Chalk this one up to a 'WTF' moment for alleged nuclear 'expert' David Kraft who, during his interview with WGN, apparently forgot to take down the sign he had posted at his desk that referred to Texas as a Nazi state by replacing the 'X' with a swastika. As a result, the gaffe actually made the news report. The good news? He will likely be in demand for more interviews. The bad news? It won't be because of his expertise on nuclear energy.
If someone thinks an entire state comes under the Nazi umbrella, such a person is necessarily 'racist.' Moreover, isn't it amazing how someone as supposedly intelligent as Kraft can be so incredibly sophomoric? He's exhibiting the character traits Norman Lear wanted to portray Archie Bunker as possessing. Oh, the irony.
As a Texan, I take offense. However, unlike the left (and Nazis), I encourage Dr. Kraft to continue telling us how he feels.
His name is Jim Berkland and he is to geology what 'climate deniers' are to the Global Warming movement. For years, Berkland has maintained that earthquakes are predictable when variables like the gravitational pull of the moon and animal behavior are factored in. He has been scoffed at by mainstream geologists but his track record is more than a sufficient rebuke of the attempts to marginalize him.
Take note in the video that Berkland makes reference to the millions of dead fish that appeared in Redondo Beach, CA just days before Japan's earthquake. As far as I know, there hasn't been any coherent reason for that event so shouldn't all possibilities be on the table at this point? Berkland's research also involves an increase in the number of pets that run away from home and in the days before an earthquake. He maintains that animal shelters experience an increase in tenants at these times.
Though he doesn't have a perfect track record, Berkland's predictions have established a trend that show he's definitely on to something. His success rate cannot be achieved by guessing. HERE is his website, which could use some updating.
Consider the proverbial budget can kicked another three weeks down the road as the House passed another Continuing Resolution to prevent a government shutdown. The biggest problem here is that neither party seems to understand the level of cuts that are necessary. The Republicans want to cut $61 Billion and the Dems only want to cut a fraction of that from the budget. Meanwhile, by comparison, both are virtually inconsequential when one considers that the proposed budget will run a deficit well over $1 Trillion.
Perhaps the most disturbing reality from the CR getting passed is how many Republican freshmen voted for it. Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Steve King (R-IA) were asking for support in the form of 'NO' votes unless pre-appropriated dollars for Obamacare were removed from the budget. Even that amount - $105 Billion - is nothing more than a drop in the bucket of our larger budget problems. Only 22 of the nearly 100 Republican freshmen voted against the CR. The balance appears to already have forgotten what they were sent to Washington to do.
One of the bigger disappointments has been Kristi Noem of South Dakota, who has been consistently siding with the Republican leadership on budget matters. Rep. Allen West (R-FL) voted 'NO' and once again demonstrated his leadership skills translate from the battlefield nicely. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is a voice in the Senate that is echoing the sentiment of West. We are beginning to see which Tea Party candidates were up to the task. Rubio and West are among them.
Whether the 'NO' votes from Republicans - 54 in all - were the result of the efforts of Bachmann and King is at one level immaterial because the $61 Billion in proposed cuts from the Republicans is being eaten away with every passing day the new budget isn't passed. Congress seems to have no concept of accounting.
This short video sums up the overriding problem that the vast majority of Congress seems ill-equipped to deal with.
