In Wake Of Texas Massacre, Of Course Democrats Are Calling For Gun Control

By William Teach November 6, 2017 – 7:10 am

 

It’s kinda in their blood. Because we know that draconian gun laws have worked very well in places like California, New Jersey, and Chicago, right?

(Daily Caller) Many Democratic U.S. senators called for stronger gun control hours after a shooter opened fire during a Sunday service at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, killing at least 27 people and wounding several others.

The alleged gunman, identified as 26-year-old Devin Kelley, entered the church around 11:30 a.m. local time dressed in tactical gear and a mask, and unloaded “clip after clip” of rounds from a semi-automatic weapon, according to police and witnesses.

You get things like this from Democrats

There are tweets from Patrick Leahy, Cory Booker, Kirstin Gillibrand, Ben Cardin, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Dianne Feinstein. And then there’s Excitable Kamala Harris

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) called for gun control after a mass shooting at a Texas church left multiple people dead Sunday.

“Senseless gun violence has torn apart another community — this time in a house of worship. When do we say enough is enough?” Harris tweeted.

Of course she did. Will she and the others be giving up their own firearms and/or armed protection?

What is the most interesting is that while Democrats are super enthused to implement gun restrictions that won’t stop criminals but will disarm people trying to protect themselves …. the Texas nutjob was engaged by a lawful gun owner. It’s not clear yet if the nutjob was killed by the return fire or of a self inflicted shot … they are utterly opposed to restricting the importation of people from Muslim nations that are ripe with extremism. They are loathe to even name all these Islamist killers as Muslims. They refuse to link incidents where the killer yells “Allahu Akbar” to Islam. They blame the gun, but, won’t blame the religion.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: In Wake Of Texas Massacre, Of Course Democrats Are Calling For Gun Control »

Posted in 2nd Amendment, Barking Moonbats, Current Affairs, Democrats | 32 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach November 5, 2017 – 1:00 pm

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

The blog of the day is Creeping Sharia, with a post on NYC installing concrete barriers to protect bikers from Muslim terrorists.

No theme this week, just cleaning up the storage folder.

Read: If All You See… »

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NY Times: Say, This Trump Guy Has Done A Good Job In Decimating ISIS, Eh?

By William Teach November 5, 2017 – 9:33 am

Well, no, of course they did not write that. But, reading between the lines in this Editorial Board piece we can see that Obama was a failure while Trump has done a good job in knocking down ISIS. Of course, they attempt to put the burden on Trump, while, if we look back to 2009-2012, they were happy with the “inherited problem” meme

After ISIS, What’s Next?

The liberation of Raqqa, Syria, the Islamic State’s final stronghold, has severely weakened the group as a military threat. But as its members slink off the battlefield to melt into local populations or infiltrate nations in Europe, Africa and around the world, they leave a region in ruins and an almost impossible challenge for the United States.

Over four gruesome years, ISIS swallowed up large areas of Iraq and Syria, taking control of oil fields and using beheadings, rapes and other cruelties to terrorize populations. Now, the degradation of the group has allowed Iran, Russia and others to scramble for advantage. The anti-ISIS coalition is fracturing, reviving divisions and creating conditions that could allow the extremists to regroup. And American leaders seem to have no clear plan to manage this instability or to capitalize on their military success.

ISIS swallowed up those areas while Obama was President. The main degradation occurred in spite of Obama and due to Trump since he took office. Really, Obama isn’t even mentioned in this piece. Despite emboldening ISIS with his wishy washyness and foolish Libyan adventure.

One big concern is the semiautonomous region of Kurdistan, which until recently was Iraq’s anchor. Today its future, and that of a unified Iraq, is in doubt. That’s because of an independence referendum in September that was pushed through by Masoud Barzani, then the Kurdish leader, despite warnings from Iraq’s central government, Turkey, Iran and the United States — the Kurds’ main ally — that the vote could lead to Iraq’s dissolution, undermine the anti-ISIS fight and widen divisions even among Kurdish factions.

Interesting. The NYTEB seems against liberation. Well, they do provide some reasoning along pragmatic lines. We also learn that Sec State Rex Tillerson and his people have done a great job in soothing the tensions between Iraq and the Kurds. Must have hurt to admit that. We also learn of the vastly greater power and influence that Iran and Russia grew in the region, which of course they blame mostly on the Iraq war, forgetting Obama’s fecklessness when it came to Syria and Iraq.

Given Mr. Trump’s America First vision, it is unclear how he will respond to such complex challenges. His distaste for nation building, with its implication of a long-term commitment, is understandable. The United States has tried nation building in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places with little success and should not assume the main burden now. But leaving Iraq and Syria without a recovery plan — one that encompasses reconstruction, security and improved governance — will create conditions for ISIS’s return.

Seems like some blamestorming (lower case b) towards Trump, without mentioning the mess he inherited from Obama. Weird, right?

Having decimated ISIS, the United States and its partners in the anti-ISIS campaign must turn to finding and constraining the militants who have dispersed from their failed caliphate and persuading the Mideast’s overwhelmingly youthful population that the future lies not with extremists but with people who free them to dream and achieve.

Do you know what would have helped? Supporting the Iranian Green Revolution and the Arab Spring. It is interesting that the NYTEB mentions the growing problem of Islamic extremists without actually mentioning, you know, Islam. Also interesting, they offer no ideas or solutions for both this issue and for Iraq and Syria, just some blathering.

It would have been nice had the NYTEB given Trump and his team some actual kudos for what they’ve done to ISIS after Obama sat back and watched the “JV team” rise.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: NY Times: Say, This Trump Guy Has Done A Good Job In Decimating ISIS, Eh? »

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Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

By William Teach November 5, 2017 – 9:12 am

Patriotic Pinup

Happy Sunday! A gorgeous day in America. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and we’re getting ever closer to the end of the football season so I don’t have to think about the Giants. This pinup is by Valery Barykin, with a wee bit of help.

Note: This might be an abbreviated pinup post. Having Internet issues. Was down for a while, tech support said there’s a bad feed. Working for the moment, replaced a few cables, but, could go down at any time. Not even going to try and clean the cables up for fear could go down. Hence the reason no typical early morning post. Want to try and get this done first. (looks like made it through!)

What is happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15

  1. Wizbang wonders if political intentions matter
  2. Vlad Tepes covers diversity and the Berlin police leadership
  3. This ain’t Hell… has your Sunday feel good stories
  4. The Right Scoop notes something that revives the Seth Rich conspiracy
  5. The People’s Cube discusses the diversity visa lottery 2.0
  6. The Lid notes Obama hiding Osama docs to lie to America
  7. The First Street Journal covers a Warmist recommending personal responsibility
  8. The Crawdad Hole notes Antifail in Austin
  9. Raised On Hoecakes covers the media’s love of facts and stuff
  10. Powerline wonders what Mueller is actually investigating and why
  11. Political Clown Parade covers the Army’s disgraceful failure
  12. Pacific Pundit is also covering Antifa’s epic fail
  13. Neo-neocon covers appeasement of bullies at universities
  14. Moonbattery notes the insane full page ad the NY Times allowed
  15. And last, but not least, Legal Insurrection covers a Donna Brazille bombshell about Hillary’s 9/11 wobble

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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If All You See…

By William Teach November 4, 2017 – 1:00 pm

…is a wonderful electric vehicle causing the rise of the seas to slow, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Feral Irishman, with a post on Antifa being serious on causing trouble.

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San Antonio Paper: We Should Totally Continue Letting Potential Terrorists In

By William Teach November 4, 2017 – 10:32 am

The editorial board of the San Antonio Express-News is stoked to slam Trump for wanting to limit low educated people who bring little value to the country along with being threats for terrorism, because of values or something

Don’t jettison values after terrorist attack

The deadly attack in which an alleged ISIS supporter rented a truck and plowed into pedestrians and bicyclists in New York City is many things, including, most definitely, a terrorist act.

Alleged in the sense that the perp admitted to doing it in the name of Allah, Mohammed, and ISIS.

But what it isn’t is cause — as the president suggested — for the nation to dismantle its diversity visa lottery program, in which people from countries with low immigration rates to the U.S. are admitted. Nor is it vindication for the president’s ban on immigrants from majority-Muslim countries. Nor is it even proof that the president’s call for “extreme vetting” has any more saliency.

Here’s why. As a Department of Homeland Security analysis — leaked this year — determined: “We assess that most foreign-born, U.S.-based violent extremists likely radicalized several years after their entry to the United States, limiting the ability of screening and vetting officials to prevent their entry because of national security concerns.”

Actually, what you get out if that is that since we don’t know if they’ll be radicalized by the ones that are already here, we should put an end to allowing those who might be radicalized from entering. Furthermore, we should kick the ones who are radicallizing out.

As always, our reaction should be the opposite — grief, yes, but also vigilance, examination to see if there is something authorities might have done to prevent such events, acting on such knowledge and living lives as normally as possible. But definitely not jettisoning core American values.

What could authorities do? Start by keeping them out and kicking out the radicalized. As far as values, many times America has stopped immigration in order to allow them to assimilate. Also, so many of these current immigrants have values that are antithetical to America.

There’s lots more that could be fisked, but, I can only excerpt so much.

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Trump Admin Allows Release Of Report Blaming Mankind For ‘Climate Change’ Or Something

By William Teach November 4, 2017 – 7:37 am

Tons of media outlets think they Have Something, in that Team Trump would allow this Hotcoldwetdry report to be release. Here’s the Washington Post

Trump administration releases report finding ‘no convincing alternative explanation’ for climate change

And the NY Times

U.S. Report Says Humans Cause Climate Change, Contradicting Top Trump Officials

You can go round and round and find similar headlines all over the Leftist media. Here’s what the report supposedly finds

(1) Global annually averaged surface air temperature has increased by about 1.8°F (1.0°C) over the last 115 years (1901–2016). (which is about .3 to .4F above every other measurement, which is more like 1.4 to 1.5F since 1850, the end of the Little Ice Age)

(2) Based on extensive evidence…it is extremely likely that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century [emphasis in report]. For the warming over the last century, there is no convincing alternative explanation supported by the extent of the observational evidence. (there’s never any other explanation in Warmist World, except when they blame Nature for masking the effects, you know)

(3) Global average sea level has risen by about 7–8 inches since 1900, with almost half (about 3 inches) of that rise occurring since 1993. Human-caused climate change has made a substantial contribution to this rise since 1900, contributing to a rate of rise that is greater than during any preceding century in at least 2,800 years. (how many times have I noted that 7-8 inches is exactly average for the last 7,000-8000 years, since warm periods would have high sea rise and cool periods low to negative?)

(4) Relative to the year 2000, global mean sea level is very likely to rise by 0.3–0.6 feet (9–18 cm) by 2030, 0.5–1.2 feet (15–38 cm) by 2050, and 1.0–4.3 feet (30–130 cm) by 2100. (simply looking into a crystal ball)

(4) Annual average temperature over the contiguous United States has increased by 1.8°F (1.0°C) for the period 1901–2016; over the next few decades (2021–2050), annual average temperatures are expected to rise by about 2.5°F for the United States, relative to the recent past (average from 1976–2005)…. (more crystal ball gazing)

(5) The frequency of cold waves has decreased since the early 1900s, and the frequency of heat waves has increased since the mid-1960s (the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s remains the peak period for extreme heat in the United States). (doesn’t prove anthropogenic causation)

Realistically, this is all what one would expect from members of the Cult of Climastrology, putting out a doomy document right before the next UN IPCC occurs, because of course they’ll want to get their taxpayer funded fossil fueled trips to Bonn, Germany.

But, um, what of some other information in the Warmist screed?

(Daily Caller) The NCA is the work of scientists, but the report’s media messengers are embellishing some of the report’s key findings with respect to current U.S. weather trends.

The New York Times, for example, reported “that every part of the country has been touched by warming, from droughts in the Southeast to flooding in the Midwest to a worrying rise in air and ground temperatures in Alaska, and conditions will continue to worsen.”

But that is not correct, according to University of Colorado professor Roger Pielke, Jr., an expert on extreme weather trends and natural disaster costs.

Pielke, Jr, knocks it down, and notes many other things that are buried in the report but not showing in the media on extreme weather, like

https://twitter.com/RogerPielkeJr/status/926523050702520320

https://twitter.com/RogerPielkeJr/status/926523989454864384

The report was also unable to attribute drought, flooding, and precipitation trends, whether up or down, to anthropogenic causation.

They try and try, but, they cannot scientifically prove that mankind is mostly/solely responsible, hence weasel words like “likely”. It was better for Team Trump to allow the report to be released. Otherwise, they would have been accused of Censorship and stuff. This report does nothing to persuade Skeptics, and really doesn’t move the needle for the Warmists. Same old same old. It is cute how the media goes with “contradicting Trump” meme.

Read: Trump Admin Allows Release Of Report Blaming Mankind For ‘Climate Change’ Or Something »

Posted in AGW Scaremongering, Global Warming, New Climate Deniers | 12 Comments | Trackback URL

Hot Take: Bergdahl Shouldn’t Have Been Given Dishonorable Discharge, Because It Stops Him From Healing

By William Teach November 4, 2017 – 7:10 am

People, including President Trump (some on Twitter noted he should have kept his mouth shut and not Tweeted till after the decision, and they’re right), were outraged when Bowie Bergdahl got off with no jail time. But, hey, this is the NY Times, so, of course they’re going to go the opposite way in defending a deserter who not only put the lives of fellow soldiers in harms way, but saw many hurt and killed in searching for him. Here we have Rob Cuthbert, a retired Army vet who formerly managed the military discharge upgrade clinic at the Veteran Advocacy Project of the Urban Justice Center

An Injustice in the Bergdahl Sentence

In the view of many people, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl got off easy. His sentence for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy in Afghanistan in 2009, which was handed down Friday, included a dishonorable discharge and no jail time. Sergeant Bergdahl faced the possibility of life in a military prison, so his chief defense lawyer expressed “tremendous relief” at the sentence. But a dishonorable discharge is also a type of life sentence, a perpetual exile from the resources and communities that veterans, especially prisoners of war, need to heal and to reconcile with society.

Then perhaps he shouldn’t have deserted. Cuthbert admits Bergdahl walked away, even going with the silly “he was going to report people to another base commander” meme

After almost five years in Taliban captivity, I was doubtful that the Army would give Sergeant Bergdahl a life sentence; even the prosecutors capped their request at 14 years. He was guilty of crimes that led to the grave injury of other service members, but after years of working with veterans with less-than-honorable discharges, I thought about how Sergeant Bergdahl, a disabled prisoner of war, would lead the rest of his civilian life. If he was given a dishonorable discharge at 31 years old, how could he mend his wounds, attempt to pay his moral and civic debts, and contribute to the nation?

That’s his problem: he intentionally committed crimes, knowing full well what the penalties for them are. He’s lucky he wasn’t put in front of a a firing squad for desertion in the face of the enemy. But, hey, he was treated poorly by the Taliban, per Berhdahl’s word. What’s the word of a deserter?

Sergeant Bergdahl will soon receive his dishonorable discharge. He will be a civilian with significant physical disabilities, post-traumatic stress disorder and a very high risk of suicide. Of the six types of discharge, dishonorable is the most punishing. When he is discharged, Sergeant Bergdahl will be denied almost all reintegration benefits — including comprehensive medical — and he will also not be recognized as a veteran by the federal government. He will come back wounded to family and friends who love him, without the expert medical care of a country that must balance its responsibility to punish him and to heal him.

His problem. Actions have consequences. But, hey, the hot take gets hotter

The trajectory of Sergeant Bergdahl’s career speaks to tragic and avoidable flaws in the military mental health care system. Sergeant Bergdahl suffers from schizotypal personality disorder, and it was only after a mental health-related discharge from the Coast Guard that the Army enlisted him on a medical waiver. If his illness had been treated before his crimes, he could have been eligible for an honorable discharge with benefits. The available military record shows that when Sergeant Bergdahl left his place of duty, he was an exemplary, idealistic young soldier who lived with mental illness, not a traitor.

Got that? Cuthbert is blaming the Army. And goes on and on, thinking that, if military superiors won’t provide clemency, a bipartisan selection of members of Congress should appeal to the Army authorities for clemency. Right. Pretty much the only ones who would support a deserter would be Democrats.

Sergeant Bergdahl’s permanently injured, would-be rescuers are selfless and brave. But we must remember that — regardless of Sergeant Bergdahl’s tragic and unnecessary circumstances of capture — it was the enemies of America who tortured him and tried to kill those who sought to rescue him.

Sergeant Bergdahl’s misguided crimes can’t be forgotten, but his punishment must have limits. In light of his courage in captivity, we must be able to balance two compatible martial values: honor and mercy.

He had no honor, and he received mercy by not being stuck in jail for a decade or more. Or being shot. You know, though, that there will be some movement by leftists to ask for clemency for Bergdahl. These are the same people who supported cop killer Mumia, after all.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Hot Take: Bergdahl Shouldn’t Have Been Given Dishonorable Discharge, Because It Stops Him From Healing »

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‘Climate Change’ Is Like A Slowly Boiling Frog Or Something

By William Teach November 3, 2017 – 5:03 pm

If you consider “boiling” to be a minuscule 1.4F increase in global temperatures, much of which has been artificially manipulated, over 160+ years

Climate change is the slowly boiling frog in the pot of the Earth

Imagine you just bumped into a friend you hadn’t seen in ages. Had they gained a little weight or gone gray? While you probably spotted some differences in their appearance, compare this to your workmate’s new haircut you didn’t notice last week, or how you didn’t realize how deep the lines under your partner’s eyes had become.

Differences tend to stand out more when there’s been a longer time lapse in between your last rendezvous. But when you hang out with a friend more frequently, your brain simply doesn’t notice the small changes that gradually happen with time.

Now imagine that your friend is climate change.

Since you hang out with them all the time, you don’t really notice when they’ve been getting a little warmer each year, or that their sea level is creeping up around their ankles. Because these changes are more gradual, your brain just doesn’t bother registering all the little bits. But those small shifts add up over time, and the resulting dramatic change often goes unnoticed. That is, until something big happens.

This goes into something called change blindness, where we do not notice tiny changes that occur over time. Because we’re all blind to the tiny, tiny increases in global temperature and the utterly average sea rise that means we are FRICKING DOOMED

It’s like that old adage about dropping a frog into a pot of boiling water. If you drop them in while it’s already hot, they’ll jump out as a survival instinct. But if you place them in room-temperature water and then heat it up nice and slow, the frog won’t notice the slow change, and it’ll be lulled it into a warm, sleepy death.

Now, just for fun, let’s replace that slowly heating frog water with the giant bodies of water we call oceans.

Blah blah blah. Can you guess what’s missing? Proof of anthropogenic causation, which states using the Scientific Method that Mankind is mostly/solely causing the changes.

Read: ‘Climate Change’ Is Like A Slowly Boiling Frog Or Something »

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If All You See…

By William Teach November 3, 2017 – 1:00 pm

…is an evil plastic water bottle, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Hayride, with a post on a military vet snubbing the Saints over their kneeling.

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