The Binghamton Housing Authority has won a $302,400 competitive federal grant to make one of its housing units more energy-efficient.

The grant, which was announced Tuesday, will pay for solar panels to be installed at the Carlisle Apartments on the city’s North Side, said David Tanenhaus, executive director of the housing authority. The panels will generate some electricity for the complex, he said.

The federal dollars coming to Binghamton are part of $500 million awarded nationwide by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, to renovate public housing units, or make them more energy-efficient. Of the $500 million, nearly $20 million went to 11 public housing authorities in New York. The money is coming from the federal stimulus program, approved earlier this year.

This is so outrageously funny, and tragic, I can’t begin to count the ways. Anyone who has ever lived in Greater Binghamton (or has even visited) will tell you we get about three days of sunshine per year. Well maybe a few more…but not many more! Paying money for solar panels in Binghamton is like planting a field of corn in the Sahara Desert with no water or irrigation. Completely nuts.

Don’t take my word for it. The National Weather Service has records going back decades. They keep track of cloudy days (see Cloudiness – Mean Number of Days). If you check it out, you’ll find Binghamton has more cloudy days on average than Seattle, Washington! The average number of cloudy days in Greater Binghamton is 212 days of the year. Another 102 days are classifed as partly cloudy. And only 52 days are clear. Seattle, WA on the other hand, has 201 cloudy days, 93 partly cloudy days, and 71 clear days.

Where I used to live, inside the city limits of Binghamton, I had a neighbor who installed a large solar panel on the roof of his house to heat his pool. That was it…just heat the pool water to a comfortable level. Didn’t work. Not enough sunshine. I know that solar technology is gradually getting better–but come on! I thought stimulus money was supposed to go for “shovel ready” construction jobs. Practical projects ready to be built now, like bridges and roads. Doinking around with solar panels in one of the cloudiest cities in the U.S. is an utter waste of taxpayer money.

So the question is: If stiumulus money is being this poorly spent right here in Binghamton, what about other places? Multiply our piddly $302K by a multitude of other cities across the country and you get depressed really quick, and not just from the lack of sunshine.

Technorati Tags: stimulus money, Broome County, Binghamton, solar energy

It has always fascinated me how liberals and leftists, who are supposedly the most open-minded among us, tolerating and indeed celebrating every weird, whacked-out philosophy, religion or “lifestyle” are in fact the most close-minded and bigotted people around. They tolerate anyone who agrees with them, but use every means at their disposal to silence those who disagree. The libs are the opposite of what they claim to be.

Case in point: Very soon you are going to hear a lot of noise in the mainstream media about the so-called Fairness Doctrine, which is nothing more than a naked attempt to shut down political dissent in this country. This latest attempt to eviscerate the First Amendment is brought to you by the Democrats. They hate Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin (whom I used to work with at the White House), and others who artfully, cogently, skillfully dissent with the left.

But Democrats, like the odious Chuck Schumer and the useful idiot Maurice (Mo) Hinchey, are going to spin a yarn that would make Mark Twain’s jaw drop open in admiration of its audacity: With the full support of mainstream media, the liberal Dems are going to try to shut down talk radio and other conservative sources of political speech and dissent. And they’ll try to do it by telling you black is white and white is black. That is, they’ll say it’s not “fair” to have all these conservative views being aired on radio with no corresponding leftist views. Hello?! Can anyone say CBS, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, CNN, NPR, Washington Post, New York Times, LA Times, et al? We get the standard leftist pap from them day and night! But that’s not enough for Chuck and Mo.

Brief history lesson: In the earliest days of our country pamphleteers wrote stirring and inspiring works (pamphlets) that helped ignite the American Revolution, notably Thomas Paine. In contrast to Paine, some pamphleteers wrote nasty, scurrilous accusations against political opponents. They were, to put it politely, downright lies. What we today would call “hate speech.” And yet, that’s EXACTLY why the First Amendment to the Constitution was ratified. It was to protect all speech–even lies–and even the speech of those with whom you strongly disagree.

Why does the Constitution protect all speech, including lies? Because the Founders knew that sooner or later those who pedal such lies would be found out and their own dishonesty would blow back and hurt them. That is, they believed in something called truth–that in the end, truth would win out. They believed in people’s good common sense and ability to discern the truth from a lie. Our Founders saw free speech and liberty as one and the same. The opening words of the Constituion tell us that everyone has certain inalienable (can’t-take-them-away) rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Apparently not with Democrats in charge.

Professor Jacobson’s article gives us great insight into how inalienable rights become alienable when the libs come to town and rule (with an iron fist). Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Exercise your free speech now, before it’s too late.

Technorati Tags: Ithaca, Ithaca Common Council, William Jacobson, Cornell University, free speech, protected speech, Fairness Doctrine, pamphleteers, Thomas Paine, First Amendment, Chuck Schumer, Maurice Hinchey

If we do not allow ourselves to call something “wrong” or “evil”, we yield the battle without even a fight. Yet to refrain from such “invective” is what is now called “civil discourse” and the right “tone.”

Bill Ayers called himself a “small ‘c’ communist.” Is it OK to call him a communist? Barack Obama said this in one of his autobiographies (at least he said it on tape, whether or not he wrote the book himself ):

“To avoid being mistaken for such a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists and punk rock performance poets.”

Here’s a hint: you have to be pretty steeped in leftist thought to even know that the adjective “structural” goes with the noun “feminist.”

Obama was essentially a “red diaper baby” who was raised and educated by Marxists to be Marxist. Communists really did spy on us. They had secret meetings. Communism is no longer “strange”; it is taught in our schools, sometimes by Marxists. Obama went to such schools, took such classes and personally sought out Marxists. Bill Ayers calls himself a communist. Barack Obama’s run for elective office was kicked off at a meeting in Bill Ayer’s house. His voting record was the most liberal in the Senate in 2007, or left of self-avowed socialist Bernie Sanders.

Are we not to infer the obvious?

Careful! Ducks aren’t ducks anymore, you know. And this from later in the article (emphasis mine):

In fact, the interesting question is no longer whether our politics in the US and Europe (not to mention Latin America) are leading to Marxism. The interesting question now is whether voters care. My guess is that almost half the people in the US, and probably more elsewhere, think Marxism is no worse or even better than “capitalism.” Isms is isms, in our post-rational world.

Just for kicks, read through the 10 Planks of the Communist Manifesto and compare that to our country today, and to the proposals from the incoming Democrats. You might start having nightmares.

I would add my own observation and conclusion to Mr. Hoven’s article: Marxism, which is the first cousin of (and leads to) Communism, is the fast road to another “ism” — Despotism.

Technorati Tags: American Thinker, Randall Hoven, Barack Obama, Marxism, Marxist, Communism, Communist, Bill Ayers, Communist Manifesto, voter apathy, despotism

Stand proud and stand tall. We’re still Americans, we’re still fiesty, and (politically) we’ll fight the socialists tooth and nail, every inch of the way. It’s our right, it’s our privilege, and it’s our DUTY.

The loyal opposition is now in session.

Technorati Tags: presidential race, lapdog media, liberal media, loyal opposition, Obama opposition, American political tradition

Colin Powell, former secretary of state for George W. Bush (the presidency the Dems hate) and a Democrat himself who, for a time, called himself a Republican, has endorsed the Communist Barack Hussein Obama as his choice for president. Whoop-de-do. (Yawn) Does that really surprise you? Most in the media are hyperventilating so badly they need to put paper bags over their heads. For me? A non-story. Frankly–it’s no big deal.

Meanwhile, four former secretaries of state have endorsed John McCain: Henry Kissinger (Nixon), George Shultz and Alexander Haig (Reagan), and Lawrence Eagleburger (Bush 41). Do you hear that little tidbit in any of the reporting on this story? No. Why? Because the media lies and covers the truth–constantly. And because Obama desperately needs somebody with credibility on foreign affairs to be mentioned in the same sentence with him–because he and his running mate Joe Biden are dunces on foreign affairs.

Let’s see, Obama–violating his own stated original promise he would only accept public financing–is outspending John McCain three or four to one (thank you George Soros and Hollywood deadbeats). The media dutifully reports every belch emanating from the Obama campaign and ignores the McCain campaign except to manufacture a few gaffes they can report. They’ve crucified Sarah Palin because she’s “too common” for their elitist inside-the-Beltway tastes (she’s part of the hoi polloi, dontcha know), and of course Palin’s a Christian (nasty filthy people, those Christians). And with all that, the race is still within a few points when “likely voters” are polled.

There’s hope yet!

Technorati Tags: Colin Powell, John McCain, Barack Obama, presidential campaign, presidential endoresements, media bias, George Soros

If you don’t read the American Thinker–start doing it. You will receive your advanced degree in history and come to understand how we got to the point where avowed socialists have taken over Congress, and may soon take over the presidency.

Many may have read the previous sentence and yawned. Or you may have read my previous post and thought, “Nice try Jim. But you’re just being melodramatic by saying a vote for Obama is a vote to hasten the end of democracy in our country.” I’ll respond by saying, did you in your wildest dreams think our government would suddenly nationalize (remove from private ownership) most of our banking industry? That Congress would abdicate its responsibility under the Constitution for spending taxpayer money by handing over a blank check (up to $700 BILLION) to a single, unelected person (Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson)? Are you awake?? Do you know how fundamentally and radically everything is changing around us right now???

Most people do not know or care that Obama is completely socialist in ideology. They think he’s just a little bit further “left” than some others. It DOES matter who formed his political ideology and the people he has associated himself with: Saul Alinsky–who wrote and created the ideology of destroying your political opponents with smears and lies and anyway you can; William Ayers who is a domestic terrorist responsible for a plot to bomb the Pentagon in the 70s; Jeremiah Wright who preaches God Damn America. Do Obama’s buds matter? You bet they matter. Every single one of them a socialist. And so is Obama. The apple does not fall far from the tree.

With respect to history, most people don’t realize that Nazi Germany, the Communist Soviet Union and Communist China all arose from the political left–not the right. They became socialist first, then inevitably descended into tyranny and dictatorship. This stuff starts on the left folks…it starts with statism (the State becoming all powerful). In our country, it is starting (and now well-advanced) with the Democrat Party.

Instead of me ranting about it, read for yourself a few paragraphs from “Why Obama’s socialism matters” in today’s American Thinker:

Once you vest all power in the state, history demonstrates that the state, although technically composed of individuals, in fact takes on a life of its own, with the operating bureaucracy driving it to ever greater extremes of control. Additionally, history demonstrates that, if the wrong person becomes all-powerful in the state, the absence of individualism means that the state becomes a juggernaut, completely in thrall to a psychopath’s ideas. Herewith some examples:

My favorite example is always Nazi Germany because so many people forget that it was a socialist dictatorship. Or perhaps they’re ignorant of the fact that the Nazi’s official and frequently forgotten name was the National Socialist German Worker’s Party. In other words, while most people consider the Nazi party to be a totalitarian ideology arising from the right, it was, in fact, a totalitarian party arising from the left.

Practically within minutes of the Nazi takeover of the German government, individuals were subordinated to the state. Even industries that remained privately owned (and there were many, as opponents of the Nazis = socialist theory like to point out), were allowed to do so only if their owners bent their efforts to the benefit of the state. Show a hint of individualism, and an unwillingness to cooperate, and you’d swiftly find yourself in Dachau, with a government operative sitting in that executive chair you once owned.

We all know what life was like in this Nazi socialist state. Citizens immediately lost the right to bear arms; thought crimes were punished with imprisonment and death; children were indoctrinated into giving their allegiance to the state, not the family; the government dictated the way in which people could live their day-to-day lives; and people who appeared to be outliers to the harmony of the conscienceless government entity (gays, mentally ill-people, physically handicapped people, Jews, gypsies) were dehumanized and eventually slaughtered.

And here’s something important for you to realize as you think about what happened in that socialist state. While a core group of people, Hitler included, undoubtedly envisioned these extremes as their initial goals, most didn’t. They just thought that, after the utter chaos of the 1920s (especially the economic chaos), the socialists would calm the economy (which they did), and simply remove from people the painful obligation of having to make their way in the world.  It was only incrementally that the average German bought into the ever-more-extreme demands of the state – and those who didn’t buy in were coerced because of the state’s unfettered willingness to use its vast, brute power to subordinate individuals to its demand.

Did you catch that? The people in 1920s Germany wanted the government to “remove the painful obligation of having to make their way in the world.” Sound familiar? Economic bailout anyone? Can’t pay your mortgage, no problem, Uncle Sam will? Big, bad insurance won’t pay for that operation, no problem, we’ll nationalize health care and you can get it FREE! Once you start down that path, the slippery slope becomes a cliff. I think we’re getting perilously close the the edge.

Please, inform yourself. Learn history. Understand where the threat really comes from against our country. Be a patriot! Stand up to the Democrat Socialist Party.

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, defeat Obama, socialism, Nazi Germany, American Thinker, political left, political history

I never, in my wildest dreams, thought I would write an article with a headline like the one on this article. I even have a McCain-Palin sign sitting on my front lawn! For many years I’ve considered McCain to be a flake. I still do. He’s bought into the man-made global warming hoax, to the point of mentioning Al Gore as a potential cabinet appointment. He helped manufacture the first breach of the First Amendment in our nation’s history under the guise of “campaign finance reform.” He wants to grant amnesty to illegal aliens. The list goes on.

But McCain, for all of his shortcomings, is FAR preferable to the socialist Barack Hussein Obama. Case in point: In Tuesday night’s second Presidential Debate, Obama flatly said that “health care is a right.” Did you fall out of your chair as I did? A right?? No sir–it’s NOT a right. Rights for citizens are enumerated in our Constitution. There are those recognized as coming from God (and not conferred by the state), like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And there are rights specifically spelled out to prevent citizens from harming other citizens. Most of the Constitution is a leash to keep the federal government in check and prevent a massive central power bureaucracy. The Constitution is there to prevent a single person (like the President) or a small group (like the Congress) from assuming dictatorial powers. The intent is that the government should serve the people, not the other way around.

The Constitution grants you and everyone else the right to be free–to pursue your dreams, which is why the United States is the best country on earth. However, it does not guarantee the outcome of your dreams and pursuits. It only guarantees that you get a shot. If you blow it, that’s your business. It’s not your neighbor’s fault, it’s not the government’s job to pick up your slack–not anyone else. You. You succeed or fail on your own. With the help of family and friends and God (or without).

Nowhere in the Constitution do I see a “right” to health care as guaranteed by the federal government. The founders of our country, and their legacy in the form of the Constitution, specifically prohibit such “rights” from being established. They knew that citizens, if given the opportunity (because of fallen human nature), would vote themselves money from the public treasury. That’s why the founders set up a representative democracy–what we call a republic–and not a straight democracy. We elect people who make the laws and decide how much of, and how, to spend OUR money. There’s meant to be a layer, a speed bump, a firewall between citizens and the public treasury. And the plan was that over time the representatives who make the laws and spend the money would leave government and live under the very laws they had made. When those who we elect ignore the Constitution and pacify enough citizens–essentially “buy them off” with their neighbors’ money through confiscatory taxes, and when those representatives stay in in power for decades–the system breaks down. It becomes unfair. Such is our lot today.

Obama is a raging, lunatic socialist. He speaks well and looks nice–but deep down he has an ax to grind and it’s with America. He wants to massively redistribute wealth. He wants to take YOUR money and decide–for you–how you’ll spend it. How? By huge tax increases in which he will take money from you and your company and give it to other people and other companies–as he and the socialist left deem best.

The latest outrage from the socialist left is the current economic crisis–which is a direct result of the actions of Democrats, including Obama. Think I’m exaggerating? Read this article in The American Thinker: The Crime of the Century: The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. Please…read it! Although Obama is a late-comer to the table, people who work in his campaign (from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae), along with his fellow Senators and Congressman, including Chuck Shumer, Chris Dodd, and Barney Frank, should all, right now, be sitting in jail. They manufactured this crisis, intentionally. And now the Democrats are profiting from it. They put their own sick and twisted desire for power and money ahead of the good of our country, and now the U.S. and the rest of the world will pay the price with a recession (maybe even a depression) that will last for years. Are you really, really mad about the bailout? Be mad at the Democrats. They caused it!

Let me be crystal clear, in case you’ve missed my point. If you’re voting for Obama, you’re voting to hasten the end of democracy in our country. When these socialists finally seize power across all branches, as they are close to doing, your freedoms will start to disappear. And it will happen quickly. First to go with be the First Amendment. Look for blogs like this one–and radio talk shows–to be ended by introducing and passing the “fairness doctrine” (sponsored and promoted by Congressman Maurice Hinchey). You can also kiss your money goodbye. And socialized medicine will arrive quickly. It will be the end of our country as we’ve known it for more than 200 years.

You must not vote for Obama. Nor Maurice Hinchey. He’s nothing but a factotum for Pelosi and gang–a minion who does her majesty’s bidding. Vote him out! And please, if you pull the lever for Obama (or Hinchey), don’t tell me.

Vote for Obama=vote to end democracy in our country.
Vote for McCain=live to fight another day.

End of rant.

Technorati Tags: John McCain, Barack Obama, presidential election, socialism, economic bailout, Maurice Hinchey

There is no legislative history to judge Obama by, unless you count his three years as a U.S. Senator, two of which he’s spent campaigning for president. You do know he has THE most liberal voting record of any U.S. Senator for the past three years, right? You also know his philosophy, his approach to solving “the great issues we face” is Marxist, right? That means his solutions are really big government programs with more and more control of your life by the government–down to the lighbulbs you can use and the temperature of your thermostat.

The end result of Obama’s philosophy? Less and less individual freedom. America was founded as the freest nation on earth–which is one reason why she has been the greatest nation on earth. If Obama wins in November with an all-Democrat Congress, your individual freedoms will change–drastically.

Since we only have a few year’s worth of undistinguished legislative votes by which to judge Mr. Obama, we’re left to look for other ways to evaluate him and give us insight into how he would govern as president. As a church-goer myself, I’m interested in the church he attends, and the kind of messages preached at that church, as a clue to what Obama believes and consequently how he would govern. I’ve checked out the church Mr. Obama has attended for the last 17 years — Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. It is one of the leading churches in the “Black Liberation Theology” movement, which sounds innocent enough, until you find out what that actually means.

Black Liberation Theology essentially says white people have oppressed black people throughout history and that oppression continues today. It also says white people in the U.S. today are beneficiaries of the fruits of slavery. That is, the “things” white people have today, including their possessions and their social standing, their jobs and their money, are a result of ill-gotten gains from oppressing black people for generations–in the past AND today. Bottom line: If you’re white, you don’t deserve what you have. It is a racist philosophy. It is also a Marxist philosophy as much of Black Liberation Theology is aimed at forcibly redistributing wealth from the “haves” (white people) to the “have nots” (black people). Black Liberation Theology is bigotry and Marxism masquerading as Christianity.

Here is what we know: Barack Obama has set under the teaching and preaching of Black Liberation Theology for 17 years, listening and absorbing it like a sponge. You KNOW he did not disagree with it or he would have left Trinity UCC long ago (like his pal Oprah did). Please don’t insult my intelligence by pretending there were “just a few” outrageous statements uttered by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, pastor of Trinity UCC for the past 17 plus years. Rev. Wright is one of the leaders at the center of the Black Liberation Theology movement! Obama’s statements of “I didn’t know” about the extremist views of Wright and Black Liberation Theology are pandering lies that stupid people choose to believe. Hopefully, if you’re reading this, you aren’t stupid.

Need proof of my assertions? Click on the links at the end of this article and read for yourself what has been written by the founders of Black Liberation Theology. And please, click the image below to watch visiting priest Father Michael Pfleger, “a friend of Trinity,” as he speaks from the Trinity pulpit about “white entitlement” and Hillary Clinton. Notice particularly the standing ovation he’s given for his disgusting diatribe. This single clip tells you all you need to know about what Obama has soaked up for the last 17 years. Do you want someone who believes this garbage as your president? I sure don’t.

Obama’s campaign slogan is, “Change We Can Believe In.” I’d say Barack Obama represents “Change We Can Do Without.”

Further resources:

Wikipedia – Black liberation theology
American Thinker – The Real Agenda of Black Liberation Theology
Trinity United Church of Christ – Mission Statement
Trinity United Church of Christ – Statement of Faith

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Jeremiah Wright, Father Michael Pfleger, Trinity United Church of Christ, Black Liberation Theology, bigotry, Marxism, racism, Democrat, campaign slogan