Obama Briefed On Ferguson Riots, Dances The Night Away

By William Teach August 14, 2014 – 8:43 am

Briefly briefed

(The Hill) President Obama was briefed by top administration officials Wednesday night as protests over the shooting of an unarmed black teenager turned violent in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson.

Then, party time!

President Barack Obama attended a birthday celebration for Ann Jordan at the Farm Neck Golf Club in Martha’s Vinyard on Wednesday night where, as the official press briefing puts it, the Obamas “danced nearly every song” and “a good time was had by all.”

The president was slammed by his critics for attending the lavish party as unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, seemingly neared a boiling point as police and protesters clashed for the fourth night in a row following the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

There’s actually a press release from Team O regarding the party. People were not impressed

https://twitter.com/BenEagles/statuses/499766673713688576

Lest you think this is just some Glenn Beck The Blaze Outrage, neither the Huffington Post nor Vox were impressed by Obama partying.

Meanwhile, several reporters were arrested in Ferguson, in what looks to be an abuse of power by the Ferguson police. Salon’s usually unhinged Joan Walsh makes an interesting point

The news and images from the conflict between a stunningly militarized police force and peaceful community protesters in Ferguson, Mo. were horrifying Wednesday night, even before reporters from the Washington Post and Huffington Post were arrested, and MSNBC’s Trymaine Lee was tear gassed and terrorized.

Let’s be clear: Michael Brown’s killing remains the horror here, but the cops’ continued brutality, against peaceful protesters and reporters, has been appalling. Every news anchor should broadcast from Ferguson on Thursday. (snip)

But (Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund) also made the important point that the militarization of the Ferguson police is something entirely new and enormously disturbing. The images Wednesday night should wake all of us up to the alarming militarization of local cops all over the country. How did a local police department get tanks and trucks and body armor that look like it all was designed for the streets of Baghdad and not a little city outside St. Louis?

Good questions. Here’s where Joan runs off the rails a bit

Michael Brown’s killing was awful enough, but the Ferguson police department’s crude and brutal crackdown on protest reminds us that the so-called war on terror is now terrorizing innocent people — in this country too.

I do have to ask, what are the police supposed to do when citizens are in the streets rioting, stealing, vandalizing, breaking into stores, throwing Molotov cocktails, etc? One of my favorite liberal blogs, The Maha Blog, asks a good question

As Walsh says, political leadership seems entirely absent, and the out-of-control cops are arresting reporters guilty of charging up their laptops at a McDonald’s. Yep, this should wake all of us up. Probably won’t, though.

While the police certainly have a duty to respond, and wear protective garments, it is very concerning that so many police forces have so much military grade materials, weapons, and vehicles. To paraphrase what I wrote in her comments, this is not a Left or Right issue, it is something we should all be concerned with. But, will anything come of that concern? What was the end result of the Snowden releases regarding domestic spying? Has anything actually been fixed?

https://twitter.com/muppet151/statuses/499743566256553985

More at Twitchy.

More: this post is obviously a mishmash of several topics, one, of course, being the ever expanding militarization of law enforcement. Noah Rothman notes

No one should suggest the police’s response to civil unrest in Ferguson is an excuse for more turbulence, though some will. Those who want this situation to escalate and become an issue around the country now have their rallying cry. The officers who engaged in this heavy handed and apparently unprovoked attack on the press are responsible for that condition.

This piggy-backed on Mary Katherine Hamm’s post, which wraps up with

We ask more of police in a free society than creating militarized zones out of tough situations. This requires more bravery, more risk, more patience than being a cop in a society where cops can do what they like when they like with impunity. As a result, many Americans have great respect, sometimes reverence, for law enforcement. But when an official response, even to a tough situation, looks like martial law with federally issued no-fly zones, the state isn’t honoring its part of agreement in a free society. We should be willing to demand that they do, even in the face of immense danger. The deep respect many Americans hold for law enforcement should be a function of a free society asking more from those men and women and getting it, not a reason to excuse them when they give us far less.

Make sure to read the full post.

There was also a post at the Democratic Underground, with an accompanying picture, entitled “This is what a police state looks like, folks“. I’m pretty sure we are not at the point of it being a police state, and many DUers agree that we aren’t there. But, we are heading there. Let me point something out: this is exactly what Conservatives have railed against, the ever-growing power of Government, where the people are scared of the government. Where the government does this type of thing. When they are no longer there to serve The People. Perhaps liberals should look deep in themselves, and hearken back to the 60’s and 70’s, when they were against Governmental Power.

Then there’s this one, with this photo

There’s no dilemma, because we aren’t supporting them either way. They aren’t our brave boys in the streets. We certainly believe that government has a role, and stopping riots is certainly one of them. The abuses and over-militarization is not what we support.

Read: Obama Briefed On Ferguson Riots, Dances The Night Away »

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House Dems: Why Won’t Obama Pick Up The Phone Or Write Us?

By William Teach August 14, 2014 – 8:10 am

Why should he? You’ll do what Mr. “I’ve got a phone and a pen” says regardless, so he can treat you like a weekend mistress

(The Hill) House Democrats are frustrated with what they say is a lack of election-year communication from the White House.

The lawmakers say it’s difficult to defend President Obama from GOP attacks when he doesn’t confer with his allies about his strategy and intentions.

Some are scratching their heads why, after nearly six years in office and a reshuffling of his legislative affairs team, Obama’s working relationship with Congress remains prickly.

“It’s hard for us to fathom; I mean, is it just lack of full staffing and resources? [Is it] professional commitment? Is it a disdain for the legislative branch? I mean, what is it?” asked Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.). “People like me want to be allies – I mean, I am an ally. So work with us, reach out to us; you know, we’re not the enemy.”

There are lots of reasons that Obama doesn’t bother. For one thing, as mentioned, he knows House Dems will simply follow along with what he says. He feels no need to bother with the daily grind of reaching out for that reason, along with the fact that he thinks everyone, including elected Representatives, are his subjects/employees, and should do as he says when he says it. The list goes on and one, but, suffice to say, he doesn’t bother

Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) likened the relationship between presidents and their Capitol Hill allies to that between quarterbacks and the offensive linemen charged with protecting them. Some quarterbacks, he said, simply manage that alliance better than others.

“Certainly, Bill Clinton saw us as his offensive line and so he attended to the nurturing of his offensive line,” Moran said. “And I don’t think this president, this quarterback, invests all that much time and effort into the care and feeding of his offensive line.

Right there is a big problem with federal politics: elected officials in Congress are not an “offensive line”, they are meant to be a co-equal branch of government, not subservient to the President. If people like Moran do not understand that, they should get the hell out of politics.

It’s one of Washington’s worst-kept secrets that many Democrats have, for years, been frustrated by what they consider a lackluster communications operation between Obama and his allies on Capitol Hill.

Obviously, many dogmatically remain loyal to Obama, much like the media, doing their best impression of a drugged up lapdog. They won’t criticize him. Most won’t even softly chide him.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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With Nothing Else Going On, Sec. State John Kerry Discusses Climate Change

By William Teach August 13, 2014 – 4:16 pm

Thank goodness the world is completely at peace, allowing John Kerry to take a long fossil fueled flight

(Reuters) U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry flagged cooperation on tackling climate change during a brief stop in the Solomon Islands on Wednesday, where he emphasized ties dating back to World War Two.

Kerry is the first secretary of state to visit the Solomon Islands. His trip is viewed as an important part of President Barack Obama’s strategic rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region, something that has irked China and been questioned by allies who wonder about the extent of U.S. commitment there.

Kerry said the Solomon Islands stands to benefit from U.S. funding for programs to deal with the effects of climate change in the Asia-Pacific region.

Like many island nations in the South Pacific, the Solomons faces problems from climate change and warming oceans that include rising sea levels and the acidification of coral reefs.

In fact, there has been virtually no sea rise since 1999 for the Solomon Islands. But, really, that wouldn’t matter, because sea rise has been a natural part of the Holocene. But, providing a reality check, some history, facts, etc, matters little to Warmists, who live in their own little fantasy world of doom and gloom. And hypocrisy

(State Dept) Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Naypyitaw, Burma; Sydney, Australia; Honiara, Solomon Islands; and Honolulu, Hawaii August 8-13, 2014.

That’s a serious amount of carbon pollution output, eh?

Read: With Nothing Else Going On, Sec. State John Kerry Discusses Climate Change »

Posted in Climahypocrites, Kerry | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach August 13, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is an awesome carbon friendly Big City which votes D, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Blazing Cat Fur, with a post wondering if integrated Muslims are integrated.

Read: If All You See… »

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Has The Earth Been Warming For The Past 10,000 Years?

By William Teach August 13, 2014 – 10:27 am

You may be saying “well, yeah, duh, Holocene, inter-glacial period, of course it has been warming”. But….

(UK Daily Mail) Was the Earth in a period of global warming or cooling before the 20th century?

Attempting to answer this question has thrown up a conundrum for scientists, with some studies showing a warming trend, while others suggesting it cooled until humans intervened.

Now a new study hopes to settle the issue by arguing that data points to the fact that Earth’s climate has been warming over the past 10,000 years – long before human activity is thought to have changed the climate.

It argues that previous research that showed a cooling trend was wrong because it used contradictory ice core data.

The research was undertaken by University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Professor Zhengyu Liu.

When the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change requested a figure to show global temperature trends over the last 10,000 years, Professor Liu knew that was going to be a problem.

What they were considering was whether there has been an overall cooling or warming trend, versus the shorter term warm and cool periods that have been occurring throughout the Holocene. Here’s the money quote

‘We have been building models and there are now robust contradictions’, he said. ‘Data from observation says global cooling. The physical model says it has to be warming.‘

One has to wonder why computer models are more important that actual data. More money quotes

‘The question is, “Who is right?”‘ said Professor Liu. ‘Or, maybe none of us is completely right.

‘It could be partly a data problem, since some of the data in last year’s study contradicts itself.

‘It could partly be a model problem because of some missing physical mechanisms.’

Liu admits that there is much more work to be done. Because the science is not settle. Weird. Of course, Liu and the rest of the researchers say none of this invalidates their religious belief that the current warming is the fault of Mankind. Of course. They’re biased.

The press release is here. The study is here.

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Man Teaches Mom And Screaming Brat A Lesson

By William Teach August 13, 2014 – 8:07 am

Good for him

(NY Daily News) A Burger King customer bought all 23 remaining apple pies in a restaurant to spite the mother and screaming child behind him in the line.

The man posted on reddit that the young boy was screaming and demanding pie, while the mother was on the phone and ignored her kid’s requests.

“The kid was out of control, screaming, punching his mother, throwing around a Game Boy whenever something didn’t go right in the game,” he posted on the website.

“She gets up in my face telling me I can’t tell her nothing about raising her child and to mind my own business,” he said after he told her to settle her child.

“I want some f***ing pie,” the boy finally screamed.

The man then spent $35 to purchase all the apple pies at the location. His post on Reddit is entitled “Am I a bad person?” Here’s his full post

So a while ago I had decided to treat myself and go to Burger King. I hadn’t had the greatest of days and I had a headache coming on. It was a very long line and I was at the end of it waiting patiently. When behind me comes this woman yapping on her cellphone with a little monster of a child. This kid was out of control, screaming, punching his mother throwing around a gameboy whenever something didn’t go right in the game. The mother didn’t seem to pay any attention to him and his continued yelling of ‘I want a Fucking PIE’. After about 5 minutes of the line with these people behind me, I had gone from a headache to a full on migraine, but nothing was going to stop me from getting those burgers. I calmly turn and ask her nicely if she can please calm or quiet her child down. Immediately she gets up in my face telling me I can’t tell her nothing about raising her child and to mind my own business. I nod and turn around, shes still yelling at the back of my head when the child cries out again how he wants a pie, the mother consoles him, calling him sweety and ensuring they’ll get pies for lunch because she loves him so much. Things immediately go back to the they were and I wait another 5 minutes before getting to the front of the line. It turns out it was so slow because they had 1 trainee on cash during the lunch hour rush. All I can think of is how the people behind me ruined my splurge and gave me this headache. I then decide to ruin their day. I order every pie they have left in addition to my burgers. Turned out to be 23 pies in total, I take my order and walk towards the exit. Moments later I hear the woman yelling, what do you mean you don’t have any pies left, who bought them all? I turn around and see the cashier pointing me out with the woman shooting me a death glare. I stand there and pull out a pie and slowly start eating eat as I stare back at her. She starts running towards me but can’t get to me because of other lineups in the food court. I turn and slowly walk away.

Most of those responding at Reddit feel that he is not a bad person, and that he did good. Many also feel that the mom will not learn a lesson.The posters also tend to blame the mother for the child’s behavior. Hey, kids are kids.

I used to be one of those people who made fun of those who disciplined their children in public when I was younger. Now, I give silent kudos. You know how wireless stores used to have brochures out the ying yang? One of the major reasons they were mostly removed had to do with parents allowing their kids to run wild. I remember one time watching a child yank them out and throw them around, at which point I pointed this out to the parent. She told me “he’s just playing”. Yeah, well, she didn’t have to clean the mess up, and throw lots of damaged ones away. I’ve seen kids do the same with the accessories. Rarely have any parents, male or female, done anything to stop that.

Read: Man Teaches Mom And Screaming Brat A Lesson »

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NY Times: Ferguson Shooting Is Part Of Bigger Racial Problem In Democrat Voting Urban Areas

By William Teach August 13, 2014 – 7:49 am

Of course, they don’t actually mention that a good majority of urban areas around the country tend to vote Democrat, but they do attempt to turn the incident in Ferguson into a bigger issue. Here’s the Editorial Board, but, first, let me make it clear that I am in no way defending either the unnamed officer nor the police department. The officer should be afforded the notion of innocent till proven guilty, and we do need to find out exactly what happened before jumping the gun

The Death of Michael Brown
Racial History Behind the Ferguson Protests

The F.B.I. may be able to answer the many questions surrounding the death of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black student from Ferguson, Mo., who was a few days from heading off to college when he was shot by a police officer on Saturday. The shooting of Mr. Brown, who was unarmed, led to three days of protest, some of it violent, and several tense confrontations between residents of the St. Louis suburban town of 21,000 and the police.

“Some of it violent”? “Tense confrontations”? Do the members of the Editorial Board read the news? There were riots, which included theft, violence, assault, vandalism, and arson. Violent crime in Ferguson tends to be slightly above the US average, and property crimes well above the US average.

But it doesn’t take a federal investigation to understand the history of racial segregation, economic inequality and overbearing law enforcement that produced so much of the tension now evident on the streets. St. Louis has long been one of the nation’s most segregated metropolitan areas, and there remains a high wall between black residents — who overwhelmingly have lower incomes — and the white power structure that dominates City Councils and police departments like the ones in Ferguson.

Hmm, that’s interesting, because, at least at the county level (St. Louis county), the area votes heavily Democrat, like most urban areas. The county went 56% for Obama, and I’m sure if we had city data, we’d see a much higher Democrat support level.

As black families moved into Ferguson, the whites fled. In 1980, the town was 85 percent white and 14 percent black; by 2010, it was 29 percent white and 69 percent black. But blacks did not gain political power as their numbers grew. The mayor and the police chief are white, as are five of the six City Council members. The school board consists of six white members and one Hispanic. As Mr. Gordon explains, many black residents, lacking the wealth to buy property, move from apartment to apartment and have not put down political roots.

This is amusing when it comes from the NYTEB, since they feature just one Black on the board. Is that racism? Does the Times intentionally block Blacks from being on the Board? Are whites in Ferguson intentionally blocking Blacks from serving in government? Or, is that simply the things shake out, for both the EB and the Ferguson city council? That there’s nothing intentionally about it?

BTW, perhaps the EB could have mentioned that Dwayne T. James, one of the council members, is Black. The Ferguson city council has better Black diversity than the NYTEB.

The disparity is most evident in the Ferguson Police Department, of which only three of 53 officers are black. The largely white force stops black residents far out of proportion to their population, according to statistics kept by the state attorney general. Blacks account for 86 percent of the traffic stops in the city, and 93 percent of the arrests after those stops. Similar problems exist around St. Louis County, where earlier this year the state chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. filed a federal civil rights complaint alleging widespread racial profiling by police departments.

As the EB pointed out, Blacks represent 69% of the population. Of course they are going to be stopped more. Strange, though, that there would be so much “racism” in a heavily Democrat area, wouldn’t you say?

What is not in dispute is the sense of permanent grievance held by many residents and shared in segregated urban areas around the country. Though nothing excuses violence and looting, it is clear that local governments have not dispensed justice equally. The death of Mr. Brown is “heartbreaking,” as President Obama said Tuesday, but it is also a reminder of a toxic racial legacy that still infects cities and suburbs across America.

Interesting. First off, they excuse the violence in Ferguson the past few days and nights as “permanent grievance” before saying “nothing excuses”. Again, in a heavily Democrat voting area. Second, this means that there is a “toxic racial legacy” in urban areas, which tend to vote overwhelmingly Democrat. Democrats, heal thyselves before preaching. Instead of throwing out accusations, the Times could offer solutions.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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You Stay Classy, Joe Romm!!!

By William Teach August 12, 2014 – 6:53 pm

Why? This

Robin Williams In 2002: ‘It Is Beyond Global Warming At This Point. It’s Cooking!’

I’m not even going to bother excerpting beyond the headline, a bit of bat shit insane from Joe Romm, who sold his soul to AGW and George Soros. Suffice to say, Warmists (like all Progressives) use tons of events to push their insane cult. Holidays are their favorites. They also like blaming wars, earthquakes, volcanoes, snow storms, tsunamis, etc, on “climate change”. As Stephen Kruiser notes

A rational, compassionate human being doesn’t use a tragedy like this to make a political point. As many of us have pointed out over the years, climate change is a religious cult. These people know nothing but preaching their warped gospel.

But, then, Progressives/Warmists aren’t compassionate. Period.

Read: You Stay Classy, Joe Romm!!! »

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Woman Files Complaint Over Being Kicked Out Of Pizzeria…For Changing Dirty Diaper At Table

By William Teach August 12, 2014 – 3:12 pm

When even the hardcore radical Feminists (and baby haters, can’t forget that) at Jezebel won’t defend the woman in question, you know the woman is in the wrong

(UK Daily Mail) A mother was kicked out of a pizzeria for changing her baby’s diaper at her table.

But mother Miranda Sowers says she was forced into the situation since the restaurant doesn’t provide changing tables in their restroom.

The incident happened at Brother’s Pizza Express in Spring, Texas, where Sowers took her three daughters for a meal.

Upshot, she decided to change the poo infested diaper at the table, rather than going out to her car

“I thought you know what I’ve got my own changing pad, she’s tiny, she fits right here on the chair,’ Sowers told KHOU. ‘So I laid her down quickly and quietly changed her diaper.’

The pizzeria decided, after a bunch of complaints over the visuals and smell (yup, poo smell!!!!), to bring out her food to go and asked to leave. And the pizzeria is not backing down. So, of course

Sowers has since filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

I haven’t found an article which states exactly what her complaint is.

Read: Woman Files Complaint Over Being Kicked Out Of Pizzeria…For Changing Dirty Diaper At Table »

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If All You See…

By William Teach August 12, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is a wonderful carbon friendly city which everyone should be forced to live in, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Yid With Lid, with a post on anti-Semitism in Rome.

Read: If All You See… »

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