New York Senator Proposes Bill Allowing Residents To Sue Oil Companies For "Climate Negligence"

 

Democratic New York state Senator Zellnor Myrie recently proposed legislation that, if passed, would allow Empire State residents to file lawsuits against oil companies accused of "climate negligence," according to the New York Post. Myrie’s proposal currently awaits review by the Senate Rules Committee.

Myrie bizarrely claimed that he modeled his proposed bill after Texas’ heartbeat law, which bans abortion after six weeks' gestation, though he referred to the Texas law as "odious" and "dangerous.” Nonetheless, he argued that private citizens should be able to bring legal action against oil and gas companies for damages related to fossil fuels.

That the two have absolutely nothing in common in no deterred him. He told the State of Politics, "If legislators can use private rights of action to cause harm and restrict access to healthcare, we should also be able to use this concept to save our planet and protect our lives.” Huh?!

He added, “My message to the fossil fuel industry is simple: You will be held accountable for the damage you cause to New York's environment. I look forward to advancing this critical legislation."

This perfectly encapsulates the literal insanity of Democrats’ “thinking.” It is illogical, the opposite of reality, and steeped in bitterness and entitlement rather than gratitude and wonder. It is also disdainful of truth-- and God.

And, of course, it is wildly hypocritical. Senator Myrie would never give up everything that fossil fuels/abundant, inexpensive energy have bequeathed him. He isn’t going to neglect to heat his home in the winter or use the air conditioning in the summer. He isn’t going to pledge to give up using all petroleum-related products. He isn’t going to give up traveling by air. He isn’t going to refuse to be driven around in limos or SUVs. And he sure as hell isn’t going to pledge to travel only on foot or by bicycle. So, what gives?

Myrie is a parasite, living off of taxpayers’ largess. (And, likely lobbyists’, too.) He is a typical virtue-signaling moron who hasn’t ever run a business or had to try to succeed in the private sector. He is a product of America’s wildly radical higher education establishment, namely Fordham University and Cornell Law School.

Myrie, and those like him, should remember that prior to the advent of abundantly produced and therefore inexpensive fossil fuels such as oil and its attendant gasoline and petroleum products, life was hard, dark-- and short-- for most of the world’s citizens.

Thankfully, there are still some folks around that were alive during World War II. And most of us were alive during at least the latter part of the Cold War. Would it have been better for the world if the West had banned oil extraction and use prior to that time? Would it have been better for “the climate” or “the planet” if the Third Reich or the Soviet Union had prevailed?

If there was “justice,” in this world-- “climate,” “social,” or otherwise-- lawsuits could be filed against those who purport to be “public servants” but who are really working against the public’s interest and solely for their own.

Imagine if the anti-fossil fuel, anti-oil, and anti-capitalism campaigns had been successful many decades ago.

Can you say “reparations?” Those responsible for preventing the greatly enhanced prosperity, longevity, freedom, leisure time, happiness, survival—progress-- of hundreds of millions should have been made to pay reparations to everyone else.

When my dad was alive, he used to shake his head when someone bitched and moaned about a minor car problem. He would say, “In truth, we should all fall on our knees and thank the Lord that our vehicles, composed of thousands upon thousands of interlocking and complimentary parts sourced from various places, almost always start, get us quickly to where we want to go, and do so efficiently, safely and in almost any weather.”

My dad was not a Democrat.

On a personal level, bitterness and entitlement are not a recipe for happiness or success. On a macro level, it will destroy a nation.

Gratitude and wonder, on the other hand, serve both the individual and the nation well.

 

 

 

Stanford Language Guide Cautions Against Using "Americans"

 

As part of its “Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative,” or EHLI, Stanford University recently published a 13-page language guide which suggests alternative words and phrases for those it deems offensive and triggering. One word the guide says should never be used is “Americans”-- because the term “often refers to people from the United States only, thereby insinuating that the US is the most important country in the Americas (which is actually made up of 42 countries.)” We sure as hell wouldn’t want to somehow “insinuate” that the United States is in any way more important or notable than, say, Aruba, Grenada, or Suriname.

But “American” is just one of dozens of words and phrases Stanford’s EHLI language guide warns us against employing. (We are to say “U.S. citizen” instead.) To wit:

 

We are to say “nervous” instead of “basket case,” “anonymous review” in place of “blind review,” and “wild” or “surprising” instead of “crazy” or “insane.” Wow, that’s, um…surprising!

 

We are not to say a person is “mentally ill,” but are encouraged to say the person is “living with a mental health ‘condition.’” Similarly, we are cautioned against saying “disabled person” and are urged to say “person with a disability” instead. I’m not sure that’s any different. In fact, the latter could be the definition of the former. It’s really a distinction without a difference.

“Abort,” too, is verboten. “Cancel” or “end” are recommended alternatives. Ah, I see. “Late-term cancellation” sounds like one’s flight was scrubbed at the last minute, not like one decided to kill their baby late in a pregnancy.

“Tribe” is apparently also problematic and should be replaced by “friends,” “network,” or “support system.” Really? Do Native Americans—oops!-- Native U.S. citizens prefer being called “networks?” The Cherokee or Sioux “support system” just doesn’t sound right. Incredibly, “brave” is not to be used, either, as the guide says, “this term perpetuates the stereotype of the ‘noble courageous savage,’ equating the Indigenous male as being less than a man.” No one thinks this. Everyone equates brave with noble and courageous, no one with “savage” or being “less than a man.”

“OCD” (obsessive-compulsive disorder) is acronym non-grata. We are to use “detail oriented” in its place. So, if someone washes their hands 742 times a day, refuses to step on a crack in a sidewalk, and continually rearranges their sock drawer by color, thickness, and length, we are simply to say they are “detail oriented?”

“Gentlemen” is to be permanently placed atop the ash-heap of verbal history, too. The EHLI guide suggests using “everyone” in its place. But is “everyone” a logical, viable substitute for “gentlemen?” Even in today’s Era of Ambiguous Genders? Does “Everyone prefer Blondes?” Probably not. Is it even okay to say “blonde” anymore? Or should we say “color-challenged?”

Remarkably, Stanford’s Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative guide states that we shouldn’t use the term “Karen,” either, suggesting instead the phrase “demanding or entitled white woman.” I took its advice. My next-door neighbor’s name is Karen. Yesterday I greeted her, when we were both getting our mail, by saying, “Hi demanding or entitled white woman.” She gave me a funny look and went into her house without replying.

At the bottom of Stanford’s EHLI language guide are the following two remarkable codicils:

“*We understand that it may not be possible to eliminate all harmful language on our sites and in our code due to costs, resources, or other reasons. ‘Eliminate’ is a goal to strive for even if it can’t be achieved.”

“**How a person wishes to be addressed or identified supersedes any of our suggested alternatives for potentially harmful terms. If you are unsure in a given situation, ask the person with whom you are interacting.”

Actually, it is possible to eliminate all potentially “harmful” language, though there is only one way to do so: eliminate language. Period. Seems like a fair trade-off, right? What would be the downside?

And, in closing, let me just say that I would like to be addressed as a “toxically-masculine, cis-gendered, heterosexual, American gentleman.”

 

The United States Is Rapidly Becoming A Secular Nation

 

While most Americans still celebrate Christmas as a cultural holiday, ironically, more and more are doing so in an entirely secular manner. In fact, by all accounts, there has been a shocking rise in the number of people ditching Christianity, people sociologists apparently call “nonverts.”

So much so, the Pew Research Center now estimates that Christians will be a minority in America by 2070 if current trends continue. And that will be the end of America, as it was founded on natural law, Biblical values, and the Judeo-Christian work ethic, the very reasons it was the most successful nation in history.

Stephen Bullivant, a practicing Catholic who teaches at St. Mary’s University in London and the University of Notre Dame in Sydney, recently spoke to Grid News as to why Americans are leaving Christianity in droves. (Bullivant’s new book, “Nonverts: The Making of Ex-Christian America,” was released in the U.S. on December 1^st.) He said that a kind of “cultural whiplash”-- from religion to secularism-- has taken place in the United States much faster than it has in other parts of the world.

Bullivant noted that this will be difficult to reverse, as the largest demographic of nonverts are younger adults, who are overwhelmingly likely to raise their children as “nones” — people from nonreligious families. Only a tiny percentage of nonverts ever return to religion, nor do a significant percentage of “nones” embrace religion at any point in their lives.

By 2021, 42 percent of young adults (compared with 29 percent of all adults) weren't religiously affiliated, a figure that has increased dramatically just since the early 2000s. This is sad. And problematic.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around the country. Snow, lights, and decorated trees with gifts under them abound. Tunes such as “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” are in the air.

Might it not be better if more of us were singing “O Holy Night?”

And falling on our knees.

In any case, Merry Christmas.

And may God bless us, everyone.

 

Teachers Trying To "Protect" Students From Christian Symbols

 

Incredibly-- and illogically-- the self-same teachers who push Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the classroom and who revel in discussing every conceivable sexual orientation and practice with young students are absolutely determined to keep their charges from being exposed to any Christian symbols during the Christmas season. In fact, they don’t want you to even say the word “Christmas.”

The blog We Are Teachers recently reposted a 2018 Facebook article titled “Holiday Decorations Don’t Belong in Classrooms—Period.” So, it’s okay to adorn one’s classroom with a LGBTQ and/or BLM flag, but not with Christmas decorations? Yup. Why? The article cited a number of reasons, including the fact that “Not everyone celebrates Christmas.” Well, not everyone celebrates gay pride or the burning and looting of American cities, either, but that doesn’t seem to matter to these insane “educators.” Another reason listed was, “The holidays are difficult for a lot of kids.” Yeah, and being forced by adults to talk about their nascent sexuality, much of which they don’t yet understand, is difficult for a lot of kids.

 

Then there was, “If you’re really concerned about bringing some holiday cheer, there are more meaningful ways to do it.” Yeah, like maybe dressing up in “pup play” gear or urging your peers to attend a “family friendly” drag-queen show.

 

And, of course, there was mention of the Constitution. Because, you know, the founders meant to inhibit the practice of Christianity in America while protecting the absolute, inviolate, God-given right of teachers to discuss polyamory and anal sex with their 11-year-old elementary school students.

 

And now a British university’s “inclusive language guidance” document recommends using the phrase “winter closure period” in place of “Christmas closure period” because the latter is … “too Christian-centric.” Yes, “Christmas” would necessarily be kind of “Christian-centric” due to Christ’s central role in the religion.

 

It is ironic and amusing that the We Are Teachers blog actually states, “don’t say Christmas,” unlike Florida’s alleged “Don’t say gay” bill which never used/mentioned the word “gay.”

According to the Daily Mail, the Brighton University language guide, developed by staff and students, “is part of [a] shared commitment to making Brighton a place where everyone feels respected and valued.”

 

Except for Christians, obviously.

 

 

Educator Beclowns Herself, Sun Rises In The East

 

A Chicago-area high school “literacy coach” recently recorded a video of herself in which she admits to “indoctrinating” the students in her charge, while simultaneously mocking “right-wing conspiracy theorist nut jobs” for believing that teachers are indoctrinating the students in their charge.

In her video, Crete-Monee High’s Heather Marie Godbout, a member of the school’s Equity Team, also notes she is opposed to traditional grading policies — because grades get “conflated with other things that aren’t actually learning, like effort or ‘work ethic,’ whatever that means.”

 

It is sadly not surprising that a member of a school’s “Equity Team” purports to be unfamiliar with the concept of “work ethic.”

 

Godbout, who sports purple hair, stated: “All you right wing conspiracy theory nut jobs who seem to think the teachers are out here just indoctrinating children into some sort of woke agenda that you can’t actually define, I’m just going to come clean. I am, in fact, indoctrinating your children.” She then went on to essentially claim that she was just trying to properly educate her students, presumably so they don’t grow up to be what she considers “right wing conspiracy theory nut jobs.”

 

40% Of Students At Liberal Arts Colleges Now Identify As LGBTQ, Study Finds

 

According to a recently released report by the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology, a center-right think tank that researches partisanship in academic and scientific fields, almost 40 percent of students at liberal arts colleges identify as LGBTQ.

The report, titled “Diverse and Divided: A Political Demography of American Elite Students,” stated: “Liberal arts colleges are the least politically diverse. Many have almost no conservatives, and thus very low viewpoint diversity. But they have high sexual diversity, at nearly 40 percent LGBT.”

 

The data used to compile the report show that overall 23 percent of U.S. college students identify as LGBTQ, a percentage similar to that of a February 2022 Gallup poll which found that 20.8 percent of Generation Z identified as LGBT. (Perhaps the other 2.2% were “Q”s.)

 

Unsurprisingly, the report found that those who identify as ‘very liberal’ are substantially more likely to say they are LGBT and that white, left-wing activists are extremely likely to do so.

The report linked the trend of higher LGBTQ student populations at liberal arts colleges to their majority female demographics. It also noted that, at three of the 159 campuses surveyed, a majority of students identified as LGBTQ. This was true of 51 percent of students at Oberlin, 61 percent at Wellesley, and an incredible 70 percent at Smith College. The latter two are women-only schools.

These results illustrate the continuing rapid rise in the number of young people identifying as something other than heterosexual. (Apparently, anything other than boring old heterosexual! Mind-boggling.) “Just” 38 percent of Wellesley’s young scholars identified as LGBTQ in 2016, so that bastion of higher education has experienced a 23 percent increase in non-heterosexuals in under six years. At this rate, a decade from now you won’t be able to find a single non-LGBTQ student on campus. Celebrate diversity!

Why did God bother to make us male and female? (“Male and female He created them.”) It appears fewer and fewer people wish to mate with and/or spend their lives with members of the opposite sex, though a rapidly growing number of folks want to be a member of the opposite sex. This is surpassingly strange and could only have happened with the concurrent collapse of Christianity and the ascent of “higher education.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABC Host Blames Republicans For Border Crossings

 

ABC host Martha Raddatz exhibited world-class asininity recently when interviewing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) about the state of the U.S.’s southern border. Raddatz said, “You talk about the border wall, you talk about open borders, I don't think I've ever heard President Biden say, we have an open border come on over.” Duh.

She added, “But people I have heard say it are you, are former President Trump, Ron DeSantis, that message reverberates in Mexico and beyond. So they do get the message that it is an open border and smugglers use all those kinds of statements.” No, smugglers use the open borders that President Biden refuses to fortify—or visit.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard President Biden say inflation is through the roof, the economy sucks, and crime is rampant either, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t so. Of course, Biden isn’t going to bring up things that are—or by all rights should be—extremely embarrassing to him. Just as obviously, his political opponents will—and should. Especially when they’re trying to save the country.

 If Raddatz possessed the IQ of a radish she would know this. If she was an objective reporter, she would admit it. Instead, she tried to blame the rush of illegal immigrants, and the concomitant rampant drug and human trafficking, on those trying to solve the problem Biden has created.

The mainstream media takes ass-hattery to a new level seemingly every day.

 

Lesbian To Be Imprisoned For Saying Men Can't Be Lesbians?

 

How could any sane person prepare themselves for such a time as this?

Tonje Gjevjon, a Norwegian artist and lesbian, was recently informed that she was being investigated by the police for engaging in “hate speech” because of a Facebook post she made stating that men can’t be lesbians. Gjevjon could spend up to three years in prison for stating an obvious, immutable truth.

Gjevjon wrote, “It’s just as impossible for men to become lesbian as it is for men to become pregnant. Men are men regardless of their sexual fetishes.”

Daring to question or criticize the trans community will get a person promptly and virulently attacked by trans activists, a particularly aggressive and noxious group. This seems especially true if you are a plain old, traditional, garden-variety lesbian.

Gjevjon says she posted her Facebook message with the deliberate intention of shining a light on Norway’s hate speech law, which was amended in 2020 to essentially make criticizing people who identify as transgender illegal.

In 2021, Gjevjon told Anette Trettebergstuen, a Labour Party politician, “I believe it is absolutely necessary to place biological sex as the basis in all contexts where sex has legal, cultural, or practical relevance, and that equating sex with gender identity has harmful, discriminatory consequences for women and girls – especially lesbians.”

She then asked Trettebergstuen, “Will the Equality Minister take action to ensure that lesbian women’s human rights are safeguarded, by making it clear that there are no lesbians with penises, that males cannot be lesbians regardless of their gender identity, and by tidying up the mess of the harmful gender policies left behind by the previous government?”

Trettebergstuen replied, “I do not share an understanding of reality where the only two biological sexes are to be understood as sex. Gender identity is also important.” Say what? Trettebergstuen does not share an understanding of reality. That much is true.

The courageous Gjevjon also wrote in Klassekampen, a Norwegian daily newspaper: “I have stated that women are female, that lesbians do not have penises, that children should not be responsible for decisions they do not have the capacity to understand the scope of, and that no-platforming is harmful to democracy. For these opinions I have been canceled several times.” She says she has been pushed out of the art community for her views, adding, “I was not prepared for the extent of how queer organizations, politicians and activists would demonize a lesbian artist who was not in step.”

She should have been.

The concept of “woman” has been put through the ringer, pushed, prodded, and brutalized in recent years. To everyone’s shame. In fact the term has, literally, been redefined.

When a society reaches a point that it can’t even agree on inarguable physical facts, it is near the point of no return. If we can’t agree that males have penises and can’t get pregnant, or that elephants are large mammals with tusks and a trunk, on what are we going to be able to agree?

If we all must play along with ridiculous banalities like, “sex is something that is just arbitrarily assigned at birth,” we might as well just pack it in now. It is not arbitrary. And God does the “assigning.”

Where once we sought truth, we now seek only what makes us feel better about ourselves in the short term.

Progressives defining characteristic is that they don’t believe in definitions.

Men and women are indefinable, just like everything else. In fact, women can be men, and men can be women.

Chaos will reign.

What a drag.

 

 

 

A Trade So Bad It Defies Description

 

The Biden administration blew another one.

Russia got Biden to hand over Viktor "the Merchant of Death" Bout for WNBA star Brittney Griner. One-for-one. This was the worst trade since the New York Yankees obtained Babe Ruth, the greatest baseball player of all time, from the Boston Red Sox for $100,000 dollars and a $300,000 loan to finance the musical comedy No, No, Nanette. No, no kidding. (Lead by Ruth, the Yankees would go on to win an incredible seven pennants in the next 15 seasons.)

This forced White House adviser John Kirby to attempt to deflect criticism of the deal. Especially since it left Paul Whelan, an ex-marine, to rot in a Russian penal colony over a bogus espionage conviction.

Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Kirby remarked: "Mr. Bout wasn't serving a life sentence. He was going to get out in 2029. So, at some point in the not-too-distant future, he would have been a free man.”

Kirby added of Bout, "Nobody over at the White House is doing backflips of joy that he is walking the streets. But this was the deal we could get. Now was the moment we could get it."

Maybe not. Russian media mocked the Biden administration mercilessly for the deal, amused that it was okay with leaving Whelan locked up if it meant securing the release of Griner, a “lesbian of color.”

Kirby’s preposterously lame excuse that The Merchant of Death was going to be released “at some point in the not-too-distant future,” boggles the mind and beggars description. The arms dealer/weapons smuggler was going to get out in only about seven years, anyway?!

Why not let all convicted criminals out of prison right now if they haven’t been given the death penalty or life in prison? I mean, they’re going to get out at some point, anyway, right?

For that matter, why make a hockey player serve say, two, five, or 10 minutes in the penalty box if he’s going to eventually get out anyway? What’s the point?

And, you know, the coronavirus was probably going to escape the Wuhan lab at some point in the future anyway, so……

 

 

 

 

 

Atlas Mugged

 

The headlong rush  by Western nations to not only abandon fossil fuels but punish those involved in extracting and producing them is not only foolish but suicidal. There is simply no way to quickly transition from abundant and inexpensive energy to solar, wind and electric without causing massive disruption and pain for the vast majority of non-elites.

Combine this insane energy policy with the elites’ simultaneous threat to shut down thousands of farms if they don’t adhere to draconian measures to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and you have a recipe for privation, and-- at least eventually-- for great fear, anger and chaos.

And this at a time of severe economic uncertainty and supply chain issues. For no legitimate reason, the West is determined to transition from a time of wealth and plenty to one of probable privation and famine. Stunning.

The rulers of Western nations appear crazily determined to do everything in their power—or even outside of their constitutionally permitted powers—to destroy the very nations they lead. Canada’s Justin Trudeau brazenly and vilely violated the rights of thousands of Canadian truckers who were peacefully protesting the apprentice tyrants’ suffocating and endless COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions earlier this year. He not only sicced the police on them, but pressured banks to freeze their accounts and insurance companies to cancel their policies. And Trudeau now says he expects police to snuff out another potential protest before it can occur. Is it ethical—or prudent—to so treat those responsible for delivering materials and goods to every corner of your vast and remote nation?

But wait, there’s more, as late-night infomercials often say. Our leaders and influencers are not content with simply depriving we “deplorables” of the energy, products, and food on which we depend. Heavens no. Many are all in on our intellectual, cultural and spiritual destruction as well.

By not pushing back on—or even embracing—the agendas of radical far-left provocateurs who openly wish to abolish the family and eviscerate all standards, they further reveal themselves as what they are.

Incredibly, there is an ongoing and all-out assault on competence, decency, discipline, achievement, communication skills, reason…and morality…all of which have been branded tools or vestiges of white supremacy. How could anything be more racist than that?! Moreover, the Judeo-Christian work ethic has also been effectively mocked and dispensed with, as have traditional biblical values. (In fact, some parts of the Bible are now considered “hate speech” by The Left.)

All of this has led us, inevitably and inexorably, to the place we find ourselves now.

Young people, as a rule, don’t want to work with their hands, get dirty, experience physical exhaustion, or risk the possibility of injury. Many have been indoctrinated to disdain achievers. The construction, extraction and transportation trades may well be on their last breath.

Testosterone rates are falling almost as fast as sperm counts. Excellence is considered evil, and evil considered by some to be excellent.

Those who have for so long held up the planet-- striving, innovating, producing, and excelling…are now being chastised and demonized.

This cannot end well.

What will happen when we replace 10,000 miners with 10,000 Gender Studies majors and 10,000 farmers with 10,000 Antifa recruits? Will we be better off?

As Mark Steyn once noted, America was built by those with an 8^th-grade education, and, like the rest of the West, is being summarily destroyed by those with an 18th-grade “education.” The one-room prairie schoolhouse of days of yore tended to produce far greater citizens than do the colleges and universities in America today. To the extent that there is true innovation today, it is largely computer-driven, and/or involves computers, artificial intelligence, social media, or video games. There are no more Franklins or Edisons, though Elon Musk comes close.

This assault on freedom, innovation, competence and achievement can ultimately have only one result: total societal collapse.

Ayn Rand was right.