If All You See…

By William Teach September 16, 2023 – 1:00 pm

…are horrible sugary drinks making the sky boil, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Bunkerville, with a post on Trudeau threatening grocery stores.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 22 Comments | Trackback URL

PRC Democrats Pass Bill That Looks To Stop Citizens From Making It Harder To Pass Tax Increases

By William Teach September 16, 2023 – 10:30 am

Now, why would Democrats want to keep it easier to pass tax increases, and keep those stupid peasants out of it?

California Democrats pass measure to thwart business effort to block tax increases

The Democratic-led California Legislature voted to place on the ballot an amendment to the state Constitution that seeks to thwart a business-led effort to make it harder to pass new taxes.

Lawmakers on Thursday passed Assembly Constitutional Amendment 13, which would require ballot initiatives that seek to increase voter thresholds under the California Constitution to meet that same higher bar in order to take effect.

The amendment, which will go before voters on the March primary ballot, is a direct response to an initiative called the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act. Led by the California Business Roundtable and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., that act would require voter approval for all tax increases passed in Sacramento. New local special taxes also would require a two-thirds vote of approval by residents.

It’s starts getting all sorts of detailed and politicalish on how all the initiatives works, the upshot is that Democrats really want to keep the California citizens out of the way when it comes to tax increases. Their idea is that the peasants vote for Democrats, often unopposed, and the elected class votes however they want, and the peasants should simply say thank you and do as they’re told.

ACA 13 is the latest example of political gamesmanship in the battle between progressive unions and conservative business interests at the state Capitol.

Defeating the business-backed ballot measure has become high priority for Democrats and their allies.

Service Employees International Union of California, which co-sponsored ACA 13, and a coalition that includes the League of California Cities and the California Teachers Assn. contend businesses are trying to deceive voters and undermine the will of communities to adopt their own measures. The coalition contends that the changes would result in millions of dollars in cuts to local public services.

In other words, the unions are part of the effort to kill the tax initiative because so many get their money by feeding at the taxpayer funded trough, and want it to continue to be easy to pass tax increases. As far as public services, so many of these Democrat run cities have trouble just cleaning the streets. How much poop is all over San Francisco?

Business interests say they are funding the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act in order to increase accountability over how government spends California tax dollars.

Their argument against ACA 13 is relatively similar to the case made by unions against the business-backed measure.

The California Business Roundtable contends that ACA 13 is an example of special interests trying to diminish the voice of voters by applying the change only to amendments that land on the ballot through the signature-gathering process and not those that are passed through the Legislature.

The question now is “do the citizens of California vote for or against the control of tax increases?” This is the People’s Republik Of California after all, where they typically vote against their own interests and for Government telling them how to live their lives. Seriously, I don’t know why businesses fight such tax legislation, its going to pass, just quit doing business in California.

Read: PRC Democrats Pass Bill That Looks To Stop Citizens From Making It Harder To Pass Tax Increases »

Posted in Democrats, Taxation | 11 Comments | Trackback URL

Once Upon A Time: Global Boiling Could Bring More Storms Like Hurricane Lee To New England

By William Teach September 16, 2023 – 7:00 am

This is simply cult activism disguised as journalism, with zero skepticism or research and Journalism 101 by the Associated Press

Climate change could bring more storms like Hurricane Lee to New England

When it comes to hurricanes, New England can’t compete with Florida or the Caribbean.

But once upon a time scientists said Friday that the arrival of storms like Hurricane Lee this weekend could become more common in the region as the planet warms, including in places such as the Gulf of Maine.

One recent study found climate change could result in hurricanes expanding their reach more often into mid-latitude regions, which includes New York, Boston and even Beijing. Factors in this, the study found, are the warmer sea surface temperatures in these regions and the shifting and weakening of the jet streams — strong bands of air currents that encircle the planet in both hemispheres.

“These jet stream changes combined with the warmer ocean temperatures are making the mid latitude more favorable to hurricanes,” Joshua Studholme, a Yale University physicist and l ead author on the study. “Ultimately meaning that these regions are likely to see more storm formation, intensification and persistence.”

This is, as usual, simply prognostication to scare people. And there is no mention of the history of storms hitting New England, going all the way back to 1635, which was a monster storm. You have the massive hurricane of 1815. There were plenty prior to the start of the Modern Warm Age around 1850. And they do tend to strike in September and October. But, this is all about scaring people

Experts warn that policy makers need to take projections of increased hurricane activity seriously and start upgrading their dams, roadways and neighborhoods for these future storms.

“We definitely in our coastal communities need to be thinking about how can we make our shorelines more resilient,” Garner said.

”Do we need to change … where those flood zones are located, kind of thinking about how to perhaps protect the shorelines and think about solutions for that and adaptation kinds of things?” she said, adding that policy makers can also implement measures to keep emissions down so the worst of effects of climate change don’t materialize.

And taking their money and choices for the climate cult grift.

Oh, and, Lee isn’t really going to do a whole lot to New England, unless it happens to shift westward. The coast might possibly get some low end tropical force winds. Any real rain would be at the north-eastern tip of Maine (north of that in Canada might get a bit more). So, this attempt at scaremongering is a big Fail.

Read: Once Upon A Time: Global Boiling Could Bring More Storms Like Hurricane Lee To New England »

Posted in AGW Scaremongering, Global Warming | 7 Comments | Trackback URL

SCLA Mayor Fearful That Planeloads Of Illegals Will Show Up

By William Teach September 16, 2023 – 6:45 am

Why, yes, the Sanctuary City Of Los Angeles Is a sanctuary city. They really do not need plane loads to show up, they have enough even without Texas governor Greg Abbott sending bus loads

LA mayor ‘fearful’ that planes of illegal aliens might arrive in city that ‘welcomes immigrants’

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she is “fearful that any day” planes filled with illegal immigrants will be flown into the city.

During an event hosted by Axios on Thursday, Bass said, “We live in a city that welcomes immigrants, and so I think we have been able to handle it, but I am fearful that any day, planes could start coming.”

She added that the transportation of immigrants from border states and Florida to “sanctuary” juristictions “is just setting the stage for the presidential election next year.”

I’m not sure what she’s complaining about, what’s a few more?

According to the Migration Policy Institute, in 2019, it was estimated that there were approximately 951,000 illegal immigrants residing in Los Angeles County, nearly 10% of the county’s total population, marking the highest concentration of migrants in any U.S. county.

“What’s maddening is the fact that in New York and Chicago, in D.C. and LA, and other places, they put out policies self-proclaiming that they’re sanctuary cities, and they love to promote these liberal ideologies until they have to actually live up and apply them,” Abbott said recently on Fox News’ Jesse Watters Primetime. “It was clear that the policies of sanctuary cities and letting everybody live for free simply do not work. This is a day of reckoning for all of the United States, realizing that the liberal policies of open borders will not work in this country.”

What most think of as LA is actually the whole county. Los Angeles proper is obviously smaller. Liberals like Bass are upset that the ones getting shipped to LA are very visible, and the city then has to take care of them, as opposed to ignoring all those others in the county. I suspect that most of the newer illegals are avoiding areas in death spirals like LA and San Francisco. Anyhow, I doubt SCLA has to worry about planes, unless they are being shipped from Texas by the Biden admin, since he likes to fly them around.

Meanwhile, illegal alien support Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did not have fun

It’s easy for her, since she spends little time in SCNY and certainly has security. Same with Jerry Nadler. They got a little taste of their own medicine.

Read: SCLA Mayor Fearful That Planeloads Of Illegals Will Show Up »

Posted in Democrats, Illegal Immigration | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

Climate Nuts To Spend Weekend Protesting Fossil Fuels

By William Teach September 15, 2023 – 3:03 pm

I can’t wait to see how much trash they leave behind, and whether they realize that most of their clothes, signs, special coffees, and smartphones are all made using petroleum

Global climate protests demand world leaders phase out fossil fuels

Climate protesters were set to take to the streets in more than 50 countries from Friday to Sunday, in a weekend of demonstrations to demand that governments phase out the burning of fossil fuels heating the planet.

In a year of mounting deaths and economic destruction from record-breaking floods, wildfires and drought, protesters have planned more than 500 gatherings in 54 countries – from Pakistan and Nigeria to the United States.

Organizers of the protests expect global turnout over the weekend to total more than a million people. That could make this weekend’s action the largest international climate protest since before the COVID-19 pandemic, when the “school strike” movement led by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg saw millions of people worldwide join marches.

“This is directed at world leaders,” said Mitzi Jonelle Tan, a climate activist with youth movement Fridays for Future in Manila, the Philippines.

“The fossil fuel industry’s time is up. We need a just transition, and we need to phase out the fossil fuels causing the destruction of our environment,” she told Reuters.

I wonder how many of the protesters will be using fossil fuels to travel to the protests? How many will be wearing fast fashion?

Organisers said they would call on governments to immediately end subsidies for oil and gas and to cancel any plans for expanding production.

“We’re taking to the streets to demand that African leaders phase out on fossil fuels and focus on investing in community-led renewable energy, to meet the energy demand for the 600 million Africans who do not have access to electricity,” said Eric Njuguna, a climate activist based in Nairobi, Kenya.

What the hell is “community-led renewable energy”? I haven’t heard that one before. I guess it’s supposed to be about citizens buying shares in energy companies and having a say. You know, people without money and experience. That’s just what energy-poor Africa needs. Oh, and many of these “youth leaders” take long fossil fueled trips to all the climate conferences. Too bad I am not seeing anything about any protests in the Raleigh area. Guess the kiddies do not care that much.

Read: Climate Nuts To Spend Weekend Protesting Fossil Fuels »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach September 15, 2023 – 1:55 pm

…is a palm tree that will Soon! grow in the Arctic, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is No Tricks Zone, with a post on sea level data being changed to show actual big sea rise.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 7 Comments | Trackback URL

Democrats Seize On Trump Saying Impeaching Biden Could Be Revenge

By William Teach September 15, 2023 – 10:30 am

Is this seizing or pouncing? Either way, outlets like Politico are Outraged that Republicans would actually respond in kind and do the same things that Democrats do

‘They did it to me’: Trump says Biden impeachment inquiry might be motivated by revenge

Former President Donald Trump has “no idea” whether Republicans will vote to impeach President Joe Biden.

But he does have a theory on what motivated House Republicans to launch a Biden impeachment inquiry: revenge.

“They did it to me,” Trump told former Fox and NBC host Megyn Kelly during an hourlong interview on SiriusXM radio that aired Thursday. “And had they not done it to me, I think, and nobody officially said this, but I think had they not done it to me … perhaps you wouldn’t have it being done to them.”

Democrats twice led the charge in impeaching Trump, first on charges of abusing his power and obstructing congressional investigations and later for “incitement of insurrection,” following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump was acquitted by the Senate both times.

On Tuesday, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced the decision to open an impeachment inquiry into Biden over allegations of bribery and corruption. Some Republicans have said there is a lack of smoking-gun evidence linking Biden to money his son Hunter received from Ukraine and China.

Democrats indicted Trump over a nothingburger phone call and because Trump was speaking on January 6. They really had no evidence, just Trump Derangement Syndrome. Are there enough squishy Republicans to stop this in the House? Who will fail to vote to impeach Biden? Obviously, there is no way there will be enough votes to boot Biden in the Senate: will all the Republicans vote to boot him, though? Regardless, Democrats were warned that it was dangerous going down the TDS road and impeaching Trump for nothing.

In the interview with Kelly, Trump warned that attempts from the GOP to indict Biden could be next.

“This is going to happen with indictments, too,” said Trump, who is facing dozens of charges across four indictments, including two at the federal level.

“They’re fake indictments,” Trump said of his own legal challenges. “And I think you’re going to see that as time goes by, you’re going to see Republicans when they’re in power, doing it. And it’s a shame when that happens. I’m not in favor of that, but that’s what’s going to happen because that’s human nature.”

He’s not wrong. Will Republican prosecutors go after Biden when he’s out of office, should he he lose in 2024? Democrats set the stage. They can’t cry foul when the things they do return to bite them in the butt. If you punch someone in the face don’t by Outrage when they pop you one back.

Read: Democrats Seize On Trump Saying Impeaching Biden Could Be Revenge »

Posted in Democrats, Donald Trump | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

Having Fixed All Their Issues, San Francisco Considers Lifting Ferry Building Due To Climate Doom

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

It’s not like SF is having issues with crime, businesses and citizens leaving, stolen and broken into cars, homelessness, open drug use, and poop and pee in the streets, right?

San Francisco considers lifting the Ferry Building by 7 feet to save it from the sea

San Francisco’s waterfront is on the National Register of Historic Places for good reason. Its picturesque old landmarks, like the Ferry Building and the Bay Bridge, have been featured in many vintage books, TV shows and movies — from the stories and novels of Jack London to the 1970s TV series The Streets of San Francisco.

The future of San Francisco’s waterfront, however, isn’t secure.

In 2016, the National Trust for Historic Preservation put part of the city’s urban shoreline on its list of the U.S.’s most endangered historic places, in part because of the threat of sea level rise. Now, San Francisco is considering drastic measures to save its historic shoreline.

But the growing magnitude and frequency of the climate-related threats, the high costs and effort involved in saving heritage sites, and competing ideas about what’s worth saving and what isn’t, can make it hard for cities to know where their priorities lie.

“The whole issue of climate change and historic preservation intersects right at the waterfront,” said Elaine Forbes, executive director of the Port of San Francisco. The agency manages a 7.5-mile stretch of the city’s Bay-facing waterfront.

So, doom.

Parts of the main road that runs along the waterfront have flooded from heavy rains in recent years. The state estimates the water could rise roughly up to two and a half feet above its current level by 2060, and potentially up to seven feet by the turn of the century.

“Could.” But, what does the data actually say?

.64 feet per 100 years. About 7-8 inches. So, not 2 1/2 feet in 37 years. And 7-8 inches is exactly average for the Holocene period. It should be much, much more during a warm period.

Preserving historic buildings is just a small piece of San Francisco’s overall Waterfront Resilience Program. Other priorities include beefing up emergency response systems and protecting natural habitats.

There should be zero concern, because everything will be fine. But, this is a great way to raise some taxes and spread out some graft to donors.

Read: Having Fixed All Their Issues, San Francisco Considers Lifting Ferry Building Due To Climate Doom »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

SCNY Leaders Warn Illegal Aliens Could Impact Elections

By William Teach September 15, 2023 – 7:00 am

But, not in the way you may be thinking

NYC officials warn migrant crisis could have far-reaching impact at voting booth if Dems get their way

Americans before illegalsNew York City officials leading the legal fight against a closed Catholic school on Staten Island being turned into a migrant shelter sounded the alarm about a potential far-reaching impact at the voting booth if Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul get their way on granting asylum seekers work authorization.

Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella issued the warning during a press conference outside the courthouse Thursday before a hearing regarding a lawsuit brought by himself and others objecting to the placement of migrants at the former St. John Villa Academy.

“Actually two years ago, the city council passed a law to allow non-citizens the right to vote. And one of the conditions was that if you had work permits, you can vote in municipal elections. So if work permits are granted to the asylum seekers, they in turn will be allowed to vote in municipal elections if the appellate division reverses the trial court,” Fossell said, referring to a city law that a judge shot down in a decision that is now being challenged.

“So in all of this discussion, I am sure their hearts are in the right place. We think to give 50,000, 75,000 people who arrived here a few weeks ago, giving them the right to vote in municipal elections, even though they’re non-citizens, we think is a bad idea and bad policy.”

It seemed like a wonderful idea two years ago, right? Those in the Sanctuary City of New York certainly didn’t expect to have actually deal with a fraction of the illegals/migrants down in the border states, which is now causing mayhem. But, this would require the law to be reversed per

The legislation passed by the New York City Council in December 2021 aimed to allow noncitizens who had been lawful permanent residents of the city for at least 30 days, as well as those authorized to work in the U.S., including so-called “Dreamers,” to vote in municipal elections to help select the city’s mayor, city council members, borough presidents, comptroller and public advocate. However, the law, set to go into effect in January 2023, was later struck down by a state Supreme Court justice on Staten Island who said it violated the State Constitution. Justice Ralph J. Porzio ruled in June 2022 that to give noncitizens a right to vote would require a referendum.

I bet most of the citizens of SCNY actually do not want illegal aliens taking jobs (well, the Elites might be looking for people to clean their lofts and do their yards and stuff) and voting.

Meanwhile, guy who used to be on MSNBC, Raul Reyes, obviously a far left Democrat, is concerned about Eric Adams

New York Mayor Eric Adam’s anti-migrant rhetoric makes him sound like Ron DeSantis

Speaking at a community meeting last week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams was blunt. “Let me tell you something New Yorkers, never in my life have I had a problem that I did not see an ending to. I don’t see an ending to this,” he said, referring to the influx of asylum-seekers arriving in the city from the southern border.

He warned that every community in the city would be hurt by the crisis, saying, “This issue will destroy New York City.”

Adams is failing New Yorkers on the migrant issue. He is displaying a lack of vision on a complex problem. He is using dangerous rhetoric and abdicating leadership in favor of misleading talking points. (snip)

Adams has it all wrong. Asylum-seekers will not “destroy” New York, because New Yorkers are generous, strong and resilient. It is the mayor’s failure to put together a coherent response to the migrant issue that is the problem here.

I wonder if someone would care to take a poll of New Yorkers, see how they feel. But, you know what, I bet Texas, Florida, Arizona, and New Mexico would be happy to send all their illegals/migrants to NYC. Maybe send a couple hundred thousand more, see how that works out. See how the elites really feel.

Read: SCNY Leaders Warn Illegal Aliens Could Impact Elections »

Posted in Illegal Immigration | Comments Off on SCNY Leaders Warn Illegal Aliens Could Impact Elections | Trackback URL

Brandon’s “Climate Law” Is Reshaping Private Investment Or Something

By William Teach September 14, 2023 – 3:00 pm

Was this the law that was supposed to be about inflation reduction, but, was all about other things?

Biden’s Climate Law Is Reshaping Private Investment in the United States

Private investment in clean energy projects such as solar panels, hydrogen power and electric vehicles surged after President Joe Biden signed an expansive climate bill into law last year, a development that shows how tax incentives and federal subsidies have helped reshape some consumer and corporate spending in the United States.

If these things are so great than why does said private investment only skyrocket when government is giving lots and lots of money, loans, and tax breaks? Oh, and forced compliance

New data being released Wednesday suggest the climate law and other parts of Biden’s economic agenda have helped speed the development of automotive supply chains in the American Southwest, buttressing traditional auto manufacturing centers in the industrial Midwest and the Southeast. The 2022 law, which passed with only Democratic support, aided factory investment in conservative bastions such as Tennessee and the swing states of Michigan and Nevada. The law also helped underwrite a spending spree on electric cars and home solar panels in California, Arizona and Florida.

Well, there “Inflation Reduction Act” may have spurred a bit more production for autos in those areas, but, really, most goes back to COVID. Asian automakers predicted the fallout and started moving way more production to North America, realizing it would be difficult getting all the necessary products shipped from one side of the Pacific Ocean to the other. You’ll notice that Hondas and Toyotas usually are made about 60% in North America now when that number used to be a lot less. You will also notice that some things are missing: fog lights and the garage door buttons are going away, except for the top, top trims. XM is slowly being removed, due to it needing a full chip, and it being cheaper to use it with Apple Carplay and Android Auto, which everyone hooks up anyhow.

Would people be buying all those EVs and solar panels without all the government cash? No.

The data show that in the year since the climate law passed, spending on clean-energy technologies accounted for 4% of the nation’s total investment in structures, equipment and durable consumer goods — more than double the share from four years ago.

Yeah, if you’re going to force this on the citizens and economies and provide all that taxpayer cash to do it.

The law has failed to supercharge a key industry in the transition from fossil fuels that Biden is trying to accelerate: wind power. Domestic investment in wind production declined over the past year, despite the climate law’s hefty incentives for producers. And the law has not changed the trajectory of consumer spending on some energy-saving technologies like highly efficient heat pumps.

The return on investment is low, and dealing with all the lawsuits is a pain in the rear.

Biden administration officials have tried to quantify the effects of that law, along with bipartisan legislation on infrastructure and semiconductors signed by the president earlier in his term, by tallying up corporate announcements of new spending linked to the legislation. A White House website estimates that companies have so far announced $511 billion in commitments for new spending linked to those laws, including $240 billion for electric vehicles and clean energy technology.

Commitments are meaningless without action, and, if that money dries up, so will the commitments.

The bulk of that spending was focused on the electric-vehicle supply chain, including in the new Southwest cluster of activity across California, Nevada and Arizona. The Inflation Reduction Act includes multiple tax breaks for such investment, with domestic-content requirements meant to encourage production of critical minerals, batteries and automotive assembly in the United States.

Except, most citizens are not calling for them and are not interested in them. Plus, you know that enviroweenie groups will sue to stop any mining in the US.

Some consumer markets have yet to be swayed by the promise of tax breaks for new energy technologies. Americans have not increased their spending on heat pumps, even though the law covers up to $2,000 toward the purchase of a new one. And over the past year, the states with the highest spending as a share of their economy on heat pumps are all concentrated in the Southeast — where, Houser said, consumers are more likely to already own such pumps, and to be in need of a new one.

If heat pumps are so awesome then why are they not being used in federal buildings, starting with the White House? Did Joe put them in his private homes? No? Huh. How about the NY Times building, since they are so passionate about this issue and wrote the article. What’s that? Heat pumps would be very inconvenient for their big building? Seriously, the government is paying corporations to work inefficiently, and investors cash in on that government money. How many of these companies will be out of business within a year or two, just like with Obama’s Stimulus? Most of this from the IRA doesn’t help the middle and working classes, just those making over $150K a year and more.

Read: Brandon’s “Climate Law” Is Reshaping Private Investment Or Something »

Posted in AGW Socialism, Global Warming | 3 Comments | Trackback URL
Pirate's Cove