Consequences: Columbia University To Let 180 Go After Losing Federal Money

By William Teach May 7, 2025 – 10:30 am

There are consequences for allowing rampant Jew hatred and support of Palestinian terrorism rage across campus, among others

Columbia University lays off around 180 staff after Trump administration revokes grants

Columbia University said it will cut around 180 staff members Tuesday following the Trump administration’s announcement in March that it canceled $400 million in federal grants over the Ivy League school’s “failure to protect Jewish students from antisemitic harassment.”

“Across the research portfolio we have had to make difficult choices and unfortunately, today, nearly 180 of our colleagues who have been working, in whole or in part, on impacted federal grants, will receive notices of non-renewal or termination,” acting Columbia University President Claire Shipman said in a statement. “This represents about 20% of the individuals who are funded in some manner by the terminated grants.

“In the coming weeks and months, we will need to continue to take actions that preserve our financial flexibility and allow us to invest in areas that drive us forward,” she added. “This is a deeply challenging time across all higher education, and we are attempting to navigate through tremendous ambiguity with precision, which will be imperfect at times.” (snip)

Columbia University said in early March that it was “notified of federal action from Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Education (ED), and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) cancelling $400 million in federal funding to the University.

“The federal agencies cite ‘the school’s continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.’ There is no question that the cancellation of these funds will immediately impact research and other critical functions of the University, impacting students, faculty, staff, research, and patient care,” it added at the time.

There are consequences when any institution takes taxpayer money via a government source: it means that the government has a say in operations, and that the money can be pulled when the institution fails to comport themselves per the government. Columbia is a private institution, hence, should not be given taxpayer money to start with. Supposedly, the money is used primarily for research, but, come on, a goodly chunk is just a slush fund.

But, really, all Columbia had to do was shut down the Jew hatred and harassment of Jews. Columbia made a choice. Sure, the charges against most of the protesters have been dropped, nothing Columbia could do about that, but, how many did Columbia terminate as students and employees?

Then in April, Columbia University caved in to demands from the Trump administration in an effort to restore federal funding.

The Ivy League school agreed to ban masks for the purpose of concealing identity, empower 36 campus police officers with new powers to arrest students and appoint a senior vice provost with broad authority to oversee the department of Middle East, South Asian and African Studies, as well as the Center for Palestine Studies.

Now we’ll see if they get some level of funding back. The Trump admin will want to see progress made at ground zero for Jew hatred and support of Palestinian terrorism.

Read: Consequences: Columbia University To Let 180 Go After Losing Federal Money »

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Bummer: Trump Admin To Eliminate Energy Star Program

By William Teach May 7, 2025 – 7:15 am

I’m not really sure this is necessary. I know there was a time that I did, in fact, look for appliances that were Energy Star rated, but, over the Obama and Biden years Energy Star became too much climate cult. Heck, even during the first Trump admin they were getting out of control with their cultish beliefs

E.P.A. Plans to Shut Down the Energy Star Program

The Environmental Protection Agency plans to eliminate Energy Star, the popular energy efficiency certification for dishwashers, refrigerators, dryers and other home appliances, according to agency documents and a recording of an internal meeting.

E.P.A. managers announced during an internal staff meeting on Monday that divisions that oversee climate change and energy efficiency would be eliminated as part of an agency reorganization. That includes the E.P.A.’s climate change office as well as the division that oversees Energy Star.

“The Energy Star program and all the other climate work, outside of what’s required by statute, is being de-prioritized and eliminated,” Paul Gunning, the director of E.P.A. Office of Atmospheric Protection told employees during the meeting, according to the recording obtained by The New York Times. Mr. Gunning’s office itself is also slated for elimination.

For the past 33 years, Energy Star has been known for its recognizable blue label, which shows that an appliance has met energy efficiency standards set by the federal government.

What appliances do not have one? Scrolling through random appliances on Home Depot they all seem to be Energy Star compliant.

Since its creation under the first President George Bush in 1992, Energy Star has helped households and businesses save more than $500 billion in energy costs and to get rebates and tax credits, according to the program’s 2024 report. At the same time, it has also prevented four billion metric tons of greenhouse gases from being released into the atmosphere.

And there it is: doomsday climate cult.

Paula R. Glover, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, a group that promotes energy efficiency, said the Energy Star program costs $32 million but delivers $40 billion in annual savings on utility bills.

Let’s be honest: does anyone think companies won’t continue to make efficient appliances? Consumers will not want to purchase ones that cost them more money. I also wouldn’t be surprised if some private company comes up with their own ratings, like Consumer Reports. With the internet people have all sorts of ways of looking at appliances. If I want a TV or computer or guitar I have places I go to read reviews.

Read: Bummer: Trump Admin To Eliminate Energy Star Program »

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SCOTUS Rules Trump Ban On Gender Confused In Military Can Proceed

By William Teach May 7, 2025 – 7:00 am

You win some, you lose some. Trump won on this one

Supreme Court stays lower court ruling, allowing Trump transgender ban to proceed

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sided with the Trump administration in lifting a lower court order that paused the Pentagon’s transgender military ban from taking effect – allowing Trump’s order and related policies to proceed, at least.

The high court ruling is a near-term victory for the White House, even as it did not address the underlying merits of the case or President Donald Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order banning transgender service members from the U.S. military.

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson would have denied the administration’s appeal and kept the lower court injunction in place.

At issue in the suit, Shilling v. United States, is Trump’s executive order banning transgender military members.

Look, maybe some Trans would be great soldiers. But, they all seem to be interested in living in the opposite gender barracks, and are mostly males cosplaying as females. And want gender changing drugs and such. Meaning they aren’t actually performing their duties

Shilling v. United States is just one of several suits challenging the Trump administration’s military ban. It comes as Trump has used his early days in office to undo major Biden-era policies, including their efforts to promote a diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, agenda.

Yeah, well, I doubt that any of these other suits will go anywhere. The Supreme Court has ruled. The US military is not a playground for left wing crap. It’s to protect the United States and its citizens.

Read: SCOTUS Rules Trump Ban On Gender Confused In Military Can Proceed »

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Miami Herald Is Super Concerned That Real Estate Market Not Cooperating With Doomsday Cult Prognostications

By William Teach May 6, 2025 – 3:09 pm

It’s wonderful when “journalists” who have no clue write a story about things they have no clue about

Climate change is coming for Florida’s real estate. Why don’t prices reflect it?

As a University of Miami doctoral student studying climate change, Mayra Cruz knew more than most about the risks of sea rise and wetter storms and hurricanes.

So when she and her husband bought their first home in 2021, they picked inland Miami Springs and bought federal flood insurance. They felt good, learning the only previous claim had come long ago, after Hurricane Andrew.

Then three storms in three years sloshed 18 inches of water into their backyard. And when the city posted a warning about flooding on Instagram, it used pictures of her impassable street.

Last summer, the couple decided to sell because of the repeated flooding. They wrote a “crystal clear” disclosure: the home escaped damage, but water got unnervingly close. Cruz worried if anyone would buy it. “My Realtor said it would still sell. I asked ‘Are you sure?’ I wouldn’t buy this house knowing what I know.”

Because non-cultists understand that storms happen, and that some years it could be bad and others see nothing. But, especially in the Miami area, it has always had a loaded gun pointed at it.

They got an offer almost immediately, selling for nearly $250,000 more than they paid for it.

This has made them very sad. Because cult.

It’s a paradox of South Florida’s super-heated real estate market: When homeowners like Cruz move out because of growing flood risks, somebody else always seems willing to move in — and often at a much higher price.

“Our housing value almost doubled in that time,” Cruz said. “That’s absolutely insane. Our house should not have been worth that much.”

Says you. But, buyers have a different opinion.

The value of her home and thousands of others in Florida have been buoyed at least in part by what some experts call a climate denial bubble. A wave of reports in the last five years has pegged the size of the bubble in the billions and suggested a correction is looming, potentially a major one. It has yet to come.

Sherman Potter Bull Cookies

Anyhow, this is a long doomsday screed about how buyers are wrong because doom is coming, so, I’m going to stop now. Except to note that sea rise in the Miami area is above the Holocene average of 6-8 inches per century, but, still not as high as what is expected for a Holocene warm period.

Read: Miami Herald Is Super Concerned That Real Estate Market Not Cooperating With Doomsday Cult Prognostications »

Posted in Climate Cult, Global Warming | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach May 6, 2025 – 1:00 pm

…is an island that will soon disappear from carbon pollution driven sea rise, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is neo-neocon, with a post on Israel occupying Gaza.

Read: If All You See… »

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Washington State Democrats Target Clergy, Removing Confession Privilege

By William Teach May 6, 2025 – 10:30 am

No one should be surprised that Democrats are going after Christianity, are they? Because the law doesn’t mention Islam

Washington Governor Signs Law Steamrolling One Of Catholicism’s Most Sacred Practices

Democratic Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a bill May 2 forcing Catholic priests to break their seal of confession in cases of alleged child abuse.

The bill, introduced in the state senate in January, requires clergymen to be added to the state’s list of mandatory reporters in cases of suspected abuse or neglect of a child, even if the information is discovered during a confessional. “Except for members of the clergy, no one shall be required to report under this section when he or she obtains the information solely as a result of a privileged communication as provided in RCW 5.60.060,” the legislation read.

Ferguson, who is Catholic, signed the bill into law and told reporters he felt it was “pretty straightforward,” KXYL.com reported.

“My uncle was a Jesuit priest for many years, (I’ve) been to confession myself – and so I’m very familiar with that,” Ferguson said. “I felt this was important legislation and protecting kids is first priority.”

You can tell your lawyer something in privilege, but, not your clergy. Which does seem to be aimed directly at Catholics. They could have used language that mentioned any religious leaders who are told things in confidence, but, they didn’t. Regardless, does this violate the 1st Amendment?

But, it was not the federal congress passing a law about religion, violating the 1st Amendment. Does Washington state passing a law violate the 1st? How about the Washington state Constitution?

Absolute freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment, belief and worship, shall be guaranteed to every individual, and no one shall be molested or disturbed in person or property on account of religion; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness or justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of the state….

In other words, the state of Washington can apparently come after the Catholic church, and any religion, if they think they are involved in, well, damned near anything if it offends the state. Per that last bit they can tell people they are not allowed to protest against LGBTwhatever and abortion and other things Democrats support.

The solution, per Washington clergy, is to hold confession without knowing who the person is. If someone wants to tell them something in privilege names and faces will be hidden. Or people just won’t be able to practice their religion. But, of course, if it is a Muslim a jihadi can tell their Imam they are planning to blow something up and it would be no legal problem.

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Maine Govt, Which Won’t Stop Using Fossil Fuels, Considers A “Polluters Pay” Program

By William Teach May 6, 2025 – 7:00 am

As I always recommend, but, damnit, the fossil fuels companies never listen, they should stop selling their product to the government of Maine. Let’s see how that works out, especially when all the winter weather hits

Bill to hold polluters responsible for climate change advances in Augusta

Maine may be joining Vermont, New York, and two other states in establishing a “Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program” within the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. The goal is to force the world’s largest oil producers to pay for the impact of climate change. This measure seeks to force the 90 or so biggest oil and gas producers in the world to pay for the climate change they allegedly helped cause.

But getting “Big Oil” to pay Maine and other states for the impact of climate change will be no easy task. “Climate change is a global problem. And we are experiencing damage from emissions outside of Maine and outside of the United States. And in our view, we need a way to pay for that damage”, says Nick Janzen of Maine Conservation Voters, testifying Monday before members of the Environment and Natural Resources Committee.

Only companies who’ve emitted more than a billion metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution would pay for the damage from climate change. “The amount of their financial contribution will be determined in proportion to their share of global greenhouse gas emissions”, University of Michigan Environmental Law Asst. Professor Rachel Rothschild told the committee. The sponsors are also seeking to make the law retroactive to the mid-1990’s.

Consider that the NJ Superior Court already threw out a lawsuit as they “ruled that lawful oil companies could not be held liable for worldwide emissions.”

Maine would also have to prove these big oil companies; who are operating legally in the United States, providing a commodity we all need; are also responsible for sea level rise, hurricanes, and other natural disasters, and to what degree. Lawmakers admit proving big oil is responsible for the weather won’t be easy.

The 3 long term tide gauges for Maine show .80, .76, and .73 inches of sea rise per century with no acceleration. Less than is expected during a Holocene warm period.

Read: Maine Govt, Which Won’t Stop Using Fossil Fuels, Considers A “Polluters Pay” Program »

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Trump Admin Offers Luxury Flights For Illegals To Self Deport

By William Teach May 6, 2025 – 6:45 am

The Trump admin keeps finding new and inventive ways to get illegals out of the U.S.

Trump Promises Illegals ‘Beautiful Flight’ Out of U.S. If They Self-Deport

Illegal aliens will get a “beautiful flight” out of the United States if they voluntarily self-deport under a new program spearheaded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), President Donald Trump says.

On Monday, as Breitbart News reported, DHS announced a financial incentive program that will provide illegal aliens with $1,000 only after they verify that they have self-deported to their home country using the CBP Home mobile app.

Several European countries, such as Germany and Denmark, have imposed similar policies that have been very successful in helping to reduce illegal immigration.

“What we thought we’d do is a self-deport where we’re going to pay each one a certain amount of money and we’re going to get them a beautiful flight back to where they came from … it’s called self-deportation,” Trump said of his program Monday in the Oval Office.

“It’s a very difficult thing with the courts because the courts have all of the sudden, out of nowhere, they’ve said, ‘Maybe you have to have trials.’ We’re going to have five million trials? Doesn’t work … you wouldn’t have a country left,” Trump said, referring to judges preventing him from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport illegal alien gang members.

“Hopefully the Supreme Court will save it … you know past presidents took out hundreds of thousands of people, you look at Eisenhower, you look at many of them, they didn’t go through this,” Trump continued.

Weird how there was no problem when Biden and Obama deported them quickly, eh?

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Trump Can Stop States From Doing Something About Climate Doom Or Something

By William Teach May 5, 2025 – 4:26 pm

Who says he wants to? Doing Something about climate doom is not a duty of the Legislative Branch, who make the laws. Hence, reserved for the states and the people

Why Trump can’t stop states from fighting climate change

The United States has never really cared much about tackling climate change, at least at the federal level. Up until the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA — which handed out billions of dollars for people to electrify their homes and pumped billions more into the clean energy economy — neither Congress nor the executive branch advanced truly meaningful climate policy, given the scale of the crisis.

Lots of people care, right up till they have to pay for it. The Elites care, and expect Other People to pay for it

Yet carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. have fallen from 6 billion tons annually in 2000 to less than 5 billion today. For that, the country can largely thank its states and cities, which have embarked on ambitious campaigns to, among other things, electrify transportation, set automobile pollution standards, and incentivize the deployment of renewable energy. At the same time, wind and solar are now cheaper to build than new fossil fuel infrastructure, and there’s little President Trump can do to stop those market forces from driving down emissions further.

Let them do it. Also, let them pay for it themselves.

Accordingly, Trump has set his sights on states during the first 100 days of his administration. He has tried to kill New York City’s congestion pricing, though last week the Department of Justice accidentally filed a document outlining the legal flaws with the administration’s plan. On April 8, he signed an executive order directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to identify and halt any state climate laws that she deems illegal, including California’s pioneering cap-and-trade program. That directive, though, is probably illegal itself, because the Constitution guarantees states broad authority to enact their own laws, legal experts told Grist. “This is the world the Trump administration wants your kids to live in,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “California’s efforts to cut harmful pollution won’t be derailed by a glorified press release masquerading as an executive order.”

Some things are the power of Los Federales, because of inter-state commerce.

“States have been saying since the election that they retain the authority and the ability and the ambition to drive down pollution and keep America on track to meet its goals,” said Casey Katims, executive director of the U.S. Climate Alliance, a coalition of 24 governors (just one of them a Republican) focused on climate action. “This order is an indication that the president and this administration know that all of that is true.”

Have at it. Every experiment needs an experimental group. Just leave those of us in other states out of it. It is hilarious that they discovered States’ Rights.

Ultimately, climate action is increasingly popular among voters. A spokesperson for Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois pointed to polling that shows 65 percent of people in the state are worried about climate change and 70 percent support fully transitioning to clean energy by 2050. “Voters are smart,” the spokesperson said, “and the more the Trump administration tries to kill clean energy policies that are giving us cleaner air, good-paying jobs, and lower energy bills, the more pushback you’re going to see, because those policies are popular for a reason.”

Again, popular until they have to pay for it and their own lives are negatively affected.

Read: Trump Can Stop States From Doing Something About Climate Doom Or Something »

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If All You See…

By William Teach May 5, 2025 – 1:00 pm

…are Bad Weather clouds from carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Independent Sentinel, with a post on stupid Prince Harry.

Read: If All You See… »

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