Sunrise Movement Is Fighting To Bring The #GreenNewDeal To All Of America Or Something

By William Teach April 12, 2019 – 6:51 am

The Sunrise Movement is “building an army of young people to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process.” They say that “The political establishment is scrambling to keep up with thousands of people across the country who are eager to take action and bring the promise of the Green New Deal into reality.” And (via Twitchy)

You really have to watch the video in the tweet. It is hilarious.

On their webpage we learn “Sunrise joined Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Markey to launch the Green New Deal resolution with 64 co-sponsors (watch video here). There are now 103 congresspeople and counting co-sponsoring the resolution.) Which is all very interesting. Sunrise is going to demonstrate in a whole 8 cities with 100 townhalls, yet, um, if memory serves the Senate voted on the resolution as submitted by co-author Ed Markey and it was shot down 0-57, with 43 Democrats voting “present”, refusing to debate and vote on the record.

Further, the House, which is run be Democrats, is refusing to vote on the resolution, and there are zero reports of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez demanding a vote on it, nor does she say anything on her Twitter page about demanding a vote.

Oh, and how will they be traveling around?

Read: Sunrise Movement Is Fighting To Bring The #GreenNewDeal To All Of America Or Something »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 24 Comments | Trackback URL

White House Floated Plan To Release Illegal Aliens In Sanctuary Cities At Least Twice

By William Teach April 12, 2019 – 6:34 am

This has made Democrats and the Washington Post Very Upset, but, you can bet every Trump voter, and a whole lot of others who aren’t for Open Borders, is saying “that would be great!”

White House wanted detainees released to ‘sanctuary cities’ to target Trump’s foes

White House officials have tried to pressure U.S. immigration authorities to release detainees onto the streets of “sanctuary cities” to retaliate against President Trump’s political adversaries, according to Department of Homeland Security officials and email messages reviewed by The Washington Post.

Trump administration officials have proposed transporting detained immigrants to sanctuary cities at least twice in the past six months — once in November, as a migrant caravan approached the U.S. southern border, and again in February, amid a standoff with Democrats over funding for Trump’s border wall.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s district in San Francisco was among those the White House wanted to target, according to DHS officials. The administration also considered releasing detainees in other Democratic strongholds.

White House officials first broached the plan in a Nov. 16 email, asking officials at several agencies whether members of the caravan could be arrested at the border and then bused “to small- and mid-sized sanctuary cities,” places where local authorities have refused to hand over illegal immigrants for deportation.

The White House told U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that the plan was intended to alleviate a shortage of detention space but also served to send a message to Democrats. The attempt at political retribution raised alarm within ICE, with a top official responding that it was rife with budgetary and liability concerns, and noting that “there are PR risks as well.”

After the White House pressed again in February, ICE’s legal department rejected the idea as inappropriate and rebuffed the administration.

It’s a long front page article that kinda repeats the same information in a different way multiple times, and, despite it being pretty much almost all anonymous sources, it is entirely believable. They even call the people who brought it up “whistleblowers”, rather than leakers. But, at the end of the day, we do learn that this was pretty much a idea thrown against the wall, rather than any sort of actual policy proposal.

And why did DHS have a problem? Way down in the article we learn (Matthew Albence is ICE’s acting deputy director)

Albence replied that such a plan “would create an unnecessary operational burden” on an already strained organization and raised concerns about its appropriateness, writing: “Not sure how paying to transport aliens to another location to release them — when they can be released on the spot — is a justified expenditure. Not to mention the liability should there be an accident along the way.”

So, it was pretty much about the money and time to move the illegals from the border to places like San Francisco. Heck, it’s 500 miles from San Diego to San Francisco, and, on California highways, that will surely take way more than 8 hours. And these aren’t just border detainees, but the ones caught in the interior by ICE. Anyhow, perhaps if Democrats weren’t such Open Borders advocates political plans like this wouldn’t be floated.

Read: White House Floated Plan To Release Illegal Aliens In Sanctuary Cities At Least Twice »

Posted in Illegal Immigration | 21 Comments | Trackback URL

Tilting At Windmills: House Democrats Pass Bill Reinstating Obama’s Net Neutrality

By William Teach April 11, 2019 – 2:58 pm

Democrats just won’t give up on Net Neutrality, as it is a great way to put a massive government control on something that everyone depends on, and, quite frankly, are hooked on

House Democrats Pass Bill Reinstating Obama-Era Net Neutrality Rules

House Democrats passed H.R. 1644, the Save the Internet Act, 232-190, featuring unanimous Democrat support and nearly unanimous Republican opposition to the bill–only one Republican, Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL), supported the bill.

Even though the bill passed through Congress’ lower chamber, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the bill was “dead on arrival” on Tuesday.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) passed the “Restoring Internet Freedom Order” in December 2017, which repealed the Obama-era net neutrality rules. The Obama-era rules prevented Internet service providers (ISPs) from blocking, throttling, or prioritizing content on their networks; the Internet Freedom Order requires ISPs to disclose their policies on blocking, throttling, and unfair prioritization, which the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) could then litigate unfair and deceptive practices.

Since the FCC’s repeal of the 2015 net neutrality rules, Internet speeds have skyrocketed. Internet speed-test company Ookla released a study one year after net neutrality’s repeal and found that Internet speed increased by 35.8 percent, while upload speeds have increased by 22 percent compared to 2017.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) released a statement Wednesday slamming the Democrats’ bill, contending that it would put more government control over the Internet.

“When Democrats voted for their so-called ‘Save the Internet Act,’ they didn’t vote to encourage innovation or improve internet access. Instead, they offered their favorite – and indeed their only – policy solution: more government control,” McCarthy said.

Why are Democrats so obsessed with this version of Net Neutrality? It doesn’t help, it turns the Internet into a 1940’s era public utility, like the phone companies. Again, it’s about government controlling everything. All the little worker bee Democrats who love their Internet service should think really, really hard about the consequences in their own lives if NN in this form was actually implemented.

Read: Tilting At Windmills: House Democrats Pass Bill Reinstating Obama’s Net Neutrality »

Posted in Democrats, Web/Tech | 10 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach April 11, 2019 – 1:00 pm

…is horrible carbon pollution caused rain, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is A View From The Beach, with a post on a the human tree having a new branch.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 19 Comments | Trackback URL

Democrats Meltdown Over Barr Spying Claims

By William Teach April 11, 2019 – 8:28 am

AG Bill Barr lit up the Democrats during a hearing Wednesday

And whiny Democrats are whiny

Dems rage against Barr for backing claims of Trump campaign ‘spying’ by FBI

Prominent Democrats lined up to hammer Attorney General Bill Barr for testifying Wednesday that federal authorities had spied on the Trump campaign in 2016, with one top House Democrat charging that Barr is not acting “in the best interest of the DOJ or the country.”

“I think spying did occur,” Barr said during the explosive hearing before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee. “The question is whether it was adequately predicated. …Spying on a political campaign is a big deal.”

Barr later clarified in the hearing: “I am not saying that improper surveillance occurred; I’m saying that I am concerned about it and looking into it, that’s all.”

So, of course

“He is acting as an employee of the president,” Hoyer said. “I believe the Attorney General believes he needs to protect the president of the United States.”

Added House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in an interview with the Associated Press: “I don’t trust Barr, I trust Mueller.” And Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., accused Barr on Twitter of “peddling conspiracy theories.”

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., added in a statement that Barr “should not casually suggest that those under his purview engaged in ‘spying’ on a political campaign.”

Schiff really was the funniest

Read More »

Read: Democrats Meltdown Over Barr Spying Claims »

Posted in Barking Moonbats, Current Affairs, Democrats | 40 Comments | Trackback URL

Employees Of Company Dependent On Energy And Fossil Fuels Asks For “Climate Plan” Or Something

By William Teach April 11, 2019 – 7:48 am

What would Amazon do without fossil fuels and vast amounts of energy? How many products are shipped not just across the nation, but across the world? I once ordered a watch, which ended up being a bit heavier and bigger than I thought. In order to return it, it would have to be shipped back to China. Where it came from. I had no idea when ordered. They refunded half the cost for me to keep it. Heck, Amazon even has their own trucks now, powered by fossil fuels. I see them all over Raleigh.

And let’s not forget the vast amounts of energy used to peruse the website, order, and ship. But, hey, Warmists will be Warmists

Thousands of Amazon employees ask the company to adopt a climate change plan

In an open letter to Amazon’s board of directors and CEO Jeff Bezos, thousands of employees have asked the company to adopt a wide-ranging plan to fight climate change.

“Amazon has the resources and scale to spark the world’s imagination and redefine what is possible and necessary to address the climate crisis,” the letter reads. “We believe this is a historic opportunity for Amazon to stand with employees and signal to the world that we’re ready to be a climate leader.”

The letter, which had received more than 3,500 signatures by midday Wednesday, is the latest example of tech industry employees going public to pressure leadership into action. Workers at companies like Google and Microsoft have organized around a range of issues. Amazon itself has faced previous pushback from employees as well: last year, a group of workers criticized the company’s decision to sell facial recognition tools to law enforcement.

Employees, citing Amazon’s work for oil and gas companies and what they describe as insufficient plans for action on climate change, are asking the company to commit to several goals. Among them, they ask the company to make “a complete transition away from fossil fuels,” and to advocate politically for climate-friendly policies. They also ask the company to adopt a shareholder resolution calling for a climate change plan.

This group, which cultishly calls itself “Amazon Employees For Climate Justice” (and need to realize that most can be replaced easily), wants a plan to get to net-zero carbon emissions. They do understand that fossil fuels are necessary for the business, so they want the company to for carbon credits. Say, perhaps the company can take, let’s say, 50 cents an hour from each employee to fund this. They signing employees would be good with that, right?

They yammer about “climate justice”, which is politics, not science. And

Fair treatment of all employees during climate disruptions and extreme weather events. Unsafe or inaccessible workplaces should not be a reason to withhold pay, terminate, or otherwise penalize employees — including hourly and contract workers.

In other words, free money when a carbon pollution created heat snow-storm keeps them from work. You know, what we used to call weather.

Anyhow, good luck with this, worker bees.

Read: Employees Of Company Dependent On Energy And Fossil Fuels Asks For “Climate Plan” Or Something »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 7 Comments | Trackback URL

Washington Post Editorial Board Has A Plan For Dealing With Border Crisis They Said Didn’t Exist

By William Teach April 11, 2019 – 7:28 am

On February 15th of this year, the Washington Post Editorial Board said that “Trump’s make-believe crisis is untethered from truth and reality.” This was to go with the many, many articles and op-eds saying there was no border crisis. And that has mostly continued till yesterday, when they ran a thinly veiled opinion hit-job on the front page saying that there is a border crisis. And now, they have a plan to deal with the border crisis

Neither Trump nor Democrats have a solution for the border. Here’s one.

IMAGINE THE United States could, from scratch, create an orderly, rational system to cope with asylum seekers at the Southern border — a regime at once efficient, humane and fair. It would process and adjudicate migrants in the border region relatively quickly (in days or weeks, not months or years), admit those with serious and verifiable claims, and deny and deport those without them. Catch-and-release would be unheard of; so would years-long processing times.

It would, in other words, look nothing like the status quo, which has bloomed into a crisis that has overwhelmed existing infrastructure and bureaucracy. Yet building such a system would be possible, and at a fraction of the price President Trump wants to spend erecting a wall that would do nothing to deter asylum seekers.

So, a crisis?

Unfortunately, neither Mr. Trump nor Democrats have advanced a blueprint to address the crisis. The president prefers fulminating, as though the migrant surge might evaporate in the face of his fury. Democrats, goaded into an oppositionist rut by the president’s harsh rhetoric and policies, are now at risk of being plausibly portrayed as a party indifferent to porous borders — a stance that is substantively wrong and could invite electoral disaster.

Trump could certainly do things differently, but, he did make the “build the border wall” bed, so….

As to the Democrats, they really are the party of indifference to a porous border, and have been for decades. Further, a good chunk of them are for Open Borders, as shown by their talking points and actions.

A cogent plan to cope with the tsunami of asylum-seeking migrants, mainly Central American families and unaccompanied minors, would start with hundreds more immigration judges to supplement the existing 400 or so whose backlog of roughly 800,000 cases means that hearings are now scheduled for 2021 and beyond. It would mean expanding and constructing detention centers near the border, suitable for families, that could accommodate many multiples of their current capacity while migrants await the adjudication of their cases. And it would probably entail congressional action that would permit authorities to hold families for more than the three weeks that court decrees have set as a limit on detentions that involve children. Crucially, the existence of a functional system would in short order begin to deter migrants without plausible asylum claims from embarking on the risky and expensive journey.

It is not a bad plan for dealing with the border crisis, particularly when politics become involved, and it works in its simplicity. It’s a better plan than most are offering. This is something that could be done out of Washington. For the most part, the Trump admin has asked for more immigration judges, funding for the judges, and reassigned judges to deal with the backlog. Democrats have objected. Right now, the DOJ is asking for $72 million for 100 new judges and attorneys to deal with the border crisis, because let’s not forget that it isn’t just judges, but that the illegals making false claims of asylum have to be represented.

Would it deter people showing up at the border demanding asylum? Would it deter people attempting to cross into the U.S. illegally? Probably not. Many would be hoping that the definitions of asylum would be expanded, or that they would be released while waiting for their hearing. Further, it would cost tax payers money to hold and feed people who are trying to force their way in.

A better plan would be to change the law so that all asylum claims would need to be made a U.S. facility outside the borders of the U.S., preferably the home country. Anyone who is provided asylum will be told that they must learn English, will only be provided government assistance for one year if necessary, after which they must have a job and provide for themselves and any family. Any criminal acts will see that person and the whole family deported. And, anyone caught showing up at the border demanding asylum will be turned away and anyone caught crossing illegally or found in the interior illegally will be put across the border immediately. No holding, just goodbye, do it the right way.

It’s nice to know that the WPEB has finally realized that there is, in fact, a crisis at the border.

Read: Washington Post Editorial Board Has A Plan For Dealing With Border Crisis They Said Didn’t Exist »

Posted in Democrats, Donald Trump, Illegal Immigration | 27 Comments | Trackback URL

California Looks To Come For Your Stoves And Water Heaters To Stop ‘Climate Change’

By William Teach April 10, 2019 – 4:38 pm

The Cult of Climastrology is always looking for new ways to control your choices

California’s next frontier in fighting climate change: your kitchen stove

Curtis Stone has been using induction cooktops for years. The Australian celebrity chef — who operates acclaimed restaurants in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills and is planning a pop-up eatery at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival this month — said the electric cooking technology is faster, cleaner and more efficient than a traditional gas stove.

“And they’re more accurate,” Stone said. “I know I’ll get a rolling simmer on a 6, and I know I’ll get a rapid simmer on a 7, and I know I’ll get a rapid boil on an 8.”

Induction cooktops have another advantage: They don’t burn natural gas, a fossil fuel that contributes to climate change. California is looking for ways to phase out fossil gas, not just from power plants but also from stoves, water heaters and furnaces.

That could involve a long-term transition to all-electric homes and other buildings for tens of millions of Californians, a plan supported by clean energy advocates and some state officials.

Not everyone is on board.

The electrification plan could prompt a confrontation between the country’s biggest gas distribution utility, Southern California Gas Co., and its second-biggest electric utility, Southern California Edison. The monopoly powerhouses are already promoting competing visions for the Golden State, with Edison pushing a future powered by electricity and SoCalGas touting the climate benefits of so-called renewable gas.

What’s going to power all those stoves, water heaters, and furnaces?

Among the sources of climate change pollution, cars and power plants get the most attention. But buildings are responsible for a quarter of California’s planet-warming emissions when gas and electricity use are taken into account, state data show.

In residential buildings, two-thirds of gas consumption is for space and water heating, and an additional 18 percent is for washing clothes and dishes. Just 7 percent of residential gas use is for cooking, with the rest going toward clothes drying, pool heating and hot tub warming.

For many clean energy advocates, the solution is obvious: Replace gas with electricity. They point out that the electricity supply is getting cleaner — California got more than half its power from climate-friendly sources such as solar and wind in 2017, and is aiming for 100 percent by 2045 — while gas continues to emit carbon dioxide when burned.

Wind and solar provide 9.4% and 10.2%, respectively. Hydro is up to 14.7% (but the extreme enviros are not happy and want the dams torn down). And the cost of electricity has skyrocketed in California. Regardless, you cannot power everything with solar and wind. There’s nothing wrong with induction, if I ever need to replace my stove (which is electric, only heating and water heater are natural gas) that’s what I’ll get. But, I do not want Government forcing my choice. This is not what government is for.

Read: California Looks To Come For Your Stoves And Water Heaters To Stop ‘Climate Change’ »

Posted in AGW Socialism, Global Warming | 13 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach April 10, 2019 – 1:00 pm

…are horrible clouds of carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Right Scoop, with a post on AG Barr putting together an investigation into the FBI’s conduct regarding Russia Russia Russia.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 18 Comments | Trackback URL

Science Is Cool: First Picture Of A Black Hole Revealed

By William Teach April 10, 2019 – 10:16 am

I’ve been waiting for this for over a week, when it was first announced that it would be released

It’s 55 million light years away

(Fox News) Scientists have released the first-ever image of a black hole, revealing the distant object in stunning detail.

The groundbreaking discovery was made by the Event Horizon Telescope, an international project involving telescopes across the globe that describes itself as a “virtual Earth-sized telescope.” Telescopes in Hawaii, Arizona, Chile, Mexico, Spain and the South Pole participated in the ambitious research project.

The black hole was spotted in galaxy Messier 87 (M87) that is 55 million light years away. A light year, which measures distance in space, equals 6 trillion miles.

“We’re delighted to report to you today that we have seen what we thought was unseeable,” explained Dr. Shep Doeleman, director of the Event Horizon Telescope, during a press conference at the National Science Foundation Wednesday. “We have taken advantage of a cosmic opportunity.”

“”If immersed in a bright region, like a disc of glowing gas, we expect a black hole to create a dark region similar to a shadow — something predicted by Einstein’s general relativity that we’ve never seen before,” explained Heino Falcke of Holland’s Radboud University and chair of the EHT Science Council, in a statement. “This shadow, caused by the gravitational bending and capture of light by the event horizon, reveals a lot about the nature of these fascinating objects and allowed us to measure the enormous mass of M87’s black hole.”

There have been photos of the supposed lensing affect of black holes, but none that ever really showed one.

Read: Science Is Cool: First Picture Of A Black Hole Revealed »

Posted in Like, Gnarly, Dude, Science | 56 Comments | Trackback URL
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