FBI Considers Allowing Marijuana Use For Cyber-crime Recruits

By William Teach May 21, 2014 – 6:47 am

It’s not like the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the nations top law enforcement agency, charged with enforcing the law, and marijuana is considered a Schedule I drug, illegal per federal law. Heck, Los Federales have placed restrictions on people using federal waters to grow marijuana.

(WSJ) FBI Director James B. Comey said Monday that if the FBI hopes to continue to keep pace with cyber criminals, the organization may have to loosen up its no-tolerance policy for hiring those who like to smoke marijuana.

Congress has authorized the FBI to add 2,000 personnel to its rolls this year, and many of those new recruits will be assigned to tackle cyber crimes, a growing priority for the agency. And that’s a problem, Mr. Comey told the White Collar Crime Institute, an annual conference held at the New York City Bar Association in Manhattan. A lot of the nation’s top computer programmers and hacking gurus are also fond of marijuana.

“I have to hire a great work force to compete with those cyber criminals and some of those kids want to smoke weed on the way to the interview,” Mr. Comey said.

Mr. Comey said that the agency was “grappling with the question right now” of how to amend the agency’s marijuana policies, which excludes from consideration anyone who has smoked marijuana in the previous three years, according to the FBI’s Web site. One conference goer asked Mr. Comey about a friend who had shied away from applying because of the policy. “He should go ahead and apply,” despite the marijuana use, Mr. Comey said.

There’s no indication whether this would apply to allowing those who are users of marijuana to continue using while employed, or simply changing the policy which states that anyone who has used it within the last 3 years should not bother applying for a job. I suspect Mr. Comey means to allow the hackers to continue using while working. But, hey, in the era of Obama, one shouldn’t really expect federal agencies to follow the law, should they?

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: FBI Considers Allowing Marijuana Use For Cyber-crime Recruits »

Posted in Government | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

Surprise: Warmists Tend To Have Much Bigger “Carbon Footprints”

By William Teach May 20, 2014 – 4:16 pm

So claims the guy who created a web app to track your carbon footprint

(Grist) Ian Monroe wants you to beat your Facebook friends at a new game: Who has the lowest carbon footprint?

Monroe is the CEO of Oroeco, a recently launched web app that tracks a user’s personal impact on climate change. The app not only helps you quantify your own footprint — based on your spending habits, made possible through linking up with Mint.com — but by logging in with Facebook it’ll allow you to compare your carbon sins with those of your virtual community. Ultimately, Monroe wants to motivate users to emit a little (or a lot) less greenhouse gas. In other words, go ahead and feel green – with envy, that is.

Grist’s Samantha Larson interviewed Mr. Monroe, and here’s the very first excerpt

Something that comes as a shock to a lot of our users: The average person who says they care about climate change actually has a substantially worse than average footprint. Generally that’s because they tend to have a bit more money, and they tend to be people who like to think of themselves as multicultural and like to get out and see the world. Which means that they’re flying around a lot, and all that flying generally outweighs any other green lifestyle choices that they’ve made. You have a lot of people who are using reusable bags and water bottles, driving a Prius, maybe eating a bit more of a veggie friendly diet. But then they’re flying to Bali or South Africa or something once a year. They end up having a larger carbon footprint than a conservative guy who drives an SUV in the suburbs of Atlanta but doesn’t fly anywhere.

Color me shocked!

Read: Surprise: Warmists Tend To Have Much Bigger “Carbon Footprints” »

Posted in Climahypocrites, Global Warming | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach May 20, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible assault rifle firing lead bullets which cause the seas to rise, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Liberal Land, our buddy Alan Colmes, with a post that is either disturbing or groan-worthy hilarious, regarding an ATM machine and sex.

Read: If All You See… »

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

Will Godzilla Start A Revival Of Monster Movies?

By William Teach May 20, 2014 – 12:03 pm

And by a revival, we’re talking about remaking many of the old ones, from the start of film making through really about the early 1960’s. That’s the question that was discussed briefly on WTTK here in Raleigh.

The genre never really went away. There are certainly movies here and there. Some are remakes. Ho many vampire movies have there been? Werewolves? King Kong was remade for the 2nd time a few years ago. Personally, I like the one with Faye Dunnaway the best.
Can you remake those old ones for the theaters? Good question. Something like Tarantula might work. Others, like The Tingled, might not, even as a fun summer flick. Making them for a network like SciFi or Chiller might be better. Lord knows SciFi needs some quality movies, instead of the normal drek.

Could many be remade without being silly or modern preachy, hosed much like was done with Noah? And be interesting for modern movie goers, who would shell out quite a bit more than decades ago? Would the subject matter interest them? Here’s some to consider:

Creature from the Black Lagoon: I never really like the original. The concept was great, but rather schlocky.

Phantom of the Oprah? Hunchback of Notre Dame? Nosferatu, done properly, to really scare the crap out of people, give them a serious case of the willies, would be good.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde? Kinda have that with the Hulk. The Invisible Man? That could be tough, unless set in an earlier era. Need to see and feel the madness.

Black Cat and Black Sabbath might be good. How about a modern version of The Blob?

If Hollywood wants to reach in the bag for remakes, why not use good material? Sometimes people just want to see a fun film without a deep message, though, of course, so many of those 50’s movies were linked to the Cold War and nuclear weapons. Like Them. Would one want to remake Jaws? How about campy stuff like Blood Beach? They remade Piranha, which was silly, campy, lots of gratuitous nudity, and hearkened back the 70’s and early 80’s movies, attempting to be fun, along with scary and gory.

Mummies are kinda out at the moment. The one with Brendan Frasier was great. How about a proper Wolfman? The recent one was bad. Would The Skull or It Came From Beneath The Sea work? Hey, maybe an American version of The Host?

What do you think? Anything you’d like to see remade, if done well? What’s your favorite monster movie? Could Godzilla bring on a Renaissance?

Read: Will Godzilla Start A Revival Of Monster Movies? »

Posted in Film | 12 Comments | Trackback URL

Hooray! You Can Fast To Stop Climate Change Typhoons!

By William Teach May 20, 2014 – 11:04 am

It’s all so simple

(Yahoo News) Could fasting once a month make a difference when it comes to climate change? That’s the question behind a growing global movement coalescing around the hashtag #fastfortheclimate.

Remember Typhoon Haiyan? The colossal superstorm, by some estimates the largest typhoon ever to make landfall, decimated parts of the Philippines last November. Although it left more than 6,000 dead and displaced millions, for a lot of us the tragedy passed like these things often do: A flurry of heartbreaking reports and terrible images for a few days, only to disappear from the headlines and slip into a kind of half-forgotten memory.

Is this reminding anyone of a pesudo-religion? Fasting, then linking a typhoon to the issue behind the reason to fast.

“In solidarity with my countrymen who are struggling to find food back home, and with my brother, who has not had food for the last three days,” Sano went on, “I will now commence a voluntary fasting for the climate.”

That was Yeb Sano, the head of the Philippines delegation, who took a fossil fueled flight to Warsaw for the UN IPCC Conference On The Parties last year. Seriously, these people think they can change the climate by not eating for a day once a month (which most won’t do, even though they’ll flog the hashtag). Much like they hold their “Earth Hour” once a year, and turn a few lights off.

This is also one of those 1st World Problems. Those in 3rd world shitholes developing nations would be happy to take that food, as well as live half as well as those in even the Philippines live.

Read: Hooray! You Can Fast To Stop Climate Change Typhoons! »

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

Expectation Met: Obama Heard About VA Issues From News Reports

By William Teach May 20, 2014 – 7:19 am

The big question is, how does this administration have any credibility left? Can you imagine the response had any of Bush’s press secretaries tried this?

(Real Clear Politics) JIM ACOSTA, CNN: When was the president first made aware of these problems? Of these fraudulent lists that were being kept to hide the wait times, when was he first made aware of those problems? And when did other White House officials, top White House officials, become aware of these problems?

JAY CARNEY: When you say these problems, the fact that there have been bureaucracies —

ACOSTA: The delays have been known for some time.

CARNEY: You mean the specific allegations that I think were reported first by your news network out of Phoenix, I believe. We learned about them through the reports. I will double check if that is not the case.

But that is when we learned about them and that is when I understand Secretary Shinseki learned about them, and he immediately took the action that he has taken.

Of course, we know that this is a lie, unless Obama has horrible memory retention. Does anyone in the media have the cajones to call Carney and Obama out on this? As Allahpundit notes

Exit question: When Obama told veterans in 2007 that we need a “new sense of urgency” in making sure sick and injured vets are quickly seen, what else did he mean if not proactive investigation and resolution of the problem by the new president?

We also know that Obama was specifically told about this issue back during the transition in 2008.

Read: Expectation Met: Obama Heard About VA Issues From News Reports »

Posted in Barking Moonbats, Barry Obama, Current Affairs, Democrats | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

Good News: U.S. Ready To Evacuate Embassy In Tripoli

By William Teach May 20, 2014 – 7:04 am

Obama’s Big Libyan Adventure is working out so well!

(CNN) The U.S. military has doubled the number of aircraft standing by in Italy if needed to evacuate Americans from the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, Libya, CNN has learned.

A decision to evacuate as violence in the Libyan capital grows is “minute by minute, hour by hour,” a defense official told CNN on Monday.

Fierce fighting swept across the city Sunday after armed men stormed the country’s interim Parliament. Sporadic bursts of gunfire and blasts could still be heard on the outskirts of the capital Monday evening.

The violence appeared to be some of the worst since the 2011 revolution that ousted longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi.

There was always the possibility that the country would turn Islamist even if Mr. Obama kept his eye on the ball. Since he treated Libya like a child treats a toy, as in, playing with it hard then forgetting about the damage caused, the nation has turned into a hotbed of radical Islam. Say what you will about Gadhafi, he kept the hardcores out. And, now, there will be a hardcore Islamist country right in the heart of the Mediterranean shipping lanes. The new interim-government is, in fact, using hardcore Islamist militias.

It’s so bad that the Saudis temporarily shut down their embassy in Tripoli, and

Turkey took similar measures, shutting down its consulate in Benghazi, Turkey’s semi-official Anadolu news agency reported.

Speaking of Benghazi, it’s interesting that military planes can be put on alert to evacuate Tripoli. Why were none on alert on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks in 2012? Was the administration so incompetent that they failed to note the warning signs as to how bad Benghazi had become? Did they just not care? Was it too inconvenient for Obama to do his job? We did have multiple ships that could have launched helicopters and attack jets in the Med, and since there was no idea how long the attacks would last, what, exactly, did the Obama admin do, other than watch the attacks on monitors?

Anyhow, heck of a job, Obama. Bomb a country then walk away, watch it turn into a hardcore Islamist nation.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Good News: U.S. Ready To Evacuate Embassy In Tripoli »

Posted in Barry Obama, RoP | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

How To Save The Planet From Hotcoldwetdry?

By William Teach May 19, 2014 – 2:52 pm

Warmist Bill Moyers is utterly concerned with saving the planet from “climate change”, so, obviously, he recommends that Warmists practice what they preach, and has promised to give up his own use of fossil fuels! Oh, wait, no, he wants spreading awareness and a carbon tax

How to Save the Planet

blah blah blah

We reached out to a handful of scientists, policy experts, writers and activists to ask: “If you could require America to do just one thing — any one thing — to combat climate change in 2014, what would it be?” Here’s what they said:

Hyper-warmist David Suzuki wants projects akin to the space race. Guess he’s not going carbon neutral himself. William D. Nordhaus says

People ask, what can I do? My answer is that people should address the threat of climate change in ways that best fit their personal interests and capabilities. Students can learn, and teachers can teach. Citizens can inform themselves. Engineers can develop low-carbon technologies. Politicians can confront the realities and speak the truth. Media can avoid meaningless balancing of good and bad arguments. As an economist, I can explain why carbon pricing (such as through carbon taxes) is the most effective mechanism to reduce emissions. There is much to do, for everyone.

So, spreading awareness, passing laws that restrict freedom, a carbon tax, destroying economies, and, of course, restricting freedom of speech. Annie Leonard of Greenpeace

If I could require Americans to do one thing, it is to get active! Already millions know and are concerned about climate change, now we need to move that passive concern into action. That action could take many forms depending on each person’s skills and interests: shut down coal-fired power plants, get your university to divest from fossil fuels and invest in a clean energy economy, encourage companies and state and local governments to switch to renewable energy, demand leadership from our elected officials. It doesn’t matter so much which thing we do, as long as we all do something.

How about changing your own life, Annie? Give up fossil fuels.

  • Kerry Emanuel wants a carbon tax, and even wants “Finally, I would start a movement to amend the Constitution to make it illegal to influence (whether by voting or through money) elections outside one’s own district.” Actually, I’m good with that. I’ve always hated money coming in from outside districts. Not sure what that has to do with Hotcoldwetdry, though.
  • Kumi Naido, another Greenpeace executive director, compares “climate change” to slavery, and wants civil disobedience to fossil fuels companies, failing to note that they aren’t Government, and also failing to tell us that he has given up all fossil fuels usage himself.
  • Bill McKibben, part of the nutty 350.org, wants a carbon tax, and to treat this like its WWIII, and to break the fossil fuels industry. Yet, he still takes lots of fossil fueled flights and vehicle trips.
  • Vandana Shiva, a philosopher (has an S in her name) and environmental activist, wants to stop corporate greed. But not go carbon neutral herself.
  • And, finally, Sandra Steingraber thinks we’re approaching the last-straw-breaks-the-camel’s-back moment, would ban fracking.

Note that none of these folks advocate for other Warmists to make significant changes in their own lives to go carbon neutral. Nor do they seem willing to make significant changes in their own lives. This is why I say this is all about politics. Oh, and

Read: How To Save The Planet From Hotcoldwetdry? »

Posted in Carbon Credits, Climahypocrites, Global Warming | 15 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach May 19, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible rising ocean which will swamp the coasts back hundreds of miles, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Victory Girls Blog, with a post noting proof that liberals are wussies.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 4 Comments | Trackback URL

Obama Warned About VA Problems In 2008

By William Teach May 19, 2014 – 9:17 am

A quick follow up to the earlier post, where I wonder why Obama wasn’t getting ahead of the VA scandal, because it really wasn’t his fault, and would be a way to show his leadership, and, instead, was seemingly treating this the way they treat all the scandals created by his administration. Perhaps this is why

(Washington Times) The Obama administration received clear notice more than five years ago that VA medical facilities were reporting inaccurate waiting times and experiencing scheduling failures that threatened to deny veterans timely health care — problems that have turned into a growing scandal.

Veterans Affairs officials warned the Obama-Biden transition team in the weeks after the 2008 presidential election that the department shouldn’t trust the wait times that its facilities were reporting.

“This is not only a data integrity issue in which [Veterans Health Administration] reports unreliable performance data; it affects quality of care by delaying — and potentially denying — deserving veterans timely care,” the officials wrote.

The briefing materials, obtained by The Washington Times through the Freedom of Information Act, make clear that the problems existed well before Mr. Obama took office, dating back at least to the Bush administration. But the materials raise questions about what actions the department took since 2009 to remedy the problems.

You can also Blame Bush for not taking action, provided he was informed, as multiple investigations said there was an issue. A big issue. This issue apparently continued to grow, to the point that Obama was told about it during the transition. And did nothing.

Oh, and let’s throw out a Democrat talking point: “who’s president now?” Liberals did not want to hear about all the failures regarding 9/11 that occurred during the Clinton administration, nor other issues that passed from his admin to the Bush admin. Well, Obama is president now. What did he do?

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Obama Warned About VA Problems In 2008 »

Posted in Barry Obama | 4 Comments | Trackback URL
Pirate's Cove