Well, Duh

Here’s one we all knew about — and by “we”, I mean anyone with the faintest degree of rational thought — and therefore it should come as no surprise to us:

Skepticism about climate change has resurfaced, as some experts claim the exact causes of global warming remain unclear and that the policies addressing it are motivated more by money than by science.

And in other breaking news, we can report that Gen. George Custer is experiencing some difficulty with various Indian tribes in Wyoming.

But to return to our main story:

Lindzen explained the basic math behind what he called ‘climate alarm.’ He said the emphasis on lowering specific emissions like carbon dioxide (CO₂) simply doesn’t produce the worldwide temperature changes advocates say it will.

The scientist noted that the planet’s temperature has fluctuated significantly throughout recorded history and science still can’t definitively prove what the exact cause of both extreme warming and cooling events has been.

‘We don’t understand the glaciation that occurred in the 15th century. You know, so what was going on then? Inadequate CO₂?’ Lindzen said of the event in the Northern Hemisphere known as the Little Ice Age.

It was caused by all those 15th-century SUVs and trucks, you idiot.  And of course they had SUVs and trucks back then, but they were called “carts” and were powered by horses (and oxen) — a major source of methane pollution, as we all know.

And:

Lindzen said the financial implications of controlling the multi-trillion-dollar energy industry have been the true motivation for politicians to support flawed research that argues small temperature increases will lead to immediate disasters.

‘The fact that you have a multi-trillion dollar industry and you have an opportunity to completely overturn it had a great appeal to a lot of politicians,’ he explained. ‘They go wild on it. Another half degree and we’re doomed, and so on. The public knows this is nonsense.’ 

I leave it for you to decide which political parties have supported the eco-panic most rabidly, and why.

I find it interesting that this article comes to us courtesy of the dreadful muckraking rag Daily Mail, a newspaper which has provided us with panic-stricken apocalyptic warnings of ecological doom for well over twenty years.  (Because “scare” headlines sell newspapers, also duh.)

And the only reason that they’ve decided to publish this little article is that people no longer believe the climate alarmists, and are starting to rebel against all those idiotic and destructive “NetZero by 2030” political goals.

Missed It By THISmuch

…that would be the end of the Schumer Schuttdown.  I predicted that it would end two days after last Tuesday’s elections (Thursday), and it actually ended yesterday (Sunday).

How nice.  Now the Gummint so-called “workers” head back to their offices (except when “working from home”, what a boondogggle) and go back to wasting taxpayer money while doing so little to justify their existence.

Forgive me for sounding blasé about the whole thing, but at least the Republican Party Reptiles managed to maintain their soft spines and refuse (for once) to capitulate to the Socialists.  I suppose that’s something to celebrate.

So now it’s back to normal, and on we go with the never-ending story.

Bah.

Now it’s time to end ObamaCare, lower income taxes, keep up with the deportations of illegal immigrants and keep reducing the size and impact of the government on our lives.  To mention just a few.

Later, we can discuss the hangings.

Stopping The Slide

We’re all familiar with the “slippery slide’ argument when it comes to laws and social policies (a.k.a. the “camel’s nose under the tent” expression).

Yesterday in Texas we went to the polls to vote on a series of propositions that either change or underline the Texas constitution.

The one proposition was that in order to vote in the state of Texas, you have to be a U.S. citizen.  Now one might think that that is understood to be the case — except of course when shit-holes like Boston or San Francisco allow non-citizens to vote on “local “matters.

Well, that ain’t gonna happen in the Lone Star State, should our local shit-holes (like Austin) start getting any ideas.  Best of all, of course, is that by making it a constitutional issue, Texas has the right to demand that voters show proof of citizenship before being allowed to vote.  (With my very non-Texas accent, I always take my passport with me to the polls, just in case.  Of course, I do have my voter’s card and driver’s license, and I’m on the voting roll anyway, but I have absolutely no problem with producing my U.S. passport if anyone wants to see it.)  This is not an issue to mess around with, and I’m glad we’re going all hardass on the topic. [Update:  it passed, 75-%25%.]

All the other propositions / amendments had to do with taxes, and when doing my research on each of them, I grinned broadly because they seemed to fall into two camps:  “This tax is bullshit and it needs to be whacked” — e.g. that farmers have to pay a tax on animal feed.  There were a few like that.

The other group of propositions are all preventative in nature, because unlike the U.S. Constitution, a product of the Enlightenment, the Texas constitution is very much proscriptive as well, i.e. we’re not going to trust the government to abide by goodwill alone:  the damn government isn’t allowed to do this or that specific thing — in fact, a whole lot of specific things.

My favorite?  The one that bans any kind of estate tax — okay, a “death” tax.

“But Kim… Texas doesn’t have a death tax.”

Quite right.  And now that it’s expressly forbidden by our state constitution, there’s never going to be a death tax in Texas.

I voted in favor of all the propositions.

And by the way, I thought that the polls weren’t going to be too busy.  In fact, the line of waiting voters was well over 200 yards long, and it never fell below that in all the time I was there.  [Update:  all the results are here.  The margins are about what you expect.]

We take this “restricting government” thing very seriously here, deep in the heart of

Chamber Of Horrors

Good grief.  Imagine being a centrist Democrat (if such a beast exists anymore), and being presented with this list of presidential candidates at the polling booth:

I would demand a pistol with a single cartridge in the chamber, just to avoid making a choice out of that lot.

Too bad that even the most centrist of Democrats hate all guns, so that option wouldn’t be on the table, so to speak.

But for the typical raving loony Democrat voter of today, that list is an embarrassment of riches.

Rats, Sensing Danger

Well now, lookee here:

As Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani surges ahead in New York City’s mayoral race, residents are racing to secure homes in the leafy, affluent enclaves of Connecticut and Westchester County — driven by anxieties over potential policy shifts that could reshape the city’s economic and social fabric.

These, I think, are people who are tied to NYfC by their jobs on Wall Street or wherever, and can’t join the hordes of Noo Yawkers who have already fled for Florida, Texas and anywhere that’s not the Northeast.  So they have to leave the Upper East Side, but can’t go too far away from Downtown.

Hence:  Connecticut and locales outside the Five Boroughs.

“Many buyers are mentioning concerns about the mayoral election as a key driver.” 

Buyers repeatedly voice worries about rising levies, public safety and urban livability under a Mamdani administration.

Like NYfC isn’t a big enough shithole already.

As Stephen Green points out:

The guy isn’t even elected yet, and already the sheep he counted on fleecing are fleeing instead.

And as one famous ex-Manhattanite might put it:

Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of assholes.