NY Times Desperately Attempting To Create New Ferguson

By William Teach February 17, 2015 – 2:56 pm

You remember Ferguson, right? That’s where a violent young man brazenly stole cigars, assaulted the clerk, walked in the middle of the road like a fool, caught the attention of a duly sworn officer of the law, then attacked the officer in his card, struck the officer, attempted to take the officer’s gun, ran away when the weapon discharged, then charged the officer, which led to the officer using deadly force. Well, it’s been awhile, so, hey, let’s gin up something, OK?

Killing in Washington State Offers ‘Ferguson’ Moment for Hispanics
Pasco Police’s Shooting of Rock Thrower Draws Comparisons to Michael Brown Case

Members of the Zambrano family began arriving here three decades ago, picking apples in nearby orchards. Over time they have become part of the fabric of this harvesting town, growing to more than 50 and settling in tiny candy-colored homes, some ringed by white picket fences.

Except for the part in which quite a few, if not all, are illegal aliens.

Then, last week, one of their own was killed by the police, his death caught in a video that has sped around the Internet. Antonio Zambrano-Montes, 35, is shown running from three Pasco officers. He turns and swings his hands upward, before he is felled by a spray of bullets, his body slamming the concrete. He had been throwing rocks at cars and police officers.

It was the third killing by the Pasco police since July, and the video has brought international attention, with a flurry of online commenters criticizing the use of force against a man without a gun or a knife, making comparisons to the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.

The accounts and the video make it appear as if, yes, the police used deadly force that was unwarrented. We do not know all the details. Of course, said man had been throwing rocks at cars and the police. Oh, and he was most definitely an illegal alien. That in no way means he should have been shot and killed, but, hey, like Michael Brown, the man was a violent criminal.

But here in Pasco, a city of 68,000 that is 56 percent Hispanic, the public killing has pierced the immigrant enclave, spurring protests that have attracted hundreds and highlighting a division between the city’s increasingly Latino populace and its power structure — the police, the city government — which remains largely white.

Well, it’s rather tough to get Latino’s in to the power structure if they do not try themselves. Oh, and if a good chunk of that population is comprised of both illegal aliens and legal residents, neither of which is eligible to be part of the power structure.

While many Hispanics have found work and stable, if not particularly affluent, lives here, the killing has drawn attention to their lack of clout. And, as with blacks in Ferguson, it has intensified feelings among Hispanics that they remain second-tier residents, despite their deep roots here, defined by the many Latino shops that now dominate the main thoroughfare, Lewis Street.

Maybe they shouldn’t be illegals? Anyhow, an interesting sidebar to all this is that the Hispanic population hasn’t rioted and looted, unlike in Ferguson. Strange, eh?

Of the city’s 68 officers, 14 are Hispanic. A dozen officers speak Spanish fluently, and some residents cite language barriers that complicate interactions with the police.

Here’s an idea: learn to speak English. You are in the United States, after all. Why do we need to bend our knee to people who are illegals/legal residents/migrant workers?

He was arrested for assaulting a police officer in January 2014. The police said he had thrown objects at officers and tried to grab an officer’s pistol. He pleaded guilty in June.

So, again, not exactly the best of people. But, doesn’t necessarily mean, again, that he should have been shot. But, the Times is attempting to gin up outrage. Are they also trying to create riots and looting?

Of course, here’s a wonderful idea: don’t be a criminal. Don’t throw rocks at cars and cops.

(video available here)

Read: NY Times Desperately Attempting To Create New Ferguson »

Posted in Current Affairs, Illegal Immigration | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach February 17, 2015 – 1:00 pm

…is horrendous freezing water, due to the heat hiding in the deep oceans, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Flopping Aces, with a post noting everything that is wrong with government in one headline.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

Good News: The Jury Is Like Totally In On Hotcoldwetdry

By William Teach February 17, 2015 – 11:49 am

A few days ago I put a post on the public distrusting scientists which included this quote from a “climate scientist”

Lecturing people isn’t the answer. Alan Leshner, the outgoing CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, made that clear Wednesday when he met with this newspaper’s Editorial Board. Scientists instead need to engage the public in a forthright conversation about the importance of science to society, he said.

So, obviously, it’s lecture time, featuring “climate scientist” Brian Schmidt!

Jury in on climate change, so stop using arguments of convenience and listen to experts

No single person knows everything about climate change. And for the average punter, it’s hard to keep up with all the latest research and what it means.

Nice. Schmidt uses a British slang term which can refer to “one who visits brothels”, watches lots of porn, visits strip clubs, and gets drunk in bars. Also “Someone who is ill-informed and liable to be taken advantage of. A sucker who lacks inside knowlege or savvy.” There’s no better way to get someone to buy what you’re selling than insulting them, eh?

I am a full-time scientist whose area of expertise intersects with certain aspects of climate science. I, too, am not an expert on climate science.

But I do understand how science works. I understand that the current consensus has been reached by thousands of scientists working for decades. And I understand that the vast majority of scientists and scientific bodies, including the Australian Academy of Science, have reached broadly the same conclusions.

If he understood science, he wouldn’t be yammering about “consensus” and “conclusions”. Instead, he would provide hard facts and figures.

These are the real experts on climate change and this is what they’re saying:

  • Earth’s climate has changed over the past century. The atmosphere and oceans have warmed, sea levels have risen, and glaciers and ice sheets have decreased in size.
  • The best available evidence indicates that greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are the main cause.
  • Continuing increases in greenhouse gases will produce further warming and other changes in Earth’s physical environment and ecosystems.

Interesting. “The best available evidence”.  How often has science provided evidence and said “you must (X) or doom!!!!!!”? How many studies, say, about foods, engaged in the “because x, y happens”, then we find out that that was wrong, but, hey, do Z, because, like, totally trust us? Fat bad, fat not bad. Salt bad, salt not bad. Alcohol yes, alcohol no. So much science is based on correlation and inference, rather than actual causation. What happens when the “best available evidence” turns into “whoops, sorry, our bad!”?

Astrophysicist Ethan Siegal writes, in terms of astrophysics,

But I bring this up so that the next time you hear about some theory, it’s totally reasonable to ask, “What overwhelming evidence do we have that this is correct?” But rather than simply dismiss it, if it sets off your internal BS-detector, I want to assure you of a number of things:

  • Your BS-detector is probably right (and honestly, it’s probably not sensitive enough), and this isn’t likely to be the next great revolution in our understanding of the Universe,
  • This research is still important, as it’s exploring a hitherto unexplored possibility, which could teach us something about the Universe,
  • and if there’s even a germ of a good idea in there, scientific inquiry is what will grow that into a full-fledged theory that means something.

It’s not the notion of the climate changing that sets off Skeptics BS detectors, it’s the notion from Warmists that it is mostly/solely caused by Mankind. If a continued rise in GHGs from Mankind is the main/sole cause of the Modern Warm Period, then why do real world observations contradict 95% of their computer models? Oh, and of course, why do Warmists refuse to make their own lives “carbon neutral”?

The evidence is clear: human activities are changing the Earth’s climate, and what we do now and into the future will strongly influence the world’s weather in the decades and centuries to come.

For the future health of our world and our country, Australians, let’s quit self-diagnosing on climate change, and act on the expert opinion.

When someone starts yammering in this manner, my BS detector goes crazy

Read: Good News: The Jury Is Like Totally In On Hotcoldwetdry »

Posted in Global Warming, New Climate Deniers | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

U.S. Being “Morally Humiliated” By ISIS Says….Chris Matthews

By William Teach February 17, 2015 – 8:32 am

Huh. Well, this was not expected (video at link)

(Daily Caller) In the wake of ISIS releasing a video showing the beheading of 21 Coptic Christians on Sunday, MSNBC host Chris Matthews railed to cap his Monday program against the U.S. being “morally humiliated” in the ongoing fight against the terror group.

Matthews openly questioned whether the U.S. can sit back and just “do nothing,” while adding that “we need a plan” to combat the terror group, suggesting the currently one is insufficient.

Wait, does he mean that “Strategic Patience” doesn’t work? Matthews stated

What can we do? Can we do nothing? Can we just look at the pictures, ask what’s for supper? What’s on TV tonight? What’s the weather like tomorrow morning and go on with our lives warding off the knowledge that these people are being killed in demonstration against us. How about this: can we content ourselves by doing something that we know right now will not be enough to stop this horror.

I know, we all know we need a plan. We need a root that takes us to destroyed ISIS because the alternative is too sick, too un-American, too un-human. We can’t see people killed like this in our face and simply flip to the sports page or the financial news or what’s at the movies or who’s going to win the Oscars and act like America, our country, is not being morally humiliated, because it is, with the lives of at least some of these people, who must, in their last minutes, have to be wondering if there’s any chance the people in the United States could be coming to their rescue because that’s how we were taught that we conduct ourselves. We don’t leave people behind.

What is Obama’s plan? Who really knows, because Team Obama will barely acknowledge that groups like ISIS, and ISIS itself, is based on hardcore Islamic teachings, that they want a hardcore Islamic state. The Atlantic has a must read entitled What ISIS Really Wants

There is a temptation to rehearse this observation—that jihadists are modern secular people, with modern political concerns, wearing medieval religious disguise—and make it fit the Islamic State. In fact, much of what the group does looks nonsensical except in light of a sincere, carefully considered commitment to returning civilization to a seventh-century legal environment, and ultimately to bringing about the apocalypse.

The most-articulate spokesmen for that position are the Islamic State’s officials and supporters themselves. They refer derisively to “moderns.” In conversation, they insist that they will not—cannot—waver from governing precepts that were embedded in Islam by the Prophet Muhammad and his earliest followers. They often speak in codes and allusions that sound odd or old-fashioned to non-Muslims, but refer to specific traditions and texts of early Islam.

…..

The reality is that the Islamic State is Islamic. Very Islamic. Yes, it has attracted psychopaths and adventure seekers, drawn largely from the disaffected populations of the Middle East and Europe. But the religion preached by its most ardent followers derives from coherent and even learned interpretations of Islam.

Virtually every major decision and law promulgated by the Islamic State adheres to what it calls, in its press and pronouncements, and on its billboards, license plates, stationery, and coins, “the Prophetic methodology,” which means following the prophecy and example of Muhammad, in punctilious detail. Muslims can reject the Islamic State; nearly all do. But pretending that it isn’t actually a religious, millenarian group, with theology that must be understood to be combatted, has already led the United States to underestimate it and back foolish schemes to counter it.

In order to beat your adversary you must understand your adversary. You must acknowledge what your adversary believes, what they want to accomplish, and how they want to accomplish it. This is no way means all Muslims are bad, a strawmen argument sure to be trotted out. What it does mean is that there are lots and lots of Muslims who will join, who either already believe in the regressive form of Islam or can be persuaded to believe it.

Many have asked, in deflecting, distracting, jukin ‘n jivin away from the Crusader Challenge, what can be done. Good question. When it comes to the hardcores, there is little else to do but kill them. Sound harsh? They know they are fighting a war. They want a war….well, what they really want is submission to the Islamic state, but they are more than happy to fight, kill, be brutal, and commit horrendous acts to get their way. Muslims are joining ISIS because of those acts. Once Germany was defeated, most average citizens, including most of the German military, laid down their arms, especially in light of the atrocities that the Nazi Party hardcores committed. They saw the light. Yet, the idea of Nazism never truly went away.

Nazism is banned in Germany. Did you know that? Governments in many 1st World nations keep a sharp eye on those practicing Nazism. Hardcore Islam has spread throughout the Middle East. Into Africa. To parts of the old Soviet Union. Asia. Indonesia. The Philippines. Europe. Canada. The United States. The only way to stop the spread of the hardcore version of Islam is to ban it, much like Egypt had banned the Muslim Brotherhood. We need to stop thinking that it is only the violent jihadi ones that need to be dealt with. It’s being taught in mosques and Islamic schools, even in the 1st World. Sound harsh? Again, the Islamists know they are in a fight for control, and their objective is the world. The hardcore Islamic teachers, imams, etc, should have zero access to our schools, our kids, our prisons, our colleges. Would we allow neo-Nazis access? We need to stop being cowards on the subject. It might be that we box them up in areas like the Middle East, and keep them out of the 1st world, which requires the 1st World to stop funding the Middle East, primarily by 100% doing away with fossil fuels from that area.

The Islamists have a plan. Do we?

Meanwhile, Obama golfs.

Read: U.S. Being “Morally Humiliated” By ISIS Says….Chris Matthews »

Posted in War On Terrorism | 7 Comments | Trackback URL

Federal Judge Puts A Temporary Kibosh On Obama’s Immigration Dictate

By William Teach February 17, 2015 – 7:52 am

This has made many Obama supporters Very Angry, because they apparently enjoy allowing 5 million illegal aliens (and then, most likely, millions and millions of family members) to become viable and legal replacements for their jobs, all while deflating wages, sucking up educational and social services resources

(NY Times) A federal judge in Texas has ordered a halt, at least temporarily, to President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, siding with Texas and 25 other states that filed a lawsuit opposing the initiatives.

In an order filed on Monday, the judge, Andrew S. Hanen of Federal District Court in Brownsville, prohibited the Obama administration from carrying out programs the president announced in November that would offer protection from deportation and work permits to as many as five million undocumented immigrants. The first of those programs was scheduled to start receiving applications on Wednesday.

Judge Hanen, an outspoken critic of the administration on immigration policy, found that the states had satisfied the minimum legal requirements to bring their lawsuit. He said the Obama administration had failed to comply with basic administrative procedures for putting such a sweeping program into effect.

As expected, der White House defended itself in how it has appropriated the capabilities of the Legislative branch. Judge Hanen noted the governments failure to secure the border, and the States’ burden of cost associated with Obama’s illegal order.

In his opinion, Judge Hanen accused administration officials of being “disingenuous” when they said the president’s initiatives did not significantly alter existing policies. He wrote that the programs were “a massive change in immigration practice” that would affect “the nation’s entire immigration scheme and the states who must bear the lion’s share of its consequences.” He said the executive actions had violated laws that the federal government must follow to issue new rules, and he determined “the states have clearly proven a likelihood of success on the merits.”

Just because Obama wants illegal immigration reform doesn’t mean he can make it happen because the Legislative branch refuses to move forward. The Executive enforces law, the Legislative passes laws.

On the other side, Washington and 11 other states as well as the District of Columbia weighed in supporting Mr. Obama, arguing that they would benefit from the increased wages and taxes that would result if illegal immigrant workers came out of the underground. The mayors of 33 cities, including New York and Los Angeles, and the Conference of Mayors also supported Mr. Obama.

Here’s a compromise: what say we allow Obama’s illegal illegal immigration orders to stay in place in those States and D.C? If an illegal wants Obamnesty, they can only get it in those places. And, in order to keep it, they must stay in those places. And those places must bear the cost on their own.

Meanwhile, The Hill publishes this nutty blog post by David Leopold

Republicans using the courts to push their anti-Obama agenda

It reads more like something from the Daily Kos or Democratic Underground, you’re welcome to read it, it is rather as nutty as one would expect. Best comment from the link

Headline correction: Republicans using the courts to push their anti-Obama agenda force president to adhere to Federal law.

There. Fixed it.

Boom.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Federal Judge Puts A Temporary Kibosh On Obama’s Immigration Dictate »

Posted in Barry Obama, Illegal Immigration | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

Image Of Chapel Hill Shooter Is “Conflicting”

By William Teach February 16, 2015 – 4:05 pm

Let’s be clear: all evidence in the killing of 3 people, who happened to be Muslims, by Craig Stephen Hicks seems to point towards a long brewing fight over parking, especially since Hicks has a long history of fighting over parking. But, what does this guy actually look like?

(Raleigh N&O)  If his Facebook page is any indication, Craig Hicks doesn’t hate Muslims. An avowed atheist, his online posts instead depict a man who despises religion itself, but nevertheless seems to support an individual’s right to his own beliefs.

“I hate Islam just as much as christianity, but they have the right to worship in this country just as much as any others do,” the man now accused of killing three Muslim college students stated in one 2012 post over the proposed construction of a mosque near the World Trade Center site in New York.

In often publicly posted Facebook rants, Hicks was brazen about his disdain for all faiths. In one post regarding specific texts from the Quran, the Jewish Talmud and the Bible about battling nonbelievers, he wrote: “I wish they would exterminate each other!”

But he was just as passionate about personal freedom and liberty – championing an individual’s right to worship or not worship, legal abortion and gay marriage and, perhaps most fervently, the right to own and bear arms. If he has a creed, it’s the Second Amendment.

Yeah, he was gun crazy. And also held lots of left wing points of view. He was also a big supporter of liberals, including Obama, Rachael Maddow, and others.

But, is it really a complicated view? Many in the N&O comments were very upset about noting he’s an atheist. Many Muslims I know, quite a few who attended the memorial for the slain victims, call it a hate crime. Perhaps it would be more understandable if it was, rather than being about parking.

At the end of the day, the simplest explanation usually wins. This isn’t about hate, about liberal values, nor about the 2nd Amendment. Nor being an atheist. Maybe his word view affected the ending, but, parking. We all have biases and viewpoints, but, they may be meaningless in an incident like this. We also shouldn’t forget what really matters: he’s accused of murdering 3 people in cold blood.

Read: Image Of Chapel Hill Shooter Is “Conflicting” »

Posted in NC News | 9 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach February 16, 2015 – 1:00 pm

…is terrible freezing water that is also rising, and you just know this never happened before, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Public Secrets, with a post wondering if government regulators should make the Internet more like the DMV or Post Office.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

Sports Fans Are Going To Totally Have To Deal With Hotcoldwetdry

By William Teach February 16, 2015 – 10:43 am

As are sports, ya know!

Hey Sports Fans: Time to Deal with Climate Change, and it Won’t be Cheap

Just two weeks ago, the year 2014 was dubbed the hottest year on earth since the start of record keeping in 1880. Separate data compilations from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed this 2014 record, as reported by Justin Gillis of The New York Times. Now, the Australian Climate Institute finds in a new report – “Sport and Climate Impacts: How much heat can sport handle”? – that more frequent and extreme weather events “threaten the viability of much of Australian sport as it’s currently played, either in the back yard, at local grounds, or in professional tournaments [- with football, cricket, tennis and more] “struggling to adapt to, or prepare for, the impacts of climate change.”

Doom! But, at least we haven’t gotten to the time where we cut out hearts and burn witches in order to control the weather (how’d that work out, BTW?)

Admittedly, it did not cross my mind when I recently watched professional tennis players playing at the Australian Open 2015 that extreme heat policies, which may lead to a temporary suspension of play if certain heat exposure thresholds are crossed, intended to protect the health of both athletes and spectators may soon not be enough to keep the tournament going. In 2014, the Australian Open saw play suspended after a succession of professional tennis players suffered from dizziness, cramp and fatigue in the 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit) heat. This is already bad enough but it actually could get worse if scientists’ predictions turn out to be only vaguely accurate:

“If”. So far scientists are 95% wrong, per their computer models. As well as all their other predictions of doom.

Host cities and organizers will be forced to cancel, postpone or perhaps even move outdoor sporting events to alternate locations or shift them to different seasons of the year. This could be a big deal for the sports (entertainment) industry. Sport is embedded in Australian society – central to culture and economy. It is not different in American society with both professional and ‘amateur’ sports deeply rooted in American popular culture. The popularity of all kinds of sports is sky-high – including fan interest and support. At the same time, the impacts of climate change on sport are far-reaching. Extreme heat in particular can affect the health of athletes and spectators.

Super doom!

Ya know, it would be easy to continue excerpting and getting snarky, but, I reckon that the photo that accompanies the article right at the top says it all about the nutty “climate change” religion and how doomed we are from a tiny rise in temperatures

That ain’t powdered sugar.

Read: Sports Fans Are Going To Totally Have To Deal With Hotcoldwetdry »

Posted in AGW Scaremongering, Global Warming | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

Obama Looks To Backdoor Gun Control With AR-15 Ammo Ban

By William Teach February 16, 2015 – 7:08 am

What would you call a guy who is constantly surrounded by men and women carrying guns, from handguns to rifles, yet wants to restrict the ability of citizens to have those same weapons themselves?

(Breitbart) A notice from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) shows the agency is considering a ban on the popular M855 AR-15 round — by re-categorizing the round as “armor piercing.”

Once categorized as “armor piercing,” sales of the M855 rounds can be restricted or banned altogether under language in the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA), which describes marketable ammunition as that which is “primarily intended to be used for sporting purposes.”

The ammunition guidelines set forth in the GCA are intended for handguns, but are also being applied to ammunition used in AR-15 rifles because AR-15 pistols fire the same ammunition.

The NRA notes

In a move clearly intended by the Obama Administration to suppress the acquisition, ownership and use of AR-15s and other .223 caliber general purpose rifles, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives unexpectedly announced today that it intends to ban commonplace M855 ball ammunition as “armor piercing ammunition.” The decision continues Obama’s use of his executive authority to impose gun control restrictions and bypass Congress.

The NRA advises in that link on how to comment to the ATF. Not that the ATF will necessarily listen to those who see this as an extreme backdoor ban.

Read: Obama Looks To Backdoor Gun Control With AR-15 Ammo Ban »

Posted in 2nd Amendment, Barry Obama | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

Egypt Attacks ISIS In Libya After Citizens Beheaded

By William Teach February 16, 2015 – 6:52 am

Interesting. ISIS kills Egyptians, and we saw this from Egypt’s president

(Reuters) Islamic State released a video on Sunday that appeared to show the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians in Libya and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned that his country would respond to the deaths as it saw fit.

Speaking on national television hours after the release of the video, Sisi said Cairo would choose the “necessary means and timing to avenge the criminal killings”.

Egypt’s state news agency MENA quoted the spokesman for the Coptic Church as confirming that 21 Egyptian Christians believed to be held by Islamic State were dead.

They were brutally beheaded.

(Fox News) Egypt’s military said Monday that it had launched airstrikes against ISIS-affiliated militants in Libya after a video purporting to show the mass beheading of Coptic Christian hostages surfaced Sunday.

A spokesman for the Armed Forces General Command announced the strikes on state radio Monday, marking the first time Cairo has publicly acknowledged taking military action in neighboring Libya, where extremist groups seen as a threat to both countries have taken root in recent years.

The statement said the warplanes targeted weapons caches and training camps before returning safely. It said the strikes were “to avenge the bloodshed and to seek retribution from the killers.”

“Let those far and near know that Egyptians have a shield that protects them,” it said.

Huh.

https://twitter.com/hanktastic1776/status/564636797167079424

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Egypt Attacks ISIS In Libya After Citizens Beheaded »

Posted in War On Terrorism | 3 Comments | Trackback URL
Pirate's Cove