UN Green Climate Fund Increases Staffing By 150% After Obama Contributes $500 Million Of Taxpayer Money

By William Teach March 14, 2016 – 8:39 am

One of the problems with many organizations, be that environmental or about helping people, is that they spend a huge amount of their “budget”, said budget which usually comes from donations, fundraising, and/or taxpayer money, on staffing, fundraising, and other things instead of the causes and people it was meant to support. If you’ve ever read Michael Crichton’s State Of Fear, this is what so many environmental groups do. There are certain groups which always show up during disasters that I refuse to donate too, because only a small percentage of the money I donate makes it to those in need. Which is despicable.

When Obama gave away $500 million in taxpayer money to the GCF, I wrote of the plan to increase staffing

So, instead of being spent on ‘climate change’ initiatives, a goodly chunk will simply go towards paying for administration. Will the UN provide all the details on how the money is spent? Doubtful.

And here’s the answer

(CNS News) The U.N. Green Climate Fund’s governing board has approved a proposal to hike the number of permanent staff at the body’s secretariat by 150 percent by the end of next year – from the current 56 positions to 140.

The decision, made at a meeting at the GCF’s headquarters in Songdo, South Korea last week, came days after the Obama administration confirmed payment of the first $500,000 of a $3-billion, four-year pledge to the fund, whose aim is to help developing countries reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to phenomena blamed on climate change.

The staff will make a nice bit of moola, instead of working for peanuts, “paying their fair share”, to use liberal talking points

The GCF’s administration budget for 2016, agreed at the last board meeting four months ago, is $29.157 million. The breakdown is $3.64 million for the board, $24.64 million for the secretariat, and $0.87 million for the trustee – the entity responsible for the receipt, investment and transfer of financial contributions.

Of the $3.64 million budgeted for the board this year, $1.32 million is for board meetings and $22,500 is for travel for the two co-chairs and board representative.

Of the $24.64 million budgeted for the secretariat this year, $11.36 million is for staff salaries and costs, and $13.28 million is for “non-staff costs,” including travel, contractual services and communication costs.

Good work if you can get it. Simple math would tell us that these green climate warriors make almost $200,000 a year. Plus perks and travel and stuff. But, I bet they are very good at distributing the slush fund to dictators while telling citizens living in huts with dirt floors that they may not have modern electricity, fossil fueled vehicles, refrigerators, and all the other modern conveniences the employees at the UN GCF enjoy.

But, hey, we can all rely on the United Nations to use the money wisely, right?

Congress should reduce the State Department budge by $500 million for the next fiscal year.

Read: UN Green Climate Fund Increases Staffing By 150% After Obama Contributes $500 Million Of Taxpayer Money »

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Ben Shapiro, Michelle Fields Resign From Breitbart

By William Teach March 14, 2016 – 8:14 am

Does anyone watch Cutthroat Kitchen? I love that show, and the dry humor of the host Alton Brown. If you missed last night’s episode, it had this in the 2nd judging phase

That’s what so many at Breitbart have attempted to do, kill Andrew Breitbart’s dream. I’ve noted on a few occasions on Twitter that I believe Andrew Breitbart would be appalled at the direction the conservative news site he founded has taken. It has become more of an advocacy site for Donald Trump, in much the same way Glenn Beck has become a bit unhinged over Trump, and an attack platform against those running against and/or say something negative about Trump. The comments are a cesspool of rabid Trump support, and you will be personally insulted if you dare take a stand against Trump. And, it appears that Michelle Fields and Ben Shapiro have had enough

(Buzzfeed) Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields and editor-at-large Ben Shapiro are resigning from the company over the site’s handling of Donald Trump’s campaign manager’salleged assault on Fields, BuzzFeed News has learned.

Fields and Shapiro informed Breitbart News chairman Steve Bannon of their decision Sunday night.

“Today I informed the management at Breitbart News of my immediate resignation,” Fields said in a statement sent to BuzzFeed News. “I do not believe Breitbart News has adequately stood by me during the events of the past week and because of that I believe it is now best for us to part ways.”

And, they didn’t. They didn’t in the articles and they didn’t in the comments. Shapiro wrote in his resignation

Andrew built his life and his career on one mission: fight the bullies. But Andrew’s life mission has been betrayed. Indeed, Breitbart News, under the chairmanship of Steve Bannon, has put a stake through the heart of Andrew’s legacy. In my opinion, Steve Bannon is a bully, and has sold out Andrew’s mission in order to back another bully, Donald Trump; he has shaped the company into Trump’s personal Pravda, to the extent that he abandoned and undercut his own reporter, Breitbart News’ Michelle Fields, in order to protect Trump’s bully campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who allegedly assaulted Michelle. I spoke with Michelle the night after the incident. She told me her story. That story was backed by audiotape, eyewitness testimony from The Washington Post’s Ben Terris, physical bruises, and video tape.

Both Lewandowski and Trump maligned Michelle in the most repulsive fashion. Meanwhile, Breitbart News not only stood by and did nothing outside of tepidly asking for an apology, they then attempted to abandon Michelle by silencing staff from tweeting or talking about the issue. Finally, in the ultimate indignity, they undermined Michelle completely by running a poorly-evidenced conspiracy theory as their lead story in which Michelle and Terris had somehow misidentified Lewandowski.

This is disgusting. Andrew never would have stood for it. No news outlet would stand for it.

What should have been a small affair became a huge one. Lewandowski should have simply apologized to Fields, and they could have moved on. But, the story became huge, and so many at Breitbart, in their rabid Trump support, took a stance against Fields, including wild conspiracy theories. She’s been trashed in the comments. So, how does Breitbart respond?

Ben Shapiro Betrays Loyal Breitbart Readers in Pursuit of Fox News Contributorship

Former Breitbart News editor-at-large Ben Shapiro announced Sunday evening via left-wing Buzzfeed that he is abandoning Andrew Breitbart’s lifelong best friend, widow, hand-picked management team and friends in pursuit of an elusive contributorship at the Fox News Channel.

Friends of Hamas could not be found for comment.

It goes down from there, a nice little hitjob that rather proved Shapiro’s point, and writer William Bigelow ends it thusly

Alleged Fox News contributor Michelle Fields also resigned.

So, a shot at the person who was assaulted and wanted her organization to stand with her. It’s no wonder many other employees of Breitbart are looking to get out. And the comments on that article? They remind me more of the fever swamps of the Democratic Underground and Daily Kos during their heyday of Bush Derangement Syndrome.

Breitbart’s dream has been killed.

Update: Breitbart has attempted to memory hole the article. You’ll get a 404 if you click the link, however, if you search “ben shapiro” it still shows in the search results

More: the article has been replaced, though you can see in the tab it still has the same title about betrayal, with this

The article was written by me as part of an effort to make light of a significant company event, and was published as a result of a misunderstanding without going through the normal editorial channels.

I apologize to Michelle Fields, my friend Ben Shapiro, and to everyone concerned.

If Pollack had an respect, any integrity, and balls, he’d put the entire article back up (sadly, I can’t pull it from the cache, it was overwritten) and append the mea culpa to the end.

Twitchy has coverage, with more screenshots, and, look, a cached version. Oh, and the name William Bigelow was used by Ben Shapiro’s dad to avoid all the death threats he gets.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Ben Shapiro, Michelle Fields Resign From Breitbart »

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Could A New Plastic Eating Bacteria Erase Plastic Pollution?

By William Teach March 13, 2016 – 7:22 pm

I may not believe in anthropogenic climate change, but I have always been an environmentalist. I despise pollution, and plastic pollution is a serious issue. The obvious way to deal with it is to stop polluting. Stop throwing plastics out in the street, if you will. Here’s a more realistic solution, because, let’s face it, some people are, well, let’s call them assholes

(CNN) Scientists in Japan have discovered a strain of bacteria that can eat plastic, a finding that might help solve the world’s fast-growing plastic pollution problem.

The species fully breaks down one of the most common kinds of plastic called Polyethylene terephthalate (PET). It’s the type often used to package bottled drinks, cosmetics and household cleaners.

The findings, published in the academic journal ‘Science‘ on Friday, say that “Ideonella sakaiensisbreaks down the plastic by using two enzymes to hydrolyze PET and a primary reaction intermediate, eventually yielding basic building blocks for growth.”

This could be really good news for the environment. Almost a third of all plastic packaging escapes collection systems and ends up in nature or clogging up infrastructure, the World Economic Forum (WEF) warned.

Sounds promising. Of course, this brings to mind a question: could these bacteria, if deployed throughout the world, cause an unintended problem?

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If All You See…

By William Teach March 13, 2016 – 1:00 pm

…is a wonderful home garden, which Everyone Else should be forced to create to reduce road miles, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Creeping Sharia, with a post on a Bernie supporter starring in an ISIS video.

It’s gardening week, what with Spring almost here.

Read: If All You See… »

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Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

By William Teach March 13, 2016 – 9:59 am

Patriotic Pinup Fiona Stephenson

Happy Sunday! It’s another gorgeous day in America. The Sun is shining, there’s a warmth of spring in the air, the mockingbirds are trolling the geese in the pond out back. This pinup is by Fiona Stephenson, with a wee bit of help.

What is happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15

  1. Independent Sentinel explain who Obama wants to help defeat ISIS
  2. Wizbang discusses Ann Coulter’s foot in mouth disease
  3. Western Hero has liberal’s dichotomy of thought
  4. Vox Popoli covers SJW’s putting theory (SJW’s always lie) into practice
  5. Vlad Tepes discusses whether ISIS is really Islamic
  6. This ain’t Hell… wonders if Bernie will denounce La Raza
  7. The People’s Cube explains that March is Leprechaun month
  8. The Other McCain covers the “enslavement of women”
  9. The Lonely Conservative explains that both Trump and Chicago are wrong
  10. The Liberty Zone explains that free speech is not just for those you like
  11. The Daley Gator wonders if Donald Trump remembers when he partially blamed Pam Geller
  12. Raised On Hoecakes offers a brilliant Bernie sign
  13. Powerline notes that Obama’s CIA director is against…..spying?
  14. Patterico covers the Trump supporter who supposedly gave a Nazi salute
  15. And last, but not least, Neo-neocon describes the Trump voter

As always, the full set of pinups can be seen in the Patriotic Pinup category, or over at my Gallery page. While we are on pinups, since it is that time of year, have you gotten your “Pinups for Vets” calendar yet? And don’t forget to check out what I declare to be our War on Women Rule 5 and linky luv posts and things that interest me

Don’t forget to check out all the other great material all the linked blogs have!

Anyone else have a link or hotty-fest going on? Let me know so I can add you to the list. (BTW, since someone asked, the reason I leave links for the previous week up (or you might see a *) is because they are place holders for later in the day or for next weeks. Easier than rewriting all the time. Also, the listing order has to do with how they are added over time, not how good a post is. I just copy and paste from the previous week, then edit. If you see one of the *’s, go ahead and check out the blog anyhow, see if there is an update. I cannot update with my Android during the day.

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Did Democrats Abandonment Of The Working Class Lead To The Rise Of Trump?

By William Teach March 13, 2016 – 9:06 am

There are all sorts of theories as to what gave rise to Donald Trump. The NY Post’s Kyle Smith argues that this was a long time in coming, as Democrats abandoned the working class

The elite professional class, in the 1950s one of the Republican party’s most reliable constituencies, became the very heart of the Democrats by the 1990s. The party of labor morphed into the party of lawyers. This didn’t happen by accident.

In his new book “Listen, Liberal, Or Whatever Happened to the Party of the People,” progressive commentator Thomas Frank (author of “What’s the Matter With Kansas?”) says Democrats need to take a good long look in the mirror if they want answers to why blue-collar workers are feeling abandoned and even infuriated by what used to be their party.

Many such voters are now backing Donald Trump, who is sketching out the problem with America in exactly the terms they agree with: Jobs are either going to Mexico, or going to Mexicans. Unchecked illegal immigration on the one hand and free trade on the other hand are driving down the wages of working-class Americans, or costing them their jobs outright.

Let’s think about this. Democrats have been calling themselves elites for decades. They imply that they are better than everyone else. They patronize the working class, and call for things like a $15 minimum wage, but, so much of what they actually implement is aimed for the betterment of the Professional Class at the expense of the working class, be it from the loss of jobs to raising the cost of living for the working class through various initiatives, such as ‘climate change’ policy. Donald Trump has tapped into this anger, sorrow, and concern in the working class.

This isn’t racism: angry Americans told they were losing their jobs at a doomed air-conditioner factory in Indiana wouldn’t have applauded if told production was moving to Canada instead of Mexico. Either way, they’re losing their jobs.

Of course it isn’t raaaaacism, but, this is the default position of the Democrats, to throw out smears designed to put people on the defensive when Dems have no legitimate argument.

In Frank’s analysis, around 1972 the Democrats started to suspect their lunch-bucket workers were warmongering dinosaurs doomed by their reliance on dying Rust Belt industries. The party placed its future in the hands of groovy technocrats in non-union fields and wrote off the workers, who soon defected to the Republican party even though Republicans didn’t and don’t apologize for being the party of capital.

The Republican Party stands for giving people a hand up. Democrats stand for a handout. A handout keeps people where they are, and beholden to the government, while the intelligentsia of the Democratic Party sip champagne in their hoity toity parties. And Donald Trump is here to exploit the woes of people who feel unprotected.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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Salon: Trump’s Not Really Hitler, He’s Mussolini

By William Teach March 12, 2016 – 3:06 pm

An article at the reliably bat guano insane Salon that isn’t quite so bat guano insane

Trump’s not Hitler, he’s Mussolini: How GOP anti-intellectualism created a modern fascist movement in America

In an interview with Slate, the historian of fascism Robert Paxton warns against describing Donald Trump as fascist because “it’s almost the most powerful epithet you can use.” But in this case, the shoe fits. And here is why.

Like Mussolini, Trump rails against intruders (Mexicans) and enemies (Muslims), mocks those perceived as weak, encourages a violent reckoning with those his followers perceive as the enemy within (the roughing up of protesters at his rallies), flouts the rules of civil political discourse (the Megyn Kelly menstruation spat), and promises to restore the nation to its greatness not by a series of policies, but by the force of his own personality (“I will be great for” fill in the blank).

Not much of a case for being a Mussolini type fascist, especially when the Obama movement featured much of the same (mocks, encouraging confrontation, and force of personality. Obama got others to do his uncivil discourse work).

To quote Paxton again, this time from his seminal “The Anatomy of Fascism”: “Fascist leaders made no secret of having no program.” This explains why Trump supporters are not bothered by his ideological malleability and policy contradictions: He was pro-choice before he was pro-life; donated to politicians while now he rails against that practice; married three times and now embraces evangelical Christianity; is the embodiment of capitalism and yet promises to crack down on free trade. In the words of the Italian writer Umberto Eco, fascism was “a beehive of contradictions.” It bears noting that Mussolini was a socialist unionizer before becoming a fascist union buster, a journalist before cracking down on free press, a republican before becoming a monarchist.

Some of the article makes sense, some of it is way off base. Of course, one has to wonder whether Trump is interested in making people not just reliant on The State, but getting people to worship The State above all others, which is an important part of fascism. Adherence to Government above all else. Government as the dominant, driving force for all citizens. Is he interested in nationalizing “the means of production”, along with simply creating massive central government control of the economy? I seriously doubt it.

Enter Fascism. Fascism promised people deliverance from politics.  Fascism was not just different type of politics, but anti-politics.  On the post-WWI ruins of the Enlightenment beliefs in progress and essential human goodness, Fascism embraced emotion over reason, action over politics.  Violence was not just a means to an end, but the end in itself because it brought man closer to his true inner nature.  War was an inevitable part of this inner essence of man.  Millions of European men had found this sense of purpose and camaraderie in the trenches of the First World War and were not going to sit idly by while politicians took it away from them after the war (famously, after the war Hitler was slow to demobilize and take off his uniform).  Fascists’ main enemies were not just Marxist politicians, or liberal politicians, but politicians in general.

And these people wanted Government. They wanted to replace those in charge with more authoritarianism. Is that Donald? Is he a dictator in waiting? Reading through the article, it certainly makes some links, but, here is where it breaks down

Branding Trumpism Fascist has the political benefit of mobilizing disparate forces in the fight against him just like the antifascist coalition of World War II led to unprecedented alliances between ideologically disparate forces (the Soviet-American alliance being the primary example).  In the American context, seeing Trump as a 2016 reincarnation of Mussolini can unite Democrats, Republicans, independents, Naderites, neo-cons, constitutionalists, and others, into a broad anti-Fascist coalition which would bring Trump down and save our democracy.

In other words, Salon doesn’t like Trump, so they will simply brand him a fascist, attempt to make it stick, and then attempt to destroy him, using weak links and rationales.

Read: Salon: Trump’s Not Really Hitler, He’s Mussolini »

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If All You See…

By William Teach March 12, 2016 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible fossil fueled vehicle, which should be banned for Other People, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Quiet Towers, a new addition to the feedreader, with a post giving an autopsy on the Ben Carson campaign.

Ending the week off with Adrienne Barbeau, who was in the original The Fog. Also, Creepshow. Of course, the photo is from The Cannonball Run.

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Rubio Hits Chris Cuomo With Facts No Warmist Wants To Admit

By William Teach March 12, 2016 – 7:59 am

Let me point out that I like Marco Rubio. He has good positions on many, many issues. Yes, he’s a bit closer to the get along Republicans in the Senate, but, other than on immigration, he’s a good politician. He’s also great on ‘climate change’

(Newsbusters) When CNN host Chris Cuomo tried to trap Sen. Marco Rubio by asking him to prove he wasn’t a climate change “denier,” Rubio responded with facts no climate alarmist wants to admit about carbon regulations: “it won’t do anything for our environment.”

Attempting to get Rubio to either confess that he didn’t agree with the “consensus” or depart from his conservative supporters on the issue, Cuomo cited a discredited statistic inflating the number of scientists claiming that humans are the cause of climate change. “Why not embrace the science, though? You didn’t speak to that specifically last night. The science to 99 percent of the community is clear, it’s something that’s seen as a future perspective. Why don’t you share it?”

Warmists/Progressives will never give up their talking points, no matter how many times they have be debunked and destroyed. Another example is the “hands up, don’t shoot meme.” They still trot it out. And let’s not forget that science is not infallible. Nor that the consensus was once that the earth was flat. That witches were real. That sacrifices could stop Bad Weather.

Not falling for the obvious trap, Rubio patiently tried to explain the difference between natural climate fluctuations and man-made climate change. “The question you should be asking a policymaker is: what can we do in government to effect the rise of sea levels? And the answer is, ‘oh, pass these laws we want you to pass.’ So I asked the environmentalists and others who are supporting those laws, ‘well, how many inches of feet of sea level rise will that law prevent?’ And there answer is, it won’t prevent any.”

Rubio also pointed out that these climate regulations “will do nothing to affect the environment but will have a direct and immediate impact on our economy. I think that’s a terrible tradeoff.”

He’s correct. All the things the Cult of Climastrology wants to do will have nary an effect on the climate, all while instituting this tax and that tax, increasing the cost of living (which hurts the poor and middle classes, not the big shots who endorse them), and giving Government more and more power over our individual lives and private entities.

I have utter distrust of Rubio when it comes to illegal immigration, but 100% trust for Rubio that he won’t Do Something when it comes to anthropogenic climate change.

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Long Time Conservative Icon Phyllis Schlafly Endorses Trump, Goes Nutty On Baseball

By William Teach March 12, 2016 – 7:34 am

I’m not sure what it is about Donald Trump that has caused many supposed Conservatives to go batty. Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, Ben Carson, among others, and now

(Daily Caller) Veteran conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly endorsed Donald Trump Friday in St. Louis.

Schlafly told the crowd, “I asked him to stand by the Republican platform because we have the best conservative platform we’ve ever had and he endorses it. He will stand by it. He is a real conservative and I ask you to support him.”

The crowd erupted with cheers as she continued saying, “I’m confident that Donald Trump will appoint judges like [Justice Antonin] Scalia.”

Schlafly added that “we’ve been following the losers for so long,” but that would change with Trump.

For all we know, Donald Trump could make a good or even great president if he managed to win the general election. He could also end up as bad as Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama, and Warren Harding. The problem is, Trump’s record is a mixed bag of trail mix. He’s all over the place. He’s not a conservative, and, personally, I’m tired of posers, fakes, fools, and squishes claiming they’re conservatives. Most have no idea what it means. Someone should ask Trump to define what it means to be an American Conservative.

Fortunately, Schlafy is super concerned with baseball (via Twitchy)

https://twitter.com/lachlan/status/708357246141526016

I’m not sure about insane, but, it is utterly wacko

This foreign influx into our National Pastime may help explain why our youth is abandoning baseball. Youth who play baseball have declined by more than 40% since 2000, and some communities where baseball was once booming now struggle to fill teams. Television ratings for World Series games are less than half what they were three decades ago.

Baseball owners are doing the same thing that big corporations do – bring in foreign labor to take jobs that should go to Americans. American baseball players are better, as the awards and Hall of Fame prove, but perhaps baseball owners think that foreign players are cheaper and easier to control.

It is time to cut off visas for foreign baseball players, and return our National Pastime to Americans.

I’ll write what Liberals are probably thinking: this is the bat guano insane extension of an out of control belief in reducing illegal and legal immigration. There’s a big difference between people from around the world using work visas to take the jobs of Americans (see Disney, for one) and the best baseball players in the world playing baseball in MLB. This is going down an extreme, nativist road. I’m no big fan of David Freddoso, but, he had a good point when he tweeted “The Conservative movement didn’t just die. It had bad leaders that strangled it.”

Maybe it’s time to rebrand, much like liberals did in calling themselves “Progressives.” I’d like to use the original name, classic liberals, but, liberalism now has a bad connotation. How about “Constitutionalists”?

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Long Time Conservative Icon Phyllis Schlafly Endorses Trump, Goes Nutty On Baseball »

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