March 19, 2019
So Beat-'em "Sargent" O'Rourke is onboard with guaranteed basic income. The Democrats are now largely onboard with this scheme.
I ask one simple question; how long is Social Security going to last? According to CNN, Social Security will have to start reducing benefits in 2034.
Essentially, what guaranteed income is is Social Security for all, not just for old people.
What could go wrong with that?
In 1962 Conservative economist Frederich Hayek supported Guaranteed Basic Income. Why? It was Hayek's idea that it be used to REPLACE the innumerable welfare programs and entitlements; just get rid of them all and give everyone one payment, period. That would never work, of course, because there are those who would still be unwilling to work more than the basic income, and those social safety net programs would remain in place. This would be an extra entitlement, not a replacement.
From Hayek's "The Public Sector and the Private Sector" in "Law, Legislation and Liberty, Volume 3: The Political Order of a Free People":
In other words, he wanted to end the eternal hands in the pockets of the productive. He figured one set payment would limit that. But he would be wrong if he actually believed that, which I suspect he did not. I suspect he was brain storming. It's like I would support Reparations for slavery if it would be the end of the handouts. But it wouldn't be.
Guaranteed Basic Income is like socialized medicine; it insures everyone but gives no-one anything worthwhile. And, of course, people will figure out how to scam this system quite easily. Identity theft is already a major problem in America; how much worse will it be with this crazy scheme? And this is a scheme to redistribute wealth, thus slowing economic growth. And, of course, sooner or later there will be talk of "the rich don't need this".
Social Security has led to the public not saving for retirement, not worrying about the future. How much worse will it be when everyone gets it.
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White men dominate in Dem presidential fundraising and polling
The entire article, a great piece of political reality, is found here: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/03/white-men-dominate-in-dem-presidential-fundraising-and-polling.phpWhite male presidential candidates Beto O’Rourke and Bernie Sanders are well out in front in the Democratic presidential fundraising sweepstakes, while Joe Biden and Sanders dwarf the field in the polls. Their female, African-American, and Latino rivals have been left in the dust so far.
O’Rourke announced Monday morning that his campaign brought in a record $6.1 million in online fundraising dollars within the first 24 hours of launching last week, more than any other announced Democrat. Sanders was the only candidate to come close to matching O’Rourke’s support, with $5.925 million raised within the first 24 hours after his announcement.
O’Rourke and Sanders’ initial 24-hour fundraising combined put them above the entirety of the rest of the Democratic field, including leaders like Senators Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar; Washington Governor Jay Inslee; and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper.
To add patriarchal insult to feminist injury, a pair of old white guys — Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, who hasn’t yet said he’s running — lead in the polls:
Morning Consult’s latest analysis shows overwhelming support for Biden and Sanders amongst national Democrats with 58 percent of Democratic primary voters supporting them. Harris and O’Rourke trailed the pair with 10 percent and 7 percent, respectively.
Naturally, some feminists are crying foul. One complained, "being a white man [is] an extremely powerful polling [and] fundraising boon, as it has always, always been.†Another whined:
I feel like the media is always captivated by the person they seem to think is a phenom: Bernie. Trump. Beto. But they always seem to be white men who are phenoms. In a year where we have more choices than ever, more women and more persons of color than ever, none of them seem to be deemed a phenom.
Here’s the thing. When folks throw $6.1 million at you in 24 hours, you’re a phenom. When you attract ten thousand people or more to your rallies, you’re a phenom. When, without any establishment support and the deck stacked against you, you nearly knock off Hillary Clinton, you’re a phenom.
The news media doesn’t anoint phenoms, it identifies them based mainly on the crowds they attract and the money they raise. It then gives their readers/viewers what they want — coverage of politicians who appeal to, or at least intrigue, them.
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While the murder of a few Muslims in New Zealand has become major international news, the continual slaughter of Christians worldwide is nearly completely ignored by the media.
As was recently pointed out in the Christian Post over six thousand Christians have been murdered in Nigeria for religious reasons by Muslims, with barely a peep out of the mainstream press.
According to the article:
"What is happening in Plateau state and other select states in Nigeria is pure genocide and must be stopped immediately," said the Christian Association of Nigeria and church denominational heads in Plateau State in a press release last week.
The church leaders said that "over 6,000 persons, mostly children, women and the aged have been maimed and killed in night raids by armed Fulani herdsmen," which is prompting their cry to the government of Nigeria "to stop this senseless and blood shedding in the land and avoid a state of complete anarchy where the people are forced to defend themselves."
The press release also pleaded with the international community, as well as the United Nations, to intervene in the Fulani attacks, fearing they might spread to other countries as well.
And yet the news has been full for days now of a lone gunman shooting up a couple of Mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The website From the Trenches hits the nail on the head as to why:
It was a major news event, and it needed to be reported. But shouldn’t mass killings of Christians be given the same sort of media coverage? Sadly, we all know that doesn’t happen. Whenever there is a mass killing of Christians, it is usually entirely ignored by the mainstream media in the United States, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why this is happening. Those that control the mainstream media consider Christians to be one of the main obstacles to "progress†in this country, and so any story that would put Christians in a positive or sympathetic light simply does not fit any of the narratives that they are pushing.
As a result of the lack of media coverage, the vast majority of Americans do not know that "4,136 Christians were killed for faith-related reasons†last year.
That number breaks down to an average of 11 per day.
I don't know anything about this site, so please don't get on me about it. I stumbled upon both articles while researching other stuff this morning and they blended well. For all I know this is a site promoting UFO's or say the Moon landing never happened, what-have-you. I just agreed with his opening point, that Christian murders are ignored because the Left hates Christ and His Church and do not want any sympathy for Christians, a group they have labored to paint as oppressors and victimizers.
In fact, Raymond Ibrahim says that 11 Christians are killed daily, martyred for their faith.
Strange; with liberals there are always two sets of rules, some being more equal than others.
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A Republican in the Missouri House of Representatives has put forward a bill that would require all state residents to own at least one AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.
Andrew McDaniel has proposed "the McDaniel Militia Act" which would make every citizen over eighteen years of age own an AR-15. (Actually, if offers a tax credit if you buy one.) Liberal heads have begun to explode.
The text of the bill states:
While I doubt this will pass Constitutional muster, I would gladly maintain such a weapon, provided it was paid for by the State of Missouri. And I frankly enjoy the heck out of doing this; why should the Left be able to put forward crazy ideas and not our side? Give 'em a taste of their own medicine!
This is how to be an activist. This will force anti-gun people into the open, and make them waste valuable time and money resisting it. See, control of the narrative is important, which is why the Left always floats crazy ideas; they know we will waste time and effort fighting them, while they will move steadily elsewhere. Control of the time and place of battle is the essence of military strategy, and it is also true of political warfare. And you never know; you just might get your crazy idea. The Left got a Constitutional amendment to authorize the income tax after Republicans dared them to do it, for example.
I've often proposed doing such things. I remember when the city of San Francisco began issuing same sex marriage licenses to people in violation of state and federal law. I argued at the time that Conservatives should go to city hall and apply for licenses to marry their dogs, their blenders, their cars, their stuffed toys, etc. Make a farce of it. There is nothing more powerful than ridicule, Saul Alinsky said, and our side needs to learn to use it. Mandating guns is an example of doing just that; it flips what they are doing on it's head, making a mockery of their gun control schemes. That's how you do it.
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If Camel-brain Kamala Harris or Kirsten Gillibrand or Cherokee Lizzy Warren become President they may try to pack the courts to annul the last election.
From Politico:
The surprising openness from White House hopefuls along with other prominent Senate Democrats to making sweeping changes — from adding seats to the high court to imposing term limits on judges and more — comes as the party is eager to chip away at the GOP’s growing advantage in the courts.
"We are on the verge of a crisis of confidence in the Supreme Court,†Harris (D-Calif.) said. "We have to take this challenge head on, and everything is on the table to do that.â€
Expanding the Supreme Court would amount to a historic power play by the next Democratic president and Congress, requiring an intense legislative fight and the abandonment of many judicial and congressional norms
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The news media immediately declared the mosque shooter in New Zealand to be a "right-wing terrorist" and have subsequently used it to tar conservatives and Trump supporters. But is that the case"
John Lott, [link-writing in Townhall, disagree[/link] As Lott points out, in a Q and A type discussion in the killer's own manifesto, the murderer says ""as a policy maker and leader? Dear God no!" in answer to the question "Do you support Donald Trump?"
In fact he calls himself an "eco-fascist", and saw Communist China as the ideal nation, according to his hard-to-find manifesto. He DOES refer to the Muslims as invaders, but in a broader sense; he sees humanity as invaders, overbreeding and overpopulating the world. He's an eco-terrorist, not a racial terrorist.
So why go after Muslims? Not because of their religion or race, but because they are immigrants who are going to further bespoil the pristine land. See, he doesn't want ANYBODY there, and new people need to be strongly discouraged.
He was a great admirer of Sir Oswald Mosley, a leftist Euro-socialist. This guy was about as right wing as Adolf Hitler. more...
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March 18, 2019
Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration rushed the approval of the security system in the 737 MAX and overlooked important flaws that may have contributed to the deadly crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, current and former engineers allege.
An investigation by the Seattle Times included reporters questioning Boeing and the FAA about potentially unsafe practices related to the approval of the controversial Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System -- the system that's been at the center of speculation in the Ethiopia crash investigation and the probe of the October crash of a Lion Air jet. The Times said its reporters were pressing officials at both organizations at the beginning of March, mere days before the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed all 157 people on board.
And, in the days after the crash, distinct similarities have been found between the Ethiopian Airlines crash and that of a Lion Air flight in October 2018, which left 189 people dead. Both planes with 737 MAXs and used the MCAS safety system, which, in a bid to stop a flight from stalling above the clouds, pushes a plane's nose down if a safety sensor detects pushing the plane's nose up.
Now we start to get the real story: shortage of time and money at the FAA. Increasingly, Boeing is obliged to do the testing that the FAA should be doing. What could possibly go wrong?
Numerous current and former engineers said that because of a lack of funding and manpower, the FAA was increasingly delegating elements of the MCAS safety approval process to members of Boeing, to scrutinize the safety of their own planes. In addition, engineers reported feeling pressured to approve the subsequent safety reports quickly in order to keep up with deadlines -- and especially to remain competitive with Boeing's rival, Airbus.
"There was constant pressure to re-evaluate our initial decisions,†one former engineer said, according to the Seattle Times. "And even after we had reassessed it...there was continued discussion by management about delegating even more items down to the Boeing Company.â€
This next part is interesting, and I for one would love to know who made the decision to enable the MCAS system to operate with a wider range of movement. Or was it accidental?
Initial safety reports said that the MCAS system would allow the tail to move 0.6 degrees at the most, which would allow a 5 degree nose-down movement of the plane. However, after the Lion Air crash in October, Boeing provided information about the MCAS to airlines for the first time, and indicated that the tail could move 2.5 degrees, substantially changing the degree to which the plane would make a nose-down movement.
Each time the MCAS is triggered, it can be overridden by a pilot. However, the MCAS can reset itself each time, too, which allows it "unlimited authority," one current FAA safety engineer said, according to the Seattle Times.
Aha! The crucial part. Not letting the pilots know about the monster that's been created, and not including the information in the flight manuals. Whoever made THAT decision should be punished! This is criminal.
The entire article -- and remember, this is only preliminary -- is found here: https://www.foxnews.com/world/boeing-and-faa-questioned-about-safety-of-the-737-max-safety-system-days-before-ethiopian-airlines-crashThe Times also revealed that 737 pilots were not informed about the implementation of MCAS to their planes. Boeing decided that because the system was only supposed to operate in extreme circumstances, the pilots needed no additional training, and information about MCAS was not added to their flight manuals.
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Tucker Carlson on the fake outrage of the Left - and the sniveling cowardice of their victims:
You must always pretend that the people yelling at you are somehow your moral superiors. You have to assume what they say they are mad about is what they are actually mad about. You have to take them at face value. You must pretend this is a debate about virtue and not about power. Your critics are arguing from principle, and not from partisanship.
No matter what they take from you in the end, you must continue to pretend that these things are true. You are bad, they are good. The system is on the level.
But what if we stopped pretending for a minute? What if we acknowledged what's actually going on?
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One of the criticisms of raising the minimum wage is that it costs jobs. Employers will not retain a poor worker at the higher rate, but rather will terminate him or her and force other workers to take up the slack - or automate the job. Liberals are now catching on to that fact and have an answer; don't allow them to be fired in the first place!
Reason has the 411:
"Workers have told me they've been fired for no reason at all," Democratic City Councilman Brad Lander, who introduced a bill to ban the practice in the fast food industry, told The Guardian. "Should employers have the right to fire people for any reason, including the most trivial reasons? Most people would say that's not a right people should have."
Proponents say that, in dismissing employees, fast-casual restauranteurs should need to show "just cause"—that is, proof of serious misconduct. But what compromises that misconduct is somewhat ambiguous. Under Lander's legislation, workers will be able to appeal firings via arbitration, a complaint to the Department of Consumer Affairs, or with a lawsuit.
Yeah; people are fired FOR NO GOOD REASON after an employer took the time and spent the money to put them on the payroll - with the labyrinth of regulatory paperwork that entails. I always believe someone who is struggling to attain their G.E.D. at age thirty five.
The article puts its finger solidly on the root cause:
NYC also has a bill that would require businesses to lay off workers on a seniority basis and not a basis of productivity.
I hope New Yorkers enjoy their fifteen dollar Big Macs!
The article ends with:
Were that true! In fact New York pursues people who leave, demanding taxes from them sometimes a decade after they split. Rush Limbaugh often speaks about his own experience in leaving New York; for ten years they hounded him, claiming he still owed them taxes because they don't want people like Limbaugh in New York but still want his money. And showing a utility bill or whatnot was inadequate. Every year at tax time Limbaugh had a huge fight with the Big Apple. See this Bloomberg article to learn more about how Gotham stalks people like a bad Batman villain.
The reality is Blue State America is going to stiff you and you had better not leave or they'll come after you again. That's how liberals think.
So, if businesses leave but stay in business, say, reopen in New Jersey, the good city of New York will likely find a way to force their will on the now expatriated hamburger shuffler. Not even death will free you from the obligations they impose!
Does anyone really want to live in a world like that? Why would anybody vote for a Progressive?
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Selwyn Duke has an outstanding article at The New American about the democrat scheme to lower the voting age.
From the article:
Question: If kids start learning about civics and government in middle school, will Pelosi support lowering the voting age to 12? If practical application at the point of first instruction is an imperative, does she support children having sex as soon as they’re given sex education?
[...]
Nonetheless, people who normally infantilize the young — wanting them to stay on their parents’ insurance till age 26, for instance — apparently believe they achieve situational maturity upon entering a voting booth.
For example, Oregon lawmakers proposed lowering the voting age late last year, with Democrat State Senator Shemia Fagan saying that 16-year-olds should have the chance "to participate in the ballot — about decisions that affect their homes, their clean air, their future, their schools and, as we’ve seen, their very lives.â€
Alright, but question: Why is 16 the magic number? Why not 10?
Don’t laugh. In 2017 I made the crack, "I’m just waiting for these leftists to echo NAMbLA and chant, ‘If they’re eight, it’s too late,’†but this has since apparently been trumped by reality. While it smacks of satire, Cambridge University head of politics, Professor David Runciman, seriously proposed last year lowering the voting age to six. A little crumb-cruncher is qualified as long as he can read, is his reasoning.
Read the whole thing at TNA.
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March 17, 2019
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On Saint Patrick’s Day: I'm grateful for this Irishman who changed the world
What a man! The rest of the article -- and I do hope you are motivated to read it -- is here: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/on-saint-patricks-day-im-grateful-for-this-irishman-who-changed-the-worldEverybody’s heard of Saint Patrick, the British-born missionary whom we celebrate today and who’s credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland.
But as someone of proud Irish descent, I’d like to pay tribute today to an American Irishman named John Joseph Hughes. You may never have heard of him, but he was one of the most important men in American history, if not the entire world.
An Irish immigrant gardener eventually ordained to the Catholic priesthood, "Dagger John,†as he was called due to the habit of punctuating his signature with a dagger-like cross and behaving with a similarly aggressive flair, became the first archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York. He served between 1842 and 1864, a time of explosive Irish-Catholic growth in America.
According to a reporter covering him during his tenure as the city’s Catholic shepherd, he was "more a Roman gladiator than a devout follower of the meek founder of Christianity.â€
A Protestant convert who emigrated from Ireland at age twenty, Hughes had his initial application for the priesthood rejected. Church leaders deemed him uneducated and ignorant, charges that couldn’t have been further from the truth.
In fact, he was brilliant and resourceful, traits that would come in handy throughout his long and productive ministry. Hughes made his mark as an eloquent orator speaking persuasively against religious bigotry. At the time, prejudice against newly arriving immigrants, especially the Irish, was rampant.
In 1838, at the age of 40, Bishop Hughes was transferred to New York, where he was appointed to the role of coadjutor bishop. His assignment couldn’t have been more fraught with difficulty. Writing in the City Journal, a publication of the Manhattan Institute, a New York-based think tank, William Stern described the debauchery and cultural chaos found throughout the city, especially in those areas populated by recent immigrants hailing from Ireland.
According to Stern, family life had disintegrated in a wave of immorality that included the proliferation of rampant gangs known for their alcoholism, prostitution, robberies and mob violence. "Over half the people arrested in New York in the 1840s and 1850s were Irish,†he writes, "so those police vans were dubbed ‘paddy wagons’ and episodes of mob violence in the streets were called ‘donnybrooks,’ after a town in Ireland.â€
He continued:
"Death was everywhere. In 1854 one out of every 17 people in the sixth ward died. In Sweeney’s Shambles the rate was one out of five in a 22-month period. The death rate among Irish families in New York in the 1850s was 21 percent, while among non-Irish it was 3 percent. Life expectancy for New York’s Irish averaged under 40 years. Tuberculosis, which Bishop Hughes called the ‘natural death of the Irish immigrants,’ was the leading cause of death, along with drink and violence.
This was the horrendous scene into which the new bishop waded. One can only imagine what went through his head.
What did he do?
For starters, he decided to build from scratch a Catholic school system, believing that the future of the city would be found in the character and intellect of its children. "In our age the question of education,†he said, "is the question of the church.†He wanted the schools to stand out from their secular counterparts. In addition to a strict but standard curriculum based on the classical education model, the schools emphasized morality, virtue, and, naturally, Catholic theology. Parents were obligated to participate in the care and upkeep of the schools. Hughes would eventually expand his pioneering efforts to the college level, founding Fordham University, as well as Manhattan, Manhattanville, and Mount St. Vincent Colleges.
But the bishop was considered to be most effective and influential when engaging New Yorkers both from the pulpit and on the street with a straightforward spiritual perspective. He regularly preached on the need for personal transformation, encouraging the faithful to assume individual responsibility for their actions and realize the benefits of living disciplined and biblically grounded lives.
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What's that expression? Oh, yes: the chickens have come home to roost. Let's hope they're still roosting come the 2020 elections!Jewish voters furious at Democrats’ defense of Rep. Ilhan Omar say they’re done with the party that has held their support for generations.
"We felt we had a home there,†said Mark Schwartz, the Democratic deputy mayor of solidly blue Teaneck, NJ. "And now we feel like we have to check our passports.â€
Jordan Manor of Manhattan, who calls himself a "gay Jewish Israeli-American,†laments, "The party I thought cared about me seems to disregard me when it comes to my Jewish identity.â€
Mark Dunec, a consultant in Livingston, NJ who ran for Congress as a Democrat in 2014, says, "I’m physically afraid for myself and for my family,†adding, "I see my own party contributing to the rise of anti-Semitism in the United States.â€
Omar, a freshman congresswoman from Minnesota,sparked the firestorm in February for using anti-Jewish tropes: saying that support for Israel was "all about the Benjamins†and accusing Jewish-American legislators of "dual loyalty.â€
Many, including some fellow Democrats, deemed her comments anti-Semitic — but the party’s lefty activists pushed back.
"No one seeks this level of reprimand when members make statements about Latinx + other communities,â€complained Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a March 5 tweet.
Omar issued only a partial apology.
In response, the House passed a resolution condemning all "hateful expressions of intolerance†with kitchen-sink language that named nearly a dozen different groups.
"I feel confident that [Omar’s] words were not based on any anti-Semitic attitude,†House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
Many Jewish Dems in the city aren’t buying it.
"The fake defense she doesn’t know what she’s saying? I don’t believe it,†said Sara, a Queens teacher who asked not to be fully identified. "This is a grown woman and a member of Congress. Trying to excuse this as naivete is inexcusable.â€
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March 16, 2019
Well! Facebook, Google and Twitter! What a surprise to see those names in this context. NOT!The first European Media Literacy Week, an initiative of the European Union, will take place March 18-22 in various European cities. The week is a new initiative by the European Commission, putatively "to underline the societal importance of media literacy and promote media literacy initiatives and projects across the EU". The European Commission explains its policy of strengthening 'media literacy' within the EU -- which could have been a noble and useful initiative -- the following way:
"With the rapid rise of digital technology and its increasing use in business, education and culture, it is important to ensure everyone can understand and engage with digital media.
"Media literacy is vital for economic growth and job creation. Digital technologies are a key driver of competitiveness and innovation in the media, information, and communication technology sectors."
As part of its "Digital Single Market" strategy, the European Commission adds flimsily:
"Media literacy concerns different media (broadcasting, radio, press), different distribution channels (traditional, internet, social media) and addresses the needs of all ages... A high level of media literacy is a key factor to enable citizens to make informed decisions in the digital age. Media literacy is a pre-requisite for a vibrant, modern democracy."
One does not have to scratch the surface much, however, before it appears that at least certain aspects of the European Commission's Media Literacy policy are less about enlightening citizens, than about heavy-handedly guiding them on what to think. According to the European Commission, "a key stone in all possible definitions of media literacy is the development of critical thinking by the user." The Commission, it would appear, has arrogated to itself the formidable task of "developing" that crucial faculty in EU citizens.
Furthermore, according to the Commission:
"Media literacy is also a tool empowering citizens as well as raising their awareness and helping counter the effects of disinformation campaigns and fake news spreading through digital media."
The EU initiative against disinformation, according to which, "The exposure of citizens to large scale disinformation, including misleading or outright false information, is a major challenge for Europe," contains "an action plan to step up efforts to counter disinformation in Europe and beyond..." The action plan is analyzed in more detail here.
The above initiatives, of course, exist in addition to all the other measures that the EU has put in place to "guide" Europeans onto the path of proper thinking. These measures include the Code of Practice on Disinformation, which the untransparent and unaccountable online tech giants -- Facebook, Google, Twitter and Mozilla -- signed in October 2018, and their 2019 "Code of Conduct on countering illegal online hate speech online."
Europeans evidently now need the further indispensable guidance of the European Commission to learn how properly to navigate, read and interpret the news, whether the source is traditional or digital. How and why it became the business of the EU bureaucracy to teach Europeans what to read and think remains somewhat obscure.
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Writing in First Things back in 2011, Princeton Professor of Physics William Happer argues we should stop worrying and learn to love CO2. I just stumbled on this and thought it worth linking up.
From the article:
We conclude that atmospheric CO2 levels should be above 150 ppm to avoid harming green plants and below about 5000 ppm to avoid harming people. That is a very wide range, and our atmosphere is much closer to the lower end than to the upper end. The current rate of burning fossil fuels adds about 2 ppm per year to the atmosphere, so that getting from the current level to 1000 ppm would take about 300 years—and 1000 ppm is still less than what most plants would prefer, and much less than either the nasa or the Navy limit for human beings.
Yet there are strident calls for immediately stopping further increases in CO2 levels and reducing the current level. As we have discussed, animals would not even notice a doubling of CO2 and plants would love it. The supposed reason for limiting it is to stop global warming—or, since the predicted warming has failed to be nearly as large as computer models forecast, to stop climate change. Climate change itself has been embarrassingly uneventful, so another rationale for reducing CO2 is now promoted: to stop the hypothetical increase of extreme climate events like hurricanes or tornados. But this does not necessarily follow. The frequency of extreme events has either not changed or has decreased in the 150 years that CO2 levels have increased from 270 to 390 ppm.
[...]
The earth’s climate has always been changing. Our present global warming is not at all unusual by the standards of geological history, and it is probably benefiting the biosphere. Indeed, there is very little correlation between the estimates of CO2 and of the earth’s temperature over the past 550 million years (the "Phanerozoic†period). The message is clear that several factors must influence the earth’s temperature, and that while CO2 is one of these factors, it is seldom the dominant one. The other factors are not well understood. Plausible candidates are spontaneous variations of the complicated fluid flow patterns in the oceans and atmosphere of the earth—perhaps influenced by continental drift, volcanoes, variations of the earth’s orbital parameters (ellipticity, spin-axis orientation, etc.), asteroid and comet impacts, variations in the sun’s output (not only the visible radiation but the amount of ultraviolet light, and the solar wind with its magnetic field), variations in cosmic rays leading to variations in cloud cover, and other causes.
The existence of the little ice age and the medieval warm period were an embarrassment to the global-warming establishment, because they showed that the current warming is almost indistinguishable from previous warmings and coolings that had nothing to do with burning fossil fuel. The organization charged with producing scientific support for the climate change crusade, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), finally found a solution. They rewrote the climate history of the past 1000 years with the celebrated "hockey stick†temperature record.
Read the entire article. Dr. Happer really nails the AGW crowd for their blatant dishonesty.
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Rising Seas – At Sea, or Shore? The latest Summary for Policymakers of its full Assessment Report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC, AR-5, SPM, 2014) declared that sea level rise is accelerating. Numerous studies have come out in support of that view. As shown in the 2008 report of the Nongovernment International Panel for Climate Change (NIPCC, 2008), with the ending of the last Ice Age about 18,000 to 20,000 years ago, sea levels have risen about 400 feet (120 meters). At first, the rise was slow, then rapid, then for the past several thousand years slowing to about 7 to 8 inches (18 to 20 cm) per century. There is some question about the variation during the Little Ice Age and the period following it called the industrial period since 1850. more...
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Jack Kemp
The Blaze reports that...
BEGIN QUOTE
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) announced earlier this month that he is sponsoring a Senate bill that would prevent kittens from being killed after they are used in research, NBC News reported.
Though he is backing a bill to protect kittens, Merkley voted against the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. Democrats successfully blocked the bill, which would have extended protections for newborn babies born as a result of a botched abortion, in February.
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Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
10:13 AM
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The outstanding website Icecap has this list of telling quotes from the luminaries of global warming alarmism:
ONE WORLD GOVERNANCE IDEAS BASED ON POPULATION AND RESOURCE WORRIES
â€The common enemy of humanity is man. In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill.â€
- The Club of Rome Premier environmental think-tank and consultants to the United Nations.
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"We’ve got to ride this global warming issue. Even if the theory of global warming is wrong, we will be doing the right thing in terms of economic and environmental policy.â€
- Timothy Wirth, President of the UN Foundation
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â€No matter if the science of global warming is all phony...climate change provides the greatest opportunity to bring about justice and equality in the world.â€
- Christine Stewart, former Canadian Minister of the Environment more...
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
10:06 AM
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Here is an interesting article I came across from back in April from the American Enterprise Institute about the failed predictions made by climate alarmists aka the Gang Green. It is a great article, and the comments are excellent.
From the article:
In the May 2000 issue of Reason Magazine, award-winning science correspondent Ronald Bailey wrote an excellent article titled "Earth Day, Then and Now†to provide some historical perspective on the 30th anniversary of Earth Day. In that article, Bailey noted that around the time of the first Earth Day in 1970, and in the years following, there was a "torrent of apocalyptic predictions†and many of those predictions were featured in his Reason article. Well, it’s now the 48th anniversary of Earth Day, and a good time to ask the question again that Bailey asked 18 years ago: How accurate were the predictions made around the time of the first Earth Day in 1970? The answer: "The prophets of doom were not simply wrong, but spectacularly wrong,†according to Bailey. Here are 18 examples of the spectacularly wrong predictions made around 1970 when the "green holy day†(aka Earth Day) started:
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He goes on to give a detailed analysis of each of the eighteen predictions that proved to be abject failures. It's a great primer for anyone wanting to illustrate how the Global Warming crowd has used apocalyptic predictions to frighten people into rash action.
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
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