Oh, Noes: “Climate Change Thaws Out 400 Year Old Plants”

By William Teach May 30, 2013 – 11:33 am

We’re doomed!!!!!!

(Grist) As glaciers melt and slowly recede from the land they once covered, we don’t really know what we’re going to find there. Scientists have already found plants that have been chilling out under glaciers for about four centuries — plants that, now that they’re out from under the ice, have decided to start growing again.

These plants are of a specific type, called bryophytes. Plants like this (moss is one example) don’t have vascular tissue to shuttle water and nutrients around, which means they deal better with harsh Arctic winters. When a team of scientists from the University of Alberta was poking around the receding Teardrop Glacier, they happened upon a patches of bryophytes sneaking out from under the ice — “these huge populations coming out from underneath the glacier that seemed to have a greenish tint,” the lead researcher, Catherine La Farge, told the BBC.

Obviously, this means dooooooooom! So much doom that Sarah Laskow, the Grist article writer, offers up

We’re kind of nervous about what else might be under there. Santa Claus? Frozen aliens that will end civilization as we know it? (That would probably be better for the planet as a whole.)

Yeah, another Warmist with fantasies of killing off the human population.

But, consider, switching to the original BBC article

Plants that were frozen during the “Little Ice Age” centuries ago have been observed sprouting new growth, scientists say.

That is exposing land that has not seen light of day since the so-called Little Ice Age, a widespread climatic cooling that ran roughly from AD 1550 to AD 1850.

But the retreating ice at Sverdrup Pass, where the Teardrop Glacier is located, is uncovering an array of life, including cyanobacteria and green terrestrial algae. Many of the species spotted there are entirely new to science.

How’d they get there in the first place? How’d they grow in the first place? Magic? Alas, poor Warmists, they grew when the climate was warmer, pre-LIA, and then were covered during the LIA, meaning, I’m sorry to tell you, that there are natural climate variance periods, just like the current one we are in.

Read: Oh, Noes: “Climate Change Thaws Out 400 Year Old Plants” »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

The Lois Lerner State Of Oppression

By William Teach May 30, 2013 – 7:26 am

Rich Lowry provides an opinion piece over at The Politico on the real problem with Big Government, entitled The Lois Lerner State

It is appropriate that the worst scandal of the Obama administration— the IRS targeting of conservatives — is a scandal of administrators and bureaucrats, of otherwise faceless people endowed with immense power over their fellow citizens and running free of serious oversight from elected officials.

They are the shock troops of the vast bureaucratic apparatus of the federal government. Its growth has been one of President Obama’s chief goals, and the one he has had the most success in achieving. He has greatly enhanced the reach and power of regulatory agencies that are an inherent offense against self-government, even when they aren’t enforcing the law in a biased way.

The administration’s corruption isn’t bags of cash or lies about interns; it is the distortion of our form of government by sidestepping democratic procedures and accountability and vesting authority in bureaucrats. The administrative state is, fundamentally, the Lois Lerner state.

What have we seen? Officials pleading the 5th along with seemingly having no knowledge as to what is going on in their federal agencies. Spying on the news media as harassment and an attempt to chill freedom of the press. Unaccountable bureaucrats targeting Conservative groups while giving Liberal groups a free pass. Homeland Security Police monitoring, harassing, and attempting to intimidate citizens using their First Amendment rights to free speech, demonstrate peaceably, and asking for redress of grievance. The EPA instituting regulations going well beyond what the legislative branch authorizes, and harming individuals, companies, and the economy.

Let’s further not forget that Congress, in some cases, such as Obamacare and Dodd/Frank, gave and gives federal agencies massive amounts of power, latitude, and discretion. Obamacare is chock full of mentions that the head of HHS “shall do” and “can do”, leaving it in the hands of bureaucrats to make most of the rules as they see fit. Lowry mentions that in the piece, as well.

Currently, it is the Gang of 8 immigration bill. Its architects want to do for immigration what Obamacare does for health care and Dodd-Frank does for the financial sector — invest an administrator (in this case the secretary of the department of Homeland Security) with extraordinary discretion, and entrust a bureaucracy with an enormous task beyond its capacities (the orderly, rapid processing of 11 million illegal aliens).

We can’t blame this solely on Obama: it’s occurred under most presidents. Under Bush we saw the creation of DHS, though they were never used as a STASI like apparatus federal police force. The creation of the TSA. Though we never saw the overreach and personal violations as they instituted very intrusive full body patdowns. Under Obama, an unengaged POTUS who has used his bully pulpit to attack private citizens and entities that have different political points of view..a violation of the spirit of the 1st…, the power and abuses by federal agencies has grown tremendously. And seemingly unaccountable to The People. Let’s see you give the answer to your bosses that people like Holder and the IRS officials gave, see what they think of your performance. Or, try doing the same with the IRS if they come calling.

Read: The Lois Lerner State Of Oppression »

Posted in Constitution, Current Affairs | 10 Comments | Trackback URL

AP: You May Be Losing That Health Plan You Like Under Obamacare

By William Teach May 30, 2013 – 6:54 am

Nice to see that the Associated Press finally notices something that Obamacare opponents pointed out even before it was passed

Like your health care policy? You may be losing it

Many people who buy their own health insurance could get surprises in the mail this fall: cancellation notices because their current policies aren’t up to the basic standards of President Barack Obama’s health care law.

They, and some small businesses, will have to find replacement plans — and that has some state insurance officials worried about consumer confusion.

Many medium and large companies will also be dumping their plans for a variety of reasons, including the above, concern that one employee will obtain insurance through an exchange (meaning the company has to pay the fine for all its employees), it’s cheaper to let employees get insurance through the exchanges, and others.

The goal is to cover most of the nation’s nearly 50 million uninsured, but even Obama says there will be bumps in the road. And discontinued insurance plans could be another bump.

Now it’s 50 million? It was originally 30-40 million…oh,right, Obameconomy. Lots of people without jobs.

But supporters of the overhaul are betting that consumers won’t object once they realize the coverage they will get under the new law is superior to current bare-bones insurance. For example, insurers will no longer be able to turn people down because of medical problems.

They can’t turn people down now, even before exchanges go into effect. But, they can charge people out the ying yang for the coverage. And it’s not just “bare bones coverage plans” that will be dropped for the reasons, including being not in compliance.

Other bumps on the road to the new health care law include potentially unaffordable premiums for smokers unless states act to waive them, a new $63-per-head fee that will hit companies already providing coverage to employees and dependents, and a long-term care insurance program that had to be canceled because of the risk it could go belly up

Wait, wait, what’s this $63 per head fee? This is the first I’ve heard about it, but, apparently the news noticed it (quietly) back in mid-December 2012. It’s a fee designed to offset the cost of covering those with pre-existing conditions, to the tune of $25 billion. So, yet another fee/tax in a Bill chock full of fees/taxes.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners says it is hearing that many carriers will cancel policies and issue new ones because administratively that is easier than changing existing plans.

So individuals and companies will have to then go insurance shopping. The insurance companies will surely send notices that include options, but people will have to deal with looking through it all, and it could include higher up front costs

“You’re going to be forcibly upgraded,” said Bob Laszewski, a health care industry consultant. “It’s like showing up at the airline counter and being told, ‘You have no choice, $300 please. You’re getting a first-class ticket, why are you complaining?'”

It seems that, so far, the majority of promises made about Obamacare have had expiration dates. This is exactly the train wreck opponents said it would be, with over 16,000 pages of regulations written so far, costs going up up up, overall government outlays going up up up, companies shifting employees to 30 hours or less, and not being able to keep your plan.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.

Read: AP: You May Be Losing That Health Plan You Like Under Obamacare »

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

What, Exactly, Does Obama Know?

By William Teach May 29, 2013 – 4:18 pm

There are three possible leadership styles for (NMP) Obama

  1. He just doesn’t want to know and doesn’t want to be involved in governance or decision making
  2. He does actually want to know everything and is involved in decision making as well as being kept in the loop, but his people say he isn’t
  3. He only wants to be involved when it makes him look good and wants to be left alone for everything else

A case can be made for any of those. I want to say that it is more of #2, but, then I flip to #3, then #1. What we do know is that he is a complete disgrace as a leader. Whether he knows for real and pretends he doesn’t or just doesn’t know shows a profound lack of leadership, and a person who shouldn’t be in charge of cleaning up dog poop, much less the country.

 

Read: What, Exactly, Does Obama Know? »

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If All You See…

By William Teach May 29, 2013 – 1:00 pm

…is an evil fossil fueled truck causing heat to hide in the deep oceans, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Daley Gator, with a post on a Democratic poll worker convicted on voter fraud.

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

Good Grief: Increasing Antarctic Ice Blamed On “Climate Change”

By William Teach May 29, 2013 – 11:09 am

One of the bad parts about having a heavy interest in the whole anthropogenic global warming debate, what Warmists call “climate change” in order to blame everything on Mankind, is that it is often like being in an airport full of Hari Krishna’s, Jehovah’s Witnesses, or Occupiers who just won’t stop their insanity (which might not be fair to the first two) (via Tom Nelson)

Increased Ice-Formation in Antarctic Sea Caused by Climate Change: Study

The records of melting ice in September 2012 showed that ice is disappearing at an unprecedented rate in Arctic sea. But on the other side, a record high of ice formation has been recorded in Antarctic sea.

After such results, scientists want to know that if nature is playing an equivalent game negating all the speculations that global warming is due to human intervention.

And the recent studies done in this regard shows that the answer to this speculation is `no’ and suggests that human activities are mainly responsible for the change in weather throughout the globe which includes lessening of ice in one ocean and thickening in other. The records of the ice formation on Antarctic sea reveals that the summer melt of land ice on Antarctic Peninsula have increased 10 times in last 600 years which is highest level in last 1000 years.

Quadruple facepalm worthy

Read: Good Grief: Increasing Antarctic Ice Blamed On “Climate Change” »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Beyond Moonbat, Global Warming | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

Warmist: Everyone Should Give Up Meat!

By William Teach May 29, 2013 – 10:43 am

Actually, there is so much utter stupidity in this letter to the Bennington Banner that I was hard pressed to pick a title. I was seriously considering going with “How Do Climate Realists Fight Against This Much Stupidity?”, because, not to single out the letter writer, but this is the kind of idiocy being taught in the liberal education system, on liberal TV news, in liberal newspapers and mags, etc

A review of 12,000 papers on climate change, in the May 15th issue of “Environmental Research Letters”, found that 97 percent of scientists attribute climate change to human activities. Although we’re unlikely to reverse climate change, we can mitigate its effects by reducing our driving, energy use, and meat consumption.

That “study” continues to be destroyed more and more. Here’s more, where scientists whose papers were put in the I’m A Believer category are saying “whoa, hold on there, Sparky”. It breaks down to 97% of 32.1% of papers who take a position, meaning that 68% too no position/were Climate Realists. Of those 97% over 50% took a position that Man had less than a 50% effect on the climate. I’d be in that class, if you remember my stance. Anyhow

Yes, meat consumption. A 2006 U.N. report estimated that meat consumption accounts for 18 percent of man-made greenhouse gases. A 2009 article in the respected World Watch magazine suggested that it may be closer to 50 percent.

That would actually be mostly Methane, not CO2.

Carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas, is generated by burning forests to create animal pastures and by combustion of fossil fuels to confine, feed, transport, and slaughter animals. The much more damaging methane and nitrous oxide are discharged from digestive tracts of cattle and from animal waste cesspools, respectively.

At least he sort of got it right in terms of output, yet, CO2 is not the principal greenhouse gas, even if one read it as being from meat production. Methane is a considerably more potent GHG, on the order of 25-60% more powerful than CO2. NO2 is also more powerful than CO2 (though both have lower atmospheric concentrations). That said, I suspect that the writer was saying that CO2 was the main GHG in the atmosphere, which those who haven’t been indoctrinated know is water vapor. CO2 is just below 400ppm at Mauna Kea observatory. Water vapor is on the order of 1,000-40,000 ppm, depending on the area of the globe (would be less at the poles versus the tropics).

The writer goes on to recommend not eating meat, instead going with soy based lunch meats, veggie burgers, and all sorts of other, well, crap, then offers up the website www.livevegan.org. How do you fight against people who are so indoctrinated and un-scientific? “Climate change” is obviously a political issue, not scientific, and the Believers live in their own little worlds.

More: as VolDog points out in the comments, it’s a chain letter. I’ve found it here. And here. And here. And all over the place, going as far back as May 20th.

Just goes to further prove the points I make about Warmists being brain dead, indoctrinated, and this being a political issue.

Read: Warmist: Everyone Should Give Up Meat! »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

NBC Makes Up Quote For Michele Bachmann: “I’m quitting my House seat in 2014”

By William Teach May 29, 2013 – 8:23 am

Here’s their headline

Nowhere in the story is that headline verified. Nor, if one listens to the 8+ minute video from Bachmann will you hear that phrase. A bit of bias, eh?

For Max Baucus NBC had the headline Max Baucus heeds the call of Nature. And Harkin won’t seek 6th Senate term (for Tom Harkin-D). And Senate banking chair Johnson to announce retirement (Tim Johnson-D). Even most other Republicans were treated decently. Seems that NBC News has a bit of a War On Women going on in regards to Bachmann.

Of course, there’s the NY Times article, which spends more time on here briefly saying that she is not retiring because of any of the supposed scandals. So does CNN. Then there’s Michael Tomasky at The Daily Beast going on an anti-Jesus rant because of Bachmann.

She makes mention of term limits, saying “The law limits anyone from serving as president of the United States for more than eight years, and in my opinion, well, eight years is also long enough for an individual to serve as a representative for a specific Congressional district.”

She makes a lot of good points during the video, worth the 8+ minute listen.

Read: NBC Makes Up Quote For Michele Bachmann: “I’m quitting my House seat in 2014” »

Posted in GOP, Journalistic Malpractice, Michele Bachmann | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

6 Year Old Given Detention And Forced To Apologize After “Traumatizing” Other Kids With Gun

By William Teach May 29, 2013 – 7:50 am

The only one traumatized in this whole affair is the 6 year old, who was the recipient of unhinged anti-gun behavior by adults who care little for the mental affairs of children

(The Blaze) A 6-year-old kindergarten student in Massachusetts is accused of causing a “disturbance” and “traumatizing” other students by bringing a very tiny plastic toy gun on the school bus last week.

The “gun” brandished by the young boy was barely bigger than a quarter.

The child’s mother, Mieke Crane, told WGGB-TV that school officials at Old Mill Pond Elementary in Palmer, Mass., seriously overreacted after another student saw the toy and told the bus driver on Friday.

The driver said the 6-year-old “caused quite a disturbance” and left other children “traumatized,” according to Crane.

The kindergartener has been forced to write an apology letter to the bus driver. He was also given detention on Tuesday and may temporarily lose his bus riding privileges.

This is the result of the “zero-tolerance” policy (much like liberals have zero-tolerance for anything they disagree with…unless it is Jihadists killing people with guns, then they say we need to understand them, tolerate their diversity and points of view, and meditate on what we did wrong to make them hate us), where even cookies bitten into the shape of a gun are horrific offenses, or, if the gun is like

Only in Liberal World would that cause such a freakout. And now the 6 year old is most traumatized, depressed, and will be mercilessly teased by his classmates. Good job, Liberals!

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.

Read: 6 Year Old Given Detention And Forced To Apologize After “Traumatizing” Other Kids With Gun »

Posted in 2nd Amendment, Liberal World, Unhinged Tools | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

Did Holder Commit Perjury?

By William Teach May 28, 2013 – 3:41 pm

That’s what the House wants to know

(The Hill) The House Judiciary Committee is investigating whether Attorney General Eric Holder lied under oath during his May 15 testimony on the Justice Department’s (DOJ) surveillance of reporters, an aide close to the matter told The Hill.

The panel is looking at a statement Holder made during a back and forth with Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) about whether the DOJ could prosecute reporters under the Espionage Act of 1917.

Most presidents would have an underling throw themselves on their swords at this point. Not Obama. Expect him to soon come out with harsh words against the GOP in defense of an Attorney General who doesn’t seem to want to follow either the law or Constitution.

Unsurprisingly, Liberals are already out there crying “squirrel” and “distraction”. Alan Colmes seems to have no problem with lawlessness from Holder, the nations top cop. And Talking Points Memo buys into Holder’s “feeling regret” foolishness. Ace tears this apart here and here.

Obama should consider that even David Axelrod finds Holder’s probe of James Rosen “disturbing”. So, will Obama ever find Holder “inconvenient”?

Read: Did Holder Commit Perjury? »

Posted in Barry Obama, Current Affairs, Democrats | 3 Comments | Trackback URL
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