Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Thursday, August 11, 2016
Climate Models: Uncertain? Inaccurate? What’s the Difference? Why Does It Matter?
For years I have been pointing out that the super-sophisticated computer climate models on which the IPCC, national environment agencies, national academies of science, and of course the many climate-alarmist advocacy groups and journalists depend for their predictions of catastrophic anthropogenic global warming (CAGW) predict, on average, two to three times the warming actually observed over the relevant periods; failed to predict the complete lack of statistically significant global warming from about early 1997 to … whatever the end date, right up to late 2015 (after which a super-El Niño shortened the “pause” for a few months, though rapid cooling in May/June and the likelihood of a strong La Niña taking over is likely to restore the “pause” to full length and then draw it out longer); and — my focal point for this blog post — 95% predict more warming than observed, which implies that their errors are not random (in which case they’d have been about as frequently below as above, and by about the same amounts) but driven by some kind of bias (whether honest mistake or dishonest fudging) written right into the models.
Texas Gets the Best Deal It Could With DOJ on Voter ID for the Election
It looks as if Texas, the Justice Department, and all of the other parties, including the NAACP, involved in the challenge to the state’s voter ID law have worked out an interim settlement — and the district court judge approved the deal [yesterday] after a telephonic hearing Wednesday morning. That deal is probably about the best deal Texas could expect to get given the circumstances and personalities in the case. In Veasey v. Abbott, Texas (and the cause of election integrity) suffered a blow three weeks ago when the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the voter ID law violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act because it supposedly had a discriminatory effect, despite the fact that there was no evidence that the ID law had diminished turnout in Texas elections.
Trump Frenzy Proves Media Need Xanax
The mainstream media and Democrats have gone bat-crap crazy over Donald Trump. This time they’re accusing Mr. Trump of threatening to assassinate Mrs. Bill Clinton. I mean it’s full-blown, head-spinning, Linda Blair-projectile vomiting kind of crazy, folks. So first I want you to hear what Donald Trump actually said about the Second Amendment. “Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish the Second Amendment,” Trump started. “By the way, and if she gets to pick — if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although, the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don’t know.” Before Mr. Trump could say, “God bless America — thanks for coming,” the mainstream media had interrupted regular programming with the emergency broadcast system.
Feds Blast Baltimore Cops
The Justice Department [yesterday] issued a scathing report against the Baltimore Police Department (BPD). The report was initiated after last year’s riots following the death of Freddie Gray. During a press conference [Wednesday] morning, Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said, “We conclude that there is reasonable cause to believe that BPD engages in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the Constitution and federal anti-discrimination law.” Among the various finding in its 163 pages, the Department specifically accused the Baltimore police of “using enforcement strategies that produce severe and unjustified disparities in the rates of stops, searches and arrests of African Americans.”
The Motor City of Today Shouldn’t Yearn for a Horse-and-Buggy of Tomorrow
With both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton selecting the Detroit Economic Club as the venue for their “big” campaign economic speeches, the Motor City is receiving a lot of attention this election cycle. But a fixation on Detroit’s revival is evidence of a backward-looking vision and a gross misunderstanding of economic development and prosperity. During his recent speech, Trump highlighted the terrible performance of the city that “was once the economic envy of the world” and helped “power America to its position of global dominance in the 20th century.” Indeed, the city went from being the 4th largest city in the country with a population of about 2 million to being a distressed city with a little under 700,000 people today.
The First Casualty of Hillary Clinton’s Server
Exactly how damaging the classified information that was discovered on Hillary Clinton’s server is became clear this weekend, when the Iranian government executed an alleged spy. He had been mentioned in at least one email from an aide to then-Secretary of State Clinton, who called him “our friend.” The man was nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri, who was executed for allegedly passing on information to the United States. Amiri had been in and out of the news since 2009, when he first defected from Iran, eventually turning up on our shores. After a series of contradictory appearances on YouTube and in other videos in which he repeatedly changed his mind about residence in America, he returned home to be with his family.
Trump Ruins Media ‘Objectivity’?
New York Times media columnist Jim Rutenberg was granted front-page real estate in the August 8 newspaper for an essay called, “The Challenge Trump Poses to Objectivity.” As with all things revolving around this candidate, this is a Crisis demanding Deep Thinking. Rutenberg asks, “If you’re a working journalist and you believe that Donald J. Trump is a demagogue playing to the nation’s worst racist and nationalistic tendencies, that he cozies up to anti-American dictators and that he would be dangerous with control of the United States nuclear codes, how the heck are you supposed to cover him?” Answer: like a dangerous, racist demagogue.
Trump Doesn’t Threaten Obama’s Legacy — Clinton Does
It’s an article of faith that President Barack Obama needs Hillary Clinton to win to “preserve his legacy.” On the contrary, a Clinton election, essentially a third term for Barack Obama, would produce results no better — and likely worse — than that of her two-term predecessor. Obama’s legacy is already here — the worst economic recovery since 1949. The last quarter clocked in at 1.2 percent gross domestic product growth. That’s pathetic. Obama is the first president ever to preside over an economic recovery without a single year coming in at 3 percent GDP. And time has run out.
PA Pension Crisis: Now Is the Time for Action
The state of Pennsylvania, as well as many other states, faces a pension crisis. The state has not set aside enough money each year to pay the pensions it is legally obligated to pay state workers and public school employees. Because of its failure to fully fund its pension system, credit rating agencies have downgraded the state’s debt. This means the state has to pay higher interest rates whenever it borrows. Although legislation has been proposed to fix the problem, legislators have failed to act and the problem is becoming increasingly urgent. Now is the time for the PA General Assembly to take action both to substantially increase funding each year, but also to reform the pension system so that newly hired workers are not promised retirement benefits that are not fully funded during their working years.
Hillary’s Neoliberals
Many elections redefine political parties. The rise of George McGovern’s hard-left agenda in 1972, followed later in the decade by Jimmy Carter’s evangelical liberalism, drove centrist Democrats into the arms of Richard Nixon and later Ronald Reagan. These so-called neoconservatives (“new conservatives”) grew tired of liberals’ perceived laxity about fighting the Cold War. In foreign policy, the neoconservatives were best known for supporting idealistic nation-building abroad. They distrusted the rise of what would become political correctness and ever more government. They worried about violent crime and higher taxes. So decades ago, these Democrats joined the Republican Party.
Those ‘Old, Tired Ideas’
Reacting to Donald Trump’s speech Monday to the Detroit Economic Club, Hillary Clinton said her Republican opponent tried to “make his old, tired ideas sound new.” As opposed to her old, tired ideas of higher taxes on the wealthy with government as redistributor. Let’s consider some important quotes from the economic club speech. “... the most direct and significant kind of federal action aiding economic growth is to make possible an increase in private consumption and investment demand -- to cut the fetters which hold back private spending.”
Illinois Exemplifies Our Fiscal Foolishness
Seated in his office here, wearing neither a necktie nor a frown, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner is remarkably relaxed for someone at the epicenter of a crisis now in its second year and with no end in sight. But, then, stress is pointless when the situation is hopeless. Besides, if you can ignore the fact that self-government is failing in the nation’s fifth-most populous state, you can see real artistry in the self-dealing by the Democrats who, with veto-proof majorities in the state Legislature, have reduced this state they control to insolvency. Illinois’ government, says Rauner, “is run for the benefit of its employees.” Increasingly, it is run for their benefit when they retire. Pension promises, though unfunded by at least $113 billion, are one reason some government departments are not digitized at all.
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
The Post Brexit Scramble for Climate Action
Britain’s vote to leave the European Union (EU) spurred economic disruption for its government and its counterparts in Europe that will have lasting impact on their ability to honor financial and emission commitments at the Paris climate conference last year. Brexit has also caused developing countries like India to pause and re-assess their future climate action. The member states of the Paris agreement met for the first time after Brexit at the seventh Petersburg climate talks, where they were urged to ratify the agreement and make it effective before year’s end. “It is important to us to conclude the whole process before the climate conference in Marrakech,” said United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres on her last day in office.
A Pointless Anti-Nuclear Gesture
The Obama administration is entering its final months, but it’s never too late to further diminish U.S. influence and discomfit our allies. President Barack Obama is considering adopting a policy of “no first use,” i.e., declaring that the United States would never use nuclear weapons except after a nuclear attack on itself or its allies. From Obama’s perspective, this change would have the dual advantage of being something he can legitimately do on his own and representing a radical departure in the country’s nuclear doctrine.
Schools Failing Taxpayers at More Than $18,000 Per Year
In Philadelphia, where the Democratic Party held its national convention, the public schools spent a total of $18,241 per student in the 2011-2012 school year, according to the U.S. Department of Education. In Detroit, where Donald Trump gave a speech on his economic policies this week, the public schools spent a total of $18,361 per student that year. In Washington, D.C., where the federal government makes its home, it was $23,980. What did these schools produce while spending more than $18,000 per student? Not well-educated children.
Fonda & Redford: Hollywood’s New Welfare Mooches
My adopted hometown will soon be the base of operations for a new Netflix movie starring aging elitist hippies Robert Redford (estimated net worth: $170 million) and Jane Fonda (estimated net worth: $120 million). A state economic development commission unanimously voted last week to fork over $1.5 million in taxpayer-funded “incentives” for the liberal duo’s romantic flick, arguing that it will generate “great publicity.” But given the fierce opposition so many men and women in uniform in this proud military community have to Hanoi Jane Fonda, I’ll bet many of my friends and neighbors wish they could pay to keep the traitorous commie propagandist as far away from the Rockies as possible.
Athlete, Entrepreneur Claims Victimhood
Ibtihaj Muhammad, the hijab-wearing Olympic fencer, has become a national celebrity. Some commentators suggested that she should have had the honor of carrying the U.S. flag and leading our athletes during the opening ceremonies because she would show our diversity better than Michael Phelps, who is, after all, just another “white guy.” How has Ms. Muhammad responded to all the praise and attention? She said in a recent interview that she feels unsafe “all the time” in America because of growing hostility toward Islam.
Olympics, Internationalism and Individual Excellence
Gallup reports that the percentage of Americans expressing interest in the Olympic Games, which have just begun in Brazil, is way below the last four Olympics. In the previous four Olympic Games, going back to 2000, when they were held in Sydney, Australia, Americans saying they planned to watch a “great deal/fair amount” of the Games averaged almost 59 percent. In the latest survey for the Games in Rio, that dropped to 48 percent. This is consistent with the report from NBC’s Comcast, which is broadcasting the Rio Games, that only 26.5 million viewers watched the opening ceremonies, compared to 40.7 million that watched the opening ceremonies in London four years ago.
New Critics of Trump
A year ago, in August 2015, this column called “The Donald” the Democrats’ Trump card. It is hard to imagine any other Republican candidate who could rescue a thoroughly discredited Hillary Clinton from a devastating defeat in this year’s election. Now 50 prominent Republicans with foreign policy and national security experience have taken the unprecedented step of publicly and collectively announcing that they cannot vote for Donald Trump because they believe that he would be “the most reckless president in American history.”