Our Broken Democracy Is Failing The Climate Test Or Something

By William Teach May 10, 2019 – 10:25 am

Why is our democracy broken? Because Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton fair and square according to the rules of the game. So, of course

Will our broken democracy fail the climate test?

We have entered a pivotal period in American history, one that will tell whether our arthritic, not-so-representative democracy can respond to the critical challenge of the 21st century.

That, of course, is climate change. The world faces a well-known, well-researched, well-documented, and increasingly evident peril from the human-caused warming of the planet. We need large reductions of carbon-dioxide emissions by 2030. And yet, in the last two-and-a-half years, the United States has gone from a global leader on the issue to a laggard whose gridlocked government simply ignores the problem.

Events in recent days underscore the see-no-warming, hear-no-warning nature of our government. Fewer than three years ago, we had, in Barack Obama and John Kerry, a president and secretary of state who helped lead the world to adopt the Paris Agreement, a hopeful if not wholly adequate step to stave off the worst effects of climate change. But Donald Trump is pulling us out of that landmark pact and, as Foreign Policy reports, has put us on the sidelines in the United Nations’ planning for a fall summit on climate matters.

That would be the pact that was a) voluntary, and b) crafted to avoid the need for elected U.S. lawmakers to vote on it, right? Anyhow, after much whining about Trump Trump Trump

And yet, it’s still acceptable in Republican circles to put off action with vapid and easily refutable deflections: There is no consensus on human-caused climate change; or the climate has changed before, and this is nothing different; or, there was once a magazine article about global cooling, so today’s scientists shouldn’t be believed; or even, carbon dioxide can’t be contributing to global warming because human beings emit it when they exhale. Which is why a Republican government, led by a denialist president who didn’t win the popular vote and abettedby a small-minded coal-state senator, twiddles while the globe burns.

We have a broad national consensus about the problem and the need for change. We have policy tools. We have viable energy alternatives. What we lack are federal leaders ready to act. If we can’t produce them in the 2020 election, our system will have proved itself too dysfunctional to contend with the threat we face.

See? If Republicans who refuse to be members of the Cult of Climastrology win, well, that means Democracy is broken! You know what’s really broken?

It would be the Cult of Climastrology, chock full of people who refuse to practice what they preach, but happy to attempt to get government to force you to make changes.

Read: Our Broken Democracy Is Failing The Climate Test Or Something »

Posted in Climahypocrites, Global Warming | 9 Comments | Trackback URL

On Climate Injustice, We Must Avoid Falling Into Green Colonialism And Word Salad

By William Teach May 10, 2019 – 7:04 am

Remember, as you read this, the anthropogenic climate change movement has nothing to do with politics, especially far, far left politics. It certainly has nothing to do with getting rid of Capitalism. It’s all about Science!

As the left wakes up to climate injustice, we must not fall into ‘green colonialism’

The mainstream transatlantic left has been acting different lately. Having been subsumed into third-way politics for several decades, it seems we are growing back some teeth in our bite on the big systemic issues of today. From Labour calling for a national climate emergency, to prominent Democrat congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez declaring capitalism “irredeemable” – we are slowly unzipping ourselves from the straitjacket of incrementalist politics. The left has a new centre, and it’s not messing about.

It is nonetheless critical to ground these struggles in their long history. Indeed, many post-independence struggles in the global south have been struggles against capitalism and the political and ecological injustices it produces. Take climate change. We are finally seeing something of a start to the kind of mass mobilisation and political will needed to rise to the challenge. Most importantly, Labour’s successful call to declare a national climate emergency marks a well overdue shift from the idea we can solve this by changing individual behaviours, in which climate change becomes the responsibility of working-class people who just need to behave themselves – eat less meat, use fewer plastic bags, have fewer kids. If real action follows, the move signifies promising recognition that this crisis requires rapid, large-scale political action and systemic change – and it is the companies and institutions responsible for the crisis that need to pay.

However, alongside the hope, we also need to acknowledge we are miles away from where we need to be. While our political leadership has continually acted as if rising global inequality and conflict is merely bad management of an otherwise rational system, communities in the global south and indigenous populations have been giving their blood, sweat and tears to resist an economic system that puts profit above people and planet. Whether it’s Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was murdered in his struggle to break the political bond between Shell and the Nigerian government, or the 1977 Egyptian bread riots, in which hundreds were killed resisting the IMF-mandated neoliberalisation of the economy, the connection between capitalism as a system and its injustices is something the global majority is well-versed in.

This isn’t limited to popular movements – governments across Latin America and the Pacific Islands have harboured an organised resistance to the manifold ways in which global capitalism poses an existential threat to the lives and livelihoods of millions. Many of these efforts have not only been ignored, but actively sabotaged by US and European state leaders. This history of resistance does not emerge from some kind mystic internal knowledge held by black and brown people. It is down to the material fact of white supremacy, which means the brutalities of neoliberalism have been felt in their most extreme by what we call “developing countries”. The IPCC report declaring us to be in “decade zero” was not a shock in Dominica, where a single hurricane set back development by a generation. Or in Pakistan, where the 2015 heatwave claimed 2,000 lives. 1.5C might seem like new science to us, but the chant “1.5C to stay alive” has been screamed from across the global south for years.

It’s great how they merge ‘climate change’ fanaticism with hatred of capitalism, eh?

This means understanding that any “Green New Deal” or “green industrial revolution” cannot be bound within our nation’s borders, or prioritise the wellbeing of westerners over black and brown lives in the rest of the world. As we make these moves towards climate emergency, it is important that progressives do not internalise the colonial principles that got us in this mess, either by simply ignoring the global historical context of resistance to emergency issues, or even actively arguing we should under-develop “Bombay” to deliver growth in Wigan. Indeed, the industrial revolution was financed and sustained by the blood money and infrastructure of slavery and colonialism; a “green” version of this is no better.

By centring ourselves in the resistance to neoliberal capitalism and ecological crisis, we will likely repeat the mistakes of the past. A “green colonialism” or “socialist imperialism” is no victory worth claiming, and it is the default left position if we do not actively fight for a different vision. We must come into this space not as self-appointed leaders, but figures of solidarity. We are the last to join the party – let’s not behave once again like the world’s policeman and have it shut down before it’s even begun.

So, the “Green” movement is pretty awful? Is that what I’m reading? Because there really aren’t any policy proposals, other than dismantling international energy companies and strange stuff. Just Modern Socialist word salad and gripes.

Read: On Climate Injustice, We Must Avoid Falling Into Green Colonialism And Word Salad »

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More Mexican “Immigrants” Are Highly Educated Or Something

By William Teach May 10, 2019 – 6:44 am

There are some big things missing from this article and study

More Mexican immigrants in the U.S. are highly skilled, study finds

The number of college-educated Mexican immigrants in the United States has risen more than 150 percent since 2000, according to a study released Thursday.

Mexican immigrants with a bachelor’s degree rose from 269,000 in 2000 to 678,000 in 2017, an increase of 409,000, according to the report by the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington think tank, and Southern Methodist University’s Mission Foods Texas-Mexico Center.

That makes Mexicans the fourth largest group of college-educated immigrants in the country, after people from India, China and the Philippines, according to the study, which looked at highly skilled Mexicans in Texas and the rest of the nation.

“Much of the immigration debate in this country is framed around illegal immigration from Mexico,” said Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute and a co-author of the study. “But in fact there is a dramatic change in the profile of Mexican immigrants coming to the United States.”

He said that change has come as Mexico’s population has become better educated and as more Mexicans have come to the U.S. through legal channels and on temporary visas.

The findings contradict language President Donald Trump has used to describe Mexican immigrants, particularly when he said, in announcing his presidential bid in 2015, that they were bringing drugs and crime to the U.S. and that some were “rapists.”

Trump was speaking about those showing up illegally, and Trump is exactly right. But, let me ask: just because someone has a college degree does that make them highly skilled? If your degree is in sociology, women’s studies, art history, are you skilled? No.

The researchers said that naturalized citizens made up the largest share of Mexican college graduates, but unauthorized immigrants and legal permanent residents also are well represented. Temporary visa holders were a smaller share, but more likely to have a college degree.

For the most part, this supports what illegal immigration hardliners have been saying: stop the illegals, and let in some of those applying legally who bring value. Further, how many of those “unauthorized immigrants” are getting an education while here in the U.S. on the backs of the U.S. taxpayer, taking seats away from citizens?

Read: More Mexican “Immigrants” Are Highly Educated Or Something »

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Chicago Cubs Investigate “White Power” Sign On Camera

By William Teach May 9, 2019 – 2:34 pm

This is stupid. Just stupid. And will probably lose the Cubs some fans

Cubs investigating fan’s alleged white power hand gesture, threaten lifetime ban

The Chicago Cubs are investigating a fan at Tuesday night’s game who possibly flashed a white power symbol on TV during a live report from the Wrigley Field stands.

The hand symbol was made while Doug Glanville was reporting for NBC Sports Chicago. You can see the gesture in the image below, made by the guy wearing the gray sweatshirt.

Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney released this statement about the incident on Wednesday morning, via WGN:

A long statement of Social Justice Warrioring, which ended up with the unidentified fan being banned. Here’s what it looks like

But, good on the original Yahoo article

The symbol, which appears to be the “OK” hand gesture, has a complicated background. It never had any white power connections until 2017, when a few members of the alt-right started a hoax to trick people into thinking that it did. The purpose was for anyone who made that innocuous gesture to be accused of racism. It’s a form of internet trolling, but the white power movement ended up co-opting the gesture and using it to actually symbolize white power.

Of course, the complicated history of the symbol makes this entire situation even more complicated. Even though the symbol was flashed behind an African-American reporter, the intent isn’t clear. If it was meant as a white power symbol, it’s a despicable action. But if it was meant as the “OK” gesture, then it’s nothing. The Cubs will hopefully be thorough in their investigation, especially since they’re threatening a permanent ban from Wrigley Field.

There’s a 99% chance that it was

I wonder what happens if attendance goes down? Also, I wonder if people start doing this when they know they are camera more just to troll the idiots?

Read: Chicago Cubs Investigate “White Power” Sign On Camera »

Posted in Special Snowflake Syndrome, Sports | 14 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach May 9, 2019 – 1:00 pm

…is an area flood from too much carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Legal Insurrection, with a post on Kamala Harris claiming “electability” is raaaaacist.

Read: If All You See… »

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Surprise: Democrats Having A Tough Time Getting Trump To Comply With Their TDS Infused Probes

By William Teach May 9, 2019 – 10:30 am

What in the world made Democrats think that Team Trump and The Donald were going to cooperate with probes based on being unhinged from losing the 2016 election?

Dems struggle to make Trump bend on probes

Cummings and Neal look pretty bummed that Trump is blowing them off like girls not asked to the prom

House Democrats are struggling to find a way to make the Trump administration pay for refusing to cooperate with their investigations.

Democrats want to pursue aggressive oversight of Trump instead of impeachment, but the president’s stone wall hasn’t left them many openings. And the frustrations are showing.

The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress for not complying with subpoenas for documents related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.

After the Treasury Department refused to hand over Trump’s tax returns this week, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) said the fight will likely go straight to the courts.

“They don’t seem to be responding to a lot of subpoenas around here,” said Neal, who plans to meet with House counsel on Thursday to discuss his options. “I did say this was going to end up in the courts. And that’s where it’s heading.”

But, even when court shopping, will courts side with probes that aren’t based on things the administration has done, but, simply because Trump won in 2016 and Dems have Trump Derangement Syndrome? This isn’t like Republicans subpoenaing material on Operation Fast and Furious, an op that led to the woundings and killings of hundreds of Americans and Mexicans, including children and two American federal agents. Team Obama slow-walked everything, used executive privileged, and AG Eric Holder stonewalled, leading to a contempt of Congress charge. Democrats are still going full bore on Russia Russia Russia, despite losing the narrative on collusion, conspiracy, and obstruction with the Mueller report, which cannot be released in a full, unredacted manner per law passed by Congress.

Trump’s taxes? A fishing expedition, which you know would be leaked to attempt to embarrass Trump. Trump officials show up for Congressional panels all the time on legitimate issues. Democrats just want revenge for Hillary losing fair and square, but, hey, they should keep it up, because it guarantees Trump will win in 2020.

Read: Surprise: Democrats Having A Tough Time Getting Trump To Comply With Their TDS Infused Probes »

Posted in Barking Moonbats, Democrats, Donald Trump | 7 Comments | Trackback URL

Here’s How You Can Stop Feeling Hopeless On ‘Climate Change’ And The Immense Grief

By William Teach May 9, 2019 – 8:05 am

My thoughts would be for them to give up their use of fossil fuels, ice makers, washing machines, switch out their fridge for a really expensive one using the newer gases pushed by the Cult of Climastrology, turn the AC up to 80 and heat down to 65, take very short showers, live in a tiny house/apartment, only buy local, grow your own food, give up meat, unplug every appliance not being used, and so much more, making their lives 100% carbon neutral. I’m doubting that’s what Rob Law, who “has worked on climate change for more than a decade for government, universities and not-for-profit organisations”, thinks, though. Let’s read the article from the super Socialist UK Guardian and find out

I have felt hopelessness over climate change. Here is how we move past the immense grief

These are some of the headlines that bombard us at ever-increasing rates.

Each day new reports and household names such as David Attenborough warn of “irreversible damage to the natural world and the collapse of our societies”. The United Nations says we have 12 years to avoid climate catastrophe. We are also amidst the world’s sixth mass extinction, the worst since the time of the dinosaurs.

This reality is taking its toll on our mental health, especially among younger people who are understandably losing hope for their futures on a hotter planet. We are seeing the rise of what is known as climate or ecological grief. This grief summarises feelings of loss, anger, hopelessness, despair and distress caused by climate change and ecological decline.

If Warmist parents and teachers are constantly telling kids about Doom right before they jump into a fossil fueled vehicle, yeah, they might become mentally unbalanced. Just look at all the kids skipping school to protest a slight increase in global temperatures over almost 170 years.

Former UN climate chief Cristiana Figueres has argued the only way we can save the planet is with relentless, stubborn optimism. This is the kind of attitude that many of us are culturally trained to adopt, to keep looking on the bright side and remain hopeful.

Climate change and environmental movements have long been criticised for trying to motivate the population through negative narratives and doomsday scenarios. It is obvious how such framings can turn people off or at worse encourages a state of denial. As a result, we have seen much of the movement shift in recent years towards more positive narratives of climate hope and telling stories of change.

They won’t change. And I’m not sure where these narratives of climate hope come from. I haven’t seen any.

People also need agency to act to avoid feelings of apathy and hopelessness.

Acknowledging this, the last decade has seen a focus on what the individual can do to tackle climate change in their own life. This has largely resulted in a politically passive eco-modern citizen that is more concerned with energy-efficient technologies, light bulbs and recycling than dissent, protest and structural change. Personal guilt comes to the fore when the virtuous lists and sustainable resolutions are not kept up with, and the issue is again pushed out of mind.

Huh what? The CoC has been telling people for over a decade that it isn’t about their individual actions, but about holding corporations accountable.

Eco-psychologist Joanna Macy teaches useful frameworks for facing up to disturbing realities and finding capacity for action. First there is the gratitude stage, which focuses our attention on those aspects of life and the world that nourish us. Then there is a stage that honours the pain that we are experiencing. The third and fourth stages relate to exploring new possibilities and finding practical actions to take.

So, yeah, no recommendations forthcoming about practicing what they preach.

Last month I found myself crying when a platypus appeared in the creek down from our house. Standing on the bridge with my two young boys we watched it swim in a creek that has been tirelessly regenerated by the local friends group over at least 15 years. A creek, which for the past 150 years, flowed through a highly degraded landscape decimated by goldmining and agriculture.

And this has nothing to do with anthropogenic climate change. But, the uber-focus on making everything about ACC deflects attention away from dealing properly with real world environmental issues. Real environmental issues need their own solutions. Things like carbon taxes would not have fixed that degraded landscape.

But to truly tackle the climate and extinction crisis we also need to give ourselves permission to grieve, personally and collectively. We can use grief to galvanise what is most important and bring forth new visions.

Then we need to be empowered, to be fearless and take action. One of the most important ways to take action is to vote for what matters most and to vote for parties which have clear policies to address climate change.

Good grief, this was all about voting in the Aussie elections. Bunch of climahypocrites.

Read: Here’s How You Can Stop Feeling Hopeless On ‘Climate Change’ And The Immense Grief »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

NY Times Says It’s Time To Stand Up To Guns Or Something

By William Teach May 9, 2019 – 7:43 am

More people are killed by automobiles yearly. I guess we need to stand up to them? You knew this stuff was coming, so, here’s Excitable Nicholas Kristoff, who is protected by armed security at the NY Times building

We Have 2 Dead Young Heroes. It’s Time to Stand Up to Guns.

Politicians fearful of the National Rifle Association have allowed the gun lobby to run amok so that America now has more guns than people, but there is still true heroism out there in the face of gun violence: students who rush shooters at the risk of their own lives.

Let’s celebrate, and mourn, a student named Kendrick Castillo, 18, just days away from graduating in Highlands Ranch, Colo., who on Tuesday helped save his classmates in English literature class from a gunman.

“Kendrick lunged at him, and he shot Kendrick, giving all of us enough time to get underneath our desks, to get ourselves safe, and to run across the room to escape,” Nui Giasolli, a student in the classroom, told the “Today” show. Kendrick was killed, and eight other students were injured.

The NRA is composed of citizens. We voluntarily join. Kristoff is the type of person who is more than willing to violate the 1st Amendment and ban the NRA

When New Zealand experienced a mass shooting in March, it took the government of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern just 26 days to tighten gun laws and ban assault rifles. In contrast, America has had 53 years of inaction since the University of Texas tower shooting in 1966 claimed 17 lives. Sandy Hook … Las Vegas … Parkland — so many dead; so little done.

Handguns were used in Colorado, and we do not have the information on whether they were purchased legally at this time, but, hey, let’s ban “assault rifles”, right?

Granted, this is complicated. America has so many guns out there that new restrictions may not be as effective as we would hope. The 10-year ban on assault rifles from 1994 to 2004 had trouble defining assault weapons and had an uncertain impact.

In other words, the assault weapons ban made no difference. This is like pulling the pork because someone got sick from the chicken.

Still, there are obvious steps worth taking. A starting point would be to require universal background checks before all firearms sales. Some 22 percent of guns are still acquired in the U.S. without a background check; a person wanting to adopt a rescue dog often undergoes a more thorough check than a person buying an assault rifle.

The study is cute, but includes receiving a firearm as a gift, through inheritance, and other purely legal transfers. Which is why Kristoff used the word “acquired”, instead of purchased. According to the study, just 13% who actually purchased (paid for it) one did not get a backgrounds check, inflated because they purchased from a friend or online. Also, the study only covers the 2 years prior to 2015, and wasn’t published till 2017, and there were only 1,613 respondents to an on-line survey.

Safe storage of guns — in gun safes or with trigger locks — prevents children and others from accessing firearms. Voluntary gun buybacks would reduce the pool of firearms out there. We should also invest in “smart gun” technologies that require a code or fingerprint to fire. We need more “red-flag laws” that make it more difficult for people to obtain guns when they present a threat to themselves or others.

Government never sold them, so, you can’t buy them back. Regardless, more often these are criminals selling their stolen firearms for cash. Oh, and law abiding citizens sell old ones for money to buy new ones. Smart guns would be great, if they could work. At a decent caliber. And if NJ got rid of their stupid law. I’m confused about the red flag thing being before the purchase. Isn’t that what the background checks are for? Which fail now and then because of the system not being able to keep up?

And tell me: Why do we bar people on the terrorism watch list from boarding planes while still allowing them to purchase guns?

Wow, this old, tired canard. Gun grabbers just won’t give up on talking points.

Other steps to lower gun deaths don’t even directly involve firearms. Programs like Cure Violence and Becoming a Man have been shown effective in reducing violence among at-risk young people. The military has conducted experiments showing that counseling can reduce suicides(a majority of gun deaths in America are suicides).

What happened to “my body my choice”?

That’s the best way to honor heroes like Kendrick Castillo and Riley Howell, by making such heroics less necessary in classrooms around America.

We can stop schools from being gun free zones, ie, target rich environments with no one who can shoot back. No one really attacks a police station, right? Nor places with armed security, like the lobby of the NY Times building.

Read: NY Times Says It’s Time To Stand Up To Guns Or Something »

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Snowflake Big Shots Say ‘Climate Change’ Must Be World’s Biggest Worry Or Something

By William Teach May 8, 2019 – 4:31 pm

The world is a scary place, you guys! And you did it to yourself, because you drove a fossil fueled vehicle, ate a burger, and didn’t unplug all your appliances before leaving home. So says a group of self-styled big wigs who wouldn’t be hurt if their cost of living skyrocketed from the policies they push

In a scary world, the biggest worry has to be climate change

In a world of troubles, the battle against climate change must take priority. That is the clear message of the 28 leading global think tanks that together comprise the Council of Councils (CoC). The CoC’s 2018-2019 Report Card on International Cooperation, released today, designates global warming as the top international priority for the first time in the report card’s five-year history. Alas, those same experts see little opportunity for progress in the coming year.

Each year since 2015, the Council on Foreign Relations has asked the heads of CoC institutes to answer three questions: First, how would you grade international cooperation in the previous year, both overall and across 10 major issue areas? Second, how should world leaders prioritize these 10 global challenges? Third, which of these issues offer the most hope for progress in the coming year? (snip)

International cooperation on individual issues areas was also mediocre. The highest individual grade, for promoting global health, was a B minus. The biggest disappointment was in mitigating climate change. Less than four years after the Paris Agreement, the Earth is poised to overshoot the 2 degrees Celsius rise in average temperatures that negotiators set as a fallback target. Moreover, recent reports on ocean warming, collapsing biodiversity, and natural disasters paint a dire picture of the planet’s future. Mitigating and adapting to climate change received a C in 2018. (snip)

But the biggest impediment to multilateral cooperation, most think-tank experts agree, is President Trump’s “America First” agenda. By abdicating US global leadership, testing Western solidarity, and escalating trade tensions, the American President is undermining the legitimacy and stability of the existing multilateral system, contributing to the sense of a world adrift. The world has benefited for decades from “an international order in which the rules of the road are well established and widely observed,” explains Michael Fullilove, director of the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Australia. “But increasingly those rules are under challenge, including by those who wrote them.”

See, the United States isn’t allowed to think of itself first, like every other country does. Just some TDS, and exposes the political agenda of the Council of Councils (rather pompous, eh?)

The CoC report card signals a shifting global agenda alongside this changing international landscape. Five years ago, think-tank leaders were preoccupied with combating terrorism and mitigating violent conflict. Today, they define the premier challenge as ecological: cooperating on climate change to ensure a sustainable environment for both nature and humanity. Their second priority is managing the global economy in the face of rising inequality, a situation underlined by the startling fact that the world’s richest 26 people own as much wealth as the bottom half of humanity (3.8 billion), according to Oxfam. Their third main concern is preserving the nuclear non-proliferation regime, at a time when existing treaties risk unraveling and North Korea is testing the world’s will.

Sadly for them, when you put climate change on a list with real world issues which directly affect citizens, it is low hanging fruit. Most barely care. Nor is that changing, no matter how much they push their agenda of ‘climate change’.

Read: Snowflake Big Shots Say ‘Climate Change’ Must Be World’s Biggest Worry Or Something »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach May 8, 2019 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrendous dish washer and a world killing fridge, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Moonbattery, with a post on homosexual beer.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 50 Comments | Trackback URL
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