Jaykis,
>>Jim, were you referring to me? I was joking.
Yes I was but that was before I knew you were joking…Sorry if I misunderstood.
>>I've run into some of the people you've mentioned, and they're nuts.
Yep, they are “wackos” but they have a method to their “madness”. When I earned my BS in Environmental Science more than two decades ago…I believed what I learned. After working in the “industry” for more than two decades, I have come to realize that what I learned from books (and PhD professors) was out-of-touch with reality. All of their “pie-in-the-sky” stuff has a cost to ALL of society that is an endless “blank check” to every taxpaying citizen! These costs not only include domestic expenses but, internationally as well (we pay this “fee” to the world in our taxes-Congress just doesn’t tell us about this). The cost of doing business in America is becoming more prohibitive as the years go by and ALL of us are paying for it. They are called “unfunded mandates” that include helping the third world (benefits from Congress to appease the international crowd). These imbedded expenses are bankrupting us and we can only expect them to increase for the next decade or so…
Their “madness” is in the form of the “politicization” of both the environmental and conservation issues and the USEPA, USFWS, USFS, USGS, Commerce, et al are VERY instrumental in ALL of this and have been since the 1970’s. To make matters worse, the private organizations (“dot-orgs”) are the tail that wags the government dog…While we were busy working (to pay the taxes that fund ALL of this stuff), these “do-gooders” have been using the tax code to become immensely wealthy. In return, they have become the governmental “approved” experts and scientists that are ALWAYS Johnny-on-the-spot to provide just the report or testimony to Congress (or the media) to continue the story line for MORE TAXPAYER MONEY!
Ever notice how the problems are NEVER solved? In fact, according to them (both Congress, media and the “dot-orgs”), it is often worse…Which requires even MORE TAXPAYER MONEY! I could go on but I’ll end it there except to say that the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) both domestically and internationally-UN) along with the World Heritage Program (WHP) are both very prevalent in what I’m talking about…The MAB program has been going on domestically since the late 1960’s and in 1971, Nixon and Brezhnev signed an agreement (SALT I) to agree to the creation of Biosphere Reserves in both of their respective countries…This was the formal beginning of the “official” involvement of the US government (the idea began ca. 1968 from academia).
Did you know that an “off-the-table” agreement as part of NAFTA (US and Mexico), created a 62.5 mile, “Transboundary” trade area between the two countries (in both countries=125 mile wide area from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean)…Do some research about this for yourself…The UN’s MAB Programme calls for the creation of “Transboundary” areas (i.e. end of national borders)…There’s another one of these between the US and Canada…
Everything that is going on regarding “invasive species” (a part of biodiversity conservation), global warming and sustainable development is directly related to both the MAB and the WHP… With each passing decade, more and more tax dollars have been used to fund this domestic (this was both a US and international idea) effort and for what purpose? Well, one benefit has been to enrich many “wackos” and if it continues, some of them stand to become some of the wealthiest people on the planet! And we the American taxpayer have been funding this effort with our taxes and in the cost (imbedded, unfunded mandates) in everything we buy.
>>I have issues with the far left, and the far right.
Me too but to further quantify this, my two main problems with this stuff is first, the “professionals” (whether they are politicians or from a “dot-org”) that are reaping huge amounts of money from the two parallel, propaganda movements – Environmental and Conservation. Both of these two issues are not what they were “sold” to us as…Rather they are only propaganda banners for more money. The second problem that I have is the tax code itself…Some of the wealthiest “foundations” in America reap immense benefits from a very favorable tax code that was written by Congress (lobbyists get paid a LOT of money for this service).
They are tax deductions for large corporations (government sanctioned “free money” that they did no work for-except lobby Congress) that they in turn invest in portfolios (the same ones that our retirement plans, etc are in). The “profits” (they are very greedy but the media doesn’t report this) is in turn given (via grants) to the “dot-orgs” (and sometimes to other foundations). In other words, the “dot-orgs” only have to write grant applications and VIOLA, they have operating expenses (payroll, benefits, buildings, education, out-reach, etc)…They do not have real jobs like we do…In addition to the tax code benefits, they also are eligible for taxpayer funded grants (another benefit of Congressional lobbyists)! Yep, as part of our taxes to the federal government, some of this money goes to the very “dot-orgs” that are implementing this “wacko” agenda!
If you are interested, spend about a month or so doing some research about The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and see for yourself what you come up with…Pay attention to the names of the Board of Directors (TNC) and compare those names with the some of the big names currently working as governmental employees…Then, read who they used to work for and compare those former employers with those who have recently received millions of taxpayer funded dollars in the form of “bailout” money…After you’re done, ask yourself, is any of this a coincidence?
Later,
Jim.
PS: Don’t forget to read the Senate’s (and IRS) investigation of TNC several years ago (the Senate Report is very large)…Keep in mind that the TNC is STILL a 501(c)(3), non-profit, tax-exempt “dot-org”…The TNC is one of the wealthiest “dot-orgs” but there are literally 1,000’s of them…Promoting the “wacko” agenda (from supporting “undocumented aliens” to “invasive species” to “biodiversity” to “climate change”) is ALL they do…Have fun.
-----
CSRAJim
I'm a Democrat, socially liberal but fiscally conservative.
