AP: Obama Offers Same Craptastic Fiscal Cliff Deal

If you run around the news sites, you’ll see lots of stories of “optimism” regarding a fiscal cliff deal, which kinda is belied by the long faces (and Nancy Pelosi being unable to find her car) post meeting. Ah, but a barely publicized story comes from the AP via WRAL

A person familiar with the details says President Barack Obama is not making a new ‘fiscal cliff’ offer at his high-stakes meeting with congressional leaders at the White House.

Obama instead is spelling out again a plan he says can pass the House and Senate, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was unauthorized to speak publicly about the private meeting.

Unfortunately the story was edited so as it no longer reflects that Obama thinks his plan can pass the Senate. The same Senate in which Majority Leader Harry Reid refuses to allow a vote on Obama’s plan, calling it a “stunt” when Republicans asked for a vote on the full plan.

So, Obama flew all the way from Hawaii to offer the same craptastic plan.

Read: AP: Obama Offers Same Craptastic Fiscal Cliff Deal »

So, The Palestinian Intifada In 2000 Was Premeditated

Inconvenient information for the Leftist Palestinian supporters/Israel haters

(Daily Caller) Suha Arafat, the wife of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, admitted in a TV interview earlier this month that the Palestinian terror campaign against Israel launched in 2000 was a premeditated act orchestrated by her husband, not a spontaneous “intifada,” or uprising, as many have claimed.

“Yasser Arafat had made a decision to launch the intifada,” she told Dubai TV on Dec. 16, according to a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute.

“Immediately after the failure of the Camp David [negotiations], I met him in Paris upon his return. … Camp David has failed, and he said to me: ‘You should remain in Paris.’ I asked him why, and he said: ‘Because I am going to start an intifada. They want me to betray the Palestinian cause. They want me to give up on our principles, and I will not do so.’”

Fortunately, liberals around the world were available to be apologists for Arafat.

Read: So, The Palestinian Intifada In 2000 Was Premeditated »

Surprise! 70K British Jobs Could Disappear Due To Hotcoldwetdry Legislation

But, you know,we’re saving Gaia from getting a fever

(Daily Mail)Up to 70,000 British jobs are at risk as a direct result of European carbon reduction targets, according to a report.

The policies have pushed up the cost of energy, threatening the vital mineral industries which deal in materials such as cement, chemicals, glass, ceramics and steel, the study claims.

It says the aluminium industry has been ‘virtually eradicated’ after closures in Anglesey and Northumberland, and blames policies which penalise ‘energy-intensive’ industries for emitting too much carbon dioxide.

Strange how Warmist policies always seem to hurt people, eh?

Read: Surprise! 70K British Jobs Could Disappear Due To Hotcoldwetdry Legislation »

If All You See…

…is snow that can only occur because of fossil fuel usage, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Hockey Schtick, with a post on a paper noting that climate models exaggerate projected warming

Read: If All You See… »

If Only Wind Turbines Could Be Built Where There’s Wind

..But, people don’t want it there (unmentioned in the article), and there’s already viable power where they want to build

(NY Times) As I note in Friday’s paper, construction of new wind farms is going to grind to a halt with the end, at least temporarily, of the wind production tax credit. What’s next?

The credit is worth 2.2 cents per killowatt-hour generated, beyond whatever the electricity can be sold for on the regional market. At some hours of the day, most or all of the revenue will come from the tax credit.

Well, that sounds like a hell of a viable business model, eh?

Without the credit, wind farms could still be profitable if they were built where the wind is strongest, according to Robert W. Thresher, a research fellow at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo. But the trend lately, he said, has been to move to somewhat less favorable sites because the best ones within connection distance of the grid have been used up.

And, as noted, because people generally do not want the wind turbines in their neighborhoods nor blighting the landscape.

Read: If Only Wind Turbines Could Be Built Where There’s Wind »

Feinstein Posts Proposed Law Abiding American Gun Owners Disarmament Act

No mention as to whether she will forgo all armed security for herself

(The Blaze) Last week, Sen. Dianne Feinstein promised to on the first day of new the Congress introduce legislation that would ban so-called assault weapons and certain types of ammunition.

Now, the Californian senator has posted a summary of this legislation that would be introduced in 2013, showing more details about the provisions that she would hope would be included. And it doesn’t just have to do with what she calls “assault” weapons.

Here are a few bullet points on the guns that would be banned from sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing:

  • 120 specifically-named firearms
  • Certain other semiautomatic rifles, handguns, shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine and have one military characteristic
  • Semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds

Those who have acquired weapons recently under the pretense of being “grandfathered” in under prior laws see mention in Feinstein’s provisions as well. It requires these weapons to be registered under the National Firearms Act that will include collecting the following information…..

Hmm, one military characteristic? One could argue that since it shoots bullets, it has a military characteristic. And she has only provided a summary of the legislation, so no one knows which guns are included.

The legislation would re-institute the 1994 assault weapons ban, but change it from “a 2-characteristic test to a 1-characteristic test.”

It also

  • Grandfathering weapons legally possessed on the date of enactment
  • Exempting over 900 specifically-named weapons used for hunting or sporting purposes and
  • Exempting antique, manually-operated, and permanently disabled weapons

Wait, it leaves most guns legal? Ah, there’s a catch: If you own a grandfathered weapon, you would need to undergo a background check, register the serial number, and, hey, look, have your photo and fingerprints taken and kept on file. Just like they would with a criminal! No mention in the summary of her legislation would consider the need to register any magazine which takes more than 10 rounds.

She also mentions several studies in the summary, which includes a letter to the editor and a Washington Post story, but, interestingly, she leaves out the CDC sponsored study which noted that there is “insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of any of the firearms laws reviewed for preventing violence.”

Now, all you Democrat voters who are for people, er, gun control, will you all voluntarily give up your guns?

Read: Feinstein Posts Proposed Law Abiding American Gun Owners Disarmament Act »

New Hawaii Senator Who’ll Take Many Fossil Fueled Air Trips Pledges To Tackle Hotcoldwetdry

If he was really serious, he’d have the Senate install a two way monitor which would all him to see and hear what’s going on as well as speak. Alas, no, he’ll surely have plenty of excuses why he’ll take plenty of unnecessary fossil fueled trips from Hawaii to D.C. and back

(The Hill) The replacement for the late Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye (D) said Wednesday that climate change is at the top of his legislative agenda.

“For me, personally, I believe global climate change is real and it is the most urgent challenge of our generation,” Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz (D), whom Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D) tapped for the seat, said in brief comments Wednesday.

Once again, if a person uses the phrase “climate change” they aren’t interested in science, they are interested in politics. The correct term would be “anthropogenic global warming.”

But, perhaps Schatz should start at home, considering that Hawaii is the “44th highest carbon dioxide polluting state” (though CO2 is not a pollutant, but a trace natural gas necessary for life on Earth) but ranks 32nd with their total carbon footprint, despite being a tiny state. They depend heavily on imported goods, including foods. And the massive CO2 from fossil fueled travel is not included in the calculations.

Of course, the notion of Doing Something means to Warmists that Someone Else should bear the legislative brunt and penalties, never themselves.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.

Read: New Hawaii Senator Who’ll Take Many Fossil Fueled Air Trips Pledges To Tackle Hotcoldwetdry »

Warmist Takes Fossil Fueled Travel To Make Film On How Fossil Fuels Are Killing Wine Industry

This comes via Mother Nature News’ Starre Vartan, “eco-fashionista and world traveler blogs on sustainable style and living”…..wait, fossil fueled travel?

As you invariably quaff at least one glass of wine or bubbly this holiday season (and try to keep from disagreeing with old friends or family members about the causes of climate change), you might not realize there’s a real connection between the two. According to a November 2011 article in the New York Times by Paige Donner, wine yields, flavor and even the types of grapes grown will be affected by the coming-soon changes in climate (some in positive ways, others negative, depending on the type of grape). It’s such a complex and interesting topic that she decided to make a film about it. I was curious about this aspect of climate change and how Donner got involved with the issue, so I asked her about the film and the topic in an interview below.
MNN: What led you to explore the connection between wine and climate change? 
Paige Donner: Well, first let me say, I love wine. And as a California native, I absolutely love learning about wine and the wine regions of the world.

So, when I returned to France….

….to make a movie about how evil “climate change” is, because it’s never happened in the history of the earth, and fossil fueled travel causes it….oh, wait, Paige had to have used fossil fueled travel. This is just more of the old “spreading awareness” meme, where Warmists never actually do anything within their own lives. Oh, and suckering Warmists into lining the pockets of other Warmists with sweet, sweet green stuff, money. Perhaps that’s why they call it “going green”.

Read: Warmist Takes Fossil Fueled Travel To Make Film On How Fossil Fuels Are Killing Wine Industry »

If All You See…

…is wine which could become extinct because someone (else) charged their iPhone, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Michelle Malkin, with a post by Doug Powers on the fake Benghazi resignations.

Read: If All You See… »

Energy Killing EPA Head Lisa Jackson Leaving In January

She’s probably looking to find a way to avoid the inquiry over the illegal use of private email for official discourse

(USA Today) The pre-second term exodus from the Obama administration continued Thursday with the resignation of Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson.

In a statement, Jackson said she is “confident the ship is sailing in the right direction” after nearly four years as EPA administrator, and she is looking forward to new challenges.

Unfortunately, this means that Obama can appoint yet another hardcore progressive who hates Americans having affordable energy. Perhaps Republican Senators can take a hard line on whoever is nominated, like they did with Susan Rice, and are doing with John Kerry (via Nice Deb)

(Washington Examiner) Republican senators will refuse to confirm Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., as Secretary of State until the nation’s current top diplomat, Hillary Clinton, testifies about her handling of the Benghazi terrorist attack.

“The Senate is expected to take up Kerry’s nomination in early January, but multiple Republican senators have already said they won’t agree to a vote on Kerry’s nomination until Clinton testifies about the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi,” The Cable’s Josh Rogin notes.

We’ll see if they have the fortitude to hold fast.

Read: Energy Killing EPA Head Lisa Jackson Leaving In January »

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