Sixteen Youths Tell Us What They Think Of The Green New Deal

I wonder how all the young people would feel if anyone explained to them that if the GND was implemented they’d have to take a train if they wanted to take a selfie in a special place, but, unfortunately, an unintended consequence would be wiping out the manufacture of smartphones, which use massive amounts of electricity and require lots of rare earth minerals and such, shipped all around the world with a massive carbon footprint

What 16 Young People Think About the Green New Deal

The policy proposals that will undergird the Green New Deal are still to come; for now, the GND represents a moral and political imagining that politicians have consistently failed to offer. It’s a vision to champion; a charge to lead; and a new, youth-led expectation for the people elected into power.

The Green New Deal can only exist with the force and imaginations of the young people whose world it will shape. So Student Nation asked young people across the country: As the generation poised to inherit a world directly threatened by the impacts of climate change, how could the Green New Deal affect your future, or the future of disaffected communities coast to coast?

Yes, let’s ask the world-wise kids. What follows are the quick stories from the 16, let’s take a look at them, shall we (each excerpt is a different student)?

As a millennial college student entering the workforce in a time of economic uncertainty and environmental crisis, I am constantly inundated with the word “burnout.” With a growing mental-health crisis across college campuses, the looming burden of astronomical student debt, and the daunting prospect of inheriting a planet on the brink of catastrophe, it is no surprise that we are frequently called the “burnout generation.” Among a seemingly endless succession of burgeoning crises, the Green New Deal offers a glimmer of hope. Emma Fiona Jones is a senior at Vassar College studying art history and women’s studies.

So, pretty much someone wasting all those loans on a worthless degree. Let’s listen to her about “brink of catastrophe.”

With healthier foods, organic options and other “green” efforts to cleanse the earth on our side, we’ll restore the landscapes and places as we once knew them. Trees will grow to help purify our air. Animals will return to their natural habitats. Green jobs will help sprout economic prosperity. We can strip away America as we’ve known it—the America that, for many Americans, spoon-feeds them their own suffering.

Um, trees love carbon dioxide. More under the fold

Read More »

Read: Sixteen Youths Tell Us What They Think Of The Green New Deal »

Democrats To Take To Streets Thursday If Unredacted Mueller Report Isn’t Released

This should turn out well

This will surely turn into a typical leftist protest, incorporating all their other gripes

(Common Dreams) A coalition of progressive advocacy groups representing millions of Americans is planning mass protests nationwide if Attorney General William Barr fails to release the full Mueller report by Tuesday night, the deadline established by congressional Democrats.

“We are calling for a National Day of Action on Thursday, April 4, to demand that Attorney General William Barr #ReleaseTheReport if he fails to meet the deadline set by congressional leaders of Tuesday, April 2,” the Trump Is Not Above the Law coalition said late Monday.

“Barr has offered an alternate timeline for a redacted version of the report,” the coalition continued, “but we deserve the full report and Congressional leaders and the American people expect it now.”

Barr has already stated it would be released mid-April, but, you know, the Dem base is like a 4 year old denied a cookie before dinner

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, was quick to reject Barr’s timeline and reiterate his demand for the full report—as well as all underlying evidence—by April 2.

On Monday, Nadler took steps  to authorize a subpoena for the complete report.

Expecting Barr to miss the deadline, advocacy groups—including MoveOn, Common Cause, Public Citizen, and Stand Up America—are planning demonstrations throughout the country to demand that all of Mueller’s findings be made public.

So, since he and the other unhinged elected Democrats didn’t get the report, I guess we’re going to get the usual bit of unhinged liberals chanting and yelling and shrieking and banging on drums and accomplishing…..nothing. Nadler himself knows damned well that it would be against the law to release the report unredacted. He argued this post-Bill Clinton impeachment.

Now, Mr. Starr in his transmittal letter to the speaker and the minority leader made it clear that much of this material is Federal Rule 6(e) material, that is material that by law, unless contravened by a vote of the House, must be kept secret. It’s grand jury material. It represents statements which may or may not be true by various witnesses, salacious material, all kinds of material that it would be unfair to release. So, I assume what’s going to have to happen before anything else happens is that somebody — the staff of the Judiciary Committee, perhaps the chairman and ranking minority member — is going to have to go over this material, at least the 400 or 500 pages in the report to determine what is fit for release and what is, as a matter of decency and protecting people’s privacy rights, people who may be totally innocent third parties, what must not be released at all. Now, the House Rules Committee will be meeting overnight, and I presume that we will vote tomorrow probably on a recommended rule as to how to handle the report.

And that vote of the House would be different today, as the special prosecutor was empannled differently that Mueller, who directly reported to the DOJ, so the House couldn’t vote. They could appeal to the federal judge involved, but, the judge would most likely avoid releasing the secret information. As Ed Morrissey goes on to note

Emphases mine. If that sounds familiar, it should; William Barr and others have made the same arguments about the contents of the special counsel report from Robert Mueller. On top of that, the Department of Justice has specific policies that prohibit the release of investigative material involving anyone who hasn’t been indicted. James Comey did that twice and got fired over it. That is why Trey Gowdy argued last week that the Mueller report shouldn’t be released in any significant form, public curiosity be damned. The executive summary should suffice for public consumption.

Most Democrats have really moved on from Russia Russia Russia. Most news on this is not front page. The opinion pieces and editorials have dried up. There’s just a few elected officials, some nutters like Rachel Maddow (whose ratings have collapsed), and the lunatic base who are holding on.

Read: Democrats To Take To Streets Thursday If Unredacted Mueller Report Isn’t Released »

Queen Nancy Introduced New ‘Climate Change’ Bill Day After GND Went Down In Flames

I’m still waiting for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to demand a vote on the House floor for the Green New Deal, since she’s holding all sorts of town halls and tweeting about it and such. But, hey, did anyone remember anything in the news about this? I ran across it by accident

PELOSI INTRODUCES NEW CLIMATE BILL ONE DAY AFTER GREEN NEW DEAL COLLAPSED

Democratic lawmakers introduced a stripped-down climate bill Wednesday less than a day after Senate Republicans dinged a more ambitious plan.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi described the Climate Action Now Act as one of many steps toward Democratic efforts to confront global warming. In particular, the bill aims to prevent President Donald Trump from removing the United States from the non-binding Paris Climate accord.

The bill is a watered-down version of New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal, which called for shifting completely away from fossil fuels and toward green energy. The GND was torpedoed in the Senate on Tuesday after Republicans voted en masse against the resolution while Democrats voted present.

Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat, was not present Wednesday during the roll out of the Climate Action Act.

Interestingly, it’s not about the climate according to Pelosi

“This is about jobs,” Pelosi said. “It’s about good-paying green jobs. It’s about advancing our economy and our global pre-eminence in green technology.” Pelosi listed a number of other related issues, including public health, and defending national security.

Interesting. But not even close

The bill itself is mostly concerned with returning to the Paris Agreement, which President Donald Trump agreed to withdraw from in June 2017.

Castor said the Climate Action Now Act “will be marked up in the committees of jurisdiction over the coming weeks and then brought to the floor for passage.”

So, I’m guessing this is really the “We Don’t Like Trump’s Views On Climate Change Act.” Because it is doesn’t really say much other than directing Trump to Do Something, per the header

To direct the President to develop a plan for the United States to meet its nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement, and for other purposes.

It’s actually more of a resolution than the bill it claims to be, and it is very short. Section 3 prohibits the use of funds to advance the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement. Section 4 is a “Plan for the United States to meet its nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement,” and directs Trump to develop a plan. Think that could backfire monumentally if this even made it out of the Senate and Trump signed it? Based on the text, he could send back in 120 days “Our plan is to not do anything.”

That’s really it.

Read: Queen Nancy Introduced New ‘Climate Change’ Bill Day After GND Went Down In Flames »

If All You See…

…is a horrible fossil fueled vehicle causing it to get so hot that palm trees grow in Boston, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Political Clown Parade, with a post on reefer madness.

Read: If All You See… »

New Zealand Passes First Reading On Gun Bans Bill

So many gun grabbers here in the U.S. are wondering why we can’t do the same, all while proclaiming they aren’t for banning most guns, they just want common sense reform

New Zealand passes initial vote for new gun controls

New Zealand lawmakers on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of new gun restrictions during the first stage of a bill they hope to rush into law by the end of next week.

The bill would ban the types of weapons a gunman used to kill 50 people at two mosques last month.

The bill was backed by both liberals and conservatives, with only a single lawmaker from the 120 that sit in Parliament voting against it. The vote was the first of three that lawmakers must pass before the bill becomes law.

So, what exactly is this gun grabbing bill doing?

(NPR) In addition to banning most semi-automatic firearms, the bill also prohibits the sale, import, supply or possession of pump-action shotguns that can be used with detachable magazines or that hold more than five cartridges. It excludes pistols, as well as some guns — “small-calibre rimfire semi-automatic firearms and lesser-capacity shotguns” — often used by farmers and hunters. The measure also provides exemptions for groups such as “bona fide collectors of firearms” and pest controllers.

The bill provides amnesty covering the surrender of firearms, magazines and parts through Sept. 30. Ardern has said the government will create a buyback scheme to compensate owners of banned firearms, a program that could cost up to 200 million New Zealand dollars (about $137 million).

Have a shotgun that holds more than 5 shells? Banned. You’re now a criminal unless you turn it in. Have a rifle that shoots a caliber higher than a .22, which many, many hunters of bigger game have? Criminal unless you turn your legally purchased property in. Pistols may be excluded, but only if they hold 10 rounds or less. And, really, any gun owner knows that a handgun can do just as much damage in a crowded area as an “assault rifle.” Maybe more.

The bill is set to have its first reading on Tuesday and then head to the Finance and Expenditure Committee, New Zealand newspaper Stuff reports. A second tranche of gun control measures, including a weapons registry, is expected later this year.

The government can take anything if it knows where it is. I wonder how many women will now be dis-empowered now that they are disarmed?

Oh, and the graphic isn’t quite correct, since the non scary rifle would seem to be banned, too.

Read: New Zealand Passes First Reading On Gun Bans Bill »

We’re Saved: Lunatics Strip Down In British Parliament For Climate Justice Or Something

If you want to get noticed, this works. If you want to be taken seriously? Not so much

Semi-naked climate change protesters cause a stir in Brexit debate

A group of semi-naked climate change protesters created a stir in Britain’s parliament on Monday, pressing their bottoms against a glass panel overlooking the chamber where MPs struggled to concentrate on a Brexit debate.

As MPs started yet another day of lengthy debate on how or even whether the country should leave the European Union, 12 protesters stripped to their underpants to show slogans painted on their backs, including: “Climate justice now.”

Several MPs could not stop themselves from looking up towards the public gallery, some giggling as Labour MP Peter Kyle tried to defend his bid for force the government to stage a confirmatory vote on its Brexit deal by pointing out what he called the “naked truth”.

Some protestors appeared to have glued themselves to the glass, while at least two were dressed up as elephants.

On their bodies were written the words “Climate justice act now” and “eco collapse”.

Why can’t the ones who do this be attractive? Why do they always look like the don’t get exercise and only eat tofu? Why do they think this kind of childish stunt will help their position?

The group who did this, Extinction Rebellion, is just getting nuttier and nuttier.

Read: We’re Saved: Lunatics Strip Down In British Parliament For Climate Justice Or Something »

Democrats Frustrated Over Losing To Offer Amendment To Kill Electoral College

Democrats are Very Upset over losing in 2016 to Donald Trump. It didn’t matter that they won the previous two presidential elections, losing one is The Worst, so, Things Must Change. The subhead of this NBC News story should tell you all you need to know, namely that this is red meat issue for their base

Senate Democrats to introduce constitutional amendment to abolish Electoral College
The proposed amendment to change the way presidents are elected won’t become law anytime soon, but it will keep the issue in the 2020 conversation.

Leading Democratic senators are expected to introduce a constitutional amendment Tuesday to abolish the Electoral College, adding momentum to a long-shot idea that has been gaining steam among 2020 presidential candidates.

Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii plans to introduce the measure along with Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2-ranking Democrat in the Senate, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to Schatz’s spokesperson.

Also signed on to the legislation is Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, one of a growing number of presidential candidates who have called for electing presidents by popular vote, even though changing the Constitution is seen as virtually impossible today.

A constitutional amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds supermajority in both the House (about 290 votes) and Senate (67 votes) and requires ratification by 38 states.

This has the same chance at passing as AOC’s Green New Deal. You have better odds at winning Megamillions tonight. This is about the Democrat whine of stolen elections and how those stupid flyovers dare have input on presidential elections. This is about Trump Derangement Syndrome, because how dare he win by playing the rules!!!!

Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kamala Harris of California, Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas, Pete Buttigieg, the Democratic mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro are among the presidential candidates who have expressed openness to abolishing the Electoral College.

“We should abolish the Electoral College,” Castro said at a 2020 Democratic candidate forum in Washington on Monday. “It doesn’t reflect the will of the people of the country.”

See, it doesn’t reflect the will of the liberal elites in coastal cities. Seriously, why should someone’s vote in the tiny population state of Montana count when the artsy people in NYC want a Democrat?

Kill the electoral college? Stack the Supreme Court?

Pete Buttigieg wants to abolish the electoral college. Sen. Elizabeth Warren hopes to ban gerrymandering. Sen. Cory Booker talks about limiting terms for Supreme Court justices. Beto O’Rourke is weighing an expansion of the high court.

The Democratic presidential hopefuls, prodded by a frustrated base, are pushing fundamental changes to the American political system. Aimed at changing how presidents are chosen and laws are passed, the proposals go beyond typical campaign issues such as health care and taxes to challenge the basic rules of American democracy. (big snip)

Republicans say these proposals are radical efforts by Democrats to change the rules because they’re losing the game. After years of benefiting from left-leaning judges, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) says, liberals now want to pack the courts because Trump is appointing conservatives.

Sometimes Democrats win, sometimes they don’t. When they don’t they throw a hissy fit and then want to change the rules. We saw some of the same stuff when George W. Bush won in 2000 then 2004, but, the insanity seems a bit elevated after the Trump win. Can you imagine what happens if he wins in 2020? Most are just sore losers.

Read: Democrats Frustrated Over Losing To Offer Amendment To Kill Electoral College »

Good News: Comedy Can Help You Randomly Interject ‘Climate Change’ Into Social Conversations

When you really, really, really need to just blow into a conversation with something totally different that most people really do not care about without sound like a Debbie Downer

‘How do I talk about climate change at social gatherings?’
A guide to bringing up the topic without turning into Debbie Downer.

Dear Sara,

I feel an urge to talk about climate change bubbling up within me at social gatherings if people talk about trivial things like food or sports for too long. But it is always such a downer and I know people need a certain amount of time to feel safe and ordinary and relaxed.

Any advice on how to handle this and break through the “tyranny of politeness” that makes talking about climate – and many other serious issues – so awkward?

– Matt in Toronto

Matt sounds fun, and his Climarettes means he doesn’t get invited to many parties

Debbie Downer, the Saturday Night Live character played by comedian Rachel Dratch, can ruin anyone’s fun with just a few facts.

In a skit set at Disney World, for example, she announces to her family that she’s given up eating steak. “Ever since they found mad cow disease in the U.S., I’m not taking any chances,” she says. “It can live in your body for years before it ravages your brain.”

Then, she further fouls the mood by reminding everyone that “if this greenhouse effect keeps up, we’ll all be living underwater.”

Debbie’s not wrong for wanting to talk about climate change with loved ones, but the way she brings it up is utterly demoralizing. For guidance on what you can do differently, look to Peterson Toscano, a Pennsylvania-based performance artist who leads workshops on climate communication.

And the solution is comedy! You can talk about it in a comedy fashion! But, what if you’re not a professional comedian looking for applause instead of laughs?

Even if you’ve never taken an improv class, you can still look to comedy for lessons on speaking up about difficult topics.

The first step is to learn from Debbie Downer’s most crucial mistake: She doesn’t listen. Other people’s interests aren’t meaningful in their own right, only as cues for spouting dismal facts.

Good luck with getting Warmists to give up this. But, hey, you can tackle this from a different direction

To break out of that pattern, Toscano encourages people to consider why they care about climate change, beyond typical concerns about the environment and future generations. Ask yourself, how does climate change affect something that you feel personally passionate about?

Yes, how does it affect implementing lots of tax and fees and government controls on Other People?

Read: Good News: Comedy Can Help You Randomly Interject ‘Climate Change’ Into Social Conversations »

Let’s Take It Down A Notch, Shall We?

I’ve ignored it for too long, and usually only mention when someone complains. Take the personal insults down about 30 notches. No more spoofing other poster’s names. No more nasty personal names. No more epithets. We’re adults here, regardless of political affiliation.

Read: Let’s Take It Down A Notch, Shall We? »

If All You See…

…is an evil fossil fueled vehicle causing horrible carbon clouds, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Victory Girls Blog, with a post on floundering Democrat candidates.

Read: If All You See… »

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