Pure TDS: NY Times Writer Can No Longer Watch The Bachelor

By William Teach March 11, 2017 – 7:04 am

I’d ask if we’ve reached Peak Trump Derangement Syndrome, however, we all know that it is not even close. Liberals have plenty of room to grow their TDS. It does provide this bit of moonbattery

Which is accompanied by this graphic

Poor Jennifer Weiner. One has to wonder why it was OK to treat women as pieces of meat to be chosen during a misogynistic competition while Obama was president

Breaking Up With ‘The Bachelor’

I’ve spent a lot of time since Nov. 8 wondering how Donald J. Trump happened, and whether any part of his vindictive, chaotic and xenophobic presidency might, in some small way, be my fault.

I didn’t vote for him. I didn’t contribute to his campaign. I didn’t attend his rallies or secretly wear a “Make America Great Again” hat.

However, I did do one thing, consistently, even obsessively, for the past decade and a half that I think might have played a part in where we find ourselves today.

I watched — and live-tweeted — “The Bachelor.” (snip)

But I submit that “The Bachelor” did the Republicans’ work for them, helping to prime America for its current leader.

It showed us how men treat, and talk about, women, and one another. It demonstrated that you don’t have to be the best, the kindest, the smartest or the most virtuous to stay in the competition. You just have to be the most interesting, and the producers will keep you around. It helped lull us into a false sense of security, that we could treat an election like a show; that everything on TV is entertainment and everyone on my screen is there to amuse.

OK, so what was fine during the Obama years is no longer fine with Trump in the White House. Even though Jennifer knew it was sexist. Jennifer then spends many paragraphs whining about the sexism of The Bachelor and comparing it to Trump, moving to

On Election Day, I stood in the voting booth with my daughters. I had no doubt about which lever I’d pull, and no doubt about who’d emerge as the victor. Most of me was happy. A tiny part was regretful. A Hillary Clinton presidency would be historic, but, Lord, a Trump presidency would be insanely fun to watch.

You mean the woman who has deep ties to Saudi Arabia and other Muslim nations, taking lots of money from them, while ignoring the barbaric ways in which women, and gays, are treated.

I’m doing my part to make amends. This year, I’ve broken up with “The Bachelor.” I miss it, but in a post-Trump world, it doesn’t feel entertaining. Or maybe it’s that I don’t think I can allow myself the luxury of escape, not after six weeks of seeing what happens when a made-for-TV candidate stops being polite and starts being real.

Good news: we have at least four more years of this type of insanity to look forward to.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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Humans Caused 100% Of Hotcoldwetdry Or Something

By William Teach March 10, 2017 – 3:55 pm

But, remember, this is not a cult

Humans Caused 100% of the Past Century’s Global Warming

100 percent of global warming over the past century has been caused by humans. In 2013, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report stated a clear expert consensus that: “It is extremely likely [defined as 95-100% certainty] that more than half of the observed increase in global average surface temperature from 1951 to 2010 was caused by the anthropogenic [human-caused] increase in greenhouse gas concentrations and other anthropogenic forcings together.”

Then in 2014, research in the journal Climate Risk Management using rigorous statistical techniques revealed an objective link between global temperature increases and human activity, with a probability exceeding 99.999 percent. In fact, according to a Skeptical Science review of studies on human and natural contributions to global warming:

Seriously, these people think that natural drivers like vulcanism, the big nuclear furnace in the sky, water vapor, the seas releasing methane and CO2, animal life, Pacific oscillations, and so forth, have zero input. Yes, mankind does play a part, but, it is minimal, and not all from greenhouse gases. Land use and the Urban Heat Island effect play a big role.

Regardless, these Warmists are as wacky as the Westboro Baptist Church. The only difference is that some members of the WPC are capable of coming to their senses, and have.

Oh, and if Warmists really believed, you’d think they would modify their own behavior and practice what they preach, wouldn’t you?

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If All You See…

By William Teach March 10, 2017 – 1:00 pm

…is stove that make the inside of homes as burning hot as carbon pollution has made it outside, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Moonbattery, with a post on how to solve Obamacare in three steps.

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EPA Head Scott Pruitt: CO2 Is Not Primary Driver Of Climate

By William Teach March 10, 2017 – 11:17 am

Elections have consequences

(CNBC) Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said Thursday he does not believe carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming.

“I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there’s tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see ,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

“But we don’t know that yet. … We need to continue the debate and continue the review and the analysis.”

Doesn’t he know that modern science requires a closed mind, one sided research, and declaring that it’s settled so shut up?

Pruitt’s view is at odds with the opinion of NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“The planet’s average surface temperature has risen about 2.0 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere,” NASA and NOAA said in January.

The only problem with that is they have to actually prove it. Which they can’t, at least using the long established Scientific Method. Regardless, Warmists are no longer in charge at the EPA, nor at NASA and NOAA. One has to wonder, why are Warmists so afraid to attempt research that might invalidate their beliefs? If they’re really about Science, they would welcome all forms of scientific inquiry.

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Team Trump Looks To Send Fifty Judges To Adjudicate Immigration Cases

By William Teach March 10, 2017 – 7:20 am

One of the talking points from illegal alien supporters is that there just aren’t enough judges to deal with all the illegals sitting in detention centers, so, the illegals in the centers should be let go on their own recognizance with a pinky swear that they’ll return for their hearing. With the return rarely happening, surprisingly. So, no

(Reuters) The Department of Justice is deploying 50 judges to immigration detention facilities across the United States, according to two sources and a letter seen by Reuters and sent to judges on Thursday.

The department is also considering asking judges to sit from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., split between two rotating shifts, to adjudicate more cases, the sources said. A notice about shift times was not included in the letter.

The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment. (snip)

The order called for the end of a policy known as “catch and release,” by which immigrants were released from detention and given a date to appear in court. Immigration courts have a backlog of over 550,000 cases, according to the Justice Department’s data, so many court dates are set years into the future.

Well, we certainly do not want the illegals sitting in Obama’s horrible detention centers for long

(ABC News) Numerous health risks, poor conditions and safety violations were found at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), detention facility in Orange, California, according to a report released Wednesday.

The report alleged that food was mishandled, the housing conditions were “unsatisfactory” and that the facility was violating protocols to separate high-risk detainees and low-risk detainees.

An unannounced inspection on Nov. 16, 2016 of the Theo Lacy Facility (TLF) in Orange, California, found issues that “pose health risks” and other violations that “result in potentially unsafe conditions at the facility.”

So, Obama was running the facility poorly. Interesting that this report comes out now. Regardless, if conditions are that bad for these criminal aliens, well, time for a quick hearing and then deportation.

Speaking of deportation, everyone freaked over the deporation of a grandma illegal. Sob stories were the order of the day, along with calling ICE and Trump big meanies. Then, reality reared it’s head

When the grandmother of a Mira Mesa military veteran’s family was sent back to Mexico last week, her devastated family members focused on her central role helping raise two small children whose father is serving as a contractor in Afghanistan.

More details of her deportation came out this week, as immigration officials offered details of a felony welfare fraud conviction against the woman, Clarissa Arredondo, and disclosed that she had previously been deported.

Arredondo, 43, was removed to Tijuana on Friday after being detained on Valentine’s Day. Her story was featured in The San Diego Union-Tribune on Sunday and became national news. Her daughter is married to a Navy veteran, and they have daughters, 2 and 3.

She was under an expedited removal order from 2005. When someone crossed the border after being previously deported, that’s a felony. This goes with her felony welfare fraud conviction. Sure, it might not be a violent crime, but, then, it’s still a crime. Remember when Representative Larry Craig was caught with a wide stance, a misdemeanor (that shouldn’t even be a crime, but, that’s a different conversation), and the left cheered for him to be kicked out of Congress? Who did he hurt? There was no violence involved. Welfare fraud actually hurts U.S. citizens.

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Paul Ryan Runs Powerpoint To Push Obamacare Repeal

By William Teach March 10, 2017 – 6:55 am

https://twitter.com/byrdinator/status/839882512511946752

So, this happened Thursday (and Ryan was trolled rather hard on Twitter, but, then, that always happens on Twitter)

(NPR) “This is the chance. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said the speaker, roving the stage with a wireless mic, gesturing at both the audience in front of him and the PowerPoint presentation behind him.

TED Talk? Late-night infomercial? Nope — it was House Speaker Paul Ryan, making a hard pitch for his health care plan after a week of loud conservative criticism.

After listening to conservative groups like the Club For Growth blast the bill as a “warmed-over substitute for government-run health care,” Ryan went on offense, saying this is just the first step of an ongoing overhaul of the health system.

Well, really, the GOP has two years to get it done before the 2018 midterms hit, at which point there’s always the possibility the GOP loses the Senate. They could sit there and craft a much better bill. Why won’t they?

The bill, drafted by Ryan and other House Republican leaders, cleared a key hurdle Thursday, passing two House committees after marathon markup sessions. But many members from the Tea Party wing are upset that it keeps too much of the Affordable Care Act in place and effectively replaces the law’s signature tax with a heavy surcharge assessed to people who forgo health insurance.

“There are only so many things you can do in that bill because of Senate floor rules, reconciliation,” Ryan said. “You can’t put everything you want in that legislation, because if you did it would be filibustered, and you couldn’t even bring it up for a vote in the Senate.”

This was not about convincing Democrats, who will be the party of no on any Ocare repeal and replace attempt….even though the mass majority who are left in Congress who voted for it have continuously refused to actually campaign on that vote…it’s about convincing Republicans. Many are still not biting.

Now, Ryan is correct on reconciliation. Here’s the problem: if this is the only way to get past reconciliation, what about the follow up legislation, such as for allowing health insurance across state lines? If it won’t work in this bill, how will it and the other ideas pass muster to get past the 60 vote threshold in the future?

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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#Fightfor15 Update: Meet The Burger Flipping Robot

By William Teach March 9, 2017 – 3:08 pm

The people in the Fight for $15 an hour crowd should be worried. The more they agitate, the more companies are willing to look at solutions which make low wage low skill workers unnecessary

(UK Telegraph) A burger-flipping robot has just completed its first day on the job at a restaurant in California, replacing humans at the grill.

Flippy has mastered the art of cooking the perfect burger and has just started work at CaliBurger, a fast-food chain.

The robotic kitchen assistant, which its makers say can be installed in just five minutes, is the brainchild of Miso Robotics.

“Though we are starting with the relatively ‘simple’ task of cooking burgers, our proprietary AI software allows our kitchen assistants to be adaptable and therefore can be trained to help with almost any dull, dirty or dangerous task in a commercial kitchen — whether it’s frying chicken, cutting vegetables or final plating.”

Flippy uses all sorts of technology, like cameras and sensors, to make sure the food is cooked correctly each and every time. A human would need to take over then to add condiments, but, how long till Flippy can do that, as well? Caliburgers finds the cost/benefit analysis in a sweet spot, hence, they plan on having them in 50 of their restaurants by 2019. Will other restaurants follow suit? Well, what is the cost of Flippy, along with the maintenance costs? Is it better than the long term cost of employees, who are agitating for $15 an hour (to start, of course), who walk off the job to agitate, who can have workplace accidents, who can be late and miss days, who can bring drama to work, and, really, in some cases, should never interact with other humans?

This goes hand in hand with Wendy’s looking to install ordering kiosks

Fast food giant Wendy’s plans to install self-ordering kiosks in about one out of six of the burger chain’s franchises nationwide by the end of this year.

A typical location would get three kiosks for about $15,000, The Columbus Dispatch reported. David Trimm, Wendy’s chief information officer, estimates that payback on those machines would come in less than two years thanks to labor savings and increased sales.

The kiosks have two purposes according to Trimm: appeasing younger customers by given them an ordering experience they prefer and reducing labor costs.

And, don’t forget, removing people who should never interact with customers yet are also demanding more money for poor work.

So, the question for the #Fightfor15 folks is “do you really want to go there? Cause you’re easily replaced.”

Read: #Fightfor15 Update: Meet The Burger Flipping Robot »

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If All You See…

By William Teach March 9, 2017 – 1:00 pm

…is an evil gas fired stove causing heat snow, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Diogenes’ Middle Finger, with a post on TV shows reaching peak gay.

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The Oceans Will Soon Turn Into A Frothing Cauldron Of Death Or Something

By William Teach March 9, 2017 – 10:30 am

Just when I was about to give up on perusing Google News using the search term “climate change” and check a few other things, well…

Oceans are about to turn into a frothing cauldron of death.

Under the influence of climate change, huge patches of ocean will grow hot, acidic, and barren in coming decades according to new projections published in Nature Communications. If life goes on as usual, climate change will disrupt more than half of the world’s ocean habitat in the next 15 years, and 86 percent by 2050.

That means more coral death and more extinctions. It also threatens the fish — the primary source of protein for a billion people. Some fish are already moving, searching out cooler water.

Of course, the study itself (unsurprisingly based on computer models. Snicker) doesn’t really say this in those terms, and, includes lots of mays, mights, coulds, possiblys, and other means of hedging bets despite being rather doomy.

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Republican Resistance To Ryan Repeal And Replace Bill Grows

By William Teach March 9, 2017 – 8:19 am

The new Obamacare repeal and replace bill has passed it’s first hurdle in the House, but, many, many, many Republicans are not happy

(The Hill) The House bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare is facing growing opposition from Senate Republicans.

The plan, titled the American Health Care Act, is taking fire from both conservative and moderate factions of the Senate GOP caucus — underscoring the legislation’s perilous path in the upper chamber.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) expressed skepticism Wednesday that the measure would be able to win enough support among Senate Republicans to pass.

“The House bill is a beginning, but the House bill as drafted, I do not believe, would pass the United States Senate,” the conservative firebrand told reporters.

He said the House bill doesn’t do enough to lower the cost of insurance and pointed out “significant challenges” stemming from its provision to end Medicaid expansion.

Rand Paul, Susan Collins, and Tom Cotten also have big problems with the bill.

(NY Times) ..as the House debates how to best dismantle the Affordable Care Act, a familiar array of interest groups with deep pockets, incensed talk radio hosts and online agitators is again assuming its posture of aggression toward the House Republican leadership.

“Swampcare,” the writer and radio personality Erick Erickson scoffed at the new American Health Care Act, the culmination of seven years of promises to repeal and replace President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement. “Obamacare 2.0,” declared Breitbart.com. “RINOCARE,” Mark Levin wrote on Twitter, using the acronym for Republican in Name Only.

Political groups backed by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch and other powerful players on the right, such as Club for Growth and Heritage Action for America, have come out quickly and strongly against the bill. Some have threatened to punish lawmakers by docking their conservative ratings on the influential “scorecards” they distribute to voters. Activists are already swarming Capitol Hill and demanding that Congress take a harder line and pass a repeal measure that would leave no trace of the Affordable Care Act.

“I feel lied to,” said Anna Beavon Gravely, the deputy state director of the North Carolina chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a Koch-backed group that is funding a grass-roots push against Republicans in Congress who want to stop short of an outright repeal.

There will obviously be much debate and discussion, along with tweeking of the bill. That’s what happens. The problem with the replacement plan is that it seems far, far off from Conservative ideas. This has been discussed ad naseum. Sundance at The Last Refuge notes something I brought up the other day

Additionally, despite claims to the contrary, the GOP has never passed an Obamacare “repeal bill”. Ever. What they did previously pass was a “defund bill” using the lower vote reconciliation process. President Obama vetoed it. A defunding bill was possible because of the financial pathway which falls under reconciliation rules. The current Ryan bill is almost identical to the 2016 defunding bill everyone is mistakenly calling a prior “repeal bill”.

A complete independent repeal bill of ObamaCare is currently impossible.

The only bill that can pass the Senate is a bill that can utilize the process of reconciliation, which has a lower vote threshold of 51 votes. A reconciliation bill is a budgetary bill designed around the financial drivers of ObamaCare. This is what HHS Secretary Tom Price, Speaker Ryan and President Trump are attempting to do.

The Ryan bill is one meant to be able to pass through reconciliation, in a similar fashion to the way Obamacare was passed in the first place, after the Democrats lost their 60th Senate seat with the election of Scott Brown. Sundance offers 3 pathways, and suggests that only #2 would work

Option #2 – We can Repeal and Replace using the three-phase approach being proposed by Tom Price, Paul Ryan and Donald Trump:

  • 1. Pass reconciliation legislation targeting the financial mechanisms.
  • 2. HHS rewrites rules.
  • 3. New laws are proposed by a full congress to adjust ObamaCare and add to it, and laws debated/passed.

Yes, this has it’s risks. No guarantee you’ll get the cookie you want in phase three.

The concerning part is that repealing Ocare without methods to make sure people keep their current plans, among other issues, will certainly be scary to many people. We see the way the media has come unglued over this bill already. They trotted out their disingenuous “tax cuts for the rich” mantra, without noting that a full repeal just resets back to the previous status quo. Republicans should just stand up and say “this is a method to ditch Ocare that gets around the 60 vote threshhold, then we’ll have the real replacement plan.”

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