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When you receive the Seal you will see global warming approaching as the end-times. You will be interested to see the presidential contenders for 2008 are taking up the issue of global warming. McCain has pulled ahead as the front-runner in the Republican race after Super Tuesday when he captured most of the delegates. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are nearly tied in their race for the democratic nomination.

Illinois senator Barack Obama has taken up the issue of global warming, claiming his plan is better than the plan of McCain. He has met with Al Gore and was encouraged to take action before the election.

All three of these candidates–Obama, Clinton, and McCain–have plans to fight global warming based on the “cap and trade” system where permits are sold to polluters. The more they pollute, the more permits they have to buy.

Obama claims his plan is superior because his plan would require “auctioning” where all the permits have to be bought up front. That is what the European Union is moving toward doing more of.

It may seem like good news this issue has come out in the open like this for the candidates. People are becoming more and more concerned about global warming and making changes will require sweeping legislation.

From around 1990 to 2005 Germany was able to cut its emissions by ten percent. And the United Kingdom cut emissions during that time by 3 percent. So it is possible to cut emissions with the cap and trade system.

But those cuts are not nearly enough and can not possibly happen soon enough. 2005 was another record year for emissions. Nearly 7.9 billion tons of carbon emissions polluted the air that year alone.

And the pollution has been growing at a rate of nearly 3 percent per year since 1900. Even with the United States making cuts in emissions, The US is currently the leader in pollution, and those cuts can not possibly be enough.

Eventually industry will switch to clean energy. Most of the carbon emissions are caused by burning fossil fuels to create electricity. The second-highest polluter is transportation which can be changed too.

But those changes will not happen for years to come. Meanwhile pollution is growing and developing countries are predicted to be the fastest-growing polluters in the coming decades.

Carbon dioxide is blamed for being a “greenhouse gas” and trapping in the heat of the sun but not letting it escape, much like a greenhouse stays warm inside. It is upsetting the delicate balance of the ecosystem of the earth.

There is a consensus among scientists all around the world on global warming. And they agree with the prophecy of Jesus about the end-times. Jesus taught the simple parable of the fig tree.

When the fig tree blossoms, Jesus said, you know that summer is near. Jesus likened the end of the world to a “summer.” And today that is what scientists agree the end of the world is coming like.

Now it does not matter much who you vote for. All the candidates have plans to fight global warming. But none of them can possibly do enough to change the world. And time is running out.

When you receive the Seal you will see global warming as the sign of the end-times as Jesus predicted. You will prepare yourself by reconciling with God when you receive the Seal.

When you receive the Seal you will begin to care about the environment. You will have to–global warming is the sign of the end-times approaching. And you will be interested in the court judgment in early February 2008 against the Environmental Protection Agency. The federal appeals court rejected the plan of the EPA to curb mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants. The court said the EPA was acting in direct opposition to orders from congress.

In 2007 the US Supreme Court ruled against the EPA for failing to regulate greenhouse gases. This latest court judgment is another mark against the Bush administration for its environmental policies.

One-third of mercury emissions in the US come from coal-fired power plants. Mercury is known to drop out of the air and get into lakes and rivers where it ends up in the flesh of fish. People who eat the fish eat the mercury too.

Mercury is a neurotoxin and contact with a little mercury will kill a person. And if a pregnant mother eats fish with mercury in it her child can suffer developmentally because of the poison.

The EPA in 2005 came up with a plan to trade mercury emissions, a little like the European “cap-and-trade” system for greenhouse gases. Those who pollute more must buy credits from those who pollute less.

Environmentalists have worried that those living near heavily-polluting power plants will live in a pollution “hot spot” but be able to do nothing about it. They sued the EPA and have won the case.

So the cap-and-trade system will not go into effect for mercury emissions. Meanwhile, no plan is in effect to regulate mercury emissions, and the greater danger looms on the horizon–greenhouse gases.

Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide are polluting the air in ever-increasing amounts. They are blamed for the warming temperatures of the earth, keeping in the heat from the sun like a greenhouse but not letting it escape.

The earth has been warming steadily for 20 years with no end in sight. Predictions from scientists are dire. There will be mass extinctions among living creatures on earth.

There is a consensus among scientists of the world about global warming. And this agrees with the prediction of Jesus Christ. When He was asked about the end-times He described them as a summer.

He told the simple parable of the fig tree. When the fig tree starts to blossom, you know that summer is near. That “summer” is how Jesus described the end-times. And that is how the modern scientists confess the world is ending too.

Natural disasters have already increased in number and severity. There have been increases in floods and droughts, wildfires and windstorms. Never before in recorded history has this been seen.

When you are sealed you will begin to care about the environment. However, there is little you can do to save the earth. You can vote and take action to reduce your own carbon footprint. But you can not reduce emissions in developing countries where they will grow the fastest.

When you are sealed you will prepare yourself spiritually to meet God. You will recognize the end-times approaching and prepare yourself for a home in Heaven instead of on earth when you receive the Seal.

The older the Tennessee Mountain Man gets the more he finds himself contemplating the history written in his lifetime, and how that history effects the present. In the midst of the 2008 political season there are inescapable memories and applications both good and bad of yesteryear. A recent visit between the computer man and a politically well connected lawyer friend turned on the topics of politics, the election season at hand, and how the 2008 elections bring memories of the “good run” the two men had enjoyed in their life as well as the pain they had endured. Both now finding themselves leaning right recalled their happier years growing up in democratichouseholds and finding that sixty (60) years of living, loving, and maturing gives one quiet a perspective.

Hillary Clinton for example dredges up memories like the Rose Law Firm, Kathleen Willy, lost files, “that woman, Miss Lewinsky”, perjury, Gennifer Flowers, smoking pot without inhaling, Paula Jones, white water, Susan McDougal ad infinitum.

Barack Obama stirs up memories as well. Memories like the pride that swells up in a boy’s heart for his country as he watches Chet Huntley and David Brinkley televise and report on the operations of the republican and democratic conventions in real time.

As Hillary, like Tammy Wynette, stands by her man she conjures up recollections not of The Possum (George Jones) but of George Wallace and his wife, Lurleen who ruled as Governors of Alabama during the 1960s and 1970s. A time most people would rather not revisit.

On the other hand Obama is trailed by the legacy of another young man of that era. A United States Senator, a Roman Catholic, by the name of John F. Kennedy stirred a nation and caught the imagination and hope of the American people when he dared run for and win the Presidency of the United States.

The Clintons bring back memories of Bull Conner and his attack dogs while Obama brings ringing memories of Freedom Marches, of Martin Luther King, of Jack Kennedy and of Robert Kennedy.

The Clinton’s win at any price hardball back room politics bring back memories of FBI Director J Edgar Hoover and his abuse of power taping and spying on Dr King and political operatives of both parties for his personal aggrandizement. He black mailed our leaders of the day keeping the pressure on. With certain kinds of people, the end justifies the means.

George and Laurleen bought black votes by buying off the religious leaders. The fact was that they could not have stayed in power without the support of the African-Americans living in Alabama. At least one Fox reporter has said the Clinton Machine is providing Black church clerics with “walking around money” for their support against Obama, one of their own. Hello! Bill Clinton was not the first black president, but Obama could be. Clinton was and is the “other white meat”, you know, the one the Holy Bible warns you against.

Obama having run a clean campaign faces a Clinton Machine which, to state only a couple of examples, first introduced racial issues into the democratic primary by race baiting, and which raised the youthful indiscretions of Obama trying to make the masses believe him to be an addict and drug dealer. What ever happened to the old adage, “don’t throw rocks if you live in a glasshouse”? Or the rule requiring a plaintiff to have clean hands to bring an action?

If the Clinton Machine is not bonking you they are pimping you and whether they like it or not they got caught pimping their daughter. Yet they appear to be able feign pain as well as Hillary does tears and get all out of joint when called on it. It brings back the memories of Bill’s righteous indignation over what the meaning of “is” - “is”. Makes one remember Hillary’s “vast right wing conspiracy” which turned out to be nothing more than Bill Clinton’s zipper. They don’t, however, seem to have an issue with our troops fighting a war on foreign soil being referred to as pimps.

The Clinton Machine changed its collective mind and expressed a desire to seat Michigan and Florida delegates after they fudged on campaigning and managed to win an election in states that were not supposed to count for anything in the 2008 democratic party nominating process. But no caucus says Billary, we would lose that.

Billary always wanting to change the rules in the middle of the game. They remind yours truly of the kid who always managed to empty a playground by just showing up.

Hillary vs. Obama. The 2008 election truly is a choice between yesterday and tomorrow.

When you receive the Seal you will see the sign of the end-times in global warming. That is what the United Nations sees, and they are looking for leadership for the coming crisis. British billionaire Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin, has some plans for the UN. He plans to set up an “environmental war room” that can provide some leadership for the world as it warms.

Branson said his war room would be run by a key figure in global warming and it would help to secure good ideas and also to figure the costs each nation would have in stopping the warming.

The war room would not be a political machine but would rely on the UN and governments of nations to enforce its policies, to “make sure that implementation happens.”

Michael Bloomberg, New York City mayor, was present at the UN debate. He claimed global warming is just as big a threat as terrorism and nuclear proliferation. But his was a unique voice for an American.

Those speaking at the UN debate realize they can not achieve their goals without the cooperation of the US and China, the two biggest polluters in the world. And so far that cooperation has not come easy.

Recent climate conferences have exempted any efforts at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by developing nations, leaving China to go on polluting without any accountability.

And the US government has not been willing to agree to any mandatory cuts in emissions in the coming years. The UN has not been able to get any cooperation from the biggest polluters in the world.

Of course, that cooperation is coming. It is inevitable. As temperatures climb worldwide, so the concern about the changing climate will climb. But that will not translate into reduced emissions.

Carbon dioxide is the main “greenhouse gas” blamed for trapping in the heat of the sun like a greenhouse but not letting it escape. Most of the CO2 emissions in the world are caused by coal-fired power plants.

And there are 850 new coal-fired power plants scheduled to be built in the next few years in the US, India, and China. That means there will be further growth of emissions in spite of efforts to reduce them.

Emissions of CO2 have grown at 3 percent each year since 1900. This has caused the earth to begin to warm, as it has for the past 20 years. Scientists have dire predictions for the warming earth, and they are not alone.

They have a savior. Jesus Christ Himself predicted the end of the world like a summer. He taught the simple parable of the fig tree. When the fig tree blossoms, you know that summer is near.

Jesus likened the end-times to a summer. And that is how scientists see the end-times coming too. Global warming is turning the other seasons into summer and upsetting the delicate balance of the ecosystem of the earth.

When you are sealed you will see the sign of the end-times in global warming. And you will prepare yourself for the destruction of the earth. You will have an eternal home in Heaven when you receive the Seal.

Some people keep insisting that the war on terrorism isn’t a real war, because you can only be at war with a country, and “terrorism” isn’t a country. The problem is, a worldwide network of well-organized and well-funded terrorists has declared war on us. When someone declares war on you, and demonstrates the ability to effectively attack you on your own soil, killing thousands of civilians and attacking the Pentagon, you are at war with them whether you <em>call</em> it a war or not. It’s pointless to say “they aren’t a country so we can’t be at war with them,” when they’re clearly at war with us. There’s a significant difference between the war on terrorism and any previous wars we’ve fought. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a war. We’re at war with an international network of radical Islamic terrorists. The fact that the enemy isn’t one sovereign nation makes this war extremely difficult to prosecute, because it’s literally a war without borders. But does that mean we should give up and go home?

Their leaders have declared that they will not stop until they’ve succeeded in annihilating our culture. Because they’re fanatics, I believe them. These are not rational people. They believe they will defeat us. If they perceive that we’re too weak to continue the battle, it will give them strength to pursue it more vigorously.

There are radical Islamic fundamentalists just about everywhere in the world. Wherever they are, they’re a potential or actual threat, not just to us, but to anybody they deem is an infidel. We need to stop them, both because there’s no other nation on earth powerful enough to do it, and because we are, have been, and will be again, targets of their terrorist activity.

The people who say we should have stayed in Afghanistan because that’s where Bin Laden was before 9/11, or that we should focus on Pakistan because he’s probably there now, don’t understand that Osama bin Laden is not the enemy. He’s only one leader in a vast network of terrorist cells, spead throughout the world. You can’t kill the Hydra by chopping off its heads; you have to disembowel it. That means cutting of its source of funding. Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia are the biggest sources of funding for Islamic terrorism. (Saudi Arabia is ostensibly our “ally,” so they will undoubtedly be the last one with which we engage, if it should come to that…)

IMHO, this war will ultimately be fought in every country that harbors or funds terrorists, because it’s a war on terrorism, not on a particular country. The countries that fund terrorism, and the countries where the terrorists organize, plot, stage, and train their operatives, will either fight with us or against us. If they commit to eradicating the terrorists within their borders, we will fight alongside them. If they side with the terrorists, we will fight against them.

Withdrawing our troops now, as the Democrats want to do, would leave the spoils to the enemy, and give them a chance to regroup and grow stronger. And they <em>will</em> attack us again. I’d rather the war be fought over there by trained soldiers who volunteered to fight for their country than have it come here and be fought by suicide bombers against civilian targets.

Do you remember 9/11? Do you remember how you felt inside when you first learned what had happened? Or has it been glazed over by the media bombarding you with the same images over and over until you were finally inured to the reality of it, and it became just another media event? It was real. And it can happen again. And again. And again, and again. And, if you don’t believe me, ask an Israeli what it’s like to never know from day to day if the bus you take downtown, or the pizza shop your kid stops in with their friends after school, is going to be blown up by terrorists. Do you think it can’t happen here? Don’t forget, it already has.

When you receive the Seal you will see global warming as the sign of the end-times. You will be interested in a new study showing profits can be earned while cutting emissions half the amount needed to stabilize the greenhouse gas levels. McKinsey and Company published a report Thursday February 14 2008 detailing how investing in energy efficiency will make profits for investors while reducing greenhouse gas emissions considerably.

McKinsey figures if $170 billion were spent globally on energy efficiency each year there would be a profit with that investment of 17 percent, or $29 billion. And they are not figuring anything difficult to do.

These are the energy-efficiency measures they claim could be implemented quickly and at minimal cost. And just by saving energy like this carbon dioxide emissions would be cut nearly half the amount needed to stop global warming.

Carbon dioxide is blamed for being a greenhouse gas, trapping in the heat of the sun but not letting it escape, much like a greenhouse. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says the gas needs to rise no higher than 550 parts per million.

McKinsey claims some of the energy-saving measures are able to return 10 percent or more on the investment. And those measures would save as much energy as 64 million barrels of oil a day.

The McKinsey Global Institute says the most inefficient industry in the world is Chinese heavy industry. But the second most inefficient is residential housing in the United States.

Many US houses are known for being large and not insulated very well. So they demand a lot of heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. And often the residents do not adjust the thermostats when nobody will be inside the houses for hours.

The world has been steadily warming now for 20 years. Several of these years have been the hottest years in a century. Natural disasters are on the rise along with the temperatures.

There are more floods and droughts happening now, more wildfires and windstorms. And those experienced are not just more frequent but more severe. This is happening all over the world.

And while there is some hope investors can buy into energy efficiency and the political climate changing in 2008 with the US presidential elections, only time will be bought. A real solution is unlikely soon enough to save the world.

There is a consensus among modern scientists these greenhouse gases are warming the world. But there is also agreement with these scientists from Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus taught about the end of the world.

He taught the simple parable of the fig tree. When the fig tree starts to blossom, you know that summer is near. That “summer” is how Jesus described the end of the world. And that is what is happening now, spring, fall, and winter becoming more like summer.

When you are sealed you will see global warming as the sign of the end-times. The fig tree is blossoming. The summer is approaching. Just like Jesus predicted and many scientists confess today.

When you are sealed you will prepare yourself to meet God. You have no more posterity in this world. You can not leave any legacy to anyone anymore but you can make your eternal home in Heaven when you receive the Seal.

Zimbabwe will surely have an option in its presidential polls this coming March 2008 as former finance minister Simba Makoni takes an aggressive move of filing his candidacy to be the highest leader of the land. During his interview, Makoni showed his strong willingness to challenge incumbent President Robert Mugabe to be the next top leader of Zimbabwe. He is running as an independent candidate.

He told the reporters that he takes all criticisms and possible risks of being a candidate for presidency.

Although he doesn’t have a strong grassroots support base, Makoni is seen as a strong contender of Mugabe. The former comes from the moderate wing of the Zanu-PF, a strong political body in Zimbabwe.

Both candidates come from two opposing factions. For Makoni, he believes it is about time to end the extreme hardships that all of the citizens in the country are enduring for the last 10 years.

Zanu-PF endorsed Mugabe in Congress in December as its official bearer for president in March 29 polls. But there were already rumors that someone from the same party would stand to contend him.

It was only Makoni who took a brave stance of challenging Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s long running public leader.

Makoni, 57, said his running has been a result of his grief toward the national hardships that the citizens are suffering from and criticized the present administration for Zimbabwe’s economic crisis.

As Zimbabwe is looking for dramatic changes in the country, Makoni’s candidacy is a hope to behold, according to political analysts.

For a decade, according to reports, many of the citizens are fed up to Mugabe’s wrong priorities and mismanagement and will look for better leadership in the executive branch.

How will U.S. environmental and energy policies look in 2009? With the primaries winding down, we’re starting to get a better idea. Senator Barack Obama fancies himself on this issue, as on most, a man of vision. Senator Clinton calls above all for accountability. The presumed nominee of the Republican Party, Senator John McCain, has very noble beliefs. Because recent polling shows that environmental issues like global warming aren’t at the top of voter priorities, it is doubly important to press candidates about clarifying their positions. So, what are candidates saying now about environmental and energy policies?

Obama’s rabble rousing oratory capacities have awed and inspired many; however if you watch a clip of him on the stump it is easy enough to see how he is guilty of espousing what one journal describes as a “vague uplift”. While hardly a death blow, this claim is at present especially damaging for its implicit contrast to the “crisp detail” famously proffered, and willingly delivered on cue, by the Clinton machine.

Not so in the policy literature. Hillary’s showing is respectable, to be sure; however it is Obama’s campaign webpage that wins my top marks for clear, effective and economical presentation of his intended approach. In the field of carbon emissions, he aims to impose a market-based cap-and-trade system with the ultimate goal of reducing emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by mid-century. He would utilize some of the revenues generated in carbon-credit auctions to ease the burden of those negatively impacted by the enormous economic transition.

Obama believes in a massive investment in clean energy initiatives. As president he would “invest $150 billion over 10 years to advance the next generation of biofuels and fuel infrastructure”, with the specific goal of ensuring that newly developed technologies are commercialized and brought to market in the United States and beyond. He would pursue an ambitious campaign to double funding for energy research and development. He would invest to ensure labor supply in a “clean technologies workforce” and to bring clean technologies to manufacturing centers such as Detroit. Obama would actively pursue the development of coal technologies cleaner than those which are presently in use. His hope to move toward oil independence is founded on the improvement of fuel efficiency standards. To do this he would provide guarantees to auto manufacturers that experiment with new engines and lightweight materials. This would be parcel to a broader national campaign of efficiency improvement; other incentives would include grants for local governments that implement building codes more favorable to energy efficiency.

The final pillar of his environmental policy is the restoration of American leadership on climate change. He would create a new Global Energy Forum to facilitate communication amongst the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases, and would further pursue coordination within the framework of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Senator Clinton’s proposals are remarkably similar to Obama’s on a number of levels. She too favors a cap-and-trade system which would see 100% of permits auctioned; she too hopes to invest $150 billion over ten years in “new energy” (some of the bills to be footed by corporations); and she too hopes to double federal investment in energy research. She has established timetables of national goals for energy reduction and use of clean energy similar to those of Obama. And finally, she too favors efforts to increase automobile fuel efficiency, specifically through the provision of $20 billion in “Green Vehicle Bonds” to American automakers. It would be interesting to see a chronological side-by-side of their respective policy evolutions.

In her traditional mass appeal to America’s middle and lower-middle classes, there is finally something of a differentiation, if it is more one of form than function. In addition to supporting “green collar” jobs, she would seek to modernize 20 million existing low income homes to improve energy efficiency. She would initiate a “Connie Mae” program to ease the acquisition of green homes by low and middle-income Americans. And finally she would require all new federal buildings to comply with zero-emissions specifications.

There is one commendable initiative unique to Clinton. She would oblige publicly-traded companies to include estimations of financial risk posed by climate change in annual reports submitted to the federal Securities and Exchange Commission. However such a policy might be of limited effectiveness if companies included the estimations only to appease the requirement without genuine regard for its implication.

To end the investigation, it is John McCain who receives poor marks, not for benevolence of intentions but for clarity of vision. In five short and murky paragraphs, it is he who commits the sin of “vague uplift”, failing to elicit a single clear policy initiative through verbose allusions to the forces of a cap-and-trade regime. In the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt he believes in preserving America’s natural majesty. His belief that “America’s economic and environmental interests are not mutually exclusive, but rather inextricably linked” is all fine and well. But I would hope to see a more clear-eyed expression of his means to this end. In a video clip tagged to the page, the Senator expresses his belief that the United States should join the Kyoto Protocol if China and India could be brought onboard. This suggests another debate which I evoked in last week’s column concerning the respective sacrifices of developed and developing nations in the battle to cut greenhouse emissions. Finally, citing the instability of many oil-producing states, McCain too advocates energy independence for the United States. America has been a net importer of oil for decades; true independence is only achievable through the intensive use of renewables and a great push to improve conventional fuel efficiency.

I hazard to presume that more specific policy proposals will become readily available from the McCain campaign as November approaches.

I do not think there was ever a time when I thought Rush Limbaugh would ease off or back down from a statement he has made regarding political candidates, so it is no surprise his public “battle” with John McCain continues. MSNBC today has an article stating that Limbaugh will not reconcile with McCain and though the article itself is somewhat anti-Rush (of course), in this case the “drive-by” media as Rush calls them, is correct. This is a sensitive issue for Rush of course as his entire career has been spent either trashing political candidates or endorsing them, however regarding McCain Rush is spot on when he says - “If I were to endorse McCain based on the current circumstances, I’d be looked at as a party hack”. Rush is right here - he cannot endorse McCain now after so many years of not agreeing with the man, and he is also right when he states that the party in office has nothing to do with his success. His show has been successful for many years and the party holding office does not impact that success.

Voice of Reason Greenspan Ex-Chairman Greenspan came out of hiding today to state the opposite of what our current chairman stated yesterday - that the chances of a recession are good (50% or better). Thank you for being the voice of reason, as our current chairman does not appear to be making believable and reasonable statements about the economic state of our country.

Greenspan also spoke on energy speaking up on behalf of nuclear energy (which I have always been on the fence about but never against putting at least some money into it), but the most interesting thing he said was that the full extent of the recession will not be clear until banks figure out how much money has been lost and housing prices begin to rise again. At this point it will probably be 2010 before these situations occur so if you are in a situation where you are willing to wait to sell your house, things could be worse - if you need to sell immediately, good luck my friends.

What in the Hell Was She Thinking?

Through the advice of a certain Radkesite reader I have decided to make an attempt to end the blog regularly with an interesting story that does not fit in with my regular topics, so without further delay …

I have had days where I left work feeling I should have stayed a little longer to finish things up, but this leaving work before the job is done incident is simply insane. Part of me almost wishes that the passengers of the bus were all extremely dangerous criminals that held up the gas station they were left at making it a much more interesting story, but it is what it is. They all acted “exemplary” so all in all everything turned out fine - unless you take into consideration this worker’s job which is likely to be lost over this idiotic move.

For the Record…

… I will not be mentioning Britney Spears on this website - after this of course. In fact, I think my new tag line should be “Radkesite.com - No Britney News!”. For interested readers, here is the latest Britney story I could find. I refuse to read it, but I am quite sure it is fascinating.