Archive for September, 2009

The President: Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go.

And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning. I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school.

So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.    Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, “This is no picnic for me either, buster.” So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school.

But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.  Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.

I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.  I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.  I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.  And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education.

I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.  Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.  Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class.

Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team. And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers.

You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it. And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.  We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems.

If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.  Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork. I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had.

There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.  So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.  But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story.

Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country. Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need.

Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.  But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude.

That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.  Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.  That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez. I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three.

He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer – hundreds of extra hours – to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall.  And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college. Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do.

But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.  That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book.

Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn.

Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter. Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.  I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work — that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try. That’s OK.  Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures.

JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, “I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”  These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you.

You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.  No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work.

You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.  Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.

I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country. The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon.

Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other. So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make?

What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?   Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too.

So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it. Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

Watch the President’s speech live at 12 pm Eastern Standard time by clicking on the link. http://www.whitehouse.gov/mediaresources/

An opinion piece by former Pima County board of supervisor, Mike Boyd, came out last week in Inside Tucson Business. Mike is pro-Rosemont and apparently on their payroll. The premise of his article was why are all the elected officials so negative about the proposed mine?

Once again this is one of the cases were the comments are better than the actual story. Carroll’s Executive Assistant started it all off.  Read oldest to newest. See for yourself.

Chris J Horquilla wrote on Sep 3, 2009 1:32 PM:

” Bottom Line: The Pima County Board of Supervisors had an opportunity to purchase the Rosemont property in early 2005, but decided not to do so because they considered the asking price to be too high.

Considering the amount of the taxpayer’s money the Pima County Board of Supervisors has wasted fighting this proposed Rosemont copper project since 2005, Levy’s offer to sell Rosemont for $4.5 mlllion would have been a bargain. “

Richard H. wrote on Sep 3, 2009 12:30 PM:

” Admit it, NIMBY crybabies; the only reason you oppose Rosemont is because, being lefties and trustfund envirowackos, you are opposed to any kind of development that would benefit the (ugh!) human species. Common sense is not a part of your depleted grey matter. Would you prefer we move the mine somewhere else? World class copper deposits, such as Rosemont are rare as non-marxists in the Obama Administration, and fortunately, whether today, tomorrow, or 10 years from now Rosemont WILL be developed simply because it is there; the economy demands it, and Tucson (and the U.S.) should welcome its economic benefits with open arms.

Also, “MR GREEN”Ray Carroll indignantly opposes Rosemont probably because he’s afraid a new mine near Tucson would tarnish his cronies’ planned bedroom real estate developments. “

Claudia wrote on Sep 3, 2009 9:03 AM:

” Mike is right on! The vocal minority are a bunch of narcissistic wa-wa babies who do not care about the nation, the state of Arizon, Pima County, or their neighbors. Their only agenda is what they MIGHT see upon the rare occasion they drive along Hwy. 83. They have no FACTS on the water situation, nor do they want them, prefering pseudo-science to science. When China controls most base and precious metal resources in the world and ups the financial ante, you’ll reap your well-deserved punishment by being unable to afford an upgraded iPod. “

Chris J. Horquilla wrote on Sep 2, 2009 11:29 PM:

” Considering the economic recession and its impact on our community, you would think people would welcome the good paying jobs these projects would bring to our community. Well, the mining industry is working hard to do just that.

Both the Resolution Copper and Rosemont projects have the capacity of pumping massive amounts of capital into our local economies over extended periods of time. They represent the kind of an economic stimulus package that our community not only desperately needs, but desires. And when done in an environmentally responsible manner, it is an economic stimulus package that will not cost the taxpayer a single dime. “

MT wrote on Sep 1, 2009 2:37 PM:

” Water? I thought Augusta has bought 4 years of water from CAP and prestored it in the aquifier. They also have agreed to replenish the water used plus another 5% for 20years. If we keep importing commodities from outside the United states and shipping $700bb out of the country we will be a broken country in 20 or 30 years. these guys are building a state of the art enviromentaly friendly mine. “

Peggy wrote on Aug 31, 2009 3:17 PM:

” Mike should really get ALL the facts down before making his comments. I know that I am not the only one that hikes in that area. It is a frequented place. I also enjoy the ride along Hwy 83 and the mine would ruin the scenic Hwy. Must I also mention all the water that this mine would use. Mike Boyd is NOT the voice of the community and thank goodness for that. “

Dona LaSchiava wrote on Aug 31, 2009 1:02 PM:

” I believe what Mike Boyd fails to take into account in his remarks about “nimbys” is that said “nimby’s are rightfully concerned about the depletion of and pollution of their homes’ drinking water is that which is at the center of concern for most of these said “nimbys”, their family members, and friends that have found this fight worth fighting! Agreeably life is full of “trade offs’” and my vote will always be for survival basics ie;, clean and readily available drinking water–you just can’t drink copper! “

Jorge Diaz wrote on Aug 30, 2009 7:51 PM:

” There is little I can add to the excellent comments that have already been posted before me, except to again say, Mike Boyd does NOT speak for the greater community, he does not try and do what is best for this community — never has, never will — he’s out to get all the public funding he can get for himself and self-interest, as others have shared, and this opinion piece is nothing but false propaganda Augusta Resources has been spreading since they came to town.

Mike Boyd has a horse in the race, as Mr. Egan pointed out (he’s a lobbyist and consultant, which he omitted in his short biop) — Mr. Boyd started with a lie, and never quite from there. He won’t be tarred and feathered, but he should be ashamed he can’t be honest. “

Lilly Largo wrote on Aug 30, 2009 5:14 PM:

” Above all Mike Boyd is definitely a lobbyist and was a joke as a Pima County Supervisor, and we were all glad when he departed. It’s unfortunate that he has surfaced on the Central Arizona Water Conservation Board. Water is a very precious commodity in the Sonoran Desert and Mike Boyd does not make decisions that are in the best interest of Tucson or Pima County at large. As I previously stated he is first and foremost a lobbyist. “

Elizabeth W wrote on Aug 30, 2009 9:08 AM:

” Consider the source of this opinion.

Don’t forget that Mike Boyd, who has a family interest in hockey, tried to use Pima County voters to help subsidize an ice skating rink in the Northwest. I was in attendance when it happened.

Talk about “trade-offs to make every day”

I hope there is no trouble with me speaking the truth, rather than the opinionated ad hominem attacks on the residents of Pima County. “

attilla the honey wrote on Aug 30, 2009 5:48 AM:

” When fear is all we have…..Last centuries politicians promised to solve our problems with CAP. Todays ADS says water is drying up. Tucson water reports ground water levels are increasing. Can you guys just shut up and go peddle your fear somewhere else? And eco terrorism,…..I’m sorry, I meant tourism. Who are you kidding? They are polluting. “

C. Cook wrote on Aug 29, 2009 10:45 AM:

” S. Egan – Thank you for your comment on this article …..

YOU ARE SO RIGHT ! ! ! !

Rosemont Mine makes no sense economically or environmentally “

Scott Egan wrote on Aug 28, 2009 3:23 PM:

” Mike Boyd asks is someone would be tarred and feathered if they came out in support of the Rosemont mine. Well he hasn’t been — and he made the motion at the Central Arizona Water Conservation District meeting and provided the vote that allocated a huge portion of our drinking water for the mine: but nowhere does he claim that on his list of “services” as a “consultant and lobbyist.”

The people who oppose the destruction of the Santa Rita Mountains are not the “vocal minority” — which he knows, or would know, if he bothered to attend any of the numerous public meetings where the overwhelming majority of people opposed the mine. And the people of Green Valley, many of whom who have lead the charge against the mine because of their own terrible experieces with mine taliings, are hardly the “radical environmentalists” Mr. Boyd is trying to portray the opponents as.

You should know better Mike — and perhaps you do. Is Rosemont one of your “clients” now? Or have you provided enough service to them by giving up our precious drinking water for the profits they will take with them to Canada after the mine is closed but the air and water pollution is left to the rest of us to deal with?

Mr. Boyd talks about jobs. What about the effect on tourism this mine will have, along Scenic Highway 83, as the trucks roll out and the local business people close down? And how many jobs will there be if you keep giving away all of our water, Mike?

Rosemont Mine makes no sense economically or environmentally, and you should be ashamed of your role in supporting them at CAWCD, rather than writing this nonsense to try to justify your selling out of our community.

Sincerely,
Scott D. Egan
Executive Assistant to Ray Carroll
(and a fellow Republican who is neither “politically correct” a “radical environmentalist” or someone with a lot of time on my hands!) “

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From Tom DeWeese - Freedom Fighter Radio

Rather than good management of resources, Sustainable Development has come to mean denied use and resources locked away from human hands. In short, it has become a code word for an entire economic and social agenda.

I have spent most of the past 12 years studying every facet of this new political agenda which is fast becoming a revolution — touching every aspect of our businesses, our public education system, our private property, our families and our individual lives.

Interestingly, it is not a Republican or Democrat issue. It’s not liberal or conservative. It is being implemented on a purely bipartisan basis. It is now the official policy of the United States, put in force by literally every department of the government. It is the official policy of every state government, and nearly every city, town and county in the nation.

But, I warn you, accepting the perception that Sustainable Development is simply good environmental stewardship is a serious and dangerous mistake.

So what is Sustainable Development? The Sustainablists insist that society be transformed into feudal-like governance by making nature the central organizing principle for our economy and society.

To achieve this, Sustainablist policy focuses on three components; global land use, global education, and global population control.

Keep in mind that America is the only country in the world based on the ideals of private property. But, private property is incompatible with the collectivist premise of Sustainable Development.

If you doubt that, then consider this quote from the report of the 1976 UN’s Habitat I conference which said: “Land …cannot be treated as an ordinary asset, controlled by individuals and subject to the pressures and inefficiencies of the market. Private land ownership is also a principle instrument of accumulation and concentration of wealth, therefore, contributes to social injustice.”

Some officials try to pretend that Sustainable Development is just a local effort to protect the environment — just your local leaders putting together a local vision for the community. Then ask your local officials how it is possible that the exact language and tactics for implementation of Sustainable Development are being used in nearly every city around the globe from Lewiston, Maine to Singapore. Local indeed.

Sustainable Development is the process by which America is being reorganized around a central principle of state collectivism using the environment as bait.

The best way to understand what Sustainable Development actually is can be found by discovering what is NOT sustainable.

According to the UN’s Biodiversity Assessment Report, items for our everyday lives that are NOT sustainable include: Ski runs, grazing of livestock, plowing of soil, building fences, industry, single family homes, paved and tarred roads, logging activities, dams and reservoirs, power line construction, and economic systems that fail to set proper value on the environment (capitalism, free markets).

Maurice Strong, Secretary General of the UN’s Rio Earth Summit in 1992 said, “…Current lifestyles and consumption patterns of the affluent middle class – involving high meat intake, use of fossil fuels, appliances, home and work air-conditioning, and suburban housing are not sustainable.”

Are you starting to see the pattern behind Cap and Trade, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and all of those commercials you’re forced to watch about the righteousness of Going Green? They are all part of the enforcement if Sustainable Development.

And one of the most destructive tools they use to force it on us is something called the “precautionary principle.” That means that any activities that might threaten human health or the environment should be stopped — even if no clear cause and effect relationship has been established – and even if the potential threat is largely theoretical.

That makes it easy for any activist group to issue warnings by news release or questionable report and have those warnings quickly turned into public policy – just in case.

Many are now finding non-elected regional governments and governing councils enforcing policy and regulations. As these policies are implemented, locally-elected officials are actually losing power and decision-making ability in their own communities. Most decisions are now being made behind the scenes in non-elected “sustainability councils” armed with truckloads of federal regulations, guidelines, and grant money.

The Three Es

According to its authors, the objective of Sustainable Development is to integrate economic, social, and environmental policies in order to achieve reduced consumption, social equity, and the preservation and restoration of biodiversity.

The Sustainablists insist that society be transformed into feudal-like governance by making Nature the central organizing principle for our economy and society. As such, every societal decision would first be questioned as to how it might effect the environment. To achieve this, Sustainablist policy focuses on three components; land use, education, and population control and reduction.

The Sustainable Development logo used in most literature on the subject contains three connecting circles labeled Social Equity; Economic Prosperity; and Ecological Integrity (known commonly as the 3 Es).

Social Equity

As stated, Sustainable Development’s Social Equity plank is based on a demand for “social justice.” Today, the phrase is used throughout Sustainablist literature. The Sustainablist system is based on the principle that individuals must give up selfish wants for the needs of the common good, or the “community.” How does this differ from Communism?

This is the same policy behind the push to eliminate our nation’s borders to allow the “migration” of those from other nations into the United States to share our individually-created wealth and our taxpayers-paid government social programs. Say the Sustainablists, “Justice and efficiency go hand in hand.” “Borders,” they say, “are unjust.”

Under the Sustainablist system, private property is an evil that is used simply to create wealth for a few. So too, is business ownership. Instead, “every worker/person will be a direct capital owner.” Property and businesses are to be kept in the name of the owner, keeping them responsible for taxes and other expenses, however control is in the hands of the “community.” That policy is right out of the Socialist handbook.

Economic Prosperity

Sustainable Development’s economic policy is based on one overriding premise: that the wealth of the world was made at the expense of the poor. It dictates that, if the conditions of the poor are to be improved, wealth must first be taken from the rich. Consequently, Sustainable Development’s economic policy is based not on private enterprise but on public/private partnerships.

In order to give themselves an advantage over competition, some businesses — particularly large corporations – now find a great advantage in dealing directly with government, actively lobbying for legislation that will inundate smaller companies with regulations that they cannot possibly comply with or even keep up with. This government/big corporation back-scratching has always been a dangerous practice because economic power should be a positive check on government power, and vise versa. If the two should ever become combined, control of such massive power can lead only to tyranny. One of the best examples of this was the Italian model in the first half of the Twentieth Century under Mussolini’s Fascism.

Together, select business leaders who have agreed to help government impose Sustainablist green positions in their business policies, and officials at all levels of government are indeed merging the power of the economy with the force of government in Public/Private Partnerships on the local, state and federal levels.

As a result, Sustainable Development policy is redefining free trade to mean centralized global trade “freely” crossing (or eliminating) national borders. It definitely does not mean people and companies trading freely with each other. Its real effect is to redistribute American manufacturing, wealth, and jobs out of our borders and to lock away American natural resources. After the regulations have been put in place, literally destroying whole industries, new “green” industries created with federal grants bring newfound wealth to the “partners.” This is what Sustainablists refer to as economic prosperity.

Ecological Integrity

“Nature has an integral set of different values (cultural, spiritual and material) where humans are one strand in nature’s web and all living creatures are considered equal. Therefore the natural way is the right way and human activities should be molded along nature’s rhythms.” from the UN’s Biodiversity Treaty presented at the 1992 UN Earth Summit.

This quote lays down the ground rules for the entire Sustainable Development agenda. It says humans are nothing special – just one strand in the nature of things or, put another way, humans are simply biological resources. Sustainablist policy is to oversee any issue in which man interacts with nature –which, of course, is literally everything. And because the environment always comes first, there must be great restrictions over private property ownership and control. This is necessary, Sustainablists say, because humans only defile nature.

Under Sustainable Development there can be no concern over individual rights – as we must all sacrifice for the sake of the environment. Individual human wants, needs, and desires are to be conformed to the views and dictates of social planners. The UN’s Commission on Global Governance said in its 1995 report: “Human activity…combined with unprecedented increases in human numbers…are impinging on the planet’s basic life support system. Action must be taken now to control the human activities that produce these risks”

Under Sustainable Development there can be no limited government, as advocated by our Founding Fathers, because, we are told, the real or perceived environmental crisis is too great. Maurice Strong, Chairman of the 1992 UN Earth Summit said: “A shift is necessary toward lifestyles less geared to environmentally-damaging consumption patterns. The shift will require a vast strengthening of the multilateral system, including the United Nations.”

The politically based environmental movement provides Sustainablists camouflage as they work to transform the American systems of government, justice, and economics. It is a masterful mixture of socialism (with its top down control of the tools of the economy) and fascism (where property is owned in name only – with no control). Sustainable Development is the worst of both the left and the right. It is not liberal, nor is it conservative. It is a new kind of tyranny that, if not stopped, will surely lead us to a new Dark Ages of pain and misery yet unknown to mankind.