China Sends Spy Balloon Over U.S., Biden Admin Doesn’t Shoot It Down

By William Teach February 3, 2023 – 10:30 am

I do have one question that hasn’t been addressed in any of the stories: just when did the U.S. military notice the balloon?

U.S. Military Monitoring Suspected Chinese Spy Balloon

The U.S. military is currently monitoring a suspected Chinese spy balloon that has been hovering for several days over the northern United States.

Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement on Thursday that the “high-altitude surveillance balloon” poses no immediate threat to the United States and will be monitored for the time-being.

“The United States Government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now,” said Ryder, adding:

The U.S. government, including NORAD, continues to track and monitor it closely. The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground. Instances of this kind of balloon activity have been observed previously over the past several years. Once the balloon was detected, the U.S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information.

According to NBC News, the balloon was initially spotted over Billings, Montana, after it had flown over the Aleutian Islands and through Canada. The exact whereabouts of the balloon remains unknown to the public at this time.

Billings, Montana was the first time? It apparently, they think, floated down over Alaska then Canada, and none of our military assets, all our radars and such, noticed it? That does not provide confidence in the military’s ability to detect anything else, like, say, ICMBs, coming towards the U.S.

The leaders reviewed the threat profile of the Chinese stratospheric balloon and possible response options, and ultimately decided not to recommend taking it out kinetically, because of the risk to safety and security of people on the ground from the possible debris field. Pentagon leaders presented the options to President Joe Biden on Wednesday.

President Biden was reportedly briefed on the matter and advised not to order the balloon be shot down.

It’s not like there’s much out there in Montana. The population density is 7 people per square mile, and most are in towns. Not shooting it down shows weakness.

(Fox News) China has announced its government is looking into reports that a suspected Chinese spy balloon was discovered flying in U.S. airspace over Montana.

“China is a responsible country and has always strictly abided by international laws, and China has no intention to violate the territory and airspace of any sovereign countries,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning during a daily briefing on Friday.

She also urged U.S. officials and Chinese authorities to proceed “calmly and carefully” amid the investigation.

Yes, stay calm, just let the spy balloon fly over the U.S., capture its data, and fly away. Just like when the Soviets were able to get a lock on the U-2 flown by Gary Powers. Oh, right. That’s the game. If it gets noticed, it gets shot down. Biden’s weakness will further embolden China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, etc.

Read: China Sends Spy Balloon Over U.S., Biden Admin Doesn’t Shoot It Down »

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Climate Crisis (scam) Groups Having Lots Of Problems With Unions

By William Teach February 3, 2023 – 7:15 am

What’s the point of a union? Well, one thing is to protect the employees from bad business practices from management and ownership, right?

‘Hypocritical’: environmental groups blocking union efforts, US workers say

Workers at some of the top environmental organizations in the US are calling out their managers as “incredibly hypocritical” as they argue the progressive non-profits are fighting workers’ efforts to unionize.

A wave of unionization efforts has swept the non-profit sector as part of a renewed national enthusiasm for unionization. Shortly into the Covid-19 pandemic, workers at 350.org, Sunrise Movement, the National Audubon Society, Defenders of Wildlife, Greenpeace USA, the Public Interest Network and the Center for Biological Diversity unionized.

But workers at many of these organizations say they have experienced aggressive opposition and alleged retaliation in the lead-up to unionizing and through bargaining efforts for a first union contract.

Well, that’s strange. You’d think all the Modern Socialists running those unhinged groups would be all in favor of unionization and treat the employees well, right?

Defenders of Wildlife has fought unionization since the campaign went public, according to workers, and has continued to do so through bargaining. The organization, which works to protect all native animals and plants throughout North America, rejected a request to voluntarily recognize the union, but workers successfully won a union election in September 2021 with a vote of 70 to five to join the Office and Professional Employees Union Local 2. (snip)

Workers at the National Audubon Society successfully unionized in 2021 with the Communications Workers of America (CWA), but have claimed significant union opposition from management through unionization and bargaining. At 350.org, workers have accused the environmental non-profit of retaliating against workers for unionizing.

Huh.

Zachary Barber, a field organizer for PennEnvironment, part of the Public Interest Network, claimed the organization has repeatedly rejected proposals in bargaining and recently went to arbitration to try to limit the size of the bargaining unit, which the union won. The union has filed several unfair labor practice charges against the organization, including allegations of retaliation against workers and making unilateral changes to employment without bargaining.

“We’ve been told directly by senior members in leadership that if we don’t agree with the way they’re running the organization that we should just leave,” said Barber. “Generally the point of the union is giving people the ability to come together and have a voice in their workplace, and that’s the same thing we fight for every day as a grassroots organization.”

Well, yeah. Unless it’s unsafe, if employees don’t like it they’re welcome to start their own business. Which is pretty much what these “non-profits” are. Shady money scammers.

Read: Climate Crisis (scam) Groups Having Lots Of Problems With Unions »

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California Looks To Pass New Gun Laws That Won’t Stop Mass Shootings

By William Teach February 3, 2023 – 7:00 am

The state with the most gun control laws, that mostly affect law abiding citizens looking to protect themselves from criminals, wants to do more

California Introduces New Gun Legislation Following Mass Shootings

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state officials announced new gun safety legislation Wednesday, days after the state was rocked by a string of deadly mass shootings.

California has the strongest gun legislation in the country, Newsom said at a press conference Wednesday, but the state continues “to recognize with humility that we could do more and better.”

The legislation, which the Democratic governor announced alongside state Attorney General Rob Bonta and state Sen. Anthony Portantino (D), is very similar to legislation that failed last year, but its proponents are confident that a key change to the language and a new slate of lawmakers in the California State Legislature will help it glide to victory.

The new rules proposed in the legislation are largely aimed at making it harder for guns to end up in the hands of dangerous or irresponsible people. If enacted, they would beef up the licensing protocols local officials must follow when issuing firearms permits, requiring them to conduct in-person interviews, gather character references and review applicants’ social media profiles.

It would also prohibit anyone younger than 21 from obtaining a concealed-carry license and designate certain public spaces as gun-free, including schools, hospitals, government buildings, places of worship and public transit facilities.

That should scare off criminals, right? It’s just another way to go after the law abiding, instead of cracking down on the actual criminals who use guns, the gang bangers, and other degenerates. It’ll definitely let the criminals know that anyone under 21 won’t be carrying.

As for those interviews and references and social media, well, the courts just wacked those in NY, right?

The things is, Gavin failed to mention how any of this would have stopped any of those shootings.

Read: California Looks To Pass New Gun Laws That Won’t Stop Mass Shootings »

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Will Supreme Court Take Up Climate Crisis (scam) Deception Lawsuits Case?

By William Teach February 2, 2023 – 3:00 pm

It’s all about the Free Speech, you know

Climate change consumer deception lawsuits threaten free speech. Will the Supreme Court take note?

Green Climate Thought PoliceCourts are increasingly taking a close look at the validity of climate change lawsuits against oil producers. And for good reason: These cases severely test the boundaries of court jurisdiction, the breadth of tort law, the protections of due process and even the sanctity of free speech.

As one example of this scrutiny, last Oct. 3, the U.S. Supreme Court signaled a serious interest in the proper forum and scope for climate change litigation.

In Suncor Energy (U.S.A.) Inc. v. Board of County Commissioners of Boulder County, the Supreme Court invited the solicitor general of the United States to weigh in, even though the United States is not a party to the litigation. The federal government is invited to file a brief with an official legal opinion of the federal government about the questions presented regarding the role of federal and state courts and the scope of federal and state common law for evaluating lawsuits alleging climate change injuries from fossil fuel production and consumption. These invitations are rare.

All of the cases similar to Suncor percolating across the country are focused on suing companies for the effects of climate change. Yet, each of these lawsuits also tack on “consumer deception” and related “greenwashing” claims. Both categories get a lot of attention, but the latter deserves special inspection.

Is there deception when companies claim they are Doing Something about climate apocalypse but aren’t really doing that much? Is it deception when that burger doesn’t look exactly like the one in the TV ad?

These so-called deception claims sometimes allege that the companies downplayed the impacts of climate change despite that there is no affirmative duty to share everything you know, especially when consumers in the market have access to the same information.

Companies have no duty to share anything as such. If they’re trying to make themselves look better to the cult, so be it.

Other times the greenwashing claims allege that the companies should not have been allowed to advertise about efforts they are making toward developing cleaner energy because these efforts were not as robust as the plaintiffs would have liked. Indeed, in several cases, the plaintiffs have essentially stated that these companies should not have been allowed to speak about their environmental successes because the only clean fossil fuel is no fossil fuel.

These consumer deception lawsuits are direct attacks on rights to speak and the corollary rights to not be compelled to speak. But there should be no climate change exception to free speech.

It’s a much longer article, well worth the read, so, let me note that the Warmists are part of the Modern Socialist movement, where the only rights are those they Approve of. You are not allowed to do or say anything that contradicts their beliefs. And they will use all sorts of methods, from bullying to lawsuits to government force to erode your rights. I’ve been saying this since the mid-2000’s, that this really has little to do with science, and people are finally catching up.

The writer of the piece is Donald J. Kochan, a professor of law and the executive director of the Law & Economics Center at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, and you can bet the little moonbats at the school will try and have him cancelled for daring to write it.

Read: Will Supreme Court Take Up Climate Crisis (scam) Deception Lawsuits Case? »

Posted in AGW Socialism, Global Warming | 4 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach February 2, 2023 – 1:00 pm

…is a tropical tree that will soon grow in Siberia, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The American Conservative, with a post on the National Air And Space Museum kicking out a bunch of Catholic high school kids for wearing beanies with pro-life messages.

Read: If All You See… »

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Democrats Vote Against Federal Employees Returning To Work

By William Teach February 2, 2023 – 10:30 am

Nothing better than paying federal employees to sit around at home and “work” rather than having them come back to the office and be supervised to sort of work, right?

205 Democrats vote against bill forcing federal workers to return to the office as COVID winds down

Nearly every House Democrat on Wednesday voted against a Republican bill requiring federal agencies to end their COVID-era telework policies and force federal workers to return to their offices.

Two hundred five Democrats voted against the Stopping Home Office Work’s Unproductive Problems Act, or the SHOW UP Act, and just three Democrats voted for it. The bill, which passed 221-206, would require federal agencies to return to the telework policies that were in place before the pandemic hit, and also require them to conduct an assessment of how nearly three years of telework affected the government’s productivity.

House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said the legislation is needed because the liberal telework policy that has existed for nearly three years has eroded government service.

“Federal agencies are falling short of their missions,” Comer said on the House floor. “They are not carrying out their duties. They are failing the American people.”

“They have waited for months for their tax returns from the IRS,” he added. “They have waited for months for the Social Security administration to answer their questions and provide their benefits. Our veterans have even waited for months to get their medical records from the National Archives.”

You know the federal unions are fighting to keep their workers from coming back in, so, Democrats will back those unions.

Democrats rejected that argument and said telework has made the federal government more efficient.

“We strongly oppose this bill, which is an assault on all the progress we have made over the last several years in telework policy,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the top Democrat on the Oversight and Accountability Committee.

Most private companies returned to the office long ago. It’s high time that federal workers do so. The question now, can Republicans get a few Democrats to flip over and vote for the bill in the Senate?

Read: Democrats Vote Against Federal Employees Returning To Work »

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Climate Cult’s Upset Society Isn’t Changing Fast Enough

By William Teach February 2, 2023 – 7:00 am

Would you people just accept that you need to listen to your bettors and allow them to run your life already. Because this is all about Science

Society isn’t changing fast enough to stop climate change: study

A new report has found that significant social change is needed to halt catastrophic climate change — and society isn’t changing fast enough.

Keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius — the goal set in the Paris Agreement — is implausible for social reasons, not technical ones, according to the Hamburg Climate Outlook, published Wednesday. The annual publication from Germany’s University of Hamburg includes data from over 140 countries. (snip)

Instead, Marotzke and Engels’ study found that consumption patterns and corporate responses — as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine — slowed the elimination of carbon fuels and their replacement with zero-emission alternatives.

Instead, Marotzke and Engels’ study found that consumption patterns and corporate responses — as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine — slowed the elimination of carbon fuels and their replacement with zero-emission alternatives. (snip)

In that publication, two climate scientists using machine learning concluded that the world would breach the internationally agreed-upon goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius warming by 2033 to 2035.

Yeah, this is the silly AI study – basically still a computer model – and the authors decided to add their own little cult spin, meaning government has to force you to change your behavior.

The view of these scientists was essentially in line with the University of Hamburg’s findings: that attitudes and consumption habits, not technical factors, are the main engines pushing global society down its current path toward severe climate disruption.

It’s so strange that Warmists mostly refuse to voluntarily change their own behavior, isn’t it?

Read: Climate Cult’s Upset Society Isn’t Changing Fast Enough »

Posted in AGW Socialism, Global Warming | 14 Comments | Trackback URL

LOL: GOP House To Investigate Biden Right After State Of The Union

By William Teach February 2, 2023 – 6:45 am

This should be fun

Republicans Are Set to Launch Biden Probe Hours After State of the Union

Biden Brain SlugHours after Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union Address to Congress, House Republicans will launch their promised investigation into alleged Biden family “influence peddling,” effectively nullifying any message of unity the president may deliver.

Wait, the Credentialed Media think Biden will have a message of unity? He may mention it, but, then he will attack Republicans. Like last time

Expected to testify at the Feb. 8 hearing are several former Twitter Inc. officials who Republicans believe were involved in efforts to restrict access to a 2020 New York Post article about business activities and other contents of a laptop purportedly owned by Hunter Biden, the president’s son, a person familiar said.

House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, in a recent interview, accused the Biden family of selling “access for profit around the world to the detriment of American interests.” The Kentucky Republican has previously said the Biden administration and Big Tech have worked together to “hide information about the Biden family’s suspicious business schemes and Joe Biden’s involvement.”

Biden has denied any knowledge of his son’s business dealings. Comer’s critics consider the investigation political revenge reminiscent of the GOP’s Benghazi probe that was targeted at injuring Hillary Clinton politically ahead of her 2016 presidential bid.

Like the utterly fake Russia collusion investigations? Except, there’s actual some proof that Biden was influence peddling with his coked up son.

This hearing next Wednesday will specifically jump right into a topic that has been a conservative sore point — alleged social media collusion to suppress information tied to Hunter Biden’s purportedly abandoned laptop, a damaged MacBook Pro, dropped off at a Delaware repair shop and never recovered.

Can’t wait for the media to either ignore it or protect Biden. 30 years ago reporters would have been investigating it themselves, looking for a Pulitzer.

Read: LOL: GOP House To Investigate Biden Right After State Of The Union »

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Climahypocrite POC Lawmakers Want Businesses To Put Their Money Where Their Mouths Are (By Force)

By William Teach February 1, 2023 – 4:27 pm

If these businesses had any cajones, they’d be asking what the lawmakers in the People’s Republik of California are doing in their own lives

California lawmakers want corporations to ‘put their money where their mouth is’ on climate change

Some California state lawmakers want corporations to be held accountable when it comes to the state’s clean air goals and efforts to reduce the effects of climate change.

A group of Democratic state senators resurrected three bills that fell short last legislative session they say would improve transparency, standardize disclosures, align public investments with climate goals and raise the bar on corporate action to address the climate crisis.
“Making sure our state and businesses community are putting our money where all of our mouths are, which is in a direction of climate action,” said State Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco.

Wiener reintroduced a measure that would require corporations that make more than $1 billion in revenue and that do business in California to start publicly disclosing their carbon emissions by 2026, including supply chain information, which lawmakers note make up the majority of a corporation’s emissions.

State Sen. Lena Gonzalez, a Democrat from Long Beach, reintroduced a measure to divest money from the state teachers’ and state public employees’ retirement systems away from the fossil fuels industry. Gonzalez said that amounts to about $11 billion dollars.

And what did these California climate cult Democrats, along with the others, do? Switch to EVs? Pay for solar panels for their homes? Downsize their homes? No more fossil fueled flights? Etc?

The California Chamber of Commerce opposed the bills last session.

“The private sector is committed to working to reduce factors that impact climate change,” said CalChamber President and CEO Jennifer Barrera. “However, it is critical that as policies are contemplated, there is an emphasis on balancing unnecessary costs and regulatory hurdles against measurable benefits. We look forward to working with policymakers to enact meaningful policies that protect jobs, encourage innovation and maintain growth.”

See? Rather than calling BS, daring these POC lawmakers to practice what they preach, they give a squishy response. It simply emboldens the Warmists to keep pushing. Speaking of the Chamber

EXCLUSIVE: Chamber Of Commerce Pledges Lawsuit Over ‘Outrageous’ Environmental Rule

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will sue the Securities and Exchange Commission if it goes forward with a rule requiring companies to speculate about how climate change could impact their business models.

Some members of Congress and outside groups have trained heavy fire on the trade organization, long a fixture in GOP circles, over perceived support for left-wing social issues. Others have expressed frustration with the Chamber’s endorsement of over two dozen Democrats in the 2020 election cycle. Despite these objections, the business group remains in agreement with the GOP on a host of regulatory and legal issues, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Neil Bradley told the Daily Caller in a recent interview.

Most notably, Bradley pledged to sue the SEC over the climate disclosure rule, should it ultimately go into effect.

The rule would nothing to mitigate anthropogenic climate change, but, it would give the government a lot more control and power over private companies, eh?

Read: Climahypocrite POC Lawmakers Want Businesses To Put Their Money Where Their Mouths Are (By Force) »

Posted in AGW Socialism, Democrats, Global Warming | 10 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach February 1, 2023 – 1:00 pm

…is hazy air from an oversatured atmosphere from carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is neo-neocon, with a post on expensive eggs.

Read: If All You See… »

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