“The most insidious part of the Earth Day movement is how it has fully infiltrated our schools. They are successfully scaring the pants off our kids.

So much so that a new Opinion Research poll of America’s preteens shows that one in three children fears an Earth apocalypse. An astonishing 75 percent of black children and 65 percent of Hispanic children believe the planet will be irrevocably changed by the time they’re adults.

What does that tell you? There are larger concentrations of minorities in the cities. There’s also a larger concentration of liberals pushing this apocalyptic garbage in the cities.

They are brainwashing our kids into losing sleep over a myth. Almost 60 percent of metropolitan area kids as a whole feel we’re doomed while 47 percent of suburban kids have such fears.”

I found this column by Phil Valentine pretty interesting.  I wish more people [like those clowns in Congress] would accept the fact that arctic ice is actually increasing.

Congressional Black Caucus Praises Communist Cuban Dictator

The fact that these elected representatives: a) probably traveled to Cuba at taxpayer expense and b) are praising a murderous, racist, homophobic, Communist dictator who clearly presides over an abysmal failure of a country should outrage all who stand for liberty.  Castro’s disastrous policies have resulted in the death of countless Cuban citizens and poverty for all who live under his regime.  It’s time more people questioned the judgement of free Americans who express envy for the misery that is Cuban society.  This kind of praise for cruelty, oppression and totalitarianism ought not be tolerated from these ignorant nincompoops in the Congressional Black Caucus.  The CBC members can be contacted through the Congressional Black Caucus homepage.

“Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today’s world do not have.” 

Ronald Reagan

MSNBC Poll of 1.8 million:  Obama earns “F”

This article comes to us courtesy of WorldNet Daily.  Apparently the results aren’t really in line with the MSNBC agenda so they’re not making a big deal of it.  I searched for it using the search box at the top of the MSNBC home page and didn’t find it.  When I searched on Google (which, incidentally, significantly increased my carbon footprint) several blog posts came up first but I actually did find the MSNBC poll page.  If you’d like to vote, click here.

“Lawmakers passed the mandate for one-size-fits-all “green” government building construction standards in 2005 based on numerous promises, including that it would reduce energy costs for state buildings and increase test scores. WPC looked at the data and discovered the top-down mandate has failed to live up to its proponents’ promises and in some cases is actually using more energy and costing more than non-green buildings. After reviewing WPC’s research, KING 5′s Susannah Frame decided to investigate school district claims, resulting in at least one official confirming there are no actual cost savings from these mandates.”

And a link to the KING 5 story:

Investigators: Green school claims oversold

There’s video of the report available at that link as well. 

“It [Gray Middle School, Tacoma] has impressive environmentally friendly features everywhere you look. Some of them include banks of windows for lots of natural light, recycled beams from an old high school, rubber flooring that doesn’t require chemicals, drought tolerant landscaping, and a filtration system that circulates fresh air all day long.”

There’s a video on the Superintendent of Public Instruction’s website that promotes the benefits of these green schools.  In the video, the SPI and Department of Ecology claim that in exchange for an approximate 2% increase in design and building cost, green schools cost 10-15% less in operating costs.  Kudos to Susannah Frame at KING 5 and Todd Myers at WPC for digging for the truth on this one. 

“Large districts in the state tell us it’s [green school construction] between 3 and 7 percent more expensive. That adds up.

Half a billion dollars will be spent on school construction in the state this year.

If green mandates cost 5 percent more, that’s $25,000,000 additional dollars. All that money comes from local school district tax dollars.

After the first year, the legislature pulled all funding for the green schools mandate.”

That last sentence made me wonder:  if the very people [the Legislature] who imposed this green school mandate don’t believe in it enough to fund it, why is it still in effect?

“The Senate on Tuesday passed a bill designed to make the area more attractive for television and film productions, like the teen vampire thriller ‘Twilight,’ which was shot in Kalama – though the popular book series actually takes place in the Olympic Peninsula town of Forks.

Speaking in favor of House Bill 2042, Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, said she was disturbed that the ‘Twilight’ sequel is supposedly going to film in British Columbia to take advantage of the better deals producers can get there.

‘This has to do with making our state more competitive in motion picture production,’ Kohl-Welles said.”

Senator Kohl-Welles, our state could be more competitive in so many ways–not just motion picture production.  You could focus less on giving sweetheart deals to selected sectors of the economy and more on enabling Washington’s native industries.  Just a thought.

From the Washington Policy Center’s blog, here’s a list of some expenditures listed in the Washington State Legislature’s capital budget.  I highlighted a couple that I found particularly ridiculous.  Does anyone else find it ironic that our lawmakers are threatening draconian cuts to public safety, public health, education and transportation [some may refer to these things as "priorities"] while throwing around millions for theaters, museum expansions and artists’ lofts?  [Speaking of those artists' lofts, here's a link to Artspace Everett.]

•    Apple Awards (for schools) – $250,000
•    Washington State Historical Society – $12,250,000
•    Eastern Washington State Historical Society – $1,939,000
•    Admiral Theatre-No Theatre Left Behind – $140,000
•    Artspace Everett Lofts – $1,000,000
•    Building a Foundation for Discovery – $250,000
•    Campus Consolidation (Cornish) – $375,000
•    Convert Key Bank To Everett’s Plaza Theatre – $500,000
•    Cottage Renovation (Hedgebrook) – $20,000
•    Downstairs at the 5th – $800,000
•    Federal Way Performing Arts Center – $325,000
•    Gateway Center (Lummi) – $150,000
•    James Ctr for the Performing Arts (Sequim) – $150,000
•    Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center – $475,000
•    Legacy Project (Imagine) – $200,000
•    Modular Classrooms for Dance (Gladish) – $30,000
•    Museum Expansion (Maryhill) – $1,500,000
•    New Hands On Children’s Museum  – $1,000,000
•    Phase II Renovation (Mt. Baker Theatre) – $1,000,000
•    Reconstruction of First Stage, Issaquah – $400,000
•    Seattle Opera Center – Phase I Design – $650,000
•    Stage Two (Whidbey) – $450,000
•    Vashon Arts Center – $1,115,000
•    Visual Arts Education Center (Sno Co.) – $1,000,000
•    Viva Vera Capital Campaign – $70,000
•    WA Hall Acquisition and Rehab – $400,000
•    A Home for Opportunity – $325,000
•    Building the new Eastside Clinic – $1,900,000
•    Community Center for Sand Point Housing – $350,000
•    Donald G. Topping HOPE Center – $1,934,250
•    Dove House – $240,000
•    Duvall Multi-Service Center – $617,985
•    East Central Community Facilities Expansion Project – $231,500
•    El Centro de la Raza Safety & Systems Improvements -$250,031
•    Emmanuel Family Life Center – $400,594
•    Eritrean Community Center Expansion – $300,000
•    Family Services Center – $1,265,000
•    Ferndale Boys & Girls Club – $752,847
•    Giant Step – $520,761
•    Greenbridge Early Learning Center – $1,419,281
•    High Point Neighborhood Center – $2,000,000
•    Highline YMCA – $2,000,000
•    Milgard Work Opportunity Center – $1,850,000
•    Mt. Baker Planned Parenthood Education and Training Center – $881,847
•    Northeast Community Center Expansion – $1,800,000
•    Pierce County Therapy Center – $128,000
•    Rainier Vista & Rainier Valley Teen Center – $3,906,000
•    Repurposing Daybreak Star – $87,500
•    Riverwalk Point Community Building – $79,253
•    Rotary Support Center for Families – $3,500,000
•    Technology Access Foundation Community Learning Space – $1,500,000
•    The Keller House Services Center – $600,000
•    YMCA/YWCA Central Spokane Facility – $3,500,000

“He who is void of virtuous attachments in private life is, or very soon will be, void of all regard for his country. There is seldom an instance of a man guilty of betraying his country, who had not before lost the feeling of moral obligations in his private connections.”
Samuel Adams

I ran across this opinion piece by Walter E. Williams this morning and liked it.  There is a growing number of states that are beginning to push back against the oppressive hand of the federal government.

“Our Colonial ancestors petitioned and pleaded with King George III to get his boot off their necks. He ignored their pleas, and in 1776, they rightfully declared unilateral independence and went to war. Today it’s the same story except Congress is the one usurping the rights of the people and the states, making King George’s actions look mild in comparison. Our constitutional ignorance — perhaps contempt, coupled with the fact that we’ve become a nation of wimps, sissies and supplicants — has made us easy prey for Washington’s tyrannical forces. But that might be changing a bit. There are rumblings of a long overdue re-emergence of Americans’ characteristic spirit of rebellion.”

Barack Obama’s Teleprompter’s Blog

“Reflections from the hard drive of the machine that enables the voice of the Leader of the Free World”