Mayorkas Says Ministry Of Truth With Not Monitor U.S. Citizens

By William Teach May 2, 2022 – 10:30 am

If that’s the case, why do we need this Disinformation Governance Board to start with? It could be done within the CIA, NSA, or the numerous alphabet soup agencies tasked with monitoring foreign communications. Why have a nutty, hyper-partisan leftist in charge, one who thought the Hunter Biden laptop story was fake? How long till we find out that the Ministry Of Truth is monitoring Americans?

Mayorkas claims new DHS disinformation board will not monitor US citizens

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas claimed Sunday that his department’s Orwellian “Disinformation Governance Board” will not monitor US citizens — and vouched for the “eminently qualified” agency czar who has been blasted by critics for being too partisan.

Mayorkas defended Nina Jankowicz amid questions from conservatives over her ability to ferret out disinformation when she doubted the credibility of The Post’s series of reports in October 2020 about Hunter Biden’s laptop — information that has since been confirmed by other newspapers and media outlets.

Oops

Asked by host Bret Baier during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday” about Jankowicz’s objectivity, Mayorkas said he had no reservations.

“I don’t question her objectivity. There are people in the department who have a diverse range of views and they’re incredibly dedicated to mission. We’re not the opinion police,” he told Baier.

Will this end up being like that joke from The Blues Brothers movie, where Jake asks “what type of music do you have here, Ma’am?” and she responds “Oh, we have both types. Country and Western!” Then, while on CNN, meaning people saw it in the airports

Mayorkas responded, “So what it does is it works to ensure that the way in which we address threats, the connectivity between threats and acts of violence, are addressed without infringing on free speech, protecting civil rights and civil liberties, the right of privacy.”

Bash pushed: “Will American citizens be monitored?”

“No,” he replied. “The board does not have any operational authority or capability.

“What it will do is gather together best practices in addressing the threat of disinformation from foreign state adversaries from the cartels and disseminate those best practices to the operators that have been executing in addressing this threat for years.”

How do we know what the Ministry Of Truth can do, since it was not created by Congressional legislation? There’s no tasking by law to determine the mission. There is, at this time, no government website explaining the entire point in writing. Further, what we received early on was a mention of Chinese Flu vaccine disinformation, which would mean they would, in fact, be monitoring what U.S. citizens were saying.

Since the board was essentially not created by legislation, how is anyone held responsible when they start monitoring U.S. citizens and responding?

Read: Mayorkas Says Ministry Of Truth With Not Monitor U.S. Citizens »

Posted in Barking Moonbats, Democrats, Joe Biden | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

Ireland To See Rise In Carbon Tax On Back Of Rising Inflation And Energy Prices

By William Teach May 2, 2022 – 7:15 am

First off, you’d think the Wall Street Journal would know how bad carbon taxes are

A Carbon Tax Lets Markets Lead the Fight Against Climate Change
There’s no need to have government pick winners and losers, issue mandates or add to our deficit.

The beauty of a carbon tax is that it uses market forces to stimulate innovation and reduce carbon emissions (“Oil Group Drafts Proposal for Carbon Tax on Fossil Fuels,” U.S. News, April 22). Economists find it among the fastest, fairest, cheapest and most effective actions we can take to limit global warming.

Under the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, 95% of low- and middle-income earners are expected to save money or break even, with the poorest seeing the greatest health and economic benefits. All this without our government picking winners and losers, issuing mandates or adding to our deficit.

Tom Hazelleaf

Seal Beach, Calif.

See, this might be a letter from a reader, but, the headline came from the WSJ. And, you’d think someone in California would know exactly what their carbon taxes and insane climate cult policies are doing. Carbon taxes do pick winners and losers, and, who does Hazelleaf think is running the tax schemes, and setting the pricing?

Tax hike many forgot about to hit most Irish homes from today with bills set to jump even further

An increase in carbon tax on home heating fuels comes into effect today which will see the majority of homes hit with a hike in costs.

This jump will mean the price of gas in every home will rise by €1.40 per month and home heating oil will increase by €1.50.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe explained that this move was vital to help the public with the rise in the cost of living here, “but also in particular, to offset the increase in carbon tax.”

However. applications remain open for the Fuel Allowance payment for 2022/2023, which will start up again in September.

Of course, the Government starts yammering about offsets and reducing the VAT (a government tax) will reduce the already sky high cost of energy. It might not be much, but, at the end of the day, the increases will be passed around then passed to the consumers. This stuff never goes down.

Read: Ireland To See Rise In Carbon Tax On Back Of Rising Inflation And Energy Prices »

Posted in Carbon Credits, Global Warming | 8 Comments | Trackback URL

Calling Groomers Groomers Is Upset The LGBT Community Or Something

By William Teach May 2, 2022 – 7:00 am

Pro-tip: you wouldn’t be getting upset about being called groomers if you weren’t supporting teaching/discussing/indoctrinating young children about adult sexual topics

Weaponized grooming rhetoric is taking a toll on LGBTQ community and child sex abuse survivors

Grooming, a term associated with adults who sexually abuse children, has become an attack word in today’s battle over anti-LGBTQ legislation and is spilling out into the broader culture wars.

The term, coined in the 1980s, describes a process used to gain access to a potential victim, coerce them to agree to the abuse and reduce the risk of being caught, according to RAINN, a national anti-sexual violence organization.

Now, however, some conservatives are using such terms as “grooming,” “groomer” and “pro-pedophile” against opponents in battles over everything from laws restricting discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools to Supreme Court confirmations. Critics say the references are dangerous, diminishing the experience of sexual assault survivors and smearing the LGBTQ community, which has long faced a false stigma regarding inappropriate behavior with children.

“I think it does enormous harm,” said Michael Bronski, a professor of women, gender and sexuality studies at Harvard University and author of “A Queer History of the United States for Young People.” “This really speaks to the deep-seatedness of this notion of abusing children as a political tactic.”

And, as long as these people are going to support the notion of exposing young children to adult sexual topics they have no business knowing about they’ll be called groomers. They don’t seem particularly upset about hurting young children.

Use of terms such as grooming and pro-pedophile play into a persistent stereotype linking LGBTQ people to inappropriate behavior with children, “which is completely, patently false,” said R.G. Cravens, assistant professor of political science at California Polytechnic State University, who focuses on LGBTQ politics and policy.

Well, there wouldn’t be stereotypes if it wasn’t happening.

https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1520152815972208640

It’s not just LGBT, but, unhinged straight leftists who are doing this.

He added that the use of weaponized language often arises in reaction to LGBTQ political, legal and social gains. As such, Cravens explained, right-wing groups have historically used loaded terms to discredit and delegitimize political opponents and LGBTQ people in particular and few topics draw as strong an emotional response as harm being done to children.

Oh, good, the Victim card has been played. A very good sign that the person is in the wrong. Leave the kids alone.

Read: Calling Groomers Groomers Is Upset The LGBT Community Or Something »

Posted in Democrats, Unhinged Tools | 9 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach May 1, 2022 – 1:00 pm

…is a building on stilts from sea rise, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Blazing Cat Fur, with a post on a study saying that mask use correlates with a higher death rate.

It’s biking week!

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

By William Teach May 1, 2022 – 9:34 am

Patriotic Pinup Pearl Frush

Happy Sunday. Another fantastic day in the Once and Future Nation of America. The Sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the Giants made what looks like some great draft picks. This pinup is by Pearl Frush, with a wee bit of help.

What is happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15

  1. Weasel Zippers notes that St. Greta wants you to stop talking about her
  2. This ain’t Hell… covers stupid people of the week
  3. The Right Scoop highlights DeSantis saying he will stand in the way of the Ministry Of Truth
  4. The Political Hat covers today being Victims Of Communism Day
  5. The Other McCain discusses SJW Tublrinas
  6. The O.K. Corral goes to the Valley Of The Dolls
  7. The Lid notes how to create panic in a foreign country
  8. The Last Refuge explains what that $33 billion for Ukraine goes to
  9. The First Street Journal notes what happens when prosecutors do not take crime seriously
  10. Powerline covers the student loan scam
  11. Pacific Pundit notes teachers dressing in drag and hiding it from parents
  12. Moonbattery discusses the human rights establishment opposing free speech
  13. Jihad Watch highlights Psaki claiming the Ministry Of Truth was started by Trump
  14. Gen Z Conservative covers AOC’s silly retort to Elon Musk
  15. And last, but, not least, Geller Report notes a J6 defendant filing a habeas corpus petition

As always, the full set of pinups can be seen in the Patriotic Pinup category, or over at my Gallery page (nope, that’s gone, the newest Apache killed access, and the program hasn’t been upgraded since 2014). While we are on pinups, since it is that time of year, have you gotten your Pinups for Vets calendar yet? And don’t forget to check out what I declare to be our War on Women Rule 5 and linky luv posts and things that interest me. I’ve also mostly alphabetized them, makes it easier scrolling the feedreader

Don’t forget to check out all the other great material all the linked blogs have!

Anyone else have a link or hotty-fest going on? Let me know so I can add you to the list. And do you have a favorite blog you can recommend be added to the feedreader?

Two great sites for getting news links are Liberty Daily and Whatafinger.

Read: Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup »

Posted in Patriotic Pinup | 8 Comments | Trackback URL

Time: You Know, Free Speech Is Mostly For White Males

By William Teach May 1, 2022 – 7:00 am

Especially the Elites. Oh, and a really great hot take

OK, let’s do it this way: Freedom of the Press in the 21st century is different than in 1791. Press outlets like Time would be fine with reigning in their 1st Amendment Rights, right? From the “article”

Bill Of RightsThey say that something is worth what someone will pay for it.

If that’s true, then protecting “free speech,” which Elon Musk has cited as a central reason he agreed to buy Twitter for $44 billion this week, may be worth twice as much as solving America’s homelessness problem, and seven times as much as solving world hunger. It’s worth more (to him, at least) than educating every child in nearly 50 countries, more than the GDP of Serbia, Jordan, or Paraguay.

A: he can do what he wants with HIS money. It’s not Charlotte’s to dictate how it’s spent. B: gotta love the quotes around free speech.

In the days since Musk agreed to terms on a deal to take Twitter private, nearly all of Musk’s tweets have been about freedom and censorship on the platform. Like: “By ‘free speech,’ I simply mean that which matches the law. I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law.” Or: “Truth Social (terrible name) exists because Twitter censored free speech.” And: “the extreme antibody reaction from those who fear free speech says it all.”

And who decides the law on what is censorship? See it’s not the law, it’s the 1st Amendment. Charlotte would be fine with some laws on how Time operates and what Charlotte can write, right?

But “free speech” in the 21st century means something very different than it did in the 18th, when the Founders enshrined it in the Constitution. The right to say what you want without being imprisoned is not the same as the right to broadcast disinformation to millions of people on a corporate platform. This nuance seems to be lost on some techno-wizards who see any restriction as the enemy of innovation.

No, it’s the same. There was surely some disinformation about the British government and King George before we won our independence. It’s not for the government to decide per that pesky 1st. It was about the right to criticize the government without fear of reprisal. If you don’t like the speech, well, tough shit. Ignore it. Debunk it.

Jason Goldman, who was on the founding team at Twitter and served on the company’s board from 2007 to 2010 before joining the Obama Administration, says the tech rhetoric around free speech has become an obsession of the mostly white, male members of the tech elite, who made their billions in the decades before a rapidly diversifying workforce changed the culture at many of the biggest companies in Silicon Valley.

So, women, blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, Orientals, etc, aren’t concerned with free speech? Really, it’s about hardcore Leftist wanting people they Disagree with from having their say. Anything they consider Wrongthink is disinformation in their world. News for them: we won’t stop with Free Speech, and even standard liberals are getting the picture about your hardcores.

Read: Time: You Know, Free Speech Is Mostly For White Males »

Posted in 1st Amendment, Liberal World, Unhinged Tools | 36 Comments | Trackback URL

Some Democrats Want Pelosi To Pass A Gas Tax Holiday

By William Teach April 30, 2022 – 3:00 pm

Wouldn’t it make more sense to pass legislation allowing more drilling for oil on U.S. property? Will 18.3 cents per gallon for regular gas and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel really make a difference? It’s really about patronizing low info voters to protect the vulnerable elected Dems

Vulnerable Democrats press Pelosi to reverse rejection of gas tax holiday

Embattled Democrats are pushing back on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) decision to reject a gas tax holiday, urging party leaders to reconsider a proposal as lawmakers take a beating over sky-high gas prices.

The grumbling is especially pronounced among lawmakers facing tough reelection contests in November, who are eager to bring home a policy they say would provide tangible and immediate savings for drivers at the pump.

As the summer driving season quickly approaches, they’re not disguising their dismay with their own leadership’s argument that the tax holiday would prove ineffective.

“I guess they’re focused on things that would be helpful, but they’re longer-term. And I’m focused on the shorter term. And I think that if they came to my district they would see that we have a short-term need that needs to be addressed,” said Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.).

Slotkin acknowledged there’s no silver bullet at Congress’s disposal to deal with high prices. But suspending the federal gas tax, currently 18.4 cents per gallon, would be an efficient and effective way to lower costs quickly, she said.

The national average for regular gas on his last day in office, January 20, was $2.393 per gallon. Per AAA, the national average today, April 30, 2022, is $4.178. What does 18.4 cents do? I just paid $3.99 this morning (NC average is $3.917, but, I’ve seen it lower around). A gas station around the corner from work went up 10 cents between yesterday and today.

Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), another supporter of the gas tax holiday, echoed those concerns, characterizing the proposal as “the most immediate way that we can deliver some much-needed relief.”

In states like his, where the economy leans heavily on tourism, he said the tax suspension would have an additional benefit because it would “encourage people to travel this summer.”

Why do Dems want people to drive more? Aren’t most of them climate cultists? Pappas sure is. Well, for Other People, he’s happy to take long fossil fueled flights rather than the train to D.C.

On Thursday, Pelosi acknowledged “some interest” among Democrats for the tax holiday, but rejected the idea as both ineffective and too expensive.

“We had no evidence to think that the oil companies would pass that on to the consumer,” she told reporters in the Capitol. “So the question is, is it worth having to go get money, to return to cover the shortfall in the trust fund, in order to get a break to the Big Oil companies?”

Cute. But, they have no choice in passing it on. The individual gas stations will no longer add that tax in. She’s just trying to shift blame. And, she doesn’t care about the peons, she wants that tax revenue

Other Republicans, though, are opposed to the idea, calling it an election year “gimmick.” And still others said they’d happily jump on board — if Democrats were also willing to consider proposals to open larger parts of the country to oil and gas drilling.

“If you coupled suspension with expansion of domestic production, I’d think you’d have broad Republican support,” said Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.).

Democrats won’t allow that.

Read: Some Democrats Want Pelosi To Pass A Gas Tax Holiday »

Posted in Democrats, Elections, Energy, Global Warming, Queen Nancy | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach April 30, 2022 – 1:00 pm

…are horrible, Evil fossil fueled vehicles causing sea rise, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Victory Girls Blog, with a post on the Met Gala going full on “let them eat cake”.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

FBI Conducted Almost 3.4 Million Warrantless “Wiretaps” In 2021, Media Mostly Silent

By William Teach April 30, 2022 – 10:30 am

Remember when this occurred during the George W. Bush administration? When they were listening to international calls involving potential terrorists and bad people? How most of those calls were between non-US citizens? But, some ended up coming into the U.S.? And a few involved U.S. citizens, so, the NSA retroactively obtained warrants? And the U.S. Credentialed Media, along with civil rights groups like the ACLU, went ballistic? How it was constantly in the news? Constant opinion pieces? Of course, that ended when Obama came into office, and his DOJ thought this was fine. Some lefties raged, but, the media pretty much ignored it. And now that Brandon is in office?

Intel report states FBI conducted nearly 2 million searches of US data related to cyberattacks in 2021

The FBI conducted up to 3.4 million warrantless searches of Americans’ electronic data last year including 1.9 million related to a cyber threat from Russia, according to an annual transparency report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Friday.

The report is the first time that the US intelligence community has disclosed even an approximate number of the FBI’s searches of American data using the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The law is focused on threats emanating from outside of the United States, but also allows the FBI, the CIA and others to search data for Americans’ information provided there is a validly predicated foreign intelligence purpose.

The report does not suggest that the FBI acted improperly. The report highlights the big trove of intelligence data that the bureau can tap in pursuing hackers, spies and terrorists.

More than half of the FBI’s queries were related to attempts to compromise US critical infrastructure by foreign cyber actors in early 2021, according to the report. That includes about 1.9 million queries related to one particular cyber threat from Russia against US critical infrastructure, according to the FBI.

There’s only a few more paragraphs in this CNN piece, which is written 100% as straight news. Now, imagine this was the Trump admin admitting to this: the piece would have been an opinion piece, blasting Trump personally for allowing the FBI to search American’s data without a warrant. Heck, they would have been upset that foreign national terrorist’s data was searched without a warrant. The NY Times, Washington Post, ABC News, etc would have front page stories and opinions. The ACLU would be up in arms. Lefty blogs would be screeching about Orange Hitler Man Bad. Pelosi and other elected Dems would be taking to the Congressional floor calling Trump The Worst and considering impeachment again.

Now? Crickets.

Mind you, I have zero problem for those who are not American citizens and not on American soil. They aren’t afforded protections from the Constitution.

I delved into the old Surrender Monkey folder, that was a graphic used for some of the posts during the Bush admin over this subject.

Read: FBI Conducted Almost 3.4 Million Warrantless “Wiretaps” In 2021, Media Mostly Silent »

Posted in Joe Biden, Wonky Media | 9 Comments | Trackback URL

Republican States Petition Supreme Court To Block “Social Cost Of Carbon” Rule

By William Teach April 30, 2022 – 7:15 am

If Brandon wants the rule he should start with the activities of the White House. Stop using fossil fuels. But, you know that the wants of the climate cult always apply to Other People

GOP-led states ask Supreme Court to block key Biden climate accounting measure

A group of Republican-led states on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to reinstate a court order blocking a key climate accounting measure put in place by the Biden administration amid a legal dispute with potentially high stakes for climate change regulation.

Led by Louisiana, the GOP-led states urged the justices to revive a federal judge’s February ruling that temporarily stopped the Biden administration’s use of a metric known as the “social costs” of planet-warming gases to quantify the climate costs and benefits of regulatory actions.

That ruling, by Trump-appointed U.S. Judge James Cain in Louisiana, was halted last month by a New Orleans-based federal appeals court.

In court papers filed Thursday, Republican attorneys general from 10 states trained their fire on the metric at issue, formally known as the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gas Estimates, which was first implemented under then-President Obama.

“The Estimates are a power grab designed to manipulate America’s entire federal regulatory apparatus through speculative costs and benefits so that the Administration can impose its preferred policy outcomes on every sector of the American economy,” the group of GOP-led states wrote in their brief.

It warms my heart that so many Republicans are getting that this is not about science, but, Control. Even if the climatic changes were mostly caused by “carbon pollution”, it’s interesting that most of the climate cult’s solutions revolve around authoritarian control of, well, everything and everyone.

Read: Republican States Petition Supreme Court To Block “Social Cost Of Carbon” Rule »

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