The question now emerging for climate scientists and policymakers alike is very simple. Just how long does a pause have to be before the thesis that the world is getting hotter because of human activity starts to collapse?

Full story here, complete with data.

It’s interesting how everyone is so quick to condem the behavior of wikileaks, yet everyone is so happy to jump upon the information they leaked.

“You’re so naughty… but thank you, this is good stuff.”

😕

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano hinted this week that the body scanners and “enhanced” pat-downs that have caused a ruckus at airports across the country could be coming to a train station, port or subway near you.

Full story.

Where do you draw the line?

“I think the tighter we get on aviation, we have to also be thinking now about going on to mass transit or to trains or maritime,” she said. “So what do we need to be doing to strengthen our protections there?”

Where do you draw the line?

If they could attack here, they could attack here. You tighten up there, it now means here is looser. And it just keeps going and going and going….

Are we going to have to install scanners to enter and exit our homes? I know that sounds silly, but that’s the path we’re on. Consider that 20 years ago we never would have thought we’d be where we are now, so truly… how silly does it sound?

 

Napolitano has defended the screening procedures and criticized the protests.

“I really want to say, look, let’s be realistic and use our common sense,” she said last week, explaining that the screening technology has been in development since before the failed Christmas Day bombing attack last year.

“This is not about the government itself,” she said. “We all have a role to play in security.”

“And so I really regret some groups saying, ‘Well, we don’t want to be a part of that,'” she added. “I regret it because it’s not what we’re all about. What we’re all about is shared responsibility.”

 

 

OK then. Is that how it is?

Then let me carry my gun into the cabin of the plane.

Then work to repeal laws restricting where I can carry my gun, such as government offices, schools, sporting events, universities.

If you really want security, then work towards the ends that actually can achieve it… not this silly knees bent running about advancing encroaching behavior.

So tell us, Napolitano… where do you draw the line? What is too far for you?

 

That’s right.

If scanning and groping is good for the rest of us, it ought to be good enough for the ChOsen One.

Come on, Barry. Let Sasha and Malia get felt up by TSA agents. Let Michelle get groped by the TSA. Prove to the rest of the world that it’s acceptable. Make a media event out of it.

But folks, don’t hold your breath. The Big O didn’t get his kids vaccinated against swine flu while he told us plebeians that we must do so. Don’t expect him to subject his family to the same indignity. You know… what’s good for the goose, well fuck you peons.

So the TSA has given into pressure from pilot groups and won’t subject pilots to the same dehumanization as the rest of the citizenry.

“Pilots are trusted partners who ensure the safety of millions of passengers flying every day,” said TSA Administrator John Pistole. He said putting pilots through a faster screening process would be a more efficient use of the agency’s resources.
[…]
Pilots have complained about possible health effects from radiation emitted by full-body scanners that produce a virtually naked image, and they said that pat-downs by security inspectors were demeaning. Passengers have lodged similar complaints, but the government is not changing the screening requirements for air travelers.

So what they’re saying is the citizenry is not to be trusted.

I really want to know. Who is the government serving here? They are supposed to bow to the will of the people, and it’s obvious what the will of the people want. They are not serving the citizenry.

Someone has become too big for their britches and needs to be put back in their place.

If you’ve been watching the news, a big topic lately has been gay teens committing suicide due to being bullied. Or even recently one teenager killed himself because he was bullied over being perceived as gay tho he was only emo.

A school in Chicago has an “Ally Week” to try to raise awareness and help combat the issue. A few students wear “Straight Pride” t-shirts to school and some people had a problem with it:

“It was honestly just really upsetting to me that someone would try to bring that into school,” said Joe Adamczyk, a senior who is a member of the Gay-Straight Alliance. “I thought society was sort of beyond this, but it feels like we’re kind of regressing.”

It’s honestly just really upsetting to me that you can’t understand  some people would have an opinion different from yours. But it’s not surprising to me that you’re not tolerant of it. You want people to be tolerant of you, it starts by you first being tolerant of them.

 

Deans met with the students, and after establishing that there was no threat of physical harm to others, asked the students to cross out a portion of the Biblical passage with permanent marker.

When two different students came to school the next day wearing homemade “Straight Pride” shirts — without the Biblical passage — administrators asked them to cover up with sweatshirts.

Students in both cases agreed, [Jim Blaney, director of school and community relations for St. Charles Unit District 303] said, adding that the incident was delicate because the shirts’ messages were phrased as a viewpoint, touching on students’ First Amendment rights.

“What we are trying to do is help students learn that while they have a right to advocate a cause and they certainly have a right to free speech, at the same time, they also have to understand that … people might perceive their message is offensive,” he said.

 

 

So removing the Bibical passage… OK, public school, separation of church and state, that’s fine (maybe). But then next day same essential shirts but they need to cover up the shirts. Why?

Oh I see. Because the message might be offensive.

Where in your glorious First Amendment does it say you have a right to not be offended? Is 1A not about protecting unpopular speech?

Why do we have this double-standard in our society? Why is it OK to say “Gay Pride” but not “Straight Pride”? It’s the same notion, advocating the same essential thing. I reason there are people in this world that find “Gay Pride” offensive, so why aren’t they told to cover up their shirts? Why aren’t they suppressed?

It’s the same thing with something like “Black Power” vs. “White Power”. To have “Black Power” is a source of ethnic pride and solidarity. It’s OK to be proud of being black. But to have “White Power” means you’re racist, a Nazi, and nothing that you can vocally be proud of. Why not? I’m sure there are some people who find the notion of “Black Power” to be offensive, so why aren’t they allowed to say so?

I’m not offended by gays. I’m not offended by straights. I’m not offended by blacks. I’m not offended by whites. What I am offended by is inconsistency in logic and application of policy. But I suppose I’m not allowed to be offended by that since political correctness is all about inconsistent logic.