The Paris climate meeting approaches. Let the freak-out begin.

As the big climate confab in Paris approaches, the forces of hysteria are upping their game. Roman Catholic leaders gathered at the Vatican to make a joint appeal. They urged a “complete decarbonisation” of the world’s economy. Ostensibly, that’s to help the poor countries battle the effects of climate change, but, in reality, it’s all about dismantling capitalism. This pope has been no friend to capitalism and global warming is the perfect guilt trip toward its annihilation. 

The great irony is if the pope really wanted to help the poor countries he would encourage development. The only way countries develop is through energy. Lots of cheap energy. 

Don’t know if you heard about this, but Greenpeace set up this power grid in a little village in India last summer. It was supposed to demonstrate how viable green energy is in the third world. As it turned out, solar power was three times the cost of regular energy, so the village scrapped solar for coal-fired electricity.

President Obama is trying to put coal out of business so there’s no alternative. Much like the liberals did with our lightbulbs. Before they outlawed the incandescent lightbulb, CFLs accounted for less than 3 percent of the lightbulb sales. In order to get us off inexpensive incandescent and onto expensive CFLs, they have to force us by law. It’s unlikely the free market would’ve made CFLs viable anytime soon.

Incidentally, the CFLs in India cost about $10. The incandescent bulbs cost about 15 cents. The solar grid in that little Indian village only supports CFLs. Another reason they opted to go back on the coal-fired grid.

And now we learn there are actually people waking up all distressed about global warming and worrying constantly about the survival of life on earth. Yeah, I know. These folks need to get a life. Probably can’t afford one after paying for that expensive green energy. They’ve actually come up with another psychobabble expression for their malady: Pre-traumatic Stress Disorder. Yes, the other PTSD. This one isn’t based on any horrible experience. It’s based on the imagination of the idiot who suffers from it.

A wise man once said: “Worry is interest paid on trouble before it’s due.” I’ve lived my life by that saying. I never worry about anything I can’t change. And I certainly don’t dream up things to worry about, but that’s exactly what these people have done. They worry about hurricanes that never materialize. We’re now in a ten-year hurricane drought. We haven’t had a Cat 3 or above hit the United States in 120 months. Hurricane Patricia, that was billed as ‘the worst storm in history,’ turned out to be much ado about nothing. Minimal damage and no fatalities.

By comparison, Hurricane Camille plowed into Mississippi in 1969 and killed 259 and caused $9.13 billion in damage in today’s dollars. Now, that was a storm. But it wasn’t the worst to hit the U.S. The worst was the Labor Day hurricane in 1935. That’s before we were naming them. It killed as many as 600 people. The worst by damage was Hurricane Andrew in 1992. It did over $26 billion in damage. Let’s see 1935, 1969, 1992. Do you see a pattern? Neither do I.

Oh, but these PTSD folks do. They see more hurricanes, more droughts, more rain, more heat, more cold. The simple fact is there’s no more of any of that than there ever has been.

Maybe the pope needs to rethink that birth control thing. The last thing we need is more people exhaling CO2.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

The Convention of States: Is it time?

I was recently asked to speak at a meeting of the Convention of States. If you’re not familiar with this movement, they advocate constitutional amendments via the second way allowed by the Article V of the Constitution. Instead of both houses of Congress voting by a two-thirds majority to propose an amendment then sending it to the states, this process bypasses Congress. It requires two-thirds of the states to submit applications for a constitutional convention and these applications must deal with the same issue.

I went into the meeting a bit skeptical. The reason being, I actually proposed this on the air about ten years ago, specifically to address a balanced budget amendment. You wouldn’t believe the backlash I got from many people I respected. The reaction was so ardent that it made me question my own judgement. Had I missed something? Was a constitutional convention some sort of a trap? These people convinced me it was, and the way they did that was through the point that no one can control a constitutional convention. Their argument was that once it started there would be no limiting the damage that could be done, up to and including dissolving the Constitution completely.

I will be the first to admit that I’m not a constitutional scholar. I’ve always left that area of expertise to the experts. If there’s even one chance in a million that some leftist activists could somehow turn the entire convention to their advantage, then we must not take that chance. There’s got to be a good reason why this approach has never been taken before, right?

So, I put the matter out of my mind. When the Convention of States started up a couple of years ago, coincidentally, at the same time talk show host Mark Levin released a book on the matter, I dismissed it. Been down that road and learned my lesson. However, a colleague at work was helping coordinate the meeting and wanted me to speak. I told him of my skepticism and he suggested I come from that viewpoint, ask questions of the legislators who would be attending, and make up my mind based on what I heard.

One of the legislators mentioned a Bible verse during the course of the conversation. James 1:19: “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak.” Never being slow to speak, I took the advice to heart. I asked the tough questions, and I listened intently to the answers.

Changing one’s mind is one of the hardest things we as humans will ever do. It’s also a most humbling experience. In order to change one’s mind, one has to let go of pre-conceived notions and admit that you may have actually been wrong about something. I think there’s a built-in mechanism in our sub-conscience that tells us we’ll lose all credibility if we change our minds. It’s true, politicians who change their minds too often are viewed as wishy-washy. However, when one is presented with facts that change the dynamics of the argument, it’s incumbent upon that person to be big enough to change.

Here’s what clinched it for me. Let’s just say, for the sake of argument, that George Soros and his lot infiltrate the convention of states and insert all sorts of crazy liberal — but I repeat myself — amendments. The fail-safe to this whole process is it take three-quarters of the states to ratify any amendment. I don’t think 38 states will ratify a crazy liberal agenda. If 38 states do, we deserve what we get.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

Why we should continue celebrating Columbus Day

Columbus Day came and went with the usual bellyaching about it. Several cities around the country celebrate ‘Indigenous Peoples Day’ as a counter but that’s just plain silly, and I’ll tell you why in a moment. First, let’s get a clear picture of who Christopher Columbus was and who he wasn’t.

By all accounts and by admission of his detractors, Christopher Columbus never set foot in what is now called the United States of America. He landed in the Bahamas. Whatever terror he wrought on indigenous peoples was certainly not wrought upon American Indians. He never saw any. Excerpts from his own diary paint a picture of a man who pretty much had his way with the people he encountered. That was par for the course in his day.

What’s implied by all this Columbus-hate is he ushered Europeans into the Americas and that’s somehow horrible. It’s as if the Indians were just sitting around making beads and smoking peyote until the white man came and systematically slaughtered them. Ever heard of the Iroquois Nation? It was a confederacy of five Indian nations that subjugated other tribes by means of violent force. Those it didn’t kill or absorb into the nation it made them their slaves. Others it used for ritual sacrifice. Yeah, they tortured and killed people to appease the gods.

Point being that raping, pillaging, and plundering were standard for Columbus’ day. But that’s not why we remember him. We remember Columbus because he opened up the New World and we should drop to our knees in gratitude. You see, it doesn’t matter what your heritage is, your ancestors either chose to come here or were dragged in chains. Either way, we’re here and there’s no place quite like it.

It’s not that we’re all genetically superior to everyone else in the world. My ancestors are Spanish and I’m no better than my present-day counterparts in Spain. I’m just glad I’m here and not there. Even those of you who are American Indian, you’re much better off than your ancestors, despite the injustices. That is, unless you think you’d be better off living in a teepee with no electricity and no bathroom. Because that’s exactly where you’d be if the Europeans hadn’t come to America.

What makes us different from the rest of the world is the concept from our forefathers of freedom and self-government. That was a radical notion in its day. We take it too much for granted. While the rest of the world was under the rule of kings and tyrants, we were forging a brand new way. A country that presupposed we were all created equal, not born into classes we could never escape. Most people alive today in the United States really have no concept of how different their lives would be had they not been born here.

It’s a place where migrants could come and create things they could never create in their home countries. It was freedom and liberty and capitalism that gave us most of the wonderful inventions we now enjoy. Things like air conditioning, airplanes, motion pictures, breakfast cereal, computers, the washing machine, television, telephones, the revolver, refrigerators, potato chips, microwave ovens, radio, razor blades, lipstick, even sliced bread. All invented in the United States of America.

Those Americans who came before us gave us some of the most wonderful inventions in history. But, their greatest invention was the United States of America. And none of it would be possible without Christopher Columbus. So, liberal America-haters, put that in your peace pipe and smoke it.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

Libs have run out of causes

Did you hear the story about the mom in California who was shopping at REI and her 12-year-old daughter encountered a man in the bathroom? No, it wasn’t a guy dressed like a woman. It was just a man going in there to do his business. You would think the man would be arrested or at least chastised by the manager. According to the mom, the store manager lectured her instead, telling her no one has a right to tell someone which bathroom to use.

This seems to be the trend. Since Caitlyn Jenner hit the seen, transgender is all the rage. A recent New York Times article cites sources estimating that 0.3 percent of the population identifies as transgender. In other words, they have 99.7 percent of the population bending over backwards to accommodate a segment of the population that makes up less than one half of one percent. It’s ridiculous. 

But it’s not so much about transgenders. People have run out of legitimate things to change. Think about it. Since our nation’s founding there have been all sorts of things that needed fixing. Slavery was a big one and we ended that. Women’s right to vote was another one and we fixed that. Then came the Civil Rights era with the Jim Crow laws and we fixed that. Every generation wants to leave its mark. All the big problems have been solved so where does this generation turn? To transgenders.

Look, I get it. I’m an iconoclast from way back. I’m always bucking conformity. I’ve never liked doing things just because people say that’s the way it’s always been. I question everything and if there’s a better way to do it, I’m all in. It’s just with going to the bathroom, separate facilities for men and women just makes sense.

Now, let’s be honest. Not many guys are going to complain about a woman coming into the men’s room. If they do, we’re going to have to ask for their man card. Women, on the other hand, are quite disturbed by men invading their space. Is that sexist? You’d have to ask the women. They’re the ones upset about this and I’m behind them 100 percent.

If the libs are going to push through this shattering of bathroom tradition they at least need to be consistent. They’re the same bunch who think men are pigs and we’re all sexual predators. If that’s the case, why are they encouraging these pigs and sexual predators to use their bathroom? Why are they putting their daughters in danger?

And don’t tell me you have to be a transvestite to use the ladies’ room. If I “feel” like a woman it doesn’t mean I have to dress like one. That leaves the door wide open — literally — for every pervert and child molester in the country. Not to mention the straight guys who will show up just because they can. Heck, if I could’ve gotten away with hanging out in the girls’ locker room in high school I would’ve worn a dress to school every day.

It’s pretty simple. If you have a wee-wee you go to the men’s room. If not, you go to the ladies room. It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing.

Believe it or not, generally speaking, it’s not against the law for a guy to use the ladies’ room in most states. Several are trying to change that. It’s really a shame that lawmakers would even have to consider such a law. Before, it’s was a matter of common decency. Apparently, we’ve run out of that.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.