If All You See…

…is a horrible carbon pollution infused beer, cause the waters to rise, you might just be a Warmist

The Hump Day blog of the day is This ain’t Hell…, with a your feel good story of the day.

Read: If All You See… »

Warmist Offers $10,000 Bet To Disprove “Climate Change”

On the heals of David South offer to bet $1,000 to anyone regarding sea level change, along comes a Warmist with his own bet

(Climate Progress) When not refuting the 97 percent of scientists who believe in human-caused global warming, climate change deniers often draw upon the conspiracy that it’s is a fabricated theory invented by those in a position to gain financially or otherwise from efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A Texas-based physicist is turning that notion on its head by offering $10,000 of his own money to anyone who can disprove mainstream, accepted climate science.

Dr. Christopher Keating, a physicist who has taught at the University of South Dakota and the U.S. Naval Academy, says in his blog post that the rules are easy: there is no entry fee, participants must be over 18, and the scientific method must be employed.

Here’s how it works

1. I will award $10,000 of my own money to anyone that can prove, via the scientific method, that man-made global climate change is not occurring;

2. There is no entry fee;

3. You must be 18 years old or older to enter;

4. Entries do not have to be original, they only need to be first;

5. I am the final judge of all entries but will provide my comments on why any entry fails to prove the point.

That’s it! I know you are not going to get rich with $10,000. But, tell me, wouldn’t you like to have a spare $10,000? After all, the skeptics all claim it is a simple matter, and it doesn’t even have to be original. If it is so easy, just cut and paste the proof from somewhere. Provide the scientific evidence and prove your point and the $10,000 is yours!

This is no joke. If someone can provide a proof that I can’t refute, using scientific evidence, then I will write them a check.

OK

Oh, wait, sorry, Warmists call it climate change because that allows them to roll in every change in the weather. Again, skeptics aren’t arguing that the world hasn’t warmed, we are arguing causation.

Here’s the problem with the bet: the term “climate change” is not defined. What, exactly, does Dr. Keating mean? Is it that Mankind is mostly/solely responsible? Or responsible for more than 50%? Or even have a low causation, such as the 10-15% I maintain? Does it cover just warming, or also cooling, cold snaps, snow? Earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis? What is the time frame?

Read: Warmist Offers $10,000 Bet To Disprove “Climate Change” »

Biden: Gay Rights Trump Pretty Much Everything

Someone let Joe Biden off his chains again

(Yahoo News) Vice President Joe Biden declared Tuesday that protecting gay rights is a defining mark of a civilized nation and must trump national cultures and social traditions as the Obama administration sought to mobilize a global front against anti-gay violence and discrimination.

Biden told a gathering of U.S. and international gay rights advocates that President Barack Obama has directed that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender men and women around the world.

“I don’t care what your culture is,” Biden told about 100 guests at the Naval Observatory’s vice presidential mansion. “Inhumanity is inhumanity is inhumanity. Prejudice is prejudice is prejudice.”

In may seem like some off-the-cuff remark from Sheriff Joe, but put this in context of the Progressive movement overall, and it makes perfect sense. A big chunk of the Progressive (nice fascism) movement is to destroy social, cultural, and religious historical norms and mores, replacing them with something else, which helps increased dependence, reliance, and adherence to The State.

Do Progressives really care about gays? Mostly only in terms of them being a potential voter block as well as an interest group they can use for political purposes. How often have you seen Progressives take on gay hating nations like Saudi Arabia and Iran, or hardcore Islam, over their treatment of gays? I believe that most people, even those who do not agree with the gay lifestyle, would agree that the treatment of gays in some countries, such as jailing, whippings, stonings, and hangings, are Wrong. The notion here, though, is that Everyone Else must give up their rights in accordance with the gay lifestyle.

Of course, this is also part of the how the Obama admin focuses on smaller issues, because the big issues have just beaten them down and exposed their sheer incompetence.

BTW, it would be nice if Biden, along with other Progressives, cared as much about women treated in an abhorrent manner by Muslim countries.

Read: Biden: Gay Rights Trump Pretty Much Everything »

Golly Gee, IRS Failed To Follow Law On Archiving Email

Who would have thought it?

(NY Times) The Internal Revenue Service did not follow the law when it failed to report a hard drive crash that destroyed emails belonging to a senior official at the center of a scandal over the agency’s treatment of conservative-leaning political groups, the nation’s top archivist said Tuesday.

“In accordance with the Federal Records Act, when an agency becomes aware of an incident of unauthorized destruction, they must report the incident to us,” said David S. Ferriero, the chief archivist at the National Archives.

Mr. Ferriero made his remarks at a congressional hearing examining the 2011 disappearance of emails sent and received by Lois Lerner, the former I.R.S. official who is accused of politically motivated mistreatment of Tea Party-aligned groups seeking tax exemptions.

Hey, NY Times, they also lost the records for six other IRS employees implicated in the targeting scheme.

Mr. Ferriero would not say that anyone at the I.R.S. committed a crime, only that the agency “did not follow the law.” He said he learned of the missing emails on June 13, when the agency made the disclosure in a filing to Congress.

Oops, looks like the Times forgot something else

Ferriero: “That’s right.”

(Rep David) Walberg: “Did they break the law?”

Ferrerio: “I’m not a lawyer.”

Walberg: “But you administer the Federal Records Act.”

Ferriero: “I do.”

Walberg: “If they didn’t follow it, can we safely assume they broke the law?”

Ferriero: “They did not follow the law.”

He wouldn’t say because he’s not a lawyer. Typical weaselly government speak. If they did not follow the law, they broke it. See what would happen if you used the “dog ate my tax returns” excuse to the IRS. See what would happen if an agency like the SEC came calling to your business and you lost emails that were involved in securities fraud.

Fortunately, this very important news is buried on page A15.

Then there’s this

White House attorney Jennifer O’Connor testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Tuesday that she couldn’t recall who she worked with during her six months at the IRS.

Darrell Issa was not amused by Rep. Jason Chavez’ line of questioning on this

During Chaffetz’s exchange, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) interrupted: “Mr. Chairman, I think you might be unfair to the witness. The fact is that last night, the commissioner could not remember 60 days ago who told him about the importance of losing those documents.

“Last night, he could not narrow less than 60 days within 30 days when he was told. I think that in fact the ability to remember at the IRS is simply limited,” Issa concluded.

Not amused, snarky.

Finally, the IRS without a “smidgen of corruption” has settled a lawsuit

The Daily Signal has learned that, under a consent judgment today, the IRS agreed to pay $50,000 in damages to the National Organization for Marriage as a result of the unlawful release of the confidential information to a gay rights group, the Human Rights Campaign, that is NOM’s chief political rival.

No, no corruption.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Golly Gee, IRS Failed To Follow Law On Archiving Email »

Obama Admin Won’t Say How Many Illegals Were Released

Most transparent administration ever?

(AP) The Obama administration has released into the U.S. an untold number of immigrant families caught traveling illegally from Central America in recent months — and although the government knows how many it’s released, it won’t say publicly.

Senior U.S. officials directly familiar with the issue, including at the Homeland Security Department and White House, have so far dodged the answer on at least seven occasions over two weeks, alternately saying that they did not know the figure or didn’t have it immediately at hand. “We will get back to you,” the Homeland Security deputy secretary said Friday.

The figure is widely believed to exceed 40,000 since October. It’s believed to be slightly below the roughly 52,000 children caught traveling illegally from Central America over the same period, an extraordinary increase since last year that is driving a humanitarian crisis at the border. (snip)

The administration did not immediately respond Monday to renewed questions about why it won’t reveal the figure.

When the narrative shifts from “what are the numbers?” to “why won’t you release the numbers?”, there is a big, big problem with government transparency, and it certainly makes a citizen wonder what the government is hiding. Of course, it could simply be that those in the Obama admin just don’t feel like doing the job in getting the numbers. Pure laziness. Or, they just might be so used to being secretive and stonewalling that there is nothing nefarious, just business as usual for Team O.

Read: Obama Admin Won’t Say How Many Illegals Were Released »

If All You See…

…is a horrible fossil fueled vehicle causing palm trees to grow in New Hampshire, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The First Street Journal, with a post on the brutal choices for Iraq.

Read: If All You See… »

Bummer: Climate Friendly Noisemaker Banned From World Cup

Why, you ask?

Brazil’s winning on the soccer field — and in battling climate change

At this year’s World Cup Soccer tournament, Brazil introduced a new noisemaker for the home crowds — the caxirola, an environmentally friendly shaker that evoked Brazil’s Afro-Caribbean roots.

Unfortunately, the caxirola also turned out to be an effective missile for angry fans, and it has been banned from the matches. Now the caxirola, like the massive stadiums built for the event, serves as a symbol of the wasteful, excessive spending that has angered so many Brazilians.

Wait, soccer fans getting violent? The hell you say!

Fortunately, there is good news out of Brazil that runs counter to the ‘waste’ narrative.

A new paper in Science says that since 2005, the rate of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has dropped 70 percent, and Brazil now leads the world in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Dan Nepstad, the executive director and founder of Earth Innovation Institute and one of the authors of the paper, says he is “fascinated” by how little the Brazilian government has made of this.

“Brazil really could very legitimately say to the world, ‘We’re not just the best in soccer, we’re the best in agricultural growth, and we’re also doing our part to keep forests standing, protect indigenous lands and greatly lower greenhouse gas emissions,’” Nepstad adds.

Sigh. Once again, a real environmental issue is rolled under the banner of “climate change”.

Read: Bummer: Climate Friendly Noisemaker Banned From World Cup »

New Report Breathlessly Prognosticates Economic Doom From Global Warming

Here’s Justin Gillis, one of the journalistic world’s biggest Warmists and climahysterics

Bipartisan Report Tallies High Toll on Economy From Global Warming

More than a million homes and businesses along the nation’s coasts could flood repeatedly before ultimately being destroyed. Entire states in the Southeast and the Corn Belt may lose much of their agriculture as farming shifts northward in a warming world. Heat and humidity will probably grow so intense that spending time outside will become physically dangerous, throwing industries like construction and tourism into turmoil.

That is the picture of what may happen to the United States economy in a world of unchecked global warming, according to a major new report being put forward Tuesday by a coalition of senior political and economic figures from the left, right and center, including three Treasury secretaries stretching back to the Nixon administration.

You simply have to love the carnival palm reader certainty of the report.

“I actually do believe that we’re at a tipping point with the planet,” Mr. Paulson said in an interview at his home in Chicago. “A lot of things are going to happen that none of us are going to like to see.”

So far, virtually every prognostication from Warmists has failed. Meanwhile, none of this is news, since previous Holocene warm periods were warmer than the current one.

“Here we have this existential threat that I really do think has the possibility of being catastrophic, and I don’t think people have any sense of that,” Mr. Rubin said.

Uh huh. Apparently, humans saw catastrophe during previous warm periods and virtually died out. What? No? Human society thrived during warm periods? And saw massive hardship during the cool ones? Goodness!

The campaign behind the new report, called Risky Business, is funded largely by three wealthy financiers who are strong advocates of action on global warming: Mr. Paulson, who with his wife, Wendy, has helped finance conservation efforts for decades; Thomas F. Steyer, a billionaire former hedge fund executive and Democrat who is pushing to make global warming a central issue in political races around the country; and Michael R. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, who now urges cities to confront the threat of climate change.

The players should tell you all you need to know about the issue.

Mr. Houser called the analysis “the most detailed modeling ever done on the impact of climate change on specific sectors of the U.S. economy.”

Hooray, more models! Because they’ve worked so well so far.

If greenhouse gas emissions continue at a rapid pace, the report said, the global sea level could increase roughly a foot by 2050, and double or triple that by century’s end. A rise of as much as six or eight feet cannot be entirely ruled out, but that is more likely in the next century.

Pull my finger.

If emissions continue apace, the combination of heat and humidity projected for some regions, particularly the Southeast, at century’s end means that anyone working outside at certain times will face a high risk of life-threatening heat stroke. And in the 22nd century, much of the eastern half of the country could face these conditions for weeks on end, the researchers predicted.

Funny, “emissions” have been rising, yet there has been an almost 18 year pause, over half the satellite record. Oh, sorry, these things “could” happen in the far flung future. It’s such an existential threat that Warmists like Paulson, Bloomberg, and Steyer have completely changed their lives to be carbon neutral, and are exhorting fellow Warmists to do the same. What’s that? They haven’t? Who woulda thunk it?

Read: New Report Breathlessly Prognosticates Economic Doom From Global Warming »

Great Optics: Democrats Protecting IRS

It’s not the first time House Democrats have been caught protecting the IRS and high ranking employees as the IRS targeting scandal rolls on, and it surely won’t be the last (video is available at each link)

(Mediaite) Democratic Congresswoman Jackie Speier followed up a Republican grilling IRS Commissioner John Koskinen by scolding fellow Republicans for “badgering” him. Speier spoke up after Jim Jordan got rather confrontational with Koskinen about how long he knew about the missing IRS emails before they informed Congress. Jordan was practically fuming at Koskinen for how he kept Congress in the dark, and after his time was up, Speier jumped in with some criticisms for her Republican colleagues.

She said “badgering witnesses is inappropriate and shameful for this committee to conduct itself in that matter” and told Darrell Issa he needs to do a better job of enforcing the rules on House decorum.

She even threatened to walk out.

(Mediaite) Democratic Congressman Elijah Cummings took a few minutes during Monday night’s IRS hearing to apologize to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen for putting him through “hell” by subjecting him to a politically-motivated hearing instead of one concerned with the facts. He opened by saying, “I thank you from the depths of my heart.”

Cummings scolded his fellow committee members and got angrier as he continued.

“I appreciate you coming into this institution, giving it the best you’ve got, and then having to come in here and go through this hell!”

Think about that one. The IRS has been playing games and stonewalling for well over a year now, even “losing” relevant emails for not just Lois Lerner, but other employees involved in the targeting scheme, and Democrats are praising the IRS as well as protecting the agency. The words of these Democrats should end up in opposition campaign commercials, because the IRS is certainly the most despised federal agency of all. When it comes calling, every US citizen immediately believes they will be put through hell, and many are. The IRS scares the living hell out of citizens. They put Tea Party groups through hell with their targeting schemes.

Meanwhile, Darrell Issa has subpoenaed Jennifer O’Connor, a White House lawyer, who had worked for the IRS, to testify Tuesday, after the White House declined to make her available. The WH is supposedly complying with the subpoena.

Finally, check out Trey Goudy grilling the IRS head

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Great Optics: Democrats Protecting IRS »

Surprise: Greenpeace Senior Exec Takes 250 Mile Fossil Fueled Flight

What’s the big deal about that? This

One of Greenpeace’s most senior executives commutes 250 miles to work by plane, despite the environmental group’s campaign to curb air travel, it has emerged.

Pascal Husting, Greenpeace International’s international programme director, said he began “commuting between Luxembourg and Amsterdam” when he took the job in 2012 and currently made the round trip about twice a month. (snip)

But Mr Husting defended the arrangement, telling the Telegraph that while he would “rather not take” the journey it was necessary as it would otherwise be “a twelve hour round trip by train”.

“I spend half my life on skype and video conference calls,” he said. “But as a senior manager, the people who work in my team sometimes need to meet me in the flesh, that’s why I’ve been going to Amsterdam twice a month while my team was being restructured.”

Or, he could just move to Amsterdam. Of course, there’s an excuse for that

Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace’s top executive director, told the Guardian that while Mr Husting “wishes there was an express train between his home and his office… it would currently be a 12-hour round trip by train”.

“Pascal has a young family in Luxembourg. When he was offered the new role he couldn’t move his family to Amsterdam straight away. He’d be the first to say he hates the commute, hates having to fly, but right now he hasn’t got much of an option until he can move.”

Lord knows, we wouldn’t want him to have to take the same type of travel all the plebeians take, am I right? As mick_collins points out in the comments

He could catch a train and get there in 4.48hrs for €61 if he really wanted to. It would mean him travelling 2nd class first thing with the ordinarys though.
He could use one of those nice hybrid cars that the Greens are always banging on about. AA route finder suggests that it’s only 225 mile or so which is about 3 gallons in a VW Diesel. He could probably knock that sort of distance off in 3-4 hrs tops.
Let’s face it, he catches the plane because it makes him feel good.
And he can get away with it.

He could also purchase an all electric vehicle.

Read: Surprise: Greenpeace Senior Exec Takes 250 Mile Fossil Fueled Flight »

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