The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)

Crippling Internet freedom in the pursuit of protection from copyright infringement also masks massive underlying problems of government infringement on our free speech rights. Every Internet participant is a citizen in the World Internet Global Society and most agree that online piracy is wrong. It stifles creativity as well as stunts growth because it discourages not only original ideas but artistic expressions too. After all, who wants their efforts and works they created stolen by someone unduly assuming original credits or enriching themselves monetarily? 

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) with its intrusive powers allows heavy-handed enforcement to bully legislation over responsible individuals or Internet sites by exerting onerous, ambiguous regulations and expensive litigation which could accomplish the same damaging effects as piracy by destroying Internet freedoms to create or share information.  

You Must Contact Your State Senators!

I believe that the Federal Communications Commission more than likely will ultimately enforce these SOPA regulations. This FCC is the same agency that Obama wants to administer the "Fairness Doctrine" that Obama is waiting to unveil until after the 2012 Elections to curb "right-wing" conservative talk radio and like Internet sites. (Too much regulation before an election is bad karma) These regulations will make a "more level broadcast playing field" on the airwaves because the "right-wing" talk shows will by law have to give up a percentage  of their net profits to subsidize the "left-wing" talk shows and offer programming time slots on the same stations or web sites too. What happened to listener ratings that dictate what programs that the people want to hear or the capitalistic motive of advertising profits to support a show too?

These SOPA regulations would require service providers to either block access or detach search engine links. However, the way to regulate the internet is to not to let Congress and the Justice Department dictate how to conduct Internet business. Instead, users need to learn that the illegal Copyright infringers can't make it if any users don't buy it. It is through the same type of public instruction programs that have taught personal self-regulations on how to drive automobiles safely to avoid accidents or use seat belts or possibly to use green conservation rules to reduce pollution or prevent littering.  Internet user awareness, attitudes and practices can be changed with current copyright and patent laws respected by users while laws should be enforced against violators.

Email to Your State Senator Today!

Correction: U.S. has a $30 Trillion Deficit

 $16 Trillion in Secret Fed Loans

Why Not Talk About this During Elections?

I find myself in strong opposition to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) about global warming and universal health care among other liberal issues. When you have conservativeU.S. Federal Reserve Bank  Republican stalwarts like Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Ron Paul (R-TX) as well as self identified Democratic socialists like Bernie Sanders (I-VT) all fighting against the Federal Reserve, you know that it is no longer an issue of Right versus Left. When you have every single member of the Republican Party in Congress and progressive Congressmen like Dennis Kucinich sponsoring a bill to audit the Federal Reserve, you realize that the Federal Reserve is an entity onto itself, which has no oversight and no accountability. I do applaud Senator Sanders for supporting this important bill to impose audit regulations in financial reporting of Federal Reserve Bank transactions.

Treasury Sec. Timothy Geithner & Fed. Chair. Ben Bernake"The first top-to-bottom audit of the Federal Reserve uncovered eye-popping new details about how the U.S. provided a whopping $16 trillion in secret loans to bail out American and foreign banks and businesses during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Included in this $16 trillion was $3 trillion in interest-free “loans” to foreign financial institutions in the U.K., Germany, Switzerland, France and Belgium that have not been repaid." So, add these $16 Trillion loans to our outstanding $14 Trillion U.S. Deficit for a total of $30 Trillion. Have we gone over the debt ceiling yet?  

"An amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders to the Wall Street reform law passed one year ago this week directed the Government Accountability Office to conduct the study. "As a result of this audit, we now know that the Federal Reserve provided more than $16 trillion in total financial assistance to some of the largest financial institutions and corporations in the United States and throughout the world," said Sanders. "This is a clear case of socialism for the rich and rugged, you're-on-your-own individualism for everyone else."  See Bernie Sanders' Newsletter: The Fed Audit for more details.

Instead of this one-time limited GAO audit, what about the Federal Reserve Bank releasing a full audit report annually like the other institutions under the Federal Reserve Bank's system?

__________________________________________________________________________

According to this GAO audit, $16.1 trillion in secret loans were made by the Federal Reserve between December 1, 2007 and July 21, 2010.  The following list of firms and the amount of money that they received was taken directly from the GAO Audit Report Page 131 (located on Page 144 in the PDF file).

Citigroup - $2.513 trillion
Morgan Stanley - $2.041 trillion
Merrill Lynch - $1.949 trillion
Bank of America - $1.344 trillion
Barclays PLC - $868 billion
Bear Sterns - $853 billion
Goldman Sachs - $814 billion
Royal Bank of Scotland - $541 billion
JP Morgan Chase - $391 billion
Deutsche Bank - $354 billion
UBS - $287 billion
Credit Suisse - $262 billion
Lehman Brothers - $183 billion
Bank of Scotland - $181 billion
BNP Paribas - $175 billion
Wells Fargo - $159 billion
Dexia - $159 billion
Wachovia - $142 billion
Dresdner Bank - $135 billion
Societe Generale - $124 billion
“All Other Borrowers” - $2.639 trillion

This report was made available to all the members of Congress, but most of them have been totally silent about it. 

Lemonade out of Lemons ~ Happy New Year 2012!

If everyone plays the same note there can be no harmony.

We can even sing off key.

As Sonny & Cher's 1967 song shouted out, "The Beat Goes On", and so does time...

 The beat goes on, the beat goes on

Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain

La de da de de, la de da de da

Charleston was once the rage, uh huh

History has turned the page, uh huh

La de da de de, la de da de da

This year of 2011 is really no different from all the rest since the beginning of time. As sure as there is a sun rising and setting, births and deaths or Heaven and earth, the 2012 New Year ahead is just more of the same.  Now, the question is:

Can you make lemonade out of lemons?

This is the essence of life, the ability to turn things around and make something out of adversity.

As such, lemons have a lot to offer by squeezing the juice, tossing the rind, mixing in water and adding sugar to sweeten it.  However remember, a lemon is a tasty fruit by itself too. What is a fish fillet without a lemon wedge, drawn butter with lemon to dip lobster tail into and a garnish for a dish?

So, do lemons taste better sweet or sour and tart? That's simple, it's a fickle fruit. Sweet or sour, it gives you a choice of how to enjoy things in life.  Judging how much water is in a glass depends on whether you see half full or half empty, it's how to view things in life...

 

Happy 2012

New Years!

Obama & Reid's Great $Trillion Green Adventure

A Whale of a Tall Tale:  Senator Harry Reid touted the Nevada Crescent Dunes Solar-Thermal Nevada Senator Harry Reidproject's technology and scope. "I don't think people realize how big this project is," he said. - No Harry, people don't know how big this project is or they would have cancelled it and fired you on the spot!

A Tale of Two Solar Companies:  What do Federal Taxpayer Guaranteed Loans for a $737 Million SolarReserve package have to do with a $535 Million Solyndra package? The answer? ...Absolutely nothing since one loan lost taxpayers $535 Million and the other may lose taxpayers $Trillions, read on...FOR THE REAL PROBLEMS!

 

On September 29, 2011 SolarReserve closed financing on a $737 million Federal  guaranteed loan from Obama's DOE on its 110 megawatt (MW) Crescent Dunes solar-thermal project. When complete, it is expected to be the U.S.’ first commercial scale solar power tower that will use the sun's heat to create steam to drive a turbine generator with fully integratedArtist Rendition of Tonopah, NV Solar Turbine Tower energy storage, the largest of its kind in the world able to power 32,000 homes during peak electricity hours. It will employ 45 permanent workers costing $16 million per job. - OBVIOUS A REAL PROBLEM? - NEGATIVE JOBS RETURN?

According to numbers obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal in 2010, NV Energy has agreed to pay 13.5 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity generated by the Tonopah plant. That number is more than triple the 4 cents per kilowatt hour that the utility company has paid for wholesale power, which largely comes from natural-gas generation, in recent years. Currently in 2011, retail end-customers pay 10.56 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity - MUCH HIGHER CONSUMER COST, WHO IS DOING THE MATH? - A REAL PROBLEM!

Located near Tonopah, Nevada, on federal land operated by the Bureau of Land Management, construction on the solar thermal project started earlier this month. It is scheduled to be operational by late 2013 and is expected to generate $40 million in tax revenues in its first decade of operation. (Do the math: $40Mil/10yrs = $4Mil/yr/32,000homes = $125/yr = $10.50/mo/.25/kWh = 42hrs per mo. used) - The math does not add up for Obama Solar Power Usage or Kilowatt price per hour. - FUZZY MATH AGAIN FROM THE OBAMA WHITE HOUSE?

SolarReserve subsidiary, Tonopah Solar Energy, LLC will construct, own, and operate it. - NOW, IS THERE IS A REAL PROBLEM? - WHO IS THIS TONOPAH SOLAR ENERGY, LLC?

Glassdoor Jobs Recruiters Website: 

SolarReserve Overview  (310) 315-2200.

SolarReserve, LLC generates electricity from solar energy, coal, and natural gas. The company was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Santa Monica, California.

HQ:   2425 Olympic Blvd., Suite 500 East Santa Monica, CA 90404

Website: www.solarreserve.com

Size: 16 to 50 EmployeesSenators Reid & Nancy Pelosi

Industry: Alternative Energy Sources

SolarReserve's investors include Pacific Corporate Group, PCG, a private-equity firm headquartered in La Jolla (San Diego County). Ronald Pelosi, the brother-in-law of Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, and a former president of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, is an executive with the firm.  BLATANT CRONYISM! - OH REALLY, NOT A BIG PROBLEM?

Cobra Thermosolar Plants Inc. will act as the general contractor for the project. The company is an affiliate of ACS Cobra, which is acting as an investor, alongside SolarReserve and Santander funding Tonopah Solar Energy, LLC. - NOW, THERE IS A PROBLEM? - WHO ARE THEY? - READ ON...

ACS Cobra - In the opinion of Jose Alfonso Nebrera, Director General of ACS Cobra, Madrid, Spain, "This project could create a market for renewable energy plants to be built wherever there are lots of natural resources, then the feed-in tariff (Green Energy Certificates - AKA Cap & Trade Shares) and difference in cost would be taken by the countries that don’t have the natural resources to achieve their goals, possibly through some sort of Green Electricity Certificates European market.”  Hello, Cap and Trade without passing a Congressional Bill!  Hello, the European Union getting into the United States Economy to bail it out more with financing more Green Power Plants globally too! - NOW, IS THERE A REAL PROBLEM HERE? - THE USA FUNDS EURO & STRUGGLING COUNTRIES' ECONOMIES!

Banco SantaBanco Santander Group Madrid, Spainnder Group - from Spain, is the ninth largest bank in the world serving 60 Million customers in 40 countries according to their 2008 site.  Sovereign Bank in 2006, acquired failed FleetBoston Financial Bank which Business Week said had the allure of a toxic waste to become the largest banking branch acquisition in history.  Sovereign's transaction accounts and all other deposit accounts are FDIC-insured for up to at least $250,000 per depositor. In 2009, Santander acquired Sovereign Bank.  This means the customer bank funds are protected from losses, even if invested in loans with Green Power Energy Plants too? Hmmn...That means their Bank's monies loaned to Tonopah Solar Energy, LLC are covered. - NOW, IS THERE IS A REAL PROBLEM?  THE US TAXPAYERS ARE ON THE HOOK AGAIN!

Harry Reid - The Yucca Mountain Debacle comes to mind about the nuclear power industry’sYucca Mountain, NV Nuclear Dump Site decades-long effort to bury the world’s deadliest garbage. Yucca's huge dollar price tag is $58 Billion, but so is the added cost of transportation risks of hauling high-level radioactive waste, and documentation of the corrupt influence the nuclear power industry has exerted on the decision-making process from the very beginning. Yucca Mtn. is an active earthquake zone that leaks water like a sieve. Burying high-level radioactive waste there would guarantee contamination of the underlying drinking water supply. Besides its geologic unsuitability, Yucca belongs to the Western Shoshone Indian Nation according to the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley. - NOW HERE IS A REAL PROBLEM!  

IS TONOPAH SOLAR ENERGY ANOTHER YUCCA MOUNTAIN SCANDAL WITH GREEN POWER?                       

Know the Real Numbers - Being Politically Correct

See a USA Today News Poll about Religion in the United States - With a Cautionary Note.

How many people believe in various religious beliefs? It should encourage people around the world to know that the numbers say everything: The USA is the most tolerant country on the planet! To allow many religions that are barely on the map to practice their faith with no interference from others is quite remarkable in an intolerant world of countries that view these religions as against their governmental rule or an affront sanctioned state religions.

Take special notice of the surprisingly small number of Muslims in the USA while realizing what a broad range of religious tolerance and accommodations have been extended to this particular sect in the recent decade since 9/11. They are, presently, truly a blip on the USA map of religions!

Click on:  USA Religion Topography

As a cautionary note, remember that our religious tolerance is a free right under your U.S. Constitutional Bill of Rights, not afforded to anyone under Sharia Law. Dhimma, "one whose responsibility has been taken", allows non-Muslims rights of residence in return for taxes. You pay dhimma or a fee in order to practice your religion under Sharia Laws. Also, as a non-Muslim you have fewer legal and social responsibilities and rights than Muslims.  Therefore, must accept a second class standing in society in regard to all of your civil liberties, education, housing and jobs that are protected under U.S. Constitutional Laws. 

Our Federal Government must exercise caution so that Muslim Sharia Law is NOT EVER commingled within U.S. Constitutional Law. As such, it cannot be adjudicated or practiced in our United States courts systems as a parallel set of observed jurisprudence for settling any cases of U.S. Law as it contradicts our Civil and Criminal laws.