Obama - You Can't Do That! Don't lie to the Pope!

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Chris Matthews, MSNBC liberal anchor and Obama supporter said it best when summarizing Obama's recent visit with Pope Benedict XVI, a visit that was quietly hushed up by the liberal media of America.

Matthews said Obama cannot go to the Vatican and promise the Pope he will work to reduce abortions in America at the same time he is pushing through Congress, as a top national priority, a Health Care bill which provides federal funding for abortions that will increase abortions by up to 420,000 a year, an increase of up to 35%.

In Congressional Committee hearings just 3 days after Obama's visit with the Pope, Senator Barbara Mikulski, our very own Senator from Maryland, was forced to admit under questioning by Senator Orin Hatch that the new Health Care bill does indeed fund abortions, a bill she and the White House support.

In 2006, the most recent year statistics on abortion are available, there were 1,206,200 legal abortions in America. Planned Parenthood's Guttmacher Institute estimates government funding of abortion increases the number of abortions by 20 to 35 percent. That means we can expect between 220,000 and 420,000 more abortions to result.





Sometime in the past year the total of legal abortions performed in America passed 50 million, a number equal to about 14% of our total population. While the media and pro-abortion people claim the number consists mostly of three types of cases, rape, the threat of death to the mother, or the extensive physical handicaps of the fetus, numerous studies have failed to document the claim. In fact these studies show that the three reasons cited account for less than 5% of all abortions, meaning 95% had no reason to happen other than convenience.





Worldwide there have now been over one billion abortions and there are 50 million in the world every year. There is simply no evidence that anything the government does will reduce the number of abortions or stop the abortions of convenience from being performed but substantial evidence government action will increase the number of abortions.





Even Chris Matthew of MSNBC said on Hardball, his program, that Obama "can't do that,", promise the Pope he will work to reduce abortions at the same time his bill subsidizes abortion. Matthews is one of the many Obama supporters who are Catholic but disagree with the Vatican position on abortion. This circle of supporters also includes Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Biden.




One wonders if the agenda of the Obama gang is to build bridges with groups like the Catholics or drive a wedge between the leaders and members of the Catholic faith. Often in politics the best strategy is to neutralize an opponent if you cannot convert them. With only 54% of Catholics voting for Obama, one of the lowest Democratic totals in history, there is just cause for concern.

Take Me Now God! Excerpt 6

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“TAKE ME NOW GOD!”

by Jim Putnam

About the Book

This outrageous “unauthorized” autobiography goes inside the mind of a leading edge baby boomer with a mission, finding the purpose and meaning of life, and his desperate search for answers to life’s mysteries.

There are millions of seekers of truth among us, and if they want a roadmap through the uncharted waters of spiritual and personal evolution, Take Me Now God! traverses the endless maze of opportunity and catastrophe in a way they are not soon to forget.

Nothing is as it seems or as promised. To the author, life is a series of speed bumps and misadventures waiting to derail your train the minute it leaves the station. No stone is unturned in the quest for truth.

The scope of his search is astonishing. From new age to religions, cults to cultures, politicians to psychics, nothing escapes his interest or hilarious rationalization of what can never be rational. Like most of us, the author believes there is a hidden meaning and purpose to his life. But unlike most of us, he pursues his quest with reckless abandon ever faithful that answers lie just around the next turn.

Half a century of endless searching led the author to yet another self-proclaimed “light” person, a member of the enlightened “Illumanati”, where the lights finally went out, thus triggering the author’s demand to God to be taken now!

Humorous satire and cynical wit engulf the targets of his search. There are a multitude of choices waiting to prey on the unsuspecting seeker, and the author leaves them strewn in shambles in his wake.

How he manages to explore the dizzying array of often conflicting choices and still remain sane, should that be your conclusion, is a wonder. He holds a mirror up to our faces, then makes us laugh at how seriously we take ourselves. God knows we need a laugh, we are way too serious, and Take Me Now God! is just the antidote for survival in the 21st century.

Before you set out on your own search for meaning in life, read this book. It will save you time, trouble, money and sanity. But set your beliefs aside as none will survive the scathing quest of the author intact. Prepare yourself for a spiritual, metaphysical journey unlike any you’ve ever experienced exploring the lighter side of light and dark in the hapless quest for enlightenment.

You won’t stop laughing. You won’t stop reading. And the disastrous experiences of the author may help you find a better way.


Excerpt 6


CHANNELS

Having worked in the television industry in New York City, and I know I was a TV insider because once I was on the set of All My Children, my idea of channels was what you got when you pushed the remote control. And boy did cable TV ever change the landscape of the world of channels.

Still, not being born entirely stupid, I was aware of the metaphysical channels as well. Even my Jewish-Adept knew channels, so I figured they couldn’t be all bad. There were a sprinkling of them for a while, like Seth, Ramtha, and a host of other weird named characters intent on leading people somewhere.

That was before the New Agers took over. Suddenly the sprinkling became a blizzard and we are left with mystical channels on about every street corner of the civilized world. Yet another sign of the sophistication of our culture. So I followed them with more than a casual interest.

Back in 1990 I went to a channeler for the first time. Thought it was high time for a personal investigation of this phenomena. In truth, I kind of wanted to bond with my own personal channel. See just how important I might be to the other world, those overseers in the spiritual dimension. I expected to hear from Michael the Archangel, maybe Peter the apostle, maybe even the man himself, Jesus. No doubt someone very important was waiting to guide me.

The destiny of civilization was in my hands and my own super star channel would fill me in. Actually I didn’t go to the channel. Seems the spiritual world needn’t be bothered with such things as being there. They’re kind of like the phone company in that regard. Bring things together. They use electrical pulsing signals of some inter-dimensional frequency I guess. But the physical person is merely the conduit for the spiritual guru from afar. My contact was in Portland.

So I called. At my expense too. You’d think otherworld channels could have figured out how to beat the phone company out of long distance charges. Not as smart as the ghetto gangs and illegal immigrants who mastered it long ago. Still, I spent over an hour in my first encounter. Got it all on tape.

So just who was my famous other world guide or mystical channel? Not Jesus. Or Michael. Not even Peter. None of the aforementioned or imagined. Oh no, in four sessions during the ensuing years there was Kal, Kim Son, Mariam, Benjamin, James, Sienna, Tamal and Maca. Who the hell are these characters? What did I do wrong? Tune in to the comedy channel?

I thought they were supposed to come through one at a time, like Ramtha. So why did it take up to three at a time to communicate with me? Must have been a really stupid human. Shit, I got an inter-dimensional party line. And new ones were sent in every session. Never got the same guide twice. Seemed odd since the best selling channels were the same dude dropping into the studio to record a series of tapes, videos or books every time.

Felt cheated at first. Like they were using me as a lab rat for training wannabe channels. Like a doctor interning I guess. So I get the trainees. Soon as the big guys thought these junior channels had their act together, by experimenting on me, they sent them on and moved in another new class.

Then concluded that it wasn’t really an insult to me, but an honor, to have a committee of spirit guides. Didn’t really mean that I was so hopelessly worldly that I needed an entire emergency metaphysical trauma team. No, and it was important for me to rationalize this, I had multiple channels because I absorb so much so fast. The human computer. Remotes were blazing in both hands.

I got lots of good information. Even got stuff no one else ever heard before. Ever try to prove channeled information? You don’t. Oh you can make some effort to prove the little tidbits of premonitions. Like who is going to get killed. The latest combatants to declare war. Stuff like that. And even then it requires a very liberal translation.

I’m still trying to figure out what Nostradamus really meant when he said France will fall on it’s ass in the mud, or something like that. People interpret things in the strangest ways. Books have been written how it was a secret code and the prophecy really foretold the outbreak of the first world war, or the second world war, or even the third world war. Maybe the death of John Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean or Elvis.

Where do they come up with that crap? I want real proof. Give me the winning numbers to next week’s Powerball lottery and I’ll be a true believer for the rest of my annuities. Those damn lotteries. Why is it there are only a few thousand possible combinations of winning numbers, yet the odds of winning are 12 million to one? Where does that math come from? Pythagoras in a drunken stupor?

So I mostly keep my channeled information to myself. Haven’t figured out how to capitalize on it yet, and it ain’t good information until it turns a profit. Isn’t that the metaphysical way? How could I ever compete with Sammy and the gang of new and improved television channels? They are replacing the now infamous television ministers. Not enough of them left out of jail to keep up the ratings.

New Age channels seem to all be men, yet they have one other advantage over me. All the channel stars only appear through the bodies of great looking chicks. Far more photogenic than some over-the-hill jock like me. Must be channel transvestites. Something about a man’s husky voice and bawdy street slang emitting from a woman that bothers me. Hard to take it as God’s word. Must be part of the test of faith.

So it’s back to my safe world of television channels. Give me Fox any day. Hell, as bad and bizarre as television programming has become, maybe all the TV channels are channeled entities too. That would explain a lot of things.

LATE LAST NIGHT

Late last night I turned on the TV
to see what the world had to say
as I watched in wonder
I was saddened by what happened today

Seems the longer that we live here together
the harder that it is to survive
there’s so much hate and so much hurt
so many reasons not to try

Far to the east the hand of God
reminds us of the limits of man
one swift blow from an angry earth
humbled a world, shattered our plan

Rains and floods and hurricanes
fires and those other things
once again remind us we’re
just visiting here so it seems

Bombs rain down in Russia
Europe and the middle east
what I saw made no sense
in the holy land of the man of peace

Everywhere were hungry children
millions of them had no homes
old people driven from the land of their fathers
as the march of mankind goes on

If death and destruction didn’t get them
then a killer disease just might
somehow all those pictures that flashed
on my screen didn’t seem to be right

Politicians promised to save us
preachers promised more of the same
but the hurt and hate and fear they showed
made it all just a game

And as I watch the picture
on my screen, on my TV
I wonder is this how our world
is meant to be

Whatever happened to brotherhood
whatever happened to the common good
whatever happened to the dreams
of a better land

And as I ponder on this world I see
I know it’s really not for me
don’t think this is what a God
somewhere had in mind

He asked us to return his love
and love our fellow man
but what I see on my TV
seems to have gotten out of hand





PAST LIVES

The Ex made me feel guilty a lot. She was always talking about her past lives. When I told her I didn’t really remember any of mine, she looked at me like I was some freak. As if she couldn’t imagine how in the world an ancient friend like me, (her description), could have no memory of past lives. I got bits and pieces sometimes, at least I thought I did, but I never got any revelations in full length motion picture Technicolor with Dolby surround sound.

Was having a particularly bad night one evening. Felt like the poster boy for the suicide hot line. The mouthwash could no longer get rid of the foul taste in my palate or pounding in my head. May have to switch brands. Didn’t know there was that much difference in tequilas.

Half a bottle later I found myself melting into the chair as I sat in a stupor watching Mr. B jumping around the room like a 200 pound banshee. Kind of like watching one of those humongous sumo wrestlers dressed in a tutu performing Swan Lake. His pirouettes were shaking the house to its foundation.

Seemed like the perfect time, perfect place, and perfect mind set for another stab at the past life connection. It had only been 30 years since I first tried to make the journey, 30 years of consistent failure. Used every trick in the book and none worked. Equal opportunity failure.

After many attempts over the years using meditation, chanting, drumming and astral travel, to mention but a sampling, I decided to try visualization. It was new, I was old, and the mouthwash was starting to work. Besides, the sumo had collapsed in a heap after a particularly ungraceful series of moves.

Thought it might help if I picked a place where I was sure to have been in the distant past. France or England sounded cool. They were old. Odds were if I’d had past lives, I would have been at one or both places. Besides, I’d always felt claustrophobic around the neck, could never button my dress shirts because of it, so figured I must have been in France during the guillotine heydays.

Another shot of medicine and I was sailing off to the inter-dimensional repository of metaphysical memories. Nicknamed it the “Dead Bank”. I mean it was all stuff you were supposed to have experienced before your last death.

First I popped in the film of France for visualization. Really my imagination. And there I was, drifting through the beautiful French countryside. There were people around, speaking French. A very pleasing and melodic language. Didn’t understand a damn word. How does that work anyway when you see past lives? Do you understand the old languages or is there some celestial translator slipping in English subtitles?

Don’t know if they saw me, I might have been traveling too fast. or maybe I was invisible. I half expected them to see me somehow, maybe like some kind of angel, transparent and glimmering in the summer breeze. Next thing I knew I was in the courtyard of a very old estate, beautiful gardens all around, and an even more beautiful Frenchwoman gliding down the stone walkway toward me. It was a young Bridgette Bardot. Some past life. More like a present fantasy.

Yet another shot to clear my head. No more France. Bridgette was not going to release me to the past. And it sucked not understanding what they were saying. Hell, they could have been talking behind my back or in front of my face about me and I wouldn’t have a clue.

Off to jolly old England. At least I might know what they were saying. There were stone fences and castles everywhere. Big crowds of people wandering around. Must have been about the only day that year it didn’t rain. And that cute little English accent. I could listen to English girls talk for hours that way.

This might just be it. Maybe Victorian days. Could Cromwell, or Shakespeare, or maybe even the master alchemist Francis Bacon be around the next corner? The anti-freeze was pumping through my heart, racing as I scoured the countryside searching for myself in the distant past.

Perhaps one of the mystical druids at Avebury Circle. Maybe the brains behind Stonehenge. Better yet, the crafty old wizard, Merlin. I knew I was Merlin before. Not just anyone could make Arthur a king. That sounded like a public relations task worthy of my time and energy.

I was transported into an enchanted forest. Massive Oak trees towered overhead. A brook bubbled nearby. Could almost sense the fairies buzzing through the branches. Faintly, at first, I heard someone moving through the woods toward me. A movement of such grace the grass merely nodded as she merrily made her way.

Birds sang out in joyous tribute. All the forest creatures silently moved to greet her. And then, from around the trunk of the mightiest of all Oak trees in the forest, she broke into the clear. I’ll be damned if it wasn’t Hayley Mills, little Miss Pollyanna herself. Yet another of my favorite film idols of the past. But like Bridgette, not past enough.

Why is it the psychics and channelers remember these hundreds of my past lives and I don’t remember a one? Oh sure, I go places and things look familiar. Happened when I went to Virginia. Then in England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, even Russia. Matter of fact, every place I went outside the United States it happened. What’s that tell you?

That I studied the shit out of the places I was visiting. That I paid attention in history and western civilization classes. Saw lots of movies about the old days. Read lots of books. Had one hell of a vivid imagination. Any and all of the above. But not a damn shred of evidence that I actually lived then.

That troubling mystery was finally solved for me one night when I got yet another blast from the alien implant and remembered more stuff. You recall the 144,000 soldiers of God from Revelations? Well that was a biblical misprint. It was supposed to be 144, not 144,000. And it wasn’t soldiers of God, it was the number of realms in this dimension.

And the prophet Elijah wasn’t Elijah at all but Albert Einstein, talking about the time space continuum. What he was saying was there were 144 realms in the 3rd dimension, of which 24 were earth realms. Since there was no time in space, or space in time, all these realms were the past, present and future and they were all taking place at the same time.

Therefore, your past lives were taking place now, along with your present and future lives. And you were living 144 of them at once, 24 in the flesh. Of course my theory left a shambles of evolution and made the chronological sequencing of history a joke. But it explained a lot of mysteries. Was as unlikely an answer as any other explanations I heard. And you didn’t have to buy books, tapes or videos to share the insight.

Who needs past lives when you can have Bridgette Bardot? Come to think of it, by the time Bridgette was done with you, there wouldn’t be enough of you left for worrying about past lives.

The New Agers say you create your own reality, live your own illusions. Take it from me, that means we have all been all the most famous people in history. Six billion souls have shared being King Tut, Shakespeare, Cleopatra, King Arthur, Beethoven, whoever the hell you want to be. Why would you want to be anyone less than that?

MEMORIES FADE AWAY

Memories of places
I once knew along the way
childhood dreams those strange things
we created to help us make it through the day

Memories of days long gone
they’re fading in our past
you say it’s time to give them up
I always thought they’d last

A memories like an old friend
a picture fixed in time
no matter where I go from here
the memories always mine

And through the years it’s with you
you think of yesterday
memories are all that’s left
now those memories fade away

Memories of times
I once knew yesterday
times I shall remember
when fantasies would guide our way

Memories that won’t let go
they won’t let me forget
of a distant dream I lived once
now my match I’ve finally met

EARTH’S FREQUENCY

It wouldn’t do much good to just leave behind a lot of senseless babble so I have to discuss some of the ancient knowledge that I have been given. Let’s start with the change in the Earth’s frequency. If you haven’t heard of this you best pay attention.

Ancient prophecies talk about it, strange aliens like the Pleiadians channel the information all the time. The government scientists are aware of a photon band that the Earth has entered. Even the Virgin Mary got into the act talking about the solar-cosmic explosion that will be affecting us soon.

What does it all mean? Well, it seems there is a massive field of radiation hanging around out in space and we are about to enter it. We do this about once every 25,000 years or so. The Hopi call it the Purification when Earth goes through it. The end of a cycle of civilization. We are about to wrap up the 4th cycle right now.

The Earth is rising in frequency. That seems to be a scientific fact. For thousands of years Earth resonated at a 7.8 Hz frequency. About 1980 it started changing and now it has risen to 12 Hz. Author Gregg Braden on earth and a host of Pleiadians in space also say as we enter this photon band, the rotation of the Earth is slowing as the frequency is increasing.

At the same time, the Earth’s magnetic field is declining, having lost up to half of it’s intensity in the past 4,000 years according to Professor Bannerjee in New Mexico. So we have a photon band, increasing Earth frequency, slowing of the Earth rotation, and the magnetic field is declining.

When the frequency reaches 13 Hz, sometime in the next couple of years or sooner, the rotation will stop. Earth will not rotate for three days. If you happen to be on the night side of Earth when it stops, you have three days of darkness, another popular prophecy. Then it will start rotating again, only the opposite direction this time. There seems to be scientific evidence of a reversal in the Earth’s electromagnetic field numerous times in the past.

The increase in frequency gives the impression of speeding up time. By the time the next year rolls around we should feel the full effects of the Quickening, yet another great term from ancient knowledge, prophecies or channels. The effect on the human body of the change from 7.8 to 13 Hz in the frequency is like compressing 24 hours into a 16 hour day.

Everyone I talk to seems to have noticed time is speeding up. There is never enough time to do this or that. But that always seemed the case to me. Can’t really blame bad time management on the Quickening when we had centuries of experience wasting time.

On the other hand, the speed up does concern me because that means we are losing one third of time that used to be available. It also means when I am 60 I will really be 80. I was hoping it would go the other way, I’d get younger instead of older. By the way, all this is taking place right now, not some point far into the future.

Another key component of the raising of frequency is that the human body has to increase in frequency to survive the change on Earth and the effects of the photon field. So, we change by having our DNA altered from a double helix to a 12 strand DNA. Now that is something else. Of course in the entire history of the universe it has not happened like this before so I guess even the angels, aliens and their channels are having a tough time anticipating how that will work.

If you start to experience aches for no reason, or searing pains in your muscles, or stress when there isn’t stress, these are indications of the Quickening and the beginning of the restructuring of your DNA. It’s not real clear to me whether the dramatic change in our DNA will result in improved humans or mutant monsters, but we shall see.

Any way, you want evidence? If one of your friends head explodes some night at the bar consider it proof positive. If the Earth stops rotating like the prophecies say, that is a sign. When you start to greet the sun rising in the west, that is a sign. It’s a great excuse for premature aging or graying if you need it. Just say, “It’s the Quickening.” Or “just altering the DNA.”

I liken it to Earth going through inter-dimensional child birth. Only happens like this every 26 billion years or so. It’s here, no doubt about it. Can’t be proven either. Those that know don’t want you to know.

The Quickening can mess up your mind, cause you all kinds of problems. Yet another reason to believe. An excuse for everything you do wrong. “Sorry honey, I didn’t do that, it was the Quickening.” Tell that to my Ex.

Now the bad stuff. From the Bible to Nostradamus, the Hopi to the Virgin, this Quickening is not going to be all that great a time. Depending on who you listen to, up to 2/3 of the population will not make it through the change. The ones that do move on to a higher dimension take their purified planet Earth with them.

The rest get stuck on the old Earth to start over in the 5th cycle of civilization. This whole process is called the Purification by the Hopi and others. The end result is a new Earth free of fear where you can materialize your dreams in the 4th dimension. One of many parallel universes I have discovered. Or the same old shit all over again back here in the 3rd dimension.

When you think it all through, if you have nothing better to do, you might just share my conclusion. If we have to go through all that and as few as 1/3 will survive, total nuclear destruction almost sounds preferable. I mean, these people that are going to ascend can hardly be hurt by a bomb blast.

JUST ME

The game of life I’m going to play
I can’t get out can’t find a way
and if I lose then I won’t win
and if I do I’ll start again

Just let me be to be alone
I can’t be bought, can’t be owned
content to live but not so high
content to fade, until I die

You know I won’t be understood
and can’t be judged as bad or good
I’m me and who could ask for more
just me is all I’m searching for...





NEW MADRID EARTHQUAKE

There are things we want to think about, pleasant day dreams, and there are things that haunt the soul. The first is a pleasing thought or a fond memory, while the latter is like an unrelenting nightmare in which you know there is truth and the truth is something you refuse to accept.

I get those thoughts at times. For years I had them about the New Madrid earthquake fault, the one along the Mississippi River where Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee come together. The place where the Ohio River empties into and swells the Mississippi River into a massive force of nature.

Three of the largest quakes to ever hit this country happened at that point, dwarfing anything California ever dreamed about. In a matter of a few weeks the heart of the midwest was rocked by a series of quakes measuring 8.1, 8.2 and 8.4, rattling dishes and ringing church bells as far away as Montreal, Boston and Atlanta. Power such as we have never seen unleashed in this land.

Fortunately it happened between 1811 and 1812, when few people lived in the area. But the threat of a follow up act has been building ever since. And now there are millions of people in the damage zone. Since high school when I used to go work the sand bag lines during flooding on the Mississippi the river has drawn me in. Mark Twain lived just down river from Iowa, in Hannibal, Missouri.

But it was the raw power I felt in that river that drew me in. A power the Corp of Engineers kept trying to harness with their dams and locks. I would sit along the river for hours fishing or just watching the current, listening to the secrets. Knowing the day would come when that power was once again unleashed and humans would be humbled. That was before I knew anything about the New Madrid quakes.

Over the years I studied, and I learned, and I built up a lot of information on the New Madrid. If people would listen I warned them. But no one wanted to hear. Finally, years later, the New Agers and channels discovered the secret and began spouting warnings. The massive floods early in the 1990’s woke up a few more people, floods the size of several states. Floods that happened after all the flood control work was done. Mother Earth’s wake up call to the fools that thought they controlled nature.

People still didn’t appreciate the danger they faced. A few weeks ago I was talking to a psychic, one in Kentucky. She told me we weren’t safe here. She said there would be a massive earthquake and that the Mississippi River would split down the middle. There would be death and destruction all along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. I agreed. Been seeing the same things for years.

So I had her talk to my Ex. The Ex used to live on the Mississippi in Illinois. Thought she should know about the threat, in case she wanted to get the rest of her family out of there. That was when our relationship became every bit the disaster of the earthquake. That was the end times for us. And that was when she moved out of Kentucky.

Oh yes, she and the psychic concluded they were not safe in Kentucky. Too close to the Mississippi. So the psychic moved to Chicago. The Ex moved back home. To her house high on a hill overlooking the very same Mississippi River. The one soon to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting public. She used to be a couple of hundred miles from the river. Now she can slide down the hill into it. Is that what enlightened advice does for you? How odd.

SEEK TOMORROW

Through communication and understanding
of others we have access to collective knowledge
which we could never assemble individually.

The knowledge of the ages awaits
the person who seeks it...

THE MUSES

You know I always dreamed the highlight of my life would be the time when two of the best looking girls in the universe were vying for my affection. One was a flaming red heat, with a stunning explosion of long, curly locks flowing wildly in all directions. Eyes of deep emerald greener than the lush fields of Ireland. Exceptional body and muscle tone as if she were a blend of a prima ballerina and fine-tuned marathon runner.

At first glance she might appear shy. But once she felt comfortable with you, as if you had to pass some type of litmus test or something, she was delightfully conversational. Animated and exasperating at times, she could charm the coldest of characters with her dazzling personality and melt their hearts with her blazing intensity. Strong. Fiercely independent. Rock solid loyal. Right out of the ancient Celtic days.

And the other one was an absolute dichotomy, but in an unforgettable way. Quiet, shy, she seemed almost ashamed of her classic features that would have been the envy of any of the master painters. Petite with shimmering brown hair stretching all the way down to her waist, she flowed with grace and dignity. Her heart of gold touched everyone, made them feel comfortable, and needed. Her smile could light a room in the middle of the darkest night.

Had I constructed a pair of the perfect tens in my imagination, they could not have improved on the two real ones in my life’s memories of what had never been. Either would have been the catch of the century, even for the richest and noblest of people. For one of my station in life they were not just a step beyond my dreams but I should have been stoned for having the audacity to even imagine myself with them.

I called them Spitfire and the Lady. Given time and opportunity I would have loved either of them deeply, anyone in their right mind would have done so. But to have both of these fantasies vying for one’s attention was beyond my ability to comprehend.

What either saw in me was a mystery. Guys were falling all over each other for the chance to take them out. Parents looked on them as the perfect daughter-in-law. We were not from the same social circle. They had one, I didn’t. By my standards they were rich, cultured, and classy. I must have been a total enigma. Perhaps that was what attracted them.

I was the rebel. Undisciplined and fearless. Ready to take on the world or a bottle of tequila, whichever happened to be in front of me at the moment. Raw energy. Always pushing the envelope and walking the tightrope. To the uninformed I was dangerous. A volcano ready to erupt any moment. In truth I had harnessed that energy long before and channeled it when needed.

Either Spitfire or the Lady would have been a dream come true. But I was a mere mortal not worthy of seeing dreams materialize for real. Therefore I was convinced I never had a chance with either of them.

I pushed them away. When they gave me second and third chances I continued to push them away. “Idiot” was branded on my forehead. Yet I knew if I ever tried to like either, something would happen and I would be crushed.

Fortunately for me I never got the chance to be hurt. It was something I didn’t need to experience. For you see, both the Spitfire and the Lady were never more than figments of my imagination. Phantom friends for all those long, lonely nights. I’ll probably miss them when I’m gone.

LOST NO REWARD

Lost, yesterday, twenty-four hours that are gone.
Each containing sixty beautiful minutes.
Time that could have been shared
as it was meant to be, with you.
But yesterday is lost,
and no reward is offered...

Political Promises Paid in Full - Obama Style

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Now that Obama has paid off those campaign contributors to the tune of billions of dollars perhaps they can pack their greed and run off to count their huge profits and let the rest of the country get the scraps left on the table.

A bold statement you say? Not with the record of Goldman Sachs, the United Auto Workers, the Health Care Industry, the Insurance Industry, the alternative energy industry, the various lawyers groups and the few and far between who have received a massive return on their investment just six months into the new Administration.





After shattering records in fund raising for his presidential campaign while spending over three quarters of a billion dollars to get a job that pays just $400,000 a year, there had to be a ton of IOUs that were due and these contributors wasted no time in claiming their prize.

Be that as it may we can only blame ourselves for electing to congress the very people who make such a lucrative investment possible, our elected representatives, who have perpetuated a system of campaign financing that breeds greed and generously rewards the greed mongers.

I don't know about you but I am sick and tired of the empty promises from Obama and everyone else in the house and senate who promised to clean up the mess. They have neither the morals nor fortitude to slam the door on corruption and as long as they remain in congress we, the people, get what we deserve for sending them.






At least under Obama we have proven that democratic liberals have an even greater propensity to rip off the system than Republican fat cats as most liberals have cashed out in just six months while it takes Republicans about eight years. Just look at Al Gore whose net worth went from $2 million when he lost the presidency eight years ago to $100 million when Obama got elected and now stands to pocket in the neighborhood of billions thanks to the largess of the Obama clean air policies.

Poor Gore went from a skinny liberal to fat cat capitalist at the blink of an eye while testifying to Congress that he was donating any money to non-profit environmental causes. I suppose the tooth fairy just dumped the hundred million into his accounts, the same tooth fairy that flies him around in private jets and drops him at his energy guzzling mansion when he is not earning $100,000 plus speaking fees. What in the world can he tell us that is worth $100,000 to hear?





All I want Gore to say is yes, I have a conflict of interest that is making me millions, maybe billions, but isn't that the American way? Because come republicans or democrats, it is sure the American way. So hopefully the Gold Man and others have squeezed every last cent out of our treasury and can get on to raping the coffers in China, India and Russia so we have a chance to survive.

As for the president, it would be nice to hear the truth about his relationship to Goldman. It would also be nice to hear who exactly benefitted financially from his actions as president and it would be really nice to hear how they intend to take care of the president after he leaves office. None of that will be forthcoming of course. Nor any truth about Gore's relationship to them.





Happy endings can't be found in politics but only in fantasy stories and what we have going on in Washington may look like a fantasy story but our treasury and your future are at risk because of the story now unfolding. Obama and congress have bailed out their friends with your bucks, even a lot of your bucks you haven't even earned yet.

Does anyone find it ironic that Goldman Sachs reports record earnings at the same time the US Treasury is reporting the first trillion dollar deficit in history achieved in just six months? Obama shattered spending records to get elected, he has shattered spending records since taking office, he has shattered deficit records trying to spend the money, and he is shattering the US national debt records trying to raise the money he has already spent.

Whew.....

You Can Make A Difference in the Environment - Help Restore the Bay

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Once upon a time, about 375 years ago, the first colonists to arrive in Maryland sailed up the Potomac River and came to St. Clements Island and Huron Island right beside it and there they watched in amazement as hundreds of magnificent Blue Huron arose in flight at the intrusion of the settlers.

The islands were covered with marsh grass and surrounded by pristine beaches with wildlife as far as the eye could see. At this point in the Potomac the River is over 7 miles wide, just before reaching the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.





Today much of St. Clements Island has disappeared while Huron Island remains underwater except in extremely low tide. The Blue Huron still remain but in greatly reduced numbers. Civilization still is limited in this magnificent wetlands but upriver the ravages of civilization floating downstream have nearly wiped out the marshes, the oyster beds, the crabs and clams.

The government, state and federal, have realized the danger of this environment disaster and have spent nearly $6 billion trying to restore the watershed to the Chesapeake Bay but so far little has been achieved. Still it is not too late to atone for our prior environmental mistakes.





Some citizens of Coltons Point have enrolled in the Maryland Bay Restoration program to begin the long process of cleaning up the Bay and restoring the incredible environmental and ecological balance that was long neglected. Even if you have a working septic system it is still destroying the waterways with nitrogen discharges.

The Bay Restoration program is a state grant program to upgrade septic systems in the Chesapeake watershed with environmentally friendly nitrogen reduction systems, a move that will directly contribute to restoring the wetlands and water life that was once so abundant that it supplied much of the fish, crab, oysters and clams consumed on the east coast.




The cost to the home owner is negligible, the value to the future is beyond measurement. It is one of the steps needed to bring back the ecological balance of the Bay area by reducing the pollution from septic systems, not only the bacteria but the excessive nitrogen which destroys the natural environment.

New environmental systems now in use in Coltons Point have recorded a 92% reduction in nitrogen discharges into the river and Bay, an astonishing number when the goal of the program was a 50% reduction. Nearly 100% of the cost is paid by the Bay Restoration program and the Southern Maryland counties are competing for the grant funds.

So far St. Mary's County is far behind Calvert and Charles Counties in participating in this program which is a travesty as any money not used in St. Mary's goes to the other counties. One of few government programs that is a direct benefit to the people and the environment and a program that will greatly impact on the legacy we leave for future generations, the County must do far more to support the citizens and make sure St. Mary's people get their fair share of the funds.





However, you need not wait for the creaky wheels of county government to turn, for you can directly apply to the state for participation and we urge everyone to try, as everyone benefits from restoring the Chesapeake Bay. Be a responsible citizen. You can make a difference. Contact the state at the following site and apply for participation. Email is far faster than phone calls. If you need help you can call one of the approved contractors by calling:

Joe Gonzales or Peggy O'Brien
Concepts in Building, Inc.
Phone 410-326-6262

The official state online application site is as follows:

Maryland Department of the Environment
Bay Restoration Site:

http://www.mde.state.md.us/Water/CBWRF/osds/brf_bat_process.asp

Stand up and do your part to clean up our wetlands and restore nature.

Sotomayor to be First Latin Supreme Court Justice

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Sonia Sotomayor will become the first Latino and only the third woman to serve on the US Supreme Court when the US Senate confirms her nomination in the next few days. In spite of media efforts to say the Republicans are trying to stop the nomination, there is no evidence they are going to do it.





In fact Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican, has vaulted into the national spotlight with his most thoughtful questioning in Committee hearings on the nomination. Graham is the only person to question her so far who did not work from a script intended to highlight her strengths or weaknesses depending on whether you are a democrat or republican. Graham talked with her about honest questions regarding her previous statements, speeches and rulings.





Sotomayor, of Puerto Rican descent and a lifelong New Yorker from the Bronx, would be the only person on the Supreme Court with trial experience in addition to being a federal judge and in spite of some very strange statements she made some time ago. In the end she will be confirmed because we need a Latino on our highest court and she does have the necessary credentials.

Sarah Palin Free at Last

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After going through the worst case of media assassination in memory Sarah Palin got the last laugh when she abruptly and unexpectedly resigned as Governor of Alaska. It was a move attacked by the media and liberals but praised by the Republicans and general public.

Her experience since being nominated as vice presidential candidate by John McCain was a low point in media reporting in American political history and the character assassination by Obama supporters and pro-abortion bloggers set a new low in dirty politics.

Now free of a government job which she was accused of neglecting with her political activity, a fact that was also true of both Obama and Biden as they were US Senators when they campaigned fulltime yet the media never ever attacked them, she can now set her own agenda.

As the only one of the top four candidates with unqualified support for pro-life she received the wrath of the pro-abortion and feminist forces who worked so hard to cover up the fact there have now been over 50 million abortions in America.





Of course the pro-abortion forces argued that cases of rape, the health of the mother and child were primary considerations in getting an abortion yet extensive studies determined that less than 5% of all abortions fell in those categories. Sarah Palin could see through the lies and tell the truth and she paid a price for her honesty.

In spite of Obama's demands that his children be left out of politics his supporters unleashed an avalanche of lies and innuendo about Palin's kids, themes picked up by the liberal Late Night Butchers like David Letterman. All in all it was a sad chapter in American politics.





Perhaps now that Palin is free of the demands of office that forced her to incur over $500,000 in legal fees defending herself against baseless charges by the liberals she will be able to fight back. She is without doubt a popular rising star who drew the largest crowds in the last part of the campaign and ever since.

St. Clements Island and Manor - Four Centuries of Uninterrupted History

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Do you think you know a lot about history? How about the history of this place, Colton's Point and St. Clements Island just off shore?

375 years ago colonists from England first landed on the island and named it St. Clements Island while the point was called Longworth Point before becoming St. Clements Manor in 1636. It was settled before New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore or Washington, DC even existed. In fact all but New York City were part of the original Mary Land grant to the Calvert family.



One March day in 1634 two ships sailed up the Potomac, the Ark and the Dove, bringing between 256 and 300 English to settle the lands called Mary Land. They were determined to find freedom and opportunity here in the "New World". Their story is the beginning of the recorded history of St. Clements Manor and Island and a colorful history it came to be.

So what should you know about St. Clements Island and Manor?

It was the 1st colony in America, even the world, to guarantee freedom of religion.

It was the 1st colony in America to establish and maintain peace with Native Americans.

It was the 1st arrival of Roman Catholics in English speaking America.

The 1st Catholic Mass and Eucharist in the original colonies took place on St. Clements Island.

The 1st Jesuits in the original colonies arrived on the Ark and Dove.

St. Clements Manor had one of the earliest Catholic and multi-denominational chapels in the original colonies.

St. Clements Manor House was one of the oldest continually lived in homes in the original colonies.

St. Clements Manor is most likely the oldest continually occupied chartered settlement in the original thirteen colonies.

It was the 1st site in the New World where America was dedicated to the Holy Mother Mary.

The Mary Land settlement was one of the most successful of the original thirteen colonies.

Mathias de Sousa, who arrived on the Ark with Father White at St. Clements Island became the 1st Black man in America in 1642 to serve in a legislature.



Yes, St. Clements Island, the landing site for the colonists of Mary Land, is a very special place. You can go to the island and stand in the light house and look across the water and see the birthplace of our beloved first president George Washington.

Move your eyes a little down river and you see the birthplace of the most famous military leader in American history, Robert E. Lee. Did you know he was offered a chance to lead either the Union or Confederate armies in our Civil War? Lincoln offered him the job and even when Lee returned to his home and led the Confederate Army Lincoln never lost his respect for this greatest of all fighting men.

Consider this, since the landing 375 years ago when the colonists first constructed a fort on the Island it has been involved in every major war in our history.

Now humor me and close your eyes and imagine a time before cars, cell phones, television and computers. It is late in the 19th century and you can see and hear the big steamboats pulling up to the wharf on the island with passengers from Washington, DC and Baltimore coming to one of the most famous resorts on the east coast. Four hotels, a beer garden, fresh oysters, crab and clams awaited the holiday goers with dancing in the moonlight on the pavilions of the St. Clements Manor house.



Did you know St. Clement Island was named by Father Andrew White after St. Clement, patron saint of mariners, who became Pope just 59 years after Jesus died in the first century, the year was 92. He was friends with the apostles and traveled with Peter and Paul. St. Clement was martyred by being chained to an anchor and dropped into the Dead Sea.



The day the colonists were to sail for America was November 22, 1643. They left Cowes, Isle of Wight, England but only made it ten miles before encountering high winds and storms and pulled into a harbor to wait out the storm. Early the next morning the Ark was knocked loose from anchor by another ship and set out to sea followed closely by the Dove. It was early November 23, St. Clements day. It was only appropriate that Father White named the island St. Clements when they ended their voyage.




More to follow on the incredible history of St. Clements and the reason it is the most sacred site in the USA.

Obama Gore & Goldman - Alchemists - Turning Green into Greenbacks

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Have we been Gored?

At what point does it become obvious that our political leaders have sold out the interests of public policy for personal profit? Politicians always seem to back certain causes which often appear to benefit the public but when does the motivation change from being "for the public good" to being for the personal pocketbook of the politician?

Ever since his run for the presidency after serving the Clinton Administration as vice president Al Gore has been an advocate of global warming and the seeming push for carbon reductions and the greening of America. On the surface it seems to be a rather safe platform.

While controversy remains concerning the fear of global warming, there is no doubt humans are contributing to the problem. However, as I pointed out in previous articles, global warming is a natural cycle that takes place whether there are humans or not. Our Earth goes through thousands of years of warming and cooling in a continuous cycle to purge and revitalize the earth, with or without humans.

At best we may have a minimal impact on the environment but little impact is probably better than none. However, it is a global power and if there is not global participation the efforts we make can seriously effect our ability to compete in the world marketplace.

As we learned once again, the USA and Europe have a sense of how they can contribute to reducing the carbon emissions through the Obama "cap and trade" legislation making its way through Congress with the strong support of Gore. What is cap and trade, just another method to allow unscrupulous financial manipulators to create a new commodity market outside government jurisdiction to raise the cost of carbon based production with penalties that will be passed on to the consumer.

Sound familiar? It is the same type of federal action that led to the sub-prime mortgage market and was followed by the oil futures derivatives that nearly bankrupted the world economy while making the Wall Street insiders billions of dollars profit. Previous articles in the CPT have detailed how Goldman Sachs was behind the regulatory loopholes adopted to enable that last two scams and used them to wipe out most of the competition in the process.

Listen to what other people are saying about Al Gore and his conversion from conservationist to big money capitalist.




The Great American Bubble Machine
Matt Taibbi on how Goldman Sachs has engineered every major market manipulation since the Great Depression
MATT TAIBBIPOSTED JUL 02, 2009 8:38 AM

In Rolling Stone Issue 1082-83, Matt Taibbi takes on "the Wall Street Bubble Mafia" —investment bank Goldman Sachs. The piece has generated controversy, with Goldman Sachs firing back that Taibbi's piece is "an hysterical compilation of conspiracy theories" and a spokesman adding, "We reject the assertion that we are inflators of bubbles and profiteers in busts, and we are painfully conscious of the importance in being a force for good." Taibbi shot back: "Goldman has its alumni pushing its views from the pulpit of the U.S. Treasury, the NYSE, the World Bank, and numerous other important posts; it also has former players fronting major TV shows. They have the ear of the president if they want it." Here, now, are excerpts from Matt Taibbi's exploring the key issues.

The first thing you need to know about Goldman Sachs is that it's everywhere. The world's most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.

Any attempt to construct a narrative around all the former Goldmanites in influential positions quickly becomes an absurd and pointless exercise, like trying to make a list of everything. What you need to know is the big picture: If America is circling the drain, Goldman Sachs has found a way to be that drain — an extremely unfortunate loophole in the system of Western democratic capitalism, which never foresaw that in a society governed passively by free markets and free elections, organized greed always defeats disorganized democracy.

They achieve this using the same playbook over and over again. The formula is relatively simple: Goldman positions itself in the middle of a speculative bubble, selling investments they know are crap. Then they hoover up vast sums from the middle and lower floors of society with the aid of a crippled and corrupt state that allows it to rewrite the rules in exchange for the relative pennies the bank throws at political patronage. Finally, when it all goes bust, leaving millions of ordinary citizens broke and starving, they begin the entire process over again, riding in to rescue us all by lending us back our own money at interest, selling themselves as men above greed, just a bunch of really smart guys keeping the wheels greased. They've been pulling this same stunt over and over since the 1920s — and now they're preparing to do it again, creating what may be the biggest and most audacious bubble yet.

Fast-forward to today. It's early June in Washington, D.C. Barack Obama, a popular young politician whose leading private campaign donor was an investment bank called Goldman Sachs — its employees paid some $981,000 to his campaign — sits in the White House. Having seamlessly navigated the political minefield of the bailout era, Goldman is once again back to its old business, scouting out loopholes in a new government-created market with the aid of a new set of alumni occupying key government jobs.

Gone are Hank Paulson and Neel Kashkari; in their place are Treasury chief of staff Mark Patterson and CFTC chief Gary Gensler, both former Goldmanites. (Gensler was the firm's co-head of finance.) And instead of credit derivatives or oil futures or mortgage-backed CDOs, the new game in town, the next bubble, is in carbon credits — a booming trillion- dollar market that barely even exists yet, but will if the Democratic Party that it gave $4,452,585 to in the last election manages to push into existence a groundbreaking new commodities bubble, disguised as an "environmental plan," called cap-and-trade. The new carbon-credit market is a virtual repeat of the commodities-market casino that's been kind to Goldman, except it has one delicious new wrinkle: If the plan goes forward as expected, the rise in prices will be government-mandated. Goldman won't even have to rig the game. It will be rigged in advance.



The Money and Connections Behind Al Gore’s Carbon Crusade
by Deborah Corey Barnes
10/03/2007
Ms. Corey Barnes is a freelance writer and blogger for the Polireport in Washington, D.C.

Al Gore’s campaign against global warming is shifting into high gear. Reporters and commentators follow his every move and bombard the public with notice of his activities and opinions. But while the mainstream media promote his ideas about the state of planet Earth, they are mostly silent about the dramatic impact his economic proposals would have on America. And journalists routinely ignore evidence that he may personally benefit from his programs. Would the romance fizzle if Gore’s followers realized how much their man stands to gain?

Earlier this year Gore experienced a notable public relations debacle. The Tennessee Center for Policy Research, a state think tank, revealed that he was an energy hog. Public records show that Gore’s Nashville mansion used in one month more than twice the electricity the typical American household uses in a year: His average monthly electric bill was more than $1,359. Moreover, Gore’s household energy use increased after An Inconvenient Truth, his film about global warming, was released to ecstatic reviews.

Never mind that the scientific community is divided over what causes global warming, how bad it is and how to deal with it. Gore plays Chicken Little to the media’s applause, insisting that the world is warming dangerously and that he has the solution.

The ‘Cap-and-Trade’ System

To resolve the “climate crisis,” Gore wants to put a cap on the production of greenhouse gases. He calls for an immediate freeze on U.S. emissions, a ban on new coal-fired power plants, tough new fuel-economy and energy-efficiency standards, renewable energy mandates, carbon taxes and mandatory targets and timetables for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Those emissions consist mostly of carbon dioxide (CO2), the byproduct of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas, which supply 85% of all U.S. energy. Gore’s blueprint to save the planet moves the United States towards a command economy in which government regulators hold sway over what kinds and amounts of energy will be made available to the private sector. His principal regulatory tool is what’s called carbon-credit trading.

Under a so-called “cap-and-trade” system, government places a ceiling or “cap” on private-sector emissions of CO2 and other “greenhouse gases.” Each sector, industry or business is allocated a fixed quantity of carbon credits that allow it to emit specific quantities of greenhouse gases. As an example, one tradable carbon credit might permit the emission of one ton of CO2. If a business emits more tons of CO2 than its supply of credits allows, it has the option to buy surplus credits from other firms -- or it will have to pay a fine in proportion to the amount of the excess emission. By contrast, businesses that emit less than their allocation can sell their excess credits.

This system, which may sound market-friendly, is something only a bureaucrat could dream up. The twist is that the carbon market exists only because the government’s imposition of a cap creates an artificial scarcity in the right to produce energy. In a cap-and-trade system, buyers will purchase their offsets from a broker or through an electronic trading platform. In Europe, carbon trading is already a reality. Since 2005, carbon offsets have been traded electronically on the European Climate Exchange (ECX).

Most carbon cap-and-trade programs also allow regulated entities to earn credits by taking actions that supposedly reduce emissions outside of the firm’s facilities or operations. In one popular version of the carbon-offset concept, firms earn credits by buying seedling trees for planting in less-developed countries. Supporters claim the CO2 intake of the trees will balance out the carbon emissions of the sponsoring firm’s industrial activity. Despite its public relations value, scientists scoff at the notion that it’s possible to plant enough trees to balance out man’s production of CO2. But carbon-offset projects are popular in the environmentalist community.



More Chances to Cheat

However, the most radical environmentalists reject cap-and-trade. They say it allows polluters to continue to pollute by purchasing carbon credits. That is true but irrelevant. A ton of CO2 emitted in Beijing has the same climatologic effect as a ton emitted in New York. The real problem is that every country’s government has an incentive to cheat on behalf of its domestic producers. This has been the European Union’s (EU) experience with the Emissions Trading System (ETS) that the EU established to implement the Kyoto Protocol. In just about every EU country except Britain, the credits allowed exceed the corresponding tons of emissions.

Carbon offsets provide even more opportunities to cheat. For example, some aluminum companies claim they deserve credits just because they recycle aluminum for a living -- recycling being less energy intensive and thus generally cheaper than making the stuff from scratch. The most popular activity for generating offsets is planting trees. But this method of storing carbon takes years and the long-term results are uncertain. If the trees die and decay, or are burned to clear land for agriculture, there is no net emission reduction. The net carbon reduction from tree planting may not materialize for decades, but the offsets are given out now.

To critics on both the free-market right and the environmentalist left, carbon offsets are no more than a marketing gimmick. Some describe the fanciful device as akin to medieval indulgences that were sold in a cleric-run market to regulate the remission of sin.

The truth is that almost every productive human action requires the use of natural resources, and nothing is pollution free. Even something like wind power requires windmills, which, according to environmentalists such as Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., may visually “pollute” the natural landscape. Kennedy, head of the green group Riverkeepers, says he supports wind power -- except when the windmills are in the waters off Cape Cod.

Whatever its impact on the environment, the cap-and-trade carbon scheme is sure to boost the economic and political prospects of people and groups that are behind it. Before the company collapsed under the weight of financial scandal, Enron under CEO Ken Lay was a key proponent of the cap-and-trade idea. So was BP’s Lord John Browne, before he resigned last May under a cloud of personal scandal. In August 1997, Lay and Browne met with President Bill Clinton and Vice President Gore in the Oval Office to develop administration positions for the Kyoto negotiations that resulted in an international treaty to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

Gore’s Circle of Business

Al Gore is chairman and founder of a private equity firm called Generation Investment Management (GIM). According to Gore, the London-based firm invests money from institutions and wealthy investors in companies that are going green. “Generation Investment Management, purchases -- but isn’t a provider of -- carbon dioxide offsets,” said spokesman Richard Campbell in a March 7 report by CNSNews.

GIM appears to have considerable influence over the major carbon-credit trading firms that currently exist: the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) in the U.S. and the Carbon Neutral Company (CNC) in Great Britain. CCX is the only firm in the U.S. that claims to trade carbon credits.

CCX owes its existence in part to the Joyce Foundation, the Chicago-based liberal foundation that provided $347,000 in grant support in 2000 for a preliminary study to test the viability of a market in carbon credits. On the CCX board of directors is the ubiquitous Maurice Strong, a Canadian industrialist and diplomat who, since the 1970s, has helped create an international policy agenda for the environmentalist movement. Strong has described himself as “a socialist in ideology, a capitalist in methodology.” His former job titles include “senior advisor” to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, “senior advisor” to World Bank President James Wolfensohn and board member of the United Nations Foundation, a creation of Ted Turner. The 78-year-old Strong is very close to Gore.

CCX has about 80 members that are self-confessed emitters of greenhouse gases. They have voluntarily committed themselves to reduce their emissions by the year 2010 to a level 6% below their emissions in 2000. CCX members include Ford Motor Company, Amtrak, DuPont, Dow Corning, American Electric Power, International Paper, Motorola, Waste Management and a smattering of other companies, along with the states of Illinois and New Mexico, seven cities and a number of universities. Presumably the members “purchase” carbon offsets on the CCX trading exchange. This means they make contributions to or investments in groups or firms that provide forms of “alternative,” “renewable” and “clean” energy.

CCX also has “participant members” that develop the carbon-offset projects. They have names like Carbon Farmers and Eco-Nomics Incorporated. Still, other participant member groups facilitate, finance and market carbon-offset projects to “sequester, destroy or displace” greenhouse gases. CCX aspires to be the New York Stock Exchange of carbon-emissions trading.

Along with Gore, the co-founder of GIM is Treasury Secretary and former Goldman Sachs CEO Hank Paulson. Last September, Goldman Sachs bought 10% of CCX shares for $23 million. CCX owns half the ECX, so Goldman Sachs has a stake there as well.

GIM’s “founding partners” are studded with officials from Goldman Sachs. They include David Blood, former CEO of Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM); Mark Ferguson, former co-head of GSAM pan-European research; and Peter Harris, who headed GSAM international operations. Another founding partner is Peter Knight, who is the designated president of GIM. He was Sen. Al Gore’s chief of staff from 1977-1989 and the campaign manager of the 1996 Clinton-Gore re-election campaign.

Like CCX, the ECX has about 80 member companies, including Barclays, BP, Calyon, Endesa, Fortis, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Shell, and ECX has contracted with the European Union to further develop a futures market in carbon trading. What’s in it for the companies? They will benefit either by investing in carbon credits or by receiving subsidies for doing so.

Front and Center

Clearly, GIM is poised to cash in on carbon trading. The membership of CCX is currently voluntary. But if the day ever comes when federal government regulations require greenhouse-gas emitters -- and that’s almost everyone -- to participate in cap-and-trade, then those who have created a market for the exchange of carbon credits are in a position to control the outcomes. And that moves Al Gore front and center. As a politician, Gore is all for transparency. But as GIM chairman, Gore has not been forthcoming, according to Forbes magazine. Little is known about his firm’s finances, where it gets funding and what projects it supports.

We do know that Goldman Sachs has commissioned the World Resources Institute (affiliated with CCX), Resources for the Future, and the Woods Hole Research Center to research policy options for U.S. regulation of greenhouse gases. In 2006, Goldman Sachs provided research grants in this area totaling $2.3 million. The firm also has committed $1 billion to carbon-assets projects, a fancy term for projects that generate energy from sources other than oil and gas. In October 2006, Morgan Stanley committed to invest $3 billion in carbon-assets projects. Citigroup entered the emissions-trading market in May, and Bank of America got in on the action in June.

Some environmentalist groups disparage Gore and his investment banker friends. They say the Gore group caters to others who share their financial interest in the carbon-exchange concept. The bulletin of the World Rainforest Movement says that members of a United Nations-sponsored group called the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stand to gain by approving Gore’s carbon-trading enterprise. The IPCC has devised what it says is a scientific measure of the impact of greenhouse gases on global warming. In fact, the critics charge, the IPCC sanctions a mechanism that mainly promotes the sham concept of carbon exchange.

The global non-profit organization Winrock International is an example of one IPCC panel member that seeks out groups and individuals with an interest in carbon trading. Arkansas-based Winrock provides worldwide “carbon-advisory services.” Winrock has received government grants from the EPA, USAID and the Departments of Labor, State and Commerce, as well as from the Nature Conservancy (whose chairman used to be Henry Paulson). Winrock argues that cap-and-trade carbon trading is the best way to prevent a climate change crisis. But consider this: When a non-profit group takes money from oil companies and advocates drilling for oil as a solution to energy shortages, it is certain to be attacked as a tool of Big Oil. So far, the groups linked to Al Gore have avoided similar scrutiny.

Then there’s the World Resources Institute (WRI). It was the first nongovernmental group to join CCX as an associate member (a designation for virtuous groups whose greenhouse-gas emissions are negligible). Many of its donors are CCX members or otherwise support carbon exchanges, including the Shell Foundation, Whole Foods Market, the Nature Conservancy, American Forest and Paper Association, and the Pew Center for Climate Change, as well as the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Ford Foundation.

Connect the Dots

In June 2006, the World Bank announced that it, too, had joined CCX, saying that it intended to offset its greenhouse gas emissions by purchasing emission credits through CCX. The bank says its credits would contribute to restoring 4,600 hectares of degraded pastureland in Costa Rica. Somehow, CCX has figured out that this is an amount equivalent to 22,000 metric tons of emission that the bank calculates are created by its activities.

A World Bank blog called the Private Sector Development Blog regularly features items touting Al Gore and the concept of carbon credits. Its articles typically announce corporate “green” initiatives in which carbon credits are said to cancel out “bad” CO2 emissions released by a company’s activities.

In fact, the World Bank now operates a Carbon Finance Unit that conducts research on how to develop and trade carbon credits. The bank works with Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark and Spain to set up carbon-credit funds in each country to purchase emission credits from firms for use in developing countries. In addition, it runs the Carbon Fund for Europe helping countries meet their Kyoto Protocol requirements. These funds are traded on the ECX (half of which is owned by CCX, itself a creature of Al Gore’s firm, Generation Investment Management). Can we connect the dots?

A website affiliated with An Inconvenient Truth invites concerned citizens to personally fight global warming by offsetting their “carbon footprint.” The ways to do that include changing over to fluorescent light bulbs and turning down your thermostat at home. But the website also urges Americans to offset their personal CO2 emissions by “buying” carbon offsets from a native-American-owned company called Native Energy. Native Energy promotes “renewable” wind energy by buying and selling carbon-emission credits and futures for wind turbine projects on Indian reservations.

What the website doesn’t mention is that that the founder of Native Energy, energy industry veteran Tom Boucher, also founded a marketing company called Green Mountain Energy, a CCX associate partner that describes itself as “the nation’s leading retail provider of cleaner energy and carbon-offset solutions. Green Mountain offers residential, business, institutional and governmental customers an easy way to purchase cleaner, affordable electricity products, as well as the opportunity to offset their carbon footprint.” In other words, Green Mountain sells advisory services to energy users, alerting them to opportunities to contribute to or invest in groups like Native Energy.

So it seems banks and investment houses are going green, eager to enter an emerging emissions market. Meanwhile, environmentalists are discovering new ways to get rich while believing they are saving polar bears and rainforests.




Al Gore Rakes in the Green By: Joseph D'Hippolito
FrontPageMagazine.com | Wednesday, May 20, 2009

The Obama administration’s decision this week to introduce stringent new fuel efficiency standards for the U.S. car industry is a testament to the power of climate change hysteria. The lobby goes unchallenged in the corridors of power and will likely incur a disastrous economic and human toll. (For an overview of the probable cost in human lives, see Steven Milloy’s “The Sad CAFE” in this edition of FrontPage Magazine.) It is also a means to gaining political power and, for the former vice president, personal riches.

The potential to cash in on Green hysteria is nicely summarized by a cartoon in the daily Non Sequitur series drawn by Wiley. In the middle of a desert stands a shack, the office of “Global Warming Realty.” The two proprietors flank a sign planted along the road advertising “Ocean Front Lots Available.” “It doesn’t matter what we believe,” one realtor said to the other. “It only matters what they believe.”

The world’s most popular environmental alarmist appears to have taken that advice to heart.

Al Gore – the former vice president, Nobel Prize recipient and Academy Award winner for “An Inconvenient Truth” – has made tremendous money off the global warming hoax. Since leaving office in 2001, Gore’s personal net worth exploded from $2 million to $100 million in 2007, as reported by Investor’s Business Daily.

Moreover, Gore hopes to make further big profits by creating financial vehicles that ostensibly promote investment in renewable energy sources – not that he would want anyone to know that.

On April 24, Gore testified before the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee about pending cap-and-trade legislation. Cap-and-trade policies, which Gore supports, enable businesses to purchase credits for exceeding government-mandated limits on carbon-dioxide emissions, thereby avoiding fines.

During the hearings, Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn asked Gore about his involvement with Kleiner Perkins, an environmental venture-capital group that Gore joined as a partner in 2007. Kleiner Perkins, Blackburn said, “invested about a billion dollars in 40 companies that are going to benefit from cap-and-trade legislation that we are discussing here today.

“Is that something that you are personally going to benefit from?” Blackburn asked.

Gore replied: “The transition to a green economy is good for our economy and good for all of us, and I have invested in it but every penny that I have made I have put right into a nonprofit, the Alliance for Climate Protection, to spread awareness of why we have to take on this challenge.”

However, Investor’s Business Daily reported that in March 2008, during a convention in Monterey, Calif., Gore revealed to his audience that he had “a stake” in various environmental enterprises and encouraged investment in them instead of what he called “subprime carbon assets,” tar sands and oil shale.

Two months later, Kleiner Perkins announced that it would invest $500 million in the Green Growth Fund, which specializes in environmental technology – potentially increasing Gore’s stake.

Another congressman, Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, told Gore during the hearing, “and I know you’ve got interests with Goldman Sachs.” Steven Milloy, science correspondent for Fox News and author of Green Hell: How Environmentalists Plan To Ruin Your Life and What You Can Do To Stop Them, described what followed:

“Gore made facial gestures that implied he had never even heard of Goldman Sachs. Gore then replied, ‘No.’

“Rep. Scalise continued, ‘… well, that’s been reported. If — is that not accurate?’

“Gore replied, ‘No. I wish I did, but I don’t.’

Yet the former vice president has extensive, complex and personal connections with Goldman Sachs.

In 2004, Gore helped found and became the chairman of Generation Investment Management, which participates in cap-and-trade by purchasing carbon credits. Among the founders are three Goldman Sachs officials. Mark Ferguson served as the joint head of European research for Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Peter Harris directed international research for Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

But the biggest name is Henry Paulson – the former Goldman Sachs chairman and Pres. George W. Bush’s Secretary of the Treasury who designed last fall’s massive government bailout of various financial firms.

Serving as GIM’s managing director is David Blood, who once worked as the CEO of Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

GIM – and, by extension, Goldman Sachs – are major players in cap-and-trade. Deborah Corey Barnes wrote in Human Events that GIM exercises “considerable influence” over the Chicago Carbon Exchange (CCX) and its British equivalent, the Carbon Neutral Company. Both exchanges transform the carbon credits their members purchase into investments or donations to agencies that produce or promote non-petroleum energy sources.

CCX’s members include Ford, DuPont, Dow Corning and the states of Illinois and New Mexico. CCX also owns 50 percent of the European Climate Exchange, which features such members as Shell, British Petroleum, Barclays – and Goldman Sachs.

In 2006, Goldman Sachs paid $23 million for 10 percent of CCX’s shares. Also that year, Goldman Sachs supplied $2.3 billion in grants to study ways to regulate or reduce carbon-dioxide emissions, and $1 billion to projects designed to generate energy without petroleum.

Gore’s relationship with Goldman Sachs extends even to investing in oil exploration! Kleiner Perkins, where Gore works as a partner, combined with Goldman Sachs last year to invest $65 million in Terralliance, which develops software to make drilling more efficient.

“As a Kleiner Perkins partner, Al Gore must have known, if not approved of the Terralliance deal, and that it involved Goldman Sachs,” Milloy wrote. “At the very least, under partnership law, such knowledge is legally imputed to him as a partner.”

What about the Alliance for Climate Protection, Gore’s non-profit organization? Basically, it’s nothing but a front. As Barnes wrote:

“The group favors more stringent environmental policy regulations on the private sector and especially wants cap-and-trade legislation so that companies will be forced to lower their greenhouse gas emissions and buy carbon credits.”

Naturally, companies would have to join CCX (if they had not already done so) and purchase credits from the organization that Gore and Goldman Sachs helped establish. Those credits, in turn, would help finance projects that could make even more money for Gore and Goldman Sachs.

“Whatever its impact on the environment, the cap-and-trade carbon scheme is sure to boost the economic and political prospects of people and groups that are behind it,” Barnes wrote. “Before the company collapsed under the weight of financial scandal, Enron under CEO Ken Lay was a key proponent of the cap-and-trade idea. So was BP’s Lord John Browne, before he resigned last May under a cloud of personal scandal.”

The global warming hoax not only offers its promoters the opportunity for massive profits. It also provide another rationale for self-benighted elitists to promote their utopian visions of the future – and, like all utopian visions, they are fundamentally totalitarian.