Slaughter does nothing

Will I have been looking for a month or more to find what Louise Slaughter does. What I have found is pretty much nothing but collect pay checks.

Can’t report on someone who does nothing but hide.

Going to go back to general topics

Charge of direction for Blog – anyone but Lousie Slaughter

I have not had time all summer to put any entries in my Blog for a variety of reasons. The main one being that very few positive things are going on in my local area (Rochester, NY) the nation or the world stage and I got fed up with all the negative thoughts.

After discussions with my wife I (we) are going to redirect the efforts of our blog with the goal being that Louise Slaughter, our representative in the House of Representatives, that is so far out of touch with reality that she refuses to meet with her constituents during the her vacations for her hard work (HAHA) as head of the rules committee in the House. The rules committee is basically the lapdog committee to the speaker of the house. Louise is not one any other committees so her only task is trying to figure out when votes are to be held on the floor of the house. Pretty much when Pelosi tells her to schedule the vote.

My Goal is to bring her real record to the light of day of the voters since she does so little that there is no news on her and she gets elected because of one of the worst cases of gerrymandering in the history of America. map of district.

Her inconsistency and for not taking care of her district while spending taxpayer money everywhere else in the country makes her a bad representative.

One example of her hypocrisy
She was against a project in downtown Rochester call Renaissance Square. I agree with her that is would have been the biggest waste of taxpayer dollars. Ren Square was a project to build a auxiliary campus for the local community college, make an underground bus terminal for the RTS (local public bus company) and a performing arts theater.

The two main reason for being against the project were:
1)the bus terminal was not where the local Amtrak station is located so she was against the project
2) She was against the theater portion of the project.

At the time she was doing interviews in the local media and talking with local politicians, noted here and here she was saying the only way to make the economy recover is for investment in the arts.

… Representative Louise M. Slaughter, a New York Democrat who is co-chairwoman of the Congressional Arts Caucus. “If we’re trying to stimulate the economy, and get money into the Treasury, nothing does that better than art.”

Congress needs to do more earmarking – Ron Paul is right

I know this is going against the current but after listening to Ron Paul. He makes total sense, congress people should be required to be very specific in the spending that they want. The vague appropriations is where all the waste and fraud occur.

Sunshine and Transparency is the best disinfectant.

Ron Paul “We Need More Earmarks!” – CSPAN on house floor

Ron Paul Slams Cavuto on Earmarks – Fox News – 3-10-2009

Prayers to the families of the Thursday Plane Crash victims

A look at some of those killed in NY plane crash

My prayers go out to the family members who had loved ones on the plane and the families who’s home have been damaged or destroyed.

Geither, Stimulus Plan Cartoons

All from Townhall.com

Government Sugar Tariffs result in Mercury poisoning

Study Finds High-Fructose Corn Syrup Contains Mercury

More info on Corn sweeteners

Sugar imports into the US are limited by source country and if a country imports more than what the US agriculture department allows a tariff is imposed
Here is the Agriculture department site.

A history of US sugar tariffs

If sugar imports were not limited, corn syrup would not be as necessary since sugar would be cheaper and products could be made with sugar.

High Fructose Corn Syrup Vs. Pure Sugar – Is One Worse Than The Other?

If you do not believe that site, how about CBS News.

“I think the honest tag line should be ‘It’s just as bad as regular sugar,’” said Margot G. Wootan, director of Nutritional Policy at Center for Science in the Public Interest. Wootan says that people shouldn’t be afraid of trace amounts of HFCS in their food but that they should be concerned about limiting huge amounts of sugar in their diet.

The average American consumed 56 pounds of HFCS in 2007. Soda is the single biggest source of HFCS in the American diet – 17 teaspoons for a 20-ounce bottle, according to a four-year study on soft drink consumption by CSPI.

That same study published findings that soft drinks directly contribute to obesity because of its high amount of non-nutritious calories. No other single product has been shown to promote weight gain in the same way, according to its researchers.

HFCS is derived from milling corn, processing that starch into syrup and adding enzymes to convert it into fructose. To make the most common form of HFCS, glucose syrup is added to fructose making the composition, 45-percent glucose and 55-percent fructose.

Similar studies have also found that appetite, which normally decreases after eating, decreased less after drinking fructose-sweetened beverages. And that it caused triglycerides to increase, an indicator of risk for cardiovascular disease.

If government really cares about the health of American’s they would eliminate the sugar tarries and import limits as well as any subsidies for corn syrup production.

America consumes a lot less sugar than other countries but have a much higher obesity rate.

Read more here and here as well as in the San Francisco Gate, We’re drowning in high fructose corn syrup. Do the risks go beyond our waistline?

As usually, Government tries to fix one thing and makes the situation much worse in the long run.

Everyone thank the government officials for their mercury positioning.

Calling Off the Boston Tea Party

Interesting Read, nice tongue in cheek work

Calling Off the Boston Tea Party

Charities in NY State

I am always suspicious of tele-marketing charity calls. This article confirms my suspicious. As much as I think Andrew Cuomo is a crook, someone in the attorney general’s office is going a good job exposing fraud.

Fundraisers getting paid well

An average of only 39 cents on the dollar raised by for-profit telemarketers in New York actually made it to charities last year,

Full Report is here

Based on this chart only a few more charities got >60% (57 charities) of the money collected as charities that lost money (51).

Some of the most money loosing charitable campaigns

The biggest one’s are mainly wildlife, nature conservation and an Animal League. The wildlife and nature conservations has lots of uncollected pledges and the Animal league looks like it was just ripped off.

My conclusions:
1) Tele-marketing charities make the collectors rich and do not help the charities much.
2) People pledge to help the environment but do not follow through with the cash
3) If you like a charity, bypass the middle man.

Merry Christmas to All

This is one of those videos that just touches your heart. You’ve probably heard the poem at least once over the years during the holidays as it’s made the rounds. Have the tissues handy.
A Soldier’s Silent Night

A Soldier’s Silent Night
Same words, different pictures

The original version was written by Lance Corporal James M. Schmidt in 1987 under the title “Merry Christmas, My Friend.”

A Soldier’s Silent Night

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE.
I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.
I LOOKED ALL ABOUT, A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS, NOT EVEN A TREE.
NO STOCKING BY MANTLE, JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.
WITH MEDALS AND BADGES, AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND.
FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT, IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER, ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.
THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING, SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.
THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE, THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.
WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I’D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO, THE FLOOR FOR A BED?
I REALIZED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.
SOON ROUND THE WORLD, THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.
THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS, LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.
I COULDN’T HELP WONDER HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.
THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES AND STARTED TO CRY;
THE SOLDIER AWAKENED AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
“SANTA DON’T CRY, THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;
I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, I DON’T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD, MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS.”
THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN’T CONTROL IT, I CONTINUED TO WEEP.
I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS, SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHT’S CHILL.
I DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR SO WILLING TO FIGHT.
THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER, WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, “CARRY ON SANTA, IT’S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE.”
ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH, AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.

“MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.”

___________
ON a lighter note
Charlie Brown Christmas, The Reason for Christmas

Global Warming – Science Consensus Fraud?

I have been having some fun lately pointing to all the snow and cold temperatures in the US over the last few weeks. As an Engineer I know that this an observation, it is not science.

I do believe that man-made global warming is now treated as a religion with believers and skeptics. Believers will try to discredit and personally attack those who disagree with their beliefs and call them environment hating/ earth hating/future generation hating people.

Trying to use a skeptics eye looking at summary data from NASA and Jim Hensen.
Two Decades of Temperature Change in Antarctica

The map is based on thermal infrared (heat) observations made by a series of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite sensors. Because the satellite is observing energy radiated from the Earth’s surface, the image shows trends in skin temperatures—temperatures from roughly the top millimeter of the land, sea ice, or sea surface—not air temperatures. Making a long-term record out of data from different sensors is challenging because each sensor has its own quirks and may measure temperatures a bit differently. None of the sensors were in orbit at the same time, so scientists could not compare simultaneous observations from different sensors to make sure each was recording temperatures exactly the same. Instead, the team checked the satellite records against ground-based weather station data to inter-calibrate them and make the 26-year satellite record. The scientists estimate the level of uncertainty in the measurements is between 2-3 degrees Celsius.

Across most of the continent and the surrounding Southern Ocean, temperatures climbed. In some places the rate of warming approached a tenth of a degree Celsius each year, which would translate to more than two degrees over the entire period.

A scientist who admits that there is 2 to 3 degrees of inaccuracy in the data then tries to claim that the total change of 2 degrees is scientific proof is not being honest as a scientist. I was taught in my chemistry classes that the measurable difference has to be greater than the measurement inaccuracy for the result to be valid. So this alone should lead one to be a skeptic.

Another reason I am a skeptic is that the UN is pushing for this and I find the UN to be a very corrupt organization of mainly dictators who refuse their people liberties and freedoms. When people are allowed to realize their inalienable rights to liberty and freedom the advancement of the human race has been tremendous. The great thinkers and philosophers of ancient Greece thrived due to democracies of the time (not all people were free but those who were excelled). America is a great example of this as well, when government intruded the least into Americans lives the greatest expansion of life expectancy has occurred.

In 1900 US life expectancy was 49 years, in 1999 it was 77 years, a 57 percent increase. This is all due to improvements in the human condition due to modernization which has been driven by the use of coal, oil and gas to improve the lives of people.

The Truth on Longer Life Span
From Wikipedia the current life expectancy by country in 2008.

link to Wikipedia

The areas of the world that have had liberties and freedoms for the longest time have the longest life expectancy while the areas of the world which have the communist, fascist, socialist, totalitarian styles of government have the shortest life span.

Since the big government liberals, socialists, communists and dictators are saying America and western Europe has to change away from coal and oil to save the planet to me that means there is an alternative motive. If the masses of the world could learn the truth that it is their governments which are making their lives bad there would be world wide overthrows of the dictators like occurred in the French Revolution.

More reason to be a skeptic is that the consensus of the UN reports is a small group of scientist who agree with the conclusion as outlined in Sen Inhofe comments from Oct 2007.

A more recent report
More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims

I do believe that humans should be kind to the planet and good stewards but reducing the standard of living so that the US and Western Europe are lowered to the rest of the world is not the correct answer.