From 'global warming' to 'climate change' to 'climate restoration'. (And remember your proper pronouns)

Thomas Lifson  "The increase in the atmospheric trace gas of CO2 has so far failed to deliver the catastrophic consequences predicted by the alarmists like Al Gore.  The headlines about "the end of snow" are now an embarrassment after a winter of abundant frozen precipitation.  At least a  decade ago, the fraudsters relabeled their purported peril "climate change," allowing any unusual weather to be blamed on mankind's use of fossil fuels.

"Now another rebranding is being proposed.  Michael Walsh noticed, at PJ Media:

"The Left, in the form of the think thank RAND, has gone full Luddite:

Text in the article, here replaced by this American Thinker 

cartoon from Logosandlettering.net

. . . "Of course, anyone even slightly familiar with the history of the Earth's climate knows there is no one climate to be restored.  We have had ice ages that covered much of the land on which Americans now live in glaciers.  Is that the climate we wish to be restored?

 . . .
" 'Climate restoration" is the "New Coke" of climate alarmism."

Chicken Fried Hate

Trevor Thomas  "As has been well documented, the left is hating on Chick-fil-A...again.  No one should be surprised by this, least of all Chick-fil-A.  Back in 2012, Chick-fil-A became a prime target of the left when its then-president and chief operating officer, Dan Cathy – son of founder Truett Cathy and now the chairman and CEO of Chick-fil-A – gave a benign interview to Baptist Press (the Cathys are longtime members of New Hope Baptist Church in Fayetteville, Ga.).

Cartoon added, TD

 . . . "And like it or not, part of this fight is political.  In spite of losing the electoral battle on marriage – in a landslide – the left fought on and eventually – as is so often the case in such things – got the court victory it lusted after.  Because leftists have made a god of government, the principal instrument for the left to spread its corrupt worldview is politics; thus, we must fight in the political realm.

"We are far past the moral crossroads Al Mohler referenced several years ago.  There is no room for compromise, and there is little to no opportunity for silence.  If high-profile Christian business-owners, athletes, entertainers, politicians, pundits, pastors, and so on won't boldly and loudly stand for the truth on something as fundamental as marriage and the family, what can they be trusted to stand for?  To whom much is given, much is required.

"Again, marriage is the oldest institution in the history of humanity – older than God's covenant with the nation of Israel, older than the Law, older than the church.  Marriage is one of the earliest truths revealed by God.  If anything is true, marriage as the union of one man and one woman is true.  On this, there can never be compromise, and there should never be silence."

I Was Once Transgender. Why I Think Trump Made the Right Decision for the Military. The Military Is a Fighting Force, Not a Gender Clinic

Intellectual Takeout

I think he made the right decision—and as someone who lived as trans-female for several years, I should know.

 

"When I discovered Congress voted earlier this month to not block funding for transgender-related hormone therapies and sex change surgeries, I wondered if it considered how devastating this will be to the fitness, readiness, and morale of our combat-ready troops.

"In July, the House of Representatives voted down Missouri Republican Rep. Vicky Hartzler’s amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which would have banned the military from funding such treatments.

"Paying for transition-related surgeries for military service members and their families is beyond comprehensible.

"Perhaps they have forgotten that our military was forged to be the world’s strongest fighting force, not a government-funded, politically correct, medical sex change clinic for people with gender dysphoria.

"Gender dysphoria, the common diagnosis for one who feels at odds with his or her birth gender, develops from prolonged anxiety and depression. People are not born that way.

"The “proof” for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria is having strongly held feelings—but feelings can and often do change over time.

"The military is expected to prepare its members in warfare: to kill, destroy, and break our enemies. The most important factors in preparing a strong military are not hormone therapy, surgical sex changes, or politically correct education." . . .

Eric Holder's past affiliations with radical leftist causes

Eric Holder’s Radical Past Involved ‘Armed’ Takeover of ROTC Building

Photo added

"Attorney General Eric Holder has always been known as an incompetent liberal ideologue that’s pushing a radical agenda at the Department of Justice (DOJ). Most of his pursuits at the DOJ have been of an activist nature, such as not charging the New Black Panther Party with voter intimidation and suing states that try to limit voter fraud. New evidence has been discovered that reveals Holder participated in an ‘armed’ takeover of a former Columbia University ROTC office.

"Eric Holder is a radical. He and his former law firm has defended terrorists; his primary objective is to be a liberal activist, while punishing those who are against him. The DOJ has been polluted under his tenure. But it doesn’t stop there.

"The Daily Caller dug up some frightening information about Holder’s past as a black radical in college. It’s clear that he had a similar experience to Barack Obama, growing up with disdain for America." . . .

Investor's Business Daily: Holder Cut Left-Wing Groups In On $17 Bil BofA Deal  "Extortion: Radical Democrat activist groups stand to collect millions from Attorney General Eric Holder's record $17 billion deal to settle alleged mortgage abuse charges against Bank of America.
"Buried in the fine print of the deal, which includes $7 billion in soft-dollar consumer relief, are a raft of political payoffs to Obama constituency groups. In effect, the government has ordered the nation's largest bank to create a massive slush fund for Democrat special interests." . . .

And on the Starbucks issue, Former Attorney General Eric ‘Fast and Furious’ Holder will also be working with Starbucks to train employees

Starbucks previously pledged to hire Muslim ‘refugees’ over American veterans sparking a boycott. Now they’re calling in Eric Holder and a far left hate group such as the ADL to train employees to be anti-white anti-bias. (Gateway Pundit) . . .

(This should be a money maker for Holder; Starbucks has become so silly that even black celebrities make fun of them)

The notion of Eric Holder as a presidential candidate in 2020 might seem rather laughable at first" . . .

Summary: Former attorney general Eric Holder is riddled with scandal from the Obama administration, but that won’t stop him from pushing a far-left agenda—and possibly even a presidential run in 2020. Holder has his fingers in the upcoming congressional redistricting pie, and if he has his way, he’ll replace what he considers to be fake Republican “gerrymandering” with real Democratic gerrymandering – with disastrous results.

I'd say California is the liberal standard and more regimes of Obamoids like Holder or Kamala Harris will have a good chance of making America California.

. . . “California is in so many ways a trendsetter, whether it is in pop culture or in politics,” Holder said in June about the state’s sanctuary state bill. “That’s why it was such an attractive possibility for me to go to California and work with the legislators there in crafting their response to the Trump administration—because I think what California does gives courage to other states and other public officials in other parts of the country who might be thinking about principled opposition.” (Washington Free Beacon, July 13, 2017)" . . .

Before It's News

Leftist Racialists Pounce on Starbucks. Leftists Eventually Eat Their Own

Gary Demar

Acceptible racism

"As soon as I heard about how two black men were arrested in a Starbucks because they would not leave, I made some predictions. First, there would be Leftist outrage. Second, there would be an overreaction by Starbucks. Third, the Left would not be satisfied.

"My fourth prediction is below."

According to press reports, the two men entered the Starbucks and asked for the key to the bathroom. But bathrooms at Starbucks are only for paying customers, and the two men hadn’t ordered anything yet. Having been denied access to the toilet, they took a seat at a table, claiming that they were waiting for a friend to arrive before they ordered. The manager then asked them to leave. After they refused, she called the cops, who arrested them for trespassing. (Reason)

. . .  "Since the story and the manufactured backlash hit, Starbucks is going to close its 8000 locations for half-a-day in May to hold racial sensitivity training. Instead of dealing with this single store, Starbucks overreacted like the Left overreached on the gun issue. Instead of dealing with the guilty, Starbucks pronounces judgment on every employee who works at a Starbucks and indicts the entire company.

None of this was enough for the Left. My fourth prediction was that Starbucks will become a haven for political racialists. And I might add, a haven for the homeless and people taking advantage of the situation. “Let’s go to Starbucks. They won’t throw us out. They CAN’T throw us out.”

 Comedian Reacts to Backlash After He Walks Into Starbucks Demanding Free Coffee as ‘Reparations’  
"After guilt tripping a Starbucks barista into giving him free coffee as “reparations,” a Black comedian trashed the coffee giant’s plan to close nearly 8,000 of its stores next month for employee diversity training.

"Bryan Sharpe, also known as “Hotep Jesus,” was interviewed by Fox News’ host Laura Ingraham on Wednesday, April 18, after footage of his hilarious trolling went viral on social media. When asked why he did what he did, Sharpe offered an unexpected response.

“ 'I am sick and tired of liberals using Black people and making us look like victims, making us look soft with their liberal dogma,” he said. “It’s disgusting.' ” . . .

“I heard y’all was racist, so I came to get my free coffee,” Sharpe says in the video. “Yeah, I heard you guys don’t like Black people … so I wanted to get my Starbucks reparations voucher.”
Surprisingly, Sharpe’s prank worked and he walked away with a large caramel coffee on the house. The comedian said he’s received backlash, however, for making light of racism with his impromptu prank. Still, Sharpe remained unapologetic about his antics.
“… I embrace the hate because it gets balanced out with love,” he told Ingraham. “All the people that hate, they’re just brainwashed by liberals. That’s all it is. They’re afraid to think for themselves.”

More here.. Personally I like this guy. He knows how to show real stupidity by emphasizing stupidity itself. And like the Parkland students have discovered, an angry expression is gold to the mainstream media.

Pompeo Deserves Confirmation

National Review Editors

"Mike Pompeo is qualified to be secretary of state. There is no doubt about that. He is competent — as director of the CIA, he has managed a complex organization deftly, winning the respect of intelligence professionals otherwise not favorably inclined to President Trump. He is experienced — in an administration with more than its share of neophytes, he has served in Washington, initially as a congressman, since 2011. He is highly credentialed — he graduated top of his class at West Point and went to Harvard Law School, where he edited the Harvard Law Review.

"So the fight over his confirmation isn’t about his abilities, but instead is a raw power play to deny President Trump a top cabinet official. The reasons that Democrats are coming up with to oppose him are transparently weak. New Hampshire senator Jeanne Shaheen, who supported his nomination as CIA director, says she can’t support him for secretary of state because he opposes gay marriage and is pro-life. By this standard, we’ll never have a secretary of state again who doesn’t have the endorsement of NARAL.

"Shaheen is on the foreign-relations committee, which for the first time ever won’t give a secretary of state nominee its blessing. Pompeo will probably get confirmed anyway, but he needs Democratic votes because Steve Bannon and Rand Paul have, in effect, conspired to make the Republican-controlled Senate incapable of governing. " . . .And Rand Paul continues to be the single most destructive Republican senator, embracing a suicidal purity on budgetary matters and insisting that national-security nominees meet his wholly unrealistic standard of U.S. appeasement and withdrawal in foreign affairs. Paul is, naturally, opposed to Pompeo. That the Kentucky senator routinely undermines his own party and Trump’s agenda yet still remains in the good graces of the president is one of the great mysteries of Washington." . . .  Emphasis added, TD

Some of Buster Keaton’s Most Amazing Stunts

Chonday.com  "Joseph Frank “Buster” Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, film director, producer, screenwriter, and stunt performer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname “The Great Stone Face. Keaton performed all of his stunts, he never refused a stunt, however dangerous; in fact, he frequently doubled for other actors when they needed to take a fall. That’s because he was a pro, who had learned to land soft and withstand a few knocks. Some stunts require agility, others an inner strength. The crowning glory of Steamboat Bill Jr, possibly Keaton’s greatest gag of all time, was a stunt as beautiful as it was potentially lethal but it required him simply to stand still. And he didn’t get a scratch on him. The celebrated moment in Steamboat Bill Jr when the facade of a house drops to the ground with a two-ton thwack, leaving Keaton serene amid the debris, relied on precise mathematics and nerves of steel. Keaton’s position on the ground had to line up exactly with an open window in the top of the house; thankfully for him, it did. More importantly, he had to be sturdy enough to trust the sums, and not flinch."

Allied air strike on Syria socked the mullahs inside Iran, too

The U.S., U.K., and French air strikes also escalated the internal situation in Iran to further destabilize the Iranian regime, uniting the different factions of society in Iran.

This would not have happened under Obama, who bowed and apologized to dictators and who honored oppressive regimes over our own nation. The resistors here would have been thrown under the bus to face the tender mercies of Iran's mullahs. TD

Hassan Mahmoudi  "U.S., U.K., and French forces launched air strikes targeting sites associated with Syria's chemical weapons capabilities, a reprisal for a chemical attack that killed at least 43 civilians and injured hundreds more.

"The decision to strike was aimed at cutting off the production and use of chemical weapons in the country.

"The assault was twice the size of a strike Mr. Trump ordered last year against a Syrian military airfield and hit two more targets.

"European Union countries, Canada, Australia, members of the Arab union, and Gulf countries have fully supported the air strike.  But among the few countries who condemned this attack, there was Iran, whose mullah dictators warned that there would be "consequences" for the region.

"Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, said coordinated air strikes on Syria by the United States, France, and Britain on Saturday were a crime that would bring no benefit.

"The Iranian Foreign Ministry has also lashed out at the Western states that conducted the joint massive missile strike on targets in Syria and warned of "regional consequences."

"Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has said the U.S.-led attack against Syria would lead to the destruction of the Middle Eastern countries.

"The bluster and heated rhetoric about "the region" were about par for the mullahs.  But the mullahs probably realize that it was really a strike against Iranian capacities in the region." . . .

. . . "According to the leading opposition group to the regime, the National Council of Resistance in Iran:

On April 17, 2018, thousands of people in the city of Kazerun demonstrated for the second day running in the city's main square. The merchants refused to open their shops. The protesters were chanting, "Our enemy is right here, but they keep saying it is America," "No fear, we are all together," "the movement will continue until we obtain our rights," "The protests, in which women played an active role, led to clashes with the security forces as the protesters tried to enter the Governor's Office.

. . .

Hassan Mahmoudi is a human rights advocate, specializing in political and economic issues relating to Iran and the Middle East.

 

Eric Holder for Prison, Not President

Run, Eric, run.  Go ahead; make our day.  Rumors of a Holder bid were not diminished by the news that he is headed for New Hampshire to attend an event considered a must for presidential contenders:

Daniel John Sobieski  "If President Trump could hand-select his 2020 Democratic opponent, he could do no better than former Obama attorney general Eric Holder, the only Cabinet official held in contempt of Congress for withholding documents in the Fast and Furious gun-running scandal.  He is the poster child for the Deep State corruption that festered under Obama and the politicization of both the DOJ and FBI.

"The former A.G., who is arguably responsible for the homicide of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, murdered by guns Holder and Obama funneled to Mexican drug lords, is in fact considering such a bid:

Former Attorney General Eric Holder let the cat out of the bag Tuesday night during a visit to the very friendly confines of MSNBC, acknowledging he is "thinking" about a 2020 presidential run to challenge President Donald Trump.

MSNBC host Chris Hayes threw out the possibility of Holder running for the White House, hoping his guest would bite and he did just that – whether this was rehearsed beforehand or not is up to you to decide.

. . .
"Run, Eric, run.  Your campaign would be an opportunity to hold you and the president you served responsible for the lies about Fast and Furious, the withholding of documents under the guise of "executive privilege," something even extended to Holder's wife, and the entire cover-up of why Brian Terry had to die." . . .   Also here.

Fresno State University won’t — and cannot — punish professor for Barbara Bush tweets

Foundation for Individual Rights in Education

. . . "Fresno State correctly acknowledges that Jarrar’s tweets were made as a private citizen. As such, and because they touched upon a matter of public concern, Jarrar’s tweets are unquestionably protected speech under the First Amendment and Fresno State has no power to censor, punish, or terminate Jarrar for them.

Photo added, TD

"It’s often said that the First Amendment doesn’t protect a speaker from the consequences of his words. That’s true to a certain extent. One who says something that offends others will often face consequences of some sort, whether it’s caustic criticism from people he offended, loss of private sector job opportunities, loss of membership in voluntary associations, and so on. But the First Amendment places limits on what consequences a government actor may impose in response to speech.

"As we’ve explained in response to another professor terminated for her public commentary, public universities are government actors bound by the First Amendment:

The law is well-established that employees of government institutions like [a public university] retain a First Amendment right to speak as private citizens on matters of public concern and may not be disciplined or retaliated against for their constitutionally protected expression unless the government employer demonstrates that the expression hindered “the effective and efficient fulfillment of its responsibilities to the public.” Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138, 150 (1983); Pickering v. Bd. of Ed., 391 U.S. 563 (1968).

. . .
Her pictured gesture has been endorsed by academics, late-night TV hosts and ex-presidents.

Americans Grapple With Evil Amid Decline in Religious Faith

Emilie Kao at Heritage 

The writer lists her key takeaways in this article:

• "In modern-day America, few statements can raise eyebrows more swiftly than expressing faith in the transcendent.
• "In a world where we can communicate globally and change the temperature of our homes, it is easy to believe that we have mastered our physical environment.
• "As elites show increasing hostility to faith and regular Americans eschew traditional and moral frameworks, we may become increasingly blind to this dimension.

. . . "From Joy Behar mocking Vice President Mike Pence as mentally ill for believing that God guides him, to former President Barack Obama ridiculing “bitter” people who cling to guns or religion, the “enlightened” claim to have progressed past the simplistic explanations of those who still believe in the existence of good and evil.

"In a world where we can drive vehicles, communicate globally, and change the temperature of our homes with the touch of a finger, it is easy to believe that we have mastered our physical environment. Yet we are stumped when the age-old problem of evil rears its ugly head." . . .

How to ensure "never again" when so many are erasing Holocaust history?

Edwin Black

"The following is a transcript of Edwin Black’s April 11, 2018 keynote address in the Michigan Capitol Rotunda for that state’s official Holocaust Commemoration."

"Today, I come not just to mourn nor to scorn but rather to warn our world, that is, the world of today whose memories are still whistling and bristling with the torments and tribulations of a generation now passing before our eyes. But also, for the world of tomorrow — and the day after — pulsed by a generation whose torments and tribulations may yet be in store. The outrages are audible just over the horizon. But in many cases the horizon is speeding toward us like an unstoppable tsunami preparing to crash.

"Many of us dwell in the dark past hoping to immunize our future from the maniacal and ideological fires that immolated six million Jews and so many others— and left a world’s hands and souls smoke-singed in the process. The Holocaust was unique among history’s great cruelties, for it was a 12-year international persecution and murder machine perpetrated in the glare of broad daylight as well as the dim of night… emboldened by its own German Ministry of Propaganda advertising it and amid incessant media coverage that bled across the front pages of newspapers, crackled into regular radio reports, flickered in newsreels, and even saddened the whispers and diaries of children hiding in an Amsterdam attic. The world knew.

"With study, revelation, and investigation, many now understand how we got here. Make no mistake. The Germans did it. Their allies and accomplices did it. Hitler did it. 

"But Hitler had help. " . . .

. . . Lithuania has followed suit quickly with a pending amendment to its “Law on Consumer Protection” that would outlaw books critical of the country during the Holocaust—Lithuania where 90 percent of Jews perished, and many at the hands of their Lithuanian neighbors. These laws will be used by misguided programmers in Silicon Valley to avoid liability by simply quietly shutting out the history. 

 'What if a tree falls and no one hears the sound? What if six million people perish and no one is reminded?" . . .