If All You See…

By William Teach September 29, 2023 – 1:00 pm

…are horrible Bad Weather clouds, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Cold Fury, with a post on birds aren’t real.

Read: If All You See… »

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PRC Law Requires Fast Food Workers To Get Minimum $20 An Hour

By William Teach September 29, 2023 – 10:30 am

All the people who support this law, who cheered for it, advocated for it, will be very surprised when the number of employees at fast food locations is cut way down and they’re replaced with technology and automation. Especially surprised will be the ones who had jobs

California fast-food workers to earn minimum of $20 an hour under new law

unintended consequencesFast-food workers in California will earn a minimum of $20 an hour and have a greater say in setting workplace standards under a new bill signed into law on Thursday by Governor Gavin Newsom.

“The future happens here first,” Newsom said at an event in Los Angeles, with labor officials and fast-food workers flanking him.

“The future is fewer jobs” would be a wonderful campaign slogan for Democrats, eh?

The legislation emerged as part of a broader compromise in which fast-food companies agreed to remove a 2024 ballot referendum asking voters to repeal a law aimed at improving wages and working conditions for employees.

Labor unions, meanwhile, dropped their push to hold fast-food corporations liable for violations committed by their franchisees.

The median fast-food worker in the U.S. earned $13.43 an hour in 2022, while those in California made an average of $16.60 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The new minimum, which takes effect in April, equates to an annual salary of $41,600.

The compromise will lead to more stores replacing workers with electronic ordering boards and methods to make the food autonomously. And price hikes. Don’t forget price hikes! San Francisco and LA are already the most expensive in the country.

There are more than 550,000 fast-food workers at 30,000 locations statewide, Newsom said. The majority are the primary providers for their families – contrary to the perception that fast-food workers are teenagers in their first jobs – while 80% are minorities and two-thirds are women, he added.

I wonder how many there will be within a year? How many will close? And how soon till the same people demand $25 an hour?

Also in California

(Fox11) A woman accused of shoplifting at a nail supply store in California returned to the building after realizing she left her phone there.

The woman, who was with a second suspect, targeted the nail supply store in Murrieta on September 19.

According to the store owner, the two women went into the store pretending to buy the supplies. When it came time to pay, the suspects instead ran out of the building with about $600 worth of items.

One of the suspects returned to the store after realizing her phone and her ID were still at the business she allegedly shoplifted. She demanded her phone back, but the store owner and the clerk told her she can get her phone back if she returned the allegedly stolen items.

Instead of making peace, the suspect threw the owner to the ground and roughed up the cashier who was pregnant.

Both were arrested, but, will probably be released under California’s soft on criminals policies.

Read: PRC Law Requires Fast Food Workers To Get Minimum $20 An Hour »

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New EV Battery Plant Requires Coal Plant To Keep It Running

By William Teach September 29, 2023 – 7:15 am

Well, sure, why not, because there’s no way wind and solar will be able to power all the EVs (via Jo Nova)

EV Battery Factory Will Require So Much Energy It Needs A Coal Plant To Power It

electric vehicleA $4 billion Panasonic electric vehicle battery factory in De Soto, Kansas, will help satisfy the Biden administration’s efforts to get everyone into an EV.

It also will help extend the life of a coal-fired power plant.

Panasonic broke ground on the facility last year. The Japanese company was slated to receive $6.8 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act, which has been pouring billions into electric vehicles and battery factories as part of its effort to transition America away from fossil fuels.

The Kansas City Star reports that the factory will require between 200 and 250 megawatts of electricity to operate. That’s roughly the amount of power needed for a small city.

In testimony to the Kansas City Corporation Commission, which is the state’s equivalent of the Wyoming Public Service Commission, a representative of Evergy, the utility serving the factory, said that the 4 million-square-foot Panasonic facility creates “near term challenges from a resource adequacy perspective,” according to the newspaper.

As a result, the utility will continue to burn coal at a power plant near Lawrence, Kansas, and it will delay plants to transition units at the plant to natural gas.

Huh. What a bummer. All to make batteries for vehicles that most do not want. Too bad all the greeny-weenies are against nuclear power.

Also, continuing in the article

A 15-pound lithium-ion battery holds about the same amount of energy as a pound of oil. To make that battery requires 7,000 pounds of rock and dirt to get the minerals that go into that battery. The average EV battery weighs around 1,000 pounds.

All of that mining and factory processing produces a lot more carbon dioxide emissions than a gas-powered car, so EVs have to be driven around 50,000 to 60,000 miles before there’s a net reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

So, people are really going to have to keep their forced vehicles for a lot longer than they usually would. The average time people keep cars is 4 years. And this will mean that the residual values for leasing will be horrendous. Combine that with much higher money factors (that’s essentially what you call the APR for leasing), and leasing costs will not be attractive.

Read: New EV Battery Plant Requires Coal Plant To Keep It Running »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 26 Comments | Trackback URL

SCNY To Spread Flyers At Border Telling Illegals To Go To Other Cities

By William Teach September 29, 2023 – 7:00 am

It’s all fun and games being a sanctuary city right up till you have to actually be a sanctuary city

PHOTO: NYC to Distribute Flyers at Southern Border Warning Migrants ‘You Are Better off’ in Another City

Democrat-run New York City plans to hand out flyers at the southern U.S. border telling migrants not to come to the city and urging them to go elsewhere.

Local authorities announced the move on Wednesday, and images of the flyers show a list of warnings to migrants flooding across the nation’s border, according to WPDE.

In bullet points, the blue flyer reads, “New York City’s (NYC) resources have been exhausted,” and “Asylum Seekers are now getting letters to move out of the shelter.”

The announcement also warns them, “You will not be placed in a hotel,” adding, “NYC is one of the most expensive cities in the world; you are better off going to a more affordable city.”

The flyer further states, “NYC cannot help you obtain a work permit, and you will not be able to easily find work.”

https://twitter.com/RebsBrannon/status/1707105251394830570

So, SCNY wants them to go to Chicago, DC, Vermont, and….South Dakota/Montana?

Meanwhile

San Diego Declares Humanitarian Crisis as Federal Government Drops Thousands of Migrants on Streets

The San Diego board of supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to declare a humanitarian crisis as thousands of illegal immigrants flooded into the city, courtesy of the federal government.

More than 8,100 migrants have arrived in the area in the last two weeks, the San Diego Union Tribune reported, citing county officials. Many of the migrants have been dropped off on the streets of San Diego by the U.S. government, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Funny how the media isn’t complaining about the Biden admin shipping them in. Why not send them to the declared sanctuary areas of California?

Read: SCNY To Spread Flyers At Border Telling Illegals To Go To Other Cities »

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Good News: Portland To Spend $750 Million On Climate Crisis (scam)

By William Teach September 28, 2023 – 3:35 pm

Well, hey, residents of Portland, you voted for the Democratic Party run city to fritter your tax money away, even as the tax base drops due to people and companies moving out of the city due to rampant crime

Portland approves 5-year, $750 million climate action plan

The Portland City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a five-year, $750 million plan aimed at climate action and environmental justice.

The Portland Clean Energy Fund’s (PCEF) Climate Investment Plan aims to reduce carbon emissions and ensure residents are better prepared for climate change, with a focus on helping communities of color and low-income residents. The climate justice program will fund a wide variety of projects from renewable energy and energy efficiency upgrades to lowering greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector by encouraging electric vehicle purchases over the next five years.

Communities of color? The city is 73.8% white. 5.6% black, 10% Hispanic. 8% Asian, who do not like to be part of the Leftists minority politics. But, it does go to show this is not about science.

During Wednesday’s City Council vote, Commissioner Carmen Rubio said the plan reflects what Portlanders want. She said it’s an investment strategy that provides solutions for communities hit first and worst by climate change.

Were they asked? Was there a survey or referendum? What Rubio most likely means is they were elected to do whatever the hell they wanted to do. Can’t wait for the resulting cost of living increases

After nearly a yearlong overhaul that led to more focus on community resilience against climate change and transparency in how the money is spent, the voter-approved Portland Clean Energy Fund is set to take off. Last year, the fund experienced a series of setbacks, including an unfavorable audit, in which auditors found the clean energy fund lacked oversight and accountability.

The Portland Clean Energy Fund raises money from a tax on large retailers, and has so far raised much more money than initially expected when voters passed the tax in 2018.

And those taxes are passed on to the consumer.

The fund’s staff said the climate action plan approved Wednesday was created by multiple rounds of input from Portland residents, business, subject matter experts and community organizations to ensure the funds would address climate, social and racial justice.

They probably talked to a few like minded citizens, but, mostly listened to “social matter and community organizer grifters”.

During Tuesday’s Portland City Council meeting, the Portland Bureau of Transportation said the agency will have to undergo massive budget cuts and layoffs of at least 89 employees if the city does not find more money for transportation issues. The agency has a $32 million budget gap and said the cuts could impact routine road maintenance, street repairs and pedestrian safety programs.

No worries, they can just raise taxes. Meanwhile, as they plan to spend this money on the scam, Neighborhood Scout ranks Portland as a 1, meaning it is safer than just 1% of US communities, meaning it is the worst, since there is no zero. Violent crimes and property crimes are double the rate of Oregon overall. You have a 1 in 17 chance of being a property crime victim. It wasn’t that many years ago when Portland would have been in the upper 20’s, at worst.

Read: Good News: Portland To Spend $750 Million On Climate Crisis (scam) »

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If All You See…

By William Teach September 28, 2023 – 1:00 pm

…is barbed wire used to keep climate refugees out, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The First Street Journal, with a post on mass looting in Philly.

Read: If All You See… »

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Democrats At FCC Propose Bringing Back Net Neutrality

By William Teach September 28, 2023 – 10:30 am

Is this really necessary? Or, just another case of Democrats wanting to control everything?

The Biden FCC’s Plan to Brake 5G

Remember predictions that Trump Federal Communications Commission Chair Ajit Pai would break the internet by rescinding the Obama “net neutrality” rules? The internet somehow still works and is now even faster. Yet Biden regulators plan to “fix” it by re-imposing political control.

Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez was sworn in Monday, and Chair Jessica Rosenworcel is off and running with a new 3-2 majority. On Tuesday she announced plans to reinstate the Obama regulatory regime that reclassified broadband providers as common carriers under Title II of the 1934 Communications Act.

Net neutrality has long been a rallying cry on the left. Progressives claimed during the Obama years that broadband providers had to be regulated as utilities so they wouldn’t slow or block websites. Yet providers weren’t doing so then and haven’t since the Trump FCC scrapped the Title II regime in 2018.

Instead, Americans have experienced faster broadband speeds. By the end of 2019, 94% of Americans had access to high-speed fixed and mobile broadband, up from 77% in 2015. Between 2016 and 2019, the number of rural Americans lacking high-speed internet fell nearly 50%.

Broadband investment dipped after the Obama FCC imposed Title II in 2015. But the Title II rollback and 5G rollout have produced a surge of investment. Last year the industry spent $102 billion on capital expenditure, up from $76 billion in 2016. Prices for internet service have risen 7% since January 2020, much less than the 18.2% increase in the consumer-price index.

Consider: without any sort of Net Neutrality, Internet went from a slow dial-up with barely any content and barely anyone with it to the immense speeds available today with numerous providers. Mobile Internet went from super slow WAP at around 14.4kbs to super fast (a speed check just showed 332mps on T-Mobile). Mobile providers offer devices to use mobile service as home Internet, no hard connections required.

On of the reasons they said we needed NN was so that ISPs did not intentionally block, slow down, or charge money for specific online content. Yet, are they? No. Unless you do not pay your bill. And, yes, some content is extra. That’s life.

Contrast this high-speed U.S. leap to Europe where broadband providers are regulated as utilities. By 2020 U.S. rural fixed broadband deployment led all areas in the European Union. The digital divide between Europe and the U.S. has been growing as investment per household is three times higher in the U.S.

Americans today can enjoy streaming their favorite shows without service interruptions that are common in Europe. The faster U.S. speeds and greater broadband access have enabled more technological innovation, including in artificial intelligence. Farmers can use automated and connected equipment to collect data and grow crops more efficiently.

Why would Democrats want to go to this? For all their fancy words, it’s about control. Control of the content you see.

But Title II could provide the FCC an opening to regulate rates, though Ms. Rosenworcel says she won’t. The agency might also seek to prohibit providers from giving customers free access to streaming services on grounds that this favors some content providers. AT&T provides Max service at no charge to customers with unlimited plans.

I get Apple TV (not that there’s really content), Netflix, and the MLB package for free from T-Mobile. NN rules could kill that off.

Preventing companies from offering perks to consumers can’t be popular. Then again, as Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan showed by suing Amazon on Tuesday, progressives are happy to ignore consumer welfare. Their goal is to impose more political control over the economy, and they are dusting off ancient laws to do so.

That’s what Democrats do. And, they do not have legal authority to do so, and, if they try this, they will soon find themselves in front of the Supreme Court which will state this.

Read: Democrats At FCC Propose Bringing Back Net Neutrality »

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Your Fault: Beer Might Soon Be Endangered From ‘Climate Change

By William Teach September 28, 2023 – 7:15 am

Here we go again. It’s always some sort of fear-mongering to get you to give up your money and freedom

One of the World’s Biggest Brewers Says Climate Change Could Cause Beer Shortages

Climate change is already impacting just about every industry, and with the way things are going, it’s only going to get much worse. When it comes to beer, the timeline of when consumers will start to see drastic shortages may come fast. The CEO of Asahi, Atsushi Katsuki, recently told the Financial Times that there’s “a risk that we may not be able to produce enough beer” in 30 years. It’s a stark statement from the leader of the seventh largest brewing company in the world by production volume.

The main issue is that today’s agricultural practices, faced with a warmer planet, means lower barley yields and lower quality hops, an analysis from Asahi found — meaning higher costs, shortages and a potential impact on flavor. Asahi’s research into climate change’s impact focused on its suppliers in Europe. According to the Financial Times, barley yield could decrease by as much as 18% in France and 15% in Poland by 2050. Extreme weather is already hurting barley yields and causing prices to rise. Hop quality could sink 25% in the hop-heavy Czech Republic, which grows some of the most hops in the world, particularly those traditionally used in lagers.

Could, might, maybe, 30 years from now. It’s all doomy prognostication.

Except, barley production is doing just fine, and is extremely adaptable. But, if Katsuki is concerned, then, perhaps the country should stop all production of their beer since it involves vast amounts of carbon dioxide and fossil fuels.

Read: Your Fault: Beer Might Soon Be Endangered From ‘Climate Change »

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Greg Abbott Visits SCNY, Laughs, Slams Biden And Democrats

By William Teach September 28, 2023 – 7:00 am

“Owning” someone was really more of a 2000’s kind of thing, but, this is the definition of owning someone

Abbott visited New York City. He didn’t take pity on its migrant surge.

Everything’s bigger in Texas — including the humanitarian crisis of helping migrants.

That was the message from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as he spoke Wednesday in Manhattan, where leaders have blasted his continued efforts to ship migrants from the southern border to blue states, particularly the biggest of them all: New York City.

Abbott both defended his program bussing migrants from the border to sanctuary cities like New York and trivialized Mayor Eric Adams’ complaints about the strain it has put on the city’s resources.

“What’s going on in New York right now might not be the common circumstance or what you were looking for,” Abbott said at a breakfast hosted by the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. “But what is going on in New York is calm and organized compared to the real chaos of what we see on the border — not every day, but every hour of every day.”

Of course, SCNY Mayor Eric Adams got a little snippy

“New Yorkers deserve better than being trapped between a vicious game of political hot potato,” a spokesperson for Adams said. “When thousands of asylum-seekers arrived at Governor Abbott’s doorstep in pursuit of the American Dream, he chose to use them as political pawns.”

In other words, “stop making us actually be a sanctuary city. This is supposed to happen Somewhere Else”

In fact, Abbott never directly attacked Adams during the nearly one-hour program, and he was eager at times to note their points of agreement — something that Republicans have done regularly with Adams, who has sparred with the White House over the issue.

“This is something that’s unsustainable. I think those are the words of your mayor. Those are the words of the mayor of Chicago and LA. Those are the words of the governor of Texas,” he said.

Abbott went on to say that the lead importer of illegals/migrants to New York and SCNY is Joe Biden, not Texas. Of course, Let’s Go Brandon wants Congress to change the laws. Sadly, the GOP doesn’t have the cajones to simply crack down. End Asylum claims, immediately deport anyone caught crossing the border. Go back to the times in the past when the US allowed lots of migrants then shut immigration off for a few decades to allow people to assimilate. But, still, deport anyone caught in this nation illegally. Require all here to learn English, take US civics, become a part of the US. If they are just here for free stuff and not because they love the US, boot them.

Read: Greg Abbott Visits SCNY, Laughs, Slams Biden And Democrats »

Posted in Democrats, GOP, Illegal Immigration | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

Excitable James Hansen Makes More Dire Predictions

By William Teach September 27, 2023 – 3:00 pm

The grift is strong with this one

NASA scientist issues grim warning 35 years after his original prediction: ‘[W]e knew it was coming’

James Hansen, who was a NASA climate scientist when he first warned the world that the planet was heating in 1988, is back with another stark warning — this time hoping for different results.

When Hansen appeared before the United States Senate in June of 1988, the world had just experienced the warmest first five months of any year in recorded history, The New York Times reported at the time.

Up until that time, scientists had been cautious about blaming the warming of the planet on pollutants put into the air by human activity. But Hansen told the committee that NASA was 99% certain that the warming trend was caused by the buildup of carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere. (snip)

In a recent statement released by Hansen alongside two other scientists, Hansen predicted the warming of the planet to accelerate in the coming years, musing about a “new climate frontier.”

“There’s a lot more in the pipeline, unless we reduce the greenhouse gas amounts,” Hansen told the Guardian. “These superstorms are a taste of the storms of my grandchildren. We are headed wittingly into the new reality — we knew it was coming.”

This is really like a bad SyFy channel movie (do they even make movies anymore, or, is it just wrestling?). A clock is always right twice a day, and every once in a while these climate hysterics are able to see a storm and say “look, we told you so! We weren’t able to predict when, but, we knew it was coming at some point over the previous 35+ years!!!!!!”

Also James Hansen (who actually hasn’t worked for NASA since 2013. His current gig is being a paid activist at Columbia U)

  • (CEI) 1988: James Hansen forecasts increase regional drought in 1990s
  • (Heartland) In 1988, NASA’s James Hansen predicted that by 2010-2020, global temperatures will be 4 to 6 degrees warmer than 1958.
  • In 1989, NASA scientist James Hansen predicted New York City’s West Side Highway would be underwater by 2019 among other never-happened calamities.
  • (Washington Examiner) James Hansen of NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies beginning in 1988 predicted major droughts and up to six feet of sea level rise in the 1990s.
  • (Master Resource) “We have at most ten years—not ten years to decide upon action, but ten years to alter fundamentally the trajectory of global greenhouse emissions.” (that’s from Hansen’s 2006 book)

He’s not very good at this prognostication stuff. Oh, hey, maybe he should talk to Brandon

Read: Excitable James Hansen Makes More Dire Predictions »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 3 Comments | Trackback URL
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