Bummer: Action On Climate Change Comes In Dead Last In UN Sponsored Vote

By William Teach June 18, 2013 – 9:03 am

Some funny “climate change” news for you this Tuesday morning, as The View From Here tells it (via Watts Up With That?)

Back in March of this year, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) announced an “innovative initiative” in which participants from around the world are invited to vote on what the priorities should be in a post-2015 world.

When I first stumbled across the “For information media • not an official record” of a March 13 Press Conference (and standard photo-op and exhortation from Ban Ki-Moon), I was concerned that this might have been another opportunity missed. Here are some excerpts from the Press Conference (note the use of past tense … all emphases mine -hro):

What this ends up being is a world wide vote looking at 16 different measures, including “action on climate change”, which states

This means that governments should take on binding commitments to reduce carbon emissions to levels which can keep the global temperature rise below 2 degrees, and invest in adaptation measures particularly involving vulnerable communities

and “reliable energy at home”, for which Anthony Watts notes that they slipped in “More of that energy should be sustainably generated” without defining sustainably, but we all know that it is linked to Hotcoldwetdry and that governments should spend tons of money picking and choosing which campaign donors will get taxpayer money for “green” projects.

Anyhow, here’s where it gets funny

Action taken on climate change is dead last in the world, and dead last with people who have low and medium HDI (Human Development Index) which is a measure of the prosperity and health of the country they reside in. Dead last amongst those under 35, and #15 for the other two age groups. As Anthony notes

It seems concern over climate change is a rich person’s pastime, which just goes to show that cheap energy is the path forward to a better HDI, and thus a greater ability to be concerned about the environment. Translation: people just getting by don’t have time for such concerns.

Caring about “Climate change” is a 1st world problem.

As to the rest of the vote, here’s how I voted

  • An honest and responsive government is #3 worldwide, #2 in the US.
  • Sadly, protecting forests, rivers and oceans is #8 worldwide and #6 in the US. Hey, I like the environment.
  • Disturbingly, Political freedoms is #13 worldwide and #11 in the US
  • Equality between men and women is #12 worldwide and #9 in the US
  • Freedom from discrimination and persecution is #9 in the world and #7 in the US
  • A good education is #1 across the board (except for those 55+) but better job opportunities is #4 in the world and, get this, #12 in the US.
  • And you know how Obama’s been running around proclaiming everyone should have access to the Internet? Yup, #15 in the US.
  • And how he whines about infrastructure? Better transport and roads is dead last in the United States.

You can take the poll yourself here.

Read: Bummer: Action On Climate Change Comes In Dead Last In UN Sponsored Vote »

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

HHS Dictates What Forms Of Payment Insurers Will Take

By William Teach June 18, 2013 – 8:37 am

Does anyone remember, during the time when the Democrat controlled House and Senate were looking to pass Obamacare, if the notion that the legislation made any determination as to what forms of payment would be required to purchase health insurance was mentioned? Yeah, me neither

(NJ.com) The U.S.Department of Health and Human Services last week proposed a new rule that would require issuers of health insurance plans to accept different types of payments so that individuals without a bank account will still be able to purchase health insurance once the Affordable Care Act takes effect in January.

The proposed rule would require insurers to accept things like cashier’s checks, money orders and prepaid debit cards.

This is based on the issue that approximately 27% of uninsured Americans (a ton of which are illegal aliens and non-citizens) do not have checking accounts, which I suppose leads into these people getting their federal tax credits or something. The article doesn’t say, nor does that “proposed rule” (BTW, that document, which covers several different topics, is another 253 pages of rule-making), what the big bruhaha about this is.

The federal government’s report comes less than one month after Parsippany-based tax firm Jackson- Hewitt released its own report entitled “Uninsured + Unbanked = Unenrolled: How Health Insurance Companies Could Exclude One in Four Eligible Americans from ACA Health Coverage and What the Federal Government Can Do to Stop It,”

What that article alludes to, as does Clark Howard, is the notion that insurance companies typically require consumers to pay their monthly premiums through a checking account. Why? For one thing, they’d like guaranteed payment. However, I’m sure they’d take cashier’s checks and money orders, which are as good as cash. The Jackson-Hewitt article also calls this “discriminatory” towards Blacks and Hispanics, ie, raaaaacist.

That all said, one has to love the notion that the federal government, in this case Health and Human Services, can dictate what forms of payment private companies must take. Doesn’t seem like Liberals are interested in allow some entities to make their own “choice”, eh?

But, where did this power come from? It certainly wasn’t in the 2000+ page Obamacare legislation specifically, nor even in a roundabout manner. It comes from the huge amount of mentions along the lines of “the director of HHS shall (may, can)”, giving the director of HHS the power to make it up as she goes along. Even forcing private businesses to take forms of payment they’d rather not.

But, then, this is the same HHS will force religious organizations to violate their consciences and violates the 1st Amendment regarding the religious clause.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.

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SCOTUS Takes Down Arizona Voting Law

By William Teach June 17, 2013 – 2:23 pm

Only 2 Justices stood with the writings in the Constitution

(US News) The Supreme Court on Monday struck down an Arizona law that requires people to submit proof of citizenship when they register to vote.

The vote was 7-2. Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority, said that a 1993 federal law known as the Motor Voter Act takes precedence over the Arizona law because of its requirement that states “accept and use” the federal voter registration form.

From WRAL, where I first saw this

The Constitution “authorizes states to determine the qualifications of voters in federal elections, which necessarily includes the related power to determine whether those qualifications are satisfied,” Thomas said in his dissent.

Justice Alito was the other dissenting vote.

Let’s put this into context: The government is looking to legalize up to 11 million illegals. None of them would be citizens, and will have no right to vote as long as they are under the provisional status. Yet, federal law is rather weak on registering to vote, and this SCOTUS ruling means states which have a large population of illegals could see vast numbers registering with no way to determine eligibility. Go look up the requirements to register and see how easy it is to commit fraud.

More: From SCOTUSblog, via the link that Guitar Carver left in the comments that goes to this one

If a reader of the Scalia opinion stopped at the top of page 13, the impression would be very clear that Congress had won hands down in the field of regulating federal elections.   But from that point on, there is abundant encouragement for what is essentially a states’ rights argument: that is, that the states have very wide authority to define who gets to vote, in both state and federal elections.

On the particular point at issue in this case — Arizona’s requirement of proof of citizenship before one may register to vote or actually vote — the Scalia opinion said that a state was free to ask the federal government for permission to add that requirement.   And, Scalia said, if that doesn’t work — either because the federal agency that would deal with such a request is either not functioning or says no — then a state would be free to go to court and make an argument that it has a constitutional right to insist on proof of citizenship as an absolute qualification for voting, in all elections.

However, no one should think that the Obama/Holder heavily politicized and illegal immigrant favoring DOJ would allow any requirements for proof of citizenship, especially if the Gang of 8 immigration bill passes. Democrats will want as many people voting as the can, even if they are not entitled to do so. In fact, as a sidebar, if the bill passes, Dems will immediately agitate and push to make them naturalized citizens ASAP, forget 13 years. But, in the intervening time, they will allow no measures that would require proof of eligibility to vote, and the left side groups will certainly work to register the illegals with provisional status.

As far as court goes, one could expect the DOJ to gum up the works as long as possible, and surely past the 2016 General Election.

Read: SCOTUS Takes Down Arizona Voting Law »

Posted in Constitution, Illegal Immigration | 14 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

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

…is a deluge caused by drought inducing CO2, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Legal Insurrection, with a post discussing the “reformer” Hassan Rouhani.

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A Feminist Taylor Swift Doppelganger?

By William Teach June 17, 2013 – 9:57 am

Seriously? Unfortunately, yes

(Washington Post) Taylor Swift is not a feminist. But Clara Beyer is, and she loves Taylor Swift’s music and sometimes she wishes Swift would change her twangy tune and be a little more progressive.

On June 11, the Alexandria native, a rising senior at Brown University, tweeted: “Idea for a single purpose twitter: feminist Taylor Swift.”

Ten minutes later, Beyer’s friend and classmate Kevin Carty called her to make sure she followed through. So Beyer created a logo — a picture of Swift’s face photoshopped onto Rosie the Riveter’s head. (Conveniently, both female icons have the same red head scarf in their wardrobe.) She wrote a bio that played off the one on Taylor Swift’s official Twitter page: “Happy. Free. Confused. Oppressed by the patriarchy. At the same time.”

Oh, it gets better

“She wears short skirts / I wear T-shirts /Neither of us is asking for it” was the first tweet sent out from the @feministtswift account the afternoon of June 12, and it set the template for what would follow —some lyrics from a song by the pop superstar (in this case, “You Belong With Me”) with an added feminist twist.

Sigh. How about some Friendzone Level 10k and complete p*ssification?

The tongue-in-cheek mash-up of feminist theory and Swift’s love-struck lyrics was the perfect project for Beyer and Carty, who “both believe in bringing more people into feminism and gender-critical conversations,” said Carty, 20. “And the easiest ways to do that are to engage them with things they’re already into in their daily lives,” such as pop music.

Let’s remember, Carty’s first name is Kevin.

Carty is in a fraternity and says that while his passion makes some other guys “raise their eyebrows,” he’s “never had a problem identifying as a feminist. .. . It’s just made me happier.”

Read: A Feminist Taylor Swift Doppelganger? »

Posted in Barking Moonbats, Liberal World | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

Obama’s Run Around With Toy Guns On Father’s Day

By William Teach June 17, 2013 – 7:50 am

If Barack tried this at a school run by one of his unhinged supporters he would most likely be suspended, and possibly have the police called on him

(Daily Caller) Wishing Americans a happy Father’s Day, the White House tweeted a picture of President Obama and one of his daughters playing with toy water pistols.

The Tweet comes at a time when several schools around the country—fearful that such toys make kids more prone to violent behavior—have launched trade-in programs that encourage children to exchange their harmless toy guns for chances to win prizes, like books and bicycles.

One such trade-in took place last weekend at Strobridge Elementary in California. Principal Chris Hill, who organized the event, explained that toy guns desensitize kids toward gun violence.

“Playing with toys guns, saying ‘I’m going to shoot you,’ desensitizes them, so as they get older, it’s easier for them to use a real gun,” Hill said in a statement to Mercury News.

This is the kind of thing that makes liberal schools and liberal neighbors call the police, as well as child protection services. Obama should practice what he preaches and not turn his children into crazed killers, if we go by liberal talking points.

Read: Obama’s Run Around With Toy Guns On Father’s Day »

Posted in 2nd Amendment, Barry Obama | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

Menendez: GOP Path To White House Requires Amnesty Bill

By William Teach June 17, 2013 – 7:08 am

Just what we need, electoral advice from a Democrat

(Politico) Sen. Robert Menendez says Republicans need to accept a pathway to citizenship in immigration reform, or they’ll never take back the White House.

Discussing the debate over border security measures in the bill, the New Jersey Democrat who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee decried efforts to create unreachable triggers on legalization.

“What I cannot support, and what I believe the community cannot support at the end of the day is that we’re going to have triggers that can never be achieved in terms of border security as an impediment to the pathway to legalization and citizenship,” Menendez said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“I would tell my Republican colleagues, both in the House and the Senate, that the road to the White House comes through a road with a pathway to legalization. Without it, there will never be a road to the White House for the Republican Party,” Menendez said.

On one hand, he’s probably right, because if Marco Rubio runs after the Gang of 8 shamnesty bill the mostly liberal leaning media and some of the Republican insiders will do all they can to make Mr. Sellout the GOP nominee. However, in terms of winning the White House, if Rubio is the nominee Republicans will stay home in droves. Heck, if the GOP helps pass this horrible legislation, Republicans, and especially Conservatives, will stay home in drove, or perhaps vote for a 3rd party candidate. Either way, if this passes there is no chance that a Republican will win. Which is really what Menendez is pushing, because he’s certainly not dumb enough to believe what he’s saying. He knows that this whole scheme to legalize up to 11 million illegal aliens and bring in up to 17 million of their family members will add a huge Democrat voter base. So it’s not just 2016 at stake, but all future elections.

But, it’s not just Menendez who’s pushing this disingenuous tripe

(The Blaze) Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Sunday told conservatives who are trying to block the measure that they will doom the party and all but guarantee a Democrat will remain in the White House after 2016′s election. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., went a step further and predicted “there’ll never be a road to the White House for the Republican Party” if immigration overhaul fails to pass. (snip)

“After eight years of President Obama’s economic policies, and, quite frankly, foreign policy, people are going to be looking around,” Graham said. “But if we don’t pass immigration reform, if we don’t get it off the table in a reasonable, practical way, it doesn’t matter who you run in 2016. We’re in a demographic death spiral as a party and the only way we can get back in good graces with the Hispanic community, in my view, is pass comprehensive immigration reform. If you don’t do that, it really doesn’t matter who we run.”

Right, because passing this mule fritters bill will help, Lindsey? Doddering fool.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.

Read: Menendez: GOP Path To White House Requires Amnesty Bill »

Posted in Democrats, GOP, Idiot GOPer's, Illegal Immigration | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

Watcha Reading?

By William Teach June 16, 2013 – 8:48 pm

Whew! Finished The Slightest Hope Of Victory (Outside Context Problem) by Christopher Nuttall, all roughly 500 pages. It was well worth the $3.99. The ending was a bit contrived and quick, but, then, most invasion from outer space by superior beings tend to be that way. I’ll give it 4.5 stars

Now reading the latest from Mark Tufo, one of my favorite writers, Lycan Fallout: Rise of the Werewolf. Already about halfway almost 80% at posting through (Tufo books are easy reads), it’s 338 pages long. Tufo creates excellent characters whom we can related to, has excellent dialogue, and internal monologues that we can see ourselves saying. This one brings back his constant character, Michael Talbott, over a hundred years since the end of the Zombie Fallout series. Rather than saying ‘hey, here’s everything that happened since”, Tufo adds details of the intervening years as the book goes on.

There’s a couple others I’d love to read, waiting for the latest from Simon Green, Casino Infernale, to be available at the library. Like I said, not will to spend $12.99 on an ebook.

Also, as I’ve mentioned for the past few weeks, I’ve also been slowly reading The Mad, Mad, Mad World Of Climatism. I finally finished it, and will provide a longer review/synopsis on my next day off, so as not to rush it, but, let me say that this should be the one book that every Warmist, and those on the fences, should read. Heck, even if you do not buy into “climate change”, you should read it. The facts and figures, along with the history, of “climate change” is put in an excellent format that anyone can easily understand. I should finish it this week, not that much left. You should buy it.

Read: Watcha Reading? »

Posted in Books | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

On “Climate Change”, Do The Math?

By William Teach June 16, 2013 – 4:07 pm

How about “do the science”, instead?

(Stuff) “Do the math!” says American climate activist and campaigner Bill McKibben who has just visited New Zealand to spread the global warming gospel. Doing the ‘math’ on global warming will supposedly prove we are on the brink of climate catastrophe, about to encounter the much-touted “tipping point”.

Wait, McKibben took a long unnecessary fossil fueled flight to tell us that CO2 from fossil fuels is bad?

It would make more sense to “do the science” because then at least we would be able to account for the now obvious divergence between computer-based climate models (supporting the IPCC and McKibben’s ‘math’) and the actual satellite-measured temperatures. Global temperatures have gone in one direction while CO2 and the IPCC’s computer models have gone in the other for nearly twenty years, with no sign of anything changing in the foreseeable future as the divergence becomes more and more pronounced. Obviously then, something is seriously wrong with the science despite the ‘math’ used to prove it.

It is well known that CO2 and temperature do not change in direct lockstep, with temperature obediently following, as activists would have us believe. The relationship is much like painting a window-the first coat blocks out most of the light. Successive coats take out less and less light until adding more does next to nothing. CO2 in the atmosphere works the same way.

It would make more sense to do the science, which is what Climate Realists are engaged in. For Warmists, though, as I’ve pointed out time and time again, it’s not about science but about politics. “Climate change” is simply an extension of far left progressive doctrine designed to increase government power over people and the private sector, as well as putting more money in the hands of progressive politicians. When discussing this issue that’s where you start: politics.

Make sure to read the whole article

Read: On “Climate Change”, Do The Math? »

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If All You See…

By William Teach June 16, 2013 – 1:00 pm

…is a wonderful Gaia friendly bike that should still be banned because it uses oil for lubrication, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Autonomous Mind, with a post on the great wind power ripoff.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 2 Comments | Trackback URL
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