Obamas plans to reverse Bush's policies on oil exploration a retrograde step

Barack Obama, the US president-elect, will use executive powers to reverse George Bush's policies on oil exploration in national parks- senior aide John Podesta has indicated. This is a retrograde step ,which is music to the ears of oil producing countries such as Venezuela and Iran. Once more the West can be held to ransom. This is economic madness as the US has huge untapped deposits of oil offshore and in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) Alaska.

Renewable energy will not plug the energy deficit which is gaining momentum. The net result for consumers is higher gas prices in the not too distant future. Perhaps Barack Obama would prefer a return to the horse and cart. Obama is on record as supporting higher oil and gas prices. Looks like he will be true to his word.

Russia, India and China intend to push ahead with economic development underpinned by a strong attachment to oil. Such countries are obviously not too concerned with the possible environmental consequences. The US economy will stagnate.

Video:WFTV's Barbara West belittled By Brash Biden

In this interview Joe Biden comes across as condescending and bad mannered. The interviewer Barbara West asked topical questions aimed at eliciting information. She questioned Joe Biden about Acorn attempts to register phoney voters. She also referred to Obama's links to Acorn.

The next question concerned redistribution of wealth. After all Obama declared to Joe the Plumber that this was part of his political philosophy and policy platform. Biden did not like the interviewers reference to Marxism: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need (or needs)” Now Joe Biden cant have it both ways . In his acceptance speech he played the class warfare card. Obama's redistribution of wealth policy is grounded in Socialism/Marxism. Why not call it what it really is? Obama plans an explosion in expenditure devoted to Welfare. This is redistribution of wealth. Much of this money will come from higher taxes on the middle class and on businesses.

How is Obama going to finance tax cuts? His promises amount to 1,000 billion dollars. The bailout costs another 700 billion dollars. He is opposed to a public expenditure freeze. Obama and Biden must come clean on funding for tax cuts?

When asked about foreign policy he used the snide put down “I don’t know who is writing your questions for you.”
In the course of this campaign Obama and Biden have received very favourable treatment from most media organs. Now the Obama campaign is denying this station interviews because Joe Biden was asked substantive questions. This says it all.
Just imagine if Sarah Palin had addressed the interviewer in a similar manner to Joe Biden. There would be an outcry in the liberal media.

National Rifle Association (NRA) Anti Obama Ad-"Defend Freedom, Defeat Obama"

Has the Minister for the Environment John Gormley nothing better to do?

Today Mr Gormley launched a public consultation process to examine the problem of littering and pollution caused by election posters. He hinted at restrictions on the locations where posters could be displayed. He also plans to introduce a new code of practice and to allocate new powers to local authorities. At the moment, election and referendum posters are exempt from the Litter Pollution Act until seven days after polling day.

He said "Increasingly, concerns have been raised by local authorities and the general public about the proliferation of posters, their use in unsuitable locations, and the failure to remove posters, including poster ties, within the statutory seven-day period".

Sometimes the plastic ties used to put up the posters remain in place even if the poster itself is removed. However this is not a major problem. In general parties and individuals remove posters quite promptly. This was not the case in the 1980s and 1990s.

Posters are an integral part of the Irish electoral scene for generations. They are part of our electoral tradition. They are an essential prerequisite for candidates as they promote name and party recognition. They also help to create an election atmosphere. Now Mr Gormley in a puritanical streak wishes to stymie parties efforts to promote their candidates. Is Mr Gormley a killjoy? Undoubtedly he is also partly motivated by envy-envy of the larger parties. This is another example of political correctness gone mad.

Election posters are of little concern to the electorate at present. However rising unemployment, inflation, the housing crisis,crime, threats to Irish farming and fishing are the major issues, which concern voters. Perhaps the Minister might like to concern himself with these.

Mr Gormley's approach smacks of the nanny state in action. He even wishes to allocate further powers to local authorities to tackle this minor issue. The Irish people are sick and tired of more and more regulation emanating from Government sources and from the EU.

Beijing facing an environmental Armageddon?

Today the authorities in Beijing introduced new traffic regulations which it is hoped will remove more than 1.65 million cars from the roads each day.
The rules, in effect until September 20, ban cars with odd- and even-numbered licence plates from the roads on alternate days.

They are part of a wider drive to clear the air in Beijing, which is one of the world's most polluted cities and is regularly enveloped in an acrid smog- a product of humidity, traffic and industrial pollution. So bad is the situation that the New Zealand Olympic team will wear carbon filter masks around the Olympic village to help them cope with the pollution.

After September 20th it is back to normal as an estimated extra 1.65 million cars will go back on the streets of Beijing. Obviously the health of the 17 million inhabitants is of secondary importance. Failure to tackle this problem on a permanent basis will result in catastropic health problems in the future for a large proportion of the population. The financial implications will be horrendous as authorities struggle to wrestle with the consequences.

For the duration of the Olympics it is much more important to showcase the Communist system and enforce higher environmental standards. In the aftermath of the Olympics many of these standards will be dispensed with.

Beijing faces an environmental Armageddon unless the authorities plot a new and radical environmental course. Beijing is not an isolated case. It is believed that 99% of the inhabitants of large urban centres in China breathe in unsafe air. In addition most of the rivers and lakes are seriously polluted whilst 37% of the Chinese land area suffers from soil erosion.

Threat to consumers and primary producers confirmed by EU report on Brazil - Creed

Fine Gael Agriculture Spokesperson, Michael Creed TD, has said that all the evidence that is needed for an immediate ban on the importation of Brazilian beef is contained in the EU Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) report published today (Wednesday).
"The FVO found:
- The Brazilian State Veterinary Service had no systematic audit system for animal health,
- and no criteria for such an audit established.
- Cold stores in ports dealing with beef destined for Europe were not audited.
- There was a lack of adequate trained staff in the State Veterinary Service.
- Shortcomings that previous FVO investigations had identified had not been addressed.
- The 90-day residence rule on cattle destined for EU was regularly broken.
- Insufficient protection against rodents and insects by food business operators.
- Operation hygiene could not be fully guaranteed.

"Any rational analysis of these finding could only conclude that it is well past time for a ban on Brazilian beef imports. Following the publication of the report the Agriculture Minister can no longer stand over a situation where Irish farmers are subject to a rigorous set of standards while forced to compete with sub-standard and unsafe products from Brazil."

EU must ban Brazilian beef imports.

According to Farming Life "ANGER at news that the Brazilian government is seeking even more time to get its house in order on traceability has been expressed by Irish Cattle and Sheep Association beef chairman, Robin Smith.
Reports indicate that Brazilian Agriculture Minister, Reinhold Stephanes, is travelling to meet with the European Union this month to seek more time (beyond the end of the year) to conclude the implementation of their traceability system, known as Sisbov. "ICSA cannot believe that any more time can be given to the Brazilians – they are due an FVO inspection on November 5, and either they have things right or they don't. "If, after many years off broken promises on animal traceability, they still can't get it right, then it would be an outrage and highly negligent if the EU bails them out once again,'' said Mr Smith.................



The EU Commission has imposed stringent regulations on traceability for farmers within the community. This is laudable and in the interests of the consumer. Unfortunately the Commission is adopting a different approach to Brazilian Beef imports. Whilst all cattle in Europe must be individually identified from birth, retain two ear tags throughout their life and have all movements recorded on a central computer database Brazil fails to meet this requirement.



In addition the rain forests are cleared with slave labour. According to the Telegraph "In remote areas where Brazil's forest is being hacked out of the way for cattle grazing, David Ismail, a Perthshire farmer found conditions among the homeless labourers and their employers "like the worst scenes in apartheid". He said: "I was shocked when I found how the growth into Europe of Brazilian beef was causing so many problems in Brazil."


His report says that illiterate, landless labourers, housed in shacks, were deprived of medical assistance and sometimes chained to trees. The labourers, mostly from the poor north-east, are brought in to cut down the forest of central Brazil with rough tools and are unpaid, bullied, brutalised and sometimes shot. They are promised high wages, only to find that their board and rations exceed what they are paid.
The workers are described within Brazil as slaves. The Ministry of Labour's Special Anti-Slavery Enforcement Team, set up to hunt down some of the world's last true slaves, managed to release 11,946 of these individuals between 2000 and 2004...."

The EU Commission is complicit in the destruction of the rain forests-a major contributory factor to global warming. It appears to have turned a blind eye to slavery on cattle ranches in Brazil. It does not insist on the same level of traceability for Brazilian farmers as EU farmers. It stands indicted by EU consumers and farmers.

It is concerned with opening up the Brazilian market to European industrialists. As a quid pro quo European agriculture is to be sacrificed on the altar of political and commercial expediency.

Brazilian beef imports must be banned until such time as the same levels of traceability obtain in Brazil as in EU countries.