Surprise: Ireland Is A Massively Hypocritical On Climate

By William Teach July 26, 2017 – 7:51 pm

The nation of Ireland has long been a big, big ethusiastic supporter of Doing Something when it comes to anthropogenic climate change, both at the governmental and citizen levels. Both levels love the Paris Climate Agreement, and the government, including current and past Prime Ministers, is one of the staunchest backers in the EU and the UN for Doing Something. Well, how about this, from the uber-Leftist UK Guardian

Ireland’s staggering hypocrisy on climate change
The national climate policy is a greenwash – the country is certain to miss its 2020 emissions target and still handing out drilling licences

On the face of it, Ireland appears to be acting on climate change. Last year it appointed its first ever “climate action minister”, and in June it outlawed onshore fracking. What’s more, the telegenic new taoiseach Leo Varadkar dedicated much of the first day of his Cabinet retreat to discussing climate change.

Last week Varadkar introduced Ireland’s first national mitigation plan (NMP) in more than a decade, and said that addressing climate change would “require fundamental societal transformation and, more immediately, allocation of resources and sustained policy change.” If success could be measured simply by repetition – the word “sustainable” appears no fewer than 110 times in the NMP – Ireland would undoubtedly be among the world’s leading countries.

But looks can be deceiving. The promised “fundamental societal transformation” turns out to be a soothing combination of words entirely lacking in substance.

Surprise?

Per capita, Ireland’s emissions are the third highest in the EU, and it is one of only four EU states (alongside Belgium, Luxembourg and Austria) expected to miss its 2020 targets. Things may be about to get a lot worse. With no public announcement, on 11 July Naughten’s department issued a licence permitting oil drilling on the Porcupine Bank off Ireland’s west coast.

Ireland was one of the early Believers, especially as pushed by PM Mary Robinson, who went on to bigger and better things with pushing ‘climate change.’ She’s a big player in the UN IPCC circles, with perhaps more sway than Al Gore. But, is anyone surprised in the least that a nation fails to follow what it says? This is pretty much what happened with almost every nation that was part of the Kyoto Protocol.

Read: Surprise: Ireland Is A Massively Hypocritical On Climate »

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

If All You See…

By William Teach July 26, 2017 – 1:00 pm

…is an entertainment device created by murdering carbon pollution sucking trees, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Noisy Room, with a post on Snopes being taken hostage by Progressives.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 14 Comments | Trackback URL

Trump Tweets: The Gender Confused Will Not Be Allowed To Serve In Military

By William Teach July 26, 2017 – 9:31 am

This should make the people who support the mentally ill very mad, and create some lawsuits and demonstrations (that will turn violent, as usual)

As you would expect, Leftist are losing their minds over this, both under the tweets and in places like the Washington Post (which now has a big red “breaking news” banner). It’s an utter dumpster fire in the comments at the NY Times tweet on this.

When it comes to the military, anything that doesn’t help the mission in a positive manner is a distraction. Having to placate and patronize a tiny number of people with mental illness is contradictory to the mission of protecting the United States.

The First Street Journal has a few thoughts on the military having to be ready to go, and gender confusion doesn’t help. And more at Red State.

Read: Trump Tweets: The Gender Confused Will Not Be Allowed To Serve In Military »

Posted in Barking Moonbats, Donald Trump | 40 Comments | Trackback URL

Global Warming Discussions Need Apocalyptic Thinking Or Something

By William Teach July 26, 2017 – 8:28 am

Because there’s no better way to get people behind a political movement than to have Chicken Little as the spokesperson

Why Hope Is Dangerous When It Comes to Climate Change
Global warming discussions need apocalyptic thinking.

This is from Tommy Lynch at Slate, which is trying to go Full Salon, as he finally has his take on the nutty piece about Earth soon being too hot to support humanity

Lots of people worry about climate change, but as David Wallace-Wells shows in his recent New York magazine piece, the future is almost certainly worse than you imagine. Drawing on a wide range of experts, he tracks how climate change could alter every aspect of planetary existence. Ocean acidification gives rise to oxygen-eating bacteria. Melting ice results in the absorption of more sunlight and greater warming. Rising temperatures hasten the destruction of plants that replenish our oxygen. As things get worse, they will get worse faster.

Tommy yammers on for quite a while, even getting into what philosophers think about hope and stuff, before arriving at Doomy Land

That world is ending: a world of eating food shipped from country to country, a world of discount airlines, widespread meat consumption, and constant air conditioning. The problem with hoping for a technological solution to climate change is that it is often insufficiently critical of the ways of life that wreaked havoc on the rest of nature. It is easier to hope for a wild geoengineering solution than face the reality that billions of people need to change their daily habits in order to lessen the immense suffering appearing on the horizon. This hope cruelly prevents us from confronting the deep structural challenge of rethinking the way that some humans relate to nature. Obviously not all people experience this world in the same way, and it is a further tragedy that those who have contributed the least to climate change will be among those who experience its consequences earliest.

Some responses to Wallace-Wells’ piece have decried its alarmism and despair. But Slate’s Susan Matthews has already argued that it is not alarmist enough. I agree—and I would add that its hopeful conclusion also avoids the pessimism necessary for confronting the reality of the changes ahead. (snip)

If Moore is right, then the patterns of production and consumption at the heart of the global economy are integral to global warming. Maybe that way of life isn’t worth saving. Kafka reportedly once said that there is “plenty of hope, an infinite amount of hope—but not for us.” Rather than investing in technological salvations that will allow us to prolong a way of life that is destroying the rest of nature, we can embrace pessimism. In abandoning hope that one way of life will continue, we open up a space for alternative hopes.

These people. Utter Debbie Downers. Whiners who always want Other People to be forced to be part of the “solution.” Interestingly, the more apocalyptic they become the more people stop caring about anthropogenic climate change, which in turn causes the Cult of Climastrology to become more apocalyptic in an attempt to drag people back to caring. Twenty five years of spreading awareness, especially through a mostly liberal media around the world, and this is what they’ve come to.

Read: Global Warming Discussions Need Apocalyptic Thinking Or Something »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, AGW Scaremongering, Global Warming | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

Senate’s First Attempt To Revamp Obamacare Fails

By William Teach July 26, 2017 – 7:49 am

Revamp. What a great word. One definition is “an act of improving the form, structure, or appearance of something.” Some synonyms are overhaul, refurbish, repair, and update. And that’s the word the front page of Fox News (mostly an AP article) uses in their headline (but not in the single story page), which is perfect for what the Senate is trying to do

FALSE START: Senate’s ObamaCare revamp fails, lawmakers fight to break gridlock

The Senate has blocked a wide-ranging proposal by Republicans to repeal much of former President Barack Obama’s health care law and replace it with a more restrictive plan.

Senators voted 57-43 late Tuesday to reject the plan in the first vote on an amendment to the bill. Those voting “no” included nine defecting Republicans.

The amendment vote portends a rough road ahead for GOP efforts to advance some form of ObamaCare replacement, even after the Senate narrowly revived the core bill in a dramatic test vote Tuesday afternoon.

Senators planned to vote Wednesday on another Republican amendment repealing much of the health law and giving Congress two years to come up with a replacement. A combination of solid Democratic opposition and Republicans unwilling to tear down the law without a replacement in hand were expected to defeat that plan as well.

The NY Times notes

The Senate voted narrowly on Tuesday to begin debate on a bill to repeal major provisions of the Affordable Care Act, but hours later, Republican leaders suffered a setback when their most comprehensive plan to replace President Barack Obama’s health law fell far short of the votes it needed.

This is what you see everywhere: Axios, Bloomberg, Vox, Washington Post, etc. There is no actual full repeal. All they’re trying to do is make a few changes to Obamacare, but, the basics of the law would still be in place. And not necessarily in a good way. Because, even getting rid of some of the taxes and requirements, the government is still the main controller of our health insurance and health care. It is entirely too involved in what should be between doctors and patients.

Here’s an interesting sidebar from the NY Times’ article

The Senate is now moving ahead with debate, amendments and ultimately a final vote in the coming days on legislation that would have a profound effect on the American health care system — roughly one-sixth of the United States’ economy. But it is entirely possible that by week’s end, the senators will have passed nothing.

Funny that they, along with most of the Democratic Party supporting Credentialed Media, weren’t that concerned with what Ocare was going to do to 1/6th of the US economy before it was passed.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Senate’s First Attempt To Revamp Obamacare Fails »

Posted in GOP, Healthcare | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

Hotcoldwetdry Is Going To Heat Up The 2018 Midterms Or Something

By William Teach July 25, 2017 – 3:54 pm

It’s interesting how we are told for every election cycle that ‘climate change’ is going to be a Big Big Issue, and each time it barely makes an appearance. But, hey, next time! Daniel Cohan, an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rice University, is super enthused for Next Time

Climate change will heat up midterm elections

The midterm congressional elections are still a year away, but hundreds of rookie candidates are crafting policy positions for the first time.

Most of them are Democrats, spurred by polls showing their party with the edge for 2018.

In Texas alone, so far 35 Democrats are challenging House incumbents, while just two Republicans are doing so (both in primaries against Republican incumbents).

In previous elections, many candidates glossed over their positions on climate change, assuming they were of secondary interest to voters. That could be a mistake this time around.

President Trump’s decision to exit the Paris Agreement has galvanized support for climate action. A new survey by Politico and Harvard shows that Democratic voters rank climate change alongside Trump scandals and health care as the top issues motivating them to vote in 2018.

Yet, each and every time, even with lots of money from big moneyed Hotcoldwetdry believers, ‘climate change’ ends up being like a fart in the wind: barely recognized. And this looks more like the standard Trump Derangement Syndrome “resistance” we’ve come to know and love since November 9th, 2016.

Cohan offers some policy advice for Democrats, who would end up preaching to the

Read: Hotcoldwetdry Is Going To Heat Up The 2018 Midterms Or Something »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | Comments Off on Hotcoldwetdry Is Going To Heat Up The 2018 Midterms Or Something | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach July 25, 2017 – 1:00 pm

…is an island disappearing from climate change, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The First Street Journal, with a post on a pro-gun article published in the NY Times.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 9 Comments | Trackback URL

Good News: There Might Be Even Less Time Before ‘Climate Change’ Doom Occurs

By William Teach July 25, 2017 – 10:30 am

The Washington Post’s resident climahysteric, Chris Mooney, takes a shot at some more fear-mongering

We may have even less time to stop global warming than we thought

At least since 2013, one of the biggest concerns in the climate change debate has been the so-called carbon budget — a fixed limit to the volume of carbon dioxide emissions that we can put into the atmosphere before irrevocably committing to a considerably hotter planet.

As of 2011, that budget was about 1,000 billion tons of carbon dioxide before the planet is likely to careen past a 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) rise in temperatures, which is above what is believed to be the Earth’s temperature before industrialization. The budget shrinks by about 41 tons a year, more recently put at about 600 billion tons (or 15 years of emissions) by a group of scientists and climate policy wonks.

But now, a team of prominent climate scientists say the budget is probably even narrower. The problem is how you define “preindustrial,” or when you consider human-caused perturbations of the atmosphere to have begun. Many analyses have taken the late 19th century as the starting point, but the new study in Nature Climate Change suggests significant human influence was afoot by at least 1750, and may have contributed as much as one-fifth of a degree Celsius of warming (0.36 degrees Fahrenheit) before the late 1800s.

“Frankly, this study does indicate that it may be more of an uphill battle than we previously thought in order to stabilize warming below the commonly defined dangerous limit of 2 degrees Celsius,” said Pennsylvania State University’s Michael Mann, one of the study’s authors. He completed the research with scientists from the universities of Edinburgh and Reading in the United Kingdom.

This is all about attempting to assign Blame going even further back in time, in order to say we’re even more doomed unless Everyone Else is forced by government to reduce their carbon footprint, usually by the government taking more money from citizens and private entities while reducing their freedom and liberty.

Here’s the really funny part, though

Mann said that between the start of the industrial revolution in England in the 18th century and the late 19th century — when reliable thermometer records begin (by which time that revolution had spread to other countries) — humans may have added 30 or 40 parts per million of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

“Reliable thermometer records.” This from a guy who looked at the rings on a few trees and created the “hockey stick”, a doomy construction of politicized science.

Read: Good News: There Might Be Even Less Time Before ‘Climate Change’ Doom Occurs »

Posted in AGW Scaremongering, Global Warming | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

ICE Director: Illegal Immigration Is Not A Victimless Crime

By William Teach July 25, 2017 – 8:04 am

Supporters of illegal immigration always seem to want to excuse illegal aliens unless they are one of the “bad ones,” meaning those who have committed violent crimes. This is right before they then refuse to turn the violent criminals to ICE, of course. But, are the bad ones not also those who ruin people’s lives?

(Fox News) The horrific incident involving dozens of immigrants allegedly smuggled into the U.S. in a sweltering tractor-trailer is proof that illegal immigration is “not a victimless crime,” the acting head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told Fox News on Monday.

“It’s a message I’ve been trying to get out as long as I’ve been the acting ICE director,” Thomas Homan said on “Your World with Neil Cavuto.”

Federal authorities have since charged the alleged driver of the tractor-trailer, James Mathew Bradley Jr., 60, of Clearwater, Fla., with transporting immigrants in the U.S. illegally. Investigators found the packed truck at a Walmart in San Antonio over the weekend. Ten people who were inside the truck have died.

“Illegal immigration is not a victimless crime,” Homan argued. “These folks, they contract with criminal organizations. These organizations are the same organizations that smuggle drugs, they smuggle weapons, smuggle people that want to do harm to this country. You talk about drug cartels…are talking about smuggling folks. These are not victimless crimes,” he said.

“When you’re victimized as an illegal alien or somebody stealing your social security number or your credit rating goes to zero because someone took your identity. This is not a victimless crime,” Homan continued. “Those folks that want to turn a blind eye to illegal immigration, this is what happens. There’s real consequences, this is a life-and-death decision that these people make.”

When a legal U.S. citizen has their identity stolen by an illegal alien, and their life is ruined for years, it may not be a violent crime, but it sure causes problems, does it not? When wages are deflated because of illegals, it’s not violence, but, it sure causes problems, does it not? When the majority of a political party, and the guy who was president from 2009-2016, throw their utter support behind illegal aliens and immigration, when they are essentially telling people from around the world that it’s A-OK for people to come to the U.S. illegally, they set the conditions for people to be smuggled into the U.S. and die, just like with this truck situation.

Entering the U.S. illegally is a crime, Homan said, and it should be treated as such.

If someone walked into your home without permission, they weren’t violent, just walked in, and decided to just squat, you’d call the cops to have them removed. They’re trespassing.

“That is why the message needs to be clear: we’re going to enforce the laws of this country,” he said. “If you enter illegally, if it’s a crime, and if you think you’re going to be safe in a sanctuary city, that is a message I’m trying to get. Sanctuary cities can choose not to cooperate with ICE and choose to shield people from detection. I’m going to send additional resources and we’re going to find these people. We’re going to enforce the law without apology.”

It’s nice to have someone in the federal government that is doing their job as laid out in The Law.

Read: ICE Director: Illegal Immigration Is Not A Victimless Crime »

Posted in Illegal Immigration | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

NY Times: It’s Trump’s Fault Poland Has Turned Away From Democracy Or Something

By William Teach July 25, 2017 – 7:40 am

It’s always amusing how, when a Republican is in the White House, everything that happens in the world seems to be the fault of the United States and the Republican president. Witness Slawomir Sierakowski’s screed

Poland Turns Away From Democracy, Thanks to the U.S.
President Trump’s visit emboldened the Law and Justice party to attempt a judicial coup, and Washington has been a mere bystander since.

Polish democracy won a partial, momentary reprieve on Monday when President Andrzej Duda vetoed two controversial billsthat would have given the ruling Law and Justice party direct power over Poland’s courts. Partial, because President Duda did sign a bill giving the Justice Ministry control over local courts. And momentary, because Mr. Duda has said he would introduce his own versions of the legislation soon.

It’s no secret that Law and Justice and its leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, have their sights set on judicial independence, one of the few remaining checks on their control of the Polish state. Less well appreciated, but no less clear, is the role that the United States has played in encouraging them to take this latest step.

Mr. Kaczynski and his party have been grabbing for power since they won 2015’s parliamentary elections, but this year they have been particularly brazen. At a European Union summit meeting in March, they tried to block the election of Donald Tusk, a former Polish prime minister and an opponent of Mr. Kaczynski, to a second term as the head of the European Council.

Got that? This has been apparently going on since 2015. And they tried to block Trump (where is the freakout from the NY Times over foreign interference?). The party, PiS, has been around since 2001, and seems to be a smattering of beliefs, running from a strong socially conservative belief with links to the Catholic church to being Socialist economically, wanting lots and lots of governmental control of the economy.

But, they got smacked down big time in the issues mentioned in that 3rd paragraph, but, then, Trump!

Into this mess stepped Donald Trump, himself mired in controversy and looking for good press. And so the White House announced that on his way to the Group of 20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany, this month, he would visit Poland, a country long regarded as the most pro-American in Europe.

Uh oh, a visit!!!!!

The visit worked for Mr. Kaczynski, too — embattled in Europe, his government needed to show that Poland enjoys the respect of one of the world’s most powerful politicians.

And so Mr. Trump came to Warsaw, confirmed his commitment to NATO’s Article 5 on collective defense, and promised contracts for the sale of Patriot missiles and natural gas to Poland. Mr. Kaczynski’s party bused in cheering crowds, and both sides concluded — with good reason — that the visit was a success.

Law and Justice’s standing in the polls improved; the latest, carried out before the vote on judicial reform, showed 38 percent support for the party and only 19 percent for Civic Platform, the largest opposition party.

Got that? This is all because Trump visited one of our great allies. That is the whole premise. A state visit.

In short, for the price of some applause, Mr. Trump gave Mr. Kaczynski the cover to carry out a coup. And what has the United States done since? The State Department issued a dry statement formulated not to offend the Polish authorities (“We urge all sides to ensure that any judicial reform does not violate Poland’s Constitution”).

The NY Times and Mr. Sierakowski are letting their Trump Derangement Syndrome loose like hounds after a rabbit. The Blamestorming is amazing. And then they wonder why Trump won, when citizens are exposed to this insanity.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: NY Times: It’s Trump’s Fault Poland Has Turned Away From Democracy Or Something »

Posted in Wonky Media | 3 Comments | Trackback URL
Pirate's Cove