Warmists Want To Bring Back The Age Of Sailing Ships

By William Teach August 17, 2016 – 5:20 pm

OK, OK, perhaps the headline is a bit over the top, but, seriously these are the kinds of things the Cult of Climastrology worries about

Why aren’t ships using wind-power to cut their climate footprint?
Industry claims to have no control over its rising emissions, blaming the growth in global trade, but low-carbon alternatives such as wind power do exist

MS Estraden looks, on first glance, like a normal cargo ship. Just another one of the 50,000 vessels transporting pretty much everything we buy, sell and consume.

But on closer inspection, ship-spotting enthusiasts will notice two large cylinders rising from the deck. These are rotating devices that capture wind and help propel the ship forward. It is technology first trialled back in the 1920s, but only now brought into commercial use.

Why does it have those?

For the past year and a half, the MS Estraden, which belongs to the Dutch-owned shipping company Bore, has been testing out the cylinders on its regular journey between Rotterdam and Teesport, on the north-east coast of the UK. The result: it has cut fuel costs by 6% (pdf).

To save money!

Shipping brings us 90% of everything we buy and consume, yet most of us remain blind to both its role in our lives and its contribution to global climate emissions: currently around 3%. The industry has no targets for reducing emissions; the climate talks in Paris last year were skilfully negotiated with warnings that a cap on emissions for shipping would be a cap on global trade and growth.

On current projections, the sector could be contributing upwards of 6% (pdf) of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

So, of course Warmists want some sort of fee or tax for shipping, as well as spending lots of money to have sails on the ships. Think I’m kidding? Check many of the photos at the story.

Maersk, one of the few shipping companies to set itself targets for reducing emissions, says cost savings rather than consumer demand remains the main driving force. “There is a limit to how far we can go alone,” says John Kornerup Bang, Maersk’s lead adviser on climate change. “We need fair regulation and limits for the industry, otherwise there is a gap between the free ride of those doing nothing and us.”

In other words, government forcing Everyone to make these changes. Why does the end result of ‘climate change’ policies always result in more government control?

Read: Warmists Want To Bring Back The Age Of Sailing Ships »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 12 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach August 17, 2016 – 1:00 pm

…is a sea rising up and swamping the land because That Guy refuses to use two sheets of TP, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Fire Andrea Mitchell, with a post on the shakeup in the Trump campaign.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

Who Wants A Googly Eyed Purple Squid?

By William Teach August 17, 2016 – 11:46 am

Last year we got a look at a squid that looked like a cross between a Pokemon and a PacMan ghost. Now we have this adorable little bugger

Is it a new Pokemon? Mr Snuffleupagus from Sesame Street? Or perhaps the new mascot for the Dockers?

You could be forgiven for thinking this unusual sea creature is something out of this world, but it’s actually a very rare natural sight captured by scientists exploring the ocean floor off California.

Known as a Rossia pacifica or stubby squid, this amazing cephalopod was spotted 900 metres below the surface by the research vessel EV Nautilus, which is supported by The Ocean Exploration Trust founded by Dr Robert Ballard, who located the wreck of the Titanic in 1985.

This discovery is on a much smaller scale though: stubby squid grow to a maximum length of just 11cm, spending their lives on the sea floor using those big eyes to spot predators and prey on shrimp and small fish. Stubby squid inhabit areas of the Northern Pacific from Japan to southern California and like to bury themselves in the sea floor for protection, leaving only their eyes poking out.

They aren’t usually spotted as purple, though.

Read: Who Wants A Googly Eyed Purple Squid? »

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Bummer: You’re Feeling Collective Grief Over ‘Climate Change’ And Don’t Even Know It

By William Teach August 17, 2016 – 8:12 am

These people. I’m not even sure of where to begin on this level of bat guano insanity

Are We Feeling Collective Grief Over Climate Change?
The idea is highly controversial, but at least one psychiatrist is convinced that we are, whether we know it or not

…..

Yet (Dr. Susteren, a psychiatrist, and, unshockingly, a climate activist) speaks of a collective anxiety that is insidious, even if we haven’t managed to connect all the dots.

“There isn’t the slightest shred of doubt in my mind, that everyone on some level is anxious, deeply anxious, about climate change,” the forensic psychiatrist says. She attributes her belief to decades of experience with people who have difficulty knowing what they are feeling on a deeper level, and she understands that anxiety comes from many headwaters.

Deeply, peeps! Deeply! And many of you are in denial as to how deep the anxiety is

“We can be anxious about ISIS, we can be anxious about our kids . . . our health, our finances and all the rest. The confluence is such that it becomes amorphous and we walk around with a great deal of indescribable unease. And it can be either very difficult, or people will outright deny—depending on how deep or great their walls are—that it is coming from an overwhelming sense that the world is turned upside down from climate.”

See?

“Denial is something that allows us sometimes to get through the day,” says Dr. Van Susteren. “And in some cases that’s really good, that’s adaptive, but in other cases it’s going to kill you . . . and this one’s going to kill you.”

Kill you! Of course, denial is the first step. Then we get the gamut of climate insanity attached to anger, bargaining, depression, and finally, acceptance. They’re using the Kübler-Ross framework for Hotcoldwetdry.

Meanwhile, the cauldron simmers with a stew of emotions, actions and inactions. The realities hit closer to home with every Hurricane Sandy, each new Zika hot spot on the map, and with the ever-dwindling array of animals, from the Monarch butterfly, to the pelican and stork and 1300 other types of birds whose collective song, or lack thereof, might well serve as warning: we, too are a threatened species.

Remember that Hurricane Sandy-style storm that hit in 2013? Or 2014? 2015? Wait, there weren’t any? Seriously, this kind of article exposes the self-induced clinical insanity of the Cult of Climastrology. Funny how their own anxiety doesn’t produce actions within their own lives, like giving up the use of fossil fuels, purchasing expensive solar panels for their homes, only buying local, growing their own food, keeping their appliances unplugged when not in use, taking two minute showers, only using two squares of toilet paper, etc. Instead, they’re trying to make everyone else as mentally unstable as they themselves are.

Read: Bummer: You’re Feeling Collective Grief Over ‘Climate Change’ And Don’t Even Know It »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming, Unhinged Tools | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

NY Times: Aetna Dramatically Decreasing Participation In Obamacare Is Just A Hiccup

By William Teach August 17, 2016 – 7:45 am

Aetna has announced that it will significantly reduce its participation in the Obamacare exchanges due to losing quite a bit of money. Many other insurance providers have done the same or pulled out completely. According to the NY Times Editorial Board, the obvious idea here is to scrap it and start over with ideas that actually work strengthen Ocare

Die-hard opponents of the 2010 health reform law, the Affordable Care Act, have often used its real and imagined problems to argue that it is fatally flawed. Now they are seizing on an announcement by Aetna that it will reduce its participation in the health insurance marketplaces set up by the law. Donald Trump’s campaign called Aetna’s move “the latest blow to this broken law that is slowly imploding under its regulatory red tape.”

This is hyperbole. The law has survived many setbacks, and it will overcome Aetna’s decision, too.

Why does it seem there are always “setbacks” occurring with this law? Companies that actually provide health insurance bolting is more than just a setback: what do you replace them with?

About 11 million people have bought policies, and the government provides tax credits to 85 percent of them to make the coverage affordable.

The original idea was to provide insurance for the 40-45 million who did not have insurance. That was scaled back to 20 million. Using the first number, that’s only around a quarter of the number insured. The second, that’s slightly over 50% insured. 50% is failing.

But some big national insurers like UnitedHealth, Humana and now Aetna say they are losing too much money on marketplace policies. The reason is that the customers they signed up used more medical services than the insurers had anticipated…

Well, gee willickers, if only someone had predicted that this would occur.

It is clear, however, that Congress should strengthen the marketplaces to ensure sufficient competition. For example, it could encourage more healthy people to buy insurance by extending tax credits to families that now earn too much to qualify. Many of those people find it cheaper to pay the tax penalty for not having insurance than to buy it. If more healthy people participated, more insurers would want to be on the exchanges. Congress and state governments could also consider offering a government insurance plan in rural areas and other places where there is little or no competition, as President Obama and Hillary Clinton have proposed.

Let’s see: giving tax credits which aren’t paid for to increase coverage. I guess the stick of fining people for being citizens hasn’t worked. Getting healthy people to participate? I guess threatening them with fines for being citizens isn’t working. And, then, of course, a cute little way to slip in single payer, ie, government run healthcare.

BTW, Hillary and others are pimping the public option, also known as single payer, ie, government run healthcare, as well.

Any law as complex and comprehensive as the Affordable Care Act is bound to have some hiccups. The only sensible response to those problems is to improve the law.

Any law that is this complicated and intrusive, written by interest groups and far left ideologues, which was not read by the majority of those who voted to pass it, and gave the Executive Branch tons of new powers and leeway to create powers doesn’t need improvement: it needs to be scrapped and replaced with sensible measures that, at worst, create hiccups. Insurance providers fleeing the marketplace is not a hiccup: it’s a disaster. One that was predicted, but a disaster nonetheless, especially when it’s paired with things like reduced medical facility coverage, coops collapsing, and jobs being reduced. Deductibles were already high, and premiums continue to go up up up. The money insurance providers receive from the federal government, ie, corporate welfare, to keep prices low(ish) ends in 2017. Repealing and replacing Ocare at this point of operation would be difficult, but, it can still be done.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: NY Times: Aetna Dramatically Decreasing Participation In Obamacare Is Just A Hiccup »

Posted in Healthcare, Wonky Media | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

Bernie Sanders Chimes In On Aetna Ocare Issue

By William Teach August 16, 2016 – 7:17 pm

I thought this deserved a separate quick post. Liberals say that Republicans and delving into conspiracy theories that Ocare was set up for insurance companies to fail in order to push single payer. Let’s ask Bernie Sanders

Read: Bernie Sanders Chimes In On Aetna Ocare Issue »

Posted in Democrats, Healthcare | 30 Comments | Trackback URL

Did Democrat AGs Break The Law In Their ‘Climate Change’ Inquisition?

By William Teach August 16, 2016 – 5:25 pm

Not that Democrats care about breaking the law when whatever “justice” they’re interested in is at stake

(Daily Caller)  A legal expert in financial law said the Democrat-lead probe targeting ExxonMobil is likely illegal and a ruse to paint those investigating the company as champions “in the fight against global warming.”

The Exxon subpoena into the company’s knowledge about internal climate change reports is an abuse of extraordinary powers. It allowed attorneys general (AGs) to subpoena private documents without either obtaining a court order or filing a complaint, Merritt Fox, a professor of law at Columbia Law School, wrote Monday at National Law Journal.

Essentially, Fox is noting that there is nothing contained within any documents that would leave an investor to not invest. No laws were broken by Exxon, and if people were given the small amount of information on Hotcoldwetdry from the company, people would still invest. Is the investigation illegal? I’ll leave it to you to read the articles, but, let’s consider that these are fishing expeditions against private companies engaged in Constitutional Free Speech, and there is not one bit of proof of actual fraud.

Fox, who is also the NASDAQ professor for the Law and Economics of Capital Markets at Columbia University, suggested that from his vantage point, the inquisition looks more like an AG attempting to convince people he is a warrior in the battle against global warming.

“It is really about the attorney general acting as a champion in the fight against global warming,” Fox said, referencing a press release announcing the probe by Schneiderman in which the AG describes storm damage to his state as one of the reasons for the investigation.

I disagree with Fox on this a bit. While they may be attempting to look good for Leftist/Progressives/Democrats, this is about blatant political power. Forcing companies to do what they want (something Fox mentions later), scaring them, putting them under the government thumb, shutting down free speech and free association, scaring individuals and small entities, while also attempting to force them to pony up fines, fees, and payoffs.

Read: Did Democrat AGs Break The Law In Their ‘Climate Change’ Inquisition? »

Posted in Democrats, Global Warming | 9 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

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

…is a backyard flooded due to carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Doug Ross @ Journal, with a post on a perfect Clinton sign.

Yes, it’s still Olympics time, and these posts are still open threads to discuss whatever you want.

Read: If All You See… »

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Surprise: Aetna Cutting Back Most Involvement In Obamacare

By William Teach August 16, 2016 – 10:38 am

Gee, who could have seen this coming?

(The Hill) In a blow to the health care law, Aetna — one of the largest health insurers in the country — announced Monday that it will significantly scale back its presence on the ObamaCare marketplaces next year.

The company said it will scale back from participating in 15 states this year to just four states in 2017.

“As a strong supporter of public exchanges as a means to meet the needs of the uninsured, we regret having to make this decision,” Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini said in a statement, citing a loss of $200 million in the second quarter.

Of course, Team Obama in no way sees this as a problem, because, let’s face it, they can’t admit that this is a disaster. A disaster that was predicted prior to passage.

Nor should you feel bad for Aetna. Like so many insurance companies, they were cheerleaders for Ocare, thinking they would make some sweet, sweet cash off it.

What this will mean, though, are calls for moving towards single payer, where the government is the insurance company. Really, this was the goal the whole time. They’ll say that since private companies cannot provide coverage, then the government must do it.

Read: Surprise: Aetna Cutting Back Most Involvement In Obamacare »

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Jesse Jackson Seems Rather Upset About The “Powder Keg” Of Milwaukee

By William Teach August 16, 2016 – 7:21 am

As Milwaukee stews a blend of violence, Liberals keep telling us how racist and stuff the city is. Most conveniently forget to tell us something rather important. Jess Jackson is the latest become forgetful

Jesse Jackson: The shame of Milwaukee

Now it is Milwaukee. On Saturday, a car with two African-American men was stopped for “suspicion.” The men fled, the policeman pursued, and the driver, reportedly armed, was shot and killed.

And Milwaukee exploded. Angry crowds confronted police, set fires, threw rocks. At least half-dozen businesses — including a grocery store, a gas station and an auto parts shop — were robbed or destroyed. The Saturday shooting was part of a weekend filled with violence in Milwaukee. Five people were shot and killed overnight Friday.

Milwaukee law mandates an investigation of any police shooting. Immediately, focus goes to the harsh relations between police and the community. But to understand the reaction to the shooting, it is necessary to go much deeper.

The guy who was killed was a stone cold criminal. He was not a good guy. And, he was shot by a black officer. That part is forgotten, as well.

This city is “a powder keg,” Ald. Khalif Rainey told The Washington Post. “This entire community has sat back and witnessed how Milwaukee, Wis., has become the worst place to live for African-Americans in the entire country. Now this is a warning cry. … Do we continue — continue with the inequities, the injustice, the unemployment, the undereducation…? The black people of Milwaukee are tired. They’re tired of living under this oppression. This is their existence. This is their life. This is the life of their children.”

An exaggeration? An excuse for rioters? Inflated rhetoric? Consider Milwaukee’s stark realities.

Milwaukee is the most segregated city in the United States. Black household income is the third lowest in the U.S. Its black poverty rate is the highest in the U.S.

These are figures presented in a haunting and damning 2015 report, “The Shame of Milwaukee: Race, Segregation and Inequality,” by Marc V. Levine of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

What’s missing? You can surely guess that the word “Democrat” is not in attendance. Democrats have run Milwaukee lock, stock, and barrel for over 100 years

https://twitter.com/Jedidiah412/status/765231057314742272

What we have here is yet another example of a Democrat Party run city being racist and segregated, with a poor outlook for black people.

Milwaukee is not the worst. Black income has plummeted more in Cleveland and Detroit. School segregation is worse in New York and Chicago. Violence stalks the mean streets of impoverished urban neighborhoods across the country.

Why do so many Democratic Party run cities have so many problems with racism?

 

Read: Jesse Jackson Seems Rather Upset About The “Powder Keg” Of Milwaukee »

Posted in Current Affairs, Democrats | 8 Comments | Trackback URL
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