NY Times Fake News: Pax American Is Over, Doom Around The World To Ensue

By William Teach December 17, 2016 – 7:15 am

Can opinion pieces be that “fake news” that Liberals are all losing their minds over? A goodly chunk seems to be based on things that might possibly maybe happen and if they do WE ARE ALL DOOMED!!!!!!! The NY Times features a slightly higher level of moonbattery/Trump Derangement Syndrome this morning, making it actually hard to pick which opinion piece is the most wacky. We have multiple pieces proclaiming Trump’s pick for Ambassador to Israel is going to essentially cause war, including by the Editorial Board (hint: they lost the election.) We have another by a Chilean stating that Americans now know how it feels that Russia rigged the election, because the CIA did that to Chili. Paul Krugman is whining about useful idiots (hint: Krugman lost the election). And another wondering if Trump is a threat to democracy.

Then there’s this one, about liberals suffering collective trauma. Think on that as you read the above links, and this nutty one by Roger Cohen, which has the subhead “The United States will be agnostic on human rights, freedom and democracy.”

Pax American Is Over

The thing about “The Apprentice” is you could turn it off. Now we get to watch Donald Trump all the time. There’s nowhere to hide. I was in Papua New Guinea recently. His name kept coming up.

The appointments cascade at reality-show speed. Rick Perry to head the Energy Department whose name he couldn’t remember when he wanted to dismantle it! Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency he’s spent the last several years suing! A fierce critic of worker protections to be secretary of labor! An oil executive, Rex Tillerson, whose company owns drilling rights on 63.7 million acres in Russia to handle dealings with Vladimir Putin when Moscow just infiltrated the American election process!

Next up: Kim Jong-un as press secretary, Cruella de Vil to head the Humane Society, and Mata Hari to lead the Cybersecurity National Action Plan.

Sounds like collective trauma, which can be also referred to as moonbattery and Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS).

But some things may be emerging from the fog. Trump is not interested in the rules-based international order the United States has spent the last seven decades building and defending. His foreign policy will be transactional. If it profits America, fine. If not, forget about it. Trump’s United States will be agnostic on human rights, freedom and democracy. America, suspending moral judgment, will behave a lot more like China on the world stage.

Cohen then goes on to say China is still better, though. TDS. He’s not quite sure what Trump might do about Syria and Aleppo. Perhaps saying it’s sad and asking Middle East nations to pitch on (though Cohen does briefly note that Syria is a huge stain on Obama).

America is an idea. Strip freedom, human rights, democracy and the rule of law from what the United States represents to the world and America itself is gutted. Of course, realpolitik driven by interests is integral to American foreign policy, but a valueless approach of the kind Trump proposes leaves the world rudderless.

This is all interesting, because Obama has pretty much done nothing on human rights, freedom, democracy, and the rule of law, both domestically and internationally. He attacked Libya, then left it to turn to shambles and a hotbed of radical Islam. He’s blown up our relations with Israel and Egypt. Not that al-Sisi is a great guy, but, Obama and Hillary backed the Muslim Brotherhood there. They told us Assad in Syria was a “reformer.” They did nothing about the civil war in Syria. Hillary said dealing with climate change was more important than China’s human rights abuses. Obama opens up Cuba but ignored their human rights abuses and dictatorial government. And, among many more, created a deal where Iran can create nuclear weapons in 10 years.

What say, Roger Cohen? Why did you liberals have no complaints about Obama and Hillary? When Obama ignored the rule of law here, used the IRS and other federal agencies to attack political opponents, and so many other things, you either were silent or even cheerleaded. Now you complain about things that haven’t even happened for a guy who hasn’t even taken office yet.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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Posted in Barking Moonbats, Wonky Media | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

California Looks To Raise Computer Costs For Hotcoldwetdry

By William Teach December 16, 2016 – 3:29 pm

The People’s Republik Of California is at it again

You might remember the name Tatiana Schlossberg from a post earlier in the day. She wrote this one, as well, though, she’s mostly just reporting the stupid news

Computers, long a symbol of the digital age, are now moving into a more earth-friendly future: California’s state energy agency voted unanimously Wednesday to approve new regulations for energy efficiency in desktop computers and monitors.

The rules, passed by the agency, the California Energy Commission, are the country’s first attempt to regulate the energy use of desktop computers and represent another step in the state’s efforts to drastically lower its greenhouse gas emissions to address climate change.

Of course. One might think “seriously, how many people still use desktops?” Individuals may be switching, both personally and professionally, but lots and lots of companies, and individuals, still use lots of desktops.

Because the state is home to one in eight Americans, standards put in place could become de facto standards for the entire country, and, when it comes to international brands, the global market.

What this means is higher costs for the rest of us, because manufacturers won’t make one edition for CA and one for the rest, and certainly won’t tell CA they won’t make any to uphold those standards.

Will the energy savings offset the higher costs? Think on how many computers, tablets, and smartphones are currently Energy Star compliant now. According to the article, only 6% of desktops and 14% of monitors. One of the things I look for is energy savings. Hard to find.

Read: California Looks To Raise Computer Costs For Hotcoldwetdry »

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If All You See…

By William Teach December 16, 2016 – 1:00 pm

…is a river frozen from too much carbon pollution causing extreme weather, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Raised On Hoecakes, with a post on “hacking democracy.”

Read: If All You See… »

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Dozens Attend Anti-Gun Violence Vigil Or Something

By William Teach December 16, 2016 – 10:30 am

Anti-2nd Amendment liberals, er, anti-gun violence activists, had a big vigil Thursday. Did you even know about this?

(WTVD) As part of a national day of remembrance for gun violence victims across America, several nonprofit groups held a vigil Thursday evening at Davie Street Presbyterian Church in Raleigh. Their goal was to specifically recall the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012.

North Carolinians Against Gun Violence coordinated the evening’s vigil with the assistance of MomsRising, NC AIDS Action Network, NC Council of Churches, Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham, NC Coalition Against Domestic Violence, NC Justice Center, Parents of Murdered Children, and others.

“We do believe gun violence affects all of us. And where do we go from here?” asked the Rev. Byron Wade, pastor of Davie Street Presbyterian.

Where they want to go is gun confiscation and abridging 2nd Amendment Rights for those who are law abiding owners. Rarely do they talk about or propose going hard after those who illegally use guns.

Anyhow, how’d it work out in Raleigh, a city of over 472 thousand people, with hundreds of thousands more in the surrounding cities?

Attendance for the nearly 45-minute long vigil was in the dozens; and the thread was evident.

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Good Grief: NY Times Blames Cold Weather On Global Warming

By William Teach December 16, 2016 – 7:49 am

NY Times writer Tatiana Schlossberg goes full bore Cultist (via Eric Worrell at Watts Up With That?)

Feeling a Chill? Blame the Polar Vortex. And Global Warming.

On Thursday, temperatures on the East Coast are expected to plummet, and some people — fellow journalists and weather broadcasters, we’re looking at you — may start talking about a “polar vortex.”

We thought you might want to know what the polar vortex is, and what it’s not.

(And we wanted to pre-empt the inevitable chatter about climate changethat usually crops up when the thermometer drops — “It’s bone-shakingly cold, how could the Earth be warming?” We’ll tell you how.)

When these cold snaps come, you may hear other people asking,” If global warming is supposed to be warming the globe, then why is it so cold?”

Well, for starters, there is a difference between weather and climate. Climate refers to the long-term averages and trends in atmospheric conditions over large areas, while weather deals with short-term variations, which is what happens when the polar vortex visits your hometown.

Interesting. Because she’s saying the cold weather, something we get during, get this, winter, is now climate change.

And the earth is definitely warming: Temperature records show that, by the end of last year, the earth’s surface had warmed by about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit since the 19th century. But even though the earth’s surface is warming, scientists say that winter will still exist.

Warming doesn’t prove causation: just that it has warmed. Like it has done numerous times during the Holocene, not too mention the rest of the Earth’s history. And that, my dear Tatiana, is the argument: causation.

And even if parts of the United States are experiencing unusually cold temperatures, it represents such a small portion of the earth’s surface — about 2 percent — that it does not mean much in terms of average global temperatures.

So, when there is a little warming in one place Warmists will use that to proclaim doom. When there’s contradictory weather, or even climate, they trot out the “2 percent” argument. Regardless, Eric Worrell noted “New York Times published similar articles blaming global warming for extreme winter weather in 2014, 2013, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008…”

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Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming, New Climate Deniers | 13 Comments | Trackback URL

CNN Pushes Electors To Be Faithless

By William Teach December 16, 2016 – 7:11 am

For the past month, as you’ve certainly seen, it’s been all the rage within the Democrat community to try and get enough members of the Electoral College to become faithless, which would, at a minimum, send the election to the House of Representatives which would then vote to pick someone. Which would be Trump, really, since they have to chose from those who were running. Their real objective, which they work to deny, is to get enough to switch to make Hillary president.

CNN features yet another of these missives by Scott Piro, supposedly an “Independent” (uh huh), with the typical tag about this not necessarily reflecting the views of CNN. If the shoe was reversed, would CNN be running this type of opinion piece, or would they be shooting down the notion of faithless electors?

It’s time for the Electoral College to fall on its sword

Amid the last month’s exhausting drama around Cabinet picks and presidential tweetstorms, one date stands out — December 19, the day the Electoral College picks our next president.

As hope from Jill Stein’s recount fades for Hillary Clinton’s supporters, another Hail Mary chance to thwart Donald Trump’s presidency has taken its place: that enough members of the Electoral College sworn to vote for Trump will break their pledge and vote to elect an alternate candidate.

America needs 37 “faithless electors” from states Trump won to do this in order to drop him below the 270 threshold and block him from automatically winning the White House. (snip)

There is still one idea with the power not only to end a Trump administration, but also to eradicate democracy’s ugliest anachronism — the Electoral College. Thirty-eight faithless electors from states Trump won switching their votes to Clinton would do it. Regardless of your political affiliation, it would be the best possible thing for America in the long run.

How would this be the best thing? Trump won fair and square according to the rules as set up by the Constitution. The Washington Post’s Charles Lane lays out why the system works. And, let’s face it, if this happens, and Trump doesn’t end up president, do all these sore losers think there will be no consequences? Especially if Hillary wins? The words “violent insurrection” and “rebellion” come to mind.

The Electoral College has contradicted the popular vote in two of the last five presidential elections, electing a Republican president in both those splits. Not surprisingly, many Democrats already favor abolishing it. The system favors the GOP because too many liberal voters live in too few (primarily coastal) states.

Can’t run this type of piece without a Florida 2000 whine.

Swing voters, centrists and moderate Republicans, you have less than a week to join fed-up Democrats in raising hell to persuade 38 Trump electors to vote for Clinton, putting enough pressure on them that they risk whatever fallout may come from their actions. In the short term, it would elect Hillary Clinton, whom you may not support. But in the long run, it’s the only way to take our democracy back. Make the federal government acknowledge we are smart enough to elect our own president.

“you have less than a week to join sore loser Democrats…..it’s the only way to take our democracy back.” Who are they taking their “democracy” back from? The guy who spent time working the people on the ground and earned their votes, as opposed to the woman who spent her time at fundraisers with the 1%ers Democrats say they hate? The guy who worked the system and won? The guy who played by the rules? Democrats are simply setting themselves up to be sore losers for at least the next 4 years.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: CNN Pushes Electors To Be Faithless »

Posted in Barking Moonbats, Elections, Liberal World | 104 Comments | Trackback URL

Vulnerable Democrats Suddenly Open To Replacing Ocare

By William Teach December 15, 2016 – 5:07 pm

The hell you say!

(Politico) Senate Democrats will never vote to repeal Obamacare. But once the deed is done, a surprising number of them say they’re open to helping Republicans replace it.

“If it makes sense, I think there’ll be a lot of Democrats who would be for it,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.).

As Republicans aim to make good on their years-long vow to quash Obamacare and replace it with their own health care vision, they’ll have to do something Democrats were never able to: Bring members of the opposing party on board. Enacting any substantive alternative will take at least eight Democratic votes in the Senate.

Why? Republicans can repeal it and replace it in exactly the same fashion as Democrats passed it, using parliamentary shenanigans.

Yet the GOP will have powerful leverage that Democrats lacked in 2009 – namely, a huge number of members facing reelection in hostile territory.

Twenty-five Democrats are on the ballot in 2018, including 10 in states that Donald Trump just won. The GOP is betting that many or most in the latter group will be under irresistible pressure to back an Obamacare replacement, if the alternative is leaving millions of people in the lurch without insurance.

Think those vulnerable Democrats do not understand just how toxic Ocare has been to Democrats? They can surely see that tally sheet showing how many seats at the federal, state, county, and local levels that Republicans have taken over. And these Democrats are more interested in retaining their seats and power rather than holding firm to their belief in this rat turd of a bill they voted to pass.

Read: Vulnerable Democrats Suddenly Open To Replacing Ocare »

Posted in Democrats, Healthcare | 7 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach December 15, 2016 – 1:00 pm

…is carbon pollution created snow and ice, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Daley Gator, with a post on who needs high capacity magazines.

Read: If All You See… »

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California Governor Threatens To Launch “Own Damn (Climate) Satellite”

By William Teach December 15, 2016 – 10:30 am

Because Donald Trump could conceivably just turn off the ones we have

(Gizmodo) With his latest cabinet picks, Donald Trump has strongly signaled that his administration will do little to combat climate change, which he once called a hoax invented by the Chinese. If the President-elect tries to stop climate research, however, California’s Governor has promised to fight him at every turn.

In a barnburner speech on Wednesday, Governor Jerry Brown vowed to defy any attempt by the future President to “mess with” the state’s earth science programs, telling a group of geophysicists in San Francisco, “We will persevere.”

“We’ve got the scientists, we’ve got the lawyers and we’re ready to fight,” Brown told the American Geophysical Union to wild applause. “If Trump turns off the satellites, California will launch its own damn satellite.”

Remember, these are scientists who are supposedly scientists, not activists, not political. Yet, they cheered wildly for a very partisan governor giving a speech, which also included a shot at Rick Perry, who has been nominated to head the Department of Energy

“Rick, I got some news for you,” said Brown. “California is growing a hell of a lot faster than Texas. And we’ve got more sun than you have oil.”

Bringing in tons of illegal aliens to offset all the jobs lost to Texas isn’t quite the growth they need. Interestingly, it is a whole lot easier for companies and citizens in Texas to put up solar panels and solar farm than in California, due to the massive discrepancy between the regulatory systems in the two states.

Read: California Governor Threatens To Launch “Own Damn (Climate) Satellite” »

Posted in Global Warming | 20 Comments | Trackback URL

The Era Of Trump Is Turning Climate Scientists Into Activists Or Something

By William Teach December 15, 2016 – 8:18 am

It’s sudden!

Trump’s skepticism about climate change is turning scientists into activists

Scientists aren’t generally known for their political protests. But like so many things, that’s all changing under the shadow of a looming Trump presidency.

Dec. 12 marked the start of the four-day American Geophysical Union conference, a gathering of climate scientists that isn’t typically known for its raucous itinerary. But on Dec. 13, in between sessions on nonlinear geophysics, seismology, and the study of the earth’s deep interior, many attendees also took to the streets of San Francisco to protest the incoming administration’s stance on climate change. The rally drew hundreds of participants.

And to highlight that notion of climate scientists being non-partisan, they highlight

At the AGU conference, worries abound over future funding for research, jobs, and, of course, Earth. Peter de Menocal, dean of science at Columbia University, told NPR he has heard colleagues express “feelings of rage, anger, confusion, fear—they’re all negative emotions.”

But, mostly the money.

“This is a frightening moment,” said Harvard history of science professor Naomi Oreskest at the protest. “We have to get out and explain to people why this science matters.”

Money, jobs, and power.

In fact, a goodly chunk of the “climate scientists” in the public eye have been activists for years if not decades. Many explicitly call for some sort of carbon tax and/or cap and trade scheme (such as Gavin Schmidt, the guy in charge of GISS). They have been caught manipulating data. Many fight tooth and nail to hide their data and methods, which were paid for with taxpayer funds. They show up at protests and rallies, and some of them even get arrested (such as James Hansen, who was director of Goddard at NASA, and who has been arrested while still in the employment of the government).

Yes, there are good people who do good work in a non-partisan way, gathering data, looking at data, publishing data, without getting political. There are more than enough, though, who are partisan hacks, and show that this whole “blame Mankind” schitck is a hustle.

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Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 26 Comments | Trackback URL
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