If All You See…

By William Teach January 21, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is a wonderful carbon neutral bike, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Independent Sentinel, with a post on Common Core’s porn-sex curricula.

PS: sorry, another tattoo.

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Study Prognosticates That “Climate Change” Could Cause More El Nino’s

By William Teach January 21, 2014 – 11:05 am

The cult is trotting out yet another scary story

(USA Today) Some of the worst El Niños, the infamous climate patterns that shake up weather around the world, could double in frequency in upcoming decades due to global warming, says a new study out Sunday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

During an El Niño, water temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean tend to be warmer-than-average for an extended period of time – typically at least three to five months. This warm water brings about significant changes in global weather patterns.

The most powerful El Niños – such as the ones that developed in 1982-83 and 1997-98 – are forecast to occur once every 10 years throughout the rest of this century, according to study lead author Wenju Cai of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Australia’s national science agency. Over the past 100 years or so, however these “extreme” El Niños occurred only once every 20 years, he said.

Hilarious. We know the conditions that cause an El Nino to occur, but we do not understand how those conditions come about in the first place.

The research results came from an aggregation of 20 climate models, which were used in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.

Oh, good, more computer models.

“It looks like a solid study,” said meteorologist Michael Mann of Penn State University, who was not involved in the research. “The authors appear to provide reasonably convincing evidence that El Niño events are likely to become more extreme as the climate continues to warm, in turn implying greater future regional climate/weather extremes than past studies.”

If Michael “robust debate” Mann (who is being called out by Judith Curry) thinks this is solid, it’s probably complete bunk. Regardless, you know what it doesn’t prove? Anthropogenic causation.

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Posted in AGW Scaremongering, Global Warming | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

If You Thought Obtaining Obamacare Was Hard, Wait Till You Try And Cancel It

By William Teach January 21, 2014 – 8:49 am

It is getting easier to actually enroll in Obamacare, as the website issues are being fixed…except for those pesky security features…and ability to pay online…and many State run exchanges…anyhow, we knew that the website wouldn’t stay a complete failure as time went on. But, what if you found a plan offered outside of Obamacare? Lesli Hill, who saw her policy cancelled thanks to Obamacare, attempted to enroll in Ocare, but then found out that her insurer had a similar plan, so she decided to forget the Ocare plan and sign up directly with her insurer. She was told that she had to cancel the Ocare plan first. How’d that work out?

(Fox News) However, shortly afterward Hill, 62, learned she could once again purchase an individual plan — with better benefits — outside the exchange. She checked with Blue Cross Blue Shield in early December and was told she’d have to cancel her ObamaCare plan first.

“At that point, I hadn’t paid my premium … so I thought okay, that’ll be easy to do,” she said.

Ostensibly, yes. She tried using a simple “terminate button” on the website — but it wasn’t working.

Thus started what we’ll call the journey.

Hill first tried the HealthCare.gov help line, and “literally was on hold for several hours a day,” she said. After multiple attempts, without much luck, she tried the online chat. She was redirected back to the help line. The “script” that operators were reading from did not seem to address how someone could actually cancel a plan.

Hill continued to call the help line around the holidays, and eventually was given the impression that, at last, the plan was terminated.

But then, a $950 premium was withdrawn from her account — which she knew meant she was still enrolled.

As The Lonely Conservative notes, thinks continue to go downhill from there

She was told she had to call a “special department” that handles cancellations, but then they refused to give her the number. She had to jump through all sorts of hoops and enlist the help of Blue Cross Blue Shield before she finally got the policy cancelled. When asked about cancelling Obamacare policies the HHS spokesperson said to call the Marketplace consumer call center, which is the same place that gave Ms. Hill the runaround.

This goes directly to having The Government involved in consumer choice purchases. Because we all know how efficient The Government is. In honesty, some are good, some are bad. I have to deal with government agencies here and there in my job. Dealing with the Social Security Admin is usually easy, in terms of contact (usually a 20 minute wait) and getting the docs I need (25 minutes usually). Veteran’s Affairs? I don’t even bother to call. The line is usually so busy that they won’t even leave you on hold. I tell people to simply go to the VA office. Other departments are pretty bad, too. The IRS was very helpful in one personal issue. But, wait times are often long. And when considering Obamacare, you are mixing public with private, and there are numerous public institutions involved, and government tends to also be very inflexible. At least in terms of how they deal with Citizens.

Don’t expect the processes for Ocare to get better anytime ever.

More: I don’t usually link back because I have a script set up to show any trackbacks, but this from the Daley Gator amused the heck out me

THE HOTEL CALIFORNIA OF HEALTH CARE

You can check in, but you can’t check out. Funny, because I had that song playing on the way to work. Serendipity.

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Dems On MLK Day: Vote Is Precious, So Let’s Not Verify That Someone Is Eligible

By William Teach January 21, 2014 – 8:27 am

The Talking Points Memo went out and Democrats yammered on about voter ID

(Daily Caller) Martin Luther King Day is a day of service, quiet reflection — and implications that those supporting voter ID laws are akin to 1960s segregationists.

Democratic politicians and their allies took to the airwaves Monday to campaign against state laws mandating some form of voter identification, often suggesting that feelings of racial animus are behind the initiatives. Legislators supporting the laws — largely Republicans — argue that they help keep elections fair by limiting voter fraud. Opponents claim the rules are “restrictions” deliberately designed by legislators to limit the voting rights of impoverished minorities, which they say often do not possess appropriate identification.

Those opponents were out in full force on MLK Day, perhaps rallied by Vice President Joe Biden’s speech during an event commemorating the legendary civil rights advocate on Monday. “[We’re] trying to stem the tide of new attempts — new attempts — to restrict the right of our people to vote,” he declared. “I have to admit I never thought we’d be fighting the fight again on voting rights.”

“This has been the ultimate fight,” Biden later bellowed, “because our opponents know — they KNOW! — the single most dangerous thing to give us is the right to vote! They know what that is!”

At least he didn’t use the black voice and talk about putting y’all back in chains. That, and no one will let him buy a shotgun and fire two blasts in the air. But, why is he complaining, when Democrat States do the same thing?

Other Democrats took the hint. “Dr. King has said it in the past, I’ve said it in the past, and I continue to say it: the vote is precious,” Democratic Georgia congressman John Lewis said on MSNBC. “People I knew, people that I work with, people that I marched with, people that Dr. King worked with and marched with — some of those people DIED for the right to vote, the right to participate. And we have to continue to open up our society and let all of our citizens come in.”

The vote is precious. I agree 100% with Congresscritter Lewis. And, as such, we should 100% make sure that people who are voting are legally allowed to do so. We should make sure that legal and illegal residents are not voting. we should make sure that dead people aren’t voting. We should make sure that people do not vote more than once. We should make sure a person’s vote counts, because anytime there are votes submitted that shouldn’t count, it reduces the impact of a legal vote. If not, then all those people who marched, and even died, for that right to vote will have seen those actions wasted.

Perhaps that’s why deep Democrat states like Hawaii and New Hampshire require photo ID to vote. In Hawaii’s case, if someone doesn’t have it, they will be asked lots of specific questions to verify their identity. New Hampshire has provisions if someone doesn’t have one. Just like in the Republican states that passed voter ID laws.

Blueish states like Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware require proof, which could be photo ID or some other form of identification, like a paycheck stub. Then you have Connecticut, Colorado, New York, and Washington, along with California and Obama’s home state of Illinois (early voting, every time. And first time voting unless one submits a copy of ID with registration).

So, why are Democrats like Biden complaining about taking away the vote? Apparently, they’re doing just that in their states.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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Posted in Barking Moonbats, Democrats, Elections | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

Tennessee Bill Would Block Obamacare Enforcement For State Agents

By William Teach January 20, 2014 – 7:24 pm

With all due respect, a tad bit too late, folks

(The New American)  State legislators in Tennessee are stepping up to be the next in line to take the sting out of ObamaCare for citizens of the Volunteer State.

On January 15, State Senator Mae Beavers and state Representative Mark Pody offered companion bills that would stop enforcement of ObamaCare at the state borders.

Using model anti-ObamaCare legislation drafted by the Tenth Amendment Center as a guide, the Tennessee bills, known as the the Health Care Freedom and ACA Noncompliance Acts, propose to forbid state agents from assisting the federal government in carrying out the myriad mandates of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Can this go anywhere? Read the entire article.

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What Can Your Smartphone Do?

By William Teach January 20, 2014 – 3:15 pm

Via Caveman Circus

Every single item from a 1991 RadioShack flyer can now be done with a smartphone

photo OvMT53A_zpsevzt53fw.jpg

BTW, take a gander at the specs of the computer. Yikes!

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If All You See…

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

…is warm snow because Someone Else drove a fossil fueled vehicle to the ski resort, which also uses too much power, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Weasel Zippers, with a post noting that a federal judge told Chicago that their gun laws don’t stop violent crime.

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Is A Mini Ice Age On The Way?

By William Teach January 20, 2014 – 10:43 am

Yet another article featuring scientists looking at real data, rather than computer models

(UK Daily Mail) The Sun’s activity is at its lowest for 100 years, scientists have warned.

They say the conditions are eerily similar to those before the Maunder Minimum, a time in 1645 when a mini ice age hit, Freezing London’s River Thames.

Researcher believe the solar lull could cause major changes, and say there is a 20% chance it could lead to ‘major changes’ in temperatures.

‘Whatever measure you use, solar peaks are coming down,’ Richard Harrison of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire told the BBC.

‘I’ve been a solar physicist for 30 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this.’

He says the phenomenon could lead to colder winters similar to those during the Maunder Minimum.

‘There were cold winters, almost a mini ice age.

Surely Warmists will believe that if it does happen, it won’t be as bad because of Mankind’s release of “carbon pollution”. Oh, look

Lucie Green of UCL believes that things could be different this time due to human activity.

‘We have 400 years of observations, and it is in a very similar to phase as it was in the runup to the Maunder Minimum.

‘The world we live in today is very different, human activity may counteract this – it is difficult to say what the consequences are.’

If we do see declining temperatures, whether it is similar to the 1940’s-1970’s, or even a Maunder Minimum type climate for decades or longer, Warmists will find a way to interject their unhinged anti-science cult into the mix.

Other solar scientists believe that 2014 could be a more active year for sunspots. Time will tell. The Earth’s climate could be heading for a downturn. It could stay in a pause for more years. It could start spiking, like happens during warm periods. What we do know is that Warmist computer models consistently fail in prediction. And Warmists do not believe in their “science” enough to modify their own lives.

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Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

Obama Whines About Race For Declining Approval Rating

By William Teach January 20, 2014 – 8:24 am

Race card played

(Bloomberg) President Barack Obama said that racial tensions may have softened his popularity among white voters within the last two years, according to a story posted on the New Yorker magazine’s website today.

“There’s no doubt that there’s some folks who just really dislike me because they don’t like the idea of a black president,” Obama said in the article by David Remnick, appearing in the magazine’s Jan. 27 edition.

“Now, the flip side of it is there are some black folks and maybe some white folks who really like me and give me the benefit of the doubt precisely because I’m a black president,” Obama said in his most direct comments on how race has affected his political standing since he’s been in office.

Are there some who really do not like Obama because he’s black? Sure. A tiny number. Were there people who despised Bush because he was an Evangelical Christian? Yup. But, really, this is a typical Left wing trope, playing the Race Card, when it’s not about personal like or dislike, it’s about policy. It’s about the highly unpopular Obamacare. About the NSA spying on US citizens. About an economy that is limping along like a drunk sloth 5 years after passing the trillion dollar Stimulus. About Blaming everyone else. About leaving our people to die in Benghazi. His assaults on the Constitution. About continuously denigrating citizens that do not agree with his policies.

He gives his political opponents little reason to personally like him regarding that last one.

The New Yorker article itself tended to be pretty much softball. As Kristinn Taylor notes at The Gateway Pundit

In the nearly 17,000 word New Yorker article by David Remnick on the current state of the Obama presidency based on numerous in person interviews with President Barack Obama, the word Benghazi is nowhere to be found. Libya is only mentioned twice in passing with no reference to the terrorist attack on the U.S. mission in Fallujah on September 11, 2012 that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Glen Dougherty.

Remnick found talking to Obama about football and basketball more important than Benghazi.

It’s not all bad, I do like the part about him saying he is trying to protect his kids from the filth emanating from Hollywood and the current “if it feels good, do it” culture. Really, though, the article is a puff piece designed to protect Obama.

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Islamic Terrorists Threaten Sochi Olympics

By William Teach January 20, 2014 – 8:03 am

Don’t forget, al Qaeda is on the run, and we aren’t supposed to worry about this tiny, itty bitty subset of Islam. Heck, even mentioning it is surely Islamophobic

(ABC News) Citing a new “surprise package” for Russia and Olympic spectators, Islamist militants in the North Caucasus Sunday launched a new threat to the Sochi Olympics with a purported “martyrdom” video by two suicide bombers who attacked a transit hub 400 miles away.

The video posted on a Chechen extremist site considered a credible platform for militant statements featured two unidentified men before the black flag of jihad and cradling AKMS rifles.

The duo — dressed in street clothes and without the usual trappings of jihadis — casually explained that Russians and those attending the Winter Games next month will not be safe as long as forces sent by President Vladimir Putin occupy the North Caucasus region near Sochi, Russia.

“We’ll have a surprise package for you,” one of the men said in the militants’ video. “And those tourists that will come to you, for them, too, we have a surprise. If it happens [the Olympics], we’ll have a surprise for you. This is for all the Muslim blood that is shed every day around the world, be it in Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria, all around the world. This will be our revenge.”

The US government considers the threat very, very real, with the State Dept. posting an unusually strong travel advisory. The Russians are deploying 100,000 security agents around the games, airport, and trains.

It doesn’t take a whole lot of Islamists to cause tremendous damage, injury, and death. They are highly motivated. They hate infidels. And there are plenty of Islamists out there in which to find a few crazies who will become homicide bombers, who are willing to embrace martyrdom for the religion. How many threats and actions will it take for the political Left around the world to acknowledge the problem from Islamists? Some even have an issue with mentioning that the threats are from Muslims. From the AP story

During much of the 49-minute video, the two men speak to the camera while holding Kalashnikov automatic rifles. Behind them hang black banners with Arabic religious phrases similar to those used by al-Qaida.

As Jihad Watch notes, “they aren’t just “Arabic” religious phrases, but specifically Muslim religious phrases.”

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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