Guardian Suggests Lockdowns Needed Every Two Years to Save Environment

Carbon dioxide emissions must fall by the equivalent of a global lockdown roughly every two years for the next decade for the world to keep within safe limits of global heating, research has shown.

Lockdowns around the world led to an unprecedented fall in emissions of about 7% in 2020, or about 2.6bn tonnes of CO2, but reductions of between 1bn and 2bn tonnes are needed every year of the next decade to have a good chance of holding temperature rises to within 1.5C or 2C of pre-industrial levels, as required by the Paris agreement.

Research published on Wednesday shows that countries were beginning to slow their rates of greenhouse gas emissions before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, but not to the levels needed to avert climate breakdown. Since lockdowns were eased in many countries last year, there have been strong signs that emissions will rise again to above 2019 levels, severely damaging the prospects of fulfilling the Paris goals. — Source

Equivalent of Covid emissions drop needed every two years – The Guardian [PDF Archive]

Disney+ removes ‘Peter Pan,’ ‘Dumbo’ from children’s profiles due to negative stereotypes

Disney+ has removed several movies from children’s profiles on its service due to negative stereotypes.

The Walt Disney Company previously showed content warnings on the films for “negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people and cultures” in October but has now removed access to the films for children under 7.

Adults can still view the movies on their Disney+ accounts with the content warnings.  Source

New York Times columnist says French skunk Pepe Le Pew ‘normalized rape culture’

Hard on the heels of the cancellation of beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss, a New York Times columnist is taking aim at Pepe le Pew.

The amorous animated skunk was featured in dozens of Warner Brothers cartoons. In a case of mistaken identity, he was always pursing a cat that looked like a skunk.

Times columnist Charles M. Blow claims the skunk “normalized rape culture.”

“Some of the first cartoons I can remember included Pepé Le Pew, who normalized rape culture; Speedy Gonzales, whose friends helped popularize the corrosive stereotype of the drunk and lethargic Mexicans; and Mammy Two Shoes, a heavyset Black maid who spoke in a heavy accent,” Blow wrote. — Source

Real Numbers are DIFFERENT than PERCEPTION

Social movements tap into our most primitive emotions, obscuring the complexities of sociopolitical problems. Reason is traded for ideological fervor and skepticism is swapped with religious dogma. Such was the case in 2020 in the wake of several high-profile cases of alleged police brutality involving black victims. Across the US and Western countries worldwide, activists and average citizens alike vigorously protested against a perceived (but empirically refuted) “epidemic of racist police killings.”

A new survey commissioned by Skeptic Research Center reveals the extent to which the public is misinformed on the issue of police violence. Participants across the political spectrum in the nationally representative survey were asked how many unarmed black men were killed by police in 2019. The results were revealing. Overall, nearly half of surveyed liberals (44 percent) estimated roughly between 1,000 and 10,000 unarmed black men were killed whereas 20 percent of conservatives estimated the same.

Most notably, the majority of respondents in each political category believed that police killed unarmed black men at an exponentially higher rate than in reality. Over 80 percent of liberals guessed at least 100 unarmed black men were killed compared to 66 percent of moderates and 54 percent of conservatives. But, according to a close database compiled by Mapping Police Violence, the actual number of black men killed by the police in 2019 is 27.  — Source

One death is too many … however, perceptions are starkly different than reality!

‘God’s Will Is No Concern of This Congress’: NY Dem Jerry Nadler Rejects God During Debate Over Equality Act

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) received stark criticism following Thursday’s meeting over the Equality Act where Nadler proceeded to tell another congressman that “God’s will is no concern of this Congress.”

ICC refuses to prosecute war crimes by Palestinian while actively pursuing Israeli leaders

The International Criminal Court prosecutor is officially initiating a war crimes investigation into Israeli actions in “Palestinian territories,” according to news reports coming out today.

In its latest attack on Israel, the PLO has been validated by the International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC), which decided on Feb. 5 that it can investigate alleged crimes by Israeli leaders in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Sadly this decision, in essence, is willful consent by the ICC to be misused as an unconventional weapon against the Jewish state in the hands of the PLO.

The ICC was created by the United Nations on July 1, 2002, under the Rome Statute, as a forum for prosecuting individuals accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Read this entire Op-Ed … very enlightening!

New Report Urges Accelerated Use of Artificial Intelligence for National Security

A new report emphasizes why it is urgent that the Department of Defense and Congress work together to modernize the way defense programs and budgets develop, integrate and deploy the latest technologies in support of American national security. Released by the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, a federal body created to review and recommend ways to use artificial intelligence for national security purposes, the report recommends the use of AI to update America’s defense plans, predict future threats, deter adversaries and win wars.

Because AI will be “incorporated into virtually all future technology,” it is easy to recognize that national security threats and opportunities posed by AI should be a catalyst for necessary changes to defense requirements and resourcing processes. In an AI-enabled world, the Defense Department will be unable to modernize the way it recruits talent, trains the force, develops and integrates technology, and funds all of these elements without internal culture shifts and help from Congress.

“Unless the requirements, budgeting and acquisition processes are aligned to permit faster and more targeted execution, the U.S. will fail to stay ahead of potential adversaries.” This blunt recommendation to the Defense Department under the heading “Accelerate Adoption of Existing Digital Technologies” makes clear the urgency for cultural and structural updates to the way the department currently does business. — Source

Mississippi Judge Orders New Election After Finding nearly 80 Percent of Absentee Ballots Fraudulent

A Mississippi judge ruled in favor of a new election following overwhelming evidence of mail-in ballot fraud.

“In the sixty-four-page order, Judge Jeff Weill not only calls for a new election but also finds evidence of fraud and criminal activity, in how absentee ballots were handled, how votes were counted, and the actions by some at the polling place.”

The judge’s ruling revealed that sixty-six of eighty-four absentee ballots – nearly 79 percent –  cast in the June runoff were fraudulent. Source: WCBI (Local TV Station in Mississippi)

Most Americans Believe Cancel Culture Threatens Freedom: Poll

A newly released survey found the majority of Americans believe cancel culture poses “a threat to our freedom.”

Sixty-four percent of respondents answered affirmatively when asked in a new Harvard CAPS-Harris poll: “Do you think there is a growing cancel culture that is a threat to our freedom or not?”

When broken down along ideological lines, 80% of Republican participants said cancel culture poses “a threat” to freedom, while only 48% of Democrats said the same. Sixty-four percent of independents agreed it’s a “threat to our freedom.” — Source

 

‘Tailored To China’s Terms’: Fauci’s Deputy Had To Sign Beijing-Approved Confidentiality Form Before China Visit

Anthony Fauci’s deputy was required to sign a confidentiality agreement “tailored to China’s terms” before joining a World Health Organization team in China early last year to collect data about the novel coronavirus, according to an email obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

A WHO technical officer informed Dr. Cliff Lane, the Fauci deputy, would have to sign a confidentiality form and a disclosure of interest approved by Chinese authorities, according to a Feb. 15, 2020, email.

“The forms this time are tailored to China’s terms so we cannot use the ones from before,” Mansuk Daniel Han, a technical officer at WHO’s headquarters in Switzerland, wrote to Lane, who serves as deputy director for clinical research at the National Institutes for Allergy and Infectious Diseases. — Source: Daily Caller