Harvard President Highlights The Hypocrisy Of The Divestment Movement

By William Teach October 18, 2013 – 4:58 pm

This one is actually from back on October 3rd, but it’s a great catch by Tom Nelson (who else?), and worth posting

Fossil Fuel Divestment Statement

Dear Members of the Harvard Community,

Climate change represents one of the world’s most consequential challenges. I very much respect the concern and commitment shown by the many members of our community who are working to confront this problem. I, as well as members of our Corporation Committee on Shareholder Responsibility, have benefited from a number of conversations in recent months with students who advocate divestment from fossil fuel companies. While I share their belief in the importance of addressing climate change, I do not believe, nor do my colleagues on the Corporation, that university divestment from the fossil fuel industry is warranted or wise.

So, not exactly a “skeptic”, eh?

I also find a troubling inconsistency in the notion that, as an investor, we should boycott a whole class of companies at the same time that, as individuals and as a community, we are extensively relying on those companies’ products and services for so much of what we do every day. Given our pervasive dependence on these companies for the energy to heat and light our buildings, to fuel our transportation, and to run our computers and appliances, it is hard for me to reconcile that reliance with a refusal to countenance any relationship with these companies through our investments.

In other words, Warmists want to do damage to Someone Else, but refuse to give up their own fossil fueled lifestyles. As I’ve written here and in comments elsewhere thousands of times, if Warmists aren’t willing to change their own lives in a substantive way, why should we believe what they’re pushing?

Read: Harvard President Highlights The Hypocrisy Of The Divestment Movement »

Posted in Climahypocrites, Global Warming | 7 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach October 18, 2013 – 1:00 pm

…is precious, non-renewable water being using to clean an evil fossil fueled vehicle, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Patterico’s Pontifications, with a post noting we can all now relax with the government open.

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Man Who Made $70 Million From Oil Moguls Really Likes Divestment Movement

By William Teach October 18, 2013 – 10:33 am

When I and other climate realists talk about hypocritical Warmists, we’re given all sorts of talking points and excuses. I should probably give them some sort of number. I wonder what they’ll think of this?

(Huff Post) Former Vice President Al Gore sees parallels between the last two and a half weeks of budget chaos on Capitol Hill and the climate crisis: Many will deny there’s a problem — until they are ultimately compelled to take action by forces beyond their control. (snip)

Gore also expressed support for the divestment movement that has been growing in popularity on college campuses in the U.S., referring to investment in fossil fuels as a “carbon bubble.” The movement contends that investing in fossil fuels is a moral hazard but will become a financial hazard, too, when there is a global price on carbon emissions.

“This bubble is going to burst. No one can say with certainty when,” said Gore. “But you can say with certainty that no more than one-third of these carbon assets can be burned, and hopefully not even that much.”

Remember when Gore sold his failing Current TV to Al Jazeera for $500 million, and made around $70-100 million himself? How AJ is backed by oil money. How even some Warmists criticized Gore for doing this? I like what one HuffPo commenter had to say

Living in mega mansion.
Travelling in own luxury jet.
Being driven around by chauffer in limo.
Weight around 250 – personal footprint.
Consumption, consumption, consumption.

And he has the nerve to preach to us how to live and
reduce our carbon footprint.
Hubris and hypocrisy.

In a little under a month we’ll be treated to COP19 in Warsaw, Poland, and huge climahypocrisy.

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Insurers Complain They’re Receiving Faulty Obamacare Data

By William Teach October 18, 2013 – 9:10 am

The hit parades on the “Affordable” Care Act just keep coming. Healthcare.gov apparently violates a copyright. One design firm removed all references to its work on the website. Tech experts say the entire website needs an overhaul. Buried in the code we find that you should have no reasonable thought that your information will be kept private. Then there’s this

(Fox News) Insurers say faulty data from ObamaCare marketplaces is straining their ability to handle even the first wave of consumers who were able to sign up for health insurance using federally run exchanges during the glitch-ridden rollout of the new law.

Executives at more than a dozen health insurance companies say they have received data from online marketplaces that is riddled with errors, including duplicate enrollments, missing data fields and spouses reported as children, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

It’s not like they had 3 years to get the website ready to go or something. Perhaps if they had tested it more than a week out? Na. Would most likely still have been a disaster. So far, only one percent of Exchange visitors actually signed up for insurance. USA Today reported on the first Delaware signup….on October 16th. The marketplace opened on October 1st, if you remember.

Let’s not forget that right now we are getting the stories of the website failures. We had been getting stories of companies dropping their insurance, cutting people to part time, and insurers dropping individuals and companies because of ACA mandates. We’ll start seeing more of those as time goes on, and probably ones about companies heavily dropping coverage as 2015 and the employer mandate approaches.

What we’ll start seeing soon are stories about how difficult it is to use the ACA insurance, being denied care, having to pay thousands out of pocket for service. Doctors not taking it. Doctors refusing to take on more Medicaid and Medicare patients. Substandard treatment. Actually using the insurance will be the nail that highlights how bad this program is.

More: The Lonely Conservative notes, based on a WSJ article about same as above

Some of the insurers they spoke to did so anonymously because the administration is pressuring them not to speak publicly about the problems. But what do you expect from the people who failed to hire or consult with outside experts because of political reasons?

Ed Morrissey notes that Ohio has managed to sign up 1, that’s right, one, customer since the Exchanges started.

The Lonely Conservative also notes a chart from Heritage noting the premium increases for the so-called “Affordable” Care Act. And no one has even focused on the deductible and out-of-pocket costs yet.

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Posted in Healthcare | 4 Comments | Trackback URL

Illegal Aliens Are Mad And Not Going To Take It, Plan More Radical Approach

By William Teach October 18, 2013 – 8:28 am

Unfortunately, that radical approach doesn’t include them getting the hell out of the United States and returning to their home countries

(Fox Latino) The frustration, say immigration advocates, is reaching a fever pitch.

That is why, many say, recent weeks have seen activists use chains and pipes to tie themselves to the tires of buses that carry immigrants slated for deportation to court, block traffic on Capitol Hill and get arrested, surround Tucson police when they targeted two immigrants during a traffic stop, and chain themselves and block the entrance of a federal detention center.

More such actions, they vow, are coming.

“It’s absolutely out of frustration and impatience,” said Marisa Franco, campaign organizer for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, which helped coordinate some of the more provocative actions. “Immigrant communities who are losing 1,100 loved ones every day to deportation cannot wait for Congress to end its political games or for the President to rediscover his moral compass,” she added.

“The people will take power back into their own hands and set a true example of leadership that the Beltway will have to follow,” Franco vowed.

I’d like to say “boo hoo, cry me a river.” I’d like to say “you have no power, you’re here illegally.” I’d like to say “arrest any of these folks and immediately deport them.” Unfortunately, there are too many Americans, mostly Democrat Party voters, most of the news media, and most of the elected Democrats, along with some idiot Republicans, who will fall right in line and agitate for a “pathway to citizenship” for these illegal aliens.

Many of the illegals have turned towards more radical methods, apparently after not getting their way regarding passage of legislation giving them legal status

Last Friday, the actions outside a federal courthouse in Tucson prompted a judge to cancel deportation proceedings.

Some 15 people were arrested after immigration rights activists blocked two buses bringing suspected illegal immigrants to a federal courthouse in Tucson. A few days later, on Tuesday, officers in Tucson pepper-sprayed members of a crowd trying to prevent U.S. Border Patrol agents from detaining two people who originally police encountered during a traffic stop.

The judge should be impeached. But he/she is just an example of how those in Power pander to illegals and give them what they want.

*photo snagged from The Two Malcontents, one of a series of illegals raising the Mexican flag.

Read: Illegal Aliens Are Mad And Not Going To Take It, Plan More Radical Approach »

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CNN Really Psyched That Government Has Reopened

By William Teach October 17, 2013 – 9:07 pm

Even though only 17% of the government was (supposedly) shutdown, the cheerleaders at CNN are super happy. How happy? With a massive graphic

I caught this CNN graphic while I was walking through the customer waiting room on my way in with lunch, and had to literally take a couple steps back in a pseudo double take manner to make sure I was actually seeing this correctly. Stolen from Ace, who notes “This… is a crippling progressive mindset that blinds CNN to its own bias.” This is the kind of bias that allows CNN London to interview…another so-called journalist about the effects of Shutdown Theater on The World.

PS: The Lonely Conservative rips President Snippypants apart, particularly about his comment to “ignore bloggers”

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Environmentalist Says Warmists Need To Give It A Break

By William Teach October 17, 2013 – 1:22 pm

I’ve mentioned before that one of the things that annoys me about Warmists is that the fold every real environmental issue under the “climate change” banner, marginalizing the real issue. Here’s an enviro, Jim Steele, who has a problem, too

(Mercury News) About 10 years ago, while working to restore watershed and wildlife habitat, Steele said it became clear that landscape changes and natural cycles had a much greater impact on wildlife than climate change. The initial plan was to write on the subject for various magazines and websites, but he realized only a book could tell the whole story. This Sunday, Steele will be at Florey’s to sign and discuss the book which developed from these earlier musings — “Landscapes & Cycles” (An Environmentalist’s Journey to Climate Skepticism).

“The more I researched the causes of change in wildlife populations and local climates, the more I became appalled by the amount of bad science that was too easily published simply because it agreed with the prevailing bias of climate catastrophes,” Steele said. “Every other chapter of the book highlights different species whose decline was mistakenly blamed on rising CO2.”

Consider

In another chapter, he discusses the colony of emperor penguins featured in the film, “March of the Penguins.”

“Despite that global warming models suggesting they will go extinct, the local temperature trend has never shown any warming,” Steele explained. “The faulty model was based on a drop in numbers in the ’70s when researchers were disturbing the colony and three islands were dynamited to make an airstrip. Likewise a chapter on Adélie penguins shows except for one small region, the Adélie penguins have been steadily increasing. The penguins that are genuinely endangered are not in Antarctica but on islands like the Galapagos where introduced cats and rats decimate the populations.”

There are real man caused environmental issues, several more are discussed in the article, and we need to address them if possible. If Warmists simply say “climate change!!!!!!” instead of the real root cause, it’s not science, and we can never deal with the real issue.

Read: Environmentalist Says Warmists Need To Give It A Break »

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

If All You See…

By William Teach October 17, 2013 – 1:00 pm

…are evil plastic water bottles causing it to be hot and drop heavy snow, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Theo Spark (who I snagged the photo from), with a post on the new GOP flag.

Also, Proof Positive, who alerted me to the picture, with a post on Art Appreciation Day.

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Special Needs Student Suspended indefinitely Over Bomb Drawing

By William Teach October 17, 2013 – 9:03 am

Zero tolerance follies

(Fox) The mother of a special needs middle school student in South Carolina said her son was suspended Monday after he brought in a drawing of a bomb to school, FoxCarolina.com reported.

Rhett Parham, the boy, is a fan of the video game “Bomber Man” and drew the cartoonish explosive, Amy Parham, his mother, said. Officials at the Hillcrest Middle School in Greenville told her that her son was suspended indefinitely after showing the drawing to older students who informed administrators, she told the station.

“They actually reiterated to me they knew he was non-violent,” said Parham. “They knew he was not actually having a bomb, creating or making a bomb. But that they could not go without making an example of him and take some type of action because they were worried about their perception. Perception is actually the word he used. Perception is reality, and parents might think you have a bomb or [might be] violent.”

Mom should have said he was a Muslim, then CAIR and the ACLU would have rushed in threatening law suits.

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Even Obama’s Hometown Paper Says Obamacare’s A Mess

By William Teach October 17, 2013 – 7:52 am

When we’re talking about Obamacare, the “Affordable” Care Act, the massive failure of the websites are simply a result of how bad this law is. How unwieldy. And the perfect symbol of failure. Here’s the Chicago Times Editorial Board

(Chicago Tribune) If you’ve tried to sign up online for health coverage under the problem-plagued Obamacare exchange, our sympathies. Many people have tried to create accounts and shop for insurance under the new law. Few have succeeded. Those that have enrolled have found that the system is prone to mistakes. Some applications have been sent to the wrong insurance company.

Wait. It gets worse. Those who have managed to browse the marketplace have often been hit by sticker shock. Take Adam Weldzius, a nurse practitioner and single father from Carpentersville. He sought the same level of coverage on the exchange as he and his 7-year-old daughter have now, with the same insurer and the same network of doctors and hospitals. At best, Weldzius found, his monthly premium of $233 would more than double. If he chose a plan priced at the same level, the annual deductible would be $12,700, more than three times his current $3,500 deductible.

They go on to note the problems many more times, and point out that most Illinois plans are higher than previously, especially the deductibles. That Obama delayed most rules till after the 2012 election. That they’ve had over three years to get it right. That HHS missed deadline after deadline. And blows the “web traffic” talking points away

The Department of Health and Human Services under chief Obamacare cheerleader Kathleen Sebelius has had three years to develop this system. It has busted deadline after deadline, all the while promising that the system would be ready on Oct. 1. It has overpromised and underdelivered. The excuse? Demand was unexpectedly high, crashing servers. Unexpected? Americans have been bombarded with marketing campaigns and news stories and outreach efforts on behalf of Obamacare. And now Sebelius and Co. are shocked that people are logging in to … buy insurance? Come on, Ms. Sebelius.

True, who would have expected lots of web traffic? The Chicago Times recommends that, at a minimum, the individual mandate be suspended for a year, to give Los Federales time to get it right.

There are more problems. People who have individual insurance coverage are finding that Obama’s oft-repeated promise — “if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan” — is just not true. They are being told by insurers that their existing plans expire on Dec. 31 and they must choose new coverage. They’re learning that insurers managed to offer lower-cost plans by narrowing the networks of hospitals and doctors that are available or by upping the out-of-pocket expenses. Unless people are careful in selecting coverage, they may be surprised to find they have to pay much more for out-of-network care to go to their doctors or get treated at the best hospitals. Federal officials argue that they’ll work out the kinks in the system in plenty of time for people to sign up by Dec. 15 for coverage that begins Jan. 1. Yes, the techies might be able to work out the computer network problems by then. But that’s not a given.

Fixing the computer network won’t fix the underlying problems with the law itself, nor that insurance seems to be unaffordable, at least if used. And restrictive. It’s almost like rationing. Even a Daily Kos diarist noticed how bad the law is in practice. And we’ve haven’t even gotten to the point where people might actually try and use the insurance.

Read: Even Obama’s Hometown Paper Says Obamacare’s A Mess »

Posted in Barry Obama, Healthcare | 3 Comments | Trackback URL
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