Migrant Caravan Members Demand $50,000 To Leave Or To Be Let In To U.S.

By William Teach December 12, 2018 – 7:44 am

What is extortion?

Most states define extortion as the gaining of property or money by almost any kind of force, or threat of 1) violence, 2) property damage, 3) harm to reputation, or 4) unfavorable government action. While usually viewed as a form of theft/larceny, extortion differs from robbery in that the threat in question does not pose an imminent physical danger to the victim.

Extortion is a felony in all states. Blackmail is a form of extortion in which the threat is to expose embarrassing and damaging information to family, friends, or the public. Inherent in this common form of extortion is the threat to expose the details of someone’s private lives to the public unless money is exchanged.

It’s also a federal felony

Migrant group demands Trump either let them in or pay them each $50G to turn around: report

Two groups of Central American migrants marched to the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana on Tuesday with a list of demands, with one group delivering an ultimatum to the Trump administration: either let them in the U.S. or pay them $50,000 each to go home, a report said.

Among other demands were that deportations be halted and that asylum seekers be processed faster and in greater numbers, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

The first group of caravan members, that included about 100 migrants, arrived at the consulate around 11 a.m. Alfonso Guerreo Ulloa, an organizer from Honduras, said the $50,000 figure was chosen as a group.

“It may seem like a lot of money to you,” Ulloa told the paper. “But it is a small sum compared to everything the United States has stolen from Honduras.”

Oh, so they’re going to play the Victimcard in attempting to extort the federal government, and gave President Trump 72 hours to respond. So these migrants have now committed a federal felony, and as such, are no longer allowed into the United States. Besides, they were never invited.

They do know they won’t get the money, right? Perhaps they should hit up George Soros and all the Leftist groups who helped move them from Honduras.

A letter from the second group of about 50 migrants arrived at the consulate around 1:20 p.m. asking the U.S. to speed up the asylum process and to admit up to 300 asylum seekers each day at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego. Currently, around 40 to 100 are admitted.

You do not get to dictate to a country you were not invited to any terms of entry.

Many have been granted asylum in Mexico. Many are just hanging. Many have attempted illegal entry. And many have left

“A lot of people are leaving because there is no solution here,” said Douglas Matute, 38, of Tijuana. “We thought they would let us in. But Trump sent the military instead of social workers.”

He told you he would do that. He told you not to come. You did not listen. You were surely duped by all the activist groups he enticed you to travel thousands of miles. Go home and apply for asylum at the U.S. embassy in Honduras.

Read: Migrant Caravan Members Demand $50,000 To Leave Or To Be Let In To U.S. »

Posted in Illegal Immigration | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

Inevitable: CNN Links Migrant Caravan To ‘Climate Change’

By William Teach December 11, 2018 – 6:51 pm

You can bet that someone at CNN said “say, has anyone linked the migrant caravan to Other People’s carbon pollution yet, and, if not, why not?” Forgetting that CNN is in Atlanta, which gets the majority of its power from nuclear, coal, and natural gas. And that CNN uses vast amounts of energy for its news operations, as well as vast amounts of fossil fuels to gather the news from around the nation and the world

From the link

Overlooked is this factor: climate change.

The “dry corridor” of Central America, which includes parts of Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, has been hit with an unusual drought for the last five years. Crops are failing. Starvation is lurking. More than two million people in the region are at risk for hunger, according to an August report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

“Under normal circumstances, without any change in rain patterns, people are already struggling,” said Edwin Castellanos, dean of research at Universidad del Valle de Guatemala and a global authority on climate change in Central America. “In some of these dry areas, we have seen events of children actually dying out of hunger. So, it is that extreme.” (snip)

Studies have not definitively tied this particular drought to climate change, but computer models show droughts like the one happening now are becoming more common as the world warms.

So, in other words, it’s all bullshit. Could climatic changes be causing problems, or is it simply the short term weather, which does things all the time? Remember, we were told about all sorts of “permanent droughts” in areas around the world, then, a few years later we are being told about “permanent flooding” in the exact same areas. Weather is dynamic, and patterns can last for years.

Nor is there proof that ‘climate change’ is mostly/solely caused by Mankind. And correlation is not causation. Regardless, when will CNN give up their own massive carbon footprint? Paying for a few trees doesn’t cover it.

Read: Inevitable: CNN Links Migrant Caravan To ‘Climate Change’ »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming, Wonky Media | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

State Run Health System To Virtue Signal With Raise To $15 An Hour

By William Teach December 11, 2018 – 3:18 pm

Let’s first note that the difference between $15 an hour in North Carolina, even a city like Raleigh, is vastly different between $15 an hour in northern and other Liberal states. It goes a lot further. Consider that I purchased my 1,200 square foot townhome for $95k about 10 years ago or so, and, while the floor plan is not my favorite, I have this view out the back door

Obviously, not all the time with the snow. But, it is an elevated deck, and no townhomes (they are all duplexes) behind me. There is a row of them running along the right side of that pic. And the greenway runs on the other side of the trees, and there is a wetland from the Neuse River beyond that. And then the river. Try and get that in NJ, NY, California for less than $200k or more. Regardless

UNC Health Care boosts the pay of 9,000 employees as it raises minimum wage

UNC Health Care is promising a $15 million thank-you to thousands of employees.

The Chapel Hill health care organization said Tuesday it will increase its minimum wage to $15 an hour in the Triangle, a move that will ultimately boost the pay of some 9,000 employees, nearly a third of its total workforce. The organization owns or operates 13 hospitals and employs about 30,000 people.

But UNC Health Care’s beneficence is limited to the Triangle, where it employs 21,500 people.

The health care system’s statement said the Triangle’s “higher cost of living, strong job market and competition for talented co-workers are key factors in the decision to make a living wage adjustment now.”

UNC Health Care plans to raise its minimum wage to $14 an hour on Jan. 13, and to $15 an hour in July. The employees who will get the raise include housekeepers, cashiers, stock clerks and nursing assistants. No one employed at UNC Health Care in the Triangle currently makes less than $12 an hour, said spokesman Alan Wolf. The state and federal minimum is $7.25 an hour.

“We are committed to providing a competitive living wage to support our workforce,” said Dr. Bill Roper, CEO of UNC Health Care, in a statement. “We are proud to employ the best people to fulfill our mission of caring for patients and their families, and offering a higher living wage is an important step we are able to take.”

So, what about those skilled workers who are making $15, 16, 17 an hour now? Will they be getting a raise, or will they be paid the same as the unskilled workers? There’s not doubt that the unskilled are necessary to run the business, but, should they make as much as the people who went to school, got a degree, perhaps a masters, and spent time learning to do their craft? Well, yes, those skilled workers will be making more

The pay raise will boost 3,750 employees to $15 an hour. As they move up the pay scale, their raises will push up the wages of employees higher up the ladder so that the organizational pay scale remains relationally intact

Further

UNC Health Care is a not-for-profit integrated health care system owned by the state of North Carolina and based in Chapel Hill. Originally established Nov. 1, 1998, by N.C.G.S. 116-37, UNC Health Care currently comprises UNC Hospitals and its provider network, the clinical programs of the UNC School of Medicine, and eleven affiliate hospitals and hospital systems across the state.

So, guess who is paying for this? That’s right, the taxpayers of the state. They’ll pay more through their taxes, as well as higher healthcare costs. Hooray!

Read: State Run Health System To Virtue Signal With Raise To $15 An Hour »

Posted in Healthcare, NC News | 52 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach December 11, 2018 – 1:00 pm

…is horrible bread that causes obesity which is bad for climate change, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Raised On Hoecakes, with a post on Washington state rejecting what France proposed.

Read: If All You See… »

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

Giant Gender Confused Crushing Competition At Asian Games

By William Teach December 11, 2018 – 10:30 am

Hey, all you women who back this kind of insanity, are you cool with these gender confused people taking over your sports (via Moonbattery)

He Played Handball For Australia’s Men’s Team. Now Transgender, He’s Dominating Women’s Handball.

Standing at six-foot-two and weighing-in at 220 pounds, male-to-female transgender handballer Hannah Mouncey is dominating at the women’s Asian Championships in Japan.

Before his transition to female in May 2016, Mousey played for the Australian men’s handball team.

According to Handbolls Kanalen, Mouncey scored four goals in a match against Kazakhstan on Friday and contributed a combined eight goals in matches against Japan and Iran. (snip)

Due to Mouncey’s weight, height, and testosterone levels, he was barred from entering the Australian Football League, Women’s (AFLW) draft, last year. Mouncey wrote a piece for The Guardian in September blasting the AFL for their regulations. He noted specifically that the weight regulation is a form of “body shaming” and a blow to all women, transgender or not.

“My biggest concern is the fact that weight is being used as one of the key physical measures for possible exclusion. Forget the fact that in a game that has such an emphasis on endurance and speed, being heavy is not necessarily an advantage and think about the message it sends to women and girls about their bodies: if you’re too big, you can’t play. That is incredibly dangerous and backward,” Mouncey said.

Lots more at the link. As Moonbattery’s Dave Blount writes “Stick a fork in women’s sports; they are about done. Soon they will be dead of the sickness that is the transsexual agenda.” They are. How many times do you see a woman “transitioning” to be man compete in men’s sports like this? Almost impossible to find. But, there are many, many cases of gender confused men competing in women’s sports, and very much dominating them.

Read: Giant Gender Confused Crushing Competition At Asian Games »

Posted in Special Snowflake Syndrome | 7 Comments | Trackback URL

Democrats May Push To Block Lawmakers From Carrying Firearms At Capitol

By William Teach December 11, 2018 – 8:20 am

Normally, articles like this should be taken with a grain of salt, as there has been no actual legislation or anything else offered at this time, however, since these are Democrats involved, it could well happen

Dems Might Challenge Rule Allowing Lawmakers to Have Guns at Capitol

For five decades, members of Congress have been allowed to have firearms in the Capitol—but that law might be changed if murmurs between California Democrats come to fruition. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., said his objective has the support of likely incoming House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Indeed, her spokesperson has said Pelosi vows to “revisit” the law.

Although a Republican counterpart—Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky—says the move is just evidence that the liberals are trying to “solve a problem that doesn’t exist,” the effort could be a harbinger of things to come as the anti-gunners ramp up efforts to force more gun control down our throats.

Massie has a point. When was the last time you heard about a congressional representative going through the halls of the Capitol waving a gun. Huffman was even hard-pressed to name any colleagues who have guns in their offices.

We can only surmise that if the gun control folks start by limiting the rules on congressmen, it will give them more motivation to go after the rights of ordinary citizens because, after all, we can’t have more rights than the people in charge.

How many Congressman and Senators carry? Or even have a firearm in their office? There’s no study on that. And do they really need one? They have lots and lots of armed security all over the Capitol building as well as the separate office buildings they use. But, that’s not the point. The rule is about providing for self defense as authorized by the Bill of Rights.

The wider point is that Democrats do, in fact, want to ban gun from the hands of law abiding citizens (well, with lawmakers, that might be abidingish). And one may well be a federal red flag law. The American Conservative’s Kelley Beaucar Vlahos is concerned, like many, over the potential for abuses with state run red flag laws, and point to something which hasn’t received much press

Since March, Florida and several states have passed red flag bills, bringing the total to 14 including the District of Columbia. Several Republican-majority legislatures have thwarted similar efforts in their states. But it may not matter. Armed with a new majority in the House of Representatives and seeming bipartisan support in the Senate, Democrats are closer than ever to passing new gun control legislation and federal “extreme risk protection orders” are the most likely to succeed in the next session. Why? Because prominent Republicans in the Senate, specifically Senators Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio, are already on record with their own bills, adding to popular Democratic proposals in both houses.

“The Emergency Risk Protection Order is designed to fill a gap in current law,” Graham said upon introducing the bill with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal last March. “It can be utilized when an individual has moved into crisis, but has not yet committed a crime.”

“The bill we introduce today is a starting point,” Graham continued. “It’s the place where we begin a long-overdue discussion about firearms and mental health. But we must start.”

We could get into the wider discusses of the merits and problems with red flag laws, but, really, do want need this at the federal level? Getting beyond the notion that not only does the Constitution not authorize Congress to be involved in this type of issue, it explicitly bars Congress from getting involved. And would we want Los Federales to be the ones issuing confiscation orders? How hard would it be to fight them? How costly? How abused?

Read: Democrats May Push To Block Lawmakers From Carrying Firearms At Capitol »

Posted in 2nd Amendment, Democrats | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

Unexpected: Warmist Charles Lane Covers How The Cult of Climastrology Has Failed

By William Teach December 11, 2018 – 7:55 am

This opinion piece at the Washington Post from Leftist Charles Lane really lays out the failure of the Cult of Climastrology, which was very much not expected

It’s time to look at the (political) science behind climate change

This year, California recorded its deadliest wildfire in state history. The combined intensity and duration of the Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans’ tropical storms and hurricanes reached a new recorded high. A group of researchers reported that worldwide fossil-fuel-related carbon dioxide emissions are projected to hit 37.1 billion tons in 2018, yet another annual record. (the wildfire and tropical storms have nothing to do with CO2)

It’s time to take a clear-eyed look at the science behind these developments — the political science.

The data show that, for all the evidence that climate change is real, manmade and dangerous, and despite wide public acceptance of those propositions, people in the United States do not necessarily want to stop climate change, in the sense of being willing to pay the cost — which is the only sense that really matters.

The data coming from actual science doesn’t actually show that climate change, otherwise known as global warming, is anything other than real. It doesn’t prove causation. But his point about not being willing to pay the cost is a big one.

“The public’s level of concern about climate change has not risen meaningfully over the past two decades, and addressing the problem with government action ranks among one of the lowest priorities for Americans,” according to a comprehensive review of public opinion literature published in 2017 by Patrick J. Egan of New York University and Megan Mullin of Duke University.

In a series of open-ended Gallup surveys this year asking Americans to name the “most important problem facing the country,” environmental issues never scored above 3 percent.

The problem here is that ‘climate change’ is stacked in with real environmental issues.

Even before the recent riots against President Emmanuel Macron’s climate-change-related fuel tax hike in France, there was a quieter backlash of sorts in the United States: Anti-fossil-fuel referendums lost in Colorado, Washington state and Arizona during last month’s elections. (snip)

Of course, the climate-change movement was not exactly silent during recent history. What’s crucial, after accounting for the battle between the movement and its opponents, is the inherent nature of climate change as a political issue: It requires voters to accept “up-front costs that, if successful, will stave off never-to-be experienced long-term damage — policy for which election-oriented politicians can easily foresee receiving blame instead of credit,” Egan and Mullin note.

While they were actually primarily anti-carbon tax, people, even Warmists, aren’t willing to pay through the nose for their vehicle’s food. Nor for other policies. They’re cool if it is on That Guy, but, most realized that they will end up getting taxed and fee’d along with That Guy.

Anyhow, Charles continues on in this vein for a bit, highlighting polls that show ‘climate change’ being a very low ranking issue, failures to pass different carbon taxes and other Warmist priorities, and you keep waiting for the authoritarian shoe of the Cult to drop. The closest is this

The most politically feasible climate-change proposals, Egan told me in an email, may be those which “address the problem in a more piecemeal and thus less visible fashion,” such as raising automobile fuel economy standards, or, at the state level, requiring that a minimum share of energy come from low-emission renewable sources.

Dink and dunk their way. But, see, that’s not what the CoC is about. Those measures won’t get them the control of citizens, the economy, and private entities that they want, especially at the federal level.

Either way, the larger point — the inconvenient truth, you might say — remains. It’s not easy to persuade citizens of a democracy to accept real financial sacrifice in the here and now for the sake of a diffuse benefit in the future.

Another of 2018’s lessons, therefore, is that the climate-change movement faces a democratic deficit. It must either overcome that deficit or fail.

The larger point is that the CoC has been pushing this stuff for 30 years, and has mostly failed. We could probably find some common ground measures between the CoC and Skeptics, but, most Warmists are inflexible, and common ground measures wouldn’t get them the political authoritarian dominance they want.

Read: Unexpected: Warmist Charles Lane Covers How The Cult of Climastrology Has Failed »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 13 Comments | Trackback URL

We’re Save: Fashion Companies Take A Stand Against ‘Climate Change’

By William Teach December 10, 2018 – 2:52 pm

Gotta love when a company that relies on shipping their products all over world which requires lots of fossil fuels climavirtue signal

Stella McCartney, Burberry among fashion brands uniting against climate change

The multitrillion-dollar business of fashion, with its complex and long supply chain, is worryingly vexed with problems contributing to climate change.

The fashion industry emits more greenhouse gas than all international flights and maritime shipping journeys combined, and it’s estimated that a garbage truck’s worth of clothing is either burned or sent to a landfill every second. On top of that, thanks to our powerful washing machines, our clothes pollute the ocean with microfibers equating to approximately 50 million plastic bottles each year. (microfibers is a real environmental issue, unlike AGW)

Conversation and action around sustainability and climate change has been quiet and slow to come within the sector, but Monday marks another move toward collective change. A fashion industry charter for climate action was formally launched at this year’s United Nations climate change conference, COP24, in Katowice, Poland.

Support for the new charter has come from high street retailers, luxury fashion houses and other suppliers within the sector. Stella McCartney, Burberry, Adidas and H&M Group are included in the list of 40 signatories.

Aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement, the new charter includes 16 principles and targets. The companies involved have committed to reducing their aggregate greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030 and they’ve agreed to prioritize low-carbon transportation suppliers and favor climate-friendly materials.

So, they’re pledging to Do Something. And whatever they do means the cost of their products will go up. Hooray!

Oh, and I’ve never considered Adidas to be a fashion company.

The charter is typical Stateist gobbletygook, and includes

  • Decarbonization pathway and GHG emission reductions
  • Raw material
  • Manufacturing/Energy
  • Logistics (through Clean Cargo Group1)
  • Policy engagement
  • Leveraging existing tools and initiatives
  • Promoting broader climate action

Uh huh.

Read: We’re Save: Fashion Companies Take A Stand Against ‘Climate Change’ »

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

If All You See…

By William Teach December 10, 2018 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible fossil fueled plane, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Don Surber, with a post on things Democrats want to ban.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 7 Comments | Trackback URL

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
Pirate's Cove