Opinion Activism On News Page: GOP Hurries To Slash Oil And Gas Rules

Reason #45986758677984232 that the Credentialed Media has lost trust, as the NY Times publishes what is essentially an activist opinion piece by Eric Lipton on page A1 of the Sunday NY edition. This might as well have been written by the office of Nancy Pelosi

G.O.P. Hurries to Slash Oil and Gas Rules, Ending Industries’ 8-Year Wait

(the headline on the web front page is “GOP Leaps to End Oil And Gas Rules)

The document carried the title “A Roadmap to Repeal,” a concise list of Obama administration environmental regulations that a Koch brothers-backed group was pressing President Trump and Congress to quickly reverse after Inauguration Day.

It was a tally of rules that energy industry executives and lobbyists had waged a futile fight against for eight years, donating millions of dollars to lawmakers who vowed to help block them, filing lawsuits to try to overturn them and hiring experts to generate reports that questioned the need for them.

But in a flurry of activity this past week, Congress did what Charles G. and David H. Koch — who own a conglomerate that sells hundreds of products, including gasoline, jet fuel and coal — and other industry leaders had been asking for.

If that was a press release from the Democratic National Committee, would you know the difference? Interestingly, Lipton never actually names the group till literally the next to last paragraph. It’s Freedom Partners, who are about things like, you know, freedom. They do have a roadmap regarding regulations, including on energy. And, they receive big funding from Koch industries. Which is apparently Bad, because only left leaning folks are allowed to agitate for things.

Using a rarely invoked law, the Republican-controlled Congress nullified a measure intended to curb the venting of gas wells on federal lands, and began the process of rolling back other regulations, including one enacted to limit damage that coal mines cause to streams — each items on the “Roadmap to Repeal.”

On Friday, with his own executive orders, Mr. Trump took up two more items on the list, including a call to rewrite major provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act, legislation crafted by the Obama administration and passed by Congress in response to the 2008 financial meltdown.

Not since the Reagan administration has Washington moved so quickly to roll back or nullify so many federal regulations, one of the clearest signs of an abrupt shift of power in a government now under one-party control that has flipped the script of winners and losers.

Forget the rest of the idiotic activist “article”: that line is reason to celebrate, as the regulations of Obama are washed away.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Opinion Activism On News Page: GOP Hurries To Slash Oil And Gas Rules »

If All You See…

…is evil meat from evil carbon pollution releasing pigs, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Raised On Hoecakes, with a post on Hillary, Trump, and the outrage.

Read: If All You See… »

Take The NY Times Climate Deplorables Quiz!

Here’s a really fun one, via Eric Worrall at What’s Up With That?

h/t Schrodinger’s Cat How much of a climate deplorable are you? NYT has published an offensive climate quiz, apparently aimed at helping readers discover whether they should ever buy another copy of the New York Times.

The quiz is here, and, just like Eric, and probably every person in the comments, I ended up with

You did a very bad job protecting the environment and may have made many of the worst effects of climate change more likely. It could hardly have been worse.

On the upside for President Trump, Republicans in Congress and many of the people who voted for him will support most of your decisions. We guess it’s true what they say about dark clouds (something about silver linings?).

I opted to

  • scrap the Clean Power Plan, because it’s bad for the lower and middle classes. The quiz told me the planet won’t like that
  • Not defend the CPP. I’m bad
  • I tell the EPA not to defend it. I’m still bad
  • Approve the permit for Keystone XL. Some people won’t be happy!
  • Cancel the Paris climate accord. Cities, states, and some businesses might still honor it. That’s their problem
  • Cancel the new Montreal Accord extension on refrigerators and AC units, along with one on airlines. I’m still bad
  • Cancel the subsidies on wind and solar. This is hilarious, because the question basically says that neither can survive without those subsidies from Government
  • Continue fracking. Many enviroweenies will be upset, and will take fossil fueled trips to protest

So, I did a very bad job in protecting the Cult of Climastrology.

Let’s think about this: the NY Times is supposed to be one of the premiere news services in the world. This is straight up partisan activism.

Read: Take The NY Times Climate Deplorables Quiz! »

Who’s Funding The Liberal “Protests”?

As far as being protests and opposition

https://twitter.com/WilliamTeach/status/827490837714051073

Leftists have come up with a wide range of excuses for all the violence that always seems to occur at their “protests”. We get a heavy dose of “it’s just a few people” and “they’re anarchists who come to play.” Funny that this pretty much only occurs at Leftists protests.

Then there are those who are claiming the violence was a false flag operation. I was treated to a heavy dose of that after my above tweet

Plenty more where that came from.

(Daily Caller) The left-wing group that helped organize the violent shut down of the Milo Yiannopoulos event at the University of California, Berkeley on Wednesday is backed by a progressive charity that is in turn funded by George Soros, the city of Tucson, a major labor union and several large companies.

The Alliance for Global Justice, based in Tucson, is listed as an organizer and fiscal sponsor for Refuse Fascism, a communist group that encouraged left-wingers to shut down the Yiannopoulos event.

The call to arms succeeded. Yiannopoulos’ talk was cancelled after demonstrators lit fires, vandalized businesses, and assaulted Donald Trump and Yiannopoulos supporters.

Refuse Fascism, which includes Princeton professor Cornel West as one of its founding “initiators,” defended the response, issuing a statement on its website that called the shut down “righteous.”

And so much of it links back to, surprise, George Soros, especially via his Tides Foundation. Then there was the city of Tuscon, Ben and Jerry’s, Lush Cosmetics, and many others.

This is all what has been shown for so long: the protests are either astroturfed from the get go, or, what was grassroots quickly became a well funded demonstration, which typically includes violence. If the liberals didn’t want these “black bloc” folks showing up, they’d tell them to stay away. They’d force them out. Instead, there’s a symbiotic relationship occurring.

While there has certainly been a bit of violence, usually it occurs in the form of a few punches, at Trump rallies, some has been agitated, some has been the fault of Trump supporters, have you seen wide scale looting, arson, gun play, property damage, and general mayhem? No.

Read: Who’s Funding The Liberal “Protests”? »

Surprise: All Those Lone Wolf ISIS Attacks Weren’t So Lone Wolf After All

During the Era Of Obama, we were told time and time again that any attack by hardcore Islamic extremists, also known as Islamists, were lone wolf attacks. Even though virtually all of them pledged allegiance to ISIS, we were told that there were no links, and, of course, the requisite “it has nothing to do with Islam!!!!!!!!!”

Well, now it’s the Era Of Trump, so….

Not ‘Lone Wolves’ After All: How ISIS Guides Plots by Remote Control

(Starts out with a long story about how one recruit was guided in India, providing support, materials, weapons, intelligence, and coaching)

As officials around the world have faced a confusing barrage of attacks dedicated to the Islamic State, cases like Mr. Yazdani’s offer troubling examples of what counterterrorism experts are calling enabled or remote-controlled attacks: violence conceived and guided by operatives in areas controlled by the Islamic State whose only connection to the would-be attacker is the internet.

In the most basic enabled attacks, Islamic State handlers acted as confidants and coaches, coaxing recruits to embrace violence. In the Hyderabad plot, among the most involved found so far, the terrorist group reached deep into a country with strict gun laws in order to arrange for pistols and ammunition to be left to be left in a bag swinging from the branches of a tree

For the most part, the operatives who are conceiving and guiding such attacks are doing so from behind a wall of anonymity. When the Hyderabad plotters were arrested last summer, they could not so much as confirm the nationality of their interlocutors inside the Islamic State, let alone describe what they looked like. Because the recruits are instructed to use encrypted messaging applications, the guiding role played by the terrorist group often remains obscured.

As a result, any remotely guided plots in Europe, Asia and the United States in recent years, including the attack on a community center in Garland, Tex., were initially labeled the work of “lone wolves,” with no operational ties to the Islamic State, and only later was direct communication with the group discovered.

Huh. How about that. If only we had had a strong, independent news media to investigate and tell us these things previously

While the trail of many of these plots led back to planners living in Syria, the very nature of the group’s method of remote plotting means there is little dependence on its maintaining a safe haven there or in Iraq. And visa restrictions and airport security mean little to attackers who strike where they live and no longer have to travel abroad for training.

Hooray, a swipe at Trump. Of course, if we don’t allow those who come from these areas in to the nation……

Close examination of both successful and unsuccessful plots carried out in the Islamic State’s name over the past three years indicates that such enabled attacks are making up a growing share of the operations of the group, which is also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh.

“They are virtual coaches who are providing guidance and encouragement throughout the process — from radicalization to recruitment into a specific plot,” said Nathaniel Barr, a terrorism analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who along with Daveed Gartenstein-Ross wrote one of the first articles discussing the virtual plotters.

That article is from July of 2016. Weird how it wasn’t talked up when that other guy was in charge.

The article is long long long, detailing all the connections, relying on the intelligence, to show just how ISIS pulls the strings. That attack with an axe on a train in Germany? Yup. No so lone wolf. The murder of a priest in France? Yup. A planned attack that was foiled in France? Yup. Attacks both planned, foiled, and botched (like one blowing himself up prematurely), so many have direct communication with ISIS.

The JV team has grown so much.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Surprise: All Those Lone Wolf ISIS Attacks Weren’t So Lone Wolf After All »

If All You See…

…is evil leather that comes from evil moo cows that cause the Earth to boil, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Gay Patriot, with a post noting that “Nazi” is the new “racist”.

Read: If All You See… »

Bummer: ‘Climate Change’ Will Kill The Groundhog Day Groundhog Or Something

Well, now, this is interesting: a superstition will kill off another superstition. Of course, the latter is just a fun one. The prior is one that will raise taxes, raise the cost of living, harm the poor and middle class with all the job killing regulations, and make people more dependent and under the thumb of government

Climate Change Will Kill the Groundhog Day Groundhog

…..

But at least one scientist told us that we should probably be worrying about the groundhog’s health with a changing climate, too. Groundhogs hibernate, meaning that after they eat a whole lot to fatten up, they spend much of the year sleeping, explained Roelof Hut, assistant professor at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Hibernating species usually experience a period of deep sleep, waking up every few weeks. The groundhogs expend almost all of their fat reserves during these so-called arousal periods. Climate change could mean more arousals, and quicker depletion of the groundhog’s fat.

“At a certain point when they go really skinny they may die in hibernation,” said Hut. “Alternatively, they may decide to emerge early from hibernations. But they’ll emerge skinnier anyway, or die because they’re so skinny.”

Sorry, Phil. Not even America’s strangest superstition is safe from climate change’s clutches.

One has to wonder, how did groundhogs survive periods where it was much warmer and much cooler?

Read: Bummer: ‘Climate Change’ Will Kill The Groundhog Day Groundhog Or Something »

French Soldiers Stop Another Machete Wielding, Allahu Akbar Shouting Attacker

French and German politicians are offering up prayers that the attacker is not a “refugee”, as are all the American Democrats screeching about Trump’s “Muslim ban”

(Fox News) A group of four French soldiers were attacked Friday inside a shopping mall beneath the Louvre Museum in Paris by a machete-wielding man shouting “Allahu akbar,” authorities said.

One of the soldiers suffered minor injuries and the attacker was gravely wounded. A military spokesman said the soldiers tried to fight off the assailant before opening fire.

The soldier who was slightly injured was not the soldier who opened fire, according to authorities.

The investigation is in its early stages, but the head of police told Reuters that– based on the attackers remarks– authorities believe the suspect wanted to carry out a terror attack at the famed museum.

Reuters is reporting that a second person was arrested, but nothing is known at this time. The museum is Paris’ second largest tourist attraction. He was carrying two backpacks, of which the police said had no bombs.

There is a little confusion on the weapon. Some say a knife, some say a machete. He did have two machete’s on him, that we do know. Regardless, he received the gift of 5 bullets to the stomach for his troubles.

And, you can bet that if he is a “refugee”, the authorities will slow walk that bit of news.

Meanwhile, in the People’s Republik Of California

Diners at a Cheesecake Factory restaurant in Southern California had their meals interrupted Thursday night when a man tossed a homemade explosive device into the restaurant, officials said.

“This evening an incendiary device exploded within our Pasadena restaurant,” The Cheescake Factory said in a statement. “Thankfully, none of our guests or staff was injured. Law enforcement is actively investigating the incident and we hope to reopen in Pasadena on Friday, as usual.” (snip)

Citing witnesses, police described the suspect as a “male of Hispanic or Middle Eastern descent, 6’0, thin build, with a heavy beard and wearing all black clothing and a black beanie.”

Huh. The bomb did little more than really put out a lot of smoke. On this one, we may never know the full details.

Read: French Soldiers Stop Another Machete Wielding, Allahu Akbar Shouting Attacker »

With Trump Win, States Push More 2nd Amendment Rights

In reality, this is nothing new. As state governments across the country saw more and more Republicans assuming control, much like we saw the devastation in the federal Congress of the Democratic party during the Obama years, they looked to enable citizens to uphold their 2nd Amendment rights

(The Hill) President Donald Trump’s election has encouraged gun rights advocates to mount a new legislative push in states across the country.

Legislators in more than a dozen states have introduced bills to allow residents to carry guns in the open, roll back licensing requirements for concealed weapons and limit the number of facilities where guns are prohibited. Measures in several states would allow those with licenses to carry firearms in schools, airports and churches.

Those backing more expansive gun rights largely embrace Trump’s claims — many of which are disputed by federal and local law enforcement statistics — that crime is on the rise and cities are plagued by a wave of what the president called in his inaugural address “American carnage.”

Some of these ideas are good, some not so good. I see nothing wrong, theoretically, with requiring a license to purchase a firearm, nor a requirement for training to carry concealed. If one wants to carry on campus, training would be great. It breaks down when you realize that Democrats will eventually recover and win some elections, and then put a big monkey wrench in the works, causing problems for people attempting to obtain licenses and training and carrying.

Of course, in those few Democrat run states left, they’re looking for even more restrictions on 2nd Amendment Rights, which almost solely affect law abiding citizens, not the criminals who may use a firearm. Remember, though, Democrats say they’re for gun rights all the time!

The future of the war over gun rights may lie in a third bill introduced by Lucas, the Indiana Republican. That bill would grant a tax credit to Hoosiers who complete gun safety courses, or who buy security devices like a gun safe.

Lucas said he wants to encourage people to take gun safety courses, though “never in my lifetime” would he advocate a government mandate that they do.

“Money talks, and instead of paying people to [take gun safety classes], let them keep their own money and direct it towards firearm safety training courses,” Lucas said.

An interesting proposal. One can see the good and bad in it. The good, that people obtain training in the proper use, the bad that Democrats would now have all the information on law abiding gun owners they need to become problems. I am all for training. You do it to drive a car, you do it for you job, you do it if you’re into martial arts, etc. Sure, none are Constitutional Rights, but, wouldn’t you think a bit of training would be a good thing on a firearm, if only to make sure you know how to use it and what the laws are?

Meanwhile, we get a little bit of apoplectic fake news

The House on Thursday struck down an Obama-era regulation that could block some recipients of disability benefits from buying guns.

The House voted 235-180 to roll back a rule that required the Social Security Administration to report people who receive disability benefits and have a mental health condition to the FBI’s background check system. The database is used to determine eligibility for buying a firearm.

Critics said the rule stripped Second Amendment rights from people who are not dangerously mentally ill, such as those who have eating disorders or mental disorders that prevent them from managing their own finances.

The National Rifle Association opposed the rule. While the group says it supports keeping guns away from the mentally ill, it said the determination about who is mentally ill should be left to the courts.

That rule was in place for a few weeks, and was never passed, or even submitted, to the duly elected legislative branch. This has obviously sent many liberals off the deep end. The best being Hullabaloo, with the catchy headline Making the country safe for white supremacy. You stay classy. Oh, and remember, as you guys were fond of saying during the Obama years, you lost.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: With Trump Win, States Push More 2nd Amendment Rights »

With No Other Problems Pending, Sweden Looks To Bring In Climate Law

Wait, I thought Sweden was a hotbed of uber-Progressive leftists who would have been thrilled to voluntarily implement carbon neutral measures within their own lives? No?

Sweden set to bring in climate law by 2018

Sweden is set to have a climate law in effect by 1 January 2018 under plans announced by the prime minister on Thursday.

Stefan Lofven told media government was introducing legislation to put into action a cross-party agreement for the country to go carbon neutral by 2045.

Influenced by the UK’s Climate Change Act, but with a more ambitious trajectory, it will set out a series of carbon budgets to phase down greenhouse gas emissions.

“This is the most important reform of our generation politicians will do for Sweden’s young people, our children and grandchildren,” said Lofven. “Sweden will be one of the world’s first fossil-free developed countries.”

On one hand, Sweden is wise by getting so much of its power already from nuclear and hydropower, and plans to use more. On the other, they plan on lots of draconian big government policies and restrictions, but, then, the Swedes should be loving this, right?

But, really, considering how many problems Sweden is having from the large influx of Muslims, who have brought their 3rd world 14th century ideas with them, you know, things like raping women is fine, gays should be whipped and hung, women must cover up, Shariah law, all the crime, etc, Sweden might want to consider this real problem over the ginned up and fake issue of anthropogenic climate change.

Read: With No Other Problems Pending, Sweden Looks To Bring In Climate Law »

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