Poll: Most Find Clinton, Bush More Competent Than Obama

By William Teach June 6, 2014 – 6:18 pm

Smart power!

(Washington Post) A majority of voters say the Obama administration is less competent than Bill Clinton’s and a plurality say it is less competent than George W. Bush’s according to a new Fox News poll released Wednesday.

Sixty-eight percent say the Obama administration is less competent that the Clinton administration. Forty-eight percent say it is less competent than Bush’s, compared to 42 percent who say it is more competent. Seven percent judge Obama’s and Bush’s the same.

Fifty-five percent say that the Obama administration has made the country weaker; 35 percent say his administration has made it stronger.

Ed Morrissey notes

The Bergdahl swap gets a surprising split in the poll. Disapproval only barely edges approval, 45/47, although again the story is still unfolding. Eighty-four percent worry that this will encourage more hostage-taking, with a majority of 57% “very concerned.” Subsequent polls may have more disapproval, but it’s difficult to see how this concern could peak any further.

The poll was conducted June 1-3. It will be interesting what the next poll on the swap shows.

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If All You See…

By William Teach June 6, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is a torrential downpour due to Other People refusing to turn their AC up a few degrees, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Doug Ross, with a post on it being a strange coincidence that Red States will bear the brunt of Obama’s “carbon” plan.

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Gun Miraculously Appears On Target Shelf After Anti-gun Group Applies Pressure

By William Teach June 6, 2014 – 12:30 pm

I don’t want to really go down a conspiracy road, but, this makes you wonder

(Forbes) Gun safety advocates are asking Target to ban ‘open carry’ in its stores.

After a string of victories at fast food chains in recent weeks, gun control activists are renewing pressure on discount giant Target Target to ban firearms in its stores.

Michael Bloomberg-backed Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America has launched a campaign asking Target to ban the open carrying of guns in its stores just as news emerges out of South Carolina adding urgency to their mission.

A loss prevention officer found a real, loaded gun in the toy aisle of a Myrtle Beach branch of Target last Friday night. Says the local NBC affiliate:

The gun was in plain view on top of a superhero Playskool toy box when the worker found it; he thought it was a toy. He realized it was real after seeing it was loaded with live ammo.

Just a coincidence, right? Because everyone who carries, whether open or concealed, just happens to pull their gun out and set it down and forget it. In a toy aisle.

The fact that it was found in an aisle geared toward children makes some shoppers feel this was no accident.

“I don’t think someone would accidentally drop off a gun. I think he purposely left it there for a child to pick up and think, ‘Oh it’s a toy gun,’ and accidentally point it at somebody and it goes off,” says Kennedy McClain.

I think that may be going a bit too far. Most likely it was left there by a complete moron who shouldn’t be allowed to carry, or an anti-gunnite trying to manufacture an incident. The security video was handed over to the police, as there was a “suspicious male” walking the aisles. I wonder if we will get the real story if an arrest occurs?

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US Postal Service To Release ClimaStupid Stamp

By William Teach June 6, 2014 – 10:55 am

Of all the things the USPS has to worry about, such as dire financial problems, poor customer service, being broke, “climate change” isn’t one of them

The Global: Sea Surface Temperatures stamp image — one frame in a 1,460-frame (or four-year) animation — is a single snapshot of the team’s studies. To understand climate trends both past and future, the researchers must first grasp the pattern of sea surface temperatures. The two are inseparable. The ocean is a massive bank of heat from the sun and, as such, it stabilizes the Earth’s temperature, governing the seasons and stimulating changes in weather.

Wait, I thought all the heat was disappearing into the deep oceans? Anyhow, here’s what the stamp looks like

Of course, shrink that down to stamp size and you’ll barely be able to see it. Of course, as Anthony Watts notes

Hmmm, not only is it an oddball stamp, being round, it isn’t even of actual sea surface temperatures, it’s a model output. That’s not a real El Niño pattern you see on the stamp, it’s a simulation frame. See the “Inside the science” below. You’d think they would use one that depicts reality, not a model projection.  Our current SST image looks a lot different than the stamp – no reds, lots of blues, which show our current reality to be cooler than the modeled one.

Furthermore, if that’s an El Nino pattern, what does that have to do with man-induced global warming? They’ve been going on for, well, we don’t actually know, because they’ve been happening for so long. And, yes, they are most defiantly blaming Mankind. Back to USPS link

Delworth says there’s been broad consensus over the past 10 to 15 years that the Earth has warmed considerably since the middle of the 20th century, that the warming is largely due to human activity, and that the warming will continue. So now the question becomes: What are the aftereffects?

Well, the effects seem to be “no statistically significant warming in 17 years and 9 months.” They seem to be that 95% of climate models have failed. They seem to be an increase in harsh winters. Seriously, these wankers are using a natural process, El Nino, to attempt to scare people. Of course, how many people use stamps anymore?

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VA Under Investigation For Whistleblower Retaliation

By William Teach June 6, 2014 – 7:11 am

The hit parade keeps coming

(Wall Street Journal) A federal watchdog is investigating allegations of dozens of complaints of backlash against whistleblowers at the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to a release Thursday.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel, a federal body that protects government employees from improper employment practices, including backlash against whistleblowers, announced it is investigating 37 allegations of VA reprisal against whistleblowers in 19 states. The VA has been under scrutiny lately for delays in patient care, sparked in part by a retired whistleblower’s complaint. Not all 37 complaints are related to that issue, the office said.

“We’ve definitely seen an uptick in whistleblowing complaints for scheduling and health and safety issues at the VA generally,” said a spokesman for the Office of the Special Counsel. “They’re all related to patient safety, but not all have to do with appointment scheduling.”

It’s not 100% clear that the retaliation has occurred during Obama’s time in office, but would anyone be surprised by that type of action during the last 5 years, based on the conduct of Team Obama, which has gone to great pains to protect malfeasance within the various departments of the Executive Office, along with denigrating private citizens who dare to speak out against Obama and/or his policies? Most, if not all, seem to have occurred starting in 2013

(Military Times) Some of the cases under review by the office date back to 2013, but involve the same wait time and patient care issues for which VA officials recently have come under heavy fire.

That same article notes several cases where whistleblowers were suspended, including without pay, and poor performance evaluations.

CNN, which has done a pretty darned good job in covering the VA scandal story over the past year, notes that VA doctors were scared to be quoted, but wanted the story to get out. And also notes

All the doctors confirmed to us that VA officials had posted warnings in the hospital’s halls and elevators that no VA employees could speak with the media or divulge details of what went on inside the hospital. The warnings, the doctors said, included details about laws that could be violated and penalties that employees could face, including financial reparations and even jail time, if they were to speak out publicly, and if the hospital suffered financial losses as a result.

Hell of a system you have there, Barack.

Meanwhile, the acting VA Secretary has stated that 18 vets who were on the waiting lists died at the Phoenix facility. And Senator Roy Blunt has confirmed that the Kansas City, Missouri facility also had secret waiting lists. It’s not as bad as the Wichita facility, but just adds to the notion of a systematic issue throughout the VA.

Also, “Jeffrey Murawsky, health care chief for the VA’s Chicago-based regional office, was nominated last month to be the department’s new undersecretary for health care”, has withdrown his nomination, claiming he feared a prolonged fight over the nomination. Gee, what could give him that notion? Could it be that “seven VA hospitals and 30 clinics in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan, including one in suburban Chicago where there are allegations that its staff used secret lists to conceal long patient wait times for appointments”? I guess he didn’t want to be questioned about why that happened under his leadership.

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North Korea Claims To Be Holding An American “Tourist”

By William Teach June 6, 2014 – 6:40 am

Fallout from the Bergdahl exchange? First, let’s consider

The swap of five high-level Taliban operatives — dubbed a jihadist “Dream Team” — for a U.S. Army sergeant accused by fellow soldiers of desertion has “encouraged” the Afghan terror group to kidnap more U.S. service members, according to a report.

A source described as a Taliban commander close to the negotiations that led to the release of Bowe Bergdahl told Time magazine the group wants to grab more Americans for similar deals.

“It’s better to kidnap one person like Bergdahl than kidnapping hundreds of useless people,” the commander told the magazine on condition of anonymity. “It has encouraged our people. Now everybody will work hard to capture such an important bird.”

Does North Korea want in on the swap an American for something train?

(Fox News) An American tourist has been detained in North Korea for allegedly committing an unspecified crime, the country’s official news agency reported Friday.

The Korean Central News Agency said that authorities were investigating the American for allegedly committing acts inconsistent with the purpose of a tourist visit. It did not give details

KCNA said the American went to North Korea on April 29.

The person would be the third American currently held in North Korea.

In April, North Korea said it had detained a 24-year-old American for improper behavior while he was being processed to enter the country as a tourist. He was identified as Miller Matthew Todd — possibly putting his surname first. It said he entered the country on April 10 with a tourist visa, but tore it up and shouted that he wanted to seek asylum. The brief report said he chose the North “as a shelter.”

It’s interesting that NK is announcing this now, after detaining him a shade over a month ago. The North Korea leaders have a long history of threatening to Do Something in order to obtain material things. So far, I do have to give Obama credit for not falling into the trap previous presidents have been snared in. He’s pretty much ignored all the posturing, bloviating, and threatening by North Korea. Possibly because Obama just can’t be bothered to engage in the long negotiations required. That would require Work. But, hey, maybe he’s noticed the pattern and said “eh. You guys. Piss off”.

Meanwhile, Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi is still being held in a Mexican jail. Why not exchange him for something? At least he’s a good guy, not a deserter like Bergdahl.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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CBO Pretty Much Gives Up On Scoring Obamacare

By William Teach June 5, 2014 – 6:17 pm

You don’t say

(Roll Call) For Democratic lawmakers who were hesitant to sign onto the sweeping 2010 health care law, one of the most powerful selling points was that the Affordable Care Act would actually reduce the federal budget deficit, despite the additional costs of extending health insurance coverage to the uninsured.

Four years after enactment of what is widely viewed as President Barack Obama’s key legislative achievement, however, it’s unclear whether the health care law is still on track to reduce the deficit or whether it may actually end up adding to the federal debt. In fact, the answer to that question has become something of a mystery.

In its latest report on the law, the Congressional Budget Office said it is no longer possible to assess the overall fiscal impact of the law. That conclusion came as a surprise to some fiscal experts in Washington and is drawing concern. And without a clear picture of the law’s overall financing, it could make it politically easier to continue delaying pieces of it, including revenue raisers, because any resulting cost increases might be hidden.

Hidden costs? Shocking!

(The Hill) It means that measuring the healthcare law’s effect on the budget deficit will be much more difficult, if not impossible. The CBO is normally the best source of information on bills’ projected fiscal effects. (snip)

The law also includes a variety of taxes and fees to raise revenue, some of which the CBO suggested it could no longer analyze.

In other words, this is messing with the economy so much that the CBO can’t analyze it. Or won’t. Or been told not too.

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If All You See…

By William Teach June 5, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible fossil fueled vehicle, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The First Street Journal, with a post on equality of opportunity not being good enough for Karen Heller.

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And Now Obama Deflects Bergdahl Controversy

By William Teach June 5, 2014 – 12:19 pm

@ShannonBream: PresObama on Bergdahl swap: “I’m never surprised by controversies that are whipped up in Washington. That’s par for the course.”
Shared via TweetCaster

I unfortunately haven’t figured out a way to embed tweets using Droid. Head to Twitchy to see a full raftload of this utter disgrace of a president. How can he be so utterly divorced from reality?

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Snowflakes Are Key To Solving Unemployment And Globull Warming Or Something

By William Teach June 5, 2014 – 11:30 am

Key, I tell you , key!

To Solve Unemployment and Global Warming, Young People Hold the Key

See? Key.

Meet Alejandro Zapata, a young social entrepreneur from Colombia who nearly a decade ago founded a small enterprise in Medellin to design and implement innovative strategies for sustainable development. Since then, he has built a remarkable organization that collaborates with the private sector, governments, and NGOs to improve the environment–whether it’s working with companies to reduce water consumption in the manufacturing process or creating alliances with local ministries to spur “green” business growth. Due to its success, Portafolio Verde has grown its workforce to 40–the majority of whom are 20 to 35 years of age.

Alejandro, a member of the International Youth Foundation’s global network of YouthActionNet® fellows, is part of a worldwide movement of young leaders whose innovative thinking, passion for change, and entrepreneurial spark are helping to combat climate change and promote sustainable development. He is also a powerful example of how entrepreneurship itself–starting one’s own company and creating much needed jobs in the community–is helping to address the global unemployment crisis that keeps so many of today’s young people on the margins, unable to support themselves or build a future for their families.

Clearly, both climate change and youth unemployment, if not effectively dealt with now, pose grave threats to our collective futures. One recent report by a prominent military advisory board finds that global climate change is a growing threat to the national security of the United States, causing “global instability and conflict.” The study concludes: “The lack of comprehensive action by both the United States and the international community to address the full spectrum of projected climate change issues remains a concern.” Similarly, lack of progress in addressing high youth unemployment continues to roil regions like the Middle East and North Africa, where three years ago youth-led protests demanding greater economic opportunities toppled regimes and the status quo. The fact that 600 million young people today are out of school, out of work, and have no access to training should provide a renewed sense of urgency to move forward on these issues.

This isn’t just a Hotcoldwetdry issue: essentially, what we have here are youths creating jobs out of thin air that amount to nothing. They produce nothing of value. No products. No art. No science. No knowledge. Zip. Nada. Of course, this is what the snowflakes are learning in school, the power of narcissism, leading to so many degrees in (Insert stupid here) Studies. Worthless degrees that provide nothing but self-absorption. And here we have them linking the imaginary problem of anthropogenic global warming along with spreading awareness by creating meaningless spreading awareness groups. All linked to The Government.

Read: Snowflakes Are Key To Solving Unemployment And Globull Warming Or Something »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Economy, Global Warming | 3 Comments | Trackback URL
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