A Bunch of News..

Today's offering is a little like a grab bag.  When I stuck my hand in to pull out a topic, I held my breath as I open up my fist to reveal...global warming.

It probably isn't necessary to spend much time with a discourse about the insanity of giving the UN money to solve anything, especially not something that is as poorly quantified or qualified as global warming.  But as individual citizens we have a much more insidious global climate change remediation proposal to fight against - although it looks a lot like the UN money pit idea - carbon credits and taxes.

Maybe the information I need to make this crystal clear is out there somewhere but I have yet to hear it explained in any way that might make those of us who have to pay embrace the idea as beneficial.

It appears to have two facets: national and corporate.  The way most people are billed for their domestic water seems to be the model for the structure of this idea.  Each polluter type is given a certain amount of carbon "pollution" credit.  The acceptable level will be determined by some government entity (and won't that make it honest).  Perhaps there will be a flat rate charged for discharging up to that amount, after which the additional blocks of carbon "pollution" will be taxed at a premium.

Here is perhaps the most interesting aspect of this plan.  If a polluter is wealthy enough to be able to afford to, they can purchase "unused credits" from other polluters to cover the extra pollution they produce.

There are two questions that are obvious to me.  What does the carbon tax money go for?  I understand that taxes and tariffs are often used to modify behavior but the money goes somewhere, and often to program related to the behavior that is being taxed.  Will the carbon taxes be spent on finding "solutions" to climate change?

The other question is, how will the carbon tax appreciably impact global climate change (assuming that it would in the first place) if a polluter can continue to pollute if they can afford the tax?  The most likely effect of this tax will be to move out of the marketplace those small operators who cannot afford the regulation and consolidate the power of the largest competitors - who are likely the largest polluters - at the expense of market choice.

It is interesting, and telling, that polluters with such ostentatious lifestyles as Al Gore and John Edwards talk about environmentalism in terms of paying their "carbon taxes" (because, of course, they can afford to) rather than downsizing their lifestyles to limit their carbon "pollution".

Giving the UN money to effect change of any kind will have the net effect of eroding national sovereignty  but corporations which are willing to play the same game will impact each one of us as our personal sovereignty is sacrificed.

Here's one to add to JR's rant. I don't know about you guys, but just reading the headline made me laugh.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,313844,00.html

Some more stories to add to the fire:

English teacher in the Sudan gets thrown in jail and deported for naming a teddy bear Mohammed.

Tasers. Enough said for the moment.

Bin Laden tells Eupopeans to stop helping Americans.

Rodney King shot in the face. Wound not lethal.

My favorite of the day... 14 year old student facing battery charges after throwing crayon at teacher. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,313963,00.html

maybe we should arm our police with crayons :)

too bad that some people think this way. since when is it a criminal offense to throw a crayon? the only problem i see with this story is that the 14 year old needs a spanking and suspended from school.