Surprise: Gun Grabber California Sees Firearm Homicides Up 18%

By William Teach December 10, 2018 – 10:30 am

California, as we all know, is one of the most restrictive states for firearms in the nation, and basically has every bit of gun control Democrats call for and way more. So…

Gun Control Fail: California Firearm Homicides Up 18 Percent

California, a state with every gun control imaginable, witnessed an 18 percent rise in firearm homicides from 2014 to 2016.

This rise in firearm homicides comes despite the fact that Democrats, gun control groups, and the establishment media constantly claim that states with the strictest gun controls see lower rates of violence and death.

California has universal background checks, gun registration requirements, red flag laws (i.e., Gun Violence Restraining Orders), a ten-day waiting period for gun purchases, an “assault weapons” ban, a one-gun-per-month limit on handgun purchases, a minimum firearm purchase age of 21, a ban on campus carry, a “good cause” restriction for concealed carry permit issuance, and controls on the purchase of ammunition. The ammunition controls limit law-abiding Californians to buying ammunition from state-approved vendors–all of whom are in-state sellers–and adds a fee to any ammunition bought online, also requiring that ammunition to be shipped to a state-approved vendor for pickup.

Additionally, the state mandates gun free zones in businesses where alcohol is sold for on-site consumption. Therefore, the few concealed carry permit holders in the state must enter myriad restaurants without any means of self-defense. This provides a target-rich environment for attackers who want to be sure no one can shoot back when they strike. We last saw this on November 7, 2018, when an attacker opened fire with a handgun in the gun-free Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California.

Despite all the stringent gun controls a bill filed by Assemblyman Marc Levine (CA-D-10) admits California firearm homicides were up between from 2014 to 2016. The bill says, “Although California has the toughest gun laws in the nation, more effort is necessary to curtail gun violence. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation found that from 2014 to 2016 gun homicides increased 18 percent.” In light of this gun control failure the language of the bill goes on to suggest more gun control.

We can fix this with a tax, though. And by more bans and confiscations, which is where they will surely be going next.

Read: Surprise: Gun Grabber California Sees Firearm Homicides Up 18% »

Posted in 2nd Amendment, Democrats | Comments Off on Surprise: Gun Grabber California Sees Firearm Homicides Up 18% | Trackback URL

Shut It Down: Mueller Team Going After Trump Family Business

By William Teach December 10, 2018 – 7:20 am

It really is long past time to shut down the Russia Russia Russia “investigation”

Done With Michael Cohen, Federal Prosecutors Shift Focus to Trump Family Business

When federal prosecutors recommended a substantial prison term for President Trump’s former lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, they linked Mr. Trump to the crimes Mr. Cohen had committed in connection with the 2016 presidential campaign.

What the prosecutors did not say in Mr. Cohen’s sentencing memorandum filed on Friday, however, is that they have continued to scrutinize what other executives in the president’s family business may have known about those crimes, which involved hush-money payments to two women who had said they had affairs with Mr. Trump.

After Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty in August to breaking campaign finance laws and other crimes — he will be sentenced on Wednesday — the federal prosecutors in Manhattan shifted their attention to what role, if any, Trump Organization executives played in the campaign finance violations, according to people briefed on the matter.

This goes on and on and on, but, what’s missing? Anything having anything to do with Russia Russia Russia. Which was the entire point of this so-called investigation. After almost two years, there really is no proof that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. Where there contacts? Yes. But there is zero proof that anything nefarious was going on. I bet if Mueller investigated Hillary’s campaign they would find contacts there, as well, because nations want to find ways to have influence with whomever may win.

We already know that Russia was screwing around with our election with….social media ads. No one can say whether that had any influence. They didn’t cause Hillary to fail to go to must win states, nor pass out on 9/11, nor use an unauthorized server, among others. The US under Obama with Hillary as his Sec State screwed with Russian elections (and other nations, as well).

Almost everything from Team Mueller has nothing to do with the point of this whole theater. Many are process crimes because of the investigation. Time to shut this down and move on if Mueller cannot show any collusion.

Read: Shut It Down: Mueller Team Going After Trump Family Business »

Posted in Current Affairs, Donald Trump | 23 Comments | Trackback URL

Questions Of Massive Regulatory And Taxation Schemes Are Burning Up At UN Climate Meeting

By William Teach December 10, 2018 – 6:59 am

It’s great when you have 10,000+ members of the Cult of Climastrology taking long fossil fueled trips to tell us that fossil fuels are bad and we need lots of regulation and taxes on Other People

Why We Don’t Need a Moonshot to Solve Climate Change

The prospect of solving climate change often prompts grand metaphors of moonshots and the Manhattan Project, with top scientists dedicating time and energy to come up with a breakthrough that will solve global warming.

But that may not be necessary.

A wide range of scientists, engineers and thinkers agree that we have the technological capacity to stem warming, keeping temperatures below the 1.5°C target that scientists warn would bring some of the most catastrophic impacts of climate change. What we’re missing is not big technological improvements, but rather the right mix of policies and political will to implement them.

Other nutters think we need to “declare war” on ‘climate change’, but, anyhow, it’s strange that this always devolves into politics and forcing people to comply, eh? What the Warmists are debating in Poland is the so-called rule book, which would put in all sorts of rules that would harm the economies and middle/lower classes in producer nations while giving lots of money from producers to non-producer nations.

But the rulebook is just a small representation of a much bigger puzzle. Across the planet, efforts to address climate change have stalled because of a lack of policy and political will. Take carbon pricing, the policy most economists and policymakers say will serve as an important step to reducing emissions. Such a measure, which could take the form of a carbon tax or cap-and-trade system, would require companies to pay to pollute. The revenue could be used to support something like a green jobs program or fund a tax cut.

“It’s about making markets work well,” Nicholas Stern, former head of the British Academy and World Bank chief economist, tells TIME. “Markets can fail if people don’t pay for what they’re buying, and if you use fossil fuels you are causing big losses to other people.”

So, all the people who took fossil fueled trips to Katowice are causing big losses to other people? Huh.

But countries have struggled to find ways to make carbon-pricing efforts politically palatable. In Canada, where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has tried to push through a national carbon-pricing scheme, the issue has become a controversial campaign talking point. This week French protesters succeeded in stopping President Emanuel Macron from implementing a gas tax, arguing that it was an out-of-touch policy that would hurt the poor.

Even in places where citizens are concerned about climate change carbon pricing discussion have devolved into fights over what form it should take. In Washington state, for instance, progressive voters rejected a carbon tax in 2016 because it funded a tax cut. This year, voters there rejected a restructured carbon tax because it lacked transparency. In Katowice, negotiators are trying to figure out how to make the nuts and bolts of how to make carbon-pricing work on an international level with deep disagreements about accounting and trading credits.

Hooray! People who took long fossil fueled trips from around the world want to figure out an international carbon tax, despite actual voters turning against them.

And then there are others who advocate for regulatory solutions that would simply ban or restrict activity that pollutes while directly funding programs that advance clean energy and other climate solutions. These solutions are in the vein of a Green New Deal, proposed by leading progressive voices, that would fund a large-scale U.S. green jobs program. Scientists say these efforts would reduce emissions, but the stringent opposition makes them politically challenging.

In other words, government forcing people to comply with the hardcore beliefs of cultists. These same cultists tend to be rich enough that their policies won’t hurt their own lives.

“The real economy is moving in one direction not even linearly but exponentially,” Christiana Figueres, the former head of the UN’s climate change program and a key framer of the Paris Agreement. “If there’s an alignment between politics and economy then of course things can move forward much quicker because all the stars aligned in the same direction.”

The trick, then, is getting those two things aligned.

Not a science. Pure politics.

Read: Questions Of Massive Regulatory And Taxation Schemes Are Burning Up At UN Climate Meeting »

Posted in Climahypocrites, Global Warming | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

Citizens Must (Be Forced) To Engage On ‘Climate Change’ Or Something

By William Teach December 9, 2018 – 7:39 pm

I wonder, have members of the Cult of Climastrology, such as writer Eric Giddens, ever considered that we do not want to actually engage?

Citizens must engage on climate

It’s hard to miss the news about extreme weather these days — hurricanes, fires, and closest to home, flooding.

The climate is changing, and as a result our communities are hurting. The federal government’s National Climate Assessment released Nov. 23 assessed the impacts of climate change across the United States, both now and throughout this century. The findings are sobering if not downright terrifying: If we do not take action, climate change will cost the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of dollars annually and will increasingly threaten our health and well-being. Citizens and local governments bear most of the brunt of this destruction and the costs of repair.

So what can we do? The problem can feel overwhelming and out of our control.

Bad weather has always happened, and is actually out of our control.

The good news, though, is that much can be done at the community level, and community-scale action can collectively put a major dent in the problem. Even better news is local climate action strengthens local economies. Here’s what you can do to be a part of that community-focused solution:

Understand the cause. Greenhouse gases (primarily carbon dioxide and methane) form a blanket over the earth that trap heat. Greenhouse gases are emitted by burning coal and natural gas to produce electricity, natural gas to heat buildings and water, gasoline and diesel to power motor vehicles, and by solid waste as it decomposes in landfills. We emit more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than can be re-absorbed by plant materials on the surface of the Earth, and the Earth’s average temperature is rising as a result. This atmospheric disruption causes the extreme weather events that we are witnessing.

That’s weird, absolutely no mention of the #1 GHG, water vapor. It’s almost like they’re sandbagging. And whining about the trappings of modern society that make it run.

Accept responsibility. We are all responsible for this. No one is exempt. We all use electricity and natural gas. We all use water. We all move around in automobiles and rely on goods and services that are transported with motor vehicles. We all produce solid waste. And in the United States, we do all of these things far more intensively than people in other countries do.

OK, when will Warmists accept responsibility and start living like it’s 1499? Here’s the big one

Advocate for action in your community. Local governments, accountable to local people, can enact policies and implement programs to reduce electricity and natural gas consumption through conservation and energy efficiency, shift electricity generation to renewables, reduce vehicle miles traveled through planning, conserve water and reduce waste. These actions that reduce emissions and other actions that make our landscape and built environment more resilient will also enhance our local economies. Saving energy saves money, investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy creates jobs, and building resilient communities reduces the risk of catastrophic loss due to extreme weather events associated with climate change.

Got that? You’re supposed to ask the government to tax you out the ying yang, artificially increase your cost of living, and to take lots of your freedom away. All for some un-scientific, cultish belief.

Read: Citizens Must (Be Forced) To Engage On ‘Climate Change’ Or Something »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 14 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach December 9, 2018 – 2:22 pm

…is horrible evil ice cream from evil cows, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is 90Ninety Miles From Tyranny, with a post about a huge right wing protest in the U.K.

No theme this week, cleaning out the folder.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

By William Teach December 9, 2018 – 9:24 am

Walt Otto Patriotic Pinup

Happy Sunday! It’s a rather white day in my neck of the woods, with a couple gorgeous inches of snow on the ground. This pinup is by Walt Otto, with a wee bit of help.

What’s happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15

  1. Sara Carter notes that the dossier was unverified by the FBI. Ever
  2. Powerline takes on the conspiracy theory that Trump defrauded voters
  3. Jihad Watch covers how Islamophobia was dragged into the Paris climate riots
  4. The Other McCain notes a few bad tweets showing up for the Heisman winner
  5. Weasel Zippers shows Dems trying to get Medicaid for illegal aliens
  6. The Vulgar Curmudgeon says people should be paying attention to France
  7. The Right Scoop notes Spartacus getting butthurt over ICE arrests in NJ
  8. The People’s Cube features being busted by a meme
  9. The Lid covers the Obama admin OKing millions for illegal alien legal advice
  10. The Last Tradition covers making school lunches great again
  11. The Daley Gator wonders how NJ will make gun owners criminals
  12. Raised On Hoecakes wants bacon, not bagels
  13. NoisyRoom covers the gaying of Hollywood
  14. Moonbattery notes that the Miss Universe frontrunner is a man
  15. And last, but not least, Legal Insurrection covers what a judge said about the investigation into Hillary’s server

As always, the full set of pinups can be seen in the Patriotic Pinup category, or over at my Gallery page. While we are on pinups, since it is that time of year, have you gotten your “Pinups for Vets” calendar yet? And don’t forget to check out what I declare to be our War on Women Rule 5 and linky luv posts and things that interest me

Don’t forget to check out all the other great material all the linked blogs have!

Anyone else have a link or hotty-fest going on? Let me know so I can add you to the list.

Out my back door

Read: Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup »

Posted in Patriotic Pinup | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

Democrat Governors To Push Lots Of ‘Climate Change’ Steps

By William Teach December 9, 2018 – 7:50 am

Despite climate change measures, particularly some type of taxation, continuing to fail at the ballot box, Democrats are not going to give up on plans to take more money from citizens and take more control of their lives

New governors plan aggressive climate steps

New and recently re-elected Democratic governors plan a series of aggressive steps to address climate change and bolster renewable energy industries in their states.

The new climate plans come amid federal and international reports that show significant and immediate threats to the environment and the global economy as carbon emissions rise and temperatures spike faster than anticipated.

At the same time, President Trump has said he will pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Accords, rolled back several anti-pollution regulations imposed by the Obama administration and pledged to revitalize the struggling American coal industry.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) will prioritize a measure to create a cap and trade system in her state that is similar to one already underway in neighboring California. Brown’s proposal, laid out in a budget blueprint last month, would set a limit on greenhouse gas emissions that would decline over 30 years.

“Using a cap and invest strategy, that means using a market-based approach that allows our business and industry to use the lowest cost option to reduce their carbon emissions,” Brown said in an interview. “We are very committed to tackling global climate change.”

Well, at least she didn’t see “free market”, because what she’s referring to is the government market option.

Gov. Jay Inslee (D), who has suggested that climate change would be at the top of his agenda if he runs for president in 2020, told The Hill last week that he will try to advance new climate measures through the legislature.

“We are using the loss in Washington to develop policy and strategy,” Oregon’s Brown said. “Under these circumstances, we can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”

A carbon tax scheme lost in Washington during the November election, what was called Initiative 1631, was voted down 56-43. Nor was this the first time a carbon tax lost in an initiative. Democrats won’t give up, though.

Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D), who will take over as New Mexico’s governor next year, said she wanted her state to produce enough energy through solar and wind farms to be able to sell excess energy to California and other neighboring states.

“If there was ever a state that could export renewable energy, it’s us,” Lujan Grisham said in an interview. During her campaign, Lujan Grisham aired an advertisement showing herself atop a wind turbine, hundreds of feet above the ground.

And you can bet that environmentalists will file lawsuit after lawsuit to keep her from putting solar panels and wind turbines all over the pristine areas of the state. Oh, and 28% of Nevada is owned by the federal government. Won’t be happening on that land. I doubt they can do enough to keep Las Vegas or Reno powered, much less sell to other states.

Illinois Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker (D) has said his state will increase its reliance on renewable energy to 25 percent of total consumption by 2025. In Nevada, Gov.-elect Steve Sisolak backed a ballot measure this year that would require the state to get half of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. In Maine, Gov.-elect Janet Mills (D) wants her state to get 80 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.

“On the big issues, we can’t afford to wait,” Polis said. “If we want to move forward on climate and renewable energy, it will be on the state level.”

Which is the way it should be. The Constitution doesn’t give the federal government the power to jam these kinds of things down the throats of the citizens. At the state level, it will be great when Democrats over-reach and potentially turn their states Red. However, unfortunately, these kinds of schemes which the Stateists vote for means they get upset about the fallout, such as a skyrocketing cost of living, and leave their Big Government states and come to GOP states, then try and ruin those states. And maybe the states looking at carbon taxes should consider

Which leads to

Tax cuts, huh? Hmmmmmm.

Read: Democrat Governors To Push Lots Of ‘Climate Change’ Steps »

Posted in Carbon Credits, Democrats, Global Warming | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

Today’s Christmas Offend Is On *Spins Wheel* T-Shirts

By William Teach December 8, 2018 – 4:03 pm

To think, it used to be if someone wanted to be Offended they would have to make an actual phone call, write a letter, or just complain to your friends

From the link

A U.K.-based clothing retailer has yanked one of its pajama sets from sale after complaints of the shirt’s message containing a message that some feel to be insensitive.

Boohoo.com was offering a Christmas-themed pajama set with the words “Obsessive Christmas Disorder” printed across the top, complete with the O, C and D highlighted in different lettering.

“As someone whose OCD ruins her f—– life on a daily basis, i can and will throw hands with anyone i see wearing an “obsessive christmas disorder” jumper,” one critic wrote on Twitter.

“This actually makes me feel sick,” wrote another.

As noted by The Sun, mental-health advocacy group OCD Action also commented on the shop’s pajama set, saying it trivialized a serious condition.

“Products which mock or trivialize OCD add to these misconceptions and can stop people who are genuinely affected by the condition seeking help, often due to a fear that they will not be taken seriously,” said the group’s youth service and communications manager, Olivia Bamber.

Read: Today’s Christmas Offend Is On *Spins Wheel* T-Shirts »

Posted in Christmas, Holidays, Special Snowflake Syndrome | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach December 8, 2018 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible carbon pollution infused beer causing heat snow, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Climate Change Dispatch, with a post on language at the UN climate summit.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 34 Comments | Trackback URL

Kids Cut Class In Heat Created Cold To Protest For Climate Change Measures Or Something

By William Teach December 8, 2018 – 12:26 pm

Why do left wing activists always look so miserable? Perhaps because they realize they’re a bunch of no fun scolds and that the policies they push will cause problems in their own lives?

Local students join those in eight other Canadian cities in staging school strike and rally at city hall

Students from across Metro Vancouver walked out of school today to demand action on climate change, joining school strikes staged in eight other Canadian cities.

About 50 students joined the Vancouver Teen Climate Strike rally at city hall before marching to the West Broadway office of George Heyman, the B.C. minister of environment and climate change strategy.

Organizer Rebecca Hamilton said she was motivated to take action watching other student strikes around the world and especially Swedish teen Greta Thunberg who has been missing classes every Friday to sit outside her country’s Parliament to protest its inaction on climate change.

“Climate change is a crisis and everyday I ask myself how can I just be going about my everyday life when this crisis is coming that’s going to impact my future and generations to follow,” said the grade 11 Lord Byng student.

Hamilton says although the newly introduced Clean B.C. plan includes many positive steps, the emission reduction targets announced don’t go far enough.

“The targets that [Clean B.C.] is based on aren’t science based and won’t keep us below 1.5 degree C temperature rise,” she said. “And so we want to ask George Heyman about these issues because we know that he really believes in strong climate action.”

They look cold, don’t though? Calling it carbon isn’t science based, either. Politically based. But, she is right that the targets aren’t science based. Nor is their cult.

Really, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax is, in fact, finding critics and opponents on all sides. At the end of the day, every carbon tax will see the costs passed on to the consumers. And no plan will see all that money returned to the citizens (which is the big plan these days), no matter what the designers of the taxes say. Perhaps that’s why the kids look so miserable? Or could it be the indoctrination in schools on the Cult of Climastrology? Or just that they’re cold?

Read: Kids Cut Class In Heat Created Cold To Protest For Climate Change Measures Or Something »

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment | Trackback URL
Pirate's Cove