00

Photo: SpaceX Falcon 9

Entrepreneurs in Space? Taking Over our Space Transport From NASA? Now that is a GREAT IDEA!

The strange part is that the GOP is horrified by the thought of entrepreneurs taking over. What's wrong with that?

It costs over $500 million for just one Shuttle launch, a machine originally designed with 1970's technology. Space Entreprenur Richard Branson and his team launched SpaceShipOne for under $25 million - peanuts. SpaceX is also a player. They were planning a private orbiting hotel. Obviously, you need a way to get to and from that hotel in a cost effective manner. I would bet on these guys and the others who will follow for our next phase: Space Business, led by private entreprenurs.

As India and China plan their own space launches to the Moon (with their own money and technology) NASA has been too slow to keep up in design. And it has been chronically underfunded. The Bush "Moon Plan" was not funded from the get-go, so it was never really going to achieve anything at a snails pace. Even NASA's head, Gen. Bolden, thinks it is a good idea.

Getting to space is not new technology. Getting to space economically will require entrepreneurs to keep us in the race with India and China. At the slow rate we are going the world will pass us by unless we do call in the American entrepreneurs.

The U.S. has too much financial debt to keep space transport an exclusively government enterprise. We don't need a government monopoly. That strategy has led us to having to ride on Russian rockets as the aging Shuttles are sent to museums and NASA struggles to build a replacement five years behind schedule.

Give the Obama administration credit for putting trust in America's entrepreneurs for the next frontier: Space. It isn't the final frontier, but it is mankind's next one.

S. Court Lets Places Like China, Venezuela Pick our Next Congress

2010-01-31T08:25:00.007-06:00

Are you ready for future American leadership being picked with the help of ads run by foreign dictators?

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing corporations, even foreign ones, to pour millions into American political campaigns opens the door to some fascinating possibilities.

Imagine this real possibility made possible by this ruling. China. Instead of their government having a big political row over the U.S. selling arms to Taiwan, China simply takes part of the trillions in U.S. debt it bought in the last decade and invests it in Congressional races on candidates it feels would be more "favorable" in future votes.

Why have a diplomatic dust up when for a modest investment from their trillions anti-democratic Chinese leadership can attack or favor any U.S. Senator or Congress candidate they want? In the future you won't know if "XYZ" corporation buying ads is controlled by whom, so it won't be obvious who is pulling the strings.

The Supreme Court has even made it possible that someone like Venezuela's Hugo Chavez could run ads that favor Candidate X or Y or Z for Congress. Remember Chavez? He's the nut case running Venezuela who thinks Castro is cool and copies him by shutting down opposition TV stations, newspapers, etc.

Under the Supreme Court's ruling, Mr. Chavez' corporations are treated just like Joe and Jane Voter. Don't forget, Mr. Chavez has has an American subsidiary, CITGO, which can support or attack any American candidates they want. Your fill ups add to his buying power.

You won't know which one of these foreign leaders is pulling the chains on America's elections. As an attorney I know how easy it is to set up a corporation and mask its ownership.

This 5-4 decision that breaks 100 years of precedent. It means that future elections by Americans will no longer be between Americans when the winning candidates are picked and funded by corporate interests from around the world.

I wonder who the corporations in the other 200 countries in the world would like sitting in our Congress tomorrow?

Thanks to the Supreme Court's ruling that makes the Constitution "by the Corporation, of the Corporation and for the Corporation", American voters will have their decisions influenced by what the global corporations want - unless you tell Congress to do something about it.

Glaciers Then and Now - You Decide. Growing or shrinking?

2010-01-27T15:34:00.007-06:00

Ok, Skeptics and those convinced we are in a global 'cooling' period. Here are several glacier shots, then and now. Do these glaciers look like they are growing (from cooling), or shrinking (from warming)....?

First up, the Matterhorn (left photo) in 1960 and then in 2009.

Next picture (right), Glacial National Park in 1938 (left side) and in 2005 (right side).

Do these ice caps appear to be growing - or shrinking?

Rise of the COFFEE Party! Fixing the World over a Cup of Joe

2010-01-27T07:27:00.001-06:00

Are you feeling like it is all about the blame game? That nothing gets done in DC without bickering and blame?

We have Democrats, Republicans, Independents - and a "Tea Party" that seems fueled by anger and requires a rigidity in thought that the Taliban would feel right at home with, so I figured it was time for a whole NEW party.

I'm calling it the COFFEE Party (aka the Caffeine Party). Our slogan is "We can fix the world over a good cup of Joe."

Instead of having blame and "no" as the rules - the coffee party's central tenet is that only by sitting down with people we don't know, over a coffee or even a meal, we could address the serious issues of our day like adults - and actually FIX things.

I know that sounds pretty radical - FIXING things instead of playing the political blame game.

But it is the only thing that will do what most Americans want: to fix things! We have a fiscal mess brought on by a decade of fiscal madness, borrow and spend tied to new entitlements like the unfunded Plan D of (2006?). We can't fix it with a know-nothing party or a party of no or a party of hate and anger.

We can only fix things if we sit down together in a calm manner and start doing intelligent work. While Democrats and Republicans engage in a war with each other, the rest of the world is passing us by in their distraction. We need less politics and more action from BOTH sides towards REAL solutions instead of slogans.

All it takes to join the Coffee Party is a willingness to sit down with others over a cup of joe and start talking. Having an argument while a Tsunami approaches (from financial disaster to climate disaster that impacts our existence), doesn't make sense. Both parties will drown if we don't start addressing issues like rational adults - on all sides.

The Coffee Party wants you! Actually, we want the common sense middle Americans, not the radicals on either extreme and their inability to relate to anyone outside their narrow circle.

I think the common sense middle is a majority of Americans I'd like to sit down with a good cup of Joe to start finding solutions for our country's next great century of progress in a rapidly changing world.

NASA: Warmest Decade in History. 2010 Could Be Warmest on Record

2010-01-26T15:41:00.000-06:00

NASA: "There's a contradiction between the results shown here and popular perceptions about climate trends...In the last decade, global warming has not stopped."

DETAILS AT:

http://armorglass.blogspot.com/

Emergency Helicopter Following Boat on Clear Lake

2010-01-24T11:42:00.002-06:00

Anyone know why this emergency helicopter was following a small boat on Clear Lake this morning about 11:30 a.m.? I shot some video, which is at this link:

http://armorglass.blogspot.com/2010/01/emergency-helicopter-following-boat-on.html

Solar Minimum - Impact on Weather As It Moves to Max

2010-01-23T09:31:00.002-06:00

It turns out that we had the hottest decade in history when the Sun was at its least activity in its cycle, known as the Solar Minimum. What does that mean for temperatures as it moves into the Solar MAXIMUM in the next few years?

Details and Sun cycle chart at:

http://armorglass.blogspot.com/2010/01/solar-minimum-impact-on-weather.html

Supreme Court Just Threw Out 1 Man - 1 Vote: Foreign Corp Ads OK

2010-01-22T06:12:00.002-06:00

The activist Supreme Court just threw out 100 years of law and has ruled that corporations, even foreign-owned ones, are people - and can run political ads. In other words, they just tilted the table towards the powerful and ended the American principal of "one man, one vote." And the party who brought the suit never even asked for that ruling!

People no longer count. Now it is the artificial "people" who will increasingly control who gets elected. Put it this way. If that was the rule when the automobile was first introduced, the horse and buggy people would have made them illegal and we'd still we walking. Now, coal companies with millions can stop wind and solar projects that would advance our future.

Under this, the new guy and the new technology will be buried by the old guys and old money. Who does that advance our country? We face a world where it is the control of new technology that makes the winners. Now the old, powerful ones will have even more power to kill the new.

As a result of this activist decision by an increasing one-sided court, now voting power is no longer a choice between men and women: instead it will go to the corporations with billions of dollars and the most powerful entities on earth. Now even foreign-owned companies operating in the U.S. can run a politician ad for or against a candidate. How nuts is that?

This decision will tilt the U.S. to become more like Mexico, where the powerful elites stifle regular people and competition. And you can see how Mexico has been a technical whiz under that system, right? Their top heavy system can't even produce jobs - so they send them to the U.S. rather than changing their system.

This was a bad 5-4 decision that ordinary people who don't control millions of corporate funds (like Wall Street banks, hedge funds, etc.) should fear the consequences whether you are a Democrat, Republican or a tea bagger. The court made a ruling on an issue that the Plaintiffs had not even pled. It should be reheard and reversed.
Activism by a court on the right should be as wrong as activism by a court on the left - especially one that throws out 100 years of precedent.

Mass/Texas - No More One Party Monopolies. Avoiding the China Syndrome

2010-01-20T08:28:00.006-06:00

It's foggy here on Clear Lake today - can't even see across it - but the fog seems to be clearing in Washington and Texas where its becoming crystal clear that this will NOT be a normal political year.

From the new Senator Brown to a possible Texas Governor Medina from a third party makes this a fascinating year to watch

What happened in Massachusetts - the breaking of a single party stranglehold on office is also happening here in Texas. And that's good for both states.

Why? Because single party states are monopolies on power where cronyism and corruption set in and the real decision is made by a few voters in a March primary instead of the general public in November. A single-party State is no different than the single-party Chinese State dictating policy without any opposition to temper excesses.

Let's face it: The Democrat left overplayed its hand and people are more comfortable with Centrism then either the ideas of either extreme (left or right).

In Texas, we have a three-way battle for the GOP Governor nomination, including a candidate that represents independents, disgruntled Republicans, tea baggers and Libertarians to boot - Deborah Medina.

So instead of the race being two candidates trying to out-right-wing each other for the primary voters, the first debate between the three brought out discussions on legalizing drugs and giving ownership of our roads to foreign companies. I hope Belo Corporation changes it mind and allows Ms. Medina to join the next GOP Governor debate now that polls show her over 10%.

Have you ever seen an airplane fly on only its left or right wing? No. It only flies when there is a balance between the two. Massachusetts needs a break from the Democrat lock and places like Texas need a break from the GOP lock in order to give voters more choice and more than extreme candidate No. 1 vs. extreme candidate No. 2.

Breaking the one party monopoly on elections, which is happening in Texas before it happened in Massachusetts, is the only way to avoid the "China Syndrome."

Foreign Journalists' Gmail Hijacked in China - Security from eWeek

2010-01-18T15:05:00.001-06:00

Foreign Journalists' Gmail Hijacked in China - Security from eWeek

Posted using ShareThis

Al Qaida's 21st Century Jihad Cyber Recruiting – Web 2.0 Used to Spread Hate

2010-01-13T08:35:00.000-06:00

The Web has proved to be a great gathering place for the haters of the world to find each other and bond. Now Al Qaida is using it to grow their organization that would have died or withered without its ability to reach out globally to easily influenced people.

Al Qaida has managed to stay alive for two reasons: (1) the remoteness of the Afghanistan/Pakistan badlands and access to other failed States like Somalia, (2) because of its sophisticated use of 21^st Century technology: The Internet.

Creative websites have been established by Al Qaida webmasters to print articles and show videos that paint a one-sided story of their 14^th century beliefs – that one religion (theirs) control the world and that the Westerns are killing Muslims because of their religion. (The one-religion-controlling-the-world idea is arrogant and moronic in a multi-religion world).

Like most hate groups, Al Qaida fails to tell the other side. It occurred to me that Americans should tell that story. How many Muslims know that the U.S. was defending Muslims who were being killed by the Christian Serbs in Bosnia, etc. in the 90’s?

I was reminded of that while watching “Behind Enemy Lines” the movie with Owen Wilson. It was based on a true story of an American pilot shot down over Bosnia by Serbs in the 90’s, while on a flight to monitor Serb activity. ( He was successfully rescued).

Unfortunately, incidents like the Blackwater shootings and the Abu Gharib torture photos give Al Quaida fuel to fan the flames of hate. They are useful ways to generate anger in jobless young men like the underwear bomber. With video and articles, they are talking to thousands of young men like him, using those episodes to convince these easily influence young men (and potentially women) that Westerners hate their religion, so they need to kill themselves attacking us.

So it occurred to me after watching “Behind Enemy Lines” that we should get our own websites showing the good things we are doing to support the ordinary Muslims from brutes like the Taliban. Recent polls show that the Taliban has lost favor with the population because of the Taliban’s cruelty and indiscriminate killing of civilians. We need to build on that with our own creative use of Web 2.0.

We could start by getting them to watch “Behind Enemy Lines” to show that Al Qaida’s extremist leaders are telling lies. (The sequence with the SAM missiles chasing our fighter is amazing).

The world has many religions and no one needs to put themselves above everyone else. Extremists do just that.

Pass the word.

Australia Burns - Seabrooks Red Sky...

2010-01-12T08:51:00.003-06:00

Photo: Seabrook Sunrise 12 Jan 2010

Compare this to the shots of Australia burning under the hottest summer ever - after 50 years of rising temperatures (at the Armor Glass blog).

It could be a sign of things to come next summer for us -

Details at the Armor Glass Blog:

http://armorglass.blogspot.com/

Sarah Palin's Flip Flop on 'global warming'

2010-01-11T14:33:00.006-06:00

I found an interesting article on the recent cold snap that has had people wondering if we were in a "global cooling."

Not even close. In fact, the temperatures in the arctic, where it counts, are still above normal. Some place are 15 degree above normal. It's all about the jet stream, which is letting colder air come further south.

Note this: before Sarah Palin become a national candidate, she was warning about "global warming" destroying parts of Alaska! Why the flip flop?

A few weeks before she mounted the national stage, in July of last year, then-Gov. Palin told her state:

"Alaska's climate is warming. While there have been warming and cooling trends before, climatologists tell us that the current rate of warming is unprecedented within the time of human civilization. Many experts predict that Alaska, along with our northern latitude neighbors, will warm at a faster pace than any other areas, and the warming will continue for decades."

So she was for global warming before she was against it.

Alaska happens to be one of the states where global warming effects are visible - villages are disappearing due to the loss of the permafrost like this one pictured above...

Texas: Solar Energy Jobs - Sign the Petition

2010-01-09T06:45:00.004-06:00

This graph shows that the largest source of CO2 emissions is from fossil fuel combustion (oil, etc.).

There is a petition being circulated to encourage Gov. Perry to launch a Texas Solar Initiative. It would create new jobs as well as new energy for our rapidly growing state --while cutting our emissions. That's a win-win-win.

You can find the petition at:

http://www.environmenttexas.org/action/energy/other/its-time-to-go-solar

If we don't lead in this area, China and other countries will --as you can see in this article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/09/business/energy-environment/09solar.html?hp

I would prefer to see Americans leading, and that starts right here in Texas. I encourage you to sign the petition and encourage our leadership to get us moving into solar and renewal energy as part of our energy future...

The Most Critical Issue To Our Future - If We Are to Have One...

2010-01-07T09:59:00.004-06:00

Don't let the cold fool you. Here are graphs of both co2 and temperatures - and the trend is spiking way above the "normal" cycle. The second one is by the National Science Academy, showing both co2 and temperatures are spiking dramatically up.

Freak weather is part of the pattern of climate change. The next graph shows that yes, you will have drops in temperature along the way, but temperature trend is UP.

We can disagree on medical issues and a lot of other things and whatever happens is not that important compared to thie climate issue.

If the climate change people are wrong, we end up with cleaner, greener energy, water and air. If the climate skeptics are wrong, the air overheats, the ice is lost and the planet is toast, along with our grandchildrens' future.

Which is worse?

To fix the climate threat now would only take an annual U.S. investment of $17 billion per YEAR. We spend $12 billion a MONTH on Iraq.

If our kids and grandkids don't have a livable planet, what happens in Iraq or Afghanistan will hardly matter.

Enjoy the cold while you can - it's been a decade since we had one of these (remember, it used to be cold EVERY year). It won't be long when even cold snaps are a thing of the past unless we take action. It will have to be a global effort.

Larger version of 800,000 year graph of climate change

2010-01-06T10:57:00.003-06:00

This is a larger version of the graph I posted, showing the normal cycle of heating/cooling the past 800,000 years. So, yes, there is a natural cycle. And it always stayed in a certain range. Or did...

Towards the end you can see that, starting in 2008, we are way above that normal range. Sure, we will still get snow and cold, but what we are getting is not keeping up with what we are losing.

At present emissions, we will continue to increase heating from co2 to the year 2100, when we are toast.

Unlike most issues, this one involves survival of the entire planet. Want to risk that?

How Earth Will Look in 90 years if Climate Change is Real..

2010-01-05T15:12:00.004-06:00

In helping a friend do research on a presentation about "Climate Change: Myth or Real?" I came across a couple eye-popping pieces of real science.

The first is a graph showing the last 800,000 years of climate (they can do this by drilling ice cores). It shows that there is a natural cycle of heating and cooling for all 800,000 years -until now. Now the temperatures are spiking off the 800,000 year chart -- way above the average.

In other words, this is not a natural cycle... The second is a Google Earth video showing today's earth and how it will look in 90 years (in the year 2100), based on current temperature increases. Notice how it goes from a nice light green color to a dead, dark brown...

Think about this: If the climate skeptics are wrong, the planet dies, which is not good for either our grandkids or business. If the climate change proponents are wrong, we end up with cleaner, renewable energy, cleaner skies and more water - not to mention new jobs created by these new industries. Which scenario is worse for our kids' future?

Good Things About 2010

2010-01-01T08:35:00.001-06:00

As we enter a new decade, here are some good things about 2010 to consider:

We survived the worst crash of our economy in over 70 years (that should make everyone feel better).

We have a whole new set of political figures to blame for everything we personally did wrong.

We are not starting this decade with a Presidential election being decided by The Supreme Court instead of the voters.

We are not in a bubble of irrational exuberance (which proved in the last decade to be a bad sign in a stock market).

We are not in a depression (they suck).

People are now saving more (instead of continuing the overconsumption binge, except possibly for overeating fatty foods).

More people now appreciate what it’s like not to have a steady paycheck, raising their empathy for those down on their luck (how can you understand the trap of being poor unless you have been there?)

We can be happy that Mr. Stanford and Mr. Madoff are in jail and that your GM (Gov’t Motors) warranty is still good (I need to trade mine in!)

We are rebuilding our economy with greener, cleaner, more diverse energy sources and 21st century technology that will create the jobs in the present and future (people who once made buggy whips were retrained to assemble the first cars; carmakers can now retrain to assemble wind turbines, solar panels, etc.) We don’t progress by standing still.

So, here’s to a new year and a whole new decade to try not to screw up (so we can look forward to the next one).

I’m thrilled to be in 2010!

TV interview on Bomber's Trip to Houston in 2008 - Changes needed

2009-12-31T08:09:00.008-06:00

Yesterday I got a call out of the blue from the Houston Fox 26 TV station about the Flight 253 "underwear bomber" who paid a visit to Houston in August 2008. Here is the video, with my 15 seconds of hot air:

I was their terrorism analyst on 9/11. Why? Because I was one of the few talking about these threats since the early 90's. I had previously been their Mideast expert during the first Gulf War in '91.

It is obvious that we have to upgrade our technology. It is obvious that the system set up after 9/11 to insure sharing of information between agencies still is not working as it should. This includes getting intelligence from allies - apparently the British have a policy not to share their visa information with the U.S. If they had done so, and our system was computerized, it would have raised yet another red flag.

Now that we survived the train wreck of last year's economic disaster, it is time to focus on fixing this system as well as the financial one (which still needs attention to avoid a repeat of Wall Street recklessness).

Thank God this decade is over. It was a decade that doubled our national debt in 8 short years - by giving tax breaks to the wealthy financed by debt, waging two wars, financed by debt, and in 2004 enlarging the Plan D drug plan, also financed entirely by debt. Imagine running a business that way. It wasn't sustainable. It wasted an opportunity to pay for it when we did have money. That's another reason it all crashed in late 2008.

In the next decade we can't rely on 20th century technology. We will have to advance our technology and our global intelligence. We have to do nation building or continue to fail in Afghanistan. Bush was opposed to nation building; Obama has been cool on it. But nation building is what put Iraq back on the path so our troops can leave. It's what bought Europe and Japan back after WWII. It is the only solution.

We will have to be a lot smarter in the next decade just to keep up. We now face a wealthy China and an empowered India whose economies will exceed ours before this century is out. Even Russia is exhibited some vision - planning on tackling an asteroid on a near collision course with Earth. It's bad when Russia has more vision than we do.

We need a global strategy --militarily, technologically and economically-- to get back into the lead after our treasury was squandered in the last decade.

Americans Who Threaten our Leadership Are No Different than Al Qaeda

2009-12-29T08:52:00.000-06:00

I see extremism these days as not just an Al Qaeda problem. We also have a domestic problem. I have seen it in comments on this blog--and in the protests of last summer. When someone says that our leadership should be "hanged as traitors" for the "crime" of supporting social security, that is a threat against our own leadership--and wrong. Who made them God? That is Tim McVeigh thinking. That is Al Qaeda thinking.

We have different extremists, and really more dangerous ones than the guys who can't figure out how to set a trigger on PETN. Tim McVeigh didn't even care that he was blowing away a day care center, his hate was that blind. How American is it to suggest that taking care of Americans is outside the Constitution of our great country? Cars didn't exist when the Constitution was written--so do we not drive cars?

How is it un-American to suggest that providing Medicare to aging Americans is an outrage against our charter? Logic would suggest that a great country does more, not less, to help its citizens, just as others have. I just saw a TV story on an American who went to Mexico to get a new hip, because he couldn't afford the $80,000 to $200,000 it was going to cost him here in the U.S. He had never been to Mexico, but it was the chance to get a new hip that he couldn't get here.

We have had too many people saying too many crazy things about our current government which inherited the mess they are trying to fix–-they didn’t create the mess. Let’s put things in reality.

Bush inherited a $50 billion surplus, a shiny new car; he left Obama an Exxon Valdez piled up on the reef, leaking oil. Lehman’s collapse froze all credit. The economy went off a cliff not seen in 70 years.

Now the crew that put our ship of state up on the reef is complaining about the cost of repairing the damages and cleaning up the mess. The Obama administration inherited the Homeland Security system which had a flaw--lists are not cross checked. That is another inherited problem that became evident on Christmas Day. Fixing TSA is another leftover problem to add to the “to do” list. The Senate could help by approving a new TSA administrator instead of letting one Senator hold it up. We don’t need leaderless security positions!

We need to improve our air security system GLOBALLY, by getting full body scanners in use in FOREIGN locations--like Nigeria and Amsterdam--that feed air traffic to the U.S. Having them everywhere is the solution. Technology has to keep up--and focus on explosives.

Improving our health services is also needed--rather than not changing a broken system that ranks No. 37 in the world. This makes sense for our future prosperity--and our humanity. With many Americans overweight and eating high artery-clogging foods--and moving into retirement age--there will be a huge and growing demand on medical services like never before. As we age, medical care will become as vital to each person’s life as air.

Our founders would have embraced this because they too were visionaries that wanted a better life for Americans.

We don't build a future based on hate. We build a future and prosper only if we are focused on leading the global technology race--and improving our system and the lives of our people.
Mexico is doing a better job than we are in providing medical care for an annual fee of $300/year. Their surgeons have the same instruments used in the U.S. To improve, we need to change what we have been doing.

That includes not tolerating threats against our leadership by domestic sources. If we are real Americans, then we don’t advocate violence against our own government leaders. That is what makes us better than Al Qaeda, who even kills other Muslims in their hate.

Christmas Day Attack on Northwest Flight 253: The Nigerian and Europe Connection

2009-12-26T11:03:00.002-06:00

Has Al Qaida now spread to Africa? A Nigerian suicide bomber would be a first. The evidence points in that direction. If so, what can be done about Africa being used to launch a terrorist attack on the U.S.?

It was an American Northwest Flight No. 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit. But the suspect who tried to destroy it on yesterday’s Christmas Day flight boarded in Lagos, Nigeria – not the Middle East. He used a device similar to what Richard Reid, the shoe bomber, used. Reports are that he claims to have gotten the device in Yemen. Fortunately, the device failed and passengers and crew sprang into action – the real heroes in action.

Authorities claim the Christmas flight terrorist was a “lone wolf.” Since when does someone go to Yemen for a bomb and act “alone.” Al Qaida has been building a base in Yemen, and that is connected to international terrorism. But a bigger threat than Yemen is – London! The suspect once lived in London, which is now regarded as where the largest numbers of radical Islamists are living. Why London? What can be done about it?

I know this: even a “lone wolf” who tries to kill is connected to radical terrorism. He was influenced either by an organization spreading hate on the Internet or in London’s streets. Radicalism is a global virus potentially more dangerous than H1N1. It is being spread 24/7 on the Internet. The time has come to see if the “Wild West” Internet should have some international oversight that can block hate websites. But Internet recruiting is being presented like hip hop, sort of a “jihad cool” that generates anger by showing attacks on Muslims as injustice that should be defended. That could also have led to this attack.

I have been to Lagos, London and Amsterdam, not as a tourist but as an international negotiator on major projects. It was on a project in Amsterdam a few years ago that I discovered a multi-million dollar international fraud ring being run, in Europe, by a Nigerian criminal organization (at which point things got very serious, but that’s another story). Nigeria is a country split between two religions: Islam in the North and Christians in the South. Al Qaida would love to dominate the country – and its vast oil reserves. It doesn’t have to be there to recruit. It can do so on the Internet.

Al Qaida seems to have gotten a foothold in the west – i.e. London—from which it can recruit radicals from the third world – and use the lax security in places like Lagos, Nigeria to get into a Europe, a jump point for flights bound to the U.S. In Nigeria, bribing a security official to get cleared is almost routine –and demonstrates how the weakest link in the international security system can be exploited by suicide bomber on a flight. Secondary screening in Amsterdam was not sufficient either.

Al Qaida has a fixation on blowing up aircraft, starting with its attempt to blow up a dozen flights over the Pacific in the mid-90’s. Why didn’t the security checks work in both Lagos and Amsterdam? Why has England become the biggest centerpoint outside the Middle East of extremist Islamic sympathizers? Why can’t we attack-- and shut down -- the Internet sites used by radical Islamists?

The bigger question is how to prevent future attacks like this. The first thing we need to do is deny radicals a western base. If London has become a breeding ground for Islamist radicals to build their networks and explosive technology –and to launch attacks on the United States -- U.S. authorities need to work with the British government to do what can be done to imprison or expel them. We need to deny radicals a European base to recruit suicide bombers from the third world to terrorize innocent people like those on the Christmas Day Northwest flight –which occurred 8 years to the month that Richard Reid attempted his shoe bombing. Just coincidence? We need to insist that security screenings of passengers from places like Nigeria be screened again in Europe before boarding U.S. flights. We need to improve screening procedures and technology. We need to start a 24/7 Internet defense strategy.

The passengers on Northwest 253 got lucky. If the suspect’s technology had worked, we would have lost that plane in mid-air and not known what happened. Fortunately, the device failed to create the disaster intended. We have to stay ahead of the terrorists, and that will take even more international cooperation and coordination.

Climate Change, Health Care -- and Why Americans Aren't Liked a Lot Overseas

2009-12-20T12:06:00.000-06:00

Just when it looked as though both climate change and health care change would not happen, it did. Neither are perfect agreements but nothing is. But it was worth doing something versus nothing on both issues.

The same people who fought the passage of social security and Medicare are the same people fighting health care reform and reducing our emissions to limit climate change damage. The same people are defending the right of insurance companies to drop you for a preexisting condition.

If people are wrong that our 1 trillion/year in emissions is not melting the ice that keeps us from becoming Venus (which boils all the time), then their grandchildren and their children face a dead planet. A dying planet would certainly be bad for business! So what's wrong with reducing our emissions? Isn't the conservative approach the one designed to keep us from getting into trouble before its too late to head off disaster?

On health care, the non-partisan GAO - General Accounting Office -- says that the Senate's version of the health care plan would SAVE us billions the first decade -- and would SAVE us $1 trillion in the second decade. What's wrong with that? It it would allow people with pre-existing conditions to get insurance. What's wrong with that?

These are not perfect bills, but action is better than a broken status quo.

Some people are objecting our contributing to help poor countries affected by climate change. I just got off a cruise where I watched people shop and eat -- but paid little or not attention to the people in each country.

If you want to know why Americans are not liked as much as they have been it is because a lot of us don't really give a damn about other people. So, guess what? If you don't treat people with respect, don't expect the world to give a crap about us either.

I found the locals in Jamaica, Caymans and Cozumel to be intelligent, interesting people. It was a chance to see a rum plantation and the twisty Jamaica highways, a coral reef from a submarine in the clear Cayman waters, and to zip along over the trees in Cozumel - and live to tell about it.

Check out the world Americans. Our future depends on our having more knowledge than how to eat and tourist our way across the planet.

New Armor Glass Blog -

2009-12-19T17:08:00.005-06:00

Announcing: I have started a separate blog dedicated to Armor Glass at:
http://armorglass.blogspot.com/

First installment covers recent events from explosions to dogs...

In the meantime, Texas Viking will continue on more general issues affecting us, both here on the coast and nationally.

What a beautiful day today! At least I got to LOOK at it through the windows as I did paperwork. The good news is that the skies are blue and I can see the lake through the (Armor Glass protected) windows!

LOL. Feel free to check out the Armor Glass blog and sign up to follow future posts. They will be designed to make you aware of security measures that we encounter, and what protects your family..

7 days - Jamaica, Caymans, Cozumel - At 19 knots

2009-12-15T17:23:00.003-06:00

Just returned from a 3 country trip in 7 days - all done at about 19 knots, on a ship.

While Houston was fogged in, I was checking out "hurricane alley" from Jamaica to the Caymans and Cozumel. On the way there we passed within sight of Cuba, on the port side of the ship. I never would have thought you could cover 3 countries in a week at 19 knots, but you can - all the way to Jamaica.

Jamaica was cool in its hills. Caymans and Cozumel were blue and HOT, and humid. But it sure beat coming back to a cold fog!

In the Grand Cayman I went on a tourist submarine which goes down 100 feet to let you see the sea life on the coral reef. We got close enough to the miles deep abyss that goes down miles - but the sub is designed to pop to the surface if the power fails. It holds 48. Cozumel buildings were the only ones I saw that seemed to use tougher glass, but then they know hurricanes and thieves would love to break in. Diamonds International has a huge store there.

In Cozumel, I road a "zip line" across the tree tops. Some kids in Central America have to commute to school using one. Your "brake" is a leather glove.

One of the things I did not do but heard people raving about: Stingray City in the Caymans. Stingrays act like dogs - bumping your feet to get fed. The staff would put a ray on a person's back to give them a "massage." The people who were there couldn't stop talking about it.

I have attached photos and a couple short video clips. They are not in any "order" and I still have "ship lag" but it will give you can idea of each country. I saw great opportunities in each.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Fjet2020/Caymans?feat=email#
http://picasaweb.google.com/Fjet2020/Cozumel?feat=email#
http://picasaweb.google.com/Fjet2020/Jamaica?feat=email#

Montego Bay

2009-12-09T19:47:00.003-06:00

Survived a 2 ½ hour each way trip from Montego Bay to a rum factory that first started in 1749 –Appleton Estates. The roads are narrow and twisty – we nearly had a head on with a van on one corner.

They say that Captain Bligh visited Montego Bay. People are nice but poor – about 50% unemployment. On to Caymans…

In the meantime I hear that a chemical plant near Seabrook exploded - glad not to be there!

3-country Tour

2009-12-06T10:38:00.002-06:00

Am off on a 3-country swing through Hurricane Alley - from Jamaica to the Caymans and Mexico. I checked the weather -- all are balmy compared to our rain, snow and COLD.

If all goes as planned the Cayman stop will include a submarine tour, something I have never done. It's been a extraordinarily busy year and this is a much needed break as well.

I'll try to post updates along the way. This is also a test of my relatively new Blackberry Storm, which is supposed to be an international phone.

Film of Wright's First Flight - Snow in Houston

2009-12-04T07:02:00.002-06:00

A friend sent me this link to discovered video of the Wright Brothers first flight. I've attached her comments and the link - before I head out today for a project that must go on even in a rare Houston snow...

WRIGHT BROS. 1909

Film clip from the Austrian archives about the Wright Brothers demonstrating their plane in Italy in 1909. What is even more fantastic is there was an on-board camera on the Wright plane and the last part of this film shows it. Wilbur Wright is at the controls on both of the flights. It's a GREAT video considering it is 100 years old and the quality/weight of the equipment of that day.

This film clip is fascinating and in very good condition for its age being as it shows the Wright Bros demonstrating the Flyer to a group of European officers and officials in 1909. Only runs for 4 minutes. The shots of the plane in flight are the best I have ever seen of this machine showing a degree of speed and smoothness I did not think would have been possible. Excellent starting sequence with the linen covered props and easy start but the outstanding sequence being the take-off along the rail. You can't see the actual weight drop to pull it along the rail but in some shots you see the tower. The small piece of string on the forward elevon was put there by the Wrights to ascertain degree of side slip as you are aware the plane basically turned flat, and although they eventually put in a form of wing warping it was always a difficult plane to handle in turns, so they kept it as flat as possible because any side slip over a certain angle was unrecoverable. This was the two seat version as you can see and designed for a hopeful military use. It could only fly in very calm conditions.

The in-flight shots were something else again and possibly the earliest aerial movie shots ever taken. When you think he had to fly the plane and also hand crank the camera, I think it must have been fixed in position as the camera stays motionless and in any case cameras were heavy in those times and the plane had little spare capacity but I could be wrong. Note the take off ramp. Loved the ancient Italian Roman ruins in the final shots the approach speed was very slow in deed.

When you get to the site, just double click on the picture of the flying machine, it loads automatically. The other vintage videos are entertaining, too.

http://www.europafilmtreasures.eu/PY/322/see-the-film-wilbur_wright_and_his_flying_machine'

Sunday Seabrook Sunrise

2009-11-29T10:01:00.001-06:00

Beautiful sunrise this morning over Clear Lake - these colors lasted only a few minutes.

Enjoy.

Thanksgiving Sunrise on Clear Lake

2009-11-26T07:53:00.002-06:00

Today's Thanksgiving sunrise was nice to see, after a few days of cold and rain! It looks like a beautiful day for people to get together with family.

The past week I have felt like a fighter pilot, shooting down the enemy left and right. Only in this case, my weapon was a Windex sprayer and the enemy was a gang of fruit flies that somehow came in uninvited in some bananas. Did you know that one female fruit fly can lay 500 eggs? Insecticide doesn't seem to bother them, but Windex knocks em down and you end up accidentally (or incidentally) doing a lot of cleaning in the process!

The Internet was a source of knowledge on how to get rid of them. You get some plastic containers, put a small hole in the center of the lid, fill it with cider vinegar - and they will crawl in to get the cider and not figure out how to get out! At one point, the containers seemed to have thousands of tiny bodies floating around. Now they are mostly empty but a few hangers-on keep buzzing me. That's when I started carrying a Windex sprayer to shoot them down.

Yikes, these little guys are harder to get rid off than politicians and talk show know-it- alls buzzing around and being irritating!

But it's Thanksgiving and I'm grateful that we will be spared more TV political ads soon, and that the year was pretty good for us in Houston -- compared to many other places -- with or without fruit flies!