Conservative Corner: Energy’s Growing Pains

Mankind has had the need for energy since the discovery of fire. The need for energy sources for early man was light, heat and protection. Early man quickly learned they could rely on the cover of caves and fallen trees for protection from the elements, the use of fire to help see in the dark, scare off predators and keep warm, however, with the advancement of technology, man learned that wood, sod, coal and manure was not the only source of energy that can be used to serve mankind.

            Thanks to the technical advancement of energy productivity we now have cleaner burning wood, natural gas, oil, and coal power plants and more efficient and safer use of nuclear power. These forms of energy, however, still use a common means to produce electricity. Wood, oil, coal are burned and used with water to create steam in order to operate hydro-electric generators. The same basic production occurs in the use of geo-thermal and nuclear energy, only the nuclear fuel rods are not “burned” to create steam.

 There are different forms of energy that are somewhat still in their infancy, or at least their youth as we use them today. Solar and wind power have actually been in use for hundreds of years, but not to create electricity. Today wind turbines provide us with some electricity, but not enough to sustain the country. Solar panels can provide some homes and businesses with power, but they are expensive and they aren’t yet very efficient in less than favorable environmental conditions.

According to www.nationmaster.com the United States leads the world in energy consumption, with Canada in a close second. America, however, is working to equal the production with the consumption. With the advancement of solar, wind production and other alternative forms of energy along with in increased production of oil and natural gas, cleantechnica.com tell us that America is quickly turning into an energy production leader as well as a consumption leader.

America began drilling for oil and building the infrastructure for the petroleum industry at the beginning of the 20^th century. For better or worse, oil and oil products has become the predominate fuel for the internal combustion engine and other propulsion systems that are widely used today in our society. The Obama Administration, however, seems to be on a mission to destroy the petroleum industry.

 Obama's Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, said in 2008 "Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe." Obama's Secretary of Interior, Ken Salazar, said on the Senate floor in that same year that he would oppose off shore drilling even if gas went to $10 a gallon. We are also reminded from spectator.org that when Obama took office in 2009, the average price of gasoline in America was $1.83 a gallon. Today it has more than doubled to at least $3.87 per gallon.

 It is believed that the Obama’s administration wants to increase the prices of traditional energy sources so the average American will be forced to buy solar panels and electric cars no matter how expensive they are. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service started the process of putting the dunes sagebrush lizard on the endangered species list in order to stop, or at least pause, oil and gas production in the Permian Basin in New Mexico and Texas.

It is unknown how long the oil and natural reserves in the United States will last. The US is listed 14^th in the world for oil reserves and more oil fields are discovered every day. The US has the world’s largest supply of coal in the world and vast natural gas fields. We may run out of petroleum products in the future, but it won’t be soon. We can widely incorporate wind, solar, and geothermal into regular use in America, but it won’t be soon or cheap.

It took years to create the petroleum infrastructure that we enjoy today; it will take some time to create an alternative energy infrastructure for tomorrow that will equal oil. Until we catch up in science and technology enough to equal the power and price of petroleum, we need to continue with using out traditional energy sources and stop trying to wage war against oil. Until alternative energy sources can catch up with the efficiency and price of petroleum, we will continue to suffer from energy growing pains.

                         dkhummel@hotmail.com, dkhummel.blogspot.com

Conservative Corner: The Neutral Zone

Northwest sports fans have been fortunate over the past couple of months. As an avid Seattle Seahawks fan, I am proud to say that the Seahawks and their fans, the 12^th Man, have made history for the Northwest by winning Super Bowl XLVIII, and now we have the XXII Olympics in Sochi, Russia. To people who are not football fans or who don’t cheer for the regional home team, this season’s Super Bowl may be old news and boring, but as a lifetime Seahawk fan, I am still riding high on the Seahawk Super Bowl victory.

 As a football fan I would like to thank the Denver Broncos for a good game, even though it didn’t quite turn out in their favor, nonetheless, thanks goes out to the Broncos organization and their fan base for the heated and healthy competition. This year, however, the Seahawks and their fans have something to really cheer about. On December 2 of 2013 in a game against the New Orleans Saints the 12^th Man made history by breaking a Guinness record for crowd noise. A crowd of 68,387 Seahawks fans claimed the noise record of 137.6 decibels. At that same time the fans celebrating in the stands caused a magnitude 1 or 2 earthquake in Seattle according to www.kirotv.com. A great season, indeed, for the Seahawks and their fan base. Above all, some sports, especially football, have a unique quality.

If anyone plays a football game in a cold weather climate that person would need to protect him or herself against the elements and any potential hit that would occur during the game. That kind of protection covers nearly all of the body.  At a distance not many can tell if a player is a man or woman, black or white, conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat, or not political at all.

Football is one of those kinds of sports that are usually immune to social and political issues. Unfortunately, not all those who are involved in the game keep political issues out of the game. Sports announcer, Bob Costa, went on an anti-gun rant during halftime of the Philadelphia Eagles-Dallas Cowboys game last year. This was in response to the murder-suicide, of Kansas City Chiefs starting linebacker Jovan Belcher who fatally shot his girlfriend.

Athletes are people too and have problems like everyone else; however, it is not professional to put personal opinions or political and social problems in the game. Mr. Costa’s ill-timed anti-gun rant was a black eye on the face of professional sports broadcasting. Seattle Seahawks cornerback, Richard Sherman, also went on a rant at the end of the 2013 NFC Championship game, but Mr. Sherman later apologized for his rant.

There are some similarities between professional American football and some of the events in the Olympics. The love of country is apparent. Olympians proudly represent their country in the games, while Americans sing the “Star Spangled Banner” and wave Old Glory before each game. In some of the sports events the Olympian athletes wear the uniform and safety equipment and cannot be seen. Like in football, both events, urge teammate to compete and win.

It seems the common unseen thread is the absence of politics in sports. Even if a sports figure leaks that he or she voted a certain way, most certainly a sports fan with different political view is willing to ignore their choice if it means a Super Bowl ring. I recently found out from www.examiner.com that Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll voted for Obama in 2008. I most defiantly do not agree with his choice of president, but I fully support is choice for a winning football team.

Even during the Super Bowl parties and tailgate events even the hard-core political and social junkies don’t spread too much talk around; after all, in the lives of the football fan, the game is sacred. The only thing one is to speak of during a football party is player’s statistics and reminiscing about the games of old.

That is the glory of the game of football. There are only scrimmage lines, first downs, defensive linemen that could hold back a German panzer tank assaults, field goals and touchdowns. Even as a conservative, I rarely think of politics or social issues when I watch my Seahawks punch another touchdown through a less-than-adequate defense. During a game there is no talk of liberalism, conservatives, ant-gun talk, abortions, gay weddings, global warming, high taxes, the national debt, or a worthless president, just football.

Just before a play starts the offense and defense line up at the line of scrimmage. The space between these two lines of players is an area call the neutral zone. If anyone enters the neutral zone before the ball is hiked it is a penalty. I like to think of an entire football game like the neutral zone. No negative words (unless its smack talk), no politics, no social issues, no conspiracy theories, no and most of all, no football haters.  Once again, congratulations to the Super Bowl XLVII Champion Seattle Seahawks and thank God for football to help us escape for 5 months from all the crap in the world.

                                        Dkhummel.com, dkhummel.blogspot.com

Conservative Corner: The Snow Job

For decades old people would sit on the porch with a cup of coffee or a glass of lemonade and a cigarette or pipe and talk about the weather and how it affected them or the community. They would speak of heavy rains and floods or hot weather and droughts or just beautiful sunny days while they sipped their drink or take a draw on their smoke.

Today, however, the delightful days of sitting on the porch and presenting small talk about the weather seems to be over, or is it? We seem to have shifted from talking about the weather and “mother nature” (or God) to the weather on a global scale involving science instead of divine control. Today liberals have coined a new phrase for what happens when the weather becomes a little adverse. It is known as global warming or climate change, depending on the season.

Dictionary.com defines global warming as “an increase in the earth's average atmospheric temperature that causes corresponding changes in climate and that may result from the greenhouse effect.” It is common knowledge in the global warming world that carbon dioxide rises and forms a layer around the Earth which gives us the term the “greenhouse effect”. It has been said if can eliminate the toxic gas known as carbon dioxide we can stop global warming, however, it is not that easy. According to www.merriam-webster.com carbon dioxide is “a gas that is produced when people and animals breathe out or when certain fuels are burned and that is used by plants for energy.” So if people and animals stopped breathing and if we stopped burning plants for energy wouldn’t we be able to fix the environment? I don’t think it works that way

People who believe in this conspiracy seem to think that most, if not all global warming is caused by modern man. It seems odd that global warming as we know it only came to light every summer when parts of the U.S. got warmer than usual. When winter came and the storms got a little heavier the theorist had to find a different name. It was then called climate change. One of the big myths is that global warming/climate change causes extreme or adverse weather conditions. According to www.globalwarminghysteria.com there is no scientific or statistical evidence at all that supports such claims on a global scale.

Let’s not forget about the shame of the enviro-mental left, Al Gore, who predict in 2007 that by 2014 the polar ice caps would be melted. That same year Gore was given a Noble Peace Prize for his efforts. Now we learn from www.ancient-origins.net that Al Gore is being sued by over 30,000 scientists for his falsities in the global warming theory in which he may have profited over 200 million according to www.bloomberg.com.

Another myth is the polar ice caps are melting due to global warming. Guardianlv.com tells us that the ice caps have grown by 60%, due to constantly repeating periodic ocean cycles. Perhaps you can remember the scientific expedition to the Antarctic last month and how their ship got trapped in the ice in their search for evidence of global warming. Speaking of scientists, www.infowars.com reported “climate scientists allied with the IPCC have been caught citing fake data to make the case that global warming is accelerating”. Why would scientists falsify records and reports?

 From our conspiracy theory department we learn that the wealthy elite and some world leaders may promise fame and fortune to people who can “prove” the existence of man-made global warming so the world leaders can use these “findings” to impose restrictions and regulations on businesses and to control the lifestyle of the common man. During the 2008 presidential campaign Obama promised to bankrupt anyone who wanted to start up a coal fired plant with restrictions. In that same year Obama said in a video interview “Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket." Is this not forcing people to pay more for basic needs in the name of global warming?

A visit to www.globalwarminglies.com shows us that there is nothing significantly wrong with our weather, even in these modern times. The global environmental conditions have been much hotter and much colder than they are today without the “help” of modern convinces.

The time I spent as a child in cold-weather environments I learned of a term that was a meaning for a story or tall tale someone tried to tell you to fool you or to “pull the wool” over your eyes. That term for lying, storytelling, or manipulating the truth for a specific agenda was known as “a snow job”. I believe that the progressive left, liberals, corrupt world powers and the wealthy elite are putting up this phony front called global warming/climate change in order convince the people of the United States and the world to do what they want while using fear as a tool. The next time someone tries to talk to you about the myth known as global warming/climate change, please look for the common sense truth and not what an Al Gore wants you to believe.

                                 Dkhummel.com, dkhummel.blogspot.com

Conservative Corner: The Staggering of the Union Address

On Tuesday, January the 28^th  President Barrack Hussein Obama       preformed his State of the Union Address speech. He was there to inform the country of his plans and the state of the union. It appeared to be the same typical narcissistic speech that certain presidents give when they are trying to convince people of things that they probably don’t want. A recent radio news broadcast claimed that 17 percent of Americans had no interest at all in Obama’s State of the Union speech. I was part of that 17 percent until I decided that in all fairness I really should hear what the leader of the “free” world had to say. Unfortunately, my suppositions were mostly confirmed.

            Being a conservative, you can be sure that I would not agree with a great deal of what Obama said. There were, however, a few things that I agreed with. I have compiled a list of things that I thought were either good and /or truths and things that are bad and/or lies. There are some things he said that are debatable, on the other hand, there are some things he said that would break any bullshit meter. The one thing that Obama’s speech reassured us of is his inability to turn his head more than a 45 degree angle unless his Teleprompters allow it.

            Obama informed us that oil production is up in America is up and that during the last budget deal, (the first one of the entire administration) no one really got what they wanted. He also went rambling on with “Duh” comments like work hard so you can get ahead, we need tax reform, protect home ownership, troop support and the need for better education. I’m not saying all of the president’s speech was all wrong, It’s just the wrongs out-weighed the rights, literally.

            The Obama falsity started early in the speech with his bragging of the national debt and high school graduation levels. He claimed that under his administration the debt has decreased by more than half, when in fact the national dept has soared to more than 17 trillion dollars. I just hope no one tells Obama what comes after a trillion. He also told us that the graduation rate in American is the highest in 30 years. According to www.ed.gov 26 states reported lower graduation rates and only 24 states reported unchanged or slightly increased numbers.

            The president also said “so wherever and whenever I can take step without legislation, that’s what I’m going to do”. To my knowledge, most things a president does requires the approval of Congress. For Obama to avoid Congress to advance his agenda is illegal and guilty of treason.

            He also claimed, that we don’t need the “accident of birth” to get in the way of our work ethics. He also claims that less government threatens shutdown, yet he says he wants to cut government bureaucracy and promises to use his power to battle the global warming myth, which is more evidence of government waitsing too much of the people’s money. Obama continued his attempt at splitting our country by preaching on his war on race and economic inequality. I also heard Obama threaten those who are against Obamacare by telling them not even try to stop the failed health care plan.

            The president did say some things I approve, but since I trust him about as far as I can throw him, I think he said some of these things just to make Republicans and the conservatives happy. The only thing Obama did that brought a standing ovation to the whole room is giving honors to Army Ranger Sergeant First Class Cory Remsburg.

            No president is perfect, has a perfect presidency, or a perfect State of the Union speech, but I was hoping to something that would make conservatives happy too. To a socialist president, I guess that is not the case. According to Gallup, only 42 percent of Americans approve of how Obama is handling the job. With 58 percent of the people not happy, one would think he would change his tactics, apparently not. May the people should remind Obama and the Democrats what the people really want, to follow the Constitution, and freedom.

                                                           Dkhummel.com, dkhummel.blogspot.com