Ron Paul: Real Conservatives Don't Start Wars, They End Them  

Posted by Big Gav in , , ,

The Huffington Post has a good little article on Ron Paul's views on energy policy (get out of the way of alternative energy) and his neoconservative foes in the Republican party who prefer to fight endless wars over oil.

Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) recently gained fame for breaking one-day online donation records, but he's still considered an underdog by many because of his single-digit polling and arguably radical views on a variety of issues. For one thing, he supports an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, a position that seems more at home with the Democrats these days. So why is he up there, debate after debate, standing out from the likes of Huckabee and Romney and McCain? Why isn't he trying to fit in if he wants to win the primary? Is he even a Republican?

He told me he is--just not the same kind as the rest of them.

"I think their definitions are different," he said. "Today, the Party has been taken over by a group called neoconservatives, and I don't believe they're really conservative. I think they're really liberal in the modern sense of the word--they're big spenders, they believe in entitlements, they believe in military adventurism."

Paul certainly doesn't believe in "military adventurism." He articulated an anti-preemption stance, geard toward avoiding another inextricable, Iraq-like conflict in the future. And unlike some politicians, he usually acts in accordance with his stated philosophy. For example, he was one of only six Republicans in the House to vote against the Iraq War Resolution.

"The traditional conservative--which the Republicans used to be--did not advocate aggressive war, usually got our country out of the wars such as after Korea and Vietnam..." he said. "We've done exactly the opposite. And because I'm a strict constitutionalist, this has separated me from the other candidates."

Some have called Ron Paul an isolationist, in part because of his views on foreign aid and the use of military force. He strongly disagreed with the association.

"I'm the last thing from an isolationist," he said. "An isolationist is a protectionist--they want to build walls around their country. They may want to bring troops home, but they also want to close the door for trade and travel and the spreading of ideas, and that's quite different. The Founders, I think, had it right when they said, 'Trade with people, be friends with people, but don't get involved in their internal affairs and don't get involved in entangling alliances,' and you'd be a lot less likely to fight people that you're trading with than if you have protectionist measures and sanctions on countries [like] we do today."

He added: "The same individuals who claim I might be an isolationist are the ones who are putting sanctions on countries like Iran and Iraq and Sudan, and yet the trade might stop us from fighting. I, for instance, think we should be trading with Castro, rather than putting sanctions on Castro, because it didn't do any good--after 40 or 50 years, it hasn't helped us a bit."

Finally, Paul believes that the United States should not be entirely dependent on other nations for its energy.

"I think the most important thing is to let the market set the price of energy and get out of the way of alternative energy," he said. "We've been interfering with the development of nuclear energy for 30 or 40 years. We don't develop any new nuclear power plants, but then at the same time we take money and we subsidize alternative fuels such as ethanol, which nobody's ever proven is an economically feasible alternative. So the most important thing is to recognize that the government bureaucrats and politicians have no idea what is the best alternative fuel, but if the market pushes the price of oil up, then people are going to say, 'Hey, they're running out of oil! And oil is now $200 a barrel, we better do something,' and the market's going to come up with the best alternative."

These goals may seem ambitious, but Paul is conservative about what he could accomplish unilaterally, stressing that he would need to rely on congressional support that a mandate, in the form of his successful election to the presidency, would grant him.

"You could [unilaterally] change the foreign policy and bring troops home and save a lot of money. And you could start repealing executive orders that have been so onerous. And you could refuse to enforce laws that are put on the books through regulations and by court orders or executive orders. So you could be discreet in what you enforce, but to really, really have the big changes, yes, you have to work and develop a consensus on what you're trying to do."

1 comments

Anonymous   says 3:03 AM

Here is a basic Fischer-Tropsch design. I am capable of one twice as efficient. I work currently as a temp assembler. But i want to do so much more, as you can clearly see, and I and the world would gladly appreciate some assistance.
This is a copy of the e-pamphlet im using.

The Texas Tea Theory

Ok, listen up people. It's December, 2007. The war isn't showing many signs of success, and Saudi Arabia has told us that they can no longer keep up with increasing demand as Asia and now Russia become fully modern societies. The latter meaning they will use much of their own oil in the process of progress. Oil now stands at record prices, about 90-100 USD/bbl. And we just had a tropical storm in DECEMBER? No one can deny that we have both a climate problem and an oil problem. My plan, just to let you know, is nature-friendly: I plan to compost our sewage to feed our fields to produce all kinds of crops, including hemp, for food, fuel and plastic. The garbage from this would be thrown in too, in a "carbon flywheel" to store carbon energy from the sun. Composting would put net carbon back into the earth in accordance with the natural cycles. If we dont act soon, we may have neither food or fuel. Lower-income families are already having to make a choice
between food whose price is inflated by the use of corn for fuel and gas to go to work.

I frankly should have completed this earlier. I mean, the below apparatus has already been done, in fact it's probably over 40 years old. I am capable of building something at least twice as efficient. But here's something a bit more open-source for you all - thats right, i said open-source. Build one if you want, just credit me with the creation of this wonderful home fuel device. This takes your organic garbage and turns it into synthetic gasoline, which just like synthetic oil is better for the engine. Don't forget to add 10% ethanol. I am not responsible if you blow yourself up with inferior craftmanship!

Start with a 5' length of 8" Sch. 40 309 or 310 stainless steel pipe. Cap it at both ends, and make sure you can take the top off to add garbage. Add 2 1/4" taps in the side for temperature and pressure gauges, and a 1/2" in the bottom. This goes for 3" and then it comes to a T-junction where one end goes through a 1/32" restriction and then 1/2" pipe to a steam tank made from 1' of the 8" pipe that sits directly below the gasifier. This pipe should have a 45-degree t-section in the line to add first 2 and then 1 liter of water per operation. The main branch goes directly upward alongside the side of the gasifier, then goes off to one side for 12" and then down into the ash filtration unit. There is also a 1/2' in the side for a 400 psi relief valve.

The ash filtration unit is 1' of the 8" pipe. The 1/2" pipe goes down through the 200-mesh screen placed 9" into the filter. The top is filled with 1 kg of lime. The 1/2" outlet in the top has another screen. A 12" loop of the 1/2" water pipe (Schedule 80) goes through here too. Everything after this can be made of standard steel.
After that, a 1/2" pipe to the 4-way junction. One going off to the side has a valve and a gas regulator (1.9mm venturi expanding to 6" with a 3/4" outlet) to reduce the pressure to near normal before going back to the gasifier to heat the reaction from the outside of the unit. I reccommend a ring of gas nozzles, one column each on 4 sides of the unit, with 6 nozzles each. The more evenly distributed the better, and constructing a heat shield over it like a brick oven should work well. The other pipe has a valve and goes to a catalyst maker where the gas flows through the 6" x 24" pipe, through a screen out to a regulator (the same sort from earlier), and is burned on the outside of the unit. The pipe going through to the reactor has a valve. To make catalyst, shut off this valve. To make fuel, shut off the catalyst maker valve for 4 hours. To test the relief valve, close all valves...

Now for the main show. Start with 8" by 5' Schedule 80 pipe (anything in this part should be made of S80), cap it off at both ends. Make a ring of 1/2" coolant pipes around the inside surface of this, plus a 1/2" in top and bottom for the gas and another 1" in the top for catalyst loading. Put a screen about 6" from the bottom, and make it slope downward towards the inlet pipe. The 6" of pipe inside the reactor is to be perforated. The catalyst outlet is at the bottom of the unit through the inlet. Now make an outer shell of 10" pipe with enough clearance to put caps on this pipe as well with the main reactor inside. The coolant pipes should be interconnected in every possible way, with a main outlet on both top and bottom manifolds. The coolant system should be filled with distilled water. You should make a sizeable square radiator, with a steam-powered fan and return pump and a steam relief valve set for 100 atmospheres. 10hp should be enough for both.
Load with 6 liters by volume of 100-mesh reduced iron or magnetite (Fe3O4).

Now for the final processing. a 3/8" venturi expanding to 6" and then capped will expand and cool the gases. Just to make sure, run some of the coolant through this part too. 3/4" to the filtering chamber, which is a section of 6" pipe sideways with a 1.8 angstrom membrane to filter out water (out the bottom) and a 4.3 angstrom membrane to filter light gases out the top pipe. The water is returned through a 500-psi one-way valve to the tank, the gases to a 5 gal. storage tank thats connected to the main reactor burners, and the fuel to a grounded, vented storage tank with a meter and pump.

The relief system is rather simple. The pipe from the relief valve goes through a gas regulator with a 4mm nozzle and then straight upward for 6 feet, and the top 6" is perforated with 1/4" holes. A small pilot light from the main gas storage runs here and should be kept lit while the machine is in operation. Put a shroud on it too. You dont want to be known as the flaming fart of St. Pete.
Speaking of which..... No smoking anywhere NEAR this thing. Happy motoring! This thing makes 1 gallon at a time - it will take 15 minutes for the reaction to complete.

The inventor of this Golden...erm...thingamjig can be reached here.....

James Holley
386-266-9073
kelethian@gmail.com

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