Trump Rages As Congress Refuses To Remove Pork From COVID Bill In Exchange For $2,000 Checks

By William Teach December 27, 2020 – 8:04 am

When we talk about a biases, partisan, spinning media, this is a good example

Unemployment benefits expire for millions as Trump rages

Unemployment benefits for millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet lapsed overnight as President Donald Trump refused to signed an end-of-year COVID relief and spending bill that had been considered a done deal before his sudden objections.

The fate of the bipartisan package remained in limbo Sunday as Trump continued to demand larger COVID relief checks and complained about “pork” spending. Without the widespread funding provided by the massive measure, a government shutdown would occur when money runs out at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

“It’s a chess game and we are pawns,” said Lanetris Haines, a self-employed single mother of three in South Bend, Indiana, who stood to lose her $129 weekly jobless benefit unless Trump signed the package into law or succeeded in his improbable quest for changes.

Washington has been reeling since Trump turned on the deal after it had won sweeping approval in both houses of Congress and after the White House had assured Republican leaders that Trump would support it.

Instead, he assailed the bill’s plan to provide $600 COVID relief checks to most Americans — insisting it should be $2,000. House Republicans swiftly rejected that idea during a rare Christmas Eve session. But Trump has not been swayed in spite of the nation being in the grip of a pandemic.

“I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill,” Trump tweeted Saturday from Palm Beach, Florida, where he is spending the holiday. “Also, stop the billions of dollars in ‘pork.’”

That’s “raging”? Nowhere in this Associated Press article, published at ABC News, does it mention that Trump wants all the pork, all the silly stuff, pulled from the bill, which is a combination COVID and government operations bill. Seriously, as Trump said

“It’s called the COVID Relief Bill, but it has almost nothing to do with COVID,” Trump said. “This bill contains $85.5 million for assistance to Cambodia, $134 million to Burma, $1.3 billion for Egypt and the Egyptian military, which will go out and buy almost exclusively Russian military equipment. $25 million for democracy and gender programs in Pakistan, $505 million to Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. $40 million for the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, which is not even open for business.

And $15 million for Pakistan, at least $10 million of which must be used for gender studies. Lots of folks defending the Covid bill are saying “hey, this includes a normal operations of government funding bill”. Is it necessary to add all this stuff for other countries as well as non-needed stuff to it? Even some stuff such as $1.4 billion for wall construction is not necessary at this point. Nor is $15 billion for grant programs for live entertainment venues such as Broadway, which are all shut down. It’s really all the foreign aid that is unnecessary at this time. Kill it off.

But, you know, Trump’s raging about stupid spending or something.

Read: Trump Rages As Congress Refuses To Remove Pork From COVID Bill In Exchange For $2,000 Checks »

Posted in Bat Soup Virus, Donald Trump | 13 Comments | Trackback URL

New Zealanders Are Up For Anything Goes To Stop ‘Climate Change’

By William Teach December 26, 2020 – 3:00 pm

Well, I’m sure anything but measures that hurt their own lives

New Zealand readers say ‘everything’ must be prioritised in battle against climate change

After prime minister Jacinda Ardern declared a climate emergency this month, we asked you what New Zealand should prioritise to meet its climate change goals.

The responses varied widely, although there was broad consensus that more needed to be done to reduce emissions from agriculture and transport. Some of you argued for better urban design, while others advocated the introduction of a carbon tax, investment in renewable energy and more sustainable housing, efforts to reduce plastic waste and an increase in the planting of native trees.

Many of you also urged Ardern to exhibit the same leadership she showed during the Covid-19 crisis, to be brave in making decisions and honest with New Zealanders about the changes required to meet her government’s goals.

Here is a selection of your answers:

Most of the answers are about Government needs to do something, not about “hey, I’ll happily give up my own use of fossil fuels and make my life carbon neutral. Sure, I’m good with paying a lot more for energy and all goods and services. Sure, I’m good with rolling blackouts. Yes, I think we should stop all fossil fueled flights from coming to New Zealand with vacationers and goods. Sure, we should stop all fossil fueled ships that bring goods to New Zealand.”

Like the rest of the world it [NZ’s climate response] needs to do everything. Climate change is complex and there’s no easy fix. The solution is to reduce emissions across the board, and that means moving away from a lifestyle based on individual “success” to one based on collective wellbeing. That means bigger government, with more regulation and a stronger influence on what people and businesses do. It means a fairer distribution of wealth, better education, better public facilities (including transport), more emphasis on quality of life and less on material wealth, less “development” and more “conservation”. To put it simply, less greed and more sharing. It means changing society, and you can’t do that by focusing on one or two things.

Early on, when I started blogging, plus yapping on chat boards, people said I was crazy for saying that ‘climate change’ had little to do with science and everything to do with far left politics. I’ve told skeptical scientists and such that their focus on disproving the crazy science of the Cult of Climastrology was a waste, because this isn’t about science, and no matter what, Warmists will find a way. This is about politics.

Read: New Zealanders Are Up For Anything Goes To Stop ‘Climate Change’ »

Posted in AGW Socialism, Global Warming | 13 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach December 26, 2020 – 1:00 pm

…is an inland sea created by climate change, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Lid, with a post on NYC’s population continuing to amscray.

Read: If All You See… »

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Politico Basically Admits That Lockdowns And Closing Businesses And Such Doesn’t Work

By William Teach December 26, 2020 – 10:30 am

There have been lots of different methods tried early on to limit the spread of Wuhan-Flu. California went the draconian route, and still is trying. Yet

From the link

California has had some of the toughest restrictions in the country to combat the coronavirus, from a complete ban on restaurant dining to travel quarantines and indoor gym closures.

It hasn’t been enough.

America’s most populous state has become one of the nation’s worst epicenters for the disease, setting new records for cases, hospitalizations and deaths almost every day. Things are so bad in Southern California that some patients are being treated in hospital tents, while doctors have begun discussing whether they need to ration care.

The turnabout has confounded leaders and health experts. They can point to any number of reasons that contributed to California’s surge over the past several weeks. But it is hard to pinpoint one single factor — and equally hard to find a silver bullet.

So, perhaps all the restrictions weren’t necessary, because it sure looks like a resurgence is happening all over the world, not just the country

At more than 100 new daily cases per 100,000 residents, California’s case rate is second only to that in Tennessee, according to the nonprofit tracking site Covid Act Now — though it’s a state that does not mandate mask wearing and allows indoor gatherings of up to 10 people. The website Covid Exit Strategy shows a 97 percent rise in Covid throughout California, which has gone in the opposite direction from its West Coast counterparts, Oregon and Washington.

And Tennessee is just barely ahead of California, despite not having mask mandates. But, people voluntarily wear masks in Tn, because it’s this year’s fashion statement, you know.

After early success, S. Korea sleepwalks into virus crisis

South Korea had seemed to be winning the fight against the coronavirus: Quickly ramping up its testing, contact-tracing and quarantine efforts paid off when it weathered an early outbreak without the economic pain of a lockdown. But a deadly resurgence has reached new heights during Christmas week, prompting soul-searching on how the nation sleepwalked into a crisis.

The 1,241 infections on Christmas Day were the largest daily increase. Another 1,132 cases were reported Saturday, bringing South Korea’s caseload to 55,902.

They had some social distancing restrictions, and then loosened them, but, did not destroy their economy. And, like pretty much most 1st world nations, and, heck, 3rd world nations, they are seeing a big resurgence. There never was a reason to ruin economies. And most often, it was those with no skin in the game, those who weren’t missing paychecks, those not having their jobs deemed non-essential, who pushed the hardest for all the hardcore lockdowns and such.

Read: Politico Basically Admits That Lockdowns And Closing Businesses And Such Doesn’t Work »

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China Joe Could Possibly Get Surprising Allies For Climate Crisis (scam) Fight

By William Teach December 26, 2020 – 8:33 am

If Joe says “come on, man” enough times everyone will just fall in line. BTW, are you ready to be treated to a steady diet of the word “historic”? Everything Joe does will be considered historic by the Credentialed Media, unlike, say, Team Trump negotiating all sorts of deals between Israel and Muslim nations

In pursuing historic climate change agenda, Biden may find surprising ally

President-elect Joe Biden has made no secret that tackling climate change will be one of his top priorities. But to enact his platform to reduce global warming he may find an unexpected ally: Republicans.

Biden campaigned on the most ambitious climate agenda in history: one that included plans for pioneering green energy and infrastructure projects and proposals to address environmental racism. Large chunks of his “Build Back Better” economic agenda are explicitly tied to climate-related policies. (snip)

But what comes after that will be the hard part: trying to implement his climate agenda through legislation.

And that’s where he may find a partnership with Republicans on Capitol Hill.

While some in the GOP remain in steadfast denial that human-caused climate change even exists, dozens of Republican lawmakers have acknowledged that the time has come to address the crisis and have put forward policies that have gained some degree of bipartisan traction. (snip)

Interviews with lawmakers from both parties and climate advocacy organizations on both ends of the political spectrum suggest the appetite in both parties for climate change policy is robust, making the topic a likely, even if unexpected, area for bipartisan cooperation under the new president.

If Republicans start crossing the aisle and signing on to this cult garbage, they can kiss 2022 and future elections goodbye. Even if it’s something like trying a bit of “we’ll give you this and you give us that,” they’ll lose. We’ve seen it with illegal immigration and so many other big issues, where they give Dems what they want in exchange for something Republicans want, but, the things for Republicans never materialize. Unfortunately, there are some Big Government Republicans who are fans of a national carbon tax scheme

The Growing Climate Solutions Act, sponsored by Sens. Mike Braun, R-Ind., Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., focuses on capturing carbon technologies in the agricultural sector, while Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Whitehouse have put together another bipartisan bill focused on increasing carbon capture methods that occur naturally within ocean and coastal ecosystems.

Earlier this year, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., began pushing a new conservative climate policy effort along with seven of his Republican colleagues — meant to rival the progressive “Green New Deal” — including Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Tex., who introduced legislation, titled the New Energy Frontier, focused developing carbon-capture technologies.

Carbon capture? Doesn’t really exist, it would be just another government spending boondogle. The climate policies by McCarthy and Crenshaw basically say that the government should keep their hands off. And are big mistakes, because you never want to open the door even a crack to Democrat ideas, because then they will demand more and more.

But, if the media and Democrats think Republicans will roll over and actually implement China Joe’s massive Progressive (nice Fascism) climate scam agenda, they should think again.

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Record Outside Cash Pouring Into Georgia Senate Races

By William Teach December 26, 2020 – 8:18 am

This is not a good thing

Record cash pours into Georgia Senate races, with a large chunk from California

With early voting well underway and both sides expecting extremely close races, record amounts of money continue to pour into Georgia’s twin Senate runoff campaigns, including a large chunk of cash from donors in California, new Federal Election Commission filings show.

The two Democratic candidates, Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock, shattered all-time fundraising records over the last two months. Their Republican opponents, Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, respectively, hold a financial edge, however, thanks to outside Republican groups that can raise massive sums mostly unconstrained by federal campaign laws.

Much of that outside money comes from donors whose identities remain undisclosed.

Warnock brought in just over $103 million in the two months from mid-October to mid-December, according to his filing. Ossoff raised even more — almost $107 million. Perdue raised $68 million and Loeffler, $64 million.

All four candidates have received much of their money from out of state, with California donors contributing the most.

All four surpassed the previous fundraising record for a Senate candidate — the $57.9 million that Jaime Harrison, a Democrat, raised in the third quarter this year in his campaign to unseat Republican incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham in South Carolina. Of course, Harrison lost, a reminder that more money provides no guarantee of victory.

First off, I thought Democrats were against all that dark money? No? Oh, right, only when it isn’t coming to them.

Second, and more important, how does this serve the People of Georgia to have the candidates be essentially be beholden to individuals and entities not from Georgia? This is a big problem in our Federal Republic, where everything is national and the political parties take precedence over the citizens in states and districts. That senators and representatives, and, heck, even state and local politicians, are getting enormous amounts of money from outside their cities, states, and districts, perhaps even a majority of their campaign funds. At that point, do they care about their constituents, or the big money donors? Not necessarily picking on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, I just remember see the statistic, but, 80% of her 2018 election funding came from outside her district. Does she serve the people in her district or those donating big money?

And, yes, I have been down this road long ago: I would disallow all campaign funding from outside the sphere of election. For a US senator, nothing from outside the state, federal representative, nothing outside the district, etc. Yes, there would still be some games played. A company could say “well, we actually have operations in that city/district/state, so, we can donate.” It wouldn’t be perfect, but, it would certainly help, because too many politicians do not represent their voters.

And get rid of the 17th Amendment, institute term limits for Congress.

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Climate Cultists Try A Utility Strike Or Something

By William Teach December 25, 2020 – 3:32 pm

See, now, if people were going to do an actual utility strike, they would stop using all power at their domiciles, right? So that they wouldn’t be generating revenue for the power companies, right? Not in Warmist World

Climate activists mount utility strike to urge the shutdown of New England coal plant

Santa is not the only one giving out coal this year. Climate activists like Johnny Sanchez and Sonja Birthisel in Portland, Maine, recently sent their utility company an envelope of coal instead of payment towards their electric bill. This symbolic act of defiance, organized by the No Coal No Gas coalition, is part of a broad New England consumer strike against utility payments to protest the continued burning of coal.

The Strike Down Coal campaign launched on Sept. 1 and aims to continue until ISO New England — the system operator responsible for running New England’s energy grid and power system — agrees to stop subsidizing coal. By withholding payments, activists hope to send the utility company a message that burning coal is unnecessary, not to mention financially and morally irresponsible. Fifty people are currently withholding payments, while more than 40 others have participated in orientation sessions, and dozens are acting as volunteer support. Many of the strikers have recorded videos of themselves mailing envelopes of coal to ISO-NE on social media, and some residents are donating their payments to support racial and environmental justice organizations.

So, wait, let me get this straight: they’re continue to use the energy from ISO New England, they’re just refusing to pay for it? Well, at some point, they will be forced to not use it, as ISONE cuts their power off.

“The strike is a powerful way that we can connect economic and racial justice to the atrocities of our utility system,” said Leif Taranta, an organizer with the No Coal No Gas coalition. “It’s time to demand that our ratepayer dollars go towards helping our communities, not destroying our livelihoods and our planet.”

Remember, this is all about anthropogenic climate change, right?

Strike Down Coal is a powerful direct action campaign that not only withdraws financial support from Merrimack Station, but also models a way for other consumers to exercise power against the fossil fuel industry. As students of such nonviolent tactics, Strike Down Coal’s organizing team (which includes me) believes this kind of direct action can force a large-scale industry change quicker than electoral or advocacy efforts. And when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, time is of the essence.

It’s really not powerful when the Warmists are still using the power. ISONE also has 7.2 million customers, so, 50 people withholding payments (and soon to be disconnected) is meaningless.

Read: Climate Cultists Try A Utility Strike Or Something »

Posted in Energy, Global Warming | 9 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach December 25, 2020 – 1:00 pm

…is a sea that will soon rise up and cause islands to tip over, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Woodsterman, with a post on Baily the Unknown Reindeer.

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Watch Out For Falling Iguanas In Florida This Christmas

By William Teach December 25, 2020 – 8:46 am

This is probably your fault, for refusing to get an expensive EV, buying Christmas gifts instead of making them, and cooking with something other than a microwave

Christmas in Florida: Cold temps, falling iguanas & no surfing Santas

With unexpectedly cold weather in the forecast and pandemic-related curfews in some places, Florida is about to have a Christmas unlike any other in recent memory, and it may involve falling iguanas.

The National Weather Service earlier this week warned that South Florida could experience the coldest Christmas Day in 21 years. Morning lows on Saturday could drop into the low 30s and 40s degrees Fahrenheit, the weather service said.

“Brrr! Much colder temps expected for Christmas,” the National Weather Service in Miami tweeted earlier this week. “Falling iguanas are possible.”

Because they are cold-blooded reptiles, iguanas living in South Florida trees often become immobile in chilly weather, causing them to drop to the ground when the thermometer plummets, though they are still alive.

In Jacksonville, the temperature was expected to drop 50 degrees, from about 80 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday to around 30 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday, putting it on the path to being one of the five coldest Christmas Days on record, according to the National Weather Service in Jacksonville.

All this from Extreme Weather caused by too much carbon pollution, you know

The pandemic also was impacting a Space Coast tradition — Surfing Santa Day, which takes place the day before Christmas. Normally drawing hundreds of surfers in Santa costumes to the Cocoa Beach surf and thousands of their cheering supporters on the beach, this year’s event was moved online. Participants were encouraged to individually go surfing or paddle-boarding at their favorite spot and post photos or videos to social media.

See? Your fault!

Remember, if you are in Florida, just leave the iguanas alone, they aren’t dead, just stunned. They’ll be fine when they warm up. And make sure you go vegan for Christmas to stop this horrible horrible climate change extreme weather.

Read: Watch Out For Falling Iguanas In Florida This Christmas »

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Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus

By William Teach December 25, 2020 – 8:29 am

Every Christmas, once everyone is up, Christmas greetings were made, hugs were exchanged, the presents were opened, and breakfast was being made, I would read this first in the paper (ye olde parental units get an actual paper, and they live in NJ). It is a Christmas classic that has always touched my soul. While some people outside of the Tri-State area have heard of it, rarely do papers outside of the NY-NJ-Conn area see it in print, and I always direct them to read it online. I humbly bring it to you, and hope it touches you as much as it touches me:

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

Editorial Page, New York Sun, 1897

We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O’Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a sceptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus? Thank God he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!

And a Merry Christmas from deep down in my heart to all my friends and visitors out there.

If you would like to know the background on the letter, you can go to the 2004 posting of this.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

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