The Rights of the American Citizen

Remember these famous words from the Declaration of Independence?

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Did you catch that? They believed the basis for basic human rights came from a Supreme Being that was above government. Does that make you uncomfortable in today's multi-cultural, pluralistic, secular society? Do you believe that sentiment is no longer important?

If so, then where do we get our rights? From the government? Any government that has the power to grant something also has the power to take it away.


It might be instructive to examine the very next sentences in the Declaration:

"That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness."

Apparently the founders considered this pretty important, and put no trust in government to protect them without being constrained to do so. People today blithely assume they can trust their government, even though historically, the number of benign governments that have existed are vanishingly small, and most of those did not maintain their benevolence. It can be easily demonstrated that the founders were incredibly well educated even compared to the brightest of our leaders today. We ignore their hard-earned conclusions at our own peril.

The words of John Rushdoony in This Independent Republic speak to the importance of our Founders conclusions:

"If sovereignty resides in God and is only held ministerially by men, then the basic responsibility of ruler and ruled is to God, who is also the source of freedom. But if sovereignty resides in the state, whether a monarchy or democracy, man has no appeal beyond the law of the state, and no source of ethics apart from it. He is totally responsible to that order and has only those rights which the state chooses to confer upon him."

How important is this? These quotes from Thomas Jefferson, writ large in stone on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC serve as a warning:


 "God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever."
Do you tremble?   Should you?



"A LONG AND LUSTROUS WINTER"?


As an engineer, trained in the sciences and the scientific method, and one who has had a lifelong affection for astrophysics, I have made some observations and found some interesting facts over the years, that pertain to the concept of global warming.
First off, here is a graph that everyone needs to be familiar with. It shows average global temperatures over time, along with sunspot cycle length over time. The correlation is very tight. Why should this be? Specifically, why the correlation to sunspot "cycle length"?
The graph is at http://www.tmgnow.com/IMAGES/lassenA.jpg and is displayed below. The red line represents solar activity and the blue line the average temperature of the earth.



The entire article, along with other interesting and supporting data and graphs, is at:http://www.tmgnow.com/repository/solar/lassen1.htmlAnother version of this graph can be found at:
http://www.john-daly.com/danetemp.gifWe know that sunspots are, among other things, indicators of total radiative output, and when there are more of them, there is more being put out. There are also graphs comparing temperature change to # of sunspots. Those graphs are good, but the correlation with the cycle length, which is based on the frequency of sunspot activity, is astounding. But, again, how does this mechanism work to increase or decrease global temperatures? There are some interesting hypotheses out there. The most popular one with those who find problems with the manmade co2 theory is that the change in the level of solar wind either allows or restricts greater amounts of galactic background cosmic rays into the atmosphere. This causes more or less ionization which either seeds more clouds, or means less cloud cover, depending on whether the solar wind is lower or higher. The presence or lack of cloud cover then determines how much radiant energy from the sun gets reflected or absorbed, resulting in lower or higher temperatures globally.

This entire theory is examined in detail at http://www.warwickhughes.com/agri/Solar_Arch_NY_Mar2_08.pdf
For those who still doubt a relationship, or doubt that the Maunder Minimum and the Little Ice Age (and similar events) have any relationship, see the following graphs.

Showing temperature ranges during the relevant time frames:

http://www.john-daly.com/hockey/MWE-LIA.gif

Showing sunspot activity during the same time period:

http://www.john-daly.com/hockey/sunspots.gif


These are part of a larger article found at:

http://www.john-daly.com/hockey/hockey.htmQuoting from that article, regarding these two graphs:

"The most striking feature of the above 400-year record of solar variability is the Maunder Minimum, a 70-year period on the sun in which there were practically no sunspots at all. It's as if the sun had `stopped breathing'. But even before 1640 when the Maunder Minimum started, the cycle was clearly fragmented and irregular in contrast with the solid rhythmic cycles of subsequent years after 1710. When we compare this extraordinary solar event with the climate record from Fig.1, we can see the Maunder Minimum occurred at exactly the same time as the lowest point of the Little Ice Age.
The inference is clear. The variable sun appears to have caused the Little Ice Age and in all probability caused the Medieval Warm Period too. Carbon 14 isotopes are used as a proxy for solar activity prior to 1600 AD and this indicates a high level of solar activity during the medieval period, resulting in climatic warmth, and also a reduced level of activity during a cold period called the `Sporer Minimum' centered around 1350 AD."

There is much more on this web site, very much worth reading, and very much needing a detailed and exhaustive rebuttal by agw proponents if they expect us to consider any other alternative conclusions. To discount or dismiss it is to admit defeat, imo.

Now, here is where some speculation comes in that I find interesting. A researcher has been studying solar cycles and Jupiter cycles of various sorts and has mapped some interesting data. I am not sure of his correlation of sunspot activity to Jupiter's perihelion, but he is the only one I have been able to find who has tried to graph a supposed 200+ year cycle of "solar intensity". I keep reading about it and it comes out at 206, 211, etc, but his was the only site where I could find any attempt to make some sort of graph of it.

He has a graph showing sunspot activity. Where we don't have have sunspot data, but aurora data, he uses that to approximate the sunspot activity since solar wind also effects the intensity of the aurora borealis effect at the poles. Some of the other sites already referenced in this post contain data showing a very tight correlation to sunspots and the resultant effect on auroras. The graph has a lower line, showing the period from 1600 to 1820 and an upper line showing 1821 to 1994. Here is a copy of his graph, where I have added some reference point years on it:



The entire article is at:

http://personal.eunet.fi/pp/tilmari/tilmari6.htmNote that the period between 1600 and 1710 reaches a low that tracks with the Maunder Minimum and the "Little Ice Age" mentioned above. Note too that in the first part of the 1800's. leading up to the end of the graph on the lower line, 1820, tracks with an event known as "The Year Without a Summer". It was a low period during which there were also a series of volcanic eruptions at Mount Tambora in Indonesia. The resulting dust in the air further lowered the amount of sunlight (radiant energy) reaching the earth, such that in 1816, worldwide growing seasons did not properly occur. There were many deaths during the abnormally cold winter and famine due to food shortages caused by the minimal growing season. More can be read about this at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer

Note that we are now past the end of the upper graph, and if it repeats the 220 year cycle, we should be entering another sudden and long drop in sunspot activity. In fact it has already started as of last year. This is the lowest sunspot activity in decades. Even without a volcanic eruption, if the pattern holds true, we can expect to see an unprecedented period of global cooling for some years to come. This, exactly at a time when the reigning theory of political correctness, anthropogenic global warming, is seeking to massively move the world's industries and peoples to adopt poverty inducing practices and life styles that would drive temperatures even lower, assuming their plans actually do anything beyond bankrupting the economies and productivity of any nation that adopts them.

I am afraid this would not be a "lustrous winter" as Chekhov wrote, albeit it might be a long one.

Rick (rixshep)

Open Season

I have watched Sarah Palin since the day John McCain announced her in August of 2008 as his running mate. The more I have learned of her, the more I have seen her responses, her ideas and actions, the more impressed I have been with her.

And yet, the media has been unconscionably hypocritical in dealing with her. A lot of people use the word 'unconscionable'. I really mean it. This has been a violation of human conscience and dignity. It has been completely immoral and reprehensible.

They know this, and blithely act as if they are unaware of the wickedness of their attitudes and actions and pretend as if it is just the normal way they treat anyone. More's the pity.

Do you all understand WHY she stepped down? You don't? Really? Didn't you hear her speech? She explained it in plain English!

Members of the far left have been using typical dirty tricks that misuse the legal system to destroy her and bankrupt her and her state. Private citizens can file charges against people in office or against legal entities, with no fear of consequence or responsibility for expense. All of the expense goes to the one accused. Even if they prove the charge was completely baseless, they have to pay the enormous legal fees and the lying scum that brought the charges have to pay zilch. No accountability.

Multiple suits have been brought against her, ALL OF THEM DISMISSED AS FRIVOLOUS, wasting millions of dollars for the state of Alaska, and hundreds of thousands for the Palin family. She could no longer do her job without harm coming to her state.

When I heard her speak on Friday, July 3, 2009, I turned to my wife and said, "Dear Lord, she is painting a bullseye on those doing this, and on the media, and going after them!"

You see, what she can't do as a public official, she CAN do as a private citizen, to address the injustices that have been continually levied against her.

And that is how this cartoon came to be as a result of what we saw on July 3rd, 2009.

It's hunting season, And there is no limit. May her hunt be a good one!