Ant Hill To Mountain: Simple Case Of Employees Being Fired Turned Into “Disturbing Trend”

This is the kind of idiocy we’re dealing with in today’s society of everyone being a Victim and having to have a National Conversation on everything

A ‘disturbing trend’: Duke president issues statement following coffee shop firing

Three days after two baristas were fired from a coffee shop on Duke University’s campus, President Vincent Price issued a statement linking that clash of cultures – a Duke vice president was offended by rap lyrics playing over the coffeeshop sound system – to other recent racially-tinged incidents on campus, saying they illustrate a “disturbing trend.”

I’m going to skip down into the story to give you more of an idea as to what happened first

On Friday, Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs at Duke, walked into Joe Van Gogh to purchase some items when he heard music lyrics playing from the speakers that he said were inappropriate.

“I expressed my objections to the staff with whom I’ve always had a cordial relationship,” he said in a statement.

Moneta said he then contacted the director of Duke dining to express his concerns, and that was the end of his involvement.

The two employees working at the time were let go from their jobs on Monday.

Missing from this article is that Moneta heard the F and N words streaming from the Spotify playlist.

(Washington Post) Moneta said in a statement to the News & Observer and the Duke Chronicle on Tuesday that he was “shocked” to hear lyrics that he said were “quite inappropriate for a working environment that serves children among others.” He said he was particularly troubled by the line in the song that goes “I …. her up real good,” using the f-word.

The coffee slinger who interacted with Moneta was black. The other employee, who stayed out of it, was white. Now, should they have been fired? In the absence of other issues, I would say no. Put them on notice that playing garbage music like that in a place of business is inapropriate. They should have known that, but, people do things all the time where they go “huh. You’re right. Should not have done that.” Heck, if it was me, I’d love to crank some heavy metal. But, I wouldn’t, because the business is about the customer. Perhaps there were some other issues that caused the terminations. The company is not saying, which is the correct thing to do.

Of course, this caused protesters to do their thing, protesting and dancing and chanting, along with singing the disgusting lyrics to the song, because these kids are totally mature and stuff. But, we expect this kind of stupid stuff from college kids, and they are kids mentally. Back to the beginning of the original story, with the statement by Duke’s president

When we learn a racial slur has been scrawled on a dorm door, a social media posting has used abhorrent language, anti-Semitic posters have been distributed in Durham, or workers on our campus have been treated unfairly, we feel angry, discouraged, and disappointed. Duke should be a place where these things don’t happen. They are a painful reminder that we have more work to do to make our Duke community the dynamic, diverse and welcoming community of students, faculty, and staff we aspire it to be: a place where our daily challenges are grappling with a new concept, a new idea, or a new way of thinking – and not with how someone has behaved, or how we ourselves have behaved, that has caused others pain or hurt.

Something has to change.

I will simply say that I am deeply sorry that we are not where we want to be as a university. I am, in particular, sorry that the words of one of my senior administrators recently resulted in two individuals working for one of our on-campus vendors losing their jobs; and while I am pleased that the vendor has taken steps to reverse this action, I apologize for the precipitous and unfair treatment these employees experienced. We must do better.

At the same time, we cannot and will not succumb to a rush to judgment that demands instant retribution absent context and deliberation.

So where do we go from here? Having now completed my first academic year as president, I am reflecting on these problems of basic decency, and our legacies of racism, intolerance and xenophobia, that continue to follow us, and indeed all of society. They do not lend themselves to easy answers or quick fixes. But they will continue to plague us unless we address them directly, honestly, in good faith, and with a healthy dose of courage.

This is, quite frankly, beyond stupid. It’s a simple thing. Two employees were fired for playing beyond inappropriate music in a company that deals solely with the public in a public venue. There’s no racism. There’s nothing unfair. There’s no reason to link this to other things like a racial slur on a door or anything else. If I was playing hardcore metal and was fired for doing so, no one would shed a tear and complain about racism and being unjustly fired. People need to get over themselves. And, seriously, this became national news. People need to take responsibility for their own actions, rather than becoming Victims.

BTW, here’s another crazy one making the rounds

You’ll have to read the whole thing, there’s so much stupid that it would require another long post. I have to wonder if this child considered that companies will see this, and go “huh. She might be a big problem if we hire her.” And, if someone actually interviews her, will she pitch a fit when told that the company actually has a dress code that she’s expected to comply with?

Read: Ant Hill To Mountain: Simple Case Of Employees Being Fired Turned Into “Disturbing Trend” »

Connecticut Latest State To Dump Solar Subsidies

State after state is finding that this whole “green energy” and net metering thing aren’t working out too well for the consumer

(Daily Caller) Connecticut is about to become the latest state to reform its expensive net metering program, saving money for the vast majority of electricity customers who do not own a solar installation.

Early Wednesday morning, the Connecticut state House passed Senate Bill 9 — legislation calling for a reduction in the amount of money solar panel owners are compensated for the energy they send back to the grid. The bill already passed the state Senate and outgoing Gov. Dan Malloy is expected to sign. Despite vehement opposition from the solar industry lobby, the bill sailedthrough both chambers of Connecticut’s legislature, passing the state Senate by a vote of 29-3 before passing the House 100-45 in the same week. Malloy, the state’s outgoing Democratic governor, is widely expected to turn the bill into law given his office introduced the measure.

Much similar to programs in other states, net metering encourages solar installation usage by forcing utility companies to purchase excess energy a panel owner sends back to the grid. Utility companies typically must purchase this energy at more expensive retail rates, not wholesale rates. The system is lucrative for solar panel owners who get paid more than their energy is worth, but these costs are essentially passed onto non-net metering customers by way of higher electricity bills.

The non-net metering customers are the vast majority of energy customers, who see their energy bills rise because the energy companies are forced to purchase electricity at the high rates, and that energy is virtually worthless, since it is extra energy not used during that time period and an unnecessary. Since solar is dependent on certain light conditions, it’s unreliable, so the energy companies have to have their usual energy (coal, nuclear, natural gas) which is reliable running at proper peak levels, so the solar is not needed.

If this whole solar thing was working super well, the home owners would simply store the energy for use when it’s not sunny.

Two-thousand-eighteen has not been a good year for supporters of net metering. Connecticut will soon become the latest in a growing number of states that have chosen to reform how the program works. On May 8, the Vermont Public Utility Commission determined the high rates given panel owners was costing other electricity customers too much. The Michigan Public Service Commission reached a similar conclusion in April — as did Maine in 2017.

This is yet another part of the Obama legacy that’s slowly being eroded. Sure, you can’t give him all the credit, because some of this stuff was going on before Obama, but, it really was O’s “green” push that jump started the majority of this scam. Will there be any positive achievements of consequence left? I can think of one.

Read: Connecticut Latest State To Dump Solar Subsidies »

TDS Hot Take: Trump’s Iran Move Is Totally Like The Lead Up To Iraq War

Remember how the media said the same thing about Obama while he slapped sanctions on Syria and made all sorts of threats himself and had his people do the same at the U.M.? Oh, wait. Here’s NY Times editorial cartoonist with his hot take

President Trump’s decision to abandon the Iran nuclear deal and his Iran policy reminded some current and former U.S. officials of the buildup to the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Sigh. That link leads to a NY Times article that manages to show Trump Derangement Syndrome and the typical Iraq war derangement

Trump’s Iran Move Reminds Some of Run-Up to Iraq War

Fifteen years after invading Iraq over weapons of mass destruction and ties to al Qaeda that both proved non-existent, the United States is again steering toward a possible confrontation with a Middle East power for suspected work on nuclear weapons and support for terrorism.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s Iran policy sounds hauntingly familiar to some current and former U.S. officials who witnessed the buildup to the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, where sectarian and ethnic fractures and some 5,000 U.S. troops still remain.

More than 4,400 U.S. troops and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis died in the conflict, which many analysts have called one of the major U.S. foreign policy debacles of modern times.

“There are disturbing and eerie similarities” in the misuse of intelligence then and now, said Paul Pillar, who was the top U.S. intelligence analyst for the Middle East from 2001 to 2005.

I’m not going to bother relitigating the reasons for the Iraq War, despite the Times getting it wrong. Been there, done that.

And the other people who said it reminded them of the runup to Iraq are…..wait, that’s it. Mr. Pillar and the NY Times writers are it. And the rest of the screed is why Iran is not like Iraq, while still being TDS.

Read: TDS Hot Take: Trump’s Iran Move Is Totally Like The Lead Up To Iraq War »

Global Warming Is Totally Melting Antarctica From Below Or Something

They’re just making it up in contradiction to reality at this point

Global warming is melting Antarctic ice from below

We all know intuitively that in a warmer world there will be less ice. And, since the North and South Pole regions contain lots of ice, anyone who wants to see evidence of climate change can look there. (snip)

With global warming, both of the poles are warming quite quickly, and this warming is causing ice to melt in both regions. When we think of ice melting, we may think of it melting from above, as the ice is heated from the air, from sunlight, or from infrared energy from the atmosphere. But in truth, a lot of the melting comes from below. For instance, in the Antarctic, the ice shelves extend from the land out over the water. The bottom of the ice shelf is exposed to the ocean. If the ocean warms up, it can melt the underside of the shelf and cause it to thin or break off into the ocean.

A new study, recently published in Science Advances, looked at these issues. One of the goals of this study was to better understand whether and how the waters underneath the shelf are changing. They had to deal with the buoyancy of the waters. We know that the saltier and colder water is, the denser it is.

This was the same UK Guardian August of last year

Scientists discover 91 volcanoes below Antarctic ice sheet
This is in addition to 47 already known about and eruption would melt more ice in region affected by climate change

Of course, they still had to throw in ‘climate change’ scam garbage.

Volcano ‘as powerful as Yellowstone’ MELTS ice beneath Antarctica
A GIGANTIC volcano which could be as powerful as the dreaded Yellowstone is melting Antarctic ice from beneath the surface, Nasa scientists have revealed.

I could keep throwing these links out, but, Warmists wouldn’t care. They’re stuck in their little cult world. One last one from 2014

Surprise, West Antarctic volcano melts ice

Who would have thought? Antarctic volcanoes are hot after all.  Having a volcano under an icesheet makes a difference, and some of the sea level rise blamed on CO2 is more likely to be because 1,000 °C lava is not far from sub-zero ice. Right now, according to scientist Dustin Schroeder and co,  it is as if the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctic is sitting on a “stovetop burner”.[1]

Only last week I wondered if West Antarctic volcanoes had something to do with the Antarctic warming and pointed out this strange coincidence below where almost all the warming seems to occur over the volcanic area which is part of the hot “Pacific rim of fire”. I also wondered why some parts of the media don’t seem to mention the volcanoes. Wait and see if this story gets picked up. So far, Fox, and Business Insider have it.

One day this scam will be over.

Read: Global Warming Is Totally Melting Antarctica From Below Or Something »

If All You See…

…is sea that will soon, totally soon!, rise up and cover the land, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Daley Gator, with a post wondering if it’s time to embrace the whole cultural appropriation thing.

Read: If All You See… »

King County, Washington, Joins In On Attempting To Shakedown Oil Companies

Strangely, King County hasn’t announced that it will no longer use fossil fuels for county operations

(Seattle Curbed) King County filed a lawsuit in county superior court today against five major oil companies, seeking to put BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch, and Conoco Phillips on the hook for the county’s response to climate change.

The suit, developed by the county along with Seattle law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, seeks to create an abatement fund to address necessary changes to infrastructure, like stormwater management, bridge maintenance, salmon recovery, and public health. It’s similar to a lawsuit filed against the same oil companies by Oakland and San Francisco last year,

“[King County] does not seek to impose liability on Defendants for their direct emissions of greenhouse gases and does not seek to restrain Defendants from engaging in their business operations,” reads the lawsuit.

“This case is, fundamentally, about shifting the costs of abatement back onto the companies,” it continues. “After all, it is Defendants who have profited and will continue to profit by knowingly contributing to global warming, thereby doing all they can to help create and maintain a profound public nuisance.”

In other words, nothing has actually happened from Hotcoldwetdry yet, but, King County wants these oil companies to pay for it, and wants the oil companies to, get this, continue operating so they can continue paying for the Climate Doom that they are supposedly going to cause.

According to county attorneys, the abatement fund “could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Shakedown. Of course, the oil companies have better lawyers kept on retainer or directly employed by the companies, who will, if wise, argue that the county is complaining about a product that it used and continues to use and has no plans to stop using, despite complaining it is causing Bad Weather and stuff.

Said announcement is here. Perhaps you should contact Alex Fryer, Executive Office, 206-477-7966, ask him if King County plans to stop using fossil fuels.

Already, areas of King County that were once above the mean high tide line now experience regular flooding. Sea level is projected to continue rising through the 21st century, increasing by as much as 56 inches in the Puget Sound region from 2000 to 2100. This would have significant consequences for King County and the region.

The actual tide gauge for Seattle shows a minimal 2.05mm per year, equivalent to .67 feet per hundred years. That’s a long way off from 4.667 feet, eh? Most Washington gauges show even less, and one even shows negative sea rise. Facts are a bitch for the Cult of Climastrology.

Read: King County, Washington, Joins In On Attempting To Shakedown Oil Companies »

Gun Control Isn’t Quite The Issue In Florida Gun Grabbers Hoped It Would Be

All the gun grabbers in the U.S., mostly Democratic Party voters, have been pushing hard for gun grabbing policies, being fired up and enthused because of the shooting at the school in Florida, backed by all the astro-turfed groups with their deep-pocketed gun grabbers like Michael Bloomberg (who have armed security). Never let a good crisis go to waste, right? So, shot

Giffords gun-control group targets NRA-friendly Florida congressman with ad

Yeah, let’s go after Congressman responding to a group engaged in their 1st Amendment Rights of free speech, protesting peaceably, and petitioning for redress of grievance. Democrats love taking away citizen’s rights because of Wrongthink.

Anyhow, chaser from same paper one day later

Gun control might not be top issue in 2018 elections, Florida poll finds

Gun-control policy has received enormous attention in the aftermath of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre — but a poll of state voters suggests it may not be as potent as some newly minted activists are hoping.

In the survey, the Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative asked 1,000 registered voters to identify “the most important issue in the upcoming elections.”

Gun-control policy was picked by 12 percent — far behind immigration, cited by 23 percent, and health care, cited by 20 percent. The gun issue was statistically tied with the economy, picked by 13 percent.

Whoops!

Gun-control policy was cited as the most important issue by 16 percent of Democrats, 14 percent of independents and 5 percent of Republicans.

Immigration was cited as most important by 33 percent of Republicans, 18 percent of Democrats and 18 percent of independents.

Unfortunately, there is no direct link to the poll, but it seems to be looking at this one, if you want to dig into the details. Regardless, it seems that gun control is not particularly important, except for the kids 18-34. One wonders how this would carry in other states. Probably not well.

BTW, only 5 percent cite Russia Russia Russia as important.

Read: Gun Control Isn’t Quite The Issue In Florida Gun Grabbers Hoped It Would Be »

Idiot House Republicans Look To Force Vote On DACA

Why do we vote for these guys when they tend to do exactly what we do not want them to do?

(The Hill) House Republican leaders are scrambling to stop an effort by rank-and-file members to force votes on immigration, with lawmakers openly defying their calls to stand down.

Centrist Reps. Carlos Curbelo (Fla.), Jeff Denham (Calif.) and Will Hurd (Texas), all Republicans facing tough reelection races, introduced a discharge petition on Wednesday morning to trigger a series of immigration votes. Discharge petitions are traditionally seen as a serious affront to leadership, making members reluctant to sign on.

Yet the effort quickly caught fire, gaining new supporters throughout the day. By press time, at least 17 GOP lawmakers had endorsed the petition, just eight short of the 25 Republican votes that would be needed if every Democrat also backed it.

In case these “centrist” Republicans missed it, Dreamers cannot vote for them. And this kind of thing would give Democrats a win. House leadership would prefer the Goodlatte/McCaul bill, which would give legal status in exchange for tough enforcement measures, but, there enough Republican sponsors.

There are whole bunch of arcane rules to discharge petitions, which end with what’s called Queen Of The Hill rule, meaning the House would vote on a series of legislative proposals, including one of Paul Ryan’s choice

The Queen of the Hill rule that the GOP lawmakers have been pursuing would have the House choose between the hard-line proposal from Goodlatte; the DREAM Act, a proposal that would give a path to citizenship to 1.8 million Dreamers; the USA Act, a measure that would pair the Dream Act with $25 billion in border security funding; and Ryan’s proposal.

You can bet Democrats would vote in full block for the DREAM Act, and oppose the others. The USA Act is simply a GOP version that would give amnesty in exchange for a promise of Doing Something. Either one would be a win for Democrats who love to codify illegal activity as being just fine. How about just enforcing existing law? So many of these so-called Dreamers could have gone through regular legal avenues to apply for citizenship or permanent legal status.

It’s long past time for some Republicans to stop cozying up to Democratic Party beliefs.

And we have this old fart

John McCain warns that Republicans are on wrong side of immigration debate

We’re on the wrong side of enforcing federal law? There’s also a story that McCain states that he gave Comey the Steele dossier and is urging the Senate to reject Haspel for CIA. These are the kinds of things that kept millions of Republicans home in 2008, because they didn’t trust this old fart. He seems to be going scorched earth in his final days.

Read: Idiot House Republicans Look To Force Vote On DACA »

Hotcoldwetdry Could Maybe Possibly Be Worse Than We Think Or Something

It’s always doom with these people over a tiny 1.4F increase in global temperatures since 1850

Harvard Scientist: Climate Change May Be Worse Than We Think

Daniel Schrag’s professional credentials are impressive: He’s the director of the Center for the Environment at Harvard University where he’s a professor of environmental science and engineering. At Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Schrag is co-director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy program. Throughout President Barack Obama’s eight years in office, Schrag served on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, contributing to many reports. He has a long list of published papers ranging from the impact of corals on seawater chemistry 250 million years ago to solar geoengineering.

But nowhere in his extensive résumé will you find “prophet of doom.” Yet he very much sounds like one when speaking about the rapid rise of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. “While climate change may not yet have had its huge impact on biodiversity,” says Schrag, “just wait. What’s coming is really extraordinary.”

They all seem to be prophets of doom

In a presentation called “Our Planetary Experiment” to be unveiled at Chicago’s Adler Planetarium on Wednesday, Schrag uses his research into Earth’s geologic record as well as new data from planets beyond our solar system to determine the future of our planet as carbon dioxide emissions continue to build and heat up our atmosphere. As it stands now, Schrag concludes the “experiment” is not going well. He says that “over the next few decades, Earth’s atmosphere will return to a state not seen for millions of years.”

Total doom.

Schrag says public policy energy choices made “over the next decade or two will have profound effects on the Earth’s system, on every living thing on the planet.” Schrag says determined and sustained energy choices that reduce CO2 emissions are urgently needed to prevent his doomsday prophecies from becoming realities of biblical proportions.

But Government can fix this. All based on a “may.”

Read: Hotcoldwetdry Could Maybe Possibly Be Worse Than We Think Or Something »

If All You See…

…is a wonderful low carbon bike, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Political Clown Parade, with a post on the Obama/Kerry legacy.

Read: If All You See… »

Pirate's Cove