Planck's Constant

Obama's Promise To Kill The Coal Companies Will Octuple Your Electric Bill

2012-05-24T03:18:19Z

The John E. Amos Coal Power Plant
Flickr User: Wigwam Jones

We have all seen films where terrorists hide a nuclear weapon in a city timed to explode sometime near the end of the movie. Most of the time the hero is able to disarm the weapon and save the populace from destruction.

In real life, we, the people, are the hero, the terrorist is President Obama and the time bomb is the Utility MACT rule promulgated by the EPA to end the use of coal-powered plants in this country.

By 2015, when this rule is in full effect, your electric bill could easily be 800% higher than it is now:

Fox News, 22 May 2012, Obama’s war on coal hits your electric bill
Obama’s War on Coal has already taken a remarkable toll on coal-fired power plants in America.

Last week the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a shocking drop in power sector coal consumption in the first quarter of 2012. Coal-fired power plants are now generating just 36 percent of U.S. electricity, versus 44.6 percent just one year ago.

It’s the result of an unprecedented regulatory assault on coal that will leave us all much poorer.

Last week PJM Interconnection, the company that operates the electric grid for 13 states (Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia) held its 2015 capacity auction. These are the first real, market prices that take Obama’s most recent anti-coal regulations into account, and they prove that he is keeping his 2008 campaign promise to make electricity prices “necessarily skyrocket.”

The market-clearing price for new 2015 capacity – almost all natural gas – was $136 per megawatt. That’s eight times higher than the price for 2012, which was just $16 per megawatt. In the mid-Atlantic area covering New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and DC the new price is $167 per megawatt. For the northern Ohio territory served by FirstEnergy, the price is a shocking $357 per megawatt.

In some areas there may be no electric power at all:

energy.aol.com, EPA Utility MACT Rule Released: Coal Plants Set For Closure As Blackout Risks Cited
For coal, the rule essentially ends the Clean Air Act grandfathering that has made it economic to keep running aging coal plants. The expected rule has already been cited in utility decisions to shut old units...

The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) warned in November that EPA's three-year timeline means hundreds of units shutting at once – either for months for retrofits, or permanently.

And don't think that energy prices going through the roof is just an unintended consequence of his policies, Obama knows and expects your utility bill to sky-rocket:

Hot Air, 2 Nov 2008, Obama: I’ll make energy prices “skyrocket”
In another clip from the same January 2008 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle in which Barack Obama promised to bankrupt anyone foolish enough to build coal-burning power plants, he also made an interesting admission about his entire energy plan. Obama told the editors that his policies would make energy prices “skyrocket” as the energy industry passed along the exorbitant costs of his cap-and-trade policy:

The problem is not technical, uh, and the problem is not mastery of the legislative intricacies of Washington. The problem is, uh, can you get the American people to say, “This is really important,” and force their representatives to do the right thing? That requires mobilizing a citizenry. That requires them understanding what is at stake. Uh, and climate change is a great example.

You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know — Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.

They — you — you can already see what the arguments will be during the general election. People will say, “Ah, Obama and Al Gore, these folks, they’re going to destroy the economy, this is going to cost us eight trillion dollars,” or whatever their number is. Um, if you can’t persuade the American people that yes, there is going to be some increase in electricity rates on the front end, but that over the long term, because of combinations of more efficient energy usage, changing lightbulbs and more efficient appliance, but also technology improving how we can produce clean energy, the economy would benefit.

If we can’t make that argument persuasively enough, you — you, uh, can be Lyndon Johnson, you can be the master of Washington. You’re not going to get that done.

In the next few weeks the Senate is set to vote on Inhofe Resolution, S.J. Res 37, which seeks to overturn Utility MACT rule. It will take just 51 votes to send a clear message to Obama that his War on Coal must end.

There is a form set up at American Commitment to make it easy to contact your senators on this crucial issue.

You may notice that there is a new widget in my sidebar:

which I will keep up until the Senate votes on the matter. Please take time to fill out the form and let your Senators know that we cannot abide such an egregious rule.

Obama and the Transformation of America

2012-05-23T03:32:52Z

Photo Credit: Holger Awakens

President Obama and the idiots who worship him do not understand the true nature of wealth nor what makes wealth possible, as exemplified by our Idiot-in-Chief when he declares that this election campaign is all about how to create an economy where everybody has a shot at success ¹.

No, you moron, the most powerful, the wealthiest, the greatest nation in the world did not come about because our government stuck its nose in everyone's business in order for everyone to have a shot at success. America is successful because for more than 200 years our government stayed the hell out of the way of business and let individuals use their minds to create wealth.

The last country that made sure everyone had an equal shot at success was the Soviet Union. Somehow Obama thinks that system is what our country needs.

Ayn Rand in her novel Atlas Shrugged, informed us: "Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think."

Man's mind, not government aid, subsidies, grants, loans, permits, or bailouts.

America has never before in her history wasted more money than now on aid, subsidies, entitlements or other waste, and never before in our history have we been so deeply indebted to other nations to keep us afloat.

I am ashamed to say, never before in our history have so many Americans become lazy, worthless, entitlement-minded mooches.

Obama thinks he can re-distribute wealth by government fiat, but one cannot re-distribute the capacity to think. Sure, he can tax the crap out of those who create wealth, but unless they are willing to continue to be bled dry, that money will one day dry up.

And some of the wealthy are leaving. Eduardo Saverin, the billionaire co- founder of Facebook took some heat when he renounced his U.S. citizenship in order to save billions in confiscatory taxes ². But I see nothing wrong with his actions - what I do find wrong is a tax system that scares away wealth. Instead of taxing people who help create businesses and jobs we should be giving them bonuses. That is why corporations make money while governments only waste money. Corporations do not punish those who make money for them, they reward them. How long would a company last that took money back from those who produced the most? But that's what we do with our tax system.

We now have the second highest corporate tax in the world and we wonder why corporations move their operations overseas. Here is a list from the Federal Register of those who have renounced their citizenship in the past quarter. Keep talking about the wealthy paying their fair share of taxes, Obama, and the wealthy will soon take all their share before you can lay your hands on any of it. And just as corporations have fled our country, so will individuals.

Notes

(1):

ABC News, 21 May 2012, President Obama Directly Seeks to Make Romney’s Business Experience the ‘Bain’ of His Existence
“This is part of the debate that we’re going to be having in this election campaign about how do we create an economy where everybody, from top to bottom, folks on Wall Street and folks on Main Street, have a shot at success. And if they’re working hard and they’re acting responsibly that they’re able to live out the American dream.”

(2):

Bloomberg, Facebook Co-Founder May Gain Choosing Singapore Over U.S.
Saverin, 30, joins a growing number of people giving up U.S. citizenship ahead of a possible increase in tax rates for top earners. The Brazilian-born resident of Singapore is one of several people who helped Mark Zuckerberg start Facebook in a Harvard University dormitory and stand to reap billions of dollars after the world’s largest social network holds its IPO.
“It’s plainly lawful and at the same time profoundly ungrateful to the country that provided these opportunities for him,” said Edward Kleinbard, a tax law professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. “He benefited from his U.S. education, the contacts he made at Harvard, and most important the extraordinary openness and flexibility of our economy that encourages startup ventures to flourish.”

More Nasty Muslim Jokes

2012-05-22T03:54:54Z

This is my 82nd post on Muslim Jokes. The reason I call them nasty is that they are intended to be spiteful and offensive. It happens that I find Islam to be nasty. And bad nasty as in vicious, offensive, and disgusting. So I use the weapon of derision to fight against it.

Here for the enjoyment of my infidel readers and to the annoyance of my Muslim readers are the following:

Q: What are the three greatest lies?
A:

I'm from the government, I'm here to help you.

The cheque is in the mail.

Islam is the religion of peace.

Q: What do you get if you cross a Muslim with a monkey?
A: Nothing, monkeys are too intelligent to have sex with Muslims.

Two Muslim men are sitting on a park bench when an 8-year-old walks past, and one turns to the other and says, "Wow, I bet she was hot in her day."

A few dozen Pakistanis died in London this morning. It was not a terrorist attack, a bunk bed collapsed! They are blaming it on al-Ikea.

A Pakistani arrives at the Pearly Gates of Heaven. St. Peter looks him up and down and says "What do YOU want?"

With a glowing smile the man says, "I'm here for Jesus..."

St. Peter pokes his head around the gates and shouts "JESUS, YOUR CAB'S HERE!"

Abdul's wife dies and he wants to put an obituary in the paper. He phones them and finds out its $1 for three words. He's only got a buck so he says "Just say, 'Fatima is Dead.'"

The people at the paper take pity on him and say he can have another three words for free, so he says, "Okay put 'Fatima is Dead - shop still open!'"

Q: What's the ugliest thing on a 6 year old Muslim girl?
A: Her husband.

Q. How many Muslims does it take to change a lightbulb?
A. One - he holds the bulb and the world revolves around him.

President Obama's Secret Plans for Defense.

2012-05-21T17:47:48Z

We all have read that President Obama has promised to veto ¹ the $642 billion 2013 defense authorization bill because it's almost 1% more than he wants to spend on national security.

Some of us may be confused over this since just last January the President told us to expect the military budget to grow ² because "... we have global responsibilities that demand our leadership."

The truth is that our President has been holding secret the plans for defense that were only just recently revealed to Planck's Constant telling us why he doesn't think we need to spend too much money for defense: at a press conference when we asked President Obama what he intended to do about defense, he replied: "I'm going to paint de fence de same colour as de house."

Photo Credit: MSNBC

I hope that clears it up for everyone.

Source: an Internet email.

Notes

(1):

Navy Times, 16 May 2012, Obama threatens to veto defense spending bill
The administration signaled last week that it would not support a budget that is $4 billion over the president’s request and $8 billion over the spending caps set last fall by the bipartisan Budget Control Act of 2011.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., the Armed Services Committee chairman, had a terse exchange of statements last week, with Panetta claiming the extra money would actually hurt the military by making it more likely that Congress and the White House will be unable to avoid across-the-board budget cuts in January that could reduce the 2013 defense budget by $55 billion or more.

(2):

The White House, 5 Jan 2012, Remarks by the President on the Defense Strategic Review
Over the next 10 years, the growth in the defense budget will slow, but the fact of the matter is this: It will still grow, because we have global responsibilities that demand our leadership. In fact, the defense budget will still be larger than it was toward the end of the Bush administration. And I firmly believe, and I think the American people understand, that we can keep our military strong and our nation secure with a defense budget that continues to be larger than roughly the next 10 countries combined.

Why So Many People Mistakenly Believe that Islam is a Religion

2012-05-20T04:41:19Z

For a long time I could not understand why so many people mistakenly believe that Islam is a religion instead of what it really is: a savage, violent, brutal political system bent on world domination.

Before the Internet came along one could make the excuse that it was difficult to hear sermons in mosques calling for the destruction of the infidel world, but today with an abundance of YouTube videos where Muslims in their own words tell us the true purpose of Islam, what excuse is there?

At first, I thought my fellow Americans who misunderstand Islam are simply misinformed, ignorant, badly educated, naive and plain stupid - but then I read this:

Yahoo! Shine, 12 Shocking Hoaxes for April Fool's Day
2007 Google introduces TiSP (Toilet Internet Service Provider), which supplies free broadband via the sewer system. A user flushes one end of a fiber-optic cable down his toilet; an hour later, it's recovered and connected to the Internet by a team of Plumbing Hardware Dispatchers. Chat rooms are filled with interested parties asking, "Can this be true?"

So I thought to myself if people exist who believe one can get broadband service by flushing a cable down their toilet, then it's clear that those who likewise misunderstand Islam are indeed simply misinformed, ignorant, badly educated, naive and plain stupid.

N.B. It should be noted that Fiber to the Home can be run through sewer pipes as well as any other conduits.

Govtech.com, Running Fiber Through the Sewers
Many current U.S. FTTH networks (in about 85 cities) deployed fiber underground via trenching or other alternatives. Trenching involves digging a three-foot channel in the public right of way, which is not only costly, but also highly disruptive. Then there are alternatives like microtrenching, which while still in the public right of way, requires a smaller duct -- about half an inch wide and less than a foot deep. This method is still disruptive, though less so, and is estimated to cost less than half the cost of traditional trenching, according to OSP Magazine.
On the whole, 16 percent of North American households have FTTH broadband connections, compared to 34 percent in Japan, according to the Fiber to the Home Council. Many of these international locales that offer FTTH -- like Tokyo, Paris and Vienna, to name a few -- are using the sewer approach, which saves money. The reason for that is simple: The wastewater system already exists, so there are no costs to run separate lines for fiber-optic cables.

However, getting the Internet by having a cable sticking out of your toilet bowl and connected to your computer is really incredibly unbelievable.

Shariah is Islam

2012-05-19T03:17:01Z

In my 2007 article Xenophobia Bad - Islamophobia Good, I wrote that the danger from Islam is not with moderate Muslims per se - obviously not all Muslims are dangerous, rioting, barbaric loons - but with the extremists who will always dominate and set the agenda for all the other Muslims.

As soon as there are enough Muslims in a city, region or country to begin to be a powerful force, the extremists will take over and control the Islamic polity. The following video illustrates perfectly what I have always maintained:

YouTube, Wretched: Brutally Honest Muslim.

Sam Huntington at Always On Watch has this observation regarding the video:

I should think we must be grateful that these Islamacists are in the open about their long-term plan for western civilization. Personally, I don’t think most Europeans and Americans are quite as dim-witted as these Islamacists think. I mean, there is no way western culture would roll over for Shar’ia Law. No way. Right?

Germany in the 1940s came close to conquering the whole of Europe. The danger facing the world back then did not come from moderate Germans who were in the majority. The problem was that the majority of Germans were controlled by the extremists, the Nazis.

Unfortunately for the world, Islamic extremists use the exact same Brown Shirt Tactics to control the moderates. One day, unless we ban all further Muslim immigration into western countries, deport all devout Muslims, and monitor closely all mosques, we will be facing millions and millions of Muslims controlled by the likes of the fellow in the video above.

Millions of Muslims
Photo Credit: Canary In The Coal Mine

The Worst Economy In American History

2012-05-18T03:03:01Z

Earlier today I went to a favorite place of mine on the Bowery in lower Manhattan to buy a coin counter. The place sells cash registers, scales, bill counters, coin counters, and other business items. The owner asked me, "How's business?" I told him the truth, I have been working in one business or another since I was 7 years old and this is the worst year for business I have seen in 60 years.

He nodded in agreement, noting that he's been in business since the end of WWII and he's never seen business so bad. He added an interesting insight: years ago many people when they lost their would go and start a business. But thanks to all the uncertainty generated by our inept current President, when entrepreneurs do open a business it's likely they do it with the fewest employees possible ¹, further retarding economic recovery.

Later in the day, I went to buy gold scrap from a gold-buying store in Staten Island and the owner asked me, "Hey, is it me or is business horrible?"

A week ago, a limousine company owner told me that normally this time of year he'd have at least 40 to 60 reservations booked for the coming weeks. He had only 4.

A construction company owner that has done work for me on a dozen occasions called and asked if I was hiring. I had to say no. Here is a guy who normally hires dozens of guys, putting up storefronts or renovating apartments looking for work for himself.

I do business with hundreds and hundreds of people and I can tell you that all of them share the same sentiment: this is indeed the worst economy in their memory.

How's business for you, dear reader?

Notes

(1):

MarketWatch, 19 Mar 2012, New Business Startups Declined in 2011, Annual Kauffman Study Shows
"The Great Recession has pushed many individuals into business ownership due to high unemployment rates," said Robert Litan, vice president of research and policy at the Kauffman Foundation. "However, economic uncertainty likely has made them more cautious, and they prefer to start sole proprietorships rather than more costly employer firms. This 'jobless entrepreneurship' trend negatively effects job creation and the larger economic recovery."

Yes That's Clooney and Obama on the Cover of Time Magazine

2012-05-16T15:20:53Z

There are two kinds of socialists:

The poor, unsuccessful, unhappy types who blame the rich for their miserable lives,
The rich successful, unhappy types who blame the right-wing rich for the miserable lives of the first type.

The latter are called Limousine Socialists.

Obama showed us how much he and his supporters are Limousine Socialists last week when the President made headlines at George Clooney's house for a fundraiser ¹ that sucked in a staggering $15 million for his reelection efforts. The star-studded backyard party brought in a campaign haul believed to be the largest ever in one night.

The relationship between Hollywood's left and Obama is perfectly illustrated by this parody of last week's Time Magazine cover:

Photo Credit: iOwnTheWorld

A tip of the turban to Dan Mitchell at International Liberty and reader Dick Stanley.

Notes

(1):

NewsFeed | TIME.com, Barack Obama, George Clooney and the $15 Million Fundraiser
Rightfully so, it’s been deemed “Starmageddon.”
On the heels of the President’s historic backing of gay marriage, Thursday night was very good to his reelection coffers: a George Clooney-hosted fundraiser managed to rake in a cool $15 million for Barack Obama’s campaign fund — reportedly a record for a single presidential election event. But that was just the business side of things.

Should We Obey the Laws of Man or the Laws of God?

2012-05-16T03:47:21Z

Following Gadaffi's death, Libya’s interim
government has announced that “Sharia
law” will govern the country.
Photo Credit: The Ahmadiyya Post

Last year I wrote a favorable article about Professor Mahfooz A. Kanwar, a rare Muslim who believes one should have loyalty to one's adopted country above loyalty to Islam. Of course merely uttering this is blasphemy and in Shariah compliant countries would subject the offender, unless he recants, to death.

I agree with the Professor, however his beliefs contradict Islamic law - the Hadiths are quite clear - Muslims are to obey the laws of the land unless they conflict with the laws of God:

Volume 4, Book 52, Number 203:

Narrated Ibn ‘Umar:

The ‘Prophet said, “It is obligatory for one to listen to and obey (the ruler’s orders) unless these orders involve one disobedience (to Allah); but if an act of disobedience (to Allah) is imposed, he should not listen to or obey it.”

But how should the pious Muslim be obedient to Allah? Muslims are commanded to fight unbelievers until they are either dead ¹, converted to Islam ², or in a permanent state of subjugation under Muslim domination ³. Non-observant Muslims who are unaware of these commands have no problem being loyal to their adopted country.

However, devout Muslims cannot be loyal to God if they do not engage in jihad to make Islam the dominant religion in the land. This is the dilemma observant Muslims face living in non-Muslim countries. As I wrote in Is there anything wrong with Muslims in Our Government? "Those who take their Islam seriously know that the end purpose of their lives is to turn Dar al-Harb (non-Muslim countries) into Dar al-Islam."

Before any reader complains that Christianity and Judaism also require that their members not obey temporal authority if it is in conflict with God's commands, let me point out there is a big difference. The God of Christians and Jews does not command His faithful to strive in the path of God to kill, convert, or subjugate non-believers.

I have written before that I find a problem with any religious group that holds God's Law as more important than the laws of our land, specifically Catholics should not run hospitals because Catholic doctrine is in conflict with many medical procedures and US laws. God's law has no place in medicine.

Likewise I ridiculed pious Jews who endanger the lives of others merely to foolishly comply with Jewish law.

In contrast with devout Muslims, devout Christians and Jews will not try to subvert our government nor try change our Constitution nor attempt to destroy our culture in order to comply with the commands of their faith. That cannot be said about devout Muslims.

That is the difference between devout Muslims who obey God's Law and devout infidels who obey God's Law.

Notes

(1):

Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement, Qur'an (8:12)
Remember thy Lord inspired the angels (with the message): "I am with you: give firmness to the Believers: I will instil terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them.

(2):

Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement, Qur'an (8:39)
And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and polytheism: i.e. worshipping others besides Allah) and the religion (worship) will all be for Allah Alone [in the whole of the world ].

(3):

Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement, Qur'an (9:29)
Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.

My Toddler Gets Hysterical When He Has His Hair Cut. What Can I Do?

2012-05-14T12:45:15Z

Photo Credit: Bo aHMaD

There is a Jewish answer to the question: "My toddler gets hysterical when he has his hair cut. What can I do?" The answer is another question: "If your child gets hysterical when he has his haircut, why are you persisting in trying to get his hair cut?"

Unless it is an absolute emergency, why traumatize a child? The only situation when it is appropriate to restrain a child while he or she is terrified, is for vaccines or other medical reason.

Before we continue, let me say that the question "What can I do?" is wrong. Here is the right question: "When is the right age for my baby's first haircut?"

The quick answer: When your child is no longer afraid to get one.

My sons didn't have their first haircut until they were three or four. No fuss, no crying, no trauma, no drama, no restraint, no child abuse.

The long answer: Unless your child is stepping and then tripping on his hair, why bother cutting it at all? Many mothers cut their son's hair because they are annoyed that people mistake their boy for a girl. But so what? Other moms do it for no reason at all. There are mothers who even cut their child's hair every single month, no matter how much the child is tortured or traumatized.

But, you may ask, what about hair that gets in the way of your child's vision? Well, just snip off the offending strands while your child is asleep. It's not brain surgery.

Some mothers only cut their child's hair so that they can style it in a manner that impresses their female friends (Oh isn't he cute with that mohawk haircut?).

For these mothers, the child is merely fodder to bolster their own distorted notion of self-esteem or to satisfy the sick urges prompted by their Münchausen syndrome by proxy disease. It is not the child's needs that are important, it's whatever makes the mother look good to those around her. Mothers who cannot wow their friends with a fancy car or expensive jewelry use their children as just another plaything to make her look successful or happy or a good mother.

A mother's job is difficult enough without making it unbearable. Why make your child wail in terror? This is why some mothers have postpartum depression, they lack sleep and they worry about their ability as a mother. They lack sleep because their child wakes up in the middle of the night from terror-dreams. The child wakes in the middle of the night because the mother has unknowingly abused her child.

The mother rightly worries about her ability as a mother because her child is always crying. Want to have a peaceful and restful motherhood? Stop abusing your child. The first step in solving the problem is admitting that you, not the child, is the problem.

Sexy Weather Girl Sugey Abrego

2012-05-11T23:59:48Z

While gringos are stuck with television weather presenters such as Al Roker (nothing personal, I'm sure he's very talented), television weather shows in Mexico are smart enough to make the production more interesting with sexy female presenters.

Here for Noticieros Televisa is weather presenter Sugey Abrego. Click on any panel for larger view.

Mosaic made with Mosaic Maker

This is the second entry in my series of Hottest Weather Girls of the Western World.

Enjoy the following video, even if you don't speak Spanish:

YouTube, Sugey Abrego Hot Mexican Weathergirl

Sugey will appear in a future article entitled 13 Hottest Weather Girls of the Western World.

I Practiced Attachment Parenting Decades Before Jamie Lynne Grumet

2012-05-11T15:24:50Z

Jamie Lynne Grumet Breast-feeding
Photo Credit: Time Magazine

Readers of my blog are familiar with my articles on the proper raising of children which is now called 'attachment parenting.'

Here are some of the details:

Huff Post, 11 May 2012, Jamie Lynne Grumet, Breastfeeding Mom On 'TIME Magazine' Cover, Illustrates Attachment Parenting
In the provocative new cover story of its May 21 issue, TIME Magazine taps into a two-decade-long parenting conversation that has boiled over in recent months. Journalist Kate Pickert reports on the rise of attachment parenting, a set of techniques popularized by Dr. William (Bill) Sears in "The Baby Book," his 767-page treatise published in 1992.

In the article, Pickert explores who Sears is and why controversy surrounds his theories -- the biggies are baby-wearing, extended breastfeeding and co-sleeping -- but it's TIME's photographs of real mothers breastfeeding their toddlers that has everyone talking...

For my readers' convenience here are just a few links to my articles:

Co-sleeping: my two sons slept in our family bed until they were ten years old - see my 2007 article Because that is how my parents did it.

Breast-feeding: I was breast-fed for almost five years - see my 2007 article Breastfeed all you want.

Non-spanking: I never spanked my children - see my 2007 article Young Children Should never be spanked.

Binkies: For God's sake, stop obsessing about binkies - see my 2006 article Let your kids have the Pacifier.

I practiced attachment parenting starting in 1976 with the birth of my first child. Both of my sons are the envy of every parent who knows them. No smoking, no drinking, no bad friends, no carousing, no drugs, both hard-working, non-violent, sensible, healthy, loving, responsible parents themselves. Attachment parenting - it works.

Fifty Shades of Grey Has Muslims Upset about Spanking

2012-05-11T03:26:11Z

Muslims are instructed not to emulate the infidels lest it lead to love and friendship, which is forbidden ¹.

The Quran instructs Muslim men to beat their wives ² if they become disobedient, so what are Muslim men to do if spanking one's wife becomes popular in the Western world?

The Daily Beast informs us that Spanking is Going Mainstream:

From the steamy bestseller Fifty Shades of Grey to HBO's Girls, sexual domination is in vogue. Katie Roiphe on why women's power at work may be fueling the craze...

Why does this particular, watered-down, skinny-vanilla-latte version of sadomasochism have such cachet right now? Why have masses of women brought the book to the top of the New York Times bestseller list before it even hit the stores? Most likely it’s the happy convergence of the superficial transgression with comfortable archetypes, the blushing virgin and the whips. To a certain, I guess, rather large, population, it has a semipornographic glamour, a dangerous frisson of boundary crossing, but at the same time is delivering reassuringly safe, old-fashioned romantic roles. Reading Fifty Shades of Grey is no more risqué or rebellious or disturbing than, say, shopping for a pair of black boots or an arty asymmetrical dress at Barneys.

Here is a spoof on the book by Saturday Night Live:

Next Thursday, for the benefit of my Muslim readers, I will publish 13 Ways to Spank Your Wife.

Notes

(1):

American Jewish Committee, The West, Christians and Jews in Saudi Arabian Schoolbooks
Christians and Jews are denounced as infidels. Moreover, Christians and Jews are presented as enemies of Islam and of Muslims. Therefore, Muslims may not befriend them, nor emulate them in any way, lest that lead to love and friendship, which is forbidden.
There are in the world today those who profess Judaism and Christianity, out of imitation of their ancestors, [and out] of arrogance and renunciation of the truth, in spite of the appearance of the religion of Islam which replaced the former religions that had preceded it.

Geography of the Muslim World, Grade 8, (1994) p. 18

(2):

Planck's Constant, Is wife beating really allowed in Islam?
Sura 4:34
Men have authority over women because God has made the one superior to the other ... As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them. Then if they obey you, take no further action against them.

Was Paul McCartney of the Beatles Responsible for the Murders Committed by Charles Manson?

2012-05-10T03:50:43Z

On the 9th of September 1968 at EMI Studios in London, the Beatles recorded Helter Skelter, a song written by Paul McCartney. Less than a year later, in August 1969, Charles Manson orchestrated the Tate-LaBianca murders which were inspired by Helter Skelter. "Manson believed that the Beatles spoke to him through their lyrics" ¹.

Of course just because Manson idolized the Beatles does not mean that the Beatles are evil nor does it mean that other people who also idolize the Beatles are in any way similar to the psycho murderer.

Likewise, just because Anders Behring Breivik, the psycho who slaughtered all those poor young people in Norway, admires right wing and anti-Muslim writers does not mean that those writers are evil nor that other people who also happen to admire right wing and anti-Muslim writers are in any way similar to the psycho murderer.

A reader from Germany, calling himself JustInCase, left this comment in response to my article 13 Beautiful Muslim Women:

Hey Bernie and his supporters. Here a link to someone who would completly find his ideas reflected into your blog: Anders Behring Breivik

Please also look at his political ideology and idols (Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Radovan Karadžić, Srđa Trifković, and Dutch politician Geert Wilders etc...). I found a fervent followers of your ideas man! You must be happy and proud of him and ... also so grateful to me to find you such a nice soulmate...

Sorry guy, but just because Anders idolizes Geert Wilders does not mean that Geert Wilders promotes the idea that its a moral thing to go out and slaughter young people any more than Paul McCartney's song promotes the idea that its a moral thing to go out and kill innocent people.

If you want to make a connection between Anders' murderous rampage and those who encouraged him to do that then please give me a quote where those he idolizes actually say "Go and murder!"

As for your assertion that Anders is a fervent follower of my ideas, please give me a link to any of my more than 2600 articles where I write anything that can be even remotely stretched or interpreted to encourage the slaughter of innocent people. You leftists are really funny. Stupid, but funny.

In a related matter, remember when the media used a bogus photo of an innocent-looking 12 year-old boy in the Trayvon Martin case instead of the real photo of a thuggish-looking 17-year-old? Well, Moonbattery suggests that If Charles Manson committed his crimes today, This is the photo the media would use:

Notes

(1):

University of Missouri-Kansas City, The Influence of the Beatles on Charles Manson
One of the two great influences on the thinking of Charles Manson, along with the Book of Revelation, was the musical group the Beatles. According to Family members, Manson would most often quote "the Beatles and the Bible." The two influences were linked, in that Manson saw the four Beatles members as being the "four angels" referred to in Revelation 9. Revelation 9 also tells of "locusts"--the Beatles, of course--coming out upon the earth.
...

Manson believed that the Beatles spoke to him through their lyrics, especially those included in the White Album, released in December 1968. Several songs from the White Album crystalized Manson's thinking about a coming revolt by blacks against the white Establishment. He interpreted many of the songs idiosyncratically, believing, for example, that "Rocky Raccoon" meant black people and "Happiness is a Warm Gun" was a song about getting firearms to carry on the revolution rather than--more obviously--a song about sex.

One out of Six Visitors To My Site Uses a Mobile Browser

2012-05-09T02:42:42Z

The number of visitors to my blog using a mobile phone browser has been steadily increasing over the past few years. As of yesterday, almost 16% of my visitors (500 out of 3,000 per day) were accessing my website from iPods, Androids, iPhones, Blackberry phones, and other mobile devices ¹.

So today I decided to check out the following sites to see if they could help make my blog more mobile friendly: GinWiz, DudaMobile, and bMobilized.

I will be testing out all three for the next 30 days to decide which one best displays my blog.

So now, my mobile visitors, instead of seeing something like this:

will now see something more mobile-friendly:

Notes

(1): Here is the breakdown of visitors to Planck's Constant by browser over the past three days:

Statcounter, Browser Statistics