Just How Does Human Contact Effect The Caribou?

From Faultline USA:

Contrary to the popular fiction, ANWR.org tells us that the caribou population

...in the Prudhoe Bay oil field has increased by over 900% and yet caribou in ANWR with no human contact other than Gwich'in Indian hunting have plummeted by over a third.

ANWR.org asks: Do the Caribou Really Care?

Are caribou affected by oil development on the North Slope? It would appear not, based on scientists' observations. The Central Arctic Herd, which uses the area around Prudhoe Bay, has tripled in population since oil development started in the early 1970's.

Please note that it is ANWR.org that did not capitalize the "C" in caribou. I am not being disrespectful.

ANWR.org explains the caribou conundrum:

The 1.5 million-acre tract accounts for just 8 percent of the 19 million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. And rather than the calendar art of the last frontier, the land at issue is a flat, boggy, treeless place where temperatures can drop as low s 40 degrees below zero. The place, therefore, is virtually uninhabitable by animals most of the year.

Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton, testified at Congress recently and got down to actual numbers:

The Central Arctic Herd is the caribou herd in the North Slope whose range includes the Prudhoe oilfields. Their numbers have increased from 5,000 in 1977, at the beginning of oil development, to 27,000 in 2000. Alaska Fish and Game has published the most recent census showing the population is now more than 31,000.

Read the rest at the link.

The Caribou that are secluded from human contact have been decreasing , while the ones around the oil fields have increased dramatically.

DRILL DAMN IT!

Tony Snow

Tony Snow has lost his long battle with cancer:

Tony Snow, the former White House press secretary and conservative pundit who bedeviled the press corps and charmed millions as a FOX News television and radio host, has died after a long bout with cancer. He was 53.

This is sad news. I liked Tony, both as a journalist and during his time as White House Press Secretary. My prayers are with his family.

Thaddeus McCotter's New Campaign Ad

The video:



I wish more Republicans were as fed up as McCotter is.

My Bad Day/ OPEC Warning

Did you ever have one of those days were you should have stayed in bed? Between everything that could go wrong going wrong at work, getting to my car and finding out my tire had picked up a nail and was flat, and a couple of problems at the house when I got there my day has been terrible. So I get everything taken care of, sit down at my computer and the first damn thing I see is this:

The head of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries warned Thursday that oil prices would see an "unlimited" increase in the case of a military conflict involving Iran, because the group's members would be unable to make up the lost production.

"We really cannot replace Iran's production - it's not feasible to replace it," Abdalla Salem El-Badri, the OPEC secretary general, said during an interview.

Iran, the second-largest producing country in OPEC, after Saudi Arabia, produces about 4 million barrels of oil a day out of the daily worldwide production of close to 87 million barrels. The country has been locked in a lengthy dispute with Western countries over its nuclear ambitions.

This is a fine example of why you cannot depend only on countries (especially these countries) to supply you with a much needed product such as oil. It illustrates how our domestic policies intertwine with our foreign policy. We have let ourselves become dependent on some of the countries that hate us the most. You are saying Saudi Arabia is our friends. Right. They tolerate us because we have what they need ($$$/food), just as we tolerate them because they have what we need (oil/oil).

For thirty years we have been cutting the legs out from under American companies as it relates to our oil and other energy production. Now the chickens are coming home to roost.

On a better note, it seems like some of the dems are starting to rethink their positions on drilling OUR oil:

...They're searching the polls, not their souls, and they aren't happy with what they find juxtaposed with their present position on the matter. So, as is typical of the breed, they're easing toward the more popular position.

Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said Wednesday that Democratic and Republican leaders are negotiating a compromise on energy legislation. Kyl declined to say who's doing the negotiating or what results, if any, their discussions have yielded.

But Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), a longtime proponent of increased offshore drilling, said he was seeing "a big shift, a big shift in my direction," and it was hard to find Democrats who disagreed.

Jesse Jackson's Open Mic

Evidently the good Reverend has taken offense to some of the comments made by Obama the last couple of months:


I have had reservations about putting this up. But I can't pass it up. I have never been a fan of this open mic thing. I didn't really like it when it happened to Bush either. But this could have some negative effect this November. A lot of polls show Obama getting unbelievable numbers among black voters. Rev. Jackson has a lot of pull with these voters, deserved or not.

H/T: Ace of Spades

Ban Happy America

Wonder how long it will be before this video is banned?:



Remember the movie Demolition Man? Anyone ever had a rat burger?

Ace Of Spades: "Months of Painstaking Diplomacy with Iran Finally Bears Sweet Fruit"

In this post he gives an explanation of how diplomacy works, that I had to share with you:

...diplomacy can only work when one side wants something from the other side, which the other side is prepared to give. This situation does not exist with respect to Iran. For diplomacy to work, the situation would have to change -- the most obvious (though unlikely) game-changer would be US jets pounding Iranian nuclear, military, and governmental sites for a few weeks. In such a case, Iranian would want something from us, namely, to stop with the bombing already.

Read the rest at the link. It's worth it.

Iran does not need anything from us. Therefore they are not going to negotiate.

Meanwhile, they are working feverishly to develop nuclear weapons. How many times have we heard that all options are on the table? When are we going to decide that the diplomacy option is not working? I think it should be sinking in, even to a politician, that it is time to give up on this option and look into another one. It is irresponsible and stupid to keep doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.

Anyone Know Where A Man Could Get One Of These?

Thanks go to Texas Fred for this one.

Jennifer Rubin: Will Rookie Mistakes Sink Obama?

Probably not:

Hillary Clinton must be fuming. Only a month after sewing up the nomination, Barack Obama’s claim to be the Agent of Change is already unraveling He is proving belatedly that Bill and Hillary’s prediction was right: he is not ready for prime time.

Even the New York Times is mad at him, accusing him of false advertising. (“Mr. Obama’s shifts are striking because he was the candidate who proposed to change the face of politics, the man of passionate convictions who did not play old political games.”). For once it’s hard to quibble with the Grey Lady.

Obama has reversed course on everything from FISA to the Second Amendment to the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment to gay marriage to campaign finance reform. His Iraq policy is changing, or maybe it isn't. Stay tuned. Even his biographical ads touting his leadership on welfare reform (which he actually opposed) and his struggle to work through school (which seems to only have amounted to two summer jobs) are being fact checked and disproved by the MSM. What an amateur, Hillary must be musing.

Read the rest at the link.

The GOP missed a good opportunity to run a good solid conservative. It looks like Obama's effort may be unraveling before our very eyes, right? I still think he is going to win. Anyone who follows politics knows what is going on here. Obama has secured the nomination and has to move to the center. Sure the libs are going to scream a little about this. The fact of the matter is this; Obama must move to the center. John McCain has lived in the center his whole career. Obama's handlers know this. Most people in America know this.

The last couple of weeks McCain has been trying to move to the right. This may leave Obama a little room to get some of those center of the road voters. He is not going to be able to pry any away from McCain without making an effort. The libs know this. The New York Times know this. I believe they are working for Obama with this story. They are saying to the people in the center; look Obama is not too left wing. Of course we all know, as does the New York Time, that the libs hate Bush and the GOP so much they are not going to defect from Obama. They would vote for anyone with a D by there name to ensure a republican does not get it. Even if that Republican is a RINO who agrees with the dems on close to half the issues. This gives Obama some room to work in the center.

Meanwhile McCain is being forced to move to the right. He has a distinct disadvantage compared to Obama. The base of the party he has chosen to represent refuses to get and line like a bunch of cattle. Just because he has a R by his name does not mean we are going to vote for him. We are more interested in the issues than the letter by his name. This is why he is being forced to try to convince us he is in our side, even though we know better. He is conservative on many issues. He also will abandon those beliefs in order to "get things done". That is were his problem is. I, as well as many more conservatives are not interested in this type of candidate. I am a person that stands by his beliefs no matter what the cost. In our party I am not alone. Not by a long shot. Rarely do you here a republican willing to give in on his position on the issues. If you don't believe that go to the right wing blogs. They are full of posts that are against the things the republicans are doing.

I would like to see our candidate having to move to the center in order to compete for those votes. But alas, We have McCain.

The Reason Why I Think We Have Waited Too Long To Attack Iran

A threat from Iran's Revolutionary Guards:

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have begun a military exercise and issued a warning that Israel and U.S. naval forces in the Persian Gulf would be prime targets if Iran is attacked.

...The Iranian Web Site quoted guard official Ali Shirazi as saying that Israel's coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv and U.S. warships in the Gulf would be among the first targets if Iran comes under attack.

"The Zionist regime is pushing the White House to prepare for a military strike on Iran," Shirazi was quoted as saying. "If such a stupidity is done by them, Tel Aviv and the U.S. naval fleet in the Persian Gulf will be the first targets which will be set on fire in Iran's crushing response."

..."The first shot by the U.S. on Iran will set the U.S. vital interests in the world" at risk, Shirazi said, according to the Web site.

The worst part about this whole thing is that we have given them a long time to plan for these type of attacks. While we have been hoping for them to change (no offense Barack) they have been getting ready for the inevitable. While we are offering to make deals with them, they are pushing ahead with their nuclear program and issuing threat after threat. Iran has been providing assistance any way they can to keep the war in Iraq going in order to take the heat off themselves. With so many people disgruntled with the war, Iran can continue on.

Do I feel like Iran can threaten the US interests? Yes I do. I am not as worried about our Navy ships as much as I am about terrorists in this country and around the world. How many have come into this country over the last seven years? With our government too concerned with kissing the rest of the world's ass, and not taking care of US interests (which by the way, is their only job), they have opened us up to attack.

Should we try not to provoke Iran? I do not think this will do any good. As soon as Iran develops a nuclear weapon we will know. They will announce it to the world. The announcement could be in a speech from Ahmedinejad, but could just as easily be Iran doing what it has promised to do, wiping Israel off the map.

The longer we wait, the more dangerous it becomes.

A new Blogroll

Hey everyone, I have added a new blogroll. I am not on there yet, but should be added soon. It looks like a worthwhile one. It should give us access to a bunch of other second amendment loving bloggers.

The name of the roll is:

Unorganized Militia: Propaganda Corps

Thank you to Texas Fred, who brought this roll to my attention.

Computer Trouble

Sorry about my absence over the last couple of days. It looks like it is about time to spring for another computer. I'm back for now. I can't promise for how long though.

Well, I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July holiday.

What Did We Learn From The D.C. v. Heller Case?

A.W.R. Hawkins has an interesting analysis:

The more news coverage of the Supreme Court’s “historic” decision upholding the Second Amendment I saw the more depressed I became. Though I’m grateful for the way the decision fell, I could not help being appalled by the fact that only 5 out of 9 justices now believe that the Constitution is constitutional. In short, the United States is only one liberal Supreme Court justice away from being judicially transformed into France.

...the American people as a whole are ignorant of natural law, the writings of our Founding Fathers, and the Constitution itself. Educators at every level have sought to keep students from being exposed to any mention of America’s gun heritage. As a result, one rarely can come across a college student who has really read the Second Amendment, or Benjamin Franklin’s check on unlimited democracy: “Democracy is two wolves and lamb voting on what to eat for lunch, liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote,” or George Washington’s simple assertion that “A free people ought to be armed.” Such isolation from America’s history and heritage makes it possible for Leftist news outlets to run headlines which state the obvious yet sound groundbreaking to so many.

Emphasis is mine.

I would like to ask for your opinion on this quote from Justice Stevens:

Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that the justices who voted for the individual right interpretation “would have us believe that over 200 years ago, the Framers made a choice to limit the tools available to elected officials wishing to regulate civilian uses of weapons.”

I don't know about you, but I am pretty sure the founders of this country would take offense at this statement. Especially since they had just completed the act of using weapons against their former government to establish this fine country.

The most disturbing line of the article:

Yet the magnitude of this issue persuades me that I have not said enough, and that I even understated the seriousness of this matter in my opening paragraph when I indicated that only 5 out 9 justices now believe the Constitution to be constitutional.

Amen!

Want To Know Where Harry Reid Wants To Take America?

Listen to this:


Any questions? One of the leaders of the democratic party is right there, urging the destruction of the American economy. I have no problem with alternative energy, except that one has not been developed that comes close to the effectiveness fossil fuels. Until one is developed, we can not stop using fossil fuel.

U.S. Officials Should Take Notes From Meir Amit

Amit is the former director of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency:

"I am in favor of using the power of force against Iran, because if we let things go as they are we will find ourselves in a very dangerous situation," Amit said. "We have good intelligence, and we shall decide what is the right timing for any attack."

Asked about media speculation and statements from officials and former officials that the best window of opportunity for Israel to attack Iran is before President Bush leaves office in January, Amit responded that U.S. politics should not be a consideration.

...

Pressed on the issue of media reports quoting anonymous Israeli and American officials speaking about the timing of an Israeli strike, Amit replied, "When you decide to attack someone, you don't let that person or country know anything about the timing in advance. You do it at the right moment without any initial warning or announcement."

He is absolutely right. The U.S. will have to deal with Iran sooner or later. For Israel it will have to be sooner. Iran has called for Israel's complete inhalation. They have called for our destruction too, but given the hatred Iran has shown toward Israel there is little doubt that Israel will be first on their list. The time to act is rapidly approaching.