After Trolling Obama, Russia Plans Retaliation Over Expulsions

By William Teach December 30, 2016 – 7:03 am

Let’s start off with how excited the NY Times Editorial Board is that Obama finally did something

While it is definitely too late, and may also be too little, there should be no doubt about the correctness of President Obama’s decision to retaliate against Russia for hacking American computers and trying to influence the 2016 presidential election.

It would have been irresponsible for him to leave office next month and allow President Vladimir Putin to think that he could with impunity try to undermine American democracy. That would have been a particularly dangerous legacy given President-elect Donald Trump’s alarming affinity for Mr. Putin and stubborn refusal to accept the conclusion of American intelligence agencies that Russia’s cyberattacks were aimed at helping him and hurting Hillary Clinton. The president-elect told reporters dismissively before Mr. Obama’s decision was announced that Americans should “get on with our lives” and forget about the hacking scandal. So much for that wishful thought.

His latest response shows real teeth, chiefly in the form of sanctions on Russia’s two leading intelligence services, the F.S.B. and GRU, including four top officers of the military intelligence unit who the White House believes ordered those attacks. Mr. Obama also placed sanctions against a number of other individuals and companies, such as the Special Technology Center, which conducts signal intelligence.

Mr. Obama also expelled 35 Russian intelligence operatives and barred Russian diplomats from using two recreational compounds in the United States. The White House said this action was specifically in response to a two-year pattern of harassment of American diplomats in Russia by Kremlin security personnel.

Here’s the thing: where’s the proof? The joint FBI/DHS report is vague and simply shows that people and countries like to hack and phish and stuff. Nor is there any proof that Russian “hacking” made any difference in the election. This is how the Russian’s responded

Mitt Romney would like an apology. And now we get

(Washington Post) Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Friday suggested that President Vladimir Putin expel 35 U.S. diplomats and close two properties used by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow as part of the growing diplomatic slugfest over Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. (snip)

“It is regrettable that the Obama administration, which started out by restoring our ties, is ending its term in an anti-Russia agony. RIP,” Russian Prime Minister DmitryMedvedev wrote Friday on Twitter.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in a statement carried by the Interfax news service, called for 31 employees of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and four diplomats from the U.S. Consulate General in St. Petersburg to be declared “persona non grata” and forced to leave the country.

Further, he suggested the Russian government ban the use of a vacation cottage, or dacha, on the outskirts of Moscow often used for holiday receptions and a warehouse in the Russian capital used by diplomatic staff.

“We hope that these proposals will be considered as quickly as possible,” Lavrov said, portraying the response as symmetrical to the U.S. measures. “Of course, we cannot leave such acts unanswered; reciprocity is a diplomatic law in international relations.”

So, good news, Obama is doing a heck of a job in bringing back Cold War era diplomatic rows as he gets ready to walk out the door.

More: Putin punks Obama even more

(Zero Hedge) Which (Putin) did on Friday morning, when in a stunning reversal, the Russian leader took the high road, rejected the Lavrov proposal, and in a statement posted by the Kremlin said that Russia won’t expel any Americans in retaliation to US moves, in a brutal demonstration of just how irrelevant Obama’s 11th hour decision is for US-Russian relations.(snip)

From the full statement posted on the Kremlin website:

Although we have the right to retaliate, we will not resort to irresponsible ‘kitchen’ diplomacy but will plan our further steps to restore Russian-US relations based on the policies of the Trump Administration.

And with that one statement, Obama lost the diplomatic war with Russia.   

It’s a sad state of affairs when the POTUS is getting punked by a Russian strongman.

Here’s the full Putin statement

We regard the recent unfriendly steps taken by the outgoing US administration as provocative and aimed at further weakening the Russia-US relationship. This runs contrary to the fundamental interests of both the Russian and American people. Considering the global security responsibilities of Russia and the United States, this is also damaging to international relations as a whole.

As it proceeds from international practice, Russia has reasons to respond in kind. Although we have the right to retaliate, we will not resort to irresponsible ‘kitchen’ diplomacy but will plan our further steps to restore Russian-US relations based on the policies of the Trump Administration.

The diplomats who are returning to Russia will spend the New Year’s holidays with their families and friends. We will not create any problems for US diplomats. We will not expel anyone. We will not prevent their families and children from using their traditional leisure sites during the New Year’s holidays. Moreover, I invite all children of US diplomats accredited in Russia to the New Year and Christmas children’s parties in the Kremlin.

It is regrettable that the Obama Administration is ending its term in this manner. Nevertheless, I offer my New Year greetings to President Obama and his family.

My season’s greetings also to President-elect Donald Trump and the American people.

I wish all of you happiness and prosperity.

That’ll leave a mark.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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Solving ‘Climate Change’ Takes Collective Forced Action Or Something

By William Teach December 29, 2016 – 4:54 pm

Warmist Neil Leary at the Huffington Post is super thrilled to share 5 things you can do just in time for New Year’s to overcome Hotcoldwetdry, and unintentionally provides proof that this is all about government dominance

5 Things To Do About Climate Change, Just In Time For The New Year

After I wrote What a Trump Presidency Means for Fighting Climate Change, a colleague suggested that I write an article with “5 concrete examples of on-the-ground things people can do.” I’ve been mulling that over. You can readily find lists online of 5 things, 10 things, 50 and more things to do about climate change. Many excellent suggestions. Nearly all of them call for individual actions. Things that you can do to reduce your personal carbon footprint.

Individual actions are important. We learn through personal experience what works and what doesn’t, what’s easy and what’s hard. We prove change is feasible. We demonstrate our seriousness by walking the talk. We help motivate others to act. We move the needle, even if just a bit, in the direction that we need to move as a society.

Obviously, Warmists have discovered that living the life they want Everyone Else to be forced to live is hard, hence the reason so few give up their own use of fossil fuels, slap solar panels on their homes and live off the grid, wash clothes by hand, only buy local, etc and so on. But, see, this is the Talking Point they use, that all must be part of the solution, whether they want to be or not.

But a strategy built solely on individual actions will not prevent the calamitous impacts of climate change that will befall us if atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases continue to rise as currently projected. That takes collective action, in both public and private spheres. Actions that fundamentally transform the choices that are available to us, and that promote choices that will build a low-carbon, climate resilient economy that provides for our needs, including the need for a healthy and safe planet with a stable climate.

This is all about Governmental control, no matter how pretty the language. Look at the 5 things

  1. Join with others. (This is about joining groups that advocate that Government pass laws, rules, and regulations to force everyone to comply with your beliefs)
  2. Advocate for federal action. (Big Government forcing compliance)
  3. Support state and local action. (lower level governmental force)
  4. Take action at work. (nag your coworkers and bosses, in an attempt to get everyone to comply with your beliefs)
  5. Talk to your friends, family and peers. (turn them into people who no longer want to talk to you)

So, four out of five are about forcing compliance. Then we get to

If you are a teacher, incorporate climate change into your teaching.

Brainwashing and indoctrination for a political viewpoint.

OK, still looking for things you can do to reduce your personal carbon footprint? Here are a few websites to check out. A word of advice. Don’t let yourself be overwhelmed by long lists of things you should do. Start by picking one thing, something that is both impactful and readily achieved. Do that. Congratulate yourself, pause to reflect, then move on to tackle one more thing.

Good luck with that. They’ll replace a lightbulb and call it a day.

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If All You See…

By William Teach December 29, 2016 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible kitchen which surely contains an evil refrigerator and dish washer, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Animal Magnetism, with a post on hump day news.

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Warmist Wants Trump Banned From Twitter For Being A Climate Skeptic

By William Teach December 29, 2016 – 12:14 pm

Prick a member of the Cult of Climastrology, and they bleed fascist red

(Daily Caller) A California State, Sacramento academic believes President-elect Donald Trump should be barred from using the Internet because he’s a global warming skeptic.

Joseph Palermo, a history professor and writer at the the university, suggested that Republicans who don’t believe in so-called man-made global warming should not be allowed to use anything produced using science.

“If Trump and his cohort believe the science of global warming is bogus then they shouldn’t be allowed to use the science of the Internet for their Twitter accounts,” Palermo wrote Tuesday in an op-ed for Huffington Post.

Of course, it’s really more of computer science, the same thing ‘climate change’ is based on. However, Twitter works. The computer models from Warmists? Not so much.

See, the problem here for Warmists, and Progressives overall, is that they do not like that people with differing views are allowed to express those views. Hence, they want those views shut down.

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Democrats Suddenly Worried About Trump’s Unlimited War Powers

By William Teach December 29, 2016 – 8:15 am

A little bit of fake news, as this is something that hasn’t happened, it’s just Democrats caterwauling to create an atmosphere of potential doom

Congress leaves Trump with unlimited war powers
The failure to pass a war authorization against the Islamic State will mean few checks on his provocative campaign vows.

For much of Barack Obama’s second term, Congress sought to pass a formal authorization for the war against the Islamic State — both to signal the country’s resolve and to provide a check on the president’s unfettered war powers.

That failure to act now means Donald Trump will effectively have free rein to wage what he calls a global U.S. war on radical Islam, a prospect that terrifies many Democrats.

Democrats consistently blocked any attempt to reign on the war powers, particularly as established per several pieces of legislation post-9/11. Obama has used those powers mostly pretty well, in my opinion, in launching attacks on Jihadis throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa. These attacks have upset many on both the left and right, but, I’m good with them. The media has been mostly quiet on the use of drone and special forces strikes on Islamic jihadis, as have Democrats and their anti-war coalition. But, suddenly, they’re very concerned.

“You could easily see him wanting to ramp up the war on terror and take it to new parts of the globe,” said Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. “There are few limits on what he can do.”

Democrats like Schiff worry that without an updated legal framework to govern the war on terror, Trump could turn some of his controversial campaign rhetoric into reality — from vows to bring back waterboarding to killing the families of terrorists.

For “an inexperienced president who tweets and gets angry … to have broad war-making power, it’s a dangerous place to be,” said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), the lone member of Congress who voted against the nation’s existing war authorization, which was passed in 2001 but has not been updated since.

In other words, this is all paranoia and scaremongering. And now they have plans to introduce a new push for a resolution to reign in Trump. And, granted, there does need to be a new resolution to replace the one passed in 2001. It’s just funny that Democrats are hot to trot to do it now.

(The Surrender Monkey will make his triumphant return after Trump takes office, after an 8 year layoff, as Democrat surrender and malfeasance is highlighted)

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John Kerry’s Israel Speech Was Even Worse Than You Thought It Would Be

By William Teach December 29, 2016 – 7:54 am

As Allahpundit notes, this was the anti-Israel speech Kerry has been practicing in the mirror for years, which certainly had the approval of Mr. Obama, what with just a few weeks left in his administration

(Politico) In a lengthy, at times bitter speech boiling over with frustration, outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday accused the Israeli government of risking future prospects for peace with the Palestinians by adopting the right-wing agenda of the mushrooming Israeli settler movement.

And Kerry did so knowing that, in just three weeks, Donald Trump will likely do his best to undermine everything he just said.

Interesting. Kerry seems good with the ultra-leftist agenda of Cuba, in opening up relations, as well as the theocratic and terroristic agenda of Iran. Cuba throws dissidents in jail (among other human rights abuses), and Iran has the green light to build nuclear weapons at the end of the Iran deal in about 10 years, yet, building a few settlements in land Israel won after being attacked? A bridge too far for Kerry, apparently.

Using language rarely heard from a U.S. secretary of state, Kerry warned that the settlers’ growing political power would eventually force Israel to make a fateful choice: “Israel can either be Jewish or democratic – it cannot be both – and it won’t ever really be at peace.”

Again, interesting. Israel is the only nation in the Middle East where Muslims actually have democratic rights and protections under a stable system of law. How are Jews treated in other middle eastern nations? As you can guess, this anti-Semitic comment from Kerry didn’t go over so well.

And he blasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in strident terms, calling his ruling coalition “the most right-wing in Israeli history, with an agenda driven by the most extreme elements.” Those elements, Kerry said, are now “defining the future of Israel, and their stated purpose is clear. They believe in one state: greater Israel.”

What are they supposed to believe in? An Israel wiped off the map, as we see from many nations and terrorist groups, along with the United Nations? Israel gives land to the Palestinians, who respond by launching rockets at civilian areas.

Kerry did not give the Palestinians a free pass. He decried acts of terrorism perpetrated by individual Palestinians and groups such as Hamas, which he said was pursuing “an extremist agenda” and refused “to accept Israel’s very right to exist.” But his harshest words were reserved for Israel and Netanyahu in particular.

Right. Attack our ally while going soft on the terrorists. Of course, to Leftists like Kerry, Israel is the terrorist in this situation. That’s their mindset. They hate Jews and love Muslim terrorists. And they want Israel to make concession after concession to people who do not acknowledge Israel’s right to exist.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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People Really Love Carbon Pricing!!!!!

By William Teach December 28, 2016 – 2:17 pm

…right up till

(Toronto Sun) Recent polls have suggested most Canadians support carbon pricing, without explaining what it is and what it does.

Carbon pricing means attaching a cost to something that has never had a cost before — emitting industrial greenhouse gases into the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned.

Politicians from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on down like to say carbon pricing is a mechanism for making polluters pay for the environmental harm they cause when burning fossil fuels for energy.

They’d also like you to think the polluters who will be paying are giant corporations like oil companies.

The problem is, this isn’t true.

Shockingly, the costs that the government/Warmist view of the free market slaps on these companies ends up directly on the consumers. And Canada is looking at both cap and trade along with a carbon tax, really, just about the same, meaning

In either case, the end result is the same –  a higher cost of living for all Canadians, paid either through higher prices or higher taxes on most goods and services.

Years of polling on this issue have shown that most people favour carbon pricing and making polluters pay until it’s explained to them that this means they will be paying more for virtually all goods and services.

When that’s made clear, support for carbon pricing typically drops precipitously, with only a minority of those surveyed supporting it.

Here’s the question for all the Warmists pushing these policies: are they willing to pay the taxes and higher fees and prices and cost of living themselves? We know that the majority are not willing to change their own lifestyles

to accord with their supposed beliefs, much like how Socialists, such as Bernie Sanders, won’t give away their books for free and like to make lots and lots of money. Go figure.

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If All You See…

By William Teach December 28, 2016 – 1:00 pm

…is an evil carbon pollution causing beer, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Other McCain, with a post on queer feminism vs the fragile male ego.

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Excellent News: The Triumph Of Climate Denial In The Age Of Trump

By William Teach December 28, 2016 – 9:18 am

As we all know, anthropogenic climate change is almost always a low ranking issue in polls on the issues people care about, typically coming in last or next to last. And when you add in that ‘climate change’ policies will raise the cost of energy bill, raise the cost of food, raise the cost of living, all while increasing government taxation and governmental control of citizens lives, care for the issue drops further. But, that doesn’t mean the Cult of Climastrology will give up their push

Donald Trump and the Triumph of Climate-Change Denial

Denial of the broad scientific consensus that human activity is the primary cause of global warming could become a guiding principle of Donald Trump’s presidential administration. Though it’s difficult to pin down exactly what Trump thinks about climate change, he has a well-established track record of skepticism and denial. He has called global warming a “hoax,” insisted while campaigning for the Republican nomination that he’s “not a big believer in man-made climate change,” and recently suggested that “nobody really knows” if climate change exists. Trump also plans to nominate Republicans to lead the Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Department who have expressed skepticism toward the scientific agreement on human-caused global warming.

Once you start yammering about consensus, especially based on flawed, manufactured, and disingenuous publications, you’ve dropped science and moved to politics.

Indeed, Trump’s election is a triumph of climate denial, and will elevate him to the top of a Republican Party where prominent elected officials have publicly rejected the climate consensus. It’s not that the presidential election was a referendum on global warming. Climate change barely came up during the presidential debates, and voters rated the environment as a far less pressing concern than issues like the economy, terrorism, and health care. But that relative lack of concern signals that voters have not prioritized action on climate change, if they want any action taken at all. Trump’s victory sends a message that failing to embrace climate science still isn’t disqualifying for a presidential candidate, even as scientists warn that the devastating consequences of global warming are under way and expected to intensify in the years ahead.

Hotcoldwetdry barely came up in the election because almost no one cares except for Warmists. Despite 25+ years of spreading awareness, voters really do not care. Continuing to scold and scare voters is not going to help voters “prioritize” it higher. They just don’t care.

If Trump fails to take climate change seriously, the federal government may do little to address the threat of a warming planet in the next four years. A presidential administration hostile to climate science also threatens to deepen, or at the very least prolong, the skepticism that already exists in American political life. “If the Trump administration continues to push the false claim that global warming is a hoax, not happening, not human caused, or not a serious problem, I’d expect many conservative Republican voters to follow their lead,” said Anthony Leiserowitz, the director of Yale University’s Program on Climate Change Communication.

And there’s the Warmist fascism on display: they refuse to allow for other opinions. Really, if the science was so founded in facts, there would be no doubt. Republicans would agree with it. Instead, the science is shady beyond belief, and no matter how hysterical Warmists become, that won’t change.

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John Kerry Plans Middle East Peace Speech Or Something

By William Teach December 28, 2016 – 8:53 am

The outgoing Team Obama has made a hash of the Middle East. They blew off the Iranian Green Revolution. They blew off the Arab Spring, right up till it hit Egypt, then they messed that up, even going as far as to back the Muslim Brotherhood candidates. They started a war in Libya to supposedly deal with the civil war and “protect” civilians (more like to protect the oil flowing to France and Britain), then left half the country a mess and in the hands of terrorists. Then there’s Syria and the utter incompetence of Obama’s policies. They saw the rise of ISIS and did little. Squishy policies on Iraq. The foolishness of the Iran deal. And, of course, their heavy handed policies towards Israel. There’s supposedly a transcript of the Obama administration working with the Palestinians on the anti-Israel resolution from the anti-Semitic United Nations.

So, now we have John Kerry

(Bloomberg) U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will offer a “comprehensive vision” for how Middle East peace can be achieved in a speech Wednesday in Washington, as Israel steps up its response to a censure from the United Nations over the construction of settlements in the West Bank.

With barely three weeks left in the Obama administration, Kerry will lay out his plan as tensions over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies threaten to leave Israel more isolated internationally. Along with the Kerry speech, France is gathering dozens of foreign ministers in Paris on Jan. 15 to discuss the conflict. Israeli officials say that could result in a proposal they view as unfavorable, which may then be taken to the UN for a seal of approval.

The U.S. last week broke with tradition and decided not to veto a UN Security Council resolution condemning the West Bank settlements. Israel has already moved to limit ties with countries that voted for the resolution, rebuked member states’ representatives, recalled ambassadors from co-sponsors New Zealand and Senegal and pledged to cut off nearly $8 million in funding to UN institutions.

Kerry, describing himself as a “lifelong friend of Israel,” defended the U.S. decision to abstain on the vote in a Dec. 23 statement, warning that the possibility of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “is now in jeopardy, with terrorism, violence and incitement continuing and unprecedented steps to expand settlements being advanced by avowed opponents of the two state solution.”

Lifelong friends of Israel do not do that to an ally, especially when it is Israel constantly under assault from people who hate Israel and hate Jews. It’s the Palestinians and other Middle East players who are constantly attacking Israel, particularly civilians, with guns and bombs and rockets. Yet, rarely does the United Nations condemn the Palestinians, which are essentially run by a political party which grew from a terrorist organization.

And, tell me, from your personal experience, if someone is slamming you, is complaining about you to the boss, is bad mouthing you, do you work with them? What reason is there for Israel to work with the people who hate them, who hate Jews, and want to take away the land Israel won in wars they didn’t start?

Perhaps the United Nations, and Team Obama should worry more about the spread of radical Islam.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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