If All You See…

By William Teach May 21, 2018 – 1:00 pm

…is sunlight made brighter due to carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Jihad Watch, with a post on a man facing hate speech charges for satirizing Sharia punishments.

Read: If All You See… »

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Netherlands Green Police To Be Used To Protect Trash Collectors As They Hand Out Penalties

By William Teach May 21, 2018 – 10:37 am

Government scolds are worried that their government nagging is causing problems

(UK Guardian) Refuse collectors in the Netherlands are being followed by close protection officers after getting the power to issue red and yellow cards to force householders to properly recycle.

The new football-style card system has led to a series of rubbish rage incidents in the south of the country, with collectors threatened, abused and one bin lorry hemmed in to a street by furious householders who had not had their waste taken away.

The Netherlands has been a pioneer in household recycling with some municipalities charging for the collection of bin bags which contain non-recyclable rubbish, and asking householders to separate refuse into up to seven different categories.

However officers known as the buitengewoon opsporingsambtenaar (BOA), who are not police but have the power to arrest suspects and issue fines, had to be brought in to protect the refuse collectors of Best, a town near Eindhoven, after they became responsible for not only collecting the rubbish but inspecting it and dishing out cards to recalcitrant households.

Yellow cards are issued to warn people if they have wrongly separated their waste. Red cards are given to repeat offenders, and their rubbish is left to rot on the side of the road, leading to angry confrontations.

The ultimate in greenie weenie insanity. Recycling is good. But, Government Force, turning trash collecters into government enforcement agents, then having to protect them with special officers because this whole thing is over the top, is insane.

Read: Netherlands Green Police To Be Used To Protect Trash Collectors As They Hand Out Penalties »

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Hot Take: The Founding Fathers Wouldn’t Want Us To Follow The Document They Wrote, Because Guns

By William Teach May 21, 2018 – 7:43 am

Of course, we shouldn’t forget that there were only a handful of Founding Fathers who attended and were even involved in writing the Constitution, and that those who wrote the Constitution are referred to as the Framers. But, hey, facts are problematic for gun grabbers, and it’s really difficult to look up information, you know, at least for USA Today’s Jill Lawrence, who’s attempting to Make A Point

Would the Founders want our kids to die in school shootings like Santa Fe? I doubt it.

Amid all we know about the Founding Fathers, two things stand out in the wake of yet another mass shooting that underscores the desperate need for action and the depth of our paralysis.

The first is that nearly a third of the 39 delegates who signed the Constitution endured the tragedy of losing children. By one count, 24 sons and daughters born to a dozen signers died before adulthood. The second is that these and the other Founders were among the greatest change-makers in history. They were America’s first #Resist movement, and they fought an actual war to create a future unbound from the past.

Does anyone think they would expect us to live by a 230-year-old document? Would they stand by, reciting the centuries-old Second Amendment, if their own children were endangered — in school, at malls, in movie theaters, on city streets — by easy access to guns? Or would they start us on the road to universal background checks, mandatory waiting periods and other steps most Americans say they want?

Actually, yes, I do think the Framers would want us to live by that 230 year old document, and they also gave America the ability to change the Constitution, if they can get it done. But, if Jill is unhappy about it, she should drag out her quill pen and write to her Congressperson, sending the letter by horse. Or, maybe use the same type of manual printing presses available in the late 1700’s. Or perhaps we can start stationing troops at Jill’s house, having done away with the 3rd Amendment. The Framers thought that was pretty darned important to restrict government. And are those warrant thingies really necessary?

We abolished slavery long ago, militias have turned into the National Guard, and estimates suggest Americans own millions of AR-15s that are modeled on M-16s. It’s a world light years beyond the ken of the Founders.

As brilliant as they were, they’d be the first to say that they and their blueprint for America were imperfect — limited by their experiences, their era, their differences, the difficult compromises they had to make. They bequeathed us infinite complications, not because they wanted to but because they could not see the future and because they had to in order to get the job done.

In other words, ban guns, abolish the 2nd Amendment. Remember, they aren’t coming for your guns, they just want some common sense reforms.

Read: Hot Take: The Founding Fathers Wouldn’t Want Us To Follow The Document They Wrote, Because Guns »

Posted in 2nd Amendment, Constitution, Unhinged Tools | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

TDS: “No One Is An Animal” Or Something

By William Teach May 21, 2018 – 7:18 am

It takes a special kind of stupid, a special brand of Trump Derangement Syndrome, to declare that absolutely no one is an animal, as we see from the Washington Post’s E. J. Dionne finally jumping in

No one is an ‘animal’

It’s never right to call other human beings “animals.” It’s not something we should even have to debate. No matter how debased the behavior of a given individual or group, no matter how much legitimate anger that genuinely evil actions might inspire, dehumanizing others always leads us down a dangerous path.

This is why we need to reflect on the controversy over exactly whom President Trump was referring to as “animals” during a roundtable discussion last week at the White House with state and local officials from California on so-called sanctuary laws.

On its face — and this is certainly how Trump wants us to view things — this is an argument about whether the media distorted his intent by reporting what he said out of context.

It’s never right? How about when we call people “party animals” or “political animals”? Not OK? Or how someone is an animal in bed? Or, how about “A person without human attributes or civilizing influences, especially someone who is very cruel, violent, or repulsive.” Would it be wrong to call these people animals?

  • Osama bin Laden (and the rest of al Qaeda)
  • Joseph Stalin
  • Adolph Hitler
  • Joseph Mengele
  • Vladimir Lenin
  • Mao Zedong
  • Pol Pot
  • Idi Amin
  • Albert Fish
  • People who saw other people’s heads off
  • Members of ISIS
  • People who burn other people alive
  • People who commit mass shootings

That’s just a short list. Feel free to add your own. Though E.J. is saying it’s wrong to call them animals, because it’s “dehumanizing.”

No one wants to be put in a position of seeming to say anything good about gang members. Yet Trump’s strategy of dehumanization must be resisted across the board. We cannot shy away from what history teaches. Pronouncing whole categories of people as subhuman numbs a nation’s moral sense and, in extreme but, unfortunately, too many cases, becomes a rationale for collective cruelty.

I have no trouble branding people, such as the ones in the above list, as animals. How about you? Are you good with it? Dionne seriously provides one of the best examples of Trump Derangement Syndrome.

Read: TDS: “No One Is An Animal” Or Something »

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If All You See…

By William Teach May 20, 2018 – 1:55 pm

…is a sea that is encroaching on inland areas because Someone Else ate a cheeseburger, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Bizzy Blog, with a post on the NY Times making lots and lots of corrections.

It’s sundresses week!

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Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

By William Teach May 20, 2018 – 9:16 am

Patriotic Pinup Al Buell

Happy Sunday! Another fantastic day in America. The Sun is shining, the frogs are frogging, and summer is just around the corner. This pinup is by Al Buell, with a wee bit of help (doing something I have almost never had to do, because super allergic to cut grass).

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

  1. Moonbattery notes that blacks in power don’t empower blacks
  2. neo-neocon features another false racism accusation
  3. Noisy Room has a flashback to when bad names were cool with Dems (vis a vis “animals”)
  4. Pacific Pundit features a stupid media headline on the spy spying on Trump
  5. Powerline discusses why Trump tweets
  6. The Daley Gator covers what the Dems new reality show should be named
  7. The First Street Journal notes the success of socialism
  8. The Lid wonders if Dems are finally driving Dem states off the fiscal cliff
  9. The Powers That Be notes that Deplorables should rejoice
  10. This ain’t Hell… features awesome new pics of nearby galaxies
  11. Watts Up With That discusses 2 years of global cooling
  12. No Frakking Consensus notes how much plastic is in the oceans
  13. Climate Change Dispatch wonders why renewables are destroying the environment
  14. 357 Magnum can’t wait to have socialized medicine like Canada
  15. And last, but not least, A View From The Beach wonders what’s the point of tenure if it doesn’t protect unpopular opinions

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.

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Remember, Democrats Totally Aren’t Trying To Take Your Guns Away (Part Lots)

By William Teach May 20, 2018 – 7:57 am

As Glenn Beck points out

We know what’s behind the Democrat talking points, so when they call for ‘common sense gun control”, we won’t allow things that even we think are good ideas, as they will then be expanded, Dems will want more and more and more. Because you see plenty of Dems responding to Lauren like

https://twitter.com/elinorgray/status/997896153206214656

Then there’s

Isn’t it nice that a person who took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States (with Democrats, you have to specify, as they might think you’re talking about the Constitution of a different country) is saying “nah, let’s get rid of what I don’t like”? I say we do away with all armed protect for Congress. While in session, at the Capital building, at the Congressional office buildings, when they’re traveling, heck, restrict them from even hiring private security or carrying their own firearm while in elected position. See how they like that.

Then there’s this from Esquire’s Dave Holmes

Okay, Now I Actually Do Want To Take Your Guns

Hey there, NRA:

Listen, I know the moments after a gunman opens fire in a school are hectic for you. You have to get your talking points together, you have to mentally prepare to debate a traumatized yet sensible child, you have to look at yourself in the mirror and practice saying that more guns would have made the situation less deadly. It’s a busy time! And since we are always either in the moments after or the moments before a mass shooting, you’re pretty much always busy, I have noticed!

Anyway, I just wanted to drop you a line and let you know that I now actually do want to take your guns.

All of your guns.

Right now.

Go ahead and try, chump.

And Vox’s always nutty German Lopez

I’ve covered gun violence for years. The solutions aren’t a big mystery.
America can prevent shootings. But it has to come to grips with the problem.

The problem? Well, German tries to be subtle, but finally gets around to say that the problem is guns, not mental illness, and goes on to tell us how great the Australian gun ban and forced confiscation was and still is. And that this has to be applied nationally, not just at the state and local level (because no one could possibly smuggle anything across our borders, you know). And that “America needs to go much further than anyone admits,” even further than the solution imposed in Australia

If the fundamental problem is that America has far too many guns, then policies need to cut the number of guns in circulation right now to seriously reduce the number of gun deaths. Background checks and other restrictions on who can buy a gun can’t achieve that in the short term. What America likely needs, then, is something more like Australia’s mandatory buyback program — essentially, a gun confiscation scheme — paired with a serious ban on specific firearms (including, potentially, all semiautomatic weapons).

But, wait, there’s more

Part of the holdup is the Second Amendment. While there is reasonable scholarly debate about whether the Second Amendment actually protects all Americans’ individual right to bear arms and prohibits stricter forms of gun control, the reality is the Supreme Court and US lawmakers — backed by the powerful gun lobby, particularly the NRA — widely agree that the Second Amendment does put barriers on how far restrictions can go. That would likely rule out anything like the Australian policy response short of a court reinterpretation or a repeal of the Second Amendment, neither of which seems likely.

Now, does that seem like they’re pushing for the repeal of the 2nd Amendment? Sure does. I say, go for it. Give it a shot. As Stephen Miller responded to Chris Murphy, “”Your rights aren’t absolute” Sure. Run on that one guys.” Yeah, run on attempting to take Constitutional Rights away, Dems. And try to take our guns away. You won’t like the results if you manage to do it. Which you won’t.

Read: Remember, Democrats Totally Aren’t Trying To Take Your Guns Away (Part Lots) »

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Irony: Nation Complaining About ‘Climate Change’ Allowing Hotel For The Uber-Rich To Be Built

By William Teach May 19, 2018 – 4:08 pm

I don’t think Mother Jones considered this when they reprinted a Slate screed

A $50,000-a-Night Underwater Hotel Room in the Maldives Shows How Oblivious We Are to Climate Change

In a tiny nation that will likely be underwater due to sea level rise within the next century, an American luxury hotel chain is constructing an underwater hotel roomthat the world’s wealthiest will be able to reserve for $50,000 a night. No one seems to have noticed the irony. But it’s hard to imagine a more perfect example of the way we think about climate change: a scary thing that will happen at some point in the future but not a problem worth mentioning in the present.

When you search for the Maldives, a country composed of 1,192 islands that speckle the Indian Ocean southwest of Sri Lanka, on Google Maps, the names of the biggest islands appear in a blank sea. You have to zoom in to identify the minute slivers of land that are home to a population of 400,000. Soon even these slivers will be gone. With an average elevation of about 4 feet, and with literally zero hills or mountains, the Maldives is the world’s lowest-lying country. It will not survive the sea level rise caused by anthropogenic climate change.

In 2009, then-President Mohamed Nasheed tried to broadcast the plight of the Maldives by holding what he called the world’s first underwater Cabinet meeting. Nasheed and several high-ranking government officials donned wetsuits and scuba gear, dove down 20 feet to the ocean floor, and, using hand signals and white boards to communicate, signed a document urging all of the world’s countries to cut carbon emissions. Should the world fail to control climate change, they implied, the Maldives would only be able to conduct its business underwater. This piece of political theater served as a metonym for the problem of climate change, a small and globally weak nation trying to publicize its environmental trauma in universally comprehensible terms.

What the Maldives want is some of that sweet, sweet, redistributed climate cash. Also, lots of tourists taking long fossil fueled trips to their 4 international airports and 8 domestic ones. They’re upgrading their international airports and constructing new runways to accommodate bigger passenger jets. And a new seaplane terminal. Does this look like a nation concerned about ‘climate change’ from fossil fuels?

Reading the article more, we see what a massive construction this hotel will be. Most of the material will have to be brought in by fossil fueled cargo ship. Why is the government allowing this? Some data suggests that the waters around the Maldives are rising at 3.5mm per year tide gauge/3.2 satellite. That’s .1377 inches per year. Other data shows 2.2mm per year. Some data shows no change. None are particularly long term to make a proper judgement.

What is known is that some of those pushing this issue the hardest are hypocrites. If the government of the Maldives really cared, they wouldn’t allow mega hotels to be built, nor new runways, and, really would shut down their airports and only allow sailing ships to bring people and stuff.

Read: Irony: Nation Complaining About ‘Climate Change’ Allowing Hotel For The Uber-Rich To Be Built »

Posted in Climahypocrites, Global Warming | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach May 19, 2018 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrendous fossil fueled machine causing tectonic action, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Maggie’s Farm, with a post wondering what would happen if a GOP admin sicced the CIA and FBI on a political opponent.

Ideas for next week’s theme?

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Record Heat Means More Ferocious Hurricanes Or Something

By William Teach May 19, 2018 – 10:30 am

So, we had a big hurricane year in 2017, meaning it’s time for the Dire Prognostications Of Doom to sally forth

Record Heat Means Hurricanes Gain Ferocity Faster

Hurricanes are becoming more violent, more rapidly, than they did 30 years ago. The cause may be entirely natural, scientists say.

But Hurricane Harvey, which in 2017 assaulted the Gulf of Mexico and dumped unprecedented quantities of rain to cause devastating floods in Texas, happened because the waters of the Gulf were warmer than at any time on record. And they were warmer because of human-driven climate change, according to a second study.

Both studies examine the intricate machinery of a natural phenomenon, the tropical cyclone. Researchers from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory looked at how fast four of 2017’s hurricanes—Harvey, Irma, Jose and Maria—intensified: episodes in which maximum wind speed rose by at least 25 knots, which is more than 46 kilometers (approximately 29 miles), per hour within a 24-hour period. They report in Geophysical Research Letters that they combed through 30 years of satellite data from 1986 to 2015 to find a pattern.

Researchers have repeatedly warned that hurricane hazard must increase with global warming, driven by profligate human combustion of fossil fuels that dump greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Hurricanes will hit higher latitudes and deliver more damage within the Gulf of Mexico. But climate change is only part of the answer.

The latest study did not find that storms were intensifying rapidly more often than usual. But the researchers did find that when a storm grew at speed, it became much more powerful within a 24-hour period than such storms did 30 years ago: wind speeds had gained 3.8 knots or seven kilometers (approximately 4.3 miles) an hour for each of the three decades.

So, while it could be natural, no, is has to be due to you, yes you, driving a fossil fueled vehicle.

It’s also your fault over the low hurricane, particularly major hurricane, activity from 2006-2016. Regardless, a 30 year peak at data discounts not only the rest of this current warm period, which started in the mid to late 1800’s, but what happens during a cool period. Warmists are making judgements, opinions, not science.

You know what will happen now, though, right? The Gore Effect, where hurricane activity will crash once again.

Read: Record Heat Means More Ferocious Hurricanes Or Something »

Posted in AGW Scaremongering, Global Warming | 1 Comment | Trackback URL
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