Surprise: Florida’s Everify System Causing Wage Increases

By William Teach August 7, 2023 – 10:30 am

Foes of illegal immigration have long noted that the presence of illegal aliens in the U.S. deflates wages. The NY Times now confirms this…as the Times attempts to slam Florida and Ron DeSantis

New Florida Immigration Rules Start to Strain Some Businesses

Americans before illegalsAfter signing into law a raft of new measures aimed at undocumented immigrants in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis said the legislation gave the state “the most ambitious anti-illegal immigration laws in the country.”

It would, he said, keep Florida taxpayers from “footing the bill for illegal immigration.”

Critics of the law warned that it would come with a price of its own, and a costly one for a state that relies on hundreds of thousands of undocumented workers in agriculture, construction and hospitality.

Under the new law, which went into effect on July 1, hospitals are required to ask patients their immigration status and document the costs of caring for such patients. Many more employers are now required to use an electronic database to identify hires illegally in the country, or face fines. And undocumented immigrants can no longer be sure that drivers’ licenses from every other state will be considered valid in Florida.

So far, the state hasn’t undertaken any sort of sweeping crackdown, and it isn’t clear how aggressively the new law will be enforced. But its effects have begun to ripple through the state, stirring fear in some immigrant communities and frustration among some business owners.

Obviously, the entirety of the article is meant to be “this is so horrible, why did Ron DeSantis single-handedly implement all these restricts on illegal aliens!!!!!” Even this is meant to be a slap at Ron

Tim Conlan, president of Reliant, a roofing company in Jacksonville, said a subcontractor had recently turned down a project after his workers refused to travel to Florida, preferring to stay in Georgia and the Carolinas. He also said that hourly rates for jobs had increased about 10 percent since the bill was signed into law in May.

That’s because they have to hire Americans and people legally in the U.S. who are authorized to work, not illegal aliens. This will mostly effect the blue-collar industries and small shops who would otherwise hire illegals.

Meanwhile

40-mile walk for immigration reform and migrant rights to focus on residency status in Bay Area-wide event

Immigration reform and migrant rights advocates are planning to walk more than 40 miles from the North and South Bay to San Francisco beginning this weekend to demand congressional action on a pathway to permanent residency for millions of migrants stuck in legal limbo nationwide.

Dozens of immigrant rights organizations in the Bay Area and elsewhere in Northern California are gearing up for the “All In for Registry” walk starting Saturday at 8 a.m. in Petaluma and San Jose. Participants will walk more than 40 miles over the weekend to meet at the Federal Building in San Francisco on Monday.

The walk aims to press Congress to pass H.R. 1511, also known as the “Registry Bill,” which would allow approximately 8 million undocumented people currently living in the U.S. to apply for legal permanent residency.

Sounds like a great place for Texas governor Greg Abbott to ship a couple hundred illegals. Of course, consider the vast numbers of homeless in San Francisco and the current high levels of crime, would they even notice?

Read: Surprise: Florida’s Everify System Causing Wage Increases »

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Your Fault: Valley Fever Could Maybe Possibly Get Worse

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

cBS News is breathlessly reporting this without asking important questions. They just do not teach Journalism 101 at the Ivy League schools anymore

Valley fever is on the rise in the U.S., and climate change could be helping the fungus spread

More than 500,000 Americans could be sickened each year by Valley fever, the disease caused by breathing in the fungus Coccidioides, according to preliminary estimates developed by  the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The draft figures, which were disclosed in a CDC presentation to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, suggest the toll inflicted on Americans by the fungus could be more than triple the size of widely cited previous estimates.

“There’s just not a ton of awareness or knowledge about the disease. We do see a lot of travel associated cases, we’ve seen reports of cases popping up in places where we wouldn’t have typically expected Valley fever to be endemic,” Samantha Williams, an epidemiologist with the CDC’s Mycotic Diseases Branch, told CBS News.

Williams is part of the team that has been refining these forthcoming estimates of cases of Valley fever, which scientists call Coccidioidomycosis. It is one of a range of new projects aimed at ramping up the agency’s response to the illness, which primarily occurs in the Southwest, from California to central Texas.

“Could.” In other words, they have no idea, they’re guessing.

Though only a fraction of cases each year are reported to the CDC these tallies have also been rising: preliminary figures topped out at 20,197 cases reported through the end of 2021, the most on record in a single year since the last peak of cases in 2011.

But sooooooon will be 500K. And this is your fault

“California’s dry conditions, combined with recent heavy winter rains could [result] in increasing Valley fever cases in the coming months,” California’s state health department warned in a news release Aug. 1.

The department cited recent research linking climbing transmission of the fungus to increasing cycles of drought across the Southwest — just one of several growing health threats linked to climate change. Other research has also linked upticks in the fungal infections to exposure to smoke from wildfires.

Warming temperatures and changes in rain patterns are also projected to substantially widen the map of where the fungus thrives, beyond the areas where cases are already mounting.

It took CBS till the end of the article to throw in ‘climate change’, almost like the article was written and then someone said “you have to include ‘climate change’!!!!!!! You cannot run an article like this without including the climate crisis! You know this! It was in the interoffice memo!”

BTW, it doesn’t sound fun. And if someone gets it they’ll probably classify it as COVID.

Read: Your Fault: Valley Fever Could Maybe Possibly Get Worse »

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

Who’s Up For More Rate Hikes?

By William Teach August 7, 2023 – 7:00 am

They can talk all they want about all the people who came back to work post-COVID, but, what are they to do with the money if rates keep going up and the cost of living is going up? Of course, that’s one of the things they say is heating up the economy, all the people back to work buying. But, buying what? Big ticket items are still limited, be it housing, autos, boats, or motorcycles. I could understand if there was a glut of these, but, there aren’t

Fed’s Bowman says more US rate hikes likely will be needed

Biden Brain SuckerThe U.S. Federal Reserve will likely need to raise interest rates further to bring down inflation, Governor Michelle Bowman said on Saturday.

Bowman said she supported the Fed’s quarter-point increase in interest rates last month, given still-high inflation, strong consumer spending, a rebound in the housing market and a labor market that is helping to feed higher prices.

“I also expect that additional rate increases will likely be needed to get inflation on a path down to the FOMC’s 2 percent target,” she said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Kansas Bankers Association, referring to the Fed’s rate-setting panel, the Federal Open Market Committee.

Monetary policy is not on a “preset course,” she also said, and data will drive future decisions.

“We should remain willing to raise the federal funds rate at a future meeting if the incoming data indicate that progress on inflation has stalled.”

Certainly, the higher rates combined with very high costs of houses and autos have stifled economic activity, along with a dearth of inventory. In fairness, many started opting out of purchasing a used vehicle at a much higher interest rate (consider the gold standard around Raleigh was SECU, which had been at 3.75 with autopay just a year ago, and now is at least 2 points higher, usually around 6.25) combined with the higher cost of used cars (which were ridiculously high) and those costs did come down, but, only so much, because inventory is still limited.

Bowman’s use of the plural “rate increases” in her remarks on Saturday indicates she thinks the Fed will need to go higher than that.

After the most recent rate hike, Fed Chair Jerome Powell left the door open to another increase in September, but also signaled that cooler data could allow a pause.

Bowman noted some progress on inflation, which by the widely followed consumer price index slowed to a 3% annual rate in June, down from 9% in the middle of last year.

Not sure that Americans are really noticing things getting better

Back-to-school shopping hit by inflation, higher prices

Back-to-school shoppers can’t escape inflation as they prepare for the 2023-2024 school year.

State of play: Higher prices and demand for electronics are taking a bigger bite out of consumer budgets — and driving record spending — according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey. (snip)

Families with children in elementary through high school plan to spend an average of $890.07 on back-to-school items about $25 more than last year’s record, per NRF’s survey of 7,843 consumers.

And Biden and the Democrats have done what to help this? Oh, right, made it worse.

Inflation Is Cooling. Food Inflation Could Get Worse.

nflation has cooled in many countries, but in most of them, food inflation remains rampant and there are reasons to fear it may accelerate.

A combination of disrupted exports, unusually hot weather and Russia’s continuing pounding of Ukraine, one of the world’s largest grain producers, is likely to add fresh momentum to the main source of global inflation.

U.K. food prices rose 17.4% in the year through June, while Japanese prices were up 8.9% and French prices were up 14.3%. While food inflation has slowed slightly in the U.K. and France, it has picked up in Japan. In each country, food prices are rising much more quickly than prices of other goods and services.

The U.S. has fared better, with food prices up 4.6% from a year earlier in June, more than double the rate of inflation targeted by the Federal Reserve but well down on the August 2022 peak of 13.5%.

Doing better, because the U.S. doesn’t really depend on food products exports from Russia or Ukraine, but, still, way higher than it was when Biden took office. I was walking in the aisle with soup Sunday, and Progresso and Campbell’s non-condensed were up around 50 cents from a few years ago. Breyer’s Ice Cream is about a dollar more. And with Biden causing fuels and energy to stay high those prices will continue to go up.

Read: Who’s Up For More Rate Hikes? »

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If All You See…

By William Teach August 6, 2023 – 1:48 pm

…is a tree that looks like it’s dying from too much carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Blazing Cat Fur, with a post laughing at Megan Rapinoe.

It’s Asian ladies week.

Read: If All You See… »

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Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

By William Teach August 6, 2023 – 9:14 am

Patriotic Pinup

Happy Sunday! Another fantastic day in the Once And Future Nation Of America. The Sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the squirrels are drinking from the hummingbird feeder. This pinup is by Baron von Lind, with a wee bit of help.

What is happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15

  1. Geller Report covers a riot in NYC over a giveaway
  2. IOTW Report discusses Jack Smith prosecutorial misconduct
  3. Irons In The Fire notes Democrats wanting to change the rules when they don’t win
  4. Legal Insurrection highlights DeSantis saying Trump is running in 2024 to do things he promised to do in 2016
  5. Moonbattery covers Germans pushing back against “refugee” camps
  6. Outside The Beltway notes unenthusiastic voters not donating
  7. Pacific Pundit shows NASCAR suspending a driver over a St. George Floyd meme
  8. Powerline says the case against Biden is pretty darned straight forward
  9. Sultan Knish highlights an inconvenient study on guns
  10. The First Street Journal wonders why a hardcore criminal was out on the streets in the first place
  11. The Gateway Pundit discusses the cost of crime and homelessness in Portland, Oregon
  12. The Lid notes Democratic hypocrisy, as they refused to accept the 2016 election
  13. The O.K. Corral covers the best Father’s Day evah!
  14. The Other McCain discusses the consequences of constantly indicting Trump
  15. And last, but, not least, The Right Scoop notes DeSantis hitting back at the NBA

As always, the full set of pinups can be seen in the Patriotic Pinup category, or over at my Gallery page (nope, that’s gone, the newest Apache killed access, and the program hasn’t been upgraded since 2014). While we are on pinups, since it is that time of year, have you gotten your Pinups for Vets calendar yet? And don’t forget to check out what I declare to be our War on Women Rule 5 and linky luv posts and things that interest me. I’ve also mostly alphabetized them, makes it easier scrolling the feedreader

Don’t forget to check out all the other great material all the linked blogs have!

Anyone else have a link or hotty-fest going on? Let me know so I can add you to the list. And do you have a favorite blog you can recommend be added to the feedreader?

Two great sites for getting news links are Liberty Daily and Whatafinger.

Read: Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup »

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Good Grief: Democrats Push 1,000% Tax On “Assault Rifles” And Large Capacity Magazines

By William Teach August 6, 2023 – 7:00 am

I suggest we start with introducing and forcing a vote on taking all the scary looking rifles and magazines that hold more than 10 rounds away from everyone who is tasked with protecting members of Congress, their buildings, POTUS, the VP, the White House, all the places they go, and all federal agencies. They’d surely be fine with that?

Democrats demand 1,000% excise tax on ‘assault weapons,’ high-capacity magazines

More than two dozen House Democrats put forward legislation Friday that would slap “assault weapons” and high-capacity magazines with a 1,000% excise tax, a change that would raise the price of a $500 weapon to $5,000 in a bid to reduce access to guns across the country.

Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., and 24 other House Democrats introduced the legislation Friday. It’s the second time Democrats have put forward the idea.

Beyer and 37 Democrats proposed the same idea last year when Democrats controlled the House, but it never moved.

The text of Beyer’s new bill was not out as of the weekend, and it was unclear if any changes were made from his 2022 version. His bill from last year imposed the tax on any magazine or related device that can accept more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

The same 1,000% tax would be imposed on any “semiautomatic assault weapon,” which last year’s bill defined as a semiautomatic rifle or pistol with a fixed magazine of 10 rounds or more or that have other various features.

Under that rule, a weapon that normally costs $2,000 would force customers to pay more than $20,000, a change Beyer argued last year could help “curb the epidemic of gun violence.“

Would it? Doubtful, but, they know this, and the idea is to make it more difficult for law abiding citizens. If the issue was so bad they would suggest restricting government from having them, as well. I wonder what the statistics say on how many government owned firearms are stolen?

This would be shot down by courts, especially the Supreme Court, but, Democrats do not care. It’s essentially a poll tax on a Constitutional right, meant to price law abiding citizens out of their Right.

Read: Good Grief: Democrats Push 1,000% Tax On “Assault Rifles” And Large Capacity Magazines »

Posted in 2nd Amendment | 12 Comments | Trackback URL

Bidenflation Driving Away Some Papa John’s Customers

By William Teach August 5, 2023 – 3:00 pm

I’d assume this is happening to most of the pizza places, regardless of whether they delivery or not

Papa Johns’ prices are driving some customers away

Consumers are pulling back on discretionary spending, and Papa Johns is taking a hit.

Sales at North American locations open at least a year fell 1% in the quarter ending on June 25, compared to the same period last year, dragged down by high prices at the chain’s franchise locations.

“Some of the pricing … had gotten out in front of where the consumer was willing to spend,” said Papa Johns (PZZA) CEO Rob Lynch during a Thursday analyst call discussing the quarterly results. “April was the worst month that we’ve had since I’ve been at Papa Johns (PZZA),” in terms of sales at locations open at least a year, he said. Lynch joined Papa Johns (PZZA) in 2019.

Franchise operators have over the past year “been increasing their prices at a faster rate than our company-owned restaurants” to preserve profit margins as inflation has surged, Lynch said. Inflation has been cooling in recent months, but hit a 40-year high in June of last year. “As a result, they have experienced a larger decline in transactions relative to our company-owned restaurants this past quarter,” he said.

The vast majority, roughly 2,900 out of about 3,400 total North American Papa Johns restaurants, are franchised, according to the company. In general, franchise operators are able to set menu prices themselves, though the company may set a cap on pricing for certain promotions.

At company-owned restaurants open at least a year, sales grew in the quarter, but not enough to offset declines in franchised spots. The chain’s total sales were down 2% year over year in the second quarter.

The Democrat leaning meaning and the Biden admin can yammer all they want about inflation declining, but, the very fact is that prices are still up way above what they were pre-COVID, and even during 2020. It’s really that the rate of price increase has slowed. If I raise your price on a pizza $.50 a month for a year, but, now I’m only going to raise it $.10 this month, well, it’s still going up, just not as much.

Over the past few years (since Biden took office), companies have been hiking prices to promote or protect their own margins as their own costs have gone up. For a while, they said, many shoppers were surprisingly resilient, still buying despite the high prices.

But now, they’re pushing back – and not just at Papa Johns.

Prices of products made by Kraft Heinz (KHC), which include Lunchables, Capri Sun, Philadelphia cream cheese, Oscar Mayer, Kraft Mac and Cheese, Velveeta and other brands, are up about 11% this year.

It means fewer purchases, though the gross profit may look higher due to the inflated prices, the net profit is the same, so the net profit will decrease.

In fairness, you can’t blame this all on Biden: the root cause was China screwing around with Coronaviruses, and letting one out, by accident or intentionally. Then you blame mostly liberals for their lockdowns and such, and some Republicans, including Trump, share some blame. Then Biden comes into office, sees what’s starting to happen, and does, at best, nothing. But, many policies made this all worse, just like in other countries run by Leftists. Certainly, the higher cost of energy, especially fuel, constributes.

Also, all those extra fees will drive consumers away from delivery. If I order a pizza I expect it to be the price of the pizza and tax, maybe a small delivery fee. Then I’ll tip the driver. But, all these extras are put on, so, no. The only time I’ve ordered delivery in at least a decade was when I sick and waiting for the results of my COVID test, not wanting to expose people. That said, remember, the media would 100% be blaming this all on Trump and the Republicans if he was in the White House.

Read: Bidenflation Driving Away Some Papa John’s Customers »

Posted in Economy, Food and Drink, Joe Biden | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach August 5, 2023 – 1:00 pm

…is an area flooded due to extreme weather, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Flopping Aces, with a post on the evidence of Biden’s corruption.

Doubleshot below the fold, check out Gates Of Vienna, with a post on Islam’s “sensitivity” scam.

Read More »

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

Democrats Lose Minds After Trump Threat To Come After Them

By William Teach August 5, 2023 – 10:30 am

See, it’s perfectly OK that elected Democrats threaten Republicans, especially Donald Trump. It’s OK that prosecutors and the DOJ threaten to come after Trump, and do come after him. They’ve all made it clear since before he won in 2016 that they were going to come after him

‘I’m coming after you:’ Donald Trump responds to latest arraignment with new threats

As Donald Trump made more threats against opponents in the wake of a third indictment, special counsel Jack Smith asked a judge late Friday for a protective order against the ex-president, seeking to prevent him from publicizing evidence from witnesses.

“All the proposed order seeks to prevent is the improper dissemination or use of discovery materials, including to the public,” Smith said in a late-night court motion, essentially arguing that Trump’s rantings could have a chilling effect on witnesses in the case.

The prosecutor cited an all-caps threat that Trump posted earlier in the day on Truth Social: “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU.”

Lefties in the media and all sorts of elected Democrats really did lose their minds. They forget that they’ve been doing this to Trump themselves the whole time. And that the response has been the American spirit since the beginning: we’re fine until you mess with us, then we’re coming after you. It’s baked into the writings and sayings of our Founding Fathers, the Federalist papers, and our Declaration of Independence.

I wonder, did any of these same people freak out, or even show mild concern, over Obama saying “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.” Have any bothered with all the threats that Biden has made to average citizens?

Read: Democrats Lose Minds After Trump Threat To Come After Them »

Posted in Current Affairs, Donald Trump | 12 Comments | Trackback URL

World Economic Forum Has Ideas On How The World Can Cope With Heatwaves

By William Teach August 5, 2023 – 7:15 am

I’m pretty sure that Humanity has dealt with heatwaves all on it’s own without the input and guidance of Elites laying down the law

Climate change is making heatwaves more intense – here are 7 ways the world can cope

July 2023 is set to be the world’s hottest month ever recorded, with the mean global temperature predicted to be at least 0.2°C above the previous warmest month of July 2019.

Across the globe, temperatures have been breaking records. The mercury in Sanbao township, in China’s dry northwest, broke the national record when it hit 52.2°C. In the Mediterranean, firefighters have been battling wildfires from the Greek island of Rhodes to the coast of Algeria.

“The era of global boiling has arrived,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned. “Climate change is here. It is terrifying. And it is just the beginning.”

Yeah, data only going back to 1979. Let’s see those ideas

Urban greening

Shade standards

Cool places

Strange, it’s hotter in urban areas

Traditional architecture

In the Persian Gulf, a study has found traditional architecture – including narrow alleyways that maximize shadows, internal courtyards and moisture-absorbing, reflective building materials like limestone – can help to cool urban areas. Cape Town and Buenos Aires are putting in place light-coloured and other cooling roofs on public housing.

Passive cooling

A US study found strategies like shading and natural ventilation could reduce pressure on air conditioning by up to 80%. Simulations using weather data from 2021 found these techniques kept temperatures in apartments out of the ‘danger zone’, even without using aircon. It’s thought the findings could be used to establish building codes around operable windows and working shades, to protect renters.

I wonder who’s going to force this?

Appointing Chief Heat Officers

Jane Gilbert became the world’s first Chief Heat Officer in May 2021, and as global temperatures rise it’s becoming an increasingly widespread and important role.

In an interview with the Forum, she says the main priority areas to address are: urban heat island mitigation (vegetative cover, cool pavements and roofs), protecting homes (which includes building safer homes and shelters), plus public education.

Ah, more government Authority to force citizens to do things, especially in the urban areas which get hot. Weird, right?

The uber rich folks in the WEF, who are constantly taking lots of private jets all over the world, also want to name heatwaves. Always have to pimp the scaremongering.

Read: World Economic Forum Has Ideas On How The World Can Cope With Heatwaves »

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