…is a super wonderful city, utopia on earth threatened by hundreds of feet of sea rise, you might just be a Warmist
The blog of the day is The Lonely Conservative, with a post on the latest horrifying victim of the knockout game.
Read: If All You See… »
Many Leftists are taking the occasion of what happened in Ferguson as a means to, among other things, bash America. And push their narrative that Everything Is Racist. And mixing the two. And adding in every complaint they can think of. Anyhow, as they are making their complaints, I wonder if they realize they are actually working against their own arguments for bigger and bigger Progressive (nice fascist) government. Let’s look at the typically unhinged Salon, where Aaron R. Hanlon goes loony
This has always been America: Ferguson and our dangerous delusions on race and democracy
We believe we’re the world’s champion of freedom. In reality, we torture, invade, violate rights, stop and frisk…
Politicians both left and right turn to the troubling doctrine of American exceptionalism to justify unilateral military intervention abroad, but what happens when we turn that dangerous delusion of unbounded moral supremacy against our own citizens on our own soil?
This is what’s happening in Ferguson, Missouri, right now, where it’s clear that the police have made an exception to the modus operandi of rights-based democracy by silencing and arresting journalists, seizing and firing on unarmed and peaceful demonstrators and applying military-grade armaments to do so.
And, lest we forget, they have initiated this armed state of exception to cover up for and suffocate dissent against the gravest rights violation of them all: the police shooting and killing of a fleeing, unarmed black boy, who never received due process for daring to step off the sidewalk.
As the nation and the world watch, horrified, at what’s transpiring in Ferguson, we don’t need to ask whether there’s a racial element in play when an overwhelmingly white police force, strapped to the teeth, is exercising extreme state authority to corral and suppress the reactions of a black community mourning the inexcusable loss of one of their children. But how is it possible for this to happen in a nation that proclaims itself the world’s greatest champion of freedom and democracy? The answer, in part, is the logic of exceptionalism.
Getting beyond the raaaaacism aspect, is this not something Conservatives have noted time and time again, the ever growing Power Of The State?
We witness in Ferguson a microcosm of this logic, where agents of the state have turned the doctrine of exceptionalism on our own people to justify the suspension of basic civil rights. If basic civil rights dictate due process, black Americans are the exception. If basic civil rights dictate freedom of the press, those journalists arrested for doing their jobs are the exception. If basic civil rights dictate free expression and peaceable assembly, the crowds in Ferguson taking rubber-bullet flack and choking on clouds of tear gas are the exception. The problem with so many exceptions, however, is that they risk becoming the rule.
Unfortunately, Mr. Hanlon, along with so many other Leftists, never make the connection that Government has grown too big and powerful, everywhere from municipalities to the Los Federales. Nor do they make the connection that they themselves, Progressives, are advocating for bigger and bigger government with more and more power, and you know the saying about absolute power. They never seem to understand that giving that power to Government will turn around and bite them.
What’s the solution? Leftists need to understand the fallout of their Big Government ways. We need to start at the top, and implement term limits for Congress, and most certainly repeal the 17th Amendment. What would that do? For one thing, if State legislatures are in charge of electing their Senators, it will make people pay more attention to their own state governments, and hold them more accountable. Anyhow, that whole debate is for another day, though I will suggest reading this article.
It’s not a particularly pretty number
Wind farm ‘needs 700 times more land’ than fracking site to produce same energy
A wind farm requires 700 times more land to produce the same amount of energy as a fracking site, according to analysis by the energy department’s recently-departed chief scientific advisor.
Prof David MacKay, who stood down from the Government role at the end of July, published analysis putting shale gas extraction “in perspectiveâ€, showing it was far less intrusive on the landscape than wind or solar energy.
His intervention was welcomed by fracking groups, who are battling to win public support amid claims from green groups and other critics that shale gas extraction will require the “industrialisation†of the countryside.
This is nothing new, just more proof
That’s from the Mad Mad World Of Climatism (which you should most definitely read), and wind has the lowest power density of all the big power methods.
Prof MacKay said that a shale gas site uses less land and “creates the least visual intrusionâ€, compared with a wind farm or solar farm capable of producing the equivalent amount of energy over 25 years.
Nothing like fields full of wind turbines and solar panels to ruin the country side and water ways. Not that gas drilling rigs are particularly beautiful, they just take up less space. This in no way means we should abandon looking at wind power. What it does mean is that there needs to be quite a bit more R&D before just slapping wind turbines all over the countryside, and, as I’ve noted many times, perhaps we should be looking at wind and solar more for individual building usage.
BTW, we also need to be careful in drilling. Just to be clear.
You can’t blame this on the police being too aggressive during “peaceful” protests
(WRAL) Anger spurred by the death of a black teenager at the hands of a white police officer boiled over again when protesters stormed into a Missouri convenience store — the same store that Michael Brown was accused of robbing.
But, I guess the media (it’s an AP article) can excuse looting and lawlessness on Something Else.
Police and about 200 protesters clashed in Ferguson, Missouri, late Friday after another tense day in the St. Louis suburb, a day that included authorities identifying the officer who fatally shot Brown on Aug. 9. At the same news conference in which officer Darren Wilson was named, Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson released documents alleging that Brown stole a $48.99 box of cigars from the convenience store, then strong-armed a man on his way out.
Just before midnight, some in what had been a large and rowdy but mostly well-behaved crowd broke into that same small store and began looting it, said Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson.
Some in the crowd began throwing rocks and other objects at police, Johnson said. One officer was hurt but details on the injury were not immediately available.
Johnson said police backed off to try and ease the tension. He believes looting may have spread to a couple of nearby stores. No arrests were made.
So, police stood by as these people broke into stores and threw rocks? First off, the store owners should be thrilled that the police will protect their property /sarc. Second, perhaps the notion that, at least in this case, police being too aggressive with their military style toys as being the cause of previous nights of rage might be a load of mule fritters. At least a small pile.
“We had to evaluate the security of the officers there and also the rioters,” Johnson said. “We just felt it was better to move back.”
I certainly hope the police were filming the faces of the rioters for later arrest. Which, of course, would probably incite more riots.
Meanwhile, peaceful protesters yelled at the aggressors to stop what they were doing. About a dozen people eventually blocked off the front of the convenience store to help protect it.
There are plenty of pictures of people standing in front of the convenience store, supposedly stopping other looters from entering. The NY Times features one, and I just have to wonder who wears a bandana to a peaceful protest, and just happens to be at the looted store?
BTW, just in case you missed it, since so few news outlets are reporting this relevant information (via Hot Air)
(WDEF) The friend who was with Michael Brown when he was shot and killed by a police officer near St. Louis over the weekend is reportedly confirming that he and Brown had taken part in the theft of cigars from a convenience store that day.
That word comes from the attorney for Dorian Johnson, speaking to MSNBC. Police in Ferguson had earlier announced that Brown was suspected of taking cigars from the convenience store in what was described as a “strong-arm robbery.”
This doesn’t provide justification for the shooting, but it does provide context. Brown and Johnson were walking in the street. The officer stops and tells them to get out of the street. He then learns that the two are wanted in connection with the robbery. At that point, something happened. And now we have the same store being terrorized and robbed again. Why? What did the store do?
Crossed at Right Wing News.
Uh huh
(AFP) Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga likened the impact of climate change on Pacific island nations to “a weapon of mass destruction” Friday, saying strong global leadership on the issue was needed.
Sopoaga said a UN-sponsored summit on climate change in New York next month was a chance to set the scene for real progress in the quest to seal a global pact on greenhouse gas emissions by the end of 2015.
Otherwise, the people of his low-lying country would be left dying as nations continued to debate what course of action to take, he said.
“We are caught in the middle, effectively, in Tuvalu. We are very, very worried,” Sopoaga told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
“We are already suffering. It’s already like a weapon of mass destruction and the indications are all there… we only need to garner strong collective leadership to address this.
The only problem is that the sea rise is, by most measures, at or below normal. Skeptical Science wants to claim 5.1mm per year increase. After massive data manipulation, of course. And the same post shows that in the broader area there is no real sea level rise of significance. But, then we see other data which shows virtually no sea rise from 1985-2001, and we see no rise from 2000-2012, with an actual dip of 2mm a year from 2006 forward. If we look at the Seaframe gauge, well, nothing.
I mean, it couldn’t possibly be that Tuvalu is suffering from overpopulation, diminishing resources, and a shortage of freshwater, plus poo infested waters, could it? It’s getting harder and harder to see these climate change believers as anything other than hysterical clowns.
…is a wonderful urban area working hard to minimize the dire threat of climate change through taxation, you might just be a Warmist
The blog of the day is Victory Girls Blog, with a post on a laser like focus. And dancing
Read: If All You See… »
There’s a fine line between idiotic/scaremongering and irresponsible. Warmist propaganda frequently crosses that line. This article by CNBC’s Katy Barnato demolishes that line
Ebola outbreaks may become more frequent because of climate change, scientists have warned, as the deadly disease ravages four countries across West Africa.
Nearly 2,000 people have caught Ebola since the epidemic started in February. More than 1,000 people have died.
All four countries hit—Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau and Nigeria—have declared public health emergencies, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has termed the outbreak “unprecedented”.
Scientists are uncertain why the current epidemic has proved more serious—both in number of cases and number of deaths—than its predecessors. However, some have pointed to meteorological data to show that previous outbreaks typically occur in clusters after sudden weather changes.
Some scientists believe global warming—and the subsequent increase in extreme weather—could be a factor behind in the virus’s ascendance.
Got that? They are uncertain. Heck, how Ebola outbreaks start is a big uncertain. They mostly have educated guesses as to where the virus spreads from (bats are a big conjecture), but not how the bats get it, nor other animals, nor do they have knowledge as to why outbreaks crop up then disappear. But, hey, they seem really, really sure as to “climate change” being a big factor. Remember, the original known outbreak occurred in 1976, when the media was Very Concerned over a looming ice age.
And, let’s face facts: there are ALWAYS going to be changes in the weather. There’s no reason to go blaming “climate change”, ie, man induced global warming. This was a truly irresponsible, fear mongering, non-scientific article, but, then, what do we expect from Warmists?
Read: Good Grief: CNBC Wonders If “Climate Change” Is Key To Ebola Spread »
You’ve heard about the flag flap in NJ, right?
A photo of a New Jersey home flying a flag that resembled the flag of ISIS, the militant group being bombed by U.S. planes in Iraq, sparked alarm and a complaint to the Department of Homeland Security — but the home’s occupant said he meant no offense and was just expressing his religion.
Mark Dunaway told ABC News that he’s flown that black flag for the 10 years he’s lived in Garwood, New Jersey.
“I’m Muslim, and I fly a flag in front of my home that says I’m a Muslim,†he said.
Dunaway has flown the black flag — which bears the Arabic inscription familiar to Muslims, “There is no God but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God†— every year during Ramadan, and every single Friday, he said. Having already had the flag up during Ramadan, he originally planned to keep it up until Friday.
Is he an Islamist, or just flying a flag for peaceful purposes? Only he knows in his heart. I’m inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt, particularly since Mr. Dunaway’s flag is not quite the same as the ISIS flag, which includes a reference to the Islamic state. That said, there was a situation that was a bit more dire
(ABC News) The Secret Service said it is “aware” of a photo that appeared to show an image of an ISIS flag in front of the White House.
If authentic, the photo showed a hand holding up an image of a flag for ISIS (also known as ISIL or Islamic State), displayed on a smartphone, on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House fence. That area, closed off to street traffic, is frequented by thousands of tourists every day.
It was tweeted from an apparently pro-ISIS Twitter handle @sunna_rev on Aug. 9.
https://twitter.com/Sunna_rev/status/498239066635124736
That should be a concern, yet, the only place I’ve seen this is by accident going through Yahoo News.
https://twitter.com/Sunna_rev/status/498251670812258304
That might be a concern.
Read: Have You Heard About The ISIS Flag In Front Of The White House? »
Trackback URL
And an act of Congress? Here’s the Editorial Board
FROM THE chief of the police department to the president of the United States, government officials on Thursday promised a different approach to the racially charged unrest in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson. But the situation demands a lot more than a stand-down by assault-rifle-toting police. It might require an act of Congress. (snip)
That was justified in light of what Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. termed “unnecessarily extreme displays of force.†Nothing justifies looting or assaulting police, but law enforcement officers in Ferguson did not need to respond to mostly peaceful protests by deploying armored vehicles, pointing sniper rifles at civilians and tossing tear gas and shooting rubber bullets liberally into crowds. These tactics have been an affront to a community that needs to be heard, not suppressed.
Nor does the cause of public safety excuse the documented abuse of several journalists, including The Post’s Wesley Lowery, whom police detained for “trespassing†in a McDonald’s, and an Al Jazeera film crew, which was tear-gassed.
Our objection to the brandishing of tools of war in a crowd-control operation raises the further question of whether police departments have obtained too much military hardware from the Defense Department. Police officers with the wrong attitude can do a lot of damage with a nightstick or a pistol. It would be a good idea for the Pentagon to reconsider whether a local police force should ever need, say, a mine-resistant armored vehicle. Congress, too, could take more control of the equipment-transfer policy, in place since 1990.
Now, there are couple interesting issues to deal with. First, Congress should definitely rethink the 1033 program, whereby tons of military grade equipment ends up in the hands of local law enforcement without the necessary training. One of the problems in Ferguson was that the police were responding to all the violence during the protests, and surely went overboard with their toys. They might have gone overboard without all the toys. How many police forces are really prepared for riots? If you were one of the police, how might you act in the face of multiple lawless nights? If we really want to point fingers, we need to point them at the higher ranking officers, who should have de-escalated the police response.
It is interesting that when it is the media being targeted, the Post is suddenly concerned with the militarization of the police, something many on the Right have been noticing for years.
Let’s consider something else, which needs to be debated: what about the initial response from the citizens of Ferguson? As the WP wrote “Nothing justifies looting or assaulting police, but law enforcement officers in Ferguson did not need to respond to mostly peaceful protests by deploying armored vehicles, pointing sniper rifles at civilians and tossing tear gas and shooting rubber bullets liberally into crowds”. Remember, it wasn’t the Ferguson police who started this. It was the riots, looting, robbing, violence, vandalism, etc, which brought the police out. Molotov cocktails being thrown at the police. Think about it: how might you have responded if you were a Ferguson police officer? From the comments
I wonder what the Post’s position would be if a crowd had decided to trash its building and the police could only stand by.
Good question. I’ve read many comments and heard them on the radio from citizens in Ferguson, who are thrilled that the police were attempting to protect citizens and their property from those who took advantage of the situation.
While we are investigating the police response, we also need to be investigating the citizen response. It may not be popular, it may be called racist, but the leaders in the Black community need to dig deep and discuss exactly why so many in their community immediately turned to violence, which caused the police response. So many are forgetting that it wasn’t the police who caused the riots and violence, the citizens brought the police out. And that still doesn’t excuse the police response.
Crossed at Right Wing News.
Read: Washington Post: Ferguson Police Response Demands An Investigation »
I wish I was making this stuff up
(Treehugger) The towns Yulan and Highland in upstate New York put on a show called the Weather Project about climate change – Wizard of Oz style – last weekend. The key message? Live with less.
The show, organized by members of the not-for-profit North American Cultural Laboratory (NACL) theater company, brought together all sorts of skills, from painting to dancing to singing, and more importantly brought the whole community out. They were partially funded by The National Endowment for the Arts, The New York State Council on the Arts and other members and organizations in the region. About 600 people came to see the show, which was organized and produced by 73 community members of all ages.
The Weather Project tells the story of three students who are blown away from their science fair in a tornado. They find themselves in the clouds and are told if they want to get home, they need to find the Great Scientist. As they wander down the solar brick road, they encounter clouds, solar munchkins, a mermaid counting extinctions, learning more and more about climate change and how to live with alternative energy. But they have to be careful because the Fossil Fuel Gang lurks around every bend, driving their Mercedes and laughing their evil cackles.
When they finally reach the Great Scientist, a beekeeper, they finally learn the trick to going home. She teaches the travelers to live with less, and they promise to wash their tinfoil, car pool, and stop buying plastic bottles. We’re big fans of the message.
The sad part is, there are some good environmental responsibility messages, which are destroyed by bringing Hotcoldwetdry into the mix. The Church Of Warmism has done their level best to ruin most real environmental issues.
Read: Oh, Good, Now They’re Linking “Climate Change” And The Wizard Of Oz »
All posts here are my views. None represent my employer. If ye can prove me wrong, so be it. Ye can rant and rave at me, but be mostly polite to any other commentors. I will put up with quite a bit, but be mostly respectful to others.
NOTICE In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C., section 107, some material on this web site is provided without permission from the copyright owner, only for purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of federal copyright laws. These materials may not be distributed further, except for "fair use" non-profit educational purposes, without permission of the copyright owner.
Pirate's Cove by Pirate's Cove is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.