Al Qaeda Captures Fallujah, Proclaims It An Islamic State

By William Teach January 4, 2014 – 8:39 am

It’s a good thing “Bin Laden is dead and Al Qaeda is on the run“. Otherwise I’d be worried about the spread of Islamists and al Qaeda specifically

(Washington Post) A rejuvenated al-Qaeda-affiliated force asserted control over the western Iraqi city of Fallujah on Friday, raising its flag over government buildings and declaring an Islamic state in one of the most crucial areas that U.S. troops fought to pacify before withdrawing from Iraq two years ago.

The capture of Fallujah came amid an explosion of violence across the western desert province of Anbar in which local tribes, Iraqi security forces and al-Qaeda-affiliated militants have been fighting one another for days in a confusingly chaotic three-way war. (snip)

“At the moment, there is no presence of the Iraqi state in Fallujah,” said a local journalist who asked not to be named because he fears for his safety. “The police and the army have abandoned the city, al-Qaeda has taken down all the Iraqi flags and burned them, and it has raised its own flag on all the buildings.”

Al Qaeda affiliated groups, some just self-styled, have been spreading across the Middle East, Asia, and northern Africa. One of the fallacies coming from the groupthink of liberals ever since the US invaded Afghanistan post-9/11 and liberals turned on President Bush was that US forces should have just targeted Osama, because the war against al Qaeda would be over once he was dead. This was the Queen Bee Theory, where if you kill the queen bee, the hive dies. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. It’s a great moral victory that Osama is dead. I have, and I will, give Obama props for killing him, even with all the controversy surrounding the mission and Obama’s role. Hey, he’s POTUS.

But killing Osama doesn’t end al Qaeda. It did fragment it, something which was happening going back to when he was on the run. The spread of Islamists, both the violent and non-violent types, has been going on for decades, it will continue to go on, since they “breed” like cockroaches, and too many refuse to believe that Islamists believe what they say regarding their aspirations.

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Bundle Up: Record Breaking Global Warming Cold On The Way

By William Teach January 4, 2014 – 8:16 am

Following on the heels of 1,000 new cold records set around Thanksgiving, and 2,000 cold and snow records during the early part of December, and yet another big snowstorm hitting the North East, and a big blast of cold on Thursday through Friday, well, “climate change” will do its thing again, all because you, yes, you who are reading this, all because you drove a fossil fueled vehicle and refused to turn the heat down a few degrees and put greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

(Fox News) As much of the country digs out from a powerful winter storm that buried parts of the Northeast, tundra-like temperatures are poised to deliver a rare and potentially dangerous blow to the Midwest, with forecasters predicting a near-record or historic cold outbreak.

The “polar vortex,” as one meteorologist calls it, is expected to send cold air piled up at the North Pole down to the U.S., funneling it as far south as the Gulf Coast and driving temperatures below freezing for most of the nation.

Forecasters expect a weekend warm-up in some areas before temperatures plunge again, sending wind chill temperatures in areas in North Dakota and Minnesota to minus 50 degrees by Saturday night.

Those states are notorious for their cold winters, but states in the Mid-Atlantic and New England can also expect wind chill temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees.

WRAL here in Raleigh is calling for a high of 24F on Tuesday. The normal high is 49F. In Minnesota they have cancelled school for Monday for the first time in 17 years. In Wisconsin, schools in Milwaukee and Madison are also cancelled for Monday, and you can bet that other school systems will follow along. A meteorologist called the temperatures “life-threatening”.

Green Bay, Wisconsin, set a new low record of -18F, beating the previous of -17 set in 1979. That year was only a few years removed from Climatologists wondering if a new ice age was coming. The game between Green Bay and San Francisco may be the coldest game ever played.

There’s also another big blast of global warming created snow on the way, hitting the Midwest, though it is projected to be mostly a rain event when it makes it to the East coast.

What Warmists will tell you is that this is fully backed by the “theory” of “climate change”, where the super crazy melting Arctic is melting and sending that melted cold ice on a southern route in the form of cold and snow. Because, let’s face it, these people are delusional and should be put on a regimen of Thorazine, Valium, and, really, they should bring back Quaaludes.

PS: Just as always, neither cold weather, snow, or cold winters/seasons proves the Earth is entering a cooling period of any strength. Nor does it disprove it. Nor does it mean the Earth won’t further warm. It simply highlights that a) the natural forces of the Earth do what they want, and b) that man-induced climate change is mule fritters, because they claimed, using their computer models and wishful thinking, that this shouldn’t happen. Until it did, then they had to scramble for an excuse.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 10 Comments | Trackback URL

Surprise: Obamacare Not Able To Handle Life Changes

By William Teach January 3, 2014 – 2:10 pm

Color me shocked!

(WRAL) You were patient with the government’s kooky website, and now you have your health insurance card. That’s good, since your family is expecting a new baby.

But you may have jump through more hoops to get the child formally added to your policy. The Obama administration confirms there is no quick and easy way for consumers to update their coverage under the new health law for the birth of a baby and other common life changes.

With regular private insurance, parents just notify the health plan. Insurers still must cover new babies, officials say, but parents will also have to contact the government at some point later.

For now, the HealthCare.gov website can’t handle new baby updates, along with a list of other life changes including marriage and divorce, a death in the family, a new job or a change in income, even moving to a different community.

After spending lots and lots of time trying to get the high deductible insurance, people will have to spend lots and lots of time getting that super responsive federal government to understand and recognize life changes.

Oh, and there are lots more snags, as The Lonely Conservative points out.

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If All You See…

By William Teach January 3, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible resource sucking dog, causing major snow storms, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The First Street Journal, with a post on Syria.

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Ever Notice That Those Calling For Tolerance Are Rather Intolerant Themselves?

By William Teach January 3, 2014 – 10:37 am

One of the big stories making the rounds is about Chris Kluwe calling Minnesota Vikings coaches names

I Was An NFL Player Until I Was Fired By Two Cowards And A Bigot

Hello. My name is Chris Kluwe, and for eight years I was the punter for the Minnesota Vikings. In May 2013, the Vikings released me from the team. At the time, quite a few people asked me if I thought it was because of my recent activism for same-sex marriage rights, and I was very careful in how I answered the question. My answer, verbatim, was always, “I honestly don’t know, because I’m not in those meetings with the coaches and administrative people.”

This is a true answer. I honestly don’t know if my activism was the reason I got fired.

However, I’m pretty confident it was.

Or, it could be that the Vikes were able to replace him with a younger, cheaper punter. And then was beat out in Raiders camp by a better punter. Sometimes business decisions are just business decisions. Especially with punters, who are canned and replaced all the time. Oh, and he had a knee problem requiring surgery.

But, apparently Leslie Frazier, the head coach (since canned himself…hey, he’s Black, I bet it’s racism…or, that the Vikes were one of the worst teams out there) told him to please give the gay talk a rest. What Kluwe leaves out is that coaches would prefer to have less conflict and controversy in the clubhouse, because, you know, winning.

Anyway, the whole story is one sided, of course, so it would be interesting to hear from Leslie Frazier and the other Vikings coaches for their point of view.

“It’s my belief, based on everything that happened over the course of 2012, that I was fired by Mike Priefer, a bigot who didn’t agree with the cause I was working for, and two cowards, Leslie Frazier and Rick Spielman, both of whom knew I was a good punter and would remain a good punter for the foreseeable future, as my numbers over my eight-year career had shown, but who lacked the fortitude to disagree with Mike Priefer on a touchy subject matter,” Kluwe wrote, adding that he hoped Priefer never coaches in the NFL or “ideally” at any level of football. He also said he can still compete in the league, but that it’s clear “no matter how much I want to prove I can play, I will no longer punt in the NFL, especially now that I’ve written this account.”

Or, it could be that people have different views on homosexuality. On one hand we’re told that We Must Be Tolerant of the homosexual POV, on the other the same people telling us We Must Be Tolerant are completely intolerant of the viewpoints of other people. This is typical Progressivism: tolerance is a one way street. This goes back to Erik Erickson’s multiple You Will Be Made To Care posts. If you disagree with the Proscribed and Approved Liberal Dogma, you will be destroyed. Ask the silly little woman who made the stupid Twitter joke about not getting AIDS cause she’s white. The long knives come out.

Even if Frazier and the other Vikings staff respond, they will not be believed. But it wouldn’t matter what they say, because they are Not Allowed To Have Their Own Opinions That Are Different. Look through the links at the Memeorandum thread, in the stories and comments. There’s all sorts of talk about hate and homophobia and what bad people Frazier, his staff, and anyone who disagrees with the homosexual lifestyle are. All sorts of nasty names are being thrown about.

Liberals are the most intolerant people around. Let me wrap up what could become a massive post by asking a question: why should I be tolerant of you if you’re not tolerant of me?

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Bummer: Antarctica Rescuers Having Trouble With All That Globull Warming Ice

By William Teach January 3, 2014 – 8:28 am

Yesterday, Anthony Watts noted that the Australian ship, Aurora Australis, was having lots and lots of trouble with all that climate change ice, and had slowed to a crawl, with no open water in sight. Well, there’s a problem with the Chinese vessel, too

(Fox News) An Australian icebreaker carrying 52 passengers who were retrieved from an icebound ship in the Antarctic was told to halt its journey home on Friday after a Chinese vessel involved in the dramatic rescue became concerned that it, too, may get stuck in the heavy sea ice.

The icebreaker Aurora Australis had been slowly cracking through thick ice toward open water after a Chinese helicopter on Thursday plucked the passengers from their stranded Russian research ship and carried them to the Aurora.

But on Friday afternoon, the crew of a Chinese icebreaker that had provided the helicopter said they were worried about their own ship’s ability to move through the ice. The Aurora — which was carrying the passengers to the Australian island state of Tasmania — was told to stay in the area in case the Chinese icebreaker Snow Dragon needs help, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s Rescue Coordination Centre, which oversaw the rescue.

It really is like some sort of Monty Python sketch. Or, is that Benny Hill? Or maybe like MSNBC’s ratings? Anthony also notes something else: the idiot climatologists may be responsible for getting stuck in the ice

The real answer to that event lies in the blog of the Australian green politician on-board, Janet Rice. WUWT commenter Aphan gave us the scoop from her log on how the stage was set for getting stuck, because the passengers weren’t heeding the captain’s warning quickly enough. Clearly the captain knew what was coming, but the passengers were just too slow. He couldn’t abandon them, so he had to wait, and this delay put the ship in jeopardy.

The Warmists thought they would be able to make some sort of statement about how all the ice in Antarctica was melting and it was all the fault of Mankind, and did not take the weather seriously. Steven Goddard has data which shows a 60% increase in Antarctic ice since 1992.

Read: Bummer: Antarctica Rescuers Having Trouble With All That Globull Warming Ice »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 8 Comments | Trackback URL

First Spike In Use Of Obamacare Expected Next Week

By William Teach January 3, 2014 – 8:07 am

And here’s where the 1971 Ford Pinto meets the road

(The Hill) The number of people seeking to use their new ObamaCare coverage for the first time is expected to spike next week.

Representatives from healthcare companies, trade groups, and the Obama administration told The Hill that many who obtained new coverage under the law are using this week to learn about their plans and set up preliminary appointments.

They’re expected to turn out in force at the nation’s clinics and hospitals as early as next Monday.

“We are anticipating a surge in activity beginning next week,” said Markeisha Marshall, a spokesperson for Walgreens, the country’s largest pharmacy.

The article notes two worries

The first is that a sizable number of consumers who show up at the doctor’s office will discover that they don’t have the insurance they thought they purchased.

A second is that people have enrolled in ObamaCare, but have to make a payment. Some will discover they don’t have the insurance they thought they purchased as a result .

For the second, The Hill seems to be hinting at the notion that people with Obamacare insurance will have to pay through the nose until they reach their deductible limit. As to the first, even bigger is the notion that people will show up at the doctors office and realize that they do not actually have insurance yet, because they haven’t submitted their premium payment, the insurance company hasn’t received the information from the Exchange, or both.

Keith Dailey, a spokesperson for Kroger, said early January is always a complicated time for the industry because they historically see a “surge of customers with new insurance the first month of every year.”

And here’s the rub: the people who obtain and immediately use new health insurance are typically people who are sick. Sure, some are simply getting a long-overdue physical, but this new insurance is about Obamacare, and if there is a massive spike of people heading to medical facilities, especially hospitals and urgent care, this could show how many people have signed up who are sick.

Let’s also not forget that seemingly the majority of people who looked to get health insurance were put on Medicaid, which causes an increase in emergency room usage. Which drastically increases costs.

Elsewhere, Jammie Wearing Fools notes that no small business can point to reduced insurance costs in New York. The Lonely Conservative shows that one hospital can’t make payroll thanks to the new Medicare payment facilitator, which was handed the contract through a no-bid process.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: First Spike In Use Of Obamacare Expected Next Week »

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Android Today: “Waze Social GPS Maps & Traffic” And “Scout Navigation”

By William Teach January 2, 2014 – 7:42 pm

Two navigation apps for ya tonight, folks. The first is Waze, an open source navigation system, where users can share all sorts of data like police, accidents, delays, and so much more. It, like everything else I mention, is free. I like the functionality a bit more than the standard Google maps navigation program. Graphics are a bit nicer, a bit better for traffic, shows you your speed (my speedometer is off by about 5 MPH when traveling 40 and over). It doesn’t clutter up the display, though.

And the down side, it does like to crash now and then, especially when stopping. However, it prompts you to resume the same trip. Hey, it’s free.

The other is Scout, which I guess is the new incarnation of Telenav. You can use it free or paid. The nice thing about Scout is that you cab download maps for offline use, therefore using no data. On the sorta flip side, the maps are huge. The east coast, which is most of east of the Mississippi, is a bit over 1gb. My slightly older version just had NC up through NJ. Functionality is rather limited in the free version, and the map is rather featureless. But, if you need offline, hey, it’s free, and you can download maps from all over the world.

I had tried Map Factor, which was another offline GPS, found it to be difficult to use and wouldn’t even find my zip code, one of the oldest in Raleigh. I think I tried OSMand maps and found it wanting.

Anyone have a good recommendation? For myself, I gotta have 3D maps.

Read: Android Today: “Waze Social GPS Maps & Traffic” And “Scout Navigation” »

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Surprise: Fast And Furious Guns Still Being Used By Cartels

By William Teach January 2, 2014 – 3:19 pm

Imagine F&F had happened under a Republican president, and 4 years after the operation ended people were still being killed

(The Hill) A gun from the failed U.S. operation known as “Fast and Furious” turned up at the scene of a shootout between Mexican authorities and alleged cartel gunmen last month, according to CNN.

U.S. officials told CNN at least one AK-47-style gun that could be traced back to the failed gun-walking scheme was found at the scene.

The shootout on Dec. 18 left five alleged cartel members dead in Puerto Penasco, a popular tourist site in Mexico.

So one of the guns Obama and Holder walked across the border into Mexico, without informing the Mexican government and with no plan to actually track the guns, was used by a member of a drug cartel to attempt to kill Mexican authorities.

“ATF has accepted responsibility for the mistakes made in the Fast and Furious investigation and at the attorney general’s direction we have taken appropriate and decisive action to ensure that these errors will not be repeated,” the bureau said in a statement to CNN.

Yet, no one has truly been held responsible for the “botched” operation, and Attorney General Eric Holder and his minions have done all they can to stonewall Congressional investigations.

Read: Surprise: Fast And Furious Guns Still Being Used By Cartels »

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If All You See…

By William Teach January 2, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is awesome heat created snow that might get you out of work, but still means life on Earth is doomed, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Right Wing News, with a post on Lech Walesa speaking his mind on Obama.

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