Hooray! Wake County School Board To Waste $45k Of Taxpayer Money

By William Teach January 10, 2013 – 4:08 pm

Yeah, something a bit local, which I do not do much of, but, anyhow, let’s put this in context: Republicans had captured control of the Wake County School Board, and looked to do a few things, which included doing away with “diversity” busing all over the county (which was really based on economic diversity rather than race), pushing for more local schooling, and reducing all the constantly changing school assignments. Then, Democrats regained control, and immediately fired the guy in charge of making things happen, Tony Tata, for no reason other than the Dems didn’t like him. So, now their is no school superintendent. What to do, what to do?

(WRAL) Nearly four months after firing Tony Tata, the Wake County Board of Education on Tuesday took the first step toward finding a new superintendent to lead North Carolina’s biggest school district by hiring a search firm.

The board approved a motion to hire Omaha, Neb.-based McPherson & Jacobson, LLC, a move that will cost the school system about $45,000. Details of the firm’s bid to lead the search were not made available Tuesday.

First of all, they couldn’t spend that money on a North Carolina company? Second of all, imagine what $45k could have done for the school system. Just another case of elected officials, particularly Democrats, making decisions that waste taxpayer dollars.

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Posted in NC News | 7 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach January 10, 2013 – 1:00 pm

…is snow that’s a thing of the past but can be created by too much warmth, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Fire Andrea Mitchell, which notes 6 Islamists in the Obama administration.

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NHL Lockout: Commish Bettman Apologizes To Fans

By William Teach January 10, 2013 – 11:27 am

In case you weren’t aware, the NHL locket is pretty much over. The Board of Governors has approved the new deal, and we’re just waiting on the Players Association to ratify it (which should come Sunday). Over the past few days I’ve read about some team owners apologizing to the fans, such as with the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes (more on this in a bit). Now we have Gary Bettman, the commissioner of the NHL, doing the same

(NJ.com) “To the players who were very clear they wanted to be on the ice and not negotiating labor contracts, to our partners who support the league financially and personally, and most importantly to our fans, who love and have missed NHL hockey, I’m sorry,” Bettman said in a press conference at a midtown hotel.

“I know that an explanation or an apology will not erase the hard feelings that have built up over the past few months, but I owe you an apology nevertheless.”

Blah blah blah, just like they did after the last work stoppage. I’ve heard rumors that the NHL and owners plan on running a “thank you” program as the season starts. Which is just like last time. I do not want to hear it. I don’t want to see it. Last time I didn’t even get flowers, this time I want diamonds. Supposedly, ticket prices were somewhat reduced last year. Here in Raleigh, they were. And then they jacked up the price of parking.

When it comes to the NHL, and particularly my NJ Devils, I am not a fan, I’m a fanatic. Yes, I will eventually come back. But, I think it would be very incumbent on the NHL and the owners to treat the fans well. No patronizing commercials and platitudes. Some, including me, have suggested that the NHL give their Center Ice programming away free. I’d say that if you were a subscriber last year, give Center Ice for free, or at least half of the price it would be for half a season. Better, why not half price and give away a practice jersey for the team of choice?

At the stadiums, more give away programs, discounted merchandise, contests to win signed and/or game worn apparel. Pucks. Sticks. Autographs. Take a bit off the top of tickets. Why not drop the price of all tickets 15-20% for the first 20 games?

The owners and players need to show that they really do care. There were no rule changes, so there isn’t anything super exciting coming down the pike like last time.

Otherwise, I’m really not excited. Usually as the season approaches I am psyched. Not so much now. And, listen, I’m a guy who has a ton of hockey paraphernalia. Lots of hats, shirts, and sweatshirts. I have a Canes and Devils jersey. I have 2 Devils jackets. Two watches. Pucks. Signed posters. Banners. And other stuff. A good chunk ended up around the living room the deeper the Devils went into the Playoffs last year. Hook me up, NHL!

More: BTW, I love how all the NHL prognosticators are beating up on the Devils. Every year it seems to be the same thing. They’re old. They’re boring. They won’t win. And almost every year the Devils make the Playoffs.  Remember, the Devils have missed the Playoffs twice since 1989. They’ve won 3 Cups, and made it to the Stanley Cup finals 5 times. They are in the top 3 for winning teams since 1990 (Red Wings #1, other team is Penguins). Fans of other hockey teams call them “boring”. Yeah, I guess they’d say that when the Devs just keep winning and beating those teams, especially with a great defense and a hall of fame bound goalie. Haters will be haters.

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Posted in Devils!!!!!, NHL, Sports | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

Warmist Idea To “Climate Proof” Cities Revolves Around Big Government

By William Teach January 10, 2013 – 9:51 am

I can tell, you’re shocked. And I’m sure that you’ve noticed that pretty much every idea to solve “climate change” revolves around bigger, more intrusive, and more domineering government. Here’s Warmist David Roberts at Grist

Climate-proofing cities: Not something conservatives are going to be good at

The notion of preparing cities for climate disruption is somewhat novel, though of course cities have always been built to adapt to natural conditions. What’s new is that almost all cities must now plan for changes in the natural conditions they take for granted — changes likely to be substantial but which, in their specifics, are maddeningly difficult to predict with precision or confidence. (snip)

As I was reading the piece — which is excellent, well worth tracking down — it struck me that the signal features of good climate-proofing have something in common: Conservatives are going to hate them.

1. Climate-proofing costs a lot of (government) money. (WT-shocker!)

2. It requires a lot of (government) planning. (more fascism)

3. It requires both physical and social density. (essentially, this would revolve around forcing people into big cities)

4. It requires decentralized systems. (government being able to change things without the input of pesky citizens)

5. It requires openness and adaptability. (changing things up regardless of whether it breaks existing laws, moors, and that pesky Constitution)

Dave goes on to give his own reasons for why Conservatives would hate these ideas, but misses that American Conservatives are actually Classical Liberals, and aren’t big on authority and government. On numbers 3 and 4 he writes

3. Conservatives are individualists, not communitarians

4. The conservative mind is, perhaps above all else, drawn to hierarchy and authority.

Number 3 is correct. Number 4 then contradicts. Number 4 would be about Classical Conservatives and, interestingly, Classical Socialists. Classical Conservatism is also referred to as Daddy Government in terms of involvement in people’s lives. American Conservatives are against that.

Finally, what’s missing is the notion of Warmists actually changing their own lives voluntarily to match their belief set.

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

Obama Attempts To Change Public Opinion On Gun

By William Teach January 10, 2013 – 9:23 am

Alas, public opinion is of no consequence, Barry, when the Right to own a weapon is enshrined in that pesky constitution thing. But, yapping is what Obama does best

(Washington Post) The White House is working with its allies on a well-financed campaign in Washington and around the country to shift public opinion toward stricter gun laws and provide political cover to lawmakers who end up voting for an assault-weapons ban or other restrictions on firearms.

With President Obama preparing to push a legislative agenda aimed at curbing the nation’s gun violence, pillars of his political network, along with independent groups, are raising millions of dollars and mapping out strategies in an attempt to shepherd new regulations through Congress.

I do find it interesting that Obama has railed against outside groups and their influence on government. And what these groups, and Obama, will attempt to do will be to come up with all sorts of scary stories as well as methods for demonizing anyone who stands in the way of what they deem “sensible gun control measures”.

Along the way, there will be all sorts of fundraisers and “spreading awareness” campaigns, along with attempts to intimidate legal gun owners, like the way the Journal News and Gawker attempted with their release of information about legal gun owners (which really put criminals in the drivers seat).

Then you have the possibility of Obama using executive orders to ram through his people-control, er, gun control agenda

Biden’s comments sparked an immediate and sharp backlash from Republicans. “The Founding Fathers never envisioned Executive Orders being used to restrict our Constitutional rights,” Rep. Jeff Duncan (S.C.) said in a statement. “We live in a republic, not a dictatorship.”

Not in Obama and Liberal World. Progressives are fascists, and love that Big Government dictatorial style.

Some of the groups plan to use television and newspaper advertisements to paint laws restricting guns as a mainstream, common-sense idea. Some advocates have also stopped calling their efforts “gun control,” preferring “gun-violence prevention” instead.

Yet, the majority of the proposed ideas and legislation is really aimed at law abiding citizens. Some lefties ask “why do you need a 19 round clip for your handgun? 10 should be enough” to which I’d reply “why do you need a 50 inch TV? Wouldn’t a 37 be fine?” Alternatively, I could go with “why? What’s it to you? Mind your own business.”

If Democrats were serious, they would be looking at solutions to protect people from criminals, and go after criminals. Make punishments harsh. Corporal punishment and hard labor would help. Instead, they want to make it harder for good citizens to have a gun for protection.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.

Read: Obama Attempts To Change Public Opinion On Gun »

Posted in 2nd Amendment, Barry Obama, Current Affairs, Democrats | 7 Comments | Trackback URL

Why Obama’s Picking A Fight With Congress

By William Teach January 9, 2013 – 4:44 pm

My guess would be it’s because he’s an asshole. An intolerant, hyper-partisan, delusions of king-hood asshole. Also, because that’s who he is, a person who has never looked to work together, to bring people together. And, basically an asshole

(Politico) Barack Obama is looking for a few good fights.

Obama, the same president who campaigned twice on breaking the cycle of conflict in Washington, sees the utility — even the necessity — of rattling Republican cages as he plunges into a succession of upcoming battles over the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense, the debt ceiling, $1 trillion in automatic budget cuts, immigration reform and gun control.

We’ve all known that what Obama says and what Obama does are two different things, at least in terms of governing and working together with people who disagree with him. And, because he’s an asshole. With delusions of king-hood

(CNN) President Barack Obama is exploring executive orders to help prevent mass shootings in America, Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday.

“The president is going to act. Executive orders, executive action, can be taken,” Biden told reporters before meetings with groups representing survivors of mass shootings. “We haven’t decided what this is yet, but we’re compiling it all with the help of the attorney general and all the rest of the Cabinet members.”

Granted, this is Joe Biden saying it, and he could be going off the reservation (again). Yet, does anyone think that Obama isn’t thinking about bypassing the duly elected legislative branch?

Read: Why Obama’s Picking A Fight With Congress »

Posted in Barry Obama, Current Affairs, Democrats | 18 Comments | Trackback URL

Government Really Concerned About Regulating All The New Tech

By William Teach January 9, 2013 – 2:00 pm

When Conservatives talking about reducing the impact of Big Government, this is the kind of thing we are referring to

(Politico) What happens here at the annual Consumer Electronics Show certainly doesn’t stay here, at least not as far as Washington is concerned.

Stuffed into the seemingly endless Las Vegas Convention Center isn’t just a raft of new hi-def televisions, cutting-edge tablets and more — but a sea of federal lawmakers and regulators, many of whom return home leery to learn there’s a gap between the new tech on display and the laws that are supposed to govern their use.

The in-car computers populating the show floor may woo audiences. But they also should remind regulators there’s work to do to ensure the old rules of the road — literally — apply to cars that are as much computers as they are engines.

And the explosion of startups — many of which aren’t device manufacturers but app makers — represents the front lines of many debates over spectrum, e-health policy, venture capital and more now happening on Capitol Hill.

This reminds me of a Ronald Reagan quote

Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

In today’s hyper regulatory government-space, we can also add in “if it might move, regulate it”. America is one of the most innovative countries over the past few centuries, yet, Government seems to do all it can to strangle everything with regulation. Sometimes “for your own good”, sometimes simply “because it’s there.”

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Posted in Good Move Slick, Web/Tech | 13 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach January 9, 2013 – 1:00 pm

…is the flag of one of the world’s most evil carbon polluters, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Lonely Conservative, with a post on how Government is making your car less safe.

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Posted in If All You See | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

2012 Was Hottest Year Evah!!!!! For 2% Of The World’s Surface

By William Teach January 9, 2013 – 9:07 am

Know what this proves? That 2012 was hot in the continental US. What it doesn’t prove is anthropogenic causation. But, hey, it gets all the Warmists out and about spreading awareness as they drive to demonstrations in their fossil fueled vehicles

Not Even Close: 2012 Was Hottest Ever in U.S.

What they’re forgetting is that the study only encompasses the lower 48. Alaska has been cooling. Which isn’t proof of a coming ice age, either. Nor is it proof that “climate change” caused by mankind is causing cooling.

The numbers are in: 2012, the year of a surreal March heat wave, a severe drought in the Corn Belt and a huge storm that caused broad devastation in the Middle Atlantic States, turns out to have been the hottest year ever recorded in the contiguous United States.

How hot was it? The temperature differences between years are usually measured in fractions of a degree, but last year’s 55.3 degree average demolished the previous record, set in 1998, by a full degree Fahrenheit.

Still not as warm as previous warm periods.

Scientists said that natural variability almost certainly played a role in last year’s extreme heat and drought. But many of them expressed doubt that such a striking new record would have been set without the backdrop of global warming caused by the human release of greenhouse gases. And they warned that 2012 was probably a foretaste of things to come, as continuing warming makes heat extremes more likely.

In other words, they know the warmth was primarily natural, but, hey, they have to keep the federal funding gravy train going, so they’ll make predictions with no facts.

The NY Times also attempts to blame weather events, which always happen, on the warming. Alas, they avoid mentioning that tornado strikes were at record lows, as were hurricane and tropical storm system strikes on the lower 48. And while the Times did mention all the heat records, 2012 didn’t even make the top 10 of years that saw records broken. And, of course, it’s easy to make the claim of being the hottest ever when the temperature data is being changed to match the meme.

But, what about the rest of the world? (via Climate Depot)

So, when we look at the global temperatures, we see that most of the rest of the world is experiencing cooling temps. This doesn’t necessarily denote a coming ice age, or even a cool period. It could, but time will tell. But, when the majority of the world cooled despite rising CO2 levels, one has to wonder what’s going on, and what really drives climate in terms of temperature.

Oh, and if believers in “climate change” are really concerned, they might actually make their own lives “carbon neutral.”

Read: 2012 Was Hottest Year Evah!!!!! For 2% Of The World’s Surface »

Posted in AGW Scaremongering, Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 14 Comments | Trackback URL

Mayors Against Illegal Guns Pushes To Demand A Plan

By William Teach January 9, 2013 – 8:09 am

Did you know that there was a group called Mayors Against Illegal Guns? While they certainly have push, and in some cases enacted, initiatives to go after illegal guns, most seemed to be aimed at putting restrictions on law abiding citizens, rather than going after the criminals who use guns to injure and kill. Because getting tough on criminals would be hard! And offend the sensibilities of liberal do-gooders, who think that criminals, such as gang bangers, should be coddled.

(TMJ4) Milwaukee mothers are being called to action in a national effort to tighten gun control laws.

“To every mother, we can not wait. We have to demand a plan,” said Roxanna Green in a TV commercial running in Milwaukee.

Her daughter was killed two years ago today in the Tucson, Arizona shooting that critically injured congresswoman Gabby Giffords.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns is running a TV ad in Milwaukee to promote the “Demand a Plan” website (www.demandaplan.org ) to end gun violence.

And what do they want? Mostly the same old same old, which mostly targets law abiding citizens exercising their Constitutional Rights

  1. Require a criminal background check for every gun sold in America
  2. Ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines
  3. Make gun trafficking a federal crime, with real penalties for “straw purchasers”

Oh, I like that last one. It would have gotten quite a few people in the Obama administration in trouble for Operation Fast and Furious, which further same over 200 Mexican citizens and at least 2 American federal agents murdered. But, the media doesn’t like to talk about that, I guess because they hate Mexicans.

Anyhow, they make it clear that 33 people are killed by guns everyday. I think most of them occur in Chicago and other gun free zones, but I could be wrong. Meanwhile, around 115 people die in car related accidents every day. We should ban them. That would make people safer. Oh, and there are approximately 3,000 babies murdered through abortion daily. We should save them.

When Mayor Barrett was in Congress he voted to ban assault rifles in 1994 but the ban expired in 2004. These days Barrett advocates for tighter gun control laws at the state and federal levels.

“To make sure people who are not legally able to get a gun, don’t get a gun!”

In other words, they are coming for the law abiding citizens 2nd Amendment Rights.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.

Read: Mayors Against Illegal Guns Pushes To Demand A Plan »

Posted in 2nd Amendment, Current Affairs | 10 Comments | Trackback URL
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