In the run-up to the [Paris climate] conference, there is a growing call — first articulated clearly at this year’s summit of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations — to phase out fossil fuels. The US and others have also vowed to vote against fossil fuel energy projects in developing countries when multilateral development banks are voting on them. Meanwhile, the US produces at least 35% more coal than India.
For India — a country struggling to provide basic electricity to about 25% of the population, according to conservative estimates — this smacks of a “carbon imperialism.” And such imperialism on the part of advanced nations could spell disaster for India and other developing countries.
2. Who’d a-Thunk It? Government Waste and Inefficiency? DC’s dysfunctional 2.2 mile streetcar transit project has cost the city US taxpayers $200 million, is nine years late, and still isn’t operating. Source: Washington Post
3. NFL Position Apartheid? A sports institute at the University of Central Florida recently evaluated the NFL for the race of its players in a report titled “2015 Racial and Gender Report Card: National Football League.” The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) determined that the NFL deserved a letter grade of A+ for the Racial Composition of Its Players. Reason? Because 71.4% of NFL players are non-white, mostly black players at 68.7% (compared to 13% of the US population) and only 28.6% of NFL players are white (compared to 62% of the US population). And yet if TIDES extended their racial head-counting and evaluated the NFL by players’ positions, it would have to assign some letter grades of F, at least for the following positions (based on 2015 ESPN data):
Quarterbacks: 83% White, 17% Black
Kickers: 100% White
Punters: 97% White, 3% Black
On the other hand, using TIDES apparent grading criteria that “only black players matter,” the NFL would certainly maintain its letter grade of A+ for this position:
Defensive Backs: 92% Black, 8% White.
According to a more thorough application of the TIDES grading methodology that evaluate each position by race, the NFL really shouldn’t get a letter grade of A+ until it ends its current practice of racial apartheid for the positions of QB, kicker and punter! I’m just joking of course, but I just can resist continuing to make fun of the TIDES racial report cards that really can’t be taken seriously!
4. Markets in Everything: Seiko Epson next year will introduce the world’s first in-office paper recycler that can recycle used paper into new white sheets without using water.
5. Seattle’s “Economic Death Wish” Accelerates on January 1. The Capitol Hill Seattle Blog deliver the bad news:
Minimum wage earners in Seattle are getting another raise to kick off the new year. Starting on January 1, minimum wage workers at companies with more than 500 employees, which includes most fast food workers, will get a an 18% bump in pay from $11 to $13 an hour. Small business employees will have a $12 guaranteed minimum, an increase of $1, and those that are tipped will get a $.50 base-pay raise bringing their minimum hourly wage to $10.50.
2016’s scheduled increase is a big ramp up for Seattle’s phased-in $15 an hour ordinance, which was passed in 2014. The law went into effect this April, bringing all minimum wages to $11 an hour except for tipped workers, who went to $10 an hour.
6. Quotation of the Day, is from Hilary Benn, the UK Labor Party’s foreign secretary, speaking on ISIS before the British House of Commons on December 2 to support airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria:
And we are here faced by fascists. Not just their calculated brutality, but their belief that they are superior to every single one of us in this chamber tonight, and all of the people that we represent. They hold us in contempt. They hold our values in contempt. They hold our belief in tolerance and decency in contempt. They hold our democracy, the means by which we will make our decision tonight, in contempt. And what we know about fascists is that they need to be defeated. And it is why, as we have heard tonight, socialists and trade unionists and others joined the International Brigade in the 1930s to fight against Franco. It’s why this entire House stood up against Hitler and Mussolini. It is why our party has always stood up against the denial of human rights and for justice. And my view, Mr. Speaker, is that we must now confront this evil.
7. Venezuelans Have Had Enough of Socialism, and voted overwhelmingly for the opposition party in the recent national election. and thereby rejected the socialist system created by the late leader Hugo Chávez 16 years ago. Maybe waiting in line for three hours or more to buy basics like food and toilet paper over the last several years has a way of focusing attention on the flaws of socialism and central planning while waiting?
8. Speaking of Socialism, What Will the Left Wing, Ivy League Leftist Professors Say About This? Columbia University president Lee Bollinger was paid $4.6 million in 2013 as the highest-paid college president in the country. Those kinds of outrageously high university administrator salaries must contribute to increasing income inequality, not?
9. Have You Seen More Dogs on Your Flights Lately? I have (3 on my most recent flight) and here’s why: People are faking disabilities to fly with their pets (“emotional support animals”).
10. The New Leftist Tolerance of All Religions and All Religious Holidays Except Christianity and Christmas. From the University of Tennessee’s Office for Diversity and Inclusion (“Best Practices for Inclusive Holiday Celebrations in the Workplace“):
- Ensure your holiday party is not a Christmas party in disguise.
- Holiday parties and celebrations should not play games with religious and cultural themes–for example, “Secret Santa.” If you want to exchange gifts, then refer to it in a general way, such as a practical joke gift exchange or secret gift exchange.
- Décor selection should be general, not specific to any religion or culture.
- Refreshment selection should be general, not specific to any religion or culture.
Reminder: December 25, Christmas, is an official federal holiday, which is why most organizations and universities are having “holiday parties” in the next couple weeks.
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