“Armed Protesters” Protest Across The Country, Strangely, No Violence

Here’s from Raleigh (no, I didn’t go, had to help a friend at that time, and I wasn’t happy, as mentioned in posts, with bringing firearms, which mixes the message)

Armed groups in downtown Raleigh protest virus-related restrictions

A small group of demonstrators, some carrying guns, marched in downtown Raleigh Friday afternoon to protest coronavirus restrictions and the statewide stay-at-home order.

Dozens of law enforcement officers were also downtown, anticipating a large protest after recent ReOpenNC rallies. Legal gun owners were allowed to carry their weapons while they walked as long as they stayed off the State Capitol grounds.

Some of the protestors were from American Revolution 2.0, part of a national movement to reopen states amid the pandemic. The group had planned 52 protests across the country on Friday, according to its website.

“It’s a giant party. Let’s get together. Let’s have a good time. Let’s celebrate America,” Josh Ellis, who founded the grassroots group on April 8, said Thursday. “This is unconstitutional. It should never have happened and it should never happen again.”

“I really am only here for one reason and that is to be with like people that believe in civil rights,” said Lisa Molgren, a nurse from Pinehurst and a member of American Revolution 2.0.

“The rights that I want are not to be told when I can work, if I can work, what companies should be closed and why they’re being closed,” Molgren said. “Everything is changing in front of our eyes, and it seems that people have sort of decided that stay at home means do nothing, and I think it’s time we do something.”

It was a much smaller group than the Tuesday ReOpenNC ones, and the only thing that happened was some older gent coming out and talking out them about scaring people. That’s it.

There was no violence at the Michigan rallies, Ohio, Chicago, or anywhere else. Had there been, you would have heard about it in the big news services. NBC couldn’t report violence. Nor could the Washington Post or CNN (which rather buried the story, much like their Tara Reade stories).

Funny how right wing protests aren’t violent despite all the guns, eh? Oh, because left-wingers did not show up. AOC tweeted the other day

Think about how harshly & activists were debased, called rioters, & treated as a threat to society.

Now watch & examine how this MAGA-armed rushing of a state legislature is treated.

This is for those who still think racial privilege is a fantasy.

But, unlike those protests, there was no violence. Huh.

That said, leave the guns home. Stay on topic, which is re-opening the country.

Read: “Armed Protesters” Protest Across The Country, Strangely, No Violence »

Saving The Planet From Hotcoldwetdry Demands Sacrifices

Interestingly, the members of the Cult of Climastrology who say this never tell us what sacrifices they’ve made

Saving the planet demands sacrifices just as Covid-19 does

Certain environmentalists have long argued that economic growth must end for the sake of the planet. “Degrowth” is concisely defined by one proponent, Riccardo Mastini, as “the abolition of economic growth as a social objective”.

Degrowth represents the view that sufficiently sharp reductions in carbon dioxide emissions cannot be achieved through new technology, pricing incentives or even major investment in energy and transport systems. The only thing that will work is economic growth itself coming to an end, permanently.

The pandemic is giving us a taste of what an end to growth might look like. So what lessons should we learn?

The lockdowns have indeed suppressed carbon dioxide emissions, but less than we might hope. The climate science website Carbon Brief estimates that emissions in 2020 are likely to fall by about 5 or 6 per cent relative to emissions last year. That would be the largest fall on record.

What might be a surprise is that it is not enough. If the cuts were compounded at that rate for the rest of the decade, we’d still fall short of what the UN Environment Programme estimates would be needed to restrict global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees. (A 2 degree target would be easier: five pandemics in the next decade would suffice.)

The writer, Tim Harford, isn’t particularly happy with all this talk about degrowth, especially since it would destroy everything. But, see, he’s only unhappy about talking about it

Fine. Yet if ending growth is not the objective, but the means to an end, might I suggest that it is not a very effective means? “Abolish economic growth” works as a radical political slogan, but when we’re looking for policy levers to pull we find ourselves coming back to specific taxes, subsidies, public investments and regulations. So why don’t we stop talking about degrowth and focus on the particular policies that might address environmental degradation?

We might find that those policies, applied with sufficient vigour to save the planet, would indeed have the side-effect of bringing economic growth to a halt. I doubt it. But the way to find out is to try; we might be pleasantly surprised at how flexible economic activity can be, and how much fun we can all have while respecting planetary limits.

See, don’t talk about doom, just implement it. Hey, maybe things won’t be bad. But, then again, it might, but, why not give it a shot? For The Planet, you know.

The virus has taught us that our way of life is more vulnerable than we might hope. It has taught us the importance of making sacrifices now to prepare for predictable risks in the future. It may even have reminded us that driving to work, or flying half way around the world for a meeting, are not always necessary, and of the joys of walking or cycling through quiet streets.

What has Tim sacrificed?

Read: Saving The Planet From Hotcoldwetdry Demands Sacrifices »

If All You See…

…is horrible heat snow from other people taking a fossil fueled trip, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Pacific Pundit, with a post on Barack golfing at a fancy resort while Michelle sends robocalls to stay home.

Read: If All You See… »

Michigan House Won’t Continue Giving Il Duce Whitmer Power She Craves

Whitmer is definitely going for most Fascist governor in the nation

Michigan House Won’t Extend State of Emergency, Votes to Sue Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Instead

The Michigan House of Representatives declined to extend Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s state of emergency another 28 days, and instead voted on Thursday to sue her.

Whitmer’s initial state of emergency order, which is separate from the stay-at-home order, expires on Thursday and requires legislative action to be lengthened.

Negotiations on that front fell apart on Wednesday when Whitmer refused to make any concessions on the matter, asserting she has the ultimate control of emergencies.

So the House voted to authorize Speaker Lee Chatfield to sue the governor, saying Whitmer’s “unchecked and undemocratic approach” is not the best way, ABC 12 reported.

“The current status quo relies on one-size-fits-all edicts that unfairly punish millions of people across the state without giving them any recourse or voice in the process,” Chatfield said.

“The people deserve a better solution, and we can provide it.”

“Ultimate control of emergencies.” Someone has let power go to her head. That’s not going to look good, her little jaunt into authoritarianism, if Handsy Joe picks her to be his running mate. Her next election should be interesting if not picked.

(Fox News) Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday extended Michigan’s state of emergency and disaster declaration through May 28, hours before it was set to expire and after hundreds of protesters, some of whom were armed, gathered in the state Capitol building to voice their displeasure with the Democratic governor.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday extended Michigan’s state of emergency and disaster declaration through May 28, hours before it was set to expire and after hundreds of protesters, some of whom were armed, gathered in the state Capitol building to voice their displeasure with the Democratic governor.

Of course, she doesn’t have the legal or Constitutional authority to do this. Just power-mad.

Read: Michigan House Won’t Continue Giving Il Duce Whitmer Power She Craves »

Harvard Business Journal: We Need A New Capitalism To Fight ‘Climate Change’ (scam)

Someone is looking to sell some books. Unfortunately, they forgot some key information

Fighting Climate Change Requires a New Capitalism

Rebecca Henderson spent her young adult years living two lives.

At work, she preached the risks of resisting change to MBA students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, drawing on lessons she learned while watching factories close as a management consultant. But at home, she found comfort in the seeming permanence of nature and trees, whose leafy branches provided solace to her as a child.

“I kept my job and my passions in separate boxes,” writes Henderson, who joined Harvard Business School in 2009 and is now the John and Natty McArthur University Professor at Harvard University. “Work was lucrative and fun and often hugely interesting, but it was something I did before returning to real life.”

Business was ever-changing, but nature was constant. It wasn’t until in the mid-2000s, at her brother’s urging, that she started to read about the science of climate change—and the part that business has played in accelerating it. The revelation shook her world view.

After debating whether to quit her job at MIT, Henderson started seeking out like-minded leaders who shared her concerns. Her experiences and the research that came out of them culminate in her new book, Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire, a deeply personal exploration of capitalism’s role in addressing climate change.

What follows is an interview with Ms. Henderson. Question on all sorts of things, such as shareholder value

Henderson: In the ’70s, when the conversation about shareholder value first began, and in the ’80s, when it really took off, it was fine for business to just focus on making money. We had a very cohesive society and a strong government.

But right now, we have a political system that’s incredibly partisan. It’s very difficult to get anything done. And we have a government that is, as a result of years of attack on the very idea of government, fundamentally very weak. You can really see that in the current COVID-19 emergency, both in the slowness of the federal government’s response, and in its decision not to step up as a central buyer of things like personal protective equipment (PPE). States are bidding against each other for medical equipment, which seems extraordinary.

Government has always been incredibly partisan. Heck, there used to be actual duels. We had a civil war. And government is not supposed to be fast, and it is supposed to be difficult to get things done. She yammers about income inequality, which isn’t partisan or something

So, just pragmatically, we need to address inequality if we’re going to make progress on climate change. Moreover, I believe—and I think many business people agree—that it’s fundamentally unfair that more and more people are finding it hard to participate in the modern economy, and that we’re leaving so much human potential and human growth on the table.

But, nothing in the interview as to what capitalism looks like re-imagined. Nor in the short book excerpt. Funny how climate cultists never want to actually say what they want the economy to look like. One expects, from the yammering about government, that she wants government in charge of the economy, which would not be capitalism.

Read: Harvard Business Journal: We Need A New Capitalism To Fight ‘Climate Change’ (scam) »

NY Times Seems Rather Cavalier About Curtailing Constitutional Rights

The editorial board forgets to mention what it looks like when threat passes. What are the conditions?

We the People, in Order to Defeat the Coronavirus
There are times when government must curtail individual freedoms to protect the public. But those measures must end once the threat passes.

The tension between private liberty and public health in the United States is hardly new. Americans have demanded the latter in times of plague and prioritized the former in times of well-being since at least the colonial era. Politicians and business leaders have alternately manipulated and deferred to that tension for about as long. (snip)

Temporary limitations on some liberties don’t seem to concern most Americans at this moment. Polls show that 70 to 90 percent of the public support measures to slow the spread of the virus, even if they require temporarily yielding certain freedoms and allowing the economy to suffer in the short run.

Indeed, it is wealthy and powerful conservatives and their allies, including President Trump and Fox News, who are driving the relatively small protests demanding a “liberation” of the states from oppressive lockdowns — as opposed to any overwhelming public sentiment to that effect.

First, they aren’t civil rights: they are Constitutional Rights, embedded in the federal and state Constitutions. NY State also has these provisions.

Second, it was a small group of people that fomented the American revolution against Britain. If some people are good with giving up Rights, that’s on them. It’s when the goalposts are moved, when more and more restrictions are placed on people, when they are losing their businesses, that a problem occurs.

Third, I’m betting that the editorial board wouldn’t be quite so cavalier if the Freedom Of The Press was being “curtailed”, eh? I also bet they don’t have a problem with all the May Day protests that are supposed to occur today, as they usually do on Commie Day, but they are being positioned as a “strike by essential workers”. I’m considered essential: I won’t be there.

Civil liberties may feel to some like a second-order problem when thousands of Americans are dying of a disease with no known treatment or vaccine. Yet while unprecedented emergencies may demand unprecedented responses, those responses can easily tip into misuse and abuse, or can become part of our daily lives even after the immediate threat has passed. For examples, Americans need look no further than the excesses of the post-Sept. 11 Patriot Act.

In all fairness, the rest of the piece is not that bad. Typical stupid and partisan, but not as bad. But, still, rather cavalier. Let Freedom Of The Press be put on the line and they’ll be out there protests. Speaking of protests

Protests planned for Friday in Raleigh against stay-at-home order

Raleigh police and State Capitol Police say they are aware of two planned protests scheduled for downtown Raleigh on Friday.

American Revolution 2.0 is hosting one of the events in Raleigh as part of a national movement to reopen states across the country. There are 52 protests planned on Friday, according to the group’s website.

“It’s a giant party. Let’s get together. Let’s have a good time. Let’s celebrate America,” said Josh Ellis, who founded the grassroots group on April 8. “This is unconstitutional. It should never have happened and it should never happen again.” (snip)

“We are insisting things don’t get crazy like that,” said Ellis, when asked about Friday’s event at the North Carolina State Capitol Building.

It’s reported that many may bring their firearms, like happened in Lansing, Michigan. Leave them home, folks, this is not a 2nd Amendment protest. Let’s keep it as non-partisan as possible. The article forgot to mention the time. It’s at noon.

There is apparently a group that is going to protest to stand up for the 1st and 2nd. Perhaps they should also be mentioning NC’s 12th, which allows protests.

Read: NY Times Seems Rather Cavalier About Curtailing Constitutional Rights »

How You Can Fight Climate Depression Or Something

You’ve heard of climate anxiety, right? Excitable climate doomsday cultist Bill McKibben takes it a step further

How to Combat Climate Depression

If there existed some kind of gauge for measuring ambient sadness, I imagine the needle would now be pinned to the far end of the red. Some of us are mourning the deaths of those we loved; more are terrified for the ailing; more still lie abed trying to figure out whether their job will last another month, or what to do about the one they just lost. The Times reports that the pandemic has become a “grim slog” for New Yorkers. Even away from the epicenter, the pervading uncertainty brews a fog that makes the future seem drab.

But here’s the worse news: even before the coronavirus descended, that’s how the world looked to an awful lot of Americans, especially younger ones. Seventh Generation, the recycled-paper-towel and household-products company, commissioned a survey, released in April. It showed that seventy-one per cent of millennials and sixty-seven per cent of Generation Z feel that climate change has negatively affected their mental health. How upset were they? Four in five people in the eighteen-to-twenty-three age cohort “aren’t planning—or didn’t want—to have children of their own as a result of climate change.” Even if the survey were off by fifty per cent, that would still be an astonishing number.

See, we do Science by polls now.

The only way to combat this kind of depression may also be the only way to combat the Depression now threatening our economy: an all-encompassing, society-wide effort to build out renewable energy, retrofit houses and offices for energy efficiency, and safeguard and nurture our remaining working ecosystems. If we don’t do it fast, then the gloom of young people will be justified—and it’s hard to think of a more powerful indictment of older generations than that. Their childlessness must not be our legacy.

Bill should explain to the kiddies that what they are seeing in the world right now with the restrictions and garbage economies and such is just a test drive of their future with the policies they want. The only problem is, Bill forgot to really actually mention how to fight climate depression. Sure, some yammering about a few lawsuits and spreading awareness, but no actual policies. I have some

Read: How You Can Fight Climate Depression Or Something »

If All You See…

…is a horrible pizza with cheese from evil climate causing cows which makes the seas rise, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Jihad Watch, with a post on the UK government rejecting a petition to know who is part of the grooming/rape gangs.

Read: If All You See… »

UK Police Super Worried About Guy Dressed As 17th Century Plague Doctor

They just want to have a conversation with the person, you know

Police hunt mystery person walking streets as 17th-century plague doctor during coronavirus outbreak

Police in Norfolk are keen to speak to a person who has been spotted dressed up as a 17th-century plague doctor on walks during the coronavirus lockdown.

The unidentified individual has been spotted in the Norwich suburb of Hellesdon wearing a long black cloak, a hat and a pointed beak-like mask in recent weeks.

People posting on a community Facebook page said the outfit could frighten children, and Norfolk Police said they wanted to give “words of advice” to the person.

Jade Gosbell, 21, took a photograph of the person walking across a recreation ground in Hellesdon.

This is what the cops are worried about? How about all the Muslim grooming/rape gangs? Nah, that would be raaaaacist and Islamophobic, you know

“It’s clearly for attention or something like that, because normal people just wouldn’t do that.”

It’s 2020. Of course it is for attention. Have we not seen all the Instagram and other social media stuff these days?

The furloughed gym worker continued: “I was sitting there and I was getting angry myself as my mum has a phobia of masks.

“I know that even in daylight if she was to go round the corner and bump into him she would be so scared.

“Kids would be frightened, my mum would be frightened, however some people really don’t think it’s that deep, they just think that he’s having a laugh, he’s just trying to find something to do with himself during isolation and lockdown.”

In other words, she was Offended, hence, someone else has to be forced to live her Feelings.

She said she has not seen the person since a Facebook post drew attention to them, adding: “I was told that if I see him again to call the police.”

Really? Call the police? For wearing a costume? WTF? Most likely this was a one off thing with someone getting a shot for social media, they’ve now moved on. The Norfolk police said

“Although no offences have been committed at this time, officers are keen to trace the individual in order to provide words of advice about the implications of his actions on the local community.

They don’t have anything better to do than hassle someone over a costume?

Read: UK Police Super Worried About Guy Dressed As 17th Century Plague Doctor »

Cult of Climastrology Thinks More Changes Than Just Shutdown Are Needed

Apparently, all the things authoritarian government is forcing on their subjects isn’t enough

The world is on lockdown. So where are all the carbon emissions coming from?

Pedestrians have taken over city streets, people have almost entirely stopped flying, skies are blue (even in Los Angeles!) for the first time in decades, and global CO2 emissions are on-track to drop by … about 5.5 percent.

Wait, what? Even with the global economy at a near-standstill, the best analysis suggests that the world is still on track to release 95 percent of the carbon dioxide emitted in a typical year, continuing to heat up the planet and driving climate change even as we’re stuck at home.

Since they say that CO2 is the control knob, that means we should see a 5.5% decrease in global temps this year, right? Grist’s Shannon Osaka is wondering where they are coming from since transportation, which Warmists say accounts for 20% of yearly carbon pollution (28% in USA), is way, way down

So where are all those emissions coming from? For one thing, utilities are still generating roughly the same amount of electricity — even if more of it’s going to houses instead of workplaces. Electricity and heating combined account for over 40 percent of global emissions. Many people around the world rely on wood, coal, and natural gas to keep their homes warm and cook their food — and in most places, electricity isn’t so green either.

Even with a bigger proportion of the world working from home, people still need the grid to keep the lights on and connect to the internet. “There’s a shift from offices to homes, but the power hasn’t been turned off, and that power is still being generated largely by fossil fuels,” Schmidt said. In the United States, 60 percent of electricity generation still comes from coal, oil, and natural gas. (There is evidence, however, that the lockdown is shifting when people use electricity, which has some consequences for renewables.)

People stuck at home are going to use more energy at home. But, if businesses are shuttered, that should mean a dip in electricity use, since a store will use way more than what you might increase at home, which isn’t mentioned. You know, they could have let us build nuclear, which few “carbon emissions”. She does mention that construction is continuing. There are two big housing projects near me. One is going full bore, the other, not so much. A few smaller projects I see traveling to work are not being worked on.

The reality is that emissions need to be cut by 7.6 percent every year to keep global warming from surpassing 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels — the threshold associated with the most dangerous climate threats — according to an analysis by the United Nations Environment Program. Even if the global lockdown and economic slump reduce emissions by 7.6 percent this year, emissions would have to fall even more the year after that. And the year after that. And so on.

Would you enjoy even more restrictions than now? Let’s cut off use of fossil fueled buses and ban your private vehicle. Force a reduction of your use of the Internet and lighting. We do have to give Ms. Osaka credit for noting that all the cleaner skies and water has nothing to do with a CO2 reduction

But these arguments conflate air and water pollution — crucial environmental issues in their own right! — with CO2 emissions. Carbon dioxide is invisible, and power plants and oil refineries are still pumping it into the atmosphere. Meanwhile, natural gas companies and livestock farming (think cow burps) keep releasing methane.

But, we apparently need to get rid of cows and natural gas, so no burgers for you and let’s replace inexpensive NG with expensive and unreliable solar. It’s raining heavy today, and will be cloudy most of the day. Two homes along the 2nd fairway have solar panels. What would happen if they had to depend solely on them to work from home and keep the kids amused and doing their schoolwork?

Appreciate the bluer skies and fresher air, while you can. But the emissions drop from the pandemic should be a warning, not a cause for celebration: a sign of how much further there is to go.

Are you enjoying your test drive of Modern Socialism?

Read: Cult of Climastrology Thinks More Changes Than Just Shutdown Are Needed »

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