There is no part of climate that is not cynical and/or dishonest. https://t.co/xkMvrXx5Fe
— Steve Milloy (@JunkScience) May 4, 2021
Trust the models, they’re done by computerzmemgpdpga&3g
US climate model April forecast from March 31
vs Actual April.
Kansas lowers concealed gun carry age to 18 as Legislature overrides Gov. Laura Kelly veto
The Kansas Legislature on Monday overturned Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a bill lowering the minimum age to carry a concealed weapon in the state from 21 to 18.
After less than five minutes of debate, House Republicans pieced together the 84 votes needed to override Kelly’s veto of House Bill 2058, which allows persons 18, 19 and 20 to get a concealed carry permit.
The bill also makes it easier in some cases for felons convicted of violent crimes to reacquire their rights to possess and carry firearms.
The override later passed 31-8 in the Senate, where the outcome was never in doubt.
Although she proclaims herself a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, Kelly cited on-campus carry at state colleges and universities as her primary reason for rejecting HB2058.
“We can respect and defend the rights of Kansas gun owners while also taking effective steps to keep our children and families safe,” she said in her veto message “Legislation that allows more guns on campus is neither safe nor effective, and it will drive prospective students away from our schools.”
Rep. John Barker, R-Abiline, carried the veto measure on the House floor and questioned Kelly’s commitment to gun rights.
“The governor in her message indicated that she has always supported the Second Amendment. Well, I find that hard to believe sometimes, because we already have 18-year-olds that can carry a gun (openly) in the state of Kansas,” Barker said. “This requires them, if they’re going to carry a concealed weapon, to get training and to get a permit and to have a background investigation.
“I think that’s a positive move. Any time people can get training, that’s a good thing.”
He said the law started out as a way for Kansas to honor out-of-state concealed-carry permits, including those from states that already allow 18-20 year olds to carry. “So they would be able to carry in the state, yet a Kansas resident would not be able to carry at that age,” he said…….
Black Lives Matter activists and patrons brandished guns at each other after a demonstration entered a restaurant’s dining area Saturday evening in Louisville, Kentucky, according to police.
Approximately 50 protesters stopped at La Chasse restaurant and began to harass restaurant patrons, according to a Twitter video. Video footage captured a man pointing his gun at the protestors from the outdoor dining area, the Courier Journal reported.
An unidentified woman was filmed as she physically moved protesters away and shooed them from the restaurant tables. Several protesters took videos on their phones as she repeatedly shouted “keep going” and gestured them to move away from an armed man.
Confrontation between patrons at La Chasse and protesters. pic.twitter.com/iUFKA9zWvY
— Hayes Gardner (@HayesGardner) May 2, 2021
The Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) arrived at the restaurant at about 8:35 p.m., five minutes after the protesters arrived, the Courier Journal reported. La Chasse restaurant is about five miles northeast of Churchill Downs, according to TheBlaze.
LMPD said to Daily Caller that they received a call from a restaurant employee about a group of protesters. The employee also told police “that multiple armed protesters entered the … outdoor dining space. During the encounter both patrons and protesters brandished firearms.”
About 20 minutes prior to the confrontation at La Chasse, police officers arrested at least three protesters for refusing to leave the roadway, Courier Journal reported.
Second Amendment sanctuary bill passes Tennessee House, heads to Lee
(The Center Square) – The Tennessee House voted Monday evening to make the state a Second Amendment sanctuary.
The House adopted Senate Bill 1335, which passed last week in the Senate. It “affirms that any law, treaty, executive order, rule, or regulation of the United States government” that violates the Second Amendment is unenforceable.
That violation would have to be determined by either the Tennessee or U.S. Supreme Court. Any official that would then attempt to enforce the unconstitutional law would then be subject to ouster.
The bill now will head to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk.
TOPEKA (KSNT) – The Kansas House voted to override Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of a gun bill, HB 2058 Monday morning. The proposal would allow 18 to 20-year-olds to conceal carry, which isn’t currently allowed.
The bill now heads to the Senate. It previously passed there 30 to 8, and is expected to have enough votes to pass.
The bill needs two thirds vote of each chamber to override a governor’s veto. It passed with the bare minimum in the House 84 to 39.
The bill started off with allowing conceal carry reciprocity with other states, meaning that residents from other states can conceal carry in Kansas if they have a license.
Where much of the controversy lies is allowing 18 to 20-year-olds to get a license in order to conceal carry. Currently anyone 21 years and older can conceal carry, and they don’t need a license.
Supporters of the bill question why the governor struck it down.
“In her message indicated that she has always supported the second amendment, well, I find that hard to believe sometimes,” said Abilene Representative John Barker, who carried the bill on the floor.
Opponents argue that lowering the age to conceal carry is dangerous.
“It’s not a bad bill. There’s some good parts to the bill, the part that we had problems with on our side was the 20, 19, and 18-year-olds carrying firearms,. Even though they’re trained, the maturity level of the brain lacks,” said Kansas City Representative Louis Ruiz.
The bill now heads to the Senate, where it needs at least 27 votes for the legislature to override it.
Not a record for the year, but still a new record for April.
The Unser family is legendary in Indy racing. Brother Al Unser Jr. won the Indy 500 twice and patriarch Al Unser Sr. won it 4 times.
Three-time Indy 500 winner Bobby Unser dies at 87
Racing champion Bobby Unser died in his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico of natural causes at the age of 87. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway made the announcement on Monday.
Unser was a three-time Indianapolis 500 winner, taking victory at the iconic race in 1968, 1975 and 1981 and is part of the only pair of brothers to ever win that race. Just ten drivers have won the Indianapolis 500 three times and only two have won in three decades, Unser and Rick Mears.
Team Penske released a statement, offering condolences to his family and reflecting on his career.
BLUF:
Biden’s TV ratings are low. And it’s just the way his handlers want it. He and his vice president rarely talk to reporters, rarely hold press conferences, rarely tweet anything controversial. From a visibility perspective, it is the polar opposite of the bombastic, unfiltered Trump years.
While words matter, deeds matter much, much more. And if this stealth presidency gets its way, Biden will do more to transform this country into a far-left utopia than any other Democratic president in history.
Biden’s poor TV ratings against Trump is exactly what this administration wants
The 45th president was fairly obsessed with ratings. Given Donald Trump’s experience as a TV reality-show star, that is not terribly surprising.
Between Feb. 20, 2020, and Dec. 6, 2020, Trump tweeted 44 times about TV ratings, according to Fast Company, or four times more often than about wearing a mask during that same span.
Trump also quote-tweeted this from The New York Times on Mar. 29, 2020, a time when the country was shut down and when confusion and fear about the novel coronavirus dominated the minds of many Americans: “President Trump is a ratings hit. Since reviving the daily White House briefing Mr. Trump and his coronavirus updates have attracted an average audience of 8.5 million on cable news … .”
Understandably, this created tremendous and deserved backlash against the president at the time, as COVID-19 cases and deaths soared. But this was simply Trump’s reflexive DNA dating back to before he was president, which carried over to after he started calling the White House home, literally on Day 1. “It was the most-watched inauguration in history, period!!” White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters the day after Inauguration Day on Jan. 22, 2017, in a statement from the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room.
In April 2019, Trump focused on ratings again to attack MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, declaring: “Morning Psycho (Joe), who helped get me elected in 2016 by having me on (free) all the time, has nosedived, too Angry Dumb and Sick. A really bad show with low ratings – and will only get worse.”
You get the point. Trump saw big ratings as a sign of big love.
Truth was (and still is) that the former “Apprentice” star and real estate mogul was a modern version of the late Howard Cosell, who in a 1970s TV Guide poll was voted as simultaneously the most liked and disliked man in America. That sums up the ratings explosion during the Trump presidency, in which a rising tide (OK, a tsunami) lifted all media boats in terms of ratings and clicks, to heights we may never see again.
So, it was no surprise to see President Biden‘s ratings fall far short of Trump’s in the viewership department after he finally gave an address to a joint session of Congress. The differential was staggering: For Trump’s 2017 address to a Joint session, 48 million people tuned in. For Biden’s address, just 27 million tuned in.
For a guy who received more votes than any other presidential candidate in U.S. history, it would seem on the surface that this would be seen internally as bad news for Team Biden.
But this seems to be exactly what they want: a stealth presidency.
If Anti-Gunners Want To Know Why We Cling To Them, They Should Ask
Millions of Americans love their firearms. We like guns and that’s not likely to change anytime soon. Nor should it. After all, these are the weapons with which we keep our freedom.
However, there are a ton of people who really don’t like that. They don’t want us with firearms at all. Others are fine with you owning a firearm, they just want to place so many restrictions on them so that they’re impractical for anything but going to a gun club and popping off a few rounds.
So what happens when those who don’t like guns try to ponder why those who do like them “cling” to them? Well, you get some hilariously bad takes.
Why are we so in love with our guns?
Historically, this nation was built on violence, whether the initial settlers from England or the wagon loads of internal migrants who ventured westward seeking land and opportunity. Creating a foothold on the east coast and then expansion to the west involved the violent subjugation of the Indigenous Peoples, as well as animals like Buffalo, because they stood in the way of that process. The perspective of subjugation at any cost, i.e. manifest destiny, still resides in our nation’s psyche.
Combine that opinion of cultural superiority with Heston’s interpretation of the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution and the result is the ‘until death do we part’ attitude about gun ownership. Why is it so relentless in its effort to protect itself? Why is every piece of proposed gun control legislation met with an avalanche of criticism by those who own guns and the politicians they support?
Obviously, the gun lobby, which includes the National Rifle Association and numerous gun manufacturers and vendors, is extremely vociferous and aggressive, stating that politicians who propose smart gun laws are ‘soft on crime’. In addition, it uses news media outlets, particularly conservative ones, to raise fear that the government is attempting to take your guns away with these new laws. And, if that were to happen, you would be less safe from crime, completely unable to defend yourself and, worst of all, be vulnerable to an authoritarian government.
I love it when they place all that on the “gun lobby.”
It’s because of the NRA and other pro-gun groups, including the National Shooting Sports Foundation which they couldn’t bother to name, that you’re concerned about gun control advocates trying to take away your right to keep and bear arms.
Of course, that could have nothing at all to do with these advocates’ own words, now could it. My friend, science fiction author David Burkhead, has been keeping a record of people of note saying they want all your guns. He’s kept it fairly up to date, too.
But that doesn’t play a factor, now does it?
Yet the author of this piece thinks he understands why we hold onto our guns? He feels he understands enough about all of us to tell his readers why we “cling” to our guns.
Maybe he should have just asked.
As noted, politicians and gun control advocates have expressly acknowledged their desire to disarm us all. Around us, violent crime is spiking, even if heavily gun-controlled states. We have a government that, frankly, few of us actually trust. With all that, you think the reason we’re resistant to gun control is because the NRA tells us to be?
To quote a prominent anti-gunner, “Come on, man!”
We’ve got ample reason to resist gun control. We’ve got all those reasons and more to “cling” to our firearms, including that it’s just plain fun to go shooting. But for some people, actually talking to us and finding out why we refuse to budge is just too damn hard.
The Economist: Constitutional Carry a ‘Troubling Trend’
The Economist labelled the state-level movement toward eliminating concealed carry permit requirements as a “troubling trend.”
The result of this push is permitless carry, or constitutional carry, as it is more often called. States that go this way view the Second Amendment as a sufficient carry permit and do not require law-abiding citizens to get a permit from the state government before exercising their right to bear arms.
Twenty states have currently abolished their concealed permit requirement. Those 20 states are: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming. (NOTE: Utah’s constitutional carry law goes into effect May 5, 2021, and Tennessee’s takes effect July 1, 2021.)
Texas lawmakers are on the verge of passing constitutional carry legislation and Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has made clear he will sign the legislation if it reaches his desk.
The Economist referred to this move toward constitutional carry as a “troubling trend,” claiming:
7 REASONS WHY SHOTGUNS ARE GREAT FOR HOME DEFENSE
Shotguns – versatile, easy to operate, and powerful. They just may be the perfect home defense firearm. Some shotguns are specifically designed for home defense purposes, while others can pull double duty as a hunting gun or sporting clay gun. Further, there are plenty of affordable shotguns for home defense, making them an ideal choice for someone on a budget. You just need to pick the one that’s right for you and practical for your needs.
For instance, it’s easy to fall in love with the classic look of double-barrel shotguns, but they have some serious drawbacks. The over/under or side-by-side shotguns generally hold only two shells at a time, whereas a semiautomatic shotgun can hold upwards of six or more at a time, depending on the model and design. Double barrels can still be effective, but you need to train to overcome these limitations.
Since shotguns are also very common, you may already own one that’s just sitting in your safe waiting for hunting season, so let’s explore some reason why these guns are good for home defense.
Here are seven great reasons why shotguns are good for home defense:
DeSantis Gets Bill To Strengthen Florida Preemption Law
The state of Florida has been previously referred to as the “Gunshine State.” Despite a flurry of bad laws in the wake of Parkland, they tend to be pretty pro-gun. It doesn’t make the post-Parkland idiocy any better, mind you, but it does look like just a blip on the radar.
One of the many good laws regarding firearms on the books up that way is their preemption law.
Now, it looks like lawmakers want to make that law even better.
The Legislature has passed a bill further restricting local governments’ ability to pass gun control measures.
The bill (SB 1884) clarifies that existing preemptions on local firearm and ammunition laws also apply to unwritten rules and policies. The legislation would also make clear local governments can’t bypass court cases simply by scrapping gun laws.
Rep. Cord Byrd, a Neptune Beach Republican who has carried the issue in the House, said the Legislature needs to shore up the law because of defiant local officials. He cited multiple examples just this year of local governments passing ordinances despite preemption laws in place since 1987. It’s the same reason in 2011 that the Legislature put in penalties for local officials who vote for local ordinances regardless of state law.
“Local governments thumbed their nose at this body, thumbed their nose at this Legislature, and said we do not care,” Byrd said.
Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an Orlando Democrat, criticized Byrd directly on the bill, saying since Byrd represents gun owners who have sued local governments over such regulations, he stands to profit from this legislation.
Byrd pushed back on that, saying he wants to send a message so strong, governments stop wasting taxpayer money passing laws they have no right to consider.
“I hope I never take another preemption case again,” he said.
The bill passed the House, 78-39, which isn’t really a surprise.
CHINA’S IRREGULAR APPROACH TO WAR: THE MYTH OF A PURELY CONVENTIONAL FUTURE FIGHT
David Knoll, Kevin Pollpeter and Sam Plapinger
Since early March, up to 220 boats from China’s maritime militia have been moored near Whitsun Reef in the South China Sea. The Philippine government has asked the Chinese government to direct the ships to leave its exclusive economic zone, but Beijing has denied that the ships are part of the militia, saying they are merely “fishing boats” sheltering from sea conditions. These actions fit a recent pattern of Chinese leaders turning to irregular warfare to achieve strategic aims in the South China Sea: China sends its maritime militia to a location in the South China Sea to reinforce Chinese sovereignty claims and then ratchets up control with little involvement by conventional forces.
The actions of the maritime militia are part of a body of evidence that Beijing has embraced irregular warfare as central to its military strategy. Despite this evidence, and a first-rate Irregular Warfare Annex to the US National Defense Strategy (NDS), many in the Pentagon believe that irregular warfare is a relic of the last two decades and that future war will be conventional. Before divesting too many irregular warfare capabilities, however, national security leaders should look closely at what Chinese officials’ words and China’s military actions say about how the People’s Liberation Army might actually fight a war. In fact, leaders should examine how US plans for distributed operations might not be reducing risk, but shifting risk from conventional to irregular threats.
In a recent CNA study, we found that in a future, large-scale conflict, Chinese forces will likely employ a modern and unique irregular warfare concept, focused on information and influence, tightly integrated with conventional capabilities. A return to great power competition does not portend a shift away from irregular warfare to conventional warfare, but rather an amalgamation of the two.
The Past as Prologue: Irregular Warfare as an Integral Part of Great Power Conflicts
Just consider them demoncrap propaganda organs
New York Times, WaPo, NBC forced to retract false claims about Giuliani
The New York Times, Washington Post and NBC News all issued retractions Saturday for their coverage of Rudy Giuliani following a raid of his Manhattan apartment by the FBI.
The Times appended their correction to a story about the role Giuliani may have played in the 2019 recall of ambassador Marie L. Yovanovitch and whether he received a warning from the FBI about Russian disinformation.
“An earlier version of this article misstated whether Rudolph W. Giuliani received a formal warning from the F.B.I. about Russian disinformation. Mr. Giuliani did not receive such a so-called defensive briefing,” The Times wrote Saturday in a note attached to the piece.
The Washington Post’s correction, on a story about prominent Americans being targeted by Russian disinformation, was similar.
“An earlier version of this story, published Thursday, incorrectly reported that One America News was warned by the FBI that it was the target of a Russian influence operation,” the paper said.
“That version also said the FBI had provided a similar warning to Rudolph W. Giuliani, which he has since disputed. This version has been corrected to remove assertions that OAN and Giuliani received the warnings.”
NBC News also issued a mea culpa, claiming its reporting was based on a source but that a second source “now says the briefing was only prepared for Giuliani and not delivered to him, in part over concerns it might complicate the criminal investigation of Giuliani. As a result, the premise and headline of the article below have been changed to reflect the corrected information.”
Giuliani seized on the corrections, tweeting demands for the news organizations to reveal their sources.
“Where did the original false information come from? @MSNBC@CNN@nytimes I couldn’t quite hear your apology?” Giuilani tweeted Saturday.
He followed up with a second tweet slamming the Washington Post’s story as “defamatory.”
“The Washington Post and NYTNYT must reveal their sources who lied and targeted an American Citizen. #msnbc , #cnn forgot to mention the corrections today. #fakenews #badpeople,” he posted.
Yeah, this is ‘just an idea’
Antifa Assaults Small Child, Seattle Police During May Day Riot
Police in Seattle declared an Antifa May Day protest to be a riot after marchers reportedly assaulted cops and a small child. The rioters continued, marching into the streets committing crimes.
Antifa began a May Day demonstration in Cal Anderson Park in Seattle on Saturday evening, according to a tweet from the Seattle Police Department. The protest became violent as Antifa began throwing flares, bottles, eggs, paint, and a bag filled with an unidentified liquid.
If Biden is a centrist, why do leftists love him now?
BLUF:
Look for Biden to keep citing “crises.” He has already gotten Congress to pass $1.9 trillion in what was called “COVID relief” but what was in addition a massive social welfare program. He is now pushing another $4 trillion in spending — the numbers Biden proposes are truly astronomical and unprecedented. Why would Americans support such wild moves? Because there’s a crisis! That’s what Biden hopes he can convince the public to believe.
JOE BIDEN, CRISIS MONGER. Just last week, this newsletter noted that the Biden White House has a tendency to over-use the word “crisis.” Senior staff routinely portray President Joe Biden as facing one crisis after another. Indeed, the administration came into office declaring that the nation faced four simultaneous crises — the COVID pandemic crisis, the related economic crisis, the climate crisis, and the racial equity crisis. Declaring so many crises allowed the White House to portray Biden as a president heroically battling enormous odds, even as it tended to exaggerate the problems facing the United States.
Comment O’ The Day
“To be fair, swing sets ARE a sign of white supremacy 🙄
Their basic design dates back to the structures used to suspend slaves to be whipped in the South.
Something something systemic racism, blah blah whiteness.”
Apparently the demand for ‘White Supremacy!™’ exceeds the actual supply.
Isn’t ‘Higher Education!®’ supposed to promote critical thinking?
Earlier this week, a pair of black Penn State University professors reported a “noose” in a tree behind their house.
As reported by the PSU student newspaper Daily Collegian, the professors said the incident was “deeply distressing to them and their family.”
The Centre Daily Times notes the profs believed the “noose” was “deliberately placed [on the tree] to harass them.”
Responding to the profs’ call about “possible harassment,” Patton Township Police Department collected the “noose” and began investigating around the neighborhood.
PSU President Eric Barron sprung into action, posting a statement “expressing concern” about the incident and “offering support.”
“[T]he incident underscores the importance of our anti-racism work as a University, and as a community of scholars,” Barron wrote. “It also underscores the importance of our town-gown work to build a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for all who live here. Groups like Community & Campus in Unity that have formed the Centre Region Anti-bias Coalition are critical to helping create a climate of acceptance and support.”
Alas, according to the professors’ neighbor who was interviewed by police, the “noose” actually was part of a swing set. The neighbors’ kid told police he merely had thrown the rope “into the woods.”
Miami Imam: If You Love Jesus, Islam Is the Religion for You
Dr. Fadi Yousef Kablawi, imam at the Masjid As-Sunnah An-Nabawiyyah in north Miami, struck a blow for interfaith harmony recently when he preached a sermon in which declared: “If you truly love Jesus, this [Islam] is the religion for you.” Kablawi’s sermon was an excellent illustration of why Muslim persecution of Christians continues unabated in Nigeria and elsewhere.
After declaring that Palestine is “the land of Islam – and we will take it back,” Kablawi began a lengthy expatiation on Islamic martyrdom. “Every true Muslim,” Kablawi asserted, “should talk to himself about dying as a martyr for the sake of Allah. The Prophet said whoever does not do that is a hypocrite. Can you imagine? There is nothing higher than to die for what you believe.”
Kablawi then struck the victimhood pose that is so very much in fashion nowadays among Islamic advocacy groups in the U.S.: “But they make people heroes because they die for what they believe. Only when it comes to Islam, our martyrs become terrorists. They come to talk to you about Nelson Mandela. Nelson Mandela didn’t die for that, but he fought his whole life, and he was imprisoned for years for his cause, for whatever he believed in… Even thought I have some reservations about what he believed… Gandhi, same story, [was considered] a hero because he died for what he believed in. The guy from Mexico [sic], Guevara, [Che] Guevara, or whatever, a big guy. Even Bob Marley died for his… You know what? [He is] a hero. Why do you praise these people? Because they died for what they believe in. So why is it forbidden for us, when we say that the greatest level that you can attain is to die for what you believe in – for Allah? Why? You have double standards, hypocrites, why?”
The biggest example of this hypocrisy, as far as Kablawi was concerned, was Christians’ reverence for Jesus: “All day long you are bugging us that Jesus died for us… We don’t believe that Jesus died for us, we don’t even believe that Jesus died, period. Yet. But here, you are praising Jesus because he died for what he believed in, to save you from your sins. Why is it forbidden for us to die for our belief, why has it become a big deal?”
Well, one reason is because Jesus didn’t take anyone with him. By contrast, the Qur’an states: “Surely Allah has purchased of the believers their lives and their belongings and in return has promised that they shall have Paradise. They fight in the way of Allah, and kill and are killed” (9:111).